portalopener

[omg-hellgirl]

The irony was, Mick was the “uncool” one. He himself had been wary of acid — dropping it for the first time at Tara Browne’s party because everyone was there and everyone was doing it. And he ended up making a big scene, escaping at night over the grounds of Luggala, thinking that he was a small brown crow.

Elizabeth Winder, Parachute Women: The Women Behind the Rolling Stones.

[raccoonscity]

How Ada is being mischaracterized in the RE2 and RE4 remakes

I've been thinking about Ada in RE2/RE4make and how her character is so badly characterized. Ada is made out to be a selfish, manipulative villainess or whatever. Massive changes were made to the story and her character in both remakes, which fundamentally don't understand her character. Yes, she manipulates people, but most of the time it is the villains (Wesker, Krauser, Simmons, etc.). She is also made out to be selfish and heartless and that couldn't be further from the truth. She's morally complex but that doesn't make her a villain or inherently evil or selfish.

Ada's character was changed majorly in RE2make. In RE2, she's still a spy sent to retrieve the G-Virus, but her cover was a civilian looking for her boyfriend, John Clemens, who worked for Umbrella and was presumably in Umbrella's underground laboratory. In RE2make, her cover is an FBI agent sent to take down Umbrella and take the G-Virus as evidence. This change could work, in theory, but the problem with RE2make is that her cover achieves nothing but fooling Leon--when Ada first meets Annette, she immediately asks for the G-Virus and Annette does a background check on Ada she knows she's a spy. What is the point if the most important person to your mission can see through your cover immediately.

The other thing that was changed about Ada in RE2make is that in the original, Ada isn't really manipulating Leon at all. Ada never asks for Leon's help, he instead runs into her and chooses to help her. She always either runs off alone or, when she's injured, tells him to worry about himself because she'll slow him down. And even when injured she leaves where Leon left her to complete her mission alone. Ada didn't want him to get involved and is consistently discouraging him from following; even in their confrontation she says: "That's why I told you to leave without me. But you wouldn't listen." Checking her gun after she falls reveals that she didn't load her gun and never intended to hurt Leon if it had to come to that.

Except in RE2make, even though she initially doesn't want his help, after a certain point (especially when she's injured) she is actively manipulating him. The change in her cover story was made so Ada can appeal to his sense of duty as a cop, by lying and telling him the sample would be used for evidence. The kiss in RE2make is meant to manipulate but backfires, but the only kiss scene in the original is genuine, after Ada gets injured saving Leon from Mr. X.

When she is manipulating someone, it's the actual villains--Wesker, Krauser, Simmons, etc. We don't know a lot about Ada's true motives or backstory, but we know she never goes out of her way to make the other protagonists' lives/missions harder, and she's not out to destroy the world or cause wars.

She regularly helps the protagonists--not just Leon. In RE2, she will throw a rocket down to either Leon or Claire in the B scenario (even though she never interacts with Claire otherwise). She patches Leon up after he takes a bullet for her and will "die" protecting him from Mr. X. In RE4, she repeatedly tries to convince Wesker that Leon was not a threat and when Wesker tells her Krauser was sent to kill Leon, she does not hesitate to stop Krauser. Ada gets the jet-ski so Leon and Ashley can escape, and in a few instances Leon can find notes that Ada left behind giving tips. She agrees to help get Luis away from the Los Illuminados. In RE6, she helps Jake and Sherry fight the Ubistvo and helps Leon and Helena defeat mutated Deborah. She also gives Leon the evidence needed to take Simmons down.

But unfortunately, RE4make removed one of the key moments Ada helps Leon (saving Leon from Krauser after Wesker orders his assassination) and gave this moment to Luis. I do actually like this scene but it sucks that one of Ada's defining moments in RE4 was just given to another character. It also annoys me that the scene in which we see Ada talking over comms to Wesker, he doesn't seem to care at all about wanting Leon out of the way. In Separate Ways Ada tries to convince Wesker that Leon is not a threat, but Wesker knows otherwise, so Ada avoids Leon and lies about not being able to kill Leon. When Wesker tells her about Krauser being sent to kill Leon, she drops everything to stop him, lies to Wesker about what happened with Krauser, then finishes him off herself. Except now, Wesker doesn't see Leon as a threat at all? Wesker was the one Ada was working with in RE2 so he's well aware of who Leon is. So there's no threat on Leon and that removes a key part of Ada's conflict in SW, unless we're missing some context without a SW campaign yet.

Ada also left him notes in RE4 such as this one where she tells Leon how to remove the Plagas and warns him of the dangers (this role is also given to Luis):

Once a Plaga egg hatches, it's nearly impossible to remove it from the body. But if it's before it hatches, then it can be neutralized by medication. If it does hatch you might be able to get it out by surgery before it turns to an adult. But it won't be easy. There's a high chance you won't survive the operation. As far as I know the girl was injected with the egg before you. Her time is ticking. You should prepare yourself for the worst case scenario.

Now to be fair, Ada does still give Leon advice when they talk over comms, and it makes more sense for Luis to tell Leon about the surgery. Even then, Ada still helps Leon plenty. But why rewrite her story from RE2, why change and take these interactions from Ada, then say she only ever manipulates Leon? Ada never tries to convince Leon that saving Ashley is a lost cause either.

Again, Ada is not a heartless person. I hate that scene with Kendo in RE2make for that reason, because it exists so Leon can teach her to be sympathetic. She doesn't always have ulterior motives for helping others (most of the examples listed above she has no reason to do so and is doing it just to help, and in some cases she is actively putting her life/mission on the line) and is capable of being sympathetic. In RE6, she sympathizes with Carla and says: "If you had only sought vengeance against Simmons alone, I would have helped you." In Ada's reports, she says this about wanting to help Luis:

I'm the one who told the organization of [Luis Sera's] importance. I did it because I like him. His history betrays an enthusiasm I once shared. It was a stroke of luck that I happened to intercept his e-mail for help. It seems he can't trust the police, so he sent the e-mail to an old friend from college. He must have thought his friend was still alive. At any rate, that's how I managed to find him. […] When I told him who I was, he practically begged to be taken into custody. He needed protection. He said, "I have no love for Las Plagas or this stupid cult. I want out. I just want peace and quiet again." I ordered him to bring me a master Plaga specimen - a sample - for evidence.

And then there's that ending scene of Ada and Wesker in RE4make. After Ada secures the sample, she talks to Wesker and seems blindsided by the fact that Wesker is planning something that will kill billions of people. This scene bothers me for two* reasons.

One: This is framed like Ada has just now had a change of heart and doesn't want to be complicit in the death that Wesker will cause... except that's what her arc in RE2 was. Ada expresses this in Umbrella Chronicles immediately post-RE2. After her conversation with Wesker, she narrates: "If the T-Virus did this [to Raccoon City], what would happen if the G-Virus got out?" The only reason Ada gives the G-Virus to Wesker at that point was because she had no other way out of Raccoon City. Why wasn't this in RE2make?

Two: Ada already knows Wesker is planning something horrible, even if she doesn't know the extent of it. The whole point of Ada working with Wesker in RE4 was to sabotage his plans and send him a fake sample. She and her organization want to take the sample for themselves and want to gain insight into his plans.

In Ada's last report regarding Wesker, she says this:

It wasn't easy, but I'd say the mission has been a success. Getting my hands on the sample was my initial objective after all. But I've sent Wesker a different present, just as the organization ordered. Pretending to work with him was entertaining. Albert Wesker… I wonder where he's headed next. Something tells me this whole affair was just a taste of what he's got in store. To him, Umbrella represented power. He used it to hide behind while he made plans of his own. And now the umbrella's been folded. With the sanctuary of their old umbrella ruined, those in power struggle to erect a new one. They are aware of their own crookedness and deceit as they engage in their personal war of light and darkness. That's why Wesker will stop at nothing in opening his new umbrella. The giant pharmaceutical corporation, "S" maintains medical and drug facilities the world over. We know for certain that Wesker has been in contact with them following Umbrella's demise. There's no doubt we'll next hear from him there. The organization must remain vigilant.

A quick note: "S" or "Seashell" was the working title for what eventually was made into Tricell in RE5. Ada and her organization already know that Wesker is in contact with Tricell and want to "remain vigilant" against whatever he's planning. We don't know too much about the organization she works for, what their goals are, and how she came to work with them, just that they research and sell viruses and bioweapons and work with people like Wesker--which sounds bad except look at everything Mia does while working with the Connections, but Capcom just ignores that. Yet Ada is the evil manipulative one 🤔

Some other instances of Ada working with villains include her history of working with Simmons, who she stopped working with specifically because he was involved in the decision to destroy Raccoon City. At the end of Damnation she hints that she won't hand over the Plaga sample to her anonymous buyer/Simmons.

The problem with Ada is that while Capcom has hinted since RE4 about her true motives, they've not touched on the subject since, and everything we know about Ada's backstory is vague. Is she just in it for money or authority? Was she forced to work with them? Does she want to destroy Umbrella and other bioweapons groups from the inside? Does she want to research the viruses hoping to find cures or vaccines? Ada's moral complexity comes from the fact that we don't know why she does what she does, but just because she mostly helps out in the shadows doesn't mean she's selfish or manipulative, and she is still considered one of the main heroes (or anti-hero) of the series.

*A secret third reason I hate this scene is it's so OOC for Wesker, it drives me crazy. There's no reason for Wesker to tell Ada any of this (they don't trust each other) and he's notoriously a strategist who works in the shadows and doesn't tell people his plans. Wesker didn't even have any doomsday/Uroboros plans yet because he only starts his plans after learning about Project W from Spencer, like two years after this. I hate this scene🙃

[sapphire-weapon]

I think the fact that so many people want to label Leon/Ashley as canonically "sibling- coded" is because they feel threatened in the way they view other of Leon's relationships, they can tell Leon and Ashley have chemistry and they try to convince themselves that they have a familial bond going on (like Ellie/Joel) so that they can justify not shipping them and making people who ship it feel bad/weird.

Because nowadays so many people can't just dislike something, they have to make up a reason why it's morally wrong and unacceptable so that way they can bully people that think differently and feel like their own personal opinions are objective and right while everyone else is wrong smh. This is mostly the case with younger fans (tho a lot of people older than me does this too lmao) so that's why I don't really find it frustrating bc it's most likely they have limited real life experience. Plus they might not be that good at interpreting canon from contextual clues yet.

In my case though I think a lot of these people are actually doing the opposite tbh because to me it just shows that they recognize that Ashley's relationship with Leon is real and they can't even concede that they're friends in the canon because they know it could lead to something else if followed through in the story, they admit there's potential there subconsciously with how hard they try to make it seem otherwise with nonsense claims. It's like when insecure guys feel uncomfortable but try to seem tough by buying big trucks and having guns on them all the time lmao.

So, I've talked about this before -- about how the "sibling coded" or "problematic age gap" discourse is just modern-day fandom's way of slutshaming and engaging in casual misogyny in a societally acceptable way.

I'm pretty confident in saying that anyone in my generation who slaps "siblings" on Leon and Ashley are probably people who have another ship and have had it for a while and don't want Ashley getting in the way of it, tbh LMAO

Like.... my generation has co-opted the current generation's vernacular, but make no mistake about the kind of bitches we are. We're ship war bitches. That's all we've ever been AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE OUR WAYS NOW fjdskfh

But if we're talking about the current generation...

Media illiteracy is a big factor in this. It's no secret to anyone that the US education system took a massive shit starting in the late aughts/early 2010s, and things like critical reading skills aren't being taught in schools anymore.

I graduated high school in 2007. Two years later, I went back to visit an old English teacher to get a letter of recommendation, and he was lamenting to me that he'd just given up. It wasn't worth trying to explain the deeper themes of Beowulf to kids who didn't care, because the only thing that mattered was getting them to pass standardized tests.

So, now, without an overt, explicit declaration of love or something visually concrete like a kiss, kids literally do not have the skills to parse through a text and pick out themes and tropes and use of symbolism and imagery. They were never taught how to do it.

But there's a more culture-based thing happening here, I think. It's this fucking mess of a cocktail of internalized misogyny paired with learned helplessness, social anxiety, intense sheltering possibly exacerbated by the pandemic shutdowns, peer pressure, and internet purity culture.

I think it's pretty safe to say that fandom is predominantly made up of women and teenage girls. That was true in the 60s in Star Trek fandom, it was true in my generation, and it's still true today. And what I've seen happening today is that young women are absolutely terrified of their own sexual agency -- because the internet keeps telling them that, if you're under 18, it is wrong and bad and unacceptable for you to engage with anything even remotely sexual and how dare you express your sexuality -- and you'd better not do it not just because it's wrong and bad, but also because you are GUARANTEED TO BE PREYED UPON IF YOU DO. SEX IS DANGEROUS ALL OF THE TIME AND YOU'RE LITERALLY TOO YOUNG AND TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING SO DON'T TRY TO EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Because if you're 17 and he's 18, he's a pedophile!!!!!!!!

I just.

So, we've now basically turned an entire generation of young women into the same type of young women who created the BL genre in Japan. These are women who were too afraid to explore their sexuality on their own, and it felt safer to do it with two male characters, because it was always more "okay" for men to be sexual. This is happening here in the West, now.

Slash ships have always been a thing in the West, but not to the degree that they are today. In today's fandom, if you have an M/F ship at all, you are outnumbered by at least 3:1 -- because M/M just "feels" safer for a lot of the current generation.

So, I think young women look at the Remake portrayal of Ashley Graham, and they identify with her. A lot. They're probably around her age, and her personality is very relatable to the kind of girls who play video games. Ashley's clearly introverted, but she's a fast learner who just wants to help, and she's got a good heart and a weird, kind of awkward sense of humor.

And, not only do these girls identify with Ashley, they're probably thirsty as fuck for Leon.

But that's terrifying to them.

Because they have been taught to fear their own sexual agency. The idea that an attractive, traditionally masculine, older man would be romantically or sexually interested in them is immediately categorized in their brains as wrong and bad -- and they don't want to think of Leon in that way.

So... for them, it can't be romantic. It can't be sexual. But there's clearly something there, but Leon would never abuse or prey on anyone so... that bond must be a perfectly innocent familial affection. That's what it is. That's what it has to be, because anything else forces them to face the uncomfortable reality even young women like them go on dates and have sex -- and sometimes, it's with men like Leon.

So, they thirst over Leon at a safe distance through Luis, primarily. Or they self-indulge on reader fic, because that's so much easier to write off as "just a fantasy" and not a statement on who Leon actually is as a character.

And it's just kind of sad, man. It sucks to see this happen to an entire generation of young women.

That's why I don't really get mad when I see the "siblings" shit out in the wild. I just feel sad for those people -- because they can't just say "I don't like the ship." They're so insecure and neurotic that they have to think of a reason why the ship is literally impossible to ever happen so that they don't have to be worried about it.

One day, they'll finally suck a dick for themselves and learn that it's not that serious. It's really fuckin not. Dicks are stupid, and the boys that are attached to them are even dumber.

[jeannereames]

I read DWTL, both Becoming & Rise. Loved it! You've brought Alexander's world to life in such a relatable manner that it doesn't seem it's based on an era dating back more than 2,000 years ago. I really wish you continued the series, telling the story of Alexander after he became King. Is there any account of Alexander's relationship with, or treatment of commoners? I'm a big fan of Alexander. Crush on him! And here's my next question. Would he fall in love with, or marry a commoner?

First, thank you. 😊 I’m glad you both enjoyed the novels and felt they brought that world to life. I do hope to continue the story but Riptide is not (at least at present) interested in publishing the rest, as they aren’t even remotely Romance. (They took the first two, which is really one novel, because it did have a love story even if it’s really a coming-of-age historical.) I’m currently working on a monograph about Hephaistion and Krateros (non-fiction), so that’s eating up a lot of my time.

As for your question…. First, let’s separate “love” from “marriage,” as those two things did not necessarily go (in fact, very rarely went) together. The notion of marrying for love is really quite recent, (almost) all over the world. Marriage was, for Macedonian kings, a deeply political act. So, he wouldn’t marry a woman who didn’t serve a political purpose; 99% of the time, that would be a “royal” or other high-born woman.

Sorry there’s not a more romantic answer to that, but it’s honest.

Love it something different, although there, recall the Greeks recognized different sorts of love, and separated eros (desire) from philia (true love/deep friendship). Eros was assumed not to last, whereas philia of the best sort was long-standing, even lifelong. Greek men generally didn’t assume they’d feel philia for the women for whom they felt eros; that’s typical Greek misogyny of the time. Alexander was somewhat different from other men, in that he did seem to value the opinion of the women around him (certainly the older women from his mother to Ada to Barsine to Sisygambus)…but he still wouldn’t necessarily put them on a level with the men in his life.

Could he learn to? Perhaps. He might be better positioned than most, so I wouldn’t necessarily put it beyond the scope of possibility. Yet it would take a radical realignment of his world, one where he’d be around a woman long enough to learn to respect her enough to feel philia for her, not merely eros.

A time-travel situation is most likely, although the one example of that I’ve seen wasn’t (to me) at all convincing—in part because it put the (modern) woman in the past. Pull Alexander into the present, with Hephaistion already dead, and you might get something more believable ... because that removes two of the biggest problems. First, a world where men interacted very little with women, especially men on military campaign. And second…

Hephaistion.

Whether or not they remained physical lovers, Hephaistion was the dearest person in Alexander’s personal orbit. While certainly Alexander had flings with both women and teens/young men, Hephaistion remained central. I find it unlikely that would change while he was alive.

There have been a few attempts in novels to do an opposite-sex romance with Alexander, and all had to deal with the Hephaistion Problem. 😉 One could argue that even Mary Renault’s The Persian Boy grappled with this, and also had a Hephaistion Problem.

So, the first more recent one, and arguably the most successful, was a trilogy by (Alison) Spedding from the mid/late-80s (The Road and the Hills, A Cloud over Water, and The Streets of the City), wherein Ailixond (Alexander) meets Aleizon Ailix Ayndra (an Alexander-Hephaistion mix). They fall in love and conquer the world, then she takes over after he dies. Despite the way it sounds, it’s a fun read. It’s also not an historical, so she can play with the facts as she wishes.

Another by Jennifer Macaire (Time for Alexander Series) has Ashley, a professional journalist (and essentially a self-insert), time travel from the present into the past to interview Alexander. She falls in love with him, and with Hephaistion too (who’s inexplicably not called Hephaistion, but Plexis). The research is slap-dash with multiple problems from odd spelling choices (what is Seleucos? Seleukos or Seleucus—pick Greek or Latinized, please), to confusion on details. The one plus is more time to some of the women surrounding Alexander.

A late ‘60s trilogy by Helene Moreau (penname), reprinted as one long novel in the early ‘70s (by Playboy, no less), was called Roxana. Although, quite shockingly for the time, she did depict Alexander and Hephaistion as lovers, it's kinda-sorta a Roxana-Alexander love story. Except Roxana doesn’t love Alexander, who’s not a good guy; her true love is a Jewish fellow called Mordechai. Hephaistion, although a “rival” for Alexander, isn’t especially negative even thought he's a problem for Roxana’s plans to bind Alexander to her via desire.

Last, Stephanie Thornton flipped the script in her The Conqueror’s Wife, with the romance being Drypetis and Hephaistion. Alexander is a Bad Guy (as is Roxana, btw). While Thornton also makes ATG and Hephaistion lovers, she inadvertently paints same-sex relationships as negative by framing. (Or at least, I will hope it was inadvertent.) It’s a traditional m/f Romance, so Drypetis will win--and as Alexander is bad/evil, the message is that opposite-sex love “saves” Hephaistion from Alexander. Not sure she actually meant that, but it’s not queer-friendly. (There are no other positive gay people; Roxana's brother is a minx.) I think she used the same-sex affair to appear edgy and hip, but just wound up seeming homophobic.

Anyway, all of these try to foreground a female in Alexander’s life, or in Hephaistion’s—but must then deal with the problem of the Other. Spedding simply makes her main (female) character a Hephaistion analog. Macaire turns it into Threesome; Ashley falls for both men. Moreau and Thronton adopt more traditional love triangles, although Moreau’s is really a quadrilateral with Mordechai; Roxana is only using Alexander. And Thronton has her lead (Drypetis) “win” by making Alexander evil.

I will note that in all the novels I’ve read about Alexander, I have yet to see a woman author portray Hephaistion as evil/the bad guy, even when Alexander is evil/the bad guy. Even Moreau’s Hephaistion is neutral/nice to Roxana. It’s only male writers who depict him negatively. Make of that what you will. 😉

Of these four books, Spedding might be the only one to succeed because it’s epic (quasi-historical) fantasy; she’s not trying to be historical. After that, Thornton’s is perhaps the least inaccurate historically, but that doesn’t make it particularly good.

So, the biggest issue with giving Alexander a true (female) love is �� Hephaistion.

I'll add that I don't like love triangles when they involve Alexander and Hephaistion, but not because I ship the two. I just don't like love triangles period. Too often in fiction, they become a quick way to inject drama because the author can't think of something more realistic. *roll of eyes* There are PLENTY of real-life problems that couples face that have nothing to do with a third (human) party. A love triangle can be interesting in a long-standing relationship like a marriage on the rocks (which is where they're most likely to occur in real life). But generally, I find love triangles in Romance (as opposed to lit fic) trite in execution, tbh.

(For the curious, my article on presentations of Alexander and Hephaistion in novels, “Alexander the Great and Hephaistion in Fiction after Stonewall,” is available on academia.edu; I go into more detail there, breaking down how different authors treat the relationship according to when it was published, gender of the author, and genre of the novel. But two of the novels mentioned above are not in that chapter because they fall outside the parameters I set for examination.)

[illmetkismet]

Do you think Leon managed to at least move on and let go of his past a bit after rescuing Ashley? Game seems to imply heavily the whole metaphor//theme about redemption loss and moving on and also the credits song too

curious to know what you think?

I really hope so!! On the one hand, the way they handled the end of the game is very different from the OG: like you said, they really paid off the theme of things being different this time, and Leon gets that cathartic smile with the sunrise on his face. On the other hand, as far as we know, Vendetta is still canon.... It's hard to know what Capcom has in store for Leon, how much they want to deviate from the established continuity, and judging from what they did with Chris in Village, I'm a little worried...

I do think Capcom has a huge tone problem, where there are so many different hands in the Resident Evil pot that it's hard to get a single coherent and definitive image of who their characters are supposed to be. Remake Leon is very different from Vendetta Leon and Death Island Leon and even Infinite Darkness Leon, which was made so close to the remakes that you'd think the two would give us a consistent characterization, but I don't think they do.

So who knows where they take him from here! I'm happy to continue thinking of the different versions of Leon kind of as separate characters, despite what Capcom might have to say about that, and if they take remake Leon in a direction that doesn't feel true to his arc so far, I'll happily fork his story into yet another version in my head.

I've said this before, but it's hard for me to imagine Leon getting a canonical happy ending I'd be satisfied with, and I've made my peace with that. I think if that's what you're hoping for too, we're just gonna have to roll up our sleeves and envision a future for him where he does move on and let go and reconcile with the past in a satisfying way (and not in the flippant Death Island 'it's a living' way...).

So I guess that's my answer - personally, and going off what they've done with the remakes so far, I do think that post re4r Leon is in a much better place than he was going into it. I like to think of it as like.... He's gone on so many horrible missions, both before and after Ashley, right? So why are we coming along with him on this one, in particular? Because, I think, this was his 'dark night of the soul', so to speak. He went into this mission at the end of his rope with it all - the pain, the loss, the sheer senseless of all the violence he'd witnessed - and he came out the other side with a little bit of hope and a clearer view of the path out of his suffering: trusting people, being able to rely on others, not giving into hopelessness.

It's so interesting to me when people say Saddler wasn't a compelling villain in the remake, because what was so menacing about him was deliciously metatextual to me. Yeah, he had his plan with Ashley and las plagas, but throughout the game his main role was to keep trying to convince Leon to give in, to submit and let go of fear. He was offering Leon a way out of his despair: a nothingness, a numbness, and that's what Leon was fighting against the whole game! He needed to face the source of his pain head on and arrive in a place of hope, instead of continuing to ineffectually push it all down, to numb himself.

I think at the end of re4r he did just that. He stood at a fork in the road and he chose hope over despair. So ok, I'll do the same, and allow myself to hope that his story keeps going down that road!

Thanks for the ask, and sorry for the goddamn journey my answer became lol....

[freshie44]

SPOILER ALERT Cut Off - Hopefully. Lets talk about the latest happenings

Bias Tier - Who I predict are the final 3

Aiden: Besides Tess who you could argue up here if you want, has the most story potential in Cyan, at least in my opinion. I predict we'll see some plays come merge as besides Tess and Tom, Aiden going to need some allies and I think there are some interesting angles you can go here. Alec: The finals need a villainous rep, and besides a full heel turn Jake I think few will fight off Alec's grip on that spot. As 3 of the people in the alliance are write-offs in the slot and I think Ellie digging her own grave with her moves this episode, so unless Fiore can convince Alec to lay on the sword I think he is the one. Ashely: Taking a risk on this one and this could blow up in my face as did my last pic for this bias tier. But I think the development with Ally shows that Ashley could play the game well to move from the Jake alliance to other circles of influence and that could just land her into the finals.

Drama Duo We are going to finally use this development and have them talk right? we aren't going to drag this out, right? Not Safe, But Not in Trouble Tess: Sitting pretty as the tiebreaker, absolutely making merge and from there we'll see.

Fiore: This one a risk, I'll admit. Fiore is absolutely not in a safe spot if Magenta loses. But would they really not have that verbal "closure" for her and Alec right? I think she reaching merge but only that. In Danger Ellie: Yeah funny seeing that dig at Jake but it not going win her any points and I think she is in trouble if Cyan loses the next elimination challenge. Especially if the truth of her plan is revealed Ally: I don't think she going next, absolutely not. But she is only a member of an alliance and not the leader. So I think she making merge but her days after that are numbered. No Chancers Gabby: Hey Gabby can you get a storyline? You're going to get Lake'd if you don't. Riya: Conner is gone, and this means your safety net is gone. Yul: Oh this is going to be an absolute mess when this blows up, and it'll be glorious. Grett: I should be putting her before Yul, I should as it not looking as immediately dire as it once was. But they are going to do her nasty and have her go before him aren't they? Damn shame. Elimination Conner: I should have stayed true to my initial guess that he was getting backstabbed. I would've been right! But rose tinted glasses made me think of he getting story, he definitely going further than I initially thought. But no, no he wasn't. He could revive, that is on the table. But that is an if, and do I see him going into finals if he revives .... I don't think so. Speaking of ... Revival: Based off these 5, I think Lake would be a good choice to give an actual plot to. Miriam and James would only be there to further the Jake and Aiden feud so I think it would be a bit of a waste. Hunter could come back to finalize that storyline but if he comes back he is getting eliminated especially if it is a double elimination. Last Episode | Next Episode

[netherworldwritersguild]

Did You Always Want To Be A Detective? #SnipSun

 Anthology:

For the Love of Winter

Anthology Genre:

Holiday Romance

Buy Link:

https://books2read.com/b/baqw6y

Publication Date:

December 6, 2023

Ebook Price:

$3.99 (Amazon pre-order)

Book Blurb:

Bake your cookies, light some candles, trim your trees, and be enchanted with thirteen sweet-to-spicy Chanukah, Christmas, and New Year's novellas that will sweep you from colonial days to contemporary times—each bearing a gift of happily-ever-after grand finales. This joyous collection is...

A Winter Mating by Lia Davis. He returns to Willow Glen with one goal, to claim his mate. Convincing her that she belongs to him will be his toughest challenge, but he's not above using seduction to get what he wants.

One Night at Christmas by Danica Winters. As the busy owner of a veterinary clinic, Emily Avery always has her hands full of puppies but empty of the one thing she really isn't sure she wants anyway—a man. When the kind-hearted Derek Night makes an emergency call to help his mom's naughty pup, they both must step outside of their shells and let the magic of Christmas and one mischievous pup bring them together.

The Christmas Crash by Tessa Lyons. Sparks fly when a relentless optimist and a grieving veterinarian are snowed in together at Christmas. Can they rediscover the magic of the season and find love in the most unexpected place?

His Christmas Date by Sara J. Walker. In this heartwarming story of seasoned romance, Dino Dudley and Hilde McQuire must navigate family drama and their own emotional baggage to find true love.

Jordyn's Christmas Gift by Marie Morton. Jordyn Billings, a busy marketing executive, is gifted a holiday getaway to Chateau D'Or by her family, where she discovers an unforgettable and life-changing Christmas gift.

Four Chanukahs and a Wedding by Merrie Angel. Widowed and alone in 1973, Millie explores a professional photographer's life, and stumbles upon Adam--an insatiable adventure seeker related to Jackie Kennedy. Will they find a way to ignite a flame that burns far beyond Millie's expectations and set ablaze their own festival of lights?

Recipe for Romance by Gloria Ferguson. Ashley McClain wants to win the Holiday Bake-Off with her late mom's cupcake recipe. Can she join forces with her friend and neighbor to claim the prize and a bit of romance just in time for Christmas?

Before the Rising Sun by V.L. Czerny. Their romance blighted at a colonial ball, Gertrude and Nicholas, forgetting their past acquaintance, are maneuvered by the Christmas spirit to set love loose and so refashion time's expected plans.

Unexpected Angels by C.L. Hart. Sometimes the best things come together when everything is falling apart.

Christmas Market Magic by Tessie Benton. Sydney Hawthorne hires an escort for a business date, but he's not what he appears to be, and their mutual deception sparks desire while careers hang in the balance.

A Merry White Christmas by Sally Murphy. Merry London, tasked with organizing an opulent Christmas ball for the McPhersons, faces an unexpected challenge in the form of Joel McPherson, whose fiery charm threatens to melt her icy exterior and unravel her meticulously laid plans.

Lavender and Love Restored by M.J. Gates. Chief architect Jess Carlson is restoring a haunted historic hotel and helping a friendly spirit while reclaiming her life and love before the hotel's grand reopening on New Year's Eve.

Marry Me by Midnight by Leah Miles. Navy SEAL Kendall Nelson can't manage a successful proposal, and single mom Luisa Sanchez has no time for romance.

Proceeds benefit the First Coast Romance Writers, an independent non-profit organization helping writers hone their craft and expand their knowledge of the publishing industry.

Snippet

Read the previous snippet here. 

http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com/2023/11/his-new-friend-mfrwhooks.html

Macario climbed into the car. As the men set off into the pounding rainstorm, Pika waved to them. The speed Dom drove would normally not have worried Macario, but he could hardly see the road ahead.

“I’ve never heard of Snowman Railways before,” Macario said, trying to distract himself from the velocity of the vehicle.

“Only elves and snowbirds have,” Dom laughed. “So, an FBI agent. Fascinating! Did you always want to be a detective, or did you fall into the profession?”

About the Author:

C. L. Hart, the owner and sole employee of Naughty Netherworld Press, is spoken of in hushed tones. She is described as The Mad Scribe of the Northeastern Colorado Plains, The Terrible Old Woman, and The Author That Should Not Be.

When not penning sanity-destroying works of dystopian fiction, Lovecraftian fantasy, or old-school horror with the occasional sweet romance thrown in to upset the cosmic apple cart, Ms. Hart enjoys creating baked goods she hopes will be considered palatable.

Ms. Hart shares a home in a remote rural town of 134 souls with her adult son and three cats. Her sense of fashion is best described as Early Twenty-First Century Unmade Bed. This disabled former nurse can usually be found arguing with herself about subplots or rehabilitating eldritch horrors.

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[thesoulofasurvivor]

The Last of Us Episode 9 FINALE + season review

this entire post is of strictly my personal opinions only, just a disclaimer. I only speak for myself. Another very entertaining episode, there are many scenes that hold so true to the game and those scenes I appreciate.

But I gotta be honest. I'd be lying if I gave Season 1 more than at best a 6/10 rating.

SPOILERS BENEATH THE CUT!! long post warning ahead

Episode 9: we get the giraffe scene, it's very lovely and so goddamn sweet. I love the interactions we finally get between Ellie and Joel, just pure Ellie and Joel content finally, just the two of them with nothing interrupting, plus, we got to see Ellie's mom; it was so great to see Ashley on screen! And wow, they actually blessed us with one single infected. But again... Boy was this ever ridiculously rushed. They spent $500,000 on making a bloater suit and used it once for 3 minutes. Ellie is telling jokes and bam so suddenly the screen goes black and they're already in the hospital. It just happened so goddamn fast I could physically feel the rushing time limit of the episode that was only 42 minutes. Don't lie to yourself. It says 44 minutes but we all know that intro sequence is at least a minute and a half long lol 😂 even my mom was like ?? oh uh, okay... everybody is dead okay, show over. Even SHE acknowledged how rushed this was. The hospital scene was, despite my criticism, done well, it was great. They ended the show how they ended the game, I believe that was beautiful! Though I do admit, I wish we got a glimpse of Abby mourning her father to give the audience that feeling of, "omg, what's going to happen next?"

I support Joel's decision. I don't care what anybody says. The Fireflies wanted to murder a 14 year old child for an "I think," they wanted to kill her thinking they could make a cure from ONE try at it? Nah. That's not how it works. There are many ways an intelligent doctor could have gone about it to keep her alive while running tests and experiments. Vaccines and cures and shit aren't made from ONE try. Killing the person with the antibodies you want is literally so dumb and no one can ever convince me otherwise. #TeamJoel. I love you Marlene but oof. They literally said it's like... Cells or some shit. They can just extract the stuff without killing her. I dunno, I just think it's dumb.

Anyways, I am not going to say anything more about tonight's episode. Why did I rate the show 6/10? I don't hate it, I don't think it's terrible or bad. But I do feel very disappointed and like it was severely lacking. It could have been so much more, clearly, because what we did get is in fact absolutely amazing.

Their biggest enemy is time. They rushed it, and they rushed it badly. They cut corners, they basically strictly took cutscenes from the game and that was the show, which I personally believe is just... Lazy. The story is more than just the game's cutscenes. We get so much wholesome content that happens during the gameplay. Like Ellie's admittance to a fear / dislike of fairies!

The acting? Goddamn, flawless, the actors' performances were amazing and nobody fell short. The visuals? The scenery? The infected? Absolutely gorgeous, breathtaking. They DO stay true to the game for so much of the show, some things they executed better than the game, the music, the audios, it's all so well done.

But the rushing really brings it down for me. They rushed it just far too much, and they made the world so safe it barely feels like a "zombie" apocalypse (and I say "zombie" loosely because the infected aren't such). Joel and Ellie travel hundreds of miles and... I guess just, barely any trouble whatsoever. Marlene asking how they travelled "all this way" and making it sound like some big feat? Really wasn't earned in the show in my opinion as it was in the game. Of course they made it all that way, there was very little trouble along the way.

The infected feel very unimportant. I'm left asking... What's the point of Ellie's immunity? What's the point in the Fireflies quest to find a "cure" ?? The infected aren't really much of a threat, it seems pretty easy to avoid them altogether. I've seen people calling The Last of Us an apocalypse that would be relatively easy to survive based on the show due to the fact that you just rarely ever seem to encounter infected or other hostile survivors.

And yes I can understand they seem to have made the infected "more dangerous" and they don't want to "flood every episode with infected," but there's a difference between overdoing it and... Just having zero infected altogether. If you search up, they say over 60% of the population is either dead or infected... Well in the show it seems like they're just all dead rather than infected.

They changed the lore of the game, they changed it completely, and then did absolutely nothing with the new lore. I still honestly barely know anything about the new lore because they really didn't show us anything about it. Not once, NOT ONCE, did we see any character enter a building or any location with the living fungus tendrils where they have to avoid touching it or whatever.

The show is just far too rushed for me to give it anything more than a 6/10. They seriously missed a lot, they cut way too many corners and they made the world seem too safe, and in my opinion, they reduced the threat levels of the infected. Who cares if they are more "crazy" if you barely ever see them?

I really enjoyed it, it was entertaining and it was nice to have those moments of pointing at the screen and going "omg that's from the game!" and if they release it on dvd, guess what? I'm buying it. But it was rushed. Too many cut corners. World is too safe. They went from one extreme to the other; too many infected to practically zero infected... There is infact this thing called middle ground, but I personally feel they just skipped to the extreme of practically zero and that was that.

I absolutely do recommend the show. But... Do I recommend it over just watching the game on youtube? Probably not... If someone said, hey I wanna know the story but I will only watch the show or watch the game on youtube, what one do I watch? I'd tell them to watch the game on youtube, and then if they love it enough, THEN watch the show.

Thank you to everybody who actually reads these! Again, all of this is personal opinion of me myself and I, I speak for nobody but myself.

[dollycas]

Essentials of Murder: An Aromatherapy Apothecary Mystery by Kim Davis #Review / #Giveaway - Great Escapes Book Tour @Kookiesandbooks

Essentials of Murder: An Aromatherapy Apothecary Mystery by Kim Davis About Essentials of Murder This book was originally released on September 8, 2021. I reviewed it on January 5, 2022. It has now been re-released with more books in the series to come. I have reposted my review below. Essentials of Murder: An Aromatherapy Apothecary Mystery Cozy Mystery 1st in Series Setting - California Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harbor Lane Books, LLC. (September 24, 2024) Print length ‏ : ‎ 283 pages Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DD3W1XPJ After a scandalous arrest in San Francisco, Carissa Carmichael has moved back to her small Southern California hometown to start over as she opens her Aromatherapy Apothecary shop and reflexology services. A tourist destination, Oak Creek Valley, seems the perfect place to put the past behind her, but it seems no one will let her forget. When she finds the man who threatened to drive her out of business murdered in her shop, Carissa becomes the primary suspect, especially when her fingerprints are found on the murder weapon. Despite her father’s position as Oak Creek Valley’s chief of police, most townspeople assume she’s guilty. Refusing to run again, Carissa knows she must prove her innocence to save her shop and save her father’s career when the investigating detective turns his focus on her. With suspects acting as slippery as the essential oils she distills, it’s up to Carissa to apply pressure and sniff out the truth before it’s too late. Includes essential oil and reflexology tips. Dollycas's Thoughts Carissa Carmichael returns home after leaving San Francisco in hopes of leaving her recent past behind. With the support of family and friends, she strives to open an aromatherapy and reflexology shop but before she can even host her grand opening she finds a dead body right next to her distilling equipment and her fingerprints are the only ones on the murder weapon. Her chief of police father is forced off the case and the new lead detective feels his investigation is easy because he is convinced she is the killer. She now knows it is essential to catch the killer herself or to get rubbed out permanently. Kim Davis excels in creating multifaceted characters that readers are drawn to almost immediately. Take Carissa, she has a bit of a checkered past that has probably given her father some gray hair, and in the San Francisco case, a situation that could come back to bite him in the future. She did make a great friend and mentor in Mari Kemp while there and Mari has come to town too now to help her open her shop. Cari also reconnects and hires a friend from high school who is a marketing whiz but she needs more help than just the job. Ashley is a character that really grabbed me and I can't wait to see her life hopefully change in positive ways.  We are introduced to a couple of possible romantic interests, a jerk detective, and other interesting residents of the California small town too. All are well-crafted, essential to the plot, and interesting in their own ways. I really enjoy the way Ms. Davis tells a story. This mystery was filled with twists and turns. The victim really had issues that served up a nice list of possible suspects. The detective had ulterior motives that really tested everyone involved. Some strange land deals play into the mix and Cari tries to so be a good friend to many while trying to follow her dad's orders to stay safe. The dialogues between the cast are both dynamic and true to life. But it is her delightful descriptive writing style that really makes her story so enjoyable. She can set a scene that paints a vivid picture in your mind while never being overly wordy. She seems to weigh each word and phrase carefully to really make them count. Readers can tell she did her research and knows her theme. The information she imparts about essential oils is so well presented. You can almost smell them too. You can't have a Kim Davis cozy mystery without some emphasis on food and let me tell you, all the trips Carissa made to the bakery down the street had me virtually adding pounds to my own body. Then again they could be actual pounds because she includes the recipe for Jasper's Triple Chocolate Rolls in the back of the book. She also includes an Aromatherapy Basic Care Guide that I found very helpful and renewed my interest in essential oils. This series is off to a marvelous start with Essentials for Murder. I can't wait for book #2. Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent About Kim Davis Kim Davis writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series, and the middle-grade fantasy adventure The Board Game Chronicles series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of magazines. Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Southern California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she's not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, working on her blog, Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share. Author Links: Website  Facebook    Twitter (X)     Goodreads     Pinterest Purchase Links:  Amazon      Barnes & Noble     Apple     Other Online Book Retailers Also written by Kim Davis This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas. Great Escapes Praise for Essentials of Murder: An Aromatherapy Apothecary Mystery by Kim Davis Great setting and a strong mystery pulled me in and I finished it in a day and a half. Highly recommend, and I’m looking forward to book two! ~Sarah Can't Stop Reading Books There's more to ESSENTIALS OF MURDER than meets the eye making it a solid start to an enjoyable new series. ~Cozy Up With Kathy Essentials of Murder is a fragrant tale with an angry neighbor, distilling oils, cruel vandals, finding an old friend, a protective father, a determined detective, and a killer conclusion. ~The Avid Reader TOUR PARTICIPANTS - Please visit all the stops.  September 24 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT September 24 – Deal Sharing Aunt – SPOTLIGHT September 24 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT September 24 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT September 25 – Christy's Cozy Corners – SPOTLIGHT September 25 – Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense – SPOTLIGHT September 25 – Sarah Can't Stop Reading Books – REVIEW September 25 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT September 26 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW September 26 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT September 26 – Guatemala Loves to Read – CHARACTER GUEST POST September 26 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW September 27 – Angel's Book Nook – AUTHOR INTERVIEW September 27 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW September 27 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT September 28 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT September 28 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW* September 28 – The Mystery of Writing – SPOTLIGHT September 28 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT September 29 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT September 29 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT September 30 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT September 30 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT September 30 – Boys' Mom Reads! – REVIEW September 30 – Reading Is My SuperPower – AUTHOR GUEST POST a Rafflecopter giveaway Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today! Want to Book a Tour? Click Here Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” “As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.”   Read the full article

[minemorse]

Aiden Hills Academy pt.1 (Zayne's Story)

“Was it really real? That kind of vampire, werewolf, and siren?”

My father chuckled. “Yes, that's true. When in high school I befriended them.”

“But everyone always said it was just folktales.”

“Everyone just can't accept the truth. You know what Isaacs Newton said? What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean.”

That's what I always remembered about my father.

After his mysterious death, in his will he wanted me to move from my public school to this private boarding school, Aiden Hills Academy. He said it can make me know more about myself. I don't know what he means, my mother already passed before I was 5, so I'm just alone now.

The taxi stopped in front of the black gate. I take out my belongings and a girl greets me. She was the most beautiful girl that I ever saw.

“Hi, you must be Ashley. I'm Adria, a head girl here. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” I shaked her hand and she helped me to take my belongings. After she showed me my shared room with the girl with the glasses. I think she was a bookworm when i saw so many books near her bed.

“Adria,” another girl poked her head into the room. “Rafayel got injured, he's in the clinic now.”

“Why did something happen to him, someone always told me?”

“He said, he wants you know.”

After that girl leaves, Adria talks to me, “Maybe before we explore our school, I'll show you the clinic.”

…

When we arrived there, Adria nagged that purple haired young man named Rafayel who was lying in bed with some bruises on his face. While Adria and Rafayel started an argument, I saw the wolf sleeping on the other bed. Male, with the black hair. I'm slowly approaching the wolf. I realized that the wolf got injured too. I pat the head slowly and rub the hair. I hope the wolf gets better. Suddenly the wolf’s eyes opened and looked at me. His hazel eyes hypnotized me.

“Ashley, let's go!”

I pat his head for the last time and follow Adria out.

…

“Hey, are you easy to fall asleep?” Ask Adria after we explore the entire school. I can't believe they had forests, lakes and little mountains here.

“I sleep easily but I easily wake up if I hear something. Why?”

“I hope you can help me by watching over Gretta, your roommate.”

“What's wrong with her?”

“Sometimes we found her sleepwalking at night. But when we asked this to her, she said she had never been sleepwalking before.”

“Okay, I'll watch her.”

…

Like what Adria said, I woke up that night because I heard my door open. I saw Gretta walk outside our room. Quickly I took my jacket and chased her outside.

“Gretta!” I tried to call her but she keep walking until I saw a figure a man at the end of corridor. That figure opened his arm like he will catches Gretta.

“Gretta, wake up!” Now Gretta in his arm, still closed her eyes and helpless.

I should call Adria. I turn around and start running, but I can't move. It was like something invisible hold my move. I almost cry when I see the hazel eyes in the dark watching me, and I hear the footstep aproaching me. That wolf in the clinic look at me back.

A second later that wolf changed to be young man with long dark hair. His uniform convince me, he was a student here. He was so handsome. The most handsome man I ever see.

“Let her go!”

Now I feel can move, but my knees are weakened.

“Oh, is she yours?” the figure's voice sounds mocking him.

“It's none of your business.” he said coldly.

This tension make me slowly unconscious. I feel I will drop myself to the floor. But a warm hand catches me and before I faint, I hear he whispers in my ear, “Good to see you, my mate.”

Fin.

[sapphire-weapon]

Hi! Sorry if this counts as shitstirring... But you got me thinking... Do you really think that someone really needs to play the games in order to fully understand the story? Or is watching them and reading up on them enough? Thanks, and sorry!!!

Don't be sorry. This is a valid question that deserves an honest answer.

There's nuance to this. This isn't just a simple "yes or no" question.

Do I think that you need to play the games to understand the story? No, I don't. Resident Evil's story is not difficult (though, you'd never know that, looking at the fandom). It's very easy to watch the games and movies, go "ok I got it", and move on.

Do I think that you need to play the games to be considered an authority on the canon? 100%, absolutely. And I'll tell you why.

We spend a lot of time talking about narrative direction and storytelling devices and the use of tropes and cinematography here on this blog, but the one thing that we really need to keep in mind at all times is that Resident Evil is a game first and a story second. This has been the design philosophy since the series's conception. This is why RE4 OG's story was slapped together in three weeks. This is why RE5 was the way that it was. This is why RE7 is what RE7 turned out to be.

The narrative of Resident Evil is not something that exists separately or divorced from its gameplay. In fact, the opposite is true. RE's story is not only influenced by its gameplay, it actually -- in some cases -- is directly written as a result of its gameplay.

I've talked about the story behind RE4's development before, but.

Was RE6's story borderline incomprehensible, and did it jump approximately sixteen sharks? Yes. Was that the main reason why RE6 failed? Absolutely fucking not. Not even close.

RE6 turned out the way that it did because RE6 was developed and released during a time in which the biggest moneymakers in the AAA game space were brown & bloom multiplayer shooters. Capcom wanted in on that gravy train.

RE5 sought to take the award-winning formula that RE4 developed and add a multiplayer element to it in order to initially chase that trend, and RE5 for a very long time was the highest-selling Resident Evil title ever made.

Capcom looked at that and took it to mean that it was RE5's added multiplayer element that made it so successful. They weren't exactly wrong, either. RE5, for a lot of people, was like a version of RE4 that you could play with your friends.

Wesker was not killed in RE5 because Capcom thought it was an appropriate time narratively to kill him. Wesker's death was a symbolic one -- it was the death of the "old" Resident Evil -- the death of the slow, plodding, single player experience that the entire AAA industry had convinced themselves was no longer viable monetarily and not what players wanted. This was especially true for RE, after the unprecedented success of the more action-focused RE4 changed the entire third person shooter genre forever.

By the time we reach RE6, Capcom is all on on this. Three campaigns, all with co-op, all of which play differently. Chris's story is what Chris's story is in RE6 because Capcom knew that most players were probably going to reach for his campaign first, considering he was the protagonist of the most recent release and, therefore, the most recognizable to players who maybe weren't necessarily super familiar with RE. They specifically wanted Chris's campaign to feel like a traditional third person shooter in order to get new players hooked, because Capcom was convinced that that's what a majority of gamers at the time in general wanted.

Leon's story is what Leon's story is in RE6 because it was designed specifically to cater to people who loved RE4 and would reach for him first over Chris. So, they gave Leon a female partner (Helena in place of Ashley) and a slower, more traditional horror setting (while still being action-oriented), and they tried to kill two birds with one stone by having Ada running around and also being the damsel in distress, so to speak, to replicate the "save the princess" plotline from RE4.

But the biggest issue with all of this was that it turned the design philosophy of the game into "how can we sell this?" over trying to just make a good horror game -- and it showed. Capcom cut a hell of a lot of corners in terms of pacing and level design and enemy design and enemy variety in favor of focusing on the combat system (which was never adequately explained and had its nuances lost on approximately 80% of the playerbase), the netcode, and making the game's story as easy to consume and digest as possible while chasing specific market trends.

RE6 didn't go super hard on Aeon because the writing staff was just so ~dedicated to the ship~. RE6 went hard on Aeon because they wanted Leon to look heroic and save the girl just like he did in RE4 but didn't want to create another Ashley after how universally hated she was. Knowing that is how I say so confidently that Remake is retconning Aeon -- it's because the ship itself was never the point. They used it as a gameplay contrivance that they thought would help sell RE6, and it blew up in their faces. So now they're trying something new.

The actual experience of playing Resident Evil 6 was downright miserable to a vast majority of the fanbase because it was a soulless, hackneyed mess that didn't even have the decency to bother giving itself a spooky atmosphere. It was an uninspired series of long hallways filled with bullet sponge enemies and literally nothing else.

So, when the story was stupid and fan favorites like Leon felt like they got screwed over on top of all of that because the same design philosophy of "make this as mass marketable as possible" bled into the story from the gameplay, that was just the shit icing on the shit cake.

People probably would have been much more forgiving of RE6's story if the game design itself was better. Or, conversely, people would've been much more forgiving of RE6's game design if the story was super compelling.

But RE6 was neither.

And so RE7 was Capcom's way of trying to re-learn how to do pacing, level design, and atmosphere. The gameplay was the most important thing. That's why they didn't even bother using the legacy characters and created Ethan and the Bakers. The legacy characters would've been a distraction. They had to fix things one step at a time: gameplay first, story second.

That's why RE7 is RE7 and why we have only seen Leon in CGI movies and not games since 6 (Remakes not withstanding). RE7 fixed the gameplay, and Vendetta, ID, and DI served to reconfigure and redefine Leon's character, and I'm more than sure that they're going to try to finally blend those things together in RE9.

And if you don't play the fucking games, and if you don't fucking understand how the games industry works, you're not going to have any of that fucking context going into your meta analysis.

That's why braindead motherfuckers in this fandom look at that stupid remark made about how the one director thought that Leon and Ashley holding hands during RE4make's gameplay made them look "too close" and they read way too much into it -- it's because the spoken words of the directors are all they have to go off of, and they don't realize what a bad gameplay decision having Leon and Ashley hold hands would have been.

If you don't play the fucking game, you don't know that the half-second it takes for Leon to switch from his knife to his gun can mean the difference between taking a hit or not -- and so you would have no reason to think of how annoying it would be to add yet another half-second delay to Leon drawing his gun if he had to disengage from Ashley first. If you fuck with the normal gameplay loop with something that only happens when Ashley is with you, it will make the player start to resent Ashley, and that's the opposite of what the devs wanted to do -- which is what the fucking conversation in the interview was about in the first place!

That is far more likely the reason why the handholding was cut. And while that decision was being made, it was probably pointed out that having them hold hands made it look like they were on a date -- and that's absolutely not the tone/atmosphere that this game was going for. That is far more likely what was meant by "too close."

It had nothing to do with ensuring that the players perceived Leon and Ashley's relationship as platonic. It had everything to do with tone and atmosphere and the pacing of the normal gameplay loop. It's just that "*juts a thumb in his direction* This guy thought it made them look too close" was a way fucking easier explanation of what they probably thought was a really fucking unimportant anecdote about a character animation that didn't matter.

But if you don't play the games, you won't know that.

If you don't play the games, Word of God is all you have to go on. That's why people who don't play the games insist on all Word of God being explicit canon. It's because they can't use the games themselves as a baseline -- and that gives them a skewed, fucked up perspective of what Resident Evil is trying to do and be and accomplish.

This kind of shit is constantly in my head when I'm writing my meta and trying to predict where a game's story will go next.

I pull my meta directly from the games, because that is what Resident Evil is. It is a series of games that are trying to be good games first and interesting stories second.

And if you don't understand that, you have no business calling yourself an authority on the canon.

[wordsnstuff]

Guide to Writing Dark Fantasy

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

–

What Is “Dark” Fantasy?

Dark Fantasy subscribes to the tropes and conventions of fantasy, while mixing in elements of the horror, thriller, and sometimes dystopia. Loosely, the magical elements of fantasy take a gloomier, more frightening turn. Dark fantasy is not simply “fantasy, but make it sexy or gory”. (I’m talking to those who cite Game of Thrones as an example of the genre.)

Yes, a lot of authors choose to incorporate heavier subject matter into dark fantasy stories, but things like rape and copious amounts of gore and death are not genre-defining. Darkness exists in every adult story, even if it’s only in symbolism, but the darkness in this sub-genre specifically persists throughout each scene and coats every element. This includes character development, plot development, world building, etc. 

Death Still Has to Mean Something

Something you have to understand about dark fantasy is that death can be a tool, but the nature of the genre shouldn’t make it any less impactful. When a side character or an extra gets killed, it should affect the reader emotionally, even if death is very common. If the death isn’t going to surprise them, it should unease or upset the reader. Death should never serve the purpose of filling space. 

Incorporate The Horrific

A lot of dark fantasy authors and writers have trouble or fail to incorporate the dark elements in a rounded, even manner. A lot of authors go for the “show the reader something undoubtedly tragic or traumatizing and the tone will endure” or the “if I sporadically kill characters for no apparent reason throughout the plot, the reader will stay disturbed and none will be the wiser”. 

The Villain Is The Key

The antagonist must be complex and compelling, and you have to use them well. Dark fantasy is a genre which depends on a fantastic villain or antagonist. It’s wise to create an antagonist whom the reader can understand, but who is severely misguided or obviously facing their own demons. Stories with a standard “I’m evil because my mommy didn’t love me” or “The world has been unkind to me so let there be fire” villain is outdated and, at this point, you have all the opportunity in the world to do better. 

If there’s one place where you should invest your creativity, make it the antagonist. 

The Darkness Is In Everything

Incorporating horrific things into fantasy is what makes this genre, true, but it has to be a consistent effort and an author must play the long-game. The darkness has to penetrate your word choice, the way you deliver new information in the text, the way you build up to important events, etc. The horror shouldn’t just spurt out every couple of chapters. You want to create a dark atmosphere, and an atmosphere must stretch beyond one or two scenes here and there.

Flawed vs. Unlikeable

This is a major downfall of a lot of dark fantasy works. It’s difficult to create a character whose flaws are so integral to the storytelling without making them unlikeable, but if you don’t toe this line carefully, your readers will put the story down. Yes, the character must be flawed and complex, and there are no heroes in the situation, but if there’s nobody to have hope for, then the reader will abandon the story. Nobody wants to sit and watch something that is sad and frustrating for the sake of depressing themselves. Well, some do, but not enough to convince someone there’s a market for your story.

Common Struggles

~ How do you craft a dark fantasy ending?... Not all pessimistic stories have to have a pessimistic ending. You can give your characters a positive outcome (or even just somewhat positive) without sacrificing the work you’ve done to maintain the genre’s tone and message. Most dark fantasy is about topics that are larger than the story itself, such as equality (in many aspects), existence, freedom vs. security, society vs. individuality, etc. Dark fantasy tends to branch off from the typical fantasy in terms of messaging because incorporating darker aspects of reality forces the reader to face harsher truths. Make your ending about what you want the reader to walk away with, and you should have no problem figuring out how to do it. 

~ How do you warn readers of possible triggers in non-fanfiction works?... Simply put, market your story honestly. Disclose any especially dark elements, and when advertising on platforms such as social media, perhaps provide an official disclaimer. The manner in which you warn readers of possible triggers is up to your own and whatever marketing team you have’s discretion.

~ How do you research dark topics while writing?... With purpose, caution, and practicality. I see a lot of posts that cover very tiny details that may go into fantasy, and while I encourage research of all kinds for every genre, I think fantasy is one where writers can get so caught up in getting every minute detail researched and recorded that they get burned out with their own ideas before they even put pen to paper. Research what you missed, then find holes as you write, and then do the rest of the research for the second draft once you’re finished with the first. Avoid burnout that comes with extensive research beforehand.

~ How do common fantasy tropes interact with darker aspects of the sub-genre?... There’s a lot of ways you can mix typical fantasy with typical horror/thriller and come out with dark fantasy. The main fantasy characteristics that persist in dark fantasy are setting and the way magic systems are executed in the story. Secondly, I see a lot of similarities in general world building. Where it deviates, I think, is in character development, plot structure, plot development, and messaging. The smaller events tend to be more mature, the character arcs turn more raw, the characters themselves are more flawed, and the plot develops in a much less linear fashion. The messages are heavier because the content is heavier. 

Other Resources

Resources For Fantasy/Mythology Writers

20 Mistakes To Avoid in Fantasy

Guide to Writing Fantasy

Guide to Story Researching

Commentary on Social Issues In Writing

On Writing About Sensitive Topics

Resources For Writing Royalty

Dark Quotes & Prompts

Angst Prompts

31 Days of Character Development : May 2018 Writing Challenge

Suspenseful Prompts

Sad Prompts

31 Days of World Building : August 2018 Writing Challenge

31 Days of Plot Development : January 2019 Writing Challenge

31 Days of Horror : October 2019 Writing Challenge

Resources For Creating Characters

Giving Your Protagonists Negative Traits

Writing Good Villains

Showing Vulnerability Without Death

Giving Characters Flaws

Creating Villains

Flipping Character Traits On Their Head

“Male characters are more relatable”

Tips on Character Motivations

Tips on Character Consistency

Resources For Plot Development

Guide To Plot Development

How To Write A Good Plot Twist

How To Foreshadow

Plot Structures

Describing Setting

Resources For Worldbuilding

Guide To Political World Building

Creating Diverse Otherworld Characters

Tips on Creating Magic Systems

Tips on Introducing Political Backstory

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : High Middle Ages & Renaissance

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1600s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1700s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1800s

Tips on Writing Fight Scenes

Tips on Writing Chase Scenes

How To Make The Journey Interesting

Tips For Horror Writers

Tips on Writing Pyschological Thrillers

10 Mistakes to Avoid in Horror

–

Masterlist | WIP Blog

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[asweetprologue]

Nili’s Benchmark Geraskier Fic Rec List

hey yall! I officially hit 750 followers (a few days ago, I blew past the benchmark without even realizing!), which is... insane. I truly can’t believe that so many people over the last year have enjoyed my presence in this fandom enough to continue to follow my work. you guys are so great and I love you all so much, so I decided to put together a gift for you!

this is a list of my favorite geraskier fics from the fandom, which I have been putting together over the last year or so. a few of these are big in the fandom, but a lot of them are smaller pieces that I feel deserve more attention! I have provided ao3 and tumblr links where I could find them, as well as ratings and summaries. Most of these are canon!verse because I’m not personally a big fan of modern au’s, but there will be a few of those scattered throughout as well. I’ve divided the fics into two sections: oneshots and multichapter. See the list below the cut!

Being in this fandom truly has gotten me through the pandemic in a big way and I have made so many good friends while here. thank you all for validating my weird obsession with these characters and enabling me in these trying times <3

Oneshots

all that was good, all that was fair (all that was me is gone) | M | 7517 | WARNING: Graphic Depictions Of Violence | @xdandelionxbloomx

Somewhere, deep in a forest, a man drags himself from his grave by sheer power of will. He lies gasping on the forest floor and does not know who or what he is. The world is wide and wonderful, though, and there is so much to see.

Or, Jaskier is so stubborn that he literally comes back from the dead.

Another fascinating addition to the mythology of the Witcher. Jaskier’s slow rediscovery of himself is so well done here. One I’ve come back to again and again. 

As Fast As Love Can Go | T | 9628 | @bygodstillam

There are Faeries in the Wood.

That's what everyone said, at least, not that there was any solid proof. Jaskier had tried, more than once, to find some. Just a hint somewhere, of a real story, of real magic. But all anyone seemed to have was stories.

Jaskier was determined to find proof. He wasn't expecting to find a witcher in the process.

Fascinating fic with some really interesting worldbuilding, and a fresh new take on True Love’s Kiss. Also with some great art by @hehearse!

beautiful, he stirs up still things | T | 2575 | @alittlebitmaybe

“You’re not asking me to dance,” says Geralt.

Jaskier turns his palm up on his knee, offering it. “I think you’ll find I am.”

Just them dancing. This is a lovely sort of pre-relationship dynamic. So soft.

Dialogue Prompt | NR | 2932 | @reinvent-and-believe

Dialogue Prompt 48: “You make me want things I can’t have.” Wordless I-love-you 50: buying them a special treat when you go out shopping

Geralt gets Jaskier a gift, which prompts some confessions.

Even a small love | E | 22,272 | WARNING: Rape/Non-Con 

“Well,” Jaskier replies distractedly. “Lots of things want to strangle you.”

“You don’t.”

It isn’t a particularly troublesome accusation, or even necessarily an accusation at all.

This is one I read early on in the fandom, and it really stuck with me. The dynamic between Jaskier and Geralt is perfect, and the misunderstandings between them feel so realistic. The non-con is not extreme, but do mind the warnings. 

For the Space of a Heartbeat | T | 2021 | @drowningbydegrees

As it turns out, falling into bed with your very best friend who you are privately very much in love with isn't nearly so nerve wracking as waking up with them the morning after.

Just sweet, morning after discussions. I love to see them talking for once.

Greensleeves | T | 10,414 | @rebrandedbard

When Geralt crosses paths with Jaskier in the spring, the world is dressed in green. Quite literally. Everyone everywhere is wearing green, and it all comes down to a song Jaskier has written that, to his mortification, has become popular throughout the Continent. It's torment, being forced to preform the song over and over again and have his heart broken anew. But who is this Lady Greensleeves the people say Jaskier is so maddeningly, heartbrokenly in love with? At the baron's wedding party, Geralt is determined to find out.

This is one of my personal faves - there’s just something about Jaskier’s feelings being put on blast while Geralt remains totally oblivious that I think is so very them. And the resolution at the end is delightful.

I Don’t Wanna Fall (If It’s Not In Love) | E | 13,902 | @writinglizards

The first time it's out of desperation. Things get rapidly out of hand from there.

OR the building of a relationship through mutual wank sessions.

I love everything Ashley writes, but this one was the first fic I read by her and it still has a warm place in my heart. I also highly recommend It’s Been A While (makes me cry every time) and Tell Me Honestly

Like a Storm, Like a Flood | T | 1065 | @valdomarx

Jaskier is leaving for the winter, and Geralt can't bear the thought of not seeing him for months.

It was soooo hard to pick only one fic by George, but this one is so soft and sweet and yearning I just had to go with it. This is really just about Geralt finally hitting a breaking point and saying enough is enough.

one flesh | E | 10,763 | WARNING: MCD 

“Well, then. I’m a ghost.” Jaskier spread his arms grandly. Geralt held his gaze for a moment, then dropped his head and laughed. Jaskier put his hands on his hips. “Do fill me in on what’s so funny.” It wasn’t funny. It was just so - ridiculous, the things Geralt’s fucked up brain would invent. This had to be the last nail in the sanity coffin, it just had to be.

Or: Jaskier is a ghost, and Geralt is a mess.

Jaskier dies and comes back as a ghost to haunt Geralt into taking care of himself. Geralt does not handle this gracefully. This fic is so sad and heartbreaking, but the ending is so sweet.

to render it transparent | E | 23,901

Geralt wakes up warm, peaceful, and utterly content, which is how he knows that something is severely wrong.

Sigh. This fic. This is a time travel fic - Geralt ends up in the future living with Jaskier on the coast, just after the mountain. It’s slow and beautiful and extremely bittersweet, all about how we choose to love people despite how much it can hurt us.

With All the Continent A Stage | M | 4745 | @greyduckgreygoose

Later, Geralt learned that the play was four hours long. Four hours long. It didn’t feel like it. Most of it passed by in a fever dream of ominous music, dance-fighting and dryads in gossamer leaves, swinging from hoops attached to the ceiling. Yennefer made an appearance, played by Priscilla in a glittering negligee. She sang a song to Geralt about putting him “Under Her Spell”, and they had a sensual dance number which was made a little strange by a sickened Jaskier (played by Jaskier) coughing loudly in the background.

(Jaskier invites Geralt to a musical production inspired by his own life.)

Jaskier basically writes Geralt a love letter in the form of a four hour long play. Geralt is an idiot about it.

Multi-Chapter Fics

A Lover’s Lament | M | 25,364 | @somedrunkpirate

So,” Jaskier begins, as casually as he can, “you are telling me, that in theory, if I were to be in love with someone — anyone — that person could well be in terrible danger?”

Of all terrible and ridiculous things that have threatened Geralt’s safety, Jaskier’d never thought that loving him might be what will get him killed.

I honestly can’t count the number of times I’ve read this fic. The monster is so interesting, and the mythos of it fits seamlessly into the world of the Witcher in my mind. Jaskier being so afraid that his feelings are going to put Geralt at risk, clearly unable to see that Geralt is going through the exact same thing. I think about the scene with them looking at each other almost daily. 

A Pair of Gloves, the Scent of Roses | M | 24,134 | WARNING: Graphic Depictions of Violence

In the bustling days before the Midsummer festival, Geralt is sent into the countryside to deal with a monster - with Jaskier once again by his side. But the bard has not forgiven him, and while he's not hiding his contempt for the Witcher, he is recalcitrant about revealing his true motives for joining him. As the hunt turns into a desperate mission to save an innocent man and the monster is not what is seems to be, Geralt learns a few new things about his old friend and decides to finally attempt to mend the rift between them...

This is one of my favorite’s in the fandom - it feels so believable, the world is so rich and the oc’s are convincing and charming. Geralt and Jaskier feel so honest here, stumbling around each other but still drawn together. Beautiful beautiful beautiful

Bearing the will of the flower | NR | 11,449 

The way Jaskier sees it, his hobby of following a witcher around was always pretty likely to get him killed.

The fact that it's happening now because the witcher in question doesn't love him, he thinks as he coughs up crumpled flowers, hardly makes a difference.

My favorite hanahaki fic in the fandom. I’m such a sucker for these, and these two idiots being so incapable of talking about their feelings really makes them prime candidates. 

Food of Love | T | 22,488 | @wallatile-qvibbler

I brought a dead princess back to life through the power of song is the kind of thing that would have got an eyebrow raise even from the stone-faced Geralt of Rivia, so it's a good thing he and Geralt will probably never see each other again.

(or: the one where Jaskier channels magic through his songs, and it almost never goes as expected.)

This is a Jaskier and Renfri centric fic, which wasn’t something I knew I wanted until I read this. Jaskier is a bard which in this AU comes with magical powers, but it feels so well integrated into the universe that I wish it was just... how the Witcher is. Renfri is so good here, and even though Jaskier and Geralt barely even interact you can feel the tension and love between them. Cannot recommend highly enough.

friends and allies of the witcher | T | 10,312 | @theamazingbard

Yennefer crawls over to her newest cellmate. They’re curled up on their side. Breathing, but only just. She’s not sure what she’s hoping for when she turns them over. Still isn’t when she sees that it is indeed Jaskier.

“Shit."

Yennefer and Jaskier each suffer in more ways than one at the hands of Nilfgaard.

Yennefer and Jaskier get capture by Nilfgaard and tossed into a cell together. Exactly what I want out of season 2 honestly. Their interactions are gold.

I’d Be the Choiceless Hope | E | 45,188 | WARNING: Rape/Non-Con | @lesdemonium

As a baby, Jaskier was visited by a fae, who gifted Jaskier's mother with Jaskier's obedience. As Jaskier grew older, the "gift" became more of a curse.

You know I’m not gonna make a rec list without listing Zoe’s Ella Enchanted au. Need I say more?

Silver and Copper | M | 56,139 | WARNING: Graphic Depictions of Violence | @kaer-cuan

Geralt is just supposed to pass through the quiet Lettenhove area. He's not anticipating being begged by its people to help save their viscount from a curse that keeps him from daylight. Lord Jaskier, they call him, and he's likely dying.

As Geralt struggles to untangle the ugly web of history that has lead to the increasingly complicated curse, he finds himself spending more and more time with the strange young viscount and wondering just what he might have been before the curse, and who he might be after. But things are not always as they seem, and as the curse tightens its grip on Jaskier, Geralt is forced to face the fear of failing yet another person whose choices were stolen from them.

Or-

Jaskier is kept from becoming a bard. Geralt finds him anyway.

This is a fic that haunts me. It’s very scary in parts, and mind the tags - there are some very heavy themes here. But it’s beautiful and touching, and Jaskier feels very true to himself even though his origin is so different.

we could be married (and then we'd be happy) | E | 50,222 | @a-kind-of-merry-war

Jaskier reached into his pocket, fingers grasping around the little box. He pulled it out with what he hoped was a romantic flourish, flipping it open to reveal the simple gold band inside. “Geralt,” he said, confidently, cooly, like this wasn’t terrifying, “Will you marry me?”

Geralt and Jaskier fake marriage proposals to get free deserts and shit but it goes tits up when Vesemir catches them in the act. Not knowing how to fess up, they go along with it for a while, which is hell because they’re both pining like mad. As I said, I don’t love modern au’s, but it’s merry so of course this one had to end up on my list.

~

And that’s it! 20 fics for you, and hopefully you can all find one or two you haven’t read before. There are a lot of people and fics that I didn’t include in this list only because I was trying to not put a million down (which I could). I highly recommend anything by @wherethewordsare, @julek, @contemplativepancakes, @witcher-and-his-bard, and @inber, as well as those linked to fics above, and I’m sure there are others I forgot to mention. Yall have truly made being in this fandom worthwhile <3

[queenlucythevaliant]

Tomorrow is Another Day

Gone with the Wind was published in 1936. In the years that followed, it swept the world. Copies flew from the shelves. A film was released in 1939 starring Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable. It dazzled.

A year later, Susan and Lucy Pevensie went into town with the pocket money that Mrs. Macready had given them for candy or hair ribbons. (Professor Kirke had grown strangely indulgent towards the four children in recent weeks, so naturally his staff followed suit.) But instead of buying trinkets, the two girls pooled their money and came home with a paperback copy of Gone with the Wind. Something to get their mind off the past, Susan said when they passed Betty in the entry way.

Lucy read it first, voraciously. Twice, she was nearly caught reading it under the dinner table. Another time, she flouted her bedtime in order to stay up and finish a particularly engrossing section. After she finished it, Peter found her in tears in the Wardrobe Room. It took nearly five minutes for him to realize that she had simply gone in there to read, and that she was crying over Scarlett O’Hara rather than Narnia.

(“Oh Peter, I did so hope!”

“I know Lu, I know.”

“And even now, everything might still be alright in the end. But so much lost time!”

“I know it hurts. But here now, I thought we were all doing better? How about that book of yours?”)

She passed it off to Susan that night, careful not to give anything away. Susan read rather more slowly. She slogged through the first several chapters, until the Twelve Oaks barbeque. After that, she was hooked, but she still read slowly in order to savor the story. Several times, she shut the book abruptly and put it aside for days at a time, letting the story percolate in her mind.

“Did you like it?” Lucy asked when Susan had finished. She sat down beside her sister on the window seat and handed her a cup of tea.

“Yes,” said Susan, “and no. It was a complicated sort of story, don’t you think? The people were complicated.”

Lucy nodded. “Melly reminded me of you. How you used to be, I mean. Susan the Gentle; a great lady.”

“Not as naïve as Melanie, I hope,” Susan said pleasantly.

“Oh, I don’t think Melly was naïve. She gave people the benefit of the doubt, like you always did.”

Now Susan’s brow furrowed. She took a sip of her tea, then said, “I don’t think I would have stood by Scarlett all those years without ever realizing that she was after Ashley. Surely I was a better judge of character than that.”

“I don’t know,” said Lucy, “remember Rabadash?”

Susan objected strenuously to this characterization. “It didn’t take me ten years to understand his game! I knew he was a brute once I’d been in Calormen all of a week!”

“True,” Lucy said, “but then, Scarlett was no Rabadash.”

“But Ashley was dreadful too! And Melanie never realized that either.”

Lucy was losing ground. She drank her cup to the dregs, giving herself time to formulate a response.

“It’s like Rhett said. Melly was the only real great lady in the book. She was all heart.”

Susan’s nose wrinkled. “That wasn’t a compliment when Rhett said it.”

“I don’t think it was an insult. She wasn’t tough like Scarlett, but she was principled. Good and kind and gracious. She had a gift for hospitality. People looked up to her.”

Susan still wasn’t convinced, so Lucy made a final attempt. “I don’t mean to say that you’re only like Melly. I can’t imagine her as much of an archer, for example, or winning swimming trophies. But I can imagine you sacrificing your wedding ring if it was all you had to give (to a better cause, I would say—but that’s beside the point). And I can imagine you standing up for Scarlett  the way Melly did, gracious and poised but quietly unyielding.”

“Alright, alright, I understand.” Susan was thoughtful. “And I suppose I’m flattered by the comparison in a way. Melly’s greatest flaw was that she was too loyal, too forgiving maybe. There are much worse flaws to have.”

.

Susan rolled over in her bed and looked over at the still form of her sister in the other bed. “Lucy? Are you awake?” she whispered.

“I’m awake,” came Lucy’s voice a moment later.

“I’ve been thinking—” Susan began, then hesitantly said, “you know, Scarlett reminded me a little—a very little—of you. Scarlett at her best, I mean. Her courage.”

“Lucy the Valiant,” replied Lucy with a little laugh. “But Scarlett was so selfish! And she was beastly to Melly and her sisters. To all the men she married. She took Rhett for granted until it was too late. I don’t think courage makes up for all that.”

“Scarlett was strong,” replied Susan slowly. “No matter what came against her, she didn’t ever break. And she was a pillar of strength to the people around her, even if they never realized it.”

“But that doesn’t begin to justify—”

“No, of course not.” Susan had known that Lucy wouldn’t appreciate the comparison, but she wanted to make her point. “But it’s not about justifying. Someone has got to be the strong one. Someone has to gather up the courage and pass it off to everyone else. Most of us don’t know how, not intuitively. But Scarlett did. And so do you.”

“Oh Su, I don’t know about that.”

“I do.” Susan drew herself up on her elbow and looked squarely in Lucy’s eyes. “Peter drew his courage from you. You know that. I drew my faith, Edmund his confidence. You’re a well of strength, Lucy Pevensie, whether you realize it or not. You're brave and you're stubborn and you've got teeth like a lion. We followed you into Narnia, and once they’d put crowns on our heads we never really stopped.”

“Peter was High King. And Aslan. I followed Aslan,” Lucy protested.

“I know. I thought about Peter too. A few more days to tote the weary load… But when Scarlett collapsed on her bed, thinking of all the people who’d come before her… When she vowed before God not to let herself be beaten…Each time she looked hardship in the face and said 'tomorrow is another day'... Lucy, that was all you.”

.

“You wish you were more like Scarlett,” Lucy realized a few days later.

Susan looked down at her breakfast. “Maybe I do,” she said. “Maybe I wish—sometimes, I think I’m all air. Like one day, I might just float away. Especially now: I feel fragile. Transient. Like I don’t have enough courage or faith to hold my own self up, never mind anyone else. I think I’d be willing to be a little less good and kind if I could have a bit of Scarlett’s strength.”

“Well, that isn’t true. You're in no danger of floating away, Su.” Lucy put her hand on Susan’s and squeezed it. “You know, Melanie was strong in her own way. She supported Scarlett as much as Scarlett supported her. And she did it with poise and with kindness, unlike Scarlett.”

“Melanie would have died if Scarlett hadn’t delivered her baby or gotten her out of Atlanta. Fed her, taken care of her after the war. Provided for her…”

“Yes,” said Lucy, “and if Melly hadn’t stood by Scarlett through all of it, she’d have been an outcast. And she’d have been awfully lonely too.”

“Do you really think that having Melanie around made Scarlett less lonely?”

“I do.” Lucy polished off her tea, then licked around the rim of the cup to get the last bit of sugar off. She speared a sausage.

“More importantly, I think they were both better people for it. What is it Mr. Beaver would say? ‘Strength without kindness is cruelty; kindness without strength is foolishness.’ They made each other better.”

Susan nodded, pondering. “Scarlett never would have gone out wandering before dawn just to see the hills at sunrise.”

“And Melanie never would have picked up a shovel and spent four days digging after that dwarven mine collapse.”

“You’re right, of course. In more ways than one. We need each other, Lucy; now more than ever.”

Lucy grinned. “You be the gracious lady,” she said.

Susan laughed in response. “And you be the stubborn fighter. So long as we don’t fall in love with the same man, I think we’ll be okay.”

“Yes,” said Lucy. “We’ll be okay. After all, tomorrow is another day.”

[welcome-to-my-silly-life]

Okay, since I'm bored let's do Critical Role campaign 3 predictions! Possible spoilers of the first two campaign and of Exandria Unlimited ahead.

-Liam: cleric dwarf. Liam talked about the fact that he was playing through the principal classes of dnd (he played rogue, wizard, and fighter), so if he keeps up the tradition the only one missing is cleric. And I think that he may do something similar also with races (usually when talking about the archetipical party you heard about a human, an elf (in his case half-elf but it could still work), an hafling and a dwarf). Plus we haven't still seen any player playing a dwarf in the two main campaigns!

-Sam: wild sorcerer kenku. I'm not a dnd expert but for what I know this could possibly be two good choises for Sam. Also since is Liam taking the shots for him I think that making Sam playing a kenku could be an exellent way to mess with him and a very good challenge that he would appreciate (can you imagine him trying to imitate all the other charachers' accents during the first episodes?). And I'm sure that he would be able to change in his favour the eventual limits of the choice. We also now that Sam loves to bring chaos to the table, but he's also not afraid to commit to whatever lays on his way bad or good. And it's especially for this that i think that the randomness of the wild sorcerer could be very fun for him to explore. But also. If it happens that he's a dragonborn we can probabily expect one of his mid-campaign shocking revelations in which we discover that he's like the son of J'mon Sa Ord or something like that?

-Taliesin: warforged dunamancy wizard. I know we already had a wizard studying dunamancy, and maybe if there are other classes that feature dunamancy they could also be a choices, but I don't know them. Taliesin gives me the impression of be interested in trying new stuff (like in campaign two with the bloodhunter class) so he could be the right person of group to be still looking to explore dunamancy and the new addition of the warforged could bring to life a very interesting character both for his story and philosophy and also for the construction and abilities of it. Taliesin could give him the right amount of wierd not-totally human character out of his time.

-Marisha: artificier hafling (or gnoll or loxodon). Marisha can own a crafty and inventive character, she already showed us in the Darrington Brigade oneshot, and Hafling haven't been really chosen as characters' races until now (Exu escluded). But also I'm kinda hoping for a Marquet settings for campaign three, and I always had the impression that as a place it would have more of a middle-eastern/african vibe (I don't know, maybe that's just something that I want cause I think it could be very interesting). So that's why I included loxodon and gnoll between the choices, they could have the right vibe for that possible setting (especially loxodon, that has just became canon in Exandria).

-Ashley: rogue/bard tiefling. Heavy metal vibes perfect for her. I also took in consideration air genasi (I would pay for seeing her as a air genasi assassin with Fearne's vibes) but I tought that it could have some similarities with Yasha. She also seemed pretty impressed by the monk class and would do a perfect job as a wild sorcerer (we have seen how she likes to push the red buttons, like Travis).

-Laura: Paladin/Druid drow (or gnoll). We have seen her more roguish and charismatic side with Vex, and her chaotic and playful side with Jester, now I think we need to see her go feral. That would be a gift for the gays and the lesbians.

-Travis: bloodhunter/gunslinger firegenasi. I would love to see him play both of this class and seen that one wasn't very well explored and that with the passing of time guns could become more and more common, they would be both very possible choices in my opinion. The race is the one that brought me more doubt. I also thought about about humans, minotaurs and even firbolgs. But is the esthetic that convinced me. I mean can you imagine if Travis could make true his dream? Can you imagine werewolf on fucking FIRE????

[netherworldwritersguild]

     Anthology:

For the Love of Winter

Anthology Genre:

Holiday Romance

Buy Link:

https://books2read.com/b/baqw6y

Publication Date:

December 6, 2023

Ebook Price:

$3.99 (Amazon pre-order)

Book Blurb:

Bake your cookies, light some candles, trim your trees, and be enchanted with thirteen sweet-to-spicy Chanukah, Christmas, and New Year's novellas that will sweep you from colonial days to contemporary times—each bearing a gift of happily-ever-after grand finales. This joyous collection is...

A Winter Mating by Lia Davis. He returns to Willow Glen with one goal, to claim his mate. Convincing her that she belongs to him will be his toughest challenge, but he's not above using seduction to get what he wants.

One Night at Christmas by Danica Winters. As the busy owner of a veterinary clinic, Emily Avery always has her hands full of puppies but empty of the one thing she really isn't sure she wants anyway—a man. When the kind-hearted Derek Night makes an emergency call to help his mom's naughty pup, they both must step outside of their shells and let the magic of Christmas and one mischievous pup bring them together.

The Christmas Crash by Tessa Lyons. Sparks fly when a relentless optimist and a grieving veterinarian are snowed in together at Christmas. Can they rediscover the magic of the season and find love in the most unexpected place?

His Christmas Date by Sara J. Walker. In this heartwarming story of seasoned romance, Dino Dudley and Hilde McQuire must navigate family drama and their own emotional baggage to find true love.

Jordyn's Christmas Gift by Marie Morton. Jordyn Billings, a busy marketing executive, is gifted a holiday getaway to Chateau D'Or by her family, where she discovers an unforgettable and life-changing Christmas gift.

Four Chanukahs and a Wedding by Merrie Angel. Widowed and alone in 1973, Millie explores a professional photographer's life, and stumbles upon Adam--an insatiable adventure seeker related to Jackie Kennedy. Will they find a way to ignite a flame that burns far beyond Millie's expectations and set ablaze their own festival of lights?

Recipe for Romance by Gloria Ferguson. Ashley McClain wants to win the Holiday Bake-Off with her late mom's cupcake recipe. Can she join forces with her friend and neighbor to claim the prize and a bit of romance just in time for Christmas?

Before the Rising Sun by V.L. Czerny. Their romance blighted at a colonial ball, Gertrude and Nicholas, forgetting their past acquaintance, are maneuvered by the Christmas spirit to set love loose and so refashion time's expected plans.

Unexpected Angels by C.L. Hart. Sometimes the best things come together when everything is falling apart.

Christmas Market Magic by Tessie Benton. Sydney Hawthorne hires an escort for a business date, but he's not what he appears to be, and their mutual deception sparks desire while careers hang in the balance.

A Merry White Christmas by Sally Murphy. Merry London, tasked with organizing an opulent Christmas ball for the McPhersons, faces an unexpected challenge in the form of Joel McPherson, whose fiery charm threatens to melt her icy exterior and unravel her meticulously laid plans.

Lavender and Love Restored by M.J. Gates. Chief architect Jess Carlson is restoring a haunted historic hotel and helping a friendly spirit while reclaiming her life and love before the hotel's grand reopening on New Year's Eve.

Marry Me by Midnight by Leah Miles. Navy SEAL Kendall Nelson can't manage a successful proposal, and single mom Luisa Sanchez has no time for romance.

Proceeds benefit the First Coast Romance Writers, an independent non-profit organization helping writers hone their craft and expand their knowledge of the publishing industry.

Snippet

Read the previous snippet here. 

http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com/2023/11/a-little-gift-mfrwhooks.html

Macario gazed in wonder at the little globe, which contained a tiny train running from a little railroad station charmingly decorated for Christmas.

“I make these myself every year,” Pika said proudly.

“It’s beautiful,” Macario said, surprised at the lump in his throat and the tears springing to his eyes. “I apologize for my sudden display of emotion. I’m very touched—pleasantly so, mind you—that such kind people can still be found in an increasingly harsh world. Thank you, Pika. I’ll take you up on your offer.”

Giving the friend he’d met less than an hour ago a brotherly embrace, Macario hurried to the little blue hybrid. He was prepared to climb into the back seat with his duffel bag, but Dom held the passenger door open for him.

“My friends ride up front,” the elf-like man said warmly.

About the Author:

C. L. Hart, the owner and sole employee of Naughty Netherworld Press, is spoken of in hushed tones. She is described as The Mad Scribe of the Northeastern Colorado Plains, The Terrible Old Woman, and The Author That Should Not Be.

When not penning sanity-destroying works of dystopian fiction, Lovecraftian fantasy, or old-school horror with the occasional sweet romance thrown in to upset the cosmic apple cart, Ms. Hart enjoys creating baked goods she hopes will be considered palatable.

Ms. Hart shares a home in a remote rural town of 134 souls with her adult son and three cats. Her sense of fashion is best described as Early Twenty-First Century Unmade Bed. This disabled former nurse can usually be found arguing with herself about subplots or rehabilitating eldritch horrors.

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