#and it has like a lot of plotholes

[oxygenbefore1775]

cw: torture

Aight, incoherent musings incoming

but first - some historical info-dumping for context

The first thing to know about the Inquisition in Venice is that it wasn't strictly for religious persecution. It was first founded after Venice suffered an embarrassing defeat against the Ottoman Empire due to some intel leaks and was meant to prevent further leaks from occurring. This meant total surveillance and terrorizing the nation, of course. At the head of the Inquisition there were three inquisitors - the red inquisitor who was the top among them, and two black inquisitor. These three inquisitors are the most powerful people in the Republic apart from the Doge and their identities are hidden from the public. To gather intel and persecute sus people, they had a large network of spies across the Europe planted in each economical class to relay all the information to them. Now, the Inquisition dealt with a variety of cases starting from breach of sanitary rules (yes, they had those) to loan-sharking. For all those cases, there had to be at least two verified delations for the accusation to proceed forward. But there was one offence that didn't require an extensive process of verification - and it was treason. Once you get suspected of treason, you're pretty much done. They take you away in the night to the cells where one of the Inquisitors interrogates you alone ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). You can't have an advocate nor defend yourself so most of the time your conviction is pretty much guaranteed. Their preferred method of execution was drowning in the Orfano channel btw.

aight, now to the babblings

in this, Reiner is the black inquisitor (aka neri) and Jean is one of the agents (aka spirri or ghost). Considering that the Republic was spending 200k ducats on the Inquisition in a year (1 ducat is worth about 100-200 dollars if counted in golds weight), Jean is in it for money and doesn't really care about the political propaganda behind it. And Reiner - he is on his usual being-hero delulu behaviour that's why he's doing it. Reiner and Jean are in the same social circle of nobility but because the inquisitor's identity are kept secret Jean doesn't know who Reiner is but Reiner does. (and also they're gay for each other) (like maybe Reiner has thrown some perfume-filled eggshells at Jean during the Carnival - this sort of gay)

Now, in the 16th century Venice was in a political and economical crisis considering all of the famines followed by plague outbreaks so most of the population was quite unhappy with the Republic. This, paired with the fact that Spain was on the rise due to export from the colonies and that Venice's only advantage over this was its glass production, the Inquisition was quite tense around the safe-keeping of the government secrets. Thus, the number of persecutions, especially on the charge of crimes against the Republic, sky-rocketed.

Due to this, Jean is more and more often tasked with surveilling less and less suspicious-looking people. Then something akin to Marco-gate happens where Jean witnesses (or mayhaps even helps in) an execution of an innocent person and realizes that the system is quite cruel. Previously indifferent towards his position apart form the monetary benefits, Jean has started to understand his role in the Inquisition and maybe lament it in his social circles.

That's when Reiner catches the wind of this. Now, talks such as this would certainly land Jean in the trouble in the current crisis situation so he does. On Reiner's orders Reiner gets arrested. I'd like to make the reason for this decision ambiguous - either Reiner is completely delulu and arrests Jean cuz he now sees him as a potential traitor holding sensitive intel or that he arrests him first so that the two other inquisitors wouldn't be handling his case (and chances are that they wouldn't be merciful since Jean worked for the Inquisition).

An ex-spy is a dead spy so Jean's fate is pretty much sealed - he is going to die. But the inquisitors, as powerful as they are, can't sentence one to death - they can either imprison or banish someone (the former thing Reiner has already done) - only the Council of Ten (don't ask me about the administration stuff but it's yet another part of the Inquisition) can do that but it will take a couple of days for them to review the case. In those couple of days that Jean is left to live, the only thing left is to pull out the names of the other people that he may have relayed sensitive intel to - so he has to be tortured for this.

Now, the thing with the torture in the Inquisition. Technically, it's not allowed. All the statements given under torture are not valid and cannot be accepted as evidence. So what the inquisitors would do is to torture the accused first and take the statements on the next day. During the torture, usually only the inquisitor and the accused are present in the cell.

Thus, Reiner and Jean are to spend all of their day alone. I don't think Reiner has it in him to actually torture Jean so I suppose we all know what the major part of torture would entail ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Oh and all the while they discuss freedom vs security dilemma where Jean manages to kind of shift Reiner's mindset of being ok with butchering ambigiously guilty people for the arguable sake of keeping the government intact

Mayhaps, in the end Jean is still sentenced to death but his execution is not public since it would be a bad look for the Republic so it is decided to descretely kill him by drowning him in the channel. The execution is quickly cut short when the executioner turns out to be Reiner who decides to desert his position as an inquisitor and flee the Republich. They sail into the sunset on a gondola or something.

That's all - that's all my noggin has to offer

having severe reijean against the backdrop of 16th century venetian inquisition thoughts

[thelegolashairappreciationclub]

My two favourite FAVOURITE Gil Galad theories are Gil Galad son of No-one Really and Gil Galad son of Everyone Kind Of?

Like I adore the idea that someone who by blood is no-one, parents were random noldo or sinda soldiers, doesn't even know who his parents are, that this strange elf becomes one of the best Kings of the Noldor and the only one to rule mostly in peace since finwe. That this person who was not Finwe's heir is the one to inherit his mantle in its truest form.

But also... what if he's everyone's son?

I have seen this done both as weird magic stuff and also as the worlds most complicated polycule and the kid that resulted. But i prefer the Hot Potato Origin: That in his life Gil Galad has been passed through so many of the Noldorin and Sindarin Lords and been adopted so many times that no one is sure at this point who actually contributed genetically.

Post rebirth there's a tally system of whose traits he shows the most of out of the finweans (concerningly, Argon is currently in the lead) and no one wants to ask him directly because if They are one of the parents it would be horrendously embarrassing to not Know That. This also means that most of them have adopted a sort of parental attitude towards him even if they're fairly certain that they aren't related.

Some of them have become full conspiracy theorists about it (Fingon: what if I DID have a wife and i just FORGOT because of head trauma?? Galadriel: subtly interrogating all her siblings to build a full timeline of their entire lives in Beleriand) others are throwing fuel on the fire for their own amusement (Nerdanel: actually he's our Secret 8th Son, we sent him on later, that's why he has freckles. Elrond: he's actually Elros, we were lying for fun, ignore that we dont look at all alike.) Some of them have just kind of shrugged and acknowledged that they are a possible candidate and moved on (Caranthir: if Haleth had a child she Absolutely would not have told me and she's clever enough to have organised this, the timeline works out. Aredhel: unfortunately large chunks of my time in nan elmoth are fuzzy and i would not put it past Eol to rid himself of any "unsuitable" children.) Finrod and Maedhros have remained So silent on the issue that others are Sure they Know something (the pestering results in Both of them suddenly claiming to be his parents: Finrod is his father, Maedhros his mother Actually. The charade of being star crossed lovers is convincing enough that people start doubting their real marriages.)

Gil Galad is honestly completely uninvested in this and is just glad that they're bickering between themselves instead of questioning him constantly. Besides he has lunch with his birth parents every Wednesday; if they wanted to stop the rumours they would.

[speedydestinydream]

Tmf isnt very accurate in many ways but I like to think that one of the main accurate things rosy nailed was the fact that the jomies have been bullies for years and still haven't been (onscreen) punished and not even stopped. You'd think that after middle school to junior year of highschool the school would notice and stop them for good, but guess what! Nope!

[longroadstonowhere]

ah, so in honor of odaiba day, exciting digimon news from otakon: discotek has gotten the rights to the original three movies that were mushed together to make digimon the movie, and they’ve redubbed the original three with the original voice actors!

i got to see all three dubs on saturday and it was really fantastic, like they stayed mostly true to the japanese script but kept in a couple references to the digimon movie dub for the nostalgia factor, and the voices all sound pretty spot on, they did a really incredible job

blu ray isn’t due out until like november, but i’m really looking forward to finally having a proper dub of all three that i can show people (and also that release will include digimon the movie so i can inflict the digimon rap on people as well, hahaha)

[hollow-vok]

▪︎SolyaMarek futuristic AU ▪︎

Summary

In modern days, pollution is devastating everything, but there is a plan: to send hundreds of people to sleep in capsules until those outside build a better future, of course this plan is only for individuals and families who have privileged access, one of these families is the Algirdons.

Marek does not want to enter these capsules but he is forced, he ends up waking up in a more distant future than he expected, centuries have passed. He has woken up in an era in which pollution is more than controlled, it does not exist. Everything is clean and healthy.

He is introduced to Solya, his temporary guide and host to welcome him in this new era, he explains him that this is a future where everyone strives to be the better version of themselves. In this era, at birth an advanced technology calculates how is the healthiest version of your body and mind and how to achieve it through out your life, there is not a standard for this "perfect body", the path you should take to be the best version of yourself depends, of course, of you. Everyone is perfect if they follows this, everything is in balance, animals and plants live wholly, technology and nature are companions, allies for the great well-being of all.

It's a clean future.

But Marek is afraid, technology is so advanced he doesn't know what's real and what's not, his host acts in such a way that Marek thinks he could be fake, but he will learn how life is now, accompanied by his family and with the help of his host Solya, a very intriguing individual, someone for whom this wonderful world has been like this since he was aware.

[sunderwight]

thinking more about a scenario where Bingge's world is just, fundamentally unstable.

because the System mostly created him for the punishment protocol. before that he actually only did exist as a book character, and the "real" PIDW world was the SVSSS world. but then after manifesting Bingge the System created a reality where he did exist, except it doesn't have the same degree of substance or cohesiveness as the SV world. plus, it has all the narrative asspulls Airplane was increasingly worse about as his writing devolved, and all of the contrivances and plotholes that never made it into the SV world and subsequently never threw anything out of alignment either. the SV world was built from Airplane's most stable creative phase, and went on and diverged from there. but Bingge's world was created from the final PIDW canon, which is a mess.

so it's just like... not at all stable. it's not just that Bingge himself is also a wildly unstable guy, his entire world reflects this in that it is a mess of interwoven contradictions that is constantly folding in on itself and collapsing in places. stuff like, in some chapters Airplane messed up and got certain wives confused, but he confused them consistently for big portions of the story. thereby completely muddying the waters of which wife actually had which backstory or personality. so there's this segment of Bingge's harem comprised of these eldritch abomination interchangeable women-shaped entities that have no true sense of individual self, instead constantly melting and merging into one another.

combining the realms would be the watsonian explanation for why Bingge's dimension is so fucked up, of course. but even if that hadn't been part of PIDW canon it would still be an intensely weird situation.

Bingmei lying awake at night, deeply disquieted because all he told his husband about his trip to the other world was that he woke up in a strange place with a lot of women, and unless he's got a good reason that's what he's gonna leave it at because that place was freakier than the Abyss and Shizun already gets upset just contemplating Binghe trapped there. also he isn't sure how to explain the concept of six overlapping skies and the labyrinthine palace that was many places in one and the spots where it seemed like reality just ended and opened in a great, yawning void that none of the other people around him even seemed to notice.

his very own cosmic horror misadventure that he's pretty sure is what would have become of the world if he hadn't met his husband. lol. he's just like, sure on an emotional level it would make sense that reality would lose all cohesion in that case, but he's also pretty sure it's not literally supposed to do that?

Bingmei trying really hard to figure out the potential impact of comphet on physics.

[evertidings]

— JUNE 2024.

accomplishments.

hi!! how's everyone been lately? june was a really good month for me in terms of writing and i'm really really happy about it. turns out, forcing yourself to write actually does something. who would've thought?

for the longest time, i had no motivation to work on this chapter because it wasn't going anywhere. i had the issue with the plothole and it honestly killed so much of my joy. since reworking the chapter, however, i've gotten back some of my spark. i basically told myself that 'hey, you still really like what you've created so far, right? so suck it up and push past your mental block.' and here we are.

i'm still getting back into the groove of things, but i've done a lot more writing for this than i have for a while. that said, i apologize for the long wait. i feel immensely guilty about the lack of update but i swear to you, it will come. my plan is some time in the summer. if not, then early fall (though this is obviously not preferred).

to speak on the chapter itself, chapter eleven has three major branches in total, and, as i said in last month's update, each of them feature different ros. i'm currently wrapping up branch #2 and plan on working on #3 later this week. technically, branch #1 isn't done yet, but it was also the branch that gave me immense writer's block so forgive me if i ignore it a little longer. branch #1 and #2 are also a lot heavier compared to #3, so having written those for months on end, i'm feeling a little weighed down. by switching over to #3, the goal is to have enough energy to get back to #1. once that's done, all i gotta do is edit and publish it!

so yeah, maybe we're not at the end yet, but we're getting there. this is the best i've felt about this chapter for a very long time now and i'm really hoping this energy continues. thank you for your continued patience. i will try my hardest to make this worth it for you.

take care of yourselves! <3

stats.

chapter total: ~21,170 words

game total: ~493,170 words

[jadeluz-official]

Hot takes on BJ2? It was okay. Not the worst film to ever come out. The Dolores story line felt weak but I was sort of pissed for bj at the end there

My hot takes:

Lydia should've married Beetlejuice

Rory was actually fun for a minor antagonist. I really liked him even though he treated Lydia like shit. His actor was phenomenal.

Delores didn't get fleshed out as a villain and the film missed its chance to explain BJ's resentment towards her. Though, I do think they were hinting something there with Delores/Rory. That was probably the point of her though, I think she was meant to be pointless. I'd argue she was in the film LESS than Beej himself hahaha

Beej willingly put his Afterlife on the line knowing Delores was out there just because Lydia needed his help. Not only did he help reuninute them, he literally sent Jeremy to Hell. I'm with you there, he needed to be compensated and Lydia got cold feet once again lmao

I really liked the way Lydia was portrayed. Sh00t ME! I know this one's controversial. I see a lot of myself in her and relate to her personality in a lot of ways in this sequel way more than the first movie. She's not some crybaby that can't solve problems, she likes working alone and has her eyes on the game at all times.

Lots of plotholes between the Handbook and Afterlife Crime rules. The marriage contract was solely between Lydia and BJ, there was no reason for it to go up in flames. And Astrid wouldn't know those rules better than Beej, Wolf, or Lydia who've read through it 1000 times

Those are most of my takes, I think. I really hope some of the fandom jumps on the Rory/Delores train since he does try to protect her from the Sandworm, and they'd make a great hot villain & loyal henchmen duo, along with Beetlejuice/Lydia being the antagonist in love with the protagonist trope.

This whole movie is a fun, shippy, chaotic mess. Lol everyone gets a little bit of something. I really liked it despite most of my criticisms

[daisy-does-art-and-stuff]

I GATHERED ALLLLL MY EVIDENCE TOWARDS THERE BEING AN ACT THREE

ITS UNDER READ MORE BC THERES A LOT MORE SPOILERS THAN MY LAST COUPLE POSTS

every finale for every season had a panning shot of the sky with "the end" showing up in black text. we didnt get that in this episode (https://x.com/goblonglo/status/1845168766839046382)

all the plotholes?? the things left unfilled?? there is no way theyd leave it off so open-ended. even hfjones ending had more closure

most movies have 3 acts. the 2nd act is known for being the part where everything seems hopeless and theres no saving them. we're still in the "all is lost" portion yall!!

there was a member that said something along the lines of "keep an eye out for what mores to come" in a tweet that was deleted not long after it was made. this implies They werent meant to spoil that there was more coming (https://x.com/meepletism/status/1845164453970706672, https://x.com/eyewellduh/status/1845156100779180075)

no one has ever had a solid answer whether or not there was only act 1 and act 2. not anyone has said a word about it yet. sure, theres no confirmation, but theres also no denying

the entire "how bow got her tail" thing. every time they made her start talking about it, it cuts away. we dont now whats up with that yet, which implies that it spoils what its gonna be used for in the future

THEY JUST HIRED NEW ANIMATORS!!! like LITERALLY just hired a big batch of new animators. there is no way that they did it just for one last part of the series just to end it so soon.

in the post where they promoted the release of ii17 on twitter, it states the series CONTINUES, not CONCLUDES. if you look back on old posts, like the one from the iii finale, it states in big bold letters THIS IS THE END IT ENDS HERE but it doesnt do that (https://x.com/AnimationEpic/status/1845134881098961164, https://x.com/AnimationEpic/status/1764314840410021903)

kinda hand in hand with above but the description of this video compared to other finale episodes looks like just a normal episode. theres no "thanks for watching the series" or anything. the ii team wouldnt just Leave it off like that i dont think

adams account being deactivated over on twitter due to his whole "running away from mephoneX" thing has to be relevant right. they have to reactivate it at some important point. like when act 3 comes out? right??

i cant think of anything more if anyone else has something to add please do so. also if theres anything here that doesnt make sense i apologize my brain is in such a whirlwind

editting this for a few new reasons

11. every season so far has had 18 episodes (if you dont count the iii finale being broken into two separate episodes). we're currently at 17

12. brian asked to contact someone in regards to credit sequences which is Probably in relation to the ii finale. we havent seen that yet so either it wasnt for ii or theres Another Episode for us to See It In. proof in posts comments

13. in the last meetups, a suitcase plush was hinted at. theyve also talked about the plush on stream. we havent been advertised this plush yet so theyre likely saving it for the last episode

[caterpillarinacave]

@zickmonkey I pass this one along to you

The Shadowhunters show is Bad on almost all levels but nothing will ever press me as hard as Lydia Branwell. Not just because she's so unlikable, but because where the fuck did she come from? I WOULD say a Branwell cousin or something, but she explicitly says that her ancestor Henry invented it. Meaning that Clary (and the Fairchild line) did not come from Henry or Matthew. Lydia did. So where the fuck did Clary come from? How is she related to Lydia in this made-for-TV bad AU fic?

There is only one answer: Buford and Colin Branwell of a parallel dimension

[perksofbeingpoet]

new headcanons!

☆ THE POETS AT THE CINEMA ☆

(this got really long bc i love them so much aahhhh i hope you enjoy these headcanons as much as i do-)

CHARLIE: his favourite genre is comedy, plus movies about outlaws and teen rebels, says "so me" all through the film. oh yeah he doesn't shut up ever, talks the whole time until someone tells him to please stop talking because the movie's more interesting than how he'd dress as a pirate. every time there's a kissing scene, he turns to the poet sitting next to him and wiggles his eyebrows with a smirk. a nightmare to clean up after, his popcorn ends up all over the floor and himself. BUT all this doesn't apply to emotional movies. if a movie is sad, charlie is silent the entire time, doesn't crack a joke once and comes out of it with half his popcorn left.

KNOX: cries when watching romance, tells the poets he's not crying!! just the dry air of the cinema getting to him. insists on taking pictures of them in front of the movie poster. has accidentally thrown his ticket away instead of the receipt on several occasions. if there are cardboard cut-outs of characters at the cinema, he needs to take pics with all of them. eats a strange mixture of snacks, popcorn, pretzels and ice cream. asks "whAT?" at least five times through the movie bc he can't follow the plot. really fun to watch a movie with because he'll audibly gasp at every plot twist. idk him at the cinema is really cute guys i swear.

PITTS: needs a toilet break three times throughout the movie (tall guy small bladder king). his legs get cramps from the rows being too narrow but he doesn't care, pittsie LOVES going to the cinema. will most often go with knox and meeks, they're the best film trio. knows loads of lore about all sci-fi movies they watch, and acts annoyed at people asking questions because OF COURSE ni-bo64 has to destroy Leobor. eats salty snacks and always chooses the biggest cup of soda (meeks points this out every time pittsie has to squeeze around him to go to the toilet). loudly shouts "YES" when something he approves of happens. is the best sport about charlie's smirks in kissing scenes, he just like puts his hand on charlie's thigh really slowly and mouths 'hi'.

MEEKS: really likes movies with a hidden message, is the only one charlie will watch emotional movies with. but also just a huge nerd, him and pittsie watch sci-fi stuff together and then talk about every plot point for an hour. ORANGE SODA. really big fan of good film music. can't sit still and always steals the arm rest. doesn't talk but says "WHAT??" way too loud when a plothole occurs or a thing he was hoping for doesn't happen. is the one to buy the tickets.

NEIL: loves the comfy velvet seats. always has half a breakdown about "omg maybe i should go into film instead of stage acting??" after seeing a movie he really likes. is a little movie nerd, especially for superhero movies! loves the moment of stepping out of the cinema into the fresh night air. his snack is sweet popcorn or gummy bears. gets so excited when something cool is about to happen, he's waving his arms and being like "oh- ooohhhh- oooohhhhhh" until the cool thing actually happens. makes sure everyone has their tickets (goes into airport dad mode). laughs a lot and looks around at all the poets like "did you see that??" as if they're not all watching the same movie.

TODD: too anxious to complain about sitting behind a tall person, he'll often try to sit on top of his balled-up jacket to be a bit taller and see enough of the screen. pitts notices after a while and is like "hey todd, could we swap seats? i'd love to sit next to knox". todd only realises what that was about a few hours later and is silently soo grateful for pitts not embarrassing him. likes artsy movies where not a lot happens, and LOVES reruns bc then he already knows the plot and can relax. doesn't ever talk throughout the movie but laughs SO MUCH. mouths the lines when he already knows a movie. when there's a kissing scene he'll get embarrassed. doesn't buy snacks cos they're "too loud" and then eats all the other poets' snacks. every time. likes watching the ads before the movie.

CAMERON: asks "does anyone need to go to the bathroom before the movie starts" like fifty times before they watch the movie. hates sitting next to strangers during the movie because then he's always hyper aware of his behaviour and can't really focus on the film. likes historical movies and will watch them with todd (no one can tell me todd/cameron friendship isn't real, it makes so much sense). salty popcorn kinda guy. knows the names of all the actors and actresses.

[feelingthedisaster]

In Defense of AFTG crazy plot

*disclaimer: I'm not comparing Frankenstain and AFTG, I'm using it as an famous example of plausibility in fiction*

*disclaimer 2: I'm translating plausibility from another language, maybe it is not the right word for what I'm meaning*

The greatest argument for claiming that AFTG is badly written is that isn't realistic, that it couldn't happen in the real world. But let me ask you a question, is Frankenstain a bad book because bringing people back to life isn't something that can happen in the real world? The answer is, of course, no. But why is it a good book when it isnt "realistic" Well, it has to do with plausibility.

The textbook definition of plausibility is something that seems believable, even if it is not. In fiction, this translates to make everything have sense while also bending the rules to let the story unfold. It cannot happen in real life but it has a logical process that make it believable, it makes sense that it happens. Of course the sci-fi genre has tons of technology we could only dream of, humans are constanstly developing it; yeah, this breaks the laws of physics, but humans found way. It isn't something that could happen in the real world, but it is plausible, it has a logical explination and we can believe it. In this fictional world, we don't question it because we aren't supposed to question it. While I put into more exagerated genres to explain it, this was meant for more close to reality genres.

The monster of Frankenstain existing isn't bad writing because even if it isn't "realistic" because it has a logical explination (research, investigation and experimentation about chemestry and human body -> bringing people back to life). An author can make changes to their world and it still can be consider it good written as long as it makes sense for this world that was created.

I think most complains about the crazyness of AFTG steam from forgetting this. To truly analyze a plot, you need to unlink crazy to bad.

Bad plot: no stakes, doesn't make sense, plot points are not linked to eachother, multiple plotholes that are too big to ignore

Good plot: decent stakes, actions have consequences, plot points interconnect

Crazy story is completely different from compelling storytelling. Actually, there are essays that argue that making stories plausible/100% real is opresive and ruins the potential of stories, like this essay by T. Lloyd Reilly. The plot points may not be likely to happen in real life, but they are consequences to an action, they follow a logical path, they makes sense even if they aren't "realistic". Let's cover some of these "crazy" plot points.

Ichirou letting Neil, Kevin and Jean live <- Neil offering Ichirou a reasonable deal (money and silence instead of just silence)

Andrew's induced mania state <- new medicine that only exists in the aftg universe and we know nothing about (and also, antidepressants can cause mania in patients with bipolar disorder, which Nora said Andrew has; more info and theories about in this post)

The mafia using an exy team for money laundering <- this happens a lot in real life actually, but with actual bussiness, like pizza places, restaurants and even a sports team was found to be a cover for the mafia

Exy popularizing quick <- campaing we know nothing about the lenghts it went by the creators / possible funds provided by the mafia to popularize it

Are these likely to actually happen in real life? Not really, but do they have a logical explination that within the universe Nora Sakavic created make sense? Yes. If it makes sense in this alternate version of reality, why is it bad writing?

AFTG doesnt stick to reality but it is a piece of fiction, it doesnt need to be like reality to be good (and not being like it is not a synonim for being bad). Asking literature to be 100% real is like asking the sky to be pink. It's impossible. But most importantly, if we keep media to actual real life stories, it would be so boring and repetive that no one would actually care to read.

[tagthescullion]

I feel like Nico being from Venice and the Argo II crew briefly stopping in Venice should have had more of a focus.

Like, all we get is Nico mentioning his mother used to tell him stories about the ghosts of Venice (do we get any details? No), that one time he and Bianca went on a weekend trip, and how they went to the US when World War II started. That's it.

First of all, how does Nico even remember Venice (where he apparently grew up, despite Hades saying he met Maria in Washington DC) and his mother? He and Bianca were dipped in the Lethe! A year earlier in TLO he didn't even remember her name! Suddenly he has childhood memories of her?

Him not remembering Venice and his mother could have been worked into the plot. Like him not remembering anything yet knowing he grew up here. Nico volunteering to go into the city with Frank and Hazel because he wants to see if anything jogs his memory. Wandering the streets looking at any old buildings wishing and hoping that anything seems familiar. Talking with Hazel about how he knows he's from here seventy years ago but doesn't remember a thing.

But since he does somehow remember, more attention should have been paid to that. Nico wandering the streets automatically heading toward his childhood home. Finding his way into the old di Angelo plot in a graveyard. Pointing out familiar landmarks, or, conversely, being confused because familiar landmarks no longer exist. Talking in Italian with passersby (don't even get me started on Nico knowing Italian in the later series, which seems to have been retconned from PJO. I think I might send in another ask sometime about that). Actually knowing what the katobleps are because, you know, he grew up here and would have seen them instead of just barely remembering what they are from Mythomagic. Talking with Hazel about his memories of Venice so long ago and how he feels about returning only a few years later for him but seventy years for everyone else. More talking with Hazel in general.

Instead, we get only a couple mentions. If there's anyone who deserves to have more of a focus on returning to his childhood homeland it's Nico, but he doesn't get it.

I'll start this by saying: rick's timeline is a wobbly bit of weak twine that's threading and creating other unexplainable plotholes

(adding a division bc it got long and not everybody has 'long post' filtered)

maria and hades meet in DC (implying nico and bianca are yanks)

maria and hades meet in venezia (implying nico and bianca are italian)

nico and bianca are born long before the war, that's why by the time they're 10 and 12 they left italy bc the war hadn't yet begun

nico and bianca were born in 30-32 so by 1938 nico was 6 when he went to croatia on holiday, implying they'd been 10-12 in 1942 the war had already started! italy was about to get divided north vs south

nico and bianca were born in 30-32 so by 1938 nico was 6 when he went to croatia, and they still went to the US before the war (<1940), so how in fuck's name does nico know of his venetian neighbour who came back PTSD-ed from the african campaign (1940-1943)????

nico and bianca have no memories bc they were bathed in the lethe, ergo no memories, ergo nico betrays percy to hades to learn about his mother

nico's memories, which shone for their absence for three years, start popping up like ants after rain in HoO?? just like that?? except the freaky cow-things, those ofc he can't remember despite them being a fucking pain in the arse and him having been annoyed/in danger for.. 10 years???

in the end, it's less about rick's subpar ability to keep up with his own characters, and his greedy need to keep writing books without a capable editor knowing he can't remember shite of any of his old stuff.. it's more about just picking whatever makes you happy

I like foreign nico and bianca, bc my country's culture's got a lot from italians, so I'll take HoO's (sort of) version. that and it fits better with my long and niche hcs of maria

nico and bianca being born in 30-32 (or 31 and 33 bc it fit better for my hcs) feels more legit to give nico that whole pre-war/beginning of the war background, but that's only bc wwii is interesting to me

I hc from PJO times that the underworld rivers don't affect children of hades too much, so nico and bianca did have some chunks of memory here and there, like islands of light in a dark ocean.. the speed with which nico gets back every single childhood thing? I don't vibe..

and as for nico being in his hometown.. god above it pains me to hell and back but rick is a white middle-upper class privileged yank boomer, I can't trust him to write his own compatriots, I simply cannot consider his foreigners as canon until people from those countries have given their thumbs-up

as a last comment in this eternal post: I truly, from the bottom of my judgy, bitchy heart, don't think rick even realised (originally) that italy wasn't on the US's side of WWII..

[halfagone]

Danny, You Need To Calm Down

Me: "I need to nerf Danny a bit for this fic. I should have him only reveal and use his intangibility."

Danny: *is still BAMF and kicks ass*

Me: "Hmm... I did not think this through."

---

I am serious, though. If you're creative enough and have watched enough superhero media then you'll be able to find all sorts of unusual applications to some of Danny's powers.

With intangibility alone, all Danny needs to do is stand there and let his opponent tire themselves out trying to just land a blow and then fight back. If he has some more melee or martial arts training, he could use a nerve strike and bam, one-shot knock-out. And that's not even counting super strength or flight or telekinesis or why is this boy so overpowered?! /rhetorical

And if you know me, you know how much I love writing a good OP BAMF Danny. But it can be pretty restricting too. With an abundance of powers and a proven track record to gain more powers when necessary, it's not exactly easy to keep Danny down. There are a few known weaknesses we can use to our advantage here, but they come with their own issues:

Major Weaknesses

Blood Blossoms

We've seen blood blossoms are pretty effective on ghosts from the "Infinite Realms" episode in Season 3, but only on Danny's ghost half. I always thought it was a bit strange, since Danny has used ghost powers in his human form so technically it should still affect him? But that's just a personal headcanon so feel free to ignore that.

But! Since Danny could just transform (if he can get past the total agony it causes him) then he'll be fine again. Blood blossoms are also edible, as proven by Tucker, which makes me wonder if Danny could eat them in his human form and make it out unscathed? Since it's only his ghost half that's susceptible to them.

However, it's commonly headcanon'd that blood blossoms are extinct as we only see them in this episode back in the 1600s from the Salem Witch Trials. But canon also tends to bring up some really interesting concepts and then just... never mention them again, so it's possible they're still out there and the Fentons just never learned of them.

Ecto-ranium

We don't see this one come up too many times in fanfiction, if only because many of us have totally blocked out the episode it aired in, "Phantom Planet", from our minds entirely. Ecto-ranium is essentially the equivalent of kryptonite, but for ghosts. (Unsurprising, seeing as Phantom Planet likely took inspiration from Christopher Reeve's Superman II.)

This does come with some plotholes of its own, seeing as intangibility had allowed the ecto-ranium to pass through the Earth despite ecto-ranium supposedly making it impossible for ghosts to use their powers? I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one, I won't lie...

So obviously this weakness also has some shaky ground to stand on.

Mind Control

We see in "Control Freaks" that Danny is pretty susceptible to mind control as well, so long as it comes from the right source. We learn that Vlad continues to collect ghostly artifacts, so it's entirely possible he could find another magical device of equal power and use. Freakshow himself comes from a family with a wide range and collection of ghostly artifacts.

It's also possible that ghosts like Undergrowth could be able to control Danny as well, as he was able to puppet Sam through his vines and plants.

Danny is still capable of breaking through the mind control, if given enough reason to. There is also proof, though, that he can do a lot of damage to himself and others before that time comes. Just food for mischievous author thought.

Plasmius Maximus

This device only appears in the episode "Maternal Instincts" but Vlad had created it to shorten out Danny's powers for three hours. This is another instance of an interesting concept that disappeared after one episode, but considering how Danny used it against Vlad, maybe the man just didn't want to risk it a second time.

Nonetheless, this does prove Danny's powers can be temporarily locked away. How this is possible isn't exactly clear, but I've taken to using a yarn knot analogy to explain it. I won't bore you with that explanation (unless you're actually interested) since it leans more into fanon and headcanons than canon.

Lesser Weaknesses

Blackmail

Now this isn't really a surprise to anyone since Danny is a good kid and most superheroes have this weakness, but Danny is very much susceptible to threats made against his family and loved ones. We see that Freakshow uses this against Danny in "Reality Trip" to make him do his dirty work, as in: collect all the pieces for the Reality Gauntlet.

We might make jokes that Danny could easily defeat anyone he comes across, but the truth of the matter is that he takes these threats seriously and he's lucky more people haven't used it against him.

Inexperience

This one is more understandable and maybe not even technically a weakness but this boy is so silly stupid sometimes it's honestly really endearing. He doesn't have the best grasp of his powers so he can make all sorts of unfortunate mistakes. Danny is the type of person who learns as he goes, and thanks to the fact his one eligible teacher also so happens to be the same guy trying to murder his father... his options are a little limited.

However, this can be easily fixed given enough time and practice. Danny might not have any formal training but he's also proven to be a very fast learner which could very well make up for whatever else he lacks. Due to the unique nature of himself and his powers, there's also a chance that even with a mentor he would still largely be self-taught.

---

It can still be pretty hard to write though. When you want to have high stakes, then you need to have a credible threat. And for a kid that has a gazillion powers, all with countless applications, it gets a lot more complicated. Honestly sometimes Danny might not have even needed the new power if he just applied one he already had in a different way? But so is the life of a teenage, overpowered superhero.

[sunderwight]

Demon Shen Jiu is such a fun idea though.

Especially if he himself doesn't know. Like imagine, Yue Qi finds this abandoned baby and the baby is REALLY OBVIOUSLY not human. But this also enables Shen Jiu to survive being abandoned at such a young age -- a human baby would die without adequate nutrition or care, but demons are a little more resilient. Baby Demon SJ has a way more forgiving digestive system and can move under his own power from a much earlier age. By the time he's a year old he's hunting his own rodents and small birds, and has to be stopped from biting and mauling anyone he doesn't like. Which is most people. Qi-ge develops amazing reflexes.

Why do the slavers tolerate a demon baby hanging around? Maybe it's really not all that uncommon. Demons come across the borderlands from time to time, and are as liable to abandon their kids or die or etc as anyone else. It's maybe an open secret among slavers that demon-blooded kids are a better investment, even, because they can survive for longer on less. The only downside is if they don't ever look human enough to pass as human, because that limits potential buyers, but that's only relevant when the slavers are trying to sell them. For the purposes of having a network of street kids stealing and grifting and spying and etc, it's fine. A lot of the slavers themselves started out as demon-blooded street kids with no other options.

But in SJ's case, he pretty quickly starts passing as human. Mostly because he's quite strong, and he's convinced that he's the same as his Qi-ge, so he makes himself the same. Makes his hands look the same and his teeth look the same and etc. It's largely subconscious, and once he starts doing it, it becomes automatic. SJ forgets that he's a demon in the way that most people don't retain their earliest childhood memories -- although he remembers that some of the slavers were demons.

Then of course there's the question of why didn't the Cang Qiong cultivators notice?

A few options. One is that whatever kind of demon SJ is, it's really good at mimicking humans. Another is that he's only part demon, and like Luo Binghe, fully capable of handling both kinds of cultivation. So once he starts learning spiritual cultivation, even from a heretic like Wu Yanzi, he doesn't seem different from any other recruit with a patchy education on the subject. Anything else odd about him could be easily attributed to his exposure to Wu Yanzi and his wicked practices.

Although full demon SJ is a fascinating idea. (Also, it could contribute to all those qi deviations -- he's trying to cultivate AND "fake" human cultivation at the same time, I doubt Qing Jing's techniques are totally compatible with everything going on there even without the psychological turmoil.) Like I'd imagine Airplane wrote that SJ was abandoned on the streets as a baby, and the system was like "hmm he probably wouldn't survive that?" and then in some nine billionth wife arc, Airplane also creates a variety of demon that can fully pass as human (for some identity conflict with a prospective wife), even to the point of fooling human cultivators and demon-detecting tools. So the system just ties these two disparate pieces of world-building together in order to patch a critical plothole (Airplane doesn't know anything about babies). Which has the side effect that Shang Qinghua doesn't even know that SJ became a demon!

And SJ himself doesn't know. The only person who knows is Yue Qi.

Obviously this wouldn't come up much in PIDW, but it could be pretty funny in the SVSSS timeline. YQY just sitting there through the whole Luo Binghe being a half-demon reveal, wondering if he should say something. Subsequently being the most absolutely chill about the whole demon reveal thing anyway. Like he's definitely not upset that Luo Binghe is a demon, or part demon, and the multiple people who try to make a point about it just run afoul of his impenetrable smile and get nowhere.

Then eventually Yue Qingyuan decides that he should probably tell Bingqiu that Shen Qingqiu is a demon. For like, safety purposes if nothing else. He's kept the secret so long also for safety purposes (even if someone put Shen Qingqiu under a truth compulsion he wouldn't be able to admit to being a demon, because he himself doesn't know!), and he's done tons of stuff to prevent anyone ever finding out (although Xiao Jiu is so talented that he didn't have to do much), but Luo Binghe is the demon emperor. That changes things. If Shen Qingqiu is going to be visiting the demon kingdoms regularly then there's a chance something could reveal the truth unexpectedly, and that would probably be worse.

So Yue Qingyuan sits down and has a very serious discussion with Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe about how Shen Qingqiu is actually a demon, was just the cutest little demon baby in fact, here he drew a picture from memory of what Xiao Jiu used to look like before he learned to look more human, and also how a lot of slave kids and slavers and people who fall through the cracks in society have demon ancestry, some more recent than others, and Shen Qingqiu always retained a certain discomfort around his own kind because of the adult slavers who sold him off, and etc etc.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

There's something I don't see talked about enough in the SVSSS fandom.

The System.

I just received a comment on one of my fics - which has post-canon SQQ and SQH able to still use social media - suggesting that it would be very easy for people in the real world to point out that these characters using fake accounts to post on real life social media sites would easily be doxxed and the System would have no ability to do anything about that.

Something I have noticed among a lot of people who read this particular book is that not a lot of consideration is given to the very thing orchestrating everything. We often think of the system as a ridiculous guide or rule book that exists solely to give the protagonist what he wants/deserves. We don't really approach it for what it is.

This was my reply to that comment:

Doubt it. The System is able to kidnap people from their worlds and place them in other worlds and bodies in those worlds as punishment. And if you don't do as it wants, to the specification it doesn't directly detail, it can send your soul to an alternate version of the present world to be tortured in another body. I sincerely doubt an abstract, otherworldly being like that, which never receives consequences for anything it does because there is apparently nothing that can canonically challenge it, is going to be threatened by doxxing. If it can create things, link universes together, steal souls, and can be anywhere at any time, I wouldn't expect it to be incapable of manipulating people's perception. I even mentioned how in this fic, it WILL erase SQQ's sister's memories if he chooses to reveal his identity to her, but it becomes too much for her to handle. This suggests it has power anywhere and can do whatever it wants. So, in my mind, if someone actually tried to doxx their accounts, it's either going to lead nowhere, lead to somewhere fake, or the info will be stripped from their lives entirely the moment they find anything/nothing.

It was a very nitpicky kind of comment in my opinion, which warranted this response, but my response just made me realize that the System is effectively an amortal, omnipresent, and omnipotent Entity. It literally doesn't go away. We even think it's over and the Extras tell us, via SQH, that it's still there and still in control.

Think about it.

Think about every single thing that happened because of the System's actions or demands. It literally never faces consequences because there is nothing that could hope to punish it. I've only read 1 fic where higher beings step in to punish the System for kidnapping, coercing, and torturing innocent people for its amusement.

Because that IS something it can do. With ease. And seems all too happy to do.

The System is very dangerous and it's weird how this is something people forget when reading fanfics. SVSSS is the kind of book where crack ideas can work in the frame of the canon story because a character like SQH exists. Because he wrote PIDW with every single plothole and contrived story beat for the sake of money and survival, we can have the weirdest shit happen and blame it on his lack of imagination when writing PIDW. It doesn't need in-depth nitpicking to make it make sense. MXTX gave us a very large and generous sandbox to play in.

You don't need to rationalize a crack plot. And you should always keep in mind that canonically, the System is a terrifying Entity capable of outrageous things. It shouldn't be the deal-breaker that the Entity that kidnaps, gaslights, coerces, tortures, and manipulates people is capable of fantastical feats in a fanfic.