Arsen

he/him | 20 | #1 SAGE DEFENDER SINCE 2025 | Truthlesssage board of directors

[burningarsenic]

burningArsenic welcomes you with open arms, at your own risk

First off

NOTE:

I frequently post about 16+ topics, so please avoid this blog if you are under said age

No DNI list, but i do block people i would rather not interact with

Asks always open! You can ask me whatever you want, whenever you want - few things are off-limits, really

Requests open! Except i'm lazy and may not ever get to them, i'm sorry

TAGS:

#vanilla flowers - the truthlessage AU all of my works take place in, this tag is for discussion/art of said AU that can't really be misinterpreted as regular truthlessage. Lost kingdoms, vanilla flowers is the fic most closely tied to the worldbuilding of the au (ALSO PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT IT)

#ars art - art tag

#ars yaps - thoughts, analysis and headcanons (mostly about crk)

This account serves a secondary purpose as being an archive of sorts. You can peruse these tags to your heart's content, a bastion of content i was either once obsessed with, or still going strong

ARCHIVE TAGS:

#truthlesssage

#sage of truth

#stanford pines

#stanley pines

#tullfric

#general tullius

#errorink

[burningarsenic]

Btw Sage's little tear-shaped dangles below his Soul Jam being a reference to PV is everything to me

[burningarsenic]

I’ll speak with my friend in getting direct translations—but on the topic of the English translation, pronouns not the same way with story lines. (And CROB is different than CRK.)

While story lines in CRK have been messed up in terms of characterization MANY times, CROB hasn’t had as many issues to my knowledge (CROB is handled by a completely different team to CRK.) There are many Non-Binary cookies in CROB, and in languages where “they/them.” Pronouns themselves aren’t things that can be mistranslated awfully like an entire voiceline can. Character pronouns are choices that the directors make, and there wouldn’t be so many non-binary cookies if the English translation is just making it up along the way

I cannot speak for CROB as i am neither interested in it, nor am i a CROB player. If there is some kind of hidden truth in the lore of that game, i'd love to see it, but CRK has so far didn't really yield much evidence. As far as i remember even in the English translation Timekeeper is only referred to as they once, and even then it's because they were talking about "The Director"

As for other cookies. Yes, there are plenty of canonically nonbinary or gender ambiguous cookies. Some of them are still. Kind of debatable depending on translation, but i won't make any statements unless i know what exactly Korean original says about it (the Japanese translation also makes shit up sometimes, like giving Sage a line that just doesn't exist in Korean)

But it doesn't change the fact that the English translation is. Ass. It's ass. It consistently runs its own agenda to the point of altering canonical events and connections. I fully believe that they would change cookies pronouns if they felt like English audiences would connect with/like them better

[burningarsenic]

About timekeeper—

Timekeeper uses they/she (predominantly they/them with only one character ever really using she/her.) While sure it doesn’t make them non binary just from that, in English they are not referred to as she/her very often.

From people I’ve known who speak Korean, it is a very gender neutral language in the context of not using gendered pronouns in causal conversations anyway. It’s the same thing with the dragons. English uses pronouns a lot, and therefore, gender neutral pronoun options are much more available and usable. When speaking English, it’s clear that Timekeeper (and the devs) prefers a more gender neutral approach (since the language allows things to be clearer in terms of neutrality.)

Yes, Korean is very gender-neutral, as is Japanese, but the thing is: the English translation is NOT a good metric for analysis of these things. It is repeatedly and consistently making shit up, and Devsisters seem to have little to no quality control over it. Entire character lines have been butchered to an unrecognizable degree, and that includes giving some cookies pronouns that they originally didn't use

I don't know Korean personally, but if you have contact with someone who can verify which pronouns Timekeeper uses, i'd love to hear from them since the original source is very important. My reference is the Namu wiki, which clearly states Timekeeper is female despite marking truly gender-ambiguous characters properly. Though i also recognize that wikis aren't infallible and can be wrong

And in the Japanese translation, which is much more consistent than English and also shares a lot of conventions with Korean (such as being very gender-neutral), Timekeeper specifically uses the feminine "I" pronoun for herself despite having multiple gender-neutral options

Nonbinary or she/they Timekeeper IS cool and awesome and i love seeing them, but it seems to me like this is another hallucination the English translation just. Made up

[burningarsenic]

I love all sagerecluse fanart, but when i spot those beautiful beautiful wrinkles on them i start crying tears of joy

[the-archivists-left-eye]

when they're yelling at someone named "stop drafting truthlesssage angst during classes" but my name is allie so i know theyre not talking to me

[emaleighw]

Day 7: "Confession" of @burgertimewifi 's trsot week!!

Ohhhhh my god finally!!! This took me so longggg i had to keep postponing working on itttt but im happy with it :)

I wanted to do more than one confession!! Take is as "confessionS" because i think Recluse especially would have a hard time being direct with his feelings

[astroflare26]

Yeah I joined the Eggman empire, I mean he doesn’t pay great but he’s surprisingly progressive and we have pretty good benefits.

[official-doctor-robotnik]

Welcome, boy. Gender euphoric robot body coming soon.

[baxs-tblr]

Okay I realllyyyy hope this doesn't hope that this doesn't come across as transphobic or trans erasure (I'm so sorry if it does) and I hate to have this conversation during Pride Month but... are we sure that Timekeeper going by she/they pronouns necessarily makes them non binary? Pronouns don't necessarily make gender- I myself go by she/they and I identify as a cis woman (gender non comforming). Dark Enchantress also goes by she/it pronouns iirc...

I haven't played Ovenbreak so maybe there's something I'm missing but I do hope everyone knows that there's a difference between gender identity and gender expression and pronouns are moreso about the latter. Of course I don't mind the idea of Timekeeper being non binary (I personally headcanon them as non binary) but I guess I'm just curious about it?

[manariesflumpdump]

girlie those are demigirl pronouns. they're a demigirl. thats under the non binary umbrella.

pronouns and gender expression aren't equal but in this context, the devs chose to basically make them a demigirl

[baxs-tblr]

I don't mean to be rude here but I'm a bit confused. You say "demi girl pronouns" as if going by she/they is exclusively a demi girl thing but then proceed to say "in this context", implying that it is not?

Like I said in the post, I go by she/they. Does that mean that I, too, must identify as a demi girl?

[kallamities]

I'm sorry to but in here, but no, it doesn't mean that unless you want to identify as a demigirl! Pronouns don't equal gender, and gender doesn’t equal pronouns!

In TK's case, Devsis is probably intending them to be nonbinary, especially after the pride post, but shrugging. I'm not sure. They're nonbinary to me.

[baxs-tblr]

I see! Like I said, I do see Timekeeper as nonbinary and I agree it was Devsister's intention, I think what I dislike is the notion that going by they/them automatically makes someone on the nonbinary spectrum

But I do wonder about Dark Enchantress since she goes by she/it

[burningarsenic]

Unfortunately for yall, she/they pronouns seems to be an english-only thing. In the Japanese translation she always refers to herself using feminine first-person pronouns. Korean-made Namu Wiki also lists her pronouns as she/her and her gender as female. Her being nonbinary is a fun and cool headcanon, but not much more than that, and i hate that every single creator who dares call her a woman immediately gets bashed

Don't give a company credit for representation they didn't put in the game

Live your truth and call her whatever you want, but unfortunately canon seems to contradict it

[lobotomy-jpeg]

Art study of J.C. Leyendecker's Welcome Home with Mrs Hudson and Dr Watson.

This was the first Holmes Leyendecker study I did, before my study of Consolation and it was fun to dry and figure out what to use and how to use it to get close to replicating his style in digital form.

[ID: Digital illustration of Mrs Hudson and Dr John Watson, a recreation of Leyendecker's illustration "Welcome Home". Mrs Hudson has reached her hands out to gently hold onto Watson's shoulders in greeting, a soft expression on her face. In turn, Watson touches her back and puts his other hand on one of her forearms with a smile. He is in a brown coat and matching bowler hat and mrs Hudson is wearing her dress with the little flowers. They are meant to resemble their Granada series counterparts; Rosalie Williams as Mrs Hudson and David Burke as Dr Watson. /end ID]

(details under the cut)

[ID: Detail focusing on the pattern of Mrs Hudson's dress; it is a deep navy with liny violet flowers. /end ID]

[ID: Detail focusing on their hands and Watson's torso; his brown vest, coat and dotten tie. He gently rests his hand on Mrs Hudson's forearm, a hold band on his ring finger. Mrs Hudsons own hands are resting gently on the lapels of his coat. /end ID]

[ID: Detail focusing on Mrs Hudson's gentle face. Her grey hair is up in a bun and there's a pink to her cheeks as she looks at her doctor softly like a mother. /end ID]

[ID: Detail focusing on Watson's face. He smiles open mouthed in joy at his return. /end ID]

[deden-den143]

SAGERECLUSE SAGERECLUSE SAGERECLUSE-

LOOK, HE WANT TO KISS HIM SO BAD, IT MAKES HIM LOOK STUPID !!!

[velvetveiltheory]

Can we all point and laugh at this tier list I found on Twitter I’m enraged

[baxs-tblr]

Y'all have GOT to stop reducing Pure Vanilla to a defenseless little guy HOW IS HE AT THE BOTTOM?? HE'S THE STRONGEST ANCIENT???

[kallamities]

Okay actually looking at this again: why the hell is Gingerbrave in the bottom? He could kick your ass, but he's probably not going to?

Also Stardust Cookie? Bro could kill you oh my god

[baxs-tblr]

BLACK SAPPHIRE?? ALMOND?? AFFAGATO?? SMOKED CHEESE?? MILLENNIAL TREE??????

[burningarsenic]

"Its a good thing Pure Vanilla wasnt fighting Spice he wouldve lost" PURE VANILLA LEVELED A KINGDOM. PURE VANILLA WOULDVE KILLED DARK ENCHANTRESS WITHOUT HIS SOUL JAM. HE MADE AN ENTIRE KINGDOM FLOAT. HELLO.

[burningarsenic]

5 milimeters of penis under the cut

ohhh i love my naked old man

[criminalizegolf]

> read library book

> it's good

Thank you library

[fiercestpurpose]

> read library book

> it's bad

Thank you library for saving me from buying it :)

[official-library-posts]

official library post

[living400lbs]

> read library book

> it's good

> thank library

> want to re-read book

> enjoy re-read

> consider buying the book if you continue to want to re-read

[burningarsenic]

by the way, what do you think about where crk is heading with the witches?

Hatred. but my friend who actually played Witchs castle explained to me that the Witches were forced to turn into cookies or something and didnt have a choice. But i still think it defeats a LOT of the existential horror of crk specifically. I hope they dont make them nice and benevolent because i am going to be so mad

[burningarsenic]

okay, THAT has a point, thank you. just wanted to dig a bit deeper into your reasonings hehe. thank you for a debate my fellow sage fan

No issues, i'm always happy to discuss

[burningarsenic]

she doesn't hate him, she FEELS like she has to hate him but doesn't know WHY

she wakes up confused with fragmentary thoughts left from the knights who created her as a last will

she doesn't know any better, he is literally the first person she sees in her life

Thank you for the clarification. So we have a blank slate of a character who supposedly has absolutely no moral framework or passions except "I am supposed to hate this guy", but we get no exploration of why she just goes along with the CLEAR heinous things Shadow Milk is doing. Again, he's not even pretending to be a good guy. She sees cookies in pain and suffering and doesn't even question it

BUT of course she has complete control over her powers and is actually cooler than anyone else. She may have just been born but she also needs to be cool and awesome, so we're not going to explore at all how she may fail and stumble. She's also a planning genius and can do anything and everything

And, again, Shadow Milk is just. Trusting her with things. For no reason. HE doesn't know she's a complete blank slate. He should have suspicion that the Kala Namak wishes are still inside her somewhere. But yes. Send her on a mission your entire plan hinges on

I will admit that if we assume she just has the mind of a newborn it does?? Kind of make sense??? That she would just go along with it. But then i raise the next problem: it's a boring and contradictory way to write a character. Why is she perfectly familiar with so many things, but then completely oblivious to others? And why should i care about a character that has NO personality beyond being a convenient tool for the writers to insert into any scene requiring the characters to have more than 5 iq. Capple and Sapphire would have to find an interesting way to solve a problem? Throw Ash Salt in there. Wrench in Shadow Milk's plans? Ash Salt. Can't defeat the ancients head-on? Ash Salt.