#also i really did not think entirely the not being able to get into the kitchen part and i am furious at myself

[dalishious]

(I can’t believe I finished this so fast… I basically blacked out and then it was done lol… Anyway, please remember that this is all just my personal opinion, and if you feel differently, that’s fine!)

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

Objectively speaking, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a fun game that the average player is going to enjoy, especially if that average player is coming in without any prior knowledge to the Dragon Age franchise. I believe this is a good jumping-in spot for people who are curious about the world of Thedas. But in contrast, I have seen a lot of criticism from other hard-core fans that I largely agree with. However, it just so happens that most of the criticism I have is not enough to prevent me from overall enjoying the game. That is to say, for pretty much everything I did not like, there was also something I thought was great… Unfortunately, that makes it a little difficult to give a review. So, I’m going to do my best to keep things as clear and concise as possible by splitting up the “good” and the “bad” aspects of DATV.

The Positive

The best thing to come out of DATV is the new cast of characters that make up your companions and supporting associates. While I do think that some of them could have benefitted from more development time to flesh things out further, just judging what we ended up with, is mostly great. I especially found Emmrich and Bellara to be stand-out examples of strong personalities to grasp onto, whose personal stories really touched me in an emotional way.

DATV also has fun with some returning characters. For example, now that Solas is no longer hiding his identity, we get to see a character that both believably honours his part in Inquisition, while also providing a new, refreshing side to him. There are also a number of characters introduced in Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights that appear in the game, like my personal favourites Teia and Viago, who are an absolute delight to interact with!

I think the three act structure is good, albeit with act three being quite short. There are a few sequences that are an absolutely phenomenal mixture of storytelling and engaging gameplay, like all of Weisshaupt! I also really enjoyed stepping out of the main story every once and a while, and into Solas’s backstory through the Crossroads memories – what ended up being extra special about these is how they mirror Rook’s struggle so well, by the end. They are a nice touch.

The locations are beautifully constructed with smooth interactions of climbing, zip-lining, and essentially parkouring your way around, making them fun to explore! They also came with such distinct flavours and character in themselves that influenced a sense of truly experiencing different parts of Thedas, with different cultures.

The mechanic of building up strength with the different factions, and that actually having a huge impact with the ultimate showdown in the end of the game, makes side quests feel far less inconsequential than in Dragon Age: Inquisition by comparison. That, and they number far less.

I like that the story mode actually feels like a story mode; there were only a couple instances where I really had to worry about death, and even then, I was able to just toggle off the death with the customizable gameplay mechanics and continue on.

Finally, it would be remiss not to say that the character creator for DATV is the best BioWare has ever put out. I’d go as far as saying it’s one of the best in any RPG I’ve ever personally experienced. From the flexibility in morphing a character’s head and body between custom shapes, to the little details like sclera colour, vitiligo, and top surgery scars, makes it a shining example of what RPG’s should strive for. (My only critique here is that it would have been nice to have more skin colours.)

The Neutral

I hated the combat for pretty much the entire first act of the game. I found it too hard to keep up with, and too much like Mass Effect bullshit. I can’t say that it’s completely grown on me yet, but I don’t hate it anymore. It’s fine. So, I’m giving this a special little spot before I get into what I didn’t like all the way to the end.

The Negative

As mentioned above, I do think that there is more that could be done with some of the characters to really achieve their full potential. Davrin and Lucanis—while to be clear I still really enjoy as they are—come to mind first, in terms of those who would have benefited from more development time. Most of Davrin’s screen time just revolves around Assan rather than Davrin himself, and Lucanis is so restrained that it takes a while to really crack him open. Both of these characters have intentional personalities that make them harder to get to know, I understand that, but I feel that it would have been all the more rewarding to have more time dedicated to their company after earning their trust and possibly endearment. Instead, it feels like their romance and friendship with Rook are only half-complete, and then rushed to finish.

There are some companion interactions that are just… cringe. There is no other word for it. Now, this is nothing new for BioWare games, but I feel like the “pulling a Bharv” scene for example, was hitting an entirely new low. (If someone misgendered me and then just started doing push-ups instead of just saying “hey sorry about that, I’ll try to do better” I’d be annoyed, not satisfied.) I also felt like most of the temporary rivalries between companions were artificial in nature, rather than organically part of their characters that actually served a purpose. We already knew Emmrich likes books and Harding likes nature; we did not need a whole cutscene with them bickering about camping. (The exception to this is Davrin and Lucanis, who genuinely had room to grow as people out of their multiple confrontations, not just a one-off scene.)

The music in DATV is, for the most part, forgettable and bland. There is one piece that really stands out, and that’s “Where the Dead Must Go”, which is a real banger. I am not a fan of Hans Zimmer’s OST otherwise; I think it is phoned in, just like most of his work. I deeply wish BioWare would have just stuck with Trevor Morris. The best parts musically in this game are just Morris’s work re-used from Dragon Age: Inquisition.

There are certain parts of disjointedness that separates DATV from the past games that are just… bizarre. This is especially the case when it comes to elven lore. For example, Bellara saying she is afraid that elves will be harshly judged for the Evanrus, or Harding saying that elves are “thriving”… as if modern elves are not deeply persecuted across most of Thedas. It made me question more than once if there just was not time in development to do a proper canon-compliancy check with everything, perhaps?

I want finish this part by bringing up again that the biggest flaw in DATV is that it feels very corporate. To repeat what I said in this post: It is as if a computer ran through the game’s script and got rid of anything with “too much” political substance, in an overcorrection to be “safe”. But now that the edges have been so smoothed down to make a block into a ball, it can no longer support anything.

Conclusion

It’s easy to see a lot of creativity went into the creation of this game… but it is also easy to make assumptions on how that creativity was constrained by development hell and corporate oversight. In the end though, Dragon Age: The Veilguard succeeded in being an overall good time, one that I will no doubt be putting just as many countless hours into as the previous installments in the franchise. 7/10.

[that-basic-simp]

Baby Steps

Vi x Fem! Reader CW: Blood, swearing, suggestive at the end WC: 1.6k+

~Vi's POV~

"Y/N? Y/N? Y/N! Fuck."

I quickly turned and caught a glimpse of the color of her hair. The dirt and dust finally subsided and revealed her body on the ground. Blood was coming from some wounds, but it was mostly coming from her legs. I rushed towards her, not even bothered by the people I bumped into. It was just tunnel vision: I had to get to her.

When I reached her, I knelt beside her and was careful when I lifted her head up. I cradled it close to my chest as I heard shallow breaths. She was still alive. As I was about to move my arms to grab underneath her legs, she pulled her head back and let out the most blood curdling scream. I turned my attention to her legs. My eyes widened with horror and I almost dry heaved due to the smell. I could take blood before, but not to this amount. This was rancid.

"I've got to lift you up," I whispered to her.

"V-Vi?"

"I've got you, little dove," I said and carefully wrapped my arm underneath her legs.

"FUCK!" she yelled once more.

"Shh, shh, I've got you," I lifted her up slowly.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and clung onto me tightly.

"Stay with me," I whispered.

"Vi," she said in a heavy breath.

"I've got you."

~Reader's POV~

I slowly blinked my eyes open and found my apartment's ceiling above me. I turned to find I was in my room. As I was about to sit up, a searing pain shot up from the base of my foot and all the way up to my thighs. It was like my bones were being crushed, snapped in tiny pieces. My muscles ached like they had been stretched thin. I let out a scream as I fell back against my pillows. Vi rushed into the room and let out a sigh of relief, but it also sounded as if she was hurting.

"You're ok," she rushed over and hugged me.

"More or less," I whispered.

She pulled away and sat beside me, aware of the distance between her and my legs.

"What happened?" I asked.

"There was an attack. I should have been there."

"Vi," I reached down and grabbed her hand.

"When I got to you, all I saw was the aftermath. But after talking and listening to some conversations, there was an attack from the Enforcers. Witnesses said that you were caught right at the front and a piece of a building fell onto your legs."

Tears started to form in her eyes. She quickly reached up and wiped her eyes.

"I basically forced myself into Piltover. Thankfully I knew someone," a small smile appeared, but then it quickly faded. "It took almost an entire day to assess the damage. They said--" she couldn't finish her sentence.

"They said what?" I asked.

She bit her lip and shook her head.

"Vi, what did they say?"

"With the damage, your chances of walking again are slim."

"It was that severe?"

"I guess during the attack there was something that people didn't see. Your lower back sustained a heavy blow, causing the paralysis."

"I-I," I breathed out heavily. "I-I won't be able to walk again?"

"They said with a lot of physical therapy and a lot of relearning how to walk, there is a chance. But not in the way you used to."

I slowly nodded my head.

"But for right now, I am just relieved that you're here with me," Vi said, taking my hand in hers.

"I-I need a minute to think about all of this."

"O-Of course," she stood up. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"N-No."

"Ok. Holler if you need anything, little dove."

Sweat dripped down from every part of my body. Even in some areas I didn't even know could sweat. My shirt was drenched basically everywhere and I had barely gone two feet. I had a death grip on the railings beside me. My wheelchair was just a few feet behind me. We've been at it for two fucking hours. Two fucking hours and I had barely made any progress. I could hardly feel my legs. It was just pain and heat that I could feel, and the tightness of my muscles.

"You're doing great," Vi encouraged.

"Shut up, Vi," I sighed.

"Really," she placed her hand on top of mine, despite it being covered in a layer of sweat. "You are."

"I barely moved."

"But you're standing."

"With the help of these railings."

"So what?" she asked. "Things like this take time."

I shook my head and moved backwards, falling down into my wheelchair. It's been almost three months of physical therapy and there wasn't any progress. The only progress I had gotten was when I was sitting down and Vi moving my legs around.

"I-I can't do it anymore," I said after I wiped my face with a towel Vi had handed me.

"I know you are, Y/N, but you need to keep on going."

"I can't, Vi!" I yelled and threw the towel onto the ground.

She bent down and picked it up, placing it around my neck. I just shoved her away and turned my wheelchair to where my back was facing her.

"So you're going to throw in the towel?"

"I kind of already did, didn't I?"

"So you're just going to give up that easily?"

"I haven't been able to move past that line," I gestured to the white tape on the ground to show my progress. It has barely moved an inch within the past three months. "And it's been three months."

"These things don't happen overnight, Y/N," she said and knelt beside me. "You're going to have to do this for a long time before you get anywhere."

I grabbed the wheels and rolled off towards the bedroom.

"So this is how it's going to be?"

"Yes. I am giving up."

"So you're just going to have to rely on me and others to get you around? Don't you want to feel the freedom of walking out of this apartment, down those stairs, and into the Lanes?"

"I had a good run while it lasted, Vi."

"I'm not letting you give up this easily."

"Good," I rolled into the bedroom. "Because I won't listen. My mind is made up."

I closed the door and let out a sigh. Her footsteps grew closer and I locked the door.

"I know you're frustrated," Vi said.

"Beyond frustrated."

"I know you're annoyed, that you feel defeated. That you feel like you can't do shit because of some accident that was out of your control. That you'll have to rely on me to get you everywhere. That you feel like a burden. I know my words don't mean shit right now, but you're not a burden to me and you never will. If you want to give up, then fine, give up. If you want to throw in the towel, throw in the towel. But I can't sit around and see you suffer like this, Y/N. You need to take baby steps and if you must crawl before you stand, then crawl. But let that crawl turn into a stand, a stand into a walk, a walk into a run until you're halfway across that bridge from the Lanes to Piltover. But please, don't let this bring you down.

"Think of it like when you were young and learning how to walk. You were stumbling and bumbling all over the place," she chuckled. "I remember when Powder was first learning to walk. She wouldn't let go of our mother's hand, always looking up at her to make sure she was safe. There would be times where I tried to help her walk, but there was this one time where she shocked all of us. Mom and dad had just gotten back from the mines and Powder was so excited to see mom. She got up from a sitting position and full on ran towards her. All of us were standing there with our mouths open."

"That's a nice story, Vi," I said.

"It is a nice story, but maybe, you can learn from it."

Her footsteps grew faint as she walked off to who knows where in the apartment. I found the standing mirror in the corner of the bedroom. My reflection was all I could see, since I was practically across from it. There were scars all over my legs from the numerous surgeries I had to undergo to even get here. With a deep breath, I turned towards the door and unlocked it. I strolled out of the bedroom and faced the railings once more. I was going to walk again.

"Hey, I'm home, Y/N," Vi entered the apartment and locked the door, tossing the keys onto the counter nearby.

"Y/N?"

"Hey, there you are," I smiled as I strolled into the entry way.

"Sorry I'm a bit late."

"No, it's fine. I was just getting dinner ready."

"Smells good," she said, about to lean down to give me a kiss.

I stood up and walked towards her, since there was a bit of a gap between us. Vi took a step back as her eyes widened.

"Y-Y/N?!"

"What's the matter, Vi?"

"Y-You're walking!"

"I am," I smiled.

She let out a triumphant laugh as she hugged me, lifting me in the air and spinning me around.

"Look at you, my little dove!" she exclaimed as she set me down carefully. "Last time I knew of your progress, you had given up!"

"Well, when you told me that story of your sister running, it made me think about the times I had run like a child again."

"So you went behind my back and made me believe you weren't doing your physical therapy?"

"Yeah," I said sheepishly.

She softly smiled at me as she placed her hand on my cheek, caressing it with the pad of her thumb.

"It was a pleasant surprise," she smiled. "I'm glad you kept this a secret from me."

I chuckled and grabbed her hand. She pulled me towards her and pressed a kiss to my lips.

"Tonight, I'm not going to make you walk," she chuckled.

"Please, Vi, at least give me a month."

"I'll try to contain myself."

We both chuckled as we headed into the kitchen, her walking right beside me.

[faemytho]

First of all, the way Stolas immediately knew what the trial was about when all he saw was Blitzo about to be executed means that Stolas knew what he was doing was illegal. He just loved Blitzo more than he cared about the law.

Stolas KNEW it was illegal to let Blitzo use the grimoire. Someone of his status? He absolutely KNEW it was illegal, he knew there would be consequences (maybe not what they were, but that there would be), and he let Blitzo use it anyways because.

BECAUSE. Letting Blitzo use the grimoire was an excuse to keep seeing him. Stolas knew it was illegal and did it anyways because he's in love with Blitzo.

SECOND OF ALL, Stolas didn't HESITATE. Stolas showed up and took Blitzo's place on the chopping block while under the impression he was going to be killed for this crime.

He immediately knew what the trial was about, saw what the consequences were, and then didn't hesitate to put himself in Blitzo's place. ESPECIALLY when he kneeled down to be executed.

He was GENUINELY going to give his life for Blitzo to live, and he was genuinely so surprised when he was told he wasn't going to be killed.

THIRD OF ALL, god. Fuuuuck. It is so interesting to see Stolas' thought process here, because Stolas genuinely didn't think that the consequences for imps vs goetic demons for breaking the same law were so drastically different.

Sure, Stolas can play the part and spout the same classist nonsense about imps that he very likely grew up hearing. He knew that was what he had to do to get everyone in there to listen to him and let Blitzo go. But HE HIMSELF genuinely doesn't think of himself as above Blitzo or any of the other imps when he shows up in that courtroom. (It's also why he later gets Blitzo the crystal to use instead of his grimoire; he's aware of the classism in their relationship, but isn't familiar with how to navigate it, especially when the other person in the relationship is Blitzo, but that's a WHOLE OTHER ESSAY.)

Anyways, that's why Stolas kneels down on the chopping block after successfully taking Blitzo's place, AND it's why he's so surprised he isn't going to be executed. The look on Stolas' face was very, "Wait, you guys actually believe you're better than imps? You're not just playing a part? I thought we were being serious right now."

Stolas is aware there's a class difference between him and Blitzo, but he genuinely didn't believe in it, and genuinely didn't think it was an issue. He genuinely didn't think anyone else believed it either! His theatre kid ass probably thought it was all an elaborate social act and that nobody really thought that imps were lower than other demons. (side note, from an autistic person, that's so autism coded of u stolas.)

And that indifference Stolas has about their class difference is EXACTLY what drove Blitzo's fears about the nature of their relationship in the first place. For the entirety of Season 2, we've seen that it's been an issue for Blitzo's ENTIRE life! It's what he built his business on!!! And his last words?

"All I was trying to do was rise above the stupid fucking place YOU ALL FORCED US INTO!"

But now, Stolas IS on the level of imps. Not only is he going to experience the classism the rest of hell holds towards imps, but not even the IMPS like him! And with the sudden HUGE fame Blitzo's gained, Stolas and Blitzo have effectively SWITCHED PLACES.

The difference is, this time, they'll be able to help each other.

[cioud-berries]

Mutual Benefit || Chapter 5

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Summery:

Posts season 2: Spoiler warning!!

Being forced into an arranged marriage, [Name] tried her hardest with her unreceptive husband Salo. After his death, she was forced to replace his council position, trying to figure out who she was as a person. Sevika never expected to get anywhere close to the council, let alone join them. As the stigma around people from Zaun still stood, she struggled to gain the respect from her new fellow councillors. With so many differences how could the two really help one another?

Chapter Warnings:

Season 2 Spoilers, Alcohol usage

Word count: 3,749

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<- Previous Chapter || Mutual Benefit Master List || Next Chapter ->

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        Sevika caved, agreeing to thoroughly look over and edit all of the plans [Name] had mustered. She instantly regretted it as she was handed a stack with over a hundred pieces of paper and told that she needed to finish going through them in three days. 

        If there is one thing Sevika holds true to, it is that she doesn’t fall through on promises. She was tired, she felt dead, but most of all, she was pissed. Sevika marched up to [Name]’s office, ready to tell [Name] everything she thinks about her and her whole stupid game.

        The second [Name] opened the door with that warm smile of here, thanking Sevika yet again for helping, the anger turned into tiredness. Making her way over to the couch, she plopped down, all the energy leaving her body.

        It was the night before they had to make their case to the council. [Name] was more energetic than ever. She was ready to present and knew she would be able to win. The five cups of coffee also assisted in her mood. 

        Picking up the papers Sevika edited, she began to formulate their argument, telling Sevika exactly what to say. Normally, Sevika would have an issue with that, but with how little knowledge she had about talking to the council, she was going to follow [Name]’s lead. 

        They spent hours in [Name]’s office talking about nothing other than the plans and their fellow council members. Before either of them knew it, it was late into the night, almost reaching into the morning. But they didn’t stop until they were completely finished. 

        Gathering all their things up, they left together, walking down the empty streets of Piltover in silence. They came to a stop as they found themselves at the street that they would have to separate at. 

        [Name] turned to Sevika with a proud smile. “See you in the morning~” She told her, but the words came out way more sensual than intended. Before Sevika could question anything, [Name] turned around making a quick exit, embarrassed.  

        The next morning they met up again in [Name]’s office. They finalized their case, going back over anything they weren’t strong on the night before. Walking down the hallway together, they headed to the council chamber. 

        “Why did you remove your arm?” [Name] asked, noticing the significantly less amount of volume Sevika had under her cloak.

        “I knew it would intimidate the councilors.” Sevika explained. Knowing how much this meant to both the people of Zaun, and [Name], she didn’t want to take the risk. “It would be like you were holding a gun the entire presentation.” 

        “Yeah but you need your arm, don’t you?” [Name] was having a hard time not understanding why Sevika would conform that much to the council’s standards.

        Sevika didn’t respond, opening the door to the chamber with her one hand. She held it, letting [Name] walk into the crowded room. This council session was opened to the public, allowing them to hear the case and verdict. 

        Sasha’s nanny and Sasha were there as well. Sasha wanted to see her mom at work and be there to support her, but she also knew that Sevika would be there, and was excited to see her again. 

        All the councillors made their way to their seats as the crowd became quiet. Taking a deep breath, she stood up,  Sevika following alongside her. “I would like to start by thanking everyone for coming.” She looked around the room. Catching the sight of her daughter, she smiled. “I would like to propose a plan that would allow the deconstruction of the Hex Gate.”

        Many people in the crowd began whispering to one other. Sevika glared at them as [Name] waiting for the noise to die down. “HexTech died alongside the late Councillor Talis and Viktor. It is now barely usable and has been confirmed to be toxic, poisoning life in the undercity. The tower has now become a glorified, over expensive, statue to sit as a reminder of the perils that our city has been through.”

        [Name] went quiet for a moment, allowing for her words to set in with everyone. “The tower took a lot of valuable materials to build. I do not come before you expecting all of it to be thrown into a junkyard.” She looked over at Sevika for confirmation that she was ready. Sevika gave a small nod for confirmation. “We would like to use these materials to improve the lives of everyone.”

        Sevika took over, remembering what [Name] had told her to say. She went on to explain how these modifications would benefit Zaun, and in turn benefit Piltover. Using the calculations that [Name] had figured out, she drove her points further.

        [Name] took back over when discussing what exactly in Piltover could be fixed by these materials, such as the expanding the sewer system. Everything was going well. The room was silent, allowing them to talk with no interruptions. Everyone was listening attentively. 

        As [Name] finished it up, she ended with. “We open the floor to any questions.” She took a deep breath, knowing that some of these questions would be tough.

        One of the men on the council held up his hand, making it known that he had a question. [Name] looked over at him, signaling that she was ready to hear him. “I do enjoy this plan of yours. I think everyone can benefit from it. My worry is: How do you plan on paying the workers to both remove and build.”

        [Name] blinked for a few seconds, trying to come up with a response. “I was planning to use a percentage of taxes.”

        “What percentage of taxes do you plan on using?” He added onto his questioning.

        [Name] again hesitated, becoming less confident. Sevika took over for her, even though she didn’t know much about taxes yet. “It depends how quickly we want these plans to get carried out. If we have it done within the next year, it’ll be about seven percent. But if we execute these plans over the next few years, it’ll be around four.” She completely pulled that out of her ass. When she glanced over at [Name] she seemed to agree.

        “Overall, we’re creating a mass of new jobs which will always help the economy.” [Name] added on top of it. 

        The man nodded his head, seemingly done with his line of questioning. Shoola was next to ask a question. “In your plans, you only accounted for about seventy-five percent of materials. What do you plan on doing with the other twenty-five percent?”

        “I did account for the possibility of any unusable materials.” [Name] began, looking at Shoola and the other councilors. “But we could trade them with other countries to rebuild our position as a world trading port.”

        Shoola went quiet, satisfied with her answer. Things went quiet again, [Name] that they were done, but her victory was short lived as the old woman raised her hand, with a sour look on her face. “A massive hole was dug to make the HexGate. If you are to take all of the materials out, it would leave a gaping hole in the city. What will you do to fix that?” Her tone was aggressive and unwavering.

        Sevika spoke up, “We never discussed that.” She knew that this woman was not going to vote for this bill. She hated Zaun and it was clear. 

        “We have so much time before we get to the bottom. So that could be discussed at a later date.” [Name] added so the other councilors mind wouldn’t waver towards a no.

        No one else had any questions, moving onto the voting section of the meeting. The meeting took a five minute break for councilors to think over their decision. During the quick break, [Name] went over to Sasha, needing a little boost from her daughter. 

        Giving her a hug and giving a kiss on her forehead, [Name] took a deep breath, trying to shake out any anxiety. “Mommy.” Sasha whispers, not wanting people to hear her.

        [Name] looked down at her, a hand placed on her head. “What is it sweetness?” She rescinded quietly. 

        “I wanna see Miss Sevika.” Sasha clung onto her mother, almost begging.

        [Name] smiled at her daughter's admiration of her fellow councilor. “We’ll have to see darling.” 

        She groaned into his mothers clothes, wanting to run across the room and start a conversation with the woman. But she knew she would get in big trouble if she did that. 

        The councilors started making their way back to their chairs as they made their decision. [Name] made her way back as well, giving Sevika an anxious smile. The windows were closed, and then the lights on [Name] and Sevika were shown.

        Since [Name] and Sevika proposed this plan, they automatically were removed from the vote. Only three votes were needed for these plans to be approved, which sounded easier said than done. 

        Shoola was the first to raise her hand in support. A vote [Name] was expecting, but it was still a relief.

        A few seconds went by and the man across from Sevika raised his hand. The light also shone on him. 

        Only one more vote was needed. Seconds felt like minutes and everything moved in slow motion. [Name] could feel her heartbeat in her throat as she turned her head to Sevika in fear that this was the end. As she stared at Sevika she heard the noise of another light turning on.

        She turned her head to see the older man raising his hand, confirming that they had succeeded. [Name] tried her hardest to hold in her smile. The windows opened back up as the verdict was given. 

        [Name] was composed, seeming like she would have cared less about the verdict. She was trying to seem professional and regal. As everyone began to file out of the room, [Name] made her way to Sevika. Putting a hand on her upper arm, she leaned in closer to her. “Meet me in my office.” She said with a lower tone.

        Sevika slightly nodded as [Name] walked towards her office. In the room, Sasha was sat on the couch, waiting for her mother. She finally was able to show her emotions, screaming loudly in excitement.

        [Name] ran over to Sasha, picking her up and twirling her around. Sasha laughed alongside [Name] enjoying the feeling.

        “Congratulations Ma'am” The Nanny told her.

        “Thank you.” [Name] breathlessly responded, putting Sasha back down. 

        The door clicked closed, grabbing the three's attention. “We did it!” [Name] ran up to Sevika, almost jumping on her as she threw her arms around Sevika’s neck in excitement. 

        Sevika too had a smirk on her face, knowing what this would do for Zaun, but she was hesitant to wrap her arm around [Name], participating in the embrace, but she eventually did. “You did pretty good up there.” She complimented her.

        [Name] pulled away, keeping her hands on Sevika’s collar bones. Sevika’s hand sat on [Name]’s waits as she shared her excitement. “You did as well. I really couldn’t have done this without you.” 

        Sasha wanted to join in on the hug, running up to Sevika and wrapping her arms around  her. “You should have dinner with us!” The young girl exclaimed.

        “Yes!” Her mother agreed, looking back up at Sevika. “We need to celebrate. I can cook dinner and crack open some of Salo’s finest wine.”

        With [Name] so close, and Sasha clinging onto her, how could she ever say no. “What time?”

        It was a little after five, the time [Name] told Sevika to be at her place. She was just finishing up with the pasta she had made when she realized that she didn’t even know what Sevika liked. But it was too late to change what they would be eating that night.

        She’s only known this woman for about two weeks, she knew nothing about her, yet she felt so close to her. She was thankful that Sasha had the thought to invite her to dinner, so she could get to know Sevika more over a bottle of wine.

        There was a rough knock on the door. Sasha immediately jumped off the couch screaming “I got it!” Running over to the door, she opened it to reveal Sevika with her mechanical arm back in place. “Hello!” Sasha happily greeted. 

        “Hi" Sevika replied. Sasha almost lost it, being directly talked to by her icon. 

        “Come sit down.” [Name] invited her in. “I’m almost done.” 

        Sasha stepped aside, allowing Sevika to walk into the kitchen that had a four chaired table in the middle. [Name] put down her spatula, going to the liquor cabinet. Grabbing every single bottle of alcohol she could, she lined them all up on the kitchen counter to show Sevika all the options.

        “What would be your drink of choice?” [Name] asked with a smile on her face.

        Sevika read all the labels, picking up the bottle of whisky. “You better not give me one of those tiny glasses.” She told name with a smirk.

        “I wouldn’t dream of doing that to you.” [Name] teased, going to grab a regular sized glass and handing it to her. 

        Sevika poured her own drink, filling it almost all the way up. She knew that this was some of the most expensive alcohol money could buy, and she was going to enjoy it as much as she could. [Name] poured wine into the wineglass for herself.

        Sasha ran up to Sevika, looking at her arm again. “Can I pleeease touch it?” 

        With a sigh, Sevika sat down in one of the chairs and lowered her arm down so Sasha could get a better look at it. “Be careful, it’s sharp.”

        Sasha immediately grabbed it with both of her hands. “She said be careful!” [Name] quickly scolded before going back to cooking.

        “Sorry.” Sasha bashfully mumbled, not even looking at her mother. Her hand moved up to the lever that she could just barely reach. 

        Sevika was quick to grab her arm, stopping her from hitting it. “You don’t want to touch that.” Sevika told her. 

        “Why not?” Sasha questioned, “What does it do?”

        “It does bad things.” Sevika knew that she couldn’t explain what a weapon was to this child with her mother right there.

        “What kind of bad things?” Sasha was hanging onto every word Sevika spoke.

        “It hurts people.” Sevika looked up at [Name] to see if she disagreed with Sevika’s explanation.

        “Why would you want to hurt people?” Sasha began to sound sad. [Name] only chuckled at her innocent daughter.

        Sevika took her laugh as a sign that she could continue. “‘Cause people wanna hurt me.” Even though she definitely didn’t fight out of self defense most of the time, the real explanation was too complicated and gruesome for a young child.

        “Why would people want to hurt you?” Sasha sounded genuinely shocked. “You’re the best!”

        “That’s just how the world works.” Sevika shrugged. “That is why self defense is important.”

        “I wanna know how to self defense!” Sasha yelled. “Would you teach me?” 

        “I think you’re a bit too young for that darling.” Her mother chimed in.

        “No she’s not.” Sevika replied to [Name] “I learned how to fight when I was her age.”

        Sasha ran up to [Name] clinging onto her shirt. “Please mommy! I want Miss Sevika to teach me!”

        [Name] looked down at her daughter’s pleading eyes. She always found it hard to tell Sasha no when she looked like that. “Fine.” She lowered her head in defeat. “But not now because dinner is done.” 

        Sasha jumped around happily, running back up to Sevika. “What will you teach me first?”

        “How to block.” Sevika responded shortly.

        “Can you show me now?” Sasha begged.

        “No honey.” [Name] responded, bringing over everyone’s plates. “We need to eat.” 

        She placed the plates down in front of the chairs. Sasha climbed into the chair next to Sevika, wanting to be closest to her. [Name], sitting adjacent to Sevika, raised her glass. “To us!” Sevika raised her glass in agreement while Sasha followed behind with her glass of water, just wanting to copy her. 

        “This is fancy.” Sevika looked down at her plate of food that had been arranged neatly.

        “I try my hardest.” [Name] notted. She then went on to apologize. “I’m sorry if it’s not to your liking, I never asked you what you would’ve wanted to eat.”

        Sevika finished chewing her food. She was pleasantly surprised by the taste. “No, It’s good.”

        “I’m glad.” [Name] smiled in relief. 

        Dinner was more like an interrogation as Sasha kept asking Sevika question after question about the most random things. Sevika seemed to be getting more and more annoyed by the questions from the way her answers became short. But she was never unkind, always giving some sort of answer.

        While [Name] cleaned the dishes, Sevika taught Sasha the basics of self defence. She was extremely gentle when ‘punching’ Sasha as she learned how to block. When [Name] finished with the dishes she grabbed her glass of wine and made her way to the couch. 

        She watched Sevika gently guiding Sasha, not using her mechanical arm. [Name] smiled warmly at the two, happy to see Sasha enjoying herself. The more she drank, the more focused on Sevika she became. By the time she finished her third glass, she wanted to be alone with Sevika.

        “It’s time for bed Sasha.” [Name] commanded. 

        “Awwe.” Sasha whined. “Just a few more minutes?” She begged.

        “Nope, it's already an hour past your bedtime.” [Name] stood up from the couch, ready to assist her to bed. “Go on and get dressed. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

        With her head hung low, Sasha walked down the hall to her bedroom. [Name] turned to Sevika. “You can get some more.” She motioned to Sevika’s empty glass. “I’ll be back soon.”

        She walked down the hall to Sasha’s room, finding her dressed in her pajamas as she entered the room. Sasha got in her bed as [Name] went to the small bookshelf that sat next to her bed. Picking out a book, [Name] climbed in the bed with Sasha, reading to her. 

        By the time [Name] finished the book, Sasha was on the edge of sleep. Kissing her on the forehead, she wished Sasha a goodnight before turning the light off and leaving the room. She walked back to the livingroom to find Sevika sat on the couch. The bottle of whisky had been put on the coffee table as she had a newly filled glass. 

        [Name] refilled her wine and made her way over, sitting beside Sevika. They both turned to one another, knees touching. Neither of them moved away from the small amount of physical contact.

        “Thank you for being nice to her.” [Name] started, propping her arm on the top of the couch, lying her hand on it. 

        “She’s a sweet kid.” Sevika commented.

        [Name] hummed in response. “She definitely didn’t get that from her father.” [Name] looked down at her glass, slightly toying with it. “She doesn’t have many friends. So I’m glad that you can be a friend to her.” 

        Sevika only hummed, taking the last sips of her drink, going for the bottle for more. 

        “I don’t know how you’re not drunk yet.” [Name] teased, watching her come back to leaning on the couch. 

        “I have a high tolerance.” She put the cup in her mechanical hand to hold, her other hand reached out to [Name]’s knee, resting on it. With her thumb, she rubbed circles on the side of her knee. “I might be a tad drunk.” She admitted.

        “Me too.” [Name] giggled. She enjoyed the physical touch, even though it was slight. “You did really well today. I’m glad you’re a part of the council.”

        “I’m glad that Zaun will finally be getting attention from the council.” She huffed.

        [Name] nodded in agreement. “I think you’re ready for the next level of the game.” She told with a proud smirk.

        “Oh yeah?” Sevika asked. “And what would that be?”

        “Building connections outside of Piltover.” [Name] told, putting her glass down on the table.

        “How would I do that?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow. Both of their tones were low, almost a whisper, but they didn’t need to speak any louder.

        “You come home with me.” [Name] placed her hand over Sevika’s. “Make your own connections in my homeland.”

        “Meet your parents?” Sevika asked. “Are you sure you’re only doing this to help my political gain?” Sevika teased.

        “Mhm” [Name] hummed. They both knew that wasn’t all there was to this proposal. With the way Sevika hand was on [Name]’s knee, and [Name]’s hand was on top of hers; The way [Name]’s hand was on top of hers; The way they looked into each others eyes and [Name] bit her bottom lip, there was no way that [Name]’s intentions were to help Sevika with a political gain.

        They stared at one another silently, the tension building. [Name] looks down at Sevika’s lips, teeth digging into her own. She was about to move forward, but the cry of Sasha interrupted her. “Mommy I can’t sleep.”

        They [Name] quickly pulled away from Sevika another, face heating up at being caught. [Name] got off the couch and Sevika followed. “I should be heading home.” Sevika told [Name] as she walked towards her child.

        [Name] immediately swung around to Sevika. “Oh, okay.” Her tone was sad, not wanting the night to end. Sasha walked up to her mother. “Say goodbye to Miss Sevika.” 

        “Bye bye.” Sasha tiredly waved at her.

        “Go wait in my room, I’ll be there in a minute.” [Name] told Sasha. While Sasha made her way to her mother’s room, [Name] walked Sevika out, leaning on the doorway as Sevika stood out in the hall. “Get home safely.”

        “I will.” She said, holding up her mechanical arm.

        [Name] chuckled, “We’ll talk later about the trip.”

        Sevika nodded in response. “Night.” She said as she turned to walk down the hall.

        “Goodnight.” [Name] responded, closing and locking the door. She walked into her bedroom where Sasha tiredly laid in her bed, barely able to keep her eyes open. [Name] got dressed and ready for bed, climbing in beside Sasha. Holding Sasha in her arms, they both fell asleep quickly.

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Overall Masterlist

Discord link

[eternalera]

i love the difference in jayce's and viktor's reaction to jayce's stuff/research being destroyed (s1 stuff). jayce's immediate reaction is 'oh we're doomed! we're gonna have to start all over again since it's in heimendingers lab' (idk how to spell his name lol). meanwhile viktor is like 'ah yes... anyways wanna break in?'

i just love how this highlights two things between them. one being jayce's reaction, he's never really seemed to have taken a chance like that before, to stick his neck out entirely for his dreams to go all out and commit to it no matter the cost and this follows him throughout the show. he meets a problem and its a 50/50 of whether or not he'll cave to it. not to mention it also demonstrates jayce's more piltovian (ig) way of thinking, it's illegal so he shouldnt do it...

meanwhile viktor on the other hand thinks its rather simple. 'research is in heimendinger's office and i'm his assistant meaning i have the keys so lets just break in!' i feel like this shows how he was brought up and his more 'zaun-like' way of thinking. in zaun if you wanted something you had to be able to risk putting your ass on the line for it and doing whatever you want for it or else you wouldnt survive down there. which was something viktor learned, also he did end up apparently tricking the system by just buying a uniform that looked like it was the academy and became a student there through that so... YEAH. two very different ways of thinking. but moving back to viktor's thought process of doing anything to achieve something. this also follows him throughout the series as he does experiments on himself and in s2... yeah shit gets real.

their reactions to something that was played off as a joke revealed so much about their characters and no i will never shut up about it

[lizzybeeee]

Me watching my Inquisitor walk off with Solas at the end of the game like :) "aw cute ..hey if Mythal hadn't told you to stop would you have murdered her,," (I haven't played the other endings yet).

This!!!

(Obviously, not murdered her personally, but he absolutely had no qualms about doing the ritual once more - knowing the consequences of it.)

Let me preempt this by saying that I wanted there to be a happy/fulfilling ending to Solas and Lavellan. I'm not a blind hater! Just someone who finds it very hard to put my own Lavellan in the place of the 'Lavellan' provided to us in DATV.

The Solas/Lavellan relationship already was kind of iffy (power imbalance, constantly dragging her culture, removing her vallaslin/then dumping her, constantly lying to her, etc...) but DAI did a great job of making you feel sympathetic towards his plight - especially after Trespasser! He woke up in a world so divorced from his own that it was unrecognizable - the people he had done so much for were suffering from the consequences of his actions, justified as they may have been at the time (stopping the evanuris). His actions led to great suffering in the pursuit of preventing even greater suffering.

Even after we learned of his plans in Trespasser, it was very much: "cool motive, still murder."

I felt sympathetic towards Solas and the implication that we could change his mind, given to us in Trespasser, gave me hope that we would be able to convince him of another path. That he could find a place in Thedas as it is now and look to the future. That was why I chose the option to try and get through to Solas, despite knowing that his plan would lead to mass death/terror if it went ahead.

I always expected the Veil to fall at some point, but i was hoping there'd be some more nuance to it than: veil gone, demons everywhere, lots of people die. Well, I was very wrong lmao.

But, if anything, the game made me entirely unsympathetic towards Solas.

The moment he started his ritual he chose the old elven empire over Lavellan - over her family, friends, home, culture, and anything else she may have loved/valued.

And he did this twice.

He chose to pursue lowering the Veil - knowing that thousands would likely die. For all his insistence of 'minimizing the damage' he went in knowing that many more people would die because of his actions. There was no justification of stopping the evanuris this time either - no excuse of not knowing the potential consequences of his actions like the first time.

He chose to begin the ritual that ended up releasing the Elven Gods - knowing full well the risks it entailed.

He killed Varric - whether by accident or not, it was by his hand.

He chose to use blood magic to manipulate Rook into thinking that Varric was alive - puppeting his corpse around in Rook's eyes and putting his words into Varric's mouth.

He chose to manipulate, mold, and guilt Rook into the old 'switcheroo' in his mind palace/regret prison

He chose to 'free' the elven people by bringing down the Veil - regardless of their feelings about it (elven Rook can call him out on this!), never mind the consequences or ramifications of a bunch of people suddenly having their bodily autonomy overwritten by now being magic/having immortality.

He looked at the devastation caused the by the Gods and still went ahead with trying to bring down the veil again.

These are the thing he does in-game - not even mentioning making the dwarves/titans tranquil, creating the blight, started the chain of events that led to SOUTHERN THEDAS BEING DESTROYED, and taking my good gear from Inquisition!

Aside from the 'all lore leads to Solas' reveal just being really dull it also does nothing to help with making me sympathetic to him as a character. The audacity of this man to say: "it was like walking in a world of tranquil" when he fucking lobotomized the dwarves/titans is wild in retrospect.

If he didn't do the ritual at the beginning, if something else went wrong and that resulted in the God's being released, I could understand why a Lavellan would still want to get through to him. It would make sense - she could stop him from doing it again at the end too! You can still have him conflicted and torn between the restoring the past or pursuing the future - but this doesn't happen!

He never chose Lavellan in this game! Hell, it's Mythal who convinces him to stop?!! He owes her nothing! He's learned nothing from this!!! He's only stopped because Mythal 'pardoned/freed' him - once again showing that he values the ancient elves/mythal over her!!!

How impactful would it have been to have him choose Lavellan over Mythal! To show us this! Mythal, who 'crawled through the ages for a reckoning' (which was retconned to her being sad about the elves lmao) telling Solas to go through with the ritual and him touching grass and saying 'no'.

It's something I feel was wildly out of character for him as well - he never came across in DAI as being subservient to Mythal, if anything the ending cutscene gave me the impression they were equals?!

After everything he did in this game - after all we learn about what he did in the past - I had no interest in reasoning/appealing with his ass. None whatsoever. My inquisitor/Lavellan asking if Solas can be reasoned with only made me regret making that choice - perhaps other people's inquisitor's would say that, but mine would not, especially after everything that happened in game.

She came across as delusional: standing on the ruins of a blighted Minrathous, the south blighted to hell, dead all around them, blight tentacles everywhere, a gaping hole in the Fade right next to them:

Lavellan: "I forgive you! All you have to do is stop." Solas: "But I cannot."

Boom! There it is.

At this point it's not romantic, it's just sad! Sad that she's spent 10 years pining after a man who seemed to learn nothing at all from what happened in DAI.

------------------------

There should have been some sort of a dialogue option with Lavellan right before you go into the big fight - she can ask you what you think of Solas, if he's truly regretful for everything that happened, and then you can give her an answer that can 'change' her approach to Solas in the end - giving the player some agency as to how their Inquisitor would actually respond to this.

Ending One: Bye Bye Bye

Rook: "HE'S A GUY."

alternatively, "Look around you! Look at what Solas has done - what he's threatening to do even now after all of this! You gave him every chance to turn away from this path. So did Varric...and look at what he did!"

Lavellan is bitter/angry with Solas: "It seems we never were people to you after all."

Refers to him as 'Fen'harel' and not Solas - dig the knife in deeper, give us angst!

"Just go. You love the Fade, don't you? Enough to do all this - enough to kill Varric for your pride in a dead world that no longer exists. We were never 'real' to you, were we?"

Solas says his goodbyes, expresses his love, and Lavellan steps back.

Solas leaves voluntarily, his 'situation-ship very much over', to stew in his regrets for the rest of his life.

Ending Two: Bittersweet Goodbye

Rook: "Girl, it's been 10 years."

alternatively, "You loved him once, perhaps you still do even now - after all he's done - but love wasn't enough. Love does not excuse this."

Lavellan is firm with Solas, does not excuse his actions, but has a bitter sweet farewell: "I had hoped…it doesn't matter what I hoped. You made your choice - it wasn't me. It wasn't our friends. It wasn't this world. You can make a choice now - if I ever mattered you. If I, if our friends, were ever real to you."

They can have a final goodbye, a goodbye smooch, and then he can go off to the Fade.

Bittersweet ending - acknowledge what they had and then provide closure.

Ending Three: Happy Ending (?)

Rook: "He didn't mean it babe. He's tots sorry."

alternatively, "He seems to regret what's happened - I've seen his memories, his regrets. He believes this is the only path he has. Perhaps you can convince him to find another."

Default Lavellan ending basically

"There is no fate but the love we share" blah blah blah

As happy an ending as it can be when you have Lavellan fuck off to the Fade - leaving behind her life, friends, family, and whatever remains of the world for an eternity.

I'm being mean but I genuinely wanted a happy/fulfilling ending for them both too - despite the fact that this game seems to want that ending as well, it did little to convince me of that. :(

I genuinely liked Solas in DAI - despite his flaws, I thought his romance was compelling and I was hoping to be able to convince him to change/alter his path. I can see what they were trying to do with him in DATV but it's so hard to feel sympathy for him when we see/know the results of his actions. The story in this game is doing anything but convincing me to give him a 'happy ending'.

'Love' can't excuse what he did and neither would my Lavellan.

Also RIP Sandal's Prophecy about the Fade lmao

[comikbook]

do you have any character design tips? all your characters look so cool and i struggle so hard with designing characters lol

hi yes !!!! okay okay so first off all of my characters are dnd characters, so i will start with going thru the list of races available and pick one that i think is cool or interesting.

the next thing i do is i come up with a theme. is this character based off of an animal ? does this character have a trope i want to explore ? is there a specific setting i want to make this character fit into ? these are all questions im asking myself

for example, this is my character mercy !!

i knew when i was making her my first idea was “i want a cowboy oc” !! I also knew i wanted a vampire character, i mashed the ideas together !

I thought to myself about cowboy media I had seen and enjoyed, and decided she would be based on one of my favorite movies, true grit (the 2010 version)

you may see the resemblance to the two main characters !! i picked different things from each character that i liked, most of her being based on the character on the left, with some elements of the one on the right. this gave me my “base” to work with !

I then started to think about outfits, my favorite part !!

I will always always always reccomend searching thru pinterest when designing a character. look at runway/ high fashion pics to get an idea for interesting sillhouettes. what is your characters ethnicity or time period ? look at historical clothing associated with either. look at pieces made by fashion students, find different elements that you think look interesting and make a list of what it is you particularly are drawn to. heres some images i gathered when i was designing mercy.

while not exact the vision was starting to come together !! this is the point where i start sketching, trying out different outfit combos and cycling thru the elements i listed before. Once i have a very basic sillhouette/idea of the outfit, this is when i start embellishing !!!!

for example, i liked the tassles on the hat, okay done, where else can i include tassles ? i considered the vest, but ultimately decided on the cuffs of the sleeves. the cool thing about that is the tassles from the hat coming down to the cuffs creates a triangle shape in the figure. This enforces a sillhouette and creates a balence to the design !!

I also liked the idea of an embroidered vest, and embroidery in general that is seen in a lot of cowboy outfits, i embraced that and brought in more embroidered details in the bag and the gun holster.

At this point I had my outfit sketched out ! then I went onto coloring !!! picking colors for a design is typically the hardest and most time consuming part for me, however with mercy i had a clear idea. I wanted to create a sepia color scheme, very neutral, to emulate old western photographs !! so thats what i went with ! lots of browns, brassy metal, black, and cream. I also knew she was a vampire, and knew I wanted to draw a lot of pieces with blood and thought the red would stand out white nicely from the neutral tones of her pallet :) (another cool thing to consider which i did not do for mercy is color langage and using certain colors with certain meanings to emphasize the theme)

With all of this done now, i had my design !!! after this point is where I make a series of sketches of the character to really get the hang of drawing them, different poses to figure out personality, things like that !! Things evolve over time of course, but usually my characters i am able to do a one and done type approach and rarely have to entirely scrap and redesign them. its all about having fun and learning what it is you want to see in the design of characters in media !!!

I hope this helped some !! im not the best with my words but this is a pretty good run thru of what i do for each character !!

[nullify-pygmy]

Imagine if SVSSS had occurred where the transmigrators could only be seen in dreams or memories. do people remember them unless they do something that allows them to look back? nope! which is full of angst potential.

(more under read-more as I started to ramble on)

Like, yeah that guy was NOT there before, who is he and how the fuck does no one remember him. His hair is cut short as if he had been disowned in the worst ways possible, he seems far past the age that someone's parent would cut it down... but yet here he is. Sadly, it likely doesn't work on demons fully due to their other senses being stronger than the average human... but all they can tell is something is off. Luo Binghe swears he's not losing his mind that there's occasionally just... someone there that isn't some sort of spirit! The whole peak would know if it's haunted.

Would SY and SQH still have to eat? yes, but it's easier to steal from the kitchens if no one knows you exist at all. Their systems have both helped a bit with them not somehow being found by someone stumbling right into them and possibly someone clever enough to realize how to catch them to solve what was going on.

It's enough for both to be safe for most of the story but the first one to realize something is off is An Ding Peak. things are way off course for what the peaks would normally need, specially for An Ding and Qing Jing. OG!SQH already has enough to juggle but this type of mystery is making him mighty suspicious of something like an infestation... yet none of the disciples of either peak have noted such an occurrence.

Qing Jing would likely start to notice when things started to move around. Luo Binghe may be the first to notice, but sure as hell are the rest of the disciples also starting to realize something is wrong. The amount of dirty dishes? slightly more than usual, and same with other basic amenities. Their aloof shizun won't do anything about it, but it's been starting to affect the library as well. many books have started to have scraps of random notes and amendments hidden in them through someone doing it! but it's impossible to tell who is even doing it as any possible suspects are entirely clear of plausibly doing so much in such a little timeframe as well.

In the end I think either if Bai Zhan Peak went to attack Qing Jing, leading to some disciples bumping into very much invisible Shen Yuan leading to a very bad fight and mass confusion among all the disciples; Luo Binghe finding out about Shen Yuan through Meng Mo going through his memories or somewhere around that arc unknowingly, leading to SY's protagonist watch party failing miserably; the demon attack leading to SY being caught after saving LQQ and trying his best with everything he has, leading to him somehow getting caught by LQQ directly at first while he was recovering from the qi deviation; or before Luo Binghe is pushed into the abyss, where both could easily get caught by the sects if they're not careful.

There's so many chances for them to fuck up and get caught, and you better believe it would be very awkward the entire time as they both likely don't age until whatever the system does to them is broken off. Like from random disciples' pov both of those peaks are very haunted, but no one is going to say anything anymore as nothing as really worked so sadly no one had the thought of really going through and doing something that could work.

Likely the only reason why Airplane and Cucumber didn't meet quicker is SQH's lust for his perfect man, and unironically the system being more threatening to him than Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan is just out here living his best life, mostly ignoring places he isn't really interested in... but sure as hell would they both be able to see eachother easily.

However they both get caught, I think it would be fun if the System encouraged them both AFTER finally being caught to deal with it. did it take half of their points away when it occurred? yes. will it use these moments to push the plot into interesting directions? abso-fucking-lutely

[writefullyrobin]

No spoilers past 2x10 if possible folks!

2x06 – Dosed thoughts

The 9-1-1 call with the reporter, Taylor, was pretty funny, I won’t lie. The rest of her plot was less funny. As soon as I realised she was hanging around for the ep, it turned very predictable. I have yet to come across a reporter guest character who isn’t driven by the stereotypical need to break the next big story so they can have their breakout moment. I can admire someone having aspirations and goals, but not at the expense of people’s lives.

Taylor very nearly managed to wreck Bobby. I was on tender hooks the entire scene Bobby was high as a kite and thinking he was speaking to Brooke but he was actually chatting with Taylor. I genuinely thought she was gonna find out about Minnesota.

Bobby’s run in with her did give us a nice turnaround of Buck being able to offer Bobby some comfort on the news report. More often than not its Bobby offering the reassurances. It was a nice change of pace to flip the script there.

Although Buck got Taylor’s motive very wrong! I won’t deny there was a bit of chemistry between Buck and Taylor, but I don’t agree with her cameraman. They do not need to find a room, please and thank you. Although this is the first person (ignoring his boy crush on Eddie) who Buck has really sparked with since Abby left. She was heavily involved rather than just appearing in her emergency and disappearing so who knows.

The team being drugged did lend to some very funny moments, I will admit. This cast knows how to turn on the comedic moments well. Then it’s ruined with Bobby on the roof and I nearly have heart palpitations! Gosh, I’m glad Athena managed to talk him down. Her face when she finally managed to get him within reach again nearly broke me. Such brilliant acting.

Bobby’s actor was probably the standout this ep. He killed the scenes with Athena and the kids and May’s homecoming. I’m really happy he gets to be apart of this family milestones with her kids but it’s a kick to the gut at the same time. I loved the final scene’s music. The lyrics were just perfect “when you love someone you make room”. Very sweet and on point for Bobby, whose making room in his heart for new family members alongside the existing. Much more emotional that I was expecting!

Away from the 118, Maddie’s living in her own little Fort Knox. That is a lot of security… how nasty is her ex-husband exactly? This is making me nervous.

Also, Maddie and Chimney? The thought had not even crossed my mind before. Hm. Not sure if Maddie’s in a great place for a new relationship right now but the possibility of her and Chimney… is interesting.

Maddie and Buck have such sibling energy. Pizza on the new sofa? Yes, I would be annoyed with my brother too!

I giggled probably way too much when I heard Buck call pivot (Friends fans will get the reference!).

[aikoiya]

Hey, if you think they're endearing, then good on ya.

... Waitwaitwait!! I've got an idea! Not sure if you'll like it, but it could work!

Similar to you, I wanna include EoW & its lore into my story, but the fact that it was the Golden Goddesses who trapped null & actually created the literal world conflicts with my personal interpretation of Hyrule being more so that the Golden Trio only created the land of Hyrule.

But, I recently found a way to integrate it in a way that doesn't interfere with my interpretation of things & it's by utilizing something that already exists within the series' lore: reincarnation.

Now, it's difficult to kill gods, but it's still very possible. My thoughts are that maybe the original Golden Three would eventually die not that long after entrapping Null. But before they did, they created the Tris.

And then they were much later reborn. However, this time, instead or being born as what would amount to the Protogenoí (primordial manifestations of nature or a concept) of creation, I suppose, & instead as Ábrótoí (immortals; basically the many types of gods & goddesses of multiple cultures, but more so as an actual species). And that was when they created Hyrule the land, as well as the Triforce.

Similarly, maybe you could go the route of having the original Skyward Sword dragons appointed by Hylia having eventually died (we already know that it's possible based on the fact that Lanello died of a sickness) & were then born again as the dragons of your rewrite.

But, that's just a suggestion.

I guess I could see it being the guardian seeing in all directions sort of way, but that sort of placement is known for giving animals a more difficult time seeing what's directly in front of them. So, if that were the explanation, you'd think that they'd be able to retain the third eye to balance that out? Like, if that were the case, then I might actually be able to live with it a bit better. Because right in front is still an important area to be able to keep an eye one.

The only other real issue I have with the BotW dragons is the end of their tails. They don't taper & the just... end in a spike??? It's really weird???

So, I'd honestly prefer the tail design they put in the reference art book:

Which, btw, they might not have gone with any of them, but I'm glad we at least get to see the reference art of them.

But, yeah. Just letting them keep the third eye & give them a more lion-like tail would've immensely improved my perception of their designs.

So, maybe like this concept art of the Light Dragon:

Maybe the little green dot between her bigger eyes could be representative of that third eye?

.... You know what, I can understand being a bit unsettled by the SS dragos' faces. That makes perfect sense. Has a bit of an uncanny feel to them, huh?

Wait... You didn't like their voices??? You're not including the operatic qualities, are you????? I liked that little characteristic!!

Mmm... Possible. Though, I think one issue might be that Naydra is very specifically an ice dragon, not a water one. Of course, it's entirely possible that she's just not using her water magic recently. But... I dunno, I'm sorry if I'm a bit resistant to the idea.

Hmm... So, maybe you'd prefer a bit of a middle point like this?

(Not my art.)

Though, I'd definitely add on the unique features that the SS dragons possessed. Things like the almost water-like underbelly of Faron, the actual flaming eyebrows of Eldin, & the magnificent thundercloud beard of Lanayru. Also, I kinda liked their colors.

Actually, when I think about it, the Zonai Dragons are almost entirely the same exact base design besides their highlight colors & their horns. Other than that, they're legitimately the same exact white base model...

So, it really might be best to insert more of the SS dragons in there to give them more personality & life. Which is where I think the SS dragons really shine & the BotW dragons very much don't.

But, with their BotW names, maybe? Or OOO!!! Combine!! Maybe something like Eridinraal for the fire dragon? Fironaydra for the ice dragon? And maybe Lanellosh for the thunder dragon?

Though, keep in mind that Faron (Firona) very prominently has the symbol of Farore upon her brow. Likewise, Lanayru (Lanelle or Lanello) has the mark of Nayru upon his. So, that might be something to keep in mind.

No, now the part of Rauru mentioning that he named it after a mythical kingdom is totally fair. Though, at the same time, we really only see, like, a handful of scenes with him. So, from a narrative perspective, it's entirely possible that he actually did mention such to Zelda during her stay, it just wasn't something that Link was privy to. I mean, Zelda & Rauru obviously interacted much more often than what we saw, so it's entirely within the realm of possibility that it was just one of those things he mentioned that wouldn't have fit into one of the various Tear cutscenes. Though, personally, I think the best place to have put something like that would've actually been during the tutorial on the Great Sky Island. Because you actually have Rauru's spirit appearing here & there & making random commentary. So, it's kind of the best place that it would've fit, huh?

Same with a mention of Rauru & Sonia's possible child or even just melancholic reminiscing on how he & his sister were the last of their species, which means that the Zonai are dead with their only known legacy being Zelda & the various ruins scattered hither & yon. Like, I don't care what anyone says, that must hit like a freight train.

Really? Did you not read the hidden diary behind the bookshelf in Rhoam's study? I believe that part of the canon reason for Zelda's struggle with her abilities was mentioned in both Rhoam & Zelda's diaries.

Rhoam mentions that Zelda's mother died "suddenly & unexpectedly" when Zelda was 6 years old or so. Which, I believe, was noted to have been not long before his daughter was supposed to begin her training. (And this part is more speculative.) This brings up the possibility that it was actually her mother that Zelda inherited her sealing magic from. As well as the possibility that Rhoam & the rest of the Kingdom believed that it was her mother who was going to seal the Calamity & not the young Princess Zelda.

Likewise, Zelda mentions in the 13th Memory in BotW that her grandmother was able to hear voices from the spirit realm & that her mother told her Zelda would develop the power. Not only that, in both Rhoam & Zelda's diaries, they both mention that she hadn't only lost a mother, "but also a teacher." As such, this all-but confirms that at least the main reason for her difficulty in learning was the simple fact that she had no teacher. Or that what teachers she may have, quite simply knew nothing of how to access that power.

She was, quite literally, on her own. Which also explains why Rhoam had very little clue as to how to help her unlock them. It may've even been that he figured, "Well, these powers come from Hylia, right? So, maybe she can unlock it?" Or, maybe his wife was especially devout & prayed often? Or, it may even have been possible that the line about how "prayer will awaken her power" originally came from her mother. We don't know. But what we do know is that Zelda had no teacher. And that could very well have been the main reason as to why she struggled as she did.

Though, a little side-note: I actually hc that the queen was assassinated. Most likely, by Yiga using an untraceable poison. As to whether they did it of their own accord or if maybe the Calamity entered one of their dreams & ordered them, I don't know. But I can't help but find the timing of her death very suspicious. Like, it was literally a year before she was to begin training her daughter. Which further emphasizes another hc of mine: Calamity Ganon is most likely Demise's hatred & death curse in its most primal state without anything to hold it back. Remember that the curse is specifically tied to the blood of the goddess & the spirit of the hero. It's been at least 10,000 years, if not more, since Skyward Sword. Regardless of whether you believe that the Wild Era is at the end of a re-merged timeline, or one that split off from Skyward Sword. It's most likely that every Hylian & Sheikah, possibly even Gerudo, living in Hyrule at the time of the Calamity, had at least a drop of Hylia's blood in them. Because, remember, Family Trees fork & they tend to have many, many branches. Which, if this is the case, then you strip the humanity from that hate-fueled curse, them no wonder the population of Hyrule took such a huge nosedive:

Like, when they named what happened a Calamity, they weren't kidding. The Bokoblin population is higher than the Hylian one in modern-day Wild Era Hyrule. But before that, it was most likely somewhere in the realm of several millions. Which, I read somewhere that when casualties reach 1 million, it's called a megadeath. So, this wasn't just another Ganon attack. It was an actual extinction-level cataclysm. The Calamity wasn't just looking to kill the Hyrulean Royal Family, it was looking to exterminate the Hylians as a race. Which is entirely counterintuitive to TotK Ganondorf's goal. At least, as it was before he stole the stone. This is why I think that there was something very weird going on with the Stone. Because, in the first Tear memory, the language he uses in the Japanese version, very specifically, indicates a desire to rule, control, or subjugate. You can't subjugate anyone if they're all dead. But, then, in the cutscene with his emo unicorn, his language changes to ordering his monster army to, essentially, extirpate Hyrule & all those who side with it. Specifically saying to leave no survivors. And I say extirpate because of the very specific wording that was used in the Japanese. Which was Konzetsu (根絶) or Nedayashi ni suru (根絶やしにする). While this is typically translated to "Eradicate," the imagery here is very specific in that it is supposed to bring to mind the image of pulling something up by its root & destroying it utterly. Which is also extirpate's exact translation.

This is very, very different to his goals before that, where his language included terms such as Suberu (統べる) which means command & Ganondorf uses it to signify a desire for absolute control. And Sadameru (定める) which means shape, however, it was used to indicate both a desire for a decision-making role as well as a wish to dominate & dictate. So, unless he meant that he wished to have a decision-making role over ash, I'm almost positive that something funky was going on with Ganondorf & the Stone. But, sorry. Went off on a major tangent there. Also, this wasn't an attempt at changing your mind or anything, I just have issues with talking too much. Again, unskippable dialog. 😅

I mean, yeah. The rockets, fans, & wheels were most definitely too modern-looking for the setting to make sense. Though, most of the other tech had a very pleasing design to them. I really liked the interesting mix of ancient Chinese & Mesoamerican. Which, holy cow! The Zonai are Latin-coded! 😃 It made me wish that Rauru & Mineru had more Latin accents as a result! That could've been cool!

Do you think that had Nintendo not made everything about the Zonai, that you wouldn't dislike them so much? Regardless, they actually didn't show up from nowhere. Do you remember the ruins in Faron? In fact, Creating a Champion even mentions them:

Though, I believe that the Faron Zonai most likely originally came about from the hybrid children of Zonai & Hylians that persisted after the complete extinction of the original Zonai race. This would've allowed them to take on their own identities while still retaining a degree of the Zonai's architectural influence, which you can see a bit of in the Faron ruins, now referred to as the Zonai Ruins in TotK. However, if this were the case, it's possible that the reason that most of the OG Zonai all died, but not the hybrids, could've been due to some sort of disease? Heck, it's even possible that the hybrids' Hylian DNA could've been immune to this hypothetical disease. But, that's mostly speculation on my part, I'll admit.

In my mind, it's very unlikely that the Ancient Hero was actually a full Zonai & it's far more likely that he was one of those hybrids.

But, as far as the actual technology, I think what I didn't like most was... I dunno... I just couldn't get over the fact that it was all so disposable. Like, that was literally how they were designed. They had flippin' gotcha machines! And the fact of the matter is that they were made from ore from the ground. As such, the amount of resources it took to build them must've been unfathomable! Like, sure, they disappear into nothing upon being used up, but at the same time, the metal used to make them still needed to be excavated!

Like, don't get me wrong. It makes complete sense in terms of gameplay, but if you want to approach it from a story perspective where a writer has to approach it like it's an actual world, then I immediately see so many problems!

And, while I very much agree with the ToP being a great source of power (possibly even one of the greatest), my thoughts are that, yes, it would give more power, but that it feels more like a more general type of power. Or rather, a similar type of power to what created the Master Sword. Meanwhile, the Stone gave him a different kind or quality of power. Like, for one, the power that Ganondorf's stone enhanced is one that is specifically known to corrode & decay. The ToP never had that sort of thing indicated.

... I guess you could think about it like how, normally, a sword is too hard to break on your own no matter how strong you are. However, if you were to intentionally cause that sword to rust, then you could likely shatter the sword to pieces if you smashed it against a rock hard enough. So, this is what I mean. It isn't that TotK Ganondorf has more raw power than, say, the Dorfs of OoT, TP, WW, or HW who had the ToP. It's that the very specific power that the Stone enhanced in TotK's Dorf allowed him to directly affect the Master Sword itself in a way that it couldn't combat effectively. Because his Miasma didn't simply break the Master Sword. It eroded it. Because, even if it's a divine sword, it is still a sword. Meaning it is made of metal.

Meanwhile, as I said before, I tend to see the power that the Triforce grants as a power that very specifically is not his. It belongs to the Triforce. It is the Triforce's power, it exists independent of his influence, & it would give the same exact power & amount of power to anyone who possessed it. It isn't a modifier. It's a "here have this, as well as your own."

I also believe that in one of the videos I watched on this, it was specifically noted that enough On'nen is even capable of killing gods. And what is the Master Sword, but a weapon forged by the gods?

In other words, his Gloom broke the Master Sword because it was the exact perfect counter to the Master Sword in every way.

It's like... Have you ever watched Dragon Ball Z or Danny Phantom?

If not, then the thing about DBZ is that the characters are obscene powerful. Galaxy-destroying powerful. Literally, the first season of DBZ, the 2nd big bad, was able to reduce a planet to actual dust & rubble floating within the vast void of space. Everyone there, dead in an instant without even a fuss. And it only gets even crazier from there. Though, at the same time, this specific villain was still very mortal. He was just a mortal with a lot of power.

In Danny Phantom, there are Ghosts & none that I've seen are able to do something on that scale so casually as in DBZ. However, one of their most common powers is being able to turn intangible & phase through solid objects. They can even temporarily pass on that power to other things & people so long as they are touching them. Like, literally, every Ghost is able to do this. And, one can even reach through a wall to grab something that they put there before in the actual cement & remove it from said wall. Casually & with no issue. And even the literal weakest Ghost in the show can do this.

Now, without that extra context, you'd hear about this super op DBZ villain & this weak Ghost & might think that "oh, this super powerful, strong, DBZ villain could totally destroy this weakling Ghost." But, that doesn't take into account the fact that said weakling Ghost can literally just reach right into said DBZ villain's chest & pull out his heart. Or his bones. Or his brain.

DBZ Villain: Dead. Weak Ghost: Win.

So, in such a situation, it doesn't matter that he can destroy planets because, at the end of the day, he is still subject to being a mortal who needs his heart in order to function. And, the weakling Ghost just so happens to have the exact, very unassuming power that would end that villain's threat in a single second.

Or, if you're more of a Pokémon fan, you could equate it to putting Giratina up against an Arceus holding a Normal Plate & that only knows Normal & Fighting moves, but none of them are Foresight or Odor Sleuth. Like, yes, Arceus is the Pokéverse's equivalent to the Golden Three. But that doesn't matter in this specific instance. At least, not as far as in-game goes. Because, by & large, the Giratina is both a Legendary Pokémon & is extremely effective just by its nature of being a Ghost-type up against a Normal-type with no attacks that can really affect it.

Essentially, Ganondorf's Gloom is the Master Sword's Achilles Heel.

Or, maybe think of the Triforce as an A+50 & the Secret Stones as an Ax2? They just work differently. The question here isn't how much A gets out of it. The question is, what is A?

Because, depending on what A is, then in some cases, x2 will actually result in a higher value than +50 even though 50 seems like such a big number & 2 a very small one.

For instance, if A = 20, then A+50 = 70 & Ax2 = 40. So, here, +50 wins.

But, if A = 150, then A+50 = 200 & Ax2 = 300. Suddenly, x2 is more advantageous than +50.

...

Sorry, I got a bit into the metaphor. My bad. 😅 I hope I didn't confuse you more.

Anyway, I wouldn't say that the map of MC was entirely unique. I'm pretty sure it's a very similar location to the one in aLttP, just around a couple thousand years of time difference.

And there are a number of locations in the BotW map that seem to actually be named after some of the areas in MC & that they're all in that general area I theorize it to have been in, I kinda can't help but think that the designers were trying to tell us something.

I mean, Menshi Woods? Pico Pond? Crenel Hills & Peak? The Veiled Falls in the Zora's Domain? Trillby Plains & Trillby Valley?

I dunno, maybe I'm reading too much into it? But, to be fair, I'm pretty sure that MC was my first ever Zelda Game, so I maaay be a tiny bit protective of it. XD

Hi, sorry if this is a bit rude. 😅 I guess that I was just wondering. How would Jabul Waters, Zora Cove, & Crossflows Plaza be named in French?

I'm trying to give Jabul Waters an interesting name that works to go with my hc & I came up with "Jabuleaux." And Google Translate tells me that Crossflows Plaza would be Place des Flux Croisés. And, I'm seeing that Anse is the term to refer to a cove &, if that's true, then would Zora Cove be Zoranse? At the same time, somewhere else, it said that Anse actually means beach.

And, I believe that a town by a swamp would have cher, quier, bren, brin, or Hor- in it?

I'm sorry if this is weird... 😅

Hi! Don't worry it's not rude or weird at all! I offered to help and I'm happy to do so :D

Did you check the official French translations? I had a surprisingly hard time finding the French version of the map online so here's a screenshot I took myself:

Jabul Waters = Eaux de Jabule (this one only appears when I zoom out)

Zora Cove = Baie Zora

Crossflows Plaza = Place de l'Estuaire

In case you didn't know the Zelda Wiki often lists names for places or characters in various languages in the "Nomenclature" section of its pages. It's very helpful especially if you're searching for the original Japanese names. If we look at at the different names for Crossflows Plaza we can see that a literal translation from Japanese would be something like "Exchanging Place". I checked the Jisho dictionary and it seems to be an accurate translation, though "Place for Cultural Exchanges" would be more meaningful.

It's not exactly a good name in English so it makes sense that the localization team would come up with something like Crossflows Plaza instead, which in my opinion does a very good job of stating that this is both the place where the river meets the sea and where the two Zora tribes traditionally meet each other.

Other European languages all settled for variations of "Estuary Plaza" ("Place de l'Estuaire" in French), which is fine but looses the "cultural exchanges" aspect of both the original name and the English translation.

I've been trying to come up with a French translation of "Crossflows Plaza" but it's not that easy. To me "Place des Flots Croisés" or "Place Flots-Croisés" would sound better than "Place des Flux Croisés", but I still find it a bit weird ("flot" meaning flow, tide or stream). "La Croisée des Flots" is another option if you agree to get rid of Plaza/Place (it means "the intersection/junction of streams"), but I don't think it works very well as a name.

You could also mix words to create a name the same way it was done in English, something like "Place Croiseaux" (croiser/cross + eau/waters). If any of my French speaking followers is feeling inspired, please share your ideas! :)

(I just thought of "Place Cruciflot" and found it too funny not to mention 😆 maybe it sounds too much like crucifix)

In French we also have the word "confluence" that has the exact same meaning as it does in English: either the meeting of two rivers or a gathering of some kind. So to me the most obvious translation would be something like "Place des Confluences" or maybe "Place Confluence", as it would preserve the dual meaning, but it's not very fancy or creative. Maybe we could simply change the spelling to something like Place Konfluans, the same way "Village Côtier" (Seaside Village) is spelled "Village Kothié" (Seesyde Village). But it doesn't look like a French word anymore so I'm not sure that's something you'd like.

As for Jabuleaux, it can work but I prefer the official translation "Eaux de Jabule". Same thing for Zoranse, we would say "Anse Zora" or "Anse des Zora". The official French translation is "Baie Zora" (Zora Bay), which I think is more appropriate given the size of the sea inlet (in my understanding an anse/cove is a small baie/bay and isn't very deep). I think maybe it should have been bay in English as well instead of cove, but I might be wrong! Also I believe "anse" isn't used as often as "baie" and might be confusing for most people, so I would go with "Baie Zora".

I'm not sure where you found this information about swamps and town names? I didn't find anything to confirm it but I might not have looked in the right places.

French towns are often ancient and their names can derive from other languages such as Celtic, Occitan, Flemish, or regional dialects, so that's a very difficult question and I'm not sure I can give you a satisfying answer ^^

I still did a little search and found an Old French word for swamp, "palud" or "palu", that still appears in some town names such as La Palud-sur-Verdon, Saint-Pierre-la-Palud, Lapalud, etc. (today we say "marais" or "marécage"). You might be right about "bren", it could be something like muddy in Gallic.

There's also "vign" or "mign" (from Celtic), as in Mignéville or Lévignac, or l'Île de Migneaux on the Seine river (this one's in my city!).

Near where I grew up is a town named Hazebrouck, it literally means "hare swamp" (brouck/broek = swamp in Flemish). For a bit more French flavor you could maybe use -broucq or -breucq instead of -brouck.

I think the vast majority of French people have no clue about all of that (I didn't except for the last one and it's more Flemish than French), so I'd say don't oversweat it ;)

And that's all! I hope you'll find this helpful ^^

[haunted-xander]

Who's the "real" me?

+ some references for the Rise-related things I included <3

[bondagebimbo]

heads up: (TW blood/blood loss mention from accidental injury in post and tags)

probs not gonna stream tonight because I feel so dead and I actually just physically hurt myself really fucking badly, not purposely—don’t think I did this intentionally, and have to clean up a giant bloody fucking mess now so I’m just 🫠 ugh. I hate being inconvenienced with shit like this due to my own fucking issues with my coordination and a lack of reaction time because I feel weird right now in general and I’m struggling to feel like an actual person mentally so like … it definitely fucked me up today when I was distracted and unfocused and managed to hurt myself.

I’ll see how I feel tomorrow night after dealing all this, but if I do stream tomorrow then it’ll likely start around 7pm (east coast US time) as that’s the most common time I’ve been recommended. a post will be made beforehand on whether I plan to or not to, along with the twitch link.

but right now I just REALLY need to clean up this fucking mess and lay down. I got myself BAD and I think I need to try and nap after I clean this up because fucking hell, it hurt, and it made me feel sick at the same time so 🙃

[autumnoakes]

man... rhoam's "redemption" in aoc really sucked, huh?

like botw SHOWED us, several times, how much pressure rhoam put on zelda to unlock her powers, despite her telling him, several times, that it wasn't working. he got angry and banned her from doing not only something she saw as useful, but something that she was clearly very interested in and passionate about because she "wasn't dedicating enough time to her prayers." yes, his diary expresses regret for it, but at the end of the day, if zelda saw that it wouldn't mean much to her. the actions rhoam took, and the way zelda grew up under so much pressure that she nearly died as a child in one of the springs (this is in urbosa's diary, iirc) mean so much more than his regrets and his intentions. it took him nearly 10 years to realize that he fucked up, and by that point it was too late. the calamity had returned, and rhoam had lost any chance he had at making things right with zelda.

meanwhile, in aoc, all that's there is some half-hearted scene in the temple of time that's supposed to make everything better? yes, aoc had a very different and arguably better outcome than the calamity that led to botw, but the damage was still done by rhoam. it's still the same hurts and abuse and trauma that he put his daughter through all because of the prophesized calamity.

[arcane-ish]

I have my issues with season 2 and how Vi's story went is a huge part of it (so much I wrote an entire meta just about how bad Act 3 was for her). But I find his answer fairly understandable.

"this is a story of 2 sisters"

Just because Vi wasn't the lead anymore doesn't mean the wasn't about the sisters. You can just as much read it "season 1 was the story from Vi's point of view and season 2 is it from Jinx's pov". I would read season 2 as being very much about Jinx wrestling with her relatioship with Vi and making a decision about it.

Like it’s your fucking JOB to service and write these characters to the best of your ability

That is just an odd complaint to me. Starting with: how do you know that that isn't the best of ability? Considering that he had never run a tv show before?

And I don't see how that somehow includes the mandate to never be allowed to change main characters or tell more than one story? He's allowed to love multiple characters and tell multiple stories.

If he just genuinely happens to be passionate about multiple characters why wouldn't he try to bring it all into a tv show. Especially if you read some of his other statements, he is deeply commited to the idea of doing the League of Legends experience justice where there are over 100 "main characters" and every fan group of an individual character would love to see "their" main as a lead.

It's just a normal League thing to me that you have a handful of "mains" who you all love (the way League is structured as a game usually forces you to play more than one character) and that's kind of how he reads to me.

To be honest, I genuinely blame Amanda here at least as much as him if not more. Amanda is the one who has genuine tv experience and who advertises herself as the big ViCait champion and she should have been aware that Vi not having a true status within season 2 and particularly in the finale also slightly dulls Vi and Cait as a couple. (my take: if the show was going to remove us from Vi's shoes compared to what we had in season 1, then she at least needed some wins to compensate)

IMO it is possible the gracefully go from lead character to supporting character. The problem is that even as a supporting character you need at least a an arc or a clear plan or a payoff.

You can have good and decent and appealing stories despite being a supporting character (even though the Mel fans will disagree, I think Mel is an example, as is Ekko, we can debate whether Jayce was supporting or lead. Heck even clear supporting characters like Heimerdinger or Isha whose job it was to go towards their own heroic sacrifice still had a clear progression)

I love her as a character outside of her relationship with Jinx and Caitlyn, however we didn’t get to see that this season.

I don't think the problem was that we didn't see her outside of her relationship with Jinx or Caitlyn. It's that the writers 1.) weren't really able to tie it all together as a whole. 2.) that Vi lacked agency in her relationships with Jinx and Caitlyn in many ways.

(I mean did we really see that much more of "Vi in relationships outside of Jinx and Caitlyn in season 1?" I guess you can say she Mylo/Claggor and Ekko? But in the end she was deeply defined by her relationship with Jinx in season 1 as well as her blooming relationship with Caitlyn. And we see many examples of other characters within the show who can pull off a satisfying arc despite a much smaller set of important character relationships than Vi had in season 2)

I just wanna ask him then why make vi main character!?

I can't read his mind but my assumption would be because he likes her too (as one of many) AND presumably he thought she would be a really good character to initially introduce us to the world?

I'm not saying that he doesn't have many flawed approached (I have ranted extensively at what I perceive to be as the "vignette" structure of season 2). But I can totally see why one might for example really love Jinx as a character, but think she isn't the best character to start the story with or to spend the entire season in her point of view.

Season 1 played A LOT with the idea of perception and then underminding it. And similarly they might have seen it as a cool approach to first see Jinx more through the perceptions of others and then switch towards telling her point of view.

(for what it's worth, Jinx interacting less with Vi in the last act to me feels like a consistent choice IF you read season 2 as a story from Jinx's point of view AND that it's heavily about her decision to split from Vi/to let Vi go. Within Jinx's stoy she actually still interacts quite a bit with Vi, I'd argue (it's more a problem that within the finale battle the Caitlyn versus Ambessa stuff gets a ton of room and basically doesn't tie back at all with either Vi or Jinx))

Christian has said a lot of things that makes me want to tear my hair out with how stupid I think it is. But imo this (in essence "well we love multiple characters and we wanted to tell those stories too") is imo a very human and relatable answer especially if you combine it with his other answers about how he and supposedly many other creatives were very desperate to move on after 2 seasons (actual quote: " Even key talent that works on the show that, simply put, is getting tired cranking away at this incredibly long season and project over multiple years. Don't forget that at the end of the day, this is just a collective of human beings, of people.").

(compared to his braggy "I'm proud of our season for pulling off so many varying things ... that nobody asked us to pull off" [=my paraphrasing] statement for example)

Vi season 2

Saying this about Vi, considering the fact that fundamentally the very basis of the show is about the relationship between her and Jinx is INSANE. The description for the show literally tells the audience it’s a story about two sisters and because the writers grew uninterested with one of them, they sidelined her.

I’m happy she got her happy ending, and i do believe that her writing remained consistent, my biggest issue with Vi this season was that she did feel sidelined, THAT was very obvious. I love her as a character outside of her relationship with Jinx and Caitlyn, however we didn’t get to see that this season.

Regardless if the ending stayed the same, Jinx and Vi barely interacting in the last act felt off. It’s really disappointing to see that one of the shows main and most important characters get sidelined in favour of others

anyway yeah there’s my rant bc seeing this shit on twitter has been pissing me off

[icewindandboringhorror]

Apparently I can meet my goal of roughly 400,000 words in 6 months if I just somehow write at least 2,200 words a day ghbjh... Almost 2,500 today... huzzah...

[dhmis-autism]

i feel like the original series was red guy centered, the first season was for yellow guy, and i am BEGGING AND PRAYING that season 2 will be more about duck!! i will probably cry if anything happens to him though lol 💀 everytime writers break a comic relief character i just OUGSHGS.. it gets me.

h well I don't think you're wrong about that! Webseries being Red Guys time to shine, S1 of the TV show being for Yellow (esp the last two episodes I think? Even thought outside of that, he does get a lot of focus/he IS the one who talks to the audience the most directly). From what I remember hearing, the pilot was pretty Duck-centered.

But I think even if he GETS his big moment in the sun, so to speak, it's NOT going to be as emotional as the other twos. On top of him just not being a very um… let's say sentimental character, he's just not the make-you-cry type! It's just not him imo!

IDK, I operate under the opinion that… in his weird little head, the most important thing that he values over everything is keeping the three of them together. Both because he thinks of them as a weird little family AND because he really doesn't have anyone else outside of the trio. We also know from the interview, and you could maybe argue from the Family episode ( Who do you love?/Anyone who loves me back., I asked every member of my family who they loved the most, and they all said me ) that being loved is something that he actually values QUITE a bit! More than you would assume on first glance! He's weirdly upfront about it haha!

In that way, I imagine that if they were to TRY to pull something to put him in the spotlight in the way you're imagining (i.e. something emotional and focusing on his issues like they did with Yellow & Red) it would either focus on his desire to be loved OR his dedication to keeping the three of them together. But I would argue they both already did that in the Family episode AND put him through the worst case-scenario in regards to those more emotional aspects of his character ( here I think the worst case scenario to him is the other two rejecting him, harshly, unambiguously and to his face, multiple times and the three of them separating ). AND THE THING IS… THAT ALREADY HAPPENED! THAT DIDN'T BREAK HIM!

He had his little pout over it in his dress and was like FINE! I DON'T NEED THEM ANYWAYS! So, I really don't think that big "character-breaking" moment is coming. If the Family ep didn't get him I honest to God don't think there's anything else the house could throw at him that could get under his skin.