#also can i share my game of thrones opinions

[encrucijada]

i haven't been able to write in days but i have a new oc to play dolls with my friends because i got possessed and started watching game of thrones

[p1utofairy]

PAC: “one hit of your love addicted me. now i’m strung out on you, darlin’, can’t you see?” 🕊️🕰️✨📨

• what will your first love be like?

disclaimer ✩: take what resonates, leave what doesn't. i wanted to try something new by including edits but ofc tumblr is annoying and doesn’t let you post more than 1 video ugh. hope you all enjoy this though! love you much.

PILE ONE.

hey pile 1 🎀 right off the bat i gotta say…your person could possibly give anakin skywalker vibes visually lolololol very tall, handsome and broody. i'm also thinking of jon snow from ‘game of thrones’ hmmm i think this just ties into the fact that your person is in their bag a good 85% of the time! they analyze and process their thoughts & emotions a lot, and this won’t change especially when it comes to their love and devotion for you. they are very intense and purposeful when it comes to love — there’s no faking it or forcing it. they say what they mean, and mean what they say. they hold themselves to a very high standard so i think they’ll be in their head a lot when it comes down to approaching you/courting you. they want to make sure that they’re doing and saying the right things…they want to make sure that you’re comfortable. they will prioritize you and take the time out to really get to know you! they don’t want to do the whole cliché “wyd” texts or just take you out to the movies. no, they want to be able to take you to places you’ve never been before & treat you to beautiful experiences that will stay with you forever. that’s how highly they think of you, pile 1! they think you deserve the best of the best and they will do everything in their power to give you just that. this person has been through a lot in their life and they’ve felt so alone and misunderstood. 9x out of 10 if they just got out of a relationship, their ex didn’t understand them or couldn’t match them emotionally. your person is big on “everything happens for a reason” so when you come into their life they’re going to feel so much joy and relief, it’s like you’re their saving grace. it’s that energy of — where have you been all my life? that scene of anakin and padmé in ‘star wars: attack of the clones’ on the balcony is coming to mind…the longing in their eyes before they share their first kiss. a lot of people may talk about y'alls relationship/how y'all got together. it's nothing scandalous…i just see people being infatuated? i’m picking up a lot of outside influences/opinions so just be careful of that…don't have too many people in your business cause i’m picking up that some of these people don’t have the best intentions and are secretly jealous. it’s giving very much “fan behavior” hm they might keep tabs or ask lots of questions about you and your person’s relationship…it’s weird. i think for some of you, you’ve been single for a long time, so it’s going to be a shock to a lot of people when you pop out with this person. once your person comes into your life you may start to notice multiple people show romantic interest in you and you’ll be like??? where tf were y’all at when i was single for ____ years?! LMFAOOOOO that’s hilarious but back to your first love, it’ll be beautifully intense. i see you giggling a lot, staring at your person with big starry eyes and a lot of physical touch between you two. it may not even be in a flashy way? i can just see you coming up behind them and placing a hand on their back to make your presence known…i see a lot of moments of them holding you in their arms and resting their forehead against yours — they’re looking at you with so much intensity…deep concentration and passion etched across their face and you just break out into this bright smile and they just melt. you look so innocent compared to them like there’s this light in your eyes that’s left their own a long time ago, but they feel so safe…so free to be themselves when they’re with you. you’re their heart, pile 1. i’m hearing that scene from ‘the bear’ when carmy tells sydney “i couldn’t do it without you. i wouldn’t even want to do it without you…” AWWWWEEEEEE.

via tnqkins on tiktok

other channeled messages:

who's that girl? by eve, shravana moon/rising, doe eyes, baby pink, curly hair, strong arms, yin & yang energy, younger/age difference, vishaka scorpio moon, hypnotic gaze, 10:10, mirroring each other, distinct cologne

PILE TWO.

heyyy pile 2! you will NOT expect to fall in love with this person wow, your feelings for them will actually catch you off guard. this person is not your usual type and that's what's so intriguing about them…you’ll never know what to expect with them; they’ll keep you on your toes. i think that you keep repeating cycles or keep going back to someone who is no good for you, but once you meet this person there’s no going back. you’ll gravitate towards them like a month drawn to a flame lol you can’t fight these feelings even if you wanted to. you might meet this person through a mutual friend or meet them in a group setting, i see other people around you both as you talk and get to know each other. there’s so much warmth that this person radiates…they feel like home to you. a hug from them could fix your bad day, a kiss from them could make your heart skip a beat 🥹 and their smile?! to see them smile at you will give you an instant serotonin boost. this relationship feels divine…it feels fated. it’s giving “right person at the right time�� like everything leading up to this connection will make so much sense once you’re actually together. some of you that chose this pile are quick to self-sabotage or cut off a relationship before you can get too emotionally invested. you’ve built these walls up because you’ve been through a lot of shit and you don’t want the extra baggage a relationship can sometimes bring, but it’s gonna be different with this person. you’re going to be so open to receiving their love and reciprocating it, there’s going to be such a healthy balance between you two. i’m hearing that this person is going to be a wish fulfillment, pile 2. this might be a long distance relationship at first — you might have to travel to see each other or you both will like to travel to different places together. they will value you so much! they will wine and dine you, surprise you with your favorite things and make sure you always have whatever your heart desires. they love you and they will have no problem showing that.

other channeled messages:

short king, sagittarius, bisexual, when harry met sally, opposites attract, capricorn man, matcha latte, boyfriend by big time rush, saturn dominant, west virgina, virgo/6H placements, ruby, freckles

PILE THREE.

pile 333 🦢 whoa i'm already picking up that this is a love that only grows stronger and better with time; it ages like fine wine. WOW WOW WOW. i'm ngl i feel like this person is your divine counterpart…when i say you two are a match made in heaven — i mean it. you complete each other in ways that other people will never truly understand. there’s this unspoken love and desire between you two initially; i see you both stealing a lot of glances at each other, waiting for the other to cave in and say something…anything. you both want to close that space between you but don’t know exactly how to. i don’t think either of you has ever felt this way before about anybody 😮‍💨 this love is strong AF. it’s never a dull moment between you two, there’s always that underlying passion and spark ready to consume you both. i’m picking up that either your ex or their ex is going to be very envious of this relationship. they almost feel blindsided in a sense…they thought you were going to come back to them and give them another chance, so it's going to make them feel some type of way when they see that you’ve moved on. please be cautious of this ex pile 3…they don’t have good intentions at all and i pick up an obsessive vibe from them. we are blocking that all the way out 🧿 anyways! your person’s love language is more than likely quality time…they loveeeeeee spending time with you and stepping out of their comfort zone to try things that you like. there’s a solid friendship at the root of this connection pile 3…like not only is this person your lover, but they’re also your best friend wrapped into one. you will give them the key to your heart and vice versa. any other options or third party situations will be cut off/left behind because all you both can see is each other! nothing and no one can tear this relationship down because it’s built on such a strong foundation, you can see yourself with this person years down the line from now and they feel the exact same way. you’re home to them. i know this is your first love pile 3 but i wouldn’t be surprised if they popped the question 💍 — i'm just sayinnnnnnnnnn!

other channeled messages:

feel it by jacquees ft. lloyd & rich homie quan, la perla lingerie, just left a toxic relationship, rock the boat by aaliyah, air sign placements, 26, 111, lemon drop, leo, jaded by drake

[digitalagepulao]

My sincere Black Myth: Wukong review

Full disclosure! This is from a recent but earnest fan of JTTW as the original novel, as well as all the social, cultural and religious layers of it. I've seen my fair share of adaptations and derivative media, from shlocky to silly to grimdark to cutesy. I'm a bachelor in visual arts, with an interest in the field of game development since high school. I am also, white and brazillian, and have talked with other jttw fans, both Chinese and not, on this game. If any of these are for some reason motive to not read further, then fair enough. Hope you have fun and continue to enjoy the game, do not let me or my opinion stop you!

Now to the review proper <3

First things first, let the obvious not remain unsaid. This game, is supremely gorgeous. In every sense of the word, and I mean this fully, it's a work of art. The sound design, the character concepts and execution, the animations, the voice acting, the visual effects, the UI design, the cinematography, the 3D scanning of actual historical artofacts and heritage sites throughout China, and everything beyond and between, are phenomenal, full stop.

This was never a debate, I'm sure, but I don't think I can in good conscience not praise them for their work. It's no news that Asian talent, not just in China either, have been often hired to supplement projects on the West, and we can all agree it's about time they got to shine in their own AAA project. My issues with the international game industry notwithstanding, I hope this brings some much needed acknowledgment and appreciation for Chinese culture and arts, both traditional and modern!

Now, from this point on, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS, so proceed with caution!

(word count: +1.8k)

I also deeply enjoy their choices in arcs to revisit. Some like the Flaming Mountain arc are classic picks to adapt but still a very good match to the whole Six Senses throughline. I don't think you can do a JTTW 2 electric bogaloo without bringing up Niumowang and his family in some way (um, put a pin on that), but the other arcs like Yellowbrow or Black Wind Mountain aren't as explored imo, so it's nice to see them being given a bit of a spotlight.

(speaking of the Yellow Ridge arc, whoever made the executive decision of Lingji Bodhisattva being a Xaanxi singer is, genius!!)

I'm also kind of in love?? with Bajie's design and role in the story overall?? Gameplay wise he sticks around just enough to not feel lonely, but not too long to be a nuisance or overstay his welcome. He's no Atreus (GoW) or Ellie (TLoU) of course, but he doesn't need to be, and most importantly, he isn't trying to be, which I feel is admirable of the devs. Given the visible inspirations from the recent God of War games, it would have been easy to lean a bit too hard on it, but I'm glad they didn't overreach.

Him having a more complex love life is also a nice touch imo. It explores more his womanizer ways in an interesting way, and I appreciate it. I love when people complicate the pig! Also, the way he treats Xiaosheng (Destined One) like a nephew?? The scene on the Huaguoshan throne??? I'M GONNA CRY!!!

I think, I've run out of positive things to say.... time for the spicy takes.

I, kind of detest the premise by default. I'm not a big fan of "Superman is Dead" plots, cus it's usually either done for shock value, or taken so lightly that the weight is totally lost. I have such a love-hate situationship with the introduction cutscene because of this. On one hand, it's phenomenal cinema, and seeing Wukong stand up to the Heavenly armies in glorious 4K high fidelity graphics is delicious. On the other hand, the whole debate they are having has me going "?????", not because I don't get it but just, why?? Why did this have to be the premise?? (put another pin on that)

Also the set up and call to adventure is kind of blergh.

Now is as good a time as any to talk about the gameplay. It's, okay. If you enjoy trying to figure out the most stylish combos, or to mash buttons, then you'll definitely have fun. I was sorely disappointed that I pretty much have been going through the bosses rather easily. Chapter 1 it was mostly the struggle of learning the controls, but I never stuck to a boss for longer than seven tries (Whiteclad Noble, the snakeman that you are). Chapter 2 I only struggled on Tiger Vanguard, because I was sorely underleveled and had missed a pathway to explore before him. After that I second tried him. Chapter 3, I have and I'm not joking, gotten halfway through first or second trying every boss.

Mind you, this is not being some godtier gamer or whatever, I'm pretty average and only a recent player of soulslike games too (maybe playing Lies of P made too OP, but I sincerely doubt it lol). No, this is me saying that if you do explore the game and not rush through it, you won't struggle nearly as much as some people have and still are. Most of the final chapter bosses can be trivialized with the chapter's Obsession Realm gimmick artifact, which isn't in itself a bad thing, just feels like an odd choice personally.

Which leads me to, the level design. So far? Preeeeetty lame! It's very pretty and fancy, but so chockful of invisible walls that it feels stiffling and discourages exploration. I can never tell what is meant to be a path or just fancy scenery, and I never know when a jump will get walled or send me to my death by fall damage. When it's not being confusing, the level design is either a bunch of looping circles, or straight lines. And so far, besides a few interactables and loot, there is not much else to look at. That is, bad level design, plain and simple.

Also, the animations are glorious, but what is the point if I can't see the enemy?? That camera is my true nemesis, and I mean that. the fact that a boss can be beyond my field of vision at ANY POINT when I'm locked on and it strifes sideways, is dreadful. GameScience, FIX IT. It is also, very hard to tell what parts of a boss will damage me if I collide with them or not. The Kang-Jin Long fight was baffling on a design point of view, same for Captain Lotus-Vision. Some clearer hitboxes would be swell.

This is the point where I say my main issue with the game lies: it's very pretty, and adoringly crafted, but it lacks substance design wise. I feel like it needed to cook more, the level design polished more so I wouldn't get lost every five minutes, and clearer.... well, everything. Mechanic explanations, level progression, gimmicks, etc. It all needed to be less murky and convoluted to understand.

It also needed more meat in between bosses. I have yet to run into common enemies that give me actual trouble, so it ends up being just a jolly waltz from boss to boss. Boss rushes are fun and great, but not as the base game experience (for me at least). I had to stop one boss away from completing Chapter 1 cus I was just so exhausted. And I had been playing for like, an hour and a half?? That left a sour taste in my mouth, I'll be honest.

Okay, I'm gonna pick open those pins now.

#1 the Flaming Mountain Arc. I'm gonna be very real here chat, that was so cringe. What do you MEAN, Red Son wasn't Demon Bull King's biological son, and Princess Iron Fan was forced to drink from the Childbearing River??? And Red Son hates him????When I watched that cutscene, I had to pause and walk away for a moment, legitimately. This plotbeat is SO WILD to me, I got nothing to say. Just, why??Soooo bizarre. And that the Flaming Mountain Keeper has such a presence in Iron Fan's life is also, weird?? Not bad weird, just Weird, but that's like a nitpick more than an actual criticism. Ping Ping is fine though, I like that Bull has a daughter with Princess Fair Fox, that's cute and interesting. Wish she was in a better plot and adaptation but lol

And #2, the premise. Now we are getting to the meat of it all.

The underlying premise of the whole plot, including the true ending, is flawed by default. The premise runs on what is sometimes called as a "conspiracy theory plot", as in, "what if the gods were bad actually??". It's reddit movie theory content in very short terms, and while it had a place during the 00s grimdark years pre-Marvel, it's become quite a jaded and boring take nowadays. Now you may say that it comes from a genuine desire to show distrust and critique to insitutions and the powers than be, and I can see that.

There is a hiccup in that though.

In JTTW, Wukong is the Mind Monkey because of the religious text and subtext of the stories. Its interwoven in the whole thing, and makes it cohesive. It still offer critique and mockery to institutions, without entirely invalidating their foundations. Not only for genuine fear of prosecution, but because, shockingly, religion and belief is a major component of human society in general. But going back to my point, JTTW is *already* a critique of institutions and the power that be. Adding further layers into it feel like angst and edginess just for the sake of it, and that feels hollow to me.

To go further, this intent also clashes with their own plot. See, they bring up that Wukong's Mind, his Sixth Sense, died. Thus they need another Mind to guide his other senses and reform him, so that he may be reborn.

For one, that is such a convoluted way to do a reincarnation plot, it feels complicated just for novelty sake. Secondly, Wukong being the Mind Monkey, as I said, implies a tie to the underlying themes of the Journey as a person's path to enlightenment. If enlightenment itself is flawed because the gods are flawed/evil, then both themes are clashing. By making a "what if the gods were evil all along" plot while also going by the laws and order of said gods, then what are we even fighting against? What is the point of this whole rebellion between Erlang and Wukong??

my friend @ryin-silverfish said it best a while back, and I'm paraphrasing here (do pitch in or correct me if needed! <3), but the issue with these conspiracy narratives is the inherent anti-religion of them. They don't believe in anything, and thus they cannot properly retell the story of JTTW through a postmodern lense, because they refuse to engage with the religiosity that runs throughout the story.

It also leaves a sour taste in my mouth, because this game will likely be many people's first genuine experience with the JTTW mythos and story, and I tend to be concerned for how much this will "sour the pot" in the conversation. The novels are sadly innacessible enough as it is; the sheer size of them scare many people away, not even to mention the amount of underlying cultural context you'll miss out without proper footnotes and commentary. Most people will not engage with them directly, and certainly not most gamers.

While the narrative of someone embodying Wukong's spirit is not new in itself, I do find that it coexisting with such a poor premise and spin on it will be a sore first experience for new fans, and I can only hope that them meeting fans of the OG novels won't cause much friction in the fandom (we have enough as it is imo).

It also concerns me that, sadly, people and gamers in particular, get too swept up in the ooh-aah beauty of flashy sfx and highly detailed graphics, and fail to notice some of the underlying issues in game design. As I said, this game is a work of art, but it has flaws, and I don't think people are speaking of them enough. No, the issue is not "lack of diversity" or whatever the hell.

It runs deeper than that, and it's an issue I've come to see in recent movies as well. I'm aware it might just be different cultural expectations of the pacing and span of a story, and it may as well be! But I think if there was more care given to the bones of a media, it would bring much needed longevity and weight to these wonderful artworks.

All this said, I wanna see what acolades this game gets and see what the devs are cooking up with the DLCs (they said at one point the game was supposed to have 12 chapters and my god, that game would be TOO LONG. So glad it didn't get like that!), and further more see how this ripples in the eastern game dev scene. While this is a flawed game with a flawed story, it can be the first on a genuinely wonderful wave of new creations, not just by GameScience, and overall I'm hopeful for what might come next!

[biwitchenergyz]

My Top Three Issues with House of The Dragon (pt.1)

Issue #1. The Poor Use of Dragon Dreams and The Prophecy of Ice and Fire. 

In the first season, we are introduced to the idea of Aegon the Conqueror's dream when Viserys passes on this knowledge to Rhaenyra. This dream predicting the coming of white walkers is a good connection between House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, but by the second season, I wished it was never mentioned. Seemingly out of nowhere, Rhaenyra begins to back away from war on the premise that it will destroy the realm. She discusses the prophecy with Jacaerys as a way of explaining her reluctance to fight.

In season one, Rhaenyra did not have the same feelings. She seemed to revel in the knowledge that Viserys shared this information with her alone, but it never affected her decision to gather allies and retake her throne. Too much focus on the prophecy messes with the overall plot because it forces Rhaenyra to seem more of a sage thinking of the distant future than a character actively at war for her throne.

The prophecy explains her hesitance for battle, but it should never have been so prominent in the first place because it takes away from the problem and focuses on something that does not matter at this moment. Not only is it too concerned with the future, but it also doesn't make sense for Rhaenyra’s character established in Season One.

Rhaenyra, in season one, is willful, ambitious, and spoiled to an expected amount because she is the heir. She does not show any care for the common folk, instead insisting multiple times that they will simply have to accept her and that their opinions are irrelevant. She is haughty and is shown mocking Lady Redwyne and enjoying the violence of the tourneys. As an adult, she is glad when her father declares that the tongue of anyone who speaks against her and her children will be removed. She does not care about her little brother's injuries, and she challenges everyone with real velaryon blood so that she can seat her son on the driftwood throne.

This shows her ambition, cunning, strategy, and ability to use force when necessary. She is motivated by her claim to the throne and her children's claims to anything they want. This makes her so powerful in the first season; this makes us want her to get the throne. But we also know that with her spoiled nature, the smallfolk are not the reason she wants to rule, so why should she care about a prophecy that seems so distant. She needs to sit on the throne to make any change, not sulk. If the prophecy is why she hesitates, it does more harm than good.

Similarly, Alys Rivers and Helaena also create the problem of present vs future moments. Alys and Helaena are incredible characters, but by the second season, Helaena’s prophecies go from cryptic to ridiculously blunt. Her final speech to Aemond, though powerful and loved by many viewers, falls flat for me. Where is the girl who whispered, “he will have to close an eye” or “There is a beast beneath the board?”

Not only has her right to emotions been completely stripped from her character by destroying the blood and cheese scene and then forcing her to move on by the next episode, but now even her Cassandra-like nature is removed and replaced with someone who sees the future, not just in strange dreams, but in vivid detail. Aemond does not need to know that Aegon will rule again; he does not need to know that he dies in God's eye because it would make no sense for him to continue fighting if he knew the outcome of everything.

Similarly, Alys revealing the ENTIRE future to Daemon was pointless. Daemon seeing Danerys should mean nothing to him at this point. From his perspective, she is just another Targaryen with a dragon; the unique thing is that three dragons are with her, but at this point, there are multiple Dragons in Westeros; her bringing dragons back to life does not hold significance for Daemon because Dragons have not died. If anything, knowing the future and the ruin of House Targaryen would have made him withdraw from battle or fight to put himself on the throne instead of running to Rhaenyra, who, in his vision, sits on the throne and leads to the fall of House Targaryen.

The show is trying too hard to connect with Game of Thrones when these things are unnecessary. House of The Dragon is set in Westeros with many Targaryens; they do not need to know all the future events, the long night, or anything established in a Game of Thrones. Not everyone needs to see the future. Helaena and Alys are unique because they know things that others do not. The extent of what they know is questionable, but Alys can see far into the future, and Helaena experiences dreams or visions that may not always be specific. If everyone knows what the future holds, then Alys and Helaena are just two more characters with no desire for war or to sway in either direction. 

In the books, and even in Season One, nobody knew what the future held besides perhaps Helaena. That is why they knew that crowning different people would be an act of war, so why do we suddenly not want to finish what has begun? Both sides have lost children, and where they should haunt the narrative, they are hardly mentioned again. Suppose the loss of these children is not enough to motivate the factions to war, then knowing that the future is destined for ruin probably won't help. The Dance of the Dragons is meant to be a series of unfortunate and horrible events that lead to the ruin of a once-powerful house. This has nothing to do with the white walkers, the mother of dragons, or even the Lannister/Baratheon on the throne because none of that is in the near future, and none of it changes the present moment.

Perhaps Alys has seen all of this, and that is what makes her such an eccentric figure, quite different from the gothic shadow I was expecting; maybe instead of showing Daemon all these things that don't change his fate, she could simply continue taunting him and reminding him of his own demons rather than the demons of the future.

Perhaps Helaena sees the future in prophetic visions and strange dreams. Maybe she is doomed to know things and never be believed, but if she knows too much and shares too much, then what significance does she have besides telling everyone how things will end despite them never being able to change it? Helaena should continue to be the prophetess who can still be taken by surprise and is still helpless to stop what is out of her control. This is what should push her to the brink of insanity, existing in so many worlds and yet never knowing what is happening in your own.

The future of House Targaryen does not matter if they do not go to war. If they stall, nobody will sit on the throne; if they fight, there is a chance that one of them will become the realm's protector. The building blocks for war have been set, and dwelling over prophecy and prophetic dreams that have nothing to do with their current situation will not make a difference. Blood has been shed, and nobody should know what to expect, but everyone knows something must be done. The prophecy and the dreams are great, to a point, that point being that only two people in the world know what the future holds, and while one wishes to stop it and the other merely observes, everything will continue to the peril of the Targaryens.

[myimaginedcorner]

SCALES OF JUSTICE - BETA TESTERS NEEDED

Hi dear readers,

Thank you for your overwhelming trust and support. The opinions that I've collected over the past few days have finally motivated me to put aside my self-criticism and doubt, and to make the next step towards SoJ's release.

Yes, Scales of Justice is now officially in its BETA-test phase!!

If you would like to help me by being a BETA-tester for my book, please, comment under this post, send me a direct message, or message me on CoG's forum. I aim to take around 20 to 30 people, so we can have a big and productive group that nonetheless remains constructive in its feedback.

If you don't have the time or you don't want to be a tester, consider sharing this post, so it can get to as many of you as possible.

I will be working alongside the testers on improving style, grammar, and other minor details that require polishing as the month progresses. Hopefully, by the end of it we'll have an even better version of this book that will be submitted for approval to Hosted Games!

See you all very soon,

Julia xx

BOOK DETAILS:

DEMO DESCRIPTION:

Scales of Justice is a fantasy game situated in another world, far away from Earth. There are plenty of species living together in harmony, but the human race is currently split in two civilisations: the one known as Hero kingdom, which is ruled by ‘heroes’, and the one named Vannais kingdom, controled by ‘villains’. Both nations hate each other and the fight between ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ here is something that happens on a national level. The game is focused on lore, on character development and your own perception of reality: perhaps, your MC just wants to live a peaceful life... or maybe wants to save the world.

Or even rule it, if you’re into such things.

THINGS TO DO IN THIS DEMO:

Set off on a new adventure towards Neutral Lands, to meet a mythic creature of all answers - The Visionary.

Gather up to 3 companions to help you in your quest - befriend, romance or rival them, the choice is yours.

Buy a horse - we know you want one.

Fight, conjure, support, speak or think - choose your way of handling a tricky situation.

Explore the kingdom of Hero up to Menai's shore, in search for someone - or something - to aid you in your journey.

The DEMO version of the book runs up to Chapter 5 and contains 276K words overall. I will be putting up updated versions of the first chapters as I work my way through them, so expect the DEMO version to become a polished reflection of what the final book will look like!

USEFUL LINKS:

If you want to know a little more about this project and read chapters 1-5, I'll leave the link to the game here -> https://dashingdon.com/play/myimaginedcorner/scales-of-justice/mygame/

If you want to discuss anything on CoG's forum, I'll leave the link for SoJ here -> https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/wip-scales-of-justice-new-project-announcement-and-demo-release/101088/16

If you want to send me a more extensive feedback, here's my email -> feedbackscalesofjustice@gmail.com

Any mistakes, concerns or questions you have, feel free to contact me through Tumblr! I am very excited to share this story with all of you, and I want to make it as good as possible with your help!

RO DESCRIPTIONS:

Shoren/Seile -> Heir to the Hero kingdom's throne, right where your journey starts. Also, your old friend who's very attached to you. Likes to read and practices magic, enjoys adventure and heroic deeds. A recognised “hero”, with blonde curly hair, pale skin and a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

Robert/Reina -> Order's Paladin, defender of Hero and Knight of Fate. Brave and honourable, determined to protect the people of the kingdom. Very loyal to friends and very dangerous as an enemy. Has short brown hair, tanned skin and an athletic build.

Valerius/Venis -> An Outworlder, who was caught by cultists from the Wicked Woods. Gracious, elegant and charismatic. Has long dark brown hair with a silver streak, olive skin and golden eyes.

Arion/Aria -> Leader of Vannais, a recognised “villain” who escaped from Hero and now rules the enemy kingdom. Serious, reserved but temperamental. Prefers action over words and so is always present on battlefields and amidst negotiations, even though never in official manner. Has short blonde hair, pale skin and emerald eyes.

Be careful! These characters have their thoughts and opinions on the world and your actions: if you want them to support you, convince them or take their side… or neither. That is your choice after all!

[getvalentined]

@sephirthoughts: my tumblr app isn’t showing your ask box for some reason so i’m asking here 😂 8, 12, 35, 47 for vincent please? 🖤🖤🖤🖤

(I turned it off and back on again so let me know if you see it now! I just turned it back on today after having it off for a couple weeks, so I'm not shocked it's a bit buggy.)

[For the Random Character Asks game.]

8. Unpopular opinion about them?

I mean my most unpopular opinion about Vincent is definitely that he's the single most compelling character in the entirety of Final Fantasy VII, but with regard to like...headcanons and character interpretations, it's probably that I don't think most of his monsters are actually entirely separate entities with their own unique personalities—I don't even interpret Chaos as sapient the majority of the time.

Aside from Hellmasker, who I've discussed before, any personality seen in Vincent's monsters is literally just a facet of Vincent's own with various traits and aspects stripped away based on the trauma through which they manifested. Galian and Gigas are more like partially-dissociated identities, not complete entities unto themselves, while Chaos has the capacity for periodic sapience only after decades of filtering itself through Vincent's consciousness via the protomateria. At its core Chaos is really just an animal, meaning any personality it might seem to express is the result of it mimicking Vincent over time, which is why it's just vicious and out of control when it manifests in Dirge without the protomateria. (I think my take on the protomateria is probably also wildly unpopular, but I actually can't remember seeing anyone else ever talking about how they believe it functions, so I'm not sure you can call something "unpopular" when there is no "popular" option.)

Fandom really likes portraying all of them as completely separate fully-fledged characters, and it's easier for my Vincent to refer to them similarly in most contexts, but he knows that's not really how it works—he just chooses not to explain it.

12. Crack headcanon?

Vincent is the king of Junon. No, I'm not kidding, this is consistent in basically all my renditions of Vincent. Even if it doesn't come up, if I'm portraying Vincent in basically any version of the canon universe wherein the Wutai War took place, Vincent is the king of Junon.

My version of Valentine family is founding nobility in Junon, which is a crowned republic, with the royal family basically operating as a ceremonial figurehead. The royal family has no actual ruling power at this point, but people like having them around—particularly the other noble families, who use their existence as a way of maintaining the right to a share of taxes and the like—and between the war with Shinra and everything else, nothing has ever really been done to change that.

I was going to try to explain the genealogy behind this, and then I remembered that I have a chart—and I'm gonna put it and the rest of this post under a cut, because this is stupidly long at this point and I'm two questions deep.

Vincent's extended family tree:

Okay so, Vincent's second cousin was Queen Adelaide, who took the throne fairly young due to her mother passing away; the one who "married in" doesn't keep rulership after the death of their spouse except in cases where their heir is still a minor, and then rulership passes to the heir upon adulthood. If there is no heir, the title gets kicked to the next royal-by-blood on the line. Adelaide died in the late '90s, unmarried and without an heir—but there were no other royals left. She was an only child, and all the others were dead.

...Well, probably. See, Vincent had been listed as missing in action since 1978. Because of the clandestine nature of the department, Turks that disappear aren't listed as dead until there's either a body recovered, or they've been missing for 50 years, whichever comes first. Legally, Vincent was still alive, and the Junon Society of Royals (aka the JSR, the group responsible for keeping Junonese nobility in their wealth) grabbed onto that to perform what's called a "paperwork ascension." These used to be pretty common back when heirs would get sent away to war or for school or whatever, gone for years at a time whether their ruling parent died or not.

The plan was for the JSR to plug Vincent in temporarily and proceed to dig back through the entire genealogical record to try to find some distant heir who was actually present and definitely alive to put on the throne instead (there is also a mechanism for this in Junonese tradition) but there was the whole war with Wutai, and then a bunch of terrorist nonsense happened, then everything went sideways with Meteor, then Geostigma, then Omega—and then King Vincent Vickalor Valentine VII, a man who should have been about 60 years old and whom everyone assumed was actually dead as hell everywhere except on paper, reappeared working with the WRO in 2010.

Vincent had absolutely no idea any of this had happened. He had no fucking clue that he'd legally been king of Junon for over a decade. Upon finding out via a very angry letter from the JSR asking him to pass the crown to another noble family and please do not come be King Cryptid the public cannot take it, he instead routed as much of the royal family's share of taxes as he was legally allowed to the WRO as a recurring charitable donation, including that same percentage from the escrow account into which that share had been fed since Queen Adelaide's death, and divvied up as much of the rest as was permissible to various other charitable causes. A good chunk of it is stuck just sitting there, which is annoying because he doesn't want it, but if he dissolves the monarchy then the WRO stops getting that funding so he can't do that just yet. He will eventually, since he can't die and thus the JSR screwed themselves over by putting him "in charge," but it will be a while before he does it.

This means that the king of Junon owns three pairs of pants, lives in an apartment that contains only a mattress and a radio, and hasn't gotten his hair cut in over 30 years. The JSR do not broadcast his existence and he doesn't meddle too much with their bougie nonsense, so it's not general public knowledge.

Reeve knew the entire time and just never said anything.

35. Their idea of a perfect day?

This one is actually really hard, because my Vincent doesn't really...think that way? He doesn't really make his own plans or have his own aspirations, because if he thinks about his future he won't stop and that's pretty crippling for him what with the immortality, so the idea of a perfect day hasn't crossed his mind since he was sent to Nibelheim.

If we're going outside his thoughts on the concept and into what would be a perfect day for him within the feasible bounds of his general existence immediately postcanon, it would vary depending on which headcanon universe I'm working with. Going with the one I've been playing in the most recently, it would start with cloudy weather in Junon and a short workday at WRO HQ—busy enough to keep occupied but slow enough that he can afford to head out early—followed by his mostly-monthly visit to Edge to help Tifa deep clean the bar and kitchen at Seventh Heaven. After that, he and Tifa and Cloud (and Barret, who is stated to live in Edge as well post-AC) would hang out in the closed bar and catch up, maybe have a few drinks; once it's dark enough, Vincent and Cloud would split off, finding somewhere quiet and secluded to recover from all that peopling. Maybe up on the roof, maybe a little ways out of town, and they'd stay out there until Cloud got sleepy, at which point Vincent would get him home. Maybe Vincent would stay the night, but realistically it'd only ever be to sleep. Someday maybe it would be more than that, but Vincent does his best not to think about the future.

A perfect day is being useful, getting to pretend he's still a normal person, and spending time with the people who won't call him out on the lie.

47. Their dream job?

Vincent's dream job is being a Turk. Period. It doesn't matter what point in time we're talking about, that's the answer.

Postcanon, this isn't because he wants anything to do with Shinra (the Turks don't actually work with Shinra anymore by then in my headcanon, the department was absorbed into the WRO just after AC), but because it was the only thing Vincent ever really wanted to do before. He and Tseng would butt heads too much for him to rejoin the department, but that doesn't even matter—Vincent is extremely mako-enhanced, among other things, and Turks aren't allowed to have any biological augmentations. His abilities may have been forced on him, but they're still very much enhancements, so Vincent's physiology bars him from the only job he ever wanted.

Vincent is no longer a Turk, and never will be again—no matter how much he might dream about it.

[rrhodes25]

So I've been thinking about God Games, specifically how each god presents their own argument/interest in the discussion, I think it is genuinely an excellent piece of characterization in such a short amount of time.

Zeus- Zeus is the epitome of pride in all of God Games. He doesn't take the request seriously(at first) and when he does, it is only because the other gods have formed something resembling a united front in disagreement with him. That's really all Zeus cares about- ensuring his position is not threatened, because he loves where he is and believes that anyone with half a mind would be constantly after his power and throne.

Athena- Across the entire song she is trying so so SO hard to be reasonable. She's upset and emotional and almost goes through the whole ordeal keeping those emotions in check. The two times that falters is when Ares slings insults at Ody and Telemachus (while simultaneously fucking with her mind) and she lets herself cut loose for a moment. The other is after Zeus smites the shit out of her. I've seen a bunch of people say that Athena's last lines in the song don't feel very determined, very Athena. They feel like begging, something Athena wouldn't be caught dead doing in most cases. And I think that is the entire point. She has no other option. She tried logic. She tried resisting overwhelming force. It didn't work. All she can do is display herself at her weakest, willingly, as a last-ditch attempt to make SOMETHING happen.

Apollo- Apollo is the least interested in the whole affair and is just having a good time because he has to be there. With Apollo being the patron god of so many things, I think it is clever to make him somewhat uninterested in arguments with the other gods, he has other shit to deal with that he feels is more important and is definitely more fun than this nonsense.

Hera- Hera is also having a blast, but clearly has different feelings about the affair. She doesn't point out something wrong Ody did, only asks Athena for her most compelling argument. When that happens, she gives Athena her blessing in a very direct way, in my mind side-eyeing Zeus the whole rest of the song.

Aphrodite- I have mixed feelings about Aphrodite and her argument. While the point she makes and why she would make it checks out, it seems needlessly mean-spirited. The song itself(Athena) points this out in "he was busy fighting". It seems that Aphrodite is speaking from a point of frustration and/or spite, rather than giving the affair a good long look.

Ares- Ares has one of the most compelling arguments in the song in my opinion, until he starts to sling insults. The point that yeah, Ody did not attempt to fight, fled from Scylla, allowing men to die under his command is a reasonable thing for a god of war to be upset about. But again, as soon as he got too aggressive it all fell apart.

Hephaestus- I've seen a lot of talk about how Hephaestus, like Apollo, so clearly did not want to be there, and didn't put up much resistance for that reason. I think this is somewhat true, but doesn't say all there is to say. Because Hephaestus by far has the best argument of any of the gods. Why should he support someone who sacrificed his own men? His friends? The men who looked to him for guidance? It doesn't feel like Hephaestus was dragged out of his forge for this without any context. It feels like Hephaestus has been listening, quietly on the sidelines where no one notices him. THEN he is dragged out of his forge against his will.

Honestly, I had more to say than I thought I did. Thanks for indulging me, feel free to share your own thoughts on all this, I'm curious what others think.

[themotherofhorses]

I think it’s time to be real, Vic. I am genuinely very disappointed at the fact that you decided to murder handmaid, despite so many of your readers begging you to not go through with it. I read through your “handmaid” tag and it seems like a good majority voted against it. Do you not care for them? Do you not value their own input and opinions? Honestly, what was the point of building up such a gorgeous romance only to butcher it at the very end? Plus the violence you shared in that snippet is equally disturbing and unnecessary, especially being aimed at small children.

“Her twins are dead – their tiny, broken bodies strewn near their father’s desk. One is missing his head, if she is correct. Was it Aemion? Aenar?”

Yikes.

I think this is very telling. But, in the end, you are an adult. Do what you want to do, but just know that this decision will cost you some of your biggest fans, myself included.

Hello anon! I’m gonna use proper capitalization and punctuation to answer this because …. woah. LMAO.

I hear you, I see you, I feel you.

But let’s have a friendly little conversation: at the end of the day, this is fucking FANFICTION. It is NOT real! There is literally no need to be this upset over something as silly as words being typed up in a word doc. I promise you that it does not equal the ending of the world.

(But also let’s be real, if handmaid was canon in F&B, GRRM would’ve probably killed her off too. It is rare that something so good and pure actually survives within the world of Westeros.)

Listen, I understand that many people didn’t want handmaid (and her children) to meet such a horrible fate; that is why I decided to offer two “canon” endings — an angst and a happy one. That way you can easily ignore the angst ending in favor of the happy one!! Problem solved.

But ….. but you are also treading through the Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon fandom.

Major character death, extreme acts of violence, and heartbreak is expected. Have you actually read F&B? Literally everyone DIES in the book. They all meet such gruesome fates, including the children. Just look at Helaena! At Jaehaerys! No one is safe.

One of the most common themes found inside ASOIAF is “the innocent always pays the price for the actions of their rulers.”

In my handmaid series, handmaid/Anya (+her children) endure the consequences of Aemond’s actions at Storm’s End (and, by extension, the actions of the Greens usurping the throne following the death of Viserys). I’d argue that her death ventures incredibly close to canon-level material.

You do not need to read this upcoming fanfic update. I will not hold you responsible for such. No feelings will be hurt, I promise. As I mentioned in previous replies, the happy ending will soon follow; in fact, “hair braiding” and “family picnic” are canon to the happy ending!

So let’s all chill out. Take a deep breath, eat a snickers bar, go scratch a dog between their ears.

[witchthewriter]

𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔, 𝑨 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 & 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑹𝒆-𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅

Okay, so I'm re-reading all of SJM's books (well, Throne of Glass series, ACOTAR & Crescent City) before the new CC3 book comes out. And I've had some thoughts and opinions ... (I would also love if people wanted to share their 2 cents!)

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝑶𝑮:

・Okay, I guess I'll never have the same exciting feeling when reading this series

・It feels like coming home, honestly.

・When the book ended, I just ... I didn't want it to be over, I felt like Aelin when everyone was going back to their own kingdoms - just stay until the end of Winter!

・I cannot say how much I love Abraxos; he PLAYS in the FLOWERS, and he FALLS IN LOVE. Like??? Can we get a lil book on the Wyverns SJM please! (because technically the game of thrones dragons are actually wyverns. Dragons have four legs and a pair of wings, wyverns have two legs and wins that attach to the front.

・I can't picture Lorcan perfectly in my head and that drives me crazy. And I was also againt Henry Cavill as Rowan, but I can't unsee it. After watching the Witcher...

・

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝑪𝑶𝑻𝑨𝑹:

・I honestly do think Feyre is a bit of a Mary-Sue. Even after all these books, I still don't understand why a mother would ask her youngest to look after the two eldest? Her illiterate youngest child?

・And why is Elan planting FLOWERS in the garden? Why not VEGETABLES? Ffs, or at least edible flowers like wtf.

・Nesta ... I'm one of the people who understand her, but also ... coming from poverty myself, I know what it's like to

・Also can Feyre fall into her female rage a bit? I just feel like she has a lot of pain that she's pushed down, and down and down. She needs to ... have more healing.

・AND HER BECOMING PREGNANT GOD REALLY, it just kinda ... I hate that trope. I only like this trope with Katniss and Peeta: that's how it's done right.

・Having two sisters mated to two best friends, but then the third sister and best friend may not be mated?? It's either all in or all out.

・I wish there was some explanation about the magic involved in not only the mating, but also the cauldron. It's all too ambiguous.

・AND WHAT MAKES MOR POWERFUL?! "Her power is truth." What. Does. That. Even. Mean.

・I did like A Court of Silver Flames though. I thought it was a brilliant book about Nesta's healing.

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝑪:

・It took me a while to get into the book, but once I did ... omg, I have even more characters that I love.

・And I cannot wait until the next book comes out! Although there were some aspects of the book that I found boring; like the viper queen (if I even got that right)

・Also the audiobook for CC & TOG are much more superior than ACOTAR. Even though they have a 'dramatised version,' there's an even better one on Youtube by the reader hag.

・I miss Lehaba so much

・And I saw somewhere that Bryce is the long-lost ruler of a Prythian court? And that Azriel might be one of the Princes of Hel?

・SJM does a great job at forming groups that you feel apart of

・Some people find Hunt boring, I don't ... I, well I rank him above Chaol. Ruhn is cool though, Bryce is incredible. Though I hate when I look up fanart of her and it's just a skinny girl with red hair? She's got golden skin, she's fit but curvy, and I want to see proper representation.

[2-dsimp]

Hi NightFlurry again!!

Thank you so much for loving my ideas. I'm an avid reader of your blog and love making my own stories; I always check if you have anything interesting to read or any cool art.

While I was reading your genshin yandere otome game, my brain started churning, and I thought to myself, 'If there's a yandere school au, why can't there be a yandere fantasy au as well' I'm so glad you love my work, I was afraid that it wasn't good enough...ToT Anyways, I'm trying to brainstorm some backgrounds for other characters, so far I'm working on Kazuha, Wanderer, Ei, Dainself, Diluc, Kaeya, and Zongli, but feel free to ask/request for any particular character!!

Also, I love it when people comment back on my work. It makes me feel so happy when I read each comment even if it's as lengthy as 4 paragraphs! So please feel free to comment! P.S. I'd also love to hear your opinions 2-dsimp!!

Bye NightFlurry!!

And thank you for blessing me with such good food o(≧v≦)o

I just came back from a jog so my mind is racing with ideas to share and add onto to the fantasy au from my pov! Firstly I’ll just list off the few possible candidates I can see vying for the readers hand in holy or unholy matrimony depending on what ending you get!

Itto the Terrible (He’s a dragon Oni )/Childe the Abyssal knight. but I’ll probably introduce them sometime later so for now I’ll officially announce…

Tyrant Prince! Scaramouche

He���s shunned by the royals and commoners alike. The royals find him to be unfit for succession of the queens throne simply because he was adopted by the shogun and to add insult to injury he had commoners blood running through his veins or so they thought.

As for the reason why the commoners held Tyrant prince! Scaramouche in such low regards was because of his crass and cold behavior towards them. Just imagine the look of fear, embarrassment, and shock the commoners had when he looked at them like they were mere ants, an insignificant existence that wasn’t befitting of his presence nor his attention. And treated them as such.

Although To be fair, Tyrant prince!Scaramouche wasn’t always that way. In his younger days of youth he used to be sociable and warm towards his subjects. But an incident which brought his downfall into the dark abyss of turmoil. That was done by the hands of one who he thought of as a true friend. Caused his heart to grow cruel and cold towards commoners and nobles as a whole.

To make matters worse his relationship with his mother was already strained to the point where only bitterness remained lingering on his tongue whenever he spoke of her.

Not only that he wasn’t the only one the shogun adopted being the meticulous woman she is she rounded up potential orphans that would carry on her legacy. The succession battle was nothing less then pretty since everyone who was an orphan knew the terrible conditions of those who lacked power. And so every son and daughter had the intention to kill anyone getting in there way.

With those factors Tyrant prince! Scaramouche made a promise to himself to never let anyone in as he was all he had left to salvage what remains of himself. Until he met you someone who reminded him so much of himself and yet the only difference was you were strong enough to try and free yourself from what chained you down. Instead of wallowing in self pity, hatred, and helplessness.

However, with your help he knows that the both of you could take over his kingdom via rebellion and claim revenge on the ones who wronged you both. While You deal with your shameless parents who’ve tried to sell you off into marriage with a fat old rich king from afar. Just for a quick buck to prevent the decline in their poor province.

He will execute any and all loose ends so he can truly be set free as his own person. With Tyrant prince! Scaramouche by your side it’s a guarantee that the two of you will govern his country with nobody to stand in the way of y’all’s powerful reign. All you have to do is accept that your his precious tyrant queen if not well he has his ways of convincing you otherwise. As he’s not the type to keep his hands clean…

“Isn’t the scenery beautiful my queen look at what we accomplished, now that we’re in power no one will be able to defy us nor deny us of our existence. Together we’re unstoppable— My dear why’re are you shedding your precious tears? Aren’t you happy that your family is dead, you wanted them alive you say? Haha you’re joking right? Well I suppose you’re not, I offer my utmost condolences my love but they were the ones who almost prevented us from being together. For that I couldn’t just exile them…No, for such a grave sin it ‘twas only natural that death was the only option available for them to truly repent for what they’ve done.

————/———————/———-

I might post doodles of him sometime later XD

[thelastbicorn]

The Metaphor: Re Fantazio hype train isn’t quite chugging at full speed yet, so I thought I might share some of my theories regarding the plot: Specifically: who is the *real* villain? The Big Bad? The final boss? I can identify a few candidates, who I’ll list in order of increasing likelihood (in my opinion).

1. Louis - This is the obvious one. Too obvious, methinks. I honestly think this guy is going to turn out to be an anti-villain/hero in the end. We’re probably still going to have a big climactic battle with him (bonus points if he has an archetype), but it won’t be the final battle. I predict that he will be defeated, die staring into the Protagonist’s eyes as they realize they weren’t so different after all, and then...the Prince’s curse doesn’t wear off. Uh-oh. We did exactly what another bad guy wanted us to do. Fuck. Who is that nefarious villain, you ask? Read on...

2. More - I’m not sure I trust this guy. We know he’s a prisoner in Akademia. For what? Writing a book that the powers that be didn’t like? Maybe. Or perhaps there’s another reason that he’s not telling us? I dunno. I might just be having P5 flashbacks. (They wouldn’t pull that twist AGAIN, would they?)

3. Forden - This is the “other bad guy” I was talking about. The game seems to be setting him and Louis up as foils and rivals for the throne, and while we’re being led to believe that the latter is the more dangerous/evil one, I don’t buy it. I seriously wonder if Louis is really the one responsible for the Prince’s curse. We see the masked figure cast the spell, but how do we know it’s Louis? If Forden wants the throne himself, he would have just as much reason to want the King’s only heir dead. As the leader of the Sanctist Church, he’s already seen as a de facto leader, and he starts the election in the #1 position anyway. He probably wouldn’t have killed the King with his own hands like Louis did, but as a Rhoag (with their long lifespans), he could afford to play the waiting game once the Prince was out of the picture. I’m rambling now, but you get the picture. This guy is potentially just as villainous as Louis, if not more so.

4. Hythlodaeus V aka the late King aka the Big Giant Floating Head of Doom - Yes, I’m serious. I mean, just look at him/it! That thing is just screaming Final Boss. Hell, it could be a final dungeon in itself, like Sin in Final Fantasy X. It’s present in the battle UI from the moment it appears. Why? Because it’s watching you. It’s watching *everyone*. In-game they mention a “royal magic” that only the King can wield, which isn’t described in detail but is said to be a deterrent to invasion. That sounds pretty damn powerful, whether it’s defensive or offensive in nature. It sort of seems like it has a will of its own, activating after the King’s death right in the middle of his funeral. The election “seems” a tad fishy to me too. Sure, it seems progressive for a high fantasy setting, but consider this: What if the purpose of the election isn’t necessarily to find a new ruler for the kingdom, but for finding the royal magic a new *host*?

Honorable Mention: “Scheming Man” - As shown in the latest preview, this character appears in the beginning, breaking the fourth wall to ask the player for their name. So...what exactly are they scheming, anyway? If they can perceive our world, then they could easily know some things that no one else in-universe does. That already makes them more dangerous, potentially. There’s also the possibility that it’s someone we know already. It could be More; I need to listen to their voices again. If it is More, then he belongs at the top of the potential villain list. If not, then he stays where he already is. This is why this entry is off to the side. I don’t know if he’s somebody we’ve seen or not.

In any case, I’ve talked enough. I can’t wait until next month, when all of my predictions get proven completely and utterly wrong. I’m honestly hoping for some kind of mind-bending twist at the end of the second act, but only time will tell.

[mrhaitch]

what are your views on booktok?

because in my opinion, it has caused a great deal of overconsumption and oversaturation in the literary industry. it's harder for authors who genuinely have a story to tell publish their books out there just because they don't contain the popular tropes or smut. (just to clarify, i grew up reading fanfics and i absolutely have nothing against smut or tropes, i write them myself. but they are not an indication of well-written literature.)

not to mention the rise in the romanticization of violence against women and toxic relationships. that was always there, but booktok kind of increased it in the name of being morally gray. morally gray characters can literally exist without being literal SAers. and it genuinely confuses me because booktok is a female dominated industry.

ive been reading since i was 6 years old and i was so glad when i found there was a community for readers on tiktok. i used to love booktok back in 2021 when people actually gave book recs based on plots and characters and depth and not how much smut it has. it couldve easily been a safe space for POC authors to publish books filled with representation and diversity and instead it turned into whatever it is now.

im also bitter because the girls who used to bully me for reading percy jackson and harry potter in middle school now claim to be readers while refusing to read anything that has no smut in it and reading books with worse plots than what i used to read on wattpad when i was 13.

(im not an elitist i swear i read and love books that arent just classics)

I believe I've talked about this a bit before, but I share your concerns. In fact I think it's part and parcel of people misusing and misunderstanding what social media is good for and what it's bad for.

Novels are complex media, the discussion of which requires time, space, nuance, and reflection. Tiktok affords users none of those, as it is focused entirely on quick, attention gabbing sips of raw dopamine. As such only the most salacious of story beats can be emphasised, as they're the most attention grabbing, which creates an atmosphere where books with MORE salacious content get more exposure.

The publishing industry, while made up of a lot of very smart and very passionate people, is collectively stupid - more so now that publishing houses are falling under the ownership of venture capitalists looking for a quick buck. Any trend or gimmick that's popular can and will be wrung until it's dry and howling. You'll be able to track this in real-time:

An excellent book becomes a cultural flashpoint, and people talk about it and recommend it to damn near everyone.

People who want to be published and successful and view those things as ends within themselves will try and distill that flashpoint into tropes, which they deploy themselves.

The market floods with more of the thing people like, and everyone's happy. The trend intensifies, each new iteration of those tropes becomes more and more basic - less a story which features those tropes, more a series of tropes with some narrative in between.

Then we hit peak saturation, and the appetite comes to a dead stop. Seemingly overnight readers will collectively nope out of the trend, and then start pushing back at it, complaining they're sick of having the same tired stuff shoved down their necks.

After which it's a case of waiting for the next thing. For examples see: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, Game of Thrones, 50 Shades of Grey, and all of their respective derivatives.

Best advice - completely ignore it. Sidestep the whole fetid quagmire and do your own thing, it'll die out on its own.

[books-bythe-bay]

I'm unsure if this will help anybody...

But I just wanted to share some of my favorite literary devices to pick apart in books!

Also!! Hello, I'm Alex! I'm 20 and I'm the owner of this little blog. My blog is a safe space for anybody and everybody who needs and/or wants one. I love to read, and I've been doing so voraciously since I could understand what exactly was going on!

In this post (and it is a longer post), I'll be going over different ways that authors/writers/poets/wordsmiths present the imagery and symbolism within their works; as well as a few examples!!

--------Start--------

Literary devices of:

Imagery and symbolism;

Metaphor:

A metaphor is a symbol used to tell a story where it’s a picture that really describes something else. For example:

“And the ships went out into the High Sea and passed into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the gray rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.” —J.R.R Tolklen, The Return of the King.

In literature, the sea is quite often used as a symbol of death, and with Frodo passing to another shore could be used as a symbol of him passing out of the world. So, this is very much a metaphor for death.

Simile:

A simile is similar to a metaphor, the only difference is that it uses the words “like,” or “as.” For example:

“O my Luve is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

That’s sweetly played in tune.” —Robert Burns, A Red, Red Rose

It is making a deliberate comparison between two things.

Pathetic Fallacy:

This is another use of imagery. It can be slightly like a metaphor, but it is something much more specific. For example:

“By th’clock ‘tis day, / And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp; is’t night’s predominance, or the day’s shame / That darkness does the face of the earth entomb / When living light should kiss it?” —William Shakespeare, Macbeth

“A cold wind was blowing from the North, and it made the trees rustle like living things.” — George R.R Martin, A Game of Thrones

Pathetic Fallacy is when the writer uses the natural world, as in the weather, the landscape to reflect the inner state of the characters in the story.

Allegory:

“The animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not to be doled out to them by a grudging master.” — George Orwell, Animal Farm, chapter 3.

This is the use of symbols and undertones to convey an idea and/or opinion of the writer.

Imagery:

Imagery is another literary device that sets the tone of what we’re reading. For example:

“But who knows what she spoke to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of the bower closing in about her, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in?” J.R.R Tolkien, The Return of the King.

The image that is depicted here not only describes the character/situation; but also sets the stage for an atmosphere of darkness, and the feeling of being without a choice, the feeling of being trapped, etc.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats high o’er vales and hills,

When at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” — William Wordsworth, Daffodils.

This is another example of imagery, one that has us think of bright and sunny; maybe even relaxing scenery. This sets a very different tone from the previous quote.

Foreshadowing:

A literary device that is not only limited to books, as it can be in TV shows and movies as well. For example (in the literary context):

The horse brooch from Sommerville and Ross’ The Real Charlotte.

****SPOILER**** In this novel, one of the principal characters, Francy, is eventually killed in a riding accident at the end of the novel. But, throughout the novel there are symbols of horses doing her harm. For example, at one point in the novel she is pricked by a horseshoe brooch which causes her some pain—and so, these little incidents throughout the novel point to her eventual fit.

Also, George R.R Martin’s Game of Thrones is famous for the use of foreshadowing throughout the novels. A great example of the foreshadowing used in this book is the dead stag, which is being dismembered by Taiwan Lannister. Now a stag in the book A Song of Ice and Fire represents the Baratheon family and it is the sigil of the house of Baratheon. So, when we see Taiwan cutting up the stag, that foreshadows the fact that Taiwan’s house, the house of Lannister, will eventually destroy the house of Baratheon.

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Post Script: I'm very thankful that you've read this far, and if you have any questions at all please ask me!! I love answering questions, and I'll do my best to be as thorough as I can in my answer. Also, it has been a hot minute since I've read George R.R Martin’s Game of Thrones, so I apologize if I misspelled anyone's name/house!

[gallawitchxx]

weekly tag wednesday!

i was tagged by a ton of cuties -- @darlingian @energievie @deedala @palepinkgoat @crestfallercanyon @francesrose3 @mmmichyyy @lingy910y & @juliakayyy! thanks cuties! i'm smooching each & every one of you on the cheek!

about me

name: bee age: 31 star sign: cancer your first language: english second language: french! i'm fairly conversational favorite lip product: chapstick the best food dish you can make without a recipe: tacos? tacos! if you drink tea, what kind?: english breakfast or mint if you drink coffee, what roast do you usually get?: as dark as dark can be! favorite thing to watch on youtube right now: tbh i don't really watch much on youtube these days? gallavichscenes probably lol favorite thing to watch on youtube in 2012: kiss compilations oops favorite item of clothing right now: a sweatshirt that says "come to the dark side, we have smut" favorite item of clothing in 2012: this hot little red dress that made me look like a bombshell

fandom

three movies you recommend: 10 things i hate about you, elizabethtown, lars & the real girl your favorite concert: my favorite singer of all time, during a snowstorm in nyc. there were only 35 people in attendance & he came down afterwards to say hello & take pictures, even though he's the most shy person of all time - it was amazing! have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?: yes have you ever left a fandom because of the fans?: no the best tv show you watched last year: this one's really hard... it was a great year - either the bear or the final season of succession do you have a fancasting you just can't let go of?: i don't think so? even though i really loved tpz as alex in rwrb, i do wish they'd gone with a biblically accurate height difference & cast someone like michael cimino (love, victor) a ship you've abandoned: i don't think i've ever abandoned a ship! how willing are you to share your ao3 history?: omg it's a mess, but you can peek, sure do you have a fandom tattoo?(do you want one?): i have luna lovegood's radish earrings, an ode to hamlet & my favorite number in doctor who-like tally marks! & the rebel alliance symbol. oh wow, i'm a nerd! what fandom do you wish was bigger?: the last binding series by freya marske! especially hawthorn & ross, aka rawthorn my beloveds has a finale ever ruined a show for you?: same as chani - how i met your mother. terrible shame! also a bit game of thrones. it wasn't ruined, but i wasn't happy.

have you...

swam in an ocean?: yes ever been vegan/vegetarian?: no gone skinny dipping?: yes gone skiing?: no been to a convention?: many!

tagging @thisdivorce @steorie @heymrspatel @whatthebodygraspsnot @whatwouldmickeydo @metalheadmickey @gardenerian @howlinchickhowl @rereadanon @creepkinginc & anyone else who wants to play! xx

[physalian]

Can I complain about modern fantasy book titles and covers for a second?

I don’t like these books anyway. Why doesn’t matter, they have their audience and I’m not part of it. But eight whole books, and I read seven of them (not Assassin’s Blade) a few years ago now, and I could not tell you in what order they should be read if someone handed me a blind pile, or even what cover belongs to each book because they’re so painfully generic (and missing numbers on their spines).

Nor could I tell by the titles which are also painfully generic. Yeah they read like fantasy titles but there’s nothing distinct about them, they’re just fantasy buzzwords and they’re so vague that even Tower of Dawn leaves me vaguely recalling that kingdom with the giant birds, I think? Heir of Fire might be the romantic side quest that lasts an entire book, but that’s based more on my memory of the order of events than the title or cover would suggest.

Blank of X and Y she used for ACOTAR (which I did not read and know nothing about so I skipped them) is just so boring to me if the Mad Lib is nothing special. “Heir of Fire” could be a Game of Thrones fanfic for how unique and evocative the title is. A Court of Thorns and Roses literally stole the cadence of A Song of Ice and Fire but guess what?? Those aren't just nonsense words. Ice and Fire and how they're related are hugely thematic and relavent elements in those books. "Thorns and Roses" just ripped off a Poison song.

I assume these were the original covers since they’re not so manicured and actually have character. The titles are the same but the colors are so much bolder and the imagery isn’t a greyscale girl for 7 out of 8 titles. They’re distinct and memorable and while they’re still not evocative of the actual story, if I was a bigger fan of the books I’d probably have stronger associations. They do try. I have fuzzy memories coming back of EOS having the cool pirate with the map hands, KOA being the climactic battle book, QOS... might be the boring side quest with the dragons. This does not look like assembly line popcorn fantasy. This looks like it has heart, and an air of mystery. They draw you in and have you asking questions, they have you wanting to know more.

These books are, in my opinion, superior in many ways to anything SJM has written, but the covers? The exact same problem on steroids. And I only read four of them, there’s six total apparently. King’s Cage is the best title of the bunch. I know immediately from the title “that’s the one where the protagonist spent the whole book as a political prisoner in, you know, the king’s cage”.

But the covers, though they all share the same aesthetic and would look pretty on the book shelf, are absolutely devoid of any and all context within the book, save King's Cage. They’re all feminine crowns and tiaras, too. They could have at least given a man’s crown or at least something with harsher angles and thicker lines to evoke, idk, maybe the titular character the third book is about? It helps that the series (at one point) was only four books so it was less titles and ambiguous covers to juggle, but now there’s six so I guess that’s out the window.

Pretty, but purely window dressing. The best thing they have going for them is how distinctly minimalist they are that sets them apart from other fantasy.

I have incredibly mixed feelings about these books but the colors. Very much carrying on the PJO tradition of titles that actually fit the books and art to go along with it. There’s so much drama and movement to each one and they are, once again, scenes from each book, so many little details to look at. Festus was a huge part of TLH, then Percy's back in action, front and center in SON, then... uh, MOA... then Percy and Annabeth looking scared shitless in HOH and then... uh, BOO. Exists.

They all draw you in and I very much remember the cover drop for House of Hades and losing my mind over it. Much more face-focused than the reserved originals, much bolder, but still, mostly, Percy Jackson.

I looked this up on google images and couldn’t even read the titles there tiny at the bottom. The exact same color scheme for every single book. This is for the box set, I know that, so the spines all make one image when you line them up, but the spine doesn’t have to be the same image as the front cover.

That said, the cover images are still distinct and still hold true to the originals—showing actual elements from the books, like Blackjack and Polyphemus and the Labyrinth. Updated but a bit too sleek for my tastes (maybe that’s just nostalgia talking). The titles though, love the titles. At least they kept the series number on the covers (unlike TOG or RQ).

Now this. This here. These have everything. Bold, distinct colors on the spines, beautiful unique and very fantastical art, art that actually pertains to the book it’s about with an air of mystery every single time. You want to ask why there’s a kid floating in Long Island Sound, who that giant eye belongs to, who has that pegasus so frightened, what’s in the golden coffin, and… well the last one is just noire and I like it.

The titles, though. The. Titles. “Sea of Monsters” cannot in any way match up with the plot of the rest of the series. These covers are perfection.

Now I did not read these books, just saw the movies. These covers are dated, but there still wonderfully, charmingly whimsical, for an entire series about wizards and witches. The colors are distinct, the font choices reflect the vibes of each book, the art depicts the stories within the pages—Harry joining the Quidditch team, Fawkes coming to the rescue, Buckbeak, the mermaid egg thing and the other competitors in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the (I think?) prophecy room/Ministry of Magic, the Remembrall (I think??), and, you know, the last one is cool too. The style of the drawings are rather unique to Harry Potter. Harry also visibly ages across each one.

The titles themselves, like PJO (while predating PJO so setting the trend I’m aware) cannot be separated from their books. Order of the Phoenix? That’s the book about the Order of the Phoenix. Deathly Hallows is about, shocker, the Deathly Hallows.

Putting Twilight here at the bottom. I like these despite them being minimalist because, unlike every other cover on this list, they’re minimalist fantasy. Barely urban fantasy. The red and white motifs are evocative of the romance genre and vampire fiction and at least the covers of Twilight and Breaking Dawn do reference scenes in their books, with Edward catching the apple in the cafeteria and them playing chess on their honeymoon.

They also speak to a more adult, mature audience with the sleeker look. These are romance novels with vampires, *not* fantasy novels with romance. You see any of those covers among other adult romance in a bookstore and they’re going to catch your eye. The titles… eh. Not so much. Nothing to do with the story they just sounded pretty and evocative but this is romance, not fantasy, they’re supposed to be sensual and evocative and “Bella Swan and The Broody Vampire Boy” would not at all fit that vibe.

—

It’s not like these modern fantasy novels are devoid of creative terminology. I don’t like SJM at all but her books did have some really creative and wonderful moments in isolation. It’s like the publishers were afraid to be authentic and sincerely fantastical, so they went with something safe and clean and uninspired both in title and in art.

“Throne of Glass” means nothing to me and could be applicable to like, four of the books in that series. If I squint I can see it as a metaphor for the fragile state of the ruling house but there is quite literally glass everywhere so maybe it’s just one cool element—that should have then been on the cover—but like, the whole book is about the Assassin’s trial, right? So call it The Assassin’s Trial or Tournament of Assassins. You know. The plot of the book, not just one random ass element in the background.

Be authentically fantastical, or don't write fantasy.

[bonearenaofmyskull]

Hey! Curious if you're currently into any great shows. If so, mind sharing your recommendations? Always on the lookout for some good TV suggestions!

I imagine you've seen everything I have. I spend more time gaming. Not into anything great at the moment, but I can dig deep and see if I can remember what shows I've watched since Hannibal aired and give my opinions. I binge TV series with my mom who is in her 80's and has Parkinson's and macular degeneration and can't really do activities or read anymore, so I rewatched some old ones with her here largely to torture her with them, so they'll be in here also.

S-Tier (Winners)

My Brilliant Friend. Probably the best thing I've watched since Hannibal. If S4 is out I haven't seen it yet, no spoilers.

Better Call Saul. Possibly tied with My Beautiful Friend. Better than Breaking Bad. Much better ending. So good, no complaints. Nailed the ending. Did I mention the ending?

A-Tier (Runners-up)

Black Sails: God, there were some parts of this that were so gratuitous and tedious, especially early on, and I hated Eleanor Guthrie and not in the kind of way that means good things for a show. Some of the dialogue was just really on the nose too. This sounds like a lot of complaints, but the things it did well, it did SO WELL that it really does make up for the negatives. The acting was sooooo good and the Flint and Silver dynamic was AMAZING and the show looked great, and over all that, it really had something thoughtful to say, and that stays with you when it's over.

Stranger Things: Some parts of this show hit better than others, but I'm squarely in the bullseye of the target audience and get the vast majority of the references and nostalgia, and I love David Harbour. I appreciate their exploration of various types of horror, attempting a new style each season, and I like the charm and humor and cheese, and it's a show that knows its voice and its tone and commits fully to those things. It's trying to be a fun show and it is, and it wants to deal with real fears and real grief, and it does.

The Handmaid's Tale: Speaking of shows that are committed to their tone, this one definitely is that. It's too heavy and relentless for most people, I think, but I don't mind that at all. Parts of it do drag, but it has a lot of the same qualities (for good or bad) as Black Sails: great acting, powerful character dynamics, the things that it does well it does so well it makes up for the shortcomings, imo.

Breaking Bad: Famous show, not much to say here. Rewatched it recently and don't think it's as good as Better Call Saul, so I put it here.

B-Tier (Can't complain but will anyway)

Good Omens: Can't get into it, can't find anything particularly wrong with it. I'm into the ship. I guffaw out loud while watching it yet am thoroughly bored most of the time. Love Michael Sheen and David Tennant on screen together. I know the show can't be that all the time but I wish it was. Aziraphale ftw. I feel like people missed the point of the ending of the last season.

Mad Men: Show could give Seinfeld a run for its money in terms of being about nothing, but definitely had its charm. Watched it with my mom so her nostalgia and appreciation for how historically authentic it felt went a long way. Good performances. God, it could be boring sometimes though.

Vikings: This one was a lot like Black Sails for me. They had a bit of a struggle for a season or two but once going, they really got going. Many great acting performances and characters. Loved Ecbert and Ivar especially. Didn't have Toby Stephens and Luke Arnold, so you know...can't quite make that tier. And didn't have as much to say, or didn't say it as well, and it doesn't stay with you.

C-Tier (Can complain and will, but were good enough to stick with)

LOST

The X-Files

His Dark Materials

Downton Abbey

BBC Sherlock

Game of Thrones (I think most people have misdiagnosed this show's problems, but it sure did have them)

D-Tier (Tried but could NOT, though many people will like these...they were just Not For Me)

Bridgerton

Dark

The Good Place

The Gilded Age

Outlander

The Crown

Outer Range (what even the fuck with this show)

I tried to think of more shows I've watched in this time, but this about sums it up. But here are a couple YouTube channels I really like:

Beau of the Fifth Column

Bistro Huddy