#allies are one of the best examples of actual progress

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

I don’t think CaitVi is “be nice to your oppressor, make them feel good about themself and everything will change and be okay”

I think it’s more like “be cordial to your ally/ be kind and understanding to a victim, work to see eye to eye and progress is a better possibility with civility and solidarity”

[alexiethymia]

MaoMao's Way of Affection

[spoilers up until LN 12 and WN 10 so read at your own risk]

After such a long time, we finally get a hint of reciprocation when even without orders or prompting, it's MaoMao herself who seeks out Jinshi after the harrowing ordeal she went through.

I'm not sure how the WN will differ from the LN but her words with how she describes Jinshi's arms around her, "heavy but not immoveable" and Jinshi asking her to make him let her go and eventually opting not such that she ends up falling asleep in his arms actually perfectly describes their relationship.

Despite their problems, I do adore this relationship. On the one hand, you have Jinshi who ends up falling for someone who cares not a whit for his appearance. MaoMao is actually the perfect person for Jinshi to fall in love with because of his complex. Should he succeed, he can be assured that his looks had nothing to do with it. For the first time in his life, Jinshi can fight for something with his own above average, but not excellent capabilities.

And tropey as it is, I think MaoMao does have a soft spot for that slightly pathetic part of Jinshi. Honestly, to compare him to the person she respects most in the whole world? A daddy's girl through and through. In other words, MaoMao, even as she denies it, is not impenetrable to that earnest side of Jinshi and because of that, even as she might snark and say she's just following orders, she can't help but be his support - a useful tool rather than a useless burden.

I love how the both of them mature and progress and how the relationship reflects that. As compared to that forceful scene back in LN5, it's actually this innocent scene that cements the progress they've made and that they're slowly meeting each other halfway. Jinshi tries to restrain himself, and MaoMao, thanks to Chue, slowly stops trying to hide behind that convenient excuse.

Because the thing is, MaoMao is a hypocrite. In the same way, she rebukes Jinshi for not being clear, she also gets to hide behind vague half-truths. Why not say no once and for all? "I don't want to be your wife." Is it just because he's the Imperial Brother? Compare and contrast how she treats Grand Marshall Kan for example. And even if he is the Imperial Brother, MaoMao knows in her heart of hearts that Jinshi wouldn't ever punish her for rejecting him. She knows, after everything, that he just isn't that kind of person (the certainty that he wouldn't ever be involved in any assassination plots, the almost unconscious instinct to prevent something she knows Jinshi wouldn't want even if it might be for the good of the country or for her own safety as long as she plays dumb). I really do love how like Suiren, MaoMao is his ally. (No wonder mother-in-law Suiren approves.)

Isn't it more painful - for Jinshi - and more troublesome - for her - to continue to have this hanging between them? But MaoMao is only human. There are things she knows would be the best course of action as long as she operated solely on rationality, but unexpectedly, Jinshi - despite not knowing it - brings out that irrational part of her. She knows it would have been in her best interest (if her best interest truly was to escape the marriage) to just let Jinshi continue being vague, to not put a name to his intentions, she later realizes that this is Jinshi's own consideration for her, but her true emotions push forth. She knows it - what Jinshi feels for her, compares it to a lovestruck patron, so what gain does she get from hearing it verbalized out loud?

She struggles with his special consideration for her, the proof of deeper feelings, in his words and actions. I think she would be able to justify it in her mind and accept being his wife if she knew it was only because she was a useful tool. Because if so, then she could also justify it to herself that she was staying with him only because he was useful, that it was solely on the basis of reciprocity.

I mean the reality of the world they live in is that it's not a place to cultivate love. Marriages are political more often than not. Within MaoMao's way of looking at things, a marriage of convenience might have been more palatable. For Jinshi's part, I can see him being ready to accept that even if MaoMao does accept his proposal, she would marry him while not being in love with him. On the flip side, I think part of his strong motivation to break away from the Imperial family would be to remove, without a doubt, from MaoMao's mind that she would be punished for rejecting him since he would no longer have that power. In other words, part of Jinshi is ready for MaoMao to reject him but he wants it to be solely her choice. In other words, he would also want her to give it to him straight just like she demanded he do for her.

Speaking of special consideration, it is hard to say whether MaoMao's actions towards Jinshi are those she would do for any other patient (since she's actually softer than she gives herself credit for), but the things she does without orders are telling - like stroking his hair while putting him to sleep, kissing his cheek, ingesting something she knows she's allergic to without his knowledge for a plan to sniff out his enemies (pity this didn't make it to the LN), getting mad that his accomplishments were getting stolen from him despite him not caring about it, and glaringly - attempting to break a taboo the person she respects most in the world imposed on her, just so she can better take care of Jinshi. For all that MaoMao is comfortable in her place in the world and doesn't want to venture out of her comfort zone, calling it too troublesome, she does exceed a lot of her limits - true because of that unexpectedly strong sense of duty - but also because of or for Jinshi.

MaoMao acknowledges to herself at this point that no other person besides Jinshi can give her the same comfort. She does want to have a child someday, if only for the experience of giving birth. It may not be a burning passion, this may not be enough for her to call it love, but I can also see a scenario where she accepts Jinshi because he's the only one she would be comfortable with so that she can give birth. In other words, another convenient excuse. But conversely, even after succeeding in having MaoMao for a wife, I can see Jinshi still pushing because for once in his life he can fight his hardest and win or fail on his own merits and no one else's, and also simply put, he loves her and so he would want her to love him back. Even if it isn't the norm in the world they live in. He'd still want to continue fighting for that elusive flower. A perfect push and pull. In other words, it's up to them how they decide to meet each other half way. And I'm excited to see what the future holds for them.

[tales-from-the-aether-ttrpg]

Your Moment

So a mechanic I'm toying with right now is the Your Moment mechanic. I've had the idea for this mechanic since the very beginning of development but I'm thinking of changing it up a bit.

Originally, it was pretty simple. Once per campaign or story arc (depending on the GM or table's preference) you can choose to succeed on something in the best possible way. Fate itself changes to make this outcome possible. For example, if you choose Your Moment to be attacking a nemesis, you can kill them even if they have more health than you can deal in one hit. Alternatively, you can revive a dead ally even if you don't have the proper spells or convince a monarch to change allegiances in a war.

It's a very powerful mechanic that allows the character/player to permanently change the trajectory of the story in the most favorable - if unpredictable - way.

My new version of this mechanic involves something called your Core which is represented by Love, Hate, Hope, and Faith. When you create your character, choose one of the 4 to be your Core. This influences how you rp your character. However, your Core is not immutable and it may change when you take Your Moment, same as above. Depending on the circumstances of Your Moment, your Core will change appropriately. If you kill a nemesis, your Core may change to Hate. If you rally allies during a darkest hour, your Core may change to Hope. etc. etc. Your character will be permanently changed by this moment from then on. However, the methods of gaining Your Moment are different.

In Tales from the Aether, there are Fate Die and Inspiration Surges that you unlock by failing. Fate Die are dice that you add to D20 checks and you gain one every 5 failed non combat rolls (you always start session with 1). Inspiration surges are surges of magical or martial prowess that can turn a losing battle into a win. You gain an Inspiration surge every 10 failed combat rolls.

You gain Your Moment when you use 10 Fate Dice/Inspiration Surges. Based on play testing, this would mean roughly every 3-6 sessions depending on your luck (worse luck is better). In theory, this means you'd probably get one towards the climax of a short campaign or arc - which is the perfect time for a character to have a climactic moment that defines their character. There would be places to keep track of this on your character sheet.

My main concern is that this is just too many things to remember/keep track of. Fate Die and Inspiration Surges are separated by in and out of combat usage but Your Moment can have progress towards unlocking it during any stage of the game.

I am not yet at the stage of play testing where we are running full campaigns (Soon hopefully soon) so I don't have a full grasp of whether or not this is actually too unwieldy or if its just my doubts creeping in. What are your thoughts?

[suzukiblu]

WIP Wednesday Game

Taken from @kedreeva.

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

file names:

Kon is too trans for this pregnancy shit

the one where Clark is trans and Kon is not

transfemme Kon and her Amazon soulmoms

Cassie has a sexuality crisis, Kon has a gender one, and Circe makes everything worse

the one where Kryptonians have omegaverse genders, but nobody told Match

( why yes this week is WIP Wednesday: Sex And Gender Is Weird And Complicated Edition™ )

snippet from "Kon is too trans for this pregnancy shit":

Kon slams his bedroom door just shy of hard enough to crack the doorframe, melts the pregnancy test in his hand into slag with his heat vision, and then throws its remnants into his trash can and hides in his bed. Because he’s pregnant. Because he’s an idiot. An idiot who is pregnant. Pregnantly. 

Fucking Christ alive, how could he be this fucking stupid?! 

Just–Kon has fucked up a whole lot of times in his life. This time is probably the worst time that didn't get somebody else hurt, though. Well, like. Not hurt-hurt. 

Somebody is definitely getting hurt here. 

Kon kind of just . . . doesn't tell people that he's . . . that he isn't technically . . . 

He flirts? A lot? Like, a lot more than he really should. But he flirts with girls a lot. And he is very, very careful about how close he lets those girls get. And he . . . and he . . . 

Just–when he actually wants laid, when he really gets the itch, he doesn't go out as Superboy.

There's a reason he never got anywhere with Cassie, after all. Or with Tana or Knockout. Or with . . . anyone he ever actually, like . . . gave an actual fuck about the opinion of or was gonna see again. 

He’s not a real guy, after all, so . . . so how could he have? He’s not . . . 

When Cadmus was still a thing, he didn't have to worry so much. It wasn't hard to get treatment and whatever, and his files were all very firmly locked down. And when Cadmus went underground, Serling deleted all those files and hooked him up with a little machine that replicates hybrid-appropriate T before she cleared out, because Serling is the fucking best like that and literally the one true ally, as far as Kon's concerned, so . . . yeah. And the replicator has mercifully kept working for him, at least so far, so all he's ever had to do was hide the thing in the back of his closet and make sure the Kents never catch him pulling any of the blue K needles out of their little lead-lined case or injecting himself with said needles. Fuck knows what they'd think if they ever did. 

Probably that he was a drug addict or something. That seems like the most logical conclusion for them to jump to. They sure as shit know he's not diabetic or anything like that, so . . . yeah. 

They'd definitely think he was a drug addict. 

He's sure Clark would, if nothing else. 

Although that'd probably be less of a disaster than this, really. At least if he was an addict, he could go to rehab or something. For this . . . 

What is he supposed to do about this?

[dykementality]

forgive me if you're not interested, but I'd actually love to hear more of your thoughts on the maroon arc, what you thought was/wasn't done well. would u like to share?

hii i didnt see this. im gonna apologize right away bc this is not gonna be organized i have talked soooo much today already and im tired lol.

for starters what i think was done best is flint and madis dynamic. its incredibly well played both as individual characters and as representatives of pirates and maroons in relation to empire. their chemistry is crazy and their dialogues are extremely didactic. i also find that flint not immediately viewing the maroons as natural allies but as tools to reach his own purposes and later deconstructing that after getting involved with them aggregates to his ongoing theme of progressive radicalization which i think is also a highlight of the maroon arc in the way it makes it explicit for good that his political stance has done a 360 and is now entirely discordant from the one he had as a lieutenant in every aspect that matters. freeing and partnering with the maroons is expected after that and i dont think theres anything special on that regard. then the shitty parts are essentially everything else. especially steinberg admitting he stalled to really explore the topic of slavery due to not being in his element as a white guy but still not putting black people on the team to do it. this reflects very obviously in the show and makes the entire arc feel rushed and reticent besides leaving a billion loose threads and missing opportunities to appropriately explore character dynamics that couldve been way more interesting (such as silver/julius/flint & madi/eme & madi/eleanor & eleanor/scott) and really engage confidently in the impact that flint and the pirates having canonically sold slaves would have had in their relationship. speaking of julius i also very much felt like it was a tragedy to hinder his presence and had they started it earlier or extended it longer his perspective on war vs. protecting his community as opposed to madi’s for example would have been probably my favorite part of the arc. i know the version in my head of it is. all in all its a vital arc for the story and everyone slayed really hard with with they had i just wish the creators hadnt shied away from all the implications of it. if i had the energy to go look for some posts for u i would bc my mutuals have definitely also discussed this before but alas. thanks for asking anyways feel free to add ur own thoughts or question mine further

[derekscorner]

Fated Rantings: Miyamoto Iori & Seiba

Where to even begin here...Iori is a rather interesting protagonist compared to the others I've watched so far. Sure, Shirou or Seig are decent but very honest and straight forward.

Iori isn't as simplistic in his world view. If anything he's deceiving himself and accidentally misleading others. However, he is not a villain either.

In a few routes Iori fights to maintain the peace of the era. Seemingly for his sister, Kaya's, sake. He never makes that overtly known but a few lines show this. At one point he ponders the wars end and dismisses his thoughts because he views Kaya as happy and adaptable.

But, every now and then, things will seem to pause. Characters will stop to take note of oddities in Iori's words vs his actions. Iori himself will state multiple times that he is not kind.

He's a ronin in the loosest sense as he only reached adulthood after the warring period was done. He serves no master and makes a living serving his community instead.

People see him as an upstanding young man, Yui Shouetsu even begins to fall in love with him because she sees her ideals reflected in Iori.

But this is a facade. One that Iori himself does not really make intentionally but one he doesn't elaborate on either. The only people that see through this facade immediately is the female Musashi and Chiemon.

Female Musashi is understandable. The Musashi of Iori's timeline was male but the female one lived a similar life. She raised her own Iori and she notices rather quickly.

Chiemon on the other hand sees through it quickly because he is similar. All of his rants in story are not wrong save for the difference. He may see them both as similar but in actuality Iori is scarier. Chiemon is a traumatized child, scared and burned but Iori is a demon waiting to let loose.

You won't see this Iori until you get the "Entreat the Darkness" route.

Of course, the question some of you will ask after reading that is "does that make Iori a villain?" to which I will once again say "no".

Iori, by his own admission, isn't kind. He does what he does because the age of war is over. Even if he did cut loose it would go nowhere in an era of peace.

He also helps others, even times when it's not wise too, because he seeks to understand them. Iori views nearly everyone he meets as possible opponents and thus tries to understand them in the hypothetical outcome he can kill them.

What he is seeking, the desire that made him a master in the ritual, was the desire for carnage. He's a sword demon and his life's goal is to surpass the swordsman ship he saw the night Musashi saved his life.

The reason he dismisses magecraft despite his talent, the reason he lives as a ronin, is his true desire to be the best swordsman possible.

However Iori is not without emotions. I would argue that the list of people he truly cares for is small while the rest fit into "allies for now" and "possible opponents later" categories.

The reason he seeks the peaceful end in other routes is due to his genuine care for his sister. He has a genuine bond with his master Musashi even if that bond is the shared desire for him to cut her down vs her desire to have a worthy opponent.

He even comes to be close with Saber. Whether I would call them friends or not is difficult however.

Yamato Takeru

As the story progresses it does this beautiful thing of showing traditional art moments of Iori and Sabers life. This is an example of masters and servants seeing the lives of the other through dreams.

It's shown in several Fate works. You'll likely be most familiar with Shirou seeing Artoria's life as King Arthur from Fate Stay Night.

It was only in retrospect of the 'Entreat the Darkness' ending that I saw how beautiful this was because it highlights Saber reflecting Iori's own habit onto him.

Iori helps to understand, to see weaknesses, and Saber uses that to stop him in the Dark Ending by using Iori's own move to kill him. You even see Saber taking it into practice early in the story in the segments where Saber will imitate Iori's sword training.

At first this is portrayed as Saber having fun. To some extent they probably are but that's just an aspect of what he is doing. You see, Saber realizes that Iori isn't quite right mid way. He realizes the dreams and desires he saw were Iori's.

He came to understand that Iori's actual desire vs his actions do not match. This pains him. Saber is a little gremlin at first and dismisses Iori for his weakness.

They grow closer as Iori indulges Saber in their love of food, sight seeing, and so on. By the middle point you'll get the idea that Saber's wish is for this kind of life or perhaps he just wanted a friend.

It is in that dark ending that you realize Saber was understanding Iori as Iori was trying to understand Saber. The dreams, the sword practice, they were deciphering each other.

This makes the dark ending painful to be sure. Iori is happy to have died this way, in a battle but Saber is sad to have to kill another person they cared for. Perhaps the only friend Saber has ever had.

Saber's true name is Yamato Takeru. A prince of ancient Japan, direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and a figure that died alone with only a trail of blood in his wake.

Now I'm sure I seem like I'm rambling aimlessly but I'm not. I want to drive home the sorrow of this dynamic. Even if you get the good endings the game will end on the note of "his blade remains unsatisfied" or so on. (hinting to Iori's nature)

Iori is the closest thing Saber has had to a friend and Iori himself seems to treat Saber as one. On some level I'm sure he's thinking of ways to battle Saber but I do not think Iori's bond with Saber was a lie.

But to call them real friends is something I am still left pondering. Through Saber I am left wondering how genuine any of Iori's relationships were aside for the ones with Musashi and his sister Kaya.

You will even see fans say that the other endings are the best ones for others but only the dark ending is the one Iori truly finds fulfilling. He's not a villain of the story save for that one route but is he one in general?

It left me wondering much of what Iori said. Was his peaceful life fully without value in his mind? Is Iori a better person in the other routes for denying his darker desires?

Why is Iori's best ending the saddest? Better yet, why is his best ending the worst one for everyone else?

Questions I doubt I'll have answered but also ones that I'm not sure need answering. I wouldn't think so much about his story or this game if I had them.

================================================

The original post got kind of long so I split it in two. Part 1 is here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/post/736119692207570944/fated-rantings

My other experiences with Fate can be found here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/tagged/fated-rantings

[thilsworld]

[October 11th 2024]

Once again I forgot to post for a few days so... Yeah...

Yesterday was my sister's birthday though! Since her apartment is really small she decided to visit me and my mom instead of us visiting her. My mom made homemade Belgian waffles and we decorated them with whipped cream and sweet sauces (meant for ice cream but whatever) and chocolate sprinkles.

Here's a picture, featuring Storm

Unfortunately my birthday gift for her got delayed and it ended up arriving literally 2 hours after she went back home. So I'll give it to her next time I see her. Which might actually be my own birthday since that's 11 days from now...

We also played cards against humanity again since that's her favorite game. To make it a little more interesting, we also always add 1 random white card, so the person picking has to choose between 3 instead of 2. But sometimes the randomly selected card from the top of the pile is a little TOO good. At the end of our long playing round I had 19 points, my sister 15, my mom 21 and the randomly selected card 9. Which... 9 too many to be honest...

Here's a nice example of the random card fitting TOO well. Cause the first white card was my mom's, second was random, 3rd was my sister's

Now as for something about today instead of yesterday:

I'm trying out something new. For the past week I had been struggling to make my day to day life more meaningful and feel like I am productive, considering I am disabled, don't work, and due to anxiety also don't go out often. I'm basically in a bubble with just my mom and cat, and occasionally my sister, my best friend, or my therapist.

So I went looking for someone who had documented their daily life routines down to it's VERY basics. I wanted to find some habits that work for me to make my life feel functional.

I found this blog from a husband and wife, very conservative Christians so definitely not my type of people, but the wife had basically written down EVERYTHING she does from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to sleep. Brush teeth, pray, put clothes on, open curtains, EVERYTHING. And one thing it said was that she starts her day with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Which, is very normal I know. But I decided to give it a try today for the first time. But in my own way cause I don't like coffee and we don't have a newspaper subscription at our house.

So I made my breakfast, and went through the news app, taking small notes of anything that seemed noteworthy. Most is quite depressing, but one thing I loved seeing that according to a research they did among millennials and gen z, about 48% of people in that age group identify as lgbtq in some way, and another 30% is an ally. How amazing is that! I love how with time we're slowly becoming more progressive, and because of that younger generations are able to identify themselves more safely from earlier ages.

It's currently 21:32 as I type this so I guess I'm gonna stop typing and just go to bed now. Maybe I'll write down my (very short) routine tomorrow, kind of like that blog I found, so I can see in the future what stuck and what improved.

3 positive things about today:

We had pizza for dinner

Mom and I played monopoly again, and for the first time in AGES i actually won

I felt more fulfilment today than the past few days. Idk why cause I didn't do much more than usual. I guess I got out of bed on the right foot

[fioras-resolve]

What Is Fire Emblem About: an explainer for the uninitiated

this is gonna be a bit of a weird one. i feel like fire emblem fans are gonna get angry at me for mostly sidelining the story, so i'm just gonna say: i'm a game designer, and a very ludocentric person. this is just how i'm going to talk about things. but also, you can't talk about FE story without the contexts of what the games Are mechanically. with that out of the way...

Fire Emblem started as one of the earliest examples of a Simulation RPG (or Strategy RPG in the west, but, you know). it was trying to take a wargame framework and apply that to a fantasy rpg. so unlike most wargames, every unit has a name, personality, and unique attributes. but unlike most rpg's, you're moving across a battlefield. units are defined by wargame functions, like "ranged," "high movement," "flying," etc. and if one of your allies dies, they're gone for good. it creates an emotional heft, one found in most games with permadeath. to quote jon bois, talking about xcom,

in a way, fire emblem simulates war in a way that a lot of wargames don't. it makes you care about each of your units, not just because they're unique characters with lives, but because losing them means losing what they did for the army. you only get so many healers in fire emblem, so many thieves who can open a chest, and if you trained someone up for ages just to see them die to a random critical hit, it hurts.

"it immerses you via accountability. if your ranger dies, you are left with a feeling that ultimately, they counted on you to lead them, and that even in a game that is often decided by chance, it was all your fault"

or at least, that's how it works in theory. in reality, most players will just restart the chapter if they lose someone important. strict "ironman" rules have never been implemented in fire emblem, so while theoretically this is a game about living with your mistakes, in practice it's about constantly redoing a fight until you get the right results. modern fire emblem has even made rewinding to specific moments an actual game mechanic, a design choice i call "embracing the bastards." (i say this with affection, i am one of those bastards)

to make up for the fact that you can lose characters, you get a lot of them over the course of the game. a lot of these characters, especially in early FE, are just kind of there. like, you get so many characters of the same class who are clearly just backup if the other ones die. some of these units are great, with amazing stats or the ability to use some cool weapon, and others suck. if you talk to fans of "classic" FE, you'll find that a lot of people's favorite characters are decided by gameplay. as the series progressed, characters grew to be more fleshed out narratively and more balanced mechanically depending on who you ask, so a lot of modern fans are more into a character because of their personality or character arc.

which does lead us into talking about how the series has shifted over time. because when people think of "fire emblem" now, they're not thinking about the games from the 90s. they're probably not even thinking about the games from the 2000s. so let's talk about the changing identity of fire emblem. i like to split this into four "eras," broken up by major mechanical changes and shifts in who's leading the charge. i'm sure some fe fans will disagree on on this, but this is the framing the works the best for me. so!

The Kaga Era: This was an era of fire emblem led by a single guy, Shouzou Kaga. this is, i feel, where the essence of Simulation RPG is felt the most strongly. the games are hard to get into these days if you don't already play fire emblem, but there's a real artistic commitment here to trying to capture ideas through mechanics. aside from FE1, we also got Gaiden, which leaned way harder into the RPG angle with grinding, magic, and dragon-questy towns. we got Mystery of the Emblem, a direct sequel to the first game that put familiar characters in new contexts. we got Genealogy of the Holy War, an incredibly ambitious game that plays out a story of war on a massive scale. we got Archanea Saga, a very short game consisting of four incredibly potent one-shot chapters. And we got Thracia 776, an intensely challenging game left so up to randomness that even healing can miss. some oldheads view Thracia as the height of the series.

The Renaissance: After Kaga left due to a squabble with Nintendo (which is its own story), the dev team had to pick up the pieces without its auteur director. This period is arguably when Fire Emblem was most "itself." The Kaga era was foundational, but too experimental to have a consistent identity. The Renaissance was when the idea of what A Fire Emblem Game was solidified, to the point where if you ask most older fans what they think of when they imagine Fire Emblem, you'll probably get something from the Renaissance. Probably the biggest innovation from this era was the Support Conversation. Basically, if you put two characters next to each other for long enough, they might strike up a conversation with each other. You can usually do this two more times. This fleshed out the characters beyond their first impression, and made personality more of a sticking point. Later games would expand on this further.

You could maybe argue that this period was intensely safe, but I'd say after Kaga's departure, safe was probably necessary. Binding Blade was essentially a rehash of FE1, for better and worse. Blazing Blade, a prequel to Binding, was the first FE game to be released outside of Japan, so it has an extensive tutorial, and is generally a lot easier to accommodate. But also, it features some really solid and creative level design which makes it worth playing to this day. Sacred Stones did similar to Gaiden with its skill system, world map, and grinding. Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn... I actually haven't really played those or heard much about them but a lot of people view them as the height of the series. And Shadow Dragon was a remake of FE1, that actually tried very hard to encourage you to ironman it. Like, you can reclass freely, you get replacement units if you're running low, and the prologue ends by forcing you to pick a sacrifice. Unfortunately, people didn't really get the message. It was my first FE game, and I still reset whenever someone died. Caeda, my beloved.

The Maeda Era: This starts, oddly enough, with a remake of the third game, called New Mystery of the Emblem. It adds a player avatar that you can customize, support conversations, a new plotline about assassins, and crucially, a Casual Mode. Yes, you can now start the game choosing either Classic Mode, which has permadeath, and Casual Mode, which doesn't. This fundamentally changes the experience, as you can imagine, and it's still a pretty contentious topic within the FE community. A lot of new players struggle to get into classic Fire Emblem because the forced permadeath is just too punishing for them. But it's also core to the identity of the series. It was contentious within the dev team, too, with people fighting over whether or not to include it. Ultimately, it was decided that if the FE series was going to survive, it would need to be more playable to a casual audience.

This leads us into Fire Emblem: Awakening, which was a massive success compared to anything else before then. It featured the player avatar and casual mode, it featured a world map and grinding, and it also really leaned into the support system. It even combined this with the marriage and children system of Genealogy, adding a fourth support level which got characters to marry and have a child, who would then join your party by time traveling from the future. You could even marry someone with your player avatar. This did make Awakening more dating sim than tactics game in some people's eyes, but it really helped give the game a fandom that exceeded the existing FE fandom by a longshot. This kind of design was continued with Fire Emblem Fates, a game that was actually three different games you could choose between. Birthright was basically more Awakening, but Conquest took that paradigm and made it into a focused, polished, and tightly designed tactical experience. (Arguably too tight, I don't like it that much but I get why people do.) And the Maeda era ends with FE Heroes, a mobile gacha game with as much creativity as power creep. And honestly, how else could this end?

The Modern Era: Since Maeda is mostly working on Heroes now, we're in a similar situation to the Renaissance, where the series has to pick up where its leader left off. But instead of playing it safe, the new directors have experimented with it in a way we haven't seen since Kaga. It started, of course, with a remake of Gaiden, called Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. I have a soft spot for this game, but what's important for you to know is that it introduced 1) full voice acting, 2) special moves, and 3) turn rewinds, which finally just makes resetting a deliberate game design tool.

From this point on we have Three Houses, which did a similar split-path thing to Fates, but letting you choose based on preference for characters rather than gameplay. I think its mechanics are a really nice synthesis of a lot of different games, but that's not really why people care about Three Houses. People care about Three Houses because it features a hot girlboss voiced by Tara Platt, a school setting that's easy to project onto, multiple queer characters with subtext for each other, and a morally grey set of factions that people can argue passionately about for years. It is THE fandom-ready Fire Emblem game. After that is our most recent game, Engage. Now, this is structured like a traditional Fire Emblem, but it plays pretty substantially different. Now your units can summon past FE protagonists to give massive buffs and execute super moves. My favorite is the one that lets you rush through enemies in a straight line. It's also incredibly anime, like bright colors, power of friendship, character designs a bit too outlandish. It's great if that's your shit.

so, I've been talking a lot about how these games play. and if you're a big fan of these games, especially of the modern ones, that might frustrate you. you don't play rpg's for the combat, you play them for the story, which i have avoided talking about for the most part. and first of all, that's a very reductive way of looking at rpg's, and games generally. second, these things are intertwined, you cannot disconnect story from play. but third, i'm of the mind that what a game is About is decided by what happens when you interact with it. talking solely about what happens in cutscenes and dialogue is treating a game as something to watch or read, not as something to play. and i think we owe it to ourselves, and the medium, to do better than that.

but, last few notes before i finish the post. first off, there are a few games i missed, particularly spinoffs, like the Warriors spinoffs or that weird MegaTen crossover that isn't much FE or MegaTen at all. second, the setting, characters, and lore shifts with each entry. sometimes you get games in the same universe, like Awakening's continent is just the FE1 continent but a thousand years in the future. but you don't particularly need to worry about playing the other ones if you want to get into a specific game. third, there's a fair bit of Weird Anime Shit. particularly the consistent use of the thousand-year-old loli trope which has been around since the first game. Fates lets you marry and have children with your siblings, and it's really funny how each of their S-Supports have the other character pull up a letter from their mom saying you're not actually related. Break Glass In Case Of Incest. the games are almost always about royalty finding sacred weapons to kill a problems dragon, and i'm honestly not big on stories that valorize nobility, but it's a fairy tale, so whatever. i have in the backburner a game i've been working on that does this kind of story from the perspective of civilians, so keep an eye out for that in the next few years. also for the love of fuck, if you're a fire emblem fan please play other tactics games. the fe series is good, but there's a whole slue of games out there if you want to expand your horizons. i recommend triangle strategy, xcom 2, into the breach, my own catalogue, and walk with the living.

-Angie Nyx

[annbourbon]

After reading What is...? by @creativepromptsforwriting (if you haven't read her blog or follow her WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?)

I decided to add some of my notes here too. Because it's on the little things I've been studying every night to get better at writing. So please consider this post as part/collab of "What is...?"

★Please keep in mind that this comes from someone whose first language it's not english, so, what for some might be obvious, for others it is not.

Blurb? is a short promotional description on your book. But can also be used to promote movies and other things.

Needs: Hook + Keywords (define an audience) + keep it short and leave them wanting for more.

* Remember to check for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Nowadays you can use quotes from your book as promo too. Pinterest is your best ally here. Make a bunch of attractive images with a colorful quotes and upload it on your social media! ^♡^

Honestly when it comes to promos you should exploit it all (meaning: create quotes, collage, your cover, promos, etc!) Be your own fan. Create a playlist, ambience, set the mood. Let your own world drag you into the woods, do not resist it.

If you love it, other will love it too.

W.I.P.? Means Work in Progress. So you have yet a lot to do to finish your story. it's okay, it takes time \^♡^/

Pathetic fallacy Vs Personification?

Pathetic fallacy

It's specifically about giving emotions to something non-human (objects, nature, or animals)

Writers use the pathetic fallacy to evoke a specific mood or feeling that usually reflects their own or a character's internal state. While I have seen some detractors of using this technique, think of Emily Brontë novel, Wuthering Heights, or Shakespeare in several of his works like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Or Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. So study it and use it carefully and you should be fine. Times change but you should write however you want too.

Personification

On the other hand, is giving any human attribute to an object.

Think of The Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, and Toy Story as great examples of what personification is.

Atmosphere?  is the way an author uses setting, objects, or internal thoughts of characters to create emotion, mood, or experiences for the reader.

For me Mary Shelley with Frankenstein is one of the most accurate examples I can give, but when I think about it, Robinson Crusoe, and Moby Dick, both feel tremendously claustrophobic and desperate to the reader, full of details, the time passes slowly and it's insufferable. Which in theory is not okay because the reader can drop the book but guess what? They're classic because you want to know what happens next. Which brings me to my next point, if you want to know more about the art of writing, you should try the following channels on YT:

Abbie Emmons

She has some interesting videos, but one crazy tip that will change your mind. It actually works. And don't worry, she keeps repeating it over and over so you learn it too. She also offers some courses and several activities like writing together (in case you're trying to write but can't, now you have a date!)

Ellie Dashwood

If you're into social dynamics, subtlety and want to get better writing period stories wether they are romantic or dramas, then she's your best bet. While she doesn't teach you how to write better she does teach you literature and history. And trust me, some of these things can be more than helpful. The way she analyzes and provides for clarification over social situations has made me understand not just Jane Austen but my own time in a different way.

Fiction Beast

This is showing me a lot of literature and making me read classics. Of course it wouldn't work if it wasn't because of Ellie but it's a must! because it does explains a lot.

Ana Neu

I just discovered her and Ellen so I can't say a lot of things but their videos have been really helpful with some of the things I've been working on especially with Fit or Die, so you should check out both of these girls.

Ellen Brock

and of course, he needs no introduction, but if you didn't know, he has several classes posted on his channel which have been helping me tremendously.

Brandon Sanderson

*Disclaimer: They're not paying me for doing promo. I just do this on my own account because I truly admire their work and effort put into it. Plus, I always do this for anyone if I truly admire the way they work. And I believe this is helpful for anyone with hopes of becoming an author. Even if it's just a hobby. Have fun~!

[linkspooky]

SPOOKYYYYY!

I Need Explainationsssss!!!

Why is it that in your recent top fav jjk character, I didn’t see a certain Zenin Twin?!

Have You Forsaken that Mai Nation?! I thought you were an Ally!!! Oh the horrors!!!

How could you?!

I’m not actually being serious btw, I can tell that making that list way already a lot so ya probably didn’t have time to add her. Understandable

Haha, anon I understand! I have said before that Mai and Miwa are the two best written female characters in Jujutsu Kaisen. Mai is probably my favorite character to write - the potential a character like Mai has because of interesting subtext surrounding the character and because they are one of the few complex "bad" victims in the manga is different is different from the way they're written in the story.

When I call a character my favorite character, it's because of their character arc in the story. I believe Mai is an emotionally complex character, but if you look at her appearances in the story, she shows up once and is important in the Kyoto Battle arc and then in the next major scene she is in she dies. There's no arc there, we just skipped from point A to point B. While I enjoy Mai's character there's no much of it, we have her introduction scene against Nobara, her fight scene with Maki, and then her death and she doesn't really progress or change as a character across those three scenes.

When I say Mai is my favorite character to write, and not my favorite in Jujutsu Kaisen I don't even necessarily mean on a fanon vs. canon level. A character can be complex and have a lot of interesting ideas going for them, and still be underutilized in the story itself. The implication of Mai as a CSA victim. The complex victimhood she exhibits because despite being a victim alongside Maki, she's nasty, she doesn't want to fight to get better like all of Gojo's kids, instead of being strong and determined she's cowardly and wants to give up easy. She blames everyone else around her instead of herself.

A lot of those complex ideas are there, but does the story do anything with them?

This is a topic I discuss with @theanimepsychologist a lot. Jujutsu Kaisen tends to have themes and ideas that work on a subtextual level, but the story itself does not do a good job of writing them in a compelling way. For example, when I talk about the potential Mai represents as a character that made me fall in love with her:

Mai is set up as a person experiencing a different but equally valid victimhood and response to victimhood as Maki, being her twin sister who endured the abuse in the Zen'in Clan along with her. While Maki strives to be stronger than her abusers, Mai doesn't want to try hard to be better than them and cares more about staying together with her sister than proving herself as a sorcerer.

Maki is strong and independent, but it comes at the cost of sacrificing her relationship with Mai the only person who unconditionally loves her to try to prove herself to her family for the sake of her own pride. However, at the same time Maki feels like there's no other way she could have done this because if she stayed with the Zen'in she would have hated herself, the way her family always taught her too.

At the same time Mai loves her sister and wants to be loved in return, and Maki in several ways not only abandoned her sister but treats her like an afterthought, not really caring about Mai's friends, not really understanding Mai's feelings, and not communicating with her.

It is not Mai nor Maki's fault really, but their family who has created this conflict between the sisters and pitted them against each other. Both of them mourn the innocent youth they once had when they thought they were always going to stay together. When Maki was happy to protect her sister from the curses all around her she was afraid of, because Mai wasn't a burden at the time.

That is a potential story there where the two sisters coming together, shows that love can break the cycle of abuse, and the conflict in their relationship that was created not by them but by their family.

However, Maki and Mai never learn to understand each other. They never grow or develop their relationship from where it was at the start of the story.

Instead what happens is Mai commits suicide in a tragic fashion, beliving that it's all her fault Maki was weak all along and she was noting more than a burden (which the story seems to agree with, invaldiating Mai's complexity as a "bad" victim that was supposed to be deconstructed) and then instead of breaking the cycle of violence that created Maki she just continues it.

The story tries to present Mai sacrificing hreself as some kind of moment where the sisters have finally come together, it's an act of sisterly love that gave Maki the strength she needed to finally fight back against the Zen'in but that's the thing... they're not together! They didn't learn to understand each other. They didn't grow or solve or change or fix the conflict of their relationship. Mai just died and Maki got a new sword.

Which is why every moment that the manga tries to sell as Maki's character growth from now on feels kind of flat, because Maki was challenged to learn to understand her sister and work together with her and see her as a person and she never did that. She was supposed to free herself from the cycle of violence through love, but she just chose more violence.

The themes are there, both sisters coming together to unlock Maki's true strength and how Maki never needed to be strong on her own but needed to learn to fight with her sister...! That's there!

The way the story tells those themes though is just uncompelling, and they cut the potential of a great character short. Is Mai a good character? Yes. She's complex and her emotions are realistic and nuanced. Is Mai written as a good character in the context of Jujutsu Kaisen?

No way. It's not even the fact that she dies, my favorite characters of all time are Gwen Stacy and Terra Markov and they both die. However, those characters were destined to die. They were dead at the start of the story. Mai was set up to live alongside her sister and grow up with her, and grow closer together and then she just died.

So in conclusion, a good character =/= a good character arc.

[marnz]

Some obvious reasons to organize:

The 4 day work week. IWW’s dream is 4 hour days 4 times a week. That’s 16 hours. Wages do not go down. And yeah sometimes there’s days or weeks where that can’t happen—so you get paid OT, time and a half OR comp time, your choice, with a union.

Better health care with lower premiums! This is the best health care I’ve ever had.

Retirement! The world we live in isn’t normal. 401ks—retirement money—are now an unstable, classed thing, and they were invented to be one “leg” of a three legged “stool” of retirement: pensions, 401ks, and Social Security. Except that social security is under threat and most workers don’t have pensions anymore. I do. Protecting our pensions is one of the main reasons my workplace organized. What if everyone had a pension, or hell, the entire stool?

Long commutes bc you’ve been priced out of your city? Yeah we’ll talk about wages but what if your commute counted as work time? This is something unions were interested in fighting for pre the Nixon stomp. Let’s bring it back.

Historically low wages? Raises that don’t match inflation? We can fix that. When I took this job a few years ago, I took a steep pay cut. Thanks to my union I am now making 12% more than my previous salary. Equal pay? Under a bargaining agreement your pay will be standardized. You won’t make less just because you are a member of a marginalized community.

Your boss hates you? Too bad. As soon as you organize you are no longer an “at will” worker. You cannot be fired without just cause and after progressive discipline. Your job is safe and stable. You can focus on other, more important things, like living your actual life.

“What if my employer hates me and breaks the law and fires me or refuses me accommodations or violates our bargaining contract.” My guy. That’s what your shop steward is for.

Some important reasons people may not want to organize:

Racism. The labor movement has historically been super super racist and white, and unions used to deny black workers membership. There is no instance of American life where we can discuss class without discussing race. This is still in play imo—for example, DSA has very low black membership. But unions can also be used to empower workers from marginalized communities.

Politics. It’s illegal for unions to use union dues to lobby but most ppl don’t know this, and a lot of unions are active in politics. Membership is low in more conservative areas for many reasons but this is a big one of them, especially if your union is seen as predominantly leftist. This is to say nothing of how rabidly anti union certain states and workplaces are.

Solidarity. “How am I supposed to have solidarity with _____?!” I’ve definitely struggled with this. But at the end of the day, everyone you work with is more of an ally than your employer in this issue. The bigger your membership the stronger threat you’ll be at the bargaining table and the easier it will be for you to get what you want.

[that-house]

for a fowf question, what do you think could be the coolest build for a person who wields a flail? like how could you minmax with that kind of weapon

First thing's first: Field of White Flowers doesn't have weapon types. Characters are assumed to have the best version of their preferred gear and armor that they can get their hands on.

Rather than, say, D&D's gear progression system, which entails upgrading your sword and getting a new ability from that, FoWF goes in the opposite direction: you unlocked a new ability, maybe you want to flavor it as upgrading your sword. It's a flavor-first system where nothing has any default why it does things.

Additionally, weapon types simply wouldn't really work with the combat system. Damage output is static & small (typically you're looking at one or two damage a turn), and positioning is abstracted. Without positioning, range doesn't matter, and without damage rolls/variance weapon damage doesn't matter.

So there's nothing that flail build "has" to look like.

HOWEVER that's a boring-ass answer so what we're gonna do is make a piece of Legendary Gear, and then talk about a build that might like to have it.

Legendary Gear is, like, your signature item. In a system without much in the way of actual "loot" that matters, Legendary Gear serves as something to quest for. The default effect of Legendary Gear is giving a specific Power, without needing to pay EXP for it or meet its prerequisites, but GMs can also pass out custom Legendary Gear, and there are a few examples of those in the rulebook at the moment.

So first off, let's determine the general vibe of using a flail. First character that comes to mind is the Witch King of Angmar and his huge ass flail. Typically, the flail calls to mind a brutal and heavily-armored fighter who thinks they're too fucking good for a mace. alternatively they're a cleric

Anywho, that's some textbook Aggression/Endurance shit. There's two solid builds that I'm aware of that use both Aggression and Endurance:

the bruiser focused around Love the Pain and Fight Response that goes to low health and then kicks the everloving shit out of you

the debuff/support focused around Crown of Thorns and Helping Hand that buffs allies while constantly applying Bleed to enemies

Let's go with the latter. Crown of Thorns is a fun fucking Power and it could always use some extra swagger.

Step one: gotta name this thing. lets do some wolf motif shit, between the supportive playstyle and the violence inherent in bonking someone with a flail. call it some shit like Gholir, the Hungerchain. fuck yeah that rules

Step two: what does it actually do though? Crown of Thorns builds care about a few things: stacks of Bleed on the enemy, gaining Momentum, and losing Momentum. When Bleed is fully stacked, it does damage to the enemy. What if this item gave the option to heal off of Bleed instead?

bam now we have a cool flail. which was not the original intent of the ask but I DID say i would answer these in excessive detail

[ai-seo-services]

Machine Learning for SEO: A Powerful Ally in the Digital Age

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) changes all the time. To keep your website at the top of search results, you need to know what’s new. This is where machine learning for SEO comes in.

Machine learning (ML) is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that lets machines learn and get better without being told to do so. When it comes to SEO, machine learning for SEO looks at a huge amount of data to find patterns and trends that can help your site rank higher.

For businesses of all kinds, machine learning for SEO can make all the difference. When you use its strength, you can:

Find secret insights:

Machine learning can look at a huge amount of search data, information about users and competitors, and other data to find useful insights that regular SEO methods might miss. This can help you figure out what people are looking for, how they use your site, and what your competitors are doing right (and wrong).

Search engines are getting better, so they’re not just looking for keywords anymore.

Make sure your content fits what people are searching for. They want to know what the searcher was trying to do when they typed in a question. For SEO, machine learning can help you make content that really meets that purpose, which will help your rankings and get people more involved.

Find the right keywords.

One of the most important parts of SEO is keyword study. But there is a lot of competition, which can make it hard to choose the right buzzwords. For SEO, machine learning can look at search trends and suggest keywords that people in your target group are actually using.

Personalize the experience for the user:

Search engines want to give each person the best results. You can make the experience of people who visit your website more personal with machine learning for SEO. This is done by customizing content and suggestions based on data about each individual user.

Keep up with the times, because search engine formulas are always changing.

Using machine learning for SEO can help you stay ahead of the curve by finding new trends and making changes to your SEO plan to fit them.

It’s not magic to use machine learning for SEO, but it is a powerful tool that can give you a big edge in the search world. You can use machine learning for SEO in the following ways:

Use SEO tools that use machine learning.

A lot of SEO tools now use machine learning to give you data-driven insights and suggestions. You can use these tools to do anything, from finding keywords to making your writing better.

Focus on good content.

Data is what machine learning is made of, and the best data comes from good content that is informative, interesting, and important to your audience.

Track your progress and make changes as needed; SEO is a continuing process. Once you’ve started using machine learning for SEO, keep an eye on the results and be ready to make changes as required.

By using machine learning for SEO, you can learn useful things, make your site better for search engines, and eventually get more qualified visitors.

For SEO, machine learning is here to stay, and it will get even better over time. By using this technology, you can make sure that your website stays visible and popular in a world where technology is always changing.

Machine Learning for SEO: Uses and Things to Think About in Real Life

In the last part, we talked about how machine learning can help SEO. Now, let’s look at some real-world examples and important things to keep in mind.

Machine learning can help improve your SEO content strategy.

Topic modeling:

Imagine having a tool that could look through huge amounts of material to find themes and connections. Subject modeling comes in handy here. This SEO machine learning method helps you come up with new content ideas that match the hobbies and search terms of your audience.

Content Optimization:

SEO machine learning can look at the content you already have and the content of your competitors to find places where you can make it better. This can include making sure the content is the right length, has a good reading score, and uses the right keywords and entities.

Predictive analytics:

Have you ever thought about what kind of content would do best? Machine learning-powered predictive analytics for SEO can look at past performance data to guess how your audience will respond to new content.

Technical SEO and using AI to help with SEO

Log File Analysis:

Website logs have useful information about how people use the site. These logs can be looked at by machine learning for SEO to find technical SEO problems like lost links, slow loading times, and issues with being mobile-friendly.

Personalization and User Experience:

Machine learning can make the experience of people who visit your website more unique. This can include making content suggestions, search results, and product ideas that are more relevant to each user based on their browsing history and habits.

Things you should think about when using machine learning for SEO

Value of the Data:

SEO machine learning is only as good as the data it learns from. For the best results, make sure you feed your ML models high-quality, correct data.

Transparency and Explainability:

Machine learning for SEO can be very useful, but it’s important to know “why” it makes the suggestions it does. To get more information, look for tools that have features that make them clear and easy to understand.

Human Knowledge Is Still Important:

Machine learning is a useful tool for SEO, but it shouldn’t take the place of human knowledge. The best results come from using both your opinion and your creativity along with data-driven insights.

The Next Steps for Machine Learning in SEO

The future of machine learning for SEO is brimming with exciting possibilities. Here are some potential areas of innovation to keep an eye on:

Advanced Entity Recognition:

Search engines are moving beyond keywords and towards understanding the relationships between entities (people, places, things). Machine learning will become even more adept at recognizing and leveraging entities within content, leading to a more nuanced understanding of user intent and improved search results.

Voice Search Optimization:

Voice search is rapidly growing in popularity. Machine learning for SEO can analyze voice search patterns and user queries to optimize your website for spoken language and conversational search.

Real-time SEO Optimization:

Imagine a future where SEO adjustments happen in real-time. Machine learning algorithms might analyze user behavior and search trends on the fly, allowing for instant optimization of content and website elements for maximum relevance.

By embracing these advancements and integrating machine learning for SEO effectively, you can ensure your website stays ahead of the curve and captures valuable organic traffic in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Remember, SEO is a dynamic field, and staying informed about the latest trends and innovations in machine learning will be crucial for long-term success.

[ohromeoraine]

I haven’t posted on here in a while, but I’m back with another analysis(yaaaaaay).

It’s a Voltron Legendary Defenders analysis.

Buckle up, friends, because this is going to be a bit lengthy:

Voltron is famous for the team of unlikely heroes defeating an alien supervillain with their giant overpowered super weapon Voltron, which is actually a combination of five different lion spaceships. In almost every episode throughout the seasons, the team is always running into different problems which makes the show seem a little repetitive, but all those problems combine to make a bigger picture. These “separate missions” from the main plot of the show actually contribute to the storyline to form the bigger picture.

The setbacks our band of misfits encounter really help form clear reasons later on in the show as to why they had a disadvantage or advantage against the enemy.

Our first example for this point is when the team gets targeted a second time by the Galra, the alien race which is trying to acquire Voltron because they know it’s the one weapon that could defeat their leader, Zarkon. The team is unprepared because it was their first time actually working as a team in battle.

They weren’t exactly close to each other at that point in time. They were familiar with each other and could be described best as acquaintances.

This was a pretty big disadvantage in their first battle against a fleet of Galran ships.

Another example could be when one of the characters, Keith, finds out that he’s part Galra. This puts a little bit of a strain on the team, as Princess Allura has held a grudge against the Galran Empire for driving her people to near extinction. Allura becomes a bit colder towards Keith and, coming from her point of view, that was how she was processing this new revelation.

Deep down, Allura knew Keith wasn’t a bad person for being half Galra, but it still bothered her because of her trauma associated with the Galra people.

We start to see more of a depth to the show in just two seasons, but it becomes even more clear just how deep the problem really is once the seasons start progressing on.

The world doesn’t immediately become a better place just because the team defeats the “main villain” in the story. They still have to work to fix problems that still arise in the aftermath of defeating the supervillain.

One of the main problems that arose after defeating Zarkon, was the rise of his heir, Lotor, who seemed like an ally to the Voltron team at first.

Unfortunately, good things don’t last for the Voltron team just yet and Lotor’s evil plans start to surface with the return of Keith, who was away on a mission assigned by the Galran rebellion group called “The Blade of Marmora”.

The team feels betrayed by someone who they trusted, but quickly start to form plans to get their leader, Shiro, back and also take down Lotor and his plans for the universe.

(This analysis was written last year, but it’s still valid)

[spellboundheartsaga]

Hearts of Bronze: Subplots and side characters

My main characters, Ataxis and Maevia, are pretty progressive for their time. Maevia took the Khemian belief that smart mothers produce smart sons and ran with it, building on what her tutors taught and teaching herself even more. Ataxis isn't formally educated. Maevia tutors him, teaching him to read and calculate basic math. Later, she helps him develop as a military leader by sharing what she's learned by studying military tactics and logistics. He has absolute faith in her abilities.

I usually focus on the POVs of my female and male leads, but I'm trying to expand beyond that. In this case, I think it would be helpful to have a POV from within the Bronze Jackals to give the reader insight into how they really feel with a woman in charge and ordering them around. While some brave ones will act out in front of their leaders, someone lower down in the ranks might offer responses that aren't filtered through the lens of a leader who needs to appear in control or has had years to learn to respect the chain of command.

I'm a little stuck on who that person could be at the moment. I want a scene to introduce the magic in my universe, but I have a pet peeve in many of the stories I read. The male lead, a king, emperor, or crown prince, often goes out to confront a situation that, in actuality, would be way below his pay grade. His job is to manage people, and he should rarely be fighting outside of a war-type situation. I could solve this with a surprise attack, but the magic system is based on magic pooling in places devoid of human interference and rich in natural energy. This creates crystals that summon elementals. My characters are in the Khemian town, and the Governor who rubber-stamped Maevia's freedom is asking them to linger in the area and clear out an infestation of these elementals.

My problem is that Ataxis brought a lot of soldiers to intimidate said Governor, so there's plenty of manpower to take care of this battle. For religious reasons, Khemians believe that the elementals are corrupted souls that escaped from the underworld, and coming in close contact can taint your own soul. They'd much rather get someone else to hunt them rather than risk themselves. (All three major cultures in the story have different beliefs about why this phenomenon occurs, and none of them are totally accurate.)

So, who's the best person to go on this monster hunt and demonstrate how the Jackals really feel about this? A good five hundred of them were ordered to stop building their hard-earned new home and march a month across the desert, all to collect a single woman. They're going to have feelings about it.

I've got a good handle on some strong supporters and allies for my leads. There's the elderly historian of the Bronze Jackals who loves to cite specific examples of Maevia's accomplishments every time someone doubts her abilities. The young apothecary who looks up to Ataxis as an older brother will instantly adopt Maevia as a sister figure. As another educated woman in this male-dominated environment, she'll act as a sympathetic ear and support system.

So, my fighter who goes to take care of the elementals should be antagonistic towards my leads. I think that Ataxis, after Maevia's disappearance, would not have taken her supposed abandonment well. He wholeheartedly believed in her abilities and thought his failure to provide led her to leave. Would anyone be able to measure up to her memory? This character could be one of the strategists who came in after Maevia left and had been constantly compared to her. His resentment would build, and he'd feel inferior, needing to prove that he's just as good as Maevia.

Or, I could find a rank-and-file fighter who is simply a bit sexist. He could show the viewpoint of the average Jackal, his opinion shifting as Maevia begins to make a difference in their quality of life. Perhaps he could have his own romantic arc. Maevia and Ataxis are an established couple with some serious issues, but that's more about a couple with a kid coming back together after a traumatic event. The story might need the excitement of fresh, uncertain love.

Really, I probably need both characters, but who is the third POV in the scene I need to write next? I'm leaning toward the rank-and-file. This magic would be new to him, giving the reader a more in-depth introduction to the world's magic.

Current word count: 20,936 (still, I think I'm just gonna skip this scene and circle back to it later. I don't want to lose my momentum)

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V3 7

Vinland Saga S2 - Have seen the episodes covering Ketil’s counterattack against Canute’s forces which did not go too well and left Ketil completely broken and crippled, which is well deserved since his burst of violence against Arnheid led to her death. His two sons are left to grapple with their differing responses to having to face war for the farmlands. Thorfinn really shone here, taking after his father’s example and telling Arnheid about Vinland in her final minutes of living, then going to speak with Canute himself only to confront the limitations of his pacifist approach to conflict resolution yet still finding a way to avoid more senseless violence, taking 100 punches from the army’s strongest man so that he be allowed to speak with the king. And that last scene where Thorfinn and Einar are face to face with Canute…so much tension. Such weight to the drama! Four years (in-universe and for me) building to this. Can Thorfinn avoid violent engagement with the delusional young king?

Hunter x Hunter - As preparations are being made by Gon and his allies to raid the palace when the day of selection arrives, the best intrigue still goes to the ant king himself and how he’s now grappling with a huge contradiction to his sense of identity and purpose due to how much Komugi has rubbed off on him, and how he’s begun to care about her and wants her protected at all costs. And this soft spot is troubling for Pouf, who’s so fanatical about the strength and merciless evil of his king that the thought of him changing course from his agenda of violence and dominance drives him to despair!

SHUFFLE! - Saw the episode that finally gave Asa full character focus that gave us some glimpses into her past and her feelings for Rin that she tries to play off with teasing and provocative humor. The following one was even better since it gave us more Sia as she planned out her perfect date with Rin only for it to turn out more hectic than she’d hoped, with every main character getting to appear at each location Sia and Rin went to, but this ended up working to the date’s advantage and tightened the bond between the two. Sia is just delightful every time she comes along, so this was quite the treat!

The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II - Saw the series premiere, or rather premieres. This one started on an “Episode 0” that throws us into the present day life of Waver Velvet, currently Lord El-Melloi II in the stead of Kayneth’s teenage niece, as he and his supporting cast have to catch a hired hit man mage who’s inflicted Waver with a curse of misfortune that tied his life to that of a dying black cat. The proper first episode that followed went backwards to take us further back still as Waver has to recount his experience at Iskandr’s tomb to his crazy new sister who held him hostage and talked him into taking the El-Melloi mantle, teaching at the mage academy and dealing with the mages of Clocktower. Definitely gonna be an interesting one...

KonoSuba - Saw the one where the party goes to the snow fields and Kazuma gets re-killed by the Winter Shogun, which gives him a chance to respawn into a better life in another world but he decides he’s grown too close to the world he and Aqua went to, and his companions, to be done with it yet…which he regrets upon actually returning’ Just when you think he’s making some progress!

Symphogear XV - CAROL’S BACK!!! I had to start there ‘cause getting to not only see Carol’s doll autoscorer minions again but the return of Carol’s persona from within Elfnein gave me such a thrill, and even better, she’s on the good guys side for this situation! Also noteworthy, Fudou reveals he’d set Noble Red up to be eradicated after completing Shem-Ha’s revival because he’s a monster who wants to attain god-like power to live out his savior fantasy with, and Shem-Ha’s revival allows her to overtake Miku so that she’s now her physical vessel! The credits that followed this was just cruel, making it seem like this could really be it for Miku…

Eureka Seven - Went through the fallout period of what occurred in the previous episodes. The B plot of Dominic visiting Axel Thurston and Axel helping fix up Dominic’s motorbike was my favorite part of the first one, especially with the gruff old man’s kindness making Dominic abandon his plans to exploit him for information on his family, though Talho finally just snapping and telling Renton the truth about Eureka, that she’s a person made from the Coral who was the subject of what Renton’s father was pursuing, was sure something as well. Holland is taking small but sincere steps towards repentance of his old shitbag ways, Talho makes a change of her own (though I found the haircut to be gratuitous and a step down), and Renton continues his growth…and this leaves Eureka in a space where she’s just kind of bland now? Ever since she made her recovery from her ailment she’s lost a lot of the oddball characteristics she had at first and has been defined by her love for Renton and general kindness like with the kids. Given that the show’s got her name in the title, that’s a sad oversight, but not enough to ruin how good things are.

Gintama - The dual stories episode with the snow and ice festival and the crazy old fireworks artist.

AND

Girls Last Tour - A very different take on a "Cute Girls Do Cute Things" anime, with two hapless dumbass moeblobs travelling around a post-apocalyptic world in a tank, bridging the gap between comedy and tragedy the whole way. Unusual, but I enjoyed watching it, though it being one cours sadly meant it got cut short of ending.