#I'll post the more spoilery one later

[callmegaith]

In the best kind of way Make your move, what's your move? I've entered your veins And I'm carving my way through your thoughts All at once (x)

[zaritarazi]

Watched all the helnik scenes in s2 i'll post more spoilery content later today but i'll say i wanted more but i do get that they're setting up for if they get the big one and the last scene of theirs that they shared this season... ugh. My children.

[autistichalsin]

My chapter-by chapter analysis of The Hunger Games, chapter 1

Disclaimer: this and all future chapter analyses will contain spoilers for all the books.

What really strikes me about this chapter is what a masterpiece it is; a masterpiece of foreshadowing, establishing moments of characterization, worldbuilding and more, all without ever feeling like we're actually getting infodumped on. This is accomplished with Katniss's stream-of-consciousness storytelling. I've heard it criticized so much, but even aside from the very salient point that it fits her characterization as an emotionally stunted, traumatized, poorly-educated teenage girl, it still helps the story in moments like this. We feel Katniss's inner chaos, and it makes the story that much more immersive.

On to the spoilery part of the analysis:

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress.

There was a post, a while ago, that I can't find but wish I could. In it, the OP talks about how Prim is literally doomed by the narrative, not "heavily foreshadowed death," but literally doomed by the narrative, and this paragraph is the first sign, because Katniss reaches for Prim and feels emptiness instead. And re-reading this, I agree. The first thing we see Katniss do is reach for Prim, and find nothing. This time, it's temporary, but by the end of the series, it won't be. We've been warned, even if we don't realize it yet: Prim is doomed.

Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother got rid of the vermin and he’s a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.

Katniss loves her sister and will do literally anything for her. Katniss also has no moral qualms about drowning kittens. With just one paragraph, we learn what a simultaneously harshly practical yet beautifully caring, loving person Katniss is. She has no room in her life for useless things like pets, and drowning strays probably helps the people of 12 in the long run by leaving vermin to be eaten by those on the verge of starvation. But her sister wants to keep Buttercup, and so she will. Katniss will sacrifice anything to keep Prim happy.

Foreshadowing. Prim is doomed.

Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.

STILL more foreshadowing, for different themes: both for one of Katniss's biggest complexes (I'll get into details about this later) and for the theme of love. Katniss doesn't truly love anyone but Prim. Her entire world, we know, is going to be shaken when she does finally feel that for someone else again. Once again, we are being introduced to the recurring themes of love vs practicality and the classic question, "how much pain is love worth?"

Katniss is going to answer this question again and again: for Prim, there is no amount of suffering too great. For others... she'll find different answers. Eventually.

My father knew and he taught me some before he was blown to bits in a mine explosion. There was nothing even to bury. I was eleven then. Five years later, I still wake up screaming for him to run.

The first hints of Katniss as a deeply traumatized girl emerge. Sometimes, when you're traumatized enough, thoughts can segue into The Event with no warning, just by proximity. And through the combination of blunted language and stream-of-consciousness leaps, we can see just how broken this has left Katniss. Unfortunately, this is only the start of Events for her.

My father could have made good money selling them, but if the officials found out he would have been publicly executed for inciting a rebellion. Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they’re as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is. In fact, they’re among our best customers.

A brilliant bit of worldbuilding. The Peacekeepers are working off of deeply corrupt laws, which they ignore because they too are being mistreated and systematically starved, even if they aren't as at risk as the people of 12. The system doesn't care about the very same people it safeguards to enforce its rules. This is the first hint we get that the system isn't sustainable, and it comes before we even fully understand what kind of hell this government is.

The theme of "bread and circuses" is going to be hammered down to us again and again that this is how tyrannical governments, including this one, pacify the masses. But when only the bourgeoisie are being given the bread and circuses, well.... the proletariat aren't going to take it forever.

The book hasn't shown itself to be the anti-capitalist masterpiece it is yet, but this is the first hint that we're reading a tale of class warfare.

“District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety,” I mutter. Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, even in the middle of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you.

I have seen criticisms that this is an egregious case of showing and not telling, with Katniss constantly talking about the dangers of badmouthing the government while never facing them. But in truth, it's the opposite. Yes, Katniss hasn't been caught despite repeated statements that she could have, but we'll learn, here and in future chapters, that 12 has been receiving a sort of tradeoff with other districts; their more severe poverty places them below notice. No one thinks them capable of causing real trouble, and even their district specialty- coal- is later proven to be basically useless, busy-work. So they get ignored... for now. Until the oligarchs start seeing what the proletariat can actually do and crack down all the harder to ensure they keep their cheap labor.

Are you seeing the resonance with the real world yet?

Even at home, where I am less pleasant, I avoid discussing tricky topics. Like the reaping, or food shortages, or the Hunger Games. Prim might begin to repeat my words and then where would we be?

Here we see the dual themes of parentification and sacrifice. Katniss will be the adult, even though she ISN'T an adult, for her sister. She will keep quiet on things that hurt her, and upset her, to set a better example for her sister and keep her from getting hurt. Prim gets to have the normal and safe childhood Katniss never had, because Katniss has invested everything into ensuring she does.

We are taking a step up the ladder of self-sacrificial acts, here. In other words: more foreshadowing. Katniss will give everything for Prim. Prim is going to die, because Katniss is going to lose everything she cared about in the process of protecting everything she cared about.

In the woods waits the only person with whom I can be myself.

Katniss can't be a teenage girl. She has to be Prim's mom. She has to be tough. She has to be a provider. She has to be a trader. An advocate. She so rarely complains about it, too. But it shows here just how much she's given up. Only one place, and one person she can be herself with, and yet...

Gale.

Isn't this ironic. Because we are about to see, throughout the entire series, that this day is going to be the last time Gale actually lets Katniss be herself (and even here, there are strong hints that Gale wants Katniss to be something very different).*

*Disclaimer, because it seems important: my opinion on the Katniss/Gale vs Katniss/Peeta ship war is "team nobody." I think both of them were very bad for her in different ways. Any comment I make that seems like it is favoring one ship or the other... isn't.

“Hey, Catnip,” says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me.

Maybe I'm overanalyzing, but I feel like this sums up the Katniss/Gale relationship so much. Katniss tries to speak, and Gale doesn't hear or understand her. Gale projects something onto her, and Katniss rolls with it. Sure, in this case it's a cute nickname, but it represents so much more to me.

Gale doesn't understand Katniss. Fundamentally. He understands the Katniss he wants to exist. The one who will run off with him and play house in the woods and indulge his little fantasies. He doesn't know very much about the real Katniss, at least as long as he's looking at her through a romantic lens.

“Look what I shot.” Gale holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it, and I laugh.

Despite what I just said, I do love Gale and Katniss's friendship, and it breaks my heart that their friendship was as doomed as Prim. (Hint. Hint.) Katniss needed someone who understood the unique pain of parentification due not to abuse, but poverty- the kind where you aren't 'allowed' to feel angry at anyone within reach. Which is the worst kind of injustice. Getting mad at someone who harmed you is one thing, but getting mad at a system you can never (... yet) hope to change is different.

She must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam.

It's said in a casual and sort of admiring way here. But Katniss is going to learn firsthand about the intersection between love and sacrifice. With the generational mirroring as a theme, especially between Katniss and Peeta, we're being given more foreshadowing that Katniss has self-sacrifice "in the blood."

I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her for my father’s sake. But to be honest, I’m not the forgiving type.

Another little glimpse into Katniss's pain and trauma. Her mom wasn't there when Katniss needed her most, and Katniss and Prim both almost died as a result. It wasn't her fault, and we see later that she regrets it deeply, but this still leaves scars. Your parents, above everyone else, are supposed to protect you. Katniss's mom didn't, Katniss nearly died, and because of that, Katniss had to sacrifice what remained of her childhood to become Prim's mom.

Katniss and Prim's relationship never goes back to just normal sisterhood after this. From the moment Mrs. Everdeen's trauma rendered her catatonic onwards, Katniss and Prim's relationship was infused with a mother-child dynamic that never left, not even when Mrs. Everdeen became well again.

It's so painful, all the more so because it's so real. I lived this with my little brother, albeit with stakes maybe 1% this high, when my mom became an alcoholic and my dad was too busy just trying to survive to really do anything. I was the one to take care of him emotionally, to show someone cared, to provoke my mom's anger so he wouldn't be hit, to make sure homework got done and he didn't skip school (I failed. Badly.) He still considers me more his parent than either of our parents. It never really goes away, even when you're both adults; that overdeveloped feeling of responsibility stays with you. Always.

And the worst part of it is when the parent who made you have to do this decides, on their own, that the time is right for them to come back. Katniss's mom is far more gracious about it than my own. She at least understood Katniss's pain, and didn't try to force the role on her; it happened only when Katniss was ready. But that too, as we'll see in a minute, was painfully real for me.

“I never want to have kids,” I say. “I might. If I didn’t live here,” says Gale. “But you do,” I say, irritated. “Forget it,” he snaps back. The conversation feels all wrong.

Once again, a hint that despite their sweet friendship and similarities, these are two tragically, fundamentally incompatible people. Katniss is in too much pain to think of ever having a family, and Gale is in too much pain to think of not ever having one. Katniss wants to survive the way she always has (which she doesn't realize isn't her destiny yet) and Gale wants to flee and survive literally any other way.

Both change in the end, but the underlying incompatibilities in their life approaches are still there.

And even if we did . . . even if we did . . . where did this stuff about having kids come from? There’s never been anything romantic between Gale and me. [...] Besides, if he wants kids, Gale won’t have any trouble finding a wife. He’s good-looking, he’s strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt. You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find.

A few very interesting things are happening here. One, we're getting another hint, first dropped during Katniss's thoughts about Buttercup, that Katniss has a pathological inability to believe others actually like her- romantically or otherwise. Part of it is low self-esteem, part of it is putting Prim on such a pedestal that Katniss feels she can never live up (and giving her more self-esteem issues) and feeling like anything she attributes to herself might take away from Prim, and part of it is just raw cynicism. And maybe a dash or two of the feeling of permanent othering trauma gives you. Especially when that trauma involves a realization that you're never going to be able to rely on others to meet your own needs. You're responsible for your needs and your loved ones' too.

(Katniss is one of the most complex and real characters of all time. I relate to Katniss an uncomfortable amount sometimes.)

The other interesting thing is that you're getting a sense, for the first time, of how much trouble Katniss has recognizing and processing her own emotions- a very common trait in neurodivergent people. She can sort-of-understand a feeling of jealousy, but can't quite put her finger on the reason, and fitting with her attitude of relentless practicality, she decides that it's the worry of losing a useful hunting partner. Because, after all, Prim is the only person she loves, she can't care for anyone else, there isn't room for that. To care about anyone else would be to "take away" something from Prim.

Katniss repeatedly raises the question of when self-sacrifice crosses the line into self-harm by proxy. When altruistic love becomes self-negation instead. It's sweet that she loves Prim so much, but the codependence... If this is the benchmark for love for Katniss, it's no wonder that she feels at this point that she can't feel it for anyone else. This isn't sustainable.

(Prim is doomed. We've been warned.)

I found the patch a few years ago, but Gale had the idea to string mesh nets around it to keep out the animals.

This is going to be a recurring theme; Katniss is too impulsive and lacking a sufficient cause-effect pathway to be a planner/strategist. Gale makes the plans now; later it'll be Peeta and Haymitch.

(Also, this is foreshadowing Katniss's lack of agency. She is about to become an audience member in her own life story. She found the strawberries, but she didn't decide what to do about them. Gale did. That's about to become her entire life.)

No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob can afford to be a little choosier.

There is a hierarchy still, where the Peacekeepers are starving, but not as starving as the people in the communities they're sent to. Everyone is hungry, but some are hungrier than others.

Hint. Hint.

“That’s not her fault,” I say. “No, it’s no one’s fault. Just the way it is,” says Gale.

"Remember who the real enemy is." Katniss gets told this repeatedly, by Haymitch and others, and eventually she learns the lesson in time to lead a successful revoltuion.

Gale does not learn this lesson. He will end up destroying everything he cares about in his pursuit of revenge against the Capitol and anyone associated with it.

Gale would normally say that there is a huge difference between Madge, the mayor's daughter who is pampered and comparatively privileged, versus the willfully malicious Peacekeepers; the middle class are still part of the proletariat, after all. But Gale, in his pain and fear, loses sight of it and lashes out. This time, it's just words. By the end of the series, when he gets actual power, it will lead to something far more catastrophic.

Prim is doomed to die, Gale and Katniss's friendship is doomed to end in the most bitter way possible, and Gale is doomed to be his own worst enemy.

Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. On other days, deep in the woods, I’ve listened to him rant about how the tesserae are just another tool to cause misery in our district. A way to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper and thereby ensure we will never trust one another. “It’s to the Capitol’s advantage to have us divided among ourselves,” he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine. If it wasn’t reaping day. If a girl with a gold pin and no tesserae had not made what I’m sure she thought was a harmless comment.

Gale knows he's wrong to say things like that. But again, as said above, his pain and fear get the better of him, and cause pain to those around him. His normal philosophy is correct, but he loses sight of and discards it far too easily.

(Gale is going to lose everything because of his scorched-earth approach to anger.)

Also, a note: this is how the real world operates too. Culture wars to distract from class war. For an entire generation of readers, this was their introduction to the basic principles of socialism.

But what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods? It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make things fair. It doesn’t fill our stomachs. In fact, it scares off the nearby game. I let him yell though. Better he does it in the woods than in the district.

Katniss is still hung up on practicality. When she rants about the Capitol, she is, subconsciously, crying for help. But venting for the sake of venting doesn't make so much sense to her, given her stunted emotions.

Another bit of characterization I really enjoy here is the realistic teenage behavior. Yes, they're the oldest in their families, responsible for their entire family and only able to support them by hunting, and they should "know better". But they're teenagers in a fascist government, with an already extreme list of traumas and corresponding problems with emotions. Of course they're going to act irrationally at times and scare off game because they're having a meltdown- even non-traumatized teens would do that sometimes!

They're teenagers. Incredibly well-written, realistic teenagers. They don't have fully developed frontal lobes with the corresponding gifts of planning, impulse control, cause-effect relationships, and other things yet. They're more mature than most, but they're still going to behave foolishly sometimes.

Prim is in my first reaping outfit, a skirt and ruffled blouse. It’s a bit big on her, but my mother has made it stay with pins.

This is probably a "the curtains are blue because they're blue!" moment, but this is another bit of symbolism I enjoy. Katniss, at Prim's age, was hunting and entering the Hob. Prim is being kept alive by both Katniss and Mrs. Everdeen. She has a dress that mostly fits. She has good meals now. She is protected where Katniss wasn't. The dress represents both the sacrifices Katniss made for her and the fact that now, Prim has the adoring mother Katniss didn't have. She has two loving people looking out for her, willing to do anything to keep her safe, healthy, and happy.

(Prim is doomed.)

To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own lovely dresses for me. A soft blue thing with matching shoes. “Are you sure?” I ask.

Katniss can't comprehend her mom doing motherly things for her. Both because of the parentification, and because Katniss still fundamentally can't believe that anyone, even her own mother, actually cares for her enough to want to do anything for her. Not after four years of Katniss carrying the entire family on her back. It's incompatible with the world she's lived in for the last four years.

Katniss is painfully relatable.

I’m trying to get past rejecting offers of help from her. For a while, I was so angry, I wouldn’t allow her to do anything for me.

Painfully. Relatable.

What Katniss is feeling in this scene, I don't think I can describe to anyone who hasn't been there. It's relief-bitterness-anger-hope-longing-mistrust.

"Oh great, look who's finally here to help now that things are okay again and I figured everything out on my own! I want you back. I want a parent back. I don't want to do this anymore. I can't stop it. I can't trust you not to make me do it again. I'd better keep doing it so I don't get my hopes up. How do I even live without doing this? How do I live as a person and not a caretaking robot for my family? Am I allowed to do that? What kind of selfish person would I be if I did, especially now that I've seen what will happen if you fail again? No, I'm not letting you do this. I'll let you pretend to the little one because they need a parent figure and they deserve to feel normal, but me? Hell no, do you think I'm stupid? I am taking care of myself, I already learned what it costs to trust other people to see to my needs and that is not a price I'll pay a second time, thankyouverymuch. Yeah, mom I love you. I'm glad you're okay now. And thanks for doing this for me, I guess."

It goes something like that.

But I digress.

In just this paragraph Katniss expresses so much of the pain of parentification, so succinctly yet vividly that it makes my chest hurt.

I just really, really love Katniss, okay?

“You look beautiful,” says Prim in a hushed voice. “And nothing like myself,” I say.

Ow. Just... ow. She says it so matter-of-factly. Like she's just accepted it into her worldview; Prim, the embodiment of everything good in the world, is beautiful. Katniss, the leftover, the thing that exists just to take care of Prim, is ugly. That simple.

I wish we could have seen Prim respond here; surely she doesn't like anyone, even her sister herself, talking about Katniss this way? Or maybe Prim is so used to these kinds of casual self-put-downs that she's stopped trying to talk Katniss out of it.

Again: painfully relatable.

I protect Prim in every way I can, but I’m powerless against the reaping. The anguish I always feel when she’s in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to register on my face.

Once more: Painfully. Relatable. You put so much into protecting 'your kiddo'. And then something comes along and reminds you that you're even more powerless than the useless adults in your life. It hurts. It feels like you failed. It's one thing for you to get hurt, you already know how to deal with it, but them?

Ugh. Dystopian fiction isn't usually where my inner abused and parentified child gets validated, but this series unlocked some things in my neural pathways.

Thank you, Suzanne Collins, for Katniss. I feel so seen in so many ways through her and her story.

Sorry. I know this is supposed to be an analysis, not a love letter, but damn if Katniss doesn't play my heartstrings like a fiddle.

“Tuck your tail in, little duck,” I say, smoothing the blouse back in place. Prim giggles and gives me a small “Quack.” “Quack yourself,” I say with a light laugh. The kind only Prim can draw out of me.

Sorry, I am going to try to not repeat myself so much, but once again it just... Prim gets to be a child, because of Katniss. She gets to be a normal-ish 12 year old who makes silly animal noises and can't tuck her dress in. Katniss was fighting for her life and trying to find food. And of course it's not Prim's fault- I love Prim. But there's something just so painful about this contrast. Katniss had her childhood stolen from her, first by the tyrannical government she lived in, then her father's death, then her mother's mental illness, and finally the needs of a child she never should have been responsible for.

It's no wonder Katniss spends so much of the series in that emotional state abused, neglected, and traumatized children know all too well. You're simultaneously precocious and childish. Too grown-up one minute and acting like a child the next. Katniss never got to experience linear growth, and her psychology sure as hell shows it.

Painfully. Relatable.

Also, yet again: Prim. Is. Doomed. She's the most important thing in Katniss's life, the rationale for every decision Katniss makes, the reason she gets out of bed in the morning. The one person who makes Katniss's life worth living. Precious, sweet Prim, who retains her innocence and kindness in a world that aggressively stomps out both, is doomed by the narrative in every possible way.

Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose between dying of hunger and a bullet in the head, the bullet would be much quicker. The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic as people arrive. [...] I stare at the paper slips in the girls’ ball. Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen written on them in careful handwriting.

When you're a child, you can't comprehend something awful happening to your parents, because your life experience just hasn't shaped yet to show you that it's even possible. You don't understand that it can happen.

When you're an adult, you can't comprehend something awful happening to your child, because your life experience has shaped to show you exactly how it's possible. You know exactly how it can happen, so you can't believe that it can actually happen.

Katniss is at a stage of her life that would already be transitional in normal circumstances, where she'd start contemplating mortality- but she's already dealt with it for years.

Her own death doesn't scare her anymore. Her sister's scares her so much that she doesn't even think it's a possibility. After all, everything she's done for the last four years of her life has been for Prim. To keep her alive and give her the childhood Katniss lost suddenly and traumatically.

Prim is doomed.

Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch — this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy.

We got hints of apathy and cruelty before, but now the curtain is, for the first time, being peeled back. This isn't a system built on simple oppression. It's a system built on raw sadism.

It's another sign that Panem isn't sustainable. People can endure a lot of cruelty when their loved ones are hostages, but there are limits. When those limits get pushed (hint), something will have to give.

To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others.

Bread and circuses. The poor give labor (food) and entertainment, and the rich receive them. The rich live sequestered lives full of privilege, yet ultimately just as much under the thumb as the tyrant as anyone else. But still supporting the system because they lack the empathy to want change when they benefit from the status quo more than they would from a new system, so they think. They are simultaneously disgusting and pitiful.

Like the comfortably wealthy Trump-supporting boomers we all know and loathe.

The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food.

Our very first, incredibly subtle hint, that winning the games might be even worse than losing them. The first time reading, of course, you'll take this at face value. Later, though, you'll think of this and realize it was all only mockery and isolationism, a way of guaranteeing that the victors would be scapegoated by their District, ensuring they would never find companionship again even if their trauma didn't prevent it. And they can't complain, because, after all, they now have a life of comfort.

So many things are intersecting here; class warfare (Victors being an allegory for "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" and the American Dream) and the isolation of trauma and mental illness and more.

But suddenly I am thinking of Gale and his forty-two names in that big glass ball and how the odds are not in his favor. Not compared to a lot of the boys. And maybe he’s thinking the same thing about me because his face darkens and he turns away. “But there are still thousands of slips,” I wish I could whisper to him.

Katniss so rarely worries about herself, only those she cares for. Again; her own mortality is okay to her. It's those she protects she can't let this happen to. But since she can't even bear to face the possibility of Prim being chosen (Prim is doomed) yet, she focuses her feelings on Gale, not only worrying that he'll be picked, but worrying that he will be upset that she might be. She only spares thoughts for herself for a few brief seconds, in the next paragraph.

Katniss gets accused of being selfish so many times, but it's notable that those moments only happen once she volunteers to go into the arena, once her survival depends on a bit of selfishness. Before then, she's one of the least selfish people in the entire series, and I'd argue that even at her worst she doesn't count as truly selfish. She's a teenager trying to survive and return home to her family, not a toddler who won't share toys.

I’m feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it’s not me, that it’s not me, that it’s not me.

But, of course, even when you are theoretically okay with dying, being faced with the actual thing will still inspire terror. So for just a moment, Katniss lets herself lapse into worry about herself.

For just a moment, she thinks about herself- and just that fast, Prim is placed in danger.

(This is how Prim will die too, by the way; being put in danger the one time Katniss is focused on something other than her. Prim is doomed.)

Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it’s not me. It’s Primrose Everdeen.

The unthinkable has happened, and Katniss's life has been changed forever.

And even though she can save Prim this time, it's only temporary.

Prim is doomed. Nothing in the world can prevent it now. Prim would die in the arena, but by going instead, Katniss has put herself in a position where any and all actions she does will spark a revolution that gives her a Pyrrhic victory.

There is no version of events where Prim lives.

Prim is doomed.

[assassuub]

Here's another theory; but it's a touch more spoilery than the last two, so I'll put it under the cut (it's also really, really long).

For this theory, we'll be operating under the assumption that another theory is correct: Cherub is a fragment of the Great Sphinx.

I feel that the way Doorman talks about the Angel makes that clear.

"... not the Great Sphinx rejoined as it once was..." "... the best of the broken, born anew..." "... the Great Sphinx was split to pieces."

But Cherub is deceitful and manipulative, to the point that her status as a dog is questionable. And what better a disguise for the cat-like fragment of the Great Sphinx than a dog?

With that precondition out of the way, now for the main theory I want to posit:

Theory: Cherub is Razor Rex.

Starting with the weakest argument: Exhibit A: Razor Rex is described as having a "canine snout", as seen directly above, and Cherub is also a dog. But! I just spent the first part of this post pointing out how Cherub is not a dog, but a cat pretending to be a dog.

This is where the weak argument comes in: the only times Razor Rex wasn't screaming, she was described as "purring" and "hissing".

Of course, these are commonly used to describe speech, so it's real flimsy on its own-really grasping at the shadows of straws, here. But, when coupled with the third point (honestly, the second point is also kinda flimsy. This is a real Mickey-Mouse-head of a theory), it's interesting that words associated with cats were used.

Exhibit B: Razor Rex is a fake Wight.

She's somehow producing white spectral energy despite not being a wight and is able to immediately dispel her fear of Fauxbia. These are both things that we've seen related to Cherub:

Cherub seems to have the ability to remove doubt and fear, which she is using to manipulate Ángel. And, would you look at that: white spectral energy that's being produced by something that isn't a wight! As seen by Razor Rex's twin-tailed speech bubbles, she's possessing someone; is the reason she's screaming to drown out the voice of who she's controlling?

And what of the fire she unleashed on Oop? The fire that was cool and healing instead of hot and destroying? As if it were inverted? Is the scythe partly formed from the staff holding Polaris?

But, now for the big one that really cemented this idea for me: Exhibit C: The gifting powers.

Razor Rex has been shown to be able to take properties from one entity and give them to another: taking the en-shark-ening from who she was controlling and storing it away as a present; taking Agent Savage's spectral senses and giving them to the non-spectral Rose Baxter.

But this wasn't the first time that we saw this ability.

Doorman has a fraction of Forge's powers. The Angel was able to take a fraction of Forge's powers and give it to Doorman. Since we know that Cherub can't be trusted, we can assume that this power is the same as the power that Razor Rex utilizes later and that she lied to Doorman about how it works.

Conclusion: With this theory established, we can answer Ángel's questions on page 22 of chapter 8:

How does Fauxbia find out about so many of their allies? How did the Death Cult learn of their intent to recruit Forge and when he was arriving? Because Cherub is Razor Rex: the leader of the Death Cult and temporary co-conspirator of Fauxbia!

[tblsomedoodles]

I

C R A V E

more Donnie VS The World content. It makes me vibrate and scream and wiggle like I'm off my meds. I would love anything, even a solid block of text, but your doodles/full artworks/comics are my favorite.

Please? All I've found so far is what we see in the donnieverse comic and the MVA/AMV (music video animatic/animatic music video). So many questions, like - is Casey (Sr) involved in any way, whethercas a fellow captive or rescue mission teammate? Is this the True Apocalypse or Averted Apocalypse timeline? If the latter, where is Casey (Jr)? How is Splinter handling it? (Is he even still alive to be Having Emotions About It?)

(Please feed me.

B L E A S E)

(If you don't mind, could you show/tell how Donnie escapes, one of his first Big Leads that gives him so much hope he cries, and/or the Big Reunion? One would be nice, two would be great, and all three would be amazing. If they aren't planned/are too spoilery, that's okay. Anything you can/are willing to give would be lovely.)

Thank you!! I'm glad you like it : ) I don't think I've answered many asked about this particular au, so i'm more than willing to talk about it! : )

I don't really have much up for it, mostly b/c it deals with a lot of angsty material that i can be a little uneasy about posting. I have a bit of old concept art, and an unposted fic i'm editing/rewriting (b/c it's the first fic i wrote for Rise and i did not have those character voices down lol.) I can probably post the first bits of it later this week. I did say at one point that i would once 'proud family tradition' was over, and it now is.

but yeah, here's the concept art, i'll put the explanation under the break b/c i'm going to be rambling lol.

So Donnie vs. takes place after the thwarted apocalypse (not-apocalypse future). They get taken by Bishop a few months afterwards, and it isn't until about a year after that, that Donnie gets free.

He's the last one still with Bishop at that point, and had been told/convinced through various means that his brothers were dead.

Bishop did a lot of experiments on him, leaving a lot of scaring. One of which was injecting him with Krang DNA to see what would happen. (the eye and veins thing. I think he has some side effects from that but i'm not entirely certain what they are atm)

The fic itself starts after his rescue, b/c i'm focusing on Donnie's search for his brothers (and his own recovery) Rather than the traumatic event itself.

The rescue itself, was certainly a rescue. April, Casey, and CJ worked together to get him out of there as well as gain whatever information they could before they were found out. (Casey went undercover and was able to get some incomplete files and help get donnie out before she was discovered and had to leave.)

donnies in...pretty bad shape at that point, mentally and physically. Physically, he's malnurished, injured, scared, the works. Bishop did a number on him in the year he had him.

Mentally, he's pretty much shut down. He's completely non-verbal, unresponsive most of the time, when he does respond it's very slow and seemingly difficult for him to do so. He describes it that it feels like he's behind several plates of thick glass. He can see and hear what's happening, interacting (or even just feeling anything about it) is very hard to get past the glass.

How he goes from that state to hunting down his brothers is fairly simple. One of the broken, encripted files Casey acquired was Leo's file. None of the three could open it, but they managed to get Donnie to try to do so. He manages it, sees the file, and for the first time in about a year, has hope. He doesn't even wait to show the other three, he just takes off while no one was looking, with April's laptop and CJ's coat (he steals a backpack along the way.)

I don't really want to say much past that. A lot of the rescues/reunions are pretty spoiler heavy, and i don't want to ruin some of the mystery of what's going on in the fic. But know this, he does get all his brothers (and family in general) back. Also, splinter is alive and is part of this, but again, that's spoilers for some things i don't want to ruin.

Again, i'll probably start posting this sometime this week. It's an interesting fic that i've put quite a bit of time into at this point, so i'll be excited to see what is thought of it.

Thank you!

[ddwcaph-game]

The F6E Parents as Sims!

Sooo this is what I've been busy with the past week. 😅

I've wanted to do this for a while now, both to recover from the update, and to get a better idea of what I want their character art to look like.

I used some height/fitness mods, but I tried to use as few CC as possible (mostly because it's annoying trying to hunt for the perfect ones). Some of the colors/styles aren't accurate of course, but I'm happy with the results for the most part. If anyone's interested, I might upload all the families to the gallery later (I need to remove the spoilery elements), along with links to the CCs.

Nestor and Mary

I gotta be honest, I was kinda lazy when I made the photo of Mary in Chapter 4, so this is a more accurate image of what Mary looks like in that photo (just imagine her with much longer hair). I mostly picked that outfit for Nestor because it has a lil chicken on it (it's the closest I can get to The NeStore logo), but it seems appropriate for his work anyway.

Josephine and Mariano

I didn't want to make Josy and Mario elders, but I honestly think they look better that way, hehe. They're wearing their everyday outfit since I'm still not sure what they're wearing during Rosie's party. Although... I might actually change Mario from bald to semi-bald like he is here.

Danica and Ma'am Bianes

Okay, Ma'am Bianes isn't Lily's police-mom, but I don't really have a clear idea on what Rickie looks like yet. 😅 Both of their outfits here are pretty close to their respective appearances so far, but just imagine that Dani's arm tattoo is WAY more elaborate.

Stephanie and JM Sr.

I found an outfit that's totally accurate to Tita Steph's current description in the story, but it made me remember that she's a feng shui expert and I think red suits her more than plain black in this case. I'll see if I can find a cane mod/cc for her later.

You don't really meet JM's dad in the story, but here he is anyway, hehe. He's much more grumpy looking in the close up.

Yaya Connie and Kuya Popoy

Not much to say here, but I like how both of them turned out since I didn't have a clear idea of what they both looked like before this. I wasn't planning on giving Connie short hair, but I think it fits her a lot. Just make the trim and ribbon in her outfit black and it's perfect.

Julie and Robert

Out of everyone, I think I'm satisfied with Julie and Robert the most. I can't find a good LT uniform-looking outfit for Robert without CC, so here he is with Julie's favorite shawl instead. Well, it doesn't have any patterns, but even with CC it's annoying to look for scarves/shawls separate from the outfits that aren't tightly wrapped around the neck.

***

Maggie and MC's Dad aren't here for obvious reasons, but I might make Maggie's original version later.

Anyway, I made the characters in IAC too! You can find the post here. Major spoiler warning, of course.

If you're curious, I showed F6E here too a while back, but that one's old and outdated. I kinda want to make them as teens/young adults now though.

[nausicaaandhermouth]

notes: parallels on silco & vander and romulus & remus

(prompted by this post, check it out)

from how their stories regard around the rise/makings of a nation, the relationship between two brothers, the characteristics of that nation, you can very easily draw parallels & connections between silco & vander (which i'll call in short the zaun pair) and romulus & remus (the roman pair). made me wonder if the writers were intentional about this, since there's just so much you can pull and make sense of. ofc not all the details align, but if you squint they're pretty much there. if intentional, that would be very cool.

for this analysis, we're going with the most popular interpretation that includes fratricide, rather than the other of remus simply dying out of stupidi- i mean jumping over a wall. if you need a quick brush-up on ur romulus and remus, here’s a concise summary for you.

anyway, this is very scattered but here are some notes. (maybe spoilery? in regards to warwick anyway, it's speculative)

brotherly relationship: ofc the most obvious parallel is the brotherly relationship. while the roman pair were twins and the zaun pair are more found/chosen family, point still stands, their relationship was one of that familial closeness and trust. the zaun pair fought to free zaun from piltover's governance, while the roman pair wanted to reclaim their grandfather's throne. this would've fostered that brother-in-arms type bond in both relationships.

founding of a city/nation: both pairs are linked to a founding of a city/nation. though it's ironic how the zaun pair wanted to be removed of another nation's rule, while the roman pair wanted to regain their right to rule. in a way, the zaun pair also wanted their own right to rule (not the way the roman pair did, ofc, though the roman pair didn’t accept the throne either), or at least have zaun be its own thing separate from piltover.

founding figures: both pairs are the founding figures of their respective nations. albeit yes for zaun it was mostly silco since zaun's independence was pushed by him later on, still that wouldn't have come to be without vander's... help (betrayal, but ofc he contributed to the cause in the past before becoming passive)

legacy: even after "death" vander's influence still remains through his symbolic presence; silco respected him (ish), his memory lives on with the firelights, how he's even got his own statue. this is very much like how the she-wolf became a lasting symbol of rome, how things used to be, the image of the nation before it was ever a nation and was still building towards it. (links to point 8)

interchangeable roles: vander initially seemed to play romulus in this tale, attempting to drown silco. however, he fails (attempted murder 1) and eventually silco later plays romulus and attempts to kill vander. (attempted murder 2). i’m reading this as them interchangeably using romulus as the brother that has the upperhand, and remus as the role of the victim

nation's birth after death: i found it interesting how 'zaun' isn't really a thing (as in it is not acknowledged as its own nation) until finally one brother dies. they keep not-dying, trying to kill each other, they both want to see zaun become independent, but only one brother survives to see it. it somewhat still follows the roman pair's tale. they had their ideas of the future, but only after remus dies is rome founded. the zaun pair only make this far more tragic, since we see their relationship a lot more and are able to see more nuance in their relationship, that push and pull.

symbolic representation: the she-wolf could symbolise zaun (besides vander). the wolf represents many things that we see echo in what zaun is and the kinds of people it welcomes. there's nurturing protection, wild nature (untamed, primal strength), loyalty to the pack, found family, transformation (from humble beginnings to a great empire), resilience in harsh conditions, duality (embodying both ferocity and nurturing). this complex place is the very same that mothered silco and vander, adopting each other as their own, innocence and danger blending together uneasily seemless, reminiscent of the lupo capitolina.

canine associations: there's also been a ton of association with vander to canines (him being the 'hound' of the underground, and him potentially being warwick). not much on this point, we’ll see in s2 how this progresses.

water-related transformative experience: both brother pairs have a water-related ordeal that leads to a transformative experience. even more, that the river is linked to attempted murder. very fun. vander attempts to drown silco, fails. the roman pair were left in tiber river to drown, fails. (and somewhat, silco 'baptising' jinx, attempting to rid her of the remnants of powder, lowkey fails). another thing, the water in silco's story is polluted, but his survival can be seen as a dark form of purification in a way. this would tie to the roman myth, where the river serves a more traditional purifying role, washing the roman pair to safety and setting them on their destined path.

city of outcasts: after romulus had sole power, he offered refuge to fugitives and exiles, sort of as a way to increase rome's population. picture that, a city of criminals. sounds familiar, no? bit like zaun. of course, that's a stereotype, but it's certainly the image that comes up about zaun. its danger, crime, lawlessness - especially when contrasted against piltover.

this is all i could think of the moment. if you’ve any additional ideas or want to discuss anything, do add on, i’d love to hear

tag: @q8qwertyuiop8p

[jinnaizaemon]

It's been busy this end of the year, but today Nintama's movie came out at last and I got to watch it twice already!!! (yesterday and today...) Obviously I'm very excited about it, but I haven't found the time to write my review yet, it's kinda frustrating... I plan to write a review with spoilers as soon as I find the time, it'll be under a read more but be careful once I post it! It won't be in the main tag, don't worry!

The thrills and suspense were a lot and I want to write about it at length, but for now I'll just comment on a few non spoilery things... Mostly I'm so pleased with all the merchandise coming out lol. Most of what I bought are gifts for friends, but I got a nice notebook in the image of Doi-sensei's attendance book, which I immediately put to good use:

Take that, Bocchan! ...Dodge it, Rikichi...!

It's otherwise a very lovely notebook featuring black and white pictures of Rankirishin and Doi on each page, plus an actual attendance sheet for 1-ha on the first page:

How lovely! Here is the calling order: Rantarou, Danzou, Shouzaemon, Heidayuu, Torawaka, Kirimaru, Isuke, Shinbei, Kingo, Kisanta, Sanjirou.

Which, by the way, doesn't match with the calling order seen in the movie. Bzzt!

Anyways, the star of the show and what I was the most interested in was the special program book which features cast interview, illustrations from Amako Soubee, concept art, settei, and a short story serving as a "spin off" to Dokutake's Strongest Tactician.

I'm very excited to share later and I hope to be able to translate the short story by January-February.

I've heard news that the film did big numbers on its opening day which I am very pleased about. It was interesting seeing the audience at the theater ; I obviously didn't expect children and families on the early screening with the voice cast, but today again the theater room was filled with adult women haha.

Right now you really can't escape Nintama with ads everywhere, promotional merchandise and collaborations with various businesses, and even themed snacks at convenience stores... It makes me really happy and hopeful that the franchise will continue to deliver such creative and touching stories!

So many arcade prizes too, but the story of how I sunk too much money trying to get the Great Demon King Of Bad Luck Isaku when Zatto-san came out in one try... Maybe it's not worth talking about....... Sigh.

Anyways I'm super excited to write a review, scan and translate more stuff, and go back to timing episodes too. The episodes Amako wrote which aired recently are all so good and a must see before the movie!! Honestly I didn't expect translating Nintama becoming a hobby lol but watching the movie I couldn't help thinking "hmm...how would this sound like in English?" Is it an addiction? It's bad.....

[onionjulius]

Alright so, ER rewatch is happening, but I'm swamped with work and so I'll have to wait for episode posts. For now, an initial inventory of my remembrance of the main characters/my opinion of them:

Love: Carol Hathaway, Mark Greene, Susan Lewis, Kerry Weaver, Abby Lockhart, Luka Kovač

Really like: John Carter, Doug Ross, Peter Benton, Elizabeth Corday, Lucy Knight, Jing-Mei Chen, Greg Pratt

Like: Jeanie Boulet*, Cleo Finch, Michael Gallant

Unlikeable but not devoid of complexity: Robert Romano, Dave Malucci

I remember your existence: Neela Rasgotra, Anna Del Amico

I don't remember your existence: Sam Taggert, Ray Barnett, Archie Morris, Tony Gates, Simon Brenner, Cate Banfield

*Jeanie's on the cusp between Like and Really like.

I'll be curious to see if my opinions change much watching this show 15-30 years after it initially aired. No doubt there will be cringe "Oh wow that aged poorly" moments, but hopefully also some that hold up well. It'll also be interesting to watch a pre-Prestige TV critical hit post-Prestige TV (and yeah, nostalgic, I'm getting quite nostalgic in my old age). And I'm wondering how my impressions of the characters will hold up in a close watch; I think I'm much more analytical now, and I'm pretty sure my opinions reflect the characters at their best without necessarily accounting for them at their worst. Although maybe that's not a bad thing as long as it's consistent.

More character recollections, some quite spoilery:

Mark's death slew me. It was so protracted too, he was suffering so much and his family was fraying at the seams and I just remember him trying so hard to handle things the best he could with that understated irony of his and just feeling so terribly for him. There was that thing with the guy in the elevator that he just let die, I don't remember what became of that ...

I love so much that Mark is really just Some Guy trying to do his job well while having normal Some Guy things like a wife and kids and basketball breaks. He's smart, decisive, dedicated, compassionate, a good teacher, and truly a deserving leader.

I know that Jeanie had at least one great story, which of course is the HIV story. I'm actually struggling to recall much before that, so that'll be fun.

I just ... I remember having such complex reactions to Kerry, and all these years later that has registered in my memory as love. I love Kerry, warts and all. You could feel so bad for her while simultaneously hate what she was saying or doing, and I do think she learned things over time. She was an outsider, a party pooper, ambitious and career-driven, a disabled lesbian, oil to Doug Ross' water. She was not easy to love, and so I loved her. Also, she was ER Mom. Love you, Mom!

I also loved Kim/Kerry. They felt so real and human and not simply an "issues" story. I find myself not recalling much of her relationship afterward, so looking forward to seeing if it is a worthy follow-up.

I loved Mark/Susan. They were such easy friends, so natural and believable together, so bright and breezy and (mostly) supportive and wonderful. I think they would have made a fine endgame, it was so easy to want good things for each of them, and what an unforgettable, lovely and bittersweet moment when she left Chicago on that train.

For all that though, I liked Mark with Elizabeth. It's true there wasn't the same will-they-won't they (and I remember feeling like her thing with Peter ended rather abruptly) but their domesticity was very sweet and she was a kick-ass character, strong and funny.

Romano was ... Problematic ... but his bond of some sort with Elizabeth was probably the best thing about his character.

I remember feeling that Peter was shafted, but that said he did last 8 years and I remember some good stories with his mother and sister, work vs parenthood, the custody battle, and of course (of course) his evolving dynamic with Carter.

Seriously though. Benton/Carter.

And on the topic of BroTPs: Mark/Doug!

There's something about the two most ambitious characters being Peter, a black man, and Kerry, a woman, that I kinda love.

Upon reflection, it seems to me that at least some of my affinity for Susan and Abby have to do with their family stories--particularly, having to deal with flawed family members, walking the line between loving and enabling, battling the desire to hope because of the need to protect against disappointment. It's ... interesting? ... because I don't have any deadbeat family members or family members who refuse to take responsibility for their illnesses, but something about how they use sarcasm to deal with life resonates with me, even though Susan in my head was a sunny character while Abby was a little black raincloud.

I loved Abby. Abby was a hot mess, a human disaster, a trashfire. Abby was strong, but also a coward. Abby was full of contradictions, Abby mistook self-abnegation for independence, Abby was only happy when it rained. Abby was hard to love, and so I loved her.

There was something about Abby/Luka that I found compulsively watchable. Something probably having to do with being really messed up and dysfunctional and full of maladaptive habits, but nevertheless wanting love like any other human being. There was a brooding intensity and understatedness to them that I remember just eating up. I was an undercover emo kid, what can I say.

That said, there was a phase in which he was truly insufferable (which I know was them taking a page out of the Doug Ross book ... but he isn't Doug Ross, even though he was brought on as a direct replacement). I'm curious if, on my rewatch, it will feel like an organic arc given how sweet, patient, gentlemanly and sensitive I recall him being at the start. Oh tragic little meow meow.

The final scene between Carol and Luka is so etched in my brain. "Because I'm still in love with him. I've been in love with him since I was 23 years old. He's everything to me. I feel complete when I'm with him and I feel empty when we're apart. He's the father of my children, and he's my soulmate." Yes, Doug was a manbaby and yes I was so hurt on Carol's behalf that he left her for Seattle, but really Doug/Carol were the Truth. You bought their connection so thoroughly and George Clooney's chemistry with Juliana Margulies was critical to that.

I remember thinking that Peter/Cleo's chemistry was nothing in particular to write home about (you know, not bad, but not special) ... but hell if they weren't beautiful together. Michael Michelle was just so stunning.

I really thought that they were heading for a lot of yummy Carter-denying-his-feelings-for-med-student-Lucy angst, which I was so there for. But I can't deny that what ended up happening (you know ...) was unforgettable television.

On that note, Carter was never the same after That. There's such a sad lost innocence about his character, given how earnest and caring and even hapless he was at the start. That's not necessarily a bad direction to go, narratively speaking, but one would hope for some eventual hard-won optimism for him all the same.

And yeah, at some point ER became darker and soapier, but I honestly have good memories of a few of those years, before becoming bored.

Like, another scene seared into my brain is Maggie Wyczenski turning on a dime and going postal right in the middle of the ER, screaming "I'm leaving! I'm leaving! I'm leaving! Iiii'm leaving!" and "You're my daughter you bitch!". God did Sally Field earn that Emmy or did she earn that Emmy. I wouldn't want to have missed out on that story, for all that it was such a downer.

Apparently Sam, Ray, Archie, and Tony came on more or less when Neela did, but she's the only one I remember. How'd that happen? Though I can't say I remember her stories, so there is that.

I remember watching with my sophomore year roommate the night that Romano freaking lost his arm to a helicopter. It was crazy. And I really thought it couldn't get any crazier, but then, as you know ...

The look of the show really changed from beginning to end, which, given that it lasted fifteen years, is probably to be expected. But I remember most the constantly moving camera in so many of the medical emergency scenes, and I hope that doesn't go away.

Mark's daughter and Peter's son were impossibly cute. Impossibly cute. So so cute. So so so so so cute.

Speaking of Chicago in the 90s, goddamn do y'all remember how incredible the Bulls were? I don't know why I'm putting that in this post, but I guess I am.

Carter/Jing Mei were such great friends, they never stopped being competitive with each other but they nevertheless grew up together and I love that the show never hooked them up.

I don't recall quite why but I feel like Doug and his dad were reminiscent of Riker and his dad from Star Trek. I don't know.

Okay yeah that's all for now.

[numberonemoefan]

I was talking to my dad yesterday about fallout new Vegas for around an hour straight, and mentioned I was planning on playing fallout four sometime, cause my copy of fallout sometimes gets a glitch for an hour that just resolves itself later, and he, while playing fallout four, basically BEGGED me not to play fallout four LMAO

it's so funny to me cause he bought me fo3, fnv, and fo4 and I started on nv and I'm apparently making him want to start nv again every time I ramble about it because he, quote, "would not be playing it [fo4] if there weren't mods"

probably still gonna try it eventually, but I doubt I'll love it as much as I love new Vegas (partly just cause I reallllyy love new vegas. also hi to my sister who followed me for some reason. why did you do that? now you just get sick of me talking about fnv in real life and online/lh)

but new vegas's level of detail is insane to me. all the little character interactions. like, a large majority of the groups/types of NPCs who aren't currently hostile have custom dialogue for when you aim your sights on them. I wouldve never thought that there'd be stuff for that. for scientific reasons, y'all should put a gun to y'all's companion's heads LMAOO. but there's seriously so much fucking detail. like, you can just absolutely fucking fail a stat check and still try to say it and you'll just say it like a fuckin loser. there's so much to explore, like the other day I found the mountainy area with the super mutants on accident. I saw there was an area on the map without any places id discovered, and I was like "y'know what? lemme go check that out." and when I saw TREES for the first time, I was absolutely thrilled. the storytelling in the locations is awesome (and occasionally very heartbreaking) too. gonna put this under a read more line cause it's spoilery for some lore, some of it is sad, and also this post is already long

for example, this is like a stupid one, but apparently the entire H & H tool company was FUCKING. if you read through the terminals, you not only get perhaps one of my favorite lines ever, which is

but you also see multiple people making emails that say something along the lines of "I told X I needed to do something. bring the moon rocks and dino head grabber ;)" (not an actual quote, but the objects are just as ridiculous)

AND THERES LIKE THREE OF EM AND THEY'RE ALL CHEATING ON THEIR WIVES/HUSBANDS WITH AN OFFICE AFFAIR PARTNER WHILE ALSO CHEATING ON THEIR OFFICE AFFAIR PARTNER.

this is probably the saddest/most disturbing one, but there's a vault that was overrun by spores that infected the residents, vault 22. I was finally getting somewhere, and I found a room with a key card in it. yay!

it was a bedroom. there was a baby carriage in the room. there were two spore carriers (essentially plant zombies) which I killed, then kept looking through the stuff in the room. there was a type of spore person I hadn't seen before that jumped out of me. it was called a runt. IT WAS THE FUCKING KID. after I killed it I just spent 7 minutes or so just staring at my screen cause. what the hell.

the empty houses are so haunting to me too. like all the different junk items strewn around tell a story if that makes sense. like, toy boxes, or houses with absolute loads of empty alcohol bottles in them. it's weirdly haunting.

nipton is also such a haunting location, obviously with the crucifixions and all. going into the houses and figuring out the legion bombed the fuckin bodies was so horrifying and interesting. according to my dad, they do stuff like that in real life in wars sometimes.

there's just SO MUCH STUFF idk how to put it all into words

play fallout new vegas guys

[alice2447sstuff]

Since my post about corruption in my AU is OLD, I'm going to redo it now, much better done.

I know that almost no one will pay attention to this except for the 10 people who like my stuff (fr thank you guys)

Now let's begin!!! 🔥

First I wanted to show the three ways to become corrupt

Corrupted water, a corrupted triangle and bodily fluids of corrupted shapes

Let's start with corrupted water

Corrupted water was once pure but when the triangles are corrupted any water in the sea will automatically be corrupted and if it is connected to a river it will automatically spread corruption for the River

C.water does not affect the shapes if they are inside it but it affects the flowers and is one of the most infectious environments for the flowers.

The moment a flower touches corrupted water it begins to corrupt even if it has only touched the tip of its foot in the water, in addition to a pain like a burning,But if it is a corruption of one's own free will, it will be a pleasant warmth. (Corruption does not hurt if the shape /flower is being corrupted for free will)

Note: Flowers can stay underwater and when the water was corrupted it cut off the escape route of many flowers.

But about shapes, they are only corrupted if you ingest the corrupted water, which will cause a burning sensation in the stomach, nothing *too* painful, but nausea and discomfort. The shape will be corrupted from the inside out.

Second way!

Corrupted's body fluid

It's pretty self explanatory.

Drool,Sweat, tears, blood etc.

Any type of corrupt fluid will corrupt the shape it comes into contact with. The symptoms are the usual ones that you will see later, but the corruption will start in the place where the fluid reached.

If a drop of blood fell on your cheek, corruption begins there, if it was from a kiss, corruption will begin there, got it?

So yes, kissing a corrupt person is the same as infecting yourself.

Now for the third and most powerful and painful mode of corruption!

Corruption through a triangle! ��🎀

Corruption with a triangle hurts, because it burns a lot, it is slightly similar to when you have really bad sunstroke and you keep touching things, in addition to burning it causes a shock of pain in the place where the drop of corruption fell

And if you saw my old post about corruption you know that if you try to fight corruption a little too much, corruption will get really aggressive and cause you really bad pain.

So if it's already painful without fighting or trying to fight normally, can you imagine how painful it is when you fight with all your forces to try at least control yourself and try to keep the corruption suppressed? (Cube is cooked really bad)

In addition to this corruption being one of the strongest and most aggressive ,Leaves some "scars" on the host

Another important thing is that

If you get in tune with corruption very well, you cannot be 100% purified. This counts for all types of corruption.

I would love to tell you more details about this or how the bosses work and what makes them so different and more powerful than normal corrupt ones but it's too much of a spoiler ☺️💜 (Actually, all of this is a bit spoily, but it's important for you guys to know before anything else)

Now let's talk a little about the behavior of the corrupt.

I won't reveal the flowers because it's too much of a spoiler, but I'll give you a little information: it has to do with a hive mind.

The behavior of normal corrupted beings is also very spoilery so you will only have a few things

°Corrupt people feel the corruption within another individual

°They have a little pattern of acting

One of them is being aggressive with the forms trying madly to infect

The second is literally some flirty behaviors like kissing and that kind of thing (remembering that kisses infect and that is the intention)

One thing I want to make clear is that corrupt people are a little more uh how can I say? more likely to have relations, or with pure forms to infect them or among themselves (among themselves i men corrupted+corrupted)

Because corruption is not something that is exactly conscious but wants to make sure that it is never extinct since if a corrupt child is born,I doubt that someone will kill a child and as long as the child exists, corruption will also continue, even if perhaps it is not capable of infecting others but it can continue to live for generations of family

So some corrupt people become more flirtatious

°And a third behavior is:

Take the line "I'd rather get hurt than attack others to spread corruption!" Oh don't worry sweetie! Corruption will grant your wish ^^

Now you hurt yourself when corrupted, making scratches and other things and making the blood fall on the shapes making them become infected! Well but at least you didn't hurt anyone! exactly like you wanted 🎀💜

And bonus, the shapes looks REALLY creepy but at least the wounds close when the shape wants to.

Besides the fact that they look like they're melting a little

These corrupt shape are one of the most dangerous because they really use a lot of blood and tears, even drool, to infect other forms.

This type of shape only hurt theyself when it is on the battlefield or when it has its victim in its sights.

I said above that I would tell you guys the symptoms of corruption but I'm too lazy to write here so if you want to know you can send me an ask ^^

Anyway, thanks for getting this far!

[livewireprojects]

Old Sonic sketches that would lead to my Lost Prince AU(Slight spoilers & lots of rambling)

As the title says this was stuff for a past version of my Sonic stuff before I made my Lost Prince AU. I guess you could say I've been working on this stuff for a long time & these are in a sense the stepping stones to my stuff.

The dates for when I scanned stuff is on the pic cause it's interesting to learn how old these are & cause I had to edit stuff due to images being too light when I scanned them(plus everything was saved as a bmp because png files opened photoshop & I didn't know how to fix it as a kid) but if they're not there I'll mention the date if it's mentioned in the DA posts I got these from in my gallery.

I've put a keep reading due to how long this is(as if I haven't left other long posts without it in the past) & also because it's slightly spoilery for my Lost Prince stuff. Things have been edited/redone over time but there's still some stuff that would be a spoiler for later events in my stuff. I also ramble a lot in this & at points mention stuff meant to go in the current version to show similarities or differences between the old & present versions.

Just a heads up my self-insert Sonicsona cause for some reason I'm just there at points. My Sonicsona went threw a few designs changes when I was younger. This was also before I became a guy.

Another warning is that this was back when I didn't like Amy as much so she's not exactly drawn in a good light at points.(In the more current version I've worked on things)

There's also a bizarre thing at the end that also mentions weird crossovers(scrapped ideas that will make sense later) & mentions of violence. I'm sorry I just thought I'd explain some of this weird plot that has been changed over the years. Again a lot of this is no longer in my version of Sonic.

The moment Sonic disappeared after Sonic Underground. I think I was working on a comic for the series(too ambitious & too much to deal with at the time) with this being a prologue page.

For context Knuckles tried to save Sonic from falling off Angel Island while it was raining & Sonic let go because if he knew neither he nor Knuckles would survive falling off the island if this kept going. The dialogue is muted by the rain, I dunno the context behind Sonic being struck by lightning was because I don't have it in my current stuff.

You read this like a manga page.

Images of Sonic while living with his dad after Jules found him when Sonic some how survived the fall from Angel Island.

Jules wasn't originally a mage studying chaos energy just some guy with powers thanks to his studies in chaos energy which he used to heal Sonic. In this he has a locket with him & Sonic in it, I have no idea why there's a doodle of Shadow & Sonic since Sonic won't meet Shadow for 50(in the new one technically 40) years. I think this is a ref to scrapped stuff involving an OC of mine named Kiku that was at one point meant to be Sonic's reincarnation before I scrapped stuff.

A moment of Jules being a parent & cleaning up Sonic I think possibly after finding Sonic.(I'm guessing this since Sonic is catatonic/dissociating due to injuries & amnesia so he wouldn't have tried to run around)

This is based off of a scene from Digimon Tamers I watched as a kid from a scene meant to be a flashback of Jeri being cared for by her dad.

I think this was meant to be comic pages in the style of a photo album. Going off the top pics this is going in a Z or zig zag instead of manga panels like the prologue comic.

lol This was done on triple 12, if only the time was 12:12 then it'd really be multiple 12s.

Left to right

First/top row:

So a difference between then & now is that the past version of Jules when he was unable to care for Sonic anymore left him with Vanilla & her husband(this was before I made Cake) while current Jules left Sonic at a hidden home. I think the idea was that Sonic Underground happened only a couple years back instead of 50-40 years ago. Because Vanilla & her spouse weren't born back then & I dunno where Chuck was Jules ended up keeping Sonic alone for safety instead of getting help when Jules couldn't keep an eye on him.

Anyway these two pics are Jules leaving Sonic with Vanilla & her spouse cause he trusts them to keep him safe. Sonic just sits there on the couch.

Second row:

-I have no idea how this guy died, Cake died helping clean up leftover Robotnik bases but that's an idea from later on. Prototype Cake left behind a wife, a baby daughter & an adopted son that kind of blames himself.

-Sonic starts to express himself more as he starts to accept he's in a better place. Here he is interacting with toddler Cream who has started to walk.

Third Row:

-Sonic either hanging out or going on adventures with Tails & Knuckles

-Amy chasing Sonic

Fourth/Bottom Row:

-Old design of my Sonicsona with an ex friend's OC Tae, they're only an ex-friend because we don't talk anymore. We kinda drifted apart & I mistakenly weirded her out cause I didn't know how to tone things down until later on.(Also kind of weird due to my wild imagination with weird crossovers & shit) I could go into more detail but I'll just leave it there cause this isn't about past relationships.

-My Sonicsona taking a picture after noticing Sonic & Shadow kissing in the background

I put this in with the post I made with all my past Lara stuff(as in "Fuck you Ken, *makes Lara-Su a Knuxouge kid*" shit), once again I don't know why I gave a child version of her teen Lara's outfit.

So at some point Eggman blinds Sonic & Sonic has been trying to get as far away as possible after escaping. I had no idea when I drew this that Angel Island was a thing thanks to most of my understanding of Sonic coming from fandom stuff & especially Sonic X which either doesn't mention Angel Island or I missed the episode/episodes that do mention it. So pretty much Sonic(after getting patched up & his eyes covered) is wandering the forest & manages to find Lara who is playing out there & decided to play guard.

For some reason I remember that Sonic has no idea who Lara is & Knuckles/Rouge never told him not Lara who each other are. I have no idea why that is & that's been fixed in the present version. Anyway Lara thinks he's a stranger that's getting too close to where the Master Emerald is. I don't remember how this goes but things are eventually sorted out & Sonic is introduced to her later on.

This is the image that needed the warning about past thoughts on Amy, I'm pretty sure she gets better eventually but I might be wrong because I only remember some things.

So Sonic doesn't want anyone to know he's blind & is trying to act like everything is fine but at the same time is acting a little distant at points. Amy is pissed he's ignoring her which has led to her raging & causing a scene, this is has led to Shadow taking notice of how odd Sonic has been lately.

While in this version Amy is mad that Sonic is ignoring her & pissed her attempts at a date are repeatedly rejected at this point(so kind of being selfish) in the current version she'd be mad because she's honestly worried. In the current version Amy would be getting mad because she's worried as a friend that someone she's close to is acting strange along with something clearly being wrong.

So Shadow(who for some reason I give a ponytail in this version) is in the background, Sonic is trying to ignore Amy(who is yelling), my old Sonicsona is pissed at Amy, I think I drew Starrk from Bleach cause he was my husbando at the time, Vector is trying to leave, the one with black hair is Tae(a past friend of mine's OC) & I have no idea who is next to her.

For some context at some point after Sonic was blinded he ended up nearly drowning in a river while it's raining at night. Shadow thanks to Amy's outburst & finally noticing something is off has been trying to keep an eye on Sonic which leads to Shadow partly stripping so he can jump into the river to save Sonic.(Dunno why he stripped since it's raining so he's already wet, I guess so it's easier to go after Sonic)

After getting back on "dry" land Sonic just breaks & cries as he clings to Shadow cause he's just had enough. He can't see, things are changing, he's scared & has just had enough of everything going on. Shadow is shocked cause he's never seen Sonic like this.

This scene hits a little worse in the present version as Sonic purposely fell into the river or was about to cause I dunno if he managed to fall in then get saved or if Shadow stopped him. What makes things worse is that Sonic is a parent when this happens & left his kid with Vanilla cause he knew his kid would be safe with her should anything happen to him. Actually I think Vanilla called Shadow to go find Sonic cause she knew something was going to happen.

Sonic's son(I'm pretty sure someone figured it out but for some reason I'm trying to be vague until a certain point in time) doesn't exist in this version but his younger half brother eventually exists in this. Sadly enough Sonic was pregnant with his son's half brother when Shadow saved him in the present version, not only that Shadow is the father. My explanation is Eggman had a weird cloning ray that went wrong so Sonic ended up with a kid twice. This all is meant to happen when he's older.

Final image in this collection of past sketches I found in my DA gallery.

For some slightly unnecessary context my self-insert Sonicsona use to live with a bunch of other Sonic fan characters in what was this odd building on the edge of an abandoned city.(For some reason named the forgotten valley cause the city I guess in a way was valley like) The building was full of mysteries & was semi turned into a place for people to live in as well as a place for travelers to stay at with their own rooms.(And Tails Doll in the very bottom basement locked in a mini freezer)

After rescuing Sonic, Shadow took Sonic to my place(apparently it was closer than going home) to get cleaned up & have somewhere safe to rest for the night. After helping Sonic get dry/warm & everyone was settled down Sonic finally confessed to everything that happened as well as the fact he's blind.

Shadow(who I thought it was funny if his fur/quills fluffed up after getting dry, I know this is a bad time for a joke) agrees to let Sonic stay with him & help the blue hedgehog deal with the situation he was currently in. Thanks to helping Sonic recover from the state he was currently in(depressed, struggling to deal/cope with everything) as well as help Sonic learn to navigate around being unable to see the two became close. The two eventually becoming a couple & got married before eventually having kids.

Things go slightly differently in the present version but a summarized version is similar. Shadow finds Sonic, they talk things out & Shadow helps Sonic(plus his son) out. Shadow & Sonic start a relationship while helping Sonic recover. Eventually they get end up in a relationship with Mephiles & get married.

Yeah surprisingly given stuff I made in the past Mephiles isn't in the picture until my recent stuff. I think this is partly due to my Butterfly Effect AU not being a part of this at the time.(Well Silver still got family but nothing else happened)

Bonus pic

Please be aware you can ignore everything after the 3rd paragraph(mentioning the short version) if you want. While it explains the end of my child self's(I was in middle school & then part way into high school before changes happened)

This is technically related, this is from some scrapped ideas caused by a younger me having amalgamations of crossovers going threw my head. I imagine crossovers all the time still but not an amalgamation like this.

Before I go into rambling the image is an old version of my OC Kiku, his boyfriend & Lavi(from D.Grayman) who is off camera reacting badly to cooking. The person with the chef hat in the corner is I think named Eri, she's an OC from the person that made Tae & this is a joke about her being unable to cook.

The short version of this is that Kiku was meant to be Sonic's reincarnation & his boyfriend was Shadow's reincarnation.

So for context the tiny character in the corner is the old design of my OC Kiku who is a Blindshipping fankid. In this moment he is some how a Diclonius(from Elfen Lied & no he's not a queen nor ones that are caused from infecting others & age quickly he just has the cat horns & the powers), is a backup Arcobaleno(Katekyo Hitman Reborn), an ex-test subject(inspired by the Maximum Ride manga) & for some reason Allen Walker's(D.Grayman) reincarnation which is why an arrow for Lavi is going off camera & why the guy next to Kiku is meant to look like Kanda.(Because he is) I later stopped the D.Grayman stuff but kept how Kiku's boyfriend looked cause I really liked Kanda's design.

In present day Kiku has been split into two people. The Blindshipping OC Kiku & Chrysanthemum(Nicknamed Sammy) whois suppose to be the son of Martin Mystery from the cartoon of the same name. They are technically each other from different dimensions. Sammy still has the ex-test subject thing but all the other stuff was scrapped. Also Kiku's boyfriend still looks a little like Kanda still due to having some relation to Dark Magician who has a similar hair when Kanda's hair isn't in a ponytail.

Here's them side by side in the most recent drawing of them.

So like I mentioned in the short version(just so I could get to the point for anyone that didn't want to look at the rest of the rambling) past me had Kiku meant to be Sonic's reincarnation.

I'm not proud of this but the idea was that my version of the Sonic series ends with Eggman injuring Sonic & faking Sonic's death at a festival before patching him up & putting him in a suit that controlled Sonic. Shadow would raise their kids alone while fighting against this new "robot" until years later on the same night he lost Sonic(during the same festival) before breaking the suit, learning Sonic was alive this whole time & the two dying in a fire finally together & freed from Eggman.

After that some stuff involving Bleach were they were tested on by the captain of the 12 squad. Sonic goes on to meet a girl in the living world & go on adventures with her. Shadow who doesn't remember anything would sometimes show up to keep an eye on them or help. At some point Sonic would finally get Shadow to remember & Shadow would be horrified of his actions. They both have something on them that keeps them connected to the world so they untie/remove what keeps them tethered after saying goodbye to Sonic's friend.

After this they are reincarnated as children that were kidnapped & tested on. Shadow(Called Yu when not being called an experiment code) had two friends that nickname themselves Feather(cause her hair is feathery & looks like feathers tied up) & Sound.(A joke on the fact he refuses to talk & uses sign language) At some point they meet patient BK201(their code name that the doctors call them, also Darker Than Black ref) who all the staff were nervous about because he's too powerful & was under the control of a fucked up doctor(ironic considering these people) before he was removed.

At some point a lot of experiments escape or are killed trying, BK201 fakes Yu/Shadow's, Feather & Sound's deaths so they can be dumped outside & get to safety while the doctors caught BK201. Feather & Sound disappear, Yu/Shadow is taken in by someone, makes friends & at some point remembers his past.

Something led to Yu meeting Kiku(at the time named Chrysnathemum which ironically is what Kiku translates into) & was a bit distant with them but eventually warmed up to them. Yu liked him but was unable to get over BK201 who he believed died after being caught. At some point he found out Kiku was actually BK201, BK201 was forced to be kept on a tighter leash as they did more tests until being rescued & taken to his parents who helped him recover.(Atem & Yugi) BK201's parents also helped take down the organization that kidnapped him & other kids to be experiments.

Yu warms up even quicker thanks to learning this is his missing friend/childhood crush that saved him. At some point they start dating, work on the fact they remember being Sonic & Shadow while going on more adventures. At some point they meet Feather & Sound(who is talking now that he's in a safer place) who turn out to be Blaze & Silver's reincarnations, the two disappeared because they had apparently come from the future & ended up kidnapped while seeing the past.

At the end after many adventures & stuff Yu & Kiku move to the country side to live a peaceful life. Silver & Blaze live with them when Yu & Kiku eventually make it to the time they're from with Silver turning out to be their son. They're all immortal & can finally live their lives in peace without having to worry about Eggman or anything else they dealt with in this new life.

There was some other stuff like at one point Kku being part werewolf/vampire later changed to part mummy(Atem), at one point being part saiyan & having a cousin that was not only part saiyan but Blackfire's(from Teen Titans) daughter & at one point a Mew(I called her Mew Mint Chocolate Chip) before I scrapped it since I don't watch Tokyo Mew Mew/Mew Mew Power. At one point I also had Atem a revived version of himself but the reincarnation of Tuxedo Mask(Dunno how this works) & Yugi the reincarnation of Usagi from Sailor Moon.

Oh yeah I also for some reason brought in Secret Saturdays by having Manic's boyfriend be Kur who ended up teleporting to Earth & becoming the Kur from the show after something messed him up around the time Shadow & Sonic died. Manic is reincarnated as Kiku's brother which makes sense because Sonic.

There's a lot of crossover shit but I semi forgot about it & I'm only aware there was crossover shit. I've calmed down on some of this & obviously things have changed.

There's no reincarnation stuff with my present Sonic stuff & no crazy crossover stuff. While I often imagine crossover stuff it's calmed down some compared to my past crossover amalgamation ideas.

I'm not going to tell you how Lost Prince AU ends in this but immortality & finally able to be at peace does happen.

Sorry for the bonus wild ride, hope you were able to deal with all of this. Sorry for rambling & the fucked up bonus rambling.

[phantomoftheorpheum]

my favorite book to show changes in Shelter

*obviously spoilers for the first season of Shelter, as well as the trilogy, though I will be putting anything that relates to plots they may do in later possible seasons below a cut.

The Friendship Group - I really, really like the way they updated the friendship dynamics for the show. This is probably my absolute favorite change. In the books, Ema & Mickey are very much besties and the center of the story, while Spoon often feels like an addition, and Rachel doesn't have much content. While they do technically end up as a group by the end, there are very few scenes with the 4 of them and the main dynamic focused on is Mickey & Ema's.

Shira Bolitar - in the books, Mickey goes to live with his uncle Myron, and Shira doesn't exist. Myron is fine in the books (and he clearly exists in the show, even though we don't meet him), but I like the added focus on Shira (and Hannah, who also isn't a character in the books). They do give Shira some of Myron's material from the books, but she also has a lot of new stuff for the show. I guess some audiences might not think her added material is necessary, but I liked her being a more fleshed out character (I mean, Myron has his own books, which I haven't read, so he's probably very fleshed out in those, but he doesn't have much going on in these books).

Spoon - I think they nailed Spoons characterization, like he feels very much like his book counterpart (aside from a couple of repeated jokes/comments in the books that I didn't love and I'm glad that they didn't use in the show), but there's so much more of him in the show. He honestly does not have enough scenes in the books. I'm glad they recognized his potential in the show.

Dylan Shakes (spelled Shaykes in the books) - This one isn't that big of a deal, but I like that they threaded that mystery into the main plot of the show. This character has a (less fleshed out) very similar plot in the books, but it's very background and his disappearance doesn't feel that important to the town.

Ema's Romantic Arc - Whitney doesn't exist in the books. Ema has other stuff going on romantically in the books, I'll go a little more into this in the more spoilery section of the post.

One thing I think the books did better than the show is that Ashley and Mickey know each other for several weeks before she goes missing, as opposed to literally one day. While I understand that the show addresses that there's some transference going on with Mickey and his desire to save Ashley when he couldn't save his father, his fixation feels weirder in the show than in the books, where he'd gotten to know her a little bit better and they were tentatively dating.

*****spoilers for some book plots that could come into play in additional seasons of the show below!!*****

Ema & Mickey - Okay, honestly, this is a big one for me. It could be because I watched the show first and had that dynamic in my head going into the books, but I was very much not a fan of Ema & Mickey's feelings for each other in the books. While they never actually get together (unless he's going to write more?), we get confirmation that they both have feelings for each other and both know it. I don't know. This just didn't work for me. Maybe, partially, because Mickey spends a lot of the books being jealous whenever Troy & Rachel are brought up, but then will flip into being jealous about Ema liking someone else and back and forth so much. It might be realistic (since Mickey is mainly just like distracted by how hot he thinks Rachel is a lot), but it kind of taints the vibe of "Ema & Mickey are so emotionally connected and their bond is so deep" that it feels like we're supposed to believe at times. IDK. I very much prefer their friendship in the show.

Rachel - Show Rachel is so superior to the book version of Rachel. And it's not that book!Rachel is bad, it's just that she really doesn't get much time on the page, despite being central to the second book mystery, which basically revolves around her family dynamics. While her season 1 plot is pretty similar to her book 1 plot, that's about all the action we really see out of her in the books, and I think that the show did a great job increasing her presence and agency.

[heavyisthecrown-if]

Hi! I hope you don’t mind if I have multiple questions😅

What do the ROs think of one another? Are any of them friends?

How angsty are the romance routes? And how fast are they?

What are the characters families like? How about their upbringing?

Lastly, can you share more about MCs family?

Sorry if you can’t answer all of them, I’m just so curious!!

What do the ROs think of one another?

I think I'll let the player figure this out in-game, but, as of chapter one, none of the ROs are friends.

How angsty are the romance routes? And how fast are they?

Angst (Most to least)

Derrick > Z > Alex = Talia

Speed (Slow to fast)

Z > Derrick > Talia > Alex

What are the characters families like? How about their upbringing?

I'll talk about their families, but their childhoods are a little spoilery.

Derrick - He's quite close with both parents, more so with his father than his stepmother, Margaret. He's very close with both his half-sisters, Anne and Lucretia. Margaret is a very proper, sweet, and caring lady. She's known Derrick since he was seven and has loved that boy like he was her own. Lucretia is somewhat in her angsty teenager phase, but she's very sweet and takes after her father's extroversion. Anne is much more introverted but just as kind as her sister. She really looks up to Derrick, though she'd never admit it. Information about Atticus, his dad, and Mundir, his uncle, can be found in the Important Characters post.

Talia - She has no siblings, only her parents, with whom she's very close. Her father, Fabian, and her mother, Anneliese, both work in the church, though Fabian is a regular shmegular priest and Anneliese is a healer. Both parents are caring and affectionate, but aimed to let Talia live as freely as she wished outside of her teachings. She had no siblings, but the other kids that were raised in the church are like family to her. Her parents are very open people and are rarely even slightly worked up over anything, and they could only wish Talia had this trait as well.

Alex - They're amicable with their parents and close with their siblings, besides their oldest sister, Selene. Their father, Heinrich, is a fisherman and their mother, Steliana, is a scrivener. They never built that close of a relationship with their parents due to how busy their schedules were, so they grew closer with their siblings as a result. They have four other siblings, including Selene, with them being the second youngest. In order of age: Selene, Vera, Simon, Alex, and Anghel. All of their siblings remained back home, or, at least, close to their parents.

Z - Z, like Talia, is also an only child, but they're quite distant with their parents. Leopold, like in many of his other pursuits, treats Z like an extension of himself and wants them to follow his every move, even though they're obviously disinterested. Rebecca is colder than her husband, but she's always tried to coddle Z despite her failing attempts later in their life. I will reveal that they had a lonely upbringing and they continue to feel that way now.

Lastly, can you share more about MCs family?

I was waiting for someone to ask this lol.

Cyprian is your annoying, but doting, brother and the new king. He's naturally a nervous fellow but hides it under many layers of false confidence. He cares deeply for everyone in his life, maybe a little too much with how hesitant he is to break some ties. Despite this, there are ways to decrease your relationship with him, but I wouldn't recommend lmao.

Stefan is your similarly anxious father, but he actually shows it unlike Cyprian. He was a very good king, leaving your brother with some big shoes to fill, but he's never pressured you two to be anything but yourselves. He's kind to practically everyone, but he's especially sweet with his family. Even so, he can and will enforce rules and discipline unto you should you need it.

Mirela is your distant and relatively stuck-up mother. She married into the royal family and she's been blinded by the wealth and luxury of her new life. She's never been particularly affectionate with neither her kids nor her husband, preferring to retreat and do her own thing. She's sterner than your father and has always encouraged you to act first and think later, lest you let an opportunity fall through your fingers.

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

The Story of the RTDLDX Box-art Leak

news of the Magolor Epilogue side mode is officially out! with that, say hello to @qui-gg , the original source of the RTDLDX box-art leak to the kirby fandom!

watching the leak spread in real time, the both of us talked and thought it would be fun to make a post about all of this later as a piece of fandom history. the reason why i'm making the post and not her is because while she was the original source, i'm the only one who witnessed the rest of the entire story firsthand.

note: all screenshots of dms/quig's initial reactions/info from quig and her friend posted here i received permission to share. all other screenshots are from public servers, so names are not censored unless someone asked me to, or unless they're the person who caused the leak to spread to the fandom at large. with that, let's get into the story 👇

the story starts with quig's friend, who works at gamestop, posting images of the the boxart to a mutual server they share

the white is the name of quig's friend censored. also for consistency's sake, note that these screenshots from quig are in central time. the rest of the screenshots in this post are from me and in pacific time (2 hours behind)

quig's friend isn't into kirby and had taken and shared the pictures without the knowledge that there was even anything special or spoilery on them. they had only taken it to show quig, because they knew quig as the kirby person of their friend group. quig decided to share it to my discord server soon after

a thread for the leak was made in the server instead of quig dming everyone individually, and we quickly established a rule against reposting it outside of this server. however, it was still allowed for it to be shared privately

everyone talked about the news excitedly for a while. quig continued to feed us more early info from their friend that never made it into the main leak spread throughout fandom, like photos of the inside box art, preorder bonuses, and info that apparently the boxarts were going to be displayed in-stores in about a week, confirming some sort of announcement or trailer soon.

around 2-3 hours later, we started to hear about other places talking about the leak.

at the time, no one suspected foul play. considering quig's friend's gamestop had received the boxart, everyone assumed that gamestop in general had received it and that other employees had also leaked it. however-

also going back and checking the image shared to reddit, we confirmed it was the same picture. then begun several bouts of back and forths trying to figure out how it had been leaked

apparently the very first leak of it outside of my server was to the r/kirby discord server. at this point, because im the owner and head mod of my server, and we had already established many times that we had not wanted it to be shared outside of there, and because quig was starting to get stressed about this immediately getting out of control, i decided to do my own investigating and find out who had leaked it so i could yell at them for breaking the rules

these were the very first messages to r/kirby that started the leak getting out to the entire fandom. ive censored her name in pink because i dont want anyone to attack this person, and from this point on i'll be calling her "the leaker". interestingly, it was someone not from my server, however, by chance, i happened to know her decently well anyways because we share some of the same spaces. because of this, i just dm'd her directly asking where she had gotten the picture from, providing additional context because, while i knew her, we didn't talk much and i thought it would be rude to only ask that without letting her know why

by that time it turns out she had went to bed, however. so for the rest of the night i did more asking around and found out who had shared it on my own. the person who showed it to her did end up being from my server. they were a friend of the leaker and had shared it to her in dms, but told me that they didn't know she had posted it to r/kirby because she never asked or let them know she was going to do so.

because i knew the person who had shared the box-art image to the leaker was cool, as well as sharing in dms not being against our rules, i decided there was no malicious intent and decided to lay off my "ass kicking" mood. i guess as you'd expect, the leak happened because it was shared from friend to friend and it took just one person not getting the memo it shouldn't be shared publicly for all of this to get out of control. that was my thought process at the time.

i already found out who had shared the image to the leaker, but since i had already sent a dm to said leaker about the event, i figured id just leave the messages to confirm and see what she had to say about it in the morning. like said in the beginning of this post, i did not get permission to share the dms so i will not post any screenshots, but ill summarize what was said next

i was told the next morning that, yes, the person who i had already known had given her the photo had given it to her. the leaker had taken it and immediately shared it to the largest kirby discord server out there because "shes incredibly impulsive" and "wanted the attention and clout", but otherwise was sorry. she told me she felt incredibly guilty about the whole event and went on to say stuff about how she was an "worthless human being". i told her it was fine and that she didn't have to be so harsh on herself, i had only wanted her to know the consequences, since at this point the next day, large gaming news sites had begun posting about it and it had gotten really big, to the point where quig rescinded her previous statement that her friend was in no danger and had started to worry this could lead to them getting hurt. the leaker told me she did all of this because she couldnt help wanting the clout over everything else if she wasnt told the consequences to her face

hey getting lost in the hype happens right? i wasnt the most happy that quig was feeling incredibly stressed now and that their friend could be in danger because someone wanted clout without thinking of the consequences, but this stuff happens. being impulsive happens. once the official news comes out sometime around a week later, this would all blow over. once again i reassured the leaker this was all fine, and we had a good friendly talk for several hours afterwards

later that day, quig found a youtube comment on the gamexplain video about the leak

the detective work started up once again. the canadian portion could be assumed from the french text alongside the english on the box, but it shouldn't have been public that it was from a canadian gamestop employee. quig started to worry that people were now digging so hard for the source their friend would get doxx'd. we did not believe it to be a random lurker in the server, because none of the other info quig had told us had gotten out.

initially i thought this was my fault. i mentioned it was from a gamestop employee in the tags of this post when i had made it the previous day, and then deleted those tags about 15 hours afterwards once we realized this was getting way too big. while not unreasonable, i found it a bit strange that this info had come from me, though

obviously people take tumblr as being the dead site that no one uses, and the leak news in general was spreading much more sluggishly over here with our smaller fandom and, compared to twitter and reddit, significantly less reach. not to mention i had left that information in the tags where less people read anyways, and with the word gamestop censored and my post itself not in the main kirby tags, the person in the youtube screenshot had to have been someone who follows me and was active on tumblr during that short timeframe for this to have happened

completely unrelated, later in the afternoon i decided to look in the r/kirby server's leak thread for fun, specifically the messages from the leaker. the previous day, people were swarming her about where she had gotten the image since she was the first person to post it to the general fandom. people were speculating that the leak was fake and that the leaker could've tried to fake it. there were lots of vague rumors about it being from "some random discord server out in the world". as my server was almost like the "ground 0" of the leak, it was a lot of fun watching this and watching people talk about us. i used the leakers messages as a boost to find these types of messages, since the r/kirby spoiler thread had dissolved to regular leak discussion.

and i found these

(that last sentence is a straight lie. she had just never bothered to ask)

(same message as in the previous screenshot, showing that the leaker had reacted with :true:)

it turns out she was the one who had leaked that this was from a gamestop employee. from my dms without letting me know once again. this was almost exactly 2 hours before i had the aforementioned conversation in dms with her. before she apologized and told me she felt immensely guilty and asked if there was anything she could do. before she told me she leaked the initial info because no one had told her the consequences to her face

excuse me in advance, please take the following as my interpretation of the event alone. i say and assume these things because of many prior encounters with this person

there is a lot i could say about these screenshots. i was absolutely furious when i saw them. in my eyes, the blatant 180 shift in attitude and behavior when talking to the public and when talking to me in my dms only a short while later shows the exact opposite amount of care she told me she had. the complete lack of acknowledgement of several people mentioning someone could get fired because of her actions, instead choosing to focus on how confirmation of it being from a gamestop employee just confirms the leak is real now... the fact that she said behind my back that i needed to chill, right before telling me she thought she was a worthless human being for doing this... i'm sparing the full details of my grievances because i don't want to make this a vent post or about me; i say this as a conclusion to this part of the story. as in, i think there's zero reason to believe the leaker actually ever gave a shit. i fully believe she purposely stepped over the consequences for the sake of clout

(to be clear i'm not trying to totally absolve myself of responsibility here, or make this some kinda persuasive argument. it totally could've been just my fault that the gamestop employee info got out. i don't particularly care if people think the leaker didn't do anything wrong either. whatever, make your own conclusions based off what's there)

thus ends the bias section. luckily the next news we got from quig's friend was very good

really a one in a million event. we now had concrete proof that her friend was, for sure, at 0 risk by some stroke of luck.

with that, the server, and quig and her friend, enjoyed the leak chaos in peace. this stuff doesn't happen often in the kirby fandom, and we thought this was a particularly interesting leak story to share as people who were there from start to finish. watching everything play out from one person, to one group, to the whole fandom and more, while stressful at times, was a unique and overall really fun experience

thank you for reading if you've made it this far! i know this post is kinda long, but i hope you've enjoyed this (probably over-comprehensive lol) write-up. really my final words on the subject are: i hope people can understand from reading this that, while getting lost in the hype happens, please know that there are real life people behind leaks. there can be real consequences to one person letting it slip. don't spread leaks without asking and, if you know the source of a leak, don't go around shouting it from the rooftops. not to mention the amount of people upset that they got spoiled. even though this was very tame as a back of box-art leak, ultimately its best if these things are kept secret and in small groups

some final words from quig (that i'm paraphrasing on her behalf): she says sorry to anyone who didn't want to see the leak and got spoiled early. she never meant for it to spread out of control, and had believed the leak would spread from multiple sources at the same time, instead of being just from her

[buffyfan145]

Today's "Rings of Power" scoop from Fellowship of Fans was a bit different as they actually got news about the editing stage season 2 is in now. Some of it is spoilery, which I'll put behind a cut, but there was news that the first pass of editing all 8 episodes are done!!! :D They're now going into the 2nd phase and figuring out what to cut and keep which is where the spoilers comes into play.

FOF actually posted an article today instead of a YT video as there was a lot of information along with this update about how editing is going. Apparently there's a bit of a standoff about which storylines they need to cut as two of the upcoming 2nd season's plotlines are needing to be trimmed as Amazon doesn't want to change the episode order of 8. One is the plot of Halbrand/Sauron with the elves in Eregion including the version of the Annatar storyline and creating the other rings and leading up to the two episode battle. The other is the storyline in Númenor about the two groups of The King's Men and The Faithful starting to build up and set up the downfall that will come in later seasons.

The issues is between the editors who want the season to focus more on the Halbrand/Sauron and elves storyline as to them it feels more important with the large battle. However the producers want more focus on Númenor since they felt they didn't get enough in season 1 and since again this will set up for later. FOF said their sources tell them it's not anything like a major battle it's self playing out behind the scenes but they're interested to see how this goes and then what gets cut.

Of course a lot of other fans including me replied about why Amazon can't just let the show do like Netflix and other streaming services have done by expanding the episode order to 10 or just giving some episodes a longer run time. "Stranger Things" has done this with multiple episodes being almost 2 hours long and their season 4 finale was almost 3 hours. It just makes more sense to do that instead of cutting things like they did with season 1.

Which also brings us to the speculated Blu-ray/DVD release of season 1, which has been rumored and Amazon does still release their top shows physically, and if they'll include these other deleted scenes and giving us "extended editions" similar to the LOTR movies.