#actually the faction leaders so it's one of those things where it's like

[pyxscythe]

What if miny saw lincu in the hoodie and all and thinking that he looked familiar to the panel but didn't dread on it and starts telling lincus story believing that the person they saw was curious since lincu probably stared at it for a while in pure disbelief and pain

There's so much angst potential with concepts like that ,, the way it goes is no one necessarily knows or questions the origin of this world, it just exists how it is and was built up, and there are four faction leaders who really aren't any huge authority figures or anything, they're mostly just silly and build and explode and have fun like everyone else. There are 3 muses (Miny, Bunii, and Bee, the latter 2 being helpers with building, all 3 are artists) and they sort of just had in their minds these "made up" legends of the faction members, each not really being able to explain how they came up with any of it, it sort of came to them in a sense. But they spread these tales to few, not being all that present themselves (iirc I made them architects turned demigods so that's how they "knew", they were there during the war, just sort of dormant beings).

I think the way I imagined it was only the architects who became sentient (aka all the helpers and members who in the actual smp are mods) actually knew of their godhood, Miny wasn't even originally one and was actually given that bit of godhood by Lincu with him being God of Arts. So anyways all that to say only those really had those tales in their heads of the leaders being Gods, they all varied in their own ways, and it's like subconsciously some knew they were Gods but they mostly treated it as just having these legends. Its wonky to explain

BUT ANYWAYS THAT FUCKING TANGENT ASIDE I still adore that concept because it sounds really cool ,, like just imagining no one really putting 2 and 2 together in their minds or just thinking these are made up stories not realizing that to some degree they're true, because one way or another all tales tell of a war. Or just them entirely not recognizing the Gods from the stories or portraits as the faction leaders. That would go crazy

[phoenixyfriend]

Do you think

Do you think there are sects of Mandalorians that put up pictures of Satine the way people put up pictures of the Virgin Mary

Like those illuminated icons

Part of me is suddenly very convinced that there are people who treat her like Catholics do saints

(I don't actually know what the Catholic angle is. I grew up Orthodox, and iconography was a big part of the divorce of 1054. Like I know that icons aren't a thing for Catholicism but also I've seen like. statues of saints? and there's paintings of Mary by Catholics? so I just threw spaghetti at the wall)

I was thinking about after the Empire rose, and maybe after the glassing.

I'm imagining the people who do it being the children of people who were young but around during the civil war.

Like Sabine and the generation after her.

Where they themselves were of traditional families, and heard stories of the conflicts, but hindsight just had them going "what if we hold up this woman as an icon of peace" and then maybe them, or maybe the generation after them, went "she was our leader, and she is dead and among the stars, and she was a symbol of peace, and let us pray to her."

@jebiknights:

I mean after she dies maybe? I could see her becoming a martyr to the cause but idk I've never gotten the impression she was actually revered But now I'm imagining people praying to Satine's ghost and being like "hey can you do me a solid and tell Tarre/the Manda to help me find my lost head piece" I feel like she'd be more held up as a martyr/revolutionary figure than religious though but maybe that's just me. The type that would get spray painted on alley walls as opposed to prayer cards

Given the ideology Mandalore has around death (ka'ra and whatnot), I feel like there's an overlap there. Like yes she's a martyr and a revolutionary figure, but since she was a leader, she's also sort of like. Ancestral worship But All Of Mandalore Is Her Children.

I'm imagining Satine like… generally she's a revolutionary figure and martyr, but some people took it further, and so she was getting colloquially sanctified by some, and others verging on Let's Make A Religion Out Of This.

This got long, more under the cut.

jebiknights:

I think it's just hard for me to picture her that way with all of the split between factions during her time ruling, and a lot of that was about traditional way of life and connections with religion. I could see her as a subjugated government figure that even those who didn't like her politics might see as a symbol of the sith/the empire trying to take over and then destroy them. I personally just don't see her crossing over into religiousity for a long long while after

I'm coming at this from the perspective of Former Socialist Yugoslavia.

A lot of my parents' generation were actually more religious than their own parents' generation (not my parents, but there were a lot of others who did) because of the overarching normalization of atheism by the government. Being religious was a form of rebellion. In this case, I'm imagining a clinging to the ancestor-worship parts of Mandalorian culture as being the part people embraced in response to the Empire trying to stamp them out overall.

jebiknights:

Oh I didn't mean that they're more or less religious I just didn't think she'd be incorporated into it bc of ya know the civil wars shrugs Or wasn't trying to say I couldn't see it because of less religious? I do think increased religiousity makes sense for the Mando's during and after the empire I guess I'm just struggling bc I'm drawing a line between Important Martyr in current political and religious struggle and "Saint like figure who almost immediately starts a new religion" lol. Cuz I just struggle to see her as the latter but that's just me no shade on her 💜 I think the initial comparison to the virgin Mary really threw me off 😂

Which is. Uh. NGL I was just thinking about the specific element of Having Pictures because Mother Mary was the only one I was sure that Catholics have in their houses. I've been told that it makes more sense to go the Orthodox route since we do iconoclasm a lot more.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut also like. Yeah a few sects may, if not immediately, go full Main Religious Figure about her. Just give it a few generations.

Farmers as isolated as Din's covert, but Not Armor.

tbf most of this was inspired by Maul's weird hate shrine for her in sw Rebels.

This is what vaguely got me thinking about "Some people tried to canonize Satine."

Anyway, I was thinking in this style:

[cordsycords]

been thinking more about the info about the backgrounds that we've seen, regarding Rook's past, and I really hope we get some reactivity with our companions, especially ones that are in the same faction as us:

shadow dragons - okay, from the single line we get in the prologue from Neve, it doesn't seem like she's specifically heard of/worked with Rook before. This kind of makes me wonder if the Shadow Dragons are a much more decentralized faction than something like the Wardens or the Crows, with multiple cells that are all working together towards the same goal, but keep minimal communication with one another due to secrecy. Might be cool if we have a mission that's like "find the leader of the Shadow Dragons" because no one knows who it is*. The background info from the CC kind of supports this idea, Rook is specifically said to have been "brought to the attentions of the Venatori" and put in time out because of that.

As for reactivity, I guess it would be nice if you could mention that specific mission, and Neve could "oh right I heard of that. You did the right/wrong thing." and just give her opinion on it. I can actually imagine Neve not being really keen on it, as a private investigator she needs a certain amount of discretion to be able to do her job properly, and might not appreciate Rook's brashness if it endangers the wider goal of the shadow dragons.

mournwatch - the mournwatch background is still driving me a little Insane, because what do you mean Rook was found as a baby in the Grand Necropolis. Anyways I kind of assume the Mournwatch is a much smaller faction, because they have a very specific focus, and they only operate in a specific part of Thedas. Since the info specifically says Rook was "raised by necromancers" it would be super cool to see if Rook and Emmrich had a Mentor/Student relationship at one point. Would also be interesting if Emmrich specifically was the one to tell Rook to travel after the incident with the War of the Banners. It would be great to see his response to Rook coming back and suddenly being in charge of this little rebellion, they just can't stop themselves from getting into trouble.

Also Mournwatch!Rook taught Manfred to play rock-paper-scissors. That's my headcanon and you can't take it away from me.

antivan crows - So it seems like Rook is a relatively new antivan crow, and from the little I've gleaned about Lucanis' recruitment mission, it looks like he might have been thought to be dead for the last year or so? Would be cool if Rook has heard a bunch of stories about Lucanis and has some hero worship going on. Would also be funny if we told him all that we had heard, only for him to shoot all the more fantastical elements of those tales down.

grey wardens - This one is also a little up in the air regarding whether Davrin and Rook knew each other before the events of Veilguard. Rook's faction backstory mentions them being in a group along with other Grey Wardens, so it would be nice if Davrin was also on the mission. I would also be really interested to see how Davrin got Assan, and maybe Rook played a hand in that somehow as well. Did Davrin literally find Assan in the middle of nowhere, and maybe Rook was there? Or were the eggs all found and then distributed among the Grey Wardens that were in high favour? Was Rook passed over for a griffon? I do remember one of Davrin's missions from an IGN previwe being specifically about saving the griffons, so it's probably the case that Assan is the only one actively around right now.

Either way, it would be cute to see an encounter where Rook remarks on how much Assan has grown/changed since they've seen them last, if they even know about Assan at all pre-Veilguard

lords of fortune - I think the relationship between taash and a LoF!Rook would be a good case for a slightly more antagonistic relationship. As an organisation of treasure hunters, probably focused more on profit and glory than anything else, it would be cool if Rook got in the way of taash's scores or jobs. Maybe Taash has moved up in the faction since Rook was forced to peace out, and wants to lord her achievements over Rook in an attempt to make them jealous. It could be pretty fun.

veil jumpers - I imagine Bellara and a jumper!Rook would probably be pretty aligned with one another. Reading the background info on Rook in the Veil Jumpers, i can imagine Bellara would probably approve of what Rook had done, while also being just a tiny bit disappointed that the map was lost. It would be cool to see a scene where they traded notes with one another, recounting all the weird things that they've seen in Arlathan, and then maybe trying to figure out why certain anomalies occur, or how they work. Just a bunch of co-nerding out with one another

anyways, I am definitely thinking way too much about this, but there's still 6 weeks to go, so it's not like there's much else for me to do :shrugs:

* it would be equally cool if that leader is a previous char from inquisition. I'm kind of banking on Dorian, or the inquisitor themselves considering the clothing we see them wear in that single shot of them in the CC is shadow dragons casual wear (i believe)

[shkika]

Got any Headcanon backstory of how each iterator was named? Like, how did No Significant Harassment get his name? How did Five Pebbles get his name? Etc, etc. I'm curious what you think!

OHH what a fun ask to make up stuff on actually. Sure I have some headcanons. Iterator names are so so fun, because there's a lot you can do with them.

Different local groups could have themes perhaps on their names. Or perhaps their names are phrases or sayings or derive from them. I will go with each colony having their individual meaning for the iterator name.

Sliver of Straw- I've talked about her name extensively here! (x) Please check it out, because I LOVE her name. Basically means needle in a haystack + shortening it to SOS is genius. Just the best.

Looks To The Moon- I don't know if this is the most original take, but I do think her name has a lot of meaning especially if you take into account that she's one of the first or at least an extremely old iterator. I compare it to the landing on the Moon in a way even if it sounds silly. This impossible to reach place is now something well withing reach. Her name is to represent looking at opportunity at the impossible and striving to achieve it. Which can connect to.. well answering the impossible ascension question.

Five Pebbles- This is such a hard one for me. But since the game makes such strong parallels between those two. Making them opposites and such it makes sense to see that in their names. While Looks to the Moon's name is grand and aiming for high achievements. Five Pebbles' name could perhaps be about the smaller mundane things. Finding the solution in a little nook or cranny somewhere close to you. A place where you'd least expect it.

One name is to aim hight and strive for the impossible. The other is about staying low and finding the answer in the small things in life. Which is hilarious if you look at their actual characters. With FP making the bold dangerous decisions and experiments and LTTM vibing like a much more grounded character than him. I love those two.

No Significant Harassment- People find his name really weird which is amusing, because it's really not! To me at least. It can very simply mean "No real harm done". Which I think is probably the intention and it suits his funny guy personality quite a lot. In a way his name could mean peace! A fun hc I discussed with @creeket is that perhaps before NSH was built the colony was divided into four factions/houses that hated each other. The iterator was a reason for them to unite and work on something together which is what the four connected diamonds on his forehead represent.

Seven Red Suns- Okay this is one of the names I struggle the most with. My headcanons about SRS which I've mentioned before is that their colony is very religious and made them as an actual god, treating him as an actual all knowing god much muuch more than the other iterators are treated to the point Seven Red Suns has actual political power (which they really don't want to have). So I think their name is supposed to express how grand and impressive they are. Seven as in complete, perfect. Red is a royal, regal color and of course Suns further cementing their godhood. It makes me think of how the sun is often personified or given a deity to represent it. It can be a cruel leader that dries the land, but also give life and light.

Of course there's many ways to take it in completely different ways. Red stars if I'm not mistaken are the coldest.

Chasing Wind- I also really really like this iterator name. I like to imagine it as either one of two things or both. Chasing after something that is right in front of you yet just barely out of grasp. Like y'know the wind! Or your head is Chasing wind. Having an abundance of thoughts or ideas. Your imagination and creativity running wild and free like the wind!

Unparalleled Innocence- It's so on the nose haha. There is no buts or anything that is a direct opposite to her name in my headcanons. She's a very well meaning innocent person. She was the last iterator to be ever made and lacks a lot more context than the other. She was based of the concept of a child. Which of course children are known for their innocence and unique approach to the world.

[jacebeleren]

It bothers me so much that the only transfem rep in mtg cards is this like. Soldier military woman, like 'ooh look at this guy's we made a trans woman who's a part of a war machine' fantastic thank you magic very original

=========

Okay.

First of all, there is no "our" interpretation of the text. My thoughts are my own, and your thoughts are your own. Some of our thoughts might align, but I will not allow you to speak for me.

Second, I am sorry you feel so disappointed in the current state of transgender representation in Magic. I understand your concerns and I think they're valid concerns.

Third, your concerns being valid does not mean I agree with what you have to say, though. Don't come into my inbox complaining unless you're ready for me to honestly respond. Respectfully, your approach to these concerns makes it clear to me that you don't actually understand what you're talking about.

It's apparent that you follow me or have at least seen many of my posts. You appear to respect my opinions / analysis (at least regarding Jace and Tezzeret). So listen to me when I say this:

What constitutes 'good' representation is context-dependent, and it's not something you alone get to decide.

Yes, Alesha is a "soldier military woman", as you said. I understand that you have this complaint because you believe this makes Alesha an example of the stereotype that trans women are violent. But context matters. What you're failing to consider is the fact that she comes from the Mardu Horde, a faction on Tarkir inspired by the Mongol hordes of real-world history. In this context, Alesha isn't presented as violent because she's a trans woman. She's violent because she literally comes from a warrior clan based on one of the greatest military forces in human history. And honestly, with Magic being a combat-centric game, she's not any more violent than any non-Mardu Legends, either.

Do you seriously think a story about a trans woman fighting to proudly declare her trans identity in her culture and later becoming the accomplished and well-respected leader of her clan is bad representation? Does the fact that she's a warrior really outweigh the rest of the lovingly crafted trans narrative they created for her, to you?

It's fine if you feel that way. You don't have to like Alesha or her story. But just because something wasn't made for your taste doesn't mean it's bad writing / bad representation.

Anyway, I highly recommend you read Alesha's story, "The Truth of Names", since it seems like you haven't read it yet. It's a fantastic story-- the most beloved short story in all of Magic, actually. It was the most-read article on the entire Magic website for like 5 years, according to WOTC.

And if you're interested in learning more about transfem characters in Magic who aren't Alesha, I recommend you read about Xantcha, who first appears in the novel "Planeswalker".

Next, I need to make things clear about Ashiok.

Ashiok was never intended to be nonbinary representation. Ashiok was created to be a mysterious, unknowable villain. What makes Ashiok special is that we are not mean to know anything about Ashiok. We do not know Ashiok's species or plane of origin, for example. Another part of that element of mystery is not knowing Ashiok's gender, or how Ashiok identifies. Ashiok's original style guide from Theros explicitly instructs people to not use any pronouns for Ashiok at all (which I still follow because old habits are hard to break.) Official Magic sources did not begin to use they/them pronouns for Ashiok until 2022, in the story "A Garden of Flesh" (another excellent story, BTW.) And they only started using they/them for Ashiok because it is really hard to write a story where the character is mentioned that many times without pronouns.

All this to say: Ashiok as intentional nonbinary representation is certainly not the narrative WOTC is pushing.

Yes, there are many fans of Ashiok who interpret Ashiok as nonbinary, but those are their thoughts and you need not concern yourself with that, if it bothers you so.

As for Niko, it's weird that you say they're "non-existent" in Magic story when 2 of the 5 side stories ("Know Which Way the Wind is Blowing" and "Aim Through the Target") in their debut set Kaldheim were entirely focused on Niko. They're also a starring main character in 15 of the 25 issues of the BOOM! Studios Magic comics.

I'm glad you like my analysis of Jace and Tezzeret as transgender characters. Thank you for that, genuinely. But I want you to understand that the reason I have these interpretations is because I love Magic Story. And more importantly, I actually read it. I love Magic Story, and I have so much respect for the Magic Narrative team and the work they do.

What most people don't understand is that the Magic Narrative Team is in fact very careful and very loving in their approach to queer representation. You may not know this about me, but I'm friends with A LOT of people who formerly or currently work on Magic / Magic Story. Knowing these people personally, I know for a fact that the Magic creative Team does not create queer characters for "diversity points". They're not just checking boxes. The Magic creative team creates queer characters because the Magic creative team is full of queer people and allies who want to tell stories that reflect their own + fans' experiences. And they have to constantly fight to include more / better queer representation in Magic. They want good queer representation in Magic just as much as we do.

Am I going to defend everything they do? No! Are they perfect? No! They are just people. They make mistakes and they have blind spots. For example, in my essay about my analysis of Jace as a trans man, I explain that the reason my interpretation means so much to me is because there is currently zero meaningful representation for trans men in Magic canon. There are zero transgender male characters in Magic canon who have names. That's a HUGE blind spot considering the number of canon trans characters! That's something that disappoints and upsets me.

I'm not afraid to criticize Magic Story, and I do so very often. But I am critical of Magic story because I love it. My criticism does not equal hatred or unhappiness.

Sorry to hear that their efforts at including better trans representation in Magic would piss you off. I'm sorry that you've given up.

Lastly, I think Liliana is cis, but that's just my headcanon.

[wardencallings]

Got possessed by a desire demon and wrote 1.6k words of Rook x Prologue Bartender fic. Rook uses they/them pronouns, and I kept race and faction vague. I actually feel kind of motivated to continue this, so let me know if you like it :)

Rook was half-surprised that the bar was still standing. After the disaster of Solas’ failed ritual swept through Minrathous, they’d assumed the place would be nothing more than a pile of rubble. Perhaps the Venatori had actually been able to hold control of the demons and mitigate their destruction upon their hideouts. Rook thought that unlikely. The Venatori didn't seem all that competent, despite the grand claims they made about their magic. As they got closer to the bar, they saw that they were right.

While the establishment was still upright, there wasn't much else positive that could be said about its state. Windows smashed, the door off its hinges, and some charred wood across the entire base, probably thanks to some unhinged rage demon, Rook doubted it was in any condition to host customers. Still, they could see someone roaming around within. Figuring there was no point in knocking on a splintered and disconnected door, they walked right in.

The woman from before, the one who’d told them where to find Neve, was sweeping glass from the floor on the far side of the bar. Rook was pleased to see her. This was who they'd come to talk to. Before they left the Lighthouse, they had to come up with some excuse as to why they wanted to go to Neve’s hometown alone – they’d said something about wanting to tour the city on their own terms, feeling too overwhelmed for company, blah, blah, blah. They didn't think Neve bought it, but she’d relented after only a few minutes of minor probing. Honestly, they got off easy, if stories about Neve's interrogation skills were to be believed.

When Rook’s foot creaked on a floorboard, the bartender's head whipped up, and her hand went to her side, reaching for the blade on her hip. Rook couldn’t resist watching the curve of her bicep flex with the movement. Feeling a little too lecherous, they forced their gaze back to her eyes.

“Oh, it’s you,” the woman said, her brown eyes fixating on Rook. Her fingers found the blade’s hilt, and she squeezed it.

“You recognized me?”

“I never forget a face, especially not yours, sweet talker,” she replied. She continued to stare at Rook as if she wasn’t sure if they were here to kill her or not. Rook wasn’t sure how things would go either – not yet anyway. They supposed it all hinged on how this conversation went.

In truth, they'd come here just because they wanted to see her again. Something about the way she carried herself, how she spoke to Rook, had been bouncing around their mind for the past few days. They had so many other things more worthy of ruminating on, but for some reason, when they tried to work through those more pressing problems, they could only picture her face. Rook had never been so struck by someone before, and they were going to figure out why. They had reasoned that solving this distraction would better prepare them to handle those other things. Probably.

“I guess the demons found the place,” Rook said, leaning against a part of the doorframe that was still intact. They crossed their arms as they surveyed the inside, partly in an attempt to look non-threatening, partly because they thought it might look cool. The liquor was all but destroyed, the smell of alcohol wafting across the entire place. There was something that looked congealed like blood spilled atop the bar and dripping onto the floor below, leaving streaks almost like spilled wine in its wake. Rook could see the three notches in the floor where Bianca had struck, wielded expertly by Varric, of course.

“The demons, looters, and the Venatori,” she answered, “in that order.”

“Isn’t this a Venatori hangout?” Rook asked. “Why would they trash their own place?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe their leaders weren’t too happy I told a certain someone where to find Neve Gallus.” The bartender gives Rook a withering look. “I got to hear all about your rescue.”

Rook laughed, tilting their head back. They wished that they had agreed to bring Neve with them. She’d get a kick out of this.

“Sounds like your information might have been a little off. I wouldn’t say I rescued her. Neve saved herself and killed a bunch of Venatori in the process, but I guess that still didn’t reflect well on you.”

“Nope.”

“You know, I would think they’d let that slide. I always assumed Venatori took care of their own. It seems very Crowlike to trash someone’s place just because they did something they didn’t like once.”

It was the bartender’s turn to laugh. She placed the broom against the bar and wrapped an arm around her stomach to steady herself. Clearly, she thought Rook’s words were hilarious.

“You think I’m Venatori?”

“Well, you hang out with them, and you knew where they took Neve.”

“I own a bar that the Venatori like. That hardly makes me one.”

“You accept their coin, serve them drinks at your bar, and you let them take Neve. You're closer to being one than I am.”

“That’s a low bar.”

“So why do you do it? Let them crash here, I mean,” Rook asked. “It seems like too much risk. Wouldn’t you prefer a less criminal clientele?”

“They’re liberal with their gold, and when they like me, they keep me safe from robbers and magisters alike. Usually, I can handle them, at least when demons don’t invade Minrathous.” She paused, squinting at Rook. “That wasn’t you, was it?”

“No, not me,” Rook said with a laugh. “I was actually trying to stop that. You can blame this old elf guy we were hunting.” Rook figured that to be a better explanation than the god Fen’Harel returning to tear down the Veil and restore the ancient way of elven life to the world, but they did briefly wonder if Solas would care much for that description of him. They could’ve called him a pompous, selfish ass instead. Either works.

She didn't seem all that interested in Solas.

“So you won? The demons are gone, and I have you to thank for that?” the bartender asked, eyebrow cocked. Rook noticed the look of disbelief on her face, and their lips twitched upward in a smirk.

“Not really, but you can thank me anyway.”

“Is that right?” she said, sauntering over to Rook. “How would you like me to thank you, exactly?”

“I could think of a few ways,” Rook replied. They uncrossed their arms and puffed their chest out a bit as she approached. This time, they let their eyes wander across her body.

“Oh, I’ll bet you have quite the imagination. I could use a bit of fun before the Venatori show up.”

She ran a finger down Rook’s chest and placed her other hand on their lower back. Rook could feel the heat emanating off of her, and they could smell the lavender and vanilla of her perfume. There was a troubling bruise on her jaw, and Rook raised their hand to cup her face, partially covering the mark, gently. As Rook felt the full effect of this sudden closeness, goosebumps raised on their flesh, and they could feel a bit of pressure building between their legs.

Looking into her eyes, Rook felt a strange pang in their chest. Before they could stifle it, they succumbed to the need to say something odd.

“Come with me,” Rook said. “I have a place. You wouldn’t have to worry about them there.”

“You know, I’ve been trying to figure out if you’re stupid or brave. I’ve finally figured it out. You’re both.” There was no malice in her tone, just amusement.

“Oh come on,” Rook replied. “I can’t believe no one’s ever asked you to go home with them.”

“Plenty of times. Ask them how many times I’ve said yes.”

“They’ll kill you,” Rook said.

“And I’d be safer with you?” The bartender asked, shaking her head. “I somehow doubt that.”

“Safer? Probably not, but you wouldn’t have to worry about the Venatori. Plus, I’ll be there.”

“And Neve Gallus.”

“Well, yeah, but she’s not all bad. Very forgiving, in fact,” Rook lied. They had no way of knowing what Neve was like. The two conversations they’d had thus far weren’t very telling.

“Is that right?”

“I could hide you.”

“Hide me?” she asked, an incredulous lilt to her voice. “What are we? Teenagers sneaking each other into our parents’ homes?”

"It's a massive place, and unbelievably beautiful, too. You could have your own room if you wanted. Although, my bed is always open to you, of course."

“I’m not going home with you. I don’t even know your name.”

“Rook. You can call me Rook. Everyone does.”

“Rook? Like the bird?” 

“No, the chess piece.”

“Interesting,” she mumbled.

“And you? I assume you have a name,” Rook replied.

“You can call me Raven. And yes, like the bird.”

“Is that your name?”

“Is Rook yours?”

“Touché.”

The two stared at each other, Raven’s fingers still pressed on the small of Rook’s back. Rook could feel them drumming softly on their skin. Her other hand dances up their arm, landing on their bicep.

“Come back,” Raven said. “Visit me again, and I’ll think about it.”

“Here?” Rook asked. 

“Where else?”

“And if the Venatori burn the place down?”

“They won’t,” Raven replied with a cocky grin. “I’m the only one in this damned town who can pour a decent ale.”

"How can I be sure you won't sell me out to the Venatori like you did with Neve?"

"You can't," she replied. Rook chewed on the fingernail of their thumb and exhaled a breath from their nose. I must be crazy.

“Fine, but I don’t think I can come through the front door,” Rook pointed out. “I don’t exactly want a knife in the back or a firebolt singeing my hair.”

“There’s a door in the back I use for deliveries. Knock three times, and I'll know it's you."

“Maybe we are teenagers sneaking around,” Rook replied. This time, Raven didn't grin at their joke.

“Oh, to be young again,” she mused. “You should go. There’s a pack of Venatori rounding the corner.”

Sure enough, Rook could hear footsteps rapidly approaching the bar. 

“And try not to kill them on your way out,” Raven added. “I need their coin.”

Rook nodded, slowly moving their hand from her face. For a moment, they thought of kissing her. Thinking better (for once), they slipped out the window and onto the road. Before departing, they looked back at Raven and waved. She rolled her eyes, but after a moment, returned it with her own.

Rook knew it was going to be a long road ahead with Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain on the loose, and a collection of other, less terrible but still not great problems providing further annoying obstacles. But there was one bright light on the horizon, and she was about to serve overpriced beer to a murderous blood magic cult. Neve’s going to be so pissed.

[autumnslance]

I feel like the concept of "Sharlayan hunts down knowledge and guards it jealously" comes from the Astrologian quests and missing that it's distinctly Sevestre's faction of Bibliothecs in that quest series. It's one of the few interactions we get with something official in Sharlayan, and a leader--and it's been a lasting bad impression on the playerbase.

Foe one thing, given all the Sharlayans WoL knows and hangs out with in MSQ and other side content, that concept of Sharlayan as jealous with their knowledge never made much sense! Nor does it seem like the Forum on the whole is in the habit of sending assassins after men, and later their teenage daughters. Nor would the blackmail material on Sevestre work all that well were his actions actually sanctioned!

Sevestre's lorebook entry also clarifies he's always hated the Circle of Knowing and the Scions due to his beliefs in non-interference and jealous knowledge-keeping.

We see Sevestre in the background of all of the Forum shots in Endwalker; he's one of the few Forum members not wearing one of the veiled hats. One of the sidequests in Sharlayan very early on has us deliver one of 3 books to his home, even.

I know it's not feasible given all else going on, and not all players leveling AST, but it still would have been nice for there to be an option to call out Sevestre's biases (he votes against the Scions at every opportunity) and AST-WoL's issues running into him before.

Sage also has some issues with the darker side of Sharlayan research and politics that likewise never gets addressed, which ends up sitting weirdly in a society of ivory tower academics who have mostly meant well but gone about it the wrong way for centuries. Using things like the factions from AST and SGE to highlight where those good intentions go wrong only works if you make it accessible to everyone, and then deal with it in the main story...but there is zero space and time to do that in Endwalker, and so they just hang there in the background. Maybe someday we'll return to those ideas, since Sharlayan is newer content.

(Alt text transcription on images)

[romance-of-three-memes]

I'm never going to fully understand when people want Dynasty Warriors characters to stop color coordinating based on faction or for Samurai Warriors characters to start doing that more strictly. It's such an interesting expression of character design because it broadcasts the different political and social backgrounds of their periods, in the Chinese Three Kingdoms era there were a lot of smaller factions at first but they convalesced into the main three within about three decades, whereas in the Sengoku era everyone was splintering off and betraying each other for the political equivalent of a sandwich's worth of profit until the last few decades of the era, an era that lasted well over a century, when the three conquerors emerged.

So most of the characters in Dynasty Warriors neatly fitting into one of three colorways (four, if you count Jin getting light blue when it's introduced and Wei being assigned dark blue retroactively, which interestingly enough are actually considered totally separate colors in some languages like Russian and Turkish) and most of the Samurai Warriors characters doing their own thing is very thematically fitting. Moreover it's always interesting and kinda hilarious when one or two characters in a certain faction in Dynasty Warriors basically get a free pass to mostly do their own thing despite being in one of the main three kingdoms for Reasons™, Xiao Qiao only has one main outfit where red features majorly, orange and mint green are her most common main colors, dark blue has pretty much always features in Zhao Yun's outfits, and often more prominently than green, honestly I feel like it's because the devs decided early on that those were Their Colors and changing them would be weird.

You know Jia Chong is only very begrudgingly wearing a tiny bit of light blue because it clashes with his edgy goth vibe, meanwhile almost everyone else who's classified as being in Jin is mostly decked out in it. It's especially interesting because despite that and him falling into just about every shady, backstabby advisor trope, he's among the most loyal and is often the one rooting out the traitors. Zhang Chunhua is also an interesting exception, dunno if it's purposeful but I find it fitting amd hilarious given her dynamic with her husband Sima Yi in that series and how he's the one who's often beholden to her and he's intimidated by her).

But also in Dynasty Warriors color coordination isn't really all that sentimental for most of them. It means you're aligned with the same kingdom, it says fairly little about your loyalty to that kingdom or if you ascribe to your leader's and colleagues' commonly shared ideologies. You're coworkers, basically.

Meanwhile in Samurai Warriors color coordination suggests a much closer tie between those who do partake in it. It's often reserved for lords and their retainers or romantic couples, but there are certainly exceptions that go both ways. If you color coordinate with someone in Samurai Warriors it suggests a certain bond and sense of dedication that isn't as nearly as strong in Dynasty Warriors. It means at least one of the people who's color coordinating is very loyal to and closely identifies with the other(s) and usually it means both or all people involved are. That doesn't mean people who don't coordinate can't also be deeply loyal to one another, but it's less likely.

So if they were to suddenly break that trend it would take so much away from the series' design philosophies.

[gyrium]

i do really like choices-matter type video games and am a fan of character building rpgs as much as anyone else- but, particularly in the fantasy genre, i take umbrage with the expectation that that means i must shape an entire world through my character

i think for me it all mostly comes down to "i wish we could break a little bit more out of the kayfabe of party-based rpg story structure" but i feel like i need to dig into it a little more than that

first of all, i reject the idea that it's interesting that a single person becomes not only an influence on their party but major world factions, and/or on the outcome of all major events in a kingdom or war (or many of them), for no other reason than "it's a choices matter fantasy rpg". ignore the idea of whether or not it's realistic - it isn't - but i understand that's part of the fantasy

they often explain through this by making it about being a leader, which i think is a good choice and is the foundation for getting your players to get into the spirit of it, but often i feel like 'being a leader' is the only trait you really get to have in those games... which you barely get to engage with the underlying experience of being a leader, because that role simply exists so you can be in the situations where you can make a choice - not so you can experience the story of a character who has to make decisions

some games also make the mistake of starting the story before you are actually a leader, giving you a brief moment to express a character before that, and then you watch as that person is stripped away as they become The Leader and can only express that they're a complicated person maybe once or twice in throwaway lines that don't affect anything.

this actually wouldn't be a problem if, again, you could engage with the experience of being a leader, but these stories - despite being about playing a leader - don't actually want to be about leadership!

i dislike the feeling of companion questlines being these direct dioramas of a person's interior that only your character can engage with and, for some reason, be the only thing that can affect the outcome of incredibly important personal decisions. i love exploring characters' traumas and vulnerabilities as much as anyone else but i find this level of influence on other people jarring and very unrealistic to the point of it feeling unfit even for fantasy

to me i think the greatest appeal for a party in rpgs is that they are all forced to interact with each other for one reason or another, and these kinds of games should absolutely be spending the budget and story on playing that up and not just the characters as the player character can see them

ultimately, while i do think these games would be more fun if it was ACTUALLY willing to engage in what it means to be this highly influential person, i still find the idea tired. at the end of the day i do actually just want different stories, and to stop being responsible for all these damn kingdoms

[theamityelf]

What if...the V3 cast...were also in the undead AU...as a treat...

Rantaro is the lucky student, because someone has to be. He actually does not have his whole class in check on nearly the same level that Makoto and Nagito do.

First of all, where Makoto and Nagito became the objective main characters of their respective classes, Rantaro is very much not. His class has devolved into factions, and he's just one player, in the scheme of things. Granted, he's the player who tries to keep them from getting out of hand, but he didn't step into the role of leader pretty much at all.

At first, he just underestimated how much his undead classmates would persevere; he thought he could just lock the classroom door and they would stay in and he could focus on other things during the day (like the mystery of where exactly in the school the virus came from, because it strikes him as pretty convenient that the lucksters are immune and he wants to know if the school did this on purpose. Also, he wants to know what's going on with the reserve course. What are all those students even doing, now that the faculty has left? Who is leading them? What protections have they made for themselves?), and then come back to feed them later. But it turns out he genuinely needed to stay near them.

Some of his class is just fully out. Kokichi's loose. Kaito's loose. Maki's loose. Himiko is constantly in and out.

Keebo is obviously not undead, which is helpful, but he's also less effectual than Rantaro is at keeping the group contained.

Angie is actually kind of helpful in that regard, despite being undead, because she seems to have some kind of fixation on staying in the classroom, to the point where even if the others are escaping, she will stay where she is and a few of them will stay because she's staying. The problem is, when Keebo tries to take them all to the bathhouse, she will have to be carried out, and she will grip the doorframe and struggle to stay inside. She loves baths, but she refuses to voluntarily leave the room, so there's kind of a "No take, only throw" vibe to it. (Rantaro supposes she's somehow reached the conclusion that leaving the classroom is sinful.)

[ranahan]

Mandalorian clans & government

Headcanons ahead! You have been warned. Approximately 1% of what I’m about to write is canon. But I’ve been thinking a lot about how a clan based space-age society would function (how do you pay taxes? what’s the government like?), and I thought others might get a kick out of my musings too so I finally put them down and here we are.

I want to star by saying that what I describe here is far from a utopia. I wanted to explore a Mandalorian society that would be functional (no, their government is not only based on a magic sword). But I also wanted to explore where all these conflicts within the Mandalorian society come from. In my experience, some conflicts do stem from ideological differences, but most of them actually go a bit deeper and are questions about who has the money and power? Who wins and loses economically? Whose accustomed rights are being infringed on? So I wanted to explore what kind of legitimate grievances the different factions of Mandalorians might have against each other. Because that’s where stories would get interesting, organic conflicts from. I’m not interested in reading or writing perfect, can-do-no-wrong characters or sides. Give me people who have legitimate wrongs they want to fix, and other, sympathetic wrongs they want to commit. Give me people who want to do the right thing, only their right is in conflict with another people’s right. When it comes to stories, interesting is so much better than morally pure.

The origins of the Mandalorian clans

I imagine that the Taung, the original Mandalorian race, either was a clan-based society or developed into one during their wandering days after leaving Coruscant and before settling Manda’yaim. For a nomadic people, their clan would be their safety net and their basic social unit.

I also like to think that the archaic Mando’a word for a clan derives from a word for a ship: the Taung were not just nomads, they were space faring nomads. In those early times of space travel, it would have actually been the ship that was the basic social unit and the ship crew would have been the origin of the clan. And that’s why the words belly and home are related: they both derive from archaic words for a ship or a ship part. Aliit is a Modern Mando’a word that derives from a ’command group’, and was coined by Neo-Crusader recruits.

When the Taung settled on Manda’yaim, they had to adapt to a more sedentary lifestyle with permanent bases and sharing space with other ships’ crews. But when a nomadic culture adopts a sedentary lifestyle, they don’t just abandon their culture. And that’s the origin of clans—the Taung built up their organisation and government on top of the existing command structures. Ship captains became clan chieftains, ship crews became clan members. Very traditional old clans might have kept still some other positions.

And they also kept certain social attitudes: a crew is not based just on family ties (although in the early days of space travel, the crew would certainly have had their families on board). Additionally, when the Taung settled a new planet, they began as resource-rich and people-poor. So the basic social dynamic developed into one where clans compete for skilled workers and strong warriors, who in turn are free to choose which clan they want to belong to. If a particular clan has a tyrannical leader, they would start haemorrhaging workers to other clans with better leadership and/or better perks. That leads to the clan losing income and resources. Eventually the remaining members would overthrow their old leader and choose a better one. That dynamic only got reinforced when Mandalorians started conquering the nearby regions of space: war requires a lot of bodies.

In the modern days, an adult person may choose which clan they wish to belong to. Usually that’s the clan of one of their parents; sometimes though, they come to a better agreement with another clan. When you marry, you and your spouse typically decide which of your clans you want to belong to. Sometimes spouses decide to stay belonging to their clans of origin, but that’s fairly rare. Children belong to their parents clan until adulthood, at which time they may decide which of their parents clans they want to belong to. Poaching young adults for another clan is highly frowned upon, although it might be technically legal in some circumstances (it used to be completely legal, but then some assholes abused the system and now there are some additional laws and agreements in place).

Administration, bureaucracy and taxes

Administration and bureaucracy got built over top of the existing Taung command structures too. The Mand’alor is effectively the commander of the entire fleet of ships (=clans), but expects the ships (=clans) to largely function independently. The clans would pay a tithe to the Mand’alor which would finance larger public works like space ports, but a lot of local infrastructure and works would either be completely financed by local clans or at least supplemented by them. Many large endeavours would also require the Mand’alor to get additional financial backing from the clans, because the Mand’alor doesn’t directly tax their subjects.

That’s right: the basic taxation unit is the clan. In the modern days, most people choose to file their taxes under their clan (and let the numbers guy in their clan worry about it), and work out their fair contribution and tax rate with their own clan leaders. This is a fairly flexible system: when you are down on your luck, you can rely on your clan for welfare; when you prosper, so does your clan. The clan then uses a certain amount of funds to e.g. provide medical care and schooling for its members, and to pay their tithe to the Mand’alor. Originally, the tithe was based on the number of able-bodied and armoured warriors the clan could muster; today, it’s in practice based on the number of adult members in a clan.

Taxes might sound boring, but I cannot stress this enough: without taxation base and tax records, the Mand’alor cannot govern. (Did you know that the first thing most historical peasant rebellions on Earth did, was to burn the tax records?) The Mand’alor rules only with the support of the clans. The Mandalorian government is not a democracy, but it’s not a dictatorship either. In effect, an aspiring Mand’alor needs to get the backing of the clans: most critically, the big houses, but they would also receive a steady trickle of smaller independent clans and even individual people swearing to them.

Guilds and Houses

Guilds would have started out as co-operative organisations for people who either come from very small clans or don’t want to financially associate with their clan. A guild would generally provide a similar package of benefits for its members as a clan: medical care, life insurance, filing income taxes, etc. The House system is another adaptation to this dynamic. Smaller clans can band together or under the protection of a larger clan. Effectively most Mandalorians either belong to a fairly big clan, a House, or a guild. In the modern days, there is an option to file your taxes independently, but few people choose to do it—its easier and more flexible to work things out within your own House. It’s more popular in Sundari and other areas with more centralised governance (that typically hails from the caretaker government post-Dral’Han) and more public services. Belonging to any of these organisations is in no way mandatory—pretty much the only one you need to declare for any official purpose is your clan—but belonging to none is a pretty precarious way of life.

Oh and the schools and hospitals and other such institutions? Most are private, fairly affordable due to being subsidised by donations from local rich clans and big companies (Mandos have a strong tradition of contributing to the community) and operate on a sliding scale of payment. Some (e.g. small local schools) are wholesale owned by local Houses. If you belong to a clan, its most likely your tuition was (at least partly) paid by the clan instead of your parents. Ditto for your medical bills. There’s also a healthy competition in the market: if you don’t like or cannot afford a school or a hospital, you go somewhere else. Sundari and the other domed cities have more publicly funded services, since a tightly packed city inside a biodome requires centralised administration to function.

tl;dr: The clan, the House, or the guild is the basic unit that provides welfare services for an individual. Usually, the school/hospital/etc. is a private enterprise or a foundation, with ties or contracts with local clans or Houses.

Mining and land rights

The land and its mining rights belong to a clan. The ancestral clan lands go all the way back to the original settlement of the Mandalorian worlds. Since the discovery of beskar, land- and mining rights have been hotly contested and have been the source of many civil wars and inter-clan conflicts.

That means that technically beskar belongs to a clan. Indeed, it is the clan’s duty to arm its warriors. In practice, beskar’gam is partly earned by the individual and partly given by the clan. Beskar is sufficiently rare that only the richest and oldest clans can afford to clad their warriors entirely in pure beskar. Most make do with beskar alloys of various quality (the beskar content of many plates has gone down over the years and their many reforgings). Many wear partly or all durasteel or even composite. However, because of the cultural significance, usually at least the kar’ta beskar is actual beskar (or beskar alloy), even if the rest of the plates are not.

In the olden times, clan tithes could actually be paid in beskar, and often were by clans with good beskar mines. And thus the Mand’alor could then gift (or sell) the beskar to other deserving clans or warriors.

Since the land belongs to the clans, most farmers are either clan members or tenant farmers, although the tenancies are generally given to families (=family lines), not individuals, and the tenant farmers receive many of the benefits of the members of the house if they’re not members themselves (which they often are). The clan that owns the land would usually pay for infrastructure projects and the like, often with manpower provided by the communities living on their lands.

Fishing and hunting rights and other natural resources similarly generally belong to the clan who owns the land.

As an aside, this system unintendedly contributed to the Ba’slan shev'la after Dral’Han. Many clans had their lands and livelihoods obliterated, and faced a choice to seek refuge in one of the less-affected areas of Mandalorian space (which were crawling with other refugees who had recently lost everything in their name), or leave and try their luck elsewhere in the Galaxy. Many chose to leave not because of some grand strategy or masterplan, but to find work, make a living, and raise their children somewhere that was not a radioactive desert.

Disasters like the Dral’Han have left many Houses land-rich and people-poor: it’s not unusual for them to grant lands for smaller clans and families swearing to them. It’s in everybody’s best interests that the land and its resources gets managed—preferably of course by a loyal vassal clan, who pays tithes to you.

Government and law

I like to think the Mandalorians have a split system of law, kind of like common law vs. statute law. There would be the military law and the military tribunal—or in Mandalorian terms, the Mand’alor’s law, with the Mand’alor acting as the supreme commander of the armed forces. And the other branch would be the other powerhouse in Mandalorian society: clans.

I imagine there’s a Mandalorian equivalent of the House of Lords, or what might be called a Moot: a body that consists of all the Mandalorian clan chieftains. When they vote about anything, the votes are probably weighted based on the number of warriors (historically) or adults (in modern times) in their clan. In practice, a lot of the smaller clans belong to a House which would also act as a voting block—almost like a political party. This is another dynamic that makes Houses compete for clans and warriors declaring for them.

The original function of this body would have been to decide matters that are beyond any one clan—and furthermore, to arbitrate matters between clans or intra-clan grievances that cannot be solved within the clan. And this could lead to them developing into a body that handles a lot of the high-level civilian matters—or appoints civilian administrators and judges to handle them. There’s probably some wiggle room and a lot of power plays about which matters belong to the Moot and which to the Mand’alor and which perhaps are decided by the Moot, but require the Mand’alor’s agreement. On Earth, that has historically been the case between monarchs and their Houses of Lords too.

The clan law is effectively a huge pile of historical precedents upon historical precedents. So it’s a customary law in character. It’s the Mand’alor’s law that’s the more flexible one: they can just give executive commands, effective immediately. But then the next Mand’alor might countermand all of their orders. In practice though, the military law is again a pile of previous Mand’alore’s executive orders building on top of each other—that’s a part of why Jaster’s Codex was 700 pages or whatever. In this way, the Mand’alor’s position could be compared to the president or the prime minister of some democracies: they’re the highest executive power, but they don’t make the civilian laws and don’t control the courts. I do think the Mand’alor has more power than Western presidents/prime ministers though, and that they e.g. name their own cabinet. Although politically savvy Mand’alores would in practice fill their cabinet with members of powerful clans to keep them happy.

Oh, and the magic sword as the basis of government? It’s a cool prop, but it’s hardly the whole story. The right by combat sounds to me like a very old tradition preceding the Darksabre. The Darksabre just got caught up in the old tradition, and became a visible symbol of having won a duel against the old Mand’alor. However—and it’s a pretty big however—like I said previously, no one rules Mandalore without the support of the clans. There are probably many stories of some hotshot young warrior thinking to make themselves into the next Mand’alor. And they might actually manage it—for about five minutes, until the old Mand’alor’s warriors line up to challenge them. You might win one duel, but no-one will win a hundred duels in a row. Even if they would manage to keep the Darksabre, if the clans didn’t support them, they would shortly go bankrupt, and find their armies going home when they stop being paid.

So there are probably some five-minute-wonders in the history, who are quickly succeeded by the previous Mand’alor’s second or third in command. I’d also like to point out that there’s an incentive to leave the previous Mand’alor alive: they are still (often) the clan head or at least the commander of a significant number of troops present in the capital, and if they’re alive, they can order those troops to stand down. If they’re dead, those troops may choose to fight instead and hope to make the challenger’s reign very short indeed.

The New Mandalorian government

Now on this stage comes the Republic, who in 738 BBY bombs key Mandalorian worlds and leaves large swaths of them inhabitable. They also installsa caretaker government to make sure that the Mandalorian threat would not rise again. And I imagine that from the get go, this Republic oversight would have been universally loathed. But it also split Mandalorians between those who on principle refused to recognise the Republic’s puppet government, and those who saw that Mandalore was in no position to evict them militarily, and needed to do everything to ensure the Republic navy didn’t have a reason to come back and finish the job. So they chose to work within the system to fight tooth and nail for an independent, Mandalorian government.

And, well, that itself is a huge source of friction. Mandalore essentially has two governments, which don’t recognise each other: the post-excision government that grew from the Republic’s caretaker government and the Mand’alor. The clan Moot would probably be something of a grey area: perhaps it was recognised but reorganised by the post-Dral’Han government; or perhaps it was not, but traditions are not so easily killed and it still holds a lot of power in practice. Individual Houses operate in between all of these separate systems of power, striking a deal here and giving a nod there.

But I also think that a lot of the Core-inspired laws installed by this post-Excision government, and the laws that are needed to make the tightly packed domed cities run, come into conflict with the traditional Mandalorian laws. So now you have what is effectively a tripartite system of law. And there’s certain friction between all of these parts, and lots of arguments about which law applies in which case and who has jurisdiction.

This is also how the Mand’alor can be a rather hands-off position (depending on the Mand’alor) after the Dral’Han—there are two other forms of government to keep things running.

Citizenship

Let’s start with a couple of basic assumptions. First, the basic unit of Mandalorian society is the clan. Aliit is also a part of the Resol’nare. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that one cannot be a Mandalorian without a clan. I mean, in a religious sense, you have to be adopted into a Mandalorian clan to become a Mandalorian and share in the Manda. That’s why the adoption vow is literally ”name and soul”. Well, that’s the orthodox, religious view anyway. I imagine modern attitudes are laxer, but older views are probably reflected in many laws still.

Secondly, a lot of the Mandalorian space was originally conquered by the Taung. The conquered peoples could become Mandalorians, but I always got the vibe that it was an individual choice (both of the adoptee to want to become a Mandalorian and of the clan to accept them)—conversely, there must have been many people who decided not to convert. I doubt they were all put to sword either, especially after Mand’alor the Ultimate’s reforms.

So this creates a situation where there are both people who are Mandalorians by creed and by clan, and people who live on Mandalorian worlds and are not one or the other or neither.

And I like to think that Mandalore, by the accident of history, effectively has two kinds of citizenships: ”full” citizenship for members of Mandalorian clans, and ”civil” citizenships for residents of Mandalorian worlds who are not considered Mandalorians. And that these two kinds of citizenships come with different rights and responsibilities. For one, only the Mandalorians have representation in their House of Lords. Conversely, only Mandalorians are expected to answer the Mand’alor’s call and to serve in the military. Yes, this came about because I wanted to explore that whole are Jaster and Jango Mandalorians or not, and who even is a Mandalorian debates. Where do they come from? Could there be some reasonable explanation that gets garbled in the translation to Basic? In my version, there’s both a religious/creed aspect to being a Mandalorian, and a legal citizenship aspect, that overlap. So perhaps Jango was born on a Mandalorian world, but not as a Mandalorian. Just a thought.

Now the people who aren’t born Mandalorians but wish to become one by creed, they have an easy precedent available to them. They either get themselves accepted into a clan (the most common way); or I like to think there’s some kind of a provision for people who for one reason or another don’t want to be adopted. Perhaps they need to have a sponsor who’s a citizen of good standing (this would be the adopter for those who are adopted into clans, or perhaps the spouse or the spouse’s clan head for those who marry in), and let’s say two witnesses who testify they have completed their verd’goten or an equivalent trial. A clan can’t really be just one person, so I imagine that if a clan shrinks to just one member, they keep their lands etc., but lose some other e.g. political privileges until they became a clan (of more than one) again, and conversely, newly minted mandos who don’t have clans don’t get all the benefits and representation either.

Then we have people who are neither. Now these people could have legitimate grievances against how the political system operates, because it disadvantages them. And I think that’s an interesting point and an interesting conflict. Which is what stories are all about.

And then we have New Mandalorians, at least some of who are Mandalorians by clan—but they refuse some duties that come with that, and which probably actually are codified into traditional Mandalorian law. So that’s a legitimate grievance on the part of the old guard against the New Mandalorians: they want all the benefits, but dodge the draft and other legal duties. But it’s also a legitimate grievance of the New Mandalorians (mandatory military service is a violation of individual rights as their government defines them & answering to a Mand’alor who is not recognised by their laws). And what else would they define citizenship by, if not birth and residence on the Mandalorian worlds?

And I imagine that New Mandalorian government either defines or wants to define citizenship in a new way that’s not based on creed and being a member of a clan. And this is also a source of grievances and conflict. The traditionalists feel that being a Mandalorian is a creed, a choice; and that choosing to walk the way of the Mandalore has been a foundational right since the time of the Mandalorian Wars. After all, all of the modern day Mandalorians are descended of people who made that choice.

[tactician]

datv spoilers abt how they handled one of the older games' companions under the cut

(also it's negative if you'd rather avoid that sort of thing)

man im not a datv hater by any means, in fact i Love It and i want to write up my general #thoughts about it sometime - both the positive and the negative, yay nuance - but i rly do need to take a moment to rant about how it lowkey did zevran so dirty and that's one aspect of it that i will never forgive!!!

LIKEEEE OK YES. i'll admit that im being dramatic / sensitive bc i love zev so fucking much and i have been steeled by years upon years of listening to the fandom treat one of my fav dragon age characters (literally the reason why i got into dragon age) like some kind of joke but. that experience is a lot different from seeing bioware do it. ik there's some cute shallow references to him sprinkled here-and-there (iirc 'the invitation' gearset is a reference to him which is pretty nice), but there's ALSO a banter that lucanis has w harding which implies that members of house arainai 'died from embarrassment' over a failed assassination contract in ferelden, which is obviously a reference to zevran - and ohhhh when i tell you it grinded my gears.... it really, really got to me...

i definitely understand wanting to keep immersion intact for people who killed off zevran in origins as well as people who got him through it and let him go off and hunt down crows - so making a reference to the actual contract and keeping the fallout of that contract vague makes sense. but being coy about it (a la harding assuming that leaders of house arainai literally just died from The Cringe Of It All and weren't, like, systematically hunted down by a former crow / survivor who went thru years of literal torture from them) is really like... i dunno! i don't like it! it left a bad taste in my mouth + seeing tons of people giggling over it ANNOYS MEEEE!!!! it legit ruins my own immersion bc wdym the crows have no opinion whatsoever on a character who was slaughtering them left and right in my worldstate lkfdgldkfh

and like even if you view it as a clumsy euphemism for zev hunting the leaders down later on, i still rly firmly maintain that it's a poor one. if he survives post-origins, zevran becomes a total thorn in the crows' side. he killed off influential leaders within the org... he even got a title for it (THE BLACK SHADOW. YES I REMEMBER)... and bioware is reducing that legacy to a joke about people dying from embarrassment -_- like please be serious.

furthermore i don't think it's immersion breaking to just... replace those lines with a sentence or two referencing an assassin within house arainai who defected and started taking down talons given how abhorrent house arainai was/is(?), either. a vague foreboding reference would literally do the job just fine. house arainai was not the fandom's ~*~Found Family Vibes~*~ lmao they were taking in child slaves and grooming them into ruthless assassins - but that lore is totally ignored in veilguard, too!!! even with all the fledglings around the crows' base in veilguard... it's just not elaborated on in a way that aligns with previously established lore.

DON'T GET ME WRONG THOUGH. i'm absolutely not part of the section of the fandom who hate on the crows being a "good-aligned" faction that rook can ally with, because obviously all of the houses aren't house arainai - some are scummier than others and some do, in fact, have the ~*~Found Family Vibes~*~. it just sucks so much that datv provides banter and dialogue setups where the #lore is like... talked about and explained to some degree... but those lines are wasted on empty shit like "the crows hire recruits from the military or the trades! :)" or weird trope-based jokes at the expense of previous companions rather than even vaguely implying that different houses do different things, and that some houses are shitty to a truly reprehensible level.

tl;dr imo if bioware doesn't want previous choices to matter or for stuff to be hyper-tailored to specific worldstate choices, that's cool and fine and deeply understandable, but characters should just be quiet about those choices ;LKGFHL;KFDG BUT HEY!!!!! if i missed a banter where zevran IS referenced in a manner which isn't a joke or linked to his sex appeal, i would rly love to hear about it... because as this sudden unplanned Essay that i spawned proves, im Quite salty about this L;FDGKGFHKLGHF

[roamingrook]

I finished the game. I think the ending was probably one of the best parts of the game but… I still have a lot of problems with it.

Spoiler free thoughts: It feels like bioware tried to go back to their roots, with the ending feeling like it took a lot from Mass effect 2 and 3 in terms of choices and different endings. It didn’t really feel like it was earned though. Rook isn’t Commander Shepard. They didn’t earn their leadership, it was thrust upon them and there was no moment where it ever felt like it was deserved. It was only given because the plot demanded it.

Spoiler thoughts under the cut

The choices you made to determine what companions did what tasks, along with their ‘loyalty’ aka whether they were a Veilguard Hero (by doing their quest and unlocking their special outfit) felt a lot like Mass effect 2 and it’s suicide mission. I liked *most* of this part.

The faction strength reminded me of Mass effect 3’s galactic preparation stuff, but I think it was done in a way that made sense and seemed to have an actual effect (at least it felt like it did with all the factions at their strongest levels)

What I didn’t like was the second squad leader position, where you could only choose between Harding or Davrin, and regardless of your choice or their veilguard hero status, they fucking die. It gave way too much of a tonal shift from the rest of the story where everything plays out like a pre-endgame marvel movie where there’s no risk, just family friendly action and unclever comedic quips.

Varric being revealed to have been dead the whole time, only existing now as a manipulation from Solas, just didn’t land the way the writers intended. It wasn’t some big reveal, it was just “oh. that’s stupid.” like so many other writing choices. (Like the blighted companion just magically being able to go back into the blight and control it themselves without being corrupted again???) It’s hard to believe that Varric dying never popped up in conversation, especially not with Harding. Like really, not a single mention of “I miss Varric” or wishing they could hold a funeral for him? Was Solas just relying on Rook never mentioning Varric? What if Rook had gone to harding and been like “Boy, I’m sure glad Varric’s ok, I thought he died!”

And the endings themselves. I went with the “true” ending using the fragments of mythal to convince solas to bind himself to the veil, but Lavellan went with him which just seemed????? depressing? Like did my Rook accidentally convince the inquisitor to give her life up to spend it in the fade all alone forever with her ex boyfriend that betrayed her? And the other choices aren’t much different. Solas still ends up in the fade, and Rook is stuck there with him, imprisoned forever I guess?

Finally, the big post credits scene. Where it’s revealed that no, actually, the great big bads from the first 3 games didn’t have interesting, unique motivations formed by their life experiences. They were made to do all those terrible things that formed the games and your characters stories because spooky ghost meanies made them! Teehee that’s the next game. I’m sure that part will be rewritten or retconned or whatever by the next game but it still left the game on such a sour note.

I just have such difficult feeling about this game because I do not think it was good. But I enjoyed so many parts of it and plan to do another playthrough. But then I think about what it could have been and just get sad. I think the biggest detriment to this game was Bioware firing so many good writers that worked on previous games, because it really shows from the storyline to the dialogue.

[saltymongoose]

Cont. From This Post. (@cosmica-galaxy Hey, here you go lmao <3)

[This part contains: Bandits, MERC, the Nexus Core, Fanatics, N51, and Demoniacs]

To continue from where we left off when it comes to the Bandits, it would do well for the Player to be very hesitant on interacting with them. They're cannibalistic and violent, in addition to being the first to attack whenever they catch a glimpse of the Player's unofficial bodyguards. (Though that might be for the best, with Hank as their opponent.) In this way, it's unlikely for the Player to have much of a motive to get closer to them; the boys are so protective that a situation where they'd actually be able to befriend one of the more nonviolent members probably won't occur without serious effort.

In the same vein, the Bandits know very little about the Player, and they probably don't have much of an interest in them at the moment anyway. Typically their thoughts are more centered on their own survival and where their next meal is going to come from, which leaves little room for thoughts of an otherworldly being impacting their lives directly. If anything, they're more startled by the Player's entourage than the reason the SQ agents are in the area. Due to this, it would be difficult for the Player to form much of a bond with them simply because they won't cross paths very often. (And they would also probably be fearful if they did; the Bandits do not want to end up as additional victims of the wanted criminals that protect the Player.)

As of this moment in the story, the members of MERC are also in the same camp of not knowing about the Player - save for one person: Sheriff. Christoff has mentioned this "Player" to him once or twice, and while his words have been exceedingly positive (and almost idolizing) when discussing them, the Sheriff doesn’t know very much beyond what the Savior had told him. As a result, he himself thinks kindly of them, but not from his own experience. However, because he doesn’t know much about the Player, he never bothered to divulge such information with the others in MERC.

The Player, at this point in time, knows far more about them than vice versa, which makes them more likely to go out of their way to befriend them. Plus, it’s not like those in MERC are inherently hostile like with the Vamps or Bandits, and they have no real reason to go after the Player (save for their mission to interfere with Hank, Deimos, and Sanford getting into the city). So long as Sheriff and Jeb have a good relationship with the Player, the MERC members will have ample opportunity to make friendships with the otherworldly being in question. (Unless the SQ's leader and agents get in the way.)

Regarding what remains of the Nexus Core, they still follow Phobos' orders, which means that they probably will be hostile to the Player because of their choice in company (the SQ and Dr. Christoff). Even if the last thing that Phobos would ever want is for the Player to be harmed by his own organization (that just reflects horribly on him), he never actually made his people aware that the Player exists, which leads to this situation. The Player also has no motive to get in the way of the boys' mission to put a stop to Project Nexus, which would naturally puts them at odds with the Nexus Core anyway.

As a result, it is in the Player's best interest to avoid the Nexus Core's remaining personnel, which doesn't leave much room for bonds or friendships. While it is possible for some of their members to act cordially around them if the boys aren't around, I would say that it isn't worth the potential risk. Luckily the NC being unaware of the Player's existence means that they won't immediately go after them, but they're certainly not as open to outside partnerships of any kind at this point. They still have a project to complete, after all.

Crackpot's Fanatic faction is an interesting one; they're physically separated from most other Nevadans and almost entirely absorbed by their obsessions with buoyancy and Zeds, which means the chances of them knowing about the Player's significance are extremely small. The only way that the Fanatics would have their interests piqued is if one of them happened to see the Player exorcising some of their abilities (which is possible) - at which point, the Player would also probably end up as an object of their fascination. (Especially if the Fanatics happen to see them using their cheat that enables levitating. 😬)

As a result, the Fanatics' purpose for trying to get close to the Player isn't exactly for friendship itself, although it could turn into this with enough effort. Another likely result is for them to start worshiping the Player much like they do Crackpot instead (which their existing vessels would loathe, but that's a given). Regarding Crackpot himself, as detailed in previous posts, he might also try to use the Player for his own benefit given how power-hungry he is, but there is a chance that they can form something more genuine with him. If they're willing to put up with his self-grandeur, of course.

To get more on the Player's side of things, their curiosity might drive them to investigate the Fanatics more. The group's behavior is questionable, but there is a lot about them that remains unknown to those who play the game, so there's always that avenue to explore. Plus, seeing how Crackpot interacts with people who give him the respect he's always felt he deserved would also be intriguing. Again, if they're willing to put up with all the weirdness that comes with being close to the Fanatics and their leader.

Moving on to the N51, it's one of the most mysterious groups in Nevada, especially from the Player's standpoint. They're a faction that wasn't even created by Mr. K, so they're definitely pretty unique, even if they don't play a huge role in the Arena Mode storyline. I can see the Player having an immense interest in them as a big fan of Madcom (especially if they keep up with the communities' fan projects), so they'll probably want to dig deeper into the organization. However, they would probably have great difficulty with that, considering that the N51 is a covert group.

That being said though, the N51 is shown as hunting for tech related to the more powerful forces of Madcom's universe, like the AAHW, NC, and even The Machine. I would presume they do so because they want to know more about the Employers, enmeshment, etc. but truthfully their reasoning for this is unknown. What this does tell us though is that there is a chance they would be interested in the Player's existence primarily because they're a supernatural being of unknown origin - and a very powerful one at that. Whether this attention would be good for the Player or not is another matter.

Finally, we have the Demoniacs. These guys worship Stygian, and they have little to no contact with any other factions, which already cuts down the chances of them hearing about the Player to almost zero. Their interest in the supernatural is really limited only to their chosen Employer, and as such, they don't have much incentive to seek out information about the Player either. However, if Stygian decides to order the Demoniacs pursue information about them, it's not like the cult would ever consider refusing. There are uses to having fiendishly devout worshipers, and Stygian knows this very well.

The Player would also be aware of the Demoniac's servitude towards the Employer from their experience playing the game, and as a result, would probably seek to avoid them the same way they avoid the AAHW. They're very low on the scale of potential friendship, if only because of their affiliation with Stygian.

Aaand I think that's it if we're talking about faction relations lmao. Though do let me know if I missed any groups, and I'll be happy to discuss them as always. 👍 :)

[2demon2slayer]

Can you talk a little more about your demonswap au? Since in your comic Giyyu mentioned backing off from eating humans, are the demons in this au this good guys since they’re made up of virtuous would-be hashira? Would the humans then be bad because they’re would-be demons? I love stories where the initial understanding of the world order (ie.demons being bad and demons slayers being good) is actually false!

ding ding ding!! you got it in one!

a couple things about the au. number one, it goes by chapter one of kny rules where demons can be made by any demon, and not just muzan (or, in this au, kagaya). this also means that kagaya doesn't really have control over all demons in the way that muzan does

number two, the kidzuki are kind of good guys! their morals are definitely a bit looser than in canon, but generally speaking they're of the opinion that eating people is bad. kagaya is the leader of a group of demons who do not eat people and who go around dealing with rogue feral demons (either through capture and rehabilitation, or sometimes through killing them if the demon is 'too far gone' or something)

number three, on the flip side of things, the demon slayer corps isn't bad necessarily, but they are kind of… absolutist. a lot of demons are still going around eating people, after all, and they're arguably a lot more widespread because it takes a lot less effort to make new ones. so the demon slayer corps goes around and slays any demon they come across, because obviously all demons are bad demons.

most of the lower ranks of the corps don't know about the faction of good demons that exist, but the upper ranks do and they still do not like or trust those demons, so they're still on the menu.

(there is also something a little sinister going on behind the scenes in the demon slayer corps, but i won't spoil that one quite yet…)

[perigilpin]

a little mystery to figure out

Bo-Katan x The Armorer

The royal warrior fallen from grace and the steadfast spiritual leader, ideological opposites with a common goal. It’s the sun and the moon, now perfectly aligned in an eclipse, and no one can look away.

Written for the @swfemmefrenzy prompt Mand’alor

——————————————————————————-

At first it simply reads as a strong showing of solidarity between the two factions. The pair’s mutual respect and partnership is a sign of understanding that all walks of life, all ways to be a Mandalorian, will be honored here on thier home world.

Such it is that when the Mand’alor speaks to the crowd, it is always The Armorer at her right hand. And when the Armorer leads ceremony at the Living Waters, the Mand’alor always stands not far behind her, in support.

Yet it is not just pomp and ceremony that tie the two together. It is no secret that they can often be found side by side by side talking on this or that, in the trenches rebuilding, overseeing the foundlings training, or just sitting by the fire. (At least one observer has even claimed to have seen them walking through the gardens together while talking in hushed tones.)

In short, where one goes the other is sure to follow.

So it’s no shock that the rumor mill is set ablaze. It’s a common ground a both groups have vested interest in, and they trade peices of information like currency.

( “The Mand’alor used to be involved with a Jedi”, a Nite-Owl whispers to a member of the Covert as they haul debris together to clear room for a larger camp.

“We don’t even know The Armorer’s real name. I don’t think anyone does.” he replies.)

Perhaps the first whispers started back on Nevvaro, within the Covert, when then now Mand’alor emerged scandalously bare faced from the humble forge, walking side by side with thier leader. Or maybe it was during the battle for Mandalor, as silver and gold sliced and swung in perfect sync as they led the charge.

It’s quite the tale really.

The royal warrior fallen from grace and the steadfast spiritual leader, ideological opposites with a common goal. It’s the sun and the moon, now perfectly aligned in an eclipse, and no one can look away.

So of course people talk, as they always have, as they always will.

Sparring partners debate as they clash. (“I heard they got secretly married right after the battle for Mandalor.”

Then the adamant reply, “No way. I bet they actually hate each other. It’s gotta be be just for show.”)

Friends whisper to each other in the dining hall.(“Do you think the Manda’lor has seen her face?”)

There is one thing everyone agrees on though, and that is that there is much work to do.

Especially so in the forge. The Mand’alor has been leading parties in to the destroyed imperial base. First as search parties, now to gather the fallen imperial’s pieces of bastardised beskar.

The shiny white armor plates begin to stack up in the back of the forge, and while it means much work, it also means new armor for foundlings and repairs for those damaged in battle.

On this particular day, a curious gaggle of both helmeted and bare faced young Mandalorians watch The Armorer from a distance in the shadows of the cavernous great forge hall. She hammers at the forge, methodically working a large peice of metal until the sound of a small vehicle breaks her from her trance.

It’s the Mand’alor, backing up a speeder full of shining white imperial helmets, chest plates, and miscellaneous pieces.

The helmetless woman jumps straight of out the seat over the side of the speeder, and gestures with a flourish to the bounty. She says something playfully that, even straining, the group can’t quite manage to hear.

What they do hear is a laugh tempered with the lightest static from a voice modulator, that resounds throughout the cavernous chamber. The Armorer then closes the gap between herself and The Mand’alor, gently placing her gloved hands on the other woman’s shoulders before letting them fall, tenderly grazing the length of her arms on the way down.

“Ooo! I told you!” One of the foundlings squeals from the shadows , “They’re definitely in love.”

“They are not” her friend parries, not as quietly as they should have , “Just because YOU are in love with our Manda’lor does not mean everyone else is too.”

“Phstt, shut up! You’re just mad you lost our bet.” She playfully swats at her friend but the beskar on beskar contact sends a high pitched ping throughout the chamber and both Bo-Katan and The Armorer turn thier heads to to look in thier direction.

“Run! Let’s get out of here.”

“You owe me 10 credits!”

“I do not, that didn’t prove anything!”

Their voices carry throughout the chamber as they scurry away, despite their best efforts.

In the distance, on the grand pedestal of the ancient forge, Bo-Katan smiles despite herself focusing her attention back on The Armorer.

“I have to get this speeder back to the landing platform, but after that...” she lifts her hand to play with the ruffled furs on the edge of The Armorer’s cape, “I’m plenty free to prove anything you’d like.”

“Well my tracinya’ika” she replies in the soft voice that Bo-Katan has come to know is just for her, “I might have a few ideas.”

“This is the way.”