#and then the fighter who your character has finally been working on a conflict with finds out your chara is corrupted and you think

[ursamajori]

[id: a simple cartoon drawing of a little guy with a big head sitting down. their head is turned towards the camera and they’re looking with large pleading eyes. end id]

When the DM starts describing a strong magic item with themes and powers that align with your character/backstory:

[calliopefiction]

Misplaced

Misplaced is a fantasy romance IF wherein your choices not only determine your own fate, but that of an entire kingdom. Let me take you on an adventure filled with both whimsy and tragedy alike.

The current public demo goes up to the end of Chapter 8.

The demo on Patreon goes up to the end of Chapter 9.

The Story:

For decades, the human kingdom of Gaiapeia has been in conflict with the fae living in the surrounding lands. There's no end in sight - in fact, an outright war seems more likely with each passing day.

You are the child of Lady and Sir Grahm, a noble family who has been serving the crown for generations. Eager to follow in your father's footsteps, you have been training for years to become a knight worthy of being Prince Az'Lean's Champion - his right hand, his closest confidant, the one who protects his life from the growing danger of the fae.

When the time finally comes and you are chosen for the position, it's a dream come true. You couldn't be happier, but just one day later on your 21st birthday, a terrible truth is revealed to you.

You are a changeling - a fae child that was smuggled into a human family with only one purpose: to gain the prince's trust and use it against him.

A war between humans and fae is slowly but surely brewing, and the outcome depends entirely on your choices. 

Will you choose a side or try to make peace? 

Will you embrace what you are or reject it? 

And who will you let in on your secret?

Features:

Customize the appearance of your MC, play as non-binary, female, or male and romance whoever you like however you like, including the option of asexual or queer-platonic relationships.

Enjoy the story without having to worry about stats - you will be a competent knight no matter what. There is no failure or success, only different choices and their outcomes.

Shape your personality, and your trustworthiness, with your actions. How other characters feel about you will change depending on how they perceive you.

Pick a side early on, play the long con, or refuse to make a choice at all. There are multiple split paths that will feature the same romancable characters - but their relationship to you might vary greatly (including villain romances).

Romance:

Vynn (nb): A fellow knight and your best friend

Unlike you, Vynn isn't a knight by choice and doesn't care much for fighting. They'd much rather be a bard if they could, seeing as they love playing the lute, spinning epic tales, and generally being a source of levity. They are fiercely loyal and good-natured, though there is that bit of resentment that will never quite leave their heart.

Az'Lean (m): The prince and the one you are sworn to protect

At a glance, Az'Lean is the very picture of a fairytale prince: charming, chivalrous, and powerful. He is an excellent fighter, loves animals, and prefers to be treated like an equal. Anyone who cares to look will soon notice the darkness lurking beneath that shining exterior, festering ever since the death of his mother.

Maeve (f): A powerful dryad and your teacher on the ways of the fae

Maeve is usually playful and soft, though she can get eerily intense at times. As much as she cares about decorum and courtly things, she finds joy in the simplest pleasures and easily turns into a giggly mess. For all her humour, you can never quite tell if she is being serious. Sometimes it feels like she's just playing with you.

Thianne (f): A sorceress and one of Az'Lean's most trusted advisors

Thianne is intelligent and hard-working, though sometimes at the expense of her own well-being. Although she comes across as abrasive and rude, she is always willing to help those who need it. Her dry sense of humour and brutal honesty have endeared her to just as many people as they have made her enemies.

Lester (m): A half-fae and servant in the castle

As with most half-fae, Lester's presence isn't entirely welcome, and his reasons for being here seem deeper than he lets on. Lester is known for his mischief and his crude humour, often pulling pranks that border on malicious. Despite the way he presents himself as laid-back and uncaring, it's clear that there's a lot he isn't opening up about.

Warnings:

This story contains potentially triggering content. There will be graphic depictions of violence, death, discrimination, body-image issues, mental illness (including panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and paranoia), discussions of genocide, war, and terminal illness. 

Discretion is advised. More warnings might be added at a later date.

Support:

Thank you so much for showing any interest in this project at all! If you would like to receive biweekly update posts, participate in polls, and get access to bonus short stories, consider supporting me on Patreon.

[cdroloisms]

8, 13, 3, 25, 26, 27, 30 for the ask game!

8. Which character do you think is most different to c!Dream?

Oooh uh I'm not very good with superlatives. Hmm...

Lazy answer tbh but because I can't think very hard, I'd say c!Sam in a lot of ways? Which is funny particularly bc c!Dream seems to be under the impression that they're a lot more similar than they actually are until Shit Goes Down. c!Sam and his choosing c!Dream over the entire server versus c!Dream's ruthlessness being applied to everyone and absolutely not sparing himself. c!Dream's general dislike for power structures versus guy who thinks he was born to be listened to. c!Dream's ambivalence w/ morality (and his spiral into thinking of himself as pure evil, after. well. a lot of things) versus c!Sam's defining literally everything based off his batshit moral code and I Am Good isms. I think they want similar things in some ways, but unlike, say, c!Dream and c!Tommy (who I think have much more similar ideas of what a peaceful server would look like), c!Sam would make Samville The Peaceful Town Where Nothing Goes Wrong As Long As You Listen To Sam and have an underground torture bunker. God c!Sam is so batshit

(For some more answers, probably c!Sapnap in terms of conflict resolution? Uhhh c!Punz is p high up there in terms of motivation. I'm sure there's others that'll come to me eventually)

3. What's your favorite c!Dream era?

Prison arc, sorry. I'm predictable. But for eras that I think are chronically underrated, Pogtopia-c!Dream will always always always have a place in my heart. We don't talk about this man enough fr. I need to go back and just binge all c!Dream content especially pre-Vassal bc god that man breaks my heart.

25. If c!Dream had to join an existing/former DSMP country or faction, which one would you choose for him?

The Syndicate, probably! Well the Syndicate if I'm trying to be niceys otherwise I'm shoving him on Sam's island or in Las Nevadas to kick my feet as the world burns. But yeah I've always had a very soft spot for Syndicate c!Dream--my guy is so scared all the time man :[

26. What do you think is c!Dream’s greatest strength?

Hmmm...probably his intelligence? He's damn smart and he knows how to utilize it well. He's a hell of a fighter and he's a hell of an opponent even when his brain is a little twisted up in itself in fear, he knew how to play around people's perceptions of him and create an absolutely batshit plan and pull it off. The Revolution, November 16th, Staged Finale...he knows what he's doing and he sure as hell does it well.

(Thinks about how all three of those include accounts of him intentionally putting his allies in positions that would put them at the least amount of risk, between c!Dream's overcaution in the Revolution and doing the duel himself, the nonsense with the traitor/there is no traitor that kept people's eyes off Wilbur, Staged Finale being explicitly a plan to protect c!Punz...man.)

c!Dream is smart enough to cook up a plan and ruthless + determined enough to go through with it Whatever It Takes, and yet he's still honestly pretty cognizant of the risks and acts to minimize it (especially risk to those working with him). c!Dream is competent and that has always been a big part of what I like about him

30. In 3 words, how would you describe c!Dream?

Hmmmm. I'm really bad at these types of exercises XD I'd say...

Scared, Ruthless, Responsible ?

[fission-mailure]

Trying to figure out why I actually enjoy Trails of Cold steel (and don't hate Rean -- he'll never be my favourite character, but like. He's fine. I don't chafe at the idea of spending four entire JPRGs in his shoes) despite it being at times extremely Light Novel Nonsense-y.

Like, Rean's a dark haired, kind of generic looking, kind of generic personality'd average dude, who's super strong and skilled, and has a pretty huge proportion of the games' female cast falling over themselves for him, and that makes me roll my eyes a significant amount. He's very in the mold of weird wish-fulfilment light novel protagonists like Kirito and Naofumi, and I kind of can't stand those stories.

And thinking about it, I think it comes down to a few things:

-- Unlike those characters, Rean's actually allowed to fail, and to have other people pull his ass out of the fire. In fact, he does fail, a lot: The first game ends with him losing the final boss battle, badly, and having to run away and abandon his friends, having failed in basically every one of his goals. I'm two chapters in to Trails of Cold Steel III after having played 1 and 2 ages ago, and so far there's been three instances of Rean either getting in over his head or being either outsmarted or outgunned by the villains and needing someone else -- Laura, Kurt/Juna/Altina/Ash, and Alisa/Sharon -- to save him.

-- While he's always presented as being both academically gifted and a strong fighter, he's never the best in either. Emma and Machias are the top students in Class VII, and Laura, Crow, and Fie are stronger fighters in Class VII. Even when he catches up to Crow, Laura (and maybe Fie?) is still a better fighter than him. That's not even accounting for characters outside of Class VII, where it's always made pretty obvious that Sara, Laura's Dad, Rufus, and Aurelia are a ways above him. Which, again, you couldn't imagine from, say, a Kirito, where the only people allowed to be better are people who are somehow 'cheating.'

-- Women in Trails of Cold Steel are actually allowed to have their own goals and character arcs which aren't in any way related to him (in fact, every female character in Class VII has their own thing going on). Laura wants to hone her sword skills and be a worthy successor to her house, Emma has her conflict of ideals with Vita, Fie has her ongoing attempts to find a new role for herself after being a child soldier for most of her life, Alisa is struggling against a legacy that she sees as inextricably tied to a controlling mother she doesn't really understand. These are arcs which are wholly independent of Rean, and he doesn't do much in them apart from provide encouragement. When there are breakthroughs in these arcs, it's never because of him, he's usually just present and being supportive. The only female character whose arc really ties into Rean's at all is Juna's, and even then it's more about her complex feelings about going to study with the military that annexed and occupied her home.

-- I feel like most Light Novel Heroes come with ... pretty emaciated supporting male casts so that the audience doesn't have to cope with the earth-shattering idea that their surrogate might have to compete with other guys for the affections of Insert-X-Number-of-Women. Think about your Kirito, whose only real male supporting cast member is Klein, who's significantly older than the rest of the cast; or your Naofumi, whose male supporting cast is entirely composed of -- well, we're meant to think of them as the most awful people around, but considering that a lot of the time that manifests as them going "We think it's bad that you're a literally slaveowner who bought a child slave, Naofumi," I'm not sure how well that works. But the supporting male cast of Cold Steel is pretty good!

-- Unlike the Light Novel protags he's clearly cribbing from, Rean does have some stuff going on beneath the surface. Not ... much, but there's some inner conflict there about how he's meant to reconcile looking after the people he cares about with the fact that he and all the people he cares about are a part of Imperialist Nightmare State Erebonia, which can and will use him as a tool of imperialism whenever it can. It's a conflict that often puts him on the wrong side. When Cold Steel III starts, he's fresh off being coerced into assisting with Erebonia's annexations of Crossbell and North Ambria, both unambiguously awful things that he's now an accessory to, one of which has put him in direct conflict with another Trails series protagonist.

-- Other characters make fun of him. Like, whenever he makes some dramatic and sentimental speech, you can bet there's a solid 30% chance another character will go "Oh fuck, oh god, he's speechifying again, someone stop him, someone stop him."

All of which combines to make him and his role in the story as LN-style Audience Surrogate ... basically fine. Like, it's fine. He's not my favourite character, in fact I think he's probably my least favourite member of Class VII because in general the character writing for the other Class VII members is pretty strong, but I'm not grinding my teeth while playing him, even if I do roll my eyes at times.

[findmeinthefallair]

if that hexsquad each piloted a voltron lion, who do you think would pilot each lion?

Aaah!! An opportunity to answer an ask that is about my two biggest brainrot shows! 😍

I remain here for VLD because of its premise, for what it stood for before Tim Hedrick - the Head of Story - got fucked over and had his show bible thrown out...Also coz Studio Mir~~

When you wanna compare the paladins to Hexsquad it's like, having to look at what element in nature each Lion stands for and also each witch's deepest wish. And how the characters with their traits would match with the traits that the Lions are looking for. And I'll not only be referencing the new paladins, but also their predecessors: including perhaps the only redeemable thing about S8 which were the old paladins' speeches from the astral plane scenes.

And I'm obviously going with the S1 and S2 pilot configurations, not the post-Lion Switch config.

Starting with who will "form the head":

The Black Lion wants her pilot to learn about control and calmness, which is why she could go perfectly with Shiro's main conflict with his PTSD.

It works very well for Willow for this precise reason:

She and Shiro also share the habit of not wanting to rely on others to help them with their problems, i.e. wanting to stay strong and put up a constant front of portraying strength. We've seen how both characters behave when having panic attacks. So lol, Willow in this universe wouldn't be using plant magic.

One might think that Yellow is the match for her after hearing her deepest wish:

And sure she could express the exact same wish if she were a Paladin...but the Black Lion would pick up on what her area of growth is i.e. the goal to be in control isn't a goal to be reached all on your own. The Lions have their requirements, but they are sentient and can telepathically get a read of an individual's unique challenges and darkest fears. Being the Guardian Spirit representing the cosmos and sky, Black can go nicely with Willow's nurtured leadership qualities and her desire for strength and wisdom.

Next, the arms :

Red is definitely for Amity.

Red is the Lion that wants you to follow your instincts with determination, to defy what's expected or imposed on you if needed. (ah, but I hear you thinking...doesn't this fit Hunter as well? More on this later)

Look at the similarities between her and Keith's arcs:

Both were not entrusted with the space to explore what they wanted in life (imagine...Iverson *could've* been a parental figure for Keith, but he reflects how the education and foster care systems often are IRL), and were expected to fit into a box: which was to their detriment. They were determined to not let their inner fire be put out.

Bonus that they're also rather seasoned fighters, for their respective ages:

The Green Lion might choose Gus. Being a user of illusion magic, Gus's arc has the theme of truth vs illusion, and Green wants a pilot who is curious and has a daring intellect. Who better than the little guy who is curious to know all there is about the human realm, who wants to see what is out there beyond the Isles. Green is best for stealth operations and Gus would be a natural at that, he'd be the best tech guy too!

His deepest wish nicely matches the realization that Pidge had after she met the Olkari: about being connected to the universe and to everything in it (that's what the Forest element symbolizes via the whole "network of roots and branches" concept, which also reflects the imagery of the nervous system linked to the brain. Both Pidge and Gus are prodigies/geniuses).

And having an ambassador role can't really be carried out from the safety and comfort of hiding in your comfort zone of one's insecurity:

Finally, the legs:

I vote Blue for Luz because her deepest wish:

goes so well with this exact line from Blaytz, Lance's predecessor (when we finally hear about what the Blue Lion represents):

Blue is the teamwork lion, kind of the opposite of Green. Easygoing, bold and spontaneous like water. And it's no coincidence that she's the friendliest lion. Luz can befriend anyone because of her extraordinary empathy and I have good reason to suspect this was also the intended arc for Lance...:

Yellow is the morale lion, sort of the opposite of Red.

BUT! Hunter is very interesting since, at least to me, he embodies both Red and Yellow traits which at first glance are *supposed* to be in conflict with one another (this is a sign that he is magnificently well-written. Sorry Keith and Hunk and everyone in the space show, beyond S3 :'D).

I mean c'mon, look at my two kiddos:

It's really important to note that Hunter and Amity's deepest wishes are essentially the same. Which is why it's also easy for me to visualize Hunter piloting Red.

But it's kinda unmistakable: the writers wanted us to see that Hunter's strength is his kind, loving heart (Yellow paladin traits).

His courage and determination (Red paladin traits)

are only the next priority and exist to make the case for his kind heart, in my opinion. Because he wants to live, not just survive...in order to keep learning and giving and loving, to basically remain in a relationship with the world instead of being in isolation.

It's also a bit eerie that Yellow is the Guardian Spirit of Earth/Land, and well..a certain grimwalker was literally grown out of the earth. Hmm........

And wowzah if you look here:

it's a contrast to the Golden Guard being Belos's instrument to keep the Isles as divided as possible, under the guise of promoting unity, with Belos even going as far as coining a name like "The Day of Unity"...during which he wanted to carry out a plan of causing even more major division among the people of the Boiling Isles, via literal genocide. Yeah, yikes. Hunter's future in palisman-carving certainly brings unity born out of love, opposing Belos's forces of division born out of fear. Gyrgan is right in what he says above: unity is born from love.

Anyway this sweet child can really feel like both Keith and Hunk combined into one character. Sometimes he recklessly charges ahead, sometimes he's very nervous about a ton of things. He manages to be the pathetic wet cat but also the most huggable warm teddy bear, lmao.

But if he had been brought up in a healthy and loving home - which is what Hunk had:

him as Yellow's choice would be crystal clear.

Thank goodness Hunter DOES end up in this place though, surrounded by the best found family!

PS: Moringmark had a different configuration for who would pilot who, he just based it on matching colour codes haha (link)

[koolkat9]

2, 4, 20!

Fun meta asks for writers

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I have a fic planned with the idea that Gil is Ludwig's dad and him panicking over it and wishing Germania was there to guide him. We don't have enough good dad Germania which is a shame because according to canon he really loves his family.

---

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

Oh gosh let's see...

"The icy caverns that were once Matthew’s eyes burned bright and hot like blue stars. He was no longer that little boy in the bush, and he was no longer that young dominion that needed Arthur to fall back on. He was Canada, wild and rugged, a force to be reckoned with. What Arthur had always wanted him to be. But now, he just hoped that sweet little boy was still in there somewhere. "

-Time Ticks Away

One, I really liked the simile I used. Blue stars are actually the hottest and brightest stars in the galaxy so very fitting for Matthew's rage induced blue eyes (my astronomy class was good for something).

Two, I just love how the dynamic turned out here. Up until this point, Arthur has only known Matthew as a quiet, anxious little boy. But he's grown, and he's angry and his strength is on full display. Arthur had always worried that Matthew was too sensitive, that he needed to teach Matthew hide that all away like how he was forced to as a child. He wanted Matthew to be strong, to be a fighter, to be tough as nails. And in the trenches of WWI Matthew has finally embraced those qualities. But looking at his son, angry, vengeful, hungry for blood makes Arthur feel sick. And this line gives me chills. We always don't know what we have until it's gone (or think it's gone).

---

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I never include symbolism or hidden references or callbacks. At least not on purpose most of the time. But I will ramble about my fic Ludwig.

The barebones of this fic have been in my mind since I started shipping GerEng three years ago. I only ever seen the whole Germany = HRE debacle through a primarily Ger//Ita lens (I was lucky if I got some exploration of what that means for the german bros on the side). So when I got into GerEng, I wondered what it would mean if GerIta wasn't together. ''

I also started liking the idea of Ger//Ita where Feli just loves Ludwig because Lud looks like HRE or was HRE. I say "was" because I like to imagine Ludwig as his own character even when working in the realm of the Germany = HRE. Regardless of what version of a theory I'm going off with (they are exactly the same or they're separate souls that share the same body) there is a distance between Ludwig and HRE. Ludwig has become his own person and his past as HRE doesn't feel like it's completely his own.

Anyway, GerEng Week rolls around almost 3 years later with a prompt absolutely perfect for these two ideas. It turned into more of an introspective of Ludwig's conflict with his identity. But I really love how the dynamics turned out.

I've loved the idea of toxic Ger//Ita for a few years now, but I'm terrible at making these characters bad people so I never really got to write it. But here, Ger//Ita becomes toxic because Feli is projecting his feelings for HRE onto Ludwig who is no longer the same boy Feli remembers. Not to mention how he's in a vulnerable state, head over heels for Feli and willing to compromise himself to make Feli happy. They don't mean for it to get toxic, but it does. Ludwig realizes this eventually, that he's losing himself, that Feli doesn't actually love him. He also realizes his feelings for Feli had gone out decades ago, only reignited in this one moment where he thought he could connect his present and past self. And Feli knew deep down for awhile that what he was doing wasn't right. And his revelation and apology is one of my favourite things I've ever written. "It’s clear your heart doesn’t belong to me and I’m sorry for feeling entitled to it because of the past" gets me every time.

And Arthur, being one of the only relationships Ludwig has where the other party wasn't so close to HRE. Unlike the others, he isn't blinded by the happiness of being reunited and sees Ludwig struggle. He becomes one of the only people Ludwig feels comfortable talking to to let it all out. Arthur becomes the one to pull him out of the role he put himself into to try to appease others. Because he loves Ludwig for Ludwig. Not for who he used to be. The romance may have been a little rushed at the end and I wish I made reference to Ludwig's crush on Arthur earlier in the fic, but I think it's sweet. Arthur had to pull Ludwig out of a funk once before and he did again proving he'd be someone Ludwig could count on.

[fernrisulfr]

The Armored Mage

So this was an idea I got late last night, for reasons I don’t actually even remember. I think I was just going over random “back up character” ideas for unusual tanks. This started out as a Mountain Dwarf Wizard who would take the tough feat, but when I looked into the types of Dwarves and formed part of a backstory it became easy to justify this and it was just a better option.

Hill Dwarf - Fighter/Wizard (War Magic) - City Watch (Investigator) - Chaotic/Good

Concept: Spellbook is a collection of lightweight stone baubles woven into his beard. Born into a highly traditional Hill Dwarf community to a family of City Guards. His father had been a Guard, his father had been a Guard, and so forth. From the moment he was big enough to hold a training axe he'd been trained with the expectation he'd take up the family trade, protecting their home till his dying breath. Yet he was born with a curiosity uncommon to his family, always wanting to know how things worked or happened. Eventually that lead him towards the mysteries of magic. Certainly there were rules and lines to follow, but magic was mutable, the slightest thing being off capable of producing a wildly different result than normal. Of course he'd never be able to learn magic the traditional way, and so he did what he needed to. Over time he went to the city's magical practitioners, those his family had good relations with, claiming he wanted to 'learn' about magic only so he could protect people against it like a good little guard. They never realized his 'notebook' was the slow development of his first spellbook. Slowly he learned to blend his magic with his fighting in order to keep others none the wiser…until luck played a cruel joke. Much like stern parents inspecting or cleaning your room and finding porn mags or your pot stash under the bed, they found his notebook. Everything ran down hill from there. They were equal parts disappointed and furious, leaving no room for persuasion or platitudes. He'd "stamped all over" their family tradition for what had apparently been years. In short order he found himself evicted from their household, disowned by their honoured name, and held in contempt by most of populace once word got out about his treason against their traditions. Soon he was exiled in all about but actual sentence. Thus he wandered out into the world, his heart in conflict. He finally had the freedom to pursue his interests in full, and all it cost him was everything and everyone else he'd ever known. You don't realize the comforts you have until they're stripped from you. Now he searches the world desperate for acceptance, searching for a place or people where he can feel those comforts again.

Update: Has a Hawk familiar named Senu that he uses to look down upon the battlefield from a top-down rpg style perspective.

[mcsqwu]

Lim Dong Hee, or why I've really enjoyed Today's Webtoon

(Even though I've never read a webtoon in my life...)

I've been on a bit of a K-drama kick recently. I don't know if I've just become a bit of a soppy sod in my old age, but I really enjoyed Business Proposal having started to watch it on Netflix really just as a way to pass some time, and yet I ended up being absolutely hooked, and went on to blitz through I Wanna Hear Your Song before moving on to Today’s Webtoon. Kim Sejeong, a lead character in all three, has rapidly become one of my favourite actors and singers and, well, people, and I’m not going to talk any more about her in this at all, because even though she’s great, “great actor is great” isn’t really the point I want to make.

<b>May be spoilers for Today's Webtoon</b>

So, onto “Today’s Webtoon”, which is a Korean remake of a Japanese drama, which was in turn based on a manga. In the series, former Judo fighter and Olympic contender On Ma-eum, having been injured, decides to indulge another passion of hers, webtoons, by getting a job at Neon, a large webtoon company. The Korean series is available on Rakuten Viki in the UK, which is where I’ve been watching it. I’m up to about episode 10, so no spoilers please or I will be very cross with you! 😊

The character I wanted to talk about is Lim Dong-hee. He’s a nice bloke by all appearances, a loyal supporter of and assistant to his artist mentor Baek Eo-jin, as shown by his patience as the old mentor learns to use digital painting. He also supports troubled aspiring artist Shin Dae-Ryuk despite the latter’s difficult manner, awkward comments and challenging behaviours. When we first meet Lim, he regularly expresses the dream of finally debuting his own work.

As Shin begins to work with Lim, he regularly and openly criticises Lim Dong-hee self-deprecating comments, likening them to “cursing himself”. And yet Lim Dong-hee still supports, reviews the work of and encourages Shin Dae-ryuk.

We see Lim Dong-hee come into conflict with family members, and talk about how he has expended his youth trying to fulfil his dream. Still, with the continued support of people around him, he keeps working on his own toon, gets feedback on it, and submits it to a competition.

On receiving the news that his cartoon has failed to progress in the competition, and horrified at the innate superior storytelling capabilities of his junior, Shin Dae-ryuk, he takes to smashing up Dae-Ryuk’s laptop. But after some time to talk with his mentor and others, Lim Dong-hee decides to quite as an artist and move back home. As he leaves his mentor’s home, Shin Dae-ryuk remarks on how much he had enjoyed Lim Dong-hee’s work, and demonstrated that he actually understand what Lim Dong-hee was trying to say in his toon.

Later, as Shin Dae-Ryuk’s work is published and proves hugely successful, we see Lim Dong-hee rejoicing in the success of his former colleague. His journey even mirrors main character On Ma-eum’s own journey from abandoning her dreams of being an Olympic judoka to becoming a webtoon editor.

The point I’d like to make though is that Lim Dong-hee is not a main character, he’s not even the main character in a single episode. And yet he has a proper character arc, motivations, challenges, and a satisfying resolution. His journey reinforces the central idea of the series, that of reinventing yourself. And he might have maybe ten minutes of screen time in over 9 hours of episodes.

Lim-dong Hee could have been created purely as an antagonistic figure, or just window dressed for Baek Eo-jin, but instead he was a real, interesting and pivotal figure who we see some of the dark side of creativity from. When even the smaller characters have some thought put into them, the end result is so much better.

I know it’s quite trendy to bash on the dumpster fire that was The Acolyte from the Star Wars universe, but I can’t think of a single character’s motivation in the entirety of its run from that after eight hours, and yet I can talk at length about a character barely on the screen for a tiny fraction of that amount from a silly thing about webtoons. If a character is in your writing, they should matter, and they should have enough information for them to exist in your head, or why are they there?

[siderealcity]

Oh, Paladin... I entirely agree with all of this. As a Paladin main, I can't even pretend this job story ever makes any sense. It is never good, and it just gets worse until the writers entirely abandon it in Stormblood to go back to the Gladiator story, which was at least somewhat better.

I think its core problem (which a lot of the ARR jobs share, but I'll get to that in a bit) is that they lacked a solid initial idea for the job archetype, and then the one they tried did not work within the constraints of the job quests.

Lengthy narrative breakdown of job/class stuff under the cut.

So, imagine you're a gamedev, and you're already working crunch non-stop because your MMO is flailing, and it needs a massive content overhaul, and your boss has just said to you, "Implement jobs like the ones in Final Fantasy Tactics, but with stories." You know what the gameplay is going to be for each of these, more or less. And for the most part these are the most generic core fantasy archetypes there are. Archer, Healer, Wizard, Sword-and-shield warrior, Two-hand axe warrior... A lot of these are just in everything. Every game in the universe has sword and shield warrior. How do you make this fit the setting?

Gladiator. Okay, that's interesting. We can work with that, but what's the archetype for Gladiator? The Russel Crowe film? Uh, yeah, we already made that Raubahn's entire backstory. Also, the player character can't be sold into slavery. So not that. What else do we have? Spartacus? Same problem as Gladiator. So... the only archetypal story we have for gladiators is the one we already used and can't apply to players in a meaningful way. (Are we going to work to buy someone else out of slavery? Because that involves the player buying slaves now, which is also kind of a problem.) We need another story archetype. What else we got? We can't do "training for the championship" because Pugilist has that one. So...

Well, uh... Mercenary? That's what the Gladiator quest chain is. And it's not a bad one, but Mylla is 100% written to be the head of a mercenary company, even though she absolutely is not. (Why are arena fighters dealing with bandits? Who cares, it's dramatic.)

And this is not a unique problem to Gladiator/Paladin. Nearly all the ARR classes suffer from this in some capacity. Pugilist is Rocky, but the player can't be the one making a comeback. Lancer is... fighter with a stick. There's nothing inherently specific to that class in its story. Archer is just archery with a side of "friendship is magic." Which, okay. That's not horrible. Marauder builds up to a crescendo of fighting the meanest cow. If you ever want to tell if a game designer has reached the bottom of the barrel, flipped it over, and scraped off what was underneath, making the archenemy of the player a large grazing herbivore is a flashing neon sign.

There was not a lot of time to work out what the core fantasy of each class was, and it shows. But the jobs should be better, right?

Well, problem #1 was that they had to follow up the story of each class quest, and I do not know why they all had to have new trainers and new characters, but that decision cut the number of story beats for each of the main job/classes in half. You can see how much more developed the characters are in the crafter/gatherer stories, because they got to use the entire 1-50 level grind to pace them out. By comparison, every single combat job is rushed to introduce its characters, its conflict, and get to its resolution.

So here's the second problem: Paladin as an archetype.

We already failed to find a Gladiator archetype that could be made to work on this tiny timeline and budget. Paladin has the advantage of having a clear archetypal Final Fantasy character to look at, unlike sword-and-board warrior, in Cecil, but Cecil got to be a champion of Light after having been a dark knight, and none of his story or themes really fit. Okay, so, what's the player fantasy in Paladin? What do they want to be when taking up the sword-and-shield? Because Holy Knight is going to be tricky in a game where the player's primary leitmotif is The Maker's Ruin. You are, as the Warrior of Light, the godslayer. So... uh... that's awkward.

I think the answer they came up with was Arthurian Knight. Because "recover the mystical sword of light" is sort of Cecil, if you turn your head and squint, and it's a combination of Excalibur and the Holy Grail.

Jenlyns' kind of rushed plot in ARR seems like it is training the player to be a Galahad type of knight errant. And the setup, even in the early quests, is about Oathkeeper, the sword of legend.

Okay, so, immediate problem which is going to become bigger over time: The job quests give you armor, not weapons.

So we hunt down Solkzagyl in ARR, only to find out that he was a true knight and he never stole Excalibur--I mean Oathkeeper. Obviously, the second part of the story, going into HW has to be about the missing sword.

And then we hit the next pipeline issue: ARR to HW.

I can't say this for certain, but my guess, having worked in games in the past, based on the patches that immediately follow up 2.0, was that the team was in a state of exhaustion, working crunch for the relaunch, and now the game is live again, but the numbers aren't back yet to say how successful the game will be, and you don't know if you're going to get a budget... of any kind? Maybe you'll get an expansion, or maybe you'll just get a few patches? You might get new art assets? Areas? Nobody knows. But the game is live, and you must put out content updates, or it will die.

The 2.1 through 2.2X MSQ does not feel like there is any coherent plan for where the story will go, and there probably wasn't. They were just trying to make something with what they had on hand, and every beat is the equivalent of throwing out a random plot hook. Maybe this could be where the story goes! Maybe it will go over here! Every MSQ beat leads to a primal fight with something they already had assets in the pipe for. Re-fight the primals you already fought again! But harder! They just keep pumping out additional non-crit-path dungeons to keep players occupied with something.

But the dungeons don't have a ton of writing, and the beast tribe quests really aren't that long, and this is probably the point at which they started writing the job quests that would go into Heavensward.

Before they knew what Heavensward even was.

Most of them don't even go to Coerthas. Black mage, monk, warrior, scholar, and summoner just... never even acknowledge that Heavensward is happening and stay right in the original zones. Only White Mage, Dragoon, and Paladin send you to the new zones, and Paladin... yeah, it drops the ball on that one hard. I suspect that putting it in Falcon's Nest was a very late change to move more of the quest NPCs around to even out stress on the areas. Dragoon, notably, also makes no sense if you finish it after Dragonsong, suggesting that it, too, was written before the plot of Heavensward was figured out.

It seems somewhat obvious, if frustrating, that the Paladin questline followed the original plan of searching for Oathkeeper, even though the Sultansworn should, at this point in the MSQ, kill you on sight. And also. THEY HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DEAL WITH THAN A SWORD, JENLYNS! I suspect that it was written in its entirety before The Parting Glass, and then just used mostly as-is. Death's Embrace was probably the Alacran again. There's nothing particular to Ishgard or Dravania in there except for the place names and an occasional reference to Halone or heretics.

But again, the problem remains, we can never get Oathkeeper. We are building up this entire, baffling, nonsense plot around finding the missing sword of legend, which the player absolutely cannot keep. So... how... do we end that, then? Uh... everyone fights, I guess? Even the writer, by the end, seems to have given up on making this work, because it absolutely can't.

Anyway, PLD, I love you. Don't take this personally, babe. You're still my favorite job to play. Even if your story is a hot mess.

The worst part too about the Paladin quests is it's Heavensward that's most egregious. It honestly feels like someone had no idea what was going on, or didn't care, or left, and their colleagues left holding the bag with this mess of a story had no idea what to do with it.

ARR Gladiator quests are fine! They're along the lines of the other Class quests, intro you to the job and a complicated character dynamic, and it's a decent time.

The ARR Paladin quests...are just boring. They aren't actually even that bad, they're just...utterly predictable, bog-standard tropes and plot line where you can see everything coming malms away. But they have an internal logic to them that builds on the politics and scheming in Ul'dah. Jenlyns realizes he's an unwitting pawn of the Syndicate, and he was literally chosen for the job cuz he could be easily duped and controlled. He doesn't even get to have imposter syndrome, he's actually unfit for the job (and then strives to do better, leveraging support from Papashan and Mylla to shore up his own weaknesses, which is admirable!).

...Nevermind that traditional Paladins in general are a bad fit for Ul'dah. The heavily armored Sultansworn makes no sense in that desert environment, and looking at a world map we can even see that Southern Thanalan seems to be on the equator. Like it's not even a case of "it's cooler than it seems cuz they're further north." Because they're not. And I know the devs wanted to have Ishgard perhaps be a starter city but that was scrapped due to time and resources, fine but um.

Dragoons are still trained in Coerthas, by Coerthans. Why didn't they just...do that with Paladins? Keep Gladiator in Ul'dah, where it makes sense as presented. But then have to work with Temple Knights to get the Job. Especially since after Ul'dah's intro, the game just forgets the Sultansworn exist and they have no bearing on the MSQ the way the other factions in Ul'dah do. Not even in the finale of ARR's arc where it would make sense. Gladiators are a constant in other side quests and MSQ both.

Stormblood Paladin is also fine--because it goes back to those Gladiators, and we interact with Paladins and Knights across the realm, and deal with those complicated relationships between the Gladiator guild core members. It's internally logical in its drama about finally restoring Aldis's reputation and place in Ul'dah, against the backdrop of the tournament.

Heavensward Paladin straight up makes no sense. Solkzaygl's actions are entirely contradictory to his character and arc from ARR. There's no way for some of the actions to occur without him working with the outlaws in some way. Instead of teaching Constaint, he sends him on a merry chase across Coerthas to learn on his own, and it's only the WoL's aid that sees the boy live, let alone make progress. A random man dies, guilt-ridden, due to Solk's scheming and lies he confided to this poor guy.

And then Highlander-esque "there can be only one" nonsense. Even as a Highlander fangirl in my youth, it was insulting and awful. Papashan, Jenlyns, and Constaint all call out how nonsense, illogical, unlikely, and stupid this whole story is...all to make a sword shine.

Because there's no internal logic to events, let alone the reason for the string of happenstance that leads to the finale.

And we know it's possible; HW Blacksmith gives us a fantastic paladin story! One that fits Ishgard's storyline and HW's themes. HW Dark Knight is also a good paladin story, actually, as they are meant to be another angle on the concept of dedicated knight defenders. Samurai for the Eastern equivalent, and the concepts and tropes present in those quest chains.

But the job actually bearing the name "Paladin" is left in the dirt. As a fan of the concept across various games (video and TTRPGs both), it's quite frustrating how the devs had no idea what to do with this job, despite other members of the writing and scenario team presenting stories that would have fit perfectly well within the framework. Only some of it is misplacing where Paladins originate in the setting; the rest is not taking advantage of the themes and setting of the expansions, and just not caring enough about the characters and story to even try, compared to the rest. Or worse, they did try, and meant for more, but whatever intrigue and complex plot they wanted to create was too much for 5 quests and no guarantee the arc would continue in the future, even if it had landed perfectly.

[meteor752]

Dsmp Hogwarts AU, except it’s all the characters and I go into why they are what they are, please reblog this took a long ass time

Man, what a title Huh? Anyways, this will obviously go over the characters and not the content creators, because in some cases those are vastly different

Also, before we start, I will go over an important thing that I will mention probably a few times, and that is the difference between Hufflepuff Loyalty and Slytherin Loyalty.

Both of these houses value loyalty, but in very different ways. Take for example that you’re a spy who has their best friend as their partner, and you’re out on some super important mission. Let’s also say that your partner got shot and is close to death, and the only way to save them would be to abandon the mission entirely.

A Hufflepuff would try to complete the mission because it would be the best for all, while the Slytherin would abandon the mission despite the fact that it could result in countless deaths, just to save their friend.

See it as Selfish Loyalty vs Selfless loyalty. Both are great things to have, but are still different.

Anyways, on with the show

Tomathy Danger Kraken Careful Innit

I have seen people try to argue that this boy is a Hufflepuff because of his loyalty and such, but gosh darnit everyone this child is a god damn Gryffindor. I mean, one of his main character traits is that he’s brash and too brave for his own good. The reason he got fucking exiled is because he burned down George’s house without thinking of the consequences, and then just screamed at Dream without thinking of the consequences. The same goes for Ghostbur’s “death”, it was because he had no real plan except Stab Dream with an axe. So yeah, Gryffindor

Wilbur Soot

Slytherin, 100%. This man has created one and a half nation, one entirely out of spite, he was both a general and a president, he’s a smart lil fella, and he managed to hold his own against the god of the server. I don’t even thing you guys wanna argue with me here

Tuberculosis Underscore

This one is tricky, because it’s really between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw for me. Like, he does possess the Hufflepuff loyalty™ plus he is very kind, but he’s also one of the more logical and observant characters we have in this server (The bar is very low let me tell ya). But I think I will have to go with Ravenclaw, just because like, the boy invented nukes. He built fucking nukes. So yeah, a very chaotic Ravenclaw that will spout bee facts at you, be prepared

Technoblade

My man is a Ravenclaw, no doubt about it. I mean, he started talking about an old greek myth in the middle of a war? Just Ravenclaw things amiright?

Philza Minecraft

I will have to go with Slytherin on this one, simply because of the large amount of Slytherin Loyalty, but also because of his cunningness and resourcefulness, but for real this was very tricky, simply because I don’t like to think about c!Phil too much because as some of you may know, I kinda hate him (Not the cc though, obvs, he’s awesome)

Ranboo My Beloved

Hufflepuff. This boy’s ideology is literally “Choose people, not sides”, he’s an honest and compassionate boy who works hard, and has a very open mind. He’s literally the by the book Hufflepuff

Eret

Honestly, Slytherin. I mean, they are ambitious as fuck, both shown by them betraying L’Manburg for the throne, but also by working hard towards their redemption arc. They are also a good leader of the smp, and in general a great role model to have

Nikki Nihachu

This one is actually difficult, simply because Nikki has gone through quite the character arc the past couple of months. She started out kind, sweet and loyal, a classic Hufflepuff. Then she joined the syndicate and straight up tried to kill a child, which is less Hufflepuff but who am I to judge. But in her core, as seen through her discussion with Jack about Tommy’s revival, she is still a good person that works hard for what she believes in, wants the best for everyone (Despite sometimes working in her best self interest) remains kind through it all. So yeah, Nikki is a Hufflepuff, just a bit of a sadistic one. But we can’t all be perfect ya know?

Fun Jonathan Michael Vincent Georgina James Sus Dy Soot

Ah, my favorite character, and also one of the best examples of a Ravenclaw. And I ain’t saying that just cuz I’m a Ravenclaw, Fundy is one of the most Ravenclaw characters out there. He’s creative, Clever, Spontaneous, Witty, Curious, Sharp, and a real trickster. The idea of Ravenclaws being the goody two shoes kids that always does their school work is just false, we never do our Homework and instead sit and read about things we find interesting, and Fundy is a good example of that. Also he was quite the eager learner during the Dreamon Hunters arc, which again is a good example of a Ravenclaw. So if Ranboo is the by the book Hufflepuff, then Fundy is the by the book Ravenclaw.

Dreamwastaken

I’m pretty sure it’s confirmed that Dream is actually a Slytherin, and I ain’t arguing with that. This boy is cunning, sly, a leader, traditional, Self-Preserving, and a master with words. There is not much more to say here, apart from the fact that Slytherins main colour is literally green, so it all checks out, this boy is a snake.

George Lore

Mr not found over here really is hard to pinpoint down, simply because his main character trait is his apathy, which isn’t really a trait for any of the houses. I was discussing this one with my girlfriend, and both of us were pretty clueless of what to do with him. I was thinking if Hufflepuff since they take the ones that don’t fit anywhere else, but then I was reminded of the most recent Dream XD stream, which showed us one thing, and that is that George is clever, observant, and Sharp Minded, all the traits of a Ravenclaw. Sure, he could also be Slytherin as he was both cunning and sly as well, but I think Ravenclaw fits him more personally.

Sappitus Nappitus Boyhalo

Finally we have another Gryffindor, there’s been a serious lack of them on the list. My man is a fighter, he’s bold, he’s brave, he’s passionate, he’s confident, and he doesn’t really think that much of the consequences of his actions (Cough the pet war cough), so yeah this boy a lion.

Punz

Ah, Punzie, the mercenary themself. Tbh, I know very little about them because Punz don’t get involved that much in lore unless they are hired for something. I mean, they were in the eggpire, but even then they were barely involved, which is sad cuz I like Punz. But what we have seen of Punz is that they are someone who does not care about you or what you want, as long as you pay them. They are power hungry and self preserving, which means that I have to put them in Slytherin.

Jack Thunder1408 TV Manifold

The boy who I can’t help but be sympathetic towards. Jack is also a hard character to pin point because of the reason that he’s gone through quite the development. Jackie boy is a very broken character that has literally been through hell, so it’s hard to properly sort him. He’s quite confident and clever, yet cunning and resourceful, so for me it’s either Slytherin or Gryffindor. But I do lean towards Gryffindor more, partly because of his stubbornness and gullibility, and part because of all the fire imagery that’s associated with him. I mean, the cc described him as burning inside, he’s been through the scape of fire and death, and he burnt his nation to the ground. In case you didn’t know, Fire is the element of Gryffindor, so yeah, another red and gold boy.

JSchlatt

Schlatt is as both charming, charismatic and calm in the early days, using subtle manipulation tactics to get his way and achieve ultimate power. He’s ambitious, narcissistic, cunning, and tyrannical, while still hiding it all behind a facade of smiles and waves. He could also be both cruel and irresponsible at times, aka the time he had an underage child drink during an event, but ya know, mistakes. So all in all, I think it’s pretty clear that he’s a Snakey boy.

QuackityHQ

As much as I love CC!Quackity, I also fucking hate him because of the many, many different directions he’s taken this character which makes it possible for him to fit in literally any of the houses. The duckie is both Chaotic and lawful, he’s both friendly and hostile, he’s a smart cookie and a fucking dumbass, so like bruh. But, I’m gonna have to go with how he is now, which is manipulative, power hungry, cruel, and strong willed. Aka, another Slytherin.

Karl Jacobs

Finally, a character that is not broken down to the point of barely making out a readable personality. Karl is a kind and funny person, who is very open to new people considering how often he gives tours to visitors and new people, and he is quite literally loosing himself traveling through time in an attempt to help people. Hufflepuff

Awesamdude

This one I know will be controversial, but I’m saying Hufflepuff on him. Sam is one of the best cases of the Hufflepuff loyalty, literally letting both Tommy and Ghostbur be stuck and ultimately die in the prison just so he wouldn’t risk Dream breaking out. Before that point he was very kind and gentle towards Tommy, literally building a robot to keep him safe and take care of him. Sam nook is a reflection of Sam’s feelings towards Tommy, and they are kind and gentle.

Dropsbyponk

Ughhhh, another tough one. Ponk is a chaotic being who is mostly neutral in conflicts, but is shown to be very open about their feelings towards those they care about, like Sam or Foolish. They seem to be have strong feelings in what they believe in, and can be a bit brash sometimes, not really caring about the consequences of their actions, which is what makes me say Gryffindor for them.

Badboyhalo

Our favorite muffin demon. I assume, I don’t know what life you live. Anyways, Bad is like the stereotypical Hufflepuff. The kindhearted, well meaning, sweet, responsible Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff that’s like in all of those incorrect quotes blogs and “Slytherin and Hufflepuff friendships uwu” posts. But for real, Bad is very Hufflepuff. He does however have Slytherin Loyalty, considering he pretty much sacrificed the entire server for Skeppy, but if you would try to convince me that Bad is a Slytherin I will just laugh at you

Skeppy

It was at this point I realized what I’ve gotten myself into with this post, which you know, not fun. Skeppy is both cocky and filled with energy, with a real ambition to cause chaos. He’s also shown to be willing to sacrifice himself for the person he loves, Bad, when he gave himself up to the egg. I’ve seen some people say Slytherin, but I’m kinda getting Gryffindor from the lad, so yeah, another lion.

Antfrost

Frosty here is a kind hearted person that for the most part seem to be along for the ride. He reminds me a bit of a parent of toddlers, with his patience and serenity towards the more chaotic people on the server, so of course my natural instinct is Hufflepuff. Buuuuut, then there’s again the issue with the egg and the Slytherin loyalty, this time towards his boyfriend Velvet who he was willing to join a cult for (relationship goals) but again, you can’t really say Ant is a Slytherin considering how wrecked he was about what he did while in the eggpire when he was released from it’s grasp. So yeah, Puffle boy

Captain Puffy

Oh captain my captain, you are such a Gryffindor. And some of you may disagree on that, stating that she’s a Hufflepuff or something (I did research before this to check what other people think, I know) but naaah, she a lion. Puffy is very motherly and protective towards other people on the server, especially the minors, but in the way that a Bear is protective towards its cub, which is gentle towards them but fierce towards others. Puffy also falls natural in the role of a leader as seen with Pro-Omelette, but that is kinda expected since she’s a past Pirate Captain. But she wasn’t the leader she was supposed to be, as she waited quite a while to act against the eggpire out of fear of hurting her friends, which lead to quite the damage towards the rest of the server. She’s also been shown to act on impulse, killing Antfrost and taking one of his lives after he killed her son. Idk if this is a good explanation of why I believe Puffy to be a Gryffindor, it sounds more like I’m claiming her to be a Slytherin or Hufflepuff, but she is a Gryffindor I promise!

Foolish Gamers

Foolish is a kind and friendly being, if not a bit naive and easily distracted. He’s also not the brightest person, in fact I’d go as far as to call the guy a Himbo, and he can be a bit skittish sometimes if he’s stressed or haven’t taken a break in a while. But despite it all, the guy is someone who’s creative and hard working, with a brilliant mind for his building. The man is an artist who can get grumpy if you suppress his creative aura, and put his heart and soul into his works. He also has a habit of getting wrapped up in big projects, and ignoring sleep or personal care until he’s finished them. This all leads me to say that Mr Gamers is a Ravenclaw, just not the smartest one. But hey, we can’t all be geniuses, can we.

Slimecicle

Slime is very naive and very trusting towards people around him, taking every word they say as a fact. He can also be a bit dark and ominous at times, but quickly shakes it off as nothing important. This all makes him quite childish, which is very hard to sort, so I’m gonna say Hufflepuff for his friendliness and move on.

Purpled Bedwars

I actually started loving this guy the minute I saw him, purely because Purple is my favorite colour, like my man has taste. Purpled, like Punz, is a guy who helps whoever pays him the most. He’s not interested in most things on the server, too busy looking out for number one (And Dogchamp of course). He’s very self reliant and resourceful, but still quite passive. He may not be the most ambitious guy, but Purpled is definitely a Slytherin (It also brings me and my girlfriend Serotonin knowing that the mercenary siblings are both in the same house, we love those two)

Hannahxxrose

I don’t watch Hannah that much, but god I love her voice, it makes my lesbian little heart happy. Hannah is a friendly person who is very naive about the conflicts on the server, thinking it all can can be solved by placing a rose (God I wish). She’s a good decorator and a good hearted person, who unfortunately fell victim to the egg’s influence. I’m going with Hufflepuff on her, but I’m honestly not entirely sure as I don’t know that much about her.

HBomb94

H is a very well meaning person that only really wants people to be friendly towards each other. He had a strict moral code and he keeps to it, as shown where Fundy tried to get his help with blowing shit up. He’s very helpful to those who ask and is willing to back up his friends when it’s needed, which makes me say that the friendly totally not dirty cat maid is a Hufflepuff.

Connoreatspants

I just want you all to know that I’m writing this before Connor’s lore stream that surely will just go against everything I say because fate hates me, just so ya know. Connor is not a person that does stuff on the server with lore and he for the most part keeps to himself, so this is a bit hard. Connor also has this thing where he likes to say things just to confuse him, and also making a bit of cursed lore, but he’s still a fairly humble person. He does lie and steal a bit, and has this habit of moving into other people’s houses, but I digress. I’m actually leaning towards Ravenclaw on him, for some reason, so that’s what I’m going with until I have more of an established character.

ItsAlyssa

I know she has left the server and stuff, but she was one of the original members so it would be a crime not to include her. Alyssa is a bit chaotic, often going on killing sprees, or burning down the trees outside of L’Manburg. So I’m placing Alyssa in Gryffindor, but to be honest I don’t really know at this point.

Callahan

How do you sort a person who does not speak, stream, or show like anything of his personality? The answer is, you don’t. Hufflepuff is the house of those who don’t fit in anywhere else, and that’s where I’m placing him.

Vikkstar123

Please log onto the server I’m begging you, I didn’t watch you as a kid and honestly know nothing about you. From what I’ve seen of Vik he’s a very humble person that tries to stay out of it all, instead forming a land together with his bro Lazar. Honestly my instincts say Ravenclaw and I trust my instincts, so I’m putting him in Ravenclaw

Lazarbeam

Lazar was actually a big part of the exile arc which I realized after already have written his, so now I gotta rewrite it. Lazar is fairly ambitious on the server, and has the goal to obtain the most powerful objects on the server just to rival the other strong members of the smp. He’s especially against Tommy, and aims to do a lot to be the opposite of him, aka well respected and not a war criminal that got exiled (Totally fair goal). Despite that, he was able to show some empathy to the British child, even going as far as to give him a disk during his exile. This all makes me say Slytherin on him.

Michaelmcchill

Newest boy. Michael is a very apathetic person, showing little to no empathy towards most people’s trauma on the server. The person he does feel empathy for however is Dream, who of course did nothing wrong and is locked up in the prison which is just horrible oh no. Michael just truly does not care about what you’ve been through (as of now) which is why I’m gonna say Slytherin, because he does have Slytherin loyalty towards Mr Was Taken.

TL;DR

Tommy-Lion

Wilbur-Snake

Tubbo-Eagle

Techno-Eagle

Philza-Snake

Ranboo-Badger

Eret-Snake

Nikki-Badger

Fundy-Eagle

Dream-Snake

George-Eagle

Sapnap-Lion

Punz-Snake

Jack-Lion

Schlatt-Snake

Quackity-Snake

Karl-Badger

Sam-Badger

Ponk-Lion

Bad-Badger

Skeppy-Lion

Antfrost-Badger

Puffy-Lion

Foolish-Eagle

Slime-Badger

Purpled-Snake

Hannah-Badger

HBomb-Badger

Connor-Eagle

Alyssa-Lion

Callahan-Badger

Vik-Eagle

Lazar-Snake

Michael-Snake

So all together we have Seven lions, Ten Snakes, Seven Eagles and Ten Badgers. I think that’s fair tbh

[roselynflame]

i cant tell you how excited i am that you are a very cool person who also happens to like the ufc the same way i do (and that you share so many kind comments on my excessive posts lmao 😭)

i have to ask: who are your favourite fighters and why?? :D

IM SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER OMG!! so many things came up like my bf and his wisdom teeth removal and i finally went to the DMV FOR THE FIRST TIME!! and also i have medical stuff going on and school is starting up again soon WAHHH so MUCH!!!

i am so honored that you're in my inbox for the second time (SO SORRY FOR NOT RESPONDING THE FIRST TIME) and WAAHHHH to ask me about my FAV FIGHTERS???? AND WHY I LIKE THEM??????? QHAHHAHHJFHKEFJEWJFLEWKJLJ tumblr user verawhisk i feel so blessed that you exist

you are so cool and i LOVE ALL YOUR POSTING and im so so so glad i scoured tumblr for ufc content and found you :)))

as of my favs.... oh me oh my

strap yourself in this is gonna be a long one

first of all. i love brandon moreno. i have not been a fan for long, only about three weeks now, but he has earned my number one spot and is keeping it, forever. i could scream and cry and pee my pants talking about him, but i will keep calm because... wow. brandon moreno. he is just. everything that is wonderful about the world personified into one man.

i find his attitude in this line of work so refreshing, he's so respectful of other fighters and so kind while also being a complete badass and holding his own ground. and the fact that he's SUCH A SWEETIE???? HE MAKES HIS MONEY BY GETTING INTO A CAGE TO FIGHT ANOTHER PERSON AND BE TELEVISED DOING IT AND HE'S SUCH!! A SWEETIE!!

he collects legos and is married to a woman he's been dating since (i think) 18 and together they have three beautiful children and they're all GIRLS!! and he's so kind to his wife and his kids and so genuinely wholesome while being so mature and grounded and grateful for everything in his life.

also i find him so hot. he's such a baddie bro.

my bf was the one who got me into mma/ufc, and i have a running joke with him that i only like characters in media that are hot, so i asked him to show me hot fighters and well. brandon moreno was the second one he showed me lol!

the first one?

charles oliveira.

OH MY GOOOOOD charles was my introduction into ufc!! the first fight i ever watched was charles v. dustin and it was a great one to start with!! i love charles's fights because you're always guaranteed excitement and flare!! he's always moving in and being bold, and i truly adore how all of his fights go.

also he's so soooo fucking cute with his daughter oh my god???? he loves her so much and i can't fucking handle it

i love him so much... i also love how, like moreno, he came from a struggling background and how he had to struggle to become successful. no nepotism babies in my house! i think he's made such great strides, and i love seeing an underdog become a champ it’s so good. he deserves everything he's gotten.

do i sometimes question how humble he really is?? yeah. do i sometimes think maybe just mayybeee the fame and glory gets to him? mhm, yeah. do i also think i would be super cocky if i won against dustin and michael and justin and TONY FERGUSON??? oh definitely.

i love charles so much, it's just that now that i know more fighters and see other personalities, i feel conflicted about him bc i don't really know anything about his personality lmao.

i know the basics because you can always tell the basics, but i don't speak portuguese dawg i can't just go and watch interviews for him to see what he’s like 😭😭 not unless they're translated which... rarely they are from what i've seen 😭

it just feels harder to deep dive for him lol but im trying to make it work bc i love him :))

anyway i think he's super hot. he takes selfies like it's still the early 2010s and does not know how to pose for shit but he has a very nice body and the blond hair does him wonders. and the SHORTSSS WITH THE SLITS???? bro he has me SWOONING I SWEARRRR!!! i love early photos of him when he still had brown hair and that weird mohawk and the glasses bc his sight is so bad bc... what can i say i love me a loser. or well at least someone who looks a bit nerdy lol

i love charles!! he is second to moreno now, but he's my first ufc love and he was my first fight :))

anyway, those are my big two favs and the ones i keep up with the most, but i'm starting to branch out into other fighters too!! i will admit that i only really know lightweights and flyweights though lmao…

i love justin gaethje a lot!! when you started posting him with chandler it really boosted that love bc yay!! gaethje content!! i love his face so much, i think he's just such a cutie. his eyes really get me, and like charles, i love seeing older photos of him with his glasses!! i love seeing fighters look like losers because man oh man you'd never expect that they fight professionally haha

i think he's so cute and so silly and he reminds me of a little dog that's just a bit too clueless for its own good. he is so precious to me.

but his FIGHTING??? oh my god gaethje is such a powerhouse, and i love when you see him pull out the wrestling moves bc for someone who was an ncaa d1 wrestler, you don't see him use it a lot lol. but his STRIKING??????? holy moly i think i’d pay to get punched by him

i will admit that i have yet to watch more full fights of his, i've only seen him against charles (and we all know how that went...) and then some clips (mainly of michael and tony but a few dustin ones), but i love what i've seen

also his backflips? god he's so lovable. i wish he would post more on social media lmao.

speaking of tony, i also love him a lot!! tony is one of my boyfriend's favs, and i just... i love him so much. his social media captions are... really weird and i hate but love how he signs every instagram story with -CSO- and then the american and mexican flags 😭

i wasn't around for it, but i wish he did get the opportunity to fight khabib. ppl say that charles v islam is gonna be the tony v khabib we never got and i can get behind that thought process, i really can.

tony's 12 win streak ending because of gaethje is so bittersweet because i love both of them. i hate that tony is on this downward spiral, but you know, you only go for so long in this type of work. 38 isn't that old when it comes to life, but when it comes to mma... idk sometimes you just gotta know when to call it quits and i hope he doesn't push himself :/

also i think tony is so hot... idk how to explain it lol... he really is something else. ALSO THAT VOICE YOOOOOOOWEEEEEE!!!!!!

i also have a super soft spot for kai kara france!! i think he's a genuinely good person and him and his wife and son are a super cute family. i love seeing supportive spouses wahhh it makes me so happy.

kai is such a sweetheart and he deserves so much more. i talk about it with my bf all the time: kai deserves to be champ, he really does, but even if he beat moreno and went on to figgy, i think he would have lost. :/

figgy and moreno are just... leagues above the rest of the division, and yes them going against each other for the fourth time is lowkey repetitive... but like not really. all three of their fights have been so fucking engaging and it's crazy to see how equally matched they are. they're destined to fight. enemies to lovers slowburn soulmates.

but kai is amazing. just not... ready for figgy i feel yknow? i'd happily watch him and moreno fight again though.

ALSO THE FACT THAT HE'S MAORI??? WAHHFHEIHGEWHOEH I LOVE SEEING INDIGENOUS PPL INTEGRATE THEIR CULTURE INTO THEIR CONTENT

okay this is going on for so so long lmao... honorable mentions are dustin bc i'm trying to get into his content more and michael chandler bc your posts made me go and stalk his account. and kim jiyeon. she's new and i know nothing about her... she's also on a losing streak lmao... but she is HOOOOT. and i'm asian so i have to love other asians in ufc.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SENDING THIS AND READING THIS. i will now also send an ask to you LOLLLL

[instantbee]

Ilia Amitola and Winter Schnee, the Summer and Winter Maidens

a.k.a. Instantbee's pet crack theory

Ilia art from: Petracore101 www.tumblr.com/blog/view/petracore101/639791009801306112

TL:DR:

Differences: Atlas Elite/Mantle Nobody, Human/Faunus, Oppressor /Freedom Fighter, Creation/Destruction, Winter/Summer

Similarities: Authoritarian Strongman that they betray, Sense of profound guilt over their role in their former organization, desire to make up for that, deep need for a path in life and a way to help people, connection to team RWBY

Winter/Summer, opposites but so, so, similar. Long version is under the cut

Okay to start off with, a foundational reason behind this theory actually doesn't have anything to do with Ilia or Winter directly, but rather who they relate to

Maidens and Team RWBY

All the maidens so far have personal connections to members of team RWBY.

Spring/Raven-Yang (Mother/Daughter)

Fall/Cinder-Ruby (Chosen Expys for leaders in a millennia long war)

Winter/Winter-Weiss (Sister/Sister)

It seems odd to leave Blake out. It seems really odd to leave Blake out actually. But who's a young woman who could assume the powers that has a connection to Blake Belladonna? A deep, personal connection that would make their interactions in some way resonant thematically or interpersonally?

Oh hey there

Ilia and Blake have the interpersonal connection required to make Blake's exclusion from the connections to Maidens that the rest of her team has go away. Ilia is also the only character that Blake has that level of connection to that also meets the requirements to be a Maiden. Sure they could introduce that and build it in Vacuo but, Ilia is already a character. Why make a new one?

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #1 Complete

Maidens have a connection/relationship to one another that has nothing to do with team RWBY

Raven-Cinder (fought, used each other in plans)

Cinder-Winter (I "Killed" your sister, also Atlas Elite hang ups)

Winter needs to have a relationship with the Summer maiden in order to make them interesting as a dynamic on their own. Someone that would be interesting to pair with Winter. Someone that may have thematic similarities to Winter. While being different enough to create tension and explore some new ideas.

Oh hey there

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #2 Complete

Shockingly similar lives

They both grew up in Atlas. Winter was the Schnee Heiress, Ilia's parents worked for the Schnees.

Both of those situations end in disaster and a girl without a family looks for somewhere to go.

Both flee their initial place in Atlas and take up with a strong, authoritarian leader. A charismatic man that told them he understood their hardships, that he got it and that he could help them find a new path.

Both of them put their faith in this man. Both of them believed this man's goals were for the greater good. Both of them stayed by this man's side long after it became obvious that the reasons they had initially joined him had been a lie, or at least had turned into one.

Both of them broke with a member of Team RWBY over this allegiance. Both of them eventually saw the error of their ways. Both of them eventually fought this man in the Finale of a season of RWBY. Both of them joined the other side after this conflict. Both of them were left with guilt in their role and a desire to make amends. Both could use the Maiden powers to do so.

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #3 Complete

Opposites are cool actually

This isn't so much theory building on stuff in canon as it is wishful thinking and it's where we really start verging into crack theory land.

Obviously this is all highly dependent on who the Summer Maiden is, if Ilia is even in Vacuo at any point, and has like, zero, canon validation behind it at all. But nonetheless I continue on because I love the theory and I love Ilia and I wanna see the lil Lizard again, preferably with a role to play in the story

I think that a really cool way for CRWBY to take the Maidens is for the Summer and Winter Maidens to be like mirror images of one another. Opposites but also so incredibly similar.

The idea of playing with opposites is super interesting to me. Summer/Winter, Destruction/Creation, and possibly...

Faunus/Human?

The idea that the Summer Maiden should be a Faunus is hardly unique to this post. There hasn't been a Faunus Maiden yet and there really should be. Illa would fit that role and also provide a stark contrast to Winter Schnee as the Winter Maiden. Not just Human/Faunus but Schnee/Faunus

Creation/Destruction

Possibly more obvious but Winter and Summer's respective relics are opposites. Creation and destruction are opposite ideas but as RWBY has shown before not so opposite as one would think. One can create to destroy and destroy to create. If one were to build up the Winter and Summer maidens as opposites of one another that are really rather similar then Ilia and Winter fit that role.

Summer/Winter

I mean, come on, they're literally opposite seasons

Crack Theory Puzzle Piece #4 Complete

To sum up

I got nothing to sum up. This is a crack theory based around way too much speculation and a burning desire to have Ilia be super important to the show.

I want this

Even if it doesn't really make sense. But I think it kinda does

@shallitickleyournerdbutton I did the thing

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

Game Master Akuma AU by  crisisdparity

Xavier Duchamp was rather proud of himself. What he had before him was an absolute masterpiece of a campaign if he did say so himself. The product of over six months of study, research, and rebalancing efforts followed by two weeks of discussion with his five players to hash out schedules, meeting times, characters, backstories, potential character arcs, and getting them set up with a messaging app that was really good for sending discrete messages between the GM and the players. Valentine and her boyfriend Justin were onboard in an instant. Within days, he’d greenlighted their Half-Elf Bard of the College of Glamour whose spell list was 100% Illusion spells and Half-Orc Fighter (Eldritch Knight) who was focusing entirely on Abjuration as Rena Rouge and Carapace respectively. Olivia had spent a few days coming up with a Halfling Rogue and debating subclasses with him until settling on Scout. Along with some discussion over how her special magic item’s stunning and paralysis effect would work with Sneak Attack, the campaign had its Vesperia. Jeanette had gone back and forth with him for a week looking at various homebrew subclasses for her Gnome Artificer before they both agreed on one particular Master Tinkerer entry that would be balanced and do the character justice. And with that they had their Ladybug. Even Matt was on board with a stealthy human Chat the Barbarian using the Path of the Beast. The class choice was something Matt had insisted on (and that Xavier would have suggested anyway just for the high hit point totals given Matt’s history with characters dying) and he’d even come up with a backstory that Xavier felt was quite compelling compared to Matt’s usual efforts. Morally ambiguous, likely to be tempted by promises of power, but with a great deal of story potential to work with. Which was a relief. Getting a new player into their group to replace Matt was not something Xavier really felt comfortable with. There were too many unknowns with introducing a new person, far too many for him to risk his masterpiece on an unknown factor. He knew Matt. He could work with Matt. Despite the history. He’d put everything he had into this. Every known Akuma ever fought by the heroes had been made into a boss-tier foe. He’d carefully documented each and every power the heroes had shown to craft special legendary magic items based on the Miraculous. Hawkmoth and Mayura themselves were going to be the final bosses of his campaign. In response to criticism about the difficulty of his campaigns (he tried to make them fair, but still challenging enough to be memorable), he’d made several guest NPCs based on every other hero that had ever been called upon, statted out like player characters that might show up in a pinch to help. He even had a genuine Deus ex Machina that he was ready to use to get the players out of a truly impossible jam if they found themselves in one. Not always, but a few times at least. Enough to get them to the point where they wouldn’t need it anymore. —– It was thirty minutes in, right in the middle of exposition from the Guardian NPC, when Xavier got his first message on the app. Matt/Chat - Chat’s going to wait until everyone breaks up and follow Ladybug stealthily. Xavier/GM - Starting party conflict on the first session? Not what I’d advise, but it’s your character. Go ahead and make your Stealth roll now. Matt/Chat - <photo> 17 Xavier/GM - Yeah, that beats everyone’s passive Perception easily. You’ll sneak off handily without anyone noticing. —– “Jeanette, Ladybug is grabbed from behind by an unknown assailant. Roll to resist the grapple.” “Geez, already? Okay, what did my assailant get for their grapple? How screwed am I?” Xavier pretended to roll a die while consulting the message from Matt. “19.” “Okay, difficult, but not undoable… Crap.” “What’d you get?” “Nat 1…” “Hah! I rip off her earrings and claim them for myself! The Wish is mine!” “Seriously Matt?! What the hell?!” “Because it’s payback time! Payback for every character of mine killed in these hellish

campaigns!” “Oh, come on! You’re not the only person whose had a character die at this table! <GM> runs some pretty challenging campaigns, but they’re always fair!” “What about the time he killed Allric the Allmighty in a single round of combat?” “Dude, you tried to Leroy Jenkins straight into melee with a 4th-level Wizard that had a CON penalty. Even at full health you had like 10 hp.” “14!” “Not much better, dude.” “Guys, it’s fine. I can handle this. Okay, Matt. Chat the Barbarian managed to get the earrings-” “Yeah, Ladybug screams bloody murder when he rips them out. Good luck getting out of this in one piece.” “The moment Rena hears Ladybug scream, she bolts for the sound.” “So does Carapace.” “Vesperia too.” “-and with their current locations and movement speeds, I assume you’re all using the Dash action?, you’ve got maybe one round to decide on your Wish before they’re all over you, so choose carefully. And be aware that I plan to grant whatever you wish for in the worst possible way, just as I would if any of the others pulled this.” “Rena screams ‘What the HELL, Chat?! We’re supposed to protect the Miraculous, not use them for our own selfish purposes! Didn’t you listen to the Guardian? Such actions always bring misfortune upon those who misuse the Miraculous!’” “Because I am Chat, avatar of Destruction and I WISH THIS WORLD NEVER EXISTED!” There was dead silence at the table. “Matt… What… just… WHAT?!” “Hah! You like that?! How does it feel now that the shoe’s on the other foot, huh?!” “What the hell is your problem, Matt?!” “My problem? MY problem?! Do you know how much time I’ve spent making characters for these shitty campaigns only to have them turned into paste in one session?!” “Because you made primary spellcasters and played every last one of them like a barbarian, charging in headfirst without thinking! All of us breathed a sigh of relief when you revealed that your character finally matched your playstyle!” “I HATE BARBARIANS! THEY’RE BORING! I SHOULD GET TO PLAY CHARACTERS THAT CAN AT LEAST CHUCK FIREBALLS!” “THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP RUNNING THEM FACE FIRST INTO ENEMY SWORDS!” “NONE OF YOU COULD EVER HANDLE THE FACT THE I MAKE MORE AWESOME CHARACTERS THAN ANY OF YOU, SO YOU JUST LET THIS DOUCHEBAG KILL THEM OFF SO YOU WOULDN’T GET OVERSHADOWED BY HOW AMAZING I AM! WELL NOW I KILLED SOMETHING YOU ALL WORKED HARD ON, SO SUCK IT! I’M DONE WITH ALL OF YOU FOREVER!” “MATT! HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU JERK! MATT!” “Crap, I think Olivia might actually kill him this time…” “It’s going to take all of us to stop her from getting arrested at least.” Xavier just watched numbly as the rest of the group ran out of his apartment. Over six months of work. Gone in less than an hour. He’d given so much to making sure this would work. He’d apologized to Matt at least twice for every character of his that had died to get him to come back. He’d agreed to demand after demand just to keep a familiar face on board, never dreaming he’d pull something like this. He’d nearly gotten fired from his job trying to rearrange his schedule to fit with everyone else’s. They’d somehow, miraculously, gotten the whole day with no other obligations among any of them and decided to make the first session a true marathon. They’d meet in the morning after breakfast and eat both lunch and dinner at the game table before calling it a night late in the evening. It was barely 10:00 in the morning and the whole campaign he’d slaved over for months was kaput. He never noticed the butterfly landing on his custom Miraculous-themed Game Master screen and being absorbed into it. “Game Master, I am Hawkmoth. Few people appreciate the kind of effort that goes into making something truly grand and memorable. I shall give you the power to bring your entire world to life and in return, I ask only for a few simple things.” This was wrong. Hawkmoth was the worst of the worst. The kind of person who would be at home among all the final bosses he’d ever made for his campaigns. Heartless, manipulative, cruel. “Not

enough? Ah, but what is a game without players? How would you like to have the Miraculous heroes themselves run your great campaign? Surely they would be far more appreciative than those ungrateful peons that left you alone with nothing but the broken remains of your efforts.” He knew all these things, but the allure of bringing the world he’d spent so much time on to life… What creator could ever turn down an offer like that? “I, the Game Master, accept… Hawkmoth.” “Excellent. And in exchange, you shall bring me one of two things: The Miraculous, or the identities of their wielders.” “No.” Hawkmoth was silent for a moment. “I beg your pardon?” “I said no. I am the Game Master. I make the world. I craft the challenges. I decide the rewards. But I do not do anything for anyone. If you want these things, get them yourself.” “If you refuse me, it shall be very unpleasant for you.” “No. As Game Master, I decide the limits of all powers within my realm. And I decide that you have none over me.” And with that, he unleashed his creation over all of Paris, drawing everyone and everything within into his sphere of influence. —– Ladybug blinked the spots (ha) out of her eyes as the flash of light died down and looked at herself. She didn’t remember transforming, but she was clearly in her spots. Except her red and black superhero uniform didn’t usually look like it was headed to a steampunk convention. Looking around, she tried to figure out what had happened and her eyes landed on a familiar belt and pants combo. Problem. Whoever this was, their groin was at eye level for her. She looked up. And up. To find a grinning Chat Noir, sans anything resembling a shirt and having put on at least a foot of height and apparently a hundred pounds of pure muscle, grinning down at her. “How’s the weather down there?” Chat Noir chuckled as he flexed his unfairly attractive muscleman physique. “I WILL END YOU!” the heroine snarled, already 100% done with whatever new insanity Hawkmoth had cooked up. Characters: Ladybug - Gnome Artificer (Master Tinkerer - Homebrew) Chat Noir - Human Barbarian (Path of the Beast) —– Vesperia had to admit, as Akuma attacks went, this was pretty dope. She was currently a halfling. A halfling! If it wasn’t for her fantasy ensemble being yellow and black, she’d have thought she stepped straight out of Lord of the Rings. Of course, fantasy setting or not, there were still things she’d have rather left back in the real world. Like racism. And stigma against mixed couples. Not directed at her, but rather at the two walking down the street next to her. “You know, people are staring…” she said as she craned her head to look at her companions. “Let them,” the Half-Elf Rena Rouge (who looked like a cross between a musician and a belly dancer) said from her perch atop the shoulders of the heavily armored (and surprisingly buff) Half-Orc Carapace. “They’re just jealous because their boyfriends can’t carry them everywhere.” Characters: Vesperia - Halfling Rogue (Scout) Rena Rouge - Half-Elf Bard (College of Glamour) Carapace - Half-Orc Fighter (Eldritch Knight) —– Ryuko blinked as she studied the apparent snake-man-thing before her who claimed to be Viperion. She lifted a hand to study it and found what appeared to be bronze scales covering every inch of her skin. She sniffed herself, smelling the sharp tang of ozone. What was she? And why did she appear to be wearing wooden armor? Characters: Ryuko - Dragonborn (bronze) Druid (Circle of Storms - Third Party) Viperion - Naga Sorcerer (Divination Magic - Homebrew) —– Polymouse giggled as her friends ran over her. Okay, she’d freaked out a little to find a swarm of mice (with hair like hers no less) crawling all over her surprisingly mouse-like body when she’d come to in the middle of some forest somewhere. But she’d gotten over it pretty quickly. It helped that her new friends were adorable. It might help more if she could figure out where she was. Or find another person. Characters: Polymouse - Kobold

(rodentlike) Ranger (Swarmkeeper - Reskinned) —– Purple Tigress sighed as she felt the hair (fur?) on the top of her head being shifted around and twitched her new catlike ears in mild annoyance. “Are you quite done?” “Almost!” Pigella’s cheerful voice answered. “Your fur is so comfy!” Tigress sighed. Of course Pigella would end up being a fairy, and having her normal cheerful enthusiasm cranked up to previously unimagined levels. “I love you dearly, but if you start shouting 'hey listen’ I will stick you in a bottle.” “Aw, I love you too! Hey, what’s that?” “I think it’s my character sheet?” Characters: Purple Tigress - Tabaxi Paladin (Oath of Glory) Pigella - Fairy Cleric (Order Domain - Reskinned) —– “According to my analysis, we have been placed into what appears to be a Dungeons and Dragons campaign under 5th edition rules,” Pegasus stated in a mechanical monotone. “I am apparently a Warforged Wizard using the School of Conjuration whose spells create portals to bridge dimensions and summon or banish my intended targets. You are what is known as a Simic Hybrid, with the class of Monk, following the Way of the Drunken Master.” “Aweshum,” King Monkey slurred, his generally human appearance clad in monk’s robes marred by his monkey-like hands and feet as well as the monkey tail swishing behind him. “Why do you keep slurring like that? According to my sensors, your gourd is filled with only water.” “Gotta keep up appearanshes!” King Monkey grinned as he continued faking drunkenness. Characters: Pegasus - Warforged Wizard (School of Conjuration - Reskinned) King Monkey - Simic Hybrid Monk (Way of the Drunken Master) —– Hawkmoth studied the dark red horns growing out of his head in the mirror. The change in appearance was disconcerting, but he felt a rush of power in this new form that he’d never felt before. “Hmm… perhaps I can work with this…” “Speak for yourself…” Mayura muttered off to the side, ruffling her peacock-like feathers in annoyance as she tried to glare at the beak on her own face. Characters: Hawkmoth - Tiefling Dark Lord, Warlock Patron, Contracted by Lila Rossi, Volpina, Queen Wasp, and many others. Mayura - Kenku Assistant to the Dark Lord, Creator of Monsters —– “Oh, come on!” A figure in a cyan and white hooded robe complained as they waved a similarly colored umbrella around angrily. “Everyone else gets to be part of this adventure, why can’t I join them?” “Because you’re too OP. You’d completely break everything and remove all challenge from the adventure.” “But sitting around is no fun at all!” “If you like, I can put you in the position of the main quest giver. Your job would be to direct them towards their enemies and means of becoming stronger.” “That’s it?! I’m on 'mysterious hooded figure’ duty? Boo! Why can’t I fight with them?!” “Because you’re too OP. But if you insist, I’ll allow some Deus ex Machina interventions.” “YES!” “Five.” “I’m sorry?” “I’ll allow five interventions at your discretion to aid them when they are in peril. Once you have come to their aid five times, I will allow no more meetings save to impart quest information.” “That’s it?” “Yes. Choose your interventions wisely.” “So… if I manage to save one for when they fight Hawmoth and Mayura in the final battle…?” “Then I would allow you to join them of course.” “Score!” Characters: Bunnyx: Mysterious Hooded Figure, Deus-ex-Machina (5) Game Master: Akuma Lord of the Miraculous Campaign —– Addendum When the Game Master is finally purified and the damage reversed, it turns out that he took the effort to trap all of Paris in a temporal stasis bubble so that no matter how long passed inside no more than a few moments passed outside. Meaning that after what seemed like months in the bubble, it’s basically less than a minute after he was akumatized when everything is put back. All his friends, minus Matt, come back in bringing a new person named Zack that they vetted themselves to take Matt’s place in case he pulled something like what he did. And while he

has a similar playstyle to Matt, he’s savvy enough to know what kind of characters that is suited for and he loves playing barbarians. They all sit back down and restart the game they were all looking forward to.

—-

oh wow- that’s- wow. good job dude, seems like you worked on this a lot. Next time You should post this on your own account though, as this isn’t getting tagged or anything. Thank you though, you did a good job with this.

[harley-style]

DREAM SMP Swap AU

Dream = Wilbur : Dream comes into the server to help these two kids who are trying to stir shit up -- why not, right? He's got a fondness for chaos but also very protective and caring over his friends. VERY FOND OF TUBBO. To the point of.. well, brotherhood. Wilbur = Dream : He had a vision, to create a place where people could emancipate -- he's not above being the bad guy to keep that ideal in place. He's charming and self-confident and isn't afraid to use blackmail or get all up in your business. Has dirt on everyone but Dream. Constantly threatens secrets but subtle, yanno? Again, very charming, very persuasive.

Tubbo = Tommy : Still very sweet, but Big Crime often comes out to play more often than not. Also a huge trouble magnet, tried to start a...Honey smuggling empire? For some fucking reason, despite its innocent sounding plan, is a threat to Wilbur's land but no one has any idea why. Tommy = Tubbo : Tommy has an innate fucking fixation on music discs. He's got Cat and Mellohi personally. He dreams of starting up a music cafe/music area...? He and Dream get along swimmingly, Dream actually gifts Tommy a few music discs too, but also pins Tommy with the name discount Dave Strider.

Fundy = Eret : Was convinced earlier on by Wilbur to continue his 'legacy' and ideals. Fundy further grows into a neutral party, doing things only when it benefits him. Is the traitor from the first war. Eret = Fundy : Gets far too involved with stuff and the only way out is if he wiggles through the restraints on him. Yes that's metaphorical.

JSchlatt = Technoblade : Assists through uses of contracts and business deals. Like, hello, Tubbo's Honey smuggling business? He and Dream make an agreement, he supplies Dream and Tubbo with shit, and Dream does favors for Schlatt. Technoblade = Jschlatt : Anarchy lmfao. Was actually brought on by Wilbur in secret. Acted as a benefactor for Dream before turning around and causing chaos in the land Dream Tubbo and Tommy built. Blood for the blood god, only the strongest gets to the top kind of government. There's always fucking pitfights. Oops.

Philza = Callahan : Largely uninvolved in the events, mostly just there to supervise Wilbur, Tommy and Techno. Duh. Callahan = Philza : Has personal history with Dream, tries to convince him not to do the thing that could hurt everyone else. Minimally succeeds.

Alyssa = Niki : Ready to defend her home and her family. Niki = Alyssa : Neutral, but ready to back Wilbur up if need be.

Sapnap = Bad : Arsonist, goes around and burns shit whenever he wants to. His base is a Nether inspired fortress. Also, he has to deal with a Nether problem in reference to the Red Vine problem from the original SMP. Hotlands? LMFAO Bad = Sapnap : Helps when asked. Started out on Wilbur's side, as a favor, but slowly shifts neutral due to the conflict between factions.

Karl = Skeppy : Gets held hostage? That's what preoccupies Sapnap's time. He suddenly disappeears or gets trapped in a cell. Skeppy = Karl : Runs around doing supply runs. Gets his friends into various stints to try and settle the conflict through friendly rivalry and competition. It doesn't always work.

George = Ranboo : Unlike original Ranboo, George is highly unsympathetic and needs concrete fucking facts before he acts, and that kind of backfires on him in the end. As a favor to Dream (how many favors is Dream involved in honestly) he runs messages back and forth from Tubbo to Tommy. Ranboo = George : Largely uninvolved in the conflict, like Niki, but unlike OG George, is not absent. He's just there to assist. One of the most innocent and purest people on the SMP, knows when to keep his head down. When his house burns down, he doesn't really believe its Tubbo who did it -- he knows the kid has been framed because he'd been WITH him at the time, but Wilbur pressures him to admit it.

Quackity = Punz : Wilbur's loyal paid henchman. Quackity will cause shit for the appropriate price, he's not exceptionally picky. That stunt he did as Mexican Dream was great and everyone in L'Manberg loved it. Punz = Quackity : One of the best fighters under Techno. Has more morals, but keeps them secretly. Very good at hiding his true intentions/feelings.

(sorry about the other characters not being on here, i dont know them enough to make swaps, or dont know who they'd make a good swap with. Swap who you wanna swap though! i'd like to hear your take on this matter! HEADCANONS ACCEPTED TOO AT THIS POINT EVERYTHING HERE IS FROM WHAT I REMEMBER AND MY HEADCANONS)

PLOT

-Wilbur starts the SMP with Niki, slowly invites others like Ranboo, Tommy, and Tubbo.

-Tubbo expresses a desire to Fuck Shit Up and Tommy says they can get Dream, he's an expert at getting away.

-Dream is extremely protective of them both. Tubbo more than Tommy but that's fine because Tommy is largely independent.

-Tubbo gets in the weirdest shit but Tommy can roll with the punches really quickly.

-Wilbur gets tired of their crap and burns down Tubbo's establishment. It's like the Disc Wars except it's the Great Honey War. Bee War? Basically he's tired of Tubbo hogging all the Honey related expenditures.

-Dream gets the idea to make a honey smuggling empire, as a joke, but Tubbo is Big Crime and he's going with it. Tommy just wants chaos, and he was getting bored tbh.

-Eventually the Honey thing turns into Resource management, so Tubbo Dream and Tommy have a hold on all major supplies

-Shit happens and Dream, Tubbo, Tommy, Eret, Sam, Fundy and Alyssa establish an independent nation. Dunno what to call it bc the server is called the L'manberg SMP so....

-The fight for indepencence still happens. Instead of 'Green boy' Wilbur is named 'E-boy'. Dream still says "WE HAVE NO MERCY FOR YOU" when Wil calls for a ceasefire negotiation, but Wilbur does threaten the nation saying  "If there is no white flag by tomorrow, then you can kiss your sorry little arses good bye. That's my final warning."

-Turns out Fundy's been secretly funneling information to Wilbur in exchange for the safety of his friends, and also because Wilbur's his dad....uhm. Also! He and Dream are circling each other and others are like "OH MY GOD YOU GUYS ARE DEAD RINGERS FOR QUEERPLATONIC MATES JUST MARRY ALREADY" bc I like FundyWasTaken but others might not and its okay, we'll label it as platonic, but can be read otherwise depending on your tastes. But for this, it's very close platonic.

-Wilbur goads Tommy into a fight, as brothers do, but Tubbo steps in and Wilbur fucking jumps at the chance.

-This is the start of Dream's descent into madness. No one fucking threatens or pulls one of his friends like that. Denied. It's still subtle though, so he's okay for now.

-Tubbo and Wilbur face off. When Tubbo pulls back bc he genuinely doesn't want to hurt anyone, Wilbur takes the chance and beats him.

-Tubbo, however, makes a deal. Let their nation stand on its own, and he'll give up the Resource Empire he started. Wilbur accepts, with the condition that they unify their alliance with a...marriage? So basically, political marriage between Wilbur's heir, Fundy, and Dream, the leader of the revolution.

-YEAH I WENT THERE THIS IS VALID

-They're strained at first, but Dream and Fundy slowly mend their relationship post-betrayal.

-Fast forward a few months later. The Nation doesn't really have a leader, as per the agreement, but it does have a representative. All decisions are made via majority votes, and that decision is voiced by the rep and sub-rep, Dream and Tubbo respectively. Tommy's just there to have a good time and causes chaos as per usual.

-Enter Technoblade. He's been called in by Wilbur to...ah. Dismantle a little...nation. Sounds right up his alley. But he asks Wilbur to wait and see what happens.

-Tommy and Dream get the idea to hold a tournament to celebrate their independence, an all out brawl for everyone to kick back and relieve stress. There. That's where Techno comes in.

-He gets Punz to join him after like, being paid (ofc) and they fucking dominate the tournament. Dream's about to congratulate them but Techno turns the fuck around and declares his right to rule the nation. If anyone wants to fight him for the title, they're welcome to try.

-Dream loses another life to Techno trying and failing to fight it. He and a few others lost their first life sometime elsewhere? I guess? Probably by being blown up by Wilbur, idk.

-Tubbo and Dream are chased out by people who reluctantly follow Techno's orders, and Tommy, torn between his friends and his brothers, stays behind. Oh jeezus.

-Since Techno is a fighting GOD, no one's able to usurp him to make things turn back to normal. But Dream is smart, and knows Wilbur's 100% behind this. Fundy kind of knew but didn't do shit about it, which is why Dream rejects Fundy's offer of sanctuary. He can't be sure his husband will stay on his side, after all. It's nothing personal.

-Dream and Tubbo hide away somewhere, probably not a ravine but?? A mountain or something? They manage to get Sam away enough to ask him to build a super cool Redstone contraption thing that opens for them. ooooo.

-I'm not good at names but for the sake of jokes I'm gonna call their land the 'Bee's Knees' bc at some point Tubbo finds a fuckton of Hives hanging from Trees. Bee Mountain if Dream's feeling especially salty.

-SPEAKING OF DREAM. his insanity is on course now, it's slowly eating away at him and in fear of hurting Tubbo he's slowly distancing himself away. Tubbo's like what's wrong but Dream can't answer -- he doesn't know what's wrong with himself either.

-Tubbo and Dream need to go back and confront Techno, but they can't wait for long else Techno's going to obliterate everyone and their extra lives. They call Schlatt in.

-Schlatt's a pure business man and draws up a contract. He'll aid them in terms of supplies, but most of the revolution is on them. They agree.

-Tommy is actually really fucking good at lying and skirting around what he reveals to Dream and tubbo as a spy that Techno would have believed him if he didnt' know his brother. and Wilbur's warnings, of course. That results in Techno just being fucking done with Tommy's bullshit and plans his execution in another tournament? I guess?

-It doesn't go like the festival. First of all, Schlatt can't fight for shit, so why would Techno call him up the stage? No, Schlatt fights dirty. techno doesn't set much rules so theres no rule against poisoning Tommy quick and easy before the fight. Tommy loses another life and is on his last. Tubbo is spitting mad, but Schlatt points out that nothing in the contract covered this, so he's free to do as necessary. Tubbo is stopped by Dream who, at this point, is just overtaken by the need to one-up Techno.

-Also, Wilbur's been slowly persuading Dream to just. Let go. Let the monster inside of him free, he 'deserves it'. By the end of it all, Dream does. He snaps and lets loose the monster crying for blood inside him.

-Callahan is left to convince his old friend not to do it. In a moment of clarity, Dream stares on in horror of what he'd done. In his rage he managed to deplete ALL of Techno's lives (not really but shhhh), cause massive bloodshed, and terrified everyone in the process. He asks Callahan to kill him. Callahan does.

-Yes we'll get to Ghost Dream eventually.

-Anyway, Schlatt still does the Wither plan, because, uh, Drunken Rage. He was so stressed out from the ensuing conflict that he's like "LETS JUST FINISH THE REST OF YOU. THERE WILL BE NO CONFLICT IF YOU ARENT THERE TO FIGHT."

-and then he uses the line from the Lego movie on Tubbo like "Oh, Tubbster. It's nothing personal. It's just Business(tm)".

-Schlatt still dies of stroke. He does come back as a ghost though, that's one main difference.

-After everything's said and done, and the dust has settled, everyone decides to disband the nation, and just live their lives. like, they're done, wilbur, they get your point, jfc, let them rest.

-but uhhhh someone frames tubbo for setting fire to ranboo's (the server sweetheart) house. wilbur immediately decides to exile tubbo in 'anger'. acutally, he wants tommy and tubbo separated.

-tommy's not standing for it though, he fucking fights his way until wilbur threatens him and tubbo's like YES FINE OKAY I'LL AGREE TO BEING EXILED STOP THREATENING YOUR BROTHER

-tubbo's exile arc is not as sad as tommy's, but rather very tense because wilbur keeps riling tubbo up and taunting him. he still keeps contact with tommy though because they arent going to be separated just like that. no way. tubbo just gets a little more mad and gets short tempered like a lot.

-ranboo's not even that mad about it, he knows tubbo would never burn his house, there was a conspiracy on board and even if there wasn't he's like "arent yall overreacting its just a house, didnt you all do this like before the first war even began, what even (also, ranboo was WITH tubbo at the time of his house allegedly being set on fire. Not that he'll admit to it, because he and tubbo made that agreement long before)

-eventually he finds out that wilbur just wanted to pin the blame on tubbo to make him leave, and ranboo's like "IM DONE WITH YOUR CRAP WILLBUR STOP HURTING THE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT" and leaves

-with the nation gone, people started to solidify their groups. sapnap and karl deal with their own thing, quackity still runs errands for wilbur, george is the main person ferrying messages from tubbo to tommy back and forth, etc.

-there's a funeral for dream, ofc, fundy arranged it. all of dream's shit was hidden because fundy doesnt want wilbur to get it.

-niki's still there managing her bakeshop but doubles as an informant for wilbur because she's well liked within the server

-ghost dream is present and he's a chaotic troll who mostly hangs around tommy. he's really hyper active and is always on the move, you can never catch him sitting still for like, 5 minutes

THAT"S ALL I HAVE FOR MY SMP SWAP AU PLEASE BE GENTLE I DONT HAVE TIME TO GET ALL THE FACTS STRAIGHT FROM THE OG SMP qwq

[random-french-girl]

On Fate and Choice

I remember watching RWBY volume 1, and rolling my eyes at Beacon’s method for establishing partnerships, and teams. “The first person you make eye contact with” is going to be your partner for four years? Really? And the pairs of partners forming a team will be put together according to... the relic each pair happens to retrieve from the forest? Okay, Ozpin, you weirdo mystical man.

At the time, I chalked it out to fantasy conventions - stories with “destiny” and “fate” and “chosen ones” abound, after all. Does it make sense to base the structure of your school, and the education of your word’s future protectors, on pure chance? No. But, whatever. It’s a fun trope, it’s fine, I don’t have a problem with it.

Volume 7 made me rethink this issue when they introduced the Ace Ops. Clearly Atlas Academy, and Ironwood’s, way of putting teams together is the exact opposite of Ozpin’s. Nothing is left to chance: everyone is evaluated, their strengths and weaknesses assessed, and paired up with the person who compliments them best, to form a “perfect team”. Sure, it’s a little impersonal - this is Atlas, there’s not a lot of space for sentimentality - but, let’s be honest: doesn’t it seem like Ironwood’s method would be much more effective than Ozpin’s? “Fate” and “Luck” are pretty words, sure, but practically speaking, it could really backfire, and produce super dysfunctional partnerships and teams. What if you’re running through the woods, and Cardin is the first person you see? Ozpin just shrugs and says “Sucks to be you, I guess” and takes a sip? Ironwood’s method isn’t perfect, but at least he tries to put some thoughts into it, to make sure the teams are made of compatible people. 

And then, it dawned on me, finally. The Beacon Way isn’t actually Fate, it’s Choice. Telling the students their partner will be determined by luck is a test, and a clever one: Ozpin wants to see what choice they make with that information. When you’re told something will be decided out of luck alone, you have a choice to make: do nothing and accept whatever happens, the fatalistic perspective if you will, or determine your own luck. Make your own fate. 

And most of our characters do make a choice, or intend to: Ruby has that whole internal monologue about who she should choose, Yang is looking for Ruby, Pyrrha chooses Jaune, Nora and Ren choose each other, Blake chooses Yang. Even Weiss chooses Ruby instead of Jaune.

ironwood’s students don’t have a choice: they’re told the best possible choice has been made for them. This is the true example of determinism, with all its negative consequences: the Ace Ops are great fighters, they work together like a well-oiled machine... and when conflict arises, it’s very obvious that they didn’t choose to work together. 

Ozpin, on the contrary, forces his students to ACT. To choose for themselves.  Beacon’s education has been all about choice, from the very beginning, for our characters: their choice to come to Beacon in the first place VS their choice to stay, their choice to accept or refuse destiny, their choice to get better. (I mean, come one, Beacon has the RELIC OF CHOICE, it’s not even that subtle). But what it does is, it makes for much stronger partnerships, because while Ironwood’s students only have to accept ONE choice made for them, and not think about it ever again, Ozpin’s students have to learn that choice isn’t one single act, it’s a continuous effort. To make it work, they have to keep choosing each other, every step of the way. This is Blake and Yang’s entire story, but it’s also Ruby and Weiss, Jaune and Ren and Nora, team RWBY as a whole, RWBY and JNR together... 

So, it’s no surprise then, that in difficult times, faced with controversial decisions from their leader, the Ace Ops so badly loose against RWBY. They never really chose to be a team in the first place. 

(Now I gotta admit, the whole “chess pieces as a basis for pairing up the partners” is a little wonky, but we can give Ozpin little a mystical fantasy convention, as a treat. Although, if we’re being fair, it is still a choice made by the students: which relic they take is entirely up to them...)

[aspoonofsugar]

There is something that seems quite curious to me and that is that of all the characters that obtain the maiden's power the only one who really wants to be a maiden is Cinder while the others see it as a horrible burden and the only time a character appreciates having these powers and frames them as something heroic as Winter does is because there is no longer the burden of guarding the vault and relic.

Hello anon!

I have talked about the Maidens here and here and I think these two metas cover the first point of your ask.

In short, being a Maiden is a duty and it basically means to sacrifice what you want for what you must do. At least, at the current state of things (which might change before the end).

Let’s highlight that reconciling wants and needs is at the root of both Pyrrha and Penny’s arcs.

Penny: I feel like I wish I could do both the things I need to do and the things I want to do. Is that normal?

Both Pyrrha and Penny have been designed by others to be heroes.

On one hand Pyrrha is a world-renowned fighter that everyone puts on a pedestal. On the other hand Penny was born to be a “protector with a soul”.

Let’s highlight that both girls do want to be heroes and to help others.

For example, when it comes to Pyrrha:

Pyrrha: I've always felt as though I was destined to become a Huntress - to protect the world... and it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right.

However, this is not the only “destiny” Pyrrha envisions for herself:

It's my destiny To be in love with you

She sees Jaune as her destiny too.

Pyrrha wants to both be a Huntress and to have a fulfilling relationship with Jaune. Still, things play out so that she is forced to choose and she chooses her duty.

Penny too is in a similar situation:

Penny: I just wanted to say how excited I am to be working with you in a professional capacity. As friends!

Penny wants to protect Atlas, Mantle and her friends, but she also wants to be her own person. In the end she manages to reconcile these two parts of herself, but tragically she does so when it is too late and she is already dying.

So, being a Maiden is hard and it is a sacrifice... if you truly act as a Maiden should of course.

This is why Raven, who is only thinking about herself, has managed to dance around the conflict surrounding her kingdom and her relic. She has simply chosen to abandon them and to leave her teenage daughter to take care of the magical object she is supposed to protect. She is not truly acting as a Maiden should, but is only prioritizing herself.

That said, this does not come without consequences and in the end she is still sacrificing a part of herself out of selfishness and fear. In other words, she too is struggling with what she should do and her selfish desires.

Ozpin even highlights this conflict in relation to the Branwen twins:

Ozpin: Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest.

Finally, here comes Cinder.

Cinder is the only one who truly wants to be a Maiden because she has failed to understand what being a Maiden truly means.

Pyrrha: Do you believe in destiny?

Cinder: Yes.

Cinder fails to understand what destiny is and so what choice is. She is a Maiden of choice that does not know what choosing, so self-actualizing, means.

That said, I am pretty sure she’ll grow into her role when we will approach choice once again (and so the story will make a complete circle and go back to fall, where it started).

When it comes to Winter, I see the appeal of the interpretation you propose and I like the idea behind it, but I am not sure I agree completely.

First of all, I disagree with the idea that Winter becoming a Maiden is the only moment where inheriting a Maiden’s power is shown as positive.

I think Penny getting the power from Fria in volume 7 is framed as thematically powerful as well. It shows that Penny is more of a “real girl” than Winter because she chooses to think with her own head and to follow her own heart.

That said, only because something is thematically powerful and works as the conclusion of a single unit of a story (like a volume), it does not mean it won’t be challenging for the character.

In Penny’s case becoming a Maiden is an important part of her arc, but not its conclusion hence it is challenging.

In particular, Fria’s gift is meant to teach Penny something about humanity:

But I found that humanity It came with sacrifice

Humanity is not simple. To have a human body means that you can know warm, but warm comes also with the possibility of pain.

Similarly, having a human soul means you have your own wishes and feelings, but it also means you can’t live like this:

Winter: Penny. The general is making hard choices so we don’t have to.

A machine does not have to worry about right and wrong. It does not have to struggle with its feelings. It can just follow orders and it will be fine.

A human can’t. A human must think about what they want and what they must do and must choose by themselves what is right and what is wrong.

So, this is the point of Fria giving Penny the power in her personal arc.

It is not a prize or something that makes Penny happy, but it is still something that highlights Penny’s humanity.

By the end of volume 8, Penny chooses to give the power to Winter. In this way Winter’s personhood if aknowledged by the narrative. Winter is now “a real girl too”, like Penny, and so she is ready and worthy to inherit the Winter Maiden’s power.

This is why the narrative frames Winter getting the power as a powerful moment. It is because it is the culmination not only of her arc, but especially of Penny’s.

That said, Winter’s new position isn’t an easy one. I am not saying her arc will be tragic like Penny or Pyrrha’s, but she will surely be challenged by her new position and she will have to deal with her grieve as well.

I would also like to highlight that when Winter gets the power she has a relic to protect actually and she even tries to. While fighting with Cinder she manages to have Cinder drop the staff. However, Cinder uses Winter’s feelings for Weiss, so that she can get the staff back.

Finally, even without the staff it is not that Winter is free to do what she wants. She has the people of a whole Kingdom to protect:

In short, the position of Maiden is a complicated and an ambiguous one. I think that the point is that a true Maiden is one that protects the people, rather than pursuing a personal power.

This is why RWBY are the true Maidens of the series. They might not have the powers, but they have the spirit of the four young girls of the fairy tale. They are just normal girls that want to protect others to the best of their abilities. They are not forced to take this responsibility, but they choose to.

Thank you for the ask!