#but especially khonsu and the potential

[wanderingskemetic]

Ra/Khepri/Aten could be a good option because of his cycle of dying and being reborn and the cycle of the sun rising and setting. Since Osiris/Wesir is linked to Ra cycle of rebirth and has themes of renewal and rebirth, he could also be a good fit. Sutekh/Set as a god of chaos is also a good fit. Wepwawet, the opener of ways, is another option. It's a bit more of a stretch, but I overall associate creation deities, especially ones with artistic connotations (Ptah, Khnum, Neith, etc.) with potential transformation.

Demeter/Ceres as the bringer of seasons is another good option. A bit of a stretch, but Hermes/Mercury as the god of travelers and Khonsu, protector of night travelers could all be useful. Similarly, Hecate as the goddess of crossroads, doorways and boundaries, Diana with her similar domains under the trivia epithet, and Janus god of doorways and beginnings and endings are also good fits.

Which deities do you personally associate with change/transformation?

[missingmywing]

So I’m finally caving and talking about my theory for why SMT V felt so rushed and lackluster at the end, the way so many people have been complaining. And, in that, what I think was supposed to happen with it.

This is an analysis and theory, not a criticism. If you want to read someone bashing a game that disappointed you go find someone else. As an aspiring game dev in my senior year of Uni I’m going to be talking about the actual process of making a game while making some educated guess about what happened with this one.

So my main theory about why it felt rushed and lackluster: lack of proper time management, and shifted priorities.

(Much like KH3, which had the same problems for - I assume - the exact same reasons, that I’ll get into below.)

Okay so first off, my first and most resolute point: They were using Unreal. Rather, they were using Unreal for the first time. Key thing, there, is that switching engines means the team has to learn that engine, and that alone can take six months to a year.

Hi hello my team is dealing with that and while I’m super impressed with their progress, it can very much be an uphill climb if documentation isn’t great, or programmers have to learn an entirely new coding language. AI are a bitch and a half to make, especially within Unreal’s black box-type constraints - as my programming lead has complained to me multiple times - and SMTV’s were actually really good.

That’s my main level of forgiveness for them, and it’s the same one I gave KH3. That said, it is an issue in terms of proper time management. The team put so much time into making the gameplay flow well and making the art look amazing that they left the overarching story things until last, with the age old reassurance of:

“Once the bones are in place the story will slot right in wherever we want! Let’s focus on making sure we understand the engine and gameplay first.”

no I am NOT projecting shut up

That is, in my opinion, the major fault of why and how the game had the story issues it did in regards to the endings. The devs focused on other things first, then realized towards the end that they were running out of time, development was taking longer than they thought, and they had to get the endings done. They re-analyzed the time they had, and realized they had to cut some things.

My theory about the main thing that was cut?

The actual secret ending.

My guess is that they planned and made the main three endings first, which is why Law and Chaos feel complete - even if Lucifer’s… thing… is kind of glossed over. (Which again, felt like a “we ran out of time - here’s a vague info dump for you to extrapolate from” move.) They may have felt a little rushed, yes, but they still felt final. And as someone who went back to look at Nocturne’s endings after I finished… V’s were still more complete than whatever the hell happened there. Freedom and Secret endings were the only ones of Nocturne that didn’t feel incomplete and half-assed. The others felt literally copy pasted -

Okay I’m not going to rant about a game released a decade and a half ago being lackluster in four of its six endings because it was very impressive at the time and also it handled the alignment decisions much better. I’m actually not even disappointed in it - just how people are comparing it against V and whining about V. It was great about alignment decisions and making the sides very clear cut, which I assume was the goal.

Moving on.

Law and Order could have been a bit more fleshed out, a few more differences between the style of the paths and how you face the bosses would have been nice. But honestly, from an in-universe point of view, it makes sense. Also the games were designed to be played, not watched on YouTube, so that’s not really so much their fault because it’s not as obvious while playing. The actual path choice definitely could have been improved, but I can’t tell if that was a deliberate choice that didn’t work, or another cut. Hard to say.

Mooooving on to: Neutral

Here’s where I make my point in my theory:

The secret ending was supposed to be the base Neutral ending. Yakumo doesn’t even hint about it - he flat out says it. Many times. “My goal is to eliminate all demons from this world.” It’s not a secret side quest, it’s literally in main story cutscenes. It makes no sense for it to be a “surprise secret” twist, because it’s not. Add on how ridiculously short and definitely rushed the “base neutral” ending was and it was very clearly a sign of cuts and alterations. My guess is that they had the base three mostly done, but realized that they didn’t have the time to make the secret ending because (to my theory) it would be the most complicated and add on a lot of differences within the last area. So they instead cut apart the neutral ending and pasted the second part of it to the secret ending requirements. Which was why it felt disjointed and a bit tacked on - and why it was specifically connected to the neutral endings. blah blah coding blah blah shortcuts I’m not going to get into coding logic and or how Unreal’s variables and components work because it’s complicated and I’m not a coder so most of this is educated guessing anyway based on general workflows.

Alright then, what was the secret ending supposed to be?

I think that the secret ending was the one that you teamed up with Khonsu and Miyazu. The requirement to even get the secret ending was, very specifically, to complete their quests and leave Khonsu alive. And to kill Shiva, but I’ll come back to that in a sec.

I’ve seen a lot of people wondering why the hell Miyazu was even in the game, and why her and Khonsu’s side-quest mattered. Especially given that they were both presented as titular characters - Miyazu was introduced alongside Yuzuru and Tao. Khonsu is literally on the box art.

Alongside - what’s this? The characters representing the other three endings. Hayataro is obv a stand-in for Koshimizu/Tsukuyomi bc spoilers. (Also it looks like Lahmu is there, but I’m not sure if he was considered for an ending at one point or if it’s just a reference to the Nahobino importance.) I’m also thinking that Amanozako was probably supposed to have a slightly bigger role at some point, because her arc was ALSO kind of just dropped, so there’s probably some cuts there too - though in this I have zero clue what they could have been planning there. Not important - this is about Khonsu.

So my guess is that there was originally supposed to be a fourth option at the Empyrean if you completed the side quests to unlock the secret ending (I’m not going to rant about the objectively bad design of the single-choice option - people have done it enough) that would most likely have you detour back to the Fairy Village to get Khonsu and Miyazu - unless they were already with you by that point. I’m not going to speculate details.

My general point is that the secret ending was supposed to be based around them, and Khonsu’s goal of a peaceful world without strife or illness. To make a parallel that kind of furthers my point by establishing theming: this one would have paralleled Nocturne’s Freedom ending, while Law paralleled Hikawa’s, Chaos paralleled Chiaki’s, and Neutral deviated from anything established in the series.

I’m purposely referencing Nocturne because it’s the most well known, and really encompasses the idea of SMT’s bare-bones story that distills the philosophical debates down to their core.

And I think it had to be cut because it would require a bunch of extra cutscenes, voiced lines, maybe another character model and moveset depending whether they planned to take the tragic route and have the two become a Nahobino anyway, as well as potentially more assets for if they showed what the world looked like after it was recreated and how that would look. Again, speculation. But it would definitely take some work, and it’s very likely they ran out of time.

Coming back to Shiva because he is actually important to this concept: Shiva has to be killed for this ending, supporting the “good ending without harm” idea. In the Law and Chaos endings, if you do not kill him before taking the throne then, theoretically, he continued gather Magatsuhi to destroy the world and your reign on the throne is going to be very short. In the current secret ending, you wouldn’t need to kill him first because he’s a demon. He’d get dusted with everyone else when you metaphorically snapped your fingers. The only way it makes sense is if he wouldn’t die himself so you had to do it, and as a “good ending” then it was supposed to be a world without strife. Meaning no dance numbers to blow up the world. Law, Chaos, and the current base neutral are just doomed to be destroyed, I guess. Lucifer makes no mention of it so I assume it wasn’t included in his magical fix-it that he beamed into Naho’s head rather than sharing with the audience.

Anyway, that’s my theory about it and honestly I’m pretty forgiving of it because it was still a good story, and if you actually take the time to explore and talk to people and pay attention, the whole thing makes sense.

I haven’t stopped yelling mentally about the Miman since I found out that they were failed Nahobinos who got cursed by the Condemnation.

You just have to invest in it, and I feel like most of the people complaining are the people who don’t want to take the time to invest with hunting down worldbuilding. As someone who idolizes Bioshock, that shit is my bread and butter so I don’t understand why people are acting like it’s an awful game just because it didn’t address everything, and left most of it to your assumptions and imagination. It gave enough, and it’s a pretty standard approach for an SMT game even if it was obvious that there were significant cuts.

I’m not crossing my fingers for a DLC finish because SMT doesn’t -

Actually wait they added the entire goddamn Labyrinth of Amala to Nocturne. It is entirely possible. I won’t get my hopes up too much but… I guess I won’t discount it entirely. Honestly I love the game for what it is, and am happy to write/read fanfic of the alternatives rather than bashing the game for having a development timeline it has to follow. And after the backlash P5 got for its continued delays, Atlas has probably cracked down and taken the “cut content over delay release” approach.

[dragon-fics]

HA: Ch. 5 Knowledge

Chapter summary: Heather sits down with Aaravos to finally get some answers about what she’s going through.

Prologue, Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3 , Pt. 4, Pt. 5, Pt. 6 , Pt. 7, Pt. 8, Pt. 9, Pt. 10, Pt. 11, Pt. 12, Pt. 13, Pt. 14, Pt. 15

“So, how did you become a Dragonguard? Especially so young?” Rayla asked from her shadowpaw. She walked by Heather and Réalta as they moved towards Spireville.

“I guess my drill sergeants noticed me and reported me to their superiors, who told King Avizandum,” Heather replied, looking from Rayla to the humans beside her. King Ezran and Prince Callum shared Janai’s twin-tailed inferno-tooth tiger, while Soren rode a moonstrider, whom he had completely under control—which impressed Heather.

To her other side were Khonsu and Elara. Heather knew that if these two weren’t by her side, she’d be walking to the barracks, as Réalta would not be willing to stay near Rayla—for any amount of time.

Khonsu glanced at Heather, subtly shaking his head.

“Still, you need to prove yourself in the Dragonguard trial, a test unlike any other. That is the deciding factor as to whether you are worthy of wearing the uniform,” Heather continued, looking forward in her rugged posture.

“Not at all cocky, are you?” Aaravos asked rhetorically in all but a whisper. Heather smiled to herself.

“What’s the Dragonguard trial?” Rayla asked.

“I cannot tell you. I am sworn to secrecy; as is every other Dragonguard.” She pulled her Dragonguard necklace out from under her sash. Dragonguards used it to find each other and to know if the Archdragon they watched over was in danger. Most wore it as a badge, but Heather wore it as a necklace for convenience.

Rayla inclined her head. “I understand.”

Heather ran her hand over Réalta’s black and red coat, feeling his intense heat against her skin. “But if you’re anything like your parents—and if I remember correctly, you are—you’ll be fine and you’ll pass first try.”

“Can I prepare for it?”

Heather nodded her head. “With the proper training, yes.”

“What type of training would that be?”

“I find military training is best. Soldiers have to face threats head-on, with their weapons and nothing more. Assassins use their enemies’ senses against them; that will be useless against in the Dragonguard trial.”

Rayal hesitated, wounded by Heather’s words. “Can you teach me?”

Heather hesitated, glancing down at Khonsu. “I can’t. I have to guard the Archmage for the time being,” she gestured to the caterpillar on her shoulders. “I’m sure one of the other Dragonguards will be happy to train you. Or you can wait until we find Tiadrin and Lain; whichever you prefer.”

“You can do that?”

“Queen Zubeia has many plans.”

“What does that mean?”

Heather stayed silent.

I’ve said too much! I wasn’t supposed to mention anything from this morning’s meeting.

“That’s all I can say.”

They stopped in front of the walls of Spireville.

“Do you want to go into the town? Or would you like to explore the forest nearby?” Heather asked them.

“Well, Queen Zubeia was made it quite clear that we should stay in the barracks before we travel to Xadia. So we should probably go to the barracks,” informed Prince Callum. “So, can you bring us there?”

Heather looked at the gates. “The barracks are inside the town. I’ll lead you there.” She looked up at the stone turrets on either side of the enchanted wooden gates.

Heather slipped her forefinger and thumb into her mouth and whistled and three times. A yellow dragon-shifter in silver armour looked over the wall and saw Heather in her uniform.

“Open the gate!” He bellowed.

A moment later, the sound of chains clinking and wood creaking filled the area. The two wooden gates slowly separated, opening for the group to see what was inside the wall. Houses, shops and inns all lined the streets. Shops and markets stands primarily lined the innermost street, with large inns every few shops apart. The farther out there were more residential areas, with fewer shops and inns.

“Alright, let’s go,” Heather said, nudging Réalta forward through the gates.

*-*-*-*

Heather stroked Réalta’s face as she sat cross-legged in the ‘star cave’, listening to the water gurgle outside of the crystal cave. It was a quaint cave with tiny crystals in the walls, and roof of the cave walls practically looked like the night sky. Heather had found the cave soon after moving to Spireville, and so she and her father would camp here every weekend until winter—then the cave was unbearably cold.

“So, what exactly is happening to me?” She asked, looking at the caterpillar curled up on the opposite side of the firepit.

“Haven’t you looked into this already?” Aaravos asked. Heather still found the way its beak moved unnerving.

“I... wasn’t completely sure how to look for answers.” She looked down at her crossed legs and took a breath.

Aaravos hummed. “You are going through a strange transformation, one few go through, to become one of the most powerful beings on earth. You are changing into a Startouch elf-dragon halfling.”

“But I never wanted this,” she whispered. She looked up at him with wide eyes begging for mercy. “Is—is there a way to undo it?”

“There is no way to un-learn an arcanum.”

Heather sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She quietly removed her moonstone necklace and placed it in one of Réalta’s saddlebags. “So, what do I do now?”

“You must learn how to use the sun, sky and moon arcana and then I will help you learn the earth and ocean arcana and how to use them.”

“What about the star arcanum?”

“I can guide you towards its secret, but only you can discover it.”

“Aren’t all arcana like that?”

“The meaning of the star arcana changes depending on whom it grants its knowledge.”

“So, every Startouch elf has a different understanding of the star arcanum? And no one knows the true meaning of the star arcanum?”

“Yes,” Aaravos breathed. The caterpillar looked around.

“I’ve had no one use my knowledge in this way.”

Heather tilted her head. “How so?”

“People—human’s mainly, have used my knowledge for power or revenge or something equally sinister. No one has ever asked to learn what I know, only to use it. You are very different.”

“I’m still using your knowledge for personal gain, though.”

“People rarely learn without wanting to gain something. Otherwise we would learn nothing at all.”

Heather paused. “You make an interesting point.”

“I know,” Aaravos said, with a smile in his voice.

“Have you ever had an apprentice? Or a student?”

“No. You’re my first. And I promise to be nothing like my former master, Kalani.”

“Was he as bad as you say he was?”

“Yes. How did you know that?”

Heather smiled. “You were one of the elves nominated for the Year of the Star celebration on the equinox this year. We had to do some research on your life, but every book we looked at was destroyed. So, we... uh, broke into your home to see if we could find anything, and we found your memoirs.”

“How considerate of you to break into my home?” Aaravos said sarcastically. “And what memoirs?”

Heather dug around in Réalta’s saddlebag for the book she had read last night. Finally, she found it and showed it to the caterpillar.

“Ah, my diaries,” he perceived. “Have you found them useful?”

“For the show? Yes.”

“I meant with your arcanum education.”

Heather glanced down at the leather-backed book. “Yeah, I guess they have.” She ran her finger over the embroidery of the cover. “Did you do this yourself?”

“Yes. It required a lot of focus, but it was calming and helped me stay on track, even in my prison.”

“I guess I could say the same about archery.” She looked over the gold and silver thread, it looked almost perfect and was smooth to the touch. “You must have been good at a young age... Or did you do all these years after you wrote this diary?” According to the inside cover, Aaravos had been thirteen when he started it.

“I suppose so—I did it as I wrote it,” he paused. “You must have more questions.”

Heather drew in a breath. “Yeah, I guess so.”

The caterpillar leaned its head forward, telling her to continue.

“Why are the sun and moon arcana on the diaries?” She asked.

The caterpillar sighed. “You’re not very interested in your education, are you?”

“Like I said; I never wanted this.” She practically spat out the words.

"It was a mistake; something that never should have happened. I’m strong enough as it is, nevermind throwing four more arcana into the mix."

“Many mages would kill for your gift,” Aaravos informed softly.

“Then let them. I’d gladly give this power away.”

“But they give few the opportunity.”

Heather eyed him.

“The stars enjoy being thought of as powerful and all-mighty. In other words; they relish being feared. The first Startouch elves were connected to all the primal sources—“

“—like the first Archdragons,” Heather interrupted.

“Yes, and when Startouch elves only had one arcanum, others believed to have all six arcana—“

“—and when others found out that they no longer had that power, they no longer feared them.” The caterpillar tilted its head at her. “Dragons and elves are pretty similar—at least the ones connected to the stars.”

“So to through this change is a gift from the stars, allowing you to reach your full potential—it makes you an archetype and prodigy of a Startouch elf.”

Heather glanced aside.

“The stars rarely ever grant their power and knowledge to anyone who isn’t born a Startouch elf. They see something in you, much like Réalta did all those years ago.”

Heather sighed. “You sound like all the other mages I talked to.” She pushed herself to her feet. “I don’t want this. Tell me there’s a way to travel through time and stop what happened from happening. Tell me there’s a way to stop this! Or reverse it! Or stop it from happening at all! Please!”

Aaravos stayed quiet. “You’re scared. You’re scared this transformation will change you negatively.”

Heather wanted to crush the caterpillar. But he was right. She sat down again beside Réalta. “I don’t want to be a mage.”

“Who said you had to be a mage?”

“Everyone I’ve talked to has mentioned magic or being a mage.”

“That’s just so you can find a practical use for your power. The energy you will create while being connected to all six primal sources will be immense, you will need to disperse some of that—even just a little.”

“So...?”

“No, you don’t need to have a new profession, you just need to have a means of using your power—no amount of archery or fencing will use up the energy you create daily; not to mention should there be a storm or if you’re travelling underground, and your arcana are stronger during these events. They will create many inconveniences if you are not educated properly.”

A smile formed on Heather’s face. “Alright then, that makes sense.” She looked out the mouth of the cave; the sky was now an orange colour. “We should get going. The kitchens should be serving again now that everyone has been called back into duty.”

She looked at the caterpillar. “Thank you, Aaravos.”

The caterpillar inclined its head and crawled over to her as she stood up. Réalta rose to his hooves as well. Heather crouched down and offered the caterpillar her hand to climb up. As it settled on her shoulders, Heather hoisted herself onto Réalta’s saddle. She removed their Dragonguard uniforms; leaving only Realta’s saddle and bridle on him and Heather’s vest, leggings and thigh-high boots. She slipped on her necklace once again and packed away the diary.

“Yip yip, Réalta,” Heather said, nudging him forward.

They ambled through the forest as the evening chill set in.

“As for your question; I’m a halfling.”

“Huh?”

“Your question about the embroidery,” Aaravos paused. “I’m part Sunfire elf, part Moonshadow elf—a Moonfire elf if you will. That’s why the sun and moon symbols are on my diaries; they’re my original arcana.”

“Oh...”

“I know it’s not the same, but I went through the same transformation you’re going through—except I was older and it was a choice for me.”

“That explains most of your memoirs,” Heather mused, looking up at the sky. She could feel the moon rising in power as the sun set—it confused her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you get around that, so it doesn’t irritate you anymore.”

[ezilis-respite-farm-sanctuary]

the doggos started going OFF. so we look out the window and we see somebody in the garden. we did a slow approach to where they were hiding in the high brush inside the fenced garden. And then they took flight!

a strawberry moon rose that night. And turkeys have always meant home to Titan.

we've been especially happy to see whole turkey families in the upper fields. Although we did have to scare a few turkeys with babies out of the chicken pasture. can't play with avian flu potential.

looking forward to fostering turkey sanctuary here by hunting nearby and not on this land, until necessary. I will go after a furbearers eventually though, and anything that accosts my animals.

Khonsu X

[wearepaladin]

Follow up question to Frank Castle not being a Paladin of Vengeance: Which depiction are you basing your judgement on, and what fictional popular character would count as a paladin of vengeance? Not aiming to argue about details here, but as a fan of the paladin archetype (especially the Lawful Good kind), I'm very interested in a more extensive explanation by you.

Well, I’m referring to the comic book incarnation of Castle and the event that forever damned him in my eyes was during a confrontation with the Hood wherein the supervillain wanted to use a Faustian Bargain to put the Punisher out of commission, with his resurrected family as the reward for Castle. Frank refuses, and I can agree with his outward reasoning, as the bad guys are clearly trying to use him, and his family has been dead for years. Now, what happened next is interesting. Even though Castle refused the bargain, his family is resurrected anyway, and Frank aims a flamethrower and kills them just as they’re rising out of their coffins.A flamethrower on his wife and children.

His family was alive, no question, no ambiguity. He killed them because they would see the monster he’d become and he was unwilling to either live with that or change for them. That crosses him off the paladin list.

If you’d want an example of someone I would consider as a potential candidate for the Oath of Vengeance in Marvel, I’d choose Marc Spector, the Moon Knight. 

Marc is honestly someone I’d hoped would have been part of the Defenders line up on the Netflix shows, and I hope he has his day before long. He’s an interesting guy, a mentally ill son of a rabbi who became a mercenary and died, only to resurrect and was chosen (or thinks he was chosen. They like to change the perspective depending on the writer) by the god Khonsu to be an instrument of vengeance. And more often than not, Marc delivers, as he’s brutal against evil men, and has killed them and killed gruesomely. But unlike the Punisher, Spector knows there are lines and that he erred when he crossed them. His bone white outfits often put him at an unambiguous offense against the dark, and much like one who has sworn the oath, he’s relentless once he’s got the scent.