#(this is not true hes not perfect but he is genuinely and intentionally very good)

[eldritchmochi]

absolutely feral over the fact that this straight boy im pursuing five years my junior is not only emotionally mature enough to recognize his interest in me AND name the exact specific complications that leave him hesitant and unsure what he wants to do about it but also undertake the emotional labor of working thru said complications to figure shit out on his own without any prompting from me beyond me being his friend and no pressure gomez addams goofy flirting at him

[khattikeri]

i actually admire lan wangji's character development a lot more when i acknowledge that prior to wei wuxian's death, he isn't actually as "righteous".

teenage lan wangji is regarded highly because he is upper class, has strong cultivation, and obeys his family and society's strict expectations. his rigidity and responsibility are more guided by the idea that his duty (the "right thing") is rule-following rather than doing actual good, even against those rules.

he's not a perfect stickler for the rules. he can be stubborn and petty, but even the few times he does transgress (e.x. kneeling before the gentian house) he doesn't get very far.

anyway... even with all his manpain struggling-- maybe even because of it, and because of his own lack of political power compared to people like lan xichen or lan qiren-- young adult lan wangji was honestly pretty entitled, even with his genuinely good intentions towards wei wuxian.

instead of doing the more difficult (yet right) thing of speaking up against those persecuting wei wuxian-- calling out his elders and the other clans as wrong, unjust, unrighteous, and acting against them (see jiang clan motto "do the impossible", which wei wuxian embodied very well)-- lan wangji was constantly trying to get wei wuxian to change himself and fall in line with society's expectations to avoid dying.

true, he eventually fights 33 of his family members... but by the time nightless city even happens, once jiang yanli dies, it's far too late.

yes, resentful energy is dangerous, and yes guidao is deeply misunderstood, and yes lan wangji didn't know about the golden core transfer. but even without knowing wei wuxian has no alternative, lan wangji knew that others were incorrectly labeling wei wuxian as evil. he knew the major clans kept attacking and provoking him, and while harder to realize, he could've reasonably seen how wei wuxian's actions are always twisted to demean him as a servant's son.

lan wangji wanted wei wuxian to come back to gusu so he could keep him safe, lock him up. but what would that have even helped in the end? love is a sympathetic cause, but locking up the one you love and never truly addressing why they're in danger is a selfish sort of love that doesn't reach the heart of the issues at hand.

only after wei wuxian's death is lan wangji able to let go of that. wei wuxian owed him nothing, not even change. lan wangji intentionally, purposefully chose each and every single day for thirteen years to remember wei wuxian by embodying what the man stood for, and acting accordingly. despite his grief and pain, he truly does become a good and righteous person.

contrast that with jiang cheng's reaction after wei wuxian's death. of clinging to everything he felt wei wuxian owed him. of vocally, violently demanding retribution after wei wuxian comes back to life. how dare you, why did you, you should've, you must... cattily justifying his aggression with equal parts resentful indignation and unhealthy "love" of their imbalance, of what they used to be.

lan wangji does none of that. by the time we reach the present day storyline, lan wangji, like wei wuxian, lets the past stay past and chooses to do good. even if that means going against the grain of society and expectations. he's a phenomenal person and character. i love him so much

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

good night, or whatever time of day it is for you 😅 i was never rly into the “traitor/evil ace” theories but book 7 has got me thinking; everyone who’s asleep has something that bothers them and so there dream is a simple solution to that, as an example epel being insecure about not feeling masculine so in his dream he’s big and buff. But I can’t think of any motivations like that for ace? So I wonder if maybe the game has intentionally not revealed personal details as a buildup for this book and we’ll find out something new abt him in his dream. The only others I could think of that don’t seem like they want to change anything are Jade and Floyd but I could be wrong.

I never bought the traitor Ace theories either; he is genuinely friends with Yuu, Deuce, and Grim and does not have any obvious malicious intent toward them. (Why would he make the tedious trip back to Sage’s Island over the winter break to respond to Yuu’s SOS message if he didn’t actually value them? And, mind you, this is during a break he was very looking forward to—so much so that he was willing to make a deal with Azul to take the easy way out to pass final exams).

If he “betrays” us at all, I definitely think it would be in a small way. Like maybe he makes a selfish decision that the rest of the group don’t agree with (such as throwing himself right at OB Malleus). This would be similar to how he is consistently the voice of dissent against powerful figures such as Riddle or Malleus.

As for what’s “bothering” Ace, I believe we’ve already seen two big potential culprits: Yuu going back to their world and insecurities about not having developed his UM yet.

The former is more vague, but it comes up early in book 7; when Grim and Deuce realize that they may not be able to see Yuu again once they return to their original world, Ace cheerily dismisses the idea and tells them they’re not even sure if this will work. It could be read like he was deflecting here, as if he’s in denial himself and is using cheer to tell others what he’s telling himself to cope with the situation. Bro would never outright admit that his true feelings because he’s cheeky like that 💀

The latter option is implied much earlier in the main story, all the way back in book 5. Ace has been needling Deuce the whole book about how he’s such a slow learner and how Deuce will never keep up with him. Then at the end of book 5, Ace has a quick throwaway line in which he expresses shock that Deuce got his UM before he did. We have yet to follow up on this point since book 6 had Adeuce knocked out cold and book 7 scarcely features them. If Ace’s coping mechanisms are anything like what his lines in book 7 imply, then Ace has not talked about the upsetting things and instead kept them to himself. Personally, I think this one is a solid concept that wouldn’t seem entirely out of left field, especially given that book 7 is making a show out of having every student use their at least UM once. There is perfect set-up for Ace to come into his own here.

I think they’ll at least find something really convenient yet superficial for the other characters; after all, we pretty much got that with Rook. Maybe Floyd has the freedom to so whatever he wants without people getting on his case and Jade is free to live in the mountains among the mushrooms 😂

[jupiters-galaxy]

I'm just going to say it, I think a lot of people misunderstand Steph's motivations!

It's true that she's sweet and protective of the people she loves, but this girl is also fueled by SPITE. She likes proving people wrong, she likes to get reactions from people with her snarky comments, and she really, really likes getting reactions from people who have irritated her.

Going back to Abstinence Camp, there's several of examples of this. Upon arriving to the camp she doesn't want to be at, she asks for a blue shirt instead of a pink one, trying to stir up problems. Wearing a blue shirt, as a girl, at an EXTREMELY Christian camp? That was 100% spiteful, and I love it. She was snarky towards Boy Jerry when he was leading a craft, because she was unhappy about being there. Not to mention, she intentionally broke the rules at camp, smuggling in sweets because she wasn't supposed to. A lot of that was her way of quietly rebelling: sure, she couldn't control if she was there or not, but she could control her experience there.

The biggest example from Abstinence Camp, though, is her scene with Pete in the shower-house. Of course, she did actively like him, she genuinely did want to be with him, but that's not the only reason she wanted to hook up with him. She's mad off of her recent interaction with Grace, and she went into the shower-house in the first place specifically to get to Grace. Once she's in there, she sees Pete, and it's kind of the perfect circumstance. She's at Abstinence Camp. She wants to defy the rules by not abstaining! And here's this guy she likes. The idea of doing that probably felt really good at the time.

That being said I do think her relationship with Peter is very sweet in that episode...like, idk, they get along in such a cute way, and you can tell they're mutually attracted to each other. She's doing it spitefully but she also wants him, I love it, I love their dynamic so much. This is in no way related to my point I just really believe in Abstinence Camp Lautski supremacy.

Going into NPMD, the other big example also has to do with Pete! We know she wanted to defend Pete after he got beat up, and of course part of that was because she cares about him and is angry that he's hurt. But I want to point out that Max's motivation to beat Pete up was that Max didn't think that Steph should be hanging out with Pete. That was what pushed her from feeling sorry for Pete to being angry and wanting to get back at Max. One of her big motivators for pranking him was absolutely spite. Who is he to hurt Peter? Who is he to control her? As Steph said, "Who does he think he is?"

Also when I think about it, when she told Pete about her C+ she said "My dad couldn't believe it," and that could be seen as her bragging about doing something her dad didn't believe she could do!

I hope this makes sense to ya'll, I literally love Stephanie Lauter so much and I think this is a really interesting facet of her

[writingwithfolklore]

5 Writing Rules I Like to Break

                Listen, I am firmly of the belief that writing doesn’t have rules. There’s no one way to do it—no one schedule or technique or tip that’s going to work for everyone and produce perfect narratives. Which is a good thing! I think if we all had to write exactly the same way, our stories would end up looking very similar.

                So while in general I tend to say throw out any and all rules (and yes, even including the advice I give on this blog if you so desire), here’s 5 common writing rules I specifically and intentionally break, and why:

1. Write what you know

I already talked all about how I tend to ignore this advice here if you’re interested. The TLDR version of it is that you can absolutely write things beyond your scope of knowledge (in fact, I’d guess that’s where the majority of fiction comes from) as long as you write it genuinely—this rule should be instead ‘write what you feel’.

2. Don’t edit as you write

Booo!! Okay maybe it works for some of you—if so, by all means continue (this applies to all the rules I’m about to mention, so just keep that in mind). Editing as I go is how I get back into the swing of things in a new writing session, and also allows me to try a scene a few different times to get the most I can out of it. I tend to believe that words are words even if they’re edited, rewritten, or even deleted.

If your goal is to finish your project as fast as possible, I imagine going back to edit before you’re finished your draft might slow you down. However, I also imagine editing as you go might save you an entire draft. Whatever works for you here is what you should do, but I personally love to edit as I write.

3. Avoid ‘said’

At least I think a lot of you guys are with me when I say that ‘said’ is sometimes just the best word to use. Using lots of descriptive words like, ‘yelled’, ‘begged’, ‘exclaimed’ can be distracting. When the dialogue speaks for itself, the ‘said’ disappears into the background of the scene, while necessary for grammar, it’s a formality for the actual storytelling. As well, I like to experiment with said by adding a descriptor afterwards. ‘Said quietly’ ‘said through a laugh’ ‘said without taking a breath’ etc.

4. Avoid adverbs

Here’s what I’ll say about word usage in general, as long as you pick your words with thought and care, you may use whatever words you want. Words have different specific connotations, and not always will avoiding the adverb have the same impact. For example, changing “he laughed lightly” to “he giggled.” We may have removed the adverb ‘lightly’, but ‘giggled’ holds a completely different connotation. It evokes a sort of immaturity, not unlike the ‘schoolgirl’ stereotype. If we don’t want that connotation, in this case, laughed lightly may be better.

                So don’t count out adverbs for the sake of it. As long as you’re choosing your words with intention and you understand the meaning behind them, you can experiment with a world of adverbs!

5. Never use passive voice

This one I didn’t realize was important to break until quite recently. We tend to be taught that passive voice automatically equals bad and I’m here to tell you that isn’t true. Passive voice should equal focus on action. Active voice equals focus on character. There may be certain sentences in which focusing on either the character or the action is more beneficial.

For example, “the alarm was pulled by Alice” (passive) kind of sounds clunky and wrong, whereas “Alice pulled the alarm” (active) is much more effective.

BUT “Alice was dragged out of the way” (passive) focuses on the action of Alice being dragged, rather than “Something dragged Alice out of the way” (active) focuses on the something that is doing the dragging, which in a moment of action, may take away from the pacing.

As long as you choose your voice with intention, both passive and active voice can be used to create strong, effective sentences.

                What are some typical writing rules you tend to ignore?

[merakiui]

I love stepson!Floyd so much. Your ideas and headcanons are so good. 😭😭😭

Here's a headcanon about the other slippery eel, stepson!Jade, that I wanted to share with you: for the time that you've known him, Jade has drugged you 3 times.

The first time was because he genuinely wanted to get rid of you.

His dislike for you, though well-hidden, was just as strong as Floyd's. He wanted you gone. Instead of Floyd's violent tantrums and hateful words, however, he turned to quiet yet drastic measures: poisoning your quotidian beverage. A schemer from childhood, he even had the perfect timing. He committed the crime a few hours before your girl's night out, so it would seem as though someone at the party did it to you. His father would even scold you and tell you it's time you stopped partying; you have a family now, after all!

Jade offered kind wishes and gentle smiles the whole time you were on bedrest, but there was something about the way he looked down at you from beside your bed that genuinely terrified you. The look in his eye vanished just as quickly as it came, and you knew, and Jade knew that you knew, that he was the one behind your ailment.

It remained a silent secret between you. How could you accuse your husband's sweet, quiet child of such a heinous act? No one would believe it was him. Floyd? Maybe. Afterall, Floyd was the one who screamed at you and said he wished you would just die just two days ago. But Jade? No way. He'd never do something like that. It's Jade.

The second time was out of pure curiosity.

Between him and Floyd, Jade was the one to warm up to you first. Much sooner than his brother, in fact. During their fights, he was quick to remind Floyd that he spent more time with you, knew you better, loved you longer, loved you more.

He started calling you Mama shortly after the first dose of poison he fed you. The sole purpose of that was to give you a fright; he loved the way you twitched when he would ask, “Don't you think Papa is taking a while to get home, Mama?” He could see the gears turning inside of your head as you tried to read his words, as you tried to decipher their true meaning. He wondered how long it would take before you snapped and called him a creepy little bastard or something. You never did. In fact, you seemed to double down on your kindness towards him and Floyd. Perhaps it was the realization that you never would that made him interested in you, and with time, said interest could only develop into a twisted, ugly type of love.

It was that interest and curiosity that made him wonder if you would be stupid enough to let him drug you again. He was not covert about his intentions in the slightest. He had been quietly following you around the house for about two weeks (especially when you were in the kitchen) before the day that he offered to cook for you and Floyd. He had so many "valid and logical" reasons. “Papa won't be coming home tonight, so it's just the three of us.” “You've been working hard all day; you should rest.” “Let me do something nice to make up for it.”

He settled on something simple: sandwiches. His and Floyd's were vastly different from yours, however. He sat and watched as you stared at the dish he had lovingly placed in front of you. Would this push you over the edge? Would you toss it out, yelling at him and calling him weird?

You ate it. You ate it, thanked him, and went straight to bed, knowing that your vision would blur and your dinner would come back up very soon.

Halfway through the night, Jade crawled into your bed to feed you medication and water, calling you stupidly cute and cutely stupid. In the years to come, Jade would realise that stupid wasn't the word that he wanted. Had he the sense that he has now, he would have settled on “intentionally foolish.” You knew what he was doing, and accepted it, not out of a silly fear of losing your husband, but because he was your creepy child, your family whom you chose to love and trust, just the way he is.

The third time was an event for which Jade has felt not a shred of remorse.

Jade is all grown up now. Jade loved you first, but it was Floyd whose love first diverted from acceptable, platonic, familial love. In fact, until their early twenties, Jade frequently teased Floyd about his little crush on you. Now though, as a grown man, he sees that Floyd was onto something. He now wishes that he had joined his brother in getting his hands on you.

The strangest thing about the visit is that Jade came alone. Floyd often comes without Jade, but you can't remember the last time Jade visited home without Floyd racing him to get through your door first. You don't worry yourself with what he did to shake his brother for the day.

You don't know that Jade has been there since this morning, quietly switching between rooms and moving in and out of the house. Or maybe you do, and choose to pretend that you don't when you open the front door and let your son all but crush you. He's huge, much larger than his father, and his strength matches his Floyd's.

Like you do with Floyd on an almost biweekly basis, you try to reason with Jade. For a brief moment, you think you've gotten through to him. He's always been so level-headed and logical. But then he offers to fetch you some of the soup you've had simmering on the stove for the past few hours. "It’s been cooking for a while, and you haven't had lunch yet, have you?" He watches you eat, and you know, and he knows that you know, but you eat anyway. The next thing you know, he's pretty much forcing you onto the couch, insisting that you, “get some rest, Mama, I'll tidy the house for you.”

As expected, you're soon sleepily calling out for Jade, your loyal, reliable, logical, level-headed Jade, who you've chosen to trust and love, just the way he is.

AAAAAA OMG THIS IS SO GOOD!!!!!! OTL the silent resignation and gradual acceptance that he's weird, but he's still your (step)son... falling into the motherly role because when you chose to marry Mr. Leech you were signing up to love his sons as well. Even if you're not related by blood, there's still this familial attachment you feel for them no matter how cruel they treated you when they were children. orz orz waaaa it's so yummy. Jade trying to kill you in the most cruelly calculated way ever. T_T and then going on to use the same method twice more, only it's not coming from a place of malice but now curiosity. Him wanting to see how far he can push you, and when it becomes clear that you're not going to budge because you care about him he uses this to his advantage.

Jade keeping you under the soothing thumb of drugs just so he can take care of you regardless of whether or not you want that. And you just let it happen because that's who he is. He's always been that strange, creepy child with his morbid interests and odd behaviors. You're just so used to it, and it doesn't truly bother you anymore. Maybe it never did. Between Floyd's capricious temperament and Jade's devilish scheming, there's no room for disapproval. That's just who the both of them are, and they're immensely stubborn. It's pointless to deny them of what they want when they'll inevitably get it sooner or later. You know this and so do they, but it doesn't stop you from trying.

And in your weak, loopy, drug-induced state, home alone with no one to call for but him, Jade has his mama all to himself. :)

[veronicamarsconfessions]

The Unfortunate Pattern Of TV Shows Lying To Fans

Showrunner Dick Wolf is in hot water this week with fans of Law & Order: SVU on Twitter. Digging into the complaints, the current outcry isn’t really a surprise. Take a ship that’s been working on a slow burn for almost a quarter of a century, add in some bait-and-switch advertising, and you have a perfect storm.

While it’s true that showrunners have the right to run their shows how they see fit – and while fandom teasing is pretty much a staple of the medium – no fan appreciates being lied to. And there is very much a difference between teasing fans and lying to them.

Shippers of Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) have been hanging in through thick and thin for almost 25 years. Their dedication seemed like it was about to pay off, as promos for the most recent episode teased that this couple might finally – finally – kiss. Ultimately, not only did a kiss not happen but the shot featured in the promo – with Benson caressing Stabler’s face – was cut from the episode entirely.

Things happen in editing shows, and sometimes things get cut. So is this a case of “teasing fans” or lying to them? After almost a quarter of a century, it’s hard not to feel like this isn’t the latter.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist showrunner Austin Winsberg earned the fandom’s ire in the show’s second season when he promised the end of the dreaded love triangle. Only to very much keep the love triangle alive. Now, in this case, this was a case of the showrunner genuinely misunderstanding what “love triangles” mean in fandom spaces. He seems to have interpreted “fans hate love triangles” as “fans hate arcs in which a character can’t or won’t decide between two romantic prospects.”

Failing to realize that “making one choice and then later making another choice, and then later going back to the first choice” is, indeed, being unable to decide. Still, the promise of “no more love triangle” was followed pretty quickly by the return of the love triangle leaving fans feeling intentionally misled.

The case of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is a good argument for shows to have fandom consultants for showrunners who have probably not engaged in fandom spaces the way fans do and thus may mistake how things will be perceived. Winsberg professed the entire problem to have been a massive misunderstanding on his end. Perhaps that’s why fans of the series were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and successfully fought to save the show from premature cancellation.

Veronica Mars showrunner Rob Thomas got into similar trouble for handling the show’s last season. The Logan/Veronica ship (LoVe) had been a major focus of the series and subsequent movie. It was no wonder, then, that they were outraged when the fourth season ended with Logan’s death. Adding insult to injury, Rob Thomas explained the decision by basically saying that Veronica is “boring” when she’s happy in love and not traumatized and that he wanted to completely change the concept of the show moving forward.

Veronica Mars was a particularly special case of showrunners lying to the fan base because of the unusual nature of his salvation. Fans – a large number of them LoVe shippers – had directly been responsible for funding the Kickstarter that got the film sequel to the prematurely canceled series green-lit. Which led to the show’s subsequent pickup on Hulu. And Thomas knew how invested these fans – fans he directly called upon to resurrect his series – were heavily invested in LoVe. There was even an entire series of promos featuring Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring reading LoVe fanfiction leading up to the fourth season.

Teasing fans is a natural thing for shows to do. It keeps fans engaged. It creates buzz. But, as evidenced by Veronica Mars, when fans feel like teasing has become lying, they may not stick around to give the show another chance.

[kustas]

talk about those books!!! <— hungry for recommendations

okay anon :)

the first book i've been reading is "People of the lake" by Richard Leakey. it's a book about paleoanthropology in africa! i am reading a french translation dating from 1980, which was very touchingly renamed "those of lake turkana". it describes the finds and research which was done at the time on ancient hominids.

this book is remarkable in two ways to me: one in that it's genuinely well written, something rare in science books - usually, people very knowledgeable about a specific topic spent their time perfecting knowledge, not writing skills, which typically leads to science lit being hard to read. but in this book, the prose is great, with some parts feeling like you're reading some fantasy novel! i actually had to take a break reading it because it was so delicious of an experience i couldn't bring myself to read it at home or at work where i'd constantly get bothered by people and noises... which is why i turned to reading slop instead. but that'll be detailed later.

the second remarkable part ties to being a book written in the 70s. the thing with science is that new discoveries make it nearly certain something you'll find will be made obsolete a few years later. reading a 50yo science book means...many years of modern knowledge, especially in a field like archeology/paleontology where new discoveries can completly change what we think of a given species. but this book handles what it hypothesizes with such care, grace and humility that it has not aged so far. everything is presented openly as "might have been, might not, but wouldn't be wonderful?" which is such a sweet damn way to approach science to me!

now, the slop.

the second book i've been reading is actually bookS because it's a series! is Moorcock's Elric saga, which i only started reading because all the art of the character (and there's lots of it) was so uniquely wildly horny i wanted to know what the deal what. these are very famous among fantasy nerds as foundational to the genre, but not exactly mainstream.

they are mostly short adventure stories, centered around a same main character, who vary in quality. now, i will be open, i won't exactly call these books good - they are very dated for better and worst, and are not written especially well, and shine to me for their creativity that's wild in some given places as well as a constant atmosphere of irony that makes them (more or less intentionally so) hilarious. these books were written by a true hater. and it shows.

the core of these books is the main character, who stands out because he sucks. he's an overdramatic whiny richkid who's constantly running away from responsabilities and getting into deep trouble that's always more or less his fault, you either like it or you don't - i love it. his central gimmick is that he's afflicted with extremely poor health and carries around this fucked up evil sword that allows him to not wither and die the more he kills people. much dramatic conflict ensues, boohoo. it's interesting to see the sheer impact these books had on fantasy, inspiring a lot of more famous media - if it's got dragons and it's a bit edgy, there's a chance it's related. the books might feel a bit derivative to a modern reader because of this, but with a step taken back it's cool to study. i discovered to my immense pain that it's more or less what invented the modern concept of multiverse. deep sigh

where i'm loving these books is in conjunction to witch hat, because both series are fantasy i enjoy but with glaring flaws that balance each other out. i loved WHA for it's logical worldbuilding and interesting side characters (hello boy of URL) as well as its touching attention to real world issues, i hated WHA for being very meanies vs goodies with forced dialog that felt at best condescending and it's inability to address rougher issues because the manga is too nicies. Elric has the most bullshit fairy recess logic happenings, its offensive in the good old proud pulp way and most side characters could be replaced by cardboard cutouts - but it's not afraid to be weird and ugly, the main character feels as convoluted and complex as a real guy would, and the Hater's Edge (tm) and related strangely subtle dark humor cured me from the salt i was feeling at WHA and its fans inability to read between the lines.

i still have to finish them in the meantime if i fully explain the MC we're gonne be there for hours so here's a collection of silly images ive been collecting with my friends that remind us of him instead. cheers

[shannonsketches]

wilds era complaining under the cut I just finally figured out a thing that's been making my brain itchy

Honestly as much more as I liked TotK than BotW because all I really wanted from BotW was more atmospheric spaces and more story, learning that Fujibayashi was an experience designer for horror attractions makes everything I hated about the last three big zelda titles (the ones he directed) make so much sense.

If you've known me for the past few years, you have definitely heard me complain about not being able to ride my horse in the desert, despite the reason for that limitation being a story beat that you have to resolve, and despite resolving it, you still cannot use that mechanic in that area.

I thought this was just a Me, Personally complaint -- but it's actually a perfect summary of the Entire Issue I have:

Fujibayashi's games don't prioritize story at all. By his own description, everything in his games are about mechanics and getting from point a to point b to make you use those mechanics. The story is just set dressing to get you to move around the map, which is true of all games to an extent. And because that's true of all games to an extent, I thought this was just an issue I had with open world games.

But Hollow Knight doesn't have that problem, nor does Psychonauts 2, nor Journey, nor really any other open world game that I've played. This is because -- per the developers -- those maps expanded organically and were built out as the story expanded.

So the issue is that most of those games use mechanics as a vehicle for you to explore the world and story. Fujibayashi's games use the world and story as a vehicle for you to explore the mechanics.

And Fujibayashi is a solid environmental storyteller, but he's also really not a storyteller. It's clearly not what he enjoys doing and not what he prioritizes. He likes planning routes and making puzzles, which is great! Games rely on that skillset! It's very important!

Except, people who play narrative games usually want a compelling narrative more than a trick to get from here to there. Fans will take the long road to find lore at the end of it. Aunoma was better at that, which is why traveling in OoT and WW sucks for 70% of the game but the stories are more devoted and the hints were more compelling, but now he just (by his own description) mostly nods or shakes his head at whatever Fujibayashi is doing.

For comparison, look at Journey, which is ONLY environmental storytelling. There is No dialogue or really any developed characters, and it is one of the most highly rated, heavily awarded games in recent history.

I genuinely did and do enjoy TotK. But it REALLY concerns me if the director hadn't thought of it as directly referencing prior games, despite considering himself a huge fan of the series. Especially because TotK even mimicked the plot of his OWN game (Zelda is whisked away, goes back in time, seals herself in an unreachable state to make a sword to defeat the evil that came from below and then is an immortal who magically turns human because of love, Impa is the only one who knows about it, the sky people inventing the kingdom of Hyrule, etc).

I do honestly assume that's a mistranslation of him not having heard that some people thought it was recreating Ocarina of Time, specifically, because he later seemed to be on team 'It's All Intentionally The Same Legend Being Retold in Each Game' (which is all well and good).

All this to say, I think Fujibayashi is a skilled engineer but that man needs a co-director who really prioritizes story. If Nintendo gets him one we'll probably get a really good game out of it.

[c0rpseductor]

i think the thing that really gets me about depicting emetwol as straight up abusive is that on top of often being done offensively it works against the intended message, where his death is supposed to be tragic and the end of the relationship is also a painful tragedy and the takeaway is, more or less, that it’s very sad that Circumstances prevent the couple from ever being together and that they were doomed from the start.

to me it’s like, why would i want wol to be with emet if he’s a domestic abuser? i end up actively rooting against the relationship as i read a lot of these fics because his behavior is just so egregiously repellant. im like, NO!! WOL I HOPE YOU ESCAPE THIS MAN THAT HITS YOU AND CALLS YOU STUPID!!! and then the author’s note is like “It’s really sad im so sad they can’t have 15 babies” and i have to go lay down

i think part of it has to be that they’re correctly perceiving that emet wouldn’t necessarily be a good boyfriend, but there’s a VAST GULF between flawed partner and domestic abuser. he’s closed-off and condescending and hard to talk to and sometimes outright manipulative, yes — so portray those flaws, instead of the made up one where he just strikes and attacks people that don’t behave as he’d like. that’s not true to the character and doesn’t create a believably complicated romance that we might actually root for even if it’s destructive to the characters involved. there needs to be some redeeming quality to the relationship to get people to care about it; in my opinion such egregious abuse, ESPECIALLY physical or sexual, instantly cancels all that out.

and that’s not even to say reformed abusers are an impossible narrative to touch! thancred is a really good example of this. but it’s very particular. it works for me because his abuse is emotional and comes from a lack of skill at parenting and lack of self-regulation; he doesn’t initially understand what he’s doing or have any negative intentions, but the moment he realizes where he’s gone wrong he resolves to change his behavior, make amends, and be a good parent. i liked this portrayal, i think the fact that he genuinely loves ryne and wants her to be well and simply doesn’t know how to achieve that is a really good source of friction AND makes the redemption believable. his love for ryne is a redeeming quality in and of itself because of how it transforms his behavior. it’s not a perfect portrayal of reconciliation but it’s great.

it’s just like, those all apply to that one narrative for very specific reasons. like for example it’s not that i think emotional abuse is “lesser” so much as i think that at the point where you’re striking or choking someone there’s so much intentionality behind that act that there’s no real possibility for the “i didn’t realize what i was doing was so hurtful” part of thancred’s arc to actually ring true. you can be cold by mistake, but you hit people on purpose. so in these emetwol fics there’s really nothing that i think can make up for this and there’s no way to redeem that relationship or make it worthwhile. i’m also just less inclined to want lovers to reconcile than family members. it’s not that i don’t think family cutting one another off is reasonable (i’ve cut off my own father irl and that was a good choice), but i do think having a loving family is more important than having a romantic partner, and so a healed and reconciled family is more satisfying narratively as a result. like there’s plenty of fish in the sea, girl, just go date the exarch. he makes you sammies. he would kill emet for hitting you.

[nrcnewspaperclub]

The day we’ve all been waiting for. Day seven of getting banned from every dorm

So Kalim is. Too nice. Far too nice for his own good. There is no fucking way that I am going to get banned from him

Also, I’ve been staying at Scarabia for a bit now since I got kicked out of Ignihyde already, One of my good friends is in Scarabia so I’ve been staying at his dorm, also I figured I’d consult him cuz he knows the housewarden better than I do

However I am in the basketball club, which means I do actually know Jamil fairly well, I’d even go so far as to consider him a friend. Me, him, Floyd, and Ace cause some anarchy a good bit

So we already knew we were targeting Jamil. My friends immediate suggestion was utilizing Jamil’s fear of bugs, but that’s too uncreative, and I wasn’t sure if I could rlly get banned for that. However I did note it as a last resort

My friends second solution was lighting something on fire, but that’s kind of his solution to everything? That or just dying his hair impulsively

That train of thought gave me the idea to try and mess w Jamil’s hair cuz I know how protective he is of it, but friend shot that down cuz Jamil is too protective of it and it’d be way too fuckin hard to pull that off

So my final thought: kalim can’t get me banned, but I can still use kalim to my advantage.

This is where friend clocks out, context my friend is painfully in love with Kalim so I knew he wasn’t gonna assist me with anything that would taint Kalim’s view of him. To which I say, fuckin coward, but whatever 🙄 (ack then again I wouldn’t do anything that would skew malleus’s view of me so I MEAN WHAT WHAY DID I SAY TJAY I DONT LIKE AMLLEUS)

So a lot of ppl think Kalim is dumb, he isn’t dumb, I know that for sure. But he is gullible, and very impulsive. So what I’m saying is he isn’t stupid, buuuuuuut……….

Anyway one sunny afternoon I tracked down Kalim, he was doing Kalim things, and I started making friendly conversation w him. He asked why I was here in the first place, to which I told him I got banned from Ignihyde but made up a whole sob story so he wouldnt wuestion the fact I intentionally pissed off idia lmao

He felt all bad for me and said I was always welcome at Scarabia, then asked why I chose Scarabia. I said bcuz my friend is here and also casually mentioned the fact I’m not welcome in any dorms

Kalim looks surprised and is like “wow, it’s kind of impressive you managed to get banned from all of them.” And questions how I achieved such glory

To which I tell him a short and abridged version of each tale that makes me sound better than I actually am and he’s in awe the whole time. He then starts rambling and is like “it’d be hard to get banned from Scarabia, I’ve never banned anyone, but Jamil has…” and I perked up and asked what the person did to get banned by Jamil

He said that Jamil had banned this person cuz they’d tried to poison Kalim’s food. Appearantly it was like a student plant all along or some blah blah shit, obviously I wasn’t gonna do that bcuz I’m not a fucking lunatic and I like kalim enough

I had the passing thought I could make Jamil think I was tryna poison kalim when I wasn’t but thatd also break Kalim’s trust in me and probably my whole friendship with the friend I’ve been staying with atp so

I was so out of ideas at this point I started reverting back to my friends suggestion of lighting something on fire, but then I had an idea.

The treasure room. I have the perfect signature spell for this, and I have genuinely no clue how this was not my immediate thought

So when Kalim was done rambling I made a comment abt how it was a really great day to go carpet flying, and tjat id ever been on a carpet before. Both statements here are true

And Kalim will famously take any excuse to go carpet flying so if you even mention it in passing he’ll over to take you so he immediately lit up

He leads me to the treasure room and the carpet apparently isn’t where he left it cuz he started digging around for it. Perfect opportunity for my plan!

My ultimate magic is called Hydra Heads, it allows me to make copies of one item, how ever the more copies I make the smaller they get. The original item gets shrunk down too, but it’ll be more durable than the other copies. This is irreversible. So as Kalim was head first in gold coins looking for that fuckass carpet I found a fairly sizeable vase, one thatd someone would notice if it was gone.

I immediately activated my spell, making about 30-ish tiny copies of this vase. I stuffed em all in my bag and acted like nothing happened

Obviously I still went on the carpet because DUH but now my friend is pissed at me cuz I went carpet flying with his crush or some fucking shit idk I tuned him out

Now begin the scheme

I was sitting in the lounge when Jamil stepped into the treasure room and quickly ran out and ran into Kalim’s room. He noticeeeeed anyway I started my paper trail, I placed a tiny vase in the hallway and one in the kitchen, then I tried to look as unassuming as possible

Jamil picked up one of the tiny vases and looked so fuckign confused it was PRICELESS. A few hours oater came basketball practice, id been leaving tiny vases around Scarabia throughout the day.

Anyway I’m at basketball and Jamil is yelling at Floyd because he’s Floyd and he probably did some shit, I took this opportunity to put a tiny vase in Jamil’s bag, as well as a few in the locker room.

I left practice early, telling the coach that my housewarden needed me for something, and Jamil STORMED out of the locker room as I was leaving and grabbed me by the jersey.

I realized he’d remembered my unique magic cuz of that one time me and Floyd pranked the team by using it on like half the basketballs. Jamil went on a whole borderline unhinged rant about how he’d so kindly let me stay at his dorm and I stole from him and had the audacity to taunt him with it, I gave him the remaining tiny vases and ran off

Did I technically actually commit a crime with this one? Yes! Do I feel bad? Nope!

So uh. Where the fuck do I go now.

-🐾

// should I make a blog for paw anon 👀

congratulations on getting banned from all seven dorms, 🐾. Your journey has been a wild ride.

hold on, what about Ramshackle? Not to get banned from there (unless you want to ig) but you could probably stay there.

//yes, absolutely.//

[cringefelinecreature]

I have so many thoughts. (ML SEASON 5 SPOILERS BEWARNED)

So when I first watched the finale, I was pissed the fuck off so hard. I had read the Bible when it was leaked, and I knew that adrien would not be in the final battle. I was hoping by some grace of god it was a red herring, that he’d somehow know. I was wrong and the Bible held true (obviously).

The fact that Adrien is the core, the center of the entire Agreste arc and was instead locked in a fucking padded cell. The fact that Adrien wasn’t there to confront his father. The fact that Maribug LIED to him, keeping him in ignorance because he is some fragile being. Adrien thinking the man who abused him died a hero, making him feel guilty by the hatered he felt for him. That one of the last times he spoke to him (although Gabe didn’t know) was when he was letting out all of his hatred of him, to him. And he has to live with thinking he was a hero. And Adrien was wrong. He deserves to know, and I still stand by that. BUT.

I think there is still three ways this can be done right.

One, Marinette. Marinette knows and the guilt eats at her. She is lying to Adrien, she is lying to Chat. She knows who he is, what is father is, and can’t say a world. Chat Blanc secrets/Alya secrets ensue again. Coming from his best friend and the love of his life. He knows something is off with her, there is something she is not telling him. Rift. Drama. Angst. And? Lila KNOWS. Lila knows and is the new Hawkmoth and is against Marinette and Adrien. She knows MARINETTE IS LADYBUG. Imagine how much more fucked up it would be if in a dramatic confrontation, she spills the beans. Adrien knows and knows that Marinette/Ladybug knew. Ouch. Ouch ouch.

Another version of this in my head is that Maribug doesn’t remember either. This is a lot less likely to me, but after the fact, there is no proof that Marinette knows. No verbal confrontation. Yes, she encourages adrien to wear the rings. But maybe she doesn’t know what that actually means, just what it means to Adrien. Or that is the only thing she remembers. Honestly, the wording was vague enough that Adrien could know he is a senti (I don’t think he does however, just something I realized)

But what really got this in my head was the static. At the very end, post credit. I think that something is wrong with this new world, very wrong, and that the characters are going to realize more and more that this perfect world is not the same they were living in before. I say this because everything is PERFECT. genuinely perfect. And it doesn’t make sense , in my mind, for Gabriel’s wish to keep it that way. I think that his wish wasn’t just for Emilie. I think that he did create his perfect world. But there is more to it that we aren’t seeing.

But anyway, about Marinette not knowing. I think that something being wrong with the perfect world could have her remember or her not. I just think it would be interesting if she started getting flashbacks, started remembering strange things about Gabriel that don’t fit the “he died to defeat Hawkmoth” narrative. I don’t know. I’m mostly rambling. I may not make any sense.

My final point is a mix of both of these. Marinette knows, and the perfect world has its cracks. Marinette desperately trying to keep the secret, thinking it’s what’s best, as more and more strange things keep happening to the people around her.

At the end of the day, I don’t think that the perfect world at the end is as good as the finale made it seem. I think it was INTENTIONALLY too perfect. There is a sort of unease to it, in my opinion. Something is wrong, and one way or the other, people are going to see it. Adrien is going to see it. And god I hope he does.

I was really disappointed with the finale, but I’m choosing to be patient with where the story leads. Adrien finding my out after isn’t my ideal, as I loved the ideal of a chat and Hawkmoth father son confrontation. But the way they are doing it could be so twisted I could forgive them. Adrien feeling horror and guilt of his old opinion of his hero father. Mari being the only one that knows and keeping it to herself, or having to relive it through cracks in her memory all over (which, like I said, think is less likely, but still fun to think about). A perfect world that is too good to be true. The angst can be done well. We just gotta see where it goes.

I am sad there was no identity reveal, I will say. There is no point to hide identities now. And also, Marinette really doesn’t have a reason not to tell Chat what happened. But I’ll wait and see how they play it out.

[notasimpleslater]

i can’t really get over how many people are buying into the thought that ethan is like fully obsessed with ariana and is sitting by the phone waiting for her to call and stuff like tht. i get that most people only know of him bc of his link to her but i wish people would understand that not everyone in the world is as brain rottingly obsessed with ariana as they are and that sometimes people, even people who know ariana personally, have lives outside of her. i personally don’t think ethan is like head over heels in love with ariana and obsessed with her and will do anything to be with her, and i think that the people who believe he is are blinded by their standom. i agree that he’s a complete dunce for blowing up his family and whole life for the foreseeable future to jump into bed with her but i genuinely don’t think he did that with the intention of them riding off into the sunset and living happily ever after together, consequences be damned. i think he had a severe, stupid lapse of judgement (maybe brought on by other circumstances in his life/marriage like you’ve said) and is sorely paying for it now, but i absolutely don’t believe that he chose intentionally to throw away his family and reputation to be the next mr ariana grande thinking he was special and she’d change her ways for him or whatever. and like that other anon said him seeming to settle back down in nyc again seems to prove that; I can’t imagine ariana up and moving to nyc just to be with him, all of her music connects are in la and she’s working on a bunch of music stuff rn and there are rumours she’s working on her next album, plus we already know her team has her as booked and busy as possible to try and put as much news and distance between her and this scandal as possible. they’re even more incompatible than ethan and lily (we’re guessing) were. and it’s seeming like by staying signed in to do spamalot he’s made his choice, especially since someone else rightly pointed out that he would have to have auditioned and contractually agreed to do spamalot a while ago; if he had plans to be with ari long term knowing her lifestyle and all of the things she has in the works in la why would he make his roots in nyc for the foreseeable future?? i dont think he loves her i think she was a good distraction, probably made him feel real special, since she’s one of the most famous women in the world, and she probably wanted someone other than her husband and just chose him and they were sort of the perfect distraction from each others marriages/real lives.

Oh my god those people are so annoying. If this whole scandal has taught us anything, it’s that people really can’t think for themselves. Im sure those people want it to be true too.

Yeah Ethan definitely isn’t obsessed with and in love with Ariana. Like I’ve said on here before, Ethan has known Lilly and her family for many many years, so even if my theories about them having problems in their marriage is true, it’s kinda hard for me to imagine him just throwing this family away just to be with Ariana.

And you’re right about them being very incompatible. I’m sure they enjoyed their on-set showmance, but their relationship would never work in the real world. Like you said, he’s clearly made his choice considering he’s still doing Spamalot, which will keep him in NYC for at least the next year or so.

[lindajenni]

dec 2

will he live again

"if a man dies, shall he live again?" job 14:14

in the midst of his great difficulties, job found hope in his confident expectation that he would see God in the next life. in heaven, we will never see a hospital; there will be no more sickness. we will see no more funeral homes; there will be no more death. we will see no more counseling centers; there will be no more depression, heartache, or mental illness. we will see no more boxes of tissues sitting around for there will be no more tears. and whatever takes the joy out of life for you will be gone forever from those of us who can say, "i know my redeemer lives." job 19:25

those who have placed their hope in Christ as their Redeemer, will live with Him in heaven forever. for the believer, death is not about leaving home. it's about going home. home is not a place, but a person. "therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness" 2 pet 3:11

we are all too ready to proclaim we are all sinners saved by grace, and that is most certainly true. but - that doesn't mean that we are to stay sinners forever and there be no visible difference from a believer and an unbeliever.

faith alone is the channel of God's saving grace, but the proof of faith is our good works. when the apostle paul spoke of works, he was generally speaking of the works of the law, like observing the sabbath. when the apostle james spoke of works, he was referring to the fruit of genuine faith. james's argument is for those who adhere to the cheap faith that says, "i am saved and under grace, so i can live any way i desire."

first and foremost, if one really loves God and is truly saved, the conviction of the Spirit alone would have them avoid wrong doing as they would the plague. otherwise, perhaps you have believed in vain. (see 1 cor 15:2) love cannot intentionally wound that love without feeling the pain as much.

it's possible to have no faith and no works. it's also possible to have works and no faith. but it's impossible to have true saving faith and no works. biblical christianity is not about faith or works either. salvation begins with faith alone, but genuine christianity is about a faith that works.

Christ did not die that we could continue to wallow in our fleshly desires, freed from the repercussions like others deserving also. His objection is to permeate our flesh with spirit; with Holy Spirit. "and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." rom 12:2

in the old testament He says it this way, "and when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘live!’ yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘live!’ eze 16:6 He want to lift us up out of our filth and flesh to dwell in His holy presence so we may live.

show me. show the world. most of the world is waiting to see a faith that works; a faith in action. "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 cor 5:17 i have a besetting sin that accompanies me everyday, but the battle has not waned or the repentance subsided. i trust my Lord to get me there!

the proof is not in what you say, but in what you do and how you do it. then, and only then, may we confidently proclaim, "my beloved is mine, and i am His." sos 2:16 then, and only then, will we be assured of where we will live again. (if one considers living without God any kind of life.)

we will be going home. again, home is not really a place, it is a person… our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. is it no wonder we call Him our "Blessed Hope?" and i believe that blessed hope is at the very door, waiting for us to cross the threshold. and yes, it is His grace that will carry us over that threshold. whether you believe in the soon coming rapture or not, we may all agree on this: "now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." rom 13:11 maranatha!!!

[theredhairedmonkey]

So, because this post continues to ruffle feathers (to the point that I'm called a troll for posting it lol), I'm going to do the generous thing and address the actual counterpoints head-on, interpreting them in the most charitable, steel-manned way possible.

Here are the arguments raised against my post above:

The scene plays as if Callum is panicking and grasping at straws. His uneven breathing and voice acting convey desperation, not intentional deception. Providing false information in that state would be extremely difficult.

Callum has no way of knowing if Finnegrin is bluffing about threatening Rayla. With her life potentially on the line, knowingly providing false ingredients would be an immense gamble for Callum. The stakes are too high.

While some viewers may not recall the spell details, Callum himself would surely remember the actual ingredients used recently by Viren and Harrow. So for Callum himself, giving incorrect ingredients purposefully would not come naturally.

Callum is portrayed as an honest character. He volunteers a lot of information to Finnegrin that he did not need to. Lying outright about the ingredients would be out of character and not his instinctual reaction.

There are simpler ways Callum could have resisted, like refusing to help at all or pretending not to remember the spell. Intentionally giving incorrect ingredients is convoluted and risky.

If caught lying, it could cost Callum his or Rayla's life. The potential consequences outweigh any small chance of misleading Finnegrin.

If Callum lied, this is actually worse than had he said nothing at all, because now multiple(?) innocent people could be killed by Finnegrin as he tries to find the spell components.

Now here are my responses to each of the above:

Callum appearing desperate doesn't preclude intentional deception. He can still make a quick, panicked decision to give some false information while under duress. His voice acting can portray desperation because it's genuine, but such desperation can also mask any unnaturalness that may otherwise come from him lying. Being desperate isn't mutually exclusive from being deceptive.

While Callum doesn't know for sure if Finnegrin is bluffing, he may judge it's worth the risk to try some deception rather than call his bluff. He has to think quickly under pressure. Maybe it was the right call or not, but the attempt wasn't to find a solution, but to buy them time. Every second that Finnegrin is focused on gathering the ingredients and not on his friends is one more second for him (and them) to find a way out.

Callum has perfect recall of every specific ingredient, and dark magic requires extreme precision. In the heat of the moment, he may strategically give some false pieces, relying on Finnegrin's lack of knowledge. Callum may be a bad liar (as Amaya pointed out), but his genuine desperation masks any obvious tells.

Alternatively, Callum may not have known the precise details (as for some Sky spells he has to look through his book to perform), but in which case, why not (1) say the details are in his book, or (2) admit he doesn't know the spell (which would have been the truth in this case)? The fact that he lists out the (not totally correct) ingredients anyway actually further supports the claim that he was being intentionally deceptive.

While Callum is portrayed as honest, he has shown a willingness to be strategically deceptive at times for the greater good, like lying to Luanne in TTM. He may calculate that a small deception is ethical to prevent a greater and immediate harm.

Simply refusing to help or claiming lack of memory have their own risks. Providing plausible but false ingredients allows Callum to appear cooperative on the surface.

The potential consequences of lying are a calculated risk Callum would be willing to take versus handing over true spell knowledge that he knows to be very dangerous. It's debatable which choice has higher stakes, but the choice that Callum makes give them the most time to find a means to escape and/or defeat Finnegrin.

As stated here, Callum isn't morally culpable for the actions of others. Just as Ezran isn't responsible for Viren destroying Lux Aurea, or Tiadrin responsible for Viren almost turning the Dragon Egg into a weapon, Callum isn't responsible for a pirate who kills for a living going out and continuing to kill some unidentified person.

However, all of this I would argue are a distraction from the main point. If Callum--with his photographic memory--didn't give Finn details that lined up with what Viren laid out, chances are that's on purpose, especially in a show with writers that pay very close attention to detail. Sure his plan is risky and not well thought out, but that's because Callum hasn't really thought out anything beyond just buying some time. His plan, had Finn agreed, would have meant they were safe until they got to shore. Plenty of time to figure out an escape or a coup.

But all of the above should be pretty obvious. And even if not, we're still back to the same issues pre-s5: you either see Callum as morally dubious or not, and 5x08 doesn't clarify that at all. We're back to square one.

Callum gave Finnegrin the wrong ingredients

This realization suddenly hit me out of nowhere, and now I'm kicking myself for not realizing this sooner:

When Callum describes the archdragon-killing spell to Finnegrin, the ingredients he lists out are subtly but significantly different from what Viren had said.

Here's are the ingredients that Callum mentions:

A dying breath

A unicorn horn

Blood filled with hatred

But here is the spell that Viren described:

A dying breath

A unicorn horn

Blood filled with hatred of one who loved the victim

And this clearly isn't a small thing, not only poetically (hate and love in the same act), but also logistically. There are plenty of people, Viren included, who hated Avizandum for a variety of reasons, but he needed Harrow's help to complete the spell. The fact that the ingredient needs not just any blood filled with hatred, but the blood of one who loved the person with the dying breath, provides that reason, so it's not a small thing.

So in other words, Callum basically gave Finnegrin a faulty spell. With this missing piece, there was no way Finn was going to be able to replicate the spell and kill the Domino Profundis.

And given Callum's photographic memory, attention to detail, and his level of studiousness, it's highly unlikely he did this on accident. He knew what the right spell was, he just didn't tell Finnegrin what it was.

Which is an insane gambit on his part. Even when trying to protect Rayla, he still wouldn't give Finn what he wanted!

[merakiui]

Ooooh now I'm imagining all sorts of Danganronpa style drama for Azul's trial. So many false leads and tricks!

Someone strong (like Leona) is found dead and weighted underwater, so everyone immediately suspects the 3 merfolk. Some unintentionally specist comments get thrown around. But that's too obvious, right? There's evidence that excludes them, and the arguments go elsewhere. Who is capable of overpowering the victim, etc.? He has injuries that indicate a struggle.

Some eventual evidence indicates the cause of death was drowning. Suspicion returns to the mers. Did they work together to keep him underwater while he fought? He's so strong, it's still hard to believe. Would two of them actually be willing to die while the other wins? There are scary rumors about the Leeches. Was Azul even involved? The Leech twins start playing up their sketchiness (they're angry by this point). But there can only be one killer.

To Azul's horror, someone ignorantly mentions there were circular imprints on the victim's arm (with a picture). He was extremely cautious! There is NO WAY he left sucker marks; he even checked afterward. If they were familiar with octomers, they'd know the marks aren't even the right shape!! He's flipping out now and messes up his words. Nervous chatter has always been a trait of his. The jury ends up deciding the three of them worked together, but Azul is the killer since he had to be the one holding the victim, causing his drowning.

Azul IS the killer, but he's so upset they got all the details wrong. He did everything himself. He meticulously planned everything, accounting for the victim's UM, and krakened him. But he did not leave any of the evidence mentioned and those sucker imprints are fake 😨😡💀!! Now he's going to die looking like a fool where he wasn't.

Before Azul's punishment, Jade reveals that he figured out it was Azul before the trial. He knows him too well. He planted the main evidence because, while he cares for Azul, he has no intention of letting himself and Floyd die for him.

I like the idea that the twins remain super sketchy and intentionally misleading for all the other trials, without actually ever being the killers. They're very angry, and its their way of grieving Azul.

YES YES YES!!!! This is the vision in its entirety!!!! orz the twins continuing to be suspicious menaces even after his execution is perfect.

Azul spends the majority of the game being annoyingly kind and helpful, if only to spread goodwill and reduce the risk of being targeted. He may cut a strikingly scary figure when he's with the twins, but the truth is that he's an animal of prey at heart and he'll do whatever it takes to survive. So as nice as he seems, it's all an act to keep himself safe and on everyone's good sides. He keeps his ears to the ground, always wanting to know as much as possible, and he is genuinely helpful in the trials, if not a little pompous.

But he's so anxious. The killing game is wearing on and he desperately wants to get out of here. How is he going to keep up with the lounge if he's stuck here? This is horrible! He's losing so much business with every passing second! On the surface, Azul keeps himself composed, but beneath perfect smiles and his obnoxious flair for theatrics he's cracking.

I imagine the trial is filled with twists and turns and it's so very convoluted. It couldn't possibly be one of the merfolk, right? Anyone with enough strength could have drowned the victim. It's very possible. Azul keeps his composure up until the moment when everyone starts to suspect and turn against him. His own logic is falling apart and though he's used to quick-paced arguments and discussions in business this is different. They can't be serious. Do they all really think he's the one at fault here? Honestly, he wouldn't revert to his true form to commit murder. Come on! That's foolish.

With all eyes on him, Azul starts to break. It's suffocating to be under such intense scrutiny. Everyone's accusing him of such a monstrous thing. They're all bullies! >:( it's not fair! He's only ever been good and helpful and obedient! Sure, he may have seemed suspicious when he was with the twins, but that's just how they are as a group! It's all just an act to look intimidating, to look strong, to look untouchable. He's not a killer. He's a businessman.

He snaps when the twins don't take his side. So they're just going to bully him, too? Is that it? And from there, everyone sees the real Azul. Foul-mouthed and impolite, he's pointing and yelling, insisting that it can't be him; it could never! Why would he throw his future away just to commit a crime? Why would he make such a risk?! He's a businessman! His eyes are blown wide with delirium. He's definitely breaking into a laughing fit during the trial like how he did during his overblot. >_< he's crazed... it's haunting to see. The twins would feel bad, but he chose this. You make your mistake and you pay for it. Isn't that what Azul always says when debtors refuse to pay what they owe?

He's hysterical until he isn't. Until he can no longer be. After the vote comes in and he's declared the blackened, he gets this far-off look to him. Maybe he's reflecting. Maybe he's not. Maybe he isn't even thinking at all. No one can tell.

It's strange to see the twins without Azul. Their terrifying trio is forever down a member.