#I could go into detail on specific scenes

[forthegothicheroine]

I don't know if you do requests for the Great Detectives, but I'd love to see how you think the Great Detectives would handle the murder of King Hamlet of Denmark.

This is a GREAT one! The big question is whether they all talk to the ghost of the dead king; I think I'm going to have to take that on a case-by-case basis, with whatever feels right for any specific detective.

So, in a series I do sometimes, how would various great detectives solve the murder of King Hamlet...

Sherlock Holmes: Well, obviously ghosts don't exist, so jot that down. But in Holmes's experience, living humans often pretend to be ghosts (or even make dogs pretend to be ghosts!) so who could this be? The young prince Hamlet, who everybody says has gone mad? Holmes deduces that he isn't mad at all, and is in fact conducting psychological warfare against his hated uncle; while Holmes disapproves, he concludes that the boy is completely right about Claudius due to his knowledge of the play The Murder of Gonzago, as seen when he's upset about changes in a production. The Murder of Gonzago is a play which premiered in a town in Denmark known for its manufacturing of poisons for pest control!

Hercule Poirot: Poirot is quite sad to hear that the monarch who invited him as a celebrity guest has died; why does this always have to happen when he goes on vacation? Polonius spies on the guy to see what he's up to, but Poirot is much better at snooping on people than he is, and nobody can keep anything hidden for very long. He gives a summation where he reveals Claudius killed his brother. Prince Hamlet immediately goes to attack his uncle and they struggle over a sword. King Claudius falls dead and Poirot bows out, because determining whether Hamlet should suffer consequences or just become king is not his department.

Sam and Peter: Hear me out- if we bump Hamlet down from ambiguously college-aged to ambiguously high school aged, we can replace Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. These two nerdy kids are shipped in to cheer their friend (more like acquaintance) Hamlet up, and to his surprise, they respond to his depressing monologues by taking notes and asking for further details on why the world is so corrupt. Hamlet isn't so happy about them doing an investigation into "What is up with Hamlet's super hot mom?" but when they suggest interviewing Claudius to see if he has the face of a liar, he enlists them to help out with putting on The Murder of Gonzago. The rest of the play mostly goes the same, but they find the letter Claudius planted on them and show it to Hamlet. One of the last lines of the play is when Fortinbras is looking at everyone lying dead, but then Osric points out "Sam and Peter are alive!"

Phryne Fisher: Phryne is a dubious (if genteel) woman Laertes has taken up with, whom Polonius is doing everything in his power to drive away. Phryne doesn't care, but it does bring her attention to the fact that the man is apparently constantly spying on everyone in the castle. On whose behalf is he doing this? King Claudius? Is he afraid someone may assassinate him because of his brother's suspicious death? What was the official story about that, anyway? She exchanges sexy insults with Prince Hamlet, refusing to be cowed, and ultimately agrees to play the queen in his production of The Murder of Gonzago (where she gets a little too into the love scene.) When she turns and looks directly in Claudius's eye in the audience during a crucial line, she can see the answer to everything. Claudius tries to convince Laertes to kill her, saying she corrupted Ophelia into being a whore for a mad prince, but Laertes can't go through with it and kills Claudius instead.

Dale Cooper: King Hamlet's ghost tells him who killed him in a dream, but Cooper doesn't remember. He befriends Horatio and tells him that in order to understand the death of the king, it is crucial for them to study an old Icelanic poem about a man who feigns madness, because the answer to the mystery lies somewhere within. Horatio doesn't totally get it, but he figures Cooper must know what he's doing and goes along with it. When everyone is gathered to watch a production of The Murder of Gonzago, Cooper first steps up onto the stage, guided by a spirit in the form of a snake wearing a crown, to announce that King Claudius killed his brother. Prince Hamlet immediately stabs his uncle. Determining whether Hamlet should suffer consequences or just become king is not Cooper's department.

Philip Marlowe: All I know is, most of this mystery involves him getting thrown off the palace grounds repeatedly and being told that a bum like him better keep away from King Claudius if he knows what's good for him. If he ever gets out of Denmark alive, Marlowe thinks to himself, he's never leaving LA during the winter ever again.

Sam Vimes: Vimes can actually interview the ghost, but that doesn't mean the case is closed. He's not worried about the ghost actually being a deceitful fiend, he just thinks there's a possibility he's wrong. After all, if Vimes was poisoned and his ghost found out some creepy relative immediately married his wife and took his job, he would also jump to conclusions! He spends a lot of time yelling at royal people and getting threatened with execution (Vimes doesn't know how his job ended up involving so many clashes with royalty, but so it goes), and is disrespectful of religion enough to spy on Claudius while he's having his remorseful confession. He can't arrest him, but he spreads the word around, and as the royal court dissolves into backstabbing and finger-pointing, Vetinari walks in with a full retinue (and more importantly, a list of all the debts Denmark owes to Ankh-Morpork) to evaluate the situation and congratulate Claudius on his "excellent decision" to abdicate. Claudius later dies of a totally natural snake bite in his ear.

Columbo:

Your Majesty, King Claudius, forgive My clumsy common nature. I am not A noble gentleman, nor do I live With such great honor as yourself- a thought, However, troubles me this night. For how Should some strange serpent come to bite a king? And why within his ear? It puzzles! Now, I beg that I may ask just one more thing…

[respectthepetty]

Spare Me Your Mercy Thoughts

I have waited almost four years for this show since MDL made a placeholder for Euthanasia in early-2021, and now that it is here, I'm going to gush about all the ways I love it!

Just like a few of Dr. Sammon's other shows airing around the holidays (Manner of Death, Dead Friend Forever, and Petrichor), I'm thankful I got the first episode of Spare Me Your Mercy on Thanksgiving and the last will come on Christmas because this is the exact show I need for the holiday season since it began the entire series with Tew, the cop, having to perform euthanasia on an animal.

I grew up and still live in a rural area where cattle far outnumber the actual folks, so I fully understand euthanasia is a good death as the word implies, so I will not be struggling through the premise of this show, and I have faith the show won't either because when Tew fired the gun, the scene was peaceful.

And the show is making some pointed remarks about how things operate outside of bigger cities since Kan specifically mentioned he has about 2,500 patients. When the other officer asked the nurses if Kan had a long queue, they didn't even respond. Kan also clarified that his specialty is palliative care, so he has to monitor a wide range of long-term illnesses, so even though Tew might actually be from this place, he is now the outsider and out of his depth before he even started.

Sidenote: I cannot be mad at a nurse, even if one of them turns out bad because the way they all protect Kan from the police is the teamwork I love to see.

The red light to notify the office the doctor is seeing a patient coming on right after Kan responded to the nurse that it wasn't a murder case yet was perfection.

I already knew Kan was going to be my favorite character, but Tor is doing amazing showing the layers Kan has, as expected. Kan tells Tor he can cry and shows him kindness, but when pushed, Kan makes small digs about how people should spend the last moments of someone's life cherishing them when rudely questioned by Tew regarding the unexpected deaths knowing Tew did not get to see his mother before she died. He also made a subtle display of knowing where things were located in the house because he is in control.

The way he slid his LINE information into the conversation AFTER indirectly telling Tew he was being emotional due to his grief is why I'm excited to see another version of Manner of Death's Tan. Kan probably does like Tew but he stays focused and calculated.

He is terrifying without there being any concrete detail to pinpoint on why he is scary. Som, while describing people being possessed by evil murderous spirits, was terrified of Kan, and the transition from Som telling his story to Kan appearing at the exact moment Som was going to state what human form the evil spirits take was brilliant.

But what's even more terrifying is the treatment of the terminally ill. They are viewed as a burden, locked away, and isolated.

And Tew witnessed it. He got a glimpse of what Kan sees daily, so the show is already building up a case in defense of Kan's actions. If he is performing euthanasia, Tew could understand. He heard the goat's bell. He knew it was still alive, but he decided to end its suffering, cleanly and swiftly, which is what euthanasia is. He saw that man left behind by his family and even moved to go get him. And he was bothered when the man's daughter stated her reasoning for leaving him out there alone.

He also stopped Kan from continuing to question Som. Therefore, the true conflict has been set. Tew, whose job is to discover the truth, doesn't need it if it causes pain, but Kan's entire job is making pain manageable.

And I always want to trust a woman, but as suspicious as the director is being about everything, babygirl would be the perfect person to attempt euthanasia since the dead would end up on her table where she could claim the death was the result of the illness.

Because euthanasia is a good death.

And this ain't it.

He understands that.

But someone doesn't.

[onehelluvafan]

IncuBlitz Part Three: Just an ex??

This is part three of a three-part analysis related to "Better Than Blitzo" (or "IncuBlitz" as I like to call him) and the look that he gave Blitz, right before he kissed Stolas.

Click here for Part One: His Tattoo, Part Two: Verosika, or keep reading to dive into Part Three: Just an ex??—what his personal motivations could be for taking the time to check if Blitz is watching before kissing Stolas.

My last theory, and the one that I think is the most likely, is that he’s just an ex of Blitz’s at the party who saw an opportunity and took it.

As we can see from when Blitz and Stolas first enter the room, IncuBlitz is already standing in perfect line of sight of where they sat down to have their conversation.

Considering that IncuBlitz doesn’t pop in until over five minutes later, when Stolas is breaking down, I think his intention was genuinely just to ‘rescue’ Stolas from the person who was making him upset.

It does beg the question though: Was his primary motivation to help out Blitz’s “freshest ex”? Or did it have more to do with the fact that the person bothering Stolas was actually Blitz?

There’s definitely no question that he does know that Stolas is the ‘freshest ex.’ He explicitly mentions Stolas’ song, saying that he has “great pipes,” where Stolas had been introduced by Verosika as the “special new guest of honor.”

But did he recognize Blitz? And if so, at what point?

As with Verosika, there are several times throughout the night when anyone could have noticed and recognized Blitz. But in addition to those mentioned earlier, there’s one moment in particular that I think kicked off the events that followed. During the scene where Stolas stands up on the couch, yelling, “Harriot! Don’t get on that train. It’s going to London, and I cannot be without you!” there’s at least one moment where Blitz’s full outfit is exposed. Not only was this in that same line of sight from where we’d originally seen IncuBlitz, but we can also see that the people he’d been standing next to, both turned to look directly at Stolas.

Whether or not he recognized Blitz in that moment, I do think it’s the moment that his attention was brought to Stolas and where it seems to have remained.

While it is possible that he was no longer standing in that exact spot anymore, we do know for a fact that he was still nearby. 

Because 15 seconds later, when the point of view changes to Blitz, you can actually see IncuBlitz in the background, just a few feet away.

This places him well within earshot when Stolas wails at Blitz that he doesn’t want him there and to please go home, followed by a moment of distressed weeping.

Even then, we don’t actually see IncuBlitz pop in until it’s clear that Blitz is not only choosing to stay, but is also about to try engaging with Stolas further.

It’s at this point that not only does he interrupt them, but he explicitly does not look at nor react to Blitz throughout the entire exchange. In fact, it’s actually noted as an intentional detail in the official storyboard. Storyboard artist Tony Raphielle uploaded clips of this to YouTube three days after the episode was released. 

They even noted in the video description that for this scene, the voice actors' performance was based on what was blocked out on the storyboard. 

This is the reverse of how their earlier conversation was handled. For that scene, the voice acting was recorded first, with the storyboards being drawn afterward. 

This leaves me even further convinced that IncuBlitz’s behavior and timing, from beginning to end, was very carefully crafted by the Spindlehorse team.

And finally, let’s discuss the kiss that shook Blitz, and many of us in the fandom, to the core. 

Now, obviously, we can’t know at what point, if at all, that IncuBlitz recognized Blitz specifically as the person who was bothering Stolas.

But I personally feel confident that by the time he looked up at Blitz, right before that kiss, he knew exactly who he was messing with.

Because honestly, the entire context of the party would make it almost impossible for IncuBlitz to not have recognized him.

First and foremost, there’s the fact that Stolas’ invitation implies that the people in attendance either dated or at least had a brief encounter with Blitz. 

There’s also imagery of Blitz plastered all over the place, with the exact same outfit that he wore to this party.

And if IncuBlitz somehow managed to miss recognizing him before whisking Stolas off to the dance floor, it would feel downright comical to me if he still did not recognize Blitz while he was up on the balcony. 

Because not only is the tablecloth hanging open, revealing his signature outfit, but Blitz had also taken down his hood, leaving his hard-to-miss horns and unique forehead tattoo exposed to anyone who looked up.

Either way, the fact that IncuBlitz looked up at the person that he perceived to be bothering Stolas, right before he kissed him, in my opinion, was definitely intentional and personal.

And it’s entirely possible that it’s actually just as simple as that. 

After digging into this and doing my best to analyze and consider all of the evidence, I personally think it’s the most likely explanation. That he was just someone at the party who saw an opportunity to help out Stolas and stick it to Blitz.

I am super curious though, to see if the show mentions IncuBlitz going forward and under what circumstances.

Considering that his canonical name in the credits is “Better Than Blitzo” Guy, I think it’s safe to assume that this will not be a recurring character. 

I do hope that we at least get to hear if his interaction with Stolas ended on the dance floor or if they actually ended up spending the night, or several nights, together.

I will definitely be surprised if we don’t see at least one awkward moment between Blitz and Stolas related to this. Even if it’s just a nonverbal decision to not talk about that just yet.

[soft-persephone]

Triple Frontier

Rewatch and Review

I did a deep dive in the making of this movie and it adds to the experience.

They worked will a real team of navy seals to really make the team feel more authentic outside of their preexisting relationships with one another. The guns they used were real and everything. They truly learned not only physical, but also the mental aspects of being a team of people in the military who operates at such a high level.

They all had a separate member of the team to go one on one with as well. It’s truly fascinating.

The director is JC Chandor, and he’s also directed and written A Most Violent Year.

I’m finding that his movies are mainly character driven. It’s more about complex characters in different situations or how they navigate a specific environment. There is a “story/plot”. The premise of the story can be interesting, but the complex nature of the characters is what really sells the movie.

This specific movie is about the special forces and how they navigate life once they “retire”. Which is the most obvious part, but it’s also about a group of guys who did it together and have a reunion.

I think what makes this movie special is how they all interact and how different and similar they are. It can be argued that Santiago starts the movie hungry for more. He just wants more. Out of his life, out of his job. He wants something to show for all the things he’s lost and missed out on while “fighting for his country”. He not only wants it for himself, but also for the people he served with.

They’ve all moved on with their lives. In whatever way that means. Santi wants so much more for them. Doing whatever he can to convince them to join him, isn’t selfishness, but a love to him. A vow to his loyalty and how much he cares about them.

They don’t see it that way, but he’s fine with that. Because he sees the end result.

He pushed and he pushed hard. It might not have been completely right. But it’s not completely wrong either.

You could also argue that Tom is the one that made the wrong move in every turn. One look at the money changed him completely. He went from ambivalent at best to, beyond all in. He was gone. It’s in the way he stopes following their plan. How he says they got time when the didn’t. How he put them in a situation to kill people they didn’t anticipate killing.

You see this change between both Tom and Santiago. They both start the film at completely different ends of a spectrum and swap places by the end.

As they keep going, Santiago , and the rest of them for that matter, care less and less about the money with them. They give up more and more as things get complicated. However, Tom argues more and more. Every time he opens his mouth, it’s about how much money they are leaving behind. It’s in that tension of his greed and the goal of getting home that gets Tom killed.

By that point, Toms loss is when there’s a change in everyone. It’s where now they have to get at least some of this money for Toms family. However, even that gets complicated. Lorea’s men have caught up with them, and are blocking their escape.

There’s a beautiful moment when Will calms Santi down when they have to figure out how to confront the rest of Lorrea’s men and how they are all teenagers. Santiago says they have to kill them all because he can’t grasp doing this all for nothing. He doesn’t want to go home, tell Tom’s family he’s dead, and have nothing to show for it.

He says “I thought we could do this.” And in that specific moment you can see how upset he is that every thing is falling apart. How he accepts that very fact in this moment that they failed and need to focus on getting Tom home. He’s made a complete assessment change on everything. The money and what he thought he wanted.

It’s an amazing arc for both of them. (Not Tom dying. But the processes of greed to his ultimate downfall, and Santi’s deliverance of sorts to accepting the simpler things of life. That he can’t beat the system even if he tries really hard. He just has to take the short end of the stick that has inevitably been offered to him, and find a way to be content with it.

I will never be able to shut up about this movie! Thank you for reading if you made it this far!

[sskk-manifesto]

Next time we should just skip over ep 3 and do a chapters 84-87 reread

[crystalkitty1220]

Man I wonder where the leader of the fear realm could've gone, it's alMOST LIKE NEVIN HAS AN

[sysig]

My kingdom for a "So you say” (Patreon)

[fumifooms]

do you have any character analysis posts you're working on? i'm currently mulling Daya/Dia over in my head right now. In general, I'm thinking a lot about Kabru's team because they don't show up much in the manga and won't be in the show much longer as noticeable players, but have quite a bit of outside-the-manga content to comb through. Personally, I like the idea of Rin and Dia becoming friends with Marcille post-canon, but I want to know them better first. I know Rin pretty well already. 1/2

(for example, Rin/Dia/Marcille seem to like clothes, and i want to draw them clothes shopping.) And I ask this not to put all the work on you! I want to discuss these characters with somebody, and you're one of the only ones I can think of who enjoys doing in-depth dives into the side characters of Dungeon Meshi. You, summerboletes, shisurus, and ambrosiagourmet are some other blogs i can think of that made great meta posts. You can reply to this privately if you want! 2/2 (think about it. daya has a boyfriend and marries him post-canon. marcille loves romance and loves clothes. it'd be adorable if she helped daya find a wedding dress. like kabru introduces them and dia (god i'm so used to writing 'daya') mentions her wedding and marcille immediately pounces on her with eyes sparkling in excitement. i plan to write this fic one day)

This idea is so cute! I’ll also check out those other blogs you mentioned when I have the time to hehe~ I do latch onto minor characters easily but it doesn’t mean I have much to say about everyone. Dia (agreed btw, the situation with Daya vs Dia is confusing)… I do like her, but I feel like her Adventurer’s Bible profile sums it all up quite nicely and straightforwardly honestly. You’re right though her reaction to the treasure bugs was so cute and honestly surprising considering her appearance and demeanor, she does like pretty things and jewelry I could def see her going shopping. More content of her would definitely be fun, I’d read your fic!! I do love imagining how everyone’s relationships are like in Kabru’s party, the intricacies of it… I haven’t mulled it over enough though. I’ve been thinking of Mickbell more because of recent posts though, also Rin… If you’d like, the dunmeshi discord I’m in would be a good place to brainstorm about it I think! Hmu for an invite if you want

Summing up the posts I’m working on was long so here’s a cut out of mercy

I have 78 drafts on tumblr currently oh boy… The thing about my process is that I ramble easily but then I need to compile panels to illustrate the points and that’s real tedious… Character analysis wise - I’m most hyped about a Falin one on the topic of if she’s a people pleaser, how much does she care, what’s her way of thinking etc etc, also her differences with Laios because I hate seeing people seriously say they’re the same person. - Also a Cithis one that I just need to streamline at this point. I want to analyze her demeanor, poke at her psychology and analyze her relationships, she’s fascinating. - Oh I’m so stupid I almost forgot to mention the one I’ve been working on currently about Thistle, the age shenanigans but in an in-world way where yes it’s wonky and it means something. He hauntssss me I have so many thoughts on Thistle & Falin lately. Like, offtopic for the analysis but… Falin loves nature and Thistle is named after a flower… Imagine her post-canon coming across wild thistles and feeling a rush of fondness and she doesn’t know why… Thistles have thorns but they taste sweet… Peel of his thorns and eat him pls.

I have more Chilchuck & family thoughts coming, and more Toshiro & family, but these will have more of a casual brainstorm & speculating tone to them, I also just need to streamline these… Like I am obsessed about Toshiyuki and Chilchuck’s alcoholism I’m sorry

Beyond those the topics of the character analysis become more specific, like - How much social awareness does Laios have? Not none, not a lot, but the specifics can be blurry in ways I think are interesting, he was sensitive to people’s judgements in his hometown after all, and he does worry about others’ perception of him… He does know that buzzcut guy was taking advantage of him, etc etc. - There’s an extensive one I want to make on how the winged lion reflects abusive relationships, like how he targets all his ‘meals’'s specific weaknesses and draws out the worst in each of them. A lot of Dunmeshi is about unity and overcoming prejudices & differences & flaws and forming deep and long-lasting bonds despite it all, and amongst all of it it’s like… How flawed relationships with flawed people can still be made into somehing good and healthy that make the world brighter… Except the winged lion there to represent abusive relationships which you need to fucking DITCH, lol. - And on the topic of Dunmeshi & relationships I want to talk about it and queerness, especially in the queerplatonic sense of blurring lines, and Izutsumi + Laios’ relationship to touch should feature in those.

And my crown jewel but I’m soooo hyped about the Marcille & Chilchuck’s arcs one I’m working on it’s gonna go over so much stuff I’m obsessed about, like the importance of books in Marcille’s life, what the succubi reveal about the characters in what ways, the theme that’s so prevalent in Dunmeshi of idealization, Marcille’s imagery as a dungeon lord, a shepherd a general a princess a monster a damsel a woman in mourning…

But that’s enough for heavy ones, side characters wise: doing quick posts like for the gold-stripper characters has been great, but those usually come to me on the same day that I post them. I might make some analysis posts on say Mickbell or Holm or Otta, but I don’t have the thread I want to follow yet. Flamela’s been on my brain so much too…

Mostly though there’s just a lot that I wouldn’t write analysis for, but that I’d love to explore in fanfics! For example, the hienbeni I want to write the most rn is about the surges of anger that Benichidori gets, impulsive and stressed out. I haven’t made a post on my Izutsumi & Benichidori brotp and all the interesting parallels I think I have, but I’ve written a fic on it! Same about Chilchuck’s daughters and their relationship with his alcoholism, etc. I explored the guilt and confliction he may feel about his wife in my fic Enough as well, etc etc. You can see my fics here! For Kabru’s party lately mickrin has been having a chokehold on my brain, I’d love love love to explore Rin’s and Mickbell’s characters and issues through fics for them. As I think you might have figured, I love to explore characters through the lenses of relationships they have with others (Cithis & Mithrun and Pattadol, Thistle and Falin, etc), and that’s why for example I love to make posts that pitch ship ideas, I think specific dynamics can really have a lot to say about either characters. Oh another one’s toshimari, I want to make a fic about them and their feelings of being foreigners and not being able to integrate well to The Island, through the plot of them going to a restaurant as coworkers and the food they eat there~

These are only the ones I have at the top of my head though………. Someone help me Hopefully this post wasn’t boring lol, but yeah those are my wips rn. Need to make posts on toshimari, kabushuro, cithaios, cittadela and ships like that I think have interesting potential too. Many of these I’ve mentioned here I’ve had in my drafts for like 6 months btw gdvd 😭

[definitelynotshouting]

Do you have any tips for starting a story? The middle and end is easy (lie) but the beginning SUCKS to write sometimes

oh gods no joke openers are one of the hardest part for me. Theres so many ways a story can start, and it makes me CRAZY because that right there is your hook, thats what convinces people to start reading!!!!! And there are so many unique ways one can start, so it ends up feeling a bit like that one reaction image of the girl being handed so so many pancakes

I think for me, what i try to ask myself when sitting down to write an opener is: "what kind of story is this?"

Because each story needs something different to accomplish its goals. A slower story might want to take its time with setting the scene, while an action-packed one might start in media res and with a bang!!! I guess if i had to give advice i would say, take the time to identify what your story is trying to say, and then look at what different openings can do for you to identify that goal.

For example; this is from my fic when the night cries, which is essentially a ghost story:

This was meant to be an introspective story, with a very gentle pace overall, so i took the time to really set the scene, build up the sense of what we're looking at before we get dropped into the fic proper. I remember my thought process for this was: how can i make this unique??? how can i make it FEEL like one of those old paintings with the beautiful yellows and summery oranges, while giving the reader a sense of whats to come?? Adding in the repetition of "it begins" was a way for me to sorta hammer that home: this is the start. This is where the story originates. And in a technical sense, it hooks your attention, with the question and immediate answer within the narration. The intention here is for the reader to want to know why this is important, and now it's answering that, but still leaving gaps for more questions.

Now compare that to, say.... lost in the dark's opening:

The overall pace of hunger au is slow, but this opener isn't-- partially because it's a rough draft, but also because what i wanted out of this scene was a sense of deep, deep urgency. We're in the middle of action; Grian is physically running while he thinks, and i wanted the reader to feel hunted and uncertain with him. Dropping everyone in with Grian at one of his most frightened, shaken points was the best way i felt i could establish that scene, and throughout it i drop hints as to what's actually going on. He's scared. He thinks he's going to hurt people. He's been on the move for a very, very long time. These are all things that are meant to pique interest and get answered later, when the reader is already invested. And i guess in that regard, its really all about timing.

But yeah!! Rambling aside, i'd say try out a few different ways of opening your fic and see what works. Think of em as thumbnails; write maybe 200 or so words at most and see if something works better than something else. I think theres this secret culture of shame among writers for not putting the perfect start down on the page the very first time you open the doc, but it's super normal to have to workshop things around to your liking!!! There's absolutely nothing wrong with writing a few different openers to see what works best for you and your story, and in fact is something i genuinely recommend. Its good practice, and essentially functions as a warm-up!!! You also get the benefit of exploring new angles in a scene, which can sometimes unlock really cool stuff for your writing

Sorry for how long this is, anon!! Hopefully you find my rambling helpful :D thank you for sending in this ask!!!

[moodr1ng]

hmm after putting a couple scenes from my script into renpy with some photos as background stand-ins + the need for some cgs here and there, i def think it could work as a vn.. i think ill finish my script before i start more seriously working on it just to be sure everything would work as i want, but i think actually if i include a little bit of narration here and there (theres technically narration in my script, though its meant to describe the panels and not to actually be narration, but some v light narration in a vn could work) itd be pretty solid i think 🤔 and itd allow me to include even more dialogue LOL which ive been making efforts to reduce but i definitely could stand to put in more. both carié isle and linnion/kèravie as a whole have a tonnn of worldbuilding where i kinda had to reduce exposition to a minimum for a comic medium. but in a vn the characters could do a lot more talking about this stuff. also i had decided to make the comic black & white bc full color is too hard for a comic for me but for a vn i would get to make it full color :)

[conspiring-limabean]

jurassic world chaos theory is very good. its kind of insanely good for something that's a sequel to goddamn Camp Cretaceous. and im losing my mind because no one i know gives a single damn about it but it's like. actually so fucking good

[helsex-moved]

hey there! I know you've only talked about it twice but i'd love to hear about your exhels western au!/nf

HI. HELLO

Okay it's been sooo long since I talked about this to anyone let me remember

If this sounds incoherent that's because I've only talked with one person about it at length, months and months ago

Where we start Ex is on the run from England for treason (what they did is unimportant, just a coup) and runs to the very edge of civilization, the heart of America. But in getting there they used all their money and has to turn to stealing, they get pretty good at it to, becoming a bit infamous.

Meanwhile Hels is deputy in a small town with Wels who is sheriff and he's so tired of it. It's boring, a stifling job under a brother he's always been seen as second best to.

So maybe when Ex comes to town and Hels happens to catch them he lets them go, maybe several times, because at least this is something new - someone new. And so maybe they fall in love and maybe they meet in the dead of night, until Wels catches them and throws Ex in jail. This is the deciding moment Hels has been waiting for, so he breaks them out and agrees to run away with them and join in on their life of crime

But there's an issue

The scar on Ex's face, under their mask. A Cheshire grin that never healed quite right the cruel reminder of why Ex will never be accepted by most people ever again.

Infection sets in quick, they didn't make it far before Ex's injury had gotten bad. Really bad. With them at deaths door and no other options Hels swallowed his pride and fear and took them back to his town.

He begged Wels not to throw them in jail or turn in Ex, to harbor them just long enough for Ex to heal and live. Wels almost didn't want to, the reward money for turning in Ex dead or alive would be enough to fix up this little town and give it new life.

But looking at his little brother on the verge of tears over this criminal, this stranger, he realized he just couldn't do it. Even though Hels had betrayed him and run away.

He called for their doctor and kept their existence in his house secret for the weeks it took Ex to heal. When he woke up one morning and they were both gone he knew chances were he'd never see either again, but he still felt like he'd made the right choice.

From there I have less of a coherent plot and more general stuff, they do have two horses a Clydesdale and an unknown breed (I know what you're thinking but there is a story reason behind the horse types), and on their journey to who knows where they slowly decide they'd like to stop being on the run and settle down for once.

Then it turns into mostly domestic fluff about them and their ranch/animals. They'd also run into other hermits too though I won't name names until I have things more thought out.

[imwritesometimes]

help! I can see the scenes so clearly and with frightening detail in my mind's eye but I cannot make myself actually write

[harmonybarmy]

paramount+ has given up on me suddenly so I've only been able to watch a tiny bit of scream 6 so far.

[medicinemane]

.

[ambrosiagourmet]

I want to talk about why I think this is the one of the most important Falin panels:

So, Falin is really nice, right? It's one of the first things we really learn about her. She's kind even to the monsters of the dungeon - choosing to ward the party rather than fight spirits and cause them needless harm.

In the above early flashback in chapter 11, we see Marcille fawning over Falin's kindness, calling her an angel. Namari calls her soft-hearted. We see Falin choose not to fight even when a zombie attacks - instead she resolves the confrontation with a hug. After the flashback, the first thing Senshi says is that Falin "sounds like quite the person," which Marcille strongly affirms.

At this point in the story, all we have seen of Falin are these impressions; she is a healer, an angel, a caretaker with an infinite well of kindness towards everyone she meets - both friend and foe.

And honestly, that remains most of what we have to go by to understand her. The only times we get to see Falin on the page, alive and just herself, are in the opening and closing pages of the story and in the brief period of time after she is resurrected.

Nonetheless, we do have some more details to work with. For one, there is the scene that The Panel is from - a short memory in chapter 75, when Marcille flashes back to while she's dying. In that scene, Falin prepares to teleport them all out, and says that she's sorry "if there is a person at [their] destination." And that's when we get The Panel.

If you teleport someone or something into another person, the person teleported into is likely to be, at minimum, severely injured. They could die.

We can see a lovely little horrifying example of exactly why in one of the Daydream Hour doodles:

So, hmm. That's not... that's not SUPER nice. Certainly not displaying the same "kindness to all, friend and foe included" we saw represented earlier. On a basic level, this adds some nuance to Falin's kindness. We see it break a little, when pushed to the limit. We see her chose to protect the people she loves above all else.

Which makes sense! As Laios says when the Winged Lion accuses him of similarly being motivated more by his friends' safety than everyone else in the dungeon, "...most people, aside from virtuous do-gooders, would feel the same way."

So, we can take The Panel as simply showing a moment of weakness for Falin. A time when she was pushed to her limits, and that "most people" selfish side of her shone through.

However... I think there's a little more going on with Falin than just her being an angel 99% of the time, except just that once. I love The Panel because I think it helps us understand that Falin isn't just motivated by kindness - she also has a desire to avoid seeing people in pain.

Isn't that the same thing?

No, no it very much is not.

Let's look at a short comic from the Falin section of the Adventurer's Bible, because I think it illustrates this point perfectly. The group is complaining about how much Marcille's healing hurts, and comparing it to Falin's, which "doesn't hurt a bit." Marcille retorts with the following:

Now, the punchline of this comic is that, despite Marcille's sentimental assertion that she's "thinking of [them]" by letting her healing magic hurt, they all still prefer to be healed by Falin.

But hey, this wouldn't be the first time that Dungeon Meshi hides a very real character beat or insight in a gag, so let's think about this somewhat seriously.

If Marcille is right (and she knows a fair bit about magic, so we can assume that she has at least somewhat of a point), then what Falin is doing isn't kind. I suppose if someone specifically requested to not feel the pain, it could be kind, but that's not really what happened here. She is the one who felt badly about the others being in pain, and she is the one who decided, without telling them or giving them a choice in the matter, to take away that pain.

Both Marcille and Falin are healing the party, but Marcille is doing it in a way that accomplishes the task in the most straight forward way, without any additional interference. Falin is going out of her way to perform the healing in a way she is more comfortable with. A way that avoids pain.

Going back the The Panel, I don't think its a coincidence that the only time we see Falin (well, non-chimera Falin) willing to do something that could hurt someone is when any potential pain will be far away from her. If she got someone hurt or killed by teleporting the party to the surface? Not only would it be far out of her sight, but she'd be dead before she had to deal with any consequences of that action.

Falin is not a confrontational person. She doesn't push when Marcille won't tell her the truth about the resurrection, and she comforts Laios about her own death - both of those things happening in the only full chapter she is alive and conscious in the whole story.

We also know that she considered accepting Shuro's proposal, despite not having any special feelings towards him, and that Falin never explained to Marcille that she wanted them to share a meal together. When she brought Marcille various foods at the academy, she just accepted Marcille's confused rejection and gave up.

And lastly, we know that she is still in contact with her parents, despite the neglect and abuse she suffered at their hands. Although the way someone chooses to handle contact with abusive or bad family is a complicated topic, which I don't want to overly simplify, I do I think this fact gets at the heart of how she handles conflict.

So many people that Falin loves have hurt her. There are understandable hurts, like Laios leaving the village, or Marcille not understanding the food. And there are bigger, far less justifiable hurts - like her parents neglecting her throughout her childhood, and sending her away to be alone at the magic academy.

It doesn't seem like Falin has ever confronted any of it directly.

And the unhealthy aspects of this kind of avoidance of pain and confrontation is one of the things that the story of Dungeon Meshi is all about. We see Laios grapple with it before he goes to kill Falin, and we see Marcille acknowledge it at the end of the story, when she tells Laios that she has come to terms with Falin's death:

Eating is a part of life. Consuming other living things is a part of life. It isn't really possible to avoid that pain - you can only hide from the truth of it. You have to be selfish everyday. You have to eat - to choose to live. To choose to take up space.

And this is something Falin embraces, too. She comes back to life, after all.

We see her choose to come back to life.

And how does she make that choice? She eats. She consumes, and then she is asked a question by the manifestation of hunger itself:

Do you want to eat more?

There is a double meaning in the Winged Lion's final words on the next page.

When I first read this, I took it as him saying: life is cruel. You will suffer. You will feel more pain.

But perhaps, especially for Falin, this also means: you are choosing a path where you must cause pain. Where you must consume. Where you must take, and must be selfish. Because eating is the special privilege of the living, and it is their burden, too. In order to stay alive, she will need to keep eating.

And she chooses that. Chooses to be selfish. It's why her resurrection scene is so important, and it's why The Panel is so important. Because Falin coming back isn't the ultimate reward for all of the party's hard work.

It's her choice. Just like it was her choice that started everything in the first place. But this time, she doesn't choose to accept causing pain for the sake of Marcille and Laios. She does it for her own sake.