#because she was fated to die and by preventing her death i caused a bunch of other deaths as the universe tried to even the score

[fingertipsmp3]

Had a dream last night where I found out this girl was going to be murdered the next day and I was told “do not interfere with the timeline” but I couldn’t stop myself from telling her dad not to take her on vacation to the place she was going to be murdered, and why, and then he died and several members of her family also died in quick succession and I was basically on the run from supernatural beings that wanted to kill me for fucking with the timeline

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #293: AND FLIGHTS OF ANGELS...

July, 1988

THE FATE OF MARRINA!

Wait, hold up... the fate of Marrina tm? Flights of angels...? Isn’t that usually followed by sing thee to thy rest?

Yup. Yuuup. Marrina is going to die.

Shame. Shaaaame.

She seemed like she had potential as an Avenger. How long has it been since we had a married couple on the Avengers? ... Oh, when Vision and Scarlet Witch were on the team. Still, though!

But I might be jumping the gun.

Last times on Avengers: the Avengers are having a tough time lately. Because this is the character assassination era. Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau is a weak and ineffectual leader who wants to do things like... not kill Marrina. Dr Druid very much wants to kill Marrina as a first and only option and is actively undermining Monica and having ominous sex dreams. Marrina turned into a giant sea monster for some reason and has been sinking ships and destroying coastal settlements. Namor is sad because his wife doesn’t seem to love him anymore and also is a giant world-threatening monster.

Tough times.

You know who else is having tough times?

Atlantis.

Marrina is smashing them UP!

Which is pretty fascinating! It implies there’s still some of Marrina within her because no doubt she’d harbor some resentment for Atlantis giving her beloved husband the boot and elevating one of his worst enemies to the throne.

Maybe we can ignore the blatant foreshadowing and snap Marrina out of-

Oh.

This doesn’t imply anything. Dr Druid caused this, for some reason.

Ffs.

I’ll get to that when it’s relevant in the plot.

Meanwhile, Simonson gets to put on his Literature Hat by quoting Milton’s Paradise Lost regarding the biblical Leviathan which has little to do with Marrina except being a big aquatic troublemaker.

Namor shows up after Marrina has already gotten bored and wandered off and is distraught to see that Marrina is now killing people that he cares about.

Okay, not really.

But considering its her attack on Atlantis that makes Namor go rejoin the Avengers, it really does feel kind of like all that other damage and other death she’s caused bothered him significantly less.

Over at Hydrobase, Dr Drui psychically spies on Namor, satisfied that his manipulations have paid off.

He also swoons so that he can flashback to something that happened recently but that the audience doesn’t know about.

Very considerate!

Dr Druid: “Apparently only I have the will to save all who can be saved. I pray this will give me the strength to do what must be done!”

Fuck you Dr Druid Point 1: Dr Druid can use “controlled clairvoyance to find Leviathan Marrina so all that time the Avengers couldn’t find her fast enough to prevent damage, Druid was just holding out on them.

Dr Druid: “So, my terrible friend, let us see what we can do to convince the others that you are indeed a menace that must be dealt with properly!”

Fuck you Dr Druid Point 2: He lured Marrina to attack and destroy Atlantis by creating an illusion of a nice, juicy boat and since sea serpents are dumb, he just had the boat head down towards Atlantis.

Fuck you Dr Druid Point 1+2=3: Given that he can find Marrina with “controlled clairvoyance” and lure Marrina with illusion boats, he could have been finding and diverting her and saving lives this whole time. Granted, the effort seems to exhaust him. So maybe he couldn’t have kept it up for long. But he’s refusing to help to his fullest abilities and then criticizing Monica for not being interested in saving lives.

You, sir, Dr Druid, are the menace that must be dealt with properly.

Grump grump.

Anyway.

Dr Druid feels bad about being an evil shithead but comforts himself that he’s saving lives by luring Marrina to kill a bunch of Atlanteans and convincing Namor to rejoin the Avengers so Druid can convince the other Avengers that killing Marrina as their first option is the best and only option.

Dr Druid: “She is too dangerous to be allowed to roam the seas at will... while Captain Marvel wastes time and lives seeking vainly for some illusory cure for Marrina’s condition. But there is no time to waste in that direction. For I have had such dreams that foretell of grave danger in the near future... and Marrina could be just the beginning. Yet how could I convince my fellow Avengers of a threat heralded by dreams? Best to keep my own counsel... and deflect the Avengers from Captain Marvel’s useless endeavors...”

And he finds She-Hulk, Thor, and Captain Marvel talking to Dr Pym on the video phone.

Pym isn’t promising any miracles because the information they sent over was fragmentary. But he used his science brain and scienced up a possible cure. A shot in the dark really. A shot in the dark in the form several hypodermic harpoon needles that will inject Marrina with viral recombinant DNA suppressor. Which MIGHT revert her back to her previous form.

Dr Pym also warns the Avengers to obviously not stick themselves with the harpoon needles because that’d be dumb.

Can’t tell if this is a chekov’s gun or just added detail.

Like that super special dart gun in Lost World Jurassic Park that would kill a dude in less than a second if they accidentally stuck themselves with it. But then the gun never got used at all.

Anyway, Black Knight says it’ll take him a couple hours to make some bazookas to shoot these harpoon needles.

He still sees the problem that Namor will get in the way. But Namor shows up to say he’ll definitely not get in the way!

Namor: “A true monach, Dane, will sacrifice anything, even his own happiness, for the good of the subjects he rules. That is his sacred trust. And though I am no longer a monarch, am I not a guardian of Earth and its mortal inhabitants? Is my trust not as sacred?”

Thor: “Well spoken, Prince Namor. I do not bid thee welcome, for what glad greeting can cloak the grim task that confronts us -- a kinslaying. But I speak as one Avenger to another... thy sacred trust in this hour of trial is gratefully received. No other warrior would I as lief have at my side.”

Frens. Or allies. Avengers. Whatever.

Namor sweetens the rejoining deal. Not only will he be more of a help than a hindrance, he’ll also show the Avengers where Leviathan Marrina is keeping all the ships she sinks.

And he does.

The Avengers get in their QUINJET and fly to the random part of the ocean that Namor tells them.

They don’t see Marrina which could mean she’s out looking for more ships.

Thor suggests they start searching.

Dr Druid says he’ll try a clairvoyant trace. WHICH WE ALREADY KNOW HE CAN USE TO FIND HER. HE DOESN’T FIND HER HERE. THE WORST.

Black Knight cobbled together a sonar pod to scan the oceans.

And Captain Marvel nyooms out in her lightform to zoom all around the world searching the oceans.

THEY STILL DON’T FIND ANYTHING FOR HOURS.

When they eventually find her its because there’s a static patch on their scanners, since Leviathan Marrina can, for some reason, jam signals.

When the Avengers find her, she’s sinking another ship. They arrive too late to save the ship and I guess there’s no survivors in the water because they jump right to trying to harpoon dart Marrina.

The first harpoon needle shatters against her armored scales.

She-Hulk reloads the bazooka and Black Knight figures that maybe her underbelly will be more penetrable. But Leviathan Marrina twists at the last moment and the second harpoon shatters against her armored head.

Thor jumps out of the Quinjet too and starts Mjolniring Marrina in the face, trying to distract her so Black Knight can get a good shot.

Thor: “HAVE AT THEE, CREATURE OF THE DEPTHS! The Avengers shall endeavor to save thee in spite of thyself!”

Black Knight takes aim at the stunned Leviathan Marrina’s underbelly... and no luck!

Her soft underbelly is still too armored.

And now there’s only one harpoon needle left...

Leviathan Marrina rises up to try to eat the people that keep shooting at her and She-Hulk has a sudden good idea.

She-Hulk: “That’s it! Her mouth! Aim for her mouth, Dane! No armor!”

With the very last shot, Black Knight shoots Marrina in the tonsils (ouch) with the cure.

AND IT WORKS!

God only knows where her swimsuit came from when she turned back into her normal self. But she’s back to normal!

Good times are here again.

Marrina: “Oh, my love. Is this another fevered illusion... or have my fondest dreams come true?”

Namor: “Fear not, my heart. You’re safe now, I promise. And here is my kiss upon it.”

Aw, that’s nice.

Now we scene change to the Kang subplot that’s happening for some reason and I’m sure everyone is excited about.

Remember? The one with Kang-123488.23497?

That guy! That specific Kang! Also, a billion other Kangs. Too many Kangs.

Beard Kang says that its rare for Kangs to survive a council war which means that despite the point of the original Council of Kangs to be a trap to kill all Kangs but Cape Kang, there’s so many infinite Kangs that there are multiple council wars of which Kang-123488.23497 is just the latest (whatever that means in terms of a group that transcends time) survivor to be scouted to join the Council of Cross-Time Kangs.

Which is like a Council of Kangs but probably less of a trap to secretly murder its members.

Since Kang-123488.23497 or Kang has survived a council war and also killed a little baby assassin Kang, he has proven he has the stuff to join the Council of Cross-Time Kangs.

And since its a join or die situation, Kang joins.

The lady Kang is apparently Nebula Kang and she is told to escort Kang to his new quarters.

OH HI NEBULA!

(Except it isn’t really.)

(Retcon alert: it will later turn out that this Nebula is actually Ravonna, spying on the Council of Cross-Time Kangs for Immortus or something. Which does follow up on that plot thread. But at the expense of following up on the Nebula plot thread. Nebula was transported by the Beyonder to somewhere away due to Firelord’s careless words. Starfox left the Avengers to go look for her while the team went back to Earth. Wouldn’t it make this stupid new infinite Kang pile more relevant to the team if it was Nebula? This is where she wound up after the Beyonder yeeted her? And because her plot thread was never tied off, she’s back and causing trouble for the Avengers? Spoiler alert: Nebula Kang will cause trouble for the Avengers.)

OH HI NEBULA! SO THIS IS WHERE YOU’VE BEEN

Kang is confused that Nebula Kang is called Nebula so she explains that since everyone is a Kang, they choose individual names to avoid confusion.

Kang-123488.23497 decides he’s going to be Fred. Fred the Kang. Fred Kang.

As in Flintstone.

Such a choice.

Nebula Kang also tells Fred Kang that her quarters are just down the hall from his. And flirtatiously suggests he come visit her sometime so she can whisper sweet lore dumps in his ear.

I don’t know if Kangs fucking Kangs is weird or not. Nebula Kang, whether Ravonna or Nebula, isn’t Kang. So its fair game for her. But they all dress alike so its a bit narcissistic, isn’t it?

Anyway, the lore dump she wants to sweetly whisper to him is about “the deadliest weapon in the omniverse” and how the Council of Cross-Time Kangs is all about finding it.

Well, that answers my question of what the hell this organization even does.

After she returns to her quarters, Nebula Kang says there are depths to Fred that she’ll enjoy plumbing.

God, Nebula. Stop being horny.

But she sits in a comfy looking chair and puts on what looks like an airplane neck pillows so she can check on her “catspaw.”

Nebula Kang: “Becoming a member of the Kang Korps was the wisest move of my career. And seducing the future leader of the Avengers will be the second!”

AND SHE TAKES ON THE FORM OF THE SEXY OMINOUS LADY FROM DR DRUID’S OMINOUS SEX DREAMS!

GOD DAMMIT DR DRUID, YOU’RE LETTING NEBULA MANIPULATE YOU! STOP THINKING WITH YOUR DICK, YOU DICK!

Anyway.

Back at the plot, the Avengers fly Marrina toward a hospital. Namor refuses to let anyone else hold her because he’s a romantic like that.

But suddenly everything goes wrong because we’re not allowed nice things in editorial mandate land.

Marrina: “I’m cold. So cold. I feel as though a hand of ice clutches at my heart and freezes my blood!”

Namor tries to warm her up with kisses but observes that her lips are like ice.

And suddenly she freaks out, begging Namor for help while also thrashing and clawing at him.

The cure didn’t. She’s reverting to the bestial form that preceded the leviathan. And shortly after, reverting to the leviathan.

Her thrashing causes Namor to crash into the ocean.

Thor tells Namor to kill Marrina before she can become big huge large again but Namor hesitates and she becomes big huge large.

Where the fuck did the mass for that come from?

Whatever. This is the Marvel universe where Hank Pym makes conservation of mass weep like a tiny child.

Actually... Speaking of that... hey this is a dramatic moment and all... its very sad that Hank Pym’s shot in the dark cure didn’t work... Why didn’t he just send the Avengers an assload of Pym Particles?

They shrink Marrina, put her in a little terrarium, and then study her and try to cure her from a more informed point?

Dammit, Hank!

You’ll shrink Tigra later and put her in a cat carrier but you won’t shrink Marrina? Playing favorites!

Anyway, not only does Marrina grow back up to a big ol’ Leviathan, she grows bigger than she was before.

Makes no sense but sometimes writers have to force the ending they want.

See, this isn’t the same level of threat the Avengers were already dealing with. It’s an indeterminate but larger level of threat.

Thor even says that if Marrina keeps getting bigger, she may endanger THE ENTIRE EARTH! As opposed to just shipping and coastal communities.

Thor and Captain Marvel decide to unleash electricity on Marrina, hoping to electrocute her before she finishes transforming.

For some reason, Monica decides this is the time to comment that she doesn’t know if she reaaaaally believes Thor is the reeeeal Norse god of thunder. But whatever, it’s not a relevant line of thought to this situation.

Thor summons lightning with Mjolnir and Captain Marvel turns herself into electrical energy and both slam into Leviathan Marrina with a KRAKKATHOOOUM!

Ah, Simonson. If nothing else, always good with lightning noises.

Anyway, its not going to be clear until next issue but this is the end of Monica Rambeau's stint as Avengers chairwoman.

She accidentally fucked up electrifying this giant sea monster, dissipated too much of her energy, and winds up de-powered and nearly dead.

This is the character assassination era. Even in this moment, she can’t be allowed a heroic sacrifice. It has to be another colossal boneheaded Monica Rambeau pratfall.

Sigh.

We’ll get to that with issue #294.

For right now, Captain Marvel is an afterthought, lost in the confusion of everything else going on.

The massive electrocution (which remember, cost Monica her powers accidentally) does not stop Leviathan Marrina. Hell, its not even said that it significantly inconvenienced her.

So Black Knight decides that despite the curse of bad shit if it tastes blood, he must use his extremely cursed cut anything sword to kill Leviathan Marrina.

Namor stops him. Because This Is Something He Has To Do Himself.

But the thing is. Black Knight did decide to risk the effects of the curse to save the world. I’m contrasting it with Monica losing her powers because of a fuck-up.

I’m so grumpy right now.

Sigh sigh sigh.

Namor: “Marrina, my beloved. Hear me, wherever you may be. That which I swore to guard has been taken from us both... And only death now can free your soul from within this living prison! RISE LEVIATHAN! Rise up, and meet your nemesis! FOR MY BELOVED! FOR MARRINA!”

Also, Black Knight freaks out yelling about blood.

Huh. I knew there was a curse on the Ebony Blade that would activate if it ever tasted blood and that’s why Dane tended to just whack people with it.

But I don’t know if he’s ever said what the curse would do, exactly.

For starters, it seems to knock him the fuck out. And his Atomic Steed nearly plummets into the ocean before Thor catches him.

Thor comments that if the curse has really activated, he might be better off dead. So Thor apparently knows what it does.

Dangit, leaving the audience in the dark.

Leviathan Marrina isn’t quite dead because she’s quite big and takes quite a while to die.

She swims to the bottom of the ocean to where she piled all her sunken ships to die among her prizes... and her eggs.

‘TWAS A NEST!

There’s three eggs. Which hatch and the babies zoom off into the ocean depths.

One of the Avengers (it’s unclear because they’re speaking from off-panel) wonders who the father was and another Avenger says they may never know.

But judging by that one hatchling, I’d say that the father was most likely Black Panther.

No wonder Namor is so pissed off at the guy later on.

Marrina shrinks down to her pre-monsterified form (where did the mass go??) and Namor cradles her dead, deceased corpse and swears to find her babies and “teach them of their mother’s spirit.”

Presumably her Alpha Flight and Avengers spirit and not the spirit of all the ship sinking.

He also swims off to build Marrina “a bier fit for a queen... where you will rest forever amidst the coral, the sea jade, and mother-of-pearl... the most precious jewel in all the sea.”

And Namor fucks off.

So I guess he’s not actually rejoining the team.

He’s going through a lot right now so it’s understandable.

With Marrina dead and Namor fucked off, the Avengers decide to go to a hospital for Black Knight when suddenly (as the end of issue cliffhanger) Dr Druid realizes Captain Marvel never came back from that lightning thing.

Great. So not only is her depowering presented (next issue) as something that was a fuckup and not an intentional sacrifice), also none of her friends even noticed she was gone. The dude that’s been constantly undermining her was the only one that noticed.

This issue fucking sucks.

I’ll complain more about Monica’s treatment when I get to next issue but Marrina gets the short end of the stick too!

Turned into a giant, world-threatening monster for reasons of -shrug, confused grunt- and her husband is forced to kill her. After they try all of one time to cure her.

She didn’t get to do a lot in Avengers but she was an established character over in Alpha Flight and she’s being killed off as part of a story to kick Monica off the team and presumably to make Namor sad.

Stern was apparently kicked off the book for pushing back against the character assassination era but I don’t know whether Marrina was always part of Gruenwald’s plan or whether Simonson added that on.

Either way, it sucks.

I feel very negative about this stretch of comics.

Maybe things will get better. But the Worst Roster in issue #300 is upcoming. And then after a bit, John Byrne will be taking over both Avengers books.

There’s some that like John Byrne’s writing but his run contains several very irritating retcons and shifts in characterization.

We’ll see.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because where else are you going to get this level of olde Avengers coverage? The rest of the internet? Don’t be ridiculous. Like and reblog and comment, maybe.

[arizariia]

Clerith And Vincrecia

My third eye has opened and now I'm enlightened.

I just realized just how similar Vincrecia and Clerith are in FFVII. I even want to be so bold as to claim that this parallel is going to be story important in Remake.

The first similarity about these ships is the similarities between Cloud and Vincent. Cloud is an "ex-member of SOLDIER". He was impaled by Sephiroth. He survived but was unfortunately found by Hojo. He was then subjected to Hojo's experiments. Vincent is an ex-Turk. He was shot by Hojo during an argument. He died, experimented on by Hojo, and was then resurrected by Lucrecia.

In terms of personality, Cloud and Vincent do share similar traits as well. Cloud made a persona where he's overconfident, arrogant, and headstrong. He also became emotionally withdrawn from others. His most memorable line is, "Not interested" and the man originally didn't care about saving the planet. The truth is he's socially awkward. He is bad at expressing himself and displays poor communicative skills. The people that Cloud is closest to recognize this. They know he's a soft, caring person.

Vincent is a cold man whose life has been severely devastated by Hojo. At one point in time, even Cloud thought that Vincent didn't care about the planet. He's a natural loner and doesn't speak much about his past at all. Even though he has a cold exterior he is a kind-hearted person.

The following part is how alike Aerith and Lucrecia are. In terms of physical appearance, the two women are remarkably similar. Both have pale skin, brunette hair, and have similar mannerisms. What's extremely interesting are their hairstyles. Aerith and Sephiroth were initially siblings. They were given similar bangs as a result of this. Even after the story was altered and the two were no longer siblings, their hair didn't change. Lucrecia initially didn't have the "Sephiroth bangs" but when it came time for her to appear in Dirge of Cerberus, she gained them. Hence, Lucrecia looks like Aerith because they both were designed to somewhat resemble Sephiroth.

Personality-wise, Aerith is a lively person. She is compassionate, stubborn, and can even be smug at some points. She has even flirted with Cloud on many occasions. The most significant thing about her is her desire to want to her own decisions and defy fate. She wants to stop Shinra and Sephiroth from causing further harm to the planet.

Lucrecia, on the other hand, is also a kind person who was known to tease. She was also seemly fond of nature and even enjoyed a picnic with Vincent. Her primary goal as a scientist was to further her research on the study of Chaos and Omega. This was to find a way to prevent Omega from ending the world.

So how similar is the ship dynamic? Let's start with Clerith. Clerith doesn't begin until Cloud falls into Aerith's church in the Sector 5 slums. After Reno enters the building, Aerith asks Cloud to be her bodyguard. Their relationship hinges on this. Cloud is her bodyguard throughout the entire story of FFVII after this. He makes sure she gets home safely in chapter 5. He crossdresses so Aerith doesn't have to enter Don Corneo's mansion by herself in chapter 9. Cloud even sneaks into Shinra HQ to rescue her with the help of Tifa and Barret. This just from the beginning of the story. At this point, Cloud has, surprisingly, only known Aerith for around two days.

With Vincrecia, Vincent was assigned to be Lucrecia's bodyguard from the very beginning. He was tasked with making sure she was protected and being mindful of her wellbeing. When Hojo was neglecting Lucrecia, Vincent was the one to call him out on his behavior. When Vincent died, Lucrecia was the one who wanted to resurrect him. Even though Lucrecia placed an enormous burden on him, she was more concerned with him being alive again.

Now, it's time to discuss imagery. Since we have only seen Lucrecia in Dirge of Cerberus, there isn't much to work with. However, what is present is fascinating. The first piece of significant visual similarities is when Lucrecia wakes up Vincent after she discovered him sleeping outside. This can be compared to when Aerith wakes up Cloud after he falls into her church. Something to mention is that both men are sleeping around flowers.

The following thing is something that I mentioned previously. Lucrecia and Aerith have similar body language. They both tend to lean forwards with their hands behind their backs.

After that, we have when Cloud looks at Aerith when she's at the Forgotten City and when Vincent looks at Lucrecia in her crystal.

Here we have Aerith reaching out to Cloud just like when Lucrecia reaches out to Vincent.

So how does this relate to what I mentioned before? That I believe these elements are vital to FFVII Remake? Well, the story of Lucrecia and Vincent is a tragedy. Even though they loved each other, Lucrecia's guilt and Vincent's reluctance to admit his feelings are what drove the two apart. Their story was a love that could never be. But hold on a moment. That's how Cloud and Aerith's story is in the original game. Even though Cloud genuinely loved Aerith and her death shattered him, he never confessed his feelings for her. In Remake Aerith explicitly states in Cloud's resolution scene that he can't fall in love with her. She knows she will die if fate isn't defeated.

Aerith hints from the very beginning that she either has already lived through the initial events of FFVII, or she simply has knowledge of what is supposed to happen. When she first meets Cloud, she gives him a flower. She says, "Lovers used to give these when they were reunited." 

When they reunite in the church, she says, "Bodyguard work's not too different from merc stuff right?", even though Cloud never told her his profession.

 You can argue that the reason why chapter 5 includes additional substance compared to the original game is that Aerith wants to spend more time with Cloud. Cloud didn't gather flowers and perform odd jobs around Sector 5 until Aerith made the suggestion. I'd argue that Aerith put a bunch of junk on the second floor of her house to make it harder for Cloud to sneak out. Aerith also hints she knows that Don Coreno wasn't joking about dropping the Sector 7 plate.

When the cast defies fate and defeats the whisper harbinger, this leads to a new timeline being created. I believe that this means that Aerith dying can either be avoided or that event may not happen at all.  After all, after Aerith died Cloud never truly moved on. Even in spinoff titles, Cloud is Aerith-focused.

In Kingdom Hearts, Cloud becomes more like Vincent. He grieves for Aerith just like how Vincent grieved for Lucrecia. 

In Final Fantasy Tactics, Cloud is searching for Aerith. When he sees a flower girl that looks like Aerith, it furthers his resolve. In World of Final Fantasy, Terra calls out Cloud for hunting down Sephiroth instead of helping Lightning. This conversation speaks volumes.

Even at the end of the original game, Cloud says "I think I'm beginning to understand. An answer from the planet... the Promised Land. I think I can meet her... there." The 2015 trailer for Remake talks about the reunion and we see Aerith's flower. When do we hear about any reunion in Remake? When Cloud and Aerith meet for the first time in Sector 8 and she gives him the flower.

Cloud is going to defy fate and save Aerith's life. At least that's what I think. I think that the song Hollow supports this claim. I believe that Hollow is a Clerith song. It was said by Uematasu that the song describes Cloud's inner feelings. Not only does it play in the Sector 5 slums, Aerith's home, but the lyrics describe her as well.

Smile bright Once more This time I will never let you go

Need I say more? This is my conclusion. If the whole point of Remake is to defy fate then preventing this tragic loss is possible as well. The story is about not repeating the same mistakes as the previous generation to make way for a brighter future.

And before anyone says that Aerith only likes Cloud because he’s like Zack, here’s what she says after she’s done talking about Zack. 

And Cloud’s response to Aerith telling him not to fall in love with her.

I’m placing my bets now. Let’s see how right or wrong I am in a few years. If I’m wrong I will eat a bowl of peas. 

[silver-wield]

I want to know what your thoughts are on the optional Aerith resolution scene? Particularly around the time where Aerith says the "love" line?

Awww man, you're gonna make me watch that? Lol

Ok let's do this then.

Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven’t played – do I still need to do this? Eh ok, (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it’s gonna be reasonably long.

Also, this is one person’s interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that’s cool and we’ll agree to disagree.

You’re also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I’m grabbing them from Youtube and it’s frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.

Other analyses if anyone’s interested.

Shinra HQ vision scene (Cloti/plot analysis) 

Chapter 3 (Cloti reblog) 

Tifa character analysis 

Aerith Resolution (plot analysis/theory – I should probably update this since I’ve had other ideas since then) 

Train graveyard (not really an analysis, but I got some sweet screenshots of Cloti) 

Clotiscrew tunnel analysis 

Cloti reunion analysis 

The Promise Analysis 

Andrea’s approval (Cloti ask response) 

Leslie analysis (not mine, but a good read) 

Cloti action touching 

Aerti friendship analysis 

Cloti body language chapter 3 

Cloti healthy disagreement 

Cloti post heliboss battle (chapter 15) 

Clerith playground scene 

Cloti body language plate fall 

Cloud and Barret friendship 

Now, strap in and enjoy the ride.

Recap time!

So, Aerith's been taken by Shinra and the group is still feeling the after effects of the plate fall. Everyone's pretty demoralised and after they visit deep ground and Cloud gets the aborted flashback of himself inside a chamber being experimented on, he says to Elmyra they should go save Aerith before the same fate befalls her.

Elmyra asks they sleep on it.

During the night Cloud “wakes up” to see a ghostly Aerith heading downstairs. He follows her outside and they talk on the hill top where the lifestream can be seen glowing in the background.

It’s important to note that Cloud has literally just gone through both the train graveyard and seen a bunch of ghosts and the plate collapse where he’s seen a load of people he cares about die. 

Cloud looks surprised. Hmm I wonder why....

Yeah, this is a no brainer opening. Aerith shouldn't be there and he doesn't think he's asleep at this moment. He looks around and figures out it's a dream, but isn't totally sure because how often does anyone have cognisant dreams?

You can see the doubt about if she’s a ghost or not and she doesn’t clear that up, so Cloud’s left wondering if Aerith’s dead already. The following conversation doesn’t reassure him.

Aerith's “Maybe. You tell me,” doesn't actually help here. If Cloud's having doubts about how real it is – and she's aware of his fake persona and wants to know the real him – then causing further doubt in his mind seems counterproductive. It's like she's implying an illusory nature to their relationship. It also feels like foreshadowing the moment Cloud thinks he’s not real. 

She's also not looking at him when she says it, so even if it was a teasing moment between them, she's automatically set a distance between them. Because eye contact matters, remember? When someone can't meet your eye it's for a reason, whether they're uncomfortable or hiding something or whatever. Eye contact is a conscious connection between two people. Deliberately not making eye contact has meaning too.

Aerith exposition. Lots of fidgeting. No eye contact. She seems like she's making small talk to avoid something. Even when Cloud faces her head on she quickly turns away again to stare off into the distance. Cloud remains in her peripheral vision only. When Aerith does turn to reassure Cloud, he looks away.

And after is the immortal line “Don't be silly” in response to Cloud's sarcasm. I mean, isn't she supposed to be the sweet one? So wouldn't her saying silly fit with her vocabulary? Or should she have said something like “Cloud, don't be a fucking moron” because she swore that one time and everyone erupted into cheers over it? Let's say it is a callback to Claudia, who somehow had a prophetic vision of Aerith being “the one”. Aerith didn't say “silly goose” which was the exact line Claudia said, so technically Aerith's only half of what Claudia suggested. If Tifa says “goose” at some point does that validate her being in the running too?

Yes, I'm being facetious. Point is, unlike the promise between Cloud and Tifa when it was Tifa reusing her own words, this relies on Aerith having meta knowledge of what Claudia said to Cloud when he was 16 and Aerith was with Zack. So, with that in mind, why would Aerith care what Claudia had to say about some other guy she doesn't even know when she's already got a boyfriend? The implication of this is that Aerith already knew everything that would happen to Zack and she'd already moved on from him to Cloud before they ever met and yet she kept writing letters to Zack the whole time.

But then after meeting Cloud she decided to take him up on the slide and talk about her dead boyfriend...as a way to let him know she's single?

This is Cloud's face when Aerith says in a perky voice “You worried about me?” This is the bit where he says “Of course.” It's a very neutral expression tbf. There's not anything being given away and the way he says the line is very simple too. Nothing suggests he's revealing a big secret to her or that he's embarrassed by his concern. I'd say it's SOLDIER!Cloud at rest since we know from the devs that Cloud still puts on a front with Aerith because he doesn't know how to deal with her. Which is typical for Cloud since he's emotionally 16 and never dealt with girls.

That perky persona visibly drains from Aerith's face and body language. Her posture sags, she breaks eye contact, she looks sad. This is the image of someone who isn't happy to hear that Cloud's worried about her. Now, if she was into the whole ship wouldn't she be happier to hear that line from him? She's regretful and turns away again, using her body as a barrier to any possible intimacy.

I'm sure people disagree, so imma explain. If she'd turned her back that would be an outright rejection. She'd be fully closing herself off. By turning away, she's indicating the conversation isn't over, but her degree of attention on Cloud is less than if she'd face him head on. If she stayed facing him, then that builds intimacy since face to face is open body language which can have several interpretations – some of which I've mentioned before like confrontational when Cloud steps up to Rude. When it's between a couple, it's suggestive of building intimacy and trust.

And when Cloud takes a step towards Aerith, she steps away again, towards the lifestream in the distance. Not permitting the closing of distance is a sign she doesn't want to encourage intimacy with him. That she walks towards where the lifestream is means that's where her attention and focus is. Whether that's an overarching plot reason or from a “Zack is there” reason is up to your interpretation.

Another immortal line. Considering Aerith just stepped towards where we can see the lifestream and that she's taking up her priestess pose we can reasonably assume she's thinking of Zack, unless you're once again subscribing to the theory that she's meta!Aerith aware of her own death and speaking of that. In which case, yall need to make up your minds whether she's one or the other because you can't swap between the two when it suits you just to justify your arguments.

When Cloud says “I'll remember that” in response to Aerith's advice that “every moment matters” it definitely comes across as one of those character building life lessons that Cloud's had over the course of the game. He got one from Barret about how not everyone has a choice to run away, one from Marle about listening to others and caring and now he's got one from Aerith about making the time they have count. These are mentor moments.

But more importantly, look who Aerith's looking at when she says that line. It's not Cloud, not the lifestream. Us. The players. She is talking to us. This isn't just wisdom for Cloud, it's for us, too.

After a 9 second pause from Aerith, in which she looks at the ground, Cloud offers a suggestion of what she wants to say next. She seems very lost in thought during this time, and almost reluctant to speak. Considering she always seems to know what to say in any given situation, this is off. This very long pause is the longest she's been silent in the whole game. It's notable. She almost seems to be warring with herself as her eyes narrow and she subtly shifts from side to side.

I may well be wrong about the length of time she’s silent. It could be 7 seconds in a callback to the 7 seconds it took for Sephiroth to drop and kill her in OG. 

I'm one of those who does subscribe to the whole OG!Aerith vs meta!Aerith theories – which I stick to throughout every scene involving her so don't even try and @ me and say I'm a liar – and to me, this looks like OG Aerith trying to assert dominance over the situation, while meta Aerith wants to refuse.

When Cloud speaks, Aerith looks grateful for the cut in. It pulls her out of that warring state, while he's trying to look cool and mature still lol (dork)

Okay, so that whole speech she gives about thanking him is definitely coming off like she's aware of things she shouldn't know yet. This may be what OG!Aerith was trying to prevent her from saying. This isn’t something that Cloud should know yet, after all.

After some physical humming and hawing, eyes downcast, then glancing away and we get a shot of her feet – remember all of this is intentional to build a story here – she looks up and we get this line that's making certain people freak out with joy.

Quick lesson on intonation.

Intonation is the rise and fall – the pitch – of how you say certain words. The way you say them gives them their meaning. You can say the same words in many different ways to convey different meanings and/or emotions.

I've previously focused on Aerith's choice of the word “can't” here because this is the key word in the phrase.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how certain people are interpreting this line to turn it into a positive. The word “can't” is synonymous with an impossibility. It means “there are specific reasons why this isn't possible.”

Aerith didn't say “Don't” as in “you shouldn't”. She said “can't” as in “not able to”. She is telling Cloud that he's not able to love her. The specific intonation on the word “can't” supports this evidence. If yall wanna examine it more closely then I suggest you turn the sound down slightly so it's actually harder to hear the whole sentence and see which words have more emphasis. Can't has specific emphasis, which wouldn't be there if she wasn't stressing the word.

As for her facial expression. I mean, this doesn't look like the earlier one where she's sad or regretful. This is matter of fact. She's telling him this as a kindness because he's not yet aware of the reasons that she is.

(Note: I didn't say which specific reasons because some of yall say it's her death and others say it's Tifa, so that's up to you. There's reasons, is my point).

So up until she said that, Cloud was actually looking at her. But this made him turn away in dismissal. Not with embarrassment. He's not caught out and flustered. He's SOLDIER!Cloud, remember? He's all front and super cool facade.

This isn't the first time a girl has thrown herself at him. Jessie did it too, only more ott. Cloud's used to brushing off girls and does it without effort.

I'm sure up to this point some people have been screaming about how biased I've been and unfair and this is so cloti (excuse me while I roll my eyes).

So, if I'm biased why am I about to point out that the above screen is real!Cloud popping in for a visit? This is him overriding the SOLDIER persona to question if Aerith might have a point. But not about her. About Tifa. Because within the previous few hours, Cloud and Tifa shared an intimate moment. And it wasn’t soldier Cloud who did that. It was real Cloud. Aerith is calling attention to real Cloud’s feelings for Tifa, which makes him look to the house where Tifa is sleeping. He gets soft eyed and starts to smile, but then seems to want to question himself, which we know isn’t a good idea. Real Cloud and Soldier Cloud aren’t ready to meet yet.

And while real!Cloud is busy debating with SOLDIER!Cloud about Aerith's words, she's approached completely silently – because, ykno, she's not actually there – and he's caught sight of her hand in his peripheral vision. The second she touches him he jerks back looking surprised. This wasn't a telegraphed move where he saw it coming from 10 feet away and chose to do nothing.

I also question that if he can feel her hand here then it's solid, but when he goes to grab her it's not? So, she chose to let him feel the first touch, but then rejected him grabbing her? Or is it more likely that having caught sight of her hand in his peripheral vision he didn't actually feel her touch his face then or the time after because Aerith's not there. There's no actual physical interaction between them.

This is pity. Not much else to say about it. Meta!Aerith knows Cloud's future and that by introducing these future concepts to him, she's causing confusion ahead of the time it should happen. She feels bad about that and probably about her OG behaviour that she had no control over thanks to the Whispers forcing her to go against her real nature.

Well, I was going to say that Cloud going to grab her wrist – not her hand – is just further proof of her intangible presence. She isn't someone he can hold onto. But having grabbed this screen it's clear he wouldn't have grabbed her wrist at all either. His hand is open and aimed at her forearm and already passing through her well before he tries to close it.

And the reason why goes back to the ghost thing. Cloud thought she wasn’t there in person, that she might be dead or it’s a dream, but then she touched him. So he wants to grab her the same way he did Jessie in the pillar, to try and keep her alive. But his hand goes through her and he’s left looking confused again.

“Do I get a say in all this?”

Well now. That's a bit different. I'm sure like everyone else we've all been convinced that Cloud said “Don't I get a say in this?” like he's arguing with Aerith's decision. That he's admitting he's already in love with her.

“Do I get a say in all this?” is a totally different kettle of fish.

Don't connotates a confrontational tone. It's argumentative. It's rejecting whatever previous statement was made.

Do is a question. It's inquisitive. Placid. Neutral. It's neither confirming, nor denying the previous statement. It's merely asking for more information.

Funny how those little word replacements some people use end up twisting the narrative.

Cloud’s not just speaking about Aerith’s most recent statement either. He’s talking about the whole conversation they just had. The possibility that she’s dead or dying and he doesn’t get any choice about it. This is a throwback to the OG theme of life and death and how the dying get to say goodbye and decide how to leave, while the living don’t and have to figure out how to move on from it afterwards. 

Anyway, Cloud has his back to us, so we don't even know if that's coming from SOLDIER!Cloud or real!Cloud, so that's up for debate and I won't even bother since he's got his back to us and we can't see either way.

And then we've got the cool SOLDIER!Cloud (screen) telling Aerith he's gonna save her. We already know that Cloud does his best to sound cool and confident when talking to Aerith because he doesn't know how to be himself around her. This is the kind of line you'd expect to hear from him.

She replies, “If that's what you want.” which is also very non-specific. It's a neutral statement that leaves things up to Cloud. It could imply an answer to the previous question he asked, since the two do stand beside each other and make sense. However, the interjected “It's almost morning” line breaks this up and makes it less of an impactful statement from her. She's done her upmost to neutralise any romantic context from this scene.

Conclusion

If yall saw romance then okay, you must be right.

I sure af didn't. I saw a regretful Aerith telling Cloud things he shouldn't be aware of yet, feeling more regretful for confusing someone who's already suffering from mental illness and then making non-committal statements that neither reject or encourage his attention.

Maybe she's regretful for her own sake as well, knowing what she does about him and still doing this to push some future narrative only she's aware of, but I wouldn't say this is romantic. It's clearly some kind of goodbye from her. Cloud, for his part, looks confused and guarded through most of the scene. There's one moment when his real self peeks out to question Aerith's meaning, but then he's gone again. We can't say for any certainty that his question was asked by his true self or his SOLDIER persona and without visual context I won't speculate.

[qsdblogging]

Why It Makes Sense: The Whedonverse Theory

When people say Joss Whedon, my first thought has always been Buffy the Vampire Slayer (followed by Angel, obviously), Firefly (and Serenity), and The Cabin in the Woods. After those, it’s up in the air if I remember his input as director of the 2012 film, The Avengers. But, that one isn’t included in this theory.

Growing up on Whedon’s creations (courtesy of my dad), I got invested in the stories he told.

Now, this theory (for me, at least) surfaced in 2015 and I liked the idea of it. It’s summarized in a format through pictures, the year, and what happen during that year to follow the timeline of this theory.

If you aren’t aware of it, continue on reading, or if you are and just want to see if a fresh pair of eyes has anything new to offer in regards to a fan-favored theory, continue on.

But, fair warning, this is going to include spoilers if you haven’t watched any of the listed shows and movies.

This theory essentially starts off with Whedon’s works: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, as it is it’s spin-off series. As it takes places the earliest amongst the bunch, in the late 1990’s and early 2000's.

Buffy’s lore is the main focus of the thoery as the biggest point of all refers to active Slayers (and the Potentials, before they were activated for the most part). In the last season of Buffy, they round up any Potentials and in the final fight, get their Slayer abilities activated to turn the tide of the fight in their favor.

It broke the tradition (AKA, the magic behind it all) that the Slayer line followed. One died, a new emerged with the powers and got thrust into a world they didn’t, most likely, know about with a giant burden to bare.

Buffy, having died twice and come back both times, kept her abilities and instead of one Slayer, there were two. First, Kendra, who later got killed after meeting Buffy. When Kendra died, as she was the current activated Slayer, Faith emerged. So, when Buffy died the second time around while still being a Slayer, it didn’t cause another to emerge as she wasn’t the latest activated. Make sense?

But a while later, after all the Slayers were activated, Angel ran into his own amount of issues that had been piling up in Los Angeles.

During Angel’s final season, which is just around a year later after Buffy’s show came to a close, Wolf Ram and Heart defeated and destroyed the Circle of the Black Thorn. This causes a lot of destruction in the process and Angel’s series finale ends with those left standing ready to die fighting whatever is coming their way (including a dragon, apparently).

According to the theory, this event esstentially kickstarts the awakening of the Senior Partners. Hoping to appease them and prevent an apocalypse, The Initiative, a group Buffy deals with during her fourth season, began to give sacrifices.

That leads us to the events of The Cabin in the Woods, which takes place in 2012, barely even a decade after the events of Buffy and Angel.

A ragtag group of misfits who think they’re just taking a small trip to Curt’s cousin’s (who may or may not exist) cabin in the woods. Once there, find a few odd things and a lot of weird and strange items littering the basement of the cabin.

It’s a suspenseful scene to watch, as you get the feeling it’s what is going to make things go sideways for the group and eventually, as everyone is playing with their own chosen objects, Dana reads from a notebook and doesn’t realize the consequences the group will face from doing so.

The Buckner family, an undead redneck family, attacks the group later on in the night.

In the Initiative, who is watching everything go down on the cameras, is hoping it’ll work out for the best as they are the last chance of appeasing the Senior Partners. All of their other locations have failed in their tasks for the year of sacrificing a group.

The group members who are left, in efforts to save themselves, try leaving and run into a wall. Literally. As the movie goes on, you learn that this branch of the organization follows the five person sacrifice that most horror and thriller films seem to follow.

The Whore dies first, followed by the Jock, then the Brains. The Fool is assumed dead this time around, but we learn that this movie’s fool isn’t quite dead. The last death, the Virgin, is optional as long as she (or he) is the last to go.

Dana, the coined Virgin, is saved by Marty, the presumed dead fool. He brings her to what he found to be an elevator that the Buckner Family had crawled out of. They find themselves amongst many other elevator cages, filled with monsters and creatures alike.

It’s Dana that realizes they picked their own fate down in the basement.

Eventually those in the Initiative find the cage the two are in and try to bring them around to kill them (but, Marty has to go first). However, the two are a force to be reckoned with as they take advantage of the severed arm of a Buckner member attacking the guard and find their way into the control station for the cages.

They press a button that releases all of the creatures and monsters in their cages on the security team sent after the two remaining sacrifices. After a while of bloodshed, the two make their way around the base in hopes of finding a way out.

Along their way, they find themselves in the sacrifice room, where the Director at the time, meets them. A lot of arguing and explanations, followed by a betrayal here and there, ultimately ends with Dana and Marty saying screw it all and refusing to finish the sacrifice as the Director planned.

With sacrifices unfinished, the movie ends with the Senior Partners being unleased on the world.

But of course, that didn’t mean there was no way the Initiative ever planned for something like this, right?

Well, the Initiative planned for something like this to possibily happen because you always need to plan for the worst.

Some of humanity manages to escape the destruction on Earth that was and formed the Alliance (with heavy influences from the Initiative, we should assume).

Which brings us to the events of Firefly and Serenity.

Hundreds of years have passed before a child is born. You wouldn’t think anything of it, children are born all the time. However, the remaining remnants of the Initiative inside of the Alliance recognize her for what she is.

A Slayer. Or, at least, a Potential.

River Tam is lured into a school that is meant to challenge her intellect, but according to the theory, the experiments they held on River were attempts to trigger her Slayer abilities.

After her brother, Simon, manages to get her out after a letter in code telling him they were hurting her, the two find themselves on Serenity, a Firefly class spaceship run by essentially, space cowboys. Now, a string of events in the first episode lead to the crew deciding to go on the run and reluctantly keeping Simon and River on board.

But, as the two siblings stay on for longer then Mal had planned and originally wanted them on for, attachments are formed and the need to do the right thing takes over.

The first, and only, season of Firefly gets cut short (and aired out of order, but that’s a whole other thing) and there’s a lot of loose ends that didn’t get tied up.

With one last chance to tie things up, Whedon puts out Serenity, the movie surrounding the crew’s adventure on figuring out what exactly River knew that the Alliance didn’t want her to know.

Originally, River and Simon were meant to leave the crew in the beginning of the film, but some things lead to another and a few extra details are revealed. The crew was made well aware of River’s uncanny ability to shoot a gun without even looking at her targets, but watching her fight and take down multiple people bigger than her was a strange occurence, I’m sure.

It’s the first moment you see her supposed Slayer abilities.

By the end of the movie, things are revealed, some deaths happen to beloved characters, River has finally tapped into her Potential and is an active Slayer, and you get an explanation of who and what exactly Reavers are.

But, for this theory, it’s been mentioned that maybe the Reavers are simply Vampires who managed to get aboard the escape from Earth after the rise of the Senior Partners, and driven to extremes in order to survive in space themselves.

A Slayer had been born again, restarting the Slayer cycle, and there was a chance that things could go back to how they used to be.

Not sure how it would happen, but the basics of the theory make sense. Obviously there are specifics that are harder to include and most likely make sense of in regards to all of this, but in the grand gist of it all, it makes sense.

It’s a fun little theory that can connect multiple works made by one person.

Now, obviously this wasn’t a shortened version of the theory. And there have been some portions of the theory put into question, especially in regards to some of Whedon’s other works.

Dollhouse, Fray as a character in the comics, and The Avengers.

Personally, I don’t include the Avengers in this. It’s Marvel and Whedon was the director of the film for it, but I don’t see it fitting in with this particular theory in any way. People have included it (mostly S.H.I.E.L.D being with the Initiative became, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me given Marvel as it’s own identity), but I prefer not to.

As for Dollhouse, I never actually watched the show. My dad did, but I was too young at the time to be allowed to watch it and I was just never interested in it. Maybe one day I’ll get around to it, but this meant I had to do a little bit of digging to understand this a bit more.

For most of the takes on this theory that have mention the show, mention it may just take place in the parallel universe. They, as in parallel universes, were confirmed to exist in Buffy, Angel, and the comics that continue after them, it’s a plausible theory.

This also means that this theory could follow a majority of the canon information from the shows, films, and comics mentioned, before dividing into it’s own events. It simply means that some things that were difficult to explain in specifics may just be different in this theory’s parallel universe.

So, Dollhouse could take place in the same universe, but events could have differed greatly by universe. We don’t know for sure.

That, in all, also explains the comic series by Whedon surrounding Melaka Fray, a Slayer from a future timeline where things are a little post-apocalyptic on Earth. Monsters run amock and eventually, Fray emerges. Now, it could mean there’s a parallel world where the Avengers and Buffy take place in the same world, but I still don’t like that idea, so I ignore it.

Parallel universes are just a lot of fun to imagine, and in worlds like these, could mean a lot in the grand scheme of it all.

[kileyrose-2003]

Rose the Hat x Fem! Reader

A/N: Hello lovelies. This very fun write was requested by @mad4thehat-rose

Warnings: Implied domestic violence, violence, violence against children, mentions of major character death, major character death, child death (if you really like Abra and hate Dark AU endings, skip past the top 8 paragraph) I'm warning you all now, it's DARK, sexual content (literally the whole end of this piece is pure smut)

Key: Mo grá is My Love in Irish. I hope you all enjoy!

"Now do you see the consequences to what you've caused bitch child?!!" Rose screamed and she dragged Abra by her hair to Room 237.

"I had him just where I wanted him-" She gestured to Dan's corpse. "And then you had to fuck it all up!! You took everything from me. My sense of security, my dignity, Andi, and not to mention MY Crow or my newest planned recruit! This is all your fault!"

Abra sobbed as Rose shackled her to the floor. It wasn't supposed to end this way. She seen it herself. Rose was supposed to die.

"Are you even listening to me?!" She slapped Abra across the face and shook the girl who's fate was near sealed. "Y-you're a whore! An ugly old whore! My Uncle would of never went with you..that's just the hotel. He was a good man. You deserved what you got. Especially the Crow. I hope it hurts after what you did to the Baseball Boy. You all were cowards and you're the biggest one of them all and now you're all by yourself and have no one else to blame besides you. You killed them. Not me."

Rose sat their in silence for a few moments. Did she really kill her Crow even if it was unintentional? No..she couldn't of. She loved him and the others. She wouldn't try to ever hurt them purposely but had she been so aborbed in her rage to not notice? Deep down she knew it was possible but shoved it aside. He did know that she loved him, didn't she?

Rose giggled at the morbidity of the situation as reality finally started to sink in slightly. It wouldn't be long now until she had her another breakdown. Abra's confident air began to fade at the sound of the laugh.

"You speak of things and people you know nothing about. You're just a fucking child! A dead one at that and it's all you'll ever be to me from now on." She took the knife out of her pocket and stuck it into the ground inches away from Abra's leg.

Abra tensed and closed her eyes before looking at Rose again, the eyes of a strong woman radiating through her. "You're going to hurt me now, aren't you?"

Rose gave a tight lipped grin and leaned over the young girl, her hair going all in Abra's face. "Oh yes." Rose never looked so glad to say those words. She held her knife up sentimentally as thought of all the bloodshed she caused with it over the years. "And now you're going to scream for years." Rose's face turned to that of a scorned psycho as she plunged the knife deep into Abra's femoral artery.

Meanwhile as Abra and Rose's screams faded into the night you stood in your boyfriends apartment, throwing your clothes and belongings into your suitcase.

"I don't know why you think you can just take off and leave because I never said you were allowed to." You tried your best not to let him think he had the upper hand from the beginning.

"Really? I didn't know I was legal property." Your smile was a vicious one. "You should be. A property of the state that is. We all know you're just trying to get attention. All the psychic shit is just a bunch of hocus pocus."

'If you seen and know the things I do, you wouldn't say. Especially because I could save you from your very preventable death in a few months. Keep being a prick though and I won't. ' You thought to yourself and just shrugged his insult off as ignorance.

"Are you even listening to me?" He tugged your hair and you glared, pushing him away. "First, don't touch me. Who gave you permission to do that? And why should I listen to an abusive asshole?"

He took a swig of beer. "You best watch your tone. Wouldn't want to be burned by the fire you're playing with, is that right love?"

"At this rate, I'm not your love. Not now and not ever. I'm not playing games with you ever again. Now if you would excuse me." You picked up your suitcase and made your way towards the doorway but he blocked it.

"You walk out this door and I'm not covering for you. The only reason your family hasn't sent you away yet is because you're living with me. I won't stop them from sending people to come after you if you walk out that door. So best think of your actions now." He threatened.

"Let them send people after me. I don't care. You won't be able to find me. Now move!" You plowed past him, using your suitcase as a defense of sorts.

"Suit yourself, freak." You had your hand on the doorknob when he said it. "I'm not a freak." You whispered softly, tears streaming down your cheeks. "Yes, you are." He pressed. "No. I'm not!" Your grip on the doorknob tightened to the point your fingers were flushed. "Yes! You are!"

"NO I'M NOT!" The door flew off the hinges and broke into minuscule pieces, nearly hitting your now ex boyfriend.

His face dropped and you locked eyes with him, your tears turning from frustrated ones to angry ones before you walked out the door for good. Leaving him to pick up the pieces himself.

"What a dick." You shook your head as you unlocked your car and stuffed your suitcase in the back before driving away.

Meanwhile on the way other side of the country Rose finished up her work on Abra when she felt a blast of steam hit her.

It was enough to make her stop the final collection on the girl's steam. The word 'freak' radiated through her mind as the energy faded off.

"A woman..maybe from the east coast and twenty tops. No matter, I won't be needing her for a long time. I'll let this one hang around for a little bit and see where the road takes her because she's a wanderer. For now-"

She smiled largely as her bloody hands lovingly caressed the cannister of steam as she felt the fine lines on her face fading. "I have my whale."

Part 2

You didn't know how long you were on the road for until you seen the 'WELCOME TO COLORADO.' sign enter your frame of vision. It was snowing hard at almost a white out rate that day and you could barely even see anything ahead of you.

You stopped at the nearest small town called Silverton and got yourself a hotel room and never left the area from that point on. People in Silverton lived by a 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and you liked it like that. It was a serne and safe area with mountains farther then the eyes could see on days it didn't snow and little vintage shops that always caught visitors attention because the place was practically stuck in time.

You lived on your own in your own little apartment and a got job where you made good friends. None of them knew about your little gift and if they did, they never said anything to you about it. Just like they never asked about your family either.

You hadn't spoken to your family in at least a year. On that drive to the Colorado High Country, your cellphone ended up getting thrown out the window. You were a woman of your word now and stronger. You meant what you said.

It was a bustling Friday night on the main street shops and you were in your apartment, running a curling iron through your hair as you were getting ready for your night out.

"Is that guy from your work coming?" Y/b/n asked, scrolling through their phone. "No. They scheduled him for nights."

"Aww that's too bad. I was hoping I could maybe set you guys up." The look in their eyes was mischievous and you shook your head.

"How'd I figure?" You were joking but their eyes became seriously. "Because you just do. I don't know how but you do and I think it's cool...I'm sorry, that was personal. I shouldn't of said anything."

"It's fine." You shrugged it off and unplugged the curling iron, leaving it safely on the counter and shut the light off. "Okay, I'm ready to go."

"Sweet." They tossed you your jacket and stepped outside, making their way to your car. Talking about random stuff as they did you.

You were about to chase after them when suddenly you felt cold eyes on the back of your head.

It wasn't someone physically looking at you, you immediately would of picked up on the person's presence. This one felt cold and empty.

You rubbed the sides of your arm and looked both ways. "Y/n! You coming or not?" Your best friend called out from the sidewalk and you nodded slowly. "Yeah..sorry I-"

"Sorry what?" They made their way back towards you. "I thought I seen something." Your friend just smiled at you and giggled. "I think you're just nervous..come on, you'll feel better once we're on the road."

"Yeah..you're probably right." You took their hand in yours as you strolled to their car, having meaningless small talk along the way. The creeper feeling began to fade away and you attempted to brush it off as just your paranoia but something deep down told you it wasn't.

Meanwhile as you attempted to brush off your inner instincts, Rose the Hat sat at the driver side of her RV with a pair of binoculars in her hand.

(I don't see what all the fuss is about. When I was alive if we seen her we wouldn't of even bothered killing her. We would of just turned her.)

Rose squeezed her eyes shut and grasped onto the sides of her seat. "You're not supposed to be this close to me. Or Andi for that matter. You're both gone now. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

Crow sat in her passenger seat. "You're right, I am but who's going stop me?" He kicked his feet up on her dashboard.

"What are you doing here?" She refused to look him in the eye. "A visitation of sort but mostly for another reason."

"Which is?" He sighed and rubbed his face. "You got to move on, Rosie." Rose laughed and put the binoculars done and pulled her knife out from underneath her skirt. "Funny." She balanced the blade in between her finger tips, her eyes fixated on it.

"I'm serious darlin'." Tears brimmed out of the corners of her eyes and she attempted to blink the them away, not wanting Crow to see her vulnerable in life or death. "And I was being serious when I say you shouldn't be this close to me."

There was silence for a few moments. "For the love of god, would just say something?" Rose tried her hardest to not sound like she was begging but they both knew she was.

"You've allowed all this hatred to consume you and it made you push people away, even me. After a while, you're going to be lonely if you aren't already which I know you are." Her grey storm of eyes met his intense sea of black ones. "Then why don't you stay with me then?"

There was without a doubt a sentimental amount of a bitter sweet touch in Rose's tonality. Whether it was because of the immense guilt she felt in the aftermath of her crusade on Abra or because she actually was feeling, Crow didn't know.

She reached out to touch his hand, almost as if to see if he was really there infront of her or if he was just some vivid hallucination and he immediately pulled away from her.

Rose looked taken aback, not because she felt her authority was questioned but because he actually had the gall to push her away when for once she actually was willing to admit she needed him.

"As you said to me before, I'm not supposed to be this close to you." Crow Daddy placed his tan hat atop of his head.

"You won't see me anymore after this. At the end of the day Rosie you're going to end up doing whatever you want anyway but just remember, an eternity alone gets very lonely."

Before Rose could say anything Crow was already gone. She looked at herself in her large mirror for a few moments. The phrase 'At the end of the day you're going to end up doing whatever you want anyways.' Ran through her head like a march.

Crow was right about that part. Even when she was with The True at the very beginning stages of her turning, she did just exactly what she wanted whenever she pleased but to admit to being lonely? That was something she'd never do.

'You need steam much more than companionship.' She told herself. 'As much of a whale the bitch child was her taste is starting to get old. You want something new, stronger.'

Rose adjusted her hat and begrudgingly slipped her feet into a pair of shoes. The rube staple she hated the most. "Alright Rosie..let's go get her."

On the other side of town you sat in the corner of the bar you were at. "Come on Y/n! Have some fun!"

You shook your head and shyed back with your phone. "No thanks.." Your bestfriend sat across from you. "You look sad."

"No, it's just-" They took your hand in their own. "You still feel something?" You nodded. "Do you want me to take you home?"

You could smell the alcohol on their breath and you shook your. "No, no. It's okay. I'll get a cab home."

They nodded and wrapped their arms around you tightly. "Be safe, please? It's near Christmas and people are crazier than normal."

"God you're worse than the soccer mom at the elementary school I went too." You scolded joking and planted a kiss on their cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too." You waved to them, slipping your coat on as you stepped outside. You took a breath of relief as you stepped outside and turned on both heels to go hail the taxi down the road when you bumped into someone.

"Well, hi there!" Rose smiled as you looked at her in embarrassment. "I am so sorry. I should of watched where I was going." You went to go pick up her top hat but you didn't like the energy that came off of it. It was dark and cold.

"It's fine, Y/n." Your face flushed of color and Rose gave a look of innocence. "What?" She placed her top hat back on like it was a crown.

"H-how do you know my name?" Her hand was on your wrist and you felt the tell tale urge to pull back but yet you felt so calm. "You really don't think you're the only one around who is special, don't you?"

Your blank expression said it all for her. "Come with me. I'll show you how I'm special." Your inner instincts told you to run but Rose's energy pulled you into a trance like.

"Okay..I'll come with you and you'll show me how your special." Her smile was filled with joyful malice. 'Still got this, Rosie Girl.' She mentally high fived herself. "Yes..and that's just exactly what I'll do."

Part 3

Though Rose the Hat was a woman of many talents, she wasn't near as good at the abduction aspect as Crow or Barry was. There was something in the look of the abducted us eyes, particularly adults, children wasn't near as bothered with, the caused this sense of vulnerablely inside of her.

Whether it was from years of dealing with a drunken father during her childhood that practically beat the emotion out of her, or because it was in fact a part of the role in The True she hadn't done in a while she didn't know.

All she knew was that she had to try the hardest she had in a while to keep a strong face as she did the first part of the job on you. It was a long drive and you cried the whole way to the abandoned agriculture plant she took you to way outside Colorado.

"No! No! No!" You kicked and screamed as Rose carried you over her shoulder out of her trailer and laid you down the ground. "I-i won't tell! Just let me go."

"Sorry darling, it's not personal. You could of had alot of potential it's just that like you rubes, I've got to eat too." She tied the rope around your wrist tightly and you winced, feeling your wrist burn along with your eyes. "Aww look at you..how adorable. I almost forgot how much I liked watching people squirm underneath me." She tightened the last clamp harder than the rest and you shriked.

"A-are you going to hurt me?" It was an answer you already knew as you squirmed underneath her. Rose put a finger up to your lip and shushed you. "As little as I possibly can." She promised.

She ran her thumb over your cheek as if to give you some comfort and raised the knife above her head. You squeezed your eyes shut, expecting to feel pain radiating through your body but nothing happened.

Why couldn't she hurt you? Rose, who considered herself to be quite numb to the feelings of others didn't even know herself. There was something about you, some steamy element that made her feel attached to you like a magnet.

"Damn it!" Rose stuck her knife in the dirt inches away from her leg and stood up, frustratedly running her fingers through her hair. "Ro-"

"Quiet Y/n!" She snapped and paced back and forth. She had to have you for steam. You knew what she was. There was no other way but why was it so damn hard?

Finally she sat down next to you again and took her position. This time when she attempted to grab the knife she could barely even bring herself to pull it out of the ground.

She thought back to Crow. 'An eternity alone is lonely. ' He was right. She was lonely. Every little thing about you reminded her of her family or herself and she wanted to bathe in it and never let you go. If she couldn't have you for steam, she'd keep you for company. She couldn't be alone anymore.

"Fuck it." She began to untie the ropes from around your wrist and ankles, fighting tears back from her eyes. The more she looked at you, the more precious she found you from your bright eyes to your beautiful soul.

"W-what are you doing?" Your eyes stung from all the crying you had done and all the force she used to knock you earlier.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Y/n? Damn you rubes.." She continued to untie you, mumbling to herself as she did so.

You laid in the dirt and just stared at Rose. "D-does that mean I get to go home?" Rose stopped what she was doing and smiled at you, her getting all in your face. "Oh sweetie..who said anything about being able to go home?You're staying with me."

"With you?" You looked at her in disbelief. "Why, of course. Either way sweetheart, you're mine. All mine. You should of figured that before I even got you because what I want, I always get." You didn't like the look in her eyes and attempted to run.

"Oh no you don't." She caught you by your wrist and you kicked at the ground and sobbed. "Let me go! Please..I won't tell. I promise."

"Shh..it's going to be okay. I have something even more special for you love." You shook your head, barely listening to her. "I just wanna go home..please-"

Rose rolled her eye into the back of her head and reached deep down into her dress pocket, pulling out a needle. "You know Y/n, I really didn't want to do this but you left me no choice." She pushed you back down on the ground and you screamed as she held up the needles. "Sleep, that's all this will give you."

You attempted to move her hands away but she was too strong. You felt a tiny pinch on your neck and you felt a wave a calmness come over your body even though you were mentally screaming.

"That's it..just relax." Rose cooed and slowly got off of you. "You'll thank me later for this, believe me. For now just sleep." Your eyes fluttered shut and slowly you began to fall asleep.

Rose caressed your cheek and lifted you up in her arms as she carried you off to her trailer. Thinking of how much you reminded her of a younger version of herself along the way. She too knew how it felt to be scared and alone because you, like her, probably thought you were the only one out there with this gift and she didn't want you to feel that way anymore.

As much as she needed the steam, she also needed someone to love. Being the only empty devil left in America was lonely. Rose already lost her Crow and Andi and she wasn't about to let you out of her grasp either.

The next morning you woke up warmly tucked into Rose's bed with her arms looped around her waist. You knew you should of been afraid and running for the hills. This was the person that just tried to kill you after all but Rose looked so beautiful, almost like an angel.

Her brown tresses flowed behind her like a veil and her facial, though aggressive beautiful, looked at piece. She looked more earthly.

Ever so carefully, you attempted to slide out of her arms but her body felt so warm and her grip on you was strong like cement.

You managed to get part of your shoulder out of the grip when Rose yanked your wrist. You instantaneously rolled over and your face collided into her chest. "Where do you think you're going, Mo grá?"

She didn't sound angry but you had a feeling she had a temper. "N-nowhere." You stuttered, practically feeling her smile. "Good. That's what I expected to hear."

Rose sat up in bed, looking down at you. "How are you feeling?" You furrowed your brows. "How am I feeling? You kidnapped me and tried to fucking kill me. How do you think I'm feeling?! I should be beating the shit out of you."

Rose chuckled and patted the top of your head. "Such violent threats for such a gentle soul..you and I both know you really wouldn't do it. Now, second time and I'm asking and only the truth. How are you feeling?"

"Shaken but that's the best night's sleep I've ever had. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." You face flushed as the words came flowing out of your mouth and Rose laughed. "Works a little too well sometimes."

She planted a kiss on your forehead and stood up out of her bed. She was completely naked and all you could do was stare.

"What? Clearly it's not the first time you've seen female anatomy my sweet, after all look at yourself." Rose smirked and started a pot of tea.

"I must apologize for what I put you through last night. Normally when I decide who is food, my mind is set on it and there's no going back but you my darling are something special. You have power I haven't felt in a long, long time. I should of found you years ago."

You watched Rose rummage through her cabinets for her box of tea. "So you're a cannibal then?"

"In ways yes, some no. I don't physically eat people. I eat what's up there." She gestured to her crown.

You looked at the walls of her RV and seen pictures of her hidden on the walls. Some of them she was with a man who had dark hair and others a pretty blonde girl. "So is there more of your friends around or-"

"Family. They were MY family and what is tied can never be untied. I'm the last." The reply came off snappily and handed you your cup of tea, flipping the pictures that you seen completely over.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry." Rose waved her empty hand hand dismissively and sat down across from you, her hands almost breaking the handle of the mug she was holding.

"It's not that they don't matter or they're not significant, it's just that it's not something that you should worry about right now." Rose stippled her tea, not wanting you to see the dismay she felt.

"Here's the deal..I'm going to make you an offer Y/n because I need to move and you're steamy." She eyed you up and down. "How old are you, lovely?"

"(Insert whatever age in your twenties you want to be)." You hummed softly and Rose grinned. "What an age. You know I remember being your age once. Long time ago. I felt lonesome too and then I met someone like myself who showed me I wasn't alone. Wasn't crazy. That's how you felt for a long time, didn't you? Your family didn't understand you. No one did."

"I-i..I don't want to talk about it." You crossed your arms and overted eye contact. "Shhh..Mo grá, it's okay. We all have our deep and dark little secrets in our families. That's what I'm offering you. We could make our own family. The little band of misfits we are. No secrets, no judgment. Stay young, eat well, live long."

The next night you were laying with your head in Rose's lap as she rambled on about what would happen after your turning.

"..Normally we'd have an advanced man who would prepare for a situation like this and would be making accommodations to get you your own trailer but for right now we'll have to make due with what we have." Rose brushed off the situation.

"So I'll be living with you?" She grinned. "You have a twinkle in your eye, don't you honeybunch?"

You said nothing and she smiled. "I see everything in that pretty little head of yours. You're a pleaser aren't you? Or at least you were."

"I bow my head to no one. Made it a point not too a while ago." You growled. "Such passion and so fiery..we'll see about that, love. Enough of that though, we have more important things to worry about. Remember, no fear. Embracing it will make it much easier."

You nodded and she laced her fingers through your hair. "Repeat after me Y/n. Lodsam hanti, we are the chosen ones.."

You did as she said although you were only half paying attention. There was something so sacrificial about the act she was performing on you. The phrase 'eat or be eaten' automatically came to mind.

"Y/n!" Rose snapped her finger infront of your face and you tensed. "That's better..now my love, I'm going to show you something even more special then the both of us combined probably."

You raised an eyebrow as she took a bloodied silver cannister out of the pocket in her shall. "This is Abra..my big whale. This little thing thought she could actually get the last word but we clearly both see the end result of that and she taste like spice."

You looked on mortified as she sucked the girl's steam into her mouth. Maybe you shouldn't embrace it. Maybe you'd go with the death option in the end after all, but then you thought of your friends.

You already new that within a few days time you'd become one of the classing 'Missing' posters but at least then, you'd be alive. The other alternative didn't have that peace of mind. Rose would eat you alive if you weren't where you were right now. You didn't have to be in her head to know that.

Your thoughts were broken though when you seen the cloud infront of your face. "Breath deep. A deep as you can."

Ever so carefully, you did. At first you felt nothing and thought all the talk of the pain was just Rose trying to scare you but then you felt a burning sensation in your stomach. It was subtle but enough to make you notice.

Eventually it began to spread to like wildfire. When it reached your lungs it felt like something was choking you from the inside. Fighting to live, to get out of you.

"Ro-" You attempted to choke out her name but failed. "Shhh...it's okay. Embrace it. Let it feed you."

You tried your hardest but it hurt worse than anything you ever felt before. It hurt like you were dying. Your whimpers turned to screams and you practically feel Rose grinned at you.

Your eye balls collapsed and a ball of blue light rolled into your frame of vision. It wasn't long after that you blacked out.

The next morning you woke up in Rose's bed much to your surprise, with your body still intact. You looked the same physically but you felt..different.

Rose opened the door to her trailer and waved. "Well hi there!" You opened your mouth to yell at her. Ask her what it was that she did to but nothing came out. Only the god awful choking.

Rose immediately made her way over to you with a different cannister. "Deep breaths." You took a huff of the steam and the sensation faded.

"That feel better?" You nodded. "You weren't kidding though when you said it hurt." Rose smiled tightly. "It was worth it though, wasn't it?"

"I guess." You shifted uncomfortably, feeling a pit growing inside you and Rose laughed. "You guess? Just wait til you feel the affects of the steam. It'll give you the best night you ever had."

Your face was blank and she furrowed her brows for a moment and smiled. "Oh honey..you're a virgin, aren't you?" You blushed a little bit and she kissed your cheeks. "Nothing to be ashamed of, my sweet. I was one too at one point but that love, was a long time ago."

You nodded but didn't really pay attention. All you wanted was that sensation to be taken away. Rose took her hat off and gently forced you back onto her bed. "May I?"

You nodded, despite the fear radiating through you as she peppered kisses all over your face and neck. Sure you and your ex kissed but never anything like this.

Rose looked down at you as she made her way down to your collar bone. "Normally I'm not very gentle but for you, I'll try."

You nodded as you felt her nip at your skin. She must of been marking you. It was an annoying sensation but not enough to make you feel hurt. If anything, you felt more flustered.

Rose grinned, clearly getting kicks off the whole thing. She continued to work her way down until she eventually ended up at your lower spot.

You tensed and her face softened. "Easy, Mo grá. If you want me to stop, just let me know." You gripped the sheets on the bed tightly as she began to work her magic on you.

You could barely see her head bobbing up and down in between your thighs. All you could focus on was the passion.

"Rosie!" You gasped not even knowing you struck a chord inside her as you felt your cheeks grow warm and red. "It feels..feels-"

"Amazing?" She looked up at you for a moment. "Yes! More! Please!" You begged as your hips involuntarily buckled up down.

Rose reveled in the whole thing. Yet again, silently admitting Crow was right. Realizing the pleasure she had been depriving herself of over the years.

She chuckled and began to teasingly run her fingers over your folds. "So eager yet so impatient. Practically begging for me to fuck you."

You winced at the tease. "D-does it always feel like this?" You stuttered. "Sex?" Rose rasped. "After we take steam yes, but don't worry about that for right now Mo grá. Let me take care of you."

The rest of her face disappeared again as she got back to work, moaning in pleasure the entire time.

It was intense sex but it was gentle. The feeling of her fingers inside you made you scream in ecstasy.

After a while though you felt tired and that pit began to grow in your stomach. "Rose..I-i-i feel something down there. I don't know if I can do it anymore!"

"That's perfectly okay. Cum for me, my sweet." You waited a few moments to see if she planned on moving her hand and you came.

It was electrifying but it felt amazing. You were panting afterwards and beads of sweat were layered onto both of your skin.

"Rose?" You whispered softly. "Yes love?" She pulled your dress down and scooted up next to you, spooning you the closest to her that she could manage.

"I love you." You murmured and her face went blank. You seen her eyes traveling the walls and tried to pick up on just exactly what she was thinking but found a blank canvas.

After a while she finally spoke. "I love you too Y/n." Rose planted a loving kiss on your temple and nuzzled closely to you. Letting the years of pain and anger she felt finally go. Maybe just maybe, moving on wouldn't be so bad after all.

[fatebreaking-a]

Tagged by : I am a thief. ( Stolen from @starthieve​ ) Tagging : steal it from me.

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

( I will not, I will pick all my muses, how dare- I’ll leave everything except this blog + my other Sona blog out, for length’s sake.) long post, so it’s under the cut.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES-ish / NO. ( people who like her like her, and people who don’t... really don’t. )

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Are they underrated?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — lol. I take inspiration from canon, let’s put it that way.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  Your local patron saint of lost causes, a heroic entity who has overcome betrayal and judgement to become an existence that can save the world. Also she’s tall and strong and hot and nice, what more could you want? Huh? You want more than being hugged by a 6′4″ lady??? Sona can also be in various countries, and can participate very easily in fluff, angst, and all sorts of other types of threads.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  Lots of angst and drama, a bit of a loner with a distant vibe. Having no etwahl and not playing music kills the interest and ‘usual interactions’ for a lot of people, and being mute & not jumping to telepathy can make threads dry and slow. Being a ‘sexy boob lady’ ( u g h ) also has painted her in a certain light - I’ll never forget that someone said that ‘ofc everyone ships with Sona, she’s the village bicycle.’ I’ve made her exceptionally strong ( almost overpowered ), and that doesn’t jive with people sometimes - shoving in all these themes that I personally like and crafting an interesting story of a divine / demonic seer witch who doesn’t know what to do with herself, is finally ‘too strong’, and finds power distasteful... The themes can be a little depressing and cold, even when she acts nice. And seeing “Even though she feels nothing, she still acts nice” in character can feel... tiring. A mute is not an easy person to write with, and I don’t shy away from trying to give the impression that ‘waiting for Sona to communicate can be tiring’ - because I want my readers and mutuals to feel the kinds of things she goes through everyday. While I try to make the blog accessible, Sona has a speech disability, and that can be tiring.

Also that she doesn’t act like a fancy noble... I don’t know. I feel like the way that I write her is very, very different to the fandom’s impression of her, and that leaves people disillusioned. “This isn’t what I expected or signed up for.” She’s just not that person... And because she doesn’t speak, a lot of prompts are off limits. I’ve also recently reset because I wanted to emphasize that she is patient, grim, and secretive while still being kind. I’ve toned down her tendency for mischief a lot, she used to be an absolute gremlin.

A lot of these things also apply to my other Sona blog ( @virtuous-dignity​ ), where she is extremely structured and self-confident and a bit of a recluse, so while she’s much much nicer, she’s also a complete hardass. It’s rough stuff, especially since I make sure to point out, “hey this Sona practices music over 8 hours every day.” “Hey this Sona finds it morally wrong to play music for small audiences.” There are certain traits that just cut ideas in the bud.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  I played Sona a lot in bot lane. Multiple years of sexist remarks, shitty writing, and bad characterization made me frustrated. A lot of things were left unexplained and the etwahl felt like too much of a focus that I could not answer, “who is Sona besides a musician with a fancy instrument”. She has to be someone, right? But we never get to that in the story ( nor in the apparent upcoming lore rework either... ). She has to be someone, her being a famous musician is not everything. So I forcibly tossed aside the music part, especially to also prevent accidentally being pulled into ‘your music is so pretty’ plots. Plus: I wanted to write a character with an internal conflict who was going through some things but wanted to be nice anyway - I believe in that idea a lot. And I wanted to write a character that, tbh, could ship and flirt and just... be flirty and easy going more ( hah! didn’t work out so great now! ). My first canon characters were a ‘left by the void Malz’ dealing with his sins and Ori, who I talk about below, and neither were really great for getting that flirty vibe out. I also really wanted to emphasize that... Well, to be blunt, that if I wrote Sona as sexually promiscuous, that wasn’t a bad thing. That ‘being sexy’ and ‘sex positive’ did not equal ‘objectified tiddy witch’ and ‘perfect candidate for oppai mouse pad’ and other things I’ve heard directed at me in my league experience. Many, many things. Ugh. It kind of did end up turning into a thing where Sona herself draws an interesting line between ‘haha I can tell everyone’s looking at me with those eyes and it’s the fucking worst’ and ‘ok but I trust you and am in bed with you, so I want you to grab me’ - but that’s getting more into ns/fw topics so I’ll leave it there. 

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  All my characters tend to be expressions of myself, as well as answering important thematic questions, like “What does it mean to be rejected by your home and no longer have a place”, and some other stuff. I usually go back to that. Plus, exploring concepts around abandonment and loneliness is something I do a lot with her - feelings of neglect and disillusionment, and ideas surrounding “do I need to like someone or be liked by someone to treat them with dignity”. ( virtuous-dignity, on the other hand, was created because I wanted to write something as soft and uwu as possible, and then it turned into something about ‘balancing dignity for oneself with duty to others’ and handling those kinds of conflicts. )

I also really do enjoy, on some level, turning people around on these characters. “You made me care about character x” is such high praise.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. ( idk, how many of you think robots are hot- )

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. ( I think people downplay Ori’s intelligence a lot, but Riot also casually implied she did open heart surgery on herself so??? )

Are they underrated?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — hahahahahahaha. hah. hah. Sorry. Everything I write is divergent by default.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  A genius inventor and cute spherical robot duo who speak to other robots and shoot lightning, run around acting cute, and try to save their city one step at a time - all while dealing with deep existential dread and fighting off a fate that decrees Ori’s death. Between ‘pancake bot’ and Ori being an accidental flirt, there’s plenty of variety and development here as my oldest canon muse. Not to mention that the blog ‘grows’ and ‘changes’, and in the last year, Ori has taken to dying her hair pink ( because Vi is cool is why, just don’t let her near a rifle or she’ll try to imitate Cait ). I also regularly think about / draw different hairstyles and clothing styles. Ori is very much ‘alive’, the most so out of the three muses on this blog. A human that has the memories of being a robot, trying to live on and live a good life. Also, there are bird, angel, and time themes. So many clocks. Mega clocks!

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  Deep angst and existential dread, because she knows her fate is to die and she’s cheated time. Themes of dysphoria and other troubling topics abound. Being stuck in time loops, thinking she’s an aberration, needing crutches because her legs stop working, etc.

Also, removing the fact that she is a robotic automaton is a bunch of the appeal of Ori. Or well, it’s what makes her character ‘interesting and unique’ to many. Without that, she is ‘yet another Zaunite’, as the thing that made her most interesting was her death and rebirth. ( Nevermind that her entire story is that she’s a selfless person but- I’m supposed  to act like she’s bad, right? )

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  Hey remember when institute of war was a thing? And then when it wasn’t? And Ori’s lore was “died to a turret shot trying to be a champion”... and then it was up in the air for two years?

That’s why. If no one else will love her, I will. She deserves better. And then the lore became close to my lore so I rewrote everything a second time trying to stick to the themes I had.

Ori’s thematic question is, “What do you do when you don’t recognize yourself anymore? How do you get back to ‘okay’ and what do you do from there?” It’s a pretty dim question that has a lot to do with body image, but also to do with abandonment and neglect, and  just dropping out of people’s lives. I think that’s something that people can really relate to. I originally wrote her on a multi with a ‘post void Malz’, who was dealing with the trauma of being puppeted around for years and all the things he had done, trying to get back to ‘okay’ without getting killed. More below:

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  Themes as noted above, Ori is super cute, and a lot of my art & general ideas. I’ve kind of turned these three characters in borderline OCs and keep developing them as they grow... Sometimes I think the stories and concepts I’ve written have outgrown the fandom. And thinking about her, and how she would live, and what her story is... mmm.

Also, the themes I write... I think they matter. Maybe it’s not obvious to anyone but myself, but writing a character who feels dysphoria and hates their body for ‘betraying them’... is relatable. It’s not nice. It’s not simple. But it’s relatable and it matters. Ori’s theme on this blog has a lot to do with “fighting a fate that says you’re going to lose and defying expectations” as well as “coming back from something wicked and rotten in your psyche/body”. And I do write some other skin verses for her but they’re all adapted to meet that theme. ( For example, in SG, she rises to guardian after finding out she’s fated to become a dark star and fights that fight alone, because ‘hell no she’s not going to go dark’. This was 5+ years ago back when there were theories SG and DS were same universe. )

Mostly it’s writing about these themes of expectation and reality. Overprotective parent, absentee parent, dealing with trauma... All my writing is like that. It can make my characters seem overly tragic, yes, but these ideas are not so far gone that they’re completely irrelevant and beyond belief. I’m sure many people have experienced emotional exhaustion and problems with body image. Even though I do write ‘polite but ready to fight’ characters only... Well, I believe in exploring and expressing these kinds of problems. Inner conflict and all. But also fluff! Fluff is really nice! Talk to her about pancake robot.

I also really do enjoy, on some level, turning people around on these characters. “You made me care about character x” is such high praise.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO. ( post rework??? oh my god )

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. ( hard to consider ‘martial’ characters strong when Xer/ath and Syn/dra exist )

Are they underrated?  YES / NO. ( she’s a little overrated, isn’t she?  )

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — I still draw from old lore with her big four blades of doom and ‘reviving’ with the help of Raka ( though I leave it vague / easy to gloss over ). I also had a lot of ideas about music and rhythm and tradition before the update ( drums were a big thing for her, so strong percussive beats and motions reign over the more silk and ribbon dances that flow more, drawing on things like Zelos existing, Lito’s lessons & harsh behavior, and her own internalized habits of trying to calm herself ), so I draw on those a ton. For me, the progression is ‘classic’ -> ‘infiltrator / nightblade ‘ -> ‘aviator’ all as one timeline. Also wrote her as being ‘missing in action’, which makes the awaken cinematic weird. I also really try to emphasize that she’s an emotionally stunted wardog with scars and not ultra pretty, so.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  A world traveler and a wardog, you can find her anywhere, any time, ready to kick some butt and enjoy the local food. Her simmering fury is a counterpoint to her relatively muted demeanor and adventurous spirit. However you may find her, there’s a definite charm to being flown up above the clouds to watch a sunset and talk. She will fly you where you need to be.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  I’m a little stuck on old lore and writing Lia as a character that has “left behind” her past and is pretending to be dead does make certain interactions tough. She’s also a deeply stunted character, emotionally, and I write her ten years of experience as having chilled her to a cold, ever burning ember rather than a passionate flame. Also, ‘aviator’ is kind of weird to handle for a lot of people.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  This one is really simple. When this blog started, the only splash where Irelia was smiling was the aviator splash. That’s it. That as the whole reason. “I want her to be happy and have found her happiness.”

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  I will admit that Lia is the character that I give the least attention to out of these three, and part of it is because I don’t really do flirting or shipping with her as much. She’s not one to reach out to others, and there are a lot of popular Lia blogs to the point that when I, as a multi, write with someone... She probably isn’t the first pick.

But I just... want her to be happy. That’s it. As I mentioned with the Ori section, what I’ve worked out for her has kind of outgrown the fandom itself, she’s become a different entity. Her themes largely involve recovery and finding oneself anew, and writing a character that is passionate about others while still being cool-headed is some of the variety I need. Because Lia is ace/homosexual, she sits out on a lot of the flirty content, but the chances I get to write her being romantic and caring... my god. Just a few posts back and forth with @unholyshe​ ‘s Akali and a So/na I used to write with....... Unforgettable. ( On that note go follow @unholyshe​ what a good writer, gosh dang. ) It’s these small interactions I find intensely compelling, and having a ‘quiet intensity’ and really thinking about her body language...

Also it’s nice to write a character with little secret agenda, who is just straightforward. “Will I enjoy kissing you? Only one way to find out. ‘It was okay.’ “ A ‘the only way forward is through, just do it’ attitude is refreshing.

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

Learning to write all three characters helps me write the others: The little things I think about that are specific to each person really help me out for the others. The depth of using body language from Sona bleeds into how Lia uses body language, and how Ori doesn’t ( even common ticks ), etc etc. Ori’s blunt, observational style of speaking ( telling you that you look good like it’s an observational fact ) helps me understand how to be straightforward with Lia.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES …? / NO. ( sometimes I do get very anxious abt it, esp. since I’m so divergent and do things like ‘so/na is one part succubus lol’ )

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO. ( do excerpts count? less headcanons and more musings, since I’m on like 5+ years with 2/3 of these. )

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO. ( time is not a thing but I used to write a ton, my drabble energy goes to novels now )

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day?  YES / NO. ( this is why you see mobile posts from me constantly, and so many excerpts / musings ).

Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO. ( It’s what I want but it can also be disillusioning / disappointing to people so. Dunno. Anxiety. =/  )

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO. ( It takes me a bit to warm up to a character again, but yes. I know my writing is not bad but I can be a little insecure about it. )

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO. ( Very. I cry a lot and I get upset pretty easily. Sometimes I end up being really cold instead but idk. )

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  — To a point. Sometimes criticism is irrelevant or meaningless, or is just personal taste. “Sona shouldn’t be that strong” isn’t helpful ( but thinking about ways to pare down the complexity is good! ) Sometimes I get criticism that is the equivalent of tasting a chocolate cake and going, “It should have been vanilla, I like vanilla better.” That’s cool, but that has nothing to do with the taste of the chocolate cake I made. ( Ori as a human isn’t interesting, talk more about Sona & the etwahl even though it’s broken, Lia flying doesn’t make sense, etc - these are foundational flavors, so what can I do? ).

Also sometimes people make comments that make me feel they’re just being petty / catty and not sincere. I’ve seen quite a few hypocritical comments and it’s hard to take them seriously. So, yes, but ‘to a point’... Mostly I take suggestions, which I then talk about for the muse. Exploring those ideas. Unsolicited criticism is... hmm. In my experience, about half of it isn’t constructive. And from the wrong person, it can sound judgemental. 

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  — Of course? I love asks. Always. Great. Awesome. If I have a chance to draw to answer these asks, even better.

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  Not really. I’m divergent, they probably disagree because they have a different vision for the character. I’ll be honest here and say I’ve had enough people tell me that “my portrayals are not what they expected” that this can be... disheartening. I usually have a good reason for 80% of my hcs. If we’re talking in IMs though or just conversing, I’m totally fine with it. This comes back to unsolicited criticism - to be a little blunt, some people just straight up don’t know what they’re talking about. And given that I put a bunch of effort in trying to make sure most of my headcanons can be glossed over, so it doesn’t cause conflict and my ‘ultra grim take’ doesn’t cause the end times... I dunno. I’d rather that someone tell me “the kind of interactions they want”, so I can lean into that direction. If you just want fluff, I can leave most of my darker hcs for So/na at the door... But you need to tell me that, so I can work with you. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  — just leave? huh? I mean, I already know people disagree. If you’re not rude, then we’ll just move on and be chill. Otherwise... well, we won’t be chill and you can still go, but I’ll consider you a dick. I don’t expect everyone to agree with “Ori is a human”, but why bring that up to me?

This is why a lot of the time, when people talk about characters and my muses, my brain defaults to “Well that has nothing to do with me.” Why should I invest any time being upset that people are disappointed with my portrayal or I’m not what they expected. It’s exhausting. People have some really strong opinions about Lia and Sona sometimes, but... ‘that has nothing to do with me.’ There’s no point in trying to convince someone to try your flavor of ice cream when they’ve already decided what flavor and toppings they want. It just leads to tremendous insecurity. I should not have to argue that ‘my portrayal is worth paying attention to’. 

Ugh. I might be too sensitive about this. There was a point where people really got in the habit of saying, “this is how character x is” ( not their muse ), and it felt like someone trying to enter my kitchen. It did not feel like a suggestion or an idea. It was an assertive, “this is how Irelia is” by, say... a Ry/ze or Ken/nen blog or something. That felt extremely isolating and alienating to me, because it felt like I could not participate in that conversation at all. Or stuff after. I had to sideline myself, because... that has nothing to do with me or my interpretations. Ofc griping at them is wrong because I know they mean, ‘this is how I see it’, but ye. I’m short tempered and easily upset. Working on it.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  — um? bye? hello?

god I used to go “ ok that’s cool you don’t like my portrayal, here are some other great So/na blogs that I love” but I realized that I was directing someone who felt the need to tell me my portrayal or character is bad to those people... and no. no no no. I still feel a little guilty about it, because thinking I directed a toxic person to my duplicates...  yuck.

If you don’t like the characters, or you don’t like my divergent takes, that’s fine. I get it’s not for everyone. Just unfollow me. You’re not paying me. You’re not under any obligation. To an extent, i don’t mind being critical of the character, but there’s a difference between being critical and being hateful to someone’s muse? And it depends a lot on how close I am with a person. For example, I think Sy/las is a complete scumbag and I hate him, but I don’t go yelling that to every Sy/las blog I see. C’mon.

Another bit of salt but it’s... kind of a sad topic, really. There are some characters people love to hate, whereas other ones get the ‘protection squad’. And in general it’s really disheartening to see someone shittalk Lux every two weeks, but go ‘these other champs are off limits’. If you have that attitude, it makes me think you’ll shittalk my characters the moment they get popular ( COUGHIRELIACOUGH ) and that’s kind of sad. And mean. So general advice on this is: Probably just don’t tell someone you hate their muse, you know? Idk. Everyone has their own tolerance level too so. meh.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  Somewhat.  Not much to say here, sometimes I am very tired, sometimes I comma splice like a madman, sometimes I overuse hyphen dashes to avoid deciding whether to use a comma, period, or semicolon - like this. I don’t need an editor. English is my first language. But if there’s something egregious or you have tips, let me know? I’m someone who looks up grammar rules regularly, and breaks teh rules just as regularly. Knowing when and how to break grammar rules is useful. Though I do tend to... overuse something once I’ve learned it. Hyphen dash, I’m looking at you.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   — Yes and no. I’m chill, I can be a little overly passionate, and I’m pretty quick to apologize... But I have certain moral standards and if you break those, you’re done. Also I can be a vengeful bastard. I try to give as much benefit of the doubt as I can and many chances, but I’ve noticed that I really... have a sour attitude towards a lot more people than I expect. Sometimes people who are very well liked, just because they said or did something that ticked me off. Luckily, I have the special skill of not being a jerk even if I don’t like you, and overall trying to be nice to most people, so it usually won’t matter. 

Ah and I can be a little selective in who I talk to / play favorites a bit. I’m a busy person with an adult life and a stressful job, I only have so much patience. I skip from “tolerating it” to “leaving”, and that can seem like I ghosted, but that’s not always the case. Just better to leave than to pick fights. I have some pretty strict standards and harsh opinions. Short temper. Vengeful. Alas.

Somehow people think I am very nice and baby, so take that for what you will. Pft. I just want people to be happy and feel comfortable and okay. Wrong is wrong, blah blah blah ok I stop now.

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

( If you managed to read all this, with 3 full muses... Let me know, I want to hug you??? )

[tomodachimeter]

Fukigen na Mononokean Chapter 71 Spoilers

THERE WAS

TOO MUCH INFORMATION THIS CHAPTER

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Read raws here.

The three officials gather before the Underworld Princess and the Executive asks how she’s doing. She replies she’s fine, but continues coughing, to which the Legislator notes that she’s still not back to her usual self. The princess says her duty is to keep up the barrier around the barrier and feels pathetic for worrying everyone.

Koura warns the princess not to blame herself because she’ll only get worse if she doesn’t rest and recover her power, and that it’s only natural to be exhausted like this.

Koura says she’d like the princess to be removed to a place where she doesn’t have to keep using up her power, but the Justice says to grant that, they’d request the princess to resign and step down from the throne, and to do that in the first place they need to vote someone to act as the new Underworld Princess. However, at the moment there’s no yokai who can take the princess’s place so quickly because Aoi isn’t here anymore.

The Legislator suggests that all four of them stay together to substitute for the princess around the throne, but the Justice is doubtful that they can put up with pushing each other around every day haha. Koura also says if all three officials are away from their offices then it’ll cause trouble to their respective employees.

The princess murmurs Aoi’s name, and suddenly asks if Aoi is really dead, much to the officials’ shock. The Executive asks if the princess thought Aoi was still alive. He continues, saying that even if yokai cursed with the parasites from the forest were able to prolong their lives with medicine, they still died eventually, and that the princess should know better than anyone how terrifying the forest is.

The princess replies that she is, knowing that the parasites cause roots to grow within their hosts, render them unable to move, and eventually suck their power from them causing their death, and that the corpse will become a tree that blooms fruit and flowers that scatter even more parasites, which is why not a trace of them can be allowed to remain in the Underworld.

It was why that when Aoi became infected with the parasite, she accepted her fate and before she could cause harm to others in the Underworld, entered the forest herself to find a place to die.

After the princess pauses to cough, she says she was only saying nonsense and there is no way someone cursed with the parasite could still be alive, and she’s ashamed of her own moment of weakness.

The Legislator suddenly speaks up, surmising that the princess wants to say that they can’t conclusively say Aoi is dead. The Executive glares, asking if the Legislator has any basis, and the Legislator fires back that the Executive has never conclusively seen and confirmed Aoi’s remains either. Meanwhile, the Justice wishes they wouldn’t get into a scrabble here of all places. 

The princess says she’s grateful for the consolation but it’s unnecessary, and wants them to forget what she said, she has accepted Aoi’s death. The Legislator concedes, but asks if the princess wants to make a bet whether Aoi is dead or not.

The Legislator says along with everyone else here, he has always already thought Aoi was dead, so that he can’t be the princess’s opponent in this bet. But he knows one single person who would bet that “Aoi is still alive”.

And if the princess would like to know once and for all, asks whether the princess would like to have one single contest with that person.

Ashiya bemoans his performance on his finals while Abeno is cursing out how cold it is, hahaha. They start getting into a fight in the hallway when Zenko hears them and comes out to stop them.

She asks if they have a job today, and tells them to be careful since it’s so snowy out. Zenko also says there was something she wanted to ask Abeno, and asks him if it’s okay to give yokai medicine for human colds, because Yahiko has been coughing since last night. Abeno asks if Yahiko has any other symptoms, to which Zenko replies no, and even this morning Yahiko was excited enough to want to go to Okina’s place to play, but she told Yahiko to take it easy at home, although she’s not sure if he listened.

Abeno says he can’t say whether the Mundane World’s medicine will pose a problem to yokai if they take it, but he’ll go check on Yahiko and then get some medicine from the Underworld. Zenko thanks him, and asks when he’ll go to the temple. Ashiya asks if they’ll go right after they finish today’s job.

Abeno is silent for a while, to which Ashiya asks him, puzzled, but Abeno says change of plans, they’re going to go see Yahiko first, shocking Ashiya who asks if it’s okay to keep their client waiting out in the snow and what if their client catches a cold instead. Abeno says he’ll have the Mononokean get their client at the meetup place and wait inside, and if they hurry they’ll make it in time after seeing Yahiko anyway.

As Zenko tells Abeno that she’s heading home after she finishes cleaning duty but that they can go to the temple first, Ashiya thinks it’s quite unusual for Abeno to put work at a later priority, even though they could go see Yahiko after work.

They arrive at the temple and Ashiya calls for Yahiko, but he doesn’t appear. Ashiya wonders if Yahiko is inside the house and if they should go in to check (although they’d have to deal with Zenko’s father), while Abeno suddenly walks off saying he can sense Yahiko’s presence.

Ashiya freaks out telling Abeno to get under the umbrella, to which Abeno says he doesn’t need it. Ashiya protests that Abeno will get cold if he doesn’t stay under the umbrella, and if Abeno hates the idea of sharing an umbrella he’ll give it to him so just take it already, because Ashiya is the one Abeno will get mad at if he gets cold haha. Abeno snaps back that he’s not cold, to which Ashiya yells back liar.

They see a bunch of snow figurea, and Ashiya taps the one in front of them saying they found Yahiko, “you’re transformed, aren’t you!?”, but Abeno says that’s just a regular snowman. Ashiya says it seems like Yahiko made all these.

Abeno suddenly taps another snowman and Yahiko bursts out asking if Abeno came to play in the snow together. Ashiya notes that Yahiko seems to have a little bit of a cold but is energetic as usual despite his coughing. But Yahiko’s coughing suddenly gets worse to Abeno’s shock, and Yahiko smiles weakly saying that he was going to go to Okina’s place to play but Zenko told him to stay at home.

He starts falling to which Abeno and Ashiya catch him, and they’re shocked at his high fever. Ashiya says Yahiko must have gotten worse after Zenko’s initial report.

Ashiya asks if there’s any place like the Kiyakudo in the Mundane World to take Yahiko to, but Abeno doesn’t know, and Ashiya asks whether they should exorcise Yahiko and take him to the Kiyakudo but Abeno is hesitant.

Hearing that, Yahiko starts throwing a tantrum that he won’t go to the Underworld. Abeno scolds him not to thrash around, and Ashiya frets that they can’t just leave Yahiko like this, and Zenko would understand the situation. Yahiko continues his tantrum and runs off saying that he’s not sick, to stop getting in the way of him playing in the snow, and to go away while coughing all the while.

Abeno takes a breath, and begins speaking to Yahiko extremely formally. He says he has no intention of exorcising Yahiko and that he knows that Yahiko has a situation that prevents him from going to the Underworld. He’s known this since he was an employee of the Mononokean, taught to him by the Executive, and of course, he knows about Yahiko too (emphasized), and of how much importance he is to the Underworld.

Yahiko says “Haruitsuki?”, looking stunned.

He calls Yahiko by his title, older brother of the Underworld Princess Kakuriyo-no-shimokamomi-Yahiko-sama, and respectfully asks him to rest himself.

who gave abeno the right to look like such a model in that coat and scarf

uuuu the way ashiya ties his scarf is so cute....

THE LEGISLATOR MADE SOME REALLY GOOD FACES dokidoki

...yahiko made a kinako snowman too... don’t do this to me... the zenko snowman is so cute

speaking of zenko ALWAYS BEING ABLE TO STOP ASHIYA AND ABENO’S FIGHTS PLEASE DON’T EVER CHANGE I LOVE YOU

there... really were too many bombs this chapter... the possibility of Aoi being alive... Abeno twirling his finger around the amulet...

ASHIYA ARE YOU HIS BOYFRIEND OR WHAT, HOLDING THE UMBRELLA OVER ABENO LIKE THAT

[kallypsowrites]

The Crimes of Grindelwald and how not to write a mystery (spoilers)

Hey. J.K. We need to talk about this latest movie. I know you’ve been getting a lot of flack about the nagini thing, the trying to introduce too many new characters in one movie thing, the implying that weird ending where you implied Grindelwald wanted to stop the Holocaust. Weird stuff. But really I want to talk about the twist. The Aurelius “Credence” Dumbledore twist. I...I hesitate to even call it a twist because that implies that “who is Credence?” is a question any of us were asking at the end of the first movie. Like...he could have been his own character. But no I guess he...had to have a recognizeable name. Cause if there’s anything your books have taught us: it’s all about the family you come from. That’s what makes you powerful.

Anyway, the real problem is: this was a terribly constructed mystery. Which is really odd because mystery was what you used to do best in the Harry Potter books. Maybe writing for film posed different challenges for you or maybe you just give yourself too many toys to work with, preventing yourself from fully constructing this mystery but...whatever the case, I want to go back to your books.

The thing about the Harry Potter books was the mystery was always high stakes and figuring out the answers determined whether or not Harry would live or die. The mystery was directly connected to the plot, and therefore we cared about solving it. 

So in book 1 we ask the question: what is in the vault? It’s the sorceror’s stone, which can make people immortal or revive them from the brink of death. This is important because it seems Snape is trying to get it for Voldemort to help resurect him and we care because both Snape and Voldemort seemed to have been out to get Harry all year. So when we get into the vault and find out SURPRISE! It’s actually the unsuspecting, stuttering proffessor Quirrel who has Voldemort on the back of his head. This is satisfying because it’s unexpected but also the hints were dropped throughout the books. And it raises the stakes because Voldemort is LITERALLY on the back of Quirrel’s head. The sorceror’s stone itself is more of a plot device, but what makes it significant is that it COULD have brought voldemort back if Harry hadn’t stopped him.

In book 2, we get an even better mystery. Something is petrifying muggleborns and Harry think it might be Malfoy. Yet again, we have a red herring in the mystery. First it was Snape. Then it was Malfoy. The whole book revolves around the creature, it’s master, and the location of the chamber of secrets. Once again, the location of the chamber of secrets is just the plot device. What makes it significant is that finding it enables Harry to find and save Ginny. And, of course, it reveals that it was Voldemort all along, this time trapped in the memory of a diary. More upping of the stakes and the introduction of an element (the horcruxes) that will come back later.

In book 3, we hav ethe mystery of Sirius Black. Why did he betray Harry’s parents? Surprise! He didn’t. It was a red herring. The real culprit was Peter Pettigrew who supposidly died on that same night. Harry has been seeing Peter’s name on the map and we wonder why. it turns out he faked his death! And Sirius was innocent! This ups the stakes because the whole climax revolves around saving an innocent man from a cruel fate.

You’ve noticed so far that every mystery has had a red herring, but hints placed throughout for the true culprit. And it has a plot device that more or less serves to raise the stakes. Nicely enough, the plot device is all in the book title for us.

In book 4, the mystery is: who put Harry’s name in the goblet of fire? Red herring: Karkaroff or Snape again. True answer: Barty Crouch Jr. Does it actually matter who set up the goblet of fire? Not really. It’s really just a way to up the stakes more by having Harry witness Voldemort’s return.

In book 5 the mystery is: way more nebulous. There’s the question of why is Harry seeing through Voldemort’s eyes and what does it mean? Voldemort starts manipulating their connection to get Harry to pick up this prophesy. It’s kind of interesting but the REAL purpose of going to find the prophesy is to rescue Sirius and then raise the stakes when he dies, leaving Harry once again without a treasured loved one. 

In book 6 the mystery is twofold: what are horcruxes and who is the Half blood prince. The answer, you guessed it, ups the stakes. Horcruxes hold pieces of Voldemort’s soul and to kill him, they must be destroyed. And the identity of the half blood prince? Satisfying because it comes after Snape killed Dumbledore.

In book 7, the mystery is finding the horcruxes and also the deathly hallows. Though the deathly hallows are far less significant than the horcruxes. The ressurection stone serves a thematic purpose more than anything. And the point of the Elder wand is that Voldemort was never it’s owner. Harry is supposidly the master of death and so it’s more tied around that theme. The horcruxes are more central to the plot as finding each one enables Harry to ultimately kill Voldemort. This book is like a bunch of mini mysteries, but the mystery, once again, isn’t the point. It’s all leading up to the final confrontation with Voldemort which Harry wins with this really powerful speech and conversation.

So J.K., if we review, we see that your mysteries are well written with excellently placed red herring, sprinkled with plenty of hints to make the twists legitimate. But, at the end of the day: the answer to the mystery isn’t the point of the story. It was a vehicle to raise the personal stakes for the characters (though still tied very closely to the plot).

So...Aurelius Dumbledore. Let’s talk about that, shall we?

First of all, you try to set up the Lestrange family as a red herring. Except...we know nothing about the Lestrange family at all. When you introduce the idea that “he might be a Lestrange” our only thought is...Oh. Cool. What does that mean? How does that have any bearing on the plot? It’s also clumbsily introduced because we’ve only just met Leta Lestrange. And found out she had a brother who died. And that people think it could be Credence. But it’s not like...we’ve spent time with this character and gotten to known her sorrow over her brother’s death. It has to be TOLD to us. The whole backstory has to be described in order to have any weight. Leta’s half brother (who we don’t care about) describes Leta’s history for no reason as if to say “haha, HERE’S the answer”. Only to be like “ACTUALLY JUST KIDDING IT’S NOT THE ANSWER! YOU were FOOLED”.

No we weren’t. We had no context. We had no ability to guess this twist. This is the equivalent of “You’re a vampire Harry” “I’m a what?” “Haha, just kidding. You’re a wizard. Fooled you.”

So, whatever. The red herring is thrown in there for no apparent reason. They try to make this  a mystery when it didn’t need to be. But surely the answer...the reveal...matters? Right?

Haha, guess again. Here’s a question, J.K. What does Credence being a Dumbledore change? Why does it matter? Are you saying that because he’s a Dumbledore, he’s more powerful? Because that sounds like some pureblood bullshit right there. I could have sworn the whole point of Harry Potter was that blood ties didn’t matter and the strength of someone’s magic was like...personal or some shit. That’s why Hermione is powerful, right? You’re surely not saying that coming from a good family is what makes your magic strong right? So Credence being a Dumbledore shouldn’t be what actually gives him the power to face Albus.

Does it raise the emotional stakes? Not really. Dumbledore never knew this brother. This isn’t a Leta Lestrange situation of “I had a brother and he died”. Dumbeldore doesn’t even know Credence exists so he has no reason to care yet. This reveal effects NO ONE, except for Credence himself. It does not advance the plot. It does not raise the stakes. It is little more than a fun fact. Credence could have just been a really powerful wizard because of how he was able to suppress is obscurus for so long. He didn’t need to be special.

It’s as pointless as the Nangini reveal. It’s just...trivia. It’s a twist to be a twist. It doesn’t effect the plot. Lord knows Nangini does FUCK ALL in this movie. At most, it gives Credence an excuse to go with wizard hitler, and that’s just...so weak. He wasn’t concerned about where he came from in the last movie.

I just...he could have just been a powerful wizard. This movie has so many answers to questions I never asked: the history of the Lestrange family, Credence’s identity, Nangini’s backstory. No one needed or wanted these things. And what’s weird is that this involves so much retconning of Harry Potter canon. Weird how this whole “Dumbledore had another secret brother” thing was never mentioned in previous books or histories. Weird how there were NO HINTS in the original books about Nangini being a cursed snake. Weird how APPARENLY LETA IS THE LAST LESTRANGE BUT YOU JUST KILLED HER SO WHERE’D BELLATRIX’S HUSBAND COME FROM?

The mystery could have been removed and not made a difference. And the film treats the reveal like it’s some big deal. It’s not. It does not raise the stakes. Grindelwald himself raises the stakes by actually convincing some good people to join his side. I guess maybe a movie called Crimes of Grindelwald should have been focused on him right? And the other characters? And not bloated with this pointless mystery?

J.K. I know you can write mystery. I’ve seen you do it. A good mystery is made from keeping it simple, building in hints naturally, including well established red herrings and making the actual mystery drive the plot forward.

This...was an after thought. A way to distract from meaningly developing your five million characters and a sorry attempt to try to keep to the formula that you don’t seem to know how to execute anymore.

(Final note: I enjoyed parts of the movie. I thought the ending was over all strong and I actually loved Leta’s character. Also, shockingly, Grindelwald was one of the best things about this movie and I thought I was going to hate Depp’s performance. It’s a shame that so many of the characters had nothing to do because I bet they could be interesting. So, you know, what a mess. There are good parts but they don’t fit together to tell a cohesive story

[mittensmorgul]

When Sam and Dean die and go to heaven, couldn't Cas just go see them anytime he wanted? He's an angel, he's got practically unlimited access to heaven (esp. since there's not enough angels to stop him). I get the themes they were going for, and I know this would never be a viable solution in the show. But I'm just saying, theoretically, if Cas were to remain an angel, he would never really have to say goodbye to them, right?

Could he, though?

I don’t even know if it’s a factor of other angels preventing him from going to visit, but more about how he perceives Sam, and especially Dean’s (since this particular conversation was about DEAN), feelings for him.

Basically, this was a horrific close look into Cas’s state of mind, his own regard for himself as anything more than “useful” to the Winchesters and even to Jack.

He’s not allowed to let himself be happy, either, or whoops there he goes forever to the Empty. He also proved that he can’t even address Dean’s potential death during this same conversation. Jack tries to push him into confronting it, and he goes hard into Denial Mode, with the line to the effect of, “he WILL wake up!” Cas can’t really even think out past that theoretical point where Sam and Dean will eventually die and not live again.

I mean, back in s4 when Cas’s argument to Dean in 4.22 was this:

Dean: Destiny? Don't give me that "holy" crap. Destiny, God's plan... It's all a bunch of lies, you poor, stupid son of a bitch! It's just a way for your bosses to keep me and keep you in line! You know what's real? People, families -- that's real. And you're gonna watch them all burn?Castiel: What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here. I see inside you. I see your guilt, your anger, confusion. In paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace. Even with Sam.

and Dean’s retort:

DEAN: You can take your peace... and shove it up your lily-white ass. 'Cause I'll take the pain and the guilt. I'll even take Sam as is. It's a lot better than being some Stepford bitch in paradise. This is simple, Cas! No more crap about being a good soldier. There is a right and there is a wrong here, and you know it.

Dean has always fought for life. Which makes it interesting that one of the bits of “contentment” Dean found in 14.10 inside his mind-bar was Pamela. Back in 5.16, when he met her in Heaven, she’d changed her opinion on the afterlife from what it had been before... she’d accepted her fate and went along for the ride of her “one long show at the Meadowlands.” She was, back in s5, a piece of the big puzzle that at the time was driving Dean ever closer to despairing for the fate of the world and himself, and was literally one episode before he threw in the towel and prepared himself to say yes to Michael.

This all loops back around, because Supernatural.

But this time it’s Cas on this leg of the loop, from a slightly different perspective, facing the existential horror of what he is, knowing firsthand what it is to be human, too... and not fully having come to an understanding about what he could potentially choose for himself. He’s stuck in a rut where he can’t see over the edges to any sort of happy ending for himself-- partly because of his uncertainty about his “purpose,” because he does still believe that he must serve some greater purpose as evidenced by his dilemma in 13.14, but also partly because of the deal he made with the Empty for Jack’s soul, and isn’t that a kicker if Jack’s soul is now at the very least seriously compromised because of his actions to save his family and kill Michael.

I think it’s more telling as a statement on Cas’s current feelings about himself, rather than him just overlooking this potential to just hang out with his pals in Heaven after they die, you know? Because even if he could still visit their heavens, would he feel he had the right to? Would he actually belong there? Because right now he can’t even face the possibility, let alone think that problem through.

[avelera]

Musings for my novel, but it's interesting when you design a character to be an answer to a common trope, and then must dodge turning them into that exact trope. (I'd like to think GRRM ran into this problem at some point, designing his series to be a reversal of fantasy tropes, only to realize that well, at some point we're going to need a hero, and at some point someone needs to win this fight or it all spins off into chaos and it ends with rocks fall everyone dies. But then, maybe that's how he always planned to end it.) So the novel I'm working on is female character-centric. There's an HP-esque “Golden Trio” at the center where the balance is two women and one man. But I want to talk about my male character for a bit because I've been developing him a bunch lately, and I'd like to think I'm on to something interesting? So the trope I suppose I’d like to avoid is the “Male Character is the Most Special” but, at the end of the day, it’s not that stories go out of their way to make people into heroes, it’s that people being heroes is what makes stories. If he wasn’t in some way extraordinary and able to go toe-to-toe with my heroic female protagonists, he would be unworthy of their story and most likely an annoying character to boot. Terrence (all names subject to change at some point, the idea was for his name to sound a bit pompous and traditional) is something of my answer to Prince Caspian and the Fisher King. He’s the prince, now king of the fantasy island nation of Antylia. The ruler of Antylia, male or female, is always the firstborn in a line going back to the founding of the nation some 300-400 years earlier. That’s because the health of the ruler is literally tied to the land by magic, which passes on to their firstborn child after the ruler die. Which, in my opinion, is a system just asking to be hacked, and Antylia is very lucky that it hasn’t been yet (until now). As children, he and the female protagonists Thea and Alma went on a quest to depose his “evil” uncle, who had murdered Terrence’s father, the rightful king as well as the queen Terrence’s mother, in hopes that the magic of the land and its kingship would pass to him as secondborn and a better ruler but, failing that, it would pass to then 10-year-old Terrence who could be essentially imprisoned in a golden cage to maintain the health of the nation. Terrence at 14 did what any normal child in a fairytale story would do upon learning his uncle was responsible for his parents’ deaths: he ran away from home and with a few unlikely allies took back his throne. His uncle was executed. Thea, a girl from our world, went home. Alma, their commoner sidekick, went back to her own life. This whole novel is constructed around the idea of youthful simplicity giving way to adult complexity. Hopefully, everything that took place during their childhood quest can be easily grasped by readers without having to show very much of it. It’s a tale as old as time. Except now we’re 15 years later, and a civil war has been raging for most of that time, decimating the population. The commoner Alma is now on the side of the rebels, who have taken up arms against a king who has gone mad with power, decimating his own allies out of paranoia, and turning the island’s most powerful gift into the weapon of its destruction: the king is using his own body to target and destroy his political enemies with earthquakes, natural disaster and famine. His body is a weapon that allows the much smaller loyalist forces to have driven the rebel forces to desperation. Hopefully, it is another classic, easy to understand story, of the boy king spoiled until he becomes a despotic adult. Yet none dare kill him, because there’s no known firstborn heir for the health of the island nation to pass to. For all anyone knows, his death without heir could cause the total destruction of the island. Alma is forced to confront that as a naive child she had placed this despot on the throne of her homeland. When Thea, our protagonist, returns from our world to Antylia, she too is confronted with her childhood naïveté as well as Alma’s fury with her and at herself that they didn’t do more then or since to prevent this widespread destruction and see what Terrence really was sooner. (Adding to that, before Thea left she was honored with being knighted as the king’s protector, a role traditionally meant to keep the monarch in check, and abandoned it in order to return to our world.) Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a story if it ended at that, and a careful reader at this point may have noticed the flaw in the assumptions of Terrence’s wickedness. Even if he does wear a gold mask these days and call himself a god, there is the simple fact that it is the health of the king that makes the land thrive, and his pain that makes it suffer. Because Terrence hasn’t turned despot. He is a prisoner of his own reign, and has been more or less since Thea and Alma helped put him on the throne. Deposing his uncle as regent did nothing to remove the web of co-conspirators who were quick to disavow the regent when the tide of opinion turned in favor of the boy-king, who after all is an easier and more vulnerable target of manipulation anyway. In essence, Terrence has been tortured ever since in order to destroy their political enemies, kept imprisoned as the war worsened. So the original idea was that Terrence is in fact the damsel in distress of the novel, to be saved by our female protagonists. Granted, Alma is fairly skeptical of Thea’s belief (that turns out to be true) that the Terrence she knew would never become such a tyrant and that something is definitely wrong. (Alma’s not entirely in the wrong here for thinking otherwise though, she’s seen the wreckage of destroyed cities and giving your friend the “benefit of the doubt” in those situations is a bit challenging to say the least). But I can’t just have Terrence sitting around totally passive in his own captivity for 15 years. It would make him unworthy of the throne he fought for (and technically still occupies). Terrence is essentially stuck in a situation where injury made to him could kill his own people, perhaps even thousands at a time. He can’t use injury or suicide as a way out. He also doesn’t dare antagonize his captors if it risks sadism or punishment being added to the tactical use of his torture for the war (and he tried once, when he was 18, to escape by hurting himself and targeting an earthquake to his own location, only to be recaptured and punished). A certain amount of collaboration with his captors is the only way to spare lives. But he can read, and he can write, and for a decade now he’s been carefully smuggling out writings under the pen name of Leviathan urging the rebels that the office of the monarchy is now forever corrupted and must be destroyed. He becomes the intellectual leader against his own reign (Alma is by the way a rather big fan of "Leviathan”). Even this he needs to do very carefully lest it traces back to him. If and when Terrence is ever freed though, he fully intends to follow through with the destruction of his own monarchy. Once the Pandora’s Box of injuring the king to kill his people has been opened, there’s no putting it back, and he will not subject any children of his to the same fate he suffered. The only question is how. -- So anyway, I’m starting to love my angsty fatalistic Fisher King. Any thoughts on how he comes across to you guys, or how to improve him, would be much appreciated!

[wishes-upon-dreams]

The Many Parallels Present in the Segment with Uncle Yomo and Touka

The scenes between Touka and Yomo in :re chapter 135 can be taken as a multi part parallel in conjunction with the first part of Tokyo Ghoul:

We have the scene where Yomo tells Touka to go ahead and lead the other ghouls away from the Oggai

which brings to mind the time where they had to split up during the Aogiri Raid:

Immediately prior to both scenes we even have Touka being shaken out of her thoughts. In the original tg she’s worried about Kaneki and reminisces about their time together at Anteiku, while in :re her thoughts wander to the ghouls who are under their care while OEK Kaneki is away.

Apart from a mini headcanon I have that “See you later” is a Kirishima/ Yomo family thing in addition to a touken thing (imagine Hikari saying those words to Arata and her children before she faced Arima), and another parallel to add to my Uncle Yomo & Kirishima siblings similarities post (x), ( look at Touka telling Ken how much she cares the Kaneki/ Kirishima/ Yomo family way:

),it shows that Yomo has confidence in Touka’s ability to protect herself by informing her that it’s alright for her to head on her own path.

This panel:

where Yomo reminds her that she has others to protect accentuates this point and is reminiscent of the speech that Touka gave to her younger brother Ayato when they broke into Cochlea to save Hinami.

Though she is quick to think on her feet (x), finding oneself in a stressful situation can lead even the most level headed of ghouls to forget their own advice. That’s why it’s great to see that Uncle Yomo is able to recognize her inner turmoil and point out that she shouldn’t be taking on the burden all by herself. The emphasis being that it would do no good for her to stop there - she has a child on the way and her own little family to protect now.

Immediately prior to this reassurance though, we have the first instance of Yomo picking up on Touka’s hesitation and stating:

With these lines, it appears that Yomo is, in a way, comparing himself to Touka. As her uncle, he’s probably hoping that she won’t have to go through similar hardship and have to feel the same regrets.

Yomo, like other characters in the story, is defined by his past. In Tokyo Ghoul chapters 112-113, we find out about the existence of his older sister who raised him after their parents’ and older brother passed away, and how much he adored and respected her:

This older sister, as is confirmed in chapters 70-71 of :re, was Kirishima Hikari, Touka and Ayato’s mother. This sister, as we also discover within those same chapters, perished staying behind to protect her family from Arima while Arata escaped with their children.

This is something that causes Yomo a lot of anguish, given how much he cherished his sister. While he initially lashed out at his brother in-law, not unlike Touka in her younger years:

when he was alone he acknowledged the truth:

The one thing in common that young Renji and Arata both felt during their conversation was a sense of sadness and responsibility at having been unable to stop Hikari’s death and they both ended up seeking revenge because of it.

Luckily, in Yomo’s case, the elder manager of Anteiku, Yoshimura, steps in and protects him from being fully consumed by that feeling.

Though not outwardly mentioned, what he was given was most likely information about his niece and nephew - his last link to his sister, her very own children who she adored with all her might.

This connection, and perhaps also compelled by a sense of guilt for his words towards Arata which possibly contributed to the elder Kirishima’s actions that ultimately lured the CCG to seek to eliminate him, prompted Yomo to try and change for the sake of his remaining family members.

His comment about being powerless, in addition to applying to how he was unable to prevent the death of his sister, can also, in some respects, refer to how useless he felt, as an uncle, in having been unable to stop Touka and Ayato from suffering a similar fate as his own.

The latter reason also ties in to where he talks about being an onlooker.

When speaking to Yoshimura about his reluctance to announce his familial relation to his niece and nephew, Yomo reveals the doubts he has about his own abilities to act as an adult figure and guide another.

With how rash he acted following Hikari’s death, perhaps he felt that he had no right to outwardly express how much he cared about them. Or maybe he understood all to well just what it felt like to have another important member of your family unceremoniously snatched away (which coincides with the throwback to Tokyo Ghoul Chapter 130 in this chapter:

) and feared that he might also die prematurely leaving them feeling despair once more.

Either way, he felt safer watching over them from afar.

Can it be attributed to a lack of confidence on his part due to his youth? Maybe. In fact, it can probably be considered a self-imposed obstacle. He has mentioned that he struggles to express himself after all:

As of recent events, however, perhaps he’s starting to acknowledge that he’s been on the path to slowly overcoming it. Perhaps, with the marriage of his niece and the upcoming birth of the next generation of his family he’ll finally reveal to Touka and Ayato that he’s their uncle.

When Yomo mentions that Touka is not powerless nor just an onlooker he means it.

Touka has a strong support system. She, just like Kaneki, has a whole bunch of people who care about her and Yomo has watched from close by as she formed many of those connections, those all important bonds, on her own.

She is also proactive. During the course of the series, it’s been shown that if she felt strongly about something, and if she felt it was within her reach to act upon it, she would.

For instance, confronting the doves due to the level of injustice she felt about Fueguchi Ryouko’s death.

Even though it was an impulsive act and she’s mellowed since then, the fact remains that she took it upon herself to avenge the more pacifistic ghoul and followed it through.

Also, most recently, the instance where she’s put in a position where she has to take chances while making difficult choices as she aims to move forward with the intention of starting a life and family with her husband Kaneki during a hard time.

It’s as Kaneki once said:

Yomo can see that aspect in Touka, especially after she heeded his words during the Anteiku raid at the end of the first part of tg.

She is not powerless and Yomo sees her full potential, and has hope in her abilities, to weave her way past all the tragedy into a happier future for herself and her family.

[argivebeauty]

character development notes, self criticism & etc

This is all a bunch of notes I wrote for myself for character development purposes. They are extensive and kind of messy with some assessments about Helen’s ambivalence as a character and how it reflects on her opinions about the Trojan war and some of the names involved in it. I don’t expect anyone to read this huge ass text lmao but in case someone does, let it be noted that my default views on Helen’s dynamics with other canon characters are up for discussion with other rpers who might have different interpretations. Mentions: Paris, Aphrodite, Hermione, Andromache, Hector, Deiphobus, Zeus and everyone who was involved in the Oath of Tyndareus.

Helen doesn’t always make sense. Her values as queen of Sparta can sometimes shock with her nature and emotions, already conflicted in themselves from being neither fully human and nor fully deity - a product of two opposite essences. That is why her supposed ‘loyalty’ is ambiguous in the Trojan war, and her perspectives about it often become contradictory among themselves. 

First, about her role in the Trojan war:

(1) She was not the virtuous wife that was raped by the evil Trojan prince, nor the shameless adulteress who just suddenly decided to leave everything behind. Granted, Helen will come to reject Paris’ bed later on, or at least try to (cough cough Aphrodite), but that was something that would happen over the years, and definitely she would never want him again after he ran away from battle (with your shield or on it, Spartan values). At the same time, yes, she would have slept with Paris without Aphrodite’s coercion, in the beginning. I don’t see Helen being faithful in relationships… not sure if it’s impossible but it’s highly unlikely. All the same, Helen would not have traded Sparta for Paris by her own choice, not because of Menelaus or even Hermione (she may even be fond of them, but they are duties), but because of Sparta in itself: loyalty to the state above all else. In her view, Helen is never ‘of Troy’ and does not like to be called such.

 Then, how she views it:

 (2) Helen is not proud of the war and relishing in the carnage like some accounts claim, but that doesn’t make her the eternal gloomy figure lamenting that people were dying “because of her”, either. That’s a crucial point in which her perspectives become unstable. As queen of Sparta, Helen does not see war as an evil, but rather as the natural fate of men. It was not her pride, but it was theirs. For instance, at the same time that she thinks it’s shameful for Paris to run away from battle, Helen would have been outraged at Andromache’s pleas for Hector not to fight. (Note: She would never speak of it, but Helen always felt that she had married the wrong brother. Hector was undoubtedly the person she loved the most, aside from her siblings, because she saw in him the embodiment of what the ideal man should be, and it was all on his own merits. In my interpretation, Helen was secretly in love with him). The human then conflicts with the queen - and the first is always the one she spurns the most - because it kills her to see her loved ones die, and to have in her conscience the weight of being an indirect cause of it (that could sometimes lead to moments of blaming herself, though Helen does not feel responsible for the war), but at the same time, it was an insult to even think about the idea of Hector refusing the fight – the utmost disrespect to someone she respected so deeply.

She’s also ambivalent about her side on the war. As a Spartan, Helen knows that’s where she belongs and it’s where she wants to be, but at the same time she does not want the destruction of Troy, for there are people in there that she cares about, even if they are only a few – with Hector’s death, Helen comes to accept fate without any struggle. That is why she circled the wooden horse and called for the greek’s names while conjuring the voice of their wives, as Menelaus mentions in the Odyssey, because she thought that Troy deserved a fighting chance, even if a hopeless one (same principle behind the story of the 300 spartans), but then she did nothing else to prevent the inevitable once her trick didn’t work, and pragmatically proceeded to ‘betray’ Deiphobus (to whom she never promised any loyalty) to Menelaus. I am in accordance with Deiphobus’ own account of her motives: 

“Care-worn and sunk in slumber, I was then inside our ill-starred bridal chamber, sleep weighing upon me as I lay – sweet and deep, very image of death’s peace. Meanwhile, this peerless wife takes every weapon from the house – even from under my head she had withdrawn my trusty sword; into the house she calls Menelaus and flings wide the door, hoping, I doubt not, that her lover would find this a great boon, and so the fame of old misdeeds might be blotted out.”

However, through the duality of her emotions conflicting with her values – suffering for the war in the first and glorifying it in the second – there is still a third perspective, which is the resentment that comes from her divine heritage. Helen is the only mortal daughter of Zeus. As such, every role she has to play becomes a reductive thing for her: she was meant to be more than a beautiful queen breeding sons while her Mycenaean husband ruled Sparta. As much as she resented that, she resented being reduced into a casus belli who never had a say in anything that happened.  In summon: The Trojan war was painful, but it wasn’t disgraceful. It wasn’t the doom of men but a chance to achieve glory, though the glory wasn’t hers. 

She cared for Troy, she longed for home, all the while she carried old little resentments for many of the Greeks, resentments that were strengthened by the war: for her adoptive father for promoting the Oath of Tyndareus, for Odysseus for coming up with the idea and for every single man who took part in it, for binding her to a promise that she had never made, which Helen always saw as belittling rather than protective. It may come off as unreasonable, because it isn’t against the norm, but Helen is not the norm and she knows it, and takes pride in it. Helen also has a special resentment spot for Aphrodite for using her as a bribe, as well as for Paris for accepting it. Most of her anger comes not from being retained in Troy or urged back to Sparta, but rather from the principle of not being able to make that decision herself.

Finally, I do like the interpretation that the Trojan war happened to serve Zeus’ purpose of bringing an end to the Age of Heroes, and once Helen came to understand this at some point, it would have soothed some of her bitterness, because it ends a cycle of Helen being diminished by men in order to be put in a position of not only being noticed by a figure that was both her father and The Allfather™, but also being made, by him, into a symbol of something far greater that would forever be marked in history.  In that, at last, Helen would have found her place and her purpose.

Self criticism notes: 

(3) I haven’t managed to translate this complexity into her character yet. What I have written so far about her thoughts, actions and views about these events in my replies, is not quite there yet, but I’m trying. That is mostly true about her thoughts and feelings concerning both Paris and Menelaus, when they are mentioned. Helen can be spiteful, and often curse both of them in words and thoughts in more than unflattering ways – while there is a logic behind it, that is not the only truth, and Helen may have reasons to reject the two of them but so far I have portrayed it in a way that makes it seem like her anger is all there is to it, which is unrealistic and lacks depth. Also, I love writing dialogue, but I’ve been adding too much of it to my replies. This is a hard one, because I don’t want Helen to be monosyllabic and leave no room for interaction, but all the same I do feel that she is supposed to be (literally) laconic. I might not get fully there for the sake of leaving room for interaction, but I should probably cut a few words off her speeches.

[sweetie-buttons]

If Wade and Michael met

Wade: Ugh, my brother is the worst.

Michael: He can’t be worse than my sister.

Wade: Oh, please. Did your sister ever run over your bike?

Michael: No, but she did damage mine by jumping on it and leaving a scratch. And did I mention it was the bike I got on my birthday?

Wade: That is a bit of a coincidence, but I bet your parents didn’t blame you for that.

Michael: Well, not exactly, but they might as well have. They were just concerned about whether she could’ve hurt herself and scolded me for not caring about her possible injuries, even though it would’ve been her own fault if she gained any.

Wade: Okay, this is getting kind of freaky. When my brother ran over my bike, my parents said it was an accident blamed me for leaving it in the driveway. Can you believe that?

Michael: Yes, I can, because of all the times my parents blamed me for everything Tara did to me. They just think she’s so cute and innocent just because she’s younger than me.

Wade: Tell me about it. Mine think Micah is so perfect, just because he gets straight As and is good at soccer. 

Michael: Mine think I should take care of Tara because I’m older and she looks up to me. Yeah, sure. If the times she looks up to me to poke me in the eye count.

Wade: Mine think I should look up to Micah, because he’s older.  And I don’t even want to think about the time he read my diary over the loudspeaker at the local swimming pool. Did I mention that said diary revealed my crush on a boy who was at the pool and heard everything?

Michael: Sounds bad, but it couldn’t be as humiliating as the time my sister led the girl I have a crush on into my room while I was changing and she saw me in my underwear. She almost ruined every chance I had with her.

Wade: Okay, this is really starting to get freaky. My brother wore his underwear on my head in front of my friends and crush. SO embarrassing.

Michael: Um...what? And you’re the one who was embarrassed by that?

Wade: Okay, looking back on it, it doesn’t make much sense, but at the time, it was the most embarrassing thing ever.

Michael: I bet your brother didn’t ever make you get beaten up.

Wade: No, he just does that himself. One time, he shoved me into a bathtub.

Michael: I bet that didn’t leave as many bruises on you as the time my sister planted a bully’s baseball cap in my backpack, leading me to get beaten up by said bully. I don’t call her “Tara the Terrible” for nothing.

Wade: I don’t spell Micah C-R-E-E-P for nothing, either. And that’s when I’m not spelling his name J-E-R-K or E-N-E-M-Y.

Michael: I always spell Tara’s name B-R-A-T.

Wade: Okay, top this. I’m going to tell the worst thing Micah ever did to me. It goes beyond just embarrassing diaries and mangled bikes.

Michael: I’m listening.

Wade: Okay, so at one point, I decided I had had enough of my brother’s treatment of me and decided to get revenge.

Michael: So did I. I decided to damage the cuckoo clock my dad bought and frame it on her. After all the times she got me in trouble for what she did, can you really blame me?

Wade: Oh, I tried to get revenge before that, actually. I tried putting slugs in his coffee during a date he had with his girlfriend, but then my mom came in and drank it instead. And then when Micah said I was the one who made the coffee, she told me to stop picking on him.

Michael: Oh, tell me about it. I’ve lost count of the times my parents tell me to “stop picking on your little sister”. But does she ever pick on me? No. I’m always the one being mean to her, and never the other way around.

Wade: I empathize, but I believe I was telling a story before you so rudely interrupted?

Michael: Sorry. Proceed.

Wade: Anyway, where was I...oh, right. I decided to get revenge, and I did this with a company I found in a newspaper ad called “Revenge R Us”. Based on the title, I thought it’d be able to help me get back at Micah, so I went there and a woman named Iris said she’d be able to help me get revenge on my brother, and I told her I wanted something really, REALLY horrible. Something to make him regret every time he even thought about tormenting me. My first revenge was that Micah would become so itchy that he’d eventually scratch all his skin off.

Michael: Wow. That’s harsh.

Wade: What did I say about interrupting? And are you seriously blaming me, after all the things I said Micah did to me?

Michael: Sorry, couldn’t resist. And no, I was saying it in admiration. I wish I could’ve done something equally horrible to Tara. Did the revenge work out?

Wade: Sadly, no. Instead, I was the one who started becoming itchy. I could barely stand it. I scratched myself so hard I was bleeding. For a moment, I thought I was going to die. I really did.

Michael: Wow...do you know what happened to me when I damaged the cuckoo clock?

Wade: What?

Michael: No annoyance at me interrupting?

Wade: Eh, I’m starting to mind it less. Anyway, what happened?

Michael: I started going back in time. Every time I went to sleep, I woke up younger. The first time, I had to repeat my birthday party that Tara ruined - the one I mentioned where she damaged my brand new bike. I know, you probably don’t believe me.

Wade: Um, did you miss the part where I said a spell caused me to itch uncontrollably? Time travel doesn’t seem too far-fetched in comparison. And did your birthday end up better than before, now that you know how to prevent those things from happening?

Michael: No, unfortunately. Everything bad still happened to me. I tried to stop it, but it seemed like Tara was destined to ruin my day. But anyway, back to your story. What happened next?

Wade: I returned to Iris and she reversed the itching spell. Then I asked her to make it up to me with another revenge.

Michael: Wait. You actually asked her for another revenge? After what happened last time?

Wade: I know, I know. It was stupid looking back on it, and I could’ve saved myself from a lot of trouble if I just ran away from her while I had the chance.

Michael: About as stupid as me not trying to prove to my parents and sister that I was going back in time by predicting things that would happen since I had already lived through them, instead of just insisting I was time traveling.

Wade: Well, your brain might’ve been regressing as you became younger, so you might not have been as smart. I don’t have any excuse for continuing to trust that woman.

Michael: Yes, you do. From what I’ve heard of your brother, any sane person would want revenge against him. It might’ve not been too smart of a move, but I can’t blame you too much.

Wade: Oh. Well, thanks, I guess.

Michael: No problem. Your brother doesn’t sound too different from my sister, so I can relate. Anyway, what was your second revenge?

Wade: It was for Micah to lose chunks of his hair and become bald. But instead...

Michael: Let me guess, you became bald instead?

Wade: No. Actually, the opposite happened. I started growing hair everywhere. To the point where a bunch of dogs mistook me for one of them. And then when I returned to Iris, she suggested the problem was that the revenge requests won’t work if I’m present while she casts them. You see, she had a magic crow that she used to grant my requests. So she instructed me to go home while she thought of a perfect revenge for Micah, one that she claimed would solve all my problems regarding him.

Michael: Sounds good. So what happened?

Wade: Well, she wasn’t lying. She did solve my problems...by causing him to vanish from existence.

Michael: Wait a minute. You’re joking, right? Literally the exact same thing happened to my sister, thanks to me knocking her birth year off the cuckoo clock. And I have to say, I don’t miss her one bit.

Wade: Woah, really? I hate my brother, but I wouldn’t go so far as wishing death on them. In fact, when I thought he had disappeared, I felt guilty about it.

Michael: Hmm. Well, I guess we’re just different in that regard.

Wade: So I returned to Iris, and she said the spell she cast was too powerful and there was almost nothing she could do to reverse it. However, there was one way. She said she had an evil twin sister who had also had a crow, and I had to steal it from a house to bring Micah back. However, she warned me that it was extremely dangerous and I could suffer the same fate as my brother - being vanished from existence.

Michael: And you risked your life to save him? Despite everything he had done to you?

Wade: Yeah, though I’m questioning now whether it was worth it. And here’s the important part. Listen carefully during this next bit.

Michael: Okay. What happened?

Wade: Well, I entered the house, and saw a woman sleeping. I assumed it was Iris’s sister, and I was just about to steal the crow I saw when the woman grabbed me. And guess what? The woman...was Micah.

Michael: ...What?

Wade: Yes. It turns out he saw the newspaper ad in my room and predicted that I’d seek help from the company, so he went to Iris beforehand and paid her $300 so that all my revenge wishes would backfire on me.

Michael: Why? Why would he do that?

Wade: He said it was to get revenge on me.

Michael: What? Revenge for what? What did you do to him?

Wade: That question remains unanswered. And he knew all the horrible things that happened to me, and he was happy about it. He was happy about the itching and hair growing I had to suffer. He was talking about it with such glee.

Michael: Oh, wow. I’m going to say your brother is a bit worse than my sister.

Wade: Well, I’d say they’re about equal. Your sister might be a bit worse considering that she’s younger than you. How old is she, exactly?

Michael: Seven.

Wade: My brother is seventeen. Your sister might be worse since she’s so young and yet so horrible.

Michael: I don’t know...what your brother did, paying that woman so much just so that she’d torture you? I’d say that’s worse than anything Tara did to me.

Wade: I guess it’s a tie.

Michael: I guess.

Wade: Oh, and don’t get me started on Micah. I could go on and on. Like that time he...sorry, you probably don’t want to hear my whining.

Michael: I’m listening...as long as you’re willing to listen to me whine incessantly.

Wade: It seems only fair, after that story I told you.

Michael: Okay, you go first.

Wade: Alright. Well, there was this time when Mom told him to clean his room and...

[one-of-us-blog]

The Wedding of River Song (Doctor Who S06E13)

Today Jon is forced to watch and recap “The Wedding of River Song”, the thirteenth and final episode of Doctor Who’s sixth series, as well as its prequel. The time has come for the Doctor to die, allegedly, but will he accept his fate?

Keep reading to find out…

Eli, you nailed it yet again with your latest recap! I agree that John Quinn was a really likable character, and it was nice to see Blanche be confronted with the idea that she has more to offer than just her bangin’ bod. This is the next in the series of episodes that all feature basically the same plot of Blanche being attracted to a man, finding a reason not to be attracted to him (coming from different backgrounds, a disability, etc.), deciding she’s attracted to him anyway and going after him only to not get him in the end. First it was Jake from VIP Catering in “Diamond in the Rough”, and now it’s John Quinn, and there are at least two others I can think of over the next few seasons. I’ll point them out when we get to them, but I’ll be curious to see if you notice the repetition on your own. Your next episode (“The Impotence of Being Ernest”) is one that’s a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy it.

For now, though, I’m late as usual and it’s time to get on with the show!

Buttocks tight!

Prequel directed by Jeremy Webb and written by Steven Moffat

As that creepy nursery rhyme plays in the background we’re shown a clock counting down about five hours. Some guards look at some tanks, inside of which some Silence can be seen. Inside of some sort of Egyptian-esque tomb, we see River Song with an eyepatch like the one Madame Kovarian has been known to sport.

Episode directed by Jeremy Webb and written by Steven Moffat

We start out in a very fever dream-esque London in 2011. Steam engines are everywhere, cars tied to balloons fill the sky, dinosaurs are flying around and Winston Churchill is the Holy Roman Emperor. Churchill notices that the time is always 5:02 PM and the date is always April 22nd. His doctor, a Silurian, says that’s the way it’s always been and there’s nothing odd about it. He calls for his personal soothsayer, who, spoiler alert, is the Doctor, and asks him what’s going on. All of time is happening at once, but Churchill wants to know why. The Doctor says this is all because of a dame.

After the credits, the Doctor talks to a damaged Dalek. He opens the Dalek up and steals some information on the Silence from the Dalek’s datacore. The Doc then seeks out a man who was the former envoy to the Silence, but it turns out the guy has been dead for a while and this is actually another Voltron powered by Borrowers. The Doc wants information on the Silence from the Borrowers. Later on the Doc is playing a chess game with the weakest link in the chain of the Silence. The weakest link takes the Doc to the de-bodied head of our old friend, Blueby the Butterball. Butterball can still talk despite not having a body or diaphragm.

Back in London, Churchill isn’t taking the Doctor’s story about blue aliens and all that well. He agrees to hear the rest of the Doc’s story, though, and we pick up where we left off. Butterball says the Silence think the Doctor’s future is too dangerous to let him reach it. He’s the one who will find the question that the Silence don’t want asked. Butterball knows the question and tells the Doc what it is, but we don’t get to know because drama. Back in London, Churchill wants to know what the question is, too. The Doctor explains that the best way to keep a secret is to kill the only person who knows the secret. Everyone’s always talking about silence falling, but the Doc realizes that after he’s dead silence will fall because he won’t be around to ask or answer the question. The Doctor notices a mark on his arm and realizes he’s seen and forgotten a Silent recently.

Back in the story, the Doctor is resolved to run away from his fate in Utah, but then he calls to meet up with an old friend and learns he’s recently died. Forced to confront the idea that time catches up with everyone and everyone has a time to die. The Doc sends out the invitations to Amy, Rory, River and Delaware and sets the stage for what we saw in the first episode of this arc. Back with Winston, the Doc’s now made three marks on his arm instead of just one. Back in the story, River arrives in her spacesuit and reveals herself to the Doctor. The suit is in control, and she can’t stop it. The Doc assures her this was always going to happen and that River won’t remember doing any of this. He tells her he forgives her, and she shoots him.

Or, well, no she doesn’t. She drains the suit’s weapons systems, preventing the Doctor’s death and disrupting a fixed point in time. This locked time into 5:02, causing time to start to die and for everything to have happened at once. Back with Churchill, Winston’s fired his gun without realizing it and the Doc’s got a spear. They’re defending themselves from something, but Churchill doesn’t know what. The Doc explains about the Silence being memory-proof, and his arms are now covered in marks showing a whole lot of them are nearby. They’re above, actually, with a whole cluster of the slender fellas lining the ceiling. Someone throws a bomb into the room and a bunch of soldiers, led by an eyepatch-wearing Amelia Pond, arrive. She shoots the Doc and knocks him out. Amy knows what’s up, though, and she’s part of a team of people who know time’s gone wrong. She knows Rory exists and that she loves him, but she doesn’t know where he is.

Turns out Rory is one of the soldiers Amy is commanding, but she doesn’t recognize him. Also turns out that the eyepatches everyone is so found of aren’t eyepatches, they’re eye-drives that connect to the wearer’s memories and allow them to remember the Silence. Amy and the Doctor arrive at a pyramid where Amy’s people are holding captured Silence. Deeper into the pyramid, the Doc meets River and a captured Kovarian. The Doc makes a grab for River and when they touch time begins moving again, making it 5:03. They’re suddenly back at the lake in Utah and River’s about to shoot, but it doesn’t last and we’re back in the alternate timeline. The Silence begin to break out of their confinements and begin taking out soldiers. Rory makes it back in time, the eye-drives everyone is wearing are based on Madame Kovarian’s tech and they’ve been boobytrapped by the Silence. Everyone is susceptible to death or debilitating pain, including Kovarian. Rory volunteers to stay behind to fight the Silence while Amy, River and the Doctor move deeper into the pyramid, but Amy doubles back in time to save Rory. Amy chooses to leave Kovarian to die to punish her for taking Melody from her.

River reveals that she’s built a beacon on top of the pyramid. Outside of the time bubble surrounding Earth time is still going, so River’s been sending out a message to the past and future calling for help to avoid the Doctor’s death. Thousands and thousands of people touched by the Doctor have come to answer the call, but the Doc insists he has to die. The Doc decides it’s time for a wedding, so he and River have an impromptu wedding and he even whispers his real name to her. He asks her to help set things to right with time and she agrees. The two smooch, and the Doctor dies by the lake in Utah. The alternate timeline fades away and the original one takes its place. River is sent to prison, but she makes a trip to visit her mom. From River’s perspective she just finished up the Weeping Angels mission from a while back, and Amy lets her know the Doc just died. Amy’s struggling with having killed Kovarian, and she wants to talk to the Doctor about it but she can’t. River spills some tea, and lets Amy know he didn’t really whisper his name to River when they got married. River lets her know what he really whispered, but we don’t get to know because drama.

Actually, we do get to know this one! Butterball’s head is returned to its crypt by someone he recognizes as the Doctor. Turns out that for the bulk of this episode we’ve been following a Voltron version of the Doc piloted by the Borrowers. He whispered to River to look into his eyes at the wedding, where she saw a shrunken Doctor and TARDIS safely inside. He survived the Voltron getting shot and burned and made his exit once everyone had left. Butterball points out that we still have to wrap up this first question nonsense. The first question is revealed: Doctor who?

Oh boy.

The End

~~~~~

Well, another series has come and gone! I thought the Borrowers were well-used here, and it makes me dislike their random usage in “Let’s Kill Hitler” less. I thought the plot here was pretty intricate and engaging, and there were a lot of fun callbacks. It doesn’t feel like they cheated their way out of the whole Doctor dying thing without doing some work, and I appreciate that. The Doctor who? thing, though? Come on.

I give “The Wedding of River Song” QQQ½ on the Five Q Scale.

Check back in on Tuesday when Eli will get desperate with the next episode of The Golden Girls, “The Impotence of Being Ernest”, and on Wednesday I’ll deliver my recap of the next Doctor Who Christmas Special, “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe”.

Until then, thanks for reading, thanks for marrying and thanks for being One of Us!

[crystalelemental]

FE Fates Replay - part 8

I initially intended to wait until clearing the game, but...there’s enough for a new part.  I made it up to us storming Hoshido proper, the map against Sakura being our first map to take on.  Everything between when I left off, after recruiting Shura, to now?  Really dumb.  Surprise.

Chapter 18 is actually halfway decent, both in terms of its story and its design.  The map itself is the first map with a ton of promoted units, and wow does the difficulty spike show.  Oh wait.  No it doesn’t.  Camilla is as a god, and somehow hit speed cap, so like...have fun with the Killer Axe, sis.  Not to mention how helpful Savage Blow is at getting other units kills.  She’s really, really good.  Definitely the best in the army, maybe second only after Corrin, who just doesn’t take damage with the dragonstone.

The story itself is that the Hoshidan siblings and the Nohrian siblings both arrive in Izumo, a neutral territory where they cannot take up arms against one another.  They’re still hostile, but both sides agree not to engage in open hostilities, leading to Corrin making her best effort to get them to reconcile.  It doesn’t work, but she’s right.  Xander and Ryoma are very similar in their dedication to the kingdom, and given an alternate timeline, they can be friends.  It’s a shame that this tender moment does exactly nothing to actually bring them to an attempt at peace.

A subordinate of Nohr, some little weasel man named Zola, kidnaps the Hoshidan siblings and prepares to have them sentenced to death.  Your job is to rescue them, because fuck this guy, and that’s dishonorable.  They’re not wrong, but it does feel like no one here knows how to do war.  The map is basically setting up two bosses, Zola himself, and the ridiculously powerful double Bold Fighter armor knights guarding the siblings.  They’re the worst part of this.  It took the combined efforts of Corrin, Camilla, and Charlotte to take them both down.  Comparatively, Zola offered no resistance, and Felicia actually killed him on accident.  Whoopsie doodles.

Chapter 19 involves the kitsune.  Since the Hoshidans know exactly where you are and where you’re headed, they get ready for the attack.  Azura suggests that, instead of going through the mountains where the Hoshidans know you’ll be coming, we should go this other route that humans don’t go through because of the kitsune.  Turns out, they’re super dangerous, and kill anyone who enters.  So logically, we should go that way.  It’s a fight either way, so I guess let’s involve innocents.  After the map, Corrin has the audacity to complain that innocents got dragged into this.  Listen, I get that the other direction was well-fortified and all, but you had a choice and decided to go this way knowing you’d still be fighting, just a neutral enemy instead of your stated one.  This is entirely, 100% your fault, and your complaining about not wanting to spill blood here rings hollow.  Also this map sucks.  The kitsune can just be invulnerable to attacks until they attack you, and it’s bullshit.  Sure, let them move around wherever they want and then jump out and attack you!  Also the strongest ones have Pass!  Because fuck your defensive line and attempts to box them in, they’re going straight for Elise!  Bullshit.

Chapter 20 is pointless and frustrating.  The scene is that you want to pass through another neutral territory, but they’re like “fuck no, get out.”  Corrin’s like “Pretty please?” and the guy’s like “Oh wait, that’s a magic sword, fight me to see if you’re worthy.”  And then you fight them, because of reasons.  It’s really ill-defined.  The map sucks because there are constant heavy winds that push your units around, and if you hit an unfortunate spot at the wrong time, you’re thrown into enemy range.  Still, nowhere near as bad as the kitsune horseshit.  At least the wind has the courtesy to only happen at the end of enemy phase, so if you use it right, you can actually get the drop on enemies.  Dragon veins in this map are also okay.  They’re not hugely important, but mostly it’s nice because you just stop the wind from messing up your position.  The whole map would’ve been invalidated by Camilla, if it weren’t for that one flying archer with crazy range on the right side of the map.  So I guess that was a smart design.  Once you clear the map, the chief’s like “Okay, you’re pretty worthy I guess” and Corrin’s like “Oh thank god, I wasn’t sure if the magical sword choosing me and reacting to the strength of Leo’s tome meant I was doing a good job or not.”  And then you fuck off.  Riveting.

Chapter 21 is...okay, I kinda liked this one, even though I feel like I fucked up a perfectly good grinding opportunity.  Basically, there are Faceless appearing constantly.  Every turn, two will appear somewhere, alternating at the top and bottom of the stairs.  You have two options, really.  One is, you try to take out everything behind you, and let the Faceless maneuver toward you.  Ill-advised, as it turns out.  They’re fairly strong, and there are many of them.  The alternative is, using Dragon Veins.  A lot.  See, the Dragon Veins here halt the movement of every enemy on the entire map.  So you lock them down, and then have all your units charge in.  Then, the only ones that are scary are the stone-hurling motherfuckers, who have crazy range and almost one-shot Elise.  Fuck those guys.  It is pretty fun to navigate your way through quickly.  My one regret is that I actually retreated after beating the boss.  I should’ve just let things spawn until we all hit level 20.  Oh well, live and learn.

My problem with Chapter 21 is the story, specifically what happens after the map.  See, the lead-up isn’t terrible, in that you find a bunch of dead Hoshidans, and are suddenly ambushed by the Faceless that caused it.  Not gonna ask how they got all these Faceless in here when we had to travel by boat and foot, but hey, whatever.  The problem is, after beating the map, there’s a dramatic scene of Corrin being told by Xander and Azura that no matter what, she has to live and press on, even if it means leaving the others behind.  After much turmoil, Corrin runs ahead, leaving the two of them behind.  When she finally reaches the exit, another Faceless appears and ambushes her.  Before she can be killed, Lilith of all fucking people jumps out and takes the blow, dying instantly.  Now, remember that whole thing where characters have to be in the story to feel any connection?  Attempting to make us feel really bad about Lilith’s death, when she hasn’t shown up in the main story at all, is...not working.  At all.  But they try to be dramatic, and then Xander shows up!  Yeah, it turns out his incredible martial prowess meant that everyone was able to fight off the remaining Faceless and everything’s fine!  So, to recap, none of this would’ve happened if you all weren’t so fatalistic and willing to let each other die.  The entire point of Corrin’s character is not leaving anyone behind and preventing deaths.  That’s her whole MO.  But somehow, in this scenario where you still have everyone fighting well, they convinced you to leave your allies to die, and because of that, an actual innocent friend materialized conveniently to shield you from an ambush you would’ve avoided had you just insisted on fighting together with your friends like you usually do.  This whole sequence just feels really dumb, both from how it’s constructed and what’s happening.  Typically, Corrin would not have done this at all, so the whole thing feels incredibly forced, all for the sake of having a non-character die so Corrin can...I guess learn the horrors of war?  But we’ve seen the horrors of war.  Several times.  Remember when Gunter was kicked into the pit?  Remember when that sword her dad gave her exploded and killed Mikoto?  Remember Cheve, and how all of them were massacred?  Or hell, even Leo killing Zola to prove the point that showing mercy on people who don’t deserve it would bite you in the ass later.  We’ve had this message plenty of times from less stupid avenues, and having Lilith killed off does nothing.

That said, when you get back to My Castle, you can still “feed” Lilith.  You leave an offering and Corrin gets really sad, then the food just fades out, followed by the triumphant level up music and Lilith’s corpse just sits there.  It’s the most unintentionally hilarious thing in the world.

Next time, we’re thankfully about to end this shit.  I will say this though.  When you temper your expectations, and are like “Yes this is dumb, but how much fun is the game itself?”  It’s not too bad.  Some of the maps have awful gimmicks, but for the most part, the act of playing Conquest has been pretty enjoyable.  It’s just a shame the story is so...the way it is.