#* ` life is a game we cannot win ’ — ( V. MAIN . )

[skeletondoggy]

okay writing down my SMTV:V (world's funniest abbreviation btw) thoughts here before I forget. Full spoilers for the original SMT V you've been warned.

OKAY. SO. FIRST OFF WOW I am so so glad they are taking another stab at an alternative scenario instead of just doing either a base Maniax version or the route stuff Redux did. I really appreciate the first game's scenario (as controversial it is) and I wanna talk about what the director said about The Bull and The Snake.

SMT V vanilla is, to me (and friend's I've discussed it with) a game about bonds, the destruction of set standards, and most importantly Being Forced To Go Against Your Own Ideals. The way SMT V twists and distorts alignments and breaks them down is EXTREMELY interesting, but more importantly I think it's important that they don't necessarily Reflect What's Given.

Time and time again the game lets you know this is not the Nahobino's choice. This is a choice of an auxiliary force, and even at the end things don't really land on where they might have. The protagonist is an unwilling figured dragged along in the plans of others to the very, very end. A character that nothing works out for, because they have a fate they must choose.

This is also reflected in Tao's character as well and her lack of agency near the end. While joining Naho is her choice she's...kinda a victim of it all. A saint chosen by Bethel who is used as a martyr figure who then only comes back later, to reveal that she is going to disappear. Everything that makes Tao herself is taken from her, as she becomes a function in the wheel of life and not her own.

The Naho and Tao as figures have the power and fate to change the world, but never for themselves or their own ideals. Never for a better tomorrow, and even when that's chosen they must reckon with a broken throne. Even when Naho desires a normal, peaceful life without divinity in the true route he cannot get it. He is trapped. With Tao as the throne, and him as the lone overseer of all.

This is the bull! It's easy to see, how the horned king sits atop with nothing to share, nothing to love. And this where I'm really interested with Vengeance. Especially considering (guess who) LILITH! Because, in an interesting twist, LUCIFER actually represents the snake who offered knowledge to people in the context of SMT V!

Assuming the other figures within the group will follow suit, I think this is going to be a story about lashing out at the set systems and the snake represents a place of dis-empowerment. A place of rejection, and one where I think many characters are gonna see themselves way, way more active.

In the trailer, Tao says this very interesting line. "You're not along, if you want revenge I'll help you get it." We're then shown a shot of her with Sahori, which means this line is being said there or is probably from another part of the game. But IMMEDIATELY I think it's a very very very big deal to talk about!

Tao as a character is someone who's set into a complacent position through Bethel (and tbh the game too a little), so a self declaration like this could mean a lot of things! On top of this, we see her WELL and alive during the Lahmu section (with Atsuda replacing Lahmus place? Hello?)

Miyazu as well seems to be more directly bitter in the trailer (pleaseee let Khonsu stuff be in the main story lol) which indicates a more direct active role as well! Both her and Tao are very much characters who've been hurt or exposed as weak in the systems that they're trapped in. And fucking hell I'm curious what they're gonna do.

The Bull is a representation of given power, but a lack of control. Thus thematically, I like to think this may mean the snake represents gained power through one's own control. SMT V is a game about the people and their struggles, the way the universe has dealt them unfortunate hands, and how they must brunt this fate even if it is to make them miserable and they never "win". So perhaps this is a story of victory, or clawing for victory as hard as one may.

oh also i think yoko and lilith are def a naho pair lol THANKS FOR READING

[lgcmanager]

AGITO MISSION 003

SCHEDULE TYPE: TRIMESTER ( PART 1 OUT OF 1 ) SCHEDULE RESTRICTIONS: cannot be paired with another trimester schedule, unless stated otherwise. for reference as to whether your muse is eligible for this event, please click over HERE.

before the AGITO members are about to start their training for the day, their manager, KYUWON gathers all of them together in a meeting room to talk about their schedule for the next few months.

JAPANESE DEBUT

as mentioned in the previous mission, all of the AGITO members would have started working on their debut preparations since JUNE. the information mentioned below is already known to the boys ic, but for ooc here it is:

AGITO will have only one song for this japanese debut and that song is ‘SCENT OF YOU’. the lyrics distribution document for this can be found over HERE. they will be releasing this song on JULY 24 and for lgc family concert 2k23, they will be singing the KOREAN version of the song.

due to their individual schedules and future dreams season 7, AGITO will be working and filming a lot of their content while they’re in korea rather than in japan.

LGC CHARMS JAPAN

“i’m not sure if any of you have watched LGC GIRLS CHARM JAPAN, but we were able to get a renewal for the second season. Because it’s been a while since the show was aired, the team decided to make this season rather special. originally the girls from the new LGC GIRLS JAPAN subunit would be the main stars, but since AGITO’s japanese debut promotions overlapped with theirs, both of you will be making an appearance on the show.” KYUWON smiles innocently before he continues on with explaining the premise of the second season. “both groups will be challenging each other to be the PERMANENT group on the show and that will be decided through an array of challenges and games that might be familiar to you if you’ve seen the first season.”

each episode will be 20 minutes long and the comedian duo, NON STYLE, will act as hosts of the show, being in charge of deciding the winning team for most games. while the filming date are specified, airing dates are to be announced:

EPISODE 1 & 2 [ JULY 17 ]: show introduction, competition explained to the participants. mini-profile of all 9 participants and personal talent display contest  ( winning team: lgc girls )

EPISODE 3 & 4 [ JULY 24 ]: iconic japanese idol songs battle. the contestants hear short snippets of each song and must guess the title and artist of the song and then sing it. song examples; love machine by morning musume, heavy rotation by akb48, ponponpon by kyari pamyu pamyu, mayonaka no door by miki mutsubura, sakura by ikimonogakari, choo choo train by exile, love rainbow by arashi ( winning team: lgc girls )

EPISODE 5-6 [ JULY 31 ]: spicy eating competition. each group is presented with SUKIYAKI, enough for four for agito, and five for lgc girls japan. however, the broth has been spiced up to level 7. one by one, each member will have to eat as much as they can from the hot pot to be the team with the least food left after they've all eaten once. each person is only allowed one glass of milk. ( winning team: agito )

EPISODE 6-7 [ AUGUST 7 ]: team spirit battle. on a real life game board, the teams throw giant dice to be the first to reach the end. however, on each square is a team challenge to accomplish. challenge examples; eat lemons, do a position challenge (like a pyramid), say corny phrases at the camera ( winning team: agito )

EPISODE 8 [ AUGUST 14 ]: best moments recap and last chance to sway the vote of the hosts one way or another by shamelessly and brazenly appealing to them and explaining why their group deserves the show the most. season winner is announced to be LGC GIRLS JAPAN.

YUJIWON’S POD

“with so many youtube shows and podcasts aired in the lgc studios, they have given JIHO, YUSHIN, and fellow VERSUS member, YEONWOO, a chance to host a short podcast. this is an experiment seeing that V&A has so many international fans and with the rise of podcasts, we thought it would be a good idea to give you a chance to be a part of one.” KYUWON explains happily, thinking about how it was a good opportunity for them to do in the meantime.

for YUJIWON’S POD, the episodes will be assigned as follows:

EPISODES 1 & 2 ( LEE JIHO, LEE YUSHIN, WON YEONWOO ) - introduction of the podcast, answering debate questions ( ex. pineapple on pizza or no pineapple on pizza, scary or funny movies, vanilla or chocolate ice cream, putting milk or cereal in first, would you rather stay up late or get up early, pencils or pens, etc. ). with the debate questions, the goal is to get the majority on one side, so if two people support different sides, the third person would be the determinator. it would be a bit similar to THIS ( pentagon’s jack pod ).

EPISODE 3 ( LEE YUSHIN ): getting to know LEE YUSHIN. since it’s a solo podcast episode, it would basically be an episode about getting to know him, his interests, his legacy audition, concept(s) you want to try, show that you want to be a part of, etc. it would be similar to THIS.

EPISODE 4 ( LEE JIHO ): getting to know LEE JIHO. since it’s a solo podcast episode, it would basically be an episode about getting to know him, his interests, his legacy audition, concept(s) you want to try, show that you want to be a part of, etc. it would be similar to THIS.

EPISODE 5 ( WON YEONWOO ): getting to know WON YEONWOO. since it’s a solo podcast episode, it would basically be an episode about getting to know him, his interests, his legacy audition, concept(s) you want to try, show that you want to be a part of, etc. it would be similar to THIS.

EPISODE 6 ( LEE JIHO, LEE YUSHIN, WON YEONWOO ): finale episode. reflecting on the episodes that they recorded and any last words they would like to share with the listeners.

for the SOLO episodes, the other two members will be present there ( behind the camera ) and give any commentary or ask any questions for the one hosting.

V&A LOG

KYUWON turns his attention towards KEEHO and HARU. “as for you two, you will be joining JAESUN, ALEX, and TEE in an upcoming youtube series called ‘V&A LOG’ where you will be filming or documenting anything special in your day to day life. for this we are recommending that you pair up with another V&A member for these videos and try out different activities that you’ve never done before.”

as KYUWON mentioned, the remaining V&A members will be filming youtube vlogs for their channel. they will be filming the videos starting from today all the way until SEPTEMBER 1. the list below denotes when the episodes will be AIRED on the youtube channel.

EPISODE 1 ( JEON HARU & AHN JAESUN ): AUGUST 29

EPISODE 2 ( PONGSAK TEE ): SEPTEMBER 5

EPISODE 3 ( KIM ALEX ): SEPTEMBER 12

EPISODE 4 ( HAN KEEHO & PONGSAK TEE ): SEPTEMBER 19

EPISODE 5 ( AHN JAESUN ): SEPTEMBER 26

EPISODE 6 ( JEON HARU ): OCTOBER 3

EPISODE 7 ( HAN KEEHO ): OCTOBER 10

for the theme of these vlogs, the V&A members are asked to film themselves doing an activity that they have never tried before. if any of the V&A members decide to do an activity that is outside the legacy building, they will be accompanied by their manager and/or the assistant manager to supervise them during that time. the activity also has to be something that can be filmed in one day, so they CANNOT do any activities where they will be traveling to a different location outside of seoul. the videos typically last around 20-25 minutes.

HARU’S BIRTHDAY LIVESTREAM

since HARU’s birthday is on JULY 15, HARU will be given permission by KYUWON to host a birthday livestream. the livestream will be hosted in his studio room, so the fans will get a glimpse of his studio and a chance to interact with him as well! it will last around 30-45 minutes, depending on when the livestream is aired.

SURPRISE PROJECT

before the meeting concludes, KYUWON shifts his attention to JIHO as he stares at him. “everyone else can leave but JIHO.” when it’s just the two of them alone, KYUWON begins, “we know how your schedule is going to be in the next few months but you’ve been invited for something else related to lgc’s family concert, so we’ll start working on it right now.” and as the two begin to discuss the project, KYUWON makes sure that no one else could eavesdrop on their conversation.

ooc wise, the project will be revealed with the lgc family concert 2k23 post, so stay tuned for that!

WRITING REQUIREMENTS

YUJIWON’S POD: write a 300+ word solo or a 6 replies ( minimum 8 lines, 2 posts per person ) with the hosts ( so a three way thread with jiho, yushin, and yeonwoo ) about the podcast for +6 MCING/HOSTING and +6 NOTORIETY ! ** only for JIHO and YUSHIN **

LGC CHARMS JAPAN: write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines ) with another participant ( so anyone in AGITO or LGC GIRLS JAPAN ) about anything related to the filming of the show for +6 VARIETY OR JAPANESE and +5 NOTORIETY !

V&A LOG: write a 300+ word solo or a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines ) with your assigned partner about the vlog episode for +6 VARIETY and +5 NOTORIETY ! do note that what will be written is what will be appearing in the videos. ** only for KEEHO and HARU **

BIRTHDAY LIVESTREAM: write a 250+ word solo about the livestream for +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE and +3 NOTORIETY ! ** only for haru **

BONUS: write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines ) with a non-V&A member for +10 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE ! ** this cannot overlap with any of the events **

make sure to use the hashtag lgc:agitomission for the task. you have until SEPTEMBER 16, 2023 at 11:59PM EDT to complete the requirements and validate your points. please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog.

MUSE NAME ∙ AGITO MISSION 003 - YUJIWON’S POD: +6 mcing/hosting, +6 notoriety [ LINK ] ** for jiho and yushin ** - LGC CHARMS JAPAN: +6 ( variety or japanese ), +5 notoriety [ LINK ] - V&A LOG: +6 variety, +5 notoriety [ LINK ] ** only for keeho and haru ** - BIRTHDAY LIVESTREAM: +5 ( skill points distribution ), +3 notoriety [ LINK ] ** only for haru ** - BONUS: +10 ( skill points distribution ) [ LINK ]

[we-live-we-die-we-live-again]

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V: We Cannot Wait To Watch Life Kick You In Your Ass - Modern AU - A modern AU for the blog in which everyone is more or less normal people.

V: You Know I Don't Believe In Ghosts - Scrotus Lives AU - Scrotus survived the final blows that killed him after being stolen away by a barely alive Stank Gum. They managed to make it to the Citadel somehow and they were nursed back to health. Due to lasting injuries, Scrotus was not reinstated as a Warlord over Gastown.

V: You Tell Me That You'll Wait Like You Think That I Could Change When I've Always Been This Way - Slit Lives AU - An AU in which Slit and Nux live and are taken in by the Wives when they take over the Citadel. Slit tries to redeem himself after Nux pleads with him to try and be better, though he isn't very good at it.

V: Whenever You Breathe Out The Villain In You Breathes Out Too - Dementus Successfully Adopts Furiosa AU - Furiosa stays with Dementus and he only loses the Organic Mechanic to Immortan Joe. Furiosa becomes his closest confidant and is the closest thing to a daughter that he has, and they are very close.

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Shipping Tags With @daddiesgonnadie

I Love The Chase 'Til The Minute I Win It (Scrotus ♡ Stank Gum)

[soir-rouges-esprit]

xxviii.c: The Viper, “he has run a muck in our business, and refuses to come to the table to talk and work out some kind of territorial agreement.” Yeah … sounds like the dirty prick. “But first … you are to agree to do something for me, in return for my help.” I tense up … feel my heart start to race. W-what? … “You are to run some jobs for me … High Priority” Shit. I lean forward … and put my head in my hands to think … High Priority Contracts are typically some real dangerous shit, dealing with some real dangerous people … not what I'm trying to involve myself in necessarily, unless they can help me, clearly as to my current visit. I lean back up, and remove my hands from my face. *Sigh* … ok … so say I help you here, how many contracts are we talkin? “Seven” Seven! … fuck me … why so many? … why so specific actually? I was expecting you to dodge my answer … and be more … cryptic. “Yes well … you are going to be quite busy with those seven, there would be more … but I'm afraid that is probably not within the time zone I'm needing … you will be working against some old friends of ours.” Old friends? “K-Industries” Holy Fuck Van … I … I don't know about that, it's downright dumb to get in any trouble with them … even you should steer clear, and you used to know that. “Things have changed … K-Industries have been moving product in bulk, as to underhand us on the street level, we are to show them that is unacceptable … that there are consequences to moving into our territory.” ahhh damn … this is so fucked V … we're not even close to standing against them in any context … especially with their publicity armor they've always had and flaunt, not to mention the billions they have at their disposal. “Yes yes Salem … I know this, this is not news to me, I've thought it all through, there really is no choices here … we must act now … they are forcing us. I need your help, as you need mine … we both can come up on top here, if we reunite once again, and you serve as my Rồng again.” listen V … I'll help … but only for those seven contacts, no more than that, no side jobs for the main jobs none of that shit … call me when things need to be done on the main projects here, I don't want any more trouble then I already have here. “I know … ” she reached across the table and put her hand on my wrist, “You have no need for worry … these contracts are from me, and vetted by good people … you are safe, this … is a win-win.” *Sigh* yeah yeah. I stood up. I've heard it before V … but seeing I have no choice here, I'll play your game for now. She stood up quick with a big smile and eyes even bigger. “You will not regret this … this is the start to your new safer life … I promise you this … by the end, you will have less problems, both in the concurrent and in the making. All shall be safe.” Mmhmm, we'll see. Anyways what now exactly? Do you need my help to get Alzon any? Or what's next here? “Tell anything you can about him to Cadeo, he will write down everything and I'll go over it later tonight, I want to know … everything … including why you were even anywhere near him, let alone to be put on his hit list. Then after I've looked it over, I will give you a call, and we can speak then on what's next. We'll start with that … then we can move on to the first contract, and so on continue our efforts in tandem.” Ok! … ok … sounds like a plan then … well then Mrs.Van … it was a pleasure to see you again, and I'll be awaiting your call. I tip my head a little and start to walk away … when she grabbed my shoulder and said. “You know … you cannot do this alone.” I stop in my tracks, and turn around slowly. I mean … maybe, maybe not … “No … you cannot do what I've asked, alone … you will need help.” … ok … what about Cadeo in there, could show him some ropes and progress him fur- “No! … he is not ready, and this life is not his to live … and we both know you don't work well with others outside your circle.” … Just as I thought I was in the clear … she just had to come back with something … [To Be Continued]

[lionwoman]

Rescuing this so I can put what version I ahd choose/I'll choose, my bias metrics and if I think one works better than the other/more canon or not or it's indiferent.

RBGY / FRLG -> I'll probably picked red since red is one of my fav colors + cool dragon on box.

GSC / HGSS -> I acually bought both HG & SS but prefer HG over a mile in tems of the plot. Ho-oh just fits better with the aesthetic of the main legendary they went and Ho-oh always had that kinda mysterious godly vibe. Also that new theme slaps hard. Love lugia's design, but HG fits more.

RZE / ORAS -> played a bit of emerald but cannot form a solid opinion since it was not my game. Bought AS as I always wanted a GBA + pokemon sapphire. Kyogre was so cool an original back then. Also love Archie's redesign. Both work but I think I'm more inclined to prefer AS' plot as the sea is the origin of life (plus we have droughts and drinkable water is scarse, etc) so water fit better in my head.

DPP / wedonttalkaboutthoseremakes. Platinum kinda wins here, as controlling both time and space made sense but if we talk about the previous version, even though I liked dialga more (for some odd reason) I think Palkia fits better bc of distorting space idk. Plus Cyrus playing cards with Giratina at the distortion world is a plus (?).

BW/B2W2 So probably an unpopular opinion but at least in plot I prefer BW over B2W2. I have bias towards white and is kinda funny to think even though N tought what he was tough wasa the truth and was folowing his ideals, Reshiram taught him the real TRUTH. While you also fight for your ideals of your ideal world. Because even if you want to people and pokemon to be happy there will always be somebody who will abuse them.

X/Y Bought X for the deer and a funny nickname regarding friend's stories but if not for that I'll probably had picked Y. Megacharizard Y > X don't @ me. Feels more natural. I also think makes more sense charging a weapon of destruction with the energy the DESTRUCTION pokemon has been absorbing in order to wake up. (While "dying" Xerenas did the contraty so I think Yveltal would have more energy reserves since he had been absorbing them earlier).

SM/USUM Sun and Solgaloe wins here. Also normal daylight lol. I honestly loved US and was the third/2nd version that I'd enjoyed more in tems of story... Though I probably pick US bc of necrozma and the ultra recon squad, Sun Lusamine worked better (also Fuck Lusamine). The fusion forms seemed unnnecesary though. Idk if overall I could pick one version. But maybe US wins S by very little.

Sw/Sh Haven't played but I like Zamazenta's design more. Zacian is so basic, "look it's a sif pokemon hahah" don't @ me.

S/V Never been this biased towards a version and I think Scarlet as the more canon one. Sada's design is something different while Turo's looks more in line with standard pokevillians idk. Also Sada has fucking abs and fangs. Ans she's not afraid to show them. Koraidon also feels moer "alive" plus regal magestic ancient red feathered lizard vs P*nis dragon? yeah, biased since the first trailer. Also he is a doofus and looks like a red toothless. I love him so much. I also prefer mounts than vehicles in videogames. So troting in a powerful organic beast feels recomforting (ok the form is weird in the begining but looking at cyclizar I got used to it pretty quickly). Plus organic integrated airbags! safer! Then better paradoxes. They look more original and are not a "x pokemon but robot" (The only one interesting is iron valiant). Past paradoxes also work better in Area 0. It is beliavle that they could had survive there isolated in that remote closed area, a bit like The Lost World or Journey to the Center of the Earth. Also bc of movies like Jurassic Park. And idk why people say does not make sense to build a time machine to bring pokemon to the present. "she uses futuristic technology" like have you seen what the pokemon anime/movie villians use? what the actual technology in the pokemon wolrd is than even in gen 1 games we had FUCKING TELETRANSPORTERS? That's a really bs argument. Past theme makes more sense to me and they feel more organic in area 0 and also with other pokemon.

[missoshea-blog]

@UNWEST  */*//*/*  THE WIND  */*//*/*  ACCEPTING !

“ i’ll feel better in the morning . “

        porcelain features 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵 into those of concern and worry . a kind of 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 in her eyes . unsure if a night’s sleep will be enough to shake whatever has come over the young outlaw so suddenly . auburn brows lift , and a faint breath parts her rouge lips at last . “ —— well , i sure hope ye do . ya look 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 pale , john . ”

        those emerald hues of hers survey the 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 camp that surrounds them , only for a brief moment though , before she’s to turn to him again with a concealed smirk tugging the very corners of her scarlet lips upwards . “ it wasn’t pearson’s stew , 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 ? ” she jests with contained laughter , care in not tickling anyone’s unwanted attention .  “ i can 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 keep the stuff down . leaves me with nothin’ but a bad taste in me mouth and a 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞 in the hours after . makes stale and mouldy bread sound all the more 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐅𝐔𝐋 , i tell ye ! ”

[thegamingmonk]

Madrigal Family Game Night Headcanons

I felt like this deserved its own kind of headcanon posts since I have a LOT of thoughts about this theme in particular!

Let’s get one thing straight: there is never a peaceful game night with this family.

Anytime they play Monopoly, Luisa or Félix are always the bankers. They're the most trustworthy with the money and less likely to succumb to peer-pressure during games.

As I've said before, Isabela is (in theory) BANNED from competitive games. We all know why…

Whenever a game of Uno is down to Bruno and Pepa, best believe it’s going to be the funniest night. Those two can insult each other for days and still be pulling cards.

When it’s between Julieta and Pepa, it’s like a quick draw match between who would get Uno and Uno out first. The tension is h e a v y.

Julieta is a little easier on Bruno, until he starts talking trash. Then it’s a battlefield.

Dolores is an absolute threat at Monopoly because of the amount of dirt she has on every family member.

Abuela is still the champion of card games to this day.

If you let Mirabel and Julieta team up, you automatically have made the biggest threat of a team in existence.

For personal reasons, Camilo is terrified to play Twister with Luisa. One game, she slipped and fell smack on top of him; the kid’s whole soul left their body.

Antonio, surprisingly, takes after his mama with his competitiveness. Camilo and Mirabel learned this the hard way by playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with him.

Camilo’s favorite game is Sorry. Because no, they’re not sorry. Not in the slightest.

Mariano is somehow a genius when it comes to Connect 4.

Literally he almost always wins. Whenever anyone thinks they’re in the clear, he comes in out of nowhere with a connect 4. He doesn’t even plan it!

Luisa cannot for her life play Operation, her nerves get way too worked up and she WILL cry if the board buzzes on her.

Bruno and Agustín sometimes play Mancala in their own peaceful version of a game night.

All the grandkids get together to play Cards Against Humanity and it’s always the funniest night of their lives.

One time Alma walked in at the worst time and nearly got a heart attack from what she heard. She couldn’t look at any of them the same for the next week.

Just Dance is a must-have in this family. You already know Pepa and Félix are heavily invested in the game.

Mirabel and Camilo goes HARD for each song, copying the moves STEP by STEP. Isabela and Dolores are the type to just wave their remotes, doing the bare minimum. Luisa and Antonio are the only ones who just do whatever for the sake of having fun.

In team games, Isabela will always team up with Antonio as an excuse to be able to play. She always instigates his competitiveness and makes sure he puts those puppy eyes to good use.

Do not EVER leave Mirabel and Isabela playing against each other in Jenga.

Mirabel could simply let out a hard exhale during Isabela’s turn and Isabela wastes no time throwing a cactus at the girl.

You know that Scrabble meme from Suite Life on Deck? Dolores is Cody and Isabela is Zack.

Bruno 100% uses his gift during Battleships. He “coincidentally” has a vision each and every time he plays against somebody. Everyone is ready to call him out for it every time.

Félix nearly has Chess and Checkers in the bag every time, unless he’s playing against Mirabel. Those two could go on for h o u r s.

Alma gives him such a tough time at Chess too. The lady will watch in amusement as he stresses out a way to get his king out of getting cornered.

The triplets go out of their way to sabotage each other in Mario Kart, no questions. If someone gets caught in the line of fire, that’s their fault.

Everybody has their own Mario Kart main and if anyone decides they want to play as someone else's main, then prepare to duel; Alma is the referee.

Mario Party is BANNED in this household. Alma cannot stand what happens to the family when they play. Husbands were sleeping on couches, the skies were constantly raining, and grandkids were on thin ice with each other before fist fighting over stealing a star.

Wii Sports is ironically the game that the family is calmest over. Until they play boxing. Which turns into boxing in real life.

Agustín is the king of golf. He has the highest score of them all.

Bruno once accidentally flung his remote out the window during tennis and Casita was P I S S E D.

Listen it's all wholesome fun and games in any family until that game night rolls around. That's all for now!

[theggning]

I Hate the Alternate Ending of Blind Betrayal, and Here's Why!

DISCLAIMER THE FIRST: Massive spoilers for Fallout 4 abound. This post discusses Blind Betrayal, a quest with suicide as a heavy theme. Content warning applies.

DISCLAIMER THE SECOND: This post discusses cut OFFICIAL content from Fallout 4 that has since been repurposed into multiple mods. I am not criticizing any modders or their implementations of this content. Mods are fun and people can enjoy whatever the hell kind of game experience they want with whatever mods they want.

I am ONLY interested in discussing the original cut content as Bethesda had written it, and how it would have impacted the story and lore of Fallout 4.

So, yeah, it seems there was originally going to be another way to conclude Blind Betrayal (BB).

As described in this Kotaku article (citing this post by Tumblr user tentacle-explosion,) there are unused audio files of Danse’s dialogue that show an alternate ending to his pivotal quest. These lines are the only evidence we have of this ending (suggesting that it was cut fairly early on, as no other actors/characters seem to have recorded for it.)

From what we can tell, in this alternate ending of BB, Danse comes up with a possible way out of the sticky situation re: his identity as a synth. According to the Brotherhood Litany, he is able to challenge Maxson’s authority as Elder via combat. If you agree to this idea, you go with Danse to challenge Maxson. The Paladin and the Elder duel one another, Danse wins, and Maxson dies. Then Danse names the Sole Survivor the new Elder-- or with a hard charisma check, you’re able to convince Danse to take the job himself. It is unknown how the main plot would have progressed beyond this point, as there is no other evidence of what being (or influencing) the Elder would have been like or what choices it would have given you.

There is understandable disappointment in learning that this ending was cut. Choices in games are great, and it could have been fun to have multiple different options for how to resolve the quest. In many gaming circles, people complain that this theoretical ending is superior to the one we got and shouldn’t have been axed. The Kotaku article calls it a “way better” ending, and you’ll see many players lamenting that it wasn’t implemented, saying Bethesda was bad at writing for cutting it, etc.

So why did Bethesda get rid of the Elder ending of BB?

In December 2020, after the Fallout 4 Cast Reunion, Danse’s voice actor Peter Jessop answered questions in a private signing session on his Instagram. Peter Jessop is an extremely kind and gracious man, an avid gamer, and a huge fan of Fallout. During the stream, he reflected on the alternate ending and remembered recording the lines, but stated the content was ultimately cut because Bethesda decided it was lore-breaking.

Peter Jessop is right. Bethesda was right. The Elder ending of BB is a bunch of dumb nonsense. It sucks, I hate it, and I’m glad they got rid of it. And now I’m going to tell you why!

SIDENOTE: King Shit of Fuck Mountain

There is no wrong way to play a single-player video game. If you are having fun, then you are accomplishing the task for which the game was made. Good for you! Play it on easy. Play it on hard. Mod it. Speedrun it. Make up an intricate roleplaying scenario. Perform “challenge” runs. Kill everybody you see. Ignore the story and run around collecting wheels of cheese. Games are meant to be fun and there is nothing wrong with enjoying a game however you damn well please. This is especially true for RPGs like Fallout, which are designed with player freedom in mind.

There is an RPG playstyle I like to call King Shit of Fuck Mountain: a naked power fantasy in which your protagonist is the most powerful person ever, even beyond normal RPG plot significance. Through brute strength, incredible charisma, or having completed tons of quests for world-breaking artifacts and weapons, your character wields godlike influence, able to control people, factions, and the fabric of the world itself. A game enables KSoFM gameplay when it allows the player limitless freedom to gain as much power as they like with zero consequences to plot or storytelling.

A great example of this is the Dragonborn in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. If the player chooses to pursue every questline in the game, one single person can become Harbinger of the Companions, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Nightingale and Guildmaster of the Thieves’ Guild, hero of the Imperial/Stormcloak army, the chosen one of like, 11 different Daedric princes, a bard, a Blade, and otherwise just, absurdly goddamn powerful in completely unrealistic ways. And that’s not counting DLCs. A fully-kitted-out Dragonborn is King Shit of Fuck Mountain.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing KSoFM if you like to. But I’m not a big fan of this style, personally. Sure, my first Skyrim character became KSoFM while I was figuring out the game, but after my first playthrough I preferred my characters become coherent figures in the story of the world. I pick one or two character traits and things that my Dragonborn is good at, focus on them, and make them part of some overall story. My honorable Imperial paladin werewolf is in the Companions, and hunts vampires on principle. My Argonian sneaky archer is a gleeful thief, but would never jive with the College or the Dark Brotherhood. I like creating protagonists who fit into these settings immersively. I don’t care about power fantasies or being in charge. I don’t WANT my character to be all-powerful, because that ruins my immersion and my little story.

Additionally, in a plot-driven story-focused game like Fallout, KSoFM tears the narrative apart. Skyrim is fairly light on story, so the Dragonborn can be the leader of the Companions and the Dark Brotherhood and whatever other factions without any of them noticing or caring. But FO4’s themes, faction drama, and the main thrust of the plot don’t work at all if the Sole Survivor is able to become too powerful or too influential. The Sole Survivor cannot become the leader of every faction, solve every problem, or eliminate every inconvenient bend of the conflict because it makes the lore of the entire setting implode. Thus, the game forces you to choose between factions. You cannot be with the Minutemen and the Nuka-World Raiders. You cannot be with the Railroad and the Institute. And you cannot become Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel.

So if you’re the kind of person who loves playing KSoFM, if you like plots that your character can “solve” with relative ease, or if you just think it would be super cool for your Sole to become Elder regardless of surrounding storytelling, then you might think the Elder ending sounds super cool. You are absolutely allowed to disagree with me here. Install all the mods and write all the fic and have all the headcanons you like. I respect that. There is no wrong way to enjoy a single-player video game. Have fun!

But if you’re a big nitpicky pedantic lore nerd like me, a fan of cohesive storytelling, or if you just want to hear how the Elder ending of BB absolutely fucking ruins Maxson, Danse, the Brotherhood of Steel, and the entire plot of FO4 from a narrative perspective, read on!

1. The Synth Thing

The Elder ending requires the stupid plot contrivance of the BoS forgetting about Danse’s synthhood.

One of the biggest problems with the BoS as an institution is their strict and dogmatic beliefs, which include a widespread dislike of non-human species. Perhaps more than any other non-humans, the BoS hates synths. Synths are, in their eyes, machines given free will, a violation of the sanctity of human life and the ultimate example of technology run amok. To them, synths are not sympathetic, they are not slaves, and they are not victims of circumstance. They are weapons that left unchecked will destroy all of humanity for a second time. Synths are anathema to everything the BoS stands for, and finding out that one of their most beloved and trusted Paladins is one is an earth-shattering blow to their integrity and sense of security.

It is completely absurd that the BoS would allow a synth within their ranks, particularly as they are waging war against the Institute, who created synths in the first place. It is even MORE absurd that they’d allow one to influence their Elder, or even worse, to become Elder. It completely undermines their mission in the Commonwealth, and the core tenets of their extremely rigid beliefs. No matter the Elder, no matter the Litany or obscure BoS law, no matter how valuable the Sole Survivor is as a soldier or how much influence they wield. Danse is a synth. He’s the enemy. He is physically the embodiment of everything they hate.

Not only wouldn’t they trust a synth in general, but the BoS specifically believes that Danse is an infiltrator for the Institute. Even Danse believes that he is a danger, that the Institute may be able to take control of him and use him as a weapon. Sure, we know none of this is actually true, or possible, but the BoS don’t know that. And given how quick they are to order Danse dead without even the possibility of surrender, I don’t think there’s any charisma in the world that’s going to convince them otherwise.

According to Peter Jessop, this, ultimately, is the reason why the Elder ending was cut. He talks about it around the 11:30 timestamp in his Instagram stream, linked above:

“We recorded an ending where you keep Danse alive and you take over the Brotherhood. But there was a question of content… there’s no way the Brotherhood, once they knew he was a synth, would let him be even the right hand of the person in charge.”

Bethesda correctly recognized the incredible narrative contrivance for the BoS to shrug off the reason they’re trying to execute Danse in the first place. Whatever other beefs I have with this ending conceptually, they all come in second to just what a big dumb leap it is to get beyond this first and most important problem.

2. The Complete Death of Conflict

The Elder ending of BB destroys the conflict of the quest, and potentially the conflict of the entire game.

Greed is a poison. There is no such thing as a perfect ideal or a perfect organization. Power corrupts. Humanity has the choice to build back better. War never changes. The Fallout games are full of themes, depicted by the characters and quests and factions we play out.

Blind Betrayal is rightfully praised as one of the most powerful quests in FO4. Not only is it well-acted, but it puts the player in a very difficult position. The BoS has given you clout and glory and free power armor and lots of firepower, but now you see the price: unquestioning obedience. You are ordered to execute your friend and mentor Danse for the mere fact he is a synth. Are you going to follow that unjust order? Are you willing to give up your principles on command? Or is this where you can no longer stay quiet and stay in line?

To be honest, I’ve always thought the fact you can talk Maxson out of killing Danse but still remain with the BoS in good standing was a cop-out. BB goes 90% of the way to forcing you to choose between a companion and a faction, and then chickens out at the last second to let you have both, if your charisma is high enough.

(I believe this has the fingerprints of Skyrim’s development on it-- Bethesda’s writers got nervous about doing another Paarthurnax choice involving the fan favorite Brotherhood of Steel. That’s right. Danse is the Paarthurnax of Fallout. Frankly, I understand why they chose not to go there, but damn, wouldn’t it have been wild? You want to run with the BoS? Then kill your friend and feel the burn. THIS is what it means to follow orders without question.

As for me, I’d pick Danse every time and sleep soundly without the company of shitty bootlicking dieselpunk LARPers- but I digress.)

Anyway, you know what would have REALLY been a copout? If the game asked you to make a difficult thematic storyline choice, and you solved the problem by just not choosing at all.

You are supposed to feel uncomfortable when Maxson orders you to kill Danse, because the game is telling a story about how it is maybe a bad thing to thoughtlessly follow orders without question. It is asking you to think about what the BoS is, what they are doing, and how they are going to run things, if you choose to let them “win” the Commonwealth. It is pointing out that there is no room for gray in the BoS’ black and white. That a good, loyal man may die because of the way he was made, through no action of his own. That soon, you’ll be killing other people on command. The Railroad. Fleeing Institute synths and scientists. Others, down the line. It all depends on who’s giving the orders. Are you going to follow those orders?

Eesh, that sounds thought-provoking and unpleasant and difficult! Let’s just skip it by killing Maxson and making ourselves the boss. Now we get to tell everybody else what to do!

It’s unknown what powers the Elder ending would have granted the player, or how it would have interacted with the other factions. There is speculation that you’d have been able to ease back on the BoS’ dogmatism, or change some of the later events of the game. For instance, perhaps you could talk the BoS down from attacking the Railroad, sparing popular characters like Glory and Deacon who must die in the normal BoS storyline. Perhaps you could have made the BoS a kinder, gentler faction and directed them to run the way you want them to.

If this was indeed the case, then the Elder ending would not only suck the gravitas out of BB, but torpedo the entire main plot.

If you can get rid of any and all downsides to siding with the BoS, why in the hell would players side with anybody else? With the player given total power, the BoS becomes a perfect faction with no drawbacks, no weaknesses, no tough decisions to be made. Screw slumming it with the Railroad or the Minutemen, let’s take over the BoS. Free power armor and a giant robot! Forget the whole intolerance thing, I hereby proclaim the BoS No Longer Problematic! Now to force all the factions to get along, completely removing all conflict and nuance from the plot!

That’s some real anticlimactic “tell Legate Lanius to go home and then he does it” bullshit right there. King Shit of Fuck Mountain!

Look, it might be nice if there was a perfect path like that to take through the game. It would be cool if our characters could be that powerful and the game was that tailored to our individual choices. On the other hand, “I change all the factions to suit my exact liking” might be a fun idea for a fanfic, but it’s an incredibly boring plot for a video game. “I get to make everything in the world exactly how I want it” is Minecraft, not a story-driven RPG with a complex and intricate plot.

It would be great if complex conflicts could really be solved that easily and effortlessly, but hey, you know what? War never changes.

3. The Assassination of Arthur Maxson (Literal)

Arthur Maxson’s death is too significant and fundamentally disastrous for the Elder ending to make any sense at all.

Hero, villain, leader, monster, tortured soul, brutal dictator, immature twerp, bearded sex hunk. However you personally interpret Arthur Maxson, there is no denying that he is a venerated, popular, beloved figure in the BoS. He is the blood heir of the organization’s founder, a powerful warrior, a brilliant tactician, and a charismatic negotiator. He is responsible for reuniting the East Coast BoS with the Outcasts, leading the new, stronger BoS with a sense of shared purpose. There is a damn good reason his name is Arthur and he named his ship The Prydwen, echoes of King Arthur and the legends of his glorious kingdom of Camelot. Arthur Maxson is so beloved that many view him as a demigod, a messiah sent to lead the BoS into a mighty and prosperous future.

So I’m sure nobody’s going to be upset when some wasteland jackass recruited a month ago stumbles in with a synth, kills him, and takes over his job. Right?

It doesn’t matter that it’s “honorable.” It doesn’t matter that it’s done “by the book” via obscure BoS rules. There is no codex or litany or rule so binding that it’s going to overcome the cult of personality around Maxson. There is no way that the BoS is going to accept the death of Arthur Maxson, a man whose reverence borders on worship, especially not when he is immediately replaced by a wastelander, or a synth.

The death of Arthur Maxson removes the unifying glue that’s been holding the BoS together since mending the rift with the Outcasts. Maxson’s death eliminates the one person that both sides of that conflict agreed could steer the organization in the right direction. Some level heads may try to keep the focus on the mission and the Brotherhood tenets, but Maxson loyalists will never forgive the new Elder for his death, and that amount of passionate righteous anger will not be quelled by appeals to the rules. The new Elder’s war on the Institute is basically over before it begins, when the forces splinter and start infighting over the change in leadership.

And this is if the new Elder lives long enough to actually give any orders. I give them around 24 hours after the duel before some angry Maxson loyalist “accidentally” pulls the trigger and “tragically” empties a clip into their back.

24 seconds, if it’s Elder Danse, the dirty synth abomination.

4. The Assassination of Arthur Maxson (Figurative)

The Elder ending of BB falsely pretends that Arthur Maxson is the biggest and only problem with the BoS.

In the Elder ending, as written, the conflict of BB is considered completely and totally solved by the death of Arthur Maxson. The core problem, that Danse is a synth and considered an enemy by the BoS, has not gone away. But by getting rid of Maxson, this apparently no longer matters. Nobody else is going to take offense to Danse’s nature or protest his presence. Nobody else is going to attack him or try to follow through with Maxson’s prior orders. Nope, that meanybutt guy who gave the order is gone, and everybody else is going to welcome Danse back into the fold like nothing ever happened.

I touched on this a little bit on an ask about Maxson a few weeks back, but a lot of people seem to believe that the FO4 Brotherhood of Steel is the way they are purely because of him. That he is the one making them treat non-humans as second class citizens at best, and enemies to be slaughtered at worst. That it’s his fault the BoS is so vehemently against synths and the Institute. That he is the one influencing their imperialistic tendencies, and treating the Commonwealth like territory to be conquered and people to be ruled over by their betters.

He’s not. That’s the Brotherhood of Steel, guys.

The charitable, altruistic, virtuous BoS that many of us met for the first time in FO3 were outliers. Lyons’ group was literally disowned by the rest of the faction because their kindness to wastelanders had gone so far astray from the “core” tenets. The BoS as a whole has always been exclusive, isolated, and seen themselves as “superior” to the average wastelander. They have long disliked or outright hated non-humans (and even Lyons’ BoS in FO3 use ghouls, feral or not, for “target practice” if they get too close!) The rigid dogmatism of the BoS is not something that Arthur Maxson started, but has always been part of their fabric.

Now, it’s true that Maxson is absolutely going hard on the BoS tenets, and extremely dedicated to upholding them. His BoS are the way they are and act the way they act because he believes that this is the way it should be. Is it possible that a different leader may be a little more flexible? Absolutely. Could a skilled Elder eventually show them the benefits of a softer approach and a more generous worldview? Totally. Is getting rid of Maxson and replacing him going to make that happen overnight, or going to make the rest of the BoS who supported him shrug and follow suit?

Nope.

Blaming Arthur Maxson for everything unsavory about the Brotherhood is unfair to him and also foolishly ignoring the deep, massive problems that are far older than he is-- problems that plenty of its members wholeheartedly believe are not problems at all. Getting rid of Maxson does not make the BoS kinder or gentler. Even pretending Maxson isn’t as personally beloved as he is, any new Elder who steps in and starts trying to fundamentally alter the way the BoS operates and what they believe in is going to face some major, immediate pushback.

Like, a full clip of bullets in the back type of pushback.

In the face if it’s Elder Danse, the godless freak of nature.

5. The Un-Redemption of Paladin Danse

Last, and my personal least favorite!

At first glance, Paladin Danse is a steely jackboot, a die-hard Brotherhood loyalist who fully and firmly believes in their cause. Many immediately dismiss him as a humorless brute, or completely ignore him because they think that’s all there is. But if you spend any time with Danse at all, you’ll notice a sort of weariness in him. He is tired, overworked, and his years of service are starting to weigh on him. He has watched friends, comrades, and mentors die in horrible and gruesome ways, and he suffers from PTSD. Though he has always been told that his own sacrifices, the sacrifices of his brothers and sisters have been” worth it,” he’s starting to question if that’s true.

After telling of the incident where he personally executed his best friend Cutler, who’d been turned into a super mutant, the Sole Survivor is able to console him:

Player Default: You did the right thing. Danse: {Somber} It's what I was taught. I don't know if it was right.

This line is an excellent summary of Danse’s entire character arc. He learns to question whether to believe what the Brotherhood has taught him, or to believe in himself. His gut feelings. His sense of justice and his own ideas of what’s right and wrong.

(In the interest of not turning this into an essay about Danse’s character, I won’t even get into how this also applies to his beliefs about his worth as a person. But keep in mind, that dimension is there, Danse just covers it up by making everything about the Brotherhood.)

During Blind Betrayal, after getting the orders to execute him and hearing Haylen’s plea for mercy, we may expect Danse to be ready to fight back or flee. But when you confront him in the bunker at Listening Post Bravo, he’s compliant and suicidal. Danse is so deeply poisoned by the BoS’ rhetoric that his own feelings or will to live don’t factor into the conversation. He demands that you follow your orders and execute him, because he believes, as the BoS does, that all synths are dangerous and must be destroyed.

Danse: {Stern} Synths can't be trusted. Machines were never meant to make their own decisions, they need to be controlled. Technology that's run amok is what brought the entire world to its knees and humanity to the brink of extinction.

{Confident} I need to be the example, not the exception.

Through various dialogue options, if your charisma is high enough, you are able to talk Danse off the ledge. He is able to consider, at least, that the BoS’ merciless judgment of him is wrong and that what he was taught isn’t right. He is a thinking, feeling, self-aware synth, and that makes him as much a person as any human. Danse is no danger to humanity-- and maybe, most synths aren’t either.

Danse is an example, not an exception.

Later on, if you manage to get him out of BB alive, Danse shows further acceptance of his nature. His approvals about synths begin to soften slightly (or many of them do, at least… it’s not perfect.) He is still struggling with his identity and reconciling it with his former hatred, but his dialogue suggests that he’s on the road to being more open-minded and understanding. Along with this, Danse learns that he has value as a person beyond the Brotherhood. He no longer needs to define himself with BoS beliefs or judge himself by how useful he is to them. He learns that he is worth caring about, worth being friends with or being loved because of who he is-- not what he is, in any regard.

[SIDENOTE: Many players, myself included, are frustrated that Danse’s arc leaves off sort of midstream there. Due to the open-ended nature of the game, we don’t get a real conclusion to his arc-- even though much of his idle dialogue doesn’t change and he still espouses pro-BoS sentiments ( an unfortunate by-product of writing for a video game) there is every indication that he’s started down the right path, but understandably has a ways to go.

Also, Peter Jessop agrees with us.]

Meanwhile, in the Elder ending, Danse doesn’t get a redemption. His entire character arc, actually, hits the skids and does a total 180.

He never leaves the BoS. So scratch the need for Danse to ever think about himself as separate from them. He never needs to question what they’ve taught him or whether they’re right or wrong. He never needs to find any worth in himself beyond his use to the BoS. Why would he? He might be the Elder. The BoS is all he needs to care about anymore. The BoS is all he ever needs to be, ever again.

And I think, most horrifying of all, this Danse never needs to change his mind about synths. On the contrary, one of the surviving dialogue files includes Danse’s speech to reassure the rest of the BoS of his stance:

Danse: I want to make one thing clear to everyone. This body might be synth, but my heart and mind belong to the Brotherhood. The Institute is still a tremendous threat to the Commonwealth. They possess technologies that need to be confiscated or destroyed. And even if that means I have to pull the trigger on my own kind, I’m willing to make that sacrifice.

Elder ending Danse doesn’t grow more understanding on the nature of synths. He doesn’t accept that synths are people, or anything more than technology run amok. He won’t even accept that for himself. Elder Maxson wasn’t wrong about synths-- they’re the enemy and they need to be destroyed.

But, see, he was wrong about Danse. It’s okay for Danse to exist in spite of his nature. It’s okay for him to never fully accept his own personhood, and to outright deny it to his kind. Because his body is a machine, but he’s different from the rest because his heart and mind belong to the Brotherhood.

He’s the exception, not the example.

CONCLUSION:

The Elder ending of Blind Betrayal is dumb, contrived, stakeless, character-derailing powergaming crap at its finest and I’ll happily dance on its grave.

People give Bethesda a lot a shit for their writing-- whether it be stuff they left out, stuff they left in, or stuff that they never, ever could have made work due to the limitations of writing for a video game. Plenty of it is well-deserved, or at least worth a discussion. But from the minute I found out about its existence, I have always wanted to extend a congratulations to Bethesda for cutting the alternate Elder ending of Blind Betrayal. It was a good choice. A very good choice to cut a very dumb plot that would have fundamentally altered the story they were telling, and characters that I’ve grown to love. I think the writers deserve some credit and a hearty handshake for the wisdom of this decision.

Now as for why Nick Valentine isn’t romanceable--

[cerastes]

May I request a review of general coolness and awesome of the horses we saw during the event?

Right, Maria Nearl event!

I liked the event quite a lot, though I do feel like it dropped the ball at the end. That aside, I had a lot of fun the entire time!

First of all, the cast was wonderful. Maria is explicitly not a powerful or skilled fighter to any degree that matters in the frame of strength the story takes place in, being definitely more skilled than the average person and even the average nameless knight, but being woefully outclassed by practically anyone that has a name in the Major. A humble mechanic with a heart drenched in justice, Maria doesn’t even like to fight, and adheres to a knightly ideal and a duty she must fulfill instead to justify her participation in these commercialized bloodsports, which carries the narrative. She is joined by a lovable cast of rambunctious family and family friends, who serve as her mentors and support: Her aunt, who is more akin to an older sister-slash-maternal figure, Zofia, who we are immediately shown is so close to Maria that the moment Maria made a big decision (the participation in the Major) without confirming with Zofia first, she immediately chastised her, wondering why she did not consult with her beforehand. Aunt Zofia is her aunt only due to technicality, as she’s a lady-in-waiting (or, in other words, belongs to a branch family of the Nearl clan, and is actually only 5 years older than Maria) and, more importantly, a decorated, retired competition knight who earned enough in her career that she can live comfortably for the rest of her life, ironically far outstripping the main Nearl house in terms of wealth. There’s also Kowal, an old Ursus mechanic, engineer and smith who mentors Maria in the ways of the wrench, willing to pass his workshop to Maria with her as his successor any day of the week, who himself also used to be a squire to V, an old, retired knight of old who served as Grandpa Nearl’s peerless sharpshooter and who trained Zofia back in the day. Finally, we have Old Marcin, owner of the cast’s favorite hangout, a little bar where he and Maria mediate the infinite squabbles, fights, and arguments that Kowal, V, and occasionally Zofia spark between one another. The event does a great work of introducing the dynamic between these five characters as something extremely domestic and comfortable: You can tell these five are tight and that they have spent a long time together. It’s just another day in their low profile lives when, suddenly, Maria dons Margaret’s old armor and decides to take arms for the main Nearl house, which is currently on the brink of ruin and about to lose its knighthood and nobility titles.

And this decision, and everything this decision means, informs everything that happens afterwards: Zofia tells Maria that if she’s worried about being left homeless, then that’s just foolishness, since Zofia is absolutely 100% ok with Maria moving in with her. She’s loaded. They can live comfortably for the rest of their lives without a concern. Kowal, likewise, insists that Maria is a good enough mechanic that she can earn a living by doing that. But, see, it’s not about a livelihood for Maria, it’s about preserving that for which Margaret and Grandpa Nearl fought and stood for, it’s never about the wealth, it’s about the name, the principle, not the glory, the weight of ideals that blood was shed to nourish and maintain. Maria is not even sure if she’s doing the right thing, but she’s got to do something. Why? Look no further than Uncle Mlynar. A bitter man, a corporate slave, spitting bile at her niece and apologies at his bosses. And the fact that it is very clear that this guy can kick some serious ass -- we never see him without his trusty blade hanging on his hip and, at the end, tells Margaret to square the hell up -- makes it all the sadder: In any other context, Mlynar might be a knight’s knight, hell, Margaret herself says she respects him still, but the Mlynar we see now is an unimportant cog in the capitalist system, just another grunt apologizing to his phone every time his lips part, who gets in hot water just by making small talk because, whoops, your workload accumulated again, better get chop chopping. Mlynar is a very telling character, because he represents everything Maria resents about the current state of the Nearl family: Disgraced, meaningless, existing as an extension of other bigger conglomerates. He is what she wishes to never become, and what the Nearl house cannot be any longer, if she has any saying on the matter.

Maria is not a good fighter. This is important and delightful, because she wins not due to aptitude, strength, or experience, she instead uses her knowledge as a mechanic, her “pegasian sight” (what Grandpa uses to refer to Maria’s incredibly powerful investigative faculties, being able to analyze situations and catch even the smallest details quickly) and the sheer heft of her brass pair of metaphorical horse balls to pull through with clutch victory after clutch victory. Zofia trying to cram as much fundamentals as she can on Maria in as little time as possible so she can survive also helps a lot.

Maria’s victories earn her the possibility of sponsorships, which would, superficially, fix her problems: The main Nearl house would retain status, she’d get a Title, and she would not have to fight anymore. But, see, this is not the point of Maria’s fight. One might say “Maria should’ve just taken the sponsorships”, but that’s not the point of Maria’s fight. She is pushing back against this highly commercialized view on “knighthood”, just like Margaret before her did. Margaret had a clear intent and her passions made her act mostly in anger, as she makes no secret: She hates Kazimierz for what it has become. Maria’s intent is less clear, even to herself, but she’s very much aiming for the same thing, but instead of Margaret’s anger, Maria has her determination. To have taken any sponsorship would have superficially kept the Nearl house afloat, but Maria is not looking to keep the house alone afloat, she’s looking to keep the house and the ideals in which it was built afloat. It goes beyond mere status.

In a world as bleak as Arknights’ and specially Kazimierz, Maria is no doubt naive to the point of frustration... But it is that which we call naive that makes a knight’s knight: Chivalry forged from ideals, sacrifice’s blunt borne from beliefs. The easy way out would’ve ultimately doomed her story, hence why she did not just move in with Zofia, hence why she did not just succeed Kowal and accept his workshop, hence why did not accept a sponsorship: It never was about that.

The very first event of the game, Grani’s Treasure, takes place in Kazimierz as well, but in the isolated outskirts, and we see hard-working, honest people, inhabitants of a nice little scenic hamlet. Now, we see what Kazimierz really looks like: A sprawling megalopolis of neon and concrete where the system shamelessly feeds on whoever sticks out their neck. The contrast couldn’t be harsher, and any hell is upheld by its demons: Czarny was a fascinating character, in that he very clearly held a lot of influence and power... And was extremely replaceable. The moment he messed up badly enough, he was instantly replaced by just whoever the hell picked up the phone next. It’s chilling. One puppet performed poorly? Irrelevant, there’s an endless supply who’ll take his place, provided enough fear and funds. Fear and money. The two currencies of Kazimierz. When a shadow council can just appoint you as the next Spokesman just on basis of you having picked up a phone without any real background check beyond “the previous Spokesman likely intended for this next sack of meat to pick up his phone in case he messed up”, well, congratulations, you’ve crafted a terrifying capitalist hellscape. No wonder Margaret hates Kazimierz so much, given the rot brewing in its underbelly and upper echelons.

And to all this, I have to say: It’s lovely. I loved the world building, implicit and explicit, I loved the cast, I love the themes explored and how characters were used to juxtapose these.

I feel it kinda drops the ball at the end by just... Not having a conclusion? It just sort of ends, which is very weird because events tend to be good at concluding themselves. I assumed we’d get some post-Challenge stages cutscenes to tie everything up like in the past but... No, not really, it didn’t happen. Margaret swoops in, the sisters perform the Ultimate Kamehameha on the Sarkazian Knights, and then it sort of ends one brief talk later. It needed a bigger epilogue, for sure. But this doesn’t ruin the event or anything, just a bit of a weak ending, everything else is still delightful and I loved it very much.

So yeah! The horses sure were wonderful!

[maxwell-grant]

SF Character Overview: Ken and his Brazilian catchphrase

I mentioned before that the Ryu and Ken rivalry dates back long, long before the games themselves, it treads ground familiar to culture since the days of wuxia. It’s been there since SF1, but the two of them have entirely separate worlds outside of their fistcuffs with each other. Ryu usually wins, but one thing becomes very clear when they are separate:

Ken gets a lot of mileage out of not being the main character, doesn’t he? 

Built as the opposite of Ryu, but not nearly as important to the Street Fighter narrative, tends to give Ken a lot more freedom as a character than Ryu has. His playstyle is flashy, bold, just as accessible as Ryu’s but with tricks that favor newcomers that just wanna steamroll the competition with special attacks instead of patiently learning how to play the match. His clothes are in much better shape than Ryu’s, but he conducts himself with far less grace and humility. His alternate costumes are far more ridiculous. He gets to undergo radical design shifts in each game, since he doesn’t have to stay completely static visually-wise like Ryu. He gets to marry and have a life outside of fighting, he gets an understudy, he has a kid that punches him in the nuts. We make memes about how insufferable he is to fight and how crappy his face and hair look in V. We fight him in stages like boat parties and hotels that belong to him. He doesn’t really need anything more in life, and fights mainly because he likes it. 

In a lot of ways, Ken has undisputably got it better than Ryu in his general life. Which is part of why Ryu will nearly always be the better fighter when they fight. Ken has a life outside of Street Fighter, and he joins the tournaments not for the money or rewards (he doesn’t need it), or even to prove himself (he needs it even less), but because Ryu is there, and he’ll be damned if he lets Ryu keep showing him up without putting on a fight. 

It doesn’t usually fall onto Ken the role of being the main POV character, the one who has to grow and struggle in a narrative. But sometimes it does to unexpectedly great results. 

My main experience with Ken as a character actually has little to do with the games, and instead the Street Fighter II Victory anime.

Street Fighter II Victory was an anime released in 1995 to capitalize on the release of the Street Fighter film, the one starring Raul Julia and no one else. It took a very back-to-basics approach with the storyline, focusing primarily on Ryu and Ken as shonen protagonists, their growth as warriors and their gradual encounters with other SF characters. The show also featured several elements that would later become SF canon, such as Sagat being a good character caught on the wrong side on the law and Chun-Li being brainwashed into working for Shadaloo

The show never achieved much popularity in the US, or in Japan, but I cannot overstate just how popular it became in South America. In Brazil, it’s considered by many to be the absolute peak of Street Fighter as a property, story-wise. The show aired on the same network as Dragon Ball, and on similar time slots. Kids grew up on this show, the scene where Ryu learns to perform the Hadouken was extremely imitated by an entire generation of kids in Brazil. 

And in regards to Ken, here’s something: Have you ever heard of a character who has a famous catchphrase, that is purely an invention of dubbing that only exists in one side of the globe and is completely unknown elsewhere?

Because Ken had one for this show. It was “Ih, ó o cara aí”. 

The closest translation to it I can provide is that it means something like “Yeesh, the nerve on that guy” or “Wew, what a jerk”, but it’s really hard to convey exactly. It’s an extremely informal phrase, bordering on surfer/skater slang, that Ken uses to mock people for being arrogant or pretentious or just anyone he doesn’t like. Picture that “Sonic the Hedgehog wagging his finger at you” kind of attitude, that’s what it conveys. 

It gets brought up so often in Brazilian fan communities dedicated to Street Fighter, it’s become so associated as THE Ken phrase, that it was kinda surprising to visit English pages and discover that this just plain doesn’t exist, outside of Brazil. I can’t think of a similar phenomenon. 

Of course, that’s one half of what people remember most about Ken in the show. The other half is this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwBhESdzaJE

The Ken vs Vega fight, though it may not be to you, is one of those extremely iconic anime fights that even people who don’t remember anything about the show will go “oooh, shit, yeah I remember that one, Ken got fucked to hell and back and then he won”. It’s a harsh, brutal encounter, juxtaposed with the also extremely famous scene of Ryu practicing his Hadouken, aired on the daytime slot usually reserved for kid-friendly cartoons, and where as DBZ fights could get bloody too, the tension was lesser because everyone knew the characters were gods that could survive anything. 

This is just one guy who knows karate trying to survive against a maniac with super speed and poison tipped blades, fighting to save his friend from being sold off to an international crime ring (with the not subtle threat of sexual assault), completely alone, on a countdown due to being poisoned and getting more and more injured. And then he wins.

That’s always gonna be the main thing that appeals to me about Ken, a character I often forget I have strong feelings for until I revisit that scene and other similar moments in other Street Fighter stories. 

Ryu is the guy who overcomes everything, any demons within or outside, to win the fight. He’s always going to win the fight and look cool doing so. He’s always going to be Ryu, doing what he does. 

Ken? He may win, but he ain’t the main character of anything. He has a wholly separate life, loved ones to fight for. He grows his hair and cuts it, he changes his clothes, he gets to lose, even often. He gets to partake in fights where he gets beaten cruelly and harshly in ways Ryu would not, but when he wins, he wins with that fire in his fist and that glint in his eye and the carefree smugness of someone who gets to be rebellious and arrogant because he’s not the main character. 

And because he’s got the best uppercut, give or take a flowchart or two.

Final rating: 4/5

[savrenim]

Hey mx savrenim its me again and I'm wondering: how you maintain tension in a story with characters with future vision? Especially in a story with no guaranteed future, where seers can ensure the best possible future for themselves

oooooh v v good question, once more under the cut

so there are a lot lot LOT of ways to do this that all depend on the tone that you want your story to go for, and Imma reference a few pieces of media that do this in various ways, but this is pretty much a subset of the question “how do you maintain tension in your story when your character is very overpowered”

1. Just very realistically explore that “in theory able to do things perfectly” and “in practice able to do things perfectly” are very very different things.  Another Faust by Daniel Nayeri had pretty much someone with Seer-like capabilities (namely, the ability to loop back I thiiiink as far as they wanted in time?) that they could use to make sure they always said the right thing, got the right answers on tests, etc etc, and it just.... didn’t work out for them perfectly. Because perfect knowledge didn’t fix everything. If you know how every single play is going to work idk in a baseball game, that gives you an edge, but it doesn’t actually mean you win the game unless you are good enough at baseball to hit that ball and run those bases

In that case, the more effective the Seer wants to be, the more they have to actually train the skills that they care about, so that they can carry out the actions physically that lead to their ideal future. And building physical skills is hard and takes work and practice, and anything you have to work to get better at to reach a goal is the starting point of tension. 

Also to continue the sports metaphor, having perfect knowledge of a baseball game and even being the best player in the world doesn’t guarantee you a win because you cannot play every single position, there are other people on the team who are going to be doing actions that at most can have secondhand versions of your knowledge. Trying to manage the human aspect leads to human error. So maybe there is tension because the Seer aggressively self-isolates so that Other People Will Not Fail Them and tension comes from interacting with other people they have extreme trust issues. Maybe the tension comes from them playing puppetmaster and trying to figure out which people they are willing to sacrifice for their goals, which people will fail them and which people they can and should hold onto, and from nobody really trusting them because everyone is well aware that the puppetmaster is willing to make sacrifices.

And finally -- just knowing the future doesn’t mean you can fix it. I don’t know about you, but even if I had perfect foreknowledge of the future, I would not be truly happy just personally thriving as idk rich and a famous mathematician and physicist and married to my fiance and maybe the books that I want to be published published and enough money to give to all my friends too and maybe can we have warp drives I want to go to space and inventing some solid if not immortality-tech then life-extension tech would be cool -- which, like, is everything I could personally wish for from life and more -- but in the world that we have? like, climate change SUCKS. fascism SUCKS. racism SUCKS. sexism and homophobia and poverty and class wars disguised as generational wars and all of the existing structures that reinforce all of these things SUCK. and even personally having perfect foreknowledge of the future enough to either start with or build up a bunch of political power and money, to try to change any of that would mean going against incredibly entrenched institutions that I honestly have no idea how effective one person could be at changing. Like if B*zos suddenly decided “wait let’s save the world and make a socialist utopia” do you actually think he would succeed? or even get very far? even applying every single resource he commands? or would he just.... lose a lot of his money and power trying to do that and then someone else becomes the richest person in the world who does want to maintain the system. because a lot of that power are things that do not exist, like stocks, it’s imaginary money that the moment you stop playing the game you get kicked out of the game and maybe you can make tiny changes but the game itself doesn’t stop

so baaaasically consider making your Seer a radical anarchist or at least someone who cares about tackling large-scale problems that one individual will never be able to solve, to play the “well if a very powerful individual had a single-minded focus on trying to fight these things could we at least get further than every single powerful person wanting to screw us over or just not caring?” game -- that creates tension because global problems can only be solved by global and communal actions, and one individual, no matter how perfectly they can see the future, cannot do that on their own

2. “Psychic powers don’t make you popular.” This is my obligatory “I just rewatched Mob Psycho 100 and am obsessed with it seriously consider watching it if you haven’t.” I know I keep bringing up MP100 but hear me out my favorite media is where the main character is stupidly overpowered so I don’t have to be stressed at all consuming it and MP100 maybe is the most touching but also well thought out and interestingly plotted version of that I’ve ever seen  But the basic premise of Mob Psycho 100 is that the main character, Mob, is a middle schooler with the most powerful psychic abilities in the world. The tension comes from: (1) Mob is not in total control over his powers and feels really really bad when he loses control and for example uses his powers against another person even in self-defense because that’s a Rule he made for himself that he really doesn’t want to cross ever. Which with a Seer, maybe you have a Seer that Cares Deeply About Other People’s Privacy, or who Cares Deeply About Having Real Relationships That They Do Not Manipulate, or who Cares Deeply About Their Achievements Being Their Own and so they don’t use their powers in everyday life out of moral considerations, except sometimes gods in stressful situations you just want everything to be okay so the tension of “do I fix this right now or is this crossing a line” drives your story. (2) because Mob isn’t using his powers in everyday life, while he is having these giant badass psychic battles with ghosts and evil psychics as a part-time job after school and yeah yeah you know he’s going to win, the tension and growth in the story comes from the gains that he is making in his personal life of, like, “oh he made a friend!!!!! oh he stood up for himself even though that’s really hard for him and he set a boundary!!!! oh he’s working really really hard towards his goal of being better at running!!!!! oh look he’s grown so much at episode 1 he didn’t talk to anyone his own age or have anything to do and now he’s doing things for himself!!!” Having your Seer take the ethics of not using seeing into the future to manipulate the people around them really really seriously, working very hard at tiny life things and then being a complete fucking badass that is putting down world-threatening threats as hobby that they kind of don’t view as that important in defining them as a person or defining their accomplishments or how they feel about themselves means that it doesn’t matter how overpowered they are in terms of their abilities, your audience will care and be invested in the tiny life accomplishments that they are working so hard to do on their own, and will be proud of their personal growth.

3. Blind Spots. Exactly what it sounds like, can your Seer really see everything? Perfectly? And if they do see everything do they know the exact effect that acting differently will cause? Or are they limited visions -- they only come at certain times, they only are about very specific things, the Seer cannot control when they happen, etc. The more specific and limited your visions are, the harder they have to actually work to figure out how to interpret them and best play the cards that they have, so maybe finding that perfect happy life isn’t actually all that easy. 

Alternatively, your Seer can only see the natural future, what would happen if they do not change their actions. If they change their actions, they can’t re-glimpse the new version, so it’s up to their best guess as to whether or not their plans to make things better will actually make things better. You can create a shit-ton of tension there if only because Plans Never Go Perfectly. Honestly at this point you’re just writing a slightly different version of those “MC is a Super Genius” books that instead of them making good plans because they are a Super Genius, it is good plans because they can see the future, I stand by childhood me that the first three Artemis Fowl books are great and honestly I’m pretty sure the plot wouldn’t really change too much if you added “Artemis can see what future would happen if he didn’t take any actions to interfere” and it would just be another interesting trait that was a part of his planning process.

And even if your Seer can see re-glimpse the new version, they are human. They have only a finite amount of time, and a finite amount of brain space. You don’t need to make the rules of Seer powers be that “they can see all of spacetime and all possibilities of the past and future perfectly all the time.” They can miss things by not thinking something is important and looking in a different direction. You can build up tension around they can only look into the future, not the past, they missed something, and now they don’t know what they missed and what to target to fix it. Or play the finite amount of time bit very hard: if they see the effects of deciding one particular course of action, it takes [x] time for the vision to complete, then they need to try to see the effects of one other particular course of action, and they can only effectively run a handful of simulations -- or even hundreds or thousands, but the answer is still a finite number of dear gods is nature chaotic / the butterfly effect is built into every single physics equation that there is that describes the world -- so tension comes from even if they can check that a plan is good, they still have to come up with a plan to change the future, and can only come up with so many plans in the time that they have. 

4. Existential Crisis. You made Seer powers “they can see all of spacetime and all possibilities of the past and future perfectly all the time.” idk I would find life terribly boring and have an existential crisis over that probably? of am I even human? does anything I do matter? does anyone else exist, really, since I can see and control every aspect of their lives? am I a god? how do I relate to anyone? how do I care about anything? 

In this setup, your main character would not be the Seer, it would be a person or group of people who are either trying to Save The World or Accomplish Something Important or even Accomplish Something Selfish who spend the story trying to befriend the Seer and get their help goddamnit because the moment the Seer is on their side, they win. and then the tension comes from the Seer keeps refusing but is ~slowly opening their heart~, jaded older mentor figure adopts tiny adorable hopeful child is the found family JAM and then your main character finally decides they aren’t getting the help and goes off and does the incredibly dangerous thing alone and the Seer realizes too late that oh nooo my tiny son is in danger and at just the last moment decides fuck it and leaps back into the game to try to help and save them and oh both the glorious drama and all the best tropes all of them seriously if you write this book ping me I’ll read it I’m a sucker for jaded old loner adopts Naive Hopeful Hero Who Is Going To Save The World Even If It Kills Them and jaded old loner just spends the entire time going “oh no. oh no tiny child. oh gods I’m coming out of retirement aren’t I. tiny child please. please have you considered just being chill so that I don’t have to come out of retirement” and then just. the SATISFACTION. when they come in at just the right moment and the tension leading up to it when you didn’t know if they were going to or not. it’s poetry.

This can also pretty easily be done without the Seer having godlike powers, just pretty strong powers-- have them have made their life perfect, found it empty, and fallen into a depressive fugue then use the above plot for the same effect. 

5. Make Them Your Villain. The final way of dealing with making tension and having an overpowered character is, uh..... it’s only no tension when your protagonist doesn’t need to struggle to reach their goals. if the antagonist is walking down easy street that only makes things all the more stressful because how do you beat that? and that is all of the tension in your book: figuring it out.

a subgenre of this is Seer v Seer: the best possible future for one Seer is not necessarily the best possible future for another Seer, so if you have multiple Seers, Seers clashing against other Seers that have the same powers which means their powers aren’t necessarily an advantage is a shit-ton of tension. That is.... pretty much the plot of trash novel? So I’d rather not go into detail about how I personally am doing it, but anytime people who have the same abilities fight, they’re on equal ground, you don’t know who is going to win, so boom, tension.

6. Seers are illegal/ kidnapped by the government the moment they are discovered to work for the government only/ targeted for kidnapping by all sorts of powerful groups, so your Seers need to aggressively hide their powers and the more they use them to make their life perfect, the more in danger they are; even if they can use their abilities to avoid ever being captured, they will be on the run their entire lives if they get found out.

[laughingpinecone]

Yuletide letter

I am laughingpineapple on AO3  

Hello dear author! I hope you’ll have fun with our match. Feel free to draw from general or fandom-specific likes, past letters, and/or follow your heart.

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (especially if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic (when in doubt, tell me what’s happening to them five, ten, twenty years in the future!), hurt/comfort, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, tropey plots that are already close enough to characters/canon, outsider POV, UST, resolved UST, exploring the ~deep lore, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played entirely straight, sensory details, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships), emphasis on inhuman traits of characters who were human once and have sort of shed it all behind

Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, IF, unrequested characters popping up.

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay!), canon retellings, consent issues, actual covid (fantasy plagues are okay)

Les Cités Obscures: any

This is a very general “please, anything in the style of canon, just maybe with less thoughtless sexism” request. I want to lose myself in these cities again, and in the strange lands that connect them. I’d be happy to follow any of the known characters and/or OCs, or eschew characters altogether and write about the cities themselves. What caught your imagination in Brüsel, Xhystos, Taxandria, Alaxis...? The history of some cool building that was only marginally featured in one of the stories? Or an OC city! If you’ve got a favourite European city that doesn’t already have its obscure counterpart, please tell me all about it! Go big, go wild! What strange and classically surrealist happenings take place within its walls? Or even... outside Europe... Nerding out about architecture is of course very welcome. I would also love to read a story based on any Schuiten illustration, contextualizing it as if it were part of this ‘verse. Here’s a bunch of them, for example!

Ghost Trick: Cabanela

You know.. him. Dazzlingly OTT, untiring, rock-solid self-esteem, loyal to a fault, following a rhythm of his own, flawless intuition until it fails and it all burns down… him. I just want to see more of him doing stuff! The way he’s chill and open toward new people (like Sissel and Missile in ch15) makes him perfect to throw at most other characters and see how they react to the sparkles… I’d love some focus on how ridiculous his aesthetic is, half Saturday Night Fever half hardboiled detective half bubbly preteen (for a total of 150%) and yet he makes it work. Or how ruthless he can be, possibly for the sake of the people he cares for. The quote “The intimacy of big parties”. Him and Alma in the new timeline bonding over knowing (once Jowd has spilled the beans) but not remembering that terrible timeline. Some tropey scenario on the job. Snark-offs with Pigeon Man, by which I mean PM snarks and it bounces off him like water off a spotless white goose’s back.

Ship-wise it’s only Cabanela/Jowd whenever it’s not infidelity, Cabanela/Alma in what-ifs also if it’s not infidelity and Cabanela/Alma/Jowd for me (and Lynne/Memry and Yomiel/fianSissel on the side). There are a bunch of shippy prompts in all my past letters - I would however reiterate here that Jowd. is. the worst tease. always. Like, just saying, but assume he’s pining big time and Jowd and Alma figure it out - they’d make a national sport out of excruciatingly protracted teasing.

Conversely, Cabanela/Lynne and Cabanela/Yomiel are NOTPs especially from Cabanela’s side. So while I appreciate the thick tension of a good Yomiel VS Cabanela confrontation like everyone and their cat, and also really appreciate a roughed-up Cabanela, and I do love Yomiel in his own right… I don’t want Cabanela being into it. Adrenaline junkie he may be but this hurts and his coat’s a mess and there’s no perfect winning scenario so he hates every second of it. (JOWD being super into Cabanela being roughed up is another matter altogether and he should probably mind his own business. ...incompatible kinks, truly tragic. they’ll have to find some other common ground. they’re smart, resourceful, playful fellows, I’m sure they’ll manage)

Kentucky Route Zero: Donald kentuckyroutezero

I love everyone in the cast, all acts and interludes, and I am extremely into all the themes this incredible work of art ended up exploring. Agreeing with the overall doom and gloom up to Act IV, I was blown away by Act V’s strong affirmation of the importance of the arts and of the bonds we make and of carving up spaces for ourselves in capitalism’s wake. Donald was, indeed, not a part of any of that. Even the final interlude updates us on Lula and mentions Joseph, but the big guy is nowhere to be seen. So, you know, there’s fanfiction! He’s so static, defeated. I am fascinated by the chain of metaphysical spaces that goes surface -> Zero -> Echo -> Dogwood and even within that framework, the hall of the mountain king is like a hopeless dead end. Dude’s terminally stuck. So - once again, in the spirit of transformative works, how could he get... you know... unstuck? Did Lula’s momentous appearance in Act III shake him? Having a functioning Xanadu again, perhaps? How could he interrogate that oracle, what recursive wonders would it show him? If he decides to leave, what does it feel to be on the surface again after so long, or on the river perhaps? Maybe he is forced to leave by the flood, if not this one, the next... Having him meet any other character would be amazing. Past or future time spent with Weaver... seeing Conway again, changed... programmer guy chatting up musician androids... did he know Carrington from his college days or was Carrington only a friend of Lula’s?

As for Lula herself and Joseph too: “Flipping through the pages, Conway is able to gather that it’s a story about three characters: Joseph, Donald, and Lula. It’s something like a tragic love triangle, but much more complex. Some kind of tangled, painfully concave love polygon.” 😔 I ship them as a full triad, if you can nudge them in that direction, good. But I’m very open to non-romantic resolutions as well, going past their messy feelings to find each other as friends after so many years maybe. Or... a start. idk.

I’d be interested in fic that leans on the game’s adjacent genres: wanna go full-on American Gothic? Dip into surrealism? Take a leaf from Twin Peaks with tulpa / split narratives to explore the characters’ issues? I’m also open to AUs, real or through Xanadu. This also feels like a good place to stress that I really, really like caves.

And now for something completely different: FAQ:  The “Snake Fight” Portion of Your Thesis Defense is in the tagset this year. I’d say that the crossover with the snake portion of Here and there along the Echo writes itself, but it would not be correct, as in fact I would like you to write it for me. Feel free to not feature Donald if you focus on this crossover instead!

Uru would be a fun crossover too, for Donald specifically. He’s very DRC-shaped in how he tilts at doomed projects which just so happen to be deep underground.

Pyre: Volfred Sandalwood

This is a Volfred solo, Volfred&literally anyone or Volfred/Tariq, /Oralech or /Tariq/Oralech request. I adore everyone in that Blackwagon+Dalbert+Celeste, so if you want to add a Nightwing or two to any prompt, please do! I also love all the Scribes and find Erisa a compelling tragic figure, while out of the other triumvirates, I’m “love to hate them” for Manley, Brighton, Udmildhe and Deluge and would not like to see them featured in sympathetic roles. fwiw I also enjoy Jodi/Celeste and Bertrude/Pamitha a lot!

I feel deeply for all of Pyre’s main themes - literacy, degrees of freedom, the fragile time that is the end of a historical cycle, nobodies rising up to the occasion, building a better society, and of course found family, “distance cannot separate our spirits” and all that jazz, and Volfred is squarely rooted at the center of all of them. I really really love everything he stands for, even if he’s overbearingly smug in standing for it. Just please tell me things about my fave. His relationship to the Scribes (as a historian, a some kind of vision, via *ae or once he’s a star himself)? A ‘forced vacay’ Downside ending where he looks at the Union from afar and keeps living in this strange transformational place? Life in a cramped Blackwagon that was meant for like 5 people tops and is currently eight Nightwings, a herald and an orb? Since he picked him for the job to begin with, does he respect and cherish Hedwyn as he dang well should? What does it feel like to try and Read a herald? Was he ever in danger, in the Commonwealth or in the Downside? What daring act of resistance did he and Bertrude pull off at some point in their past? It’d be cool if one of his old pamphlets came up at some point. Does he puff up as prime minister because he’s nervous, and who can see past his hyper-professionalism and lend a hand? Please roast him big time about the votes he assigns to the various Nightwings in his planner? What’s his attitude toward the flame’s purification (what with being a tree but mostly like, as a general concept. He did nothing wrong!) (well he definitely said some things wrong and sometimes oftentimes the ego jumps out, but his intentions did nothing wrong)? When did his calculating approach fail him? Something with Pamitha along the lines of that edit that goes “Can we talk, one ten to another?“/"I am an eleven, my girl, but continue”? Dude could easily be voted sexiest voice in the Downside - how much is he aware of it? Does he sing? I love how he bears his ‘reader’ brand proudly. And speaking of scars, I have to wonder, looking at Manley for comparison, if the shape of his head, with that massive crack, isn’t also due to injuries.

As a refrain from my general likes: emphatically yes xeno to both shippy interactions at all ratings and to gen explorations of what a Sap is like… I’d love to read all your headcanons.

Ship-wise, I enjoy him with Tariq as this kind of esoteric connection of minds, guarded words full of secret meanings, long contemplative walks together (is any external pov watching...?), Volfred’s Reader powers brushing against Tariq’s mind and getting weak in the knees at the starlit expanse he finds there, so unlike mortal thoughts. Tariq finds his individuality learning from him; Volfred presumably gets a transcendent glimpse of the Scribes. And I enjoy him with Oralech as pretty much the opposite of that, Oralech is so very mortal compared to him, such a precious, fleeting, burning life especially after his fall. Oralech’s idealism is very dear to me, it was their plan, their shared revolutionary spirit, I find it deeply moving. And I am very interested in seeing them rebuild their connection now that Oralech is back, changed, and in some ways he can learn to let go of his misconceptions and slowly open himself to Volfred’s love again, but in other ways that’s who he is now, with this deep-set anger, and what does it even feel to realize that you’re the symbol of the end of an era (the end of the Rites, the fading of the Scribes). I’m interested in both topside and downside endings for all of them, as long as they end up on the same side, the revolution was peaceful and they don’t angst too much about the side they ended in. Tariq can ‘find his way home’ in the near post-canon somehow or even be summoned again, as a different aspect of the same ‘moonlit vision’ that once inspired Soliam Murr.

Strandbeest: any

https://www.strandbeest.com/

I would just like words to go with these, please and thank you so very much. Worldbuild to your heart’s content! Specifically: I’m fascinated by the premise that the strandbeest are living creatures that evolve and adapt to their ecosystem. A world where life is just wind stomachs and sandy joints, and the tide that can catch you unaware. I would like a story that feels distinctly inorganic. The wonder that is the existence of these creatures. Their unique struggles. Weird and experimental if you like. With a mechanical focus, maybe?

I nominated four critters as a selection of the different cool things they can do - Percipiere Excelsus is huge and has the hammer mechanism, Suspendisse’s tail senses the hardness of the sand, Uminami is my fave caterpillar and the caterpillars overall feel like a new paradigm after a mass extinction event, Ader straight-up flies... but they’re all wonderful. If you want to focus on different strandbeest, please do!

Twin Peaks: Lucy Moran

Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. Transcendence. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. Whatever goes on on Blue Pine mountain or the even more mysterious things that go on on White Tail mountain where exactly zero canon locations are found. Twin Peaks is all about the mystery to me, the awe of mystery and unknowability and the human drive to look beyond and the risks of getting a peek, and about shared consciousness and trauma taking physical form in an uncaring world. Go wild with the ethereal whooshing! But I also love the human warmth at the heart of it all, and sometimes it’s enough to anchor these characters and let them have a nice day. A fic entirely focused on some instance of coziness against the cold chaotic background of canon would be great too.

For Lucy specifically, a big draw for me is how canon (...s2 need not apply) empathizes with her way of processing the world. Not just Peaks, but On the Air’s protag who is basically a Lucy expy also gets the narrative completely on her side and that’s great. And I love how in s3, her focus on the small things around her is always echoed by bigger, climactic events beyond her horizon (bunnies / Jack Rabbit’s palace, chair order / Garland’s chair, her first scene talking about the two sheriffs / doubles everywhere...). It feels to me like some kind of off-kilter mindfulness and I love it. She’s also got a loving husband and an amazing son, which, in this economy and also this canon? Damn. The one functional family, imagine that. I am not interested in focus on family dynamics, but singularly, either Lucy/Andy or Lucy&Wally are great - in particular, I’m interested in how strange they are and yet they make it work. With the ruthless critique of traditional family structure that’s all over canon, maybe they make it work specifically because they’re not doing any of that. A bit like the Addams family... but... not goth...? Anyway. I’d love to see Lucy interact with and maybe strike a friendship with any character she’s never shared a scene with in canon! In the tagset, there’s Diane for some secretaries bonding, Audrey because??? why not?, Albert because it’d be an epic enemies to friends slowburn, some version of Laura in the future, if we’re feeling really daring maybe even some version of Coop in the future, still fragmented... or anyone you want! Outside the tagset I’d be curious about Hawk, Margaret and maybe Doris in particular, I think, and Phil, and Nadine and the Invitation to Love fandom in general (Frost says it still airs - did it get as weird as TP s3 did?), but if you have an idea with someone else, absolutely go for it!

Canon-specific DNWs: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, clear explanations for canonical ambiguities, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s House by the Sea being the White Lodge, whatever Twin Perfect’s on about, Cooper/Audrey, Cooper/Laura

[deathghost8]

Harm reduction script essay compiled

1- “TLDR” (I wrote the book that will save the world)

2- ancap math 101 : Purchasers and fulfillers

3- #MATH politics : Harm reduction education platform overview

1 Innovation: Viable Tech in a social organism)

(I wrote the book on saving this social organism, it is 3 pages long.)

Pages 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣

1️⃣ • Social order is a circle. []

our agreement of what is valued is : that which flows back into the organism, if it does not, we cannot place value on it -

Look, What goes out is our waste: Poop. 💩What flows in and circulates is our life blood. ⭕️

any attempted systematized defiance of the circle constitutes a tumor or a heart attack. Some type of unholy disease which kills the organism. In today’s tech feudalism that’s called Net Worth, or influencers. 🤑

Technologically civilized would mean that the emergent wealth of the organism flows from the top end of total aggregate productivity (value generated) back to the beginning in an automatic credit type of way, such that no individual beneficiary is raised above others, and no individual sponsor or authority point is held responsible or given control of this flow. This would be the invention of decentralized money, the Viable Tech connecting all other viable tech to all beneficiaries, effectively employing the meaning of innovation to reduce or totally eliminate labor/overhead / cost to human wellbeing and the enjoyment of wealth produced by the organism as a whole.

2️⃣ • Ya cannot govern by Ruling, ya Dingus!! []

Automating the purchase of the basic minimum in food and wellbeing commerce on behalf of the entire population is the means by which tech feudalism converts into technologically civilized, because the only authority that doesn’t kill the organism is that of the combined emergence of the V O L U N T A R Y spending decisions of all the sovereign individuals.

(For yer health!!)

~Purchase on behalf of~

Is the bridge tech to the full decentralization system, because you need to retain the aspect of voluntary purchasing by individuals, who then select and continue to sustain the winners in the innovation contest whose offering is widely adopted because it’s the most optimal and wins at reducing cost and overhead.

Thus, we see that it is pure ancap : a means of total divorce from the harmful entanglement of authority and status attainment institutions like government and corporation - a simple payment to every citizen to purchase their wellbeing voluntarily, sponsoring the winners in that contest via the auto refilling minimum income credit app (like bill pulte sending everyone 1337$ every month on their cash app).

3️⃣ •We held these truths to be self evident - The income floor is like tokens to vote via purchase, but simultaneously a gesture of wellbeing toward all those who have been harmed by state tyranny, domestic violence , corporate rigging (monopsony, gouging, monopoly, theft, etc) or any kind of oppression - Of course, As any good democracy Which eliminates poverty and guarantees life liberty and the pursuit of happiness should do.

The actions of a truly free populace will then fund whatever else can or should exist in such a free society, because healthy humans who aren’t exhausted , depleted , and diseased are creative and industrious. Here you have a next generation society that invents itself. It starts with the decentralization of money so that democracy begins to flow in the commerce itself.

22 - technological civility

🔄 Inclusion pricing / inclusion model -

Let me mathematically discuss The next human innovation equation

First of all, social order definitions.

We are calculating social order where we have eliminated boss tyranny and installed voluntary transacting as the basic motion.

(The lack of doing so is how economy runs now, full of tyranny and abuse, and distraction politics with illusory division. )

Doing so will Philanthropize value between

Purchaser & Fulfiller.

- the worker and the beneficiary of work both need to capture most, ( ifnot 100% ) of the value within that TRANSACTION

Fulfillers provides any needed function or item to the social organism.

Purchasers are the VOTE PLACERS.

|| Anything that harms or suppresses the social organism can not qualify under the fulfiller. It has to be actual value.

This is democracy of nature - the organism’s emergent intelligence describes:

✨ what is positively valued:

* either vital or desired,

* Or just an optional luxury

💩 What is value minus:

* either simply inefficient (ie obsolete or archaic)

* OR worthless, harmful, or toxic

Inclusion model is the basic exertion of educational value - the human GAin of wellness and growth, taking place of itself, voluntary.

(Educational value is what is expressed by the basic principle about zen:

calm wellbeing in the present now, uninfringed by illusion or coercion.)

Instead of not allowing non paying users to come in, you use advertising and other mechanisms which sponsor them, to avoid excluding.

That is what the Viable Tech of decentralized money can and will do. Enable the democracy of nature by the principle of wu wei.

↘️⭕️↘️ Meta conclusion / sharp rectangle punchline

-

the wealthy innovators or influencers that currently hold Potential energy are responsible for continuously accumulating opportunity cost - if they were to view the emergent intelligence of the social organism somehow, with leader vision, they would circulate the **necessary amount** to fund work at the the bottom, by sponsoring purchasers to create the work for fulfillers.

Emergence is the technological democracy replacement for a representative system that was made obsolete when communication faster than the horse carried letter - instant electronic messaging - came forth.

333

[][][] So Then,

Now [][][]

(Interlude - there is another joker - sets up the monastery value)

() The monastery idea flows into and within the harm reduction platform and is a necessary piece of monk education as a structure of my mind, my deepest heart.

Monastery is Harm Reduction because if money were no object I would open them everywhere and hire other monks to run it with me

() the real purpose is to offer a place that is not tied down by commercial / profitability burden, nor public funding approval.

There was a time that Kanye tried to start a shoes gifting program, but what he should have done was open monasteries, the maximum adequacy 3rd place.

I want to create the space for Leaving this social contract as the main function of my business. 🚪🃏 My business is people’s wellbeing.

👁‍🗨The joker sees through all pairs of eyes - but there is another joker. The warrior

[image transition here:

there is another joker

🚪👁‍🗨🃏

the warrior is the joker

The joker is the tank

The tank is the monk

The monk is at the top

Battling

[image transition back]

He battles every boss, taking Aggro and defending the young and the vulnerable, leading the group, so that the newer ones may learn and get xp

And this monastery is the warrior’s house of gathering.

The base.

What school actually means. The warrior’s house.

STANLEY [the LOVE SAMURAI]

lives there.

In regular reality the Love samurai is a joke in the Raphael level

Of Stanley parable.

In my game, the love samurai is the joker. He is me.

Education monk.

Monastery is the warrior’s house, the place where no nazi infringement is allowed to take away our wellbeing or our free will.

Harm reduction is critical, vital, and sharply precise with intent.

It is abstract, but unambiguous comprised of a few separate but inseparable policy values.

first understand the Nucleus values :

* wellbeing / healing

&

* curiosity / sovereignty

1️⃣ Decriminalization - remove policing against medicinal and educational action / tools. This item resonates by the recent cultural movements to decriminalize federal cannabis and psychedelics, (plus all types of sex work and human interaction for the purpose of wellbeing) and most recently the public outcry to defund policing.

This item is an essential modification to the social contract. We need to be allowed to grow up, and make decisions; with no one standing over the shoulder saying we are wrong. That cannot be tolerated anymore. It’s just too much. It’s too violent. It’s too oppressive. We’re done with it.

2️⃣ decentralization. FUND wellbeing directly

To children and their guardians as valued individually-owned Work. This is an income floor policy. Its true meaning is that there can be no outside boss who could fire you or in any other way withhold the funding.

Because- they aren’t the stake holder. You are, on behalf - your kids are.

We will have decentralized this by letting it be funded at the very bottom of social order, at the purchase level, recognizing that the best purchase will always be made by the individual.

With democracy, That is the liberty we believe in. It’s time we started acting like it.

3️⃣ infrastructural - 3rd places that kids may be kids and Peace is the purpose. All are invited. It is not for sale. Very very simple, common sense for the type of spaces we want to have in a CIVILIZED social order.

I’m Not saying don’t have a public building that is the school. I’m saying don’t have it be an authoritarian Hell , a part time jail with bosses and grading, and de-individualization.

So To have it at all, you need to make it both voluntary and useful. So that children and families may use the resources in support of their kids’ curiosity.

Real TLDR distilled conclusion:

My task as monk educator:

UNPLUG us

from Use of Force Matrix

which demands we emulate coercion

And then PLUG us back In Again

But into the Celebration and Sharing Matrix this time.

Disconnection is the illness -

- Use of Force is the illness

Contact is the medicine []

[] Sharing is the medicine

⭕️

How to contact ?

Celebration

How to Share?

Crafting

🔛

👁‍🗨

Wellbeing (means of doing: healing)

Sovereignty (means of doing: curiosity / question pathing [quests] )

[cryptowhat]

I didn't know what I was doing in 2014 when I was invited to help launch a cryptocurrency technology company but deep down I knew I was fortunate and in the right space. Coming from working with a gold and silver company, I knew this was the perfect transition. I immersed myself in the industry and learned as quickly as I could about everything Bitcoin and Blockchain.

Then one day, after watching numerous documentaries on the topic, it hit me and the light bulb went on! That's when I noticed that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency wasn't just another industry. It was the industry of money. Larger than all industries combined!

The industry that facilitates the movement of all money around the world. A multi trillion dollar industry that makes the internet look like a car wash business in comparison. Nothing even comes close! And on top of that, this was a disruption and evolution to create a better money system.

Crypto is far more efficient and gives people control of their own money without the need for a bank. All you need is a phone and internet access and you can participate in the global economy. That's a lot different than the banking system we have today that still cannot offer banking services to 1/4 of the population. Billions of people still don't have access to a bank. #Bitcoin fixes this all.

Now it was really starting to click for me. I started telling everyone I knew. I sounded incoherent the first 30 calls I made trying to break down and clarify exactly what this technology was but I only confused people.

I knew this wasn't going to be easy so I needed to get creative. I needed to paint the picture and highlight the monumental and profound important role it will play in our life.

Over the years, I have developed many training series on Bitcoin, blockchain, and crypto and I was the USA country manager that held webinars weekly discussing the economic shift. I did this out of necessity as I saw it was the best way to educate people and get them caught up to speed.

During the time, I worked closely with my friend Caleb Wright on numerous online ventures. We had a bit of success but nothing prepared us for the life changing money to be earned from crypto.

In 2015, when NOBODY knew what Bitcoin or crypto was, we went ALL IN. The results for us and the people that followed were nothing short of amazing. Gains I never thought possible. I have friends that turned practically no money at all into enough money to completely change their lifestyle.

I have people close to me that bought a new home, paid off their debt, and some completely retired. They literally tripped into crypto, not knowing what they were doing and stumbled into wealth.

We saw an amazing Bull run of market activity in 2017 and crypto wasn't even a blip on the radar.

Today, banks and governments are adopting it and we believe cryptocurrency will be leveraged and used in a future monetary system. Fiat paper is worthless. Government issued money ALWAYS goes to ZERO. Trump is CRASHING the dollar in my opinion and will be resetting the economy. Those holding onto dollars may get severely burned. It happens to every empire throughout history. And we are $25 trillion in debt. You could tax every person their entire paycheck and it would not cover the interest of the debt alone.

We have been watching the industry and markets closely along with global economic indicators and we sense something big is about to happen. Something that would make the 2017 Bull run look like a drop in the bucket.

In 2015. cryptocurrency was unheard of and almost worthless. Then very suddenly, the market exploded and we saw coins go up 10,000% - 75,000 in short time. Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared and couldn't help others benefit from this but today is a different story. This time, we are anticipating another monumental bull run that blows past 2017 all time highs.

And this time, we want to bring you a long for the ride.

Excited to announce the relaunch of V 2.0 of Bitcoin Lifestyles Club.

Caleb and I have teamed up to bring you the best Bitcoin education along with a comprehensive trading course so you no longer have to guess what is happening in the markets. We just updated the website and currently working on a members area overhaul and will be adding a ton more content.

Main site is www.BitcoinLifestyles.club but I set my own link for tracking if you do have an interest in joining us. Visit here www.CryptoWhat.com/blc

During this launch, we are still making major changes on the back end but we want you to get access to this important information before it's too late. This industry is all about timing as you may suspect. And we believe right now is the BEST possible time to get into Bitcoin and crypto and we want to give you all the tools, content, education and material you need to increase your chances of being a successful crypto trader.

During launch, take advantage of a special price discount. I assure you. This is limited price. It will go up. We just want to offer this special price now for those that need some assistance and are willing to be patient while we wrap up all the details on the back end.

After reading this, you may be thinking to yourself and wondering if you really can benefit by participating in our Bitcoin #Trading Mastery course.

We can only share our personal experience but there are dozens of testimonials from our members that share their experience. I think you will be interested to find out average people from all walks of life are about to win at the game of crypto. Just like we saw in 2015-2017.

You just need an experienced mentor that has a proven track record and is willing to help. This is what you have when you join Bitcoin Lifestyles Club today. Check out our special launch pricing and reserve your spot today. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Looking forward to helping you become a #crypto expert and profit from crypto trading. 

https://cryptowhat.com/blc

[missoshea-blog]

@BOOZEANDPEPPERMINT */*//*/* THE WIND */*//*/* ACCEPTING !

“ you need to get away . you’ve got to think of yourself . ”

        “ ye really expect me to be able to just get up and leave everyt’ing behind ? ” freckled features are ridden with a sense of 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 , ginger brows pulled together in a slight frown and those emerald eyes turn feline-like . she’s shocked . truly 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 , had she not expected anyone to have enough sense to tell her to flee the 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 she so 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 brought upon herself 

        at the same time however , 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 , the young woman is too 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 for her own good . too blind and too hopelessly in love . so she retorts ; “ you don’t know the amount of 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒 i made to be by his side . i gave away everything i ever had for that man . ” slivers of 𝘷𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 in her tone now as she flicks the ash of her glowing cigarette . “ i’d be entirely 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞 to throw away what little i do have left going for me in this life . ” 

[nineteensixtieschikadee]

Rhaegar is in no way the most important character of ASOIAF. A character who died before the story cannot be the true hero or the main protagonist or whatever you want to call it. Also, saying that Ned and Rhaegar are the two sides of Jon is silly. It ignores Lyanna. If Jon is the song of ice and fire, then Lyanna is ice and Rhaegar is fire. Replacing Lyanna with Ned is sexist. The mothers are absent enough in the story as it is.

🤦🤦🤦 I’m assuming that you’ve come here because you stumbled upon my post: JON SNOW AND HIS TWO FATHERS: A BALANCE BETWEEN ICE AND FIRE. I’m not gonna bother arguing, but I totally 100% recommend you to read the ASOIAF NOVELS. Because there you can read Jon’s pov’s and see for yourself why Jon has equal part’s of Rhaegar’s traits, as he does of Ned’s. (And Lyanna’s.)

Let’s talk about your first point, first. RHAEGAR IS CONSIDERED THE REAL MAIN CHARACTER OF ASOIAF. Grrm has said it himself too, he’s always wanted to write a story where the main character dies before the actual story begins. And who do you think that is? I’m going to assume that YOU’RE A CASUAL SHOW WATCHER only. Because even the BIGGEST Rhaegar Anti’s who HAVE READ THE BOOKS, will admit that Rhaegar is literally THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER in the Ice and Fire Universe, or at least in the whole ASOIAF NOVELS. Just because the character is long dead from the actual story, doesn’t mean the character isn’t important or isn’t the TRUE PROTAGONIST. The show literally did a SHITTY JOB of conveying Rhaegar’s character that it is so easy to see him as a crazy psycho asshole who left his wife and children for a younger woman. Not the kind of protagonist you’d want to read about. But !BOOK Rhaegar was FAR MORE COMPLEX than that of his show counterpart. Because in the books, Rhaegar actually cared for his family. For Elia and their children. He LOVED Elia as a friend. They had a good, and mutual, and respectful relationship, but also a COMPLEX one. I probably didn’t do a good job explaining Rhaegar’s intentions and how that affects Jon in my previous post. But the reason why Rhaegar is CONSIDERED the real main character in the GOT universe, is because HIS ACTIONS had set forth ALMOST EVERY SINGLE MAJOR CHARACTER ARC IN THE ASOIAF NOVELS. And even up to the 5th book of asoiaf, HIS ACTIONS ARE STILL CAUSING THE RIPPLE AFFECT 14 YEARS LATER. (20 years in the show.) The Rebellion started because of the Mad King. Even before Lyanna was “kidnapped,” everyone was plotting to overthrow Aerys and put Rhaegar on the Throne. Rhaegar’s actions was the one that TRIGGERED the actual actions for the characters of Robert, Ned, etc. And exactly how did it come to this? Because Rhaegar believed in the Azor Ahai prophecy. Like Jon, Rhaegar IGNORED the “smaller problems,” and instead LOOKED AT THE BIGGER PICTURE. His motivations to bring forth Azor Ahai is what lead to his actions, which lead to Robert’s Rebellion, which lead to the events of Game of Thrones. It’s kinda like saying, “the ends justify the means.” It was either “save the world” from the threat up North, or DIE because the people failed to come together to fight them. Because of Rhaegar’s actions to fulfill this prophecy, Lyanna was “kidnapped,” and then Brandon died, so Ned had to marry Cat to gain the alliance of the Tullys. Which then lead to the BIRTH OF THE STARK CHILDREN. And then because of Rhaegar’s actions, Robert started a war to win Lyanna back, which lead to the sac of Kings Landing. Which lead to Tywin betraying Aerys. Which lead to the deaths of Elia and their children, which lead to the exile of Daenerys and Viserys, which lead to the death of Aerys, which lead to the coronation of Robert, which lead to Cersei marrying Robert, which then lead Varys supporting “Aegon (Young Griff). And then it eventually lead back to the VERY BEGINNING OF THE START OF THE SERIES. It lead to Ned adopting Jon. And I’m sure you’re smart enough to see where else Rhaegar’s actions brought the other characters. Yes, Rhaegar may have not been “a part” of the series or influenced the lives “PERSONALLY” of all the major players, but you’d be stupid to assume that Rhaegar had no importance or impact on the story being told now. You don’t have to be alive to have an impact on a story. That’s like saying Martin Luther King JR. didn’t have an impact on ending racism because HE’S LONG DEAD. (Yeah lol, even that doesn’t make sense. So why say the same thing about Rhaegar?) Let’s also not downplay the reasons behind Rhaegar’s motivations. Because the Azor Ahai prophecy in the books ISN’T JUST a prophecy. IT’S THE ENTIRE BACKBONE OF THE STORY AT AND BEYOND THE WALL. The EVENTS INVOLVING AZOR AHAI is considered a REAL event that took place thousands of years before the story began. And we can assume that it was real, because the White Walkers are real. MAGIC IS REAL. And it is slowly coming back because the dragons are back. Here’s a really nice video and analysis to support the claim that Rhaegar is INDEED the protagonist of ASOIAF. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrhqmMRv1gQ And NO. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A HERO TO BE THE PROTAGONIST. NO ONE IN GAME OF THRONES IS A “HERO.” JUST MORALLY GRAY CHARACTERS. 

Now for your second point, I just wanna say first, how dare you assume that I’m being sexist because I’m apparently “replacing” Lyanna with Ned. 😂😂😂 Lmao excuse me but LYANNA IS MY GURL. After Arya, SHE IS MY FAVORITE FEMALE STARK. LYANNA, JON, AND ARYA ARE MY FAVORITE STARKS. And I would NEVER degrade Lyanna’s importance in Jon’s story. Lyanna is SINGLE-HANDEDLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WOMAN IN JON’S NARRATIVE/LIFE JUST AFTER ARYA. Even if he doesn’t know it yet. And that is because Jon’s whole identity crises comes from not knowing that Lyanna was his mother. When you read my post, did you not see me making comparisons between Jon, Rhaegar, Ned AND LYANNA?? Because I’m pretty sure I mentioned Lyanna a couple of times. And you’re right. Lyanna represents ice, and Rhaegar represents fire. And Jon represents the balance between those two. But there are a lot of others ways to interpret ice and fire as well. Not just Lyanna and Rhaegar. For example while Rhaegar and Lyanna literally represent Fire and Ice personified, Jon and Daenerys can mirror to represent Ice and Fire figuratively. Or if you’re a Jonsa shipper, you could also say Sansa represents the fire, and Jon the ice? Or if you want Jonrya as they are a direct parallel of Rhaegar and Lyanna, both Jon and Arya themselves represent Ice and Fire as well. So when I said Rhaegar and Ned were a balance between Ice and Fire, I meant it as ONE WAY to interpret ice and fire, from the million of other ways that it can be interpreted from. In that post, I was talking about the importance of Jon’s fathers, and how Ned’s honor and morals, BALANCES Rhaegar’s passion, intelligence and leadership. Which in turn makes Jon a POWERFUL, INTELLIGENT, AND HONORABLE PERSON WORTHY OF BECOMING KING. (Someone who isn’t corrupt like literally all the other candidates for the throne. Or idiotic, for that matter)

This is a long post, but I hope I answered your criticisms accordingly. As always, hit up those asoiaf books. They may be big and fat. But they’re easy, and worth the read. :)