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omens-daughter · 9 months

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When the malleus keys were first introduced, I noted that "malleus" means hammer, such as in the word mallet and also the bone in your inner ear that helps with hearing. I know this because of a witch hunting book from a long time ago called the Malleus Malefacarum (or the Hammer of Witches)

I make note of this.

They are called "hammer keys"

So, I'm sitting there. Episodes pass. I'm thinking about the Aeor arc in campaign 2 for some reason, can't recall why. But I'm thinking about it, and suddenly, I recall something

The Mighty Nein uncover notes about something called the Factorum Malleus project, AKA the God Hammer. We know this to actually be, canonically, what Ludinus has been trying to replicate with his keys courtesy of FRIDA and their memory of protecting one

In those notes the M9 recovered, the project head is noted as a mage named Athodan. It is stated that this mage uncovered a relic, which turned out to be a Luxon beacon, and used necromantic glyphwork to unlock some property from it that pleased the overseers of this mage's work. What this mage was working on prior to (or in conjunction with) the Malleus Factorum project was rejuvenation

I believe that Ludinus Da'leth is an ancient Aeorian mage named Athodan who worked on the original project to free Predathos and kill the gods

When the gods (collectively, Betrayer and Prime) struck Aeor out of the sky, I believe Athodan somehow survived, but lost all of his work

Maybe he wasn't in the city at the time. Maybe he had some sort of contingency. Regardless, he survived. And, in order to survive the Calamity, he made his way to Issylra and hid out in Vasselheim, the Dawn City, the last bastion of civilization left after the Calamity ravaged Exandria

Once people began migrating out from Vasselheim again, he settled in a town called Ivaadel. Maybe this is where he developed his harness thing that allowed him to rejuvenate again, since he'd be approaching pretty old age (depending on what was done with the Luxon beacon and how old he was when he did it)

He rejuvenates and relocates. Can't have anyone back home notice that Old Ass Ludinus is a 150 year old elf again, right?

He settles in Molaesmyr, because in this post-Calamity world, he is working with figurative rocks and sticks when it comes to magic and technology. So, he needs somewhere that will

a) have a natural wellspring of powerful magic, and

b) have access to relics from Aeor. Molaesmyr has both

And we know Ludinus began hoarding Aeorian artifacts as per Team Wildemount's investigationHe attempted something. Either a shoddy replication of what was built in Aeor, or just an attempt at communion with Predathos and that wiped out the city and corrupted the surrounding woodlands

Ludinus then runs off to Bysaes Tyl for a brief time before showing up on the Eve of Crimson Midnight (interesting name, that) and is credited with stopping the violence between powerful Dwendalian and Julous Dominion aristocratic mages. This accord he is able to reach with them is the basis on which he founds the Cerberus Assembly

The Cerberus Assembly is named after a conglomerate of mages from the Age of Arcanum and predates with Calamity

Knowing that Ludinus founded the modern Cerberus Assembly is kinda suspicious considering how little information of the Age of Arcanum survived the Calamity

He also mentions Laeryn in his notes (Abriya's character from ExU Calamity) and literally no one remembers who she is. Him being aware of her is nuts in the first place, even crazier if you think he is just a modern-day elf mage

In summary:

Ludinus Da'leth is a pre-Calamity, semi-immortal mage from Aeor named Athodan who has been using his knowledge of rejuvenation to keep himself alive for, at the very least, 1000 years

Too many boxes of this theory have been ticked, and I wholeheartedly believe it

#critical role #ludinus da'leth #athodan #the malleus keys #aeor #cr campaign 3 #cr campaign 2 #the factorum malleus project #critical role speculation #cr theory #critical role theory #age of arcanum #the cerberus assembly #exu calamity #the calamity

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winepresswrath · 9 months

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I do gotta say tho, even tho I’m mad at aziraphale because he’s being a terrible boyfriend like what you said about the “I forgive you like” because WHAT. But also I really like the way the show really demonstrates the underlying cruelty of heaven and it’s angels. Really shows the hypocrisy of a group of beings who are supposed to do good, especially aziraphale who really buys into the heaven propaganda, who hurts people, particularly the person who means the most to him. Because like you said he fully just takes advantage of that devotion Crowley has for him. Insane, this shwo makes me INSANE

I missed this anon and yeah! The angels were one of my favourite parts of the season, and I think the strongest element aside from Neil Gaiman deciding he's just a simple man who wants to put his otp in situations. They are deeply awful and I kind of love them. They are the exact kind of moralizing hypocrites who are callous and cruel precisely because they think being on team good means everything they do is justified and it's actually impossible for them to be in the wrong (they're angels! is it even possible for them to do the wrong thing?).

but!! To me, they also seem like they're basically kids? Obviously they're not literally children, but there is this very consistent reoccurring joke about how childish/sheltered/immature they are. Muriel is the most obvious example, but the archangels come off like bratty twelve year olds to her sweet little kid.

Gabriel is basically teenager in love flipping off his family as he runs away with his backstreet guy. Uriel is constantly picking at Michael, Michael is playing at being in charge like it's a game, and it's ridiculously easy for both Aziraphale and Crowely to trick them obvious half assed lies. They're not allowed to ask questions! The Metatron treats them like badly behaved kids out past their curfew. At any point an old man with a beard may pop up to scold them and send them home, and they're all scared of doing something wrong by his standards and getting in trouble with this guy who is pointedly not God but who lines up exactly with the pop-culture idea of god the father, and who offers Aziraphale, among other things, a respite from the hard work of figuring out what the right thing to do is for himself. It's fine! You don't have to question the belief system you were born into or make a painful break with everything you've ever known! Aziraphale has had six thousand years on earth to grow up, but the other angels have been sitting in a sterile white box playing "i'm not touching you" games with each other and filing paperwork.

And I think that's extra interesting because this season also really emphasizes:

Heaven has Institutional Problems

Aziraphale isn't the only angel who's unhappy in heaven. Gabriel and Muriel were both completely miserable. They just didn't understand that they were unhappy because they'd never experienced anything else.

Angels who aren't Aziraphale can change and grow! There's very explicitly Gabriel being changed by love and Muriel growing up a bit on earth, and from a more fan-theory angle there's also Jimbriel, who I think is probably basically Gabriel minus the war and six thousand years of playing referee for Michael and Uriel while unleashing an assortment of plague and calamities on earth because that's God's will! Buck up champ.

We also get Gabriel and Beezelebub talking about how their underlings basically live for Armageddon, "if you can call that living." This is so bleak. They've all been on a six thousand year time out just dreaming of the day they get to beat the shit out of each other until they feel better, but it won't work because eternity is just more of the box.

Anyway I think it's going in a distinctly eden adjacent direction. Aziraphale is going to tempt those angels with knowledge and the capacity for change. I have veered so far from your ask anon i'm sorry you're right heaven really went all out on sucking this season & while Crowley and Aziraphale are both fucking it up Crowley refrains from being spectacularly cruel to Aziraphale about it and Aziraphale should learn to return the favour. I forgive you!! I forGIVE you. I forgive YOU. "you can be an angel again" is actually a worse thing to say than "you're a demon. i don't even like you." when he finally picks crowley over heaven i'm going to lose my mind.

#good omens spoilers #good omens season two spoilers #idk it makes me sad that i didn't like the humans very much this season because i think ideally they're central to this whole how to be #a person question i also hope we get to see more of hell next season because i do think they're stuck in basically the same place #with a different aesthetic! and the stick being #thrown into a torture pit instead of thrown into hell #or like. mindwiped and locked in an office for all eternity #gabriel broke my heart which is embarrassing but when he goes from not even understanding what music is to experiencing #the simple pleasure of sharing a song with someone for the very first time and almost immediately hits repeat for eternity... baby. baby bo #i would also like more crowley! this was very much the season of aziraphale #which is fine but i missed him yelling questions at god and the bits where it seemed he really wanted aziraphale's opinion instead of just #wanting aziraphale to develop better opinions #next season had better be crowley wrestles with the universe i am telling you!!!#remember three months ago when i was like eh... another good omens season #i bet it'll be cute but i'm content with my book #i don't go here i said strapping on my clown shoes #seriously though i do think crowley is scared to admit to wanting to be good both because god rejected him and he doesn't want #to be a sucker for her (he is only interested in being a sucker for aziraphale)#and like. chase after something he's barred from and has already been told isn't for him.#and that's why it's so hard for him to admit even to himself that he too would be unhappy ditching earth #in ways that parallel aziraphale's unwillingness to let go of heaven as a source of moral authority and goodness #but the way aziraphale goes oh no! i cannot trust my own judgement and desires. They are suspect!#my judgement is that crowley is good and also funny and sexy. my desires are for his company and also his body #therefore the source of these desires is also maybe bad. i mean he's a demon. he's got to be bad #right??? but no. but i saw him do a good thing. but maybe i didn't? I should probably take a stance on this.#and he makes this crowley's problem until the apocalypse but then the second he gets the chance to cram crowley and his feelings for him #back in a heaven approved box he jumps at it in a way that requires just being WILDLY insensitive and dismissive of crowley's feelings #he's not just being a dick about their relationship he is being a dick about crowley as a person. and he should know better but is choosing #not to because he wants the easy out so badly. anyway i love him he was my favourite character all season no notes #good omens

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i-need-of-a-hobby · 1 year

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So we all know the theory that Gravity Falls, The Owl House and Amphibia take place in the same universe right?

its a pretty well know theory (even if you don't believe it) in all three fandoms but if you don't here's the gist of it:

so basically that theory is built off easter eggs, like willows dads having a book with Hop-Pops face on it

and references to the other shows like that entire Gravity Falls episode in Amphibia,

that imply that they’re taking place simultaneously, with gravity falls taking place in 2012 and TOH and amphibia taking place in 2019-2020 (without the covid the lucky bastards) with Camilla reading an article about a girl returning from a frog world in the season 2 finale of TOH

but that opens the door for a whole lot of inter-dimensional *shenanigans* and so many plot points i can and will argue reference and overlap with each other.

now theres the obvious similarities like how bills minions fit the description of beast demons from the owl house:

(ignore the circling its not my screenshot I found it on google)

and bill himself is on one of kings posters when he tries to teach Luz about demons:

Bill is also in the book that tells marcy about the calamity box:

a book I believe was written by ford since the cover says its by "Dr. P" (P-ines anyone?) and has eyes that look awfully familiar, which I think are a reference to either the cores eyes, the portal doors eye from toh, or Bills eye (and the fact that this eye symbol is so similar across shows feeds the theory that they're all in the same universe)

meaning the Bill is a semi-universal character/figure throughout the different realms

if the other realms (Bill's realm, the several Ford got trapped in, the Boiling Isles, and Amphibia) have access to each other, and Bill is as universal as he seems, he probably interacted with some citizens of those realms, and probably left a mark

now it's finally time for my personal take/add-in:

we never get an origin for the core

or the newts relation to the core

we get an episode about Andrias's personal history and his individual relation to the core, and how he came to be the guy who manipulated and then stabbed a very vulnerable teenage girl, but it seems like the core has just been with the Leviathan lineage since at least before Andrias's dad (who's over a thousand years old since thats how old the flashback is)

so, what am I rambling about?

well, if bill, a dream demon, made his way to amphibia, the core might have been the newts attempt to artificially replicate his powers

NOW HEAR ME OUT: on top of being incredibly powerful once he’s released in gravity falls

he also has the power to go into other peoples minds and search their memories like he does to Stan in his very introduction

which is an awful lot like what the core tries to do, since Andrias says the core is the hive mind of a dozen of the greatest newt minds and when Darcy happens it has complete access to her memories

not to mention how when it talks to andrias what physically appears when it talks are it’s eyes, which is what changes on dipper and Blendin (time travel dude) when bill possess them

the amphibians (powered by the music box) were an incredibly advanced civilization capable of a lot of damage (as seen by the literal frobot army they created

so i don't think it would be crazy to say that when they (specifically the newts) saw what a being like Bill could do, they would try to replicate it.

Obviously, the core and Bills mind-jumping powers are not the same, which is a way I'd say the Amphibians failed: instead of popping in and out of peoples minds like Bill does, the core completely takes their minds, more like a parasite.

we don't know all the parameters since we know basically nothing about the other newts in the hive mind, other than that each mind shows up as an eye on the cores "head" before and after it possesses Marcy. and speaking of the girl, she has no control or consciousness (that we know of) while under the cores control.

but we do get one and a half-ish examples of people who are very aware of the cores presence in their mind (unlike Bill) but are physically controlling their own bodies (we think) (unlike Marcy) and those two are Andrias and his dad, who both communicate with the core more like it's just a very dangerous, intrusive thought.

so.... yeah...

idk how to end this but please reblog and tell me if you think im crazy or not-

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bklynmusicnerd · 3 months

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Catch Up Part One:

- Honestly the "bon voyage" party was nice in theory but the execution was terrible. That being the setting where Trina finds out the full truth of the decision Spencer made was strange and anticlimactic choice. It doesn't make sense for Spencer to trickle truth something like sociopathic mooch getting her memory back when Trina has always been vocal about not trusting her, even with amnesia.

DR giving Joss the majority of the dialogue in terms of reacting to Spencer's decision was also pretty stupid. Cause in the grand scheme of things, this is building up to a tragic story for Trina and Spencer, so Trina's pov is what's necessary here. The most we got was Trina's rightful frustration that Spencer didn't tell her sooner and then some weird plan to have Joss "watch" Esme which we know is not going to amount to anything. So all in all, very poor execution of an important beat in the story.

- These writers definitely forgot the pandora's box evidence as a plot point and that's pretty yikes since they made such a big deal about it. Makes zero sense for Spencer, Trina and Joss to not at least discuss using it again.

- Curtis "bragging" about Trina and Trina basically saying thanks for the party and hugging him really highlights what a mistake it was to disappear Taggert and rush this idea of Curtis as Trina's father. These two don't have a real history to draw from and you can see it in how stilted and short the dialogue between them is.

The bond wasn't earned, it was rushed and so it lacks the warmth of her goodbye with Ava or even, Portia in her messiness. Taggert should be here and his absence will continue to cloud over any attempts to play Curtis like a father.

- The way Portia talks about Trina will always be bizarre to me. She kept talking about Trina being a "local" girl like the Greenland fiasco never happened. She tells Trina that she's in "awe" of her and her "wisdom" but then she speaks about her like she's a naive fool to pretty much anyone who will listen. There's a disconnect there and I'm never sure how intentional it is.

- Trina trying to rescue Spencer from Stella and Marshall's grilling was cute. The little moments where we're reminded that Trina is actually very protective of Spencer are always my favorite. There is no universe where Trina was going to spend a single second in that dorm once Spencer's apartment came through but I understand telling Portia & co. whatever they need to hear.

- The surrogacy story is the worst thing to happen to the Davis girls and it's made their dialogue incredibly boring. Kristina and Molly almost put me to sleep and I never thought I'd say that about Kristina.

- The Ava and Trina goodbye was probably the best moment of the party. Trina crediting Ava for her getting into The Sorbonne and Ava doing her genuine "aw schucks" face she does whenever Trina thanks her was so sweet. Ava definitely lied to Trina when she told her the Parisians won't mind speaking English to her, but I love that she already had Trina set up with a list of galleries to visit.

Again, Ava is weirdly the purest adult Trina has in her life because she's the only one genuinely in her corner with no caveats or talking behind her back. She believes in her in a way her actual mother sadly does not. I actually think it would have made more sense for Ava to throw the "bon voyage" party at the gallery but I digress.

- Heather Webber officially makes more sense than Laura. What a travesty. Heather was trying to put Laura on game about what a danger sociopathic mooch was to herself and others, and Laura spent the majority of the time trying to smugly act like she knew sociopathic mooch better than her actual mother. Clearly Lulu needs to wake up out of that coma soon because Laura is humiliating herself. The positioning of Heather in the leadup to the inevitable calamity is interesting.

I did not expect her to actually be aware enough to recognize that sociopathic mooch is lowkey a danger not just to herself but to demon spawn as well and is better off in jail with her. She also tried to warn Laura that sociopathic mooch was coming for Spencer and Trina.

She actually did more to try to stop what is about to happen than the good guys. If all of this does end up marking the end for her useless daughter like we suspect, this weirdly makes Heather something of a tragic figure herself. Desperately trying to stop her daughter from the violent end she keeps actively choosing.

- Laura doesn't even piss me off anymore. She just makes me cringe. The secondhand embarrassment is overwhelming. The only consolation in all of this is that she's definitely going to regret not listening to Spencer most and always assuming the worst of him.

- I found Kevin and Esme's last interaction sort of lackluster. Her attacking him wasn't surprising, and I wish they had spent less time doing the tired "woe is me" script with her and more time of Kevin and her going back and forth on Ryan.

It could have been interesting to see Kevin try to contrast her with Ryan and tell her how different she is from him, just for her to get pissed at him disrespecting her father's memory and hit him over the head. The obsession with trying to play her like a mother scorned when she doesn't actually give a shit about that demon spawn is why her pov during this latest spiral is kind of a flop.

The main reason she didn't believe Kevin when he said they cared about her outside of demon spawn is because her only understanding of bonds is transactional. She didn't care about any of them beyond what they could do/give her, so why wouldn't she expect the same of them? Her embracing being a sociopath didn't have to be played so pathetically, but that's their (weird) creative decision in this rushed endgame.

- Spencer sort of pulling Trina to the side to tell her privately how excited he was for "[their] future" was sweet. Those are actually the moments that matter the most in the build-up to a tragedy, and it's kind of embarrassing that there isn't more of a consensus in the writers' room about that. Spencer and Trina being excited for a future together that we, the audience, know is destined to be derailed is the entire emotional crux of the story. So it's a strange choice to dedicate less than a minute to that.

#general hospital

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oneinchfrog · 1 year

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ive been rereading A Theory of Butterflies and Other Insects by the lovely @/calamity-unlocked and i caught the swap au brainworms so. heres some rambling about what i think would happen if anne wound up at toad tower (long post warning!!!!)

Anne would likely follow a similar path that Sasha does, but for very different reasons, which is something interesting to think about

Anne would also rise to the top through friendship/compliments, except they are genuine

Anne’s strength is genuine interpersonal relationships, whereas Sasha’s (at least in Prison Break) is manipulation, but they both thrive in this specific situation

It only takes Anne a week or two to befriend almost everyone in the tower, except Grime, who thinks that shes manipulating his guards

“BRADDOCK! Why is the creature out of her cell? She’s dangerous!” “Aww, but boss, she’s teaching us how to paint our nails :(“

Eventually, when Grime is attempting to interrogate her, she spills out everything. How she blames herself for getting her and her friends trapped here, how if she’d only stood up to Sasha for once and not stolen the box they would still be safe at home, everything.

In Wartwood, she was always occupied going on weekly adventures, but at the Tower, she had a lot of solitary confinement time to reflect and inevitably blame herself for what happened.

Remember, this is early s1 Anne- she is full of self doubt and, as she said herself, does not love herself yet :( so all this spiraling think time is not good for her

This FINALLY gets to Grime. She starts sobbing and he's like holy shit,, she's not a horrible evil beast, she's just an insecure teenager

He lets her out and she's actually very helpful

She learns to swordfight and is a very loyal soldier. She’s been a follower her whole life, it comes easy to her

When the herons attack, she rallies the troops and inspires them to fight back, earning her the role as Grime’s lieutenant !!

there will inevitably be more, but i only tackled prison break for now since beyond that she would have to interact with marcy and i havent entirely sorted out marcy in wartwood yet!!

im also very excited to write abt sasha in newtopia... i think she and andrias would hate each other so so much and she wouldn't stop poking around the castle

#amphibia #amphibia swap au #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #sasha waybright #captain grime #grime amphibia #if the adhd doesnt calm tf down i might actually write this :/

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kind-of-genius · 1 year

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Rambly, stream-of-consciousness thoughts while watching Campaign 3 Episode 55

the elven king of Uthodurn stated Ludinus hoarded artifacts. did he attempt to continue the Factorum Malleus project with scraps of relics scrounged from expeditions into Aeor?

using the natural, heightened magic below Molaesmyr, did he attempt to fuel the cobbled together machine? and during a previous Apogee Solstice, he attempted to free Predathos with a similar ritual, but it failed and corrupted the forest?

The Eve of Crimson Midnight formed the modern Cerberus Assembly, and Ludinus stepped in to stop the carnage between mages from the Julous Dominion and Dwendalian nobility.

Did Ludinus suggest the name? It is stated that the mages named it after the Age of Arcanum group of the same name. It is possible the other mages knew of the original Cerberus Assembly because of their noble ties and potential family history to those who survived the crash of the flying city Zemnis during the Calamity. But it is also possible Ludinus remembered them from his time as Athodan.

"[Ludinus] began a very forthright and functioning member of society. Then, as time went on, he began to become frustrating for some people. There was tension with him and the various temples..."

The approach of an earlier Apogee Solstice perhaps made him more irritable?

The motherfucker immigrated to Molaesmyr! From Issylra! One of the least populated, most isolated, and most mysterious continents on Exandria! A likely story for someone who may have survived the fall of Aeor and was trying to hide his incredibly long history...

Additionally, Isslyra houses Vasselheim. Vasselheim withstood the Calamity. Did Athodan wait out the Calamity there, then move to Molaesmyr? Or did he just lie about his origins?

Regardless, his immigration to Molaesmyr seems to be a mark in the box for Ludinus is Athodan. That seems to support the magically prolonged lifespan theory I originally posited, less the consecution one.

Did he immigrate there because he noticed that was where a leyline nexus would be, much like the nexus over the Hellcatch? Did he attempt to free Predathos then, using the wellspring of natural magic below Molaesmyr (rather than arcane cores?), but failed? Ending up only in corrupting the Savalirwood and the fall of Molaesmyr?

Did Ivaadel befall a similar fate to Molaesmyr? Has Ludinus been nuking cities in his attempts to free Predathos with the relatively primitive technology and arcanum of post Calamity Exandria?

Legitimately, I am becoming more and more convinced Ludinus is Athodan, and his mysterious origins prior to Molaesmyr only have me believing it harder.

#critical role #cr spoilers #the bells hells #critical role spoilers #cr3 #critical role campaign 3 #critical role speculation #ludinus da'leth #athodan #molaesmyr #aeor #the cerberus assembly #cr c3e55 #cr c3e55 spoilers #predathos #apogee solstice #ruidus #the factorum malleus project #cr theory

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chaosintheavenue · 1 year

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Ghoul Survey Results!

The Ghoul Survey managed to collect 110 responses (thank you all!). The nature of the data means that pie charts aren't working very well to display it coherently, so I'm just going to present the numbers as they are.

Without further ado...

Favourite companion:

Raul: 35 Hancock: 31 Charon: 24 Dean Domino: 9 Lenny: 4 Otto Steed (VB): 4 Herbert: 3 Billy-Bob: 3 Measles (VB): 2 Chris the Ghoulrilla: 2

Favourite non-companion character:

Gob: 20 Kent Connolly: 9 Jason Bright: 8 Beatrix Russell: 8 Daisy: 7 Carol: 5 Harold (proclaimed by one respondent as an 'honorary ghoul'): 5 Desmond Lockheart: 3 Arlen Glass: 3 Rotface: 3 Oswald the Outrageous: 3 Eddie Winter: 2 Tulip: 2 Calamity: 2 Wiseman: 2 Dr Sebastian (VB): 2 Harland: 2 Ghoulrillas generally: 2 Ghoul NCR soldiers generally: 2

And as always, a list of those with one vote: Tommy Ten-Toes, Bessie Lynn, Hadrian, Keely, Typhon, Snowflake, Talius, Skeeter, Set, Bobbi No-Nose, Vault-Tec Rep, Griffon, T-Minus, Betty Hill, Zhao, Ghoulified!Moira Brown, Sun of Atom, Greta, Argyle, Eugenie, Billy Peabody, and Bert Gunnarsson

Favourite settlement/faction:

Underworld: 49 Necropolis: 21 The Bright Brotherhood: 14 The Slog: 13 Gecko: 4 Kiddie Kingdom: 3 Kansas City/Gravestone: 2 The Reservation (VB): 1 Camp Searchlight: 1 Eugenie's ghoul settlement: 1 Broken Hills: 1

Do all ghouls eventually turn feral?

No: 97 Yes: 12

What causes ghouls to turn feral?

General level of radiation exposure post-ghoulification: 25 Social isolation: 22 The circumstances of how they ghoulified in the first place: 11 Reliance on radiation instead of food as an energy source: 10 Genetics: 9 Other: 23

Within the Other category, most said a combination of some or all of the above factors, or pure random chance. Other theories included…

Level of FEV exposure

The person's personality and morality pre-ghoulification

Infections and how well the ghoul cares for their wounds

A form of dementia

Psychic/supernatural phenomena

Brain chemistry pre-ghoulification

Level of mental duress post-ghoulification

Their level of internal connection to their own humanity

Ghouls cannot physically starve, but do feel hunger. If they don't eat for too long, they get a severe case of 'hangry' and turn feral

(Looking through the theories on this question caused me to suddenly and violently remember the glaringly absent 'What causes ghoulification in the first place?' question I'd planned to include… I guess that leaves room for Ghoul Survey 2: Electric Boogaloo?)

Do ghouls still physically need to eat, drink, sleep, all the basics?

Yes, to survive: 71 Yes, to avoid turning feral: 30 No: 9

If a child became ghoulified, would they remain child-sized, or grow?

Remain child-sized: 53 Grow to adult size as a human would: 39 Other: 18

The contents of the Other category, in loose order of how common each theory was:

They would grow to an extent, but not to what their human height would have been, and will likely have a unique appearance generally

They would eventually grow to an adult size, but over an extremely long time frame

The ghoulification process is so unique to each individual that it's impossible to predict what would happen, especially in an exceptional case like this

Children are so unlikely to survive ghoulification in the first place that asking this question is essentially irrelevant

Feral ghoul children would grow, others would not

And now we come to the final question, the blank text box. I'll add a handpicked selection of the original comments and a brief ship count under the cut for brevity's sake:

I have 3 ghoul OCs that came to life because of a joke me and my friend had. They're a group of prewar cheerleaders turned borderline raider gang. They're like 17/18 year old girls. […] So all in all while all the rest of my OCs are dying and barely getting by they're sunbathing by a murky, algae filled pool with silly sunglasses and crappy cocktails. Oh and yeah,they kept their uniforms and wear them all the time.

Ghouls have one of the most heart breaking stories. Especially the Pre-War ones. They watched many (if not all) of their friends and family die in one way or another. The best in universe example of how mentally draining being a Pre-War ghoul was is in Oswalds terminals around the Kiddy Kingdom in Nuka World. You get a real sense of the fear and loss of seeing these people you've been forced to get close with slowly stop mentally existing even if their still physically there. Oswalds hope that a cure can be found is heartbreaking because we know (as far as I'm aware) of no existing cure for Ghoulism and especially for feral ghouls.

Ghoulification isn't a condition or a sickness or a consequence of making poor choices, its an adaptation for life in the wasteland and a useful one at that.

I love all the ghoul characters and chose Lenny as my favourite because A. I think he’s underappreciated and B. Second only to Charon, he has the most potential for a really cool backstory that they never addressed. Dude is a doctor in Necropolis, he would have been treating the other vault dwellers for radiation sickness. Imagine the trauma! The angst! It included his father who’s to say there wasn’t more of his family in that vault that he tried to help and failed? How did he survive the super mutant attack on necropolis? Was he below the city or above it (was he angry at humans and got over it or just trying to live peacefully?)

I think 90% of the veteran rangers are all ghouls. I like to think there's large ghoul settlements all over. I like to think there's ghouls who look completely human. Chris Haversam is ghoulifing on the inside but he still looks human. The Human Companions in Fallout 4 who are all immune to radiation are that way due to that process.

It makes sense ghouls would think their immune to radiation, but really, it just takes longer. their resistant, not immune. places like the glowing sea would make amazing homes for ghouls to the average eye, but once you see how many feral ghouls are around you start to think about how many came there feral to begin with.

I have this hc about Jason Bright where he is a pskyer and the reason why his voice echos is because one of the voices you're hearing physically with your ears and the other he is unintentionally projecting into your mind with telepathy.

I imagine there's many Vaults that are full of just ghouls.

I got a headcannon that ghouls are naturally warmer, due of radiation. the 'younger' the ghoul, the warmer. pre war ghouls arent that warm as the ones who turned years ago.

Headcanon: if a ghoul works to maintain their voice (i.e. general vocal care like how opera singers do), they can keep their voice from getting as scraggly as most. My 76 OC was a Broadway actress before the war and continued to maintain her voice despite aging and eventual ghoulification, which allowed her to keep it (mostly) in tact.

I think Oswald was the reason his friends turned feral. He kept exposing them to radiation and every time he healed them with radiation or brought them back from the dead makes things harder. But ultimately it's a super rare gene that keeps non feral glowing ones.

I think the Eldritch Old Ones are the unofficial cause of the ghouls. The radiation is just an effect but the the Old Ones choose who to make feral, who to turn, and sometimes they'll turn without radiation at all.

Rn I’m working on a setting set in central MA, and one of the characters is a ghoul history teacher since he is a prewar ghoul. It’s been a fun concept to play with!

Bit of a headcanon- ghouls tend to have a heightened sense of smell, but are mostly nose blind to smells of burning and rot.

Glowing ones don't turn feral. Every feral glowing one was feral BEFORE they were glowing.

I hc that all ghouls are sensitive to light which is why most chill in dark places.

And last but certainly not least...

I want to marry Raul.

And so, that concludes that.

A huge thank you once again to everyone who took the survey and offered your thoughts, and I hope you found this results post interesting/insightful :D

Appendix: But Chaos, you promised us...

1 - Analysis of ghoul x ghoul ships!

So, upon an brief glance-through of the data whilst the survey was still running (I was trying not to 'spoil' the dataset for myself so I only peeked here and there), it seemed like a relatively large chunk of the recent respondents had mentioned ships, which is why I proposed adding a dedicated section for them in the results. However, in the final results we actually only have two ghoul x ghoul ships mentioned: Carol x Greta and Gob x Charon. A handful of other answers talked about shipping Charon and Gob with their LWs and Raul with their Couriers, but overall there just wasn't a whole lot of shipping discussion going on. Sorry to disappoint lol

2 - Born ghoul discussion!

Ah. Yes. That. Well, this is a similar situation again, actually. There are references to relevant characters within the dataset, but nothing went into anywhere near as much detail as I somehow convinced myself it had, and so I didn't have to leap in with the dreaded Born Ghouls 101 after all. I think my brain may have bluescreened prematurely upon seeing the slightest hinted mention of Van Buren's ghoul lore in there hgfdfgh

#ghoul survey #the results are in!#the overwhelming outcome of this survey for me has been a renewed desire to learn more about ghouls in the fallout games I tend to neglect #and I have to say. I may just not have reached the right audience but there was *zero* hancock thirst. I was shocked lol #long post

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longlistshort · 24 days

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Julia Schenkelberg, “Blue Ocean”, 2020, Blue dye, resin, rusted metal from Detroit factory floors, plaster chips, vintage china, glass from Brooklyn beaches

Malone University Art Gallery’s exhibition Healing Spaces features work by Northeastern Ohio artists Julie Schenkelberg, Chen Peng, Yiyun Chen, and Emily Bartolone. Although the mediums differ, the work flows together in the room. Below are some selections and more about each artist from the gallery’s documentation.

Julie Schenkelberg, "Modern Memorial", 2020, Found screen, plaster, acrylic paint, vintage leather and fabric, jewelry box interior, glass gathered from Cleveland and Detroit auto and steel factory abandoned floors, vintage glass slide of the Parthenon Frieze

Julie Schenkelberg grew up in the post-industrial landscape of Cleveland, Ohio. Her mixed-media installations start with furniture, dishware, textiles, and marble, combined with concrete, resin, and construction materials, to transform notions of domesticity, and engage with the American Rust Belt's legacy of abandonment and decay. Using the home as a playground for formal and conceptual subversions, the work aggressively disrupts cohesion within the physical sphere. Familiar furnishings rekindle memories or premonitions of collapse, suggesting both the utter destruction of war, calamities, or urban decay, but also the uncanny juxtapositions of fragile substances such as cloth and china, with industrial materials such as rusty metal, heavy concrete, and tool-made marks such as drilled holes and chain-sawed indentations.

Chen Peng, Paintings from the "Mountains at Night" series, 2023, gouache, acrylic, and oil on canvas

Deriving from a desire to find stillness and grounding as an immigrant, Chen Peng explores the connection between landscape and the complexities of identity and belonging. She creates foreign landscapes from a combination of past experiences, memories, and imagination, delving into the disorienting sense of not knowing where home is. The moon, particularly in its fullness, becomes a symbol encapsulating emotions and metaphors associated with loneliness, reverence, and even terror. Her ceramic pieces extend this exploration of landscapes, featuring textures and marks that convey the essence of mountains, clouds, and the moon.

Photographs from from Yiyun Chen's series "Velleity", 2016-2018

The photography of Yiyun Chen is about the process of self-reflection and self-discovery as an Asian immigrant, exploring the relationship between people, environment and society, turning its personal experience and empathy into gentle conversations between humans and nature, capturing the poetic and distance of the environment around us. Through photography, we can take the essence of life seriously again and treat the people and things around us tenderly. Through his lens, they often have similar structure, people look tiny in nature scenes, creating an intimate visual experience. Most of his photographs are captured outdoors, with soft light and harmonious colors often used.

Stemming from her infatuation with the formal elements of painting, the work of Emily Bartolone pairs down simple, anthropomorphized shapes in an effort to explore paint and color theory while simultaneously creating tension and humor through color, edges, and texture. The playful, human qualities of painting are incorporated into the work through the use of amorphous shapes animated within the picture plane. Further informed by ideas of the mundane, the awkward, and the jovial that surround everyday life, the complexity of human relationships are mimicked by the shapes interacting on each painting's surface. In acknowledging that life is not always cordial, moments of tension are placed within the satisfying surfaces in the form of an abrupt mark, a disparate color, or a shift in scale. These ideas are used to take viewers outside of themselves for a short period of time, hoping to offer a break from the bombardment of distractions, notifications, and news we encounter so often on a daily basis.

This exhibition closes 4/9/24.

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detentiontrack · 2 months

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What do you think would have happened if, in True Colors, during Anne and Sasha's fight, Sasha didn't hold back and beated Anne in the duel?

Oh I have a theory and a half baked fanfic au about this! I think if she beat Anne in battle, she wouldn’t want her and the Plantars (and maybe Marcy) to get in the way of her plans, so she would’ve sent them back to amphibia (assuming she figured out how to use the calamity box). She would have kept Andrias jailed, and she would have taken over all of amphibia over time. I think she would start having imposter syndrome like thoughts (especially with guilt over what she did to her friends) so she would go down to the dungeons to ask Andrias how he managed to stay king through all those years. Andrias would have done what he does best, manipulate children, and convinced her to start being on his side. I think she would have been valued for her strength, resilience, manipulative skills, and being able to do whatever it takes to get to the top. I think he would have eventually manipulated her to join the core (or escaped and forced her to join the core) and then we would have a Dasha situation.

#asks #anon #amphibia #sasha waybright

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chungledown-bimothy · 10 months

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my craziest trw take/theory on matt was that he was actually kind of nervous taking it on (like, brennan swooped in and delivered exu calamity. doing the semi spiritual followup would be intimidating) and defaulted to more of what he was comfortable with which is more of that default narration that washes across your head. cuz i have seen him be way crazier and sillier on cr, i have seen him enable shenanigans of his chaotic players (most recent example of this is actually emily's guest pc in campaign 3!). between that, the lack of box of doom, and some of the ruling i think we can agree he wasn't the best part of the season. i like him fine as a dm, and he wasn't a drawback to my enjoyment of trw. but i know there is an alternate universe out there where he meshed better with the d20 style if u get what i mean (of course there is just dm style preference but i'm giving my thoughts as someone who's seen more of him). adding onto this nightmare length of an ask thank you for making ur criticisms in good faith. i probably know if i sent this take into the wild i'd prob get shot at by both cr and d20 people alike lmao

iirc in the last adventuring party he straight up said he had a big box of doom note but was so nervous he forgot.

interesting, and good to know! it for sure makes sense, and it is a bummer that there was that potential that didn't quite make it to the table

thank you for joining this convo with your perspective with more cr experience!

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emblematicemblazer · 8 months

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Worldbuilding and theories of Engage

Personal skills.

In Lythos the personal skills of each character relates to their official duty.

Lumera and Alear

Divinely Inspiring - Adjacent Allies deal +3 damage and take 1 less damage.

I imagine that Alear inherited the personal skill when Lumera poured her lifesource them.

The skill relates to The Divine Dragon's ability to inspire people to want to fight by their side. The 'less damage' part is a reference to their role as protector and bringer of peace.

The image of the skill looks like two wings cupping two people.

The wings of God are a place of refuge. “Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast” (Psalm 57:1). “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust” (Psalm 91:4).

The wings are the Divine Dragon offering refuge and love to the People of Elyso.

Vander

Alabaster duty - If unit is adjacent to the Divine Dragon, grants Crit+5 during combat to both of them.

Firstly the personal skill references Vander's role as a steward by only granting power when he is near The Divine Dragon. The 'Crit+5' references how The Divine Dragon inspires Vander and how Vander helps The Divine Dragon focus on important tasks.

Alabaster is a smooth white stone used for statues and ornamentation. The buildings of Lythos are made of white stone from the surrounding cliffs and mountains. This skill references his connection to the island.

Alabaster is an important symbol in the bible. It is a symbol of the relationship between Mary of Bethany and Jesus. Similarly it served as a symbol of the relationship between Vander and the two Divine Dragons. Mary of Bethany gave her everything to Jesus and anointed him with expensive perfume in an alabaster box. Mary built up a relationship with Jesus by sitting at his feet and listening to his teachings. When her brother Lazarus died, it was Jesus who offered her comfort. The meaning of the alabaster box is that it represents Vander's and Mary's lives. They gave up everything and gave their hearts, devotion and trust to their Saviour because nothing can compare to them.

The personal skill symbol of Vander, Framme and Clanne except the colour is different.

Tibetan Buddhists believe that during lunar and solar eclipses, the effects of one's good or bad deeds are multiplied severalfold. The good deeds of Vander, Framme and Clanne are rewarded with benefits in battle.

Clanne

Verdant faith - If unit is adjacent to the Divine Dragon, grants Hit+10 during combat to both of them.

Just like Vander's personal skill, the effects of Clanne's 'verdant faith' are only triggered by being near the Divine Dragon. once again it is a reference to his role as a steward.

Verdant means green. In the bible green is used to symbolise how a righteous man will devote himself to God and grow and flourish under His divine light. If Clanne devotes himself fully then he will grow and flourish.

'The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green,' (Psalm 92:12-15)

Framme

Crimson/ Scarlet cheer - If unit is adjacent to the Divine Dragon, grants Avo+10 during combat to both of them.

In Japanese the personal skill is called 'scarlet cheer'.

The colour scarlet symbolises the blood of Christ and Christian martyrs. When Isaiah says that the Lord can change our sins from scarlet or crimson to snow or wool, he is saying that the Lord can do something that is impossible for us to do on our own. A cloth dyed red stays red. But regardless of the stain of our sins, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can make us pure again if we repent. If Framme devotes herself to the Divine Dragon and repents her sins then she will be able to achieve anything.

#fire emblem engage #fe engage #fe alear #fe lumera #fe vander #fe clanne #fe framme

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pageofheartdj · 1 year

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Ohhh snap! I count myself as one of the few fans who does NOT want Gravity Falls and The Owl House to have any more canonical crossover than has already been implied (even though I adore both shows) but if we’re looking at TOH lore through the context of Aztec/mesoamerican mythology itself, there is a LOT to unpack and I am HERE for it! My mind is racing because I’d legit never thought of it from that angle. (And, I mean, a major TOH premise is that human realm mythology is connected to aspects of the Boiling Isles leaking through, sooooo…)

I entertain myself with a crossover of every kid generation going through supernatural trauma XD With twins being in their thirties, calamity trio in their twenties like in the end and TOH gang as freshly traumatised XD All just randomly meeting in Mystery Shack cause where else!! Purely for all the talking AND shenanigans(the invasion didn't happen and maybe the music box isn't all dead for convenience and more fun interactions XD Just IMAGINE adult but as quirky Mabel, teen Polly and newly adopted Collector team-up! The CHAOS XD) dshj sorry i rambled XD

This can actually mean things!! And TOH already looks like it has inspirations from different mythos which is soooo cool and gives so much space for different theories!!

#the owl house #toh

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puttybutter · 2 years

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ALL IN WAS SO GOOD!!!

So I have some theories, some thoughts about the prophecy.

Three stars burning bright

This is Sasha, Anne and Marcy obviously, but the burning brightly means they all have thier powers. Sasha and Marcy will have extract thier cool anime powers from the box. Does this mean destroying it? Removing and or breaking the gems?

Come from beyond to expel the night.

The 3 girls come from Earth and they are said to expel or force out the night. Is the night the giant red moon? In a way the red flow lights up the night too.

Should they fight or embrace the fall

We've had many moments are people physical falling, Sasha from the toad tower, Sprig from the flying castle being the two big ones. And now with this giant red moon hurtling towards them, it could be a nod to that. Are they fighting with each other, are they fighting the giant falling rock? Or does it just need to happen?

Their choice will determine the fate of all.

We saw at the end that the core did not get destroyed, it crawled away to its last hope of survival. I think this line refers to a choice each girl has to make.

Marcy had the choice to have act on seeing the calamitt box in the thrift store. She was distressed and anxious about moving away. She and Sasha bully Anne into stealing it. Her intentions were hopeful but ultimately selfish. But its all part of the prophecy

Sasha had to grow as person. Granted they all grow as people. Sasha could have made the choice to stay angry and hateful. She was going to become the ruler of Amphibia! But she changed! She had to choose to let her walls down and treat people with kindness. She had to choose to forgive Marcy after everything she put the three of them through. She had to let go of control.

Anne will have the toughest decision in The Hardest Part. She will need to choose to destroy the calamity box in order to save Amphibia and Earth. Her adventures and self discovery has really helped her grow as a person. But she will have to let it go. Her powers, the plantars, Amphibia, all of it. She will end up back home with Sasha and Marcy (maybe she will still move away?) and all of LA, but a part of her will hurt for a very long time.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #sasha waybright #calamity trio #calamity box #prophecy

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