Can We All Acknowledge There’s Something Wrong With Flynn?!😰

RWBY Zombie Apocalypse Part 5 : A glimpse of the past

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | part 5 | Part 6

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Lolth didn't start out as a Misandrist?

This might seem strange, but originally it was presented as unclear if Lolth was a misandrist, was behind the sexism in Drow society, and the misandry among Drow being itself much less severe. As stated from even late 1e AD&D article in Dragon Magazine #129 "Children of the Spider Goddess." (from which I take the main image):

And indeed, the text implies Drow are still less sexist and more meritocratic and egalitarian than many other societies, species and races, while still being an evil matriarchy.

This comes back to the Dark Elves and Lolth's first appearances in "Against the Giants" module trilogy (G1: "Steading of the Hill Giant Chief" and G3: "Hall of the Fire Giant") and Drow series ("D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth", "D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa", "D3 Vault of the Drow and "Q1, Queen of the Demonweb Pits" (latter all collected into the Supermodule - "Queen of the Spiders") - were Drow Elves who worship the Elder Elemental God, still keep the matriarchal structure of their society.

These being the lore written by Gary Gygax (pretty much the creator or one of the creators of D&D)

It's also further evident in the connected series of modules The "Village of Hommlet"/"The Temple of Elemental Evil", were there is a lead human male cleric of Lolth, Lareth the Beautiful.

Lareth, no longer as beautiful as once

Lolth was even stated to be pissed of on whoever harms or kills Lareth:

This was changed in Second Edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Lolth becoming increasingly misandrist (though even there still allowing male priests/clerics, as stated in 1991 "Drow of the Underdark" and 1998's "Demihuman Deities", specifically the latter stating 4% of Lolth Drow priesthood are male priests), though some writers tried to tone it down at least. Though only in Critical Role, Lolth is not as misandrist as in modern lore at least, calling back to her earliest characterization.

Still, I think it is interesting, seeing how the perception of Lolth in pop-culture, is different from how she started out, if due to old lore being forgotten in place of newer one, and also how R.A. Salvatore's very popular Drizzt novel series did portray Lolth as such (though even in some of his novels, till fairly recently, he did hint Lolth exaggerates/fakes how much of a misandrist she is).

I've pondered before about Nico recreating Agnus's research and granting herself a bug-like Angelo transformation. And as cool and hot as that would be, I never felt sure it was in character.

However, a plot point in the Machiavelli Duology (all details in my pinned post) is that after Machiavelli and Arius II are dealt with, the Ouroboros Corporation would fall under Nico's control.

And this would be incredibly stressful for her.

She can't just be tinkering in her workshop and flirting with any female coworkers who pass by all the time, she has to make important business decisions about stuff like finances and public relations.

And she can't just quit, because everyone who's gunning for her job is evil and would commit crimes against humanity in the name of science and profit given the opportunity. Nico's having a hard time transitioning Ouroboros to more ethical practices, and she has good intentions.

I could see the stress taking a toll on her mental health, leading her to consider courses of action she otherwise wouldn't.

What if her smoking got worse? She goes from smoking two or three cigarettes a day to at least a whole pack.

What if she got cancer?

What if, suddenly, her mortality became very apparent? And the outcome where someone with malicious intentions inherits Ouroboros becomes inevitable, and imminent?

What’s Going On with the Ears in Hyrule?

(Or: A Needlessly Comprehensive Deep-Dive into the Myst-EAR-ious Duality of Round-Eared Humans and Long-Eared Hylians, a Very S-EAR-ious Write-Up)

As some of you may remember from a few months back, I made an off-hand comment about my ideas surrounding the disparities between the different types of ears we see in Hyrule’s human citizens, and my desire to further expand on that at a later date.  No, that was not a joke, and yes, I am finally Doing the Dang Thing.  So!  Let’s get started.

Long-time fans of the series will know that Hylians are a race of humans in the world of The Legend of Zelda with long, elf-like ears.  Hylians most always dominate the land of Hyrule in nearly every installment in the series, with round-eared humans only making their first appearance in Link’s Awakening, a game that - spoiler alert - was all a dream in the first place.  And though plain old humans again appear in the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna in the follow-up Oracle games, it is very in keeping with the theme of this blog that their most notable appearance happens to be in Twilight Princess.

Though it is never remarked upon in-game, Link is the only Hylian in a village filled with humans, such as Ilia and Rusl, leading the player to assume that he was not Ordon-born.  Other notable examples include Ashei, who hails from the mountains, and even the inhabitants of (New) Kakariko (though only three in number) are all mere humans.  The Hylians of this game seem to be centralized around Castle Town, with notable members including Telma, Shad, and Auru of the Resistance, and naturally, Zelda herself.  Yet as I’ve already stated, the fact that there are two different sets of ears among the humans is never even a topic of conversation; it makes you wonder why the developers bothered to make the distinction at all, and indeed, plenty of fans have never even noticed that such a disparity exists. I certainly didn’t notice when I was ten years old, playing through Twilight Princess for the very first time - but we’ve come a long way since then, and I am delighted to finally be able to tell everyone why I think this disparity exists, and how it has bled into other aspects of the series.  Let’s back away from Twilight Princess for a moment; all good theories have a beginning, and this one is no different.  To understand where this all began, we must look thousands of years into the past, to Skyward Sword.  More specifically, this all started…

…with this guy.

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really long ask lmao

hello! I’m a newcomer to the shin megami tensei series, introduced through smtv at the start of this year (actually finished nocturne just last week along with starting soul hackers and iv lmao). i discovered your tumblr about a month ago and finally mustered the courage to submit something.

(apologies in advance for having a bunch of questions and if you’ve covered the answers to these elsewhere @_@)

1. what is some folklore/mythology you would personally like to see represented in the series, as a demon or otherwise?

2. not limited to smt, what is some of your favorite kaneko artwork overall?

3. what is your opinion on the success of persona compared to rest of the megaten series?

4. how would you describe your experiences with the megaten community in general?

5. last question what would you say your favorite demons are design wise? personally, among the designs i’ve seen, some that stick out a lot are dominion, chernobog, jersey devil, mother harlot and baal.

____________________________

Hello! 👋 Congratulations on taking that first step and welcome aboard! Sounds like you’ve been busy chipping away at what’s available! I’d be happy to answer your questions.

1. Hmm. This is one of those good common questions I have answered many times but at this juncture, knowing how new SMT games add a couple dozen random demons each time, I would go for my tried and true picks from the Goetia. Buer is one such low-hanging piece of fruit.

2. I’m still overwhelmingly interested in Kaneko’s SMT work. My favorites are the pieces “Advancing Army” and “Advent” illustrated for the covers of Kaneko Works I and II respectively:

3. There’s a very obvious difference in appeal. It is what it is.

4. Well… I’ve been around long enough that I’ve had pretty much every experience possible, good and bad. But I have to say that my ask inbox has been overstuffed for years at this point and I would consider that part of a healthy relationship!

5. Nice choices, esp. Jersey Devil! Honestly I wonder if people would be able to guess my top 5 or so demons at this point? Maybe. There’s always some flux but they would have to be Soul Hackers Odin, Zaou Gongen, Adam, Eve, and probably… Baldur.

And a final word: since you seem to be reading my blog, don’t let my (many) criticisms of the series let you down too much. They’ve really only come about after massive amounts of time with the series and having experienced practically everything it has to offer.

Naturally, when you’re in such a position you want to see NEW things and I think SMT is more than capable of delivering them. Most criticisms come from this perspective and how it is not in my opinion living up to that potential, instead recycling past ideas and broad genre tropes. It bums me out and I’d guess you’d say I’m fairly outspoken, lol.

Thanks for submitting and enjoy SMT!

I just. The parallels in Hector and Isaac’s designs are so good.

I love the angel/devil motif they have going on. Hector is conventionally pretty, with a soft face, long wavy silver hair, baby blue eyes, and is dressed in blue (and black, to symbolize his dark past). Isaac has stronger features (which is a godsend among the plethora of “same faced long haired pretty boys” drawn by Kojima), slick red hair that covers half of his face, grey/yellow eyes, and is dressed in reddish black. He even wears red makeup and has black tattoos all over his body.

The angel/devil motif is blazoned in the Devil Forgemaster crest as well, as they’re not one thing or the other, but in between. Not angels nor devils, not fully human nor fully otherworldly, always on the edge: from there, they choose their own paths. And I adore when in fanart their positions are reversed compared to the placement of the wings on the crest <3

https://at.tumblr.com/whitecatarts/hector-and-isaac-castlevania-has-always-been-one/2clhzacnuoqj

Speaking of Isaac in particular, red hair and yellow eyes hint at some kind of demonic nature. In the franchise, only two other characters have flaming red hair: the vampire Walter, and the Succubus in SoTN (and Simon in Chronicles, but I don’t understand why). Red hair has been historically associated with witchcraft and vampirism, and Isaac descends from a formidable family of dark sorcerers and is the loyal servant of a vampire. As for the yellow eyes, the only other character in the series with the same color is Alucard, a half-vampire. There is enough evidence to theorize that Isaac could be a cambion, or a changeling. After all, he and his sister Julia look absolutely nothing alike… Too bad that it would ruin the overall theme of “humans who don’t belong to the human world” :\ it’d make for an interesting AU, I think.

And yet, and yet. They still have part of each other in their design. Hector has a red sash wrapped around his waist; Isaac’s armor includes a little blue crystal. They also carry the pain caused by the other: Rosaly’s black headband is wrapped around Hector’s sash, as her tragic fate was caused by Isaac and Hector’s past; Isaac’s outfit is what’s left of his Devil Forgemaster uniform after Hector slashed and broke it, much like Hector’s actions indirectly broke Isaac. They’re intertwined to the core.

Isaac having the Devil Forgemaster’s crest tattooed on his back says a lot about him. Unlike Hector, who could take off his vest and stop being recognizeable as a Forgemaster, Isaac chose to be branded for life. This might also be why he stayed away from human civilization during those three fateful years: he really couldn’t have shown his face, or better his body, anywhere. It speaks about his loyalty, running much deeper than Hector’s, but also of his insecurity, so eager he was to show his commitment to his Lord. Hector didn’t need to be tattooed: his proficiency was more than enough.

Even their own names are parallels of each other! Hector is Greek in origin (most famous example being General Hector of the Trojan War) and it means “to hold fast” or “restrain”, hinting at his strong will that allows him to break free from Dracula’s Curse. Isaac is Biblical in origin and refers to the son of Abraham, who was nearly sacrificed in the name of God to prove Abraham’s loyalty: Isaac, loyal to Dracula beyond reason, also get sacrificed to his “God”, but unlike his namesake, he was not saved in time. It also means “he will laugh”, which Isaac does… a lot… not for good reasons…

Honestly at this point my only problem is with the details of Hector’s design. I have no clue of what’s going on with his arms, or if he has holes in his pants and how he covers them. But otherwise I really appreciate how much thought was put into both of them. And this is not even getting into the parallels of their personalities.

Is he shocked because of Raven speaking or because Summer said she had a girlfriend.

I heard Raven speaks in her bird form to scare the shit out of people.

Commission info

“you’re not alone anymore  Blake “

Cute.

Try…First time to draw Hector_(:3」∠)_

If Taranza isn’t in wave 3 this is gonna be really embarrassing