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whatyourusherthinks · 1 month

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My Adventures With Superman Season One Review

Yes! I finally caught up with My Adventures With Superman! I waited for the entirety of the second season to come out so I could binge it and then I got to busy, but no matter! I've seen it now. It's just a shame that everyone I know who is into superheroes isn't into cartoons or anime, and everyone I know who are into cartoons and anime aren't into superheroes. Oh well, I guess I'll stew on my feelings forever...

OH WAIT I HAVE A BLOG WHERE I TALK ABOUT MEDIA. I CAN GUSH ABOUT IT HERE. Yeah, I am so hyped about this show, and now I'm going to make it everyone else problem! Muahahahahahaha! Yes, yes, you're truly the Lex Luthor of Tumblr, now get on with it. Fine, begrudge me a little fun Buggnutz.

Superman, when written well, is like my third or fourth DC superhero ever. Even if you include the Marvel and third party characters, he easily still makes it into my top ten, maybe top five. He does have an issue with the fact that it seems like half the comic book and other medium writers just not knowing what to do with him, which is so stupid. He's a pulpy space hero whose character is just good ol' farmboy with the power equivalent to God, how can you not find something interesting to do with him without ruining his personality. Not calling out any Zack Snyders I mean names. Anyway, this really long winded and rambling opening is just so I can establish my single criteria for this show: Is Superman in My Adventures With Superman what I would consider to be a well written Superman? If he is, I can easily recommend the show. If not, well, it gets the reject.

Seriously. This is like the only criteria I want. Obviously it would be a better show if classic Superman stuff makes it in and that Jimmy Olsen isn't sidelined (or shot in the head ZACK WHY DID YOU DO THAT YOU MOTHERFUC-) or if they did more obscure DC fanservice, but it isn't necessary. I just want a good, well-written Superman.

Oh, real quick technical stuff. I'm gonna review every episode individually and just quickly relay my thoughts in several paragraphs. Also, yeah I will rank every episode. If you've read my Columbo reviews you know what to expect. I'm splitting this review up into three parts, one about the episodes of the first season, one about the episodes in the second seasons, and one that's the wrap up and episodes ranking. Seriously? Why aren't you just doing one post? I don't wanna half to skip past three different posts just because I don't care about Superman. Well I was gonna do one post, but I ended up having a LOT to say about each episode. Trust me, it's best split up. (Also you could just blacklist tags you want to ignore.)

Season 1 Episode 1 'Adventures of a Normal Man Pt. 1'

Four minutes. It took four minutes for me to realize that this is the best Superman has been written outside of comics in 16 years! (I'm being generous and assuming Superman was well written throughout the entirety of the DCAU. I've unfortunately watched very little of it.) His entire character, ideals, and motivation are set up perfectly and all he does is get ready for work, worry about appearing normal, and sav e a cat from a tree. This is peak Clark Kent. This is Superman perfected. THIS IS A GREAT SHOW. And they not only nail Superman, they nail almost everything surrounding Superman! Who's the second person we see? Jimmy Olsen, Superman's best pal and the third most, maybe second most depending on the story, important side character in the Superman mythos. I love the juxtaposition of Lois and Clark getting ready in the morning. I like that Clark is clumsy especially with his powers. The comics kinda vary with how well young Clark gaining and adjusting to his powers are written, but this. Mm, this is good. And Lois and Clark are a cute potential couple immediately after meeting. I love that after falling in love at first sight, Clark immediately tries the "Heeeyyyyy" side lean, realizes immediately it's a bad idea, and then reverts back to his normal awkward self. I also love how diverse the cast and the background characters are. I think it is an awesome worldbuilding detail that in Metropolis people have like holographic phones and clear glass computers, and that there is little cleaner robots all over, and how the cars look kinda future-y, but it's still somewhat restrained and not like "a million years in the future" future-y. Jimmy just has a regular camera, even though there's probably like super 3D holographic cameras in this world. Or at least a more powerful camera on his phone. The leads have such good chemistry right off the bat. Not even just Jimmy and Lois with Clark, Lois and Jimmy have good rapport. The animation is super good and I absolutely love how expressive the characters are. And of course there is a lot of fanservice and deep cuts for comic fans. The second signifier I have that the writers knew what they were doing and loved the source material was when the Newskid Legion showed up. Please writers do a... Actually I'm save this.

There are some changes the show makes to give it it's own identity, and I love them as well. I already mentioned the diversity of the cast. While Jimmy has been black before, I'm pretty sure that this is the first time that Lois hasn't been white (At least the first time she wasn't white from the get go. There's a horrendously racist comic from the Silver Age I think where Lois Lane does blackface to get African Americans in Metropolis to talk to her for an interview. I'm not making that up.) and that's awesome. They don't do it in this episode, but they have her make various cultural signifiers of her new Korean nationality. I just like seeing cultures being expressed in little ways especially when it is a culture not focused on too often. This series is just a magical girl anime but with Superman instead of Sailor Moon. And nothing crazy fucked up has happened yet. The show balances fighting giant robots and supervillains with little meet-cute moments with Clark and Lois and interpersonal drama, investigating via character interactions, and dealing with personal problems. Almost every character is changed in someway from the comics, and I like every change. Admittedly it is mostly superficial stuff, like race and gender, but sometimes character backstories or personalities are shaken up. The big one in the pilot is Jimmy, who's super into conspiracies and we learn in later episodes that he has a social media channel where he talks about aliens and reports on Superman. I really like this characterization for him, not only does it give Jimmy his own thing without having to create a whole cosmology like Jack Kirby did for the New Gods, but it's entertaining way to insert some easter eggs too. I like they way they showcase Clark getting more of his powers. Not only does he get it in moments of desperation where he really needs to PROTECT someone else (Very rarely is it because he's trying to survive a situation, it's almost always because he is trying to save someone. And sometimes he's not even trying to save Lois, because he cares about everyone, not just his girlfriend ZACK!) but I like the blue glow-y effects. It kinda reminds me of solar radiation for whatever reason.

Of course, because I was watching this episode for like, the eighth time doing this review, I do have some nitpicks. Why is Clark wearing glasses as a kid before realizing he has powers? Does he actually have bad eyesight? Pa doesn't wear glasses in this version (Which I totally wish he did, that's a bit of characterization from the comics that either Clark wears glasses not only for secret identity purposes but also to emulate his father or because he can use Pa's old ones without needed to fake a prescriptions, and I think it would have helped balance out both Ma and Pa supporting Clark as Superman. As it stands right now Ma is the main support and Pa is mostly comic relief, which is perfectly fine but I'd just like a little more, y'know. Pa dying in the comics is supposed to be a huge deal for Superman and as it stands right now I don't think the audience would have that emotional punch as they could if they decide to do that in a future episode. Jesus Roan this is an incredibly long sidebar. SORRY NOT SORRY I LIKE SUPERMAN A LOT.) so am I just supposed to assume that this Clark had bad eyesight before he got his super senses? Actually, if that actually is the case and it turns out he's actually not physically peak compared to most Kryptonians that'd be pretty funny and a cool bit of characterization. I'm also not a super fan (puns lol) of mixing CGI with regular 2D animation, but it's not too bad. In this episode they do add drawn outlines to the models to so it fits better, but I still think it's weird. I'm also not really a huge fan of Livewire, so I don't really care that she's positioned to be Superman's first big villain. I mean it makes sense why it is her for later storylines, but with the way she's set up in the pilot I'd want her to be replaced with Toyman. Not only would that make more sense for this individual plot I like him as a character and villain more. Livewire is better in future episodes, and speaking of which, so does Jimmy. In the pilot he's just played as a common sense competent comic relief, there to make jokes about aliens and cryptids and also give Clark a hard time about his obvious crush on Lois. I mean, each episode is only a little over 20 minutes so I am cutting it slack, but so much Superman adaptations either sideline or completely cut out Jimmy Olsen that I was worried the first time watching. Plus the editing and pacing can be wack sometimes. There's literally a part where Jimmy and Lois look up to see a crane moving a giant robot from a distance, and in the next cut they are right under the crane. Did they teleport? AlsoLoisshould'vecalledClarkSmallvilleattheendoftheepisode I KNOW IT DOESN'T MATTER but I would've liked it.

Okay I see what you mean about 'having a lot to say'. YEAH. Count your blessing that barely any superhero movies are coming out this year.

Season 1 Episode 2 'Adventures of a Normal Man Pt. 2'

Haha they call a Conspiracy Board a Murder Board. Wait, is it actually supposed to be called that? Wikipedia calls it an Evidence Board or a Murder Map... Anyway, not important. Ma Kent is the best mother to every exist. The moment kid Clark is like "I'm not you're son?" She was like "Hush now baby boy you're totally ours no matter what a creepy hologram says!" Speaking of which, Jor-El speaking only Kryptonian is a good touch, but I feel like they made him extra aggressive early one just to mess with the audience? Like they wanted Superman's bio dad is actually nice to be a twist which is... dumb. I'll get into why when I talk about the second season. Jimmy and Lois get some good one-on-one time together (even if half of their conversations are about Clark) and their dialogue is quick and witty, just the way I like it! Anyway I really love that Ma makes Clark wear briefs over his space costume. That is such a good little touch. Superman absolutely needs the shorts on his costume this is a hill I will die on. (Yes, they do add a lot Martha. I agree.) Everyone has already touched upon it too, but giving Clark a transformations sequence for when he got his super suit is great, 10 outta 10 choice there. A 10 outta 10 choice I actually like more is Superman cleaning up after the finale fight. This is what I mean by this show understanding Superman. Clark is there to help. He's not here to punch everyone into submission. He makes sure everything is fixed. He takes the time to make sure everyone is okay. (Usually, they actually cover that in later episodes.) Including the his villains, by the way! He'd rather take a hit than hurt anyone. He's a hero who wouldn't call himself a hero. That is Superman. Not a brute who mopes around because no one likes him who kills anyone he thinks is a threat to this one person he's obsessed with ZACK!

Oh yeah, They introduce you Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke the Terminator in this episode. I feel like I should have a hot take like everyone else has about him, but I don't. He's fine, he works with what they are doing with him in the series. I love sassy villains but I get why fans of the character from the comics would be annoyed by his portrayal in this show. I don't really like that he has a mech suit to keep pace with Superman, I wish he was just so skilled and crafty (plus has a healing factor from a super soldier serum) that he can fight Superman. But like all the villains are tech based in this show, and I get mechs are more anime. Eh, I'm generally positive towards him. His fight with Livewire was cool. It's a shame he becomes kinda a stooge after this episode since he his ending line was super cool. I also don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but I really like Perry White. Honestly he might be the character that is the least changed from other Superman stories, because as far as I can tell the only difference between Perry in the comics and Perry here is that he's black, which is something other adaptations have done.

Again, nitpick time. Why does Jimmy switch between using his phone and his camera to take pictures? Yeah he took the one picture of him and Lois to send to Clark, but why not just have him use this phone all the time? This is also the episode which establishes him as Flamebird, an online streamer which is major plot point in a bunch of episodes, and most phones have excellent cameras nowadays, so it would just make sense for him to always use it. I'm don't love this version of Superman's S. I don't hate it either I guess, but I prefer it actually look like an S instead of this angular whatever. Actually, if they try to do the "It's the El family crest"/"It's a symbol for hope" that would actually work better than it does in any other adaptation since it looks unlike any other version of his symbol. I think it would have been better if Ma added the Symbol to his costume like she does the shorts. Hell, She should've added all the Red to his costume. All the blue with a little yellow highlights are what Jor-El gives Clark, and Ma sees it and is like "Mm my boy ain't going out there in a skintight suit, put these shorts on. And while we're at it I'm gonna add a little flair to the chest here. What did that Lois girl call you, Superman? Well clearly it needs to be an S then, and oh! I best I have an old linen I can modify for a cape." etc... Would've been cute is my point. It makes even less sense that Jor-El would give Clark a cape when we meet Kara in the second season and she doesn't have one until she starts cribbing off of Clark. The last nitpick comes with the anime territory, but I don't really like the over the top expressions. Like where the eyes bulge out the head, and the mouths get super big, you know what I mean. Yes, it's just because I don't like anime, but I honestly feel like they undercut how expressive the characters usually are anyway. The best faces come from Perry when he's throwing Lois and Jimmy out of his office at the end of the episode, and they didn't have to resort to any big head chibi stuff.

Season 1 Episode 3 'My Interview With Superman'

This episode starts with Superman saving the pilot of a crashing zeppelin! I'm going to say it in every episode rundown, this is peak. Superman. I love that it's a blimp too, like in this technologically forward city they still have the most explosive means of transportation around. That's so funny to me. Speaking of funny, Intergang is my favorite villains in the whole season. They're like if Team Rocket were punks instead of theater kids. This is also the episode where they start getting into anime tropes, but with Clark instead of whatever anime blow-up doll. Mm that comment will age well. They're fictional simmer down. Anyway, I'm of course referring to Lois accidently walking into Clark's massive chest. I'm being a dick, but I actually love this entire interaction between Clark and Lois, it's just super funny. Everything from Lois being too hyper focused on trying to get Superman for an interview she completely misses that Clark says he'll do anything for her, to Clark trying to catch himself from doing the Superman voice (He doesn't just hide behind a pair of glasses people!), to "It was a long jog.". Jimmy is a great wingman, I love how he slides out of frame when Clark and Lois are flirting. I hope Clark does him the same curtesy when he and Kara start flirting. Another little detail I like are the guns the cops and security guards have being like electro-pistols instead of regular ones. I'd say it's because of kids television censorship, but this show airs on Adult Swim, and they show WAAAY more heinous stuff than guns on there. Ever watch Moral Orel? Clark freaking out when he finds out Jimmy and Lois have been getting captured on purpose was pretty funny too. It's something that could've been a good reoccurring gag if they kept Clark's identity a secret longer, but I'll talk about that later. Superman versus Intergang was a pretty awesome fight. For starters I love that Clark give the villains a chance to surrender before even coming close to them, very Superman move there. Heck the security guard kinda does that too, I wasn't expecting that nuance. Second, I really like how Kryptonian tech looks. It's kind of a shame they aren't going to do a Fortress of Solitude because it could look super cool. I'll get into more details later, but there's some other worldbuilding stuff that is awesome. I don't even mind that Intergang do counterproductive stuff in the fight, since they are established to be massive dumbasses. Anyway, onto the nitpicks!

I don't like Steve Lombard and Cat Grant. To be fair, I don't really like them in the comic either, and they are slightly better here than they are there. But they are still caricatures in a sea of more well rounded characters. Steve does get some nice moments in later episodes with Jimmy, and at least Ronnie is reasonable here instead of an obnoxious nerd. I don't find their introduction particularly funny either, they only funny thing is when the gang try to copy it and Clark absolutely wants to fly away but he can't. It is weird that swiping their press passes let's the gang into the prison. They look nothing like their counterparts. I'm thinking that the animators/story boarders didn't talk to the writers that closely for this one. I'm also a little mixed about Clark being completely straight-laced. On the one hand, if feel like it comes from a misinterpretation of Superman that's always a boy scout and never does anything that isn't by the book, which simply isn't true. Clark is not only willing to bend the rule of law when he is doing something he thinks is right (Hell, 40% of Luthor's schemes involve tricking Superman into doing something illegal to get the public angry at him, and it's not like Clark doesn't know what the laws are.), but he's actually mischievous in a lot of stories. He's a trickster hero, especially in the Golden Age. (Here we make a token nod to the ending of 'What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way', otherwise known as 'Superman Versus The Elite' for people who don't want to read.) Also is it weird that Silver Banshee reminds me of Red from OSP? Yes. Drat.

Season 1 Episode 4 'Let's Go to Ivo Tower, You Say'

Let me get this out of the way. I think my favorite change from the source material is swapping Lois's affection for the Superman/Clark identities around. If you don't know, in the comics Lois Lane is usually in love with Superman or feels attraction to him, while she doesn't really think about Clark Kent at all. (Unless she knows Clark is Superman, obviously. There's probably a fifty-fifty chance Lois knows in any given story.) For the first half, Lois is super crushing on Clark, and absolutely hates/is frustrated by Superman. Which I think makes a whole lot more sense. It's been said by others, and I agree which is why I'm repeating it, that Superman is Clark Kent's customer service voice. That's such a good way of putting the energy the best written Supermen give off. It's not necessarily professional, but there's no vulnerability or emotion necessarily to connect to. This isn't some "My secret identity is the real mask" bullshit, no! Clark is a guy who wants to help and Superman is the way he can help. You fall in love with the stranger the chats you up in the bar, the bartender who politely serves you your beer. (Hopefully, I mean.) This is another thing I kinda wish stuck around long, but again I'll go into more depth later. Anyway, I adore how Lois is kind of a dumb ass in this universe. I mean, Clark all but tells her he's Superman at the end of the last and beginning of this episode, but it still takes her a minute to figure it out. To be fair, her track record is much worse in other universes, and the story does acknowledge how oblivious she is. But that doesn't change the fact that's she didn't realize that the guy she's all moony over has the exact same eyes, hair, and build as the alien she's chasing. I guess that is something that works better with Lois being in love with Superman not Clark now that I think about it. I think this is the first episode with the theme song. I like it, I wish they changed the animation for Season 2. This is a gala episode too, so all the gang gets all dolled up. I unabashedly love episodes like this. Not only because it's fun to see characters you like in fancy suits and dresses (And also whatever the clothes Lois is wearing is called I'm sorry I really like the outfit I'm just an uncultured swine so I'm unfamiliar with it.), but also because there is a much higher chance than average for a dance action scene! Unfortunately there isn't one of those in this episode, but there is an incredibly cute moment where Lois talks about her dad while fixing Clark's suit jacket and it might be my favorite moment of the season. By the way, not to brag or anything, but I knew who Lois's dad was the second she mentioned him in this episode. Because you read about him in the comics, right? ...Well I also knew the assistant was Lex Luthor! Yeah everyone did dumb ass. You take the fun out of everything Buggnutz. I kinda like that this Dr. Ivo is basically Tony Stark if he even more of a douche bag, and I absolutely LOVE that Clark goes straight for the throat after he insults Lois. Also, Ivo's definition of the "finer bachelorettes" is the thiccer ladies, nice. Gross. Don't hate, I've learned to appreciate the finer things. Anyway, I think tying Parasite to Dr. Ivo was a really smart way to fold some more Superman mythos together. I always like it when comic book adaptations streamline some of the more esoteric corners of the stories. My only nitpick with this episode is that the Daily Planet seems to write a lot of interest pieces about bachelors and bachelorettes. This is probably just because the gang are interns/new journalists so far, so they aren't being given any super heavy-hitting assignments. But I still think it's weird that the regular paper seems to care so much about who's single. I'm with you Lois, get thrown out for asking about corruption charges and criminal connections. Anyway this episode has the funniest end credit picture okay ready for the next episode?

Season 1 Episode 5 'You Will Believe a Man Can Lie'

First, love the title. You've been saying love a lot. WELL THE SHOW'S GOOD, WATCH IT. Second, finally a Jimmy centric storyline! Great Rao my boy has needed this! I will admit, this is usually the kind of episode I hate. It's Lois and Clark having a million misunderstandings while they ignore Jimmy. And Steve Lombard plays a huge part in this episode too. But I don't hate this episode. In fact, I like it a lot. For one, MAWS is an ongoing storyline show, so there is considerable build up to Clark and Lois having this particular confrontation, unlike one-off story shows where these kinds of conflicts come out of nowhere. Also, this is a perfectly understandable confusion. Clark thinks he's got this secret identity on lock and since he and Lois had a really intimate ending to the last episode so the only thing on his mind is asking her out, and Lois is so ADD-coded in this show that OF COURSE the only way she thinks to make Clark reveal he's Superman is to trick him into revealing it, and when that doesn't work, jump off the fucking roof of the Daily Planet. And since they are both so preoccupied with each other, they naturally forget about Jimmy and this weekend he's been excited for. Besides, Jimmy and Steve are a surprisingly good odd couple, them together might be the funniest duo in the whole show. Speaking of comedy, this is definitely the funniest episode of the first season. I giggle uncontrollably at the "Me, you and Superman in a room together. At the same time." line every time. LOIS LITERALLY HANDCUFFS HERSELF TO SUPES THIS EPISODE IS HILAROUS. Also, I kinda got my dance fight I wanted from the last episode. Speaking of fights, the final fight in this episode is super cool. I'd have to think on it more, but it might be my favorite fight in the show. I don't even have any nitpicks about this episode. Not even when Lois jumps off the roof? Are you kidding? That's classic Lois Lane stuff! Besides, they point out how fucking insane it was immediately after she does it, and it makes sense with the backstory they are setting up for her, and it's been established she does dangerous and reckless things when chasing something she wants. Why would I be annoyed by this? Because Clark could've changed into Superman, rescued her, then changed back. He's totally fast enough to do that. No he isn't. If he was, couldn't do like an after image thing where he pretends to be in two places at once? And even if he was fast enough to do that, Lois would notice that Superman has the same "shaving" scars as Clark. I win yet again Buggnutz! Grrr! One day I shall defeat you in this witty repartee!

Season 1 Episode 6 'My Adventures With Mad Science'

FINALLY THE BEST CHARACTERS IN THE SHOW ARRIVE! I was not expecting Monsieur Mallah and the Brain to be in the show. (When the ape silhouette appeared at the end of the last episode, I thought it was gonna be the Ultra Humanite.) And to double down, I was not expecting them to switch from a somewhat fraught doomed evil couple, to a sweet old, yet catty, true love. I keep saying, but this is fucking PEAK! Seriously, I goddamn absolutely LOVE this Mallah and Brain, I'm so happy they came back in season two, and I can't wait for their episode in every season. Right? They have to be in at least one episode every season now, since you rolled back the best ending for them to have together. Plus they both have, like, the best lines in the entire show. Maybe it is just their accents, but I was cracking up every other line they said. Also, human Brain is hot? Seriously, they are so good it makes up for Lois being kind of a bitch for the entire episode. *Sigh* She has good reason to be mad and it's not egregious, but she's still a little too catty for my liking. At least this episode's main plot is a Jimmy focused story, and it's so damn good. It was sorely needed for the character, and the support Mallah (and the Brain too a little bit) gives him is so sweet, even after he kinda trivializes his backstory. And I actually really like that Jimmy new Clark was Superman since they met! Not only is Jimmy usually in the know in the comics, I think it makes a lot of sense here! Jimmy does usually act like he knows Clark is Superman, and doesn't want to let on that he does. Except he was totally freaking out trying to find Clark in 'My Interview With Superman'. Yeah but did he see Clark fly out of the fight? Maybe he assumed be got blown out of the back? My only nitpick (besides Lois's attitude in this episode) is that OMACs are in this episode. And they don't work in an "OMAC, Attack!" line. You're complaining about the weirdest shit in this review. Yeah. I know.

So we got bored hiding, like, one year in and made a bunch of mutants, okay?

Season 1 Episode 7 'Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal'

Damn, I wasn't expecting this show to bring in the Multiverse this heavy in the first season. Neither was I expecting Mr. Mzyixpiddle... Myzerlickdib... Myxerpit... Mr. Mxyzptlk. Mzmer- Mxyzptlk. Miamar. Dude they say it in the episode. Whatever! Anyway, Clark fretting over the perfect date with Lois is cute, so is him immediately dropping all pretenses when the villain pretends that Lois is in trouble and only Superman can save her. I actually think it's super interesting in the grand canon to have a multiversal strike team of Lois Lanes and Jimmy Olsens that stop bad Supermen. And I like... Mr. M's... Design in this episode. It is very anime, but I think it works. Also the implication that this character is the same as every other version we've seen from every iteration, it weirdly makes sense that there is infinite of our 4th dimensional space, but one one 5th dimensional space. And I actually kinda like that they make him seem like a potential good guy at the beginning of the episode. Not only did we just have Monsieur Mallah and the Brain in the previous episode plant the idea that this adaptation can change some alliances of pre-existing characters around, but they do show us the League of Lois Lanes stalking this universe's Lois and Jimmy, thus planting the idea that they could've been kidnapped. Plus Clark doesn't get fooled for too long, nor is he tricked into doing anything too stupid, so he's not extra dumb this episode. This is a thing that doesn't happen too often but I kinda love when it does, is a different version of a character introducing themselves as themselves. The "I'm you, from the future!" moment. Oh man, this is also the first time Krytonite shows up in the show, and this is probably the coolest it's been. Ever. First, it's just the green variety which is absolutely for the best. And while it effects Superman in the way it usually does, I really like the extra effect of more Kryptonite crystals growing out of his skin. This isn't the first time something like this has happened to Superman, but if you want to know about first time for ideas. You first see it in a later episode, but even Kryptonian tech is effected by it, and in the same way. That's something that seems so obvious yet I don't think it's been done before. I also really like Lois and Clark have this sweet romantic moment in the middle of the massive chaotic brawl with a literal chaos god. That was fun.

Here are my nitpicks: Why you hating on talking gorillas Clark? The one you met was incredibly lovely! And also left to travel the multiverse for a bit. If anything you should be worried/dog on giant robots, those seem to be everywhere. The League also seems to jump to a lot of ridiculous conclusions in this episode. Like they know Mr. M is a trickster, but they completely discount the possibility that Clark is being fooled by him. It's clearly because they've seen too many evil Supermen in the multiverse. That's another thing that kinda bugs me, and by no means is this exclusive to this show, but why does everyone assume that there are just as many evil Supermen as good ones? There's like 4 evil Supermen, 5 if you wanna count Superboy-Prime, and countless other good and righteous versions of Clark. Yet so many writers just assumes that the main Superman is the only good one. My point is, I will not stand for this Calvin Ellis slander.

Season 1 Episode 8 'Zero Day: Part One'

Yes, Clark gets his super hearing in this episode! It was so smart to make this a power Clark gets later. Not only does this give us the great line "I can hear everyone. And Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy! They have problems." but it's cool to see the issue being Clark now noticing everyone's issues and trying to help rather than just plain old sensory overload. Roan. Plus almost all the villains from previous episodes show back up again, even if they are just stooges for General Lane. It's just nice to see them all team up, y'know. Roan, hang on- Also I'm glad they go out of their way to show that Superman still goes out of his way to save cats in trees and help lost little girls, even while he is trying to investigate bigger problems and can hear every disaster as it's happening. Roan Vicki Vale is in this episode- Also, hey Lex Luthor is back! And he's a massive little bitch! I'll talk more about him later, but for now I'll just say I love this characterization for him. Roan talk about the potential- I actually really like the emotional conflict of this episode. They took what BvS tried to do and actually made it a good story. Like it makes sense that people start to turn on Superman a bit based on what happens in the episode, but the bad thing he did isn't out of character for him. (Basically Clark tries to save an invisible guy and ends up causing a truck to crash, harming no one.) There's a bunch of little moments in this show that are taking ideas that stories of a lower quality had, and making them actually good. Zack. Roan Bat- And my god is the darkest hour of the episode good. You jump from Lois accidently insulting Clark to Supes getting jumped by Task Force X and it's so damn bleak. The atmosphere in the episodes is actually lowkey amazing, but I think it stands out the best here. Metropolis immediate gets overcast after Superman saves Mist and it's gloomy until the end of the episode. ROAN! WHAT? Talk about Batman! Why? This is a Superman show. They have Vicki Vale in this episode. So what? She's a Batman character. Yeah, and? Don't you want to see Batman in the show? Absolutely fucking not. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure if they did it it would be in a really smart and entertaining way, but not only is Batman way too overdone, but adding other heroes I feel like requires set-up and plotlines that the would take away from the Superman stories. Is it so wrong to want my Superman show to just be about him?

Season 1 Episode 9 'Zero Day: Part Two'

...Y'know something I realized. Zero Day (both parts) is directed to Snyder fans who were complaining about the show early on. And there is one scene in particular I think proves it. The scene where Clark learns about Zero Day. See, General Lane shows Clark his backstory, to with Clark's first response is "All those people got hurt, that's horrible!" Y'know like Superman would. And General Lane, the bad guy, immediately thinks he is lying. Because how realistic is it that Superman would actually care? Not at all. *Sigh* You're missing the point Buggnutz. First off, the point of Superman isn't to be realistic. He's an alien in a blue and red jumpsuit who can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes (Sidenote, I like how minimally Clark uses his laser eyes in the show. I feel like way too many writers rely on it to be Superman's only attack, and he never uses it for utility reasons. Probably because it's the closest Superman has to like, a gun. Which is fucked up. Nah, this show so far has used it in like two episodes and it was more useful fixing things than it was attacking bad guys. He should use his freeze breath more though.) he's already not a realistic character. Secondly, the whole idea behind Superman is he's the hero who can do anything and will always make the right choices. Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster were two Jewish men and Superman debuted in comics in 1938. Think about who they were. Think about the times they lived in. Which do you think was their intention: An overpowered figure that would defend everyone from the tyrannies of evil? Or a nihilistic Jesus who only saves people on a whim, and actually is the real problem you guys. Superman is a pop culture icon at this point though, he has evolved past what his creators intended. Sure, but why did he become a pop culture icon? Besides, my last point is the hard-hittingest. What character is making the same point as you are Buggnutz. General Lane. And what is his role in the story? Okay, I see you're point- No no no. Answer me. *Sigh* He's the antagonist. EXACTAMOI! Haven't you heard of a bad guy with sympathetic and understandable motivations? Of course I have *eyeroll* but that's not point the show is trying to make. Showing off that General Lane has a reason to believe what he does isn't the point. Not believing Superman is being genuine when he says he cares is a bad thing is the point.

I like how the big bad villain of the season is Parasite technically. Not only is his new backstory really fun, but it makes sense that he's a greater physical threat than all the other villains. Plus Parasite become a kaiju is fucking awesome! Parasite, in my opinion, can be kid of hit or miss in the comics. He's either a really interesting threat, or just a dumbass thug. I also think switching his power to absorbing energy and converting it into physical mass rather than "He touch you you die" is super smart. I also really like how subtle the show is with his weaknesses. Sure, Kryptonite gets a big spotlight in 'Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal' but they're never like "This mineral is making me feel weak!" or "That rock is hurting Superman!" or whatever. They just showcase the effects and the audience draws their own conclusions. I'm pretty sure the only time they name drop the red sun weakness is in 'My Adventures With Mad Science' and it's not in relation to Superman at all. And magic... Well magic hasn't shown up at all in the show yet. Jimmy helping save the day is awesome, I wish this wasn't the first time he made a major contribution to the solutions. Luckily it becomes much more frequent in the next season. My only nitpick is more related for a season two episode than this one, so I'll save it for later.

Season 1 Episode 10 'Hearts of the Fathers'

Alright, to start out, I like that the Parasite shell is still around. It give the world a more realistic feel, y'know? "To commemorate the time our city also got destroyed by a giant purple bug-lizard, we decided to leave it's petrified molting up in the city park where Superman stopped it." Next, I like how the gang get promoted to being reporters. I just like this Perry White in general, it feels like what they were trying to do with Lawrence Fishburne in BvS but actually good. Zack. (I think I already mentioned that.) I love that Ma and Pa are instantly just in love with Lois as Clark is. Ew. I meant in a nurturing, parental sense Buggnutz, getcher mind outta da gutta. Also Pa fussing over the turkey is cute. Jimmy refusing to get pulled into everyone's drama was great, I always love when characters subvert plot conveniences that are only used to artificially increase drama. And great Scott, the shot of Superman pushing his ship above the clouds! It looked so good! When I first watched the show, I was really confused why Zero Day wasn't the season finale, but after watching the episode, I totally get why. But here's my nitpick. I think the way they play the reveal of General Lane being Lois's dad is really good, mostly. I like that Clark is freaking out the entire time, I love that Ma fucking HATES General Lane without even realizing that he kidnapped Clark, and I love Jimmy's role in all of this. But how the fuck did General Lane not realize Clark Kent is Superman by the end of the episode? In the next season there is a bunch of conflict between the General and Clark because he doesn't realize Clark is Superman, which not only seems out of place due to the ending of this episode, but seems out of character for General Lane. Like the show has displayed that he is a really smart guy. But he can't put together that the person he is living with who is constantly sneaking out and spent Thanksgiving with at a middle of nowhere farm is the Superhero he was chasing for a whole season and who's spaceship just so happens to be at the middle of nowhere farm he spent that Thanksgiving at? REALLY? And I totally thought the character at the end was gonna be Zod. I think it was intended to be, but they changed their minds in between seasons. Eh... I'll get more into it in the next post.

And those are my thoughts on Season One. In a couple days I'll have both my Season Two and Wrap Up posts for the show. Probably. Thanks for reading!

#My Adventures With Superman #Season One #Recommended Show

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writingquestionsanswered · 2 years

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How do i know if im being overly descriptive? Not necessarily like purple prose but i feel like i try to describe every little action or thing in a scene and it makes my writing wordy but at the same time i dont know what i should focus on when describing something ;-; any tips?

Concerned About Over Description

The main purpose of description in fiction is to convey important information to the reader. The secondary purpose of description in fiction is to help the reader visualize what's happening in the story.

In both cases, most of the details provided should be necessary. A good way to think about it is if I'm providing five details about a thing, at least three of those details should be absolutely necessary, meaning that without those details, the information or visualization I'm trying to convey isn't possible.

Let's say your character is a princess, and near the beginning of the story, she walks into her mother's throne room and catches the end of a conversation between her and a member of her privy council. This conversation helps to set up the inciting incident, and since this is the first time the character has entered the throne room in the story, it will need to be described.

My mother's throne room was in the newer part of the castle--the part that was built by my grandfather with funds he seized from his patricidal older brother before banishing him from the kingdom. Compared to the rest of the castle, with its damp stone walls and drafty rooms, my mother's throne room is modern and lavish. The stone walls are covered by rich tapestries, the floor is covered in colorful ceramic tile, and the room is awash in the cozy light of four enormous braziers that hang low from the ceiling. I'd rather be in this room than any other in the castle, but mostly I'd just rather be anywhere but this castle.

This paragraph gives some necessary detail about both the castle and the throne room specifically. We've all seen drafty medieval castles in movies and TV shows, so "damp stone walls and drafty rooms" tells us pretty much everything we need to know. It's easy to surmise that the castle is old, especially compared to the "newer part of the castle" with its "modern" throne room. What we don't do, however, is describe every detail of either room. "Rich tapestries," "colorful ceramic tile," and "the cozy light of four enormous braziers" gives the reader enough to imagine this room. We don't need to describe the throne unless it's different from any other medieval-style throne the reader might imagine, or unless there's something specific about the throne's appearance that is important to the story. For example, in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, the Iron Throne is famously made of the broken swords of Targaryen enemies. We also get a little back story detail woven in at this relevant moment.

As I step to the center of the room, Mother raises her hand, cautioning me to wait while she finishes speaking with her privy councilor. They speak in hushed tones, though I'm close enough to make out every word.

Here's our first glimpse of the Queen, chatting with her privy councilor. We don't need to describe every movement either one of them makes, because the only movement that's important is that she raises her hand to hold off her daughter's approach. It's also important that they're whispering. Both of these together indicate that whatever they're talking about is a sensitive matter, which would obviously be important.

Mother's councilor, Sir Godwin says, "Victarmond is preparing the army to march home from the border. They will leave at sunrise. If they are still there when the raiders attack tomorrow night, King Jarold will know we were warned." His voice cracks a little at the end.

We don't get any information about Sir Godwin. Maybe he's not an important character so it doesn't matter what he looks like. Even if he was an important character, if we've already been told that the nobles wear lavish and colorful silks and satins, we don't need to describe what Sir Godwin is wearing unless it's different. For example, if he wears plainly colored linens instead, that tells us something important about him. Also, we don't need to see Sir Godwin's every movement, or his body language/facial expressions unless they're important. The only thing that's important here is that Sir Godwin is a little bit nervous for some reason, and that is conveyed by his voice cracking.

"Very well," Mother says with a solemn nod, the pearls dangling from her ears swinging from the motion. "Send word to Victarmond to stay put, but tell him to send a message back to me stating some cause for delay. If Jarold does have a spy in my council, at least we'll have an excuse." "At once, Queen," Sir Godwin said with a nod before scurrying out of the room.

We can probably assume the queen is seated upon the throne, as that's what monarchs tend to do in throne rooms. There's really no body language or facial expressions that are important here outside of the solemn nod--which conveys the gravity of the situation being discussed. Since no other body language, facial expressions, or actions are important, there's no reason to describe them.

Perhaps the queen's attire has been described in an earlier scene, so it isn't described here. It would only need to be described again if it was dramatically different from what she was wearing previously, and if there was an important reason for that difference. For example, if she was wearing everyday garments in the earlier scene, but now she was dressed in ceremonial robes because she's going to be greeted by dignitaries from another kingdom, that would obviously be important. Since that's not the case, her clothing isn't described. However, the detail about her pearl earrings reminds us that she's lavishly dressed because... well, she's the queen.

Sir Godwin's final line of dialogue is punctuated only by a submissive nod and his scurrying out of the room, which indicates that he's scurrying off to follow the queen's orders. Nothing else about his movement is described because there's nothing else important about it.

So... before you put a detail into your description, whether that's a detail about character appearance, setting appearance, movement, or body language/facial expression, ask yourself whether or not its important. Does it tell the reader anything they need to know to understand the character or setting? Does it help the reader imagine what they need to be visualizing? If not, you can probably skip the detail.

But... having said that... the amount of detail writers like to use varies from writer to writer. So, like I said, if you want to keep a couple details that simply add to the visualization, that's okay, too. Just don't go overboard. If you wanted to do 3/5 important details or even 6/10 important details, that's probably fine. You wouldn't want to do 3 important details and 20 unimportant details. :)

I hope that helps!

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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA Chapter 328: Pandora’s Box of Discourse

Previously on BnHA: DEKU TOOK A BATH.

Today on BnHA:

youtube

Also Naomasa grew a beard. Goddamn.

please let this be a cool chapter that plays nice with my ADHD lol

(ETA: lol I feel guilty because a lot of people hated this chapter, but I’m just happy there was a lot of stuff to make fun of, and also that I have another week to work on my backlog of meta posts since the kids were MIA.)

around one month ago?? ah, okay, so we’re gonna find out what was in that Tartarus security file huh

I love that they just randomly set the place on fire

was it necessary to do this in order to escape? no. was it a good idea to set the island they were occupying on fire while they were in the midst of still occupying it? uh. was it cinematic as fuck? fuck yeah

wow it’s a pervert!!

that’s so great that the villains set loose this fine fellow who I’m sure is definitely not a serial rapist. truly the LoV is so noble and misunderstood. they’re just trying to free society from its chains people

oh my god??!

SHANKED!!! oh my god I cheered for Stain before I realized what I was doing. time to have an identity crisis I guess

so he’s all “hey what’s going on.” which, while a respectable question, is something I personally would have waited to ask until I had put a bit of distance between myself and the fiery murder island. but that’s just my personal preference

Stain you really are tenacious I’ll give you that

“what’s the point of escaping prison if you’re not gonna be smart about it” well shit. anyways yeah you’re dead right, society is in the process of collapsing and the outside world is in total chaos, good call there

oh shit

I mean it’s not like we really expecting anything otherwise, but still. fucking brutal. I feel like these guys’ fates were decided the minute that one guy called AFO “scum” back in chapter 94. AFO is unmatched at getting long-term revenge

ahh, was it the security footage??

fdsdfk he’s still alive??

and he’s immediately launching into an inappropriately theatrical monologue even as the darkness closes in on him fdlfksjdlk. you know, was it ever confirmed that the other guy back in chapter 297 was Seiji’s dad? I’m just saying

very impressed that he’s still coherent enough to weigh the pros and cons before making the decision to gamble on giving this info to Stain, who at the very least has his own moral code and isn’t allied with AFO. it was definitely still a risk, but as we now know it was also the right call

what a weird alliance. so Stain tells him that he’ll give it to a just person, and the guy is all,

okay for real though I’m gonna need someone to run a DNA test on this guy. maybe it was some kind of cuckold situation?? the other guy had the family resemblance, but this guy absolutely 100% raised Shishikura Seiji and you are not going to convince me otherwise

anyway, so Stain is all,

PRISON GUARD: “???? ??????? what the hell. what the fuck does that fucking mean. I’m dying here, jesus christ, whatever man fuck you”

(ETA: I kind of feel like this might have been Stain’s last appearance in the manga, given all the fanfare. there’s not really much else he can do for the story at this point, and he seems to have gotten all the character development Horikoshi was planning on giving him. so if this really is it, hasta la vista and good riddance I guess.)

DWLFDKSLDK MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE

(ETA: I feel like this is meant to be evocative of that Sermon on the Mount painting, but in a really fucked up way lol.)

if it were me stumbling upon this scene I would just shake my head and walk right back into the flaming building. not getting involved in that mess. sorry not sorry. I’ll take my chances with the fire, especially given that it’s half-assed neutered BnHA fire lol

blah blah blah and so he decided to pass the info on to All Might -- HOT DAMN, HOLY SHIT

NAOMASA HOLY SHIT. THE APOCALYPSE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU, BOY

“I really like that facial scruff thing Aizawa’s got going on, I think I’m gonna get in on that” yes sir. “also thinking of ditching the tie in favor of the bulletproof vest look. also thinking of getting totally fucking jacked.” good lord. except I’m pretty sure that’s just body armor, but also I don’t care. anyway I should probably stop staring and actually read the fucking speech bubbles here lol

“All Might first handed this information over to Nao, and then went to see Deku, and then came back to Nao” thanks for that tidy little summary Horikoshi. we are capable of piecing events together in sequential order, I just want you to know that. but thank you

“so has Deku finally gotten a bath? also, sucks that Stain saved the day, but what are you gonna do” Nao I missed you so fucking much and didn’t even realize. how am I just now realizing that you are the perfect man

for a second I was gonna ask why Tartarus’s security systems would be cut off from the outside world, and then I remembered that’s a basic security control, and then I actually got impressed by how sensible that is. like, it’s been a while since I could genuinely say that the good guys (excluding class 1-A) did something smart. not that it helped them much in the end, but still

anyway so they’re talking about how AFO was able to coordinate the attack by communicating between his horcrux self on the outside and his ugly peanut-faced self on the inside

huh

okay you have my attention. I am taking notes here lol please continue

ah okay so he says that prior to Jakku, the transfer of information between him and his Vestige self was only one-way. but post-Jakku when Deku was in the hospital, he was able to tell what was happening inside the OFA Radical Lisa Frank Dead People Book Club Realm when he touched him. I feel like we established that before, actually. but he didn’t talk about how it actually felt, though

boy we already know this lol. yes AFO can talk with his horcrux self. and he can also communicate with his little bro in OFA too, let’s talk about that sometime why don’t we. what exactly does that imply, based on the rules we’ve established here

my god I cannot get over Naomasa and his fucking facial hair

no wonder All Might was in such a hurry to leave Deku and get back here

like I have no idea what this radio waves nonsense is but my god, people

that jawline. also so it’s a quirk, I see. except last I checked Deku didn’t have a radio waves quirk, so that doesn’t really explain his connection to AFO. but whatever, hopefully we’re at least getting closer to some kind of reveal here

(ETA: since I sometimes forget that other people’s lives don’t revolve around my theory posts, here are the two relevant links if you by chance want to know my thoughts about this.

Hagakure is still The U.A. Traitor™ regardless of whether Deku is passing information on to AFO through his psychic link, which he almost certainly is.

speaking of said psychic link, Deku is a horcrux.

just posting these now, because whenever trippy OFA stuff happens I tend to get an influx of theory asks. so hopefully this will be a bit of a time saver lol.)

-- wait, what

THAT’S what the recording was??!? holy SHIT. I genuinely was not expecting that. y’all wiretapped his fucking telepathy. fucking quirks, man. wild

AND THEY USED THAT POWER TO DETERMINE WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW, HUZZAH. GOOD SHOW

-- oh shit wait lol, except I forgot we’re not talking about 38 days from the present, we’re talking about 38 days from the date the conversation was recorded. heh. um

yeah that’s the face I would make too if All Fucking Might just casually told me we had eight days left until the end times

oh, pardon me. three fucking days

r.i.p. anyone who thought we were going to have another band arc sob. I sure hope Deku is enjoying that nap

(ETA: I realize people were hoping for a longer rest period here, but given that the man warned us all the way back in chapter 306 that we were entering the final act, you can’t really blame him too much when that turns out to be true. anyway but I do recognize that we’ve reached the point in the story where this kind of discourse is going to become a weekly occurrence, simply because there’s no possible way for Horikoshi’s actual endgame to line up perfectly with the variable headcanons of millions of fans, all of whom have wildly differing and in many cases contradictory expectations which can’t possibly all be fulfilled. anyway, so I’m already bracing myself for that lol. this coming year is going to be a wild ride.)

damn, U.A. out here looking like the motherfucking United Nations

-- is this U.A.?? I actually just realized, U.A. is four interconnected buildings, not two. wait holy shit is this Shiketsu?

wait holy SHIT

based on the overwhelmingly powerful vibes of bureaucratic incompetence, I’m thinking this really is the (future) U.N., or whatever organization it is that deals with international hero stuff

“just let them handle it themselves I’m sure they’ll be fine” yeah okay, thanks guys. appreciate it

wait oh shit did he say that it’s not just Japan?

soooo, what you’re telling me is that AFO is this close to bringing about the end of not just Japan, but the entire world, and you guys don’t think it’s a good idea to help the Japanese heroes stop him? so, genuine follow-up question: are you guys already planning your rich people exodus into space a la Wall-E, and that’s why you don’t give a fuck?? like, what??

omg international heroes

these guys are from World Hoodie Mission, right? is this Horikoshi’s way of reminding me to buy tickets

(ETA: and it worked too lol.)

WHO??? WHAT???

don’t tell me you’re introducing yet another badass new female character for me to fall in love with only to watch as you dismember them and/or blow them up, Horikoshi. I’m getting tired of playing this game my dude. don’t lie and tell me this time will be different. we’re not doing this again goddammit

noooooooooooooooooooo

god fucking dammit lmao. [sighs and rips the previous paragraph into shreds]

on behalf of Americans I apologize for our superheroes always being Like This

I also apologize because I love her already and I’m gonna be shameless about it. so fucking shameless you guys

is her fucking hair red white and blue. it is, isn’t it

this is the volume cliffhanger, 100% lol. it will take every ounce of Horikoshi’s willpower not to put her on the volume cover. he’ll have to settle for the spine or the inner cover this time because Deku VS his class 1-a superpals takes precedence. but it will be a close thing let me tell you

tbh it’s that smile that does it for me. she’s definitely All Might’s protege. get out there and show them how it’s done girl. and maybe call Salaam and BRD and see if you can’t convince them to play hooky from their governments as well. why not. world’s ending in three days you guys. “sorry, I’m busy this weekend” ain’t gonna cut it lol

so while I am not fully caught up with Vigilantes, I have read far enough to know that there’s an American hero named Captain Celebrity whose superpower from what I recall is being a humongous douchebag. and while I haven’t read far enough to know what happens to this guy, I can’t say I’m very disappointed to learn that he’s no longer the number one hero in the U.S. (actually, didn’t they kick him out and that’s why he moved to Japan to begin with?). anyway, so my thanks to Horikoshi for having a marginally higher opinion of Americans than Furuhashi, even though we have definitely not done anything to warrant said opinion lately, and you may have inadvertently opened the door to a pandora’s box of discourse lmao

(ETA: lol I went into the tags and they don’t disappoint. “why is she dressed like a flag” because she’s an homage to Captain America and Major Victory and literally every other character on this list. again, I apologize for fictional American superheroes being Like This. “oh boy another thicc waifu to make the fanboys happy” look, tumblr fandom never seems to have a problem thirsting over Dabi or Tomura or Aizawa or Nao, lol, I’m just saying. “where is Captain Celebrity” idk, probably murdered by the exploding bee cartel, let’s just be grateful for our good fortune and try not to Beetlejuice the man.)

anyway, so let’s see if Horikoshi’s recent character development with regards to making Mineta not terrible anymore will apply to other aspects of his writing as well. I know I was making light of discourse just now, but I do think the complaints about him introducing yet another new character at the 11th hour to be cannon fodder in the final battle are absolutely valid. and again, it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t keep maiming/killing off his female characters one by one instead of developing them and letting them kick ass long-term. but that said, I will never complain about Horikoshi adding another female character to the series, regardless of how clumsy the attempt may be. go ahead and pander away, just give us more girl power lol

anyway so we’ll see how it goes, but I think I’m gonna be optimistic and let myself hope once again, even though I’m probably gonna regret it lol. it is what it is. she is standing on an airplane just chilling for fuck’s sake. I’m only human. anyway fingers crossed

#bnha 328 #stain (bnha)#tsukauchi naomasa #all might #stars and stripes (bnha)#all for one #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #eta: how did I forget to type 'bnha' in the title sob

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daydreamerbunny · 2 years

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royal engagement

group: BTS

pairing: king!Jungkook x afab!princess!reader

genre: smut, fluff

word count: 3.6k

summary: You’re a princess to a small kingdom and the neighboring large kingdom just lost their king, making your childhood fling now crowned. Your family makes a trip to express condolences and plans on maintaining the tight alliance your kingdoms have.

warnings: mention of death (minor character), use of princess, baby and angel as pet names, sire used as a honorific in bed, thigh riding, oral (m receiving), unprotected sex, choking (minor), squirting, and breeding kink.

author note: I wrote like the first couple paragraphs like two years ago? maybe less. This isn’t proofread so apologies. Please like and reblog if you enjoy!

“Princess. Wake up! We are almost there.” Your handmaiden, Wendy, gently woke you from gentle slumber, “you can see the castle. It’s just as beautiful as I remember.”

You sit up properly in the horse drawn carriage and open your eyes to see the white stone castle in front of you. Wendy is right. It’s just as beautiful as you remember. Excitement swirled in your stomach as the entrance to the castle appeared. Vines curled around the towers of the castle and guards were scattered all across the walls. It felt like home.

“Are you excited to see him?” Wendy asked and her lips started curling into the grin that she sports when she’s trying to push your buttons.

“Of course I am.” You decided not to jest with her and admitted to how much you have missed him, “it’s been four summers since I have seen him.” A blush blossomed across your face and your heart fluttered as memories flashed in front of your eyes.

“I’ve been told he has grown into quite a man.” Wendy said as the carriage came to a stop and reached over to fix your hair. She then glances to the carriage behind yours which held your parents.

You just smiled at her as the door to your carriage opened and a guard appeared to take your hand to help you out of the carriage. Once your heels meet the ground and your skirts are smooth, you look up and make direct eye contact with him. Your heart swells and tears start to form in your eyes.

Jungkook has indeed grown into quite the man. He stood taller and much more confident than the prince you had left many summers ago. His facial features sharpened and his shoulders broad. You let your eyes wander to his filled out waist and thick thighs. You quickly look right back to his eyes and found him doing the same thing you were doing, causing you to grow shy.

“Y/N!” Jungkook shouted your name which made you spring into action and picking up your skirts, running to him.

Jungkook meets you half way and wraps his strong arms around your waist, lifting you off the ground. He spun you around in circles and dug his face into your neck. You took in his scent and laughed as he spun you once more.

“Alright, Jungkook! I’m getting dizzy.” You giggled and put your hands on his biceps to cue him to stop, almost gasping at the feeling of strong muscles underneath his jacket.

Jungkook gently put you back down and pulled away, showing the happy, bunny-like face you would never forget, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Your chest tightened and the smile on your face grew and then it fell, “Jungkook, I- I don’t know what else to say but I’m sorry about your father.” You voice fell so that only he can hear you and squeeze his hands.

“Thank you.” Jungkook said quietly as his thumbs rubbed over your knuckles.

“Your majesty.” A voice came from behind Jungkook and cleared his throat, “it’s time to head to the chair room.”

Your parents bowed to Jungkook before passing and making their way to the destination. Jungkook turned back to you and nodded, “I’ll meet you there, princess.” He followed his advisor with haste.

“Go ahead, Y/N. I’ll take your stuff to your room.” Wendy patted your back and followed the fellow maids who would show her the way.

Now, you’re standing at the steps to the castle that you knew well and dear. Your parents wanted to come along to express condolences to the new king and express some business plans. It did feel...sad. You knew Jungkook’s father meant a lot to him and he was kind to you whenever you saw him. Jungkook is a grown man now, sure, but this was thrusted upon him earlier than expected. He never wanted to be king. A king also needs a queen. This part hurt. Your kingdom was not much, but it was loved. There were surrounding kingdoms with more wealth and power that could offer a perfectly qualified match for Jungkook. Suddenly, you felt even smaller on these steps and so, you took a breath and marched forward to the chair room.

When you enter discussion was just starting and you took a seat next to your father and shared a small smile with him. Your eyes scan everyone else until they met Jungkook’s at the very end of the table and he looked like he meant business. You liked this side of him and just as much as you liked his softer side. To you, his flaws and all, were perfect. You just simply nodded at him.

“Right.” Jungkook suddenly said and the chatter quieted, “let’s begin.”

Your father stood up and bowed, “your majesty, thank you for allowing us to have this council. I firstly, want to say again to you in person, how deeply sorry I am about King Jeon’s passing. He was a dear friend besides being a great king.” He gulped and Jungkook bowed his head, but stayed silent. “I wanted to hold this council to solidify the relationship our kingdom has with yours. Trade and work to continue. Open borders and Jeon’s continue army aid as necessary.” Your father took a moment to breath and looked at you momentarily then back to the king, “as you know, your majesty, we only have a daughter and we could pass on the crown to cousins. Though I would like to propose to combine our families.”

Your heart dropped to your stomach and your focus jumped to your father’s face. He didn’t discuss this with you at all. No matter what Jungkook and you shared it just wouldn’t be a profitable match. You quickly look to Jungkook and his face didn’t change. What is he thinking?

“What are you proposing, your grace?” Jungkook asked because he wanted a firm proposal.

“I’m proposing that my daughter to marry your majesty.” Your father gained some confidence and put a hand on your shoulder with a smile, “if I could speak so plainly, she’s an incredible girl. Smart, kind, disciplined and would make a great queen on top of being a great wife. I’m also aware that you two are close. I want her to marry a fine man.”

Your father’s words were warm and he meant it. You blushed at his sentiment, but in this very moment you just could not read Jungkook. Jungkook looked at you and you stopped breathing for a moment. While your father’s words were kind and well you still didn’t know if you were the right fit for this.

“What does the princess think of this proposal?” The king asked.

He wanted your opinion?

Your father looked at you and his hand tightened a little on your shoulder, not to intimidate but to support.

“If you’ll have me, your majesty.” You nodded, “I’d be honored.”

Some of Jungkook’s advisors started speaking lowly to him and spoke their opinions. They were not sure due to your kingdom being small, but Jungkook raised his hand.

“Gentlemen, please. I’m aware their kingdom isn’t as big or wealthy, but they are long time supporters of the crown and friends on top of it all. This marriage would provide us access to the western front and easier trade with Kingdom Kim. There truly is nothing to lose.” Jungkook finally looked at you and grinned, “and who can reject this princess, hm? She’s a good friend and my father would’ve approved. Marrying for love.”

Tears filled your eyes and your heart swelled. Your father smiled and squeezed your shoulders again, trying to contain his excitement. “Excellent, your majesty.”

An advisor huffed but nodded, “we’ll have to discuss transfers and the handing over your crown your grace.”

Your father nodded and Jungkook cleared his throat, “well, I’ll leave you to it. I trust you’ll treat them accordingly.” A warning in his tone.

“Of course, your majesty.”

You were released and you went straight to your room with the guidance of a maid. Wendy was in there waiting for you.

“I can’t believe it, Wendy.” You immediately said and closed the door. It was going into the evening.

“Are you okay?” She immediately grew concerned and approached you.

“I’m engaged to Jungkook.” You said quickly.

Her eyes widened and then she smiled, “is that why we came?”

“Apparently so.” You beamed and clasped your hands together, “I wish I could see him right now.”

Almost on cue a few knocks were heard from the door and Wendy opened the door, Jungkook peeked his head in and smiled. “May I come in?”

“Yes, Wendy if you could.” You smiled at her and motioned to the door.

“Oh of course.” She snuck out the door and closed it.

There was a comfortable silence before words were spoken.

“I should’ve known that’s what my father was up to when we made the trip here.” You started and nodded. “Unwed princess and unwed king.”

“I couldn’t tell if you were upset at first or--” Jungkook hesitated, “he didn’t consult you first?”

“No.” You answered immediately but twiddled with your fingers, “nor did he really need to.”

The king moved closer and took one of your hands, your left one. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. A silver band with a single pearl as the statement piece. He slipped it on your ring finger with ease and a small smile appeared on his gorgeous face. Your heart was soaring.

“You planned this regardless?” You breathed and he nodded, “oh, your majesty.”

“You know you don’t need to call me that.” Jungkook pulled you in and his arms around your waist.

“What if I like to?” You bit your lip and looked up at him.

An eyebrow was raised and a hand lifted to grip your chin, “has someone been remembering our rendezvous from back in the day?”

“Maybe.” You were melting in his touch and your body was getting hot.

“I never got to fuck you though.” The response sent white hot tingles down your body and your heart rate picked up. Jungkook’s thumb grazed your bottom lip as he bit his own, “would you like that, princess?”

You let out a shaky breath, “but we aren’t married yet.” You eyes trailed back and forth between his lips and eyes. His eyes reflecting the candles in the room and the lust in his body.

“We are to be wed anyways. Why wait?” Jungkook asked and he had a point.

“Who am I to deny my King?” You grinned and took a step forward to connect your lips with his.

Jungkook groaned into the kiss and moved his hands to your cheeks. One hand sliding to the back of your hair to remove the clip that was holding up most of your hair. The clip was tossed aside to the floor and had you not been horny, you would’ve scolded him for that. At this point, your tongues were gliding against each other’s and whines were leaving your throat. Your hands were on his chest and unsure of what to do or where to start.

“Let me take care of you, princess.” Jungkook whispered and turned your body so your back was pressed to his front.

His lips found your neck and you rolled your head back to rest on his shoulder, submitting yourself to him. Your eyes drifted closed with a soft moan and reached behind you to run your fingers through his hair. Jungkook’s hands ran over your corseted waist with spread fingers and back to untie the strings holding your gown together. One, two and three there goes your gown pooled at your feet. You were left in your corset and chemise. His lips went lower to the part where your shoulder and neck meet, nibbling at the skin after pushing the chemise further off your shoulder. He wanted to mark you.

“Do you like this, baby? Being at the mercy of your king?” Jungkook hummed into your skin and his fingers reached down to pull the skirt of your chemise higher to expose your silk stockings then your thighs. His hips gently pushing into yours and you can feel how hard he is. It’s making you more wet and a mewl escapes you. “Tell me, princess. You missed me, huh?”

“Yes, sire.” You felt like you were on fire and you pushed back against him, “I ached for you every single day.” You panted out as his fingers skimmed across your thighs and squeezed them together.

“Good girl.” Jungkook moved from you and sat on the bed. He sat nearly man spread his legs and patted his thigh, “come here.”

You stepped out of your shoes and over the pool of fabric on the floor. Jungkook’s gaze felt like itself could swallow you whole and he just oozed sex appeal. You stood in front of him and his hands placed on your hips and turned you to sit on his left thigh.

“Spread your legs a little baby.” You did so and seated your cunt right onto his muscular thigh. “Ride me while I take this off.” His instructions were simple and his hands took their time with the laces of your corset.

You grinded your cunt against the fabric and shivered, the friction was perfect on your sensitive clit. You let out a broken moan and placed your hands on his leg to give you more balance. Jungkook flexed his thigh on occasion and would also bounce his leg to match your grinds. You felt the corset begin to loosen and closed your eyes as your breasts were freed from the support the garment was giving you. You started to grind faster as you felt the coil in your stomach begin to tighten and your moans grew more needy.

Jungkook pulled the corset away from your body and groped your breasts through the chemise, causing a moan of his name to fall off your lips. “Oh? What happened to sire? Or your majesty?” He teased and made you stand up.

“I’m sorry, sire.” You whined at the loss of contact and you turn around.

“It’s okay, baby. Look at the mess you made on me.” Jungkook motioned to his pants and you see the dark spot, blushing deeply. “Want to help me out, angel?” He looked up at you and placed his hand on his bulge.

You immediately dropped to your knees between his legs and pushed his shirt from underneath his pants then unbuttoning his pants. Jungkook lifted his hips so you could completely remove his trousers and you felt your mouth water at this sight of his cock. You scooched close to the bed and ran a flat hand over his shaft, biting your lip. This caused a gasp to come out of your king and you giggle, leaning forward to lick from the base to his tip. His cock jerked at the contact and Jungkook leaned back onto his elbows, biting his lip.

“Ah, fuck. Let me have that mouth, baby.” Jungkook’s hand found your hair and gently pushed your head closer.

You close your eyes and take him into your mouth, swirling your tongue around the head. Your hand rested on his bare thigh and the other holding the base to have more control. You bobbed your head up and down at a medium pace, moaning here and there to add vibration. Jungkook was letting moans run freely and he sat up a little to rid of his shirt then relaxed again. His fingers tighten their hold on your hair and push your head further down and his hips move forward.

“Fuck, baby. Your mouth I missed it.” He huffs and throws his head.

You choke a little when you go as far as you can and pull off quickly, spit surrounding your mouth and on his cock. You quickly lick it up and go back to bobbing your head on his cock. You couldn’t get enough of him. You twist your hand that is on him to add more friction and to compensate for what you can’t reach. You were impossibly wet. You run your free hand between your legs underneath your chemise which is now pathetically hanging off of you. You sink two fingers into you and mewl on his dick.

“God, what happened to my innocent, princess? Hm?” Jungkook asked and grinned.

You opened your eyes to look into his and pull off of him again, jerking him off slowly. His fingers grip your chin and smiled, “such a good princess. Pleasing her king.” His finger stroked your chin with adoration and grabbed the arm you were using to please yourself. “Let me taste, baby.”

You pull your hand from your cunt and raise your fingers to his mouth. Jungkook took your fingers into his mouth and sucked on them, tasting your cunt on your fingers. He groaned softly and you felt your core constrict at the sound and feeling.

“So good. Stand up.” You both stand and Jungkook helps you get rid of your chemise, tossing it to the side. “Lay down in the bed, angel.” He kissed you quickly and spanked your ass.

You squeal and crawl into the bed, sitting up near the headboard. Jungkook crawls towards you in bed and grabbed your legs, dragging you down to a laying position. He positioned himself between your legs and kissed you passionately. His cock slid across your clit and it made you jolt in pleasure, your moan muted by is tongue in your mouth. His hand massaged your one breast and his thumb grazed your nipple.

“Want me to put a baby in you, princess?” Jungkook asked and you whined. This made you even more wet. “Want to be a good girl and give me babies? Hm?”

“Yes, sire please breed me, please.” You begged and wrapped your legs around his hips, “fuck me please.”

“So needy.” He cooed and sat back, looking at your cunt. His fingers glide down your slit and smear your juices all over your vulva. “So wet baby. Think you can take me?”

“Yes, please please please just fuck me, sire. Make me your wife.” You begged again. You were at the mercy of Jungkook.

“Fuck.” Jungkook whispered and lined himself with your entrance. He pressed forward and slid into you slowly.

The stretch was foreign but so good. You arched your back and moaned loudly as he fully seated himself into you. Your fingers found the sheets and pulled at them, your heart was pounding so fast. Jungkook was breathing heavier as he moved his hips slowly and held your legs away from your body.

“So tight, baby.” Jungkook moaned and looked at you, “are you okay?”

“Yes, please just fuck me good, sire.” You whined and nodded, “fuck a baby in me like you said.”

Jungkook almost growled at your words. He pushed your legs together and towards your stomach to gain a deeper angle. He didn’t hold back. His hips moved hard and fast into yours. The moans leaving the both of you were unfiltered and shameful. No shame was felt though. This felt right.

“Mmm, there is no other woman for me. No other princess.” Jungkook choked out and let your legs go, wanting to gain access to your upper body. His left hand went up to your neck and wrapped around it, gently squeezing. You widened your eyes for a moment before rolling them back and holding onto Jungkook’s wrist. He fucked into you harder and he was hitting the right spot at this point.

“You’re fucking me so good, Jungkook.” You moan out as best as you can and you can’t help but lightly scratch at his forearm.

His eyes fell to your breasts that were bouncing at the force that he was fucking you at. He bit his lip and fucked into you harder, “are you close, baby?”

“Yes, please. Come inside of me.” You quickly reached down to your clit and pressed into it.

Jungkook let go of your throat and dropped down to lay practically on top of you. His mouth took in a nipple and sucked, his upper body starting shake from the exertion. You wrapped yourself around him and scratched his back, making him grunt. Your body is on fire and the coil is about to snap, your finger still working your clit.

“I’m going to come in this cunt, baby. Fill you u-up.” Jungkook cried out at the end as his orgasm hit him quick and his hips slowed but still had a force to the thrust as he fucked his cum into you.

His third harsh into your g-spot caused you to cry out and come. You squirted around his cock and gasped, not having done that before. He let go of your breast and collapses on top of you. You panted and giggled, hugging your fiancée close to you. Your fingers clutched his hair and your legs stay locked around his hips.

The two of you panted until your breaths matched each other’s and it stayed quiet like that for a moment. He stayed inside of you but lifted his upper body and smiled at you. It made your heart flutter. That smile never got old.

“How can you be so cute after making me a new woman like that?” You teased and pushed his hair away from his face.

“Because I love you.” Jungkook said as if this was common knowledge.

“You love me?” You asked as he rested his head on your breasts.

“Of course I do.” He nuzzled your chest and closed his eyes, “do you love me?”

“Of course I do.” You mimicked him.

“What? Is the ring and the sex not proof enough.” Jungkook asked.

You giggled and shook your head, “it’s enough.”

“Good, because the title of Queen and a pregnant belly is going to be your next proof.”

#kpop smut #bts smut #jungkook x reader #bts royal au #jeon jungkook #jungkook x female reader #jeon jungkook smut #jeon jungkook x reader #.my stuff #bts fanfic #bts oneshot

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alastorseye · 3 years

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About Remadora

When I say I really hate the HP fandom, I'm talking about the "fans" that hate everything about the saga, but still having Harry Potter accounts. They change the original story, claim that fanonical facts are canon, and launch hatred and death threats at those who simply like HARRY POTTER JUST THE WAY IT IS. Yes, I'm mostly talking about Marauders fans, which I joined after reading the books because I thought it would be interesting and funny. I suddenly realized how toxic and hateful that fandom was, it's like a cult dedicated to deifying Remus, Sirius, James and Regulus, and it seems that hating Snape, Dumbledore, and Remadora is a requirement to be a part of it.

At the beginning I used to consider Wolfstar as something funny, a bromance, it never bothered me, I mean... every fandom has fanon ships and I respect that, but the way they always hate Remadora and their shippers is something that MUST stop.

"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely -"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front ofLupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times. . . ." And the meaning of Tonks's Patronus and her mouse-colored hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumor someone had been attacked by Greyback, all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all."

"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes,staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor . . . too dangerous. . ."

When I read this part of the HBP I realized that Remadora was my favorite Harry Potter ship. Of course I wasn't aware of the death threats I'd receive later. I've read some "reasons" why some fans hate Remadora.

"Tonks forced him!"

We all know how insecure Remus was. I don't have to explain what's written in Wizarding World (Pottermore). This is the Remus bio:

Well, we can read that Remus was really attracted to Dora.

"Remus, so often melancholy and lonely, was first amused, then impressed, then seriously smitten by the young witch. He had never fallen in love before. If it had happened in peacetime, Remus would have simply taken himself off to a new place and a new job, so that he did not have to endure the pain of watching Tonks fall in love with a handsome, young wizard in the Auror office, which was what he expected to happen. However, this was war; they were both needed in the Order of the Phoenix, and nobody knew what the next day would bring. Remus felt justified in remaining exactly where he was, keeping his feelings to himself but secretly rejoicing every time somebody paired him with Tonks on some overnight mission".

This is so sad and cute, and that's undeniable. I cried when I read it. If someone still thinking that Dora forced Remus to marry her after reading this paragraph... I mean... they're probably talking about another book series.

"The age gap!"

I'm so satisfied to know that some Remadora shippers have explained this. When it's about a kid and an adult... OF COURSE IS HORRENDOUS! Because children are not physically and mentally prepared to have romantic relationships. Wizards are legally adults at 17, REMUS MET TONKS WHEN SHE WAS 21!

I mean, many old people abuses of young people innocence, or something. But we all know that Remus wasn't one of those! He really loved Tonks, and that's canon. I don't know what's doing in the fandom people who denies canon facts.

Remus and Tonks were two physically, mentally, and legally adults loving each other.

"Remus didn't love her!"

He was an introvert, Tonks was an extrovert, she made his life better. And of course, I loved the way he introduced himself when he was trying to prove he wasn't a Death Eater:

"I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag." (Remus Lupin, DH)

Maybe I'm not the only one who perceive he was proud to be Nymphadora Tonks husband.

"I.. I made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks. I did it against my better judgment and have regretted it very much every since". (Remus Lupin, DH)

This phrase makes more sense after reading Remus bio. He used to think that he was "too poor, too dangerous" for her. He thought he wasn't enough for her. He never imagined that she would love him back. He was a werewolf, and of course he knew he was dangerous, you only need to be emphatic to realize he tried to get away from Tonks because he loved her, he didn't want to hurt his beloved woman!

If you don't believe me, read this again. It's in the chapter 11 of Deathly Hallows:

"Don't you understand what I've done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast!"

So, if Remus was trying to escape it's because he loved them, he thought he spoiled their lives. And of course, no one likes to feel that their influence is bad for someone they love!

"Their relationship came from nowhere! They don't have a development"

Well, the saga's name is HARRY POTTER, not The Love Life of Remus Lupin. The story is about the tragic life of this kid and everything he went through to save the world of a cruel and dark villain. I know many readers are young people in love, and they only want to ship everything, but that's not the main topic here, maybe mother's love would be the topic. Of course Ron and Hermione had a development because they were HARRY'S BEST FRIENDS, and they were always with him, from Philosopher's Stone to Cursed Child. Remus and Tonks are minor characters, and it's funny the fact that this usually comes from Wolfstar shippers, so... is Wolfstar more developed than Remadora?! I mean... they can ship whatever they want, Snape and the Sorting Hat, Dobby and Voldemort, anything, but that does not give them the right to disrespect such a cute, tragic and beautiful canon ship as Remadora.

"They are queercoded! Their relationship is homophobic!"

It's surprising to hear this. It's like... people gets angry just because the author doesn't make queer their favourite characters? I will explain why I don't think Remus and Tonks are "queercoded":

Whether through their dress, their behavior, their language, or other subtle forms of implication, queer characters were written or designed to communicate their unstated queerness to those who were searching for representation.

And this is the definition on the website Pride.com:

"Using LGBTQIA tropes and stereotypes to allude to a character's sexuality without explicitly confirming it in the text."

We all know that Disney used queercoding on characters like Ursula, Scar, Jaffar. And why do we know that? Because DISNEY WANTED TO PORTRAY THEM LIKE THAT, get it? Disney, THE CREATORS MADE THESE CHARACTERS INTENTIONALLY QUEER. How? BASED ON STEREOTYPES.

And going back to Remadora, I was really happy to see by first time a bada*ass woman, with short hair who wasn't portrayed as a lesbian just because the way she looks. This character didn't follow the: "Straight women have long hair and are girly", and "short dyied hair is for lesbians". I'm very very very surprised the fandom follows these stereotypes.

About Remus: I don't know how the phrase "being a werewolf is a metaphor about people with HIV AIDS" means "he's gay". Fenrir Greyback bit him when he was a kid. Many people interpret this as "r4pe". Okay, even thinking that it is the meaning of the "bite", I still cannot understand how being "r4ped" and "infected" makes him queer. Is this (again) a stereotype about people with AIDS and gay?

"JK Rowling created Remadora because she didn't like people shipping Wolfstar!"

It is true that fans love shipping everything, they queerbait and queercode everything. That's great, that's not the problem. The problem is when people starts bashing fans who ship canon straight couples. A very good example is the polemic on Falcon and Bucky relationship, some fans wanted them to be a gay couple, Anthony Mackie said that two men can only be friends, and there is no need to always give them a romantic connotation. People cancelled him, they called him homophobic. Yes, just because a person with authority (on the story they're following") didn't like the fact of queercoding their favourite characters. It's the same about Remadora.

Grindeldore is a very interesting and underrated couple by the way. You can love or hate JK Rowling, but the truth is that Harry Potter story is hers, and even if Remadora was "because she didn't like Wolfstar", she is the author, it was her mind where these characters first appeared, as a big Harry Potter fan I respect and like the original story, that's not a sin. An author has the right to make some changes if some characters were misunderstood by the readers.

(Yes, I wrote this a bit angrily since I've seen too much hate towards Remadora shippers)

#remadora #remus lupin #nymphadora tonks #harrypotter #anti toxic shippers #hp #ronks #harry potter

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ct-multifandom · 3 years

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Kuro Neko

I’ve seen a lot of people losing their minds over the newly confirmed name of episode 23: Kuro Neko. Since it means “black cat” in Japanese, people are obviously panicking over Chat Noir. I’ve seen theories that this will effectively be Chat Blanc 2.0 or something to do with Kagami since the name is Japanese. Personally, I don’t think that’s exactly it.

I’ve made separate posts about this topic in the past, way before all this, and every time I get some new information, I’m a little more confident in my working theory. In the interest of not retyping everything I’ve said before in the past, here are the two links. If you have the time and energy I recommend taking a look, but if not I’ll add TLDRs as well. If you’ve already read both of them, scroll down to New Support.

The part of the post below that’s relevant to this theory is mostly in the middle, I’d say starting from the indented line and ending at the paragraph starting with “before I move on”.

https://ct-multifandom.tumblr.com/post/658401977887277056/is-this-a-theory-post-or-is-it-just-what-i

TLDR; In the post I mostly talked about how I hoped Marc and Nathaniel would come about their miraculouses, but the relevant part is about Alix. I said that I hope Nathaniel would become a hero to stop Timebreaker because I thought their friendship appeared a little one sided just from what we saw in Reverser, and this would show us the other side.

I included screenshots of the season two/three intro compared to the season four intro. In the old one, Alix and Nath are on a photo together in the photo collage with all the characters, but in the new one, Alix’s half of the photo is completely covered by Marc’s Polaroid picture. None of the other new Polaroid photos cover anything up. Since the intro is known for subtle foreshadowing, like the girls with their animal filters, I thought this might mean something.

If Alix were to be reakumatized, I predicted that the context would be a direct parallel to the Ladynoir conflict. Alix would feel under-appreciated and left out, as if she were being replaced, just like Chat Noir feels now, and she wouldn’t bring it up, just pretending like nothing’s different. This leads into the next part of my theory.

https://ct-multifandom.tumblr.com/post/662006521922715648/im-surprised-i-havent-seen-anyone-talk-about

TLDR; a wide spread of Zag characters was shown in a promotional video, and among them, concept art for a cat-like creature that’s never shown up in any Zag content before, unlike every other character on there.

Its design and color scheme reminded me of a magical charm from old season four concept art featuring five charms, two of which are for Rocketear and Robustus, who’ve both shown up. In the last post, I thought it might be for Timebreaker, but now this black cat looks a lot more likely. Since it’s right below Timebreaker in the spread, I thought it might be her sentimonster. Plus, it looks like the Cheshire Cat, and Alix is full of Alice in Wonderland references.

New Support

Now that you know my old thoughts, here’s how the title reveals affect them under the assumption that I’m on the right track. I was honestly waiting and hoping/expecting one of the titles to have “cat” in it for this reason, and I’m pretty excited to see I was at least right about that.

Since this episode is 23, it’ll be right after whatever the Big Thing is that happens in episode 22, which is probably has to do with some Ladynoir conflict stuff. If I’m right about the akuma being a parallel to Chat Noir, then the sentimonster’s black-cat-with-green-eyes-and-a-golden-bell design will only make it more obvious. Maybe it’ll even start a conversation between Ladybug and Chat, or at least they’ll make some comments about the senti that could easily be said about Chat as well.

I’m also thinking... if Alix gets a magical charm in episode 23, then she, Nino, Juleka, and Zoe would be the only protected hero characters unless someone else will still get one too. But Alix is also supposed to learn the heroes’ identities and use the rabbit miraculous at some point. Out of her, Alya, and Luka, (who know the identities) she’d be the only protected one.

The ambassadors have been vague about when present Bunnix will make her appearance, only confirming the other four remaining heroes for season four without any mention of her, but whenever she does get the miraculous, it’ll be for some serious problem where she’s the last resort. Maybe Rena and Viperion, who can usually solve the serious problems, will be compromised, and Bunnix, protected by a charm, can fix things.

I’m sure I’ll get more evidence even in the future, but for the time being I’m off to theorize about everything else that was already in my drafts and all that crazy stuff that’s just been dropped on us. Can’t wait to see what happens!

#miraculous ladybug #alix kubdel #Kuro Neko #miraculous ladybug theory #ml ladybug #ml theory #mlb theory #ml spoilers #miraculous spoilers #ml thoughts #ml season 4 #ml speculation #miraculous ladybug season 4 #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug spoilers #miraculous season 4 #miraculous theory #miraculous

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weirdmarioenemies · 4 years

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Name: The Ghost Gang

Debut: Pac-Man

Fufufu... frighteningly Funky Friday, friends!

This post has been waiting patiently in the drafts since my Pac-Man fixation way back in July, and it has really been about time it gets to be posted. And what better Friday to talk about ghosts than the one before Halloween? I can think of two. One would be Friday the 13th, and the other would be a Friday that Halloween itself falls on. But I’m posting it today! On only the third most ideal of Fridays!

Yes, I’ve already talked at length about some Pac-Man ghosts, but there are so much MORE. And they’re all so wonderful. My Best Ever Characters list includes “Ghosts” in the Namco character section, because they are all so wonderful. And now we’ll talk about some more notable ones!

So, here we have the Ghost Gang of Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, in and around their Ghost House, in an image I got from the Annoying Orange Wiki. Though I love them all, I’m not gonna talk in depth about ALL of them, and out of these four, I’ll give the spotlight to my darling Clyde.

Look at him. Do you think he’s darling? Yes, you do. You are probably aware that each ghost has their own behavior, and Clyde will target Pac-Man until he gets close enough to him, then entering “scatter mode”, where he will instead move randomly. Why change it up when you’re so close? Does he even WANT to catch him? Well, I have a theory...

The official Pac-Man Twitter has not one, but TWO posts showing Pac and Clyde as friends, emphasizing the importance of kindness. And it’s just Clyde he seems to be friends with... so this has me thinking, they’re Secret Friends! While Clyde is part of the Ghost Gang, he doesn’t actually WANT to attack Pac, so he targets him to make it LOOK like he’s doing his job. When he gets close, he sort of just lingers around to try and seem like he’s doing something while not actively trying to get him. It’s the perfect strategy, and the others have never found out, and Clyde and Pac get to be friends, and it makes me happy.

Before I talk about some more ghosts, I’d like to analyze the ghosts as a whole! Pretty much every Pac-Man game has its own self-contained “canon”, if you can call it that, and each one brings its own interpretation of what the ghosts truly are. And my favorite of those is that of the very first game!

The first Pac-Man has three intermissions, famous for being where the second-most iconic Pac-Jingle is from, but they deserve to be even more famous for how bizarre they get. The first is pretty standard, with Pac being chased by Blinky, only to turn the tables and chase Blinky instead. The second, however, has Blinky get his sheet caught on something sticking out of the ground and rip, revealing a human-like leg! Are the ghosts just people wearing sheets...? Nope! Because in the third and final intermission, Blinky’s sheet comes ALL the way off, revealing him to be some bizarre flesh blob, wearing a sheet! Awesome! Is this true for all four of the ghosts? Is just Blinky hiding this embarrassing secret? Pick whatever explanation you think is funniest!

My SECOND favorite is from Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, a wacky point-and-click style adventure game where you manipulate Pac’s emotions in order to make him do funny things. I highly respect whoever thought this should be localized as the direct sequel to the most iconic video game of all time. But in this one, the base of villainous operations is a creepy factory, and if Pac gets caught in the machines, he turns into this familiar shape! Is... is this factory MAKING ghosts? Are they artificial? Wow!

The other iterations don’t have nearly as wacky implications for how the ghosts came to be, but I’ll tell them anyway. In the Pac-Man World series, they seem to be naturally occurring creatures native to the Spectral Realm, who entered Pac-Man’s dimension and began to live on Ghost Island. In Ghostly Adventures, they’re the souls that were forcibly extracted by the Pac-People who were on the losing side of a world war that killed Pac-Man’s parents, and are now forced to spend eternity in the Pac-Man equivalent of Hell. Bo-ring!

And now time to talk about even more ghosts you may not know about!

Clyde is the only member of the Ghost Gang I’m actually going to talk about here, because there are so many ghosts that the world needs to know about! Like Orson from Pac-Man World! He built and piloted a scary robot Pac-Man and kidnapped Pac-Man’s friends and family, but he just wanted to be loved. Pac does not accept this as an excuse. He eats Orson without a shred of remorse. I guess it’s justified from his perspective. They become friends later, though! Canon ghost friend!

Speaking of canon ghost friends, there’s Miru from Pac & Pal (she’s the pal)! I know she doesn’t look like a ghost, but she might be one. It’s kind of unclear. But I love her so here she is. She helps Pac by collecting fruit for him, but this gets fewer points than Pac doing it himself, so some players don’t like it. I, however, think it is worth losing a few potential points in order to let Miru feel like she’s helping.

Yet another friendly ghost is Yum-Yum from Junior Pac-Man! She is the daughter of Blinky, and she and Junior just want to be together, but of course, their parents will not allow it. That, however, is what ultimately allows them to be together, as while their parents are off bickering, the two little lovers are able to escape together! How lovely! Too bad Junior Pac-Man is in some bizarre copyright limbo and Yum-Yum never appeared again. Goodbye.

Here we have Bash, who is a somewhat strange character. He looks like he’d be the big bad boss of all the ghosts, right? Maybe even their ruler? Well, maybe he is, but we don’t know, because he was made exclusively for the Pac-Man crossover event in Sonic Dash! He never appeared again! I think he should, though! He’s funny. Despite his apparent authority, he just talks like a school bully.

One of the newest ghosts at the time of writing is Creepy, who as I’m sure you can tell, debuts in the Pac-Man DLC for Minecraft! This DLC is kind of weird. But good weird, because Miru is playable! Her most major role ever! But this is Creepy’s paragraph. He explodes, and this hurts not only the player, but his fellow ghosts, and even destroys walls, which crumble into glitchy text! Especially neat is that, when eaten, his eyes remain black with white pupils as they retreat to the Ghost House!

The VERY newest ghost at the time of writing is Itchy, from Pac-Man Party Royale! Itchy is not a “dangerous” ghost, but a “mischievous” one, and I think that’s great. As far as I know, they are only capable of inverting a player’s controls, but new effects were said to be included at some point. What a pleasant design, too, with the seafoam coloration and black sclerae! And how magical it was to witness a NEW GHOST revealed in real-time, during the time when Pac-Man was all I could think about! What are the odds? The odds were high. It’s the 40th anniversary year.

Finally, I will leave you with this little fellow. He appears in Pac-Man Arrangement, and is constantly vulnerable, even acting like a Power Pellet when eaten! However...

He can combine with the other ghosts to transform them, giving them new abilities! Blinky gains the ability to charge forward, Pinky can now hop to far-off points in the maze, Inky creates a mirror duplicate of himself that mimics his movements, and Clyde wanders around spitting up extra Pac-Dots in places Pac-Man has already been. That’s so cool! I love this ghost! I love that he has cute little nerd glasses, I love his role in the game, everything! Why haven’t we seen more of him? What’s his name, anyway?

I see.

#clyde #orson #miru #yum-yum #bash #creepy #pac-man #pac-man world #pac & pal #minecraft #sonic dash #pac-man arrangement #i am not going to tag the last one's name #Funky Friday #not mario #mod chikako

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blackjack-15 · 3 years

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Two Can Keep a Secret (if the Family Tree is Dead) — Thoughts on: Ghost of Thornton Hall (GTH)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE, ICE, CRY, VEN, HAU, RAN, WAC, TOT, SAW, CAP, ASH, TMB, DED

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with my list of previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: GTH; SPY; mention of ASH (and the ASH meta); mention of Nik/HER’s spoilery hints about GTH.

NOTE: THIS META CONTAINS DISCUSSION OF AND REFERENCE TO SEXUAL ASSAULT. MORE DETAILED SECTIONS ARE MARKED, BUT THIS WARNING STANDS FOR THE WHOLE META.

The Intro:

It’s time to get our Spooky on, lads. And we’re gonna do it in a meta of truly staggering length, so maybe go to the bathroom and get a snack before you start. My apologies.

Due to the (to be quite frank) absence of nostalgia surrounding them, there’s not really many games that are post 2010 that the fandom tends to agree on, but Ghost of Thornton Hall happens to be a standout in that pretty much everyone has found something to like about it. It often tops the charts of “best newer game” polls, and puts in a valiant effort against the more nostalgic mainstays.

There are a lot of reasons for this, in my mind – the quality of the writing, the choices that Nancy can make that actually affect the outcome of the game and especially affect Nancy, the fabulous voice work, the purposely-unanswered questions that give a deeper sense of horror — but if you ask me, the love for GTH really boils down to one thing:

Atmosphere.

Nancy Drew game fans (and I’m including myself in this) tend to prioritize atmosphere in the games, probably because without good and proper atmosphere it’s easier to pick apart the formula as you’re playing and to avoid being immersed in the game’s story, and GTH has it thick on the ground (figuratively and literally). The fear, unease, and overall sense of being an Intruder in this story comes from the overwhelming atmosphere provided by the grief of the characters, the time-sensitive nature of the crime, the secrets of the house and family, and, of course, the rather stellar visuals and locations.

The Thornton’s house and grounds really feel alive, but dead — in fact, they almost feel alive in the way that a zombie is, where they function and feed but have no heart. The gloriously (and meticulously) decorated walls are cast in shadow and grime; the portraits feel ominous and disapproving rather than lifelike and nostalgic; even the graveyard, as spread out and opulent as it is, feels claustrophobic and unwelcoming.

In a word, the game is – visually, thematically, story-wise, and atmospherically — haunting. And I think that overwhelming feeling of being haunted is, in large part, what draws fans back to this game again and again.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the scariest parts of this game are the things that you, as the player, do not see. Sure, the apparitions of Charlotte, the ghostly figures, the appearance of Harper — these are all scary, but the fear is gone after a moment, leaving the player unsettled but not running to hide under a blanket. The deaths of the fifty-four souls, the secret behind Clara’s birth, Harper’s breakdown — all these things that you don’t see, that you can only hear about or have hinted at are where the fear of the game kicks in, especially for older players.

It’s no secret that, despite the games being labeled for ages 10 and up, that the actual age of the Nancy Drew games fandom hasn’t been around 10 for some time — most people playing these games are in their 20s or 30s, or have siblings who are in their 20s and 30s and got into the games through them. Sure, there are some outliers, but the Clue Crew is much closer in general to the ages of the River Heights crew than they are to the age that that box says.

Because of this, the writers (and I’m going to especially hat-tip Nik here) behind the games have been able to slowly graduate the topics of the games to be a little bit older, hiding the true horror behind things that younger kids just won’t think about. This is especially the case with GTH and SPY, but you see it in a lot of the newer games, where the implications of events are normally scarier than the events themselves.

GTH takes that and runs with it, choosing to hint at and dance around truly upsetting — for any age — topics, presenting a mystery and a story that only get scarier once you’ve finished staring at the screen. The characters’ emotional problems and issues — loss, abandonment, anxiety, guilt — are like this too; while they’re present in the game itself, when you take a step back after finishing the game you realize just how badly scarred everyone is in the story.

Because answers were purposely left vague in order to 1) make the player work for it and 2) keep the 10+ rating, pretty much everyone who plays GTH has a slightly different opinion on what went down at Charlotte’s party, who the Thorntons really are, the circumstances of Clara’s birth, why the children of a female Thornton take their mother’s name — you name it, and there’s around 10 distinct opinions on it, and many more offshoots of those opinions besides.

I’m going to talk a little bit here about a couple of the “biggies”, since I don’t want it cluttering up the Suspect portion of this meta, so bear with me. I’m not so much interested in “this is the Correct answer” as much as just presenting the information from the game and wondering about its conclusions…but I (like everyone else) have my little pet theories, so what follows will be a little bit of reporting, a little bit of inference, and a little bit of supposition.

What follows is a frank discussion of topics such as rape and incest as they apply to GTH. If this is something you’d rather not consume, skip down to the next bolded line.

The most talked-about question left hanging in the game is, of course, who Clara’s father was. I think this question is best addressed from a two-pronged approach, however, because to figure out who Clara’s father could have been is a question that requires another question to be answered: why would Clara’s mother not tell her, even on her deathbed.

The most popular — and horrifying — answer to this is that Clara’s father is Jackson, and that she was a product of rape and incest. Now, just looking at the timeline, this theory adds up; Rosalie (Clara’s mum) would have been 25 when her father was 51 and would have raped her — young enough (especially in relation to her father, a middle-aged man of a lot of power in and out of the family) that she would have been scared to tell anyone anything, but old enough to not have it be super out of the ordinary that she got pregnant and had a baby — especially in 1968.

To add to this theory, there’s the note in the cellar that asks “who was this Jackson?...what’s he hiding, and who put it there? Was it Charlotte?”. If you’re looking for clues with the incest theory in mind, this seems to point directly to it — “who was this Jackson”? both Rosalie and Clara’s father. “What’s he hiding”? his crime of raping his daughter and impregnating her. The mention of Charlotte alludes to the supposition that Charlotte found proof of this crime — tangible proof — and put it somewhere; this pretty much supposes that there’s a document somewhere that names Jackson as Clara’s biological father, such as an admission of guilt or a paternity test.

The final “proof-positive” to this theory is that Rosalie refused to tell Clara who her father was even on her deathbed. We know from the family tree and Wade that Clara was between 5-10 when her mother died (I’m inclined to believe the family tree, and chalk the discrepancy up to either the writers not being concerned with math or, more likely and more charitably, to show that Wade isn’t a Perfectly Reliable source, just like everyone else), and Rosalie’s protection of Clara from the truth makes sense with a child in that age span. It’s one (horrible, horrible) thing to be forcibly impregnated by your father, but to have to say it out loud, and to say it to your child — that’s something that no one can even remotely blame Rosalie for not being up to, especially when weakened by sickness.

There are smaller points — like pointing out that this might be why Virginia (Wade’s mum) was skipped over in inheritance — but these small points have dozens of explanations, so they’re not really good for bolstering a theory unless you’re already dedicated to it and are looking for crumbs to shore it up.

End of frank discussion. The previous topics may be alluded to and/or mentioned, but not discussed in detail from this point on.

Now, let’s talk about another explanation. I think there’s a tendency to jump on the “Jackson Theory” because 1) there are clues that support it, but more importantly 2) because it’s horrifying, and it’s natural to leap to the scariest thing you can think of when considering a game that relies on fridge horror in the first place.

In the “Jackson Theory”, Rosalie would have hidden Clara’s parentage because of shame, horror, and trauma, and probably to (at least momentarily) spare Clara’s feelings — but Jackson isn’t the only explanation for her reticence.

Generally, we can break apart the reasons for Rosalie’s silence into three distinct emotions or emotional states: shame (supports the Jackson Theory), trauma (supports an assault by a known wolf), or, often overlooked, ignorance.

Clara is mentioned repeatedly as being outwardly and obviously scared about her place in the family — a fear borne from and exacerbated in her childhood, as Nik plainly states (“her insecurity wasn’t just a personal flaw, it was a response to her uneven upbringing,” emphasis mine).

An easy way for Rosalie, worried as she must have been about leaving her daughter alone, to fix this if Clara really was a product of incest, is to name a distant Thornton cousin, preferably one who was already dead or out of the picture, as the father, which would assure Clara’s place in the Thornton line by both blood and her future adoption. This way, if Clara’s parentage was tested, she’d show up as a Thornton from both sides in a way that wouldn’t be suspicious, and her daughter would have an easier life.

But Rosalie didn’t do this — she never even hinted at the identity of Clara’s father. As a woman known primarily for secret keeping — not just about Clara, but about everything (“She loved her secrets,” Wade says), Rosalie would have been adept at hiding things through various means, including through lies and subterfuge, not simply staying silent. Given the little we know of Rosalie’s character, then, let’s consider why she wouldn’t have said anything — even something false — to ensure her daughter’s safety when she died.

Looking outside of Jackson (and with any other known Thornton being quite unlikely), the vast majority of assaults are committed by those known to their victim — friends, acquaintances, classmates, etc.

The Thorntons were — and are — an incredibly powerful family, both monetarily and socially. Having dealt with families such as the Thorntons before in matters like this one, it is frankly incredibly unlikely that, had Rosalie been assaulted by someone she knew, that the truth wouldn’t have come to light through another source, and that the perpetrator would have been punished in every way possible.

BRIEF DISCUSSION OF ASSAULT STATISTICS AS THEY RELATE TO ROSALIE’S POSSIBLE CASE.

Some people familiar with only the post-20th-century world as “the modern age” and with a less stellar grasp of the pre-tech-boom world might raise an eyebrow at this supposition of punishment, but this is Exactly what would have happened — and did happen with regularity — even as “far back” as ’68 — especially when the crime was committed against a young, privileged, wealthy woman of the community.

Note, this is after the USMPC adjustment to the definition of rape in ’62, but before the adjustments in the early 70s; in 9 years, forcible rape rates (this number includes only female victims, so the true number of victims is indisputably higher, given the enormous jump in rape statistics in 2016-present as male cases have been included) had soared in the United States from around 17,000 per year in 1960 to, in the year Clara was born, 31,000 reported cases (source: DisasterCenter). With these soaring numbers came soaring awareness, and combined with Rosalie’s identity as a rich, powerful young woman in a rich, powerful family, it’s on the outside of belief that, had her attacker’s identity been known or suspected, that it could have remained a secret and gone unpunished.

END OF BRIEF DISCUSSION OF ASSAULT STATISTICS AS THEY RELATE TO ROSALIE’S POSSIBLE CASE.

Given this historical and social backing, the simplest and unavoidable potential answer to why Rosalie wouldn’t have either told Clara who her father was or made up a “brief love” who abandoned her Dishonorably, is this: she didn’t know.

(I’ll spare a mention here to say that, ignorance because of being a “wild child” in the 60s and having had multiple partners would be a possible theory, but it disregards everything else we know about Rosalie and her behavior, and that her reputation as a party girl would have been common knowledge, unable to be hidden from those who were alive at the time. So let’s move on to what else would cause ignorance.)

Though attacks by a person unknown to the victim are, in relation to known assailants, rare, in the absence of other evidence, the simplest answer to Clara’s parentage was that Rosalie was assaulted by someone that she did not know and had no way of knowing — and who had no idea of the social power of his victim.

Rosalie truly left nothing behind that points to her daughter’s parentage, even for later discovery or for Clara’s private eyes in a bank lockbox when she came of an Age that Rosalie deemed appropriate — so the conclusion to be drawn is, in the absence of evidence, that Rosalie didn’t answer Clara’s question because she simply couldn’t.

This ties into the other theory/mystery I want to cover here — that of what happened the night Charlotte died, and how (and in what way) Clara was culpable and responsible for Charlotte’s death. We know that, according to her, Clara went there simply to “scare” Charlotte — and given the circumstances that Clara gives this confession in, I’m inclined to believe her — and it’s my opinion that the reason didn’t have anything to do with the truth of the identity of Clara’s father.

My stance here — and it’s here that I take a solid stance, rather than presenting options — with Charlotte (and I’ll talk more about her general character in the Suspects section) is that Charlotte found the same breadcrumbs as the players did and came to the same conclusion — that Jackson was Clara’s biological father. The difference, however, is that I believe Charlotte’s conclusion to be understandable, but ultimately incorrect, and that Rosalie’s assaulter was a stranger.

Horrified, this is where Charlotte’s “cryptic obsession with Jackson” (mentioned in the note in the cellar) began, and what led to her changing the beneficiary of her will from Clara — poor, pitiable Clara, already a victim of so much, whose insecurities would be compounded by this truth — to Harper.

An important part of this theory — and of really any theory — is the consideration that Clara was pregnant with Jessalyn at the time. Not only does this partially explain why Clara’s thought was to save herself (and her baby) rather than dragging Charlotte out with her (regardless of any other factor), but it also brings a potential answer as to why Charlotte would change her will to favor Harper, rather than Clara. Just as the cellar note asks “Who was this Jackson?”, I find myself asking a similar, but no less important question:

“Who was this Austin Neely?”

Listed as Jessalyn’s (still living) father on the family tree, Austin Neely isn’t present anywhere else in the game — not by name and not through mentions of “Jessalyn’s father” or “Clara’s ex-husband/ex-boyfriend” or anything like that. There’s not even a mention of Clara contacting him as a guest for the wedding or to help search for their daughter. His absence is glaring, especially in a game so focused around family — so the question of who is Austin Neely is a question that seems incredibly important to me, given that Clara was pregnant at the time of Charlotte’s death.

In mentioning this theory, I do fully acknowledge that I have only some circumstantial evidence — mostly emotional, and based off of who the characters are/were — to support it, but given the total lack of information on Austin Neely, my guess is as good as anything else.

So here’s my theory: Austin Neely is not Jessalyn’s father, and Clara, like her mother, became pregnant via some type of assault (and given that this was the late 80s and given Clara’s age at the time, I would say the most likely culprit is date rape). When Clara became aware that she was pregnant, given her insecurities about her place in the Thornton clan and her lack of knowledge of her own father, would have come to this conclusion: she was not going to let her baby go through what she herself went through. So she did what her mother could have — and honestly speaking, probably should have — done, and lied.

Austin Neely was probably a friend or an acquaintance of Clara’s — someone her family didn’t really know, but that she could make up a story about dating/being engaged to and became pregnant by before it all fell apart. He would have likely received a payout (probably a rather large payout, given the Thornton’s money and influence) and disappeared from the area and the Thornton’s lives, signing off any responsibility or claim to “their” child before he left.

As a result of this, her child now has a father and doesn’t have to grow up wondering, and Clara avoids the stigma, court case, and general Uproar that would come with attempting to find her attacker. She also, importantly for her, avoids that mess for her child, who will grow up in a semi-normal atmosphere, surrounded by family, not doubting her place in the world — and no one has to know.

Except, of course, one person would know. The head of the family: Charlotte Thornton. From then on, based on this series of events, the story behind Charlotte’s death becomes quite straightforward.

Clara’s paranoia and general cleverness clue her in to the fact that Charlotte has changed her will in Harper’s favor, and is scared out of her mind; having recently experienced a trauma and being pregnant with a child, she’s afraid that she will be left with absolutely nothing, that her machinations with Austin Neely and all her striving will have been for nothing, and she will be cast off, unable to give her child the life she wants to give her.

Compounded by her ground-in fear that she does not belong, she decides to try to settle it with Charlotte — she’s going to scare her, to punish her, and make Charlotte rethink the changed will.

And Charlotte, bearing the weight of the family name and business, not to mention its continued propagation on her shoulders, sees a woman who has been — like her mother — assaulted and left pregnant, whose mental state is already fragile, and who the “revelation” of who Charlotte thinks her true father is would topple her completely — sees poor, pitiable, emotional, suspicious Clara, and refuses.

I think that, more than anything else, would have set Clara off. Remember what she yells at Charlotte’s ghost?

“You had so much, so much, and I had nothing.”

In answering some of the questions about the game, Nik/HER’s response is to say that Clara did not literally light the match that burned Charlotte alive — but we know that Charlotte burned all the same. In the video of her birthday, there are candles; in the dust and soot on the floor where Charlotte died, we see candlesticks. And in the response, again, we know that Charlotte lit the candles for the celebration.

In my ASH meta, I discussed the many meanings of the word “fire” and the term “setting the fire” — and that’s important here too. In this case, the fire was set by Charlotte refusing to reconsider the terms of her will; in her refusal, she probably touched on the same point that she makes in the note in her room — that Clara isn’t stable enough to take over the company. Now, I doubt she would have said that straight to Clara’s face, but even framed as a “you have enough to be going on with and I don’t want to burden you” sort of thing, that just would have reaffirmed all of Clara’s fears — that she was unwanted by the Thornton clan, that her child would be unwanted as a matter of course, and that she would truly have nothing.

And so my guess would be that Clara shoved her. Not hard enough to break anything, not even into a direct flame, but shoved her, and Charlotte jostled the table, and a candelabra fell to the floor, where we see it still in the modern day.

When Nancy sees Charlotte’s ghost out in that house — and yes, I’m firm on that being Charlotte’s actual ghost, as she’s out in the open air so carbon monoxide doesn’t figure in, and there’s no way for that to be Harper/Jessalyn — she burns from the skirt up, which follows with a candle falling to the floor and lighting that incredibly flammable dress on fire.

The last thing to note from HER/Nik’s response is that at the end of the game, Nancy faces the exact same choice that the Thorntons have: to help, or to save herself. In this, we have to look back to Clara and Charlotte, and conclude this: Clara chose not to help. It’s debatable how much help she could have really been — we’re not sure how pregnant she was at the time — or if it even occurred to her until she was already out and chose not to go back in — but at the very least, Clara’s guilt comes not only from the fact that she quarreled with Charlotte right before her death, but that she could have tried to prevent it, and didn’t.

Given the supposition that Charlotte was literally on fire, I really do doubt that getting her out or finding water to throw on her would have been successful, but it doesn’t matter — because Clara looks at it as a choice, and Clara (more importantly) looks at it as the wrong choice, and a choice that she’s been punished for since the day it happened. That’s why, when speaking to Charlotte’s ghost, she says this:

“Haven’t I suffered enough for you?”

The last point I want to make in this OBSCENELY long introduction is about GTH’s place in the pantheon of “Haunting Games”. When you look at the bare-bones (heh) circumstances that make up GTH, you’ll start to see shades of other games.

A relationship/marriage gone a bit wrong, a family secret, an ancestral home, a relative/ancestor whose spectre looms over the story, mysterious apparitions and appearances, and Nancy’s status as an outsider and a skeptic — yeah, both CUR and HAU should come to mind immediately.

Having said my piece about, well, the badness of CUR and HAU and their unsuccessful approach to their basic plot points, it delights me that GTH takes a good hard look at them and says “well, what if we did this well this time? What if we gave our characters the complexity, the emotional resonance, the secrets and lies that we should have the first time?”

Like CUR and HAU, the Family is at the center of the game — except this time we believe in this family, in their relationships to one another, and we feel the effects of the family and their choices, not just hear about it from a diffident 9-year-old or a cranky caretaker. The history of the Thornton clan comes alive through the house, the graveyard, the books and journals that we have of them. We understand what this family is and the choices that they make — even if we don’t approve of them — and they feel real, not just like a background chucked in to Make The Spooky Things Happen.

Also like CUR and HAU, we deal with a central relationship and the complexities that come over two people deciding to get married. Happily, this game (unlike CUR and HAU) treats the central relationship as a thing of Import, and comes to the conclusion that it’s the happiness and well-suitedness of the couple that matters, not the family that surrounds them or anything else. It asks the question “what happens if one person runs away from the relationship?” and answers it, quite satisfactorily, with “there are probably some issues that need ironed out before anything else should happen”.

Interestingly, GTH also takes the good points of CUR and HAU – especially HAU’s atmosphere and CUR’s love of family tidbits — and improves upon them as well. Instead of Jane showing off her studies so that Nancy can solve a few puzzles, Wade walks her through the Thorntons were (at least in his eyes) and helps her get to know the people she’s helping. Instead of being duly impressed at the atmosphere in a bombed-out castle, everywhere on the island is teeming with fog — literal and figurative — as Nancy tries to decode the past to help the future.

Now then, let’s leave the general behind, and focus on the specifics of GTH.

The Title:

Ghost of Thornton Hall is a great title in the way that Secret of the Scarlet Hand is a great title – moody, evocative, gives us our location/focus right away, but not in a way that spoils anything, etc. If anything, it’s a little more flexible – are we dealing with The Ghost of Thornton Hall (Charlotte), the ghost(s) of the Thornton family, the ghosts of those who died on the island, or — in a very fun way — are we talking about the ghost of Thornton Hall — the spirit of the building where so much life and death has happened?

As a title for a Haunting game, you really don’t get much better than GTH, and it centers the player’s attention right where it should be — on the messed up family that the game centers around, and how their past impacts their future.

The Mystery:

Nancy’s phone rings in the middle of the night, with Savannah Woodham’s drawl on the other end, informing her of a kidnapping that’s taken place. She’d go herself, but believes wholeheartedly – and is frightened by — the ghost that’s taken up residence on Blackrock Island, Georgia, and doesn’t believe she’d be enough help.

Of course, this isn’t the whole truth, but we’ll get into that later.

Armed with both her detective skills and her inherent skepticism, Nancy sets off for Georgia to find the missing bride-to-be. Of course, when she gets there, she quickly discovers that the family — and family history — is even murkier and laced with tragedy than the presence of a ghost would suggest, and that, even with everyone searching for Jessalyn Thornton, she is nowhere to be found.

To find her, Nancy has to delve deep into the Thornton family lore, Jessalyn’s relationships with her family and friends – not to mention her preoccupied fiancé — and figure out what really did happen to dear, sweet Charlotte Thornton nearly two decades ago…

GTH, as a mystery, is chock-full of hints, clues, red herrings, and background facts that make figuring out the truth behind everything a joy and a delight — not to mention a task that will take more than one playthrough. GTH is also unique in that its mystery can end in more than one way, and that Nancy’s choices actually have more of an impact than just what souvenir she sends home to her erstwhile boyfriend. Choosing to save herself, to save just the “innocent” (for a certain value of innocence), or to save everyone leads to different endings not just for Nancy but for everyone involved with the Thornton Clan, from its matriarch all the way down to a certain spook-hunting ex-girlfriend.

Underpinning the mystery is this question: did Charlotte really come back as a ghost to haunt Blackrock and the Thorntons, or are her appearances just the result of sneaky relatives and atmospheric maleficence? Can all of the sightings be explained by a mixture of carbon monoxide poisoning, a few relatives playing dress-up, and huge amounts of suggestion and guilt? Is it the case, as Rentaro posited a few games earlier, that a ghost doesn’t have to be real to haunt you?

In a word, no. In a few more words, of course not.

Tying the whole of the ‘haunting’ mysteries together is this (previously mentioned) fact: Nancy is not remarkable for being a Skeptic, she is remarkable for being a Skeptic in a world where ghosts exist. The moving wood (and possibly the silhouette) in MHM, Camille’s ghost dancing along in TRN, the reflection of Kasumi in the water in SAW, the ghost of the Willow in GTH — these are all real, unexplainable-by-tech-or-imagination ghost sightings, and the fact that Nancy doesn’t believe in them doesn’t change their reality one bit.

In the house, you can cite carbon monoxide and Jessalyn/Harper running around in a costume for at least some of them — though not all. But the sightings outside — carbon monoxide does not stay in the system for very long in clear air, blessedly — of Charlotte? The consistency of the spectre? The apparition of her burning up at the site of her birthday party? These aren’t things that you can explain by costume theater — especially since these sightings have been happening for over a decade by people who haven’t stepped foot in Thornton Hall.

When they say that Blackrock belongs to Charlotte and has since the fire, it’s not a literary turn of phrase — Charlotte is there, and refuses to be forgotten. Nancy’s status as a Skeptic prevents her from hysteria, but it does not stop her from being haunted by the Ghost of Thornton Hall.

Now, let’s talk about the players — dead and alive — that make this mystery as complicated and dark as it is.

The Suspects:

Beginning with the matriarch of the Thorntons seems as good a place to start as any, so let’s talk about Clara Thornton. Cousin to Charlotte and Harper, Clara was taken in after her mother’s untimely death (but before her aunt and uncle’s equally untimely deaths) and became the equivalent of a sister in at least Charlotte and Harper’s eyes — though Clara herself was always unsettled and wary about her place in the family.

After the events of Charlotte’s tragic birthday (covered above), Clara visited Charlotte’s grave every night for a year, and was hospitalized after being pushed off of the widow’s walk (more on this later). Whether due to her upbringing or her Thornton blood – or, most likely, both — Clara is secretive, paranoid, wracked with guilt…and a loving mother and extremely capable businesswoman.

Though GTH doesn’t actually have a culprit —Jessalyn wasn’t kidnapped and Charlotte wasn’t murdered — Clara is, as the resident secret keeper and witness to Charlotte’s death, the closest thing that we’ve got. Clara’s sense of guilt is far beyond anything that she could have done, and is haunted so completely as to turn her rather cold.

I have a lot of sympathy for Clara, who made a mistake in a fit of anger (whether that’s pushing Charlotte or just not helping her when she started to burn) at the age of 21 and has been wracked with guilt and haunted by the spectre — real and imagined — of her ‘sister’ ever since (not to mention knowing that her other ‘sister’ blamed and hated her for it). Charlotte died before she had the time to make too many mistakes, but Clara had the entirety of the estate and the business — thousands of people’s livelihoods — thrust into her hand when she was a single mother of 21 years of age. Even had Clara been completely stable, it would have been a lot, and it’s no wonder that she rules the company with an iron fist.

I also want to point out that, due to Harper’s breakdown at the funeral and her afterwards, that even had Charlotte’s second will been found right then, Clara still would have inherited until at least Harper received her bill of mental health, as the closest heir to Charlotte of (legally) sound mind and body.

Let’s talk then about the other heir, Harper Thornton. A fan favorite for a myriad of reasons — her Helena-Bonham-Carter-esque design, her wonderful VA (props to Keri Healey, voice of Hotchkiss, Sally, Paula, Simone, and Madeline!) knocking her lines out of the park, and her dark sense of humor, Harper is, like most of the Thorntons, incredibly unstable, paranoid, violent…an affectionate aunt, and a pretty darn good detective in her own right.

Since GTH doesn’t have a ‘culprit’, Harper stands in her own guilty/not guilty paradigm along with Clara. She had nothing to do with Charlotte’s death personally, but was the one who caused assorted injuries and thousands of dollars in property damage at the funeral, and the one who pushed Clara off the widow’s walk and hospitalized her. Yes, Harper was young — 18 when Charlotte died, but pushing your cousin/sister off of a balcony is wrong at any age.

It’s worth noting that of the three Thornton ‘sisters’, one is guilty of some degree of manslaughter/criminal negligence, and the other of attempted murder. When Charlotte notes that she herself has a dose of the “Thornton paranoia”, she’s not just whistling Dixie.

The biggest problem the Thorntons have, honestly speaking, is that all of them are way too emotional and react without thinking. Clara confronting Charlotte, Charlotte not taking Clara aside to talk about the will, Harper’s injuring of others and blaming/pushing Clara, Wade destroying machinery, Jessalyn disappearing rather than talking things out…none of the Thorntons, past or present, have seemed to think with their brains since the woman who received the land on Blackrock Island after the Civil War in the first place.

In keeping with the theme, I want to talk about Charlotte Thornton next. A girl who inherited the Thornton land and business at way too young an age — I don’t even wanna know why Jackson hated his adult daughter Virginia (and yes, I know that there’s a supposition to this in the “Jackson Theory”, but it’s pure supposition) so much that he would stake the family future on a 20-year-old, no matter how much everyone liked her — after the death of her parents four years prior, Charlotte was the darling of the Thornton family.

Well-liked by everyone with a beautiful singing voice, Charlotte was nonetheless every inch a Thornton; she outright acknowledged her own paranoia, kept secrets and locked rooms closer to her than her family, and had a flair for the dramatic and emotional. After considering her cousin/sister Clara too unstable for the task of inheriting the family Business, Charlotte, rather than turning to her older aunt or naming multiple beneficiaries to ease the load, instead leaves 100% of it to her younger sister Harper.

I do want to point out the irony here in leaving the business to Harper over Clara on the grounds of mental stability. Whatever else Charlotte was good at, she was not a good judge of character, even giving leeway for her being 21.

After her death, Charlotte haunts the family home, unable to leave the place that was, for a year, hers to inherit. But why would ‘dear, sweet’ Charlotte haunt, frighten, and otherwise unsettle those around her — from family to neighbors to curious kids — especially to the extent that she does?

To answer that question, we need to talk about the family member that everyone says is incredibly close to Charlotte in personality — our missing bride, Jessalyn Thornton.

Clara’s daughter, Jessalyn is painted as being a sort of return of Charlotte; everyone loves her (all Thornton employees are combing the island looking for her, for heaven’s sake), everyone agrees on her, and she’s next in line to inherit the Thornton family business. She’s even around Charlotte’s age (24, rather than 21, but close enough) during the game, for heaven’s sake — the comparisons are not subtle, nor are they meant to be.

Since it’s more than halfway through the game that Nancy meets Jessalyn, the things that people say about her are the best clues to her personality that we have…right?

Everyone agrees that Jessalyn would never run off and make people worry like this, that even if she was scared or had second thoughts about the wedding or even just needed to be alone, that she would never do this to her family. And, as it turns out, everyone — her mother, her uncle, her best-friend-cum-fiancé — everyone is wrong. Jessalyn did exactly that — she ran off, made everyone worry, and didn’t think about her family, friends, fiancé, or employees one bit.

It also takes her no effort at all to fully believe a woman she’s never met that her mom is a vicious, cackling murderer just because her (single, incredibly busy) mother is a bit emotionally cold, so she’s also not a great judge of character.

And remember, we’re told over and over again — Jessalyn is just like Charlotte. Sure, Jessalyn is also our Nancy foil in this game — a young woman who needs to learn the truth about her mother, coerced/guided by a quasi-unreliable source, worrying her family by running off — and that’s important for Nancy’s character, but Jessalyn is first and foremost our Charlotte analogue. Jessalyn’s family and friends don’t understand who Jessalyn is…so I think it’s fair to say that Charlotte’s family and friends didn’t understand who Charlotte was, either.

We see Charlotte, through her writings and actions, could be thoughtless, was a poor judge of character, was secretive and paranoid — all things that no one even alludes to when speaking of her. Sure, there’s the idea of not speaking ill of the dead, but someone would have noted these things, even fondly or mildly.

So why would Charlotte haunt this place, haunt these people, when she was so good and kind and loved everyone? The simplest answer, the least convoluted explanation, is just that she wasn’t. That the Thorntons didn’t understand Charlotte, as much as they loved her, just like they didn’t understand Jessalyn.

Speaking of Thorntons who may be misunderstood, we’ll focus on Wade Thornton next. A little more rough-and-tumble and a little less refined than his relatives seem to be, Wade is introspective, superstitious, hard-working, and a bit gloomy…along with having some anger issues, vast amounts of distrust, and a bit of egotism.

Wade’s (at least legally) guilty of a few things in the past, but since he won’t even go into Thornton Hall, he’s a pretty easy cross-off of our list of suspects. Wade’s there to give Nancy information on the Thornton Clan, to provide the explanation as for (partially) why Savannah isn’t there herself, and to show another facet of the Thorntons — their anger.

Whether or not you agree with Wade’s actions that led to Clara pressing charges — though I think everyone can agree it’s pretty stupid to destroy your own family’s machinery, especially when the only danger to the employees was caused by him scaring them half to death — and it highlights that Wade, philosophical though he is, is just as much a Thornton as those he despises. He even calls himself out on it – that while he used to think he was on the side of “Good Thorntons”, he’s not so sure anymore.

The best (serious) line in the game does come from Wade — I will be in love with his description of dating Savannah as “[falling] for her like a Black Tuesday banker” until I die. It’s a perfect metaphor without sounding pretentious, and shows just how bleak his own worldview really is.

Next is The Fiancé, Colton Birchfield, who has the most hilariously WASP-y name to ever come out of a Nancy Drew game. A man who’s struggled with depression and anxiety all his life, Colton was born to two politicians and has lived in the spotlight — and his marriage to Jessalyn is getting just as show-stopper-y as a campaign trail before she disappeared.

I mentioned above that the resolution to Colton and Jessalyn’s relationship is the healthy, sane version of what should have happened in CUR and HAU, and I stand by that. While I don’t necessarily like him going back to Lexi after the game is over — a relationship interrupted by one party being paid off is not the healthy, loving, loyal relationship that Colton needs — it’s clear that he and Jessalyn would have made each other content, but never fulfilled romantically.

Colton’s guilty of nothing more than not being in love with his best friend, and he’s a refreshing breath of air as someone related tangentially to, but not cast down by, the Thornton family drama. He may get less sympathy than our other cast members, but he’s no less deserving of it, and I’m really rooting for him to find someone that will give him the same amount of love and loyalty that he’ll give them.

We’ll journey outside the Thornton family and their (almost) relations for our next ‘suspect’. Addison Hammond, Jessalyn’s friend and bridesmaid, makes a cameo phone appearance here to tell us that Thornton Hall is Totes Spooky, and that Jessalyn vanished not once, but twice in the night.

I quite enjoy Addison, not because she plays a big part or because she’s an exceptional character — she’s as bare-bones as we get in the later games (ignoring MED/SEA/MID), honestly — but because she’s simply a girl in her 20s reacting the way that most of us would if our unnecessarily spooky friend dragged us to an old haunted house and then vanished twice. Good for you, girl.

Coming in for a wonderful appearance is Savannah Woodham, ex-ghost hunter, ex-girlfriend of Wade Thornton, and the detective who was supposed to be on the case. Savannah’s too scared of the Ghost (and too reticent to talk to Wade face-to-face) to risk stepping foot on Blackrock Island herself, but she’s more than willing to send the biggest skeptic she knows, hoping that Nancy’s skepticism will keep her safe.

As lovely as Savannah is in SAW — and I adore her in that game — she really shines in GTH. Probably the biggest moment she gets in the game — and probably my second favorite moment in the game period — is her tale of tracing the shape of the old willow tree on her wall, only to have a body discovered under that exact willow tree after a storm. It’s a delightfully creepy — and most importantly, completely inexplicable by any means other than accepting that the supernatural exists — moment, and I think it’s key to understanding Savannah as a character in GTH.

Savannah suffers under the weight of knowing that there truly are Things that Go Bump in the Night, that can’t be arrested or captured or gotten rid of by normal, legal means. Her background knowledge of the Thorntons helps Nancy to get an initial feel for the family, and it helps to not have an ex-girlfriend wandering around that the Thorntons might have a grudge against or dislike for.

She is, in effect, the mirror image of Nancy — what Nancy might have become without her inborn skepticism — and that alone, even ignoring everything else about her, is fascinating to me.

Our other phone contacts are Ned Nickerson and Bess Marvin, teamed up due to George’s absence while doing an internship (at Technology of Tomorrow Today, no less!) and Bess’ extreme boredom without anyone else to hang out with.

The lovely thing about Ned and Bess is that we get to see Ned when he’s not Solo Boyfriend Ned, but a college guy hanging out with his friend. Their light-hearted banter is hilarious and comfortable (Bess dramatically asking permission to do a spit-take in his living room is of particular note), and we really get to see a different side of Nancy’s oft-abandoned boyfriend.

You can tell that their voice actors are having a terrific time as well (Scott Carty’s pitch-perfect imitation of Jennifer Pratt’s cadence and tone makes me laugh every time), and it really helps bring a bright and colorful spot to this otherwise rather tense and grim mystery.

We’ll round out our character list with the quasi-amateur, quasi-professional detective herself, Nancy Drew. Through her foil with Jessalyn — discussed above, so I won’t get too into it here — we get to see Nancy in a slightly different light, and get to look at the effect that she has on those around her when she disappears.

We know Carson and Ned (and occasionally Bess/George, and even more occasionally, Hannah) worry about Nancy while she’s off on a case, but this is the first time Nancy herself is dealing with what she leaves behind every time she jets off to Venice, or gets trapped in a lava tube, or lost in a rock maze. Nancy hasn’t investigated a straight-up kidnapping (or what appears to be one) since Maya in FIN (no, I’m not counting HAU, as it’s not played as a kidnapping nor does anyone think it is until 2/3 of the way through the game), and she has the same sense of urgency here that she did back then.

Upon replaying the game, the player will lose that sense of urgency for Jessalyn — we know she’s alive and well, and was never kidnapped — but Nancy’s reactions to the family are what stay interesting. She’s concerned for Jessalyn, but does most of her detective work through getting a sense of what the rest of the family thinks of the missing girl.

Given Nancy’s reputation as a good girl, a solid presence (if an occasional one) who loves her family and friends, and who is always responsible, it’s easy to see why she misses the one question that would have helped her solve the case in half of the time: what if Jessalyn isn’t missing? After all, Jessalyn, like Nancy, would never jet off after hearing an unsubstantiated claim about her mother without telling anyone or pausing to confirm it through a different, more trustworthy source, right?

In this game, we discover a huge characteristic about Nancy: she is reckless. Now, we know this already from other games — that Nancy is reckless physically, confronting bad guys alone, diving down into murky catacombs, jumping from pillars in ancient tombs — but here we see that she’s also reckless emotionally. Even though it interferes with her investigation, Nancy gets personally involved in this case; she’s mad at Colton for “cheating” on Jessalyn, she’s upset by the tragedy of Charlotte’s death, and she’s concerned for Jessalyn’s safety in a different way than she usually is with a victim or suspect.

Nancy’s always been willing to take huge risks, but she always stays emotionally on the surface level of a case — a good and necessary trait for a detective, and one that allows her to face down killers, saboteurs, and forgers without blinking. Here, Nancy’s dragged down into the web of the Thorntons, and — as we see in the middle and bad endings especially — she doesn’t quite recover from it. Nancy loses a bit of objectivity here, but what she gains is humanity — and she’ll need that for the last two games in this meta series.

The Favorite:

With such a well-executed game — even though it doesn’t fall in my personal top 5 ranking — there’s going to be a lot to love, so let’s get down to it.

My favorite puzzle is probably Nancy’s trek to ‘discover’ the ‘ghost’ — aka completing Harper’s tasks in order to meet her, culminating with reciting Charlotte’s rhyme while blindfolded. It’s a different kind of puzzle than the type we get commonly with Nancy Drew games, and really helped spark and keep the tension needed to maintain such a spooky game.

My favorite moment in the game is a quieter one — it’s Nancy’s remarks on Charlotte’s room. She’s taken aback at how, after a game of everyone talking about Charlotte, that it’s opening the door to her room that cements Charlotte as a living, breathing person. She continues that she can’t let that feeling distract her, that she needs to treat the room like the rest of the house and gather tools that will let her find Jessalyn, but it’s lovely to see the effect of the Thornton’s history really settle into Nancy’s bones as Charlotte Thornton turns from a scary rhyme that children chant to a girl who lived and died in the same walls that Nancy’s exploring.

There are, of course, other things that I love — the objectively creepy poem (“we’ll let you share with Charlotte/a gown of coal and glowing flame” is an incredible line), Savannah’s story about the willow tree, the small Francy crumbs of Frank being sullen after his Very Revealing voicemail in DED and considering an MBA, the multi-layered relationship that Wade and Savannah have, the gorgeous detail of Thornton Hall — and all of these add up to a game that’s frankly just enjoyable to play.

The big thing to mention in this game, as I talked a bit about in the intro, is its atmosphere.

Throughout the entire game, there’s this palpable feeling of death and grief and loss and pure pain, and those emotions are what GTH relies on to keep itself Scary, not the few spectre scares and swinging scythes that it also has to offer.

I don’t normally quote things other than the games/words of the cast and crew in these metas, but I do make exceptions when the quotation is this good, so I tip my hat here to Tumblr user aniceworld, speaking about ranking GTH their top Nancy Drew game of all time:

“The reason GTH is so successful as a scary game is because there’s such a pervasive sense of sorrow at Thornton Hall. People have died here who shouldn’t have. A family has been destroyed. The house has seen so much trauma it can literally no longer stand on its own. There are ghosts that live here, whether you can see them or not.”

This horror is far better than bloody slashers or obnoxious “continuous mysterious accidents”-style thrillers that tend to permeate the genre; instead of random death-by-umbrella or scary-guy-in-the-shower incidents driving the plot, the emotion behind death and loss and betrayal gets to take a turn at the wheel, and the game is much better for it.

The Un-Favorite:

As with any game, however, no matter how good the atmosphere, there are some things that I don’t love.

I’m not actually the biggest fan of Harper; while her design is great and her VA does a spectacular job, she’s a little cartoonish among a cast that endeavors to stay as far away from broad stereotypes as possible.

It’s fine to have a large personality, it’s fine that she’s a bit cracked, it’s great that she has her own reasons and motivations beyond “expose the truth” (especially since she’s not interested in exposing the truth, just in proving that Clara’s a murderer) — she’s just really not my cup of tea, and I prefer Harper as the Anonymous Note Leaver to Harper the Conversational Partner.

Even if she does get some of the best lines in the game.

I don’t really have a least favorite moment or puzzle that sticks out to me; there are puzzles I struggle more or less with, but none of them are immersion-breaking or so frustrating that I have to get up and walk away. The ones I love, I enjoy solving; the ones I don’t love, I turn to the walkthrough and finish them up to get on with the story.

The Fix:

So how would I fix Ghost of Thornton Hall?

Even given my small problems with Harper, I’m not sure I’d change her. Sure, she’s a bit Broad for the game, generally speaking, but she’s also another example of what loss can do to a person — it can make you cold and withdrawn, it can make you righteously angry and dismissive…or it can turn you malicious and violent. She’s an important presence regardless of my personal taste, and while I might tweak a line of dialogue or two, it’s important to note that her Persona is just another thing for Nancy to discover and re-discover as she investigates the Thorntons.

While not a perfect game — very few, if any, of the Nancy Drew games qualify for that title — Ghost of Thornton Hall is an excellent entry in the Nancy Drew series as a whole, and in the smaller series of Nancy-centric games. Through it, we get to see what happens to those who are left behind after a tragic, sudden, and even violent loss — and that becomes more and more important as we leave behind the gloomy Georgia island and leap across the pond to Glasgow.

#nancy drew #nancy drew games #clue crew #ghost of thornton hall #nancy drew meta #GTH #my meta #long post #video games

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lindstromm · 4 years

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Simplified Bookbinding: Font and Text Ornaments

In the first post in this series, How to Make a Cheap First Book, I set out the four steps of bookbinding:

1. Format the text and print it. (This post is all about this step.)

2. Create the text block.

3. Create the case.

4. Attach the case to the text block.

In this post, I’ll give some pointers to get your story from a word processor, or an AO3 story, to a printed page. There are two main formatting sections: (1) the intro pages like the title page and the “about this book” page:

And (2) the text of the book, which may include specialized chapter title font and text separators:

Formatting tips and pics under the cut.

I use Microsoft Word for formatting and printing. I know one method and I stick to that, and I use basically the same formatting process on every story. I get overwhelmed if I have to do something specialized every time or have too many choices. So look at this tutorial as your starter pack, and once you get comfortable, branch out and get as fancy and specialized as you want.

In the Simplified Bookbinding method, we print on A5 pages, which makes the pagination a whole lot easier than printing signature booklets. I have two separate files per book - the intro pages are one file; the text is a second file. This way I don’t have to figure out how to suppress page numbers on part of a file. The intro pages file does not have page numbers; the text file has page numbers.

Page Setup in Word

1. Open a new document.

2. Click “Layout” then “Size.” You need to tell Word that you’re printing on A5 size paper. If the dropdown menu doesn’t include A5, then click on “More Paper Sizes” at the bottom of the menu and fill in the A5 size manually. It’s 5.83 wide by 8.27 high:

Click ‘OK’ and let’s get started putting text on the page.

The Intro Pages

Go pull a professionally published book off your shelf and look at the title page. You’re going to format your title page basically the same way. It’s going to have the title, the author and maybe a text ornament. Center it on the page.

I googled the name of the fandom to get a text block that says “The Old Guard.” A recognizable symbol for that movie is the main character’s labrys, so I googled “labrys line drawing” and snipped it. I titled my story “The Next Job” because I lack the fanfiction ability to select beautiful lines of poetry for story titles. Not as lovely, I’ll grant you, but it fits better on the spine of a book. Anyway, play around with your formatting until you like how it looks. Print a test page.

This is a good time to find out how to print on A5 paper. My printer has a paper size option in the menu, in which I could select “A5″ and then just push the paper holder in the tray for the smaller paper. If you don’t have a printer or can’t connect it, then . . . um, problem. Some bookbinders send print jobs to Staples or other office supply shops. You would have to ask them about printing on custom sized paper and see what they charge. (If you’re going to have it printed at a shop, don’t use easily identifiable text ornaments unless you want to explain to the print shop employee why you aren’t violating copyright laws.)

Depending on your fandom, you may be able to find a fun text ornament that identifies your fandom, like the Avenger’s symbol, a Star Trek symbol, Star Wars, whatever fandom you’re in, I’m sure there’s a graphic you can use. Things like these:

Now we’re going to format the “about this book” page. Look at a professionally published book. This is where you have the copyright information and publisher information. I put in basic information in a list format. In most of my books, I put in a word count and which font I used, just so I can keep track of about how many pages a word count will be. You can put in different info.

On a third page, you can format the author summary and any author notes you want to include. I keep author notes that talk about what the story means to the author. I don’t keep author notes that are basically apologies for not updating often enough. That’s entirely up to you.

So those are your intro pages. It’s 2-4 sheets of paper. I always set 4 blank pages in front of the title page. You’ll notice that professionally published books have a few blank pages before the title page as well. I also put 4 blank pages at the end of the book.

Story Text Pages

Now we’re going to format the actual story. There is a page limit to how much you can bind into one book when using this Simplified Method. You’re limited by the size of the binder clips used in perfect binding. Yep, true, binder clips are your limiting factor. The most I can usually get into big binder clips is about 225 sheets of paper. It varies depending on your paper weight. Take out about 12 sheets for intro and end pages, and that leaves me about 210 printed pages, which double-sided is 420 pages of text. The max word count I’ve bound in one book is 140,000 words. You can bind lengthy works but you will have to play around with margins and font size to keep the number of pages to something that fits into the binder clips.

1. Open a new Word document.

2. Set the paper size to A5 the same way you did for the intro pages document.

3. I always set all four margins to 0.7 just to get more words on a page. I wouldn’t go much smaller than that. You can keep your margins at 1 inch if you want, and I would recommend it if you’re printing less than 50,000 words.

4. Insert page numbers.

5. Go to the story on AO3. Make sure you’re in the “Entire Work” view because it’s a pain to cut and paste chapter by chapter. Press Ctrl-A to “Select All.”

6. Navigate back to your document. Press Ctrl-V to paste the entire mess into your document.

7. Save the file. Save often. You don’t want to lose your formatting.

8. Delete all the stuff that isn’t story text. The “Select All” will have picked up all the buttons and the kudos list and comment box and everything. Just delete it all until you only have text left. The text will have spacing between paragraphs, no indents, chapter headings in the middle of pages, and so forth.

9. When you’ve got nothing but text, press Ctrl-A again to select all the text and we’re going to do some basic formatting. With all the text selected, make these changes:

a. Change the font to Gentium Book Basic 12 pt. (There are hundreds of fonts to choose from. I stick to Gentium Book Basic 12 pt or Book Antiqua 12 pt for the text of the story.)

b. Get into the paragraph format menu. Change the spacing Before and After to 0, and add a first line indent of 0.3. On an A5 page, the standard indent of 0.5 is too deep.

Click out and your page count should change drastically to something pretty close to what your finished page count will be.

10. Now we’re going to format the chapter headings. If you’re in a highly merchandised fandom, you’ll be able to find custom fonts that you can use for chapter headings. Some are free to download. I’ve got the font for Frozen and another one for Star Trek.

Fun, right? If you don’t have a fandom-specific font, I recommend using Narkisim or Baskerville Old Face for chapter heading text. Both are included with Word.

a. If you have more than a couple chapters, it’s easier to set a Heading to auto-format your chapter titles than it is to select text, change font, and center for every single chapter. To do that, format Chapter One the way you want it. Select font, font size, center it on the page (you’ll have to turn off that 0.3 first line indent for just the chapter heading text). While you have your chapter heading text formatted and selected, go to the Home menu and right-click on Heading 2, then select the top option: “Update Heading 2 to Match Selection”. I couldn’t get a snip with the right-click, but this is what you want to right-click on:

Then for your next paragraph, just select the text of chapter number and title, click Heading 2, and it automatically applies all the formatting for you. Yay!

b. With the copy and paste we did to get the text from AO3 into Word, the chapters may start in the middle of a page. Make sure you press Ctrl-Enter at the end of a chapter to start the next chapter on a new page.

c. If you want to insert a text ornament at each chapter heading, that can be fun. If that’s too much right now, don’t worry about. I didn’t start using text ornaments until I had done about 15 books. You’ll have to work to get the text ornament the right size and positioned under the chapter heading text.

Are you done with chapter headings? Moving on!

11. Scene breaks. You know those places inside a chapter where there’s a scene break? Go look at a professionally published book. Many will just have a double space between paragraphs to mark a scene break. That’s probably the easiest way to mark a scene break. Go right ahead and do it that way.

12. Text separators at scene breaks. If you want, you can put in a text ornament to mark a scene break. There are full line text ornaments, or tiny text ornaments:

I found all my text separators by googling ‘images text ornaments’ or ‘text dividers’ and then snipping from the screen. Here are a few I haven’t used yet, which aren’t quite as blurry as everything I take a photo of (sucky camera phone):

To get a text ornament on the page of a Word doc, you go to “Insert” and click on “Pictures” and then select your image file. Then you have to resize it and position it, plus curse because it knocked all your text out of alignment, wonder what the purpose of image anchors are, drag, accidentally drop it in the middle of the paragraph, discover that Word has green guidelines that appear at random. I tell you what, text ornaments are a real treat. I just like them, okay? I like the way they look, I mean, they are annoying to work with. I did discover that once I have it resized, I copy that image, and then paste it into the next scene break rather than inserting the image from file again. That way I know all the text ornaments are the same size.

All done? Got it all formatted? Looks so great, doesn’t it?

Take a deep breath. Take a few days off. The hardest part is yet to come.

Printing

You’ll have to figure out how to print double-sided on A5 paper. I have very little advice here. It’s going to be you figuring out how to get your printer to cooperate. I’ve discovered that auto-double sided printing does not work on A5 paper. The print rollers just aren’t designed for little pieces of paper. My inkjet printer would auto-double-side on A5 paper, but it would offset the text on the front and back by a centimeter. My laser printer won’t auto-double-side at all on A5 paper. I manually double-side the pages. I can do it in batches of 20 pages at a time, so it’s not so bad.

If you are manually double-siding, make sure you know how to orient the pages when you stick them back in the printer. Instead of practicing on your actual book, just print pages that are blank other than the page number. Print pages 1-10 double-sided and see if you have to rotate the pages 180 degrees, or flip them over before putting them back in the paper tray.

Printing is a pain in the butt. Especially if you run out of toner partway through, or your printer starts printing a black line down the middle of every page. WHY??? It just does. It takes me about an hour to print about 80,000 words. I hope you will someday be more efficient than I am, but that’s how long it takes me.

Phew. Okay. Formatting and printing are done. Yay!! I’m very proud of you. That’s a huge job.

#simplified bookbinding #bookbinding #bookbinding for beginners #renegade publishers #renegade bookbinders #font and text ornaments #lindstrom2020 #op

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unproduciblesmackdown · 3 years

Text

get in we’re pondering / extrapolating some pt lore (there’s a tl;dr paragraph at the very end ;w;)

often musing about the overarching Theme/s in the series where there's like, these axes of, hope vs despair, self sacrifice (often to protect others) vs being protected by others (often to prevent self sacrifice), and i was thinking about how those protective self sacrifices (which often generally contain some aspect of hope And despair, the former in that someone is taking an action in the hopes of protecting someone, the latter in that they don't have any hope of any less (potentially) self destructive course to pursue to achieve that, or else they'd be doing that instead) do succeed at least in part. we don't really know what's going on with tutu in the story besides disappearing / turning into a point of light, but she exists outside of the story too and manifests in ways clearly associated with hope, & i think we can infer that her appearance/disappearance in the story did have this effect for mytho in giving him hope b/c like, how can it be a coincidence that the heart shard of Hope happens to be the one used to let someone become tutu, or that mytho was able to feel hope prior to technically have the capacity for it when thinking about her and then recognize as much in retrospect. and mytho himself sacrifices his own heart to protect everyone from the raven, rue sacrificing herself saves mytho from the raven in turn, and what i'm getting around to is that i was thinking about how sacrifices are never in vain, except for the knight's, but then i was like, well hey, what if because the rules of this story do seem to Always Reward tragic self sacrifices (surely at least in part to Incentivize it from the characters, b/c the sacrifices made wholly out of despair are apparently just people losing their hearts to the raven, f, and characters making sacrifices in the hopes of protecting someone have to actually have that hope at all), maybe the knight's death wasn't really Useless

and maybe it's relevant that the knight presumably wasn't intending to die right then, there's no implication that like, he was pushing the prince out of the way taking a bullet for him, just that the knight meant to attack the raven but didn't even manage to do that and got killed instead. but i think we can suppose that the knight was just always willing to die for the prince and there's this degree of inherent sacrifice in that already, as well as in being so devoted to the prince and protecting him, which the knight must've done plenty of even if, in the moment he was killed, there was no direct achievement in protecting mytho / siegfried / the prince. and i doubt that the way the prince felt about it was actually like "oh my god, useless" rather than that the knight did die For Him, even if mytho wasn't in immediate mortal danger that could've only been thwarted by the knight's death, and even if the knight presumably didn't Know he would die and actually choose that, because of accepting it as his only option to protect mytho. and it's evident throughout the series that characters being Real allows them to act in ways drosselmeyer doesn't predict or hasn't directed them to act or doesn't even necessarily know about, thinking of details like, mytho knowing his name is siegfried doesn't seem to come from any Text of drosselmeyer's in the story, or else people would know the prince has a name besides "the prince," and who knows, maybe drosselmeyer's unwritten hcs are part of the reality of his stories lol, but that's a fun mystery element, and beyond that these characters were all people with full lives and interiority that were not / could not have been written in full detail in the story's text and almost certainly weren't / couldn't have been Thought Out in full by drosselmeyer like that.

and i'm just thinking about how the knight is the only prominent character who outright dies in the unfinished story, aside from various, presumably not individually described/named people in the kingdom being killed by the raven, and possible details not mentioned in the series, like idk, whether or not mytho's parent/s died at some point in the course of the story. tutu's disappearance is too ambiguously magical to really call it a death, although it's a Tragic Fate intended to write her out of the story, and there's no indication of kraehe / the concept of The Raven's Daughter existing in the story, since in the first season kraehe is really fully standing in for the raven as the main villain / antagonist, with the raven not being shown or mentioned by her until the second season, and fakir just directly referring to kraehe as a crow or raven during that first season, and what with the idea in the second season that rue was just some random person the raven stole and presumably made up the concept of there being a [the raven's daughter] role.

(even though when kraehe appears in season one it's clearly a swan lake / odile thing, and i guess you could conceivably wonder like "hey, is she the daughter of some rothbart equivalent here. like the story raven as the primary antagonist"....that's all Meta beyond the series's metatextual layers and, since idk, characters know of these other classic ballets, i guess it's possible swan lake as a ballet exists too. nobody's mentioning anything though lol. now i'm like.....okay so another tchaikovsky composed ballet was relevant / known in the sleeping beauty episode, where electricity was also a thing people were aware existed, if rare, not sure when this series was set but late 19th century seems plausible enough and swan lake wasn't immediately popular so maybe it exists but is too niche lore for these characters to be familiar with it lmao.....but then i'm like wait hang on. what if it must be after 1892 because the dance of the sugarplum fairy playing when ahiru walks in on mytho practicing seems to be diagetic. and then i'm like, nijinksy was only born in 1890, and didn't perform afternoon of a faun until 1912, and that seems just a little late, although at the same time everyone's existing in a fairy tale town and it could feasibly be any point in time outside of that. this tangent is going on way too long and my Real Conclusion of course is that we're not really meant to match up any timeline with the In Real Life timelines of when ballets premiered and became popular / established as Classics)

back to the point: out of the four main roles, tutu magically and mysteriously disappeared but didn't outright die the way that the human knight was definitely killed, and the duck who is given her powers / role is apparently truly just some random duck who happened to care for mytho (thinking about his apparent affinity for birds and theirs for him), kraehe was probably not a part of the story at all as the daughter of the raven and rue is apparently just some random baby who was kidnapped, mytho didn't die because he's the same self he was from the story, uninterrupted, and the knight did die, and fakir is just some kid but is also apparently identified as the reincarnation of that knight. and, whether or not that's just some coincidence or meant to be true, it's true for all intents and purposes since fakir found mytho and chose to devote himself to protecting him and is aware of / thinks of himself as the knight, and if the raven and drosselmeyer could've picked some random babies and ducks to have roles in the story, it shouldn't actually be a detriment to fakir if he's actually also just some guy who chose to be the knight rather than also actually already that knight reincarnated. the roles of both tutu and lohengrin are supposed to be intrinsically limited by their same roles as written in the story, where clearly drosselmeyer, wanting conflict and drama and peak effective tragedy, and kraehe / the raven as antagonists to these two, expect and want tutu to willingly vanish again and the knight to wield his sword and, at some point here, die. which, in season one, it seems likely enough that although fakir wasn't exactly instantly torn apart by the raven attack that Got him, he would've died if not for edel's intervention altering the story. anyway, assuming the roles comes from Choosing it / being willing to accept it and having some sort of magical artifact access out here, ahiru having a heart shard, rue having...raven blood and the fact that there's also the like, actual ravens out there who are Also magic b/c they're doing evil stuff, and turning into cursed pointe shoes and attacking canaries so the prince might jump out a window to save one, and fakir having magic swords. as well as, you know, the prince, the most magic artifact of all, truly

i'm kind of losing the point there lmfao just getting into details in a tangent. what i was trying to point out is that yeah, the knight's the only one of the four main roles who was clearly, officially, violently killed in the story. and then i was thinking about how, as far as i can think, it kind of comes totally out of nowhere in season two that like, oh hey, also fakir is a descendent of drosselmeyer's and i guess has that same magic writing ability. not that i think these season two framework shifts like That, or like kraehe being the daughter of the raven instead of just directly standing in for the raven as a concept and character, or like "oh right and also i'd poisoned mytho back in the season one finale" weren't possibly in mind the whole time, Or that if they weren't that's a problem, Or that either way, they needed to be foreshadowed / set up Textually in season one or anything, since you do need to change things up for there to Be a season two that doesn't have to retread the conflicts in the same way, and that's what these shifts allow for. it's still just that the effect is like, oh damn, fakir isn't just The Knight from the story reincarnated, he ALSO happens to have drosselmeyer's magic powers b/c they're related??? wow what a coincidence, that's so lucky for him in affording him Magic Powers that don't come from the story b/c if he wields the power of being the knight he Has to inevitably die, and while the power to write reality is clearly dangerous and Could kill him (or others), there's at least a chance, whereas it seems like otherwise, if you're accessing the powers that come with having a role from the story, you either have to accept the same fate as in the story, someone with the power of those who guide the story, e.g. edel, must externally alter its course, or you have to give up the role and its powers, like ahiru ultimately did by giving up the final piece of mytho's heart, and fakir did by no longer trying to be the knight and instead protecting everyone by figuring out how to wield his power to Write.

so then basically my thought was, hey, maybe it's Not *just* a coincidence that fakir's Also drosselmeyer's descendent. in the same way that it's not Just a coincidence that the original tutu, having made this sacrifice in the story, is somehow, in part or in whole, attached to the prince's feeling of hope, and able to manifest even once that piece of the prince's heart has been returned and ahiru no longer "officially" has access to tutu's role and power (whether that power is gone b/c her powers were all about returning the prince's heart shards or because the powers she had were the prince's, because of having a piece of his heart). there's already these parallels between the roles of this tragic princess and the knight, both fated to disappear and die, respectively, and the story rewards these noble sacrifices even as it demands them b/c the author loves tragedy, b/c drosselmeyer's also trying to work within some conventions here to have a cohesive story and to allow enough hope in the story to motivate the characters and give everything enough stakes to really be effectively tragic (although he was also apparently writing characters who'd appear and then forever disappear on the same page, so. all to a degree lol). and yet the story and the people in it can also operate outside of drosselmeyer's Intent and Control and even knowledge of what all is a factor in everything going on, because that's part of his power, the stories and their characters become people who are real in the same way that people not from the story are real, and there's elements of who they were and are and can be that drosselmeyer didn't write. rue wasn't meant to sacrifice herself, edel / uzura wasn't meant to help the characters avoid tragedy, ahiru was meant to be powerless as a duck (and a regular girl), fakir was meant to be powerless or die, tbh mytho was probably meant to prevail in the end but also maybe drosselmeyer wouldn't've minded if the raven won And Also definitely wouldn't've minded if mytho going "well fuck this, i'll take out my heart again, regain it, kill you that time, then also kill myself" had been seen through which would've been decidedly ultimately tragic even if the prince also "won," and/or if the prince just kept getting stuck in these stalemates and having to shatter & regain his heart in an eternal loop (thinking of how mytho sure managed to like, phase Inside the raven magically via giant swan made of light (see: my theory that although that's very [tutu] visuals, tutu is also kinda Hope Embodied in this series, and we don't quite know whether original tutu's magic powers were different from the prince's magic abilities, or how, and i like to believe that mytho Can also manifest as a giant swan made of light) which was apparently only an option after he not only regained the capacity to feel hope but kinda had an actual feeling of hope kickstarted by ahiru, who's been and continues tapping into tutu's power as being so associated with / tied to Hope as a concept in general, so he presumably couldn't've done that move otherwise).

SO we're really meandering around here, by which i mean that i am, but so it goes. my point is!!! with All That in mind, and again reiterating how i opened that last paragraph before getting a little off track as always, i was thinking that it might not be Just A Coincidence that fakir is both the reincarnation of the knight / takes on the role of the knight, AND has drosselmeyer's magic writing powers in this completely separate matter of genealogy. (also, i'm sorry, but total tangent again: i'm not 100% on the timeline of things, but i'm like, okay, the raven comes into the real world, and the prince follows it, and then we know that this real world town had like, these killer raven attacks that could disappear an infant or kill a kid's parents. and i think we can suppose that rue and fakir happen to be pretty much the same age, and rue was kidnapped as a baby, so the raven was definitely around then, and fakir's parents were killed when he was like, a young kid but definitely not a baby or even a toddler, and rue was also running around and able to dance and only knew herself as kraehe until meeting mytho and wanting to give herself another name as just a human. so like....i'm bad at estimating ages but like, what, they're at least 5 when they meet mytho? maybe more like 6 or 7. the point is, so there were raven attacks for actual Years before the prince shattered his heart? and maybe mytho was fighting the raven in that perpetual stalemate for all those years, but probably he would've aged those several years if he existed outside the story's [Paused In Time] situation but still had his heart, since it's presumably his having Lost his heart that means he has no pulse and doesn't age and, you know, has lost his memories and emotions. and if we say it was like, at least 4 years or something, and mytho's like, ambiguously sort of Older Teen, say 16 or 17, idk (he's a baby still ;m; but also a fairytale prince, so) and you supposed he aged while out of the story And that he was out of the story and fighting the raven those several years before giving up his heart, that'd mean that when the book left off, he was locked in this deadly battle for the kingdom with the main villain as like, circa 11 years old or what have you. not outside the realm of fiction or fairytales, but still....but more so than that, idk, you'd think if there was this magic storybook prince around fighting the raven/s for years, full hearted and thus with his memories / sense of self intact, people would've been as aware of his presence as that of these killer ravens, and like, actually know who he is, as siegfried, and prior to there being this guy, mytho, who only fakir and co. and rue, out of anyone else in town, realize is actually this prince from a story that exists as a storybook in their world. which, i Guess it's possible that mytho was around outside the story for years before shattering his heart to seal the raven away, but also, seems like maybe instead it was years before he followed the raven out of the story and then once he did he pretty much immediately sacrificed his heart? not that the All Realities Narrator mentions a gap between the raven escaping the story and the prince chasing after it, but a) they also didn't specifically say that this didn't happen and b) maybe it was just some like, issue of jumping between dimensions basically, i.e. from the perspective of mytho in the story he did follow the raven out immediately, only to find that from the perspective of this other world, the raven had been an issue for years and c) maybe this difference in time was so that mytho would be dropped into more of an equivalent situation as he was in back in the story, where the raven had Also already been a problem for years in that story's universe, before the point where drosselmeyer has died and the story is left off unfinished. so here's mytho now entering this other reality, where even though he himself has just shown up after having battling the raven for years In Story (and then in stasis because the story was not able to progress in its own world), and is having to choose to protect these people who have not Just been introduced to the raven's attacks, but have been dealing with it for years as something that can and has killed people, just as was the case with the townspeople back in the world of the story.)

okay i apologize to the readers and to myself, no more tangents: what if!!!! it's not a fortunate coincidence that fakir has access to the powers of the separate roles of "the knight from the story" and "drosselmeyer's descendent in this world"!!!! What If!!!!!!!!! the knight's death, rather than being truly "useless," actually still counted as a sacrifice made in the hope of protecting others, and was thusly rewarded with some form of success, as other such sacrifices are rewarded both in the story of prinz und rabe, but also in the overall story of this series, aka princess tutu, although clearly in the end the Happy Ending comes from not only these sacrifices but the characters all protecting each other so that these ultimate self sacrifices don't need to be made (thinking of how often characters talk about wanting to protect each other, fakir being motivated to try Writing again after realizing all these other characters are doing their best to protect him, mytho saying he won't Give Up Again to ahiru (also tutu....just standing here staring at the wall like blair witch style that he never seems to have known that the duck was not only the version of tutu he'd been encountering but also ahiru who he was like "hey bestie :)" to in ep 14 before getting ko'd and never knowingly talking to her again haha scream that's just. that's fine!!! anyway rue could tell him but then again like, a little late. UNLESS they can just come back and visit?? i have some sense that there might have once been plans to make a season three for the series if possible way back in the day, yknow, when said series was being released, but i only "remember" this from Maybe someone's post from that 15th anniversary event and maybe, jonathan frakes voice, it never happened) referring to his intent to sacrifice his heart again as being that "giving up"......THE POINT BEING. maybe the knight's death was a sacrifice, and according the role that such sacrifices have, that sacrifice had some positive, helpful, protecting effect, and in this case, it was that the knight's reincarnation had these Other powers as well beyond the knight's role in the story, so that this knight could do more but protect mytho some but ultimately die in the effort with that death Supposedly being for nothing, aka the fact that fakir is related to drosselmeyer is thanks to lohengrin sacrificing himself to protect mytho, even if the circumstances of his death did not appear to, and were not intended by drosselmeyer to, have any direct benefit for anyone. did the knight somehow have conscious influence over his own reincarnation, or was it more like, these superhuman forces Rewarding the sacrifice / affording the knight this new chance at fate? could be either i guess!! (and was fakir born when the raven entered that world, or prior? he was as old as he was when he met mytho, had mytho Just shown up or did he really arrive just after the raven and had been fighting all the time and it's just that, for whatever reason, nobody else knew he was there? or they did, but once the raven was sealed away, maybe other people Forgot what had happened prior too, re: the prince and the Monster Raven anyways? since while people had known about the like, regular bird form ravens who killed people, nobody mentioned the big german abstract expressionism sky blocking raven who ate hearts.....and not like there wasn't people dying back in the story despite the prince's efforts (though that was related as well to like, people Definitely knowing the prince existed, and Despairing b/c he was so epic, actually) i don't know, it could be Either Way, i'm just wondering like, was fakir born prior to a character from The Story entering that world, or after? i feel like Maybe some timeline details might've been mentioned re: when the ravens showed up, but i don't remember. although i guess it's not impossible re: this theory that he was born beforehand but is still definitely the knight, and as i type this, i remember the whole "he's always had the birthmarks that identified him as the reincarnation of the knight" element, so it's Already True that whenever he was born, that was the case, aaand also i'm remembering that lohengrin died before where the story left off, and in that story's universe, idk, maybe years passed....and i Just was talking about how maybe the timelines / passage of time are not parallel and Aligned 1:1 between worlds here, so. point is! however it shakes out, lohengrin died for all intents and purposes Before fakir was born, who Is the knight whether or not he's really lohengrin's reincarnation, which he Could be, because lohengrin Was a human who Did die. so!!!!! (it's 6am....i've been writing this for hours lol. i prommy my thoughts would've been a Little more in order otherwise. possibly)

TL;DR: what if, rather than the knight's death being "useless" and his failing to protect the prince through being killed, it still counted as a sacrifice to protect mytho, and when you consider how this Theme of sacrifice is handled throughout the series, it would be in line with everything else if this sacrifice was rewarded even if the text of prinz und rabe / drosselmeyer did not consider this / recognize this to be a "successful" act of self sacrifice to protect the prince, and that reward was the knight's reincarnation Also being a descendent of drosselmeyer with a power that would allow him to protect people without being held to the knight's fate of being killed, rather than it being a complete unrelated coincidence that fakir is the knight And a person who just so happens to have the ability to write reality, thanks to being in the same family as drosselmeyer. what if lohengrin's sacrifice let him escape his own fate down the line and this time "successfully" protect the prince without having to die before the story finishes! it wouldn't change anything in the story as we know it and i think it'd be Thematically Resonant.

#that's #princess tutu #not playable trailer (2014) or part time (job)#''time to sit down and write probably a good handful of extensive paragraphs abt this for a little while. say an hour at most!!''#[smash cut to me typing these tags hours later. it's 6:30am. the sun is up. head in hands]#never know when it's time to think and post about this again #also i only remember so much of The Canon Lore so if there's info i missed here and mused about yknow. feel free to chime in #love how this series has so many quick / fleeting / One Time / vague / ambiguous mentions of pieces of information #so there's plenty of threads that are really intriguing and you're given enough glimpses to piece some other pictures together if you want #but nothing is really established with tons of certainty / precise in depth clarity in canon which gives you plenty of room to Interpret and #Extrapolate as we are doing here all the time #for example: lohengrin (Presumably the knight but! we don't even Know that 100% lol) was mytho's boyfriend. pensive #not to kin drosselmeyer but first of all: consider the drama of that :/ he did die tragically :/#second of all why not. third of all: see the mentions about tutu and the knight having these parallel roles in the story and beyond it...#and third point fifth of all well clearly tutu was his magical gf spirit of dance hope embodiment...#fourth of all idk the story's all ''look any and everyone is in love with the prince. it's kind of a problem actually'' lmao #not the first person to die by the raven monster for being too in love with the guy!! apparently!#mytho's gotta end up with someone completely Not From the story b/c his other dates in the story die or vanish :/#haha but seriously. and he can turn into a giant swan at will if his ability to feel Hope is all fired up. haha but seriously #well anyway! the point is this #everyone is always like ''wow the cringe and fail knight. way to die Uselessly 9_9'' about said knight #but what if! his death actually had this power and had a helpful; successfully protective impact on the story in a way no one was aware of #sorry for taking 10 paragraphs to say as much in there. w/the last several getting extra long....it is My Way #i am [epcot ball vine voice Mytho...] about pt lore lmao but i can still ponder other things. he's connected to all the others! bless him

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