#I like speculating on magical items XD

[undercityrezident]

Zonai Secret Stones and Their Will to Empower

So this is something I only lightly touched on in my fic, and there’s not much evidence to back up this headcanon, but I like the idea of the Zonai Secret Stones being difficult to control. Not only that, I feel like something as powerful as they are have a subtle will of their own, especially when in the presence of someone who has a great potential power within them to begin with.

Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom below the cut:

As we know from Memory 5: Mineru’s Counsel, Zonai Secret Stones only amplify a person’s power, and don’t grant mastery or skill over one’s abilities. This leads me to believe that Secret Stones are pure expressions of power that acclimatize themselves to whatever power they can come into contact with.

This ability to adapt is clearly demonstrated every time a person, a sage or other being with latent power, comes into contact with a stone. I changes hue to reflect that power’s aspect (fire, water, wind, etc.) and a symbol representing that power etches itself through radiant light. Aside from maintaining its teardrop shape, the only consistency the stones retain between these different forms are the carvings of an eye that fit themselves somewhere within that symbol.

Adaptation on a timescale this short may indicate some level of consciousness within these stones. It’s not unheard of for items of great power in fiction to exert their own will or instinct, whether for simple preservation or for a greater level of intent. One need look no further than The One Ring in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as an example.

Further, the fact that each of these stones always retains an open eye as part of its symbology may denote a connection a mind, identity, consciousness, or watchfulness. Especially in case of watchfulness, it may even connect to an opportunistic tendency. 

But what would they looking for in an opportunity?

To express their power in their fullest, raw, and untamed form: draconification.

Draconification, as we well know, has a history. I spoke in this post of how dragons are intricately tied to the Zonai through their architecture and culture. In addition to the depictions of dragons, we also know that draconification is a taboo, one likely tied to the origins of the three dragons Naydra, Dinraal, and Farosh. Already, that’s three stones that we know of that have likely been swallowed by beings that took on draconic form. Whether this happened one by one or all at once is not apparent, but it indicates that either a great need arose for them to consume their stones, or they may have been tempted into doing so by the allure of the power being a dragon offers. Or perhaps both.

What greater temptation is there to give into great power than desperation? We saw it first-hand with Zelda.

This is where the potentially opportunistic nature of the stones comes into play. Zelda swallows her stone in a bid to revitalize the Master Sword when no other options seem apparent. Ganondorf rips his off his own forehead to ensure he has the power to defeat Link during their final confrontation. Yes, these could be just two cases of people driven to desperate measures in two different cases. But then why do the Zonai urge such caution with the Secret Stones and the taboo of swallowing one? Why do they hide the stones from the other races until the most dire of circumstances and gift them to those who would become the ancient sages?

Because they tempt people to power by amplifying what power they have. Their ability to enhance their wielders are brief tastes of what they could have: an appetizer before the literal meal the stone itself becomes. And more than that, even before they are consumed, they may be difficult to control.

Take Memory 6: The Gerudo Assault as an potential example of this.

Zelda was surprised by the swell of power emanating from her as she and Sonia supported Rauru against the oncoming Molduga swarm. While my initial conclusion had been that she has just that much more power than she realizes, one can wonder if she, an inexperienced user of the stone, is having trouble controlling it. Again, it could be a case of both, as Zelda does have potential in her blood from both Rauru and Sonia’s bloodlines combined.

And it’s worth mentioning that Sonia seems surprised, or maybe even alarmed, by this sudden development. Still, Zelda manages to wield this extraordinary power and aids Sonia and Rauru in defeating the invaders.

Then, in Memory 10: Birth of the Demon King, Ganondorf demonstrates a knowledge of the power the stones possess, even beyond what the trio of Sonia, Rauru, and Zelda demonstrated earlier.

He calls it “godlike power,” and, recognizing how much more it can do, criticizes Rauru for squandering it.

In fact, it does seem like the stones could be wielded to frightening effect based on Ganondorf’s first actions as a stone’s wielder. But Ganondorf is a man who revels in unrestrained power, being an incarnation of it through Demise’s curse.

Meanwhile, other beings that do not have that quality need to exercise discipline to not succumb to such power and temptation. Zonai history may very well have taught them that lesson with what may have happened with Naydra, Dinraal, and Farosh. Only in desperation did Rauru utilize that power again to seal Ganondorf and himself, condemning them both to ages-long entanglement beneath the castle. The cost to Rauru was dire, but necessary: the power required everything of him, including his life, and even his will beyond death.

For all that, the stone remained tied to Rauru, but outside his body for the duration of that long task. It didn’t fully consume his identity in the same way draconification does. But it waited until it found someone new. Someone powerful. Someone less disciplined in wielding a Secret Stone. 

Its patience was rewarded when Zelda and her noble swordsman found it in the deepest depths beneath Hyrule Castle.

That same stone adapted to Zelda’s new power. It may have tried to overwhelm her, though it failed, thanks perhaps to Mineru’s, Sonia’s, and Rauru’s guidance. But in the end, there’s no way to resist the stone’s ultimate gift once you let it slip past your lips. Inside of you, there’s no resisting its power because there’s no barrier between it and all your own power.

This is why the Secret Stones may very well be dangerous. This is why the Zonai may have been reticent to share them outside of times of greatest need. This is the Secret Stones’ will to empower.

[felassan]

Hello again! Thanks for the suggestion in the last ask, it was definitely what I wanted~ Now I came to ask a question (again xD): that dagger that Solas is using in the ritual... it's not the same dagger as Rook is holding in some posters? Will it be important? I may have seen it wrong too, as I didn't see anyone commenting on it

hello! ◕‿◕ no worries!! I think it is the same dagger (pic of Solas with it below for comparison). given its prominence in that key art, its appearance as the previous game icon for the game on Steam (on the right here), and that Solas was using it during his ritual, I've no doubt that it will be important. (The world is "teetering on a knife's edge" too).

For Rook to have it in the key art, it seems that at some point after the gameplay reveal video concludes, the dagger somehow passes into Rook's possession.

The way we see him using it in the gameplay vid during his video - it's a ritual and there's magic going on too ofc, but it looks like the dagger is basically like cutting a hole or tear in the Veil. I wrote here,

"since we saw this image from the 2022 in-game cinematic and speculated that 1. this image shows Solas doing something to the Veil, and 2. the item he’s holding is the red lyrium idol in its ritual-blade form, what it’s reminded me of is the Subtle Knife from HDM (Pullman). Æsahættr cuts windows in the fabric between worlds; I wonder if the idol’s power as a magical ritual-blade is the ability to ‘cut’ through the 'fabric’ of the Veil (of reality), thereby tearing open the barrier that has been separating the two realms."

[msg refs this post]

[blackjackkent]

If you're still doing the character meme could I hear your thoughts on wyll, friend?

(“Send me a character” meme)

You certainly can. :D Love my boy Wyll!

First impression

As with most of the BG3 characters my FIRST first impression was definitely someone's random gifset, so when I first encountered him in game my first thought was "oh hey it's that dude!" I also loved his dramatic entrance complete with one-liner. :P

I got very confused briefly by the early dialogue in the Grove and thought that, when Zevlor and Aradin mentioned "the druid", they were talking about Wyll, so I was very thrown off to realize he was a warlock. :P

Impression now

Wyll Ravengard, the man that you are! I love Wyll; definitely feel like he got short shrift in his writing compared to some of the other characters but what is there is excellent. He's a supremely good dude while still managing to struggle with a lot of challenges as a character, such as his self-sacrificing nature and Mizora's tight hold over him. And of course I love his relationship with Rakha, which has turned out to be complex and difficult; he wants (and deserves) his storybook romance, but what he has instead is someone desperately struggling to stay on her feet and dependent on his guidance.

Favorite moment

Hmmmm. Disclaimer that I haven't seen his Act 3 romance or romanced epilogue yet so that might take the cake. But I love his interactions with the tiefling kids, particularly with Umi - "don't tell anyone, but I was scared too." He's very sweet with them and it does a great job of setting up the range of his character right from the get-go. <3

Idea for a story

One of the items on my never-ending to-do list is Rakha getting Gale to help her channel the Weave with Wyll this time so that she can show him the beauty of raw magic (leading to a strong bonding moment for Wyll and Rakha and an incredibly awkward third-wheel experience for Gale :P ).

Unpopular opinion

So many of the attributes that the fandom likes to put on Astarion are already RIGHT THERE on Wyll. :/ Obviously people can headcanon and write however they want but it can be frustrating to see.

Favorite relationship

Rakha! XD But in terms of actual canon interactions, definitely Karlach - both romantically and platonically. I love how ride-or-die they are for each other especially given how they initially met, and how they're both the good and kind heart of the party together and all the terrible things they go through doesn't change that.

Favorite headcanon

This is complete crack, but when I was streaming BG3 a couple months back, someone commented that it looks impossible for Wyll to get his camp shirt on and off with his horns and that it doesn't fit him, so we started speculating that it's the same shirt he was wearing when he was pacted at 17 and the pact forbids him from buying new clothes. So he's happy to travel with Tav/Durge since it gives him a loophole to get a new shirt if they buy it for him. :P (I don't actually believe this but it still makes me laugh.)

On a more serious note, I headcanon that once the pact is broken, Wyll is able to use a different stone eye instead of the sending stone and he gets one custom made that he likes more and is his and not Mizora's.

[katyspersonal]

ALRIGHT LET’S TALK ABOUT BLUBBORNE!!

Here are a list of things to choose from <3

Chat about Logarius or Alfred!!

Ideas for Bloodborne 2 👀

What do you think about Hemwick being connected to Cainhurst?

Talk about Gilbert!! I never get to see you chat about him! Lil guy!

Ideas on Arianna’s backstory!

Ideas on Adella’s backstory!

What would a Discord with the original Byrgenwerth scholar gang look like?? xD

—

Choose one or all! It’s up to you!! <3

Oh my GOSH fjdhfds Good to know you all headed my warning to never give me a choice because I answer EVERYTHING, huh -_- xD But in all seriousness though, these topics just happen to be those I do not have 20 pages essay ready for, so my answers will be short(ish) and I think I can discuss all this stuff in compact manner!

Chat about Logarius or Alfred!!

Well, they're complicated characters for me. You know I am physically unable to 'hate' a fictional character because no matter what they did, they aren't real and can't hurt me and if all else fails they exist to make the story better. But because of some events and reflection on life and society, these two in particular put a pit in my stomach on the notion of being trademark catholic-coded purists. There are so many things that can be speculated about complexity of Laurence's or Adrich's situations, but these guys feel pretty plain for me? The black-white thinking bastards that got so tempted with the idea of abolishing all evil that it made them ruthless, blind to nuances and purist that can't see how they become the REAL evil in the end.

I think Logarius/Rogeriusz is fairly underrated though and it cannot be blamed on him being unlikeable from moral standpoint, because we've all seen how popular Alfred is despite graphically killing a defenceless woman! But Logarius has a lot to like as a villain - he is noticeably tall and menacing, he was a powerful leader figure in Healing Church like Ludwig, he has a lot of mystery to his character as to why he uses Pthumerian magic and shares theme with Queen Yharnam (and as follows, why would he turn against a kindred clan/bloodline?), and what he discovered that made him gatekeep it? Besides, there is a translation mistake calling an item 'Skull of a Saint' something else - 'Sage's Hair', and when I discovered the proper description ( x ), I realised there is a big implication that following Healing Church's saints were wearing crowns after his raid on Cainhurst - both to honor him and to boast about having thrown the local monarchy!

This is just very odd that Logarius was a pioneer of the delusion about exterminating 'impurity', and managed to hit da briks before he became hated and showed true nature of his pursuit - unlike poor Ludwig that presumably had better intentions and less freedom to see through WHAT was guiding him, yet fought long enough to become accursed by everyone. It is UNFAIR. But Logarius is such an important element in the system, as a trend-setter rather than people brainwashed into following Church's agenda! Willem is never addressed for messing with unknown too, Logarius is never addressed for being ideal inspirer of hate and murder... Guess the REAL martyr here is Laurence every time! xD

Alfred is also a hard one for me, as for someone from the country that actively fabricates history facts, encourages distrust to outer information and ignorance, and just straight up lies with agenda. Like, sure, I am familiar with how easy average person can fall for a narrative - and how easy it is to discourage any skepticism and critical thinking before it formed. If anything, I pity him.

But I've grown to feel even more tense about this character when I reflected on the fact that he is SO eager to exterminate the 'enemy' that he goes after ones who can't even CAUSE any harm (he wants to kill Annalise who is absolutely defeated and defenceless, and he is the only summon in Old Yharnam where beasts that won't go outside live). There is a difference between trying to protect people from the possible threats (since whether vilebloods DO have cursed magic effect is up to interpretation) and "cleansing" the world from anyone affiliated Just Because. I've been doing Adella dirty for a long time calling her 'female Alfred' and I had since took it back because she at least gives Arianna a 'chance' as long as she doesn't share her blood that Adella's religion forbids. Not even one - she did the "three strikes and you're out"! Alfred is ruthless tho, in a very uncomfortable way, but it took me some unpleasant experiences to SEE truth about him. I think that no matter how far up you are in a religion, but whether you have a braincell to extend minimal reasoning about WHY you are fighting the 'bad guys' is on the individual and not on the source of this brainwashing, and Alfred fails this test.

That being said, he is still an interesting character, and I really love his unique appearance! His nose is a whole BEAK xD /pos I also headcanon that Alfred never met Logarius in person and his bond with him is parasocial, based on admiring the great person of the past upon feeling like he 'knows' him! The same applies for my versions of Amelia/Emilia and Laurence!

The rest of the topics are going under cut!

Ideas for Bloodborne 2 👀

Honestly, I think the best one I've seen executing the concept was HollarityArt in their contribution for Vaati's Bloodborne 2 concepts contest! Here is the link on Twit with their concepts: ( x ).

I have very little ideas on this but I agree that part 2 would be the best placed in sea/ocean setting! But the MOST tricky thing about the sequel would be that one of the potential Bloodborne endings is our Hunter becoming the new Great One that governs the cycle, instead of Flora. And another one is them replacing Gehrman. So the sequel must deal with addressing how no matter WHICH ending player had in Bloodborne, it didn't matter! Basically, something should happen with Hunter's Dream or the current Moon Presence that would leave any ending still palatable. So, addressing the current 'queen' Great One would result in the cycle still ongoing (aka our Hunter as Great One inflicting the same cycle, so it is not possible to pin whether Flora is still active or Hunter is). And, sure, for some reason, the Hunter's Dream is broken, just so we could not see our Hunter from previous game. This is extremely depressing, but feels in the spirit of From's games.

What From would need to do with Bloodborne 2 is to add information that doesn't quite confirm or deny exist fan theories, but instead adds more to WORK with! And creates MORE questions. So, reveal extra details about what we see in Bloodborne, but in a way that didn't answer the question. As in 'yeah there was a Great One counterpart for Flora', 'yeah there was someone in Isz that did birth Ebrietas as little celestial larvae many centuries ago, here is her statue and nothing else', 'yeah look at the ruins of the waking world version of Fishing Hamlet' etc. Some characters I think should reappear but in a way that feels expected while also not REALLY telling us anything new. So, Queen Yharnam not in the wedding dress, Gehrman functioning like his hunter self (like I said, Hunter's Dream should get broken), Maria having her recollected memory from when she was a caretaker of Research Hall, Adeline in a Kin form somewhere in a secret nook of Sea location (presume she ascended with or without Paleblood Hunter).

I like the idea that Yharnam in the sequel is a ghost town that has no messenger lamps or huntsmen, only rare NPCs and enemies who are largely people and/or Kin of the type we haven't seen before. Yharnam would have a bigger layout that makes much more sense geographically, some buildings and areas would look notably different if not more civilised. So that'd return the question whether Yharnam we play in even WAS real or this sequel Yharnam simply the same but changed from the last time, so people can argue whether this Yharnam is "real" and not "dreamed" one or developers simply improved their mapping and designing skills xD Maria would be able to travel there with us by waking up in the body of the Doll that still stayed in Old Workshop, and many people in Yharnam would act hostile towards both her and the player; later in the plot turns out that Hunter's Dream breaking was the result of external powers, and roaming people and unfamiliar Kin work together and target to remove the traces of influence from Stars and Moon! They'd be more alien Kin that urged to help with grasp of Flora and Fauna had on the Earth and its mortals, but in reality more or less want to establish their order. But protesting them would restart the cycle of vices of humanity, so... yeah, again, the game would be depressing and point out how there is no choice, only diverse ways to suck.

I also think the next game should extend beyond Yharnam, and using a ship to travel between locations would be a cool idea! Maybe getting to visit Valtr's home, or whatever Loran is now. @val-of-the-north had an idea that there is a legit country known as New Loran, but it would reveal more about history and heritage than just a bunch of electric beasts and sand. If I try to describe more concepts I might get really sucked into this swamp, so I'll leave it be here, but meeting relatives of some characters we've known would be great too! I always have this image in my head about Valtr's niece that heard he chased some monster and never came back, so we meet her when she is an adult that wanted to investigate on the mystery of her uncle. Also learning more about the fuckery Micolash and Laurence did do in the past through item descriptions; again, in a way that actually doesn't disrupt anything, more like 'well we already knew they had to commit a lot of crimes, we just now know the details'. The war criminals are still here in spirit! xD

What do you think about Hemwick being connected to Cainhurst?

Well, I said that sometime before, but I do think that both Cainhurst nobles and Hemwick are mixed human+pthumerian (and sometimes just human) descendants that preserved a lot of practices from ancient Pthumerian civilisations... and matriarchal traditions, too. They have different practices, as Vilebloods use blood magic and consume blood for power, whereas Witches use magical binding rituals, necromancy and disturbing tools as well. Ironic that they had 'Blood vs Eyes' conflict of Blood vs Arcane Healing Church factions before it was cool, don't you think?

Yharnam used to be monarchy but so many foreigners and neighbouring cities rubbed in on the area, that they became practically equal with higher class Yharnam citizens, and had to count people like Willem as equal. Maybe if Healing Church didn't form so swiftly, Yharnam would never have a mayor. But yeah, basically, Witches were something of peasants in relation to Cainhurst nobles. But they cooperated enough, and Witches would often offer medical help to the nobles who entered trouble with the curse living within their blood, or struggled to control pyromancy upon first periods. Witches maybe lived in poverty and dirt without much convenience, down to having to pay taxes TO Cainhurst, but they have unspoken knowledge within themselves that they are, in fact, superior to the nobles, as they have better grasp on the arcane secrets and are waaaaay less helpless before supernatural. I believe Iosefka and Fauxsefka are from Cainhurst, and Witches were how Iosefka studied ways to purify the blood from Frenzy + Beasthood inducing effects. Why that practice never picked up? Because we live in a society, indeed.

Talk about Gilbert!! I never get to see you chat about him! Lil guy!

Ahhhh right! I just didn't have much reason I guess? I do have a face design for him, that features some facial skewing like many Yharnamites have!

Like his beasthood form suggests, he was afflicted with Ashen Blood, which I believe was not a planned action but an honest mistake by using the blood of a poisoned beast (Blood-Starved Beast crucified in Old Yharnam). However, back in the day where Yharnam was not quarantined away from the rest of the world (to the point you are not supposed to SURVIVE being there if you never had holy blood transfusion), there were plenty of people picking stuff up and illegally selling it abroad. @val-of-the-north has an idea that Valtr and his friends caught one of such groups, just when one of them transformed into a beast upon getting too much of his own "medicine" and I stealeded it xD

But Gilbert I think was a victim of one of such things, contracting Ashen Blood by consuming a poisoned "medicine". He never was able to connect the dots between getting worse after it as someone who already had his own illnesses. The more I learn about Victorian era, the more I realise how shockingly ignorant they were about medicine. I mean, they were having mercury pills for god knows how long! So, yeah, he saught Yharnam, and naturally had his strange sympthomes sustained by consuming the blood as someone who got beasthood 'activated'.

I like to think that he used to be a hatter, and it WAS what made him sick initially; they were number 1 victims for mercury poisoning, because of the materials used in their craft. However, it were not just hats that he could do well, and after arriving in Yharnam, he gladly worked to produce more clothes, sewing mostly Yharnam Hunter garbs obsessively! And is one of the rarest people who met Ludwig in person and is still around AND sane! Hence how he had his Flamethrower - the Healing Church shared one with him to help him to self-defend. But, he was out of use and got too sick before he got to kill even one. Being bedridden, he used to read books a lot, until his eyesight got afflicted too (apparently beasthood attacks the eyes the most), so he mostly entertains himself with fantasies and reciting memories.

Ideas on Arianna’s backstory!

Heh, like I said already, I love the idea that her mother ran with her from Cainhurst when Arianna was still a baby, so she never GOT to know the noble life. But, she did inherit her mother's noble dress, and vague idea about their blood being special enough to offer to the hunters. I entertain the idea that Alfred was Arianna's brother but had to be abandoned since he was older and their mother could only care for one child in the hard situation, but it is up in the air.

In either case, Arianna's mother died soon(ish), most likely from violent death. But instead of some Church fanatic killing her in "righteous" wrath, it was that her mother went insane unable to consume queen's blood or find any management for it, so she, like... had Vileblood version of becoming blood-drunk and was shot before she transformed into a bloodlicker completely. When she was about to turn on her own daughter to drink her blood dry, no less! The hunter that saved Arianna was Henryk, who picked every other orphaned child under his protection because he was aware Choir takes orphans and they are never seen again. I swear, at least once Choir had to confront him about whether his children are all 'really' his, and Valtr had to wear a dress and pretend to be their biological bother dsjfhdsfdsh

But for the most part he was not able to properly care for his adopted babies; Viola was exceptional case that stayed close enough. Most of the orphans under his protection were wandering around looking for their purpose, and Arianna was like this. She clinged to Crow of Cainhurst, trusting him as the only remaining hook with her Cainhurst past, but he did not feel qualified or interested enough to play a dad for her - something he regretted upon meeting Arianna again years later and seeing WHAT she has to do to survive.

I also think that Arianna reacting on female Hunter differently is not a homophobia (?) internalised in Yharnam, but remains of her mom teaching her that women are "superior"; she speaks from the standpoint that she doesn't pity men all that much, but would dread to 'dirty' a woman with something as questionable as a loveless sex. It is not something beyond her that men will be like animals, but she feels inferior compared to other women, and it really gets to her.

Ideas on Adella’s backstory!

Likewise an orphaned person. When she reached puberty, she was this 👌 close to attempting to sell her body, like Arianna, before she managed to get herself a place in the Healing Church. It happened on the rift when Choir fell from uhhh... "grace"?, as well as the daughter of the current Vicar, Norbert/Herbert, turned into a celestial kin together with the children she was overseeing there. As result, he was compensating by picking up every other child/teenager and raising them within the Healing Church's walls like an actually good dad figure. He saw how Adella was doing and basically dragged her in (punching the old bastard that did want to use her on the way).

The decision to become a Blood Saint and not just part of the staff was her own, though; she bought the narrative about hunters being brave and protecting people while it was choking out its dying breaths but still existing. So, she wanted to help people.

Localisation slightly messed this up, by making it sound as though Adella has severe insecurities regarding the quality of her blood, but that's not quite the case:

Whereas the religious 'we all must admit we are sinful by nature and should bash ourselves all of our lives' vibe might apply, within the original context it seems to be that she is insecure about having to do it in 'battlefield' conditions rather than in the setting of great religious reverence it SHOULD be. Like, all she does is extracts her own blood in a vial. She only talks with us in Yahar'gul if we convince her we are Healing Church staff too; so, she still thinks we ARE one of their hunters. It seems like internal Healing Church rules about 'proper' blood sharing are what makes her feel "vulgar", not her blood overall.

Adella mentions a friend she could possibly turn to during the night of the hunt if we refuse to tell her of the safe place, and I made it be a person you pick black church garb from in the alley where Arianna is. It is a shrodinger character, of course, because it is a gendered set, but I default all sets to 'male' because default Paleblood Hunter is some guy with grey hair and I love using this as "official" option! The window NPCs in this area mention "thanking" the Church in a rather passive-aggressive and fake manner, that makes me feel like the guy was killed here out of spite. I think he is Adella's EX that she still keeps clinging to, and... well, he was in this area because he wanted to help Arianna by telling her of a safe place, as he had a bad feeling about this night. Again, irony.

What would a Discord with the original Byrgenwerth scholar gang look like?? xD

Pfffft you mean if they made a small group Discord server for familiar people only? Laurence would be a moderator, that nobody asked for, because it is a small (mostly) closed Discord group and not an official server... But he'd insist on bringing some discipline and civility anyway.

Server would have expected standard channels for drawings, research notes, general chat, jokes/memes, debates, Rom's (daily) pictures of the bugs and spiders, vent and announcements... Except, they would have to create more and more debate channels all the time, because every time it'd be either Caryll and Laurence, or Micolash and Julie cluttering the debate channel so much and refusing to stop. xD Like, they'd have to spawn new debate channels just so other people could have a talk too sdfhhdfds

Damian would share health / self-care advices regularly, like "don't forget to hydrate!" or "10 advices to avoid studying burn out!" and tell others to stay safe and not overwork. Unfortunately, nobody follows his advices. He also always answers everyone in vent channel.

Rom tends to overwhelm any channel when she is online by spamming whatever she is thinking about, but nobody tries to stop her because she tends to accidentally drop something useful, like a solution to the homework, or a significant breakthrough. They have a locked channel accessible for everyone except for Rom and Yurie/Julie, where they discuss Rom's ramblings as they happen and decide what to take from her without credit :(

Micolash sometimes has mad ramblings, similar to Rom but HIS are unhinged and genuinely creepy and disturbing. They have a locked channel accessible for everyone except for Micolash, Damian and Rom, where they laugh at his wording or mock how weird he is :(

Patches is only active in the server to promote the shit he's selling or questionable links, but if anyone gets scammed and calls him out on the server, he gaslights them that he did them all a favour and showed with a concrete example how important it is to know basics of the internet safety xD And might accept their apology for getting mad at him, if he's feeling nice fhshfdhsfds

Thank you for asking! It was a trip dshfhds

[misculenica]

Tearing Down the Veil; what do? (theory/speculation)

(trespasser + inquisition spoilers, obvs)

--long-post--

We've all wondered it, those of us who love him, and those of us who hate him. What the hell is Solas going to do? What will happen when he does it?

This will be a short speculation of Solas' plans to tear down the veil and 'restore his people'.

So having spent a little more time of the Trespasser dlc lately, and exploring alternatives for new dialogues. I've become curious about a particular thing. His plan to tear down the veil; and specifically, what that could mean for Thedas (what I've been coming to name 'the corporeal world', in comparison to the Fade 'the abstract world').

We're still not sure what exactly he's up to - in the 2 year gap between base game ending + trespasser, as well as what he's been doing since walking through that eluvian. I can't offer much on this, other than he 'has plans' of some sort, regarding obtaining the red lyrium idol. My best guess is that he intends on obtaining as much power as possible which remains in the corporeal world through magical objects, given he's had (approx. forever) to collect the knowledge of how to go about his plans from the abstract world and his spirit/demon allies. He needs a powerhouse of arcana to bring the veil down, and now I would like to point out this; just how powerful was the foci/orb that SINGLE EVENT was supposed to accomplish his plans, and yet, he's spending years collecting numerous items to accomplish what I assume is the same effect?

Has the single event become a years long task, then? Going by this, could it then be possible that he's already set in motion a new ritual? By which I mean- there may not be a single 'event' we need to stop, it's already happening (perhaps then, disrupting it could cause something far worse to happen, or equally as terrible).

Another alternative I enjoy is that Solas is taking so long because he's purposefully delaying his plans. I doubt this, given the severity of his people's plight (which I believe to be spirits/demons/etc - not the elves- ancient or modern), he would want this to go as swiftly as possible. He could be delaying for 1 of 2 reasons; 1. He wants to be stopped (highly doubt this), or 2. The best way to ensure a smooth transition between veil-postveil world is to take it slowly, so then there would be less death/chaos. (I prefer this out of anything, honestly - as well as the theory that Solas took 2 years to get back to you during the base/trespasser because he was trying to find a way to remove the mark without killing Inky).

-- I would like to make a step-stone note to say my preferred idea (and speculation) is that the veil coming down is already happening. Just very very slowly, so the world has a less destructive transition - this causes major problems for Solas, but I do feel like he would try and make the death/destruction as minimal as possible (for the Fade denizens, as well as the Thedas). He hasn't told anyone about this, because.... Well, Thedas hates spirits/demons, and telling everyone 'btw I'm going to bring them all here, and change the foundations of your reality' is very.... well, I don't imagine it would go well. Have them all chase the single event, this single entity, think there's hope to win or give up along the years. I don't know XD I really like this idea. It puts me in mind of that one quote from some old movie I watched about a volcano (I'll insert it when I remember); 'if you put a frog in boiling water, it will try and jump out, but if you put it in cold water, and raise the heat slowly, it will let itself boil' - the takeaway, if you put someone in a bad situation, they will resist, but if you put someone is an 'ok' situation and let the 'heat rise', they will not notice how bad it gets. Or, to make it fit this situation with the veil. If he brings it down immediately, both sides will react with resistance or shock (and we know this would harm spirits, which Solas doesn't want), but if it happens slowly, there may come a point where neither side even notices the change happen? --

Now, back to the juicy stuff.

What made me want to write any of this?

These Lines from the final confrontation is Trespasser.

"I will save the elven people, even if it means this world must die."

"I would have entered the Fade, using the mark you now bear. Then I would have torn down the veil. As this world burned in the raw chaos, I would have restored the world of my time..."

"If they must die, I would rather they die in comfort."

"I will do what I must, but there is no benefit in allowing harm to come to innocents before it's necessary."

"I intend to restore them, doing so will most likely destroy your world."

I would like to highlight the amount of "most likely" "if" "would have"'s

The feeling I'm getting from these is that he's assuming a worst case scenario of his plans, but they aren't a certainty. It's also interesting to note that he's (throughout the game) more revealing to a negative approval Inky than a positive one, which I feel is very clear even in Trespasser. With the worst approval rating, he states that 'doing the thing will MOST LIKELY destroy the world' not that it will. But to a romanced Inky he will say.... nothing specific honestly, he has his generic dialogue about it, where he implies a lot about his death/destruction than he says will 100% happen. It's just... Interesting to me how he dances around that certainty.

A conclusion I draw from this is that Solas has plans to try and limit the damage, but ultimately he can't control other people's actions, or predict how exactly things will go.

My interpretation is that he's acknowledging his past failures, in implying a lack of certainty with his subtext. He's also trying to frame this situation in a way that will prepare people for the worst case scenario, because, given his track record-- that's precisely how his plans go. So his plans MIGHT NOT (and that's a definitive possibility) cause insane death/destruction, but perhaps this alludes to the significance of player choice throughout the games (and in Dreadwolf?), and how they impact the road ahead. Perhaps not giving that elf in the Denerim alienage in Origins money will ripple effect of messing with Solas' plans? Have you doomed the world by killing or not killing the Forbidden Ones? (I jest! ... Or do I?)

That's... it, I guess. Just some thoughts to through out into the void.

[captainsspnanon]

C3E09 liveblog reaction

Did they have the Matrix-esque NordVPN background last time?  I can’t remember, but I am highly entertained by it.

...early episode suspicions, but maybe the whole dire wolf story is fake?  Like, the initial reaction after Fearne’s bluff made me think they were going to say ‘what dire wolf?’

Double nat ones, yes!!!

I LOVE ASHLEY

Gurge = werewolf is confirmed.  Now how are we on the Chetney = werewolf speculation???

I LOVE ASHLEY SO MUCH OH MY GOD

Also SAM is the one to say that accepting sponsorships is selling out OF COURSE HE IS

Dammit, for almost an hour the stream was mostly fine, though I had to watch at 720p instead of 1080p, and now it’s freezing constantly.  I hate my internet.  I kinda wish I could just wait until the youtube upload on Monday, but I’d have to avoid too much internet for too long for me to be willing to do that.  XD

Matt has created a council with secret members.  WHO’S ON THE CHANDEI QUOROM COUNCIL (i’m sure that joke’s already been made a billion times he totally did it on purpose I’m super sure)

I know Liam is wanting to play a character less prominent in the story, so to speak. I wonder if Orym’s backstory tie-in is going to get resolved or mostly resolved fairly early on, allowing him to ride.  Somewhat similar to Fjord, I would think, where most of the Uk’otoa stuff was early on, and the later development for Fjord was heckin’ tons of character growth and change.

With Chetney lying as smoothly as he does, I’m wondering if the whole woodworker bit that Gurge was supposed to help with was false and that it’s he was supposed to help Chetney get in contact with other werewolves?   ….ugh, I feel like I need to stop speculating and just enjoy the ride.  I have mixed feelings about watching this live!!  I’ve heard the rumors about rampant speculation over Caleb being a werewolf, and I’ve already made a fool of myself during the first episode with my fear over a West Marches campaign due to fan speculation.  I also don’t want to get invested in a theory and then be disappointed when it turns out not to be true…

For the record, I now find Ashton to be an utter delight and I am greatly looking forwards to seeing how their story and plot progresses.  Oddly, still the lowest on my ranking though?  Well, tied with FCG.  Which I think is a VERY fucking good sign, because this is me like M9 after Cad, I like ‘em all!!  Looking forwards to reaching the loving them all stage, not there yet.  Will probably need about another ten episodes or so to reach that stage XD

YO CHETNEY WENT INVISIBLE!!!  magic item for being level 4, I’m assuming.  Love the immediate walk-back on hitting Dorian in the face because it would lose the invisibility

The Meal.  Not only it is just a funny bit, but it’s a great deconstruction of Matt’s typically verbose descriptions.

I honestly can’t tell if it’s Sam or FCG who doesn’t understand what was meant by bottle trick.  I feel like it’s Sam?

PRETTY!!!!!  I don’t care if it’s the truth, I’m headcanoning it’s Buddy who renamed himself.  MY HEART  ...there’s GOT to be fan art of this dude, yeah???  TELL ME THERE IS FAN ART

IT’S THE SERVING CART oh god Travis’s reaction MAKES THIS

I both love and hate that Chetney is quickly becoming one of my favorites????  It’s so odd, in C2 I didn’t necessarily vibe so much with Nott’s whole comedic aspect to her and I loved Jester more during her not as over the top moments, but I guess C3 is the comedy campaign for me???  I’m LOVING Chetney and Fearne and Laudna and EVERYONE just feels on the top of their game when they’re cracking jokes.  It’s such a different vibe and I AM HERE FOR IT

PRETTY DESERVES THIS GROUP DATE, OMG

Also, Orym and Ashton work so well as the straight man to this group.  They’re both a bit absurd in their own ways, but they way they straight face so much...I LOVE IT

I didn’t mention it earlier, but is there a REASON that Sam is dressed as the “hello fellow kids” meme??

“Excuse me, ma’am?” oh I feel like it’s been too long since Liam has been a little shit like this.  I love it when he does it!  He just opens the floor for Matt to show off and it’s glorious.

Okay but maple ginger cookies ACTUALLY sound delicious

Once again there’s no real ‘leader’ to the team, which is a constant through all the campaigns and I really enjoy, but I enjoy how much Ashton is really helping move things along.  Not quite leadership, but definitely a leading aspect.  TWO THUMBS UP.

Ashton’s actually be fairly quiet this episode, but the stuff they’ve been doing? Like, I’m REALLY enjoying Ashton now!

….so everyone’s just ignoring Chetney dropping that he was being hunted in some way? Okay.

All this moon lore. Looking forwards to watching What the Sheet and having them freak out about the MOONS.

(not that anyone cares, but my CR ‘aftershows’ are What the Sheet (on Nico Neilson’s channel), The Pixelists, and The Dungeon Coach)

What are these NPCs this episode, I love them so much!!!

RAIN EFFECTS RAIN EFFECTS I LOVE IT SO MUCH

Ehhh...not liking this Taliesin.  Ashton successfully pickpocketed her, but now you’re arguing because you don’t like what she told you you got, and you’re going ‘oh let’s roll, it’s random’ but you’re just going ‘no that’s not good enough I want something better’.  I don’t really like that attitude.  Granted, I’m not that much a fan of the interparty stealing anyway, but that was clearly enjoyed by the table.   This?  Dislike.

Good, I’m glad he gets the chamberpot still.  “it’s only fair” my ass.  Sorry Taliesin, you should have accepted what she said to begin with.  (yes yes, not my table, they’re all cool with it, etc. etc.  My table? Would have told him to stick with the pot because that’s what Ashley said.)

I ADORE how Ashton is just SO DONE with furniture now.  Like, even though they’re probably just playing up the bit with the books, it still feels half true because of how much they are DONE with inanimate objects coming to life.

FIRST MAP FIRST MAP

Chetney MVP this episode???  maybe, but they’ve all been really on point this episode.  The most ‘background’ PCs have been Laudna and Dorian.

As much as I love Nott, I also love a rogue who actually wants to do rogue shit.  XD

NIGHTMARE KING. Yup, I feel like we’re moving past the ‘starting quests’ of a campaign and starting to move into MEAT.

OH MAN WHAT A FUCKING END

@suicidallyreckless

[muthaz-rapapa]

Let’s talk TroPreCure! (^∀^ 🌺)

i’m so stupidly proud of this dumb pun “tropurikyua~”, hahahahaha

Last post of the year and wow is there are lot to be excited for!

I even had to make a list for the stuff I want to talk about and I’m sure I already forgot one or two things but we’ll get to them as we continue to float~ along the wave to February 28th, mmkay? :)

Now for what has peaked my interest so far. And yes, we have to talk about the following first:

1) HealPre the shortest Precure season??

Unless they plan for double features in February (which I doubt but you never know), HealPre is likely going to reach only 45 episodes long instead of the usual 48~50 before TroPre I’m using this shortening of the title for now so if there’s a better alternative, tell me and I’ll switch out begins its broadcast.

Understandable because the producers probably want to get back to their normal scheduling as soon as possible (toy sales, y’know) and I suspect pushing the start of the new season back by a month is the most they’re willing to compromise.

As for me, I’m quite happy about this since HealPre’s lost its hold on my attention a while ago so the sooner TroPre gets here, the better. Though the downside might be a scrambled climax and a rushed, underwhelming ending for HealPre (I dunno if it’s January’s titles that feel a bit messy or if the hiatus is still throwing me off) but whatever. We’ll refresh ourselves with the new blood Cures so it’s all good.

2) Tropical movie announced for Autumn 2021, no All Stars??

(source)

First saw this mentioned on Youtube somewhere but it’s all over the fandom forums by now. I mean, HealPre’s movie is set for March, the usual time slot for All Stars release. If Toei intended for there to be an All Stars in 2021, there’s no way they would announce the seasonal movie before it so speculations of them skipping it this year are probably true.

To squeeze it somewhere between March and October-ish would force them to readjust their budgets as well and I don’t think even Toei wants to go through that extra hassle after all the trouble the pandemic’s caused for everyone already. It’s just easier to resume All Stars in 2022.

That, and I think Laura being a major character in TroPre despite not having a Cure title (yet) would make for an awkward situation when the three latest teams gather so perhaps that’s also one of the reasons. But I’ll get back to Laura in a bit.

3) Cure Summer is a RAINBOW Cure

So god help me if I see anyone calling her a Pink Cure.

Yes, she’s the lead Cure for this season. NO, she is not a Pink Cure.

Look, even the official website has a rainbow overlay for her profile pic and text font while everyone else’s respective theme colors are a solid hue:

Therefore, RAINBOW.

In promotional material and merchandising, they’re probably going to advertise her primarily with pink bah and at worst, she might occasionally be labeled as a White Cure with multiple subcolors (her outfit is not pink-dominant) but definitely NOT. PINK.

...also, this goes without saying but f***yea, we finally got a lead Cure practically and unabashedly wearing the LGBTQ flag and you cannot tell me otherwise, Toei!

Own up to it! Declare Manatsu/Cure Summer as the Precure queer icon!

I’m not gonna stop yellin’ until you do! 😠

4) Laura = obvious midseason Cure is obvious

First of all, Laura is a babe. I already love her the best and she’s not even Precure yet. <3

Anyways, the set-up is pretty much in the description. Important main character who’s not a mascot, stated to have a self-confident personality and just speaks her mind (oooh, I like~ :D), magical/foreign being from another world looking for Precure to save her home, possesses her own special item(s), has aspirations to become the next Queen (so she’s a princess-candidate or something to that effect, I suppose).

We’ve seen various combinations of these traits in past midseason (and a few starter) Cures so nobody should be surprised when we all guessed that one of the Cures would be a real live mermaid.

The only question is why not just make Laura a Cure from the get-go if she’s introduced to us at the beginning (like Hime or Lala) and having a team of five with no unnecessary extra add-ons later on (like Smile).

Well, there’s a simple answer for that: formula.

Toei is afraid that if they don’t spit out some new animation sequence at the halfway and third quarter points of the show, the kids will lose interest and abandon the series altogether. Which means failed toy sales. Oh nooo... [/sarcasm]

...Yea. 

And this way they can also have Laura available in the Cure lineup for the next All Stars in 2022 instead of making her sit the fight out if we were going to have one in 2021. I’m convinced that’s gotta be one of the reasons. *shrug*

But ok, whatever. Her debut is gonna be later, that’s all. She’s a delayed Cure.  Midseason Cure, same difference.

Moving along to the more important stuff now like what’s her Cure name gonna be, y/y?

Well, knowing Toei, a translation of the term “mermaid” into another language is the most predictable route even though we already have a Cure Mermaid. Not like that ever stopped them from repeating words before (ex. Cure Happy vs Cure Felice). Though if they do go down that road, I hope they opt for the Spanish/Italian “sirena” and not the French “sirène” because the latter sounds too close to how Cure Selene is pronounced in Japanese. And, putting it nicely, we all know Japanese pronunciation of foreign words is as off kilter as can be.

Hell, even the the Portuguese “sereia” sounds aesthetic as hell so it’d be nice if they can just remember there are other languages that exist out there besides Japanese, English and French when making the final decision at the writing table! *stomps foot* >:/

Alternatively, “nereid” or “naiad” are good choices too but they remind me too much of Greek myths and Laura’s from the Grand Ocean which covers more than just a couple of seas (Greece is surrounded by three, btw) so...

I dunno. But whatever it’s gonna be, she’s definitely got a strong association with water and her powers will probably be based on that.

As for theme color, since there’s noticeably no blue or green Cure in the starter lineup, it’s likely she will take up that spot when she debuts around ep 20.

Pink is also open since Cure Summer, again, is technically not a Pink Cure and Laura’s hair and tail fin are hot and light pink respectively but looking at Laura’s design and concept, does anyone seriously believe that?

Her upper torso consists of aquamarine while the body of her tail is definitely some shade of cyan, implying they’re aiming for somewhere around the middle of green and blue on the lighter spectrum.

And yea, I’m aware that green and blue are considered exchangeable in some perspectives with how close some of their shades are to each other but officially, I think Laura’s gonna be grouped with the Green Cures.

Cuz of the hair. If Laura’s gonna keep it the same or a similar shade after transforming, that is. The Blues have always had cool-colored hair so putting Laura in with them might disrupt that harmony whereas if you put her with the few Greens there are (including Parfait), she’d fit right in.

I mean, we’ll see but that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?

On another note, I just want to say that I love how they added frills to her arms instead of letting her elbows go bare naked. It definitely makes her look more like a genuine mermaid than if she didn’t have them (remember, half fish doesn’t mean half the body :P).

5) Magical Items

Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the transformation device being a compact again even though one of the main motifs is make-up this season. But at least, as far as Precure compacts goes, the Tropical one is my favorite cuz of how cute and delightfully colorful its toy version looks! So I guess I’m okay with it.

The Heart Rouge Rod, though? ...I dunno. I think it would’ve been fine without that...straw (?) jutting out at the top. It looks weird, doesn’t it look weird? :S

As for the collectible clip-ons, I can live without those for the rest of my life. Yeesh.

Laura’s items, the Aqua Pot and the Ocean Prism Mirror.

Again with the portable, travel-size housing. *sigh* 😩

Alright, I can let this year slide cuz Laura (I’m so soft for her, omg) probably won’t be getting legs for 20 weeks so she’s got to move about on land somehow. But unless they’re really thinking about turning this idea of carrying your apartment around in your bag/pocket/purse into a reality (cuz that would be effin’ awesome), please be more creative with your toys.

On the other hand, I’m much more interested in the Ocean Prism Mirror but from what Kusyami (the Precure merchandise reviews I follow on Youtube) said in his latest vid, this is the ED dance item so don’t know if it’ll actually have an relevance to the story or not. But I did hear him mention it having something to do with the Queen as well and since Laura wishes to become Queen, maybe it’ll be important after all? Maybe it’s her transformation device?

That’d be super cool. Let’s continue the trend of the midseason Cure having a different transformation item than the starters. Honestly, we should alternate every other year or two but we’ve gone three seasons with all of them using the same henshin gimmicks up till HealPre and I just want a break from that.

6) Fin sleeves??

These look so impractical for combat so maybe it’s exclusive to group attacks.

And/or a sort of precursor to the super forms?

*GASP* Does that mean they all eventually turn into mermaids? 🤩

7) Yui finally became Precure!! 😭

lol, it’s all crack from this point on so don’t take it too seriously but man, after Yuni’s deceptive braids, I thought I wasn’t gonna see anything that reminded me of Yui for a while and lo behold, Sango.

kehehehehehe xD;

Though Yui might be closer to Minori in terms of personal interests (fairytales and storybooks).

8) Akira, the actual Onee-chan version

I didn’t think this when I first saw her but once I read “Onee-san” in her profile, there’s no saving you now. Sorry, Asuka. 😅

Also, damn, do her sandals make her feet look big! Compare them to the heels she wears as Flamingo. Are they even the same?! lololol

9) ...this sounds awfully familiar...

Translation:

Tokimeku Tokonatsu! [Exciting/Thrilling Everlasting Summer!] Cure Summer! Kirameku Hoseki! [Sparkling Jewel!] Cure Coral!  Hirameku Fuurutsu! [Flashing Fruit!] Cure Papaya!

Japanese reiteration:

Mallow/Mao: Pink no tokimeki! Lillie: Blue no kirameki! Lana/Suiren: Yellow no kagayaki!

….........

@Toei 

Care to explain yourselves, punks?! 

୧(ʘ ∀ ʘ ╬)

[em-be-lievable]

How do I feel different types of energies? I'm trying to get more into witch craft but I don't really get that

Hm, now this is kind of an interesting question!  

If you’d allow me to WILDLY speculate, I think it’s a little less about learning how to feel energies and just becoming aware of the energies you’re automatically feeling. This is the nifty part of the craft that crosses over with science (To quote Thor: ‘In your world there is science, and magic. In mine they reach a point where they’re one in the same.’) A lot of it is just stuff our brains come auto equipped with. 

Let me paint you a theoretical: Have you ever been in a public place, and you encounter a person that just is off? They make you uncomfortable and for some reason you can’t really place your finger on why? Similarly, have you ever met a person who just feels like a literal ray of sunshine? Someone who just fills you with good feelings everytime they’re around? 

In a way, you’re feeling those people’s energies. One just carries more negative energy while the other! Same with places or items! When you ‘imbue’ something with your own energy you even make a cognitive connection to that thing which may be what brings you that feeling of comfort! 

Or, at least that’s my take on it. Sometimes ‘magic’ is just science with more interesting phrasing. But if it works, then it works, so who cares XD 

[threshie]

Supernatural 14.10 and 14.11 Thoughts

First off, 14.10. I didn't get a chance to comment when I watched it because I was away from home, so I'm posting them all now in one big long thread. Here goes!

I love that Sam keeps repurposing the British Men of Letters' technology for his own uses. Michael's trying to get to everybody's insecurities, which is working because let's face it, these fellas have a lot of those. I loved seeing Dad!Cas being protective of Jack.

At the same time, Jack isn't helpless, and he's super smart, so when it came down to life or death, he used the soul magic and could access his Nephilim powers! Considering how we have an ep coming up with Donatello, I feel like Jack will see how a soulless person is there.

I liked the time loop idea for Dean's mind palace bar place, and especially enjoyed seeing Pam there. Pam represents the point where Dean learned angels exist -- she got her eyes burned out trying to look at Cas (in all fairness, he did warn her not to look.)

So by clinging to having Pam around and the hunting, drinking, close to home and not at all big picture life, Dean seems to be mentally set away from thinking about angels. Even while talking about Cas and Sam, he acts like Cas is just another hunter.

When Pam's blindness is pointed out and she notes "Feathers" (Crowley's nickname for Cas!) caused it, Dean is jarred out of his nice comfortable mental loop.

The lady trying to get Dean to sell the business was a neat touch. I see some meta writers interpret her as either Mike getting Dean to re-commit to staying put in his mind. I interpreted her as Dean's own mind trying to convince him out of staying in the bar forever, and the fact that he won't sell and considers the bar ideal means he's still kept in a haze as planned.

That or Mike sending her in to try and convince Dean to sign (say yes) permanently so that Mike doesn't have to keep him in the illusions anymore. All are valid theories, but I kind of like the idea that even while he thinks he's content, Dean's mind sends in doubt personified.

Okay, onward to 14.11. Oh, 14.11. Dean's doing the Winchester self-sacrifice thing and saying his goodbyes and hugging people, not telling anybody what he's up to, because of course he is. He's Dean. Mike's throwing a tantrum 24/7, I presume, from that glimpse.

Sam notices his books are missing and which ones instantly. XD Aww, got to love the lore Moose. As much as I dislike Nick because human villains just make this feel like a slasher film, I'm so glad that he finally had a face-off with the Winchesters so they could deal with him.

Enochian puzzle box... *adds to list of items usable in fanfic* That was the most mundane non-supernatural way to get into a supernatural object I have ever seen, and I kind of loved it. XD The way Abraxas went into the nearest meatsuit instead of smoking out tells me...

...That maybe demons can't see what's going on on the physical side of things until they're in a body. I feel bad for the random dude Nick kidnapped to be the meatsuit, but I'm glad he didn't do what I expected -- somehow cut, burn or damage Mary's tattoo off and use her.

Billie handing Dean the plans for his fancy warded coffin explains how he knew how to make it. This whole plot echoes Sam choosing to jump into the Cage with Lucifer onboard, choosing to be locked up forever with him to save everyone else.

Sam understands Dean's situation, but doesn't agree to the solution. He compared himself to Nick this ep, how he could've ended up without help. I think he's imagining Dean turning into Nick if possessed for years.

It's likely intentional that Dean described his possession as drowning and then his solution that involves staying locked up with Michael is to be sunk to the bottom of the Pacific ocean. So he's choosing to stop fighting and drown, forever, but this time Mike gets to drown too.

And YAY, Donna got to meet Nick, put up a fight against him, and not die! I was so worried he'd kill her, but he must have been in a mighty hurry to go be a creeper toward Mary so he just left.

All-in-all, the season's arcing along and the plotlines are making sense to me so far. I'm relieved Sam and Dean and Mary got to face off with Nick so he's not out there murdering people like a slasher villain anymore. I'm a tad disappointed they didn't kill him, though.

Since he found out why his family was killed and who did it, his story arc seems complete. The summary for next episode on IMDB says he's in it, though. Sigh. It's also about prophets. Please tell me they won't kill Donatello and make Nick the next prophet.

Must add this: I'm so glad Sam got to tell Nick off and clarify that he's sorry not for Nick, but for his victims in the end of the episode. Sam sees that Nick is broken (damaged goods, e.g. the episode title) and that he is beyond help. He's a murderer. "You can burn" is right.

Anyway, that's all the commentary I've got to post this time 'round. Hope it was interesting to read, and if you disagree, that's okay. I'm just speculating here since we don't have the whole season to judge yet. ♥

[japanessie]

I was also wondering if you could shed some detail on the contents of the different versions of MFS' CDs and DVDs. I am aware that they started putting out limited edition and Storyteller versions in 2016, but I'm not quite sure what kinds of content I'm missing out on, especially since I only joined the fandom this year. What are the differences between the versions? Thank you, and I hope this won't be too much of a bother! Thank you for always helping out new fans like me

(^^)v

MFS has been doing the Limited Edition thing as far back as 2014. But not many international fans knew that. There was just a small group of fans running a few FB pages and nobody really actively translated their info into English. That’s one of the reasons I started this blog. Basically to help my MFS friends.

These are the bonuses and limited official contents that I know of. Apart from bonus stickers or posters etc, I hope I didn’t leave out anything.

MY FIRST STORY Limited Editions List

Except for No.19, ALL photos are mine.

1. MY FIRST STORY Album-nil-

2. THE STORY IS MY LIFE Album-nil-

3. 最終回STORY Single-The Story Is My Life Tour Final at Shibuya Club Quattro DVD- about 30mins long- bundled as standard package with the CD

4. The Ending of The Beginning Tour Final at Ebisu Liquidroom DVD-nil-

5. BLACK RAIL Single- Limited Tsutaya Records bonus DVD of BLACK RAIL MV *- Limited TOWER Records bonus DVD of former drummer Masack miming Hiro singing FAKE *

6. 不可逆リプレイス Single-nil-

7. 虚言NEUROSE- Bonus behind-the-scene DVD of the making of 虚言NEUROSE MV *- it was offered as a limited bonus at Village Vanguard Japan in 2014- sold out since 2014- I believe some fans already managed to get the soft copy and uploaded it.

8. ITSUWARI NEUROSE Tour Final at Shinkiba Studio Coast DVD- 虚言NOBROSE Season 1 DVD bundled as standard package with the main DVD.

9. ALONE Single- Behind-the-scene DVD of the making of ALONE MV- bundled as standard package with the CD- Pre-order bonuses were buttons (CDJapan, HMV) and this below plastic folder (Amazon Japan) *. Doesn’t the folder look awesome \(^^)/?- Japanese fans even got official rubber bands! *

10. ANTITHESE- Limited Edition with DVD of 虚言NOBROSE Season 2 but bundled as a standard package with the CD *- Limited Autographed cardboard cover STORYTELLER Edition *- Limited Pre-order Bonus DVD of MY FIRST STORY at A.V.E.S.T. Vol 9, Tsutaya O-East *

11. We’re Just Waiting 4 You Tour Final at the Budokan DVD/BD- see Note 1

12. 虚言NOBROSE Special DVD- contains Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3.- see Note 1

Note 1:- Limited STORYTELLER Edition ごっちゃんです！！ Vol.1 DVD* for bundled pre-order of Item 11 + Item 12

13. We’re Just Waiting 4 You Single- available only at MAGIC-ROOM Store

14. 全心 Documentary DVD/BD- Pre-order bonus was MFS plastic folder envelope with a postcard of members’ photo *

15. ALL LEAD TRACKS Mini Album- Limited First Press Edition contains 花0714 acoustic version.- Limited Amazon Japan Edition * has a special Hiro portrait by the Hortensia Saga artist + original version of REVIVER.- Limited STORYTELLER Edition has ごっちゃんです Vol.2 *. That silver disc.

16. ALL SECRET TRACKS Mini Album-nil-

17. MERRY CHRISTMAS Single- available only at MAGIC-ROOM and MY FIRST STORY Online Official Goods Store.

18. THE PREMIUM SYMPHONY Album- Limited quantity first-come-first-serve bonus of random postcards of the band members at MMA Tour Final if you order from HMV, TOWER Records or Tsutaya Records.

19. MMA Tour Final DVD- Pre-order bonus DVD of NOB One-Man Live at Tsutaya O-East by 15 April 2018.- Limited VR Contents only at WIZY Japan (pre-order already closed).

20. BONEDS Split Album (AIRSWELL, BLUE ENCOUNT, MY FIRST STORY, SWANKY DANK)- Each band contributed 2 songs.- MFS did What’s My Name? and START OVER.

21. BONEDS Tour Movie DVD- Each band performed 5 songs.- Behind-the-scene documentary + interviews included. Bromance alert XD!- Someone told me that this DVD is discontinued but I doubt it because both CDJapan and Amazon Japan still list it. - But if it really IS discontinued, then it’s the better reason to grab it NOW.

22. SAVIOR of SONG Single (w/ Nano)- Released as Nano’s single and there are different versions of the single but get the “MY FIRST STORY version" with Hiro’s face on the cover which is this.- Contains the duet version of START OVER between Hiro and Nano.

GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS

As you can see, some limited items are almost impossible to find anymore especially the pre-order bonuses or the ones I marked with (*). If money is not a problem, you can try hunting for them at Yahoo Auction or Amazon Japan marketplace. But the good news is ALL THREE seasons of 虚言NOBROSE that you want, can be bought in that one DVD (Item 12).

If you’re interested in their other collaboration work, I can list more (^^). See below the cut.

23. VOICES Digital Single- Only available on iTunes Japan at ￥700. Tutorial on how to buy from iTunes Japan here.- The names of the singers were never revealed but Hiro was obviously one of them and the other guy was speculated as INTACT labelmate KeiGo from Another Story- MV is here and here.

24. CIRCLES Album by SWANKY DANK (read the details in my post here)- Hiro as the guest vocalist on the song Sink Like A Stone- I will forever credit SWANKY’s KOJI Matsuo for pushing Hiro out of his comfort zone and exploring his untapped high notes potential at that time.- Sink Like A Stone was a crucial turning point for Hiro as a singer as he then became more confident and adventurous with high notes after this song.

25. RIMFIRE Album by AIRSWELL - Hiro as the guest vocalist on the song JAP POPPER. A superb song!- One of the best debut albums I ever own.

26. GENE Album by Pay Money To My Pain (read Hiro’s heartfelt words for his friend/MFS mentor Kei Goto here)- Hiro as one of the guest vocalists on the song Respect For The Dead Man.

27. PASSCODE Miss Unlimited single (w/ DVD) (read the details in my post here)- Kid'z played on this single as a studio drummer.- The DVD is the full Tour Final at Shinkiba Studio Coast, Tokyo.- For Kid’z fans as he was PROMINENTLY featured, was VERY visible on camera as the drummer and even got introduced as “Kid’z from MY FIRST STORY”. Check him out in the below MV.

28. ROCK ON Album by Nano (read the details in my post here)- Sho composed the song Be The One and played the guitar. Bass by Nob and drums by Kid'z. - Kid'z played on a few other songs on that album too. He was her drummer before joining MFS.- Be The One is available on iTunes Japan and USA. Not in my country Malaysia though :-P

29. ASH Single by LiSA (read the details in my post here)- Sho composed the song 罪人 / Tsumibito. Guitar by Sho, bass by Nob and drums by Kid'z.- Internationally available on iTunes.

30. Ochanomizu Rock Soundtrack Album (read the details in my post here)- Sho is the music director and composer of the drama/stageplay.- Sho and Kid'z also coached the actors on guitars and drums.- Internationally available on iTunes.

31. ZiNG Project (read the details in my post here)- Nob is the bassist. They recorded a song in 2017 for the smartphone phone game App Kamurai Tribe. The song isn’t for sale I think.

32. FUUKA 【風夏】Anime Soundtrack - Available as a CD+DVD which also includes the instrumental version. Details in the following YouTube video description.- Sho is the music arranger and guitarist. He’s in this MV below. It his first public appearance since taking a hiatus from being a full-touring member with MFS.

33. DREAMCATCHER Single by Nano (read the details in my post here)- There are TWO version. the アニメ / Anime version and the ナノ / Nano version. Get the ナノ version.- Sho composed the song HolloWorld in the ナノ Version. The CD includes the instrumental version. Part of the song can be heard in the video below. 

Wow. Those AREN’T even ALL the stuff these guys have worked on. Since MFS members are professional sessionist musicians, the list will definitely grow longer and longer XD.

[chaos2go]

So finally rambling about Dryst in BotW where I’ve decided he would ‘originate’ from. Land-of-Hyrule will always be where he really belonged and there are quite a few things he’ll be missing in translation but oh well. I can’t really place Alden in this game (okay, I could in some respect given timeline is figured out 100% even then... well, I want Alden to be with the koroks >C XD Just imagine. Alden in his sword spirit form with a korok leaf on his face so he ‘fits in’, trying to do the korok stuff, picked up the Mr. Hero thing, etc.). and Zahir fits in just fine with OoT (though with her, a BotW counterpart could work better given the stables). Either way, this game opened up the chance for a lot of my characters that didn’t really fit anywhere but where LoZ characters but especially Dryst. Aliza, you can have a house out there in the scary Hyrule too!

But there are SPOILERS below. Don’t read any further if you don’t want any! Though I’ll be honest, they’re nothing major given I haven’t been everywhere or done divine beasts (only watched) XD. Plus there are some ‘speculation’ things in there given there isn’t solid information on some junk. So excuse shoddy headcanon crap where appropriate.

Now if you’re reading this, I’m sorry if it gets a little long. I want to touch on his background changes and what exactly he’d do in the game as I imagine he would have some interaction with Link given he is a sheikah and the sheikah had a connection to him. In no way would he be over 100. If anything, he’s still around the same age which makes him a young whipper snapper! Also I don’t know if ‘magic magic’ actually exists but I’m just going to ignore that for now. It looks like it’s only items and special people so we’ll find out? Yiga clan teleportation looks like it’s to do with the talismans/wards/omamori(???)... But yeah XD Here we go. Sorry if this is boring!

Dryst would be born in Kakariko about 75 years after the calamity returned and Link was sent to the shrine. Much like LoH, he was kind of a spoiled kid who didn’t want to end up being a 'menial worker’ like his parents. Plus don’t forget the landing in trouble. He wanted to be someone important and do something important. Though the game doesn’t show it exactly beyond a few moments one memory scene, he wanted to be someone who helped guard the royal family. At the very least, he wanted to do something outside of the village that wasn’t research given there is no royal family at this point. Fighting the calamity and guardians to ‘thin them out’ really was his big idea as who knew when and if the hero would return.

Needless to say his parents weren’t keen on him trying to learn to fight and tried to redirect his ideas to research instead. It only directed him to learn about legends beyond what he was taught about the calamity, shiekah slate, etc. while trying to read books about combat. Despite many punishments, he still tried to sneak out and learn to fight. His parents barred others from teaching him which only hindered him further than his already lackluster skill. This drove him to just want to leave his hometown and try to find someone who could help him or to learn on his own. It wasn’t a big deal as some sheikah did this anyway though most opted to stay and wait for the hero’s return. Dryst was more dead set on fighting.

After one particular fight with his parents, his rage had just gone through the roof. His parents were trying to convince him that only the hero could fight the calamity and if he really wanted to help, he could still change his focus to researching. Dryst elected to take this as a chance to just leave the town entirely as he was done. He never informed his parents of this choice but rather went to Impa who he saw as the main problem for why the sheikah were so passive. Upon meeting her, he stated how this whole sitting and waiting didn’t help anyone. There had to be some action given there were still things bad in Hyrule given the calamity and the Yiga clan. Monsters were a problem, rebuilding was a problem, and all his people did was take care of themselves now. His frustrations towards the village poured out, especially against his parents. Impa could see his troubles and only informed him that she wished him well in his journeys across Hyrule. It wasn’t the first time a youth had felt that way and she actually encouraged him to leave. Dryst didn’t see her words as trying to help however. He told her that he had no intentions of returning. Then he left.

Hyrule itself was just too much for him. He did his best to survive and barely scraped by for the longest time. If anything, he had to learn how to fight a bit better against monsters just to survive. The original plan of making it to another race’s home just fell flat as he was constantly lost and struggling. Thankfully he ran across a woman who helped him out. That of course being Aliza much like in LoH. This would be very similar to LoH as Dryst would be quiet and open up about many of his problems after initially being berated by her. She’d offer him a home but still scold him and mother him when necessary as he would have been only about 17 (far too young to be out on his own according to her). Aliza overall doesn’t see why he has such an interest in actually fighting the monsters and the calamity. But she doesn’t wish to stop him as she sees he feels the need to do it and prove himself. If anything, much like in LoH she wants him to do what he can and find his place which obviously wasn’t with his people.

Over the years, Dryst’s skill doesn’t really improve beyond tiny things but he’s become good at other things. He’s made it to some of the places in Hyrule he’s planned on going and has found out a lot of legends. Despite his navigation still sucking, he has learned a few tricks to getting around that has helped him immensely (aka teleportation given we don’t know how it works >C so the wards or magic). Being known as a braggart and helping people out with menial tasks too has put him in a rather good position.

So from here on out, imagine Dryst as he is in the group save magic, save siding with demons (as there isn’t really an evil side to go with unless he went Yiga which he would probably wouldn’t even try given they can’t give him anything he wants), and save having Alden. He’s just a guy trying to do good deeds and show off. He would slowly be learning what he really needed to do with his life.

If I were to do a story however, he would run into this hero. Given how everyone plays the game differently, I don’t know how or when I would plan on them running into one another. Dryst would know very well the towers showing up would be a sign of his return. It would make him question whether or not he should return to his village. Unlike in the group, he would try to go there (his shame being the only real reason he hasn’t this time). Aliza would encourage trying. I imagine that it would more or less be him meeting Link right after Link had spoken with Impa. So the poor hero would have to deal with more “Wait, is that what I think it is? the sheikah slate?!” crap.

Given what the game says about Link, I imagine Dryst would just tag along and try to show off his knowledge. Link wouldn’t have much to say and honestly he’d probably test Dryst’s limits. Dryst would be useful in his knowledge however on some items that may have been forgotten (just not memories). He’d also have some input on other races (still being racist towards gerudo but not nearly as bad). Still there would come the time where he’d get left behind whether it would be warp, a shrine, or just an area he wasn’t allowed. I’d imagine somehow he’d be able to make it through the Lost Woods (if only because EVERYONE DESERVES TO SEE KOROKS... gonna just say I think they probably choose who to appear to but eh, w/e) and get a bit of story there thus finally learning that Link doesn’t remember everything and feeling kinda crappy that he assumed Link did. Overall just bro-ventures though. Dryst often getting a shorted on the adventure due to being left behind and just not being as skilled.

However I’d love to add some characters in to help build friendships besides Aliza. I am wondering about some LoH concepts (like a zora OC I couldn’t figure out an occupation for) to be adapted and then perhaps I can turn around and use them in the group too. IDK XD There’s just like... a lot I want to talk about but this ramble is kinda long. I’m just happy there is something beyond LoH he could fit in to.

I’m giving up on this ramble as of now because it’s late XD And I should be in bed. I could hit on specifics if anyone cars.

[blaperile]

Hiveswap Episode 1 Reaction Part 15: Second Strife + Trophy Room Exploration part 1

Dammit, it's been two weeks since we last had the time to play some more Hiveswap.

Before we started I knew it was going to take a pretty long time, knowing us, but still.

Oh well, no use complaining about it, let's just continue where we stopped last time and continue enjoying it in the same way as always!

After all, last time we just went through some really exciting things, what with exploring the basement and getting our very first strife!

Next up, we were going to see what Joey and Jude have to say to each other. After that, I assume we're going to the trophy room, perhaps immediately going into our next strife? Or is it about time to be Jude for the first time, maybe?

Let's find out!

plainWonder's got a great point that this is a great game to be playing for the upcoming Halloween now, hahaha!

Starting at 8:20 PM now.

Pffffff, I love how Jude's immediately speculating that it wasn't Joey who turned the power back on. And immediately afterwards he's complimenting her on her wilyness, haha.

Hmm, so yeah, Jude's reminding Joey/us that we need to go to the trophy room to get the attic key.

But... how are we going to deal with the problem in there? Another strife comin' up?

I mean... assuming there's a monster inside the trophy room and not something else? Considering the fact that we didn't actually see it and Joey just heard some stuff.

Or maybe we get another distraction before we end up there?

I love the narration when examining the basement door. YOU'RE MORE OF A SNAKE THAN IT IS. XD

Okay, exiting the kitchen and moving on to the trophy room then!

...Oooooohhhhhhh, right! We can now see the living room in the light! Gosh it looks so much less creepier now.

Alright, enough of that. Let's see what happens at the trophy room! Will there be another cutscene?

....A short one!!!

Yup, there's another monster in here! And looks like Joey could enter this time because it was no longer right in front of the door.

God that is a pretty weird looking monster. But a considerably smaller one than the serpent monster and perhaps more easier for Joey to handle!

Oh man, plainWonder's right that the house motif is also in the strife music! That's really cool!

Anyway, now we're getting a way better look at the trophy room!

It actually looks quite a bit smaller (both in length and width) than I expected, when we saw it in the dark!

What caught my attention first is the two katanas. They immediately remind me of Bro's katanas. I wonder why Grandpa had them?

And hey, some actual guns in here! Both in the trophy case in the background, and on display right above the katanas.

Pfff, another clock (on 11:11 of course) with a swinging pendulum.

And of course, one of Grandpa's precious globes! Which, like plainWonder pointed out, have got some pretty weird continents on them. Is it perhaps supposed to be a globe of prehistoric Earth, when the continents where shapped differently or something?

It would be interesting to examine that globe later on.

plainWonder just noticed the fireplace! Heh, just like in the foyer in Jade's home. Fortunately enough, this one doesn't feature a stuffed human corpse in front of it. xD

Nor is there any urn to be seen, like at John's fireplace.

Which brings me back to wondering what happened to Ms. Claire after her death. Did she get a proper burial, perhaps? It would be interesting if we could visit her grave in Hauntswitch or something!

Hey, a chess board! That's an especially interesting thing to notice here, considering how closely Homestuck is linked to chess metaphors. Talking about that chess board... it has no chess pieces? Hmm, that's weird!

My theorizing mind is of course immediately wondering if there's some metaphor to get from this empty chess board, but let's not dwell on this any longer, for now. :P

Aaaaaand of course some more deer trophies. God, this home is going to be one giant hell for Dammek, won't it? xD

Up above, near the ceiling, we've got some more interesting things. A talking fish, a sad-looking bear trophy, another narwhal trophy like in the basement, and... a white bird with a black wing? That last one is especially remarkable, it doesn't really fit in that much with the other trophies.

plainWonder's probably right that it's just a type of bird that has black on top of the wing and white on the bottom, but still.

I can't help but think of the white and black wings of PM and Jack Noir here.

Alright, wow, that's enough examining for now!

Let's get into this strife! And hope Joey is capable of handling this one.

Oh!!!! plainWonder's got a great point that the narration is pointing out that the monster looks HUNGRY! That could be a hint that we need to use the pet treats here! That's a sweet catch and sneaky hint.

Let's first try out some other items then.

Flashlight > Monster: WELP. That didn't work. The puns keep getting me though. xD

Tap shoes > Monster: Yikes! Looks like the monster can roar. That's pretty scary.

Looks like this monster is really good at blocking moves!

Batteries > Monster: I love how that battery slid back all the way to Joey for her to pick up.

All-Season Magic Spice Mix > Monster: Okay, so that doesn't do much either.

I guess it's up to the pet treats then! :D

And maybe doing that will give us a hint on what to do next.

Pet treats > Monster: Yup, he swallowed the treats! ...It didn't really do much though, but it was definitely the right combination, considering that the cursor changed to orange just like last time.

But what do we do next? Do we use the spice mix again, or something else?

...Nope! Not the spice mix.

Let's just try attacking then, with the flashlight, tap shoes, or ballet slippers?

...Huh, none of the above are the correc actions!

Do we need to give it even more pet treats? xD

....We do!!!! I didn't expect that.

So this time Joey didn't throw it right in its mouth, but to the floor. It made the monster move to the right! That's interesting. Maybe plainWonder's right and we're just going to chase the monster outside and shut the door, so we can examine the trophy room?

Pffffff, the target symbol has become a chomping mouth now. IT IS HUNGRY AND WANT MORE FOOD. :mspa:

Oh hey, examining the monster again now gives a different narration! Oh yes, time for dessert, hahaha. I wonder if there was another piece of narration after the first time we used the treats too.

AHAHAHAHHAHAHAA, that was amazing. The monster indeed left the trophy room, and we got a wonderful victory & level-up scene, hahahaha.

The victory music and Joey's pose reminded me of John's victory dance/music after defeating the Imp, hehehe.

I didn't expect the leveling up part! I love how it's a spoof of Echeladders on one hand, and on the other hand also a spoof on stats in other video games where it actually makes you stronger in a way, whereas in Homestuck and now also here in Hiveswap it's mostly an excuse for sillyness, hahaha.

So okay, looks like Joey closed the door after the monster left the room, that was a wise decision. :P

Let's start examining some stuff in here now!

First of all, I just noticed how that knight's arm fell off and is lying on the ground. Anyone else immediately thinking of Jack Noir's missing arm here? xD

Oh wait, totally forgot that Jude and Joey got some more things to say to each other! Let's see. Because yeah, where even IS the attic key in here?

....Pfff, Jude simply refuses to tell where the key is. Wonderful. :P

Where even is Grandpa's desk that Joey's referring to here?

I doubt the key is in the armpit or in the glove of that knight, hehe.

....OH HELL YES. Jack Noir reference secured right there.

Ahahaha, it's a "little out of season" for equipping the armour. And also a little the wrong century, I think. ;)

Batteries && Knight armour ==> My first thought was that this was perhaps referencing those chess creatures on the Battlefield that are loyal to the White Queen and White King, but oh my god, plainWonder's got a far better point that this is probably referencing the Imperial Drones and their loyalty to the Condesce!

Well played, writers. Well played.

Pogs && Knight armour ==> I only realized how funny Pog Epoch sounds after I said it out loud, hahaha.

Cherub Key && Knight armour ==> HMMMMMMMMMMMM... Joey's considering that there might be stuff hidden away inside the armour. Is this a hint that the attic key might be inside the armour after all? That's something to keep in mind.

In any case, none of the other item combinations really hint that we could do something to it. So let's move on then, for now!

...Is it just me or is the narration on the lioness head a reference to B2 Jack? Eye sockets that beckon for something to be inserted into them instead of actual eyes, a head detached from its body? That sounds suspiciously like how B2 Jack got the billiard eyes and how he died in Collide. :P

Batteries/Pogs && Cat head trophy ==> ...Huh, what's Joey going to put inside those sockets? In any case, she didn't insert the batteries nor the pogs, and I doubt she'll insert the pet treats.

...Oh god Joey's going to find some billiard balls in this trophy room somewhere, isn't she?

Cherub Key && Cat head trophy ==> HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM... Is this just a sneaky reference to Lord English's connection to both the Cherub motif and the empty eye sockets that got filled up? Or is this hinting that Joey's going to insert something red and something green in here (red and green billiard ball???).

Anyway, this mysterious note looks like a good place to finish for tonight. Getting pretty tired here, and it's 9:30 PM already.

Next time we'll explore the rest of the trophy room, find something to put in those eyesockets of the cat head trophy if we're "lucky" (D:), and perhaps find the attic key.

[muthaz-rapapa]

They announced Precure 2021!!

Tropical Rouge! Precure. It will be a tropical/ocean theme and I believe it will have either a 4 team cures (pink, blue, yellow/orange and teal) or a duo with a red cure as a sixth ranger. What are your opinions/theories?

Oh shit, it is that time again, isn’t it? I totally forgot with how screwy year this year has been. ANN didn’t even mention anything. (@_@ ;;)

Well, anyways, since the trademark is out, speculation is all fair game until December or whenever we get the next messy quality leaks at the soonest.

Before that though, I just want to comment about the HealPre movie poster:

I really like the kimono design integrated into the magical girl outfit. Seriously, I wished they could’ve saved this idea for a full-cour season instead of using it as a movie-exclusive form. That would’ve been awesome~ && imagine the crazy hair but decorated with kanzashi. *sigh* <33 ...only in my dreams, I guess. T_T

Other than that, I am also psyched for the (random) return of the Yes 5 girls. I have no idea what they’re doing here but hey, the Maho girls saved the KiraPre movie for me with their cameos so I’m totally cool with Yes 5 dropping in all badass if HealPre’s movie ends up being just so-so.

Alright, now that that’s out of the way...

Precure 2021, otherwise known as

TROPICAL ROUGE! PRECURE

...admittedly, it’s not the weirdest title we’ve ever gotten but still, Toei at it again with its obsession over weird 3-4ish syllable salads. Ah, how I miss the times when we can just attach one simple word before “Pretty Cure” and that would’ve been enough. :P

Also, how the hell are we going to shorten this? TroPre? TropicPre? ToRuPre? PikaRuPre? Too long! Why must you make the little things so difficult, you bastards?!?! (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ )

*cough*

Judging by the title, we’re probably all correct in guessing one of its motifs will concern the ocean and when most of us think “tropical” mixed in with Precure, the first image that pops up would be Aloha Precure:

[ Hey girls, how you doin’? ^^ ]

But for me? My first thought was this:

SHUT UP.

LET ME HAVE MY BEVERAGE-BASED MAGICAL ISLAND IDOL TRIO REALITY AND LET ME DIE HAPPY THERE!

I LOVE YOU TEA DRINKYUN, SODA DRINKYUN, JUICE DRINKYUN!!!!!

xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

But in all seriousness, we’re likely not going to have these two as the protagonists because

1) They’re not Japanese or Japan-based.

2) They’re from a different Precure season altogether.

3) This is Toei we’re talking about. Looking at how one-shot Sunset and Wave were, do you really think they would go ahead on a tropics theme with any interest in anything outside just the aesthetics/marketing appeal of it? Uh, sadly, NO.

So sorry to dash your hopes if you had any but even if we are lucky enough to get a main Cure who is of Polynesian descent, we probably won’t be spending parts of the season actually exploring their ethnic background.

Though I’d still hold on to the possibility of Aloha Precure maybe getting a cameo. And more importantly, getting another dark-skinned Cure who isn’t just tan from staying out in the sun too long because I really, really, really want that, too! (>.<)

Ok, ok, back to motifs and themes.

So ocean. And there’s a seashell symbol in the logo so when we think of those things, we think of mermaids (and therefore, Cure Mermaid).

[...y’know, I’m starting to believe they’re just basing all the new seasons on the Go!Pri cast like StarPre for Twinkle. Heartcatch, however, pre-existed Flora so I don’t know where that stands but all that’s left would be Scarlet so I guess Precure 2022′s either going to take place in Hell or somewhere freezing like a mountain YES, WE’RE GONNA FIGHT ELSA! >:D or the north/south poles]

Chances of one of the Cures being a mermaid then? Maybe even the midseason one? Pretty damn high.

Chances of the magical items having something to do with pearls? Feels a little like Mermaid Melody but as long as they don’t throw any blatant idol tendencies in my face, I’m good.

Chances of TroPre (name pending) actually focusing on the nature of the ocean and taking time to explain in depth its sealife, ecosystems and the man-imposed problems that exist within it? *BIG SIGH*

Honestly, as much as I would love for Precure 2021 to branch out from what HealPre started with its health/environment approach (which was quite the disappointing cop-out but that’s a discussion for another place and time), I doubt we’re going to get that no thanks to the commercialization aspect of it.

And I don’t blame the writers (entirely), I blame their higher-ups who probably meddle with the story and demand for more cutesy, pointless fillers instead because y’know, toy sales first, unfortunately. :P

But ok, even if I don’t get the science side of it, that doesn’t mean it won’t be enjoyable. But with only just a logo to go off on atm, it’s hard to predict what we’re really in for next year.

Except for the fact that we can already tell how many starter Cures we’ll be getting.

[Sorry it took so long to get to this part, anon]

Pink is a no brainer, there can’t be a Precure season without a Pink lead (bah).

And look at how solid the azure/blue and teal/green is. Those are locked in for sure (HURRAH! ANOTHER GREEN CURE~! xD).

Now yellow...or is that orange? Personally, I think it’d be great if they dropped the Yellow Cure this year and gave it to the Pink Cure as a sub-color instead because unlike the blue and teal katakana, the pink/yellow/orange ombre of the bottom line is not as distinct from one another as the former are. But I doubt it because when you say “tropic” you think of “sun” too so can’t be without the yellow Cure, after all. Ugh.

Finally, there’s that striking red at the end of “Rouge” that looks like what would happen if an exclamation mark and a sea slug had a baby together and put an obnoxious bow on it. :S

With “rouge” in the title [sorry, not you Rin-chan but hey, Rin-chan~! :D], it seems we’re pretty much guaranteed a red Cure as well. I just hope she gets a more creative name than just a synonym of the color red because while “Cure Crimson” cue JoJo jokes I don’t understand sounds cool, it’s lazy.  (-_- ;;)

So in total, a maximum of 5 Cures. No, I will not be leaving room open for a possible 6th one cuz that is just one too many Cures and we don’t need that. WE. DON’T.

As for anon’s theory on a duo team with the Red Cure as the sixth (you actually meant third, right?) ranger...really, I’d much prefer a smaller team. I love the idea of starting the season with just a pair of Cures like the good old days. I love the idea of both of them having two theme colors (pink/yellow and blue/green) each instead of one. I’d look forward to a midseason Cure this time because the chemistry would actually be more manageable to work with and develop when it’s not such a huge crowd. So that the new girl doesn’t have to go through all her members like required shifts instead of having more organic interactions with them.

...but that’s just my hope. I know as much as the next person on what Precure 2021′s gonna be like which is pretty much “nothing at all”. *shrug*

We’ll see.