#probably the only horn dog scene
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Idk what to call this so you make up the title
@huskers-bar x @nunalastor
Tags: enemies to lovers, angst?, eventual fluff, yearning?, soft huskers-bar, both mods are separate people, no beta we die like i do in this fic (not yet though), minor character death, ooc, au: hellaverse (hazbin hotel), nunalastor is head of the marketing department of the hazbin hotel (lucifer grabbed them randomly), jealousy?, huskers-bar is an employee at voxtek, lulu and angie as villains, lulu is a dog
chapter: 1/? Word count: 1,431
Featuring: babygirl anon and (eventually) @xxx-angie . I may add more along the way depending on who wants to be added. I can probably shoe-horn-in a few more characters
For the sake of not tagging people a million times, I will call nunalastor as a single entity nunalastor, traumatized mod dickmaster and cursed mod nun. and huskers-bar just husk. babygirl anon will be babygirl anon. i will be shortened to lulu but I don't appear in this fic yet. Angie doesn't appear yet, but he will be angie.
A/N: anyway this is 100% going to be a huskers-bar harem fic because i can write whatever i want. This first chapter kinda boring but it gets better (source: trust me bro). Lemme know if you'd like to see any changes. Anyway, goodbye for now. I have uni to get to so less frequent posting (sorry dickmaster, you'll have to live without any of my horrid art for a little while)
"Did you know that Alastor made a happy deer squeak during this scene?"
Ah, yes, the words that twist people's dreams into nightmares. Innocent innitially, and maybe even amusing for a good while, but the longer one lingered, the more their skin would crawl with irritation and burn their insides. Especially when one knew the context surrounding this particular phrase. And boy, did Nunalastor know the context.
~
"Another day, another inbox to slay, another heavenly lord to betray" Dickmaster accessed their and Nun's shared blog, unsurprisingly to hundreds if not thousands of asks invading their inbox, all of which were echoes of different variations of *thumps* and *squeaks*. If Nunalastor hadn't already grown accustomed to such deviancy, they would be horrified. Still, the depraved ideas these people came up with never failed to send shivers down their spine, and not the pleasant kind.
And why do they subject themselves to this? you may ask. It was simple. In exchange for free housing, food and supplies, Lucifer Morningstar, the devil himself and father of Charlie Morningstar had requested their help. You see, originally their blog was not this unfortunate cesspool of deranged demons who wanted to see the devil, overlords and sinners squirm under immense sexual pleasure. It used to be a simple marketing tool for the Hazbin hotel, but as all things in hell, it never goes smoothly. It wasn't like they had a choice in the matter anyway, refusing the king of hell's requests was not an option! His commands were absolute.
Dickmaster took one deep breath, running both hands through their hair and clearing their mind, preparing for probably several hours of torture that was going to be their asks. They poured themselves a drink, setting down in front of their screen. Taking a few moments to relish the silence, they closed their eyes and listened to the soft hum of their beaten up 1950's style computer, courtesy of Alastor's ban on Voxtek products at the hotel. Clicking on their inbox tab, they mentally braced themselves. even if they knew, they could never truly predict the horrors hell had to offer.
"time for #housekeeping" They declared, stretching their fingers, getting their reaction images on the ready and sifting through their own version of digital hell. It would only get worse from here.
~
As Nunalastor started to clean their digital home, erasing one cursed ask after another, responding to one alastor circus theory after another, One ask in particular caught their attention. It was definitely a surprise, and a welcome one at that. It stood out like a sore thumb, simple yet elegant, divine and a blessing among heaps of cursed messages that would have asmodeus and satan themselves shaking in fear.
"hi dickmaster" - anon
Nunalastor couldn't explain it. They don't know what came over them, but they felt a strange sense of attraction to this one particular anon. They were sweet, they gave them a place of solace from the dread that was piss kink headcanons and cursed deer facts, equivelent of the clogged up plumming disasters alastor had to fix with his bare hands at the Hazbin hotel. It was the piece of gold nugget hidden in a swamp full of moss and dog urine.
Dickmaster stared at the message for a good few seconds, really taking in the plainness and beauty of the two words before their eyes, appriciating all that message was as a small smile made its way up their face. This called for a special occasion. Dickmaster gripped their keyboard, nearly smashing it with the force. Their fingers danced along the keys and crafted a response like no other, one worthy of this random anon that managed to make their day a bit brighter.
"Hi babygirl" - Nunalastor
~
On the other side of the pentagram, a kind, sweet and not at all deranged huskers was scrolling through hells version of tumblr. Voxtek devices had proven to be quite useful in the underworld. It served as the main source of entertainment and escape for the lonely, not only for husk, but other sinners alike. Besides, being an employee meant he had extra privileges with Voxtek. Regardless, it introduced husk to the nunalastor blog, which was the best moment of their life (or lack thereof, considering they're dead).
They'd quickly grown accustomed to the undeserved hate thrown their way upon their first ever interractioin. Though they didn't understand, they could play along. They found strange comfort in the twisted logic that any form of attention was better than none. After all, being singled out meant they were special in the eyes of Nunalastor, right? that's how husk comforted themselves anyway. And they haven't seen Nunalastor actually reply to anyone with actual love before.
That is... until it happened. Someone who would later reveal themselves as babygirl anon, husks worst adversary and the unfortunate victim of lulu's slander showed up on their feed.
"hi dickmaster" - anon
"Hi babygirl" - Nunalastor
Husk stared at the screen in shock, their eyes widening and heart growing heavy. Countless questions and conflicting emotions swirled within them, each clutching their hold for attention. 'Is nunalastor serious? Do I not want them to be serious? Why can't I be treated the same? What did I do?' And amidst the chaos, one thought rose to the surface, crystal clear in Husk's mind.
'I want to be loved like that'
The frustration of being at the end of every one of Nunalastors verbal spears finally caught up to husk. Every small jab they'd written off as jokes suddenly felt like small pin needles scraping their skin. Unable to deal with the whirlwind of emotions and the confusion of it all, Husk sought solace in the one place they could always trust, the bottom of a bottle.
So they took a swig. And another. And another. Intil there wasn't a shred of emotion left to feel. Not a single thread of frustration left in them, not a nerve of anguish, not a line of confusing verbal spewage...
And not even a speck of self-restraint
~
"THEY JUST KEEP COMING" Dickmaster exclaimed, more like yelled as their inbox was flooded with more cursed asks at a rate faster than they could answer. At this pace, they'll be there all day, answering these asks like a poor overworked minimum wage employee at a call center.
"They'll run out of ideas eventually" Nun responded, nonchalantly, leaning against a nearby wall, sipping on a drink of their own. Nun watched as dickmaster struggled to find another reaction image fast enough so they could call it quits and leave the rest of the struggles for future Nunalastor to handle, or more accurately when it would be nun's turn to answer all the unhinged people in their inbox.
The hurried clicking of the keys on a keyboard could be heard throughout the entire room, bouncing off the walls, reflecting exactly how much infestation was actually happening in nunalastors inbox by the minute. "it would be great if you could answer a few you know, my fingers are dyin-"
And then it suddenly went quiet. The clicking died down and the unbelievably loud buzzing of their computer, along with the hitched breathing of Dickmaster was the only sound bouncing around the room. Nun of course raised a brow at this. "what's the holdup? we can't afford to take a break you know" they said, as if they were the one answering all of the asks in the first place.
nun walked over, curious as to what exactly had stopped dickmaster in his endless pursuit of emptying their inbox, considering they were always the more enthusiastic one of the two. "are you okay?" nun asked, half sarcastically. Their eyes landed over the current ask in their inbox.
"I wish you'd love me" huskers-bar
and suddenly the silence made sense. the pause had been a justified one.
dickmaster inhaled, followed by a deep and saddened exhale. they didn't want to take their eyes off of those five words. they could stare in awe and amazement at them for hours. it wasn't even the fact that it was just another ask that wasn't cursed, but because it was huskers-bar that sent-
a hand on dickmasters shoulder snaps them out of their daze, being brought back to reality, the pitiful reality. they were in hell for a reason, they reminded themselves.
"you remember our deal, don't you, dickmaster?" nuns voice cut through the buzzing, sounding deep, gruff, threatening and slightly saddened.
"yes of course" dickmaster turned back to the monitor, giving one last look at the ask before typing out what nunalastor has agreed would be the appropriate response.
"you'll get over it. #we are a huskers-bar hate blog"
#i'm kind of sorry but i cant take writing seriously when i called one of yous dickmaster askfdjaslkdfjoasidjgf#huskers-bar x nunalastor#i hope at least. idk i dont read this shit back to myself. my self esteem is low enough already#lulu is delulu#nunwhiskers
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Alastor
My thoughts about : Alastor.
I have spent the last week
about Hazbin Hotel again and also looked at Helluva Boss.
The character I got stuck on this time is Alastor. If I'm
honestly, I didn't like him at all at the beginning. My girlfriend was immediately enthusiastic because she's known the series for a long time. At first I thought that everyone was
overhyping it and that it wasn't interesting at all. BUT that changed drastically, when I watched the series again. This time I generally paid more attention to details in general. It's not easy to scare me, especially with a cartoon.
But watching it again, there were a few moments that sent shivers down my spine. shiver down my spine. Especially in the duet with Vox. In his radio room, he is totally himself
and relaxed. Outside where the other sinners and his friends are
he doesn't really show this side on a daily basis. But there, where he is also with Vox, he is relaxed. And this relaxed, joyful Alastor scares me.
scares me.
His appearance changes during the Let's begin part. He changes from mocking and kind of funny to evil and sneaky. He's usually sneaky too, but there he looks even more like evil itself. Something I also find very creepy is his growing limbs. In the song, it's his horns that give him a creepy touch. In the scene where he's defending the hotel it's even worse because he gets bigger and not only his horns grow, but also his shadow tentacles. Another creepy thing about his appearance is that his teeth become more pointed and he gets strings on his body. Oh and his eyes. The fact that they look like radio displays is very creepy.
I realise that he's probably based on the Wendigo creatures and I have to say that's very interesting because you can also deal with parts of his past. So that he was a serial killer and ate human flesh. Wendigos are supposedly created by people eating other people and being cursed and becoming creatures that crave human flesh. Also interesting is his death, about which there are several theories. After all, he seems to have been shot and or attacked by dogs. Since his death can be located in the 1930s, death by shooting is not unlikely. I don't think he was only killed because he was mistaken for a deer. I think it's more likely that he was caught in the act of killing someone and shot. Maybe he was killed when the dogs were set on him. But it doesn't really matter how he was killed because he's one of the most interesting characters in Hazbin Hotel I think. His appearance is definitely well done and far creepier than the other characters.
Let's take Valentino as an example. Is he evil? Yes. Is he unscrupulous and hurts others? Yes. Is he sadistic? Yes. Do people hate him? Yes, too. But he's much more superficial than Alastor. Alastor still seems like you could like him with his charming manner. But that's just an act. But he is a well-written character. I could write a lot more about him, but I won't for now.
Love Angel
#hazbin alastor#hazbin angel dust#hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel headcanon#hazbin hotel husk#hazbin hotel lucifer#hazbin vaggie#hazbin hotel valentino#charlie morningstar#hazbin hotel charlie#the vees#velvette#alastor#wendigo#character analysis
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And what if none of their souls were saved?
They went to their maker impeccably shaved
My own little spooky challenge for the month!! Two of my favorite things: Sweeney Todd 07, and giving fictional characters government assigned fursonas!!
Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett - Dalmatian and Red fox
When I started this, I KNEW I wanted Todd to be an animal that was black and white. The monochromatic theme in Depp's version of Sweeney is SO Tim Burton that I wanted to preserve it. ALMOST settled on a skunk, but the thought of dalmatian spots mixing with blood spots was TOO cool of a concept in my eyes. TBH there WAS a time when I was tempted to make him a fox, because Sweeney TODD. Get it? But I held off because I didn't want to reuse specific animals TOO much. Speaking of which-
Mrs Lovett was always a fox from the first second. It fits her entire character (Seductive, trickster, lots of red, not to be trusted) FAR too well. The way her ears are posed are also supposed to bring a pair of horns to mind. Something DEEPLY wrong with this woman <3333
Lucy Barker/Miserable Woman - Afghan hound
PROBABLY a very uninspired and obvious choice, but...I wanted to draw ''hair ears'' lmao. Sweeney describes her blonde hair as one of the only things he remembers about her, so I wanted a dog breed that naturally had long blonde hair about it. I de-saturated her colors for her ''Miserable Woman'' look to make her look sadder and dirtier.
Anthony and Johanna - Mutt and Golden dalmatian
Yes I KNOW they look like Scamp and Angel okay. The inspiration was intentional but I might've accidentally strayed...TOO close to the source.
Johanna was one of two characters that took me on a bit of a trip. First she was an Afghan just like Lucy, then she was a doe, but I decided to have a little more fun with her. I made her a golden dalmatian, with the ''dalmatian'' coming from her father and the ''Golden'' coming from her mother. I imagined she's a bit like Oddball from 102 Dalmatians, where she's actually ''blank'' aside from the spots on her face and the two on her shoulder (she gets these ones from Todd) The black on her ear is also from Todd. I could have chosen the easy way out and made her look like her mother, but in my own silly way I thought it'd be fucked up if she looked like her father, considering the scene they share near the end of the movie.
Anthony is a sailor, so I gave him a very ''Sea dog'' mutt look. I just kind of...combined a bunch of traits and characteristics that I thought would work for him. You can see a LITTLE of Toughy from LATT in him, only because I liked the eye patch and all the scruff.
Tobias Ragg (aka Toby) - Bat
Toby was a fun one!! Oh, look how adorable he is!!! Since Toby has the final kill of the movie, and he kills Todd at that, I wanted him something small and cute but...potentially very dangerous. I settled on a bat, because they're very cute and they can carry rabies!!
And yes, that's his wig he's carrying. Didn't know how to portray him holding a pie, and I wasn't about to draw him drinking a bottle of gin, so I thought his little wig might be cute. He was honestly one of my favorites to draw <3
Adolfo Pirelli - Ring-tailed lemur
Pirelli is a ring-tailed lemur for two reasons. The first reason, is because since all the other animals are quadrupeds, having a bipedal animal felt more ''exotic'' to go with how he's seen as very special and from out of town. It makes him stick out naturally as someone of note.
The second reason he's a lemur.......is because he's played by Sacha Baron Cohen in 07.
Beadle Bamford and Judge Turpin - Hyena and Vulture
Yeah I'm just gonna come out and say it - Beadle Bamford is one of my fav characters in this movie so I made him a Hyena out of pure favoritism. Having Timothy Spall play him the same year he was Nathaniel in Enchanted was just for me, I think.
Originally, Turpin was a lion. Because...Bamford's a hyena...and they're the villains...sooooooo....yeah. And I WOULD have stuck with that, but....he's described as a vulture in No Place Like London. And while I knew my designs didn't have to adhere to that...I felt like ignoring it would have been stupid on my part. Glad I stuck with it, since...I gotta admit it works REALLY well for him. I've never drawn a vulture before, and it was fun to try something new anyway <3
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Hello!
I come to ask you a question, as you are the leading researcher in the field of puzzle lore, and also a scientist! (Once more: congratulations!)
Apologies if these thoughts seem a bit.... messy and much. Feel free to just ignore.
I am currently writing a little story/fanfiction that includes puzzles, and first I wanted to ask if it is okay with you if I use your theory for that.
Second:
You already said that Puzzles, or rather Hamanier Particles have the ability to allow time/space travel, and that they allow clairvoyant abilities.
Puzzles/Hamanier Particles seem to be already used to research time and space travel, as your theory says.
Could puzzles have even more possible "applications"?
Is the main reason why the Azran were so advanced that they fully understood how to "use" puzzles and their supernatural-seeming properties?
Do you think they could also be the cause of other weird happenings and traits humans, plants and animals have in the series?
Could puzzles possess living things too and change them?
Flora Reinhold has the mole in the shape of an apple, that only appears when she is happy/laughing.
That isn't really possible, but perhaps that is caused by some sort of puzzle possession?
Could this also be an explanation for the nonsenical dusguise abilities Don Paolo and Descole have, that they might partially be literal shapeshifters (or something in that direction?)
A shapeshifting-like thing could also explain how Don Paolos hair works, why it is able to move around and shape itself in ways normal hair shouldn't (LF, the scene where he got his horns
Do you think it is significant that in/around puzzle shacks, plant seem to grow in strange ways (there is almost always a tree around, often growing indoors), and that other plants such as the sunflower in LF being able to store/attract puzzles.
(i also find it strange how flowers grow underground, at the grave of Viola Reinhold. But that might not be caused by puzzles, I think at least)
Could puzzle possession be able to alter genes/bodies? (here it becomes apaarent that my biology knowledge is not advanced enough yet).
If they potentially create little "weird traits" such as Floras apple-shaped mole, or even shapeshifting, then they might have the potential to do even more.
The animal experiments in LF were probably meant to test the time travel-capabilities of Hamanier particles.
But apparently, the exposure to them was what caused Subject 3 to become so strangely human-like, apparently altering his body(?) and making him able to "walk".
This might go to far, but regarding Animals being experimented with and becoming strange/humanlike-
The dog from LMJ, Sherl, was also implied to have been experimented on in a lab, and that is why he got the ability to talk.
Another Hamanier Particle experiment, maybe?
So, maybe puzzle experiments are not very uncommon in the Layton-Universe.
And that was... it, I think.
I don't know enough about science (yet) to properly understand the implications that Puzzles might be experimented with/have the capability to change living beings and allow "supernatural"-seeming phenomena to happen.
So that is why I wished to ask someone who knows way more than me.
Apologies if it wasn't understandable.
Hi, thanks! And, wow, that's a big one indeed xD
A few disclaimers ahead of time:
The theory is still a work in progress, in the sense that I won't be 100% confident in its solidity before I'll have had time to confront it to basically the near-entirety of the lore in the game. Which, obviously, is going to take a lot of time and work. So while I do believe that the current state of the theory is rather reliable, at least as a headcanon, I cannot claim with confidence that a few details here and there won't change in the future due to my finding out something else in the games/novels/other that I didn't know or had forgotten about, and which contradicts part of the theory.
I believe you likely saw this post already, but I link it just in case. I had tried in that post to make the theory's assertions as clear as possible, but the wording in some of your questions makes me wonder whether there might have been a few confusions here or there. If you or anyone else have questions regarding a specific part of the theory and/or you're not completely sure what X or Y means, don't hesitate to ask me.
Now, on to your questions:
Is it okay if I use the puzzle theory for my own fanfictions/fanart/other?
To you, and to anyone else who will probably ask again sooner or later (you're not the first one haha): YES. The puzzle theory by itself is something that I was stupid/crazy enough to come up with, but since the evidence that led up to me thinking about it came directly from the official content, it doesn't feel to me like the theory really "belongs" to me! It's as if you had to pay royalties to Albert Einstein whenever you wanted to write E=mc². Kinda stupid if you ask me (and even stupider in my case because the puzzle theory isn't nearly as fundamental to the progress of humanity as real world science is).
Also what fun is there in finding a lore mechanic that is so wide, could have SO many applications and implications, inspire sooooo many fascinating storylines and AUs, only for me to then go "nah I'm the only fanfic author who's ever allowed to use it. Get screwed, fandom." For real, the reason I share this theory at all is because I WANT the fandom to know about it and have their own fun with it, if they decide that it's a toy box worth adding to their collection of headcanons!
If anything, credit is appreciated if you want your potential readers-who-are-also-writers to read about the puzzle theory in turn and get inspired to also write about it; but it is absolutely not required.
However, one thing that is required (not really but I would love if you could do it): please do send me the link of your fanfic once it is written and posted because I absolutely want to read it 👀
TL;DR: Yes, it is ok, and I want to see it. Go wild, and have fun!
Hamanier Particles have the ability to allow time/space travel, and they allow clairvoyant abilities. Puzzles/Hamanier Particles seem to be already used to research in time and space travel, as your theory says. Could puzzles have even more possible "applications"?
I believe that imagination is our sole limit! (like, literally, since Hamanier particles are basically what constitutes complex thoughts in the Laytonverse)
That, and more importantly the fact that what scientists within the Laytonverse truly know about how Hamanier particles work and how to harness their power has yet to be defined in detail. They have mechas, Descole's machines definitely use puzzle shenanigans, and Dimitri was able to build a pair of glasses which can record a person's memories (aka also related to Hamanier particles). But on the other hand, the average Layton NPC's daily life (Layton himself included) isn't using technology that is more advanced than our own, far on the contrary. It seems that whatever it is that humanity knows about puzzle physics at the time of the main six games, the ability to actually control Hamanier particles remains rather niche (and it seems like Steam Bison might actually give us quite a bit to think about, especially the part where, allegedly, "solving more puzzles will cause the city to evolve technologically").
It's a bit like how humanity has known that electricity existed for aeons (without necessarily understanding how it works), but that it took a while between the moment when the first inventions which were capable of generating/relied on electricity were built, and the moment when every house in the country required electricity for powering nearly everything. I believe the Laytonverse is sitting in that phase where a few scientists in isolated labs were able to find the means to control Hamanier particles, but that due to the costs, or because it's tricky to implement in terms of engineering, or for other reasons, the knowledge of how to control them is either not well-spread just yet, or people just aren't jumping on the hype train to use puzzle magic to power everything in their daily lives because they don't see the point (at least not yet. Once again, let's see how Steam Bison appears when we get to see it in its full glory).
So, applications for puzzles/Hamanier particles in a daily Layton NPC's life? Well, let's see...
First off, something which is kinda used in canon but would deserve to be expanded upon a lot more: using puzzles as basically weapons for delaying someone, like a smoke bomb of sorts (could be offensive, could be self-defence). The dialogue from Luke after you solved London Holiday's Puzzle #009 has him talk as if he just physically had a jog walking on bridges in a tropical archipelago, all the while (as far as we know) he did not leave the confines of Layton's office. So did the puzzle make him hallucinate that? Was Luke temporarily sucked into a pocket dimension until he solved the puzzle??
I'd personally go for the former since the Folsense gas is a thing (and this interpretation does not require to find proof that a) such pocket dimension exists, and b) find an explanation on how it works, where it is located, and how it was created. In short: hallucination wins over pocket dimension thanks to Ockham's Razor). At least some puzzles seem to thus have the ability to trap the person solving them into some sort of trance until they're solved, which depending on the circumstances, could put the person in a rather vulnerable position where they can't interact with their surroundings.
So, list of possible uses:
Weapon for trapping someone inside their own head until the puzzle is solved (no technology required, just fetch a feral puzzle and yeet it at the person's face like a poké ball). Arguably already used in canon, notably with Bishop or Plover in Azran Legacy, and probably in dozens of other cases. It can be of note that their response after the puzzles have been solved is often along the lines of "what the heck! how did you solve it that quickly???", which could be interpreted as some form of "wtf bro it's like if my smoke bomb only lasted two seconds how do you expect me to have the time to make any use of it"
Time travel/teleportation, the former of which we know has been attempted, with near success, only to have the project abandoned. It is more or less likely that the same could be said of the latter; though there is no time paradox to worry about, I do believe that the main mechanism is the exact same as for time travel: it's just that you don't want the other end of the vortex to be set in a different time. So, in short: a bunch of scientists managed to make it work, but as far as evidence shows, they're not to the point of being able to make it safe and practical for everyday use. I'd compare Dimitri's time machine to the real world LHC: humanity's top scientists can do it for science, but the world is absolutely not ready to popularise the technology and have every layman get to buy and play Candy Crush on their own toy LHC (for a number of reasons, and the one asking "How can you even play Candy Crush with a particle accelerator?" comes with the lowest priority).
Speaking of teleportation, it is however possible that some characters actually already use it to some extent...? I'm thinking notably of Granny Riddleton or Keats. Or... perhaps that's also why Pavel is never able to explain how he ends up in the most random places. In any case, I believe that those instances are caused not by Laytonverse steampunk technology, but rather because of these characters' clairvoyance, or because of wild puzzles being particularly feral and kidnapping them across time and space. Poor Pavel must have made a few of them very angry. Or he's psychic and doesn't know it.
There totally is some illegal hint coins trafficking going on in the suburbs of many towns and cities, where most of the buyers are students during the week before their finals.
Scotland Yard and other police forces have a branch dedicated to puzzle-related problems. My personal headcanon is that Colby may actually be stationed in the reception room and rarely ever allowed on the terrain because the times when he is allowed on the terrain, it's because it's an eldritch shenanigans level of puzzle issue.
...
Layton's trunk, which is capable of holding a whole fish tank (just kidding. probably.)
Is the main reason why the Azran were so advanced that they fully understood how to "use" puzzles and their supernatural-seeming properties?
Yes. In Azran Legacy, we have the following quote: "We were masters of technology and science. There was no puzzle we could not solve." Now, of course, it could be coincidence. I could be reading into it too much. But in the light of the puzzle theory... Why couldn't we take it literally? It's not like all this glowing shifting stuff (which is somewhat reminiscent of Descole's Detragigant anyway) wasn't screaming "arguably supernatural" anyway. Also the fact that they can resurrect the dead (no I will never let that one go).
More seriously, the Azran basically turned the Illusory Forest's Ancient Tree into an immortal clairvoyant cyborg who records knowledge about the entire world by using a network of plants worldwide in order to absorb what is basically brain juice (aka Hamanier particles). That thing alone revolves around using puzzle magic to acquire knowledge.
TL;DR: Yes. Definitely. Absolutely.
Could puzzles also be the cause of other weird happenings and traits that humans, plants and animals have in the series? Could puzzles possess living things too and change them?
Believe it or not, that is one of the questions that will either be raised in Stable Like Sand (my own fic) at some point, or has at least been written and will just end up in the pile of cut content that didn't make it in the fic if I can't find a place for it to fit properly. But to paraphrase my notes: "That's usually what the immune system is for."
That being said… We do have a few canon phenomena: Folsense's gas and Labyrinthia's ink causing hallucinations/having strong powers of suggestion, Labyrinthia's water causing people to faint if they hear the sound of a bell made of pure silver… It could also be argued that at least part of the "unknown incurable illnesses" that afflicted quite a few characters throughout the series, sometimes leading to their death, are a result of puzzle decay/possession gone wrong.
It is possible that some in-game puzzles involve fauna or flora having been physically altered for the sake of a puzzle, but I do not recall any specific example, so take that with a grain of salt. I do however remember that Colby, a constable from Scotland Yard, has his chin get longer whenever he smiles (as in it's not just me overanalysing his sprites, it's literally written down on his in-game profile description).
TL;DR: Yep. And the more you think about it, the more horrifying it gets.
Flora Reinhold has the mole in the shape of an apple, that only appears when she is happy/laughing. That isn't really possible, but perhaps that is caused by some sort of puzzle possession?
Yep 👀 (and, unfortunately, this is also why I believe that both her parents died because of puzzle decay/possession)
Could this also be an explanation for the nonsenical disguise abilities Don Paolo and Descole have, that they might partially be literal shapeshifters (or something in that direction?) A shapeshifting-like thing could also explain how Don Paolos hair works, why it is able to move around and shape itself in ways normal hair shouldn't (LF, the scene where he got his horns)
I wish I had an answer for that. For the time being, I am stuck at the stage of raising my fist at the sky and growling "I will figure out a scientifically valid mechanism someday. SOMEDAY. JUST YOU WAIT LEVEL-5, I WILL FIND AN EXPLANATION FOR YOUR CARTOON PHYSICS."
To give some more details: I can say at least that Descole and Don Paolo's disguises don't seem to work the same way. Don Paolo canonically uses latex(?) masks and extra clothes matching the person he's disguised as, which he leaves behind for Luke to collect and try on during the credits of Diabolical Box and Unwound Future. This... would be simple enough if it weren't for the fact that he's the one who somehow managed to disguise himself as Flora.
Meanwhile, Descole… just puts on his hat, and boom there we go the entire cast of characters and the audience alike just went from "A platypus?" to "PERRY the platypus???" So current guess is that instead of a full disguise (although he might still be using some kind of disguise to some extent, I don't remember the mention of latex masks or extra clothes in his case), he instead uses some sort of illusion/hallucinogen mechanic. I wonder whether he ever went to Folsense/Labyrinthia (or other location with similar properties), found out about the gas/other, and managed to weaponise it in order to trick people into seeing and hearing him with a different identity.
By the way, what if the hallucinogenic something that Descole uses is the reason why nobody in-universe was able to see how similar Desmond Sycamore looks to Descole, and why he could just get away with basically wearing the exact same clothes (or at least shoes)? Huh. Perhaps for all we know, he doesn't even bother trying to mimic other people's voices when he's "disguised" as them.
Last minute addition by @toy-pigeon: "i mean if his cologne is so strong that whatshisface in phong gi was able to smell it, maybe THAT'S what the hallucinogen is"
And now back to Don Paolo... I guess his hair could be similar to the examples of Flora or Colby, now that you mention it.
...Maybe one of his experiments made it worse and he actually can somehow fit inside those disguises.
...Oh darn I believe that might be an option and if it's the result of one of his engineering experiments gone wrong you've got even more reason for him to be the way he is, with the diving into super villain mode on a whim and all.
Thank you, I hate it, and I need some ibuprofen because my brain is boiling.
(Man, imagine writing a PL fanfic with a shapeshifter in it and only figuring this stuff out a year and a half later)
Do you think it is significant that in/around puzzle shacks, plant seem to grow in strange ways (there is almost always a tree around, often growing indoors)?
By itself, I wouldn't call that weird or supernatural. There is vegetation everywhere, and it is precisely what the Illusory Forest's Ancient Tree uses to collect knowledge from across the world. Also, Granny Riddleton has her shack inside the Molentary Express for a bit... The miniature tree could be fake, or could take its roots in. um. somewhere...? (it probably makes more sense if it's fake, but I did say earlier that Granny Riddleton may be capable of teleportation, so. there are a couple of hypotheses that may need to not be discarded just yet. but the tweezers I'm using to hold those hypotheses are the size of Clive's fortress.)
If it has any significance at all, it would be related to the Ancient Tree's shenanigans, not to the local laws of physics.
(i also find it strange how flowers grow underground, at the grave of Viola Reinhold. But that might not be caused by puzzles, I think at least)
Also not particularly supernatural looking to me, iirc there was sufficient light in her basement/grave for vegetation to grow relatively well. The sight does not shock me; in fact, a lot of flowers benefit from having sunlight, yes, but not direct sunlight.
If you want an unambiguously unusual example though, look at collection item #13 of Azran Legacy: "Bashful Sunflower - This healthy plant runs contrary to the laws of nature by turning away from the sun." And the original Japanese version if you want it: 「はにかみヒマワリ｜貫録あふれる花と葉をたくわえていながら、おひさまから目をそらすほど内向的な性格」 (Translation: "Bashful Sunflower - Despite its sturdy flowers and leaves, it is so introverted that it turns its eyes away from the sun." So this flower is sentient and extremely shy.)
(It's easier to see if you look at its 3D model in-game, but it is literally using its leaves to hide itself from the sunlight)
…and other plants such as the sunflower in LF being able to store/attract puzzles.
I'd connect that to the Ancient Tree, personally... But it's also basically implying that the plant itself is indeed having strange properties, which may have been developed in its species aeons ago due to exposure to puzzle weirdness (it would be, after all, the explanation for why the Ancient Tree itself was born. Simplest explanation is very simply that the Ancient Tree is a clairvoyant plant, on the same level as Granny Riddleton for example. It just also happens to be a tree, but as we saw a paragraph above, plants also can be sentient in the Laytonverse).
Could puzzle possession be able to alter genes/bodies? If they potentially create little "weird traits" such as Floras apple-shaped mole, or even shapeshifting, then they might have the potential to do even more.
As TL;DR for this whole part of the ask, I will just quote an excerpt from my notes which tried to summarise the puzzle theory in as few words as possible (I now realise that past me had not added this paragraph to the list of screenshots in the post I mentioned at the beginning of this reply. My bad, I believed that it was not that relevant at the time since it wasn't really about puzzles themselves):
The animal experiments in LF were probably meant to test the time travel-capabilities of Hamanier particles.
But apparently, the exposure to them was what caused Subject 3 to become so strangely human-like, apparently altering his body(?) and making him able to "walk".
I would argue that adult Subject 3 doesn't look that much different from his baby self from before he was experimented on. Same for Sherl, he doesn't look particularly "human-like" physically speaking, and doesn't look that much different from other dogs aside from "main character design" syndrome.
(Beasly, on the other hand... Well, seems like Level-5 conveniently baited us by having a whole cutscene where he said he had a whole backstory explaining how he came to be the way he is, only to be silenced by Puzzlette. But I'm putting him aside. And also -- just like Sherl, not every human can understand him. If you try to talk to him while Luke is missing, Layton and Flora don't even acknowledge his presence, let alone are able to understand what he says.)
I'm just going to quote again the screenshot from just a paragraph above, but "Plants/Fauna are WEIRD" in general. Plants are sentient and acquire information that they then convey to the Ancient Tree, animals have some level of sentience regardless of whether they have been experimented on (otherwise Luke wouldn't be able to hold complex conversations with them such as the ones he has with Toppy or with the other rabbit from the Miracle Mask minigame), and they too are able to solve puzzles, once again regardless of whether or not they have been experimented on.
TL;DR I don't believe that the time travel experiments that Subject 3, or the Parrot (Subject 1) suffered from had any significant changes on their body or psyche, other than being traumatising events by themselves.
As a reminder by the way: regarding Sherl, just like Subject 3, Beasly, or other animals, only a couple of humans are able to understand them. In the main six games, Luke and Clark Triton are the only ones canonically known to understand animals (and feel free to watch the Subject 3 scene and the Beasly cutscene from Unwound Future, in both cases Layton really is just standing motionless in the back, metaphorically fumbling his thumbs and waiting for Luke to come back and translate; and once again, when Luke is gone from the group, it is possible to go talk to Beasly... or rather, try).
In LMJ, it seems like Katrielle and Ernest are the only ones able to understand Sherl (unless some other NPC that I don't know about showed up occasionally and everyone went "you can understand him too?????", I did not watch all 50 episodes of the anime yet). Interestingly, Ernest is shocked that he could understand Sherl, so it seems that while Ernest is Special™ somehow, he is not able to understand other animals. And though Katrielle was barely surprised when Sherl showed up at her door, it also doesn't seem like she can understand other animals either. Whatever it is that Ernest and Katrielle have in common with each other but not with anyone else, for them both to be able to understand Sherl... I honestly have no clue (none that even remotely makes any sense, that is).
Aaaaaaand I believe I addressed everything! Phew, that was a lot, and it actually did give me a few things to think about that I had not given enough thought to until now.
So the big TL;DR:
Yes please do use this theory/headcanon in your fanfics/fanart/comics/macaroni collage and please give me links once it's done because I want to see it and give it love.
Puzzle weirdness has a lot of uses indeed, with the only limitations being Laytonverse humanity's current understanding of their own laws of physics (for mad scientist use) and general society's interest for puzzle-based technology (for widespread daily use). It is extremely likely that they do not understand most of the puzzle theory and that they just shrug it all off because it's normal to them. It's just like our own world: do we all commonly understand the entirety of physics? Heck no! And yet it interferes with our lives daily. Physicists in our world are figuring stuff out to this day, sometimes figure out that stuff everyone believed to be obvious in the past is completely wrong, sometimes figure out new stuff that nobody knew was a thing. It's the same thing in the Laytonverse, whether with "regular physics" (assuming those still work the way we know it) or with puzzle physics.
Absolutely-not-widespread uses include but are not limited to: St Mystere's robots (if they are sentient, they most likely rely on Hamanier particles stuff. Also the part about altering Dahlia's memories... Well, just take a look at ->), Descole's Detragan, Dimitri's time machine and mind-reading glasses, probably Descole's mechas in general (on the basis that they are likely inspired from Azran technology to some extent)...
The Azran had totally figured out how puzzles worked, to the extent that they even knew how to resurrect the dead and (allegedly, probably on accident) create an entire race of sentient robots. Go figure.
This post contains a lot of Illusory Forest spoilers (not that they're new to be fair, I've been talking about it for a while and I'm happy I finally get to start sharing the translation with you guys).
Puzzle decay/possession affecting living beings, including humans, is a horrifying subject that I want to tread with caution; but I do believe we have enough instances where it seems to be the simplest explanation, to conclude that it is an unavoidable consequence.
So turns out Descole using a hallucinogenic gas of sorts similar to Folsense or Labyrinthia for his disguises could be an interesting way to explain how he can just put on his tricorn and °magic poof° now he's Descole (whereas Don Paolo needs a bit more time to physically remove his disguises).
How dare you plant into my mind the idea that Don Paolo MAY ACTUALLY(?) have some relatively limited(??) shape-shifting ability(???) I hate how I cannot in the present times come up with a better explanation. I prefer the times when I was just aware of the issue and trying to postpone it for later, meekly hoping that future me would be able to find a rational explanation. You have opened my eyes on the fact that I need to get out of my denial phase and face the issue head on. Even if it means throwing my hands in the air and giving up.
I tried looking for a different explanation. I really did.
I believe fauna and flora are Just Like That from the start, because animals in the wild are just as weird as the ones that were experimented on, with the sole exceptions being Sherl, who is more in a grey area than completely sticking out of the norm, and Beasly who is. an interesting case to say the least. (an interesting case I have little to zero clues about for the time being. perhaps he's Subject 2 and what you said about Subject 3 actually applies to him instead. perhaps it is something else entirely.)
To conclude with your last few sentences -- if you intend to study the research aspect of science, good luck and have fun with it! (as much fun as you can have that is-- jk don't worry we're having a lot of fun even if 80% of our job is experiments or simulations not working and us crying because we have no idea what went wrong)
In a weird sense, I like to think of the puzzle theory as a way to introduce a simple enough way to go through the "scientific method" for research: you find something weird, you look for an explanation; and while looking for evidence in favour AND against your temporary explanation (*), you try your darn best to avoid that annoying confirmation bias among many other traps your brain will lay against you. The hardest part is to manage to respect Ockham's Razor (since the "simplest explanation requiring the least amount of assumptions" is surprisingly not always the most obvious one at first glance) and impartiality (because of the above-mentioned confirmation bias, notably).
---
(*) It is very important that we also look for evidence that challenges, or even outright contradicts our current hypothesis on how the thing we're studying works. After all, if your hypothesis is "all raven in the world are black," you can't be 100% confident in that unless you check every single raven in the world and make sure that you don't stumble upon a white one! And if you do find a white (or green with pink polka dots) one, instead of looking away and pretending you didn't see anything, you will adapt your hypothesis: from "all raven in the world are black," it will become "most raven in the world are black; we have looked at a thousand ravens so far and found two white ones, therefore the current state of our research leans towards the conclusion that there are 99.98% of black ravens and 0.02% of white ravens in the world."
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Judge to Luffy: What's so good about him [Sanji]?! Straw Hat Luffy! This is Emperor of the Sea Big Mom's territory... Once you enter, you'll never be able to get out! You risked your life just to get him back?! Sanji is Germa's failure! His skin doesn't work as a shield! He works as a cook because he has no pride in his royal blood! He's easily moved like an idiot and his soft mind makes him put his life on the line for the weak! A failed soldier who is far from perfect... That's all he is!
Luffy to Sanji: I'm surprised. Why did he suddenly start listing all the good things about you?
You know, ever since I've seen a gifset with this scene, I was planning to do a classic joke with Luffy saying: "Yes, but unfortunately, Sanji also have flaws." However, now when I've got to Judge's tirade in the anime, I have something different to say.
Because watching this scene, I suddenly remembered something that was popping up whenever Luffy was going to recruit a new crewmember. Namely - Luffy was seeing some small acts of kindness in his future nakama, and it was one of the main reasons he wanted them in his crew. He even told Coby that, depending on what kind of guy Zoro will turn out to be, he will recruit him or not.
Zoro defended little girl from Helmeppo's dog and was taking the punishment for it like a man. Usopp was telling stories to bedridden Kaya to lift her spirits. Nami seemed to often betray Luffy and co., only to in the end help them in some way. Chopper was against closing the door to Wapol's castle because a bird was nesting above them with its young etc. etc.
And what was the moment when Luffy decided to make Sanji his cook? It was when he witnessed Sanji giving food to starving Gin.
It's a really simple scene: a hero feeding the hungry who otherwise would go without a meal, but it suits Sanji perfectly, both because he is a cook, and because it's a moment when that perverted, brush guy who fought Fullbody over a soup and wine, just prepares a dish, puts it before Gin and sits next to him, smoking a cigarette. Even when Gin protests because he has no money and doesn't want charity, Sanji encourages him to eat, and what happens next? Gin starts to cry because the food is amazing. Later this act of kindness will result in Gin being conflicted about taking Baratie from Zeff.
I've talked a bit about the kind of men Luffy hates the most, but with his reaction to Judge's long rant about how Sanji is worthless, we see what kind of men Luffy likes and what he looks for in his potential crewmates. Of course, the first thing his childlish brain focuses on are some weird (talking skeleton), funny (a woman making horns for Luffy with her ability) or awesome traits (a talking raindeer's many transformations), but that's not all there is to it. Luffy wants to be surrounded with people who have some goodness in them, and he can even find this goodness with people he originally didn't like (which this whole subplot with Bege proves).
So Judge says: "Sanji is Germa's failure! His skin doesn't work as a shield!"
And Luffy thinks: "Yes, but he's still a skillful fighter and his kicks are awesome!"
Judge says: "He works as a cook because he has no pride in his royal blood!"
And Luffy thinks: "Yes, and his cooking is amazing! And arrogant royals suck either way."
Judge says: "He's easily moved like an idiot and his soft mind makes him put his life on the line for the weak!"
And Luffy thinks: "Yes, we are all such idiots in this crew. What's your point, man?"
This whole tirade showcases that neither Luffy understands Judge, nor Judge understands Luffy. Luffy's childlike way of thinking, his love for the crew and his honor are in stark contrast for everything Germa 66 stands for. Judge wants to rule the world, he's a conqueror and social darwinist to the point when he genetically engineered his children to be perfect soldiers. These two men have completely different mindsets and probably even if Luffy said out loud why he values Sanji so much, Judge still wouldn't understand.
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Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 30
We've had one traumatic death, yes. But what about second trauma?
Y'know how Greed said Ed was the type who doesn't mind getting beat up but will lose his cool when others get hurt?
Greed is also that type of person. This is the only time he's been furiously angry, and it's after seeing Loa and Dorchet killed in front of him.
I wonder if Bradley knew Martel was inside Al's armor before she tried to kill him. If she had kept quiet and let Alphonse quietly sneak her out, I wonder if the scene would have ended with Bradley saying something like "Before you go" and then running his sword down Al's chest.
The scene transition after Martel is killed implies Al lost consciousness from the shock. I wonder how that works though. I know falling asleep and being rendered unconscious are two different things, but I'd assume there are some overlapping characteristics that should cause Al to be unable to fall unconscious because of his condition.
I wonder if Martel's blood spilling on Al's bloodrune might have momentarily disrupted the seal and disconnected Al from his armor and if maybe Ed pulling Al's soul might have had something to do with Al not having his memories to begin.
I've got no real ideas with that. If something comes up later, I'll talk about it then.
But Al managed to reach that silhouette of his mother and that's what caused him to lose his whole body.
Bradley demands to know if Ed and Al traded any information or made any deals with Greed and threatens to kill them if they did. Considering what Bradley is, it's pretty wild he'd make that threat. He was willing to kill one of their sacrifices to ensure their plan wasn't found out. Or maybe he was intimidating them into silence.
Al being a suit of armor was probably known to the Homunculi long before this point. Greed found out because of the rumors in East City after the fight with Scar, and Lust was on the train to Resembool. Bradley asking about why Al is a suit of armor might be the first time they considered him as a sacrifice candidate though.
I'm glad Ed pointed out the inconsistency from Bradley saying he wants to find out what the military conspiracy is but then killing a bunch of people who could have been potential leads. Of course we as the readers understand it's because the conspiracy goes all the way to the top at this point.
Wouldn't it suck if you bought a house in Central and there's a window that allows one of those searchlights at Central HQ to beam into your house?
The scene with Riza is playing out like that scene with that white girl in every horror movie, right up until she pulls out a gun and shoots Barry.
I just love how she hid a gun in her grocery bag. Did she put it there after leaving or does the grocery store stock fully loaded revolvers next to the pet food? And where did that other handgun come from? She's not keeping a holster of any kind and just before this panel, she was using her right hand to hold her groceries.
Her grocery bag also had dog food so she canonically has Black Hayate at this point.
There was a missing person flyer for Yoki.
We can still see the bullet holes Danny and Maria gave Barry.
We see the military banner. It's a horned(?) dragon(?) with a winding tail.
It must suck for the people whose office windows are behind the banner.
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Spoiler Discussion
Bido being established as not at the Devil's Nest during the raid shows how far ahead Arakawa had the story planned.
Arakawa planted a little seed here which would bloom into a major plot point dozens of chapters later. Hindsight and this scene proves she planned to have Greed return and have him betray Father a second time.
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The residents of Britain’s Yorkshire Dales are feeling the ramifications of World War II as Season 4 of All Creatures Great and Small picks up in 1940. The enchanting PBS series, based on the popular books by James Herriot, begins its new season with rural veterinarian James and his wife Helen (Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Shenton, above) a year into their marriage, wondering if the time is right to start a family, aware that any day he could be called to duty.
“In some ways, it feels like the exact reason why they should have a child,” says Shenton. “And in some ways, it’s the exact reason why they shouldn’t.”
For the actress, this new season is also the chance to show another side to her usually poised character, who moved away from the family farm after her wedding last season to take up residence at Skeldale House, where her husband lives and works.
“I think we see something different from Helen,” Shenton muses. “She’s good at being there for other people, and I think this is the first time that she’s needed a bit of help and had to say, ‘Actually, I’m not OK.’”
Like the rest of the Skeldale gang, Helen misses Tristan, who was called up to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps the previous Christmas. (His portrayer, Callum Woodhouse, doesn’t appear in this season’s seven episodes.) That leaves Tristan’s irascible brother Siegfried (Samuel West) and James overwhelmed at their practice and having to train book-smart student vet Richard Carmody (James Anthony-Rose), whose barn-side manner leaves something to be desired.
Siegfried also takes on an administrator, Miss Harbottle (Neve McIntosh), to try to get the practice in tip-top shape. She’s everything her name suggests. “What I quite like about that particular character and dynamic is that it breaks the house and unites the house,” Shenton previews.
As for the critters, a ferret with a lump, a lethargic tortoise, and a gas-passing dog all have appointments at Skeldale, where a couple of goats get Siegfried’s goat. Fortunately, for the actors they were pros. “They train the goats with food and sound,” Shenton explains. “There were these really loud horns, and then a shake of a food [container], and the goats would know to go to the next bit of their blocking.”
Another pro was a cute gray tabby named Humbug, who plays Oscar, a cat that shows up in the second half of the season and wins Helen’s heart. “He’s worked on sets since he was a very little kitten, so he’s used to being around people and he’s confident,” Shenton says. “He was super good and affectionate.”
One four-legged cast member missed some days because he needed a real veterinarian. Derek, the fluffy Pekingese furball who plays pampered pooch Tricki, had a health issue and this season split the role with a dog named Dora until he was able to return. (According to the folks at PBS, “Derek continues to be the ultimate professional and settled straight back into the business of filming.”)
In quieter moments, the friendship between Helen and housekeeper Mrs. Hall (Anna Madeley), who wants to divorce her absent husband, deepens. (Helen is still the only one at Skeldale House who addresses her by her first name, Audrey.) “That was probably one of my favorite strands,” Shenton says. “Anna and I are great friends off-camera, so it was really nice to have scenes with her.”
Madeley and Shenton also performed together on another project, a podcast drama called Gladstone Girls that Shenton wrote about pottery makers in the north of England fighting to be able to wear hair curlers to work on Fridays. The multitalented Shenton and her husband, Chris Overton, are already Academy Award winners for best live action short film, for The Silent Child in 2018.
As for the future of All Creatures, producers have yet to confirm whether there will be a fifth season but Shenton is hopeful. On a show where emotions are understated yet still deeply felt, she appreciates how truthful the series is to the time period and that part of the country.
“These are farmers. Nobody had time to be super emotional, you had to get on with it,” she says. “Often what’s nice is the things that aren’t being said. Your heart breaks sometimes because [characters] either can’t find the words or just don’t need to. They know it, you can feel it, and that’s always lovely.”
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is it possible to create a half human half daemon hybrid? im just curious like very curious if it was a possibility
"Is this question actually serious?!" Fabius holds the dataslate at arm's length from him with his thumb and forefinger, as if it had personally offended him. With an irritated snort, he drops it on the tiled lab table and turns away in a somewhat too theatrical motion.
Arrian goes to grab the offensive communication device, but Saqqara is once again faster. The Word Bearer's delight in seeing the Chief Apothecary erupt into an angry tirade in a way that is amusing to him can probably only be explained by decades of living in the sphere of influence of too many Emperor's Children.
So Arrian is content to observe the drama without background knowledge. Actually, he was just passing through the lab anyway to get a tissue sample from the freezer, but it's hard not to get hung up when Fabius has one of his irritable outbursts.
"You're becoming like them, dog-brother!" - "So what?"
Arrian scratches the back of his neck. The Nails respond to emotion, and right now there's a lot of it in the room again. Fabius' annoyance, Saqqara's amusement. Thin threads of pain crawl around in Arrian's skull, reaching for him. He bites his lower lip until he tastes blood. Pushes what wants to wallow in anger back into the red darkness behind his eyes. Focuses on the scene before him. Holds on to the fact that he likes Saqqara's smell of incense and gun oil. And on how the blue-white light of the Lumen Strips paints luminous edges on the chattering Chirurgeon. The Song of the Nails grows quieter. Just a hum now.
"But, that's-," Saqqara lifts straight up, waving the dataslate. "Exactly!" the Chief Apothecary interrupts him. "There are enough of these moronic hybrids already! Your brothers stuff anything with claws and horns under their skin, don't they!"
Saqqara puts his hand to his chest in mock hurt. "Some of my best friends are Possessed!"
"Which tells you all you need to know!" sneers Fabius back.
Arrian has now gleaned the contents of the message from this brief exchange. Interjects, "I suspect this person knows Possessed and wants to know what can be done without the contribution of the Gods. With our means."
Fabius waves it off. "Demons are highly unstable. Their essence in inanimate objects is difficult enough," he gestures to the ornate, cage-like weapons rack where Torment is chained, "…but in living beings it only works in the way Lorgar's sons have perfected, and which I continue to believe is utterly ineffective nonsense. Compared to what I can achieve with my methods. Demons create physicality by stealing it. You have to provide them with a vessel, otherwise they cannot manifest themselves outside their sphere - apart from powerful exceptions like our fathers, who really nobody would want to sew surgically to their leg! Demonic matter decays again when separated from the demon itself, so any attempt to create a hybrid without taking the spirit of the monster with it would only produce necrotic tissue. Certainly, it is a goal to recreate the plasticity of a demon in a scientific way as well. But you don't achieve that by cutting corners. For that, one must study and gradually verify what one has learned. And the result may then look like a Possessed, but will have no connection to the Immaterium. Would be even more beautiful! I certainly don't voluntarily invite these greedy monsters to share in my thoughts."
After this outburst of arrogant lecturing, the Chief Apothecary turns away and resumes his work as if he had never been interrupted. Apparently, the audience is over. For whomever.
Arrian shrugs and makes his way back to the freezing area.
Saqqara grins after him.
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Will we ever get a scene of Pat teaching Achilles to drive? How would that go?
So I'm not entirely certain that Pat knows how to drive in this AU. He grew up in the city, and thus far we've only seen him using public transportation or hitching a ride with Ajax. I'm not certain who would have taught him how to drive, and given that he's managing to get around just fine, maybe he never had the motivation to learn.
For me, living in this city, my car is mainly for leaving for the suburbs (or Wisconsin), which Pat has no reason to do, and for the occasions I've taken my dogs to the emergency vet, which Pat... also probably wouldn't need to do.
This does leave the interesting situation where Ajax would teach Achilles. He could teach Pat at the same time. or Ajax could teach Achilles and then Achilles teaches Pat. Achilles, who has made zero strides in learning to read yet, telling him, "When the stick is at this symbol, the car will not move."
Pat, "Yes, that's 'P' for 'park.' Or 'Pat.'"
"When you push this part it makes a fierce noise."
"Yes, I know what the horn is, thank you. Since you can't read numbers, how do you know how fast to go?"
"I go whatever speed the other people are going."
"Fair enough."
"This button makes a pleasant clicking sound."
"That is you turn signal."
"This button blows cold air at you."
#like where is achilles going to drive anyway#where is he going#'Ajax said if we drove for five days we would reach the sea'#okay while technically true that does not mean we are going to do that#when we can just fly
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⭐
I'm just letting you ramble because I'm incredibly indecisive have fun!
Okay instead of one BIG ramble I think I'm gonna do a bunch of little ones
None of the prisoners looked at the guards observing them, keeping their heads low as they worked to repair the ship. Two symphonies played a counterpoint duet— the instruments of nature being the gongs of thunder, the rattling of the rain, the clapping of the waves, with only the whistling of the wind to give melody to the excess of percussion; the music of the inmates being comprised of the falsetto hum of electrosaws, the clanging and clinking of hammers, the twisting wrenches groaning and screeching like kloo horns on fluctuating settings. Immediately to the left of Com Narcom, a Klatooinian gave lyrics to the cacophony in growled Huttese:
Stuka doompa, stuka doompa
Hagwa stuka ta hoohah
Stuka doompa, stuka doompa
Unko uba nee choo,
And in lieu of a final syllable he would spit, quite forcefully, to approximate a rhyme, which would make his green leathery jowls quiver. At the third repetition of this verse, Narcom’s shaggy, sopping head whipped in the inmate’s direction with a snarled “Can you shut up?”
The singing Klatooinian locked eyes with Narcom and growled deep in his throat, like an akk dog ready to snap. A sentry probe zoomed over, its photoreceptor flashing red as a grating electronic bark warned them to leave each other alone and focus on their work.
Narcom’s eyes dropped. “I mean, can you shut up, please.”
If I could have done this with Master of the House I would have, but I could not get the Huttese lyrics to fit the meter. I was already kinda stretching here, meter-wise. I've always wondered how obvious the reference is to those who don't bother consulting a Huttese dictionary for the translation.
I’m sure there have been early mornings where your alarm has gone off and then, after a long session in the sanistream, you’ve sat on your bed wearing only a towel or your undergarments, procrastinating putting your clothes on for no real reason while you check the HoloNet on your datapad or think about how you’re going to get your protagonist out of the nest of gundarks you dropped her into in the last chapter— that or a particularly difficult math problem, whatever people who aren’t writers think about.
Passages you write before you're diagnosed with ADHD lol. Turns out this thing I thought was relatable probably only happens to a certain demographic on a regular basis. Still, I'm sure we've all had at least one experience like this. Com's basically in shock right now; he's a bit slow on the uptake while his brain tries to process the fact that someone is being nice to him.
“This thief says you gave them to him,” the officer sneered. “As a gift.”
Korma blinked. “But I did.”
The prisoner started.
The officer’s eyebrows shot skyward. “What?”
Korma leaned to peer over the officer’s shoulder. “Why is he in binders?" he demanded, throwing up his hand. "You will release him at once!”
"We'll release him at once," said the officer, waving two fingers toward the officers behind him. The policemen deactivated the cuffs. The prisoner rubbed his wrists, staring at the old Cerean with bewilderment.
“Return the knapsack,” Korma ordered. “Those belong to him.”
"These belong to him," said the officer, setting down the knapsack and stepping back.
“I thank you for taking the time to return my property,” said the bishop. “But no crime has been committed here. You can go about your business.”
The lead officer nodded, setting the knapsack on the ground and turning to the other officers. "We can go about our business."
This is not originally how the scene was written. Originally, there was no hand-wavery or repeating of sentences. Some time after I'd finished Part I, I was rereading this chapter and realized I'd missed an opportunity. Always good to add even more of a Star Wars touch. It also foreshadows the (admittedly obvious) reveal a couple paragraphs later.
Halmath picked up the imagecaster, holding the hologram of Kobjin’s head in his hand. He stared at it, as if it were the unearthed skull of someone he had once known. The familiarity was not reflected in the man’s hollow, empty eyes.
“Ah,” Halmath whispered. “Poor Com.”
Yes, this is a Hamlet reference. Thank you for noticing.
“Coming up now.” Adeg reached up and disengaged the hyperdrive. The vortex of lightspeed gave way to view of a round gray ball directly ahead with a thin ring of asteroids surrounding it.
Arkassos looked like a gas giant from space. It wasn’t a gas giant, of course, because it wasn’t gigantic— and its surface was terrestrial, a fact Lieutenant Adeg only knew because he’d been there before.
The young pilot glanced over his shoulder. “You’re going to want to strap in now, Minister,” he advised. “It’s going to get rough.”
Com frowned as the shuttle breached the stormy atmosphere. The rocking of the cockpit prompted him to take the pilot’s advice. He sat behind Adeg, closed his eyes, and tried to muster a meditative state despite the deafening thunder.
Suddenly, something smacked against the shuttle, sending it tipping starboard. Electric sparks arced through the cabin. The copilot swore while Able yelped. Com clutched his armrests as the ship wobbled. “What was that?”
“Shark, probably,” Adeg replied as he righted the craft. “They like to ram incoming ships. Must have slammed into our dorsal wing.”
“A shark… in the sky?” Com furrowed his brow.
“Yes sir,” nodded the pilot. “Arkassoan sharks swim in the air. They’ve got big wings like—”
“Like that,” McKrow pointed.
Com leaned to peer through the transparisteel. There, circling off to the side, was a shoal of creatures with long, slowly-flapping fins, and three dorsal fins each on their backs. They crackled with electricity as if their bodies were supercharged by the storm. Their bodies were ash-grey, except for the black ridge that stuck out over each one’s brow.
Com didn’t like them.
Sometimes, Star Wars locations have a unique feel to them that makes them instantly recognizable. My success in coming up with my own original planets varies in this regard. Trolorn is your run-of-the-mill water world, but the prison gives it an adequately distinctive signature. Dygni is pastoral with small towns— planets like that are a dime a dozen. Ditto with Monderon, although I tried to make Monderon stand out by being described as particularly boring and also containing occasional forests— had to have those woods for the scene where Leela meets Antilles. Montal is another water world— in coming up with a distinctive feel for the capital city, I decided to go with "Minas Tirith in the middle of the ocean." Pasir is not as urban as other Star Wars planets we've seen, but not at all as much of a backwater as most Outer Rim worlds either.
Anyway, all this to say, I seem to come up with my best gimmicks when the location is only briefly relevant. I thought, "Okay, what sets Arkassos apart?" and my brain came up with "giant flying lightning sharks." I laughed with my beta reader about how stupid random that idea was and then it turned out they really liked the sharks, so I *had* to go through with it.
The description of the sharks is intentional. Ash-gray, jutting black ridges over the brow... If you have a good memory, you should realize why Com doesn't care much for them.
As the convict went from house to house, he saw a pair of police officers. Their uniforms were like the guards’ uniforms on Trolorn, except that the guards had worn black caps and ash gray tunics, and the police officers’ caps and tunics were a matching shade of teal blue, with brass rank plaques and cap discs instead of silver.
Also note that the city below is enclosed in a giant cage. On a stormy planet. Surrounded by patrolling entities that will zap you if they catch you outside the walls. Com doesn't miss this parallel:
The shield gate began to open. “It’s ‘cause of the sharks,” the pilot explained as they passed through to land.
Com knew the pilot meant, to keep the sharks out. But between their stern black ridges and fins that crackled like electrobatons, he felt as if rather the sharks were there to keep them inside the cage.
As if to confirm his thought, Adeg added, “You thought it was rough back there, wait until we’re trying to leave.”
Wow. So far I've spent the most time rambling about the lightning shark planet.
Mrs. Bewl continued her testimony. “I’ll never forget that man. Drab clothes, scruffier than a Wookiee, and he smelled absolutely terrible. And he had this hungry look in his eyes, it gave me the creeps.”
Things that make Mrs. Bewl assume a man is dangerous include [checks notes] needing food
A moment later, a dark-skinned young man in a black uniform appeared in the refresher, with a protocol droid right behind him. “I saw what you did,” said Adeg breathlessly. “I’ve never seen anyone do something as brave as you just now, Minister. I sent off the troopers. Let’s get to the ship before they come back.”
“Hold on,” said Kobjin. “You’re an Imperial. Why are you helping us?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.” said Adeg firmly. “You need a pilot.”
This is an intentional reference to Poe's rescue in The Force Awakens. Adeg only appears in this chapter and the next, but I can tell you that after escaping from the Arkassos fiasco (say that out loud, it's fun) he joined up with the Rebellion as an A-Wing pilot, married one of his squadmates, and had a child after the war who was kidnapped by the First Order at a young age. He and his partner were some of the first Resistance members.
“We’ve got to deal with them or we’ll never get out of here alive!” Adeg insisted. “Alright, Minister! Start firing!”
Com looked at the gun controls as TIE lasers bounced off the viewport. “Where’s the stun setting on this thing?”
“Are you kidding me?!” Adeg exclaimed. “Just shoot them!”
...
Com swerved as soon as they penetrated the clouds, veering away from their pursuers in the opaque mist. The thunder was deafening now. The cabin lights flickered. Com weaved between thunderclouds as lightning beat the forward deflector shields. Adeg looked over at Com as he navigated through the maze. “Are your eyes closed right now?!”
“Trying to concentrate,” Com grunted.
“Wait, they’re what?” Kobjin shook the back of the pilot’s chair. “Keep your eyes open! We’re flying through an atmospheric maelstrom right now!”
“I know,” Com snapped. “Let me focus.”
“Can’t you pray and look where you’re going at the same time?” demanded Adeg.
I don't have much to say here except these are my favorite bits of comedy in the whole chapter. Never fly with a Force-wielding pacifist if you value your sanity. Also—
“Back?” Adeg sputtered. “Back to Arkassos?”
"Why does everyone want to go back to Arkassos?" XD
I think I'm going to ramble about Book II in a reblog!
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fun facts about my creature designs bc idk anymore
this was only supposed to be about journal and TC i got a little too silly this is pretty long
journal's paper feathers can't really be written on in the same way as his pages can (this is a hc but i think he can just think of something and just write things in himself with his mind), he has to use an actual pencil to draw the patterns himself. objects that have feathers like this will opt to use whatever drawing thing to draw with
It's sorta like nail polish ig how it slowly goes away over time and has to be replaced a lot, as the pencil will rub off smudge whatever in high contact areas like his arm feathers. the pencil marks can obv be removed with erasers. I think he would like to change his patterns a decent amount to whatever he was interested in that day so he probably wouldn't want to draw on himself with pen
journal used to be on top of making sure his feather patterns were clean looking until his mental health started to decline so as of now they're probably decently deteriorated by now
journal is a great horned owl, because i saw one picture of an owlet sleeping flat on his face and for some reason it reminded me of him faceplanting twice
treasure chest's scales are actually straight up gold, to fit with his theme of treasure he is also the treasure heh. it's probably kind of heavy but whatever he can handle it he probably sounds like a bunch of coins jingling when he moves around
I'm not sure what all of his scales would be worth but i wouldn't recommend trying to steal them from him that would hurt him
tc has probably had many occurrences of objects pulling on his scales and asking if it's actual gold
tc is a gold dust molly, because gold and also it can live in saltwater which is what I was aiming for
paint palette was actually supposed to be a wolf literally wearing wool, like in lockdown she wouldn't be wearing the sheep wool but she'd put it on in lockout
but i didn't like that it felt a bit too cliché ig so she's just a sheep but she still has the vibe
unlike journal notebook's creature features are not made out of typical paper they're made out of cardboard like a notebook cover no reason for this i just felt like it
notebook is a dino specifically bc that one scene in sob where they just go "RAAARGGGH" after being provoked sometimes i put deep thought into the animals for my creature objects and other times it's literally just one thing that speaks to me /silly
bucket can make really interesting noises considering he's a mix of a cat and a dog/kittydog, he might not do that in front of random people but when he's alone/with his friends
I don't know what sounds kittydogs make i just assume they make noises like a mix of noises from both animals (like a meowbark??? I made that up idk)
now that i think of it i can't remember why bucket's a kittydog anyway but i like it so it stays
rook being a guinea pig is because of the guinea pig's history in being pets that different royalty had
he also has a blue earring on his ear, this references shieldy
idk where he got that earring from tbh on the ground somewhere maybe??
shieldy has a gold one to match rook, along with being the same breed of guinea pig iirc (abyssinian) i can't remember if that breed specifically was a breed that royalty had maybe it was
I remember the earring connections being unintentional i think but by the time I designed shieldy i did make it intentionally
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PiB 2 rambles compilation post
hi apparently ctrl+enter sends a post, whoopsies. attempt 2.
*kicks down the door* I JUST WATCHED PUSS IN BOOTS 2. & how can I return to my furry roots without returning to my tumblr roots.
! Spoilers ahoy !
OKAY SO: I SMILED LIKE SUCH A MANIAC DURING THE WHOLE WOLF INTRODUCTION WHICH IS PROBABLY NOT THE INTENDED EMOTION BUT IT WAS SO HYPE!! I WAS GRINNING BC IT WAS SO COOL!! I'M NOT WEIRD!! BE ON THE VERGE OF DEATH LESS COOLER IF YOU DON’T WANT ME TO BE HYPED. [I did calm down when he got seriously afraid though, dw i’m not that crazy]
Obviously i knew Kitty was gonna be in it but I was like HOW. WHEN. WHERE ARE YOU. and it was such a smooth and "of course!! of course she'S IN THE BOX" way to show up! I just saw the eyes and was like “:D!!!!”
(Also does anyone else remember when DW said Kitty wouldn’t be in a sequel and the whole fandom was like “well then idc” DHSAJS)
ALSO MARRIAGE??! furry marriage is such a funny concept like. what are you gonna do- wear a flowy dress- apparently yes according to the dialog at least. IT'S JUST FUNNY MAN
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Fun German Dub Things:
“savage” from one of the two sisters in response to the unicorn horns was translated to “Geiler Scheiß” which literally means “hot/sexy/awesome shit” but I JUST DON’T EXPECT TO HEAR “GEIL” IN CASUAL ANIMATED MOVIES Y’KNOW- then again I think it was also said in Strange World??
“that’s a dog in a cat costume” - “oh yeahhh- you tricky little shitter/fucker”
Me: spits
“dogpiles don’t work on cats” -> “what are you doing? sleeping off a hangover” (hangover and puss are the same word in german) The fact that they not only adapted but it also works so well because he takes a sip at the end of that line is so!!!! GOOD JOB
All the "P" signatures were changed to "K" even in the animation?? I can’t prove this but once german ver is on something I’ll def compare the animations!! so much international effort holy shit... I was like "K??? for what does that stand?? KILL???" and then I was like "Kater??? [Puss] NO WAY WHAT"
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there were a lot of cool transition cuts but one that stood out to me was after the scene with the lives singing and his silhouette shifted to two cliffs or something of the like-
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Obviously the wolf is extremely cool and all his scenes slay so hard, but I also like how they played up whether he was real or not. I was tending to yes bc where he grabbed Puss on his coat there was actually a tear and I just thought it'd be hard to make a fight climax if he wasn't real, but I still like how they played that up BUT GOD THANK YOU I'm a little tired of things not being real (CoUGH IDV COUFH)
friend: Also have a close look at 4:51 [crowd shot of the extended preview]
me: HOLY SHIT
HOWEVER, WHEN HE STARTED BEING LIKE "I was always there" i just sat there like. no. no you're not going to make me remember the STUPID EGG FROM THE FIRST MOVIE I WAS SO SCARED THEY'D GO INTO ANOTHER GOOFY MONTAGE!!
I do think it's cool they kinda... made a parallel in that but I DIDNT WANT TO REMEMBER!! BEGONE
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very fun movie. most fun cinema experience I've had for a while. I'm really glad I went to see it in cinema bc the heartbeat sound in surround sound was def grasping and like. obviously the bass and everything!
Also kinda got kicked by like... nostalgia too?
I don’t really think of PiB as often as fondly as I do of KFP so it really surprised me that I got that happy to see them again. It definitely helps that the movie genuinely slayed.
it's what I want to feel for KFP but !! UGH THE CRINGE sahjads
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I really enjoyed it, it definitely deserves all the hype it’s getting. go dreamworks!!
I will watch bad guys soon i promise i’ve been meaning to but A
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🤡
Because this is the only ask responding to the meme my very first reaction was... is this ask meant to be making fun of me... what does this arcane clown symbol mean... and then I remembered lol
🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?
Sadly I think I am the funniest person in the world so there are a few. It also helps that both Jaune and Cinder are two (at times) rather sarcastic and observational characters. There is a lot of intentional humour in The Distance Which Fools the Skimming Eye - sometimes from the absurdity of the emotional scenarios. I'm a bit shy to show lots of direct lines though lol.
One I was thinking about recently was when Cinder finally cracks in Chapter 2 and despite the seriousness of their previous interactions there's a degree of perhaps - banality to her refrain which is sort of funny, which is sort of like two normal people having a normal conversation, which makes it funny to me:
That's the type of thing I find funny, is when you've got serious stakes and a sort of mildly absurd brooding dramatic character (Byronic heroine!) and then a level sweet to the sour. I also get a lot of humour out of the idea of, say, Salem grilling Cinder about her supposed secret boyfriend. Anything that can be described or recontextualised in a mundane fashion is amusing to me when it's a fantastical scenario (I also think it's a great way of figuring out if you know what you're doing).
But on a more serious level, what I really enjoy is that idea that it's the environment/circumstance that is keeping these two people apart who probably would seriously get on really well. So the humour is often a way to realise that, or at least the dryness, or something chafing there that is playful and desperate to get out - so in many ways I think humour serves a very, very functional purpose in a story like this written exactly to my tastes. When you can share a laugh with someone or have a bit of awareness that transcends whatever is pressing on you or have this very, very clear realisation that - oh we actually get on quite well, I wonder what that life would've looked like - it's sort of saddening and bright and fun. It might seem like it's only there to set-up their respective character awareness of other people/other peoples' romantic feelings, but when Jaune and Cinder are gossiping about Emerald and Mercury in Chapter 5, it's also like - fuck you two would so fucking cute in any other circumstance, wouldn't you. What about this life. What about this one.
So the funny asides - she smells like wet dog - are certainly there to amuse ME and only ME because everything is about ME (sarcasm but sort of true for fanfic), it's also working on a humanistic level, particularly relevant for an enemies-to-lovers pairing, and particularly relevant for relieving tension or stress, and I think also particularly relevant because Jaune's much more than comic relief - and I think you can demonstrate that when you've got them being funny together in a non-slapstick way.
Now, for a non-Skimming Eye example - all the aforementioned is still true - I think my favourite would have to be this, and I have to provide the entire passage for context:
which, not to toot mine own horn, is still some of my favourite dialogue I've written altogether. It's from The One Known by Many Names aka Somehow Even More Self-Indulgent Than That Other Fucking Novel-length Fic. (Also if anybody clicks through please keep in mind it's rated Explicit).
It's funny. It makes me laugh. Cinder is allowed to be little a condescending to the heroes but not too cruel, as a treat. Again, you've got that humanistic element here too, and breaking the tension a bit - and also an absurd situation, which makes it funny - and also that element that Cinder can still be Cinder even if she's going through a redemption arc (this motivates a lot of my characterisation for her chiefly in Skimming Eye) and Jaune can still be Jaune (or you can bring out even more of his character in relief) and they can both be interesting and themselves in a romance between them and in new situations.
So I really like humour for a lot of different reasons - I mean, I love my fair share of puns and wordplay and things turning out exactly how you wanted, just not the way you expected, and there is ironic humour there! That's the type of stuff I love forever and ever and ever. The humanistic element is one of the most underestimated points, though. Humour isn't just there for the Whedonesque quips and to spoil emotional moments - it is emotion, it is human, but you don't need to be self-conscious/self-aware, feeling the need to undercut your story with it - it IS character, it IS story, it IS theme, and most of all, if you can't describe a chapter like, 'She steals her stepmother's carkeys to impress her sort of boyfriend with an expensive car and go hooning' then is it even fun? Lololol. That's just me because I'm silly, not everyone needs to do that of course.
Thank you for playing along, I actually ended up really enjoying responding to this. <3 <3 <3 I'd still love to play the ask game if anyone feels like it... 🥺
#seraphina's asks#user: anonymouse#the distance which fools the skimming eye#my silly little stories
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All of retrokaiju's designs for Froads are fucking dog shit,
Froad-816-913253527
Froad-718-908051243
even then their designs are just too distracting, terribly designed. what the fuck even is this
deeplock/art/Horned-0110-834761146
okay so the scene paintjob is actually not a one-off. the only patterns they seem to know how to do are striped gradients, checkerboard, and those jaguar spots. the stupidly huge tail too, bigger than the whole thing and so improperly attached you could probably yank it right off
stop being weird and horny on main you furry those tits are ridiculous and since the hands/feet are the same color they meld together to make it hard to make out any details. the purple/teal stuff on the horns and neck are also weird since they aren't anywhere else could've made the claws that color to help make them easier to see and integrate the palette better but i guess they forgot to finish
the back wings literally just referenced off a real moth and is natural only to then have it fucked over by eye searing color combos that just blend together because this artist doesn't know how to make anything stand out properly. what an eyesore
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