#❀ — it’s our time. 「 arc vii. 」

[darkesttiimelines]

Throughout history, women have left an undeniable impact on society with their hard work, creativity, and dedication to progress. Unfortunately, their accomplishments have often gone unnoticed, been undervalued, or even stolen. Despite these challenges, brave women of today continue to push boundaries, break barriers, and pave the way for a more fair and equal world. It's our duty to keep going, so that future generations of women can inherit a kinder, more just, and supportive world. By following in the footsteps of the incredible women who came before us, we can create a world where every woman can flourish and succeed, and where their contributions are recognized and celebrated.

Joan of Arc is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Claiming to be acting under divine guidance, she became a military leader who transcended gender roles and gained recognition as a savior of France. She was put on trial by Bishop Pierre Cauchon on accusations of heresy, which included blaspheming by wearing men's clothes, acting upon visions that were demonic, and refusing to submit her words and deeds to the judgment of the church. She was declared guilty and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, aged about nineteen.

Rani Lakshmibai was the Maharani consort of the princely state of Jhansi from 1843 to 1853. She was one of the leading figures in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 became a symbol of resistance to the British rule in India for Indian nationalists. When the Maharaja died in 1853, the British East India Company under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie refused to recognize the claim of his adpoted heir and annexed Jhansi under the Doctrine of Lapse. She rode into battle with her infant son strapped to her back, and died in June 1858 after being mortally wounded during the British counterattack at Gwalior.

Rosalind Franklin was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was instrumental in the discovery of the structure of DNA. Her contributions were largely overlooked by her male colleagues, James Watson and Francis Crick, who used her data without her permission or acknowledgement. This theft of her intellectual property and erasure of her contributions is a prime example of the systemic sexism that has historically plagued the scientific community.

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress and inventor who co-invented a frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology during World War II that was used to guide torpedoes. However, her contributions were largely ignored and dismissed by male engineers and the military at the time. It was only later in life that she received recognition for her scientific achievements.

Emma Weyant is an American competitive swimmer. She was the US national champion at the individual medley. She qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in the 400m individual medley and won the silver medal in this event. Weyant finished second in the 500-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. She was beaten by William (Lia) Thomas, a fetishist, who when competing as a member of the Penn men's team, which was 2018-19, ranked 554th in the 200 freestyle, 65th in the 500 freestyle and 32nd in the 1650 freestyle. Weyant is the fastest swimmer in the 500-yard freestyle and had her position stolen by a man.

Maryna Viazovska is a Ukrainian mathematician who made a breakthrough in sphere packing, solving the centuries-old mathematical problem known as the densest packing of spheres in dimensions 8 and 24. She was awarded the Fields Medal in July 2022, making her the second woman (after Maryam Mirzakhani), the second person born in the Ukrainian SSR and the first with a degree from a Ukrainian university to ever receive it.

Hannie Schaft was a Dutch resistance fighter during World War II who played a crucial role in the resistance movement against Nazi occupation. Schaft was a former university student who dropped out because she refused to sign a pledge of loyalty to Germany. Nazis arrested and killed her in 1945, just three weeks before the war ended in Europe. According to lore, Schaft’s last words were, “I’m a better shot,” after initially only being wounded by her executioner.

Shakuntala Devi was an Indian mathematician and mental calculator who was known as the "Human Computer" for her exceptional ability to perform complex mathematical calculations in her head. Her extraordinary abilities earned her a place in the 1982 Guinness Book of Records. Her lesser known achievement is that in 1977 she wrote what is considered to be the first book in India on homosexuality titled “The World of Homosexuals.”  

J. K. Rowling is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote Harry Potter, a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. Known for her philanthropy, she was doxxed and harassed after coming out with support for women's and gay rights in 2020. Rowling secretly donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to save 100 female lawyers and their families facing murder in Afghanistan. In 2022, she funded a women's only rape shelter in Edinburgh.

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

There was this thread on r/asoiaf the other day that was complaining about how ASOIAF stans seem to lose all creativity when it comes to theorizing about Dany’s endgame. The OP argued that people are so sure that Dany’s story can only end in death even though nothing is set in stone and the story would still be very good if she lived to the end.

Predictably, the comments in the thread proceeded to double down on why Dany is 100% “doomed” and marked for death, which is very funny because not only did they completely miss OP’s point, but they started citing statistics that I have personally never heard of. How can anyone except George R.R Martin know what is 100% Dany’s endgame? Are there some mathematic equations I need to be aware of? Can someone share with the class please…

See, I agree with that OP big time. It’s a bit annoying to go through fandom spaces and have to see the same old posts about how Dany is an instrument of death and so she needs to be put out at the end of the story. Others will try to argue that she will die a hero as a means of being a bit more charitable. It seems that everywhere I go, Dany’s endgame always ends in death. There really is an obvious lack of creativity when it comes to speculating about her endgame.

I have an issue with using death to define Dany’s story because she is so much more than that. People get so caught up in the “bride of fire” and “daughter of death” aspects that they forget about what Dany actually does. She goes around liberating people! Yes she brings death…to those who harm others and deserve it. She is not bringing death wholesale to innocent people but she is bringing death and destruction to corrupt institutions. That’s the whole point of her character. She is a liberator. She is a savior! She is a dragon and the dragon cleanses. To the slaves she is the Breaker of Chains. To those who have glimpsed of the coming Long Night, she is the Prince(ss) That Was Promised. To all, she represents hope for the future. Hope for life and liberation from death.

Dany gained so much power throughout her arc so far and she could have taken a ship straight to Westeros, but she used her new found abilities to free people from slavery; she chose to liberate them from death. Really, that’s how I view Dany’s campaign against slavery. Slaves aren’t treated as people; their humanity is discarded, they have no will, no future, no hope. It’s almost like a death of the person though they may not physically be dead. Then in comes Daenerys Targaryen, a young girl with nothing but her dragons and her compassion, who says to them “you may not matter to them but you matter to me and I will save you”. Where the slaves didn’t have free will before, Dany gives it to them. I’m remembering the unsullied who didn’t even have names but Dany gave them the ability to pick and choose their own; which seems like such a small act but means so much more because names are important in humanizing people. She represents new beginnings.

Dany’s crusade across Slaver’s Bay is a big deal. She didn’t have to do it but she did it anyway. There was no personal gain for her but she did it because she cares so deeply about people. And then she gets to Meereen and decides to stay there because her “children” need her. She cannot and will not abandon strangers to a fate of death. And the people know that.

I’m just thinking of this quote:

“I am no lady,” the widow replied, “just Vogarro’s whore. You want to be gone from here before the tigers come. Should you reach your queen, give her a message from the slaves of Old Volantis.” She touched the faded scar upon her wrinkled cheek, where her tears had been cut away. “Tell her we are waiting. Tell her to come soon.”

- Tyrion VII, ADWD

And this one too:

“I told you, I know our little queen […] this Mother of Dragons, this Breaker of Chains, is above all a rescuer. The girl who drowned the slaver cities in blood rather than leave strangers to their chains can scarcely abandon her own brother’s son in his hour of peril.”

- Tyrion VI, ADWD

These people have never even met Dany but to them, she is hope and freedom and life! She is salvation, and that’s the point. She has spent much of her arc fighting slavery which is in preparation for her ultimate destiny as a savior to defeat the Others. Because they not only bring death to the land but they also threaten to enslave humanity through death. However, they cannot triumph over the Breaker of Chains; the great savior that is Daenerys Targaryen! That’s what her story has been building up to. And it’s not that Dany is saving people and peacing out (e.g., dying in a sacrifice). The point is that she herself persevered. And because she persevered, her people will too. It’s that her constant survival ensures that of others.

Dany grew up penniless, homeless, hungry, and even started out as a 13 year old slave to Khal Drogo. She could have given up but she didn’t because through everything, she is resilient. She is determination and perseverance in the face of death. When she walked into that funeral pyre she could have died, but she lived and emerged as the Mother of Dragons - these dragons that have been instrumental in freeing slaves and will ultimately be important in the Other’s defeat. She “died” in that pyre and was “reborn”, and this rebirth is moving her closer to ensuring that the rest of her people overcome death as well.

That’s why it’s more thematically meaningful for Dany to survive the Long Night, in my opinion. She, more than anyone, represents what it means to constantly fight against the odds. She represents what it means to go through all the worst life can throw at you and then not only come out on top, but turn around and use her own survival to ensure that of others’. She has lived through so many trials and persevered; she is the very embodiment of what it means to survive. Because her survival means that where death could destroy, it didn’t. Instead, life prevailed.

If she survives the Long Night, she remains a constant symbol - a beacon if you will - of what’s to come which is better days. Those who are suffering can look to her and see how she went through hell and lived. This would go a long way in boosting morale especially in the aftermath of the Long Night. Because think about it, the people fought against the Others and overcame death, but now they have to survive what comes next. I think Dany is needed because she has already gone through this cycle and will not only be an important figurehead during the War for the Dawn, but she will also be important as the people try to find a will to live beyond death (winter and the Others).

The last book is called A Dream of Spring so I assume this means that it will still be winter - though the Long Night may be over. People will still be hungry, they will be homeless, and they will be tired. They will not know what comes next only that they have to move forward and survive through this new hardship. And you know who has personally experienced these things and knows what it’s like? Daenerys Targaryen! She has survived through it all. So imagine just how powerful it will be for those who survive the Long Night to look at young Daenerys and go, “you know what, I think we’ll get through this one too”. And it will be even more poignant for Dany to lead them to that rest and restoration. Because it’s not just the people who need rest after fighting for so long, Dany does too:

“It is such a long way,” she complained. “I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl.”

- Dany X, ADWD

People take the “dragons plant no trees” part that comes after to assume that Dany will remain stagnant for the next two books and it really is a pity. Someone pointed out a while ago (and I cannot for the life of me remember who this was) that Dany tends to pivot at the end of each book. As she continues to grow and develop as a character, her plans and priorities change. So it’s a bit sad how people assume that she will constantly be in a state of warfare. Because at the moment, Dany’s didn’t isn’t over yet.

Her campaign in Essos must continue and she still has the Others to fight in Westeros. So for now, she cannot truly settle down to plant trees. But she has been learning! She tried to do that throughout ADWD and I don’t see why that learning arc will be discarded at the end of the story. Especially when we consider that few others have actually been learning to lead. The only other character who has is Jon Snow but funny enough, many in this fandom think that he too is doomed to die. I’m not sure why George R.R Martin would kill the two up-and-coming leaders in the story who best answer “what was Aragorn’s tax policy?”

Ultimately, when all is said and done and there are no more wars to fight, I think Dany will finally find her peace and will learn that dragons can plant trees and watch them grow. As all the other heroes in the story, she will probably come out of the Long Night battered and bruised, but everything will be okay because she will still be alive; just like that Bran scene at the end of ACOK, which to me is the very definition of bittersweet. A better ending for her in my opinion isn’t dying in the cold of winter, but rather living and healing and finding a way to build a house with a red door, even though she cannot return to the one she knew as a child. Not only that, she can also provide this house with a red door” for the homeless, beaten, and bruised who survive the Long Night. It’s certainly possible that Martin could write Dany’s death in a way that is poignant and beautiful, but my personal preference is that she lives because of what her survival means for the larger themes in the story.

This whole post has been so jumbled and I’ve rambled a bit but I hope it made sense in the end lol. But anyway….the point is, I’m 1000% Team Dany Must Live!

[horizon-verizon]

There's something really strange about how HotD allows women to seemingly have power until they actually have to exercise it and maintain it.

The young Rhaenyra fights to be heard but seeks to establish herself, then we jump in time and all her fire has gone out, Alicent denigrates her in the council and in 6 years in DS she has not gained ally for her future council to not speak above her and truly respect her.

Alicent as Rhaenyra's opponent apparently has allies, lords and knights who will follow her (even if it is in the name of her son because exercising power through a man is still power)then we reach her moment of greatest triumph and she... She was left out of the plans and begins to lose more and more influence.

Baela appears confident on e7 but as soon as it's her turn to stand firm on the council she starts to be a scared little girl (which wouldn't be a bad arc because in fact she shares it with Jace in what It could be age discrimination instead of gender, but it's still strange because I'm sure they are already legally adults and AEMOND doesn't seem to have those problems even though some must have objected to a 16-17 boy who may have only strategized in Westeros chess being his main strategist).

Rhaenys has apparently never been afraid to voice her opinion and ruled in her husband's name, so in theory she should know how to deal with men their man·splain and its benevolent misogyny or not. But eventually she needs to ask Corlys for help and be rescued because she's not enough to keep the council in order.

These are our main women and they all express in their plot that women cannot have or maintain power by themselves. Then we also have:

Lady Serena/Sabitha (still confused by the name) who sits at the negotiating table with Lord Frey and Jace in apparent equality. A woman who shows up with several men to shout at Daemon for the Blackwoods without any fear. And Alys and Mysaria whose power depends on what they achieve behind closed doors with more socially influential people.

There is a whole history of women in history clawing and fighting for power and influence any way they could. Henry VII's mother is one of my favorites because she was only the king's mother, not even queen dowager, but she was a constant and influential presence at court, many wives/mothers/sisters of Roman emperors were involved in political intrigues (Caligula's mother had to be exiled for seeking justice for her murdered husband and inviting rebellion, Comudus' mother and Marcus Aurelius' wife when she thought her husband died moved to protect her children by inadvertently causing a political disaster and Comudus's sister thought that power should belong to her and her husband and not her brother, etc) We have, of course, Matilda but there are also Isabella I, Mary I, Isabella of Castile and several of her daughters.What about the power of the consorts? Catherine of Aragon was loved by the fountain even after her death and the legitimacy of her divorce called into question the marriage to Anne and the legitimacy of Elizabeth I, Anne and Parr were well-read women who had a far from insignificant influence. Or Catherine the great? This is a very messy and incomplete list and we wouldn't even have to look at the real world because Asoiaf already has it, I think one of the favorite reviews I read pointed out that Martin managed to show in a world that oppressed women how they were equal in ability and intelligence to men, which made his world misogynistic, but women themselves were no less.

hotD refuses to give us that because every time women have to show real power and not an appearance of it (which is what these women do in the background, Pretend that hey, yes there are women with power, just not any of our protagonists!) is degraded and put in her place carrying a message completely contrary to a supposedly "feminist" narrative.

There is only pain, suffering and the romanticization of that female martyrdom. We don't need it to be a girl power fantasy but at least there should be some nuance, some catharsis and hope because otherwise the message is... Why would you bother leaving the kitchen?

Now, to be clear to any readers: Anon is describing more how the writers have women held back and/or men intervene on for women to have any ability to address or resist other men's pressures: example, Rhaenys and Corlys as Anon said above in that specific scene. This is NOT a in-world character hate spiel!

Getting into it:

Rhaenys didn't directly ask Corlys to step in for her, he did that on his own in the episode...HOWEVER, the WRITING and plot sequence has Corlys have to step in. And I'll add another scene that anon's point reminds me of--Rhaenys didn't know or wouldn't rule Vaemond to just not do shit or face severe consequences....she was the ruling Lady for Corlys in his absence, of course she can order Vaemond around...but she doesn't. (No he can still ignore her, but that in itself would be so much more interesting [and truer to her orig/better character] that she falter in how to address him. Imagine she had ordered him to not go to KL, he goes anyway [thus this is another breach of higher authority], and thus there are TWO levels to his disobedience and duplicitous behavior in trying to become lord against his Lord's wishes and while he's too weak to address such a thing).

I think that we can keep Baela's trepidation as is bc as you say, non, it could be age but it'd also mean her gender and position as a future consort. She'd of course have some "beginning" trouble with addressing the council BUT I think what the issue is 2 things: A) in 1x08, Baela didn't know how to address Vaemond and that's fine, but we need to see progress and that requires more scenes of her growing some confidence. B) those scene before Vaemond's attempt that S1 didn't provide, and thus maybe we could have had a more "fronting"-and-resentful/openly-indignant-but-not-retreating-Baela like we saw then

Aemond has a totally different experience from Baela as a second born prince who was not, at first, to be King or that close to practicing a ruler's power-authority. Despite his position & his belief in his own abilities, he also has been feening for a chance to actually put those abiliities to practice. Other than him being 2nd born, he doesn't experience the layer of misogyny that includes engendering young girls that they can't do a thing AND they shouldn't specifically bc their femaleness is seen as (in)humanely and inherently lacking.

"Alicent as Rhaenyra's opponent apparently has allies, lords and knights who will follow her"--well, in 1x06/07, she tells Larys that she is "alone" and she needs Otto's hand to help her gain more influence in court. Enough to properly intimidate Rhaenyra....but since we don't get to see and witness the actual results of Otto's return to court (Rhaenyra immediately leaves for Dragonstone BEFORE Otto even comes back!), even this is more an appearance of power. Why? Because if Alicent of 1x06 wanted Otto to use against Rhaenyra, and Rhaenyra leaves before he even arrives...what is the point of Ott? Bc Alicent is now #1 bitch at court, at least actively?! Why couldn't we get Otto creeping (not sexual) on Alicent's authority and sorta taking over over her slowly but surely and we see Alicent's quasi-regret in asking him back? Instead we have Otto completely taking over and Alicent totally unaware! Rhaenyra is not there to "negate" Alicent at council, "show off" her "plain-featured sons" (& what...sully Alicent's eyes? or what?), or take possible/present supporting courtiers at court...who we never ever see as you say anon...so Otto comes to court at Alicent's ehest, and she actually doesn't gain much except a man leadign her around more than her making at least some use out of him for use all to WITNESS in key scenes where instead of Otto making announcements at court, it's either her or one of her lackeys....again, this is not about COUNCIL, this is about COURT but why not both with more scenes of Alicent leading court than her at council?

nice pointing out the discrepancy b/t the main lead female nobles vs the fewer side female nobles and Mysaria.

"There is only pain, suffering and the romanticization of that female martyrdom." I mean, there was already much over use of pain-suffering of women compared to men in Rhaenyra's story; problem with HotD is that there was also the stripping down of female rage/defiance/militancy/determination/self-assertion despite some men's most stupid desires. Their own desires for power vs the males' desires to use them for power [again, that example I gave pf Alicent--in real time--realizing Otto trying to use her for his own power trips or just ignoring her & trying to still keep use Otto for her own ends but finding such a tightrope nearly impossible to walk], to be specific. This goes for the Vaemond-Rhaenys thing as well]

"We don't need it to be a girl power fantasy but at least there should be some nuance, some catharsis and hope because otherwise the message is" -- bc of GoT, there is no real message of "hope" for women specifically...as the Dance was always woman-focused, specifically the plight of a woman who has been killed simply bc she demanded the same privileges men had concerning feudal-monarchial authority. There's little-to-no catharsis in Rhaenyra's story--you can maybe find some comfort in her life at Dragonstone after the show is over...oh wait😒--but it is true HotD refuses to handle the moments and spaces of her life pre-end of war that would have showed her both happy and more in control over her body/residence/etc.: Harwin & Daemon, [canonically, both at Dragonstone]; Laena [both Dragonstone & Driftmark]; her own kids,Rhaenys [Dragonstone/Driftmark] -- And I already described more nuanced rewrites for Rhaenys and Alicent

[open-hearth-rpg]

Coming Back: Fallen Campaigns & Rebirths

From Age of Ravens

CAN CAMPAIGNS AGE WELL?

This first part of the year sees me coming back to two longer online series I’ve run before. The first is the third and what I plan to be the final arc of our Godbound campaign. This is after a long break, with the second arc happening in mid-2022. At this point they have hit the higher levels there and I want to close out some of those stories. It’s been a great couple dozen sessions and I love these characters, but I want to get that some resolution. 

The other is Fearful Symmetries, a Trail of Cthulhu campaign set in 1930s England, with the characters as magicians fighting a secret war. We finished the first story in March of last year. We took advantage of the real world time gap to give the characters a gap as well. Session one was a “getting the band back together” episode. In it we got to see how each investigator had dealt with the fallout from their arcane showdown. It provided a solid baseline the characters have been able to play off of. 

Last year I also returned to a Hearts of Wulin mystery series with two new cases. We managed to reconnect with the big picture threats and story, even though it’d been over a year since we’d played last. We plan on coming back to that for another mystery later this year. Likewise we’re planning on coming back to our Girl by Moonlight game– three months wasn’t enough so we’re going to add another two months to wrap the story. 

Here’s the thing: I have never, ever been able to do this with a face to face game. Every single hiatus or break for a campaign has resulted in that campaign dying out. And it wasn’t just me, I saw this happen to other GMs in the area. My late friend Barry was notorious for this– starting amazing high concept campaigns with energy, but then “taking a short break” which meant we’d never play again. 

Another one, Rob, had something of the opposite problem. He would run long, multi-year campaigns. Then at some point he would take a break for burnout or to recharge his batteries. Inevitably he never returned to these campaigns, leaving them so close to the finish line the players could see it. He would tease folks with the possibility of going back and finishing their stories, but never would. 

And I’m not innocent of this. But it has been a while since I “paused” a game as a way of ducking out. Now if it isn’t working I say that and call it or tell everyone and then steer into some kind of finale. That, like Barry and Rob above, comes from me as a GM not feeling it. 

MORTAL BELOVED

But then we have those games that I wanted to return to. The ones which never got finished because circumstances worked against them. Or the inertia of things pulled us away. Or the people changed in the intervening period. These I really mourn.

I ran a dynamite short Star Wars series which was intended to be the first movie,in a “new trilogy” (before the new trilogy actually came out). This Episode VII  absolutely clicked and I planned to do Episode VIII after a short break for another game. But by the time it was possible, that gaming group had reorganized. Other GMs’ new games took up the nights and players available. We never went back. 

We had a great Exalted Dragon-Blooded game that we had to hold off from because two of the players went through a divorce. We tried coming back to it, but the one member of the couple who returned clearly wasn’t feeling it. So we ended up dropping it. A similar thing happening with a wuxia game, using Storyteller, I ran with a great trio of players. When one of them unexpectedly decided to stop playing because he and his wife had issues, we had to close that down. Because he never actually told us, we never got to do a finale session. 

And, of course, COVID has killed a couple of my games. We had a long-running Sunday group, going on twenty years, but we ended that. Another campaign had been running for almost four years. I asked about transitioning to online, but one of the players (ironically the one who had kibosh’ed the wuxia game) refused to play online. So we went on hold, but I knew we would never come back. The other two f2f campaigns which we transitioned to online survived. One, 13th Age, eventually shifted back to in-person after a year and a half. The other remains online. 

But online games, somehow, have managed to survive these breaks. We’ve gone back and picked them up without missing a beat. I had a long-running Mutants & Masterminds campaign online where we broke up each arc with a different game. And it worked– each time we came back folks knew the world and were excited to play again, even if it’d been many months. 

BREAKING POINTS

So why?

I have theories. First, having an accessible, shared body of material really helps. Character keepers remain– people don’t can’t file away their characters sheets and lose them. They don’t feel like artifacts of something lost. You can review your own character and remind yourself who everyone else played. Keepers offer a strong, complete snapshot of where the game ended. That’s especially true if someone kept a running log of notes. An NPC tab with pictures goes a long way to reorienting people to the setting and situation.

Second, it is easy. You set a schedule and share links. It’s all there, ready and waiting for you. If someone can’t return you can hide their character in the keeper. Maybe they will come back eventually. It's easy to slot in new players to these kinds of ongoing campaigns. 

Third, you can return exactly to the space you left. You return to an online call– a timeless zone. Things may have changed, but generally you can fall back to a sense of familiarity. That goes a long way to establishing continuity. 

Fourth, it overcomes a certain inertia which applies to all online games. I’m a generally shy person; when I have to go somewhere physically, I don’t dig it. My brain looks for excuses not to go out into public. Online play clears away some of that. 

Fifth, online play– at least in our community— is built on a certain social contract. Players sign up for games– something which asks for a modest commitment to play on their part. That’s combined with a waiting list which means that if folks can’t show up, other people can be slotted in. That combines to create a pressure to actually show up or at least to work to make sure other people have access to those slots. Ironically I think that makes people more likely to show up. The act of just having a system makes it more likely folks will consider their attendance and participation.  

LAST EPISODES

Are there lessons we can take from those for non-online games going on breaks or hiatus? Maybe? I suspect having a shared folder– maybe of scanned documents and materials– would make it easy to come back. Likewise keeping a copy of everyone’s character sheet. NPC image collections can help as well– maybe with Pinterest sub-boards. Starting again online and then moving back to f2f might be a good way to gauge if everyone’s still on board. It might also be good, even if the game was more casual before, to set up a calendar and some kind of sign ups. That helps support and remind community members.

I have a handful of games I really want to go back to. In the past I would have considered those dead and buried, but know I’m not go sure. 

[ulircursed]

TOA Aniversary Munday

From Neffi!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: eri

Pronouns: she/her

Birthday (no year): 9/30

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Taiwan! GMT+8, currently 12 hours ahead of TOAST. Good news: the apocalypse hasn't hit the future yet!

How long is your roleplay experience? Probably around 10+ years at this point, unless running around as Pokemon on the playground counts, in which case more like 20 years ahaha

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? I'm reasonably certain Fire Emblem was my first foray into tumblr RP, and Emmeryn was my first muse! There was a little indie community that I joined back then, though I haven't kept in contact with them

How were you introduced to TOA? I don't really remember, but all I know is that I lurked around the masterlist around the time of L&K but didn't pluck up the courage to join until nearly a year later when I saw there was a Reyson (shoutout to birdie!)

Do you have any pets? Nope! Moved around too much as a kid and current living situation doesn't support having one. Closest I got was sharing an apartment with my roommate's floofy cat for two years in college; his name's Chester and he was super adorable. I'd like to have a dog someday though!

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) WINTERRRR I am a human furnace and summer is suffering. Every spring I start counting down the days to the next winter ahaha

What is your IRL occupation? I work at the counseling department in a junior college!

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? Learning languages, singing, obscure fun facts and watching Youtube video essays

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Used to be a big Pokemon person but I stopped playing the mainline games by Gen VII (not for lack of interest! RL circumstances changed around that time and I just never got back into the habit of buying those games); nowadays I play a few mobile games daily but that's about it

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Water; too many, but if I had to name just one I will probably say Rufflet

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! The first fun fact is that the moment I get asked questions like this I immediately go Brain Empty and this is why I rarely fill out toa monthly feedback forms dakfjslfj uhhhh my favorite color is blue! I joined an archery club in grad school (two years ago) to understand what shooting a bow feels like. I love swimming but haven't been to a pool for maybe like 9 years now. I really like going to zoos.

How did you get into Fire Emblem? My older brother introduced my younger brother and me to Japanese FE4 when we were kids, when we knew absolutely no Japanese and just messed around the first map and never beat it. I properly started playing when I was in high school, with FE7 being the first game I beat! I normally count my official FE gaming journey as starting with 7 in high school :'D

What Fire Emblem games have you played? All the mainline ones except 1-3 and Echoes (I'm...... working on it)

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: FE7; FE3H

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! You can't do this to me man. UHHH ok Lucius is my very most favorite FE character. Andrei needs to be here. I lump the Heron sibs as one unit for questions like this. Tibarn. Sylvain. There are probably a dozen more but

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! HONESTLY Andrei thanks to the Oosawa manga. His arc changed my brain chemistry permanently

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 I don't think I've really crushed on fictional characters before ahaha

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Chrom I think; uhhhh Lon'qu or Cherche?? - Fates: Silas I think???; I'm currently partway through a Birthright playthrough and I seem geared to S support with Jakob so him - Three Houses: Dimitri; started my first and only Myleth run a few months back and I'll probably go with Miss Thea :flushed: - Engage: None; man I don't know

Favorite Fire Emblem class? Bishop

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? I think I could be a War Cleric wielding a giant hammer. If you don't go to bed on time I will forcibly join your army and make you

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Blue Lions I guess!

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Axe boon, Reason bane, Riding budding talent

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? Brodia

How do you pronounce TOA? TOE-uh

Current TOA muses: Just me and my bow man for the moment

Past TOA muses? Leanne, Lucius, Altena, Nino

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Leanne was my first! Honestly she always lives in a cozy little corner of my head, so she can be back at any moment if RL permits

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? Nice Girls (gender neutral) who have no quarrel with 99% of the world. As you may be able to see, Andrei does not fit this mold.

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? Flirts. They're so much fun to read but I don't think I could flirt my way out of a paper bag irl so I would never know what to write

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I honestly love fluffy cozy fun friendshippy situations!!! Again, Andrei is not conducive to this. I mean I do also like painful scenes but--

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? that Yngvi AU where Brigid never disappeared because things will still go to shit but the circumstances would be so different. Honestly Brigid doesn't even need to explicitly be there for this to work so if any Gen I Jugdrals ever want to do this then I grip you

Favorite TOA-related memories? So many, but the West Faerghus Croc lives rent free in my brain forever.

Present or past tense? I started off with past tense, but now default to present. When the stars align and I notice my partner using past tense, sometimes I will also switch, but not always.

Normal size text, small text, no preference? Small text, though I am happy to switch for my partner's preference if needed!

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 Waves goodbye to my faceless Glenn delusions honestly thank u new anniversary ruling for saving me from those eternal brainworms

[anghraine]

I spent much of the day with my parents, who I'm visiting after the requisite post-COVID time (I still have a cough and am easily tired, but neither is nearly as bad as a couple of days ago). It was really fun—we talked a lot, I got to see the family pets, my dad and I played one of my favorite card games (Neolithic; it's simple but fun), and then we all ended up playing City of Heroes, which is officially legal again (not that we were playing for years before the official license or anything >_>). We're currently doing an experiment to see if it's even possible to get to level 50 without ever leaving my favorite region of the game (Praetoria).

(I like Praetoria in part because of the various urban aesthetics underpinned by horror, in part because Praetorian characters get actual choices and it's easier to imagine they have real personalities and stories, and in part because it's a sort of mirrorverse AU of the main game where superheroes aren't really a concept. I don't especially care for superheroes despite most of the game being all about them, and mostly like the game for mechanics and costuming options, so a story-centric customizable character arc in a dystopia zone where people with superpowers are understood in wildly different terms than the rest of the game is ideal. Nobody else seems to much care for it; sometimes I'm the only person who seems to be in Nova Praetoria at all and my mother doesn't much like it, but she volunteered to join the experiment, lol.)

We were also waxing nostalgic about the good old days when we used to play Might and Magic VII together, and I was like... you know it's on GOG, yeah? You could just play it. I don't think it's expensive. So we looked and, good news, she actually already had it on GOG, but bad news, it wasn't working on her new laptop.

She went to bed and after about half an hour of finagling, I figured out what was wrong and got it working again. Arcomage is in our future once more :D

[piglet26]

Rey Solo... Rey from Jakku.... Rey No one... anything but Rey Skywalker.

The Last Jedi simply revealed that Rey was a "nobody" – perhaps the most shocking and least expected outcome for the Rey lineage debate. It was a perfect twist in our heroine story despite people seeming desperate for her to be connected to some man already in the franchise.

Daisy Ridley has even expressed her frustration with the Rey’s lineage debate multiple times, “I love that Rey is such a great character, they’re like: ‘No, no, she has to be… she has to be-’She’s her own person! Let her be her guys, let her live."

Exactly! Why did people care so much? Maybe initially, it was fun to hypothesize. However, once the reveal came out people actually liked that she was fresh, a brand new start instead of just nostalgia, or, a way to continue on a males legacy. We have Ben Solo for that, or, at least we did.

More than a shocking twist created just to subvert expectations, the Rey “no one” reveal encapsulated The Last Jedi’s perfect message – anyone could be the hero of their own story.  Rey’s realization was that her heritage don’t matter ... all that matters is who she chooses to be now. Rey’s legacy didn't need to be defined by Luke or Leia, which would leave her free to start her own story - hell, Star Wars to have a future. On the other end was Ben/Kylo Ren, who did come from the mighty Skywalker family and hailed as the son of heroes and wanted to escape that legacy.

Then here comes JJ "Nostalgia Kind" Abrams and Chris Terrio. Terrio here “We also thought that Rey’s arc cannot be finished after Episode VIII. You can leave Episode VIII and say, “Well, now, Rey is content. She’s discovered her parents aren’t Skywalkers, or whatever, and that’s fine.” But so much of her personal story was about where she came from, what kept her on Jakku all those years and the trauma that shaped her. We see quite strongly in Episode VII that something mysterious and troubling happened to her. Although she did get some answers in Episode VIII, we didn’t feel that that story was over. We felt that there were still more questions in Rey’s head about where she came from and where she was going. So, that was the other big idea that we had to address in this film. Rian’s answer to, “What’s the worst news that Rey could receive?” was that she comes from junk traders, and that’s true. She does come from junk traders; we didn’t contradict that.” No, you just went back to what you wanted in the beginning.

By the end Rey takes on not only the Skywalker name but she looks over two suns which brings me to the point of this essay...... if Ben wasn't going to be there, then she should have taken last name. Rey Solo.

What's irritating about LucasFilm/Disney is their desire to appease everyone. I don't give a damn about the antis, nor should they. Reylos were a big support group for the films and mightily invested. TROS came off as trying to please everyone. If we really think about, with the exception of the end of Exegol, the Rey and Kylo interactions lacked depth and intimacy. Perhaps it's just not the style of JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio, who did support the pairing.

While I'm 100% convinced Reylo was planned, all the creators seemed very open to adjusting if it wasn't working. Hence why Finn and Poe were both open considerations, especially Finn. I don’t think Adam or Daisy intentionally played up any sexual tension in their scenes together to give us an impression about something in TFA.  I think it just happened.  Early bird Reylos picked up on it.  Some critics, including the one who wrote the TFA review for Time magazine, picked up on it. Rian Johnson picked up on it too and the rest is history.

Leia’s behavior's is odd for entire decades. Being a trained Jedi herself, she could have taught her son - instead she sent him to his uncle( Oh wait, that was a retcon). Han was either helping with the Resistance or off doing something shady. From the novels we learn that Ben heard his parents arguing and talking about him like he was a monster ever since he was a child, and that when he was sent away this seemed to confirm to him that something was wrong with him and had to be fixed. (From the novels we also learn that he actually had no ambition to become a Jedi and wanted to be a pilot - true Skywalker and also Solo that he is -, but he had no say in the matter.)

For both Ben and Rey, their journey is about letting go of childhood trauma and discovering their own independence. Ultimately it's about their pairing being both emotionally healing AND a balance in the force. They are a DYAD after all. I saw all this to say, he is her closest personal connection and impact through the 3 films. Leia is her master but we don't see that, it happened off camera.

Terrio says that the decision to have Rey take on the name “Skywalker” was a way to show that “you can choose your ancestry.” Which is not true and also a strange thing to say considering.

Which brings me to the correction of this tricky trail. Pay Adam Driver want he wants and reunite the dyad.

[everydaycatholicism]

St. Joan of Arc

Born on 1412 in Domrémy-la-Pucelle, France

Died May 30, 1431 in Rouen, France

Feast Day May 30

Patron Saint of soldiers and France

Canonized by Pope Benedict the XV

Joan of Arc was born to a farmer father and his devoutly Catholic wife. At the age of 12 or 13 Joan began to hear voices and experience visions, which she interpreted as coming from God. The voices instructed her on how to live a pious life. Later the voices would begin to instruct her to deliver France from the invading English establish Charles VII as the country's rightful king. Joan later identified these voices as coming from St. Michael the Arc Angel, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch. "When I was thirteen, I had a voice from God to help me to govern myself. The first time, I was terrified. The voice came to me about noon: it was summer, and I was in my father’s garden….I saw it many times before I knew it was Saint Michael….He was not alone, but duly attended by heavenly angels….He told me Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret would come to me, and I must follow their counsel; that they were appointed to guide and counsel me in what I had to do, and that I must believe what they would tell me, for it was at our Lord’s command." It was St. Michael who would instruct her in war combat. At the age of 17 Joan of Arc led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years’ War. The conflict between France and England lasted from 1337 to 1453. Attributing her victories to divine guidance, Charles VII was able to assume his rightful throne as king of France on July 17, 1429. It was then that Joan of Arc fulfilled the divine mission given to her by the Saints whose will was that of God. Following the coronation of Charles VII Joan continued to participate in military campaigns until her capture. On May 23, 1430, while defending the town of Compiègne from a Burgundian assault, Joan was captured by the Burgundian forces led by John of Luxembourg. The English were eager to discredit Joan, her divine mission, and by extension, the legitimacy of Charles VII's rule. In an attempt to achieve this, the English orchestrated a trial against Joan, charging her with heresy, witchcraft, and various other offenses. Joan was found guilty of all charges and was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. Joan of Arc asked for a crucifix to be held before her and repeatedly invoked the name of Jesus. 25 years after her death, on July 7, 1456, Joan was proclaimed innocent of the charges brought against her. The trial which resulted in Joan of Arc's death was annulled. She was subsequently declared a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and her official canonization was on May 16, 1920 being elevated to Sainthood by Pope Benedict XV.

[kimium]

Tell me, in as much detail as you like, why you love Diasomnia 💜

Oh! Thank you so much for this ask! I'm super excited to answer it. I waited until I finished Part V of Book VII. I'm done now, so let's get started!

Warning: Mild spoilers for Book 7 up to where the ENG server is (Part V).

Reasons Why I Like Diasomnia

They're based on Maleficent

Without question my favourite classic Disney villain is Maleficent. I love how she's terrifying, powerful, and is easily an actual threat in her movie. There is weight to her words, actions, and abilities that always made her more threatening to me as a child than some other villains.

However, my love for her blossomed further thanks to her role in Kingdom Hearts. I absolutely love how in the KH lore she's been scheming since moment one (even before we met her in KH1, all the way back in KHUx). I consider anything in Kingdom Hearts canon to the overall Disney arching universes. This means any time I see Maleficent in other media I think, "Oh! She's also after Kingdom Hearts!"

This meant that naturally when I first started Twisted Wonderland I had to pick Malleus as my first card ever!

Aesthetic - Sleeping Beauty

I think that out of all the Disney princess movies nothing beats Sleeping Beauty's backgrounds and overall aesthetic. I know a ton of love went into creating and designing that movie and it shows! It's all breath taking and lives rent free in my brain. It's also why when Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep finally let me run around that world as Terra/Ven/Aqua, I was So Excited.

Twisted Wonderland doesn't disappoint and has brought the aesthetic to Diasomnia perfectly, especially with the dorm. I love it with all my heart!

Diasomnia's OST

This is on the list because I love the dorm's theme so much. It's so hauntingly beautiful! Also, because I can't stop making Kingdom Hearts references, it has some similarities to a song from BBS that plays when you visit Sleeping Beauty's world called The Silent Forest.

Malleus is one of my favourite character archetypes

We're now at the heart of why I love Diasomnia: Malleus. Look, I took one look at Malleus and went "Oh no, he's my character type". Design wise, I think he has the most "at a glance" recognizable traits that link him to Maleficent. That instantly drew me in to his character because, as I said before, Maleficent is my favourite.

Malleus is also an over powered character and I am always drawn to them. It's usually because they're also confident. While Malleus certainly is confident, he has depths to his personality. He's a little awkward but earnest. He sometimes doesn't "get" human things but he tries to understand. Malleus also has a niche (and a little bit dorky) passion for gargoyles that's so endearing. I love it.

He also wants a friend so badly that it's really cute our player character/Yuu was able to befriend him since Book 1. Of course, it's lead to my favourite meme "Malleus doesn't realize Twisted Wonderland isn't an otome game". Which, honestly, good for him! He deserves friendship AND love!

They're Fae

I am such a sucker for Fae in literature. Ever since I read the script for A Midsummer Night's Dream in high school, I was hooked. My favourite part to Fae are the "spirited away" elements because I'm also a sucker for wishes having the theme "This is a gift. It comes with a price". While Diasomnia don't have that classic trickster element to them, they're Fae and that's enough for me!

Lilia and Silver's relationship

Coming off reading Part V for Book VII what I love the most about their relationship is how raising Silver helped Lilia heal from the worst moments of his life. The character arc and growth from Lilia is so satisfying and heart-warming. Especially when it would have been so easy for Lilia to hate Silver and all he "stood for". Yet, despite all Lilia lost in the fight between the humans, we see him willingly and lovingly raise Silver as his son.

Yes, this is the "Big FF Term" (Found Family) aspect of Diasomnia that I know many people love. However, I can't stand the term "Found Family" any more because I think fandom needs to have that term put on a shelf until they learn how to use it properly.

Diasomnia's Unique Magic/Signature Spells

I love that for the most part they all have a common theme present and that's Dreams/Memories. Malleus with his literal ability to create a Lotus Eater Machine, Lilia with his ability to read imprint of memories off objects, and Silver's ability to cross/travel dreams is so cool!

Even if Sebek's may appear to "break the trend" I think his Unique Magic/Signature Spell being so straightforward shows he's not giving up on his goals/dreams/ambitions.

Malleus's overblot theme

Like all the housewardens, Malleus has a theme at the core of his overblot: grief when faced with change (death) of something you hold dear. It's a theme that speaks to me strongly and tugs at my heartstrings. It's the core to so many series that I hold near and dear to my heart such as FMA, Fruits Basket, Anohana, and To Your Eternity.

What do we do when faced with death? How do we react to it? Why can't we just keep clinging onto what we hold dear and never have it change? Those are some deep, heavy questions that define the human experience and to make Malleus, someone who is not human, have to face those questions? I think it's genius and this theme would not have gone over as well with any other dorm in my opinion.

And there you have it! My reasons why I like Diasomnia so much! I hope you like my answers, friend! Let me know!

[salternateunreality2]

Bro no fckin' way that Hojo's cursing everyone's blogs

It was only a matter of time. If you need a palate cleanser, I would like to recommend this:

😈

[divinityunleashed]

( I'll continue my existing RP's in the story arc, naturally, but I had inspiration to write this so here goes. )

BGM: Megadimension Neptunia VII - Decision

After all the help that people had given Chronoa; the Vacosian Ruby Rose, the Sangheili Thel'Vadam, IF of Lawain City and strongest ally of the CPU's, and the slight boost of assistance from Fu, the project was able to be brought into effect.

"At last... phew."

Chronoa breathed a sigh of relief as all the work she was putting in was about to pay off. Lowering the shoulders of her robes, she fell onto the grass plains outside of the Time Nest with an exhausted smile on her face. It was now time to give the CPU's their home back.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Escorted by Whis and Vados, the four CPU's arrived at the Time Nest, with Green Heart being held by the shoulders with Purple and Black Heart. White Heart approached Chronoa with hopeful eyes.

"Please tell me you have something for us."

"I do. It took a long time, and a lot of help from your allies."

"Our... allies?"

"Yes. Those who you made allies and friends with in the past were contacted by her and they all did their best to help her with her plan."

"It was quite the undertaking and everyone wanted to ensure that you had a place to live after Zamasu's incursion."

"You guys..."

Slight tears formed in Purple Heart's eyes particularly, with low smiles from the other three. To think that those they lost connection with did their best to help them get their home back was heartwarming and breaking at the same time. They couldn't believe it. But they wanted to.

Chronoa showed them to one of the many Rifts scattered across the Time Nest, until they stopped at one of them and took into the air.

"Follow me please."

Whis and Vados remained as they needed to return to their duties. Chronoa and the four CPU's floated into the rift and were transported to a whole new area. They were surrounded by clouds and were told to keep flying through them, staying behind her. Until they got to their destination.

All four of them gasped as the image appeared before them. Four floating islands surrounded by skies, with a central floating island in the middle with a Rainbow Bridge connecting to the high heavens. On one island was a circular utopia of technology, with smaller outlying settlements.

On another was an entire industrial complex, an industrial metropolis with numerous factories working hard. The areas surrounding the city was rocky and mountainy with numerous warehouses scattered around storing various mechs and machinery.

On another was a frosty paradise. Some of the houses were mushroom shaped, whilst the others were fantasy themed with magical colours and bright atmospheres, with eternal snow. In the centre was a fantasy castle where the majority of the Government presided.

And finally the last island was a medieval style city with numerous smaller towns befitting that of ancient times. With horse carriages and sprawling marketplaces, it was like the whole nation itself was plucked out of a fantasy isekai anime.

"T-This is..."

"Incredible..."

"It's breathtaking..."

"It's... beautiful..."

"Purple Heart of Planeptune."

"Black Heart of Lastation."

"White Heart of Lowee."

"Green Heart of Leanbox."

Chronoa then extended her arm to the side, pointing towards the floating archipelago.

"Welcome to Gamindustri V2."

[ereborne]

Hello, happy holidays! For the End of the year ask meme if you'll like to answer any of the following: 8 (game of the year), 25 (a character you created), 14 (fav book), or 18 (a memorable meal)

Happy holidays! I hope they've treated you well <3

8: I don't play many games myself (only Stardew Valley, Minecraft, and silly seek-and-find puzzle games) and my laptop was too tuckered for games for most of the year, but even if I'd been farming nonstop I think the game of the year would still be Final Fantasy VII Remake. Pretty sure it'll be the game of every year until it's all out, and then maybe a couple years more for good measure. I am having such an incredible time following the game as it comes out and @kaylithographica plays through it, and I can't wait to see how Square Enix keeps going with the meta and story changes.

25: Some of the more complex edits I've been trying to work on this week actually revolve around a particular OC, so we'll talk about her. Her name is Mercy, and she was not supposed to be important (folks who have lived with me may be familiar with this refrain). She was supposed to be a filler character! She's an archetype! Her name is Mercy and she has none! Grr rar tragic backstory vengeance quest knife collection! But nooo now she's got layers. She's got depth. We're emotionally invested in her character arc. Damn it. Anyway she befriends her local main characters to use them as pawns in her revenge plot, spends a lot of time with them waiting for them to vouch for her to her target, gives up her first chance at revenge because she has to go save them instead (in a scene so terribly close to the classic 'stand at crossroad, look longingly at selfish goal down the left, turn back fully on goal to run to friends down the right path' that I may rewrite it to avoid cliche shame), and then eventually gives up her scheming entirely because it would be too much of a betrayal of her very best friends the main characters. She was supposed to die in the first rescue, and then the whole story locked up and I had to go back through trying to find the writer's block instigation point, and I realized I've made too optimistic a world to kill her off without friends or redemption. She's (big sigh) thematically significant now. At least she's also very cool.

14: I'm going with my favorite book that came out this year, to help narrow things down: "The Innocent Sleep", by Seanan McGuire. Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite authors and this is my favorite of her ongoing serieses, and usually we get one a year (usually just in time to be my birthday present to myself! a joyous coincidence) but this year we got two. "Sleep No More" and "The Innocent Sleep", paired stories, one from Toby's point of view and one from Tybalt's. The current state of their world means that these two POVs of the same happenings are wildly different, and it's fascinating (a little heart-wrenching sometimes) to see. Also, Tybalt and his friends dimension-door into Costco in the dead of night and steal all their catfood. It's amazing.

18: The vegeble man had a special on collard greens one time, and I bought a 'bundle' thinking it was your standard grocery-store greens bundle, a generous handful at most. It was more like an armful. Apparently the special was because they'd been sold a literal truckload of greens (perfectly good but disqualified as 'organic' by some neighbor shenanigans) and needed to offload them quickly because the fridge wasn't ready for such a bumper crop. I cooked them in batches with andouille sausage and bacon and just a touch of this amazing miso ghost-pepper hot sauce Duncan has, and we ate them for our next four meals (with grits, with cornbread and grilled tomatoes, with fried eggs and beer bread, and then the last of them mixed into red beans and rice). I really miss not just Southern food but access to Southern ingredients (the 'andouille' sausage I get here is pitiful, and bacon is no substitute for a proper salt-ham, and neither is beer bread always a good alternative to a buttermilk biscuit or quickbread) and it was so nice to have a proper mess of greens again.

[gigabyte-flare]

Oh boy it's brain vomit time!

For some reason I started reminiscing about this person I used to be friends with in the Final Fantasy VII fandom and I know if this makes it onto the feed of some of those still active in the fandom they're going to know exactly who I'm talking about. For the sake of privacy, I will not be dropping names. This is not a callout post, just me reflecting on my life. I first joined Tumblr back in like... 2015 or 2016; I was still recovering from a pretty nasty breakup from 2013 and I needed an outlet for my Sephiroth hyperfixation. At the time I had absolutely zero clue that hyperfixating on fictional characters was completely normal as I had prior friendships that shamed me for that, but that's a story for another time.

This person was one of the first people I became friends with in the fandom and looking back.... yeeeeaaaahhhhh this friendship was not the healthiest. I loved Sephiroth with every fiber of my being yet this person somehow spat on that and said 'hold my beer.' They were utterly obsessed with anything and everything Sephiroth; not just him, but the voice actor that portrayed him at the time as well.

Now, don't get me wrong, George Newbern is a great guy and a great voice actor, not to mention he's been in a ton of roles (one I remember fondly is actually my favorite episode of CSI where he played a dude with chimerism) as well as voicing Superman for many, many years, but this person would quite literally go almost every convention George went on the US West coast.

At first I didn't think anything of it, but it wasn't until they would vehemently insist that I go to some of these conventions that I started to take a step back and give the situation serious side eye. It came to a head in 2019/2020. At this point, I became heavily involved in a community for a popular cosplayer and actually kindled a friendship with them (this particular arc in my life also is a story for another time) and we were both going to a convention and meeting in person for the first time. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to meet them.

Queue my friend though, who insisted that meeting George Newbern was way more important than my cosplayer friend. I was livid, to say the least, but that surprisingly wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back. That honor would go to the recasting of the FFVII characters and my indifference to it.

Oooooooooohhhhhhhh boy... did that upset the friend. They probably would be extremely upset to find out that I actually like Tyler Hoechlin's performance better (he just nails it for me). Heck, I actually like most of the "recast" performances better with the exception of one (Ricky Gomez will always be Zack Fair). This debacle severed our friendship and I didn't talk to them for I think almost three or four years.

At some point, I was deep in my Sephiroth hyperfixation era again and for some reason, I thought it'd be a good idea to attempt to rekindle this friendship because I wanted someone to scream about Sephiroth with. I was hoping that maybe, with the amount of time that had gone by, they would have come to their senses and... like... chilled out with their George Newbern obsession.

Yeah no, if anything, it got worse.

So I kinda just... let the friendship die out again which brings us to now. I'm not sure why I randomly started to think about this person, but it came from another string of thought I was having. Yes, Sephiroth is still one of my favorite fictional characters ever and he will always be my 'OG' husband, but when I look at him these days... I dunno it's just different now.

The way I look at it, Sephiroth was the embodiment of my internalized rage. Post 2013 I was angry at the world and everything in it. Cut to Leon Kennedy, my hyperfixation from last year, who I now feel was the embodiment of my healing journey, having gone through some fucked up shit himself, he didn't let that stop him in his mission to help people. Then we cut to Von Lycaon. From what little lore we have of him, he is proof that you can make mistakes, go through some probably fucked up situations and still come out making a better life for yourself and man, do I adore him.

Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you for taking time to read my brain vomit!

[midori-laboratories]

Frozen Ashes master list (Calendula Chronicles, Book 3)

The Code Veronica arc of the Calendula Chronicles.

Story synopsis: Albert Wesker molded his captive into the perfect, pliable bait for taking out Rockfort, and cracking open the Ashford family’s secrets. But who’s really in control, once chaos breaks out?

The stakes have never been higher for Marigold, but she may not be fast enough to save everyone.

Regarding Frozen Ashes and The Antarctica Incident (Q_Alias)

Frozen Ashes was written as the other side of Q_Alias' The Antarctica Incident. Marigold actively enters that story around chapter 23 27 (5-1 in their narrative), and moves out of it as an active participant at some point after chapter 30 35? (6-5 in their story) eventually. However, she's very active in the background of Q's narrative. We started to soft-merge our respective plots back in October 2022 plots, rather than a strict collaboration (like 1981). When I started writing, I set up a little timeline of events for reference, so I'll link when relevant events are happening at the same time in that story.

Frozen Ashes playlist

This is a rough list. After chapter 30, what I have in place is approximate. There may or may not be extra chapters or an extra section. Ha, YEP part 4 expanded into two separate parts already!

Chapter 1 will be posted March 21, 2023 and be update weekly on Tuesdays on AO3 (Blood in the Water and Homecoming Queens chapters will be Tues/Fridays.

Subscribe on AO3 for updates, or follow along on here!

Save Point chapters are interludes.

Chapter list:

Chapter 1: Sanguine Standard I (AO3)

Chapter 2: Sanguine Standard II (AO3)

Chapter 3: Sanguine Standard III (AO3)

Chapter 4: Sanguine Standard IV (AO3)

Chapter 5: Sanguine Standard V (AO3)

Chapter 6: Save Point: I The Matilda Murder (AO3)

Chapter 7: Blood In The Water I (AO3)

Chapter 8: Blood In The Water II (AO3)

Chapter 9: Blood In The Water III (AO3)

Chapter 10: Blood In The Water IV (AO3)

Chapter 11: Blood In The Water V (AO3)

Chapter 12: Save Point II: Course Correction (AO3)

Chapter 13: Homecoming Queens I (AO3)

Chapter 14: Homecoming Queens II (AO3)

Chapter 15: Homecoming Queens III (AO3)

Chapter 16: Homecoming Queens IV (AO3)

Chapter 17: Homecoming Queens V (AO3)

Chapter 18: Save Point III: Into the Abyss (AO3)

Chapter 19: The Dark Forest I (AO3)

Chapter 20: The Dark Forest II (AO3)

Chapter 21: The Dark Forest III (AO3)

Chapter 22: The Dark Forest IV (AO3)

Chapter 23: The Dark Forest V (AO3)

Chapter 24: Save Point IV: What Happened in Paris (AO3)

Chapter 25: Into the Inferno I (AO3)

Chapter 26: Into the Inferno II

Chapter 27: Into the Inferno III (AO3)

Chapter 28: Into the Inferno IV (AO3)

Chapter 29: Into the Inferno V (AO3)

Chapter 30: Save Point V: SNAFU (AO3)

Chapter 31: Day of Wrath I (AO3)

Chapter 32: Day of Wrath II (AO3)

Chapter 33: Day of Wrath III (AO3)

Chapter 34: Day of Wrath IV (AO3)

Chapter 35: Day of Wrath V (AO3)

Chapter 36: Save Point VI: No Good Deed (AO3)

Chapter 37: When Worlds Collide I (AO3)

Chapter 38: When Worlds Collide II (AO3)

Chapter 39: When Worlds Collide III (AO3)

Chapter 40: When Worlds Collide IV (AO3)

Chapter 41: When Worlds Collide V (AO3)

Chapter 42: Save Point VII: Bring Out Your Dead (AO3)

Chapter 43: Blood on the Snow I (AO3)

Chapter 44: Blood on the Snow II (AO3)

Chapter 45: Blood on the Snow III (AO3)

Chapter 46: Blood on the Snow IV (AO3)

Chapter 47: Blood on the Snow V (AO3)

Chapter 48: Save Point: [TBD] (AO3)

Chapter 49: Everything Ends I (AO3)

Chapter 50: Everything Ends II (AO3)

Chapter 51: Everything Ends III (AO3)

Chapter 52: Everything Ends IV (AO3)

Chapter 53: Everything Ends V (AO3)

Chapter 54: Save Point: [TBD] (AO3)

[ognimdo2002]

Joan of Arc - Last Wristwatch Wielder ⌚

“ My bracelet is a God's weapon, as used for my homeland. ”

– herself

Saint Joan of Arc (French: Jeanne d'Arc [ʒan daʁk]; Middle French: Jehanne D'arc [ʒəˈãnə ˈdark]; c. 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France.

Physiology

Joan is a 14-year-old French woman who has pale skin, blackish brown hair, blue eyes, and a birthmark on her upper left side.

Early Life

Joan of Arc, who claimed to be operating under heavenly direction, rose to prominence as a military commander who broke through gender stereotypes and was acknowledged as France's savior. The parents of Joan of Arc were Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée. Joan was the sister of three brothers. In addition to being a peasant farmer on roughly 50 acres (20 ha) of land, her father also worked as a village official, supervising the local watchman and collecting taxes. Being a demigoddess, Joan's mother concealed the fact that Joan was descended from a hybrid race of demigods and humans.

Abilities

The most significant, fiercest, and most infamous warrior is none other than Joan of Arc, who possessed strength beyond that of both common humans and elves. In contrast, she possessed a glamour that included instantaneous teleportation, projecting energy blasts, being endowed with fire to ignite elements, echolocating adversaries, using her night vision at night, and intimidating enemies and predators. As well as changing the watch into a sword or a bow and arrow.

In the past, the Hibawa was called Caledfwlch. It is a wristwatch and a prototype of the Antikythera mechanism made by Hephaestus for Chronus, a god of time. After the wristwatch faded into existence, Saint Joseph found it, and the miracles enacted by Jesus Christ used the wristwatch and the magical shroud.

Al Mualim, one of Altair's mentor, used this wristwatch to prepare for the war. Archie and previously Joan of Arc noticed that Isabella, Jorinda, Arianna, and others thought this wristwatch was more primordial than a modern wristwatch and very advanced than normal wristwatch. There are forms of Caledfwlch: sword is called Excalibur, knife is called Cuchillo, flare gun is called Cañón, kusarigama is called Cyllell chwip, blowpipe is called Sumpit, whip is called Fouet, bow is called Arc, musket is called Silex, and a shield is called Prydwen.

Story

Joan was honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Claiming to be acting under divine guidance, she became a military leader who transcended gender roles and gained recognition as the savior of France.

Joan was introduced in the Worldcraft Damnation series, as she is responsible for the last human wielder of the Ancient Wristwatch of the Pleistocene, made by Hephaestus a long time ago. This wristwatch was the first true watch before it was created by our own kind.

However, a series of missteps followed, including her failure to liberate Paris, and on May 23, 1430, she was apprehended by the Duke of Burgundy's men, who were the Hidden Savior's enemies, the Knights Templar. She was imprisoned for more than a year and tried for heresy, witchcraft, and violating divine law by dressing as a man.

Her weapon was passed down to the extraterrestrials called Comieos who landed in Orleans, and this weapon is targeted by the Order of Assassins and the Templar Knights.

The ancient wristwatch contained Joan's spirit and memories; the Comieos royal family retained it afterward to keep the Assassin Order and the Templar Knights from using it. The Order of Assassins and the Templar Knights, two ancient groups created by Saint Gabriel and Samael, were the enemies of the Monster Hunters, also known as the Hidden Saviors.

This wristwatch was kept for 2000 years until Thorimiyer dropped it on the Hirawhassa planet, an exoplanet in Ursa Major. Archie Buenaventura is the fifth user of the prehistoric wristwatch, as he didn't notice that Joan's soul is linked to him forever. Archie Buenaventura, the governor general and eventually prince of Wales, was connected to Joan of Arc years later and utilized this weapon to perpetuate her memory.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc

https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Joan-of-Arc-1036657555

[jcmarchi]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Preview - Square Enix Talks Aerith's Big Scene - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-preview-square-enix-talks-aeriths-big-scene-game-informer/

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Preview - Square Enix Talks Aerith's Big Scene - Game Informer

Just as Final Fantasy VII Remake featured a predetermined endpoint – the escape from Midgar – Final Fantasy VII Rebirth players also know when their adventure will culminate in this game. The Forgotten Capital, the location that plays host to one of the most impactful moments in any video game, is the destination for the story contained within Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the original version of Final Fantasy VII.

Since the main story and side content of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth centers on deepening the relationships between Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Sephiroth, and the rest of the cast, players will need to reckon with Aerith’s story arc with a better understanding of the dynamics between characters. “For Rebirth, we are following Cloud and the party’s journey all the way up to the Forgotten Capital where we will seek our Aerith’s fate; that is the landing point for Rebirth,” director Naoki Hamaguchi says. “Along the way, players will see the characters interact and deepen their bonds with each other. That is a focal point.”

When I asked the development team about this scene, the jovial conversation turned somber. The team took care to spare any details about how that scene will play out in Rebirth, but it insists it has achieved something that will shock even the players who have played through the original scene in question multiple times. The creation of this scene in Rebirth started with a written scenario from writer Kazushige Nojima, who has worked on the Final Fantasy franchise since the original VII. From there, the team added their own ideas.

“Beginning with the original Final Fantasy VII, when we had started working on it, it was already decided from the get-go that ‘life’ would be the central theme,” creative director Tetsuya Nomura says. “I knew that we had to depict life and death within this title. Prior to Final Fantasy VII, there have been other titles where characters have experienced tragedy, but many of them have come back or been revived in some ways. But I believe that loss is something that happens unexpectedly, and it’s not something so dramatic or drawn out, but is something in which a person that you have just conversed with is suddenly gone and never to come back. I believe that the person who dies should not return in this title, and that is what we did with the original.”

The team feels it was truly able to do something novel and more emotional through Rebirth’s version of the scene. “I do believe that the way we have depicted it brings about a new emotion and a new feeling for both players who have played the original Final Fantasy VII and newcomers.”

“I was able to do what I truly wanted to show in this title,” Nomura adds.

Those familiar with the scene know all too well the emotional impact the events could have with deepened relationships and much better technological capabilities to express the full scope of the events. The way the developers tease how it plays out, I can’t help but be curious and speculate how it might differ from the original. After all, the Whispers that helped control the fate of Remake are gone; maybe things can play out differently this time. Or perhaps I’m just setting myself up to be hurt again. 

All I know is that I can’t wait to see how this iconic sequence happens when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth arrives on PS5 on February 29. For more on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, head to our coverage hub through the banner below.