#I think this is the most lore I've dropped here ever
Note
I am ON MY KNEES begging you to explain some parasite lore! Jk, tho I would love to know!! Please
Since you asked I can explain a bit! :3
I've never really properly explained so I'll try and give an overview.
[if you haven't read my short comic Lasting Bonds, that gives insight into some parasite history also]
Parasites in my universe are Kin of Kqo'twec, also known as The Parasite God
They're just a funky creature that might be a bit radioactive, don't worry about it. Being a parasite themself, they infected Keith Sun, gang leader of Black Orbit when they were bleeding out in a ditch lol lucky them.
Kqo'twec and Keith at some point become interchangable. Funny how that works (points at my blog title)
Anyway!
Parasites are divided into two categories: Minor & Major
MINOR parasites are smaller parasites that give a few minor attributes - changing eye color, hair color, giving horns, sharp teeth, tails, claws etc. These are very low maintanance and practically everyone has at least one of some sort, but people don't think much of it bc it's just normal. They're just vibing and as long as you're chill with them and respect them, then the attributes will be maintained. These don't have like. a physical look or body to them (that can be perceived with the naked eye), they're kinda just the concept of giving abilities. Or I mean you can pull out a microscope and check them out, that's just A Shape.
MAJOR parasites are companions! They have a conscience and you need to work with them to maintain a good bond with them. That's ur life buddy. Their attributes are more connected with each other, if that makes sense.
For example, transformative parasites are common - parasite that allow their host to physically transform into another form, fully or partially.
A parasite could be like. snake adjacent and give you snake-like attributes. Slit pupils, scales, tail and fangs. Those are all attributes from that parasite.
Compared to minor parasites, you could have a couple of minor parasites that give attributes that aren't following the same theme. like you could have goat-like horns and a reptile-like tail, they're just coming from different parasites.
Minor and Major parasites can also compliment each other! If we go with the snake-like attributes again, you could get a minor parasite that could change the scale patterns or pupil shape. it's like pretty customizable lol
Speaking of customization, there are also Modified Minor & Major parasites. Currently it's mainly modified minor parasites on the parasite market bc it's kind of controversial modifying major parasites (but that's not stopping The Company from experimenting with it lol)
This is the major conflict in Black Orbit. It kinda fucks up the natural way of how parasites have been treated since Kqo'twec bestowed the knowledge of them onto the ancestors.
Modified parasites aren't healthy and some get packed with more attributes than they naturally can give + the general public begins to see them (minor parasites) as accessories they can switch out or discard rather than littol cool creatures that make you look dope, which worsens the bond between host and parasite, being very imbalanced - or not there at all.
So they don't live that long and their attributes might be "weaker" or quickly fade (dull colors or like. brittle horns)
""luckily"" you can easily extract them and replace them at Parasite Clinics.
The only character with a modified major parasite that I've talked about is Cass. She has a dragon parasite, which. is a whole other can of worms tbh.
It's in an artificial coma and its attributes are what is giving her the half dragon appearance and size (she's also full of minor modified parasites that made her beefy lol) so that's definitely not gonna bite her in the ass at some point!
It's ok tho bc she's so sexy <3
You might think 'wait isn't a dragon parasite just a transformative parasite then?' which isn't incorrect but.
They're special little guys with other requirements than most parasites, and in the city of Sunjin (which the main conflict of Black Orbit takes place) they are not well understood and there's little information about them (well. outside of the B.O.A - the Black Orbit Archives which holds documents and practically the whole history of Kqo'twec's Kin, but only archivists/oathbearers have access to that place.)
Keith is so mad about how reckless Cass is with parasites but. well..[gestures at this picture]
I think that's enough for an overview!
#ask#black orbit#cai arts#I think this is the most lore I've dropped here ever#give me an inch and you give me an excuse to go a mile lol#black orbit lore#i do like talking about my stuff but also.#there are freaks (derogatory) out there who put their grubby hands on shit that's not theirs#u can look but oh my god do not touch i'll hunt you for sport#anyway sry for the mini rant thank u for the ask! <3#u have so many cool points by now interacting with me
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Long post ahead. My full thoughts on the fallout series. TW for references to Sexual Assault, racism, antisemitism. It's not particularly in depth here- but I do reference specific acts of violence done in the show.
I've had people insinuate I'm only mad because I'm a New Vegas fan, because I think they retconned the lore. I'm not upset at the fallout show for its dubious lore additions and reworks. I think they're quite bad in places, but they're by far the least of the show's problems.
This isn't a case of a New Vegas fan mad they messed with my game in a way I didn't like.
Please refer to literally any of my posts pointing out the racism and antisemitism in the show. They brand a black man in episode 1. They named the enclave scientist after a real life holocaust survivor and then spent most of the show lobbing around his decapitated head like a volleyball.
But I'd like to consider other elements of the show. View it as a whole.
Consider the inherent misogyny of having a female main character whose entire character arc is just her getting abused for 8 episodes. How the trajectory of her character revolves around not giving up on the humanity of the man who waterboarded her and sold her to organ harvesters. A female main character who is raped in the first episode and watches her entire community get brutalized and who comes out of it completely unphased- still as plucky as ever- just worried about her dad.
Consider the horror of having a black woman be the one to drop the bombs. Consider the horror of her leading a council of elites who have infiltrated and taken over the US government. Consider the ways this group is presented and shown, the ways every fault of the US government in the series is offloaded onto a shadowy group of elites.
Consider how the capitalist critique of the show only goes so far as saying there's a secret organization of bad people who must be purged. The antisemitism and conspiratorial nonsense inherent to that premise.
Consider the rampant classism with the show's depiction of Wastelanders as either animalistic monsters or too stupid to live.
Consider the ways the show punishes nearly every act of kindness- the ways the world rewards might-makes-right authoritarians.
Consider the way the NCR collapsed offscreen because a disgruntled husband was mad his wife left him, and how after it collapsed the army immediately became raiders and the survivors became blood drinking cultists. Don't give me "it's just shady sands that collapsed" because the NCR was a developed nation. If one of their cities blew up, they would send aid. They would assist.
Consider the way the show constantly uses sex crimes as comedy and horror- the incest jokes and the "chicken fucker" bit, and the Vault 4 monster impregnation and the main character's rape in the first episode.
Consider the ableism of the treatment of ghouls, how every ghoul is now a ticking time bomb, how Lucy helps free a small dementia-riddled old ghoul woman from a medical torture facility and then is immediately punished with the woman trying to inexplicably murder her. Thaddeus openly talks about ghoul exterminationism and it's never a joke or a bit- he just says it and nobody reacts or says anything.
Consider the way the Vault 33 town councillors use real world progressive talking points about restorative justice and prison abolition and multiculturalism- meanwhile Norm advocates for the death penalty and a closed society. How Norm is shown as good and righteous and the vault dwellers range from deluded to damningly stupid- how the mere concept of restorative justice is made a farce because the NCR raiders are screaming about eating organs and murdering people 24/7.
Consider the way they removed the Boneyard, and the Followers of the Apocalypse by extension. In New Vegas we heard about the Followers operating a university in LA. It's gone now. Not destroyed by bombs- but written out of existence because the Boneyard never existed, and Shady Sands is in its place. Consider what that says about this world- that the group most dedicated to peace and rebuilding has been surgically excised from the narrative- destroyed more wholly than even the NCR- written out of existence entirely.
This is the single most reactionary fallout story that has been produced. By a fucking country mile.
Whatever lore critiques there are should be secondary. The storytelling is reactionary in ways I straight up have not seen from other Bethesda entries in the series. It is cruel to a fault, and depicts a world that is incapable of healing or growing- where the best you can do is hold onto that small spark of goodness while every bit of the society around you tries to murder it out of you. This isn't a story about rebuilding, or about postwar politics, or about society- it's about dueling warlords and might makes right attitudes and grimdark views of the nature of humanity. It's fallout in aesthetics alone- and it's perhaps the most hateful thing I've seen come out of this series outside of the actual neonazis in the fanbase.
Whatever hope there is in Moldaver's final moments looking out over the glittering ruins of LA is undercut by the knowledge of what came before. What was destroyed. And it's undercut by the Brotherhood's totalitarian control. It's not hopeful, it's the bare minimum of survival. It's all the progress of the postwar world, 200 years of humanity and history, reduced to just barely getting the lights back on.
In the intro to fallout 1, "War Never Changes" is used as thematic glue. It ties together two concepts- past wars- and present capitalism and militarism.
Ron Perlman describes the Roman Empire, the Spanish conquests of the Americas, and the Nazi regime- and then he says "war never changes" and uses it to connect those past atrocities to the modern world of the setting- to the war that ended everything. The phrase existed to link the resource wars and their ensuing fallout to all the crimes of empire prior. War never changes wasn't a hard and fast rule of human nature- it was a specific condemnation of America.
Lonesome Road even ends with the phrase refuted. War Never Changes. But men do, through the roads they walk. There is hope. That's what this series has always been about. The Master died at the end of fallout 1 and said "leave while you still have hope."
In this show, the black woman Vault Tec exec who ends the world says the phrase. It's stripped of all meaning. Just a generic throwback because it's a famous phrase in the series' history. It's not a condemnation of America, it's a celebratory thing. Vault Tec toasting to the end of the world.
What a thing to see this series become. What a thing to see celebrated.
#fallout#fallout new vegas#fallout show#this has gotten more feedback then I was expecting#and i'm glad this is resonating with some folks#turned off reblogs cuz i cant actually deal with the response this has been getting at this point 👍
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Coming from someone who isn't a Fallout lore master but has enjoyed Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas the most out of what he's played, it really sucks ass that the Fallout show is going to forever be defined not by what the actual show had to offer, but purely by the lore implications it has on other entries in the franchise.
The Fallout fans don't care about Lucy. They don't care about Maximus. They don't care about Cooper. None of them care about any of the actually fun and exciting stuff this show had because it's all dwarfed by the monumental, and literal, bomb it dropped on the lore.
And part of me can't even blame them! For once I do find myself at least understanding where the reddit fanboys are coming from with their anger. Cause the shit the show pulled really is retcons on a level I've never seen before, and that's saying a lot.
But I can't bring myself to dislike the show just because of that, especially when those plot points work well for the show itself. As a piece of Fallout media this might be extremely weird, but just as a show? I really think it was a great time, and it feels like I can only talk about that with non-fans coming into the franchise for the first time.
We're never getting Interplay/Obsidian era Fallout ever again. That ship sailed a long time ago. At the same time, Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas are still right there as they've always been. There's nothing to lose from just considering that to be its own canon and treating Bethesda lore as its own thing, to be enjoyed or ignored, regardless of what Todd says.
I wish this show was just non-canon like the Halo show or they set it somewhere else so we could avoid this whole stupid mess, but whatever, we're here, and I just want to enjoy the good in it, wherever that may be.
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Massive ask compilation time OH LORD
YES, her journals are a fun read. I somewhat wish there was more to her and The Dark Urge's interactions, too - she's wonderfully evil and clearly very attached to you if you're playing as that character, but I had hoped there was more of a reason for her obsession besides just "you were fun to cut up", haha. I remember reading her journal over a couple of times looking for something I might have missed.
His reaction was pretty in line with the Narrator's cues, just immediate rage over what she had done to him - DU Drow may be a masochist but that's reserved for people he cares about! So, her and her posse met a swift end. Also, despite the fact that the whole tadpole thing turned out being for the best, I think he's easily overtaken by resentment over his lost glory-days whenever faced with it so directly (he misses living in obliviousness) - not to mention his profound fear of vulnerability, and of feeling... Small. The way Kressa spoke to and of him would have absolutely shook him to his core, especially by doing so in front of the others.
[MORE UNDER CUT]
THANK YOU so much for your kind words first of all! As for the question, it depends a bit on the timeline; his dislike of female drow, especially at the start of his tadpole'd journey is pretty irrational and faith status wouldn't be of too much relevance, he just thinks It's in their nature to want to put him down and be conniving, and wants nothing to do with them.
Later, and especially post-game, he might at least give them a chance to prove they aren't "like other drow", though it would take him a lot to ever let his guard down entirely - UNLESS you seem like a complete fool LOL he's actually easy to trick into dismissing you as long as you don't mind playing the role of a dumb idiot.
But if not, he'd have an extremely short patience for any attempts to exert authority over him or his actions - or jokes at his expense, or any level of smugness or secrecy. Nymea would definitely feel kept at arms length because of the gender+race combo alone and have to put up with a lot of snideness. Basically, she'd have to treat this 6'4" feet tall freak with kids gloves to ever develop a rapport LOL
But also... The vampirism may "help"? He'd consider her a "lesser drow" for it. In that regard her attitudes toward Astarion would probably come to be relevant. I'm not sure about that aspect of it to be honest!
First of all, this is a hysterical scenario because he Would just fucking put the ring on without thinking about it LOL so thank you for the laugh that mental image just provided me with.
Oh he wouldn't care though. I mean, he dislikes drow in general, but he is a drow (up for debate, but you know, generally speaking) and he thinks he's pretty great. As long as he's still huge and strong he could wake up a woman tomorrow and not give a damn. And, frankly, his dick could turn into a pussy at any point in time and it wouldn't change anything about his character save for having to add a recurring UTI problem to his character sheet - he'd probably have fun with it.
TOTALLY FAIR, I'm very sorry it went past the point of enjoyment for you, but I'm glad you knew when to put it down!!! We're in our hand-holding and elf-smooching era now with the occasional visceral description of violence LOL SO YOU'RE WELCOME IN IF YOU'D LIKE. Thank you for dropping by!
Just putting this here because - I actually haven't decided yet, so that's pretty funny you asked LOL I'm leaning eyes closed though, nothing like a smooch to calm the big weirdo down.
HAHAHAH WELCOME BACK, I've been around this whole time! But I was hanging out on twitter for the most part. HOPE YOU'RE INTO THE DND STUFF LOL
DROW DURGES RISE UP I'll be honest with you friend, DU drow's lore has been as accidental as something like that can be, so much of it has felt completely organic in the way it came up - I guess that's what good RPG does to your brain. The rest of it has just been a wonderful opportunity to develop my writing that I decided to take full advantage of this year. Thank you so much for the lovely message!
---
Aaaaand I can barely muster something to say that feels like an appropriate response, but again I wanted to acknowledge all the sweet compliments people take the time to leave in my inbox. Some of you guys' comments about the things I create blow me away, I think I'm pretty confident in my art but... Damn, makes me so happy to know the stuff I create can hold a little special place to some folks. Thank you all so, so much for taking time out of your day to spread a little kindness around, and make mine a little better.
Again, thank you all for humoring me, have a lovely day folks!
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i have over 300 bookmarks on ao3, but only some of them are marked as "recs." here is a post of all the fics i have bookmarked as recs, which ofc i will update as i read/bookmark more!
good to you by TheNorthRemembers (@catofthecanals289) -- 72.9k words, 1/1 chapters -> DANIEL/MAX
easily my favorite maxiel fic of all time. easily one of my favorite fics of all time. it's nearly 73k words but i've read it like a million times. like i can't recommend it enough 12/10 would let my day be ruined by again
If I were proper, I'd have a chance; not with you, but somebody else by ShiwiSins (IetjeSiobhan) (@deepdowninshipperhell) -- 4.3k words, 1/1 chapters -> PIERRE/CHARLES
this is actually the fic that swayed me to the omegaverse side. before this fic i would intentionally avoid any and all omegaverse fics, but i read this one and it is so good. i don't know what to say other than it is perfect and you should read it
hard feelings by orphan_account -- 2.9k words, 1/1 chapters -> PIERRE/ESTEBAN
this is an au fic, and i've said it before: i think this fic captures the pierresteban fic dynamic perfectly. the severed relationship, being dropped into the middle of something broken and never given a real answer, it's just - perfect
shark teeth by toastandvegemite (@toastandvegemite) -- 3.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> LANDO/DANIEL
i'm not super vocal about it but i am a dando enjoyer. i Love dando. and this was one of the first dando fics i ever read, and it's so good, and it's actually my "if you're only going to read one fic for this ship, read this one" recommendation for dando. so, like, even if you don't usually read dando, maybe read?
nothing but teeth by crescenteluce (@janinaduszejko) -- 25k words, 3/3 chapters -> ALEX/GEORGE
my favorite galex tropes are: friends with benefits, george being measurably pathetic (and obsessed with alex), and this exact type of miscommunication. so like, what more could you ask for?
six weeks by dropdeaddeadass (@oversteerey) -- 10.1k words, 3/3 chapters -> MARCUS/CLEM
idk why i didn't mark this one before seeing how i read it like once a week. anyways. this is the fic that convinced me of the turned into a girl trope or whatever it's called AND it convinced me of clemarcus so really doing the most out here! cannot recommend it enough
dropping the gloves by loreli (@alpaine) -- 5.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> OSCAR/LOGAN
loscar fic ... on the fic rec list ... i think yes. did not realize how much i needed a hockey au until i opened the tag and saw it sitting there like this fic is everything. i was gonna say something after that but nah this fic is just everything
panties in miami by dropdeaddeadass (@oversteerey) -- 3.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> LIAM/OSCAR/LOGAN
at some point i told myself 'no repeat authors on the rec list!' but actually i am full of shit. this fic is sooo stupid good i keep re-reading it and idk maybe i just want ***** ** **** ** ** * ***** ******** (censored for good measure)
not yours, not mine by dropdeaddeadass (@oversteerey) -- 18.2k words, 1/1 chapters -> MARCUS/JAMES/CLEM
a/b/o. no further comment is available at this time. or any time. people died (me)
hand in hand in hand by RedTailed -- 7.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> CALLUM/KYLE/DAVID
did you know i love indycar. and read indycar fic. i love this fic so so much partially because i love this writer so much like i cannot recommend it enough it's just so Yes. maybe i like. poly ships. squints
#fic rec#f1 fic#f1 fic rec#i use the rec function sparingly bc i am annoying like that#but also. fun?#lots of fics i love but these r the ones i thought to mark when i bookmarked them so#yay#if you saw any failed versions of this post earlier#no you didn't!#<3#i am very bad at tumblr soz
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The Nine Houses
Worldbuilding/Lore
<< Previous: Masterpost
-
The Nine Houses refer to planets, named, presumably, in order of colonisation. I'm befuddled as to which one is which planet, if we're going on the assumption that this is the solar system. This is what I've extrapolated from reading:
First is Earth.
Second is most likely Mars - gathered from the fighting energy of its house, proximity to Earth and viability for terraforming, and also this:
"[...]Each Beast is different. I have fought numerous now, and each Beast is quite unlike any other … Number Two spewed quicksilver and remade itself into hundred-foot spikes. Number Six kept sucking us into enormous sphincters and spraying us with worms. I cannot even remember what it looked like. I remember Number Four … it was a humanoid creature with a beautiful face who held me under the water, and it spoke in a lovely voice but it only repeated, die, die—and I recall Number One as a great and incoherent machine … when I saw it I thought it had a great tail, and a thousand broken pillars on its back, but Cassiopeia saw it as a mechanical monster with swords for wings, and great horns of myelin, tessellated over with graves.”
It was the Saint of Duty who said, restlessly: “Number Eight was a giant head.”
“Finned like a fish,” said Augustine, lost in reverie. “Its ribs were bloody bandages, and its teeth protruded through its own skull, tangled about its face like a nest. It was red, and it had a single eye of green that moved all about the body …"
Metal-related appearance, from the planet notoriously rusty.
Actually, this passage describing the Resurrection Beasts - revenants of the planets - was the thing that got me into trying to assign planets to Houses based on, mostly, vibes.
Forth could be Venus, based on this passage alone. I could easily be wrong.
Sixth is Mercury I reckon. In the epilogue of HtN the setting is described as very hot - close to Dominicus. I reread it now and I don't think it's ever mentioned to be set on the Sixth, in fact parts of it actively contradict that assumption, but somehow I seem to have gotten that into my head anyway? But even so, Sixth is described as the one closest to Dominicus - notably this passage:
The Emperor dropped to his haunches and eased the white robe off Mercy’s dead shoulders. He shrugged his naked body into it—coyly pulling it closed—and he stretched his jaw in his mouth, and wriggled the tip of his newly grown nose.
“Right,” he said, and closed his eyes briefly. Then he said, “The sun has stabilized. Hope the Sixth House didn’t get cooked in the flare.”
This to me pretty much confirmed the Sixth as Mercury.
Eighth, in the above passage about the Resurrection Beasts, is described in ways that immediately make me picture Jupiter. Red, a single eye of green moving all over the body? Ribs were bloody bandages? A "giant head" - Jupiter, in Roman mythology was the king of the gods? Am I way off the mark here?
And Ninth is Pluto, furthest from the sun, cold and desolate. And solid. (How are they pulling off living on gas giants?)
This leaves the Third, Fifth, Seventh houses to be matched with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. At a loss, still, for how gas giants are supposed to be colonised. The general infrastructure of the pre- and post-resurrection world/Empire has me asking questions like, where do they get the materials to build starships and feed their officers? Metal and plastic seem abundant. In terms of food we've mostly seen snow leeks, Canaan House and the Mithraeum, all of which are probably exceptional to what a regular House person eats. There is some talk of John's expansion and colonising efforts, so do they just go to random planets - are there aliens in this universe? (Is Alecto one?) So the Empire is expanding, mining colonised planets for ore and oil to turn into plastic - though that would indicate a lot of life on a lot of these planets, so I'm gonna guess that whatever happens to those planets isn't kind to the native flora, fauna and people.
Of course, there's always the option that this isn't meant to be the planets at all, and even if it was, it might be a lot more metaphorical. Or just actually a completely different world to ours, not the solar system at all. (Though there's many explicit and implicit pop culture references which would indicate the First to truly be Earth, so we're sticking with this theory.)
Are they actually on the planets - we haven't seen any planets other than First, and Ninth, arguably big exceptions; the Epilogue seems to be set on a moon of some kind, after a more thorough reread. The Actual Planets are dead, or rather resurrected, with their revenants on the hunt. Could be that the Houses do stand for the planets, and some people might be living on (or near) the actual planets, but a lot of people are actually living away from the solar system entirely - born into "Houses" far from the sun, into the Emperor's war machine. It's hard to tell.
Either way, I'm not gonna assign any more planets now until I know more.
>> Next: The Resurrection
#does this count as liveblog? i'll tag it as if it does for now#tlt liveblog#tlt theories#the locked tomb#tlt#no nona the ninth spoilers please#the locked tomb liveblog#tlt spoilers#gideon the ninth#harrow the ninth
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Zoro!Mingi
inspired by the live action one piece netflix recently did...
I've never watched the anime and I know absolutely nothing about the lore, I'm literally just going based off my obsession with mackenyu and mingi so please bear with me
thinking about Mingi as Zoro...
hear me out
pink haired, buzzcut Ming??
just green instead
iconic if I do say so
anyway
you live a simple life on a little, fairly unknown island in the East Blue
of course, you're well aware of pirates, it's impossible to live here and NOT have any exposure to them
or their drama
but nonetheless, you stay out of it
you wake up in the morning in your humble little home and go to and from work at the bar
which isn't even really a bar
more like a hang out spot for people who happen to pass by
at most, the bar has like, 10 customers, but even then, they never get too rowdy
it's a simple life, but you're grateful for the peace and quiet
and the stability
so when you wake up one fine morning, you really don't expect anything to be different today
after all, you've lived here for years, and as mundane as it sounds, every day has been the same, day in and day out
you do your morning routine, splashing some water on your face and making yourself a simple breakfast, some lightly toasted bread with butter
and a small glass of milk
you were craving some coffee, but your stash was running a little low and you were not in the mood to go to the market anytime soon to stock up
so, after getting ready and eating your breakfast, you grab your small satchel and leave the house, heading to work
you wave hello to your boss and your other coworker as you walk in, being greeted back enthusiastically by the latter
after putting on your frayed apron and tying your hair up, you walk back out and began helping your coworker wipe down some of the tables
it was a quiet day, only two lone patrons in the entire building
eventually, your boss had disappeared to some unknown area
(probably to flirt with the owner from the store next door, but that's none of your business)
you had sent your coworker on her break, despite her insistence on staying to help you out
"Unless a band of pirates or the marines show up requesting an absurd amount of liquor, I think I'll be just fine managing the two people here" you said
taking a glance at the older man who was passed out on the table with multiple bottles of beer surrounding him, you continued
"and I don't think he'll be much of a problem anyways"
sighing, your coworker relented and thanked you, taking off her apron and disappearing into the back
the sound of the wooden beads that acted as a curtain clinking together brought you out of your thoughts
"welcome in!" you called out, bending down to grab the rag you had dropped before standing back up
the first thing you noticed about the man was just how big he was
he was tall and incredibly well-proportioned
his shoulders were wide and you could easily see the muscles in his arms thanks to the almost-too-small shirt he wore
wrapped around his tiny waist was a black cloth, and hanging from there were sheaths that carried not one, but three swords
quirking a brow, you allowed your gaze to creep up the man's body and towards his face
his hair was cut short, but it was also incredibly green
he had three earrings hanging from his left ear that swayed with every shift of the man's head
the man's face was beautiful, in a somewhat terrifying way
he had plump lips and a strong, straight nose
he had high cheekbones that could probably cut through glass and his eyes were perhaps the most beautiful, yet most intimidating things you had ever seen in your life
you watched as his eyes carefully scanned the room before spotting your figure
slowly, the man made his way to the corner of the bar and pulled out the seat before sitting down
he let out a loud sigh through his nose and looked over at you
"Three beers please"
his voice was so deep, deeper than the ocean surrounding your little island
"Coming right up" you turned around, grateful for an excuse to do something so you wouldn't get caught ogling
quickly grabbing three bottles from the cooler, you popped them open before placing them in front of the man
you sent him a small smile "Let me know if I can get you anything else"
he nodded in thanks before grabbing the first bottle and tossing it back
turning back around, you busied yourself with wiping down the back of the counter, sending occasional glances towards the green-haired man
a few minutes passed of you sneaking glances towards the man before you were startled by the loud sounds of yelling
looking up, you noticed a group of men, pirates, who had entered the bar
they were loud and rowdy, everything a pirate typically was, and you internally sighed
here we go
the pirates walked up to the counter and obnoxiously sat themselves down, ignoring the loud scraping of the chairs from how aggressively they had pulled them out
one of the men eyed you standing there and beckoned you over with a wave of his hand
grimacing, you placed a fake smile on your face and walked over
"what can I help y'all with?"
you could feel the eyes of the pirates moving up and down your body and resisted the urge to shiver
"get us the hardest liquor you have, in bulk, sweet thing"
you internally rolled your eyes, sending the man a curt nod
"coming right up"
-
an hour had passed since the green-haired man and the group of pirates had walked in
your coworker had since come back from her break, and, feeling bad for the poor girl's terrified looks toward the pirates, offered to take care of them while she attended to any of the other patrons
that unfortunately included the man with the swords who had first caught your eye, but you shrugged it off
he seemed to keep to himself, so you figured you could still admire him from afar
meanwhile, the group of pirates you had offered to take care of were slowly testing your patience
ignoring the copious amounts of alcohol they were consuming (you're pretty sure they were about to drink your work dry), they had become increasingly disruptive
the majority of the group were all incredibly drunk, shouting and yelling at anyone who supposedly looked at them wrong and breaking glasses and chairs, practically anything they touched
they had even begun to shout at you whenever they wanted more alcohol
while, to a certain extent, you were used to this, it doesn't mean it didn't get on your nerves
"GIRL!" a loud shout sounded out throughout the room
you sighed, turning around
"get us more alcohol now!" one of the men slurred
he could barely sit up straight and was leaning most of his body weight onto the passed out man next to him
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid I can't give you anymore," you sent him a strained smile
the man's face dropped and a scowl appeared on his face
"what do you mean? You bitch, you're probably keeping it from us!"
his face turned red in anger and he slammed his hand onto the counter
you barely flinched, staring the man down
"Sorry sir, but you and your crew are being too disruptive so I'm not allowed to give you any more drinks today"
turning around, you were about to begin washing some of the other cups when the feeling of something flying past your ear stopped you
something shattered on the wall right next to your head
the gasp of your coworker seemed to echo throughout the otherwise quiet bar
freezing, you glanced down at the floor only to see the remains of a glass cup
"If you don't want that cup to be aimed at your head, you'll bring us more drinks," the man shouted
you turned around angrily
"get out of my bar," you looked at the man in his eyes
he let out a sarcastic laugh
"I'm not listening to some stupid little girl," he snarled
"I'm not going to tell you again, get out of my bar or I have no problem making sure you and your crew will never be allowed to dock at this island ever again"
Can I actually do that? No. But he doesn't need to know that, you thought, secretly praying he wouldn't realize you were bluffing
the man snarled and within a split second, he was lunging across the counter with his arms outreached, attempting to grab you by the throat
you flinched, throwing your arms up in an attempt to protect yourself as much as physically possible from the angry pirate
but hands never came
opening your eyes, you blinked down at the floor before carefully looking up past your forearms
you saw the pirate who had lunged at you frozen with one leg on top of the counter and two hands outstretched
his eyes were wide and they looked downwards
following his eyesight, you couldn't help but gape at the long blade that was being held mere centimeters away from the man's throat
you followed the blade up its hilt and up the arm that was holding it only to find at the end, the green-haired man
he wasn't even looking at the pirate, sitting almost casually at the counter with his other arm preoccupied holding his beer
throwing the last remaining liquid down his throat, the man wiped his mouth before throwing a sideways glance at the pirate whom he still held his blade against his throat
"I think the lady asked you to get out of her bar."
the man's voice was even deeper, if possible
almost as if his voice broke whatever trance the entire bar seemed to be in, all hell broke loose the second those words left the green-haired man's mouth
the other pirates all but growled, immediately yanking out their own swords and charging towards the man
who still sat completely unfazed
"hey!-"
before you could even say anything, the green-haired man was up and had one of his swords drawn
almost as if he was fighting against children, the man was able to completely knock out every single pirate who had charged at him within seconds
you stood behind the counter, staring at him in awe
he didn't even look like he was sweating
the man stood with his sword drawn and pointed at the pirate who had initially lunged at you, head faced downwards
slowly, he looked up and cocked a brow at the pirate
"your move"
the pirate scowled and, grabbing his hat from where it lay on the bar, walked out of the room yelling profanities
and leaving his passed out crew behind
gaping, you watched as the man gracefully sheathed his sword and slowly sat back down in his original seat
you stared at him for a few seconds before grabbing something from beside you and walking over to where the man sat
you placed another beer on the counter and slowly slid it toward him
he glanced at the beer and then up at you
"A thank you," you started, "for stopping that man from trying to kill me."
the man nodded and wordlessly grabbed the bottle, taking a long sip
" I hate pirates like that," he spoke lowly
you nodded
"part of the job unfortunately," you shrugged
the man hummed
it was silent for a few seconds
"what's your name?" you asked curiously
the man glanced up at you through his eyelashes
bringing the beer to his mouth, he spoke over the rim of the bottle
"Mingi."
you nodded
"Mingi.." you tested the name on your tongue
"Well, Mingi, thank you again for helping me. If you ever need anything, I owe you one," you swore, holding out your pinky
the man, Mingi, looked down at your finger before looking back at you with a questioning look
"pinky promises can't be broken," you explained
it was silent for a moment as Mingi stared at your hand
you were about to pull your hand back, feeling embarrassed that you were using a childish action to make a promise
even if you wholeheartedly believed in it
but then
another pinky linked with yours
looking up, you saw Mingi already staring at you, a small smirk resting on his face
"I'll hold you to that, doll."
˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
the writing gods have blessed me with inspiration and motivation to write
#mingi x reader#mingi imagine#song mingi x reader#ateez x reader#ateez imagines#mingi imagines#ateez fluff#ateez fic#ateez au#ateez x you#mingi au
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So about that Cookie Run MLP au
(click to see the clearer pictures.)
I've basically tried to come up with lore and stuff. If you can't read what's on the images, don't worry, I'll expand more on my thoughts here:
(side-note, it's gonna be a long one)
White Lily Cookie
Before I talk about her, here's some random changeling lore I made up. Woodland changelings are the ones who feed on the love of other creatures by draining it from them. Basically the more hostile, fae-esque creatures. Prismatic changelings are those who don't drain love from others, but instead feed on love through mutual sharing with one another. My goal with them is to make them sorta like faeries. Yanno, the baby snatcher ones vs the nice disney-esque ones. They can transform into either one if say, they're able to form a strong bond with someone else or if they lack a strong connection and have no one to share love with.
Btw, this isn't related to mlp canon, it's just something I made up.
So anyway, White Lily was a young woodland changeling who, while she didn't (often) drain love from other people, she was still pretty lonely and ostrisized by her peers (probably due to her lily scent). She transforms into a prismatic changeling after making a strong bond with Pure Vanilla, who declared how he'll always care for her, changeling (either form) or not.
Ngl, I'm not that happy with her woodland form, mainly because it just feels less changeling-like. I based her off Queen Chrysalis, but still, the only reason I have for this, is that, she's like a queen bee. She's just born that way. She just never took the throne like the rest of her friends.
In her younger years, White Lily often transformed into a pony disguise (even after meeting PV and leaving the academy) because she still felt like it was necessary. Girl was bullied in her tweens, leave her be. (Also, by now, she's become a prismatic changeling.) Eventually, she did drop her disguise, and was relieved to know the other 3 didn't hate her. Dark Cacao even commented about how he prefers her true form.
Her soul-jam form is basically her just becoming more queen bee like, (similar to how Queen Chrysalis was bigger and taller compared to the rest of the hive. She's the queen!)
Pure Vanilla Cookie
Not much to say other than he was a unicorn who became an alicorn as the years passed and he gained his soul jam.
I dunno if I wanted his magic to be blue or yellow. I think I prefer yellow, but his soul jam is blue, and I wanted it to sorta match. Hmm.
He also has terrible eyesight, and relies on his staff to see. However, the drawside to this is that what the staff sees, is what he sees. And boy, his staff can be a bit sassy sometimes, rolling its eye and glancing down at him to judge him at times. It was especially so in his younger years. But he's comfortable with or without the staff's sight. I should mention, he does get to decide if he wants to see what his staff sees or not.
Btw, if this take is seen as ablelist in any shape or way, please let me know, and I will correct it if it is. The whole 'staff sees for PV' is a popular headcanon which I just roll with, but if it makes people uncomfortable, I understand and will revise it.
Hollyberry Cookie
Not much to say other than she was an earth pony who gained wings, magic, and super strength.
Compared to the others, she rarely ever uses her magic/wings unless absolutely needed to. It just feels quite off for her, yanno? Though, she does take advantage of her enhanced strength, agility, and stamina.
Out of everyone, she took the longest to figure out how to fly, not because she was scared, but because it felt very off to control these brand new appendages that just appear on your back whenever you use the souljam's magic to the fullest.
Her design is the most straight-forward out of everyone tbh.
Dark Cacao Cookie
He's a kirin, which are basically dragon-like ponies, and I headcanon him to be part dragon, so it works out.
For his Nirik form, I drew inspiration for how berserk Cacao looked, all whispy and spirit-like.
I was debating on whether or not I wanted to give him wings, but in the end, I realized that it would make his design feel too cluttered. So instead, I drew inspiration from east asian dragons, and how they don't need wings to fly. Dark Cacao can summon clouds and gallop across the winds instead, which I think looks really cool.
Kirin's are depicted with this lion's mane, but I didn't feel like it would fit Cacao, mainly because he's got a lot going on at this point (the armor, for one) and idk, I just couldn't fit it, unless I redesign his entire wardrobe, which I don't want to do.
About the White Lily thing I mentioned earlier, I said how Cacao prefers seeing Lily as a changeling, rather than in a disguise, because (at the time) he thought he was the only non-pony creature on the team, and it was reassuring to him that he wasn't the odd one out. Golden Cheese was the last one to officially join the band.
Golden Cheese Cookie
Head of a pony, body of a lion, wings like a hawk's. Yep, she's a sphinx.
I know she looks more cat-like here, but idk, I just really liked it, so I stuck with it.
Out of everyone, she was the one who had the most trouble with magic, mainly because she's kinda the most scatterbrained. But once she got the hang of it, she really liked using it.
Can I just say, she's definitely the most elegant looking one out of the bunch, and I'm glad that I was able to translate it well. (Or at least, I think I was.)
--
That took a lot longer than expected. But hey, this au is just for fun.
#cookie run kingdom#cookie run#dark cacao cookie#white lily cookie#cookie run kingdom fanart#my little cookies#pure vanilla cookie#pony town#golden cheese cookie#hollyberry cookie#mlp au#🌌🖌️#🌌📝#this all started in pony town#then immediately spiraled into this#lol
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The Ultimate LSK Thread Of Koincidences (2021) Part 1
Here's part one of all the Koincidences that happened in 2021.
Those are all the Kaylor evidences I could find for that year. If I've forgot some, don't hesitate to tell me so I can add them!
If you haven't read the posts for the other years, I highly suggest you do before reading this one:
Fall 2019 (X)
2020 Part 1 (X)
2020 Part 2 (X)
As always, I'll include link to more informations on certain piece of Kaylor Lore as we go, so some Koincidences are easier to understand. When there's a (X) beside something, it's to give you more context and help you understand better.
Here's the link to the incredible Masterposts that helped me do this one: (X) (X)
Before starting 2021, let's just go back in 2020 for a second! I was at the picture limit on my 2020 Part 2 post and I think it's really important to add this one.
Decembre 2020:
Decembre 11th 2020:
Karlie post a video on Klossy about her 2021 Vision Board (X)
In this video, she has the book Untammed by Glennon Doyle on her Vision Board.
Untammed is Glennon's memoir where she talks about falling in love with a woman and overcoming comphet.
Decembre 14th 2020:
Taylor comments on a Twitter posts from Glennon's wife.
Saying how her book has been a huge help for her that year.
January 2021:
January 9th:
Right Where You Left Me and It's Time To Go are out in the Deluxe Version.
Most Gaylors believe that they are broken up. And Most Swifties believe that Karlie in fact betrayed Taylor.
January 10th:
Taylor posts about Olivia Rodrigo saying: That's my baby and I'm proud!
January 26th:
Taylor releases the "Dad hat"
It's the first time ever that she includes this in her collection.
(coincidently, she added a "dad hat" in her merch collection ealy in July this year...)
February 2021:
February 18th:
Taylor does a post saying: Cancel the DNA test.
February 21st:
Taylor releases Love Story as the first single of Fearless (Taylor's Version) AKA Karlie's favourite song.
Remember how Karlie used the same yellow heart back in 2020?
March 2021:
March 14th:
Grammy's.
Taylor does last minute arrangements on her dress.
Adding a sunflower and a little daisy. (There's a making off video of her dress and those two flowers are not on the original).
Here's a post about it: (X)
Levi's birth is announced while Taylor is performing that night (It's dated back only later to March 11th) :
People pick up on the Koincidences immediatly. Even the GP finds it odd:
On the pictures Taylor took that night, posted on Jack's Instagram. She is seen doing an 3 and a 11 (Levi was born on March 11th):
It was her third album of the year and her 11th Grammy....still odd...
Taylor wears a Daisy Guitar strap while performing that night:
She also performs for the first time with the Folklore's Cabin...wich is weirdly similar to the Castro Cabin in Big Sur (Where she and Karlie stayed): (X)
And at the moment she receives her award.
Aaron does a speech and thanks his wife and kids. Taylor becomes really emotional all of sudden when he mentions his kids.
You can see Jack trying to comfort her:
youtube
Starts at 1:50
April 2021:
April 2nd:
Taylor releases the Fearless Vaults:
As you can see in the picture. The 13th word to goes out of the vault is Baby.
The door handle is also really visibly a K :
And let's not forget the most important thing: The Swift-Kloss family crest is present on the vault. (X)
April 8th:
Taylor does a post mentionning her: two kids.
April 16th:
Taylor does an interview for Fearless (Taylor's Version) and explains how the meaning of the song That's When changed for her over the years.
youtube
Starts 11:22
April 23rd:
Taylor does for the first time ever a merch drop for Mother's Day.
May 2021:
May 20th:
Karlie does a photodumb of during her pregrancy and after.
She wears the same Levi's overalls that Taylor will wear not long after. Just in a different color.
And also. Eye theory: (X)
May 26th:
Karlie post a picture of her. And you can clearly see in the background a Santal 26 candel AKA Taylor's favourite that she has all over her house (it's been mentionned several times in secret sessions).
Ok!
I've reached the photo limit so I'll continue in another post!
I'll link it here when it done!
Here is part 2! (X)
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YO WEBCOMIC FANS
Okay, so I haven't actually asked you before. But you get my drift.
Hero Oh Hero (starts here https://www.neorice.com/hoh_1 ) is a pixel art webcomic by @neorice, and it's one of the most creative webcomics I've ever seen. It's got fantasy. It's got superheroes. It's got horror. It's got comedy. It's got spies and wars and wizards who set things on fire. LOTS of fire, really. It's got death games and intrigue. It's got flashbacks. It's got flash-FORWARDS. It's got brilliant characters with tons of variety. It's got multiple complex magic systems that interact with each other in interesting ways. And it's all done in GORGEOUS pixel art with cool and distinct designs for every single character, item, and setting. Seriously, this comic has everything you could ever want from a webcomic (well, it's not Homestuck, but Homestuck is basically an anime so it doesn't count).
The storytelling methods take a bit of getting used to since the chapters bounce around between the comic's multiple main protagonists. You will think the protagonists and their adventures are completely unconnected. THEY AREN'T. You read and you read and suddenly you realize "hang on this is that one thing from the other storyline" and then you GASP and are in awe. It's so brilliant.
Also, on a personal note Noah is quite possibly one of my favorite characters (if not the favorite) to ever be in a Webcomic. He's right up there with Terezi (from Homestuck, which again doesn't count due to being an anime), Remi (from Unordinary), Bun-Bun (from Sluggy Freelance) and Erin (from Aurora, which... also might count as an anime). Noah experiences nothing but suffering from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep, and when he DOES go to sleep it gets worse. Literally nobody (including him) wants him to be important but he keeps finding himself in Situations and he deserves basically none of it. He practically bleeds snark. He is so tired and done with everything but everything is not done with him so he just has to deal, and that makes him the most relatable character even imo. I'd recommend reading the comic for him alone, but trust me the other protags are awesome as well. There's something in this comic for everyone, and I think it is a CRIME that this comic is not popular when it really REALLY deserves to be.
Read Hero Oh Hero. PLEASE. I promise you won't regret it.
(Oh and did I mention that the comic is still updating? The quality never drops, and the current arc is REALLY exciting and has some really cool lore drops about the setting as a whole. HOH is truly the gift that keeps on giving.)
#hero oh hero#heroohhero#webcomic#fantasy#sci fi#superheroes#hoh#please read this comic#i need people to see this#so that i can geek out about it with someone#please im so lonely#idk how to tag this
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Since there won't be any more expansions (and i'm a chronic procrastinator), i updated my personal top 10 Gwent card arts into a top 20, including the few sets that came since then and shuffling things around a bit.
It's a long one, hence the cut.
Personal top 20 Gwent card arts:
20: Bone Talisman by Bogna Gawrońska
It's still the most festive looking thing i like. My beloved blue-and-bright red fidget spinner. I really can't explain my weird attachment to it any other way; i generally tend to like the item arts, maybe it's the collector brain, maybe it's because after Homecoming and most of the expansion sets since later 2019 onwards, these base set trinket adjacent arts became more prominent to me among a lot of new, more dramatic and bleak character and scenery art.
19: Ceremonial Dagger by Katarzyna Bekus
The entire set of strategem arts from Merchants of Ofir is honestly packed, but the dagger is the one i found myself putting in my in-game profile the most. Maybe it's the item hoarder brain again, maybe it's the color scheme i find relatable if that makes sense, most likely it's the premium helping a bunch to make that choice too. The background weirdly fascinates me. Does it have anything to do with The Spiral? I have never attempted to really assign any logical meaning to the strategem arts, they're clearly more symbolic than anything, but it still makes you wonder.
18: Ard Gaeth by Katarzyna Bekus
Somewhat related, here's another piece of wonky multiverse lore. And once again, it's the color that first grabs attention; the contrast of teal and this dusty red. Then one starts realizing the implied size and scope, the birds help with that, apart from being a cute composition detail. The shattery effect makes it look volatile, unstable, dangerous. Ominous. Which ultimately makes it fit with the rest of the Wild Hunt archetype in more than just lore.
17: Coup de Grâce by Lorenzo Mastroianni
There are two wolves in me, one loves bright colors, the other actually enjoys a lot of the bleaker scenes. Although to be fair, Lorenzo Mastroianni is a big contributor to that. And it's no wonder, when he casually drops stuff like this. It's almost symbolic, lot less than strategems but certainly more than other, straightforward "war sucks" Gwent art. How do you visually represent something sad in a way that makes it hard to look away not just because of the tragedy but because of the beauty put into making that image?
You ask Lorenzo Mastroianni, the modern classical artist, to do it.
16: Viper Witcher by Valeriy Vegera
I once described Valeriy's art as "where Lorenzo uses a tight color palette, he uses every pencil in the case". This one is perhaps not as obvious an example, the whole piece has a very unified atmosphere especially from afar, but still, there are so many colors especially in textiles and skin. They're harder to register sometimes but it's how Valeriy does texture and shading. And somehow, he bridges the bleak and the colorful world too. Admittedly, this card also had to be here because mr. Viper is my son, and the voicelines are done by an actor with the nicest, smoothest bass i've heard since Peter Steele.
15: Naglfar's Crew by Anton Nazarenko
I was surprised by how much i ended up liking this one. It's the implications, i think; enchanted to laboriously upkeep this monster of a ship, this 'and if you see it emerge from a breach in the sky, you know you're fucked' symbol of death and decay. It's dark in a way i find compelling, i guess.
14: Serpent Trap by Marta Dettlaff
Back to the bright ones, i liked this art ever since i discovered it as Nature's Gift in post-Midwinter beta. The card saw play in Scoia'tael spell decks, and to me it became linked to Francesca Findabair for their shared spectral snake thing. But that all aside, the art is just so pretty. Vibrant, yet not oversaturated. And like the item arts, needed to balance out the cool and badass and the dramatic and tragic. Looking at it now, another point comes to mind; it's still grounded? The way Gwent art at large is grounded compared to other card games. Like it's not trying so hard (both this piece and the game's art in general). That's refreshing.
13: Chort by Bartłomiej Gaweł
It reminds me of the first game's main menu. The Witcher 1 main menu is, to me, one of the most accurate representations of this universe, its atmosphere. Even if the "you kill cows, you get ambushed by the fucking baphomet" is a meme game mechanic, something about it is...witchery. Superstition, folk legends, and ultimately, monsters. Or that's my takeaway, anyway. But the Chort art, beside being on the more rare side in-game, has always weirdly drawn me in.
12. Oneiromancy by Lorenzo Mastroianni
This was the Novigrad expansion key art before they turned it into a card, and i sure am glad they did. Lorenzo can get a bit weird, as a treat, someone said. Are they Condwiramurs and Corinne? Possibly! But i'll abstain from the schizo theories now. It's a gorgeous, well composed and executed surrealist piece. Inception if it had strong palpable atmosphere.
Denis Villeneuve > Christopher Nolan. but Lorenzo beats both
11: Funeral Boat by, you guessed it, Lorenzo Mastroianni
One final yippee for the last card set. And my god it's beautiful. Tight composition can get surprisingly hard to coordinate and make decisions for, but this is so well-balanced. The left end of the boat is closer to the frame, but right side has the most noticeable color, the character's face, and of course the bird to even it out.
As if to defend the title i gave him earlier, Lorenzo references Isle of the Dead in a way that, even if symbolic, fits into the universe perfectly. Someone stop me before i start rambling about similar concepts in different mythologies.
10: Dana Méadbh (now the token spawned by Call of Harmony) by Anna Podedworna
The most famous Gwent artist enters the list. With a piece made around two, when you think about it very bold choices. The goddess of nature and life, glowing with inhuman light in a black and barren forest. Obscured by thin, bare tree trunks. But to make her emerge and stand out, that was necessary. And it's working wonders. A lot of the Scoia'tael faction is obviously green, all kinds of green, but even a simple choice like making it pop out of black makes the card art stand out among others.
9: Circle of Life by Oleksandr Kozachenko
It has everything i usually look for in Gwent art; nature, color, atmosphere. A certain tranquility, perhaps. A little bit of story - the orange badge is the Kerack coat of arms. It's that environmental storytelling thing gamers keep talking about, complementing the character and faction drama of the rest of its card set.
There's a slightly changed, extended version, too, and somehow it's even better.
8: Gezras of Leyda by Bogdan Rezunenko
As much as i tend to dunk on Bogdan for having played Blasphemous once and making it his entire personality, Gezras is easily the best school founder card art of the set. Once again, the choice to have these prominent arts on the more symbolic side paid off, and the result is a stalking nocturnal animal out for revenge, backed by a giant image of what simultaneously did him irrepairable harm and gave him the means to defend himself. The premium doesn't disappoint either.
7: Rioghan the Undying by Daniel Valaisis
To nobody's surprise, the atmosphere, once again, got me hooked. I love the cold color, the dramatic flow, the big imposing silhouette of a ship in the background. Poor boy is the picture of misery. It's pure melancholy (something not that common in the Skellige faction by the way, which is a point in favor of Funeral Boat too), that i, of course, am inevitably drawn to.
he's just like me fr...
6: Witches' Sabbath by Michal Lisowski
Did i craft this card already or not? The realist's complaint towards near-greyscale card art. I share this sentiment, if only for the comedy of it, but with a few notable exceptions, and this piece is the main one. The Robert Eggers comparisons were made already i'm sure, but it really is a take on the last good Witcher 3 quest with a dramatic, more dreamy, or you could say cinematic quality ramped up to 11. Gone is the fanservice present in the game and the unnecessarily grotesque depictions of fatness of other parts of this card set, and what remains is a beautiful, ominous callback to folklore and classical art.
5: Tinboy by Valeriy Vegera
This is a baroque painting. The drama. Tinboy doesn't take that scarf off, ever. And here this poor soul is, their last will to live dragging it off him. On purpose? On accident? Probably both. The pattern marking Tinboy as a gang member staining with blood of a victim, something something symbolism. All in Valeriy's signature 'which pencil should i pick up next' style. Underrated piece.
4: Lara Dorren by Toni Muntean
They finally got our girl. And once again, despite heartbreak, it's gorgeous. Soft, sweet colors with a necessary hint of melancholy (the lighting suggests it's sunset?), and a pure, painted quality without the need for texture assets. A scene like this is better left a comparatively simple and laid back tribute. Beyond the technicalities, i also really, really applaud Toni for the outfit design. This is the Aen Elle princess, dressed well but for the weather. And the fact her mostly blue clothes with yellow sleeves mirror Cregennan's yellow jerkin with blue details, and her red brooch above the heart might, beside contrasting with the blue, very well reflect his fatal wounds... well.
As much as death on card art isn't always done the best, Lara is represented together with that which mattered to her the most. Despite being categorized among the Wild Hunt, she remains herself.
3: Lydia van Bredervoort by Igor Klymenko
The joy i felt when this was the art of Lydia they managed to get into the game. It's easily one of the best contest pieces and on par with the best Gwent has to offer - it has mood, and that ever present air of groundedness, realism, and in that, unfortunate tragedy. But similarly to Lara, it shows Lydia being her own person; doing what she loved and was good at without sight of Vilgefortz despite her being known as his ever loyal assistant. Likewise, it doesn't sensantionalize her condition, but references it in a subtle, tasteful, and even clever way. I also love her dress and the overall color palette. Igor understood.
2: Eldain by Anna Podedworna
Couldn't help it, this asshole has me in chokehold and he's enjoying it. In my defense, this piece highlights everything Anna is known for, because she's damn good at it. Incredibly sharp main subject of the piece contrasted against a blurry background, which allows for insane details like the strings extending from the top of the lute. To add more fun to it, Eldain isn't even in the absolute foreground, but the piece is still composed smart, so he remains the main focus. His silly red collar on mostly green helps. On top of all that, the art tells a little story, something Anna often does too, and in this case it delightfully sums Eldain up. It's also the best premium in the game.
look at his little red ears from sitting against the sun aww
Honorable mention: Lake Guardian by Anton Nazarenko
Like the following #1, this card has sentimental value to me as my second card reveal and artwork i made my best emote of. It was a perfect match, bird gals and all. It's a Sirin, bringing in a more obscure but not unwelcome mythology reference to the universe. And I love her vibrant, marble-like eyes.
1: Dol Blathanna Sentry by Lorenzo Mastroianni
...remains my favourite card art since that fateful day sometime in January 2018.
I was just discovering what there was to know about Witcher, downloading Gwent in the first place out of need for more content as i was slowly reading through the first book. Gwent has done a lot to explore and build on this universe, and it has helped me contextualize a lot of things early on. I remember scrolling through the deckbuilder, seeing this art, and being struck by its mood, this aura of secret and wonder. "Oh, so this is what Dol Blathanna looks like..."
It's quintessential older Lorenzo. Very much admitted brush work, fog, tight color palette. The little specks of blue in flowers and face paint work just right. Maybe it's a reference to Arthurian myth and Avalon, maybe to Greek myth and Hades, or maybe, as is often the case and was the case later (or earlier in this list), both.
It spoke to me and my sense of wonder back then. It speaks to me when i search for comfort now.
now, time to tear Karol Bem to shreds in the top 20 least favourites xd
#shut up elis#the witcher#gwent: the witcher card game#fingers crossed tungle doesn't obliterate the links
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NOTE: THE FOLLOWING LORE CONTAINS MENTIONS OF EATING EGGS. Beyond that, there isn't much graphic-ness contained within it. For the sake of everyone, I will be including the small story that goes with this in a read-more, and I will not be main tagging it. Take care of yourselves!
The specific Egg-Eating lore I'm using here belongs to @hypergryph! If you're in to this sort of semi-horror stuff, go look at their stuff!
Myfi had been traveling for weeks.
He knew why he was somehow still alive, despite the hunger gnawing at his stomach.
Months ago now, he had sought out a rare delicacy that he had only heard of one group of dragons indulging in-dragon eggs.
The aforementioned group was gone at this point, most likely either locked in a prison, or dead somewhere, but hey, Myfi was curious. Curious as to why they'd do that. Why they'd eat another dragon's eggs.
But once he'd managed to crack open that Arcane egg and partake in the wonders beneath that shell, he understood.
Since then, he'd been running through the lands, stealing whatever eggs he could, constantly partaking in that forbidden ambrosia-and not once had he been caught.
Not once until now, his head pinned to the floor by a Fae far too large to be normal.
With a creak like his bones weren't in right, the Fae turned over the ice egg he'd taken from Myfi's grasp.
"My my, friend," the Fae spoke in a way that matched how he moved, "now what were you just about to do?" Spiraled eyes flickered to a nearby sharp rock, and Myfi swallowed hard.
"Hungry," Myfi croaked out, deciding to take the route of pretending he was desperate for food. Somewhere else, his Dreadwolf was being kept at bay by the Fae's Pronghorn. The Fae's smile creaked open wide, needle-like teeth poking out of drawn back gums. At that moment, Myfi realized this very much was not a normal Fae, if his size was any indication.
"Well I suppose we should introduce ourselves, hm?" the Fae fluttered his crest and chuckled, the birdskulls around his neck clacking together, "my name is Skink," he paused for a moment to step back off Myfi's head, "and yours is....?"
"Myfi," Myfi shook himself off, deciding to play through the lie, "I...I've been lost for ages, and I was so hungry that one time I...I ate a dragon egg," no one else was around, and it was clear if this...'Skink' wanted to kill him, he'd already be dead, "But now...gods, if I don't have them, my body gets these....awful aches, and I...I have to. I have to eat them or-"
"Hm, addiction is a nasty thing," Skink seemed to glare through the shell of the egg he was holding, "but I suppose magical ones can't be fixed, can they?"
Myfi caught the egg as it was tossed back to him, and he stared at it, then at Skink, who waved his talons.
"That one tries to kill me when he's older, have at it, consider it a gift."
The Fae turned away, and Myfi immediately turned to whack the egg against the rock with a CRACK, slurping up the minty fluid inside. Clearly his false story had been taken face-value, and he wanted to laugh to himself, not even thinking of what Skink had said when he had given Myfi the egg back.
"When you're done with that, feel free to follow me home," Skink offered, "My clan is very fond of misfits. Oh! And one more thing, Myfi,"
Myfi looked up from his meal, allowing his Dreadwolf to take her fill, seeing Skink staring over his shoulder at Myfi.
The Fae's face had dropped, bright red eyes staring right towards him.
"Don't ever lie to me again."
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ok so I actually completed SotO's new story chapters on day 1, but I've taken a little while to put my thoughts together on it. some of it's good, some not, but I did my best to be fair and direct on it.
so anyway here we go, major spoilers under the cut!
The Good
I like the map, I like the writing direction, I like the lore. I liked most of what we got, honestly. dungeon fixes, customizable character screen backgrounds, bugfixing the new 'green circles' mechanic, and adding a mount ley-line toggle are also all huge things that people have been wanting, and I'm very very glad they listened.
Peitha is shaping into an absolutely fascinating character too, and it's getting a lot more obvious why she connected to the Wayfinder so quickly... they feel very much cut from the same cloth, two strong leaders fighting to make their worlds better. and yet they're also burdened by the weight of that choice, and the sacrifices that must be made for their vision to be made into reality.
moments like this hit me like a bag of bricks; there's so much going on in the Kryptis homeworld. it's fascinating starting from the perspective of the Ward, seeing them all as just these vicious invaders... to now finding out they have names, ambitions, homes, maybe even families. we're told time and time again that their motivation is fear. the Wanderer, Irja, the little grunts we kill en masse to power the beacons, even Heitor herself.
'There's a version of this world where she joined us.'
like... just thinking about that. man. a version where Heitor hadn't lost hope so completely that by the time we come along, Peitha informs us that she wanted to die-- if only because she knew that at least we'd make it quick. it's horrifying to think about on its own, but the reality that it didn't have to be that way makes it so much worse.
it's... such a clear illustration of why their world has to change. they're fighting and dying to preserve the status quo not because it brings them comfort or privilege, but because they've been living in hell for so long that they don't believe an alternative exists. for as alien as the Kryptis seem to us, we're every bit as alien to them.
it feels like there's a really solid direction here, and I hope that it continues being solid through to the end. I could talk WAY more about my feelings on the story, but I'd better keep going.
I also like the Convergences; they're fun and I hope they survive. having public vs private instanced content seems to cause issues with publics staying populated long-term though, which... concerns me. I STRONGLY prefer publics just because you can bring Jade Bot protocols in, which makes it easier to travel freely and keep boons.
and now that I've dug into all that, uh... let's get to the less fun stuff.
The Bad
there's a lot of things to like about this release, but there's also a lot to... Not. the main 'drop' for Convergences outside of raw essences are Concealed Unstable Kryptis Essence Coffers... lootboxes which can only be opened with an Unstable Kryptis Motivation, which at the moment costs... upwards of 10 Gold per pop if you buy them off the TP. the only other way to get them is grinding tier 2 and 3 rifts, and good luck getting one because they're RARE.
I do not like this direction, for a LOT of reasons. the biggest one should be pretty obvious: it's making a portion of the victory rewards inaccessible to players who can't shell out the gold or the rift farm time to get the keys OUTSIDE the Convergence. the other is that the rewards aren't even worth 11 Gold anyway, so the coffers are dropping rapidly in price while the keys stay high. at this point it's arguably better to just sell the keys on the TP than to ever actually use them. the market on these is gonna get wacky I'm sure.
I don't want to see that become a trend. just.......... no.
the other main gripe I have is that... there's no portal of entry in and out of Inner Nayos. no, really. you can't get in and out at all without porting one way or another. it's right next to the Wizard's Tower but there is no entry point connecting these two maps. I thought I was going insane at first so I turned on the story again while in the Wizard's Tower to see if it'd point me towards a door. nope! it just sticks the story star icon on the Inner Nayos map and calls it a day.
aside from making travel in and out unnecessarily irritating and costly, this also means that you can't easily get alts into the dang map without a TP to friend. otherwise you have to do the story on them, whether you're ready and willing to or not.
I don't like that shift either, and really hope they remedy it when the 'under construction' gate opens in the future. that said, that should have been made available as soon as you finish the story.
and now the final segment, you know where this is going.
The Ugly
it's... short. really, really short. like, no, really. I finished all the story chapters in an hour and a half tops. now at maybe three, four days in I already have enough mastery points to top off the last mastery in the new line. I've map completed the new zone twice. both of the new Vault tasks are done. everything went so so so so fast.
and for reference: this cycle is going to last even longer than the last, based on the Vault reset time period.
additionally, the weaponmaster training underwent a stealth change: the new weapons can no longer be equipped on characters under level 80. this was not listed in the update notes. while that didn't affect me, it does seem kind of cheap to pull the rug on that when a lot of players were using that to level their characters since, well... a lot of core weapons just aren't that great. I can't really blame anyone who would rather use weapons that don't hit like a wet paper towel.
there have also been some... interesting bugs on release, of which the biggest one was unlimited hero's chests per day from the Inner Nayos meta. some people got a month's worth of chests in one day before they turned the chest drops off entirely to fix it.
they're back now, but that was still... something to behold.
I've also heard rumors that the new Legendary Kit from the Vault may be bugged; some players are reporting opening the kit and getting nothing out of it. I can't confirm how frequent that issue is, but... yeah that's a little concerning. I'll hold onto mine for now, just to be safe.
Overall Impression
despite the many sore points mentioned, overall I'm... okay with it. I like what we got, but I wish there was more there to like. from the much smaller Vault selection, to the shorter story, to the single-waypoint but otherwise very cool map that feels like it could have more going on in certain areas... I dunno.
but on the other hand... if my biggest complaint is that I like it enough to want more of it, that's an alright problem to have when we know we're going to get more. I'd be more worried if what we got was a miserable slog and I didn't even want to return to the maps-- and in fact, the opposite is true! I want to return to the map frequently and I want more to do in it-- and mostly I want easier access to it.
my hope is that the slowdown is an indication of resources being put into other backend work, such as the dungeon fixes, the character select screen, and so on. because, realistically, if they can fix up the core more, that would streamline their workflow a LOT and make it easier and quicker to work on things in the future.
I guess in short, my impression is... tentatively optimistic.
that's all I've got on it for now, maybe I'll talk about story more in-depth in the future though because boy I do have a lot of thoughts on that-- which... is part of why I had to redo this post like 6 times. it kept getting way too long and rambly over story. (oops)
#my posts#soto spoilers#gw2 soto#secrets of the obscure spoilers#secrets of the obscure#i did my best to be fair to it in terms of my thoughts and feelings and give an honest but earned opinion on it#hopefully it's at least mostly coherent lol
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I really really hope you're right, this just killed my motivation for everything. What happened with Solomare's story jar already left a bad taste in my mouth too.
I know I'll feel better in a few days, but I felt lied to when they said they'd continue the story and the app. And it's going to be even lighter and fluffier and a replacement for the main story line? One that new players will perfectly fit into? I was so looking forward to learning more about what would happen to Simeon.
Also not announcing it until last minute? For once I'm really glad I can barely afford food, because I'd be devastated if I had spent even a dollar. But maybe that's just me being poor.
I'm mostly likely going to stop writing for a while until I've archived everything important from the app, which is gonna take ages just in case anyway.
But anyway, are there any recent events you thought were better than usual? I've been too sick to grind lately so I haven't unlocked them. I want to know which ones to archive as soon as possible once the six months are up.
Sorry for bringing the mood down and the rant, but you seem to be the only positive one I follow that isn't outright calling people stupid or pathetic for being upset so I'm really hoping your positivity rubs off on me.
I do hope you keep posting for Nightbringer too! I have several issues with my hands so I don't think I'll ever be able to see the end of the og story line, and I especially love your analyses out of anyone else's.
Okay okay so they are continuing the og app and continuing the story, the only difference is they'll be continuing the mainstory in nightbringer and the og app will just be getting events. So the og app will continue the way it has since the end of s4 and new main story content will be uploaded to nightbringer (the devs did says this)
Not sure what happened with story jar but Obey Me! is solmare's most popular game. Objectively, nothing solmare has created has ever come near to reaching om! And I'm talking purely in the money making side of it - the anime? mangas? songs? merch? cons? VAs getting heavily involved in everything? Solmare's a business. As long as there's a fandom and a demand for it they're not gonna kill the og app.
Plus the majority of om's content is on the og app, with new content and old events still being released. If they wanted to kill the og app they'd stop releasing new content and updating lonely devil.
Since nightbringer will be continuing the mainstory from where they left off, they'd also need to move all of S1-4 the chats, call & devilgrams to nightbringer if they were gonna kill the og - and I'd imagine that's more hassle than it's worth
I do think we'd learn more about what happened to simeon;
• devs said they'd be continuing the main story in nightbringer so that'd include simeon
• nightbringer's current plot is about time travel and mc trying to find a way back home - so they will end up back in the current time at some point, where simeon's whole thing can be addressed
• s3 established that luke wasn't alive when the brothers were angels. If they intended to keep mc in the past they'd either have to scrap luke's entire character (?????) or retcon s3 which so far dropped the most lore
• thirteen (who's supposed to turn into a LI)'s first visit to the devildom happens in s4 and in nightbringer's op we see her in Diavolo's castle. Which means we're seeing the present timeline as well
....i think you're maybe panicking a bit too much? You definitely don't need to archive anything anytime soon. For well all of the reasons I mentioned above.... Maybe someday you'd have to but definitely not right now
Honestly I liked all the events🤷
No worries! And Yeah I think the thing people are forgetting is that Nightbringer is STILL Obey Me! I'm definitely going to be still talking about it
Ok so I have an exam in 2 days and I think I've answered every possible question about Nightbringer you could possibly have so I'm calling it here.
Won't be answering new asks until sunday. Everything posted will be from queue.
If you want to see my others asks/answers regarding Nighbringer just hit the tag on this post
#obey me nightbringer#asks#obey me#obey me shall we date#obey me!#shall we date? obey me!#swd obey me#swd obey me!#shall we date obey me#obey me simeon#om simeon#obey me! simeon#om! simeon#swd simeon#shall we date simeon
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Real talk, but I hope I don't ever cross the line where I end up kinning from absolutely every single source I consume. I've heard people say that becoming a problem before, and I've always watched from the sidelines as people really did just go through a hyperfocus, and go through a crisis when they realize they can't tell the difference anymore, if they could at all. It's a scary thought, to have that much self doubt, and to have the self be so easily destroyed and reattached through the lens of the traits you liked in someone else from another life, that you saw them just being themselves and got reactions, that you want, for yourself, compared to the ones you're already experiencing in this life and body. How many of you go through that hyperfocus and feel like you are falling back into place, like a long lost puzzle piece, only for that hole to grow back over time and needing to be filled by the next big thing that blows up. Sometimes that hole grows back so strong, it completely eats up who you could have been in this life, and you lose that opportunity all together. Too busy playing repeat on a life already spent and dead, just to feel like you belong. But that belonging is just a mimicking of a former life, and that was then. What will you make of now? My kins, have only ever been from things that I had memories from and evidence from in childhood. There has never been a point in my life that I question my kins, or search, because that, to me, will create the false positive. I've always had beyond specific things that never left any doubt. Never left any hole or any longing or any needing. I already know my stories, and I know why I'm here now, and it's sure as hell not to skeleton my life around an existence that is very intentionally no longer mine. I died, I moved on. I'm here now, and my kins served the purposes they need to, which is just holding memories that will help me be a better person, and lead this world into a better future and leave it better than I found it. I couldn't imagine having an identity crisis everytime I wanted to watch a new show or something, out of the fear of 'oh I know I'll kin or get a fictive from this source and it'll change me' because holy shit if you're that fragile.. 😬
Though I'll be honest, I love watching you guys and your funny little brains. You're different kind of kins, and how you all managed to be amazing and such interesting people in other lives with A STRONG PURPOSE AND STRONG IDENTITY just to end up here, and incredibly so much more impressionable than a fucking cracker and waiting for the next source to drop to tell you who you are, in the form of your favvvvvvv. Someone could create a source just for shits and giggles and y'all will foam at the mouth going MEMEMEMEMEMME, especially if there are bitches to ship or 'kindate' with. That's your guys' fucking kryptonite. Especially if it's two stereotypical skinny hot white dudes that barely have any chemistry beyond hatred and being on screen together for like 3 seconds.. The amount of LORE I will see invented or whatever, away from canon from you guys, makes me insane because why in the fuck aren't you guys writing more novels with the shit you're thinking up from your past lives. Won't you get more kins and sources and shit that way? Idk. Instead I see you guys recycling the same dead shit, for yourselves to live through. I don't remember kin being that, but you all certainly turned it into this.
I am studying you all under my microscope, and none of you are safe. One day I will make a wholeass documentary and shit, and I'm not joking. I've been taking notes for a long, long, long, long, time. The elves were first, and you guys are a different breed entirely, and I doubt most of you guys will even know your own history lmao and the elves mention. I can't wait for the whole exposé to drop, it'll be a blast. The world as a whole hadn't really seen kinnies and the whole shit storm that has been THEE history. Besides little, little, memes. But they're about to. So thanks for every juicy thing over the years, genuinely. It's gonna be great content. Maybe seeing how some of you are, from an outside perspective, will help you guys get back into being healthier with kinning again. Fuck knows majority of you need it. Especially some of you young-young kinnies that fall into codependency and abusive relationships over and over again.
There is a pattern and it needs to break. I think exposure will be a start. I think half of you won't be as brave with half the shit you're doing if you're under more of a public eye, and hopefully more kids will grow up in safer environments online. Especially people of alt communities, like this one.
And yes, I'm very much not leaving out the guy who believes he's kin with shitler on TikTok. If you were unaware of that guy and situation, oh you sweet summer child. You are unfortunately always going to be up to bat with fact kinnies, and to invalidate them is like calling the kettle hot. I've seen the arguments in both sides for years, and neither sides will win because you both enable each other. Sorry not sorry that's just the full ass truth. Fact kin will exist as long as fiction kin does, and vice versa.
C'est la vie and see you all in the exposure, it's going to be one hell of a ride. I hope I've made it clear that not even my own ass is safe, from this exposure. We're clowns going down together, for real. Can't wait to source my quotes from shit like 'that guy from the lorax that everyone was self fucking with himself' but it's actually the person I'll be referencing because through it all I do believe in kins FHJSHDHF
party note. This is the weirdest advertisement for a documentary that doesn't even exist. And probably never will, if past experiences with ultra indie internet projects go. [gazes towards kickstarter's early days]. At least you're keeping systems out of it? Longcat speed you, black emperor [metal band reference]
#fictionkinfessions#fictionkin#poie issue#kinsidering#ableist language cw#caps cw#repetition cw#slurs#kwrd#abuse cw#mod party cat#fakeclaim#kindating cw#hitler cw#nazism cw
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Yeah hello hi I've been falling deep into the Crocodad Rabbithole and my brain is being consumed by small crocodile-shaped worms
So I've done what any reasonable person would do, I went back to rewatch some scenes from Alabasta and Marinford to psychoanalyze Crocodile and try to figure out what the fuck his deal is because genuinely the more I think about it the more questions I have and the more I want answers. And because I'm deranged I need to write all my thoughts down into an incoherent essay and release it into the world
So please, come along with me while and let's be Extremely Normal About Sir Crocodile Together and speculate about his ~Secret Past~
Quick note, my quickest access to some of these episodes is either through unsubbed episodes (not bothering with getting screenshots since there's no subs, also my Japanese is plenty good enough to not need it here) or through Ancient, Questionable Fansubs so don't get too hung up on the phrasing in the subbed screenshots- like they're not entirely inaccurate but y'know
The reason I want to do this is just that... Like I've been a fan of OP since 2008, when I was in middle school. I don't think I ever really tried to think deeper about this series in general at that time, because I was a kid. For a long time to me Crocodile had just been Some Greedy Asshole who tried to take over a country to obtain a tool of mass destruction and IDK destroy the world? Just a very classic Bad Guy McVillianMan, because I had not bothered to think about his character and question anything before.
But now I have brainworms due to the Crocodad Theory, and this is fucking One Piece, you never fucking know how deep a rabbithole can go with this bloody series. So let's go, let's try to figure out what the fuck is Crocodile's deal, because I need to get these brainworms out of my fucking system
I just want to start with this one quick throw-away line because it's kind of a sidenote. Also like. This is such a funny fucking thing for Crocodile to say if he is Luffy's dad. Like.
That's so fucking funny if he's Luffy's dad holy shit
But what really gets me here is that like... Like while I'm like 70% sure Crocodile is trans, there's still a part of me that's like "there's no fucking way Crocodad is real". Let alone, this be some kind of a hint Oda planted to suggest that this early on. Like it sounds absurd.
And yet at this point in One Piece, Oda had already started planning out and laying out the groundwork for so many lore and plot-relevant concepts, ranging from shit like everything about Robin, the Poneglyphs, the Ancient Weapons etc. He had already started the "Prince Sanji ARG" (aka dropping the tiniest fucking hints to Sanji's Hidden Backstory that people were able to pick up on and make accurate predictions with about Sanji's backstory). There's fucking Laboon, and about a bajillion other things. And possibly most importantly, by this point Oda had already revealed both Luffy's father and grandfather to the readers, not to mention he even introduced Ace and vaguely hinted at Sabo!
It's not like Oda had everything perfectly planned out from the very begining, that is objectively not the case at all. But it also literally would not be unlike Oda to drop hints to a character's backstory like this. He has been doing that for years, and had already started by the time we met Crocodile. Like it feels insane and yet it's perfectly plausible.
And if he had Luffy's dad, grandfather and two siblings planned out in his head already at this point, it should not be that much of a stretch to believe that Oda knows and no doubt has known for the past two decades who Luffy's mom is (regardless of if that's Crocodile or not)
All this to say. Crocodile's comment about what Cobra said to Vivi when they reunited is a funny, sarcastic comment. But it would take a whole new meaning if Crocodad was real. Because it really would be perfectly normal if he did/had wondered what he would say to his long lost child if they were ever reunited. And really that just makes his roast turn sad.
Anyways
In Alabasta, we do get a very clear image that Crocodile does not like the World Government, not just because he's a Big Meanie Pirate who wants to conquer the world, but because he does seem to look down on how the Marines + World Government do their "justice" (which, y'know, knowing what we know now about the Government. Fair. That's entirely fair.)
He also dislikes Vivi's "idealism" of wanting to save everyone without bloodshed or anyone losing their lives (especially for her sake)
We learn that he is a broken man with broken dreams.
Also he seems to be aware where he (supposedy) belongs in the Grand Line's power hierarchy, as in, he needs Pluton because he knows he's not strong enough in combat that he could take down anyone, let alone the World Government by himself (though he would still make a beeline for Whitebeard's head the second he saw him at Marinford, which, y'know, bold move)
And of course, we learn in Impel Down that Crocodile and Iva-chan have some beef. We can not say for 100% sure what that beef is (like the theory he's trans is very obvious and plausible, but until Oda spills the beans we won't know for a fact what the beef is), but we know that they knew each other. And if Crocodile knew Iva-chan, a high-ranking founding member of the Revolutionary Army, then it is genuinely plausible that Crocodile could also have known Dragon and/or been a member of the Revolutionary Army as well.
Since overthrowing the World Nobles and the Government are the Revolutionary Army's goal, the fact that they're trying to obtain weapons and people for their cause etc, Crocodile's view of the Government and his "Operation Utopia" does kind of align with the Revolutionary Army's
But we did also learn from Iva that "Crocoboy" isn't quite trustworthy. Needless to say, even if Croc used to be a part of the Army, he most certainly left YEARS ago, and clearly not on good terms.
Also, an interesting note, is that at Marineford when Luffy and co finally arrive at the battlefield (episode 466, 17:25 minutes in), when Garp spots the group, he makes a specific comment about Crocodile being there together with the revolutionaries and the prison escapees, believing they can't all be here to fight for the same cause. Which is an interesting thing for him to point out specifically.
Like Jinbei was another powerful person who entered that battlefield at the same time, and while Jinbei did clarify to Sengoku that he's quitting being a Shichibukai and was there to save Ace, it's still maybe a little odd Garp didn't think it was worth mentioning that Jinbei had also "allied" with the prison escapees and the revolutionaries to enter the battlefield. Like it was Crocodile only whom he thought needed to be pointed out. I don't think Garp's comment adds at all to Crocodad because it would frankly make little to no sense (like we're all assuming Crocodile didn't know Dragon's lastname, which is why he never realized Luffy was his son (despite knowing Luffy's lastname), but if Crocodile knew Garp was Dragon's father then surely he'd realize Dragon's lastname would be Monkey, right), but it could maybe add to the idea that Crocodile might've been a part of the Revolutionary Army in the past, as Garp could be aware of something like that, thus he'd be puzzled by Crocodile's presencee.
Point is, it's an interesting comment, make of it what you will
EDIT 2: Ended up going back to reread parts of Marineford and turns out ^that^ was an anime-only addition from Toei. Like Garp does make a comment about how these people probs aren't at the battlefield for the same reasons but did not specifically point out Crocodile or anything. So. I wasted enough time adding these paragraphs to the post, I ain't deleting 'em. But y'know.
EDIT: Minor addition, because I just remembered how Crocodile really went like out of his way to taunt Vivi about how she "can't stop the rebellion" and save her people.
Which, y'know, is a perfectly normal Villian Thing To Do. But we know Crocodile does not think fondly of the World Nobles just like he dislikes the Government. Even if Cobra was a "good monarch" who genuinely cared for his people, he was still a king, and the Nefertari family and the Kingdom of Alabasta were a part of the World Government. The thing Crocodile specifically wanted to destroy.
And this is just another one of those "surely that wasn't somekinda foreshadowing" but god fucking dammit what if Crocodile telling a(n unknowing) representative of the World Government that she can't stop "the rebellion", or the revolution if I may, (regardless of if he's allied with them or not) was actually meant to be like foreshadowing. Oda I swear to fucking god---
Anyway, so, Crocodile might've been a part of the Revolutionary Army at one point (the army was formed after the Ohara Incident 22 years ago, and for Crocodad Theorizing, Luffy was born 19 years ago), but if he did he must have left on bad terms for unknown reasons, and we can tell that although his goals in general could vaguely match that of the Revolutionaries, his methods most certainly don't.
Whether or not his methods and his worldview tie to his leaving the Army is unknown. Because we don't really know when and how his worldview was formed.
Like did Crocodile leave the Army because he became a cynical asshole who was willing to make any kind of sacrifice for his goals (thus he no longer fit in with the rest of the Revolutionary Army), realized he was far too weak to ever become Pirate King and thus decided to go looking for Pluton?
Or did Crocodile suggest to the Army they should try to obtain an Ancient Weapon to keep casulties to a minimum (still in line with the Army), only ending up getting kicked out (big weapon bad), and soon realizing he had no chance at making a change in the world without "cracking a few eggs"?
Like it doesn't nececarily make a massive difference,, since the end result is still the same, but it does kind of affect the context and how one might view him, right
Of course, there's then the Forbidden Third Option, that Crocodile left due to
Gender issues (internalized shame of being trans and not having it in him to stay around people who had known him)
Postpartum depression
Dragon just divorced Crocodile either due to being straight (in a sad, accepting way) or due to being simply unaccepting and frankly homophobic, regardless, Crocodile leaves with a broken heart
Something else and/or a combo of the above, really, we could speculate endlessly here about what could've happened
(Though I will say that Crocodile's '"trust issues"' and how he views people as disposable could like. I dunno. Be explained if he had gone through some heartbreak and was left permanently unable to open up to people, let alone trust anyone)
I dunno, there's a lot of options, a lot of things to considder.
But there is one more thing that I do want to note on as it could potentially debunk the Crocodad Theory entirely.
It's that Iva-chan didn't know Dragon had a son.
(Episode 441, 9:50 minutes)
By which I mean, Iva-chan wasn't shocked to find out Luffy was Dragon's son, rather, they were shocked there was a son to begin with. (To the point they thought Ace was also Dragon's son until Luffy cleared it up for them later)
While it's not a massive leap to believe that Crocodile and Dragon knew each other (since Crocodile knew Iva-chan), nor is it a massive leap to believe that Iva-chan transed Crocodile's gender after having Luffy... It does become a bit of a leap to believe Iva-chan didn't know about Dragon having a child with Crocodile before giving Croc the Magic HRT. Like if they had a relationship that resulted in a baby and a divorce, how did Iva not know about any of it, especially when it's more than likely that Iva could not have transitioned Crocodile until after the baby was born (let's not think about how Iva-chan's powers would work on a pregnant person too much)
We do also get this flashback (in episode 441, immidiately after Luffy reveals his dad's identity to Iva) where Iva-chan questions Dragon about how he always stares out towards East Blue when the wind blows, wondering if Dragon has family out there whom he's thinking about (Dragon refusing to comment on it). This does very much confirm that regardless of who Dragon had Luffy with, Iva has no fucking clue who, where and how any of that happened.
And althought I personally feel like Iva not knowing would debunk Crocodad, if Crocodile still somehow was Luffy's dad, Iva-chan would canonically not know about it. If Iva didn't know Dragon had a relationship that resulted in a baby, then regardless of if Iva even knew Crocodile got pregnant once, they would not be able to connect those dots.
Now let's be clear, there's many potential scenarios where Crocodad could still be real, scenarios that could explain why and how Iva-chan didn't know about Luffy nor about Dragon and Crocodile having a relationship*. Like it would not be difficult at all to come up with an explanation for it.
But in my mind, I feel like the more you have to figure out and explain how the theory could still be plausible, the less plausible it actually feels. Like the more I need to go out of my way to explain it, the more forced it seems.
*(For example, maybe the two kept their relationship a secret, and when Crocodile got pregnant he """left on a mission""" that happened to take like 4-10 months, during the time realizing he was trans. Once the baby had arrived he returned the baby to Dragon in secret for him to deal with, got a divorce for one reason or another*, and sought out Iva-chan to start a new life, Iva thus never found out about anything, just knew that Crocodile left one day after coming out. Like that's one plausible scenario.)
*Hey remember the potential Forbidden Reasons to why Crocodile might've left the Army? What if it was Dragon's and/or Crocodile's idea?
Remember how when Jinbei is trying to escape Marinford with the unconcious Luffy, Crocodile tells Jinbei to do better job at "protecting those he wants to protect", a line that felt really sudden and odd coming from Crocodile of all people?
What if the two knew their child would be in grave danger if he was ever raised within the army (absolutely not a place for a baby)? What if they knew their baby would become a target for the World Government to hunt, much like Roger's lost child was, if the Government found out Dragon had a baby? What if they wanted to make sure nothing bad ever happened to their baby and were willing to do anything to protect the baby? Even if it meant they'd never see their child grow up? Even if it meant hiding your child from your best friend, pretending to have a horrible fallout with them and transing your gender because Oda doesn't know what gender dysphoria is? Just so nobody would ever find out you had a child?
Mind you. I do not want anybody to think this is an actual argument for Crocodad. Like I could write a dozen different fanfics about how Crocodile could be Luffy's other dad, and they would all be just as much pure speculation with nothing to support them as the above suggestions. It is an example of what could have happened, and a deeply interesting thought, but it is just a theory at best.
In the end, it doesn't really matter though, because until the day Oda reveals Luffy's mom and/or Crocodile's backstory to us, we will truly never know for sure What The Fuck Crocodile's Deal Is
And I'll be just stuck with these brainworms, making myself sad by thinking about sad scenarios where Crocodad could be real, because truly, if it's canon, ain't no way it won't be sad
EDIT 3: Originally I thought it'd be good enough if I just rewatched some parts here and there, but in the end I just fucking absolutely caved the fuck in and went and reread The Good Parts of Marineford. Mainly because I knew I was forgetting things and Toei adding/changing things can affect a character reading.
Also it was just going to be easier to go through the manga and literally just all of Crocodile's scenes into an image folder for easier browsing, mainly because there's so much shit that happens between those scattered scenes it can be hard to like focus on one thing (especially if you're trying to specifically FIND those scattered scenes and appearances)
So yeah. Coming back a few days later to add shit to this god forsaken post. I need help
Actually changed my mind and made a separate post to continue this nonsense, enjoy
#Moon posting#One Piece#Sir Crocodile#I am being so very normal about Crocodile#So SO very normal#I'm sorry this is so fucking incoherent I just can not form a coherent thought about this for the life of me#Also sorry I had to use random OP reaction pics. This was a long ass post and I desperately needed to break up the text walls somehow#For the record while I doubt Crocodad is real I am 100000% emotionally invested in it and WANT it to be real#I'm just not convinced Oda can write a trans character this fucking nuanced#And I think I'd prefer Crocodad not being real over Crocodad being real but Stupid and/or Transphobic#Which fucking sucks because genuinely. Crocodad easily has the potential to be the one of the most tragic backstories in the series#But I don't trust Oda. And that's why I'm so doubtful above all else#Anyway yeah Crocodile has made me completely deranged someone please help#My brain needs to be vacuumed or something to get rid of the worms#OP Meta
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