#but if it's specifically for the dynamic then rhea is literally there

[wearethewitches]

inspired by my own fic idea - but why do folks write enemies to lovers daemon x reader, or daemon x ofc, when rhea royce is right there?

[burning-academia-if]

this might be an oddly specific question... but what is ROs’ handwriting like? is it legible? absolute chicken scratch? does anyone use cursive?

also, this just popped up in my mind (sorry if it’s been asked before): are they all right-handed or do we have some lefties in here?

Rook: Literally the most god awful college guy handwriting ever seen. Worse then chicken scratch, it's a miracle you can read it (or maybe you can just read it because you've known him so long). He's left handed

Beck: Really plain and basic. It's easy to read, at least. He's right handed.

Rhea: Beautiful cursive that you can't actually read unless your familiar with classic cursive styles. Her signature is also equally as dynamic. She's right handed

Zoe: Kinda cute, almost bubbly, surprisingly. Does actual circles for the dots of their i's and j's, as well as punctuation. They're right handed

Lars: Messy cursive that kinda reminds you of how a doctor writes. Only he can read it, although god knows other people have tried. He's left handed.

???: Elegant yet easy to read. They switch between cursive and print depending on how they feel. A lot of loops and swirls decorate their print letters though, specifically their capital letters. They're ambidextrous

[themattress]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

This year I have decided to do three simultaneous playthroughs of each house (and I'll be sticking with Edelgard on my Black Eagles file since there's no point in playing Silver Snow when I'm going to be playing Verdant Wind). It gives me an even greater impression of not only how the houses differ but all the small ways in which the narrative changes depending on which house you chose. I've cleared Chapter 2 on all files and have some stray thoughts:

- Specific characters in each faction outside of the leaders are really grabbing my attention. For the Black Eagles it's Dorothea, who is such an immediately charismatic and layered character, and the fact that she's a bisexual woman playing the field but isn't slut-shamed for it by the narrative is so refreshing. For the Blue Lions it's Felix, who is an odd duck in how he's one of the biggest assholes on campus yet also consistently one of the most honest, loyal and well-intentioned people around at the same time. And for the Golden Deer it's Hilda, who is a natural powerhouse and knows it yet plays the "weak, useless, delicate flower" to get out of fighting not because she truly lacks self-confidence as she claims but because she's clearly frightened of having the burden of expectations placed upon her the way it's placed upon her brother, who is basically Superman as far as the Alliance is concerned.

- As far as the Church of Seiros is concerned, as usual it's all about Seteth and Flayn for me. Seteth is such a thinly veiled passive-aggressive dickwad to Byleth in these early chapters and it makes him unlikable but in a fun way while also making his later turnaround that much more effective, and Flayn is just too precious in how determined she is to experience all the joys of living to her fullest regardless of how awkward she is at it. I love her voice and manner of speaking. Rhea is also interesting, of course, but hasn't really done much at this point.

- I adore Garreg Mach Monastery. It's one of those fictional world locations that leaves such an impression that I wish it were real. It's got everything: classrooms, a library, a training yard, a dining hall, pavilions for tea time, a fishing pond, a greenhouse, a marketplace, a sauna, a chapel, living quarters, tame animals everywhere, and even an expansive underground area.

- The developers have confirmed that it was the Black Eagles version of White Clouds in conjunction with Silver Snow that they wrote first, and honestly that tracks with how these beginning chapters go. There's so much dramatic irony in Byleth teaching the house led by the secret villain, doing so after it was their presence that threw a wrench in said secret villain's plans by becoming the new teacher instead of Jeritza, and in how said secret villain then goes along on the class mission to exterminate the very bandits that she hired for the aforementioned plan. It also sets the narrative up as a bizarre sort of "love triangle" between Byleth, Edelgard and Rhea...and unless you do extremely missable things, nobody wins.

- Lastly, I got reminded early on why the Blue Lions route is my least favorite. All the fans that love it insist that it's a "character-driven" story, but what they mean by that is literally just one character is driving the story: Dimitri. At the end of Chapter 2 in the Black Eagles route Edelgard talks to Byleth about the ruins in Zanado and hints about the Nabateans or the Agarthans (depending on dialogue choice) and how they "might still influence the world", subtly hinting at her distaste for this and desire for Byleth to join her in getting rid of them. In the Golden Deer route Claude tests Byleth's honesty before noting his curiosity about what happened in the past to give Zanado the name of "the Red Canyon" when nothing was red. Both of these are rooted in the main plot and reflect on the characters plus Byleth's dynamic with them. But in the Blue Lions route, Edelgard passes by, Dimitri seems wistful about her, and when Byleth inquires he just says "I'll tell you some other time". Nothing about Zanado or the main plot whatsoever, and Dimitri is the sole focus rather than Edelgard or Byleth getting anything out of the scene too. It's foreshadowing how in Azure Moon, Dimitri becomes a plot tumor whom everything else in the story is sacrificed for, even Rhea whom we opened on.

[dave-of-cyscara]

all of them are vv <3

chero and tighnari dynamic started when in ANOTHER au, they interact and then tighnari kinda just. subconsciously begins adopting chero because of how many goddamn scars this kid has and the way he speaks (talking about his death happily, seemingly lacks value in his own life, literally insane) and also joining rhea hate club

it's SUCH a good dynamic...

also i am. at the point where they've set camp. and cyrille is just so SOFT and scara is so bruised and THE GOD MADE TEA SPECIFICALLY FOR THE FOLLOWER ISN'T IT USUALLY THE OTHER WAY AROUND and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[realmflora]

A Fucked Up Way To Say "I hear you".

Two stressed children who hold too much power and have gone through too much in the span of a week. Against each other, simply to take their anger out on someone that can handle it.

Their dynamic is... very confusing, from an outside view..

Translated for your convenience.

"So, are you going to explain why you keep throwing shots at everyone for no reason?" Chero crosses his arms as he walks up to Leia, while at the same time flicking back into his light form to preserve energy. "Cause you didn't need to call Kizashi that. He was literally trying to help."

"Since when did you care what happens to him?" Leia uncrosses her own arms, rolling her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day. "What, suddenly feeling responsible for him now?"

"Responsibility for someone isn't the same as defending them from people being assholes. And for fucks sake, just because I brought it up to you once doesn't mean we can just conveniently bring it up whenever."

Leia is silent for a bit, but then she emits a small chuckle. "Okay, let's change the topic then- why are you so fucking useless?"

... "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Leia leans against a tree behind her. "You weren't able to tell that Rhea was around Sakura? You're supposed to be the older one, aren't you? You're supposed to protect them, aren't you? Why have they been doing what your job is?"

Chero stares at Leia for a long moment. He then laughs. "You're calling me out for that. Aren't you the overlord of Heaven? Isn't it your job to keep shitty gods like Rhea under control? Because wow, you've been doing so great. Anemone possessed me, Rhea halfway possessed Sakura, Xaviero's fucking out there somewhere waiting to literally kidnap us, and there's probably more things you haven't been in control of! Can you even call yourself Overlord anymore?"

Leia's wings flap angrily. "It's not my fault that everything's been out of control-"

"Yes, it fucking is. You're the overlord, your job is to protect any angels, celestials, gods, whatever from whatever else. In some cases, your job is to protect whatever else from us. And so far, you have done neither because you've been too selfish and taking too much time to yourself when work needs to be done." He takes note on Leia's wings, realizing that they can't drag this on too long, or they'll actually get through to insulting each other properly. "There are things to be fixed, and yet you're hounding on other people for fixing them when it should've been you. You should've been the one to dispose of Rhea. To stop me and Sakura from doing what we did to the puppets- Scaramouche specifically. That is your job."

"I'm aware, Chero." Leia grinds her teeth a bit. "But what about you? What is your purpose supposed to be? You've burdened Adi with your complications, have the audacity to lie to them about several injuries and issues you've been withholding, then let them take care of you without having any way to care for them back. You're taking up space, and you know it, but you refuse to do anything about it."

"If I'm taking up space, then so are you."

"Neither of us are welcome in this world."

"And that's why we've deemed it unsafe." Chero scoffs. "Still, outside of whatever this is, there was no reason to attack Kizashi like that. You know that, right?"

"Of course I know that. I'm not stupid."

"You are. You're blindly mistrusting."

"...I'm not apologizing, though."

"Eh, he doesn't even know what you said. It's fine."

"Don't tell Sakura."

"Then don't bring up the Gnosis thing."

"Deal, then."

"Conversation over?"

"Mhm. Make sure to talk to Adi sometime about what you're feeling."

"You do the same with Sakura. It sucks to bubble stuff up."

"Hypocrite."

"Asshole."

Chero gives Leia a little wave, before returning back to the tent with Adi. Leia turns her head to the sky and sighs, wishing the both of them had better ways to communicate their emotions.

[sunriseinorbit]

i have thoughts about sonic frontiers and nowhere to put them, so i am throwing them under a read more on tumblr dot com that you are free to peruse if you so desire!

okay i know it's going to sound like i'm complaining, so i want to stress first that i enjoyed this game a lot, as you can probably tell! there's a lot of good here, and at the very least, i would definitely consider it a step in the right direction. however. the honeymoon phase is waning.

thought number 1: sega hire this man

a lot of people have said that this game needed more time in the oven, and while i do agree with that, i think the thing it needed most was more people. i don't remember how many people worked on this game, but it is a massive step up from forces and deserved a much larger team to match. while it may not have solved the conceptual problems with the game (which i promise i will get to) it definitely would have softened the technical blow, because as it stands, and as i'm sure anyone who's played the game has noticed, there are a lot of technical issues, particularly with 3d-2d transitions just not working. (also maybe it would have given us more complete 4th and 5th islands but that's a discussion for

thought number 2: rhea island

rhea island is the point in the game where it became very obvious that sonic team ran out of time, money, or (more likely) both. and that makes me sad because rhea island could have been so cool as the spot where the tension in the story reaches its peak, and here's just a few ideas for how i would have made it better:

have something to do between the towers. maybe you have to unlock the map to figure out where the next tower is. maybe you have to go through a maze or do another challenge to find the next tower. maybe you have to do a miniboss rush. literally anything would be better than what we have right now.

DYNAMIC MUSIC. rhea and ouranos island only have one music track each where the other islands had seven, and rhea could have used it the most. with every tower you find out something new about the ancients and sonic gets closer to death, i would have loved to see the music reflect that somehow.

something at the end. my personal pick would be end of the world from sonic 06 but good, where tails, knuckles, amy, and possibly sage go through a cyber space gauntlet to save sonic, but i also don't know how that would work gameplay/playstyle wise.

thought number 3: sonic frontiers would be a better game if cyber space just straight up was not in it

i don't know if that's a hot take, but i was watching somecallmejohnny's review and he mentioned that he enjoyed the little platforming challenges (not the memory token stuff, like the part on ares island where you have to go over the water to get to knuckles) more than cyber space, which is something i totally agree with. not only because in those challenges you have your open zone speed upgrades, but because they directly address the elephant in the room when it comes to cyber space, which is what this section is entirely about:

the recycling of old level content is absolutely fucking ridiculous. i could forgive reusing level aesthetics if they were from something we'd never seen before (and since cyber space is supposed to be running through memories, it would have been cool to revisit something new) but no, it's just green hill, chemical plant, and sky sanctuary with reused generations assets to match (and most of the city levels don't show up until ouranos). i do not want to see green hill zone ever again.

but frontiers threw something new into the mix with reused level layouts and geometry, and i don't think that's inherently bad. i think calling back to specific set pieces or iconic chunks of old levels could be really cool, like circling the tower to get up to the rocket in metal harbor. however, i think the key is doing it in moderation, which frontiers does not do. because they will just copy entire levels. granted, i didn't notice a lot of the reused levels my first time playing, but that doesn't change how blatant they are.

and i think it's especially egregious when combined with the reused aesthetics, because some of these levels are copied from their sonic generations counterparts. and they use generations graphics and assets. at that point, why am i not just playing generations? i'm definitely not playing the cyber space levels for the physics!

i really think they should have just put the energy they used for cyber space into just making more interesting challenges and stuff in the overworld, because i had a lot of fun with the stuff that was already there and as much as i enjoyed the levels, on a conceptual level cyber space feels like a holdover from the forces era and sticks out like a sore thumb.

[professor-tammi]

Part 1 To that other anon: while I don't think Monica is good F/F representation, it's fine if you do. But I'd also like to point out a number of other 3H F/F "confessions" that are taken seriously and not as a joke, for comparison. Catherine is a great example: her love for Rhea is taken seriously and they even get a paired ending in AM. Catherine/Shamir probably has the most canon support, with Shamir suggesting marriage in their A+ support even, and Hopes builds on this too for them.

Part 2 Annette/Mercedes is another: their paired AM ending implies they're basically lesbians who realized late in life that they wanted a life together, after both had retired from their jobs; again, Hopes plays up this dynamic too. Dorothea/Petra: their paired ending says that Dorothea became the one Petra most loved. People love Marianne/Hilda and while it's not as obvious romantic in terms of love declaration, I still recommend it too. I even consider Edelgard/Dorothea a good example.

the anons do not stop coming... who knew the Monica topic was this divisive :'D

anyhow I don't know if That Other Anon will agree with me, but I think what they're saying is that Monica's attraction to Edelgard is both very explicit and in-your-face. you literally can't miss it; her professions of love are so frequent that nobody in their right mind would dismiss them as a one-off thing or as being "up to interpretation" (which I can tell you people do with all of the above pairings, particularly in non-fandom spaces). I think it's valid for people to be happy about that!

as for why Monica is that in-your-face about it, I think to us westerners it can easily read as being for comedic value, but I would propose another theory: it's so that Monigard isn't accidentally read as a Class S thing. (I think the censorship in the Annette/Mercedes A Support is specifically because the translators decided they had a Class S relationship.)

another thing I rather like is that Monica is allowed to be... just gay, whereas all characters from og Houses must be either bi or straight because Byleth exists and of course Byleth gets to marry every character of the opposite gender. maybe the writers were happy to no longer be bound by that limitation when writing characters...

[faroreswinds]

Why I believe Seteth is younger than Rhea

This is something I have discussed before, but I wanted to dedicated a post to it because I was thinking about it today. 

As the title states, I believe Seteth is actually younger than Rhea.

...

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk, please pick up the trash on the way out. 

...

What, not enough? Oh, all right. 

Many fans, including myself for a time, believe that Seteth is an older brother to Rhea. It makes a lot of sense. There are Crests from the Children of the Goddess, and Seteth looks and acts older than Rhea at many times. Not only that, but Rhea specifically says that she is the youngest of the Children of the Goddess. 

I bring up the Japanese version because the English version states that “she is the last of the children of the goddess” which implies she is the last surviving one, when in reality Rhea is the youngest of the Goddess’ children.

But this statement may seem weird to you, no? What about Flayn? Flayn, after all, is part of the Child of the Goddess. It is, after all, what many call the Nabateans, such as Edelgard. And Flayn is no doubt younger than Rhea. 

But Flayn is not the Child of THE Goddess. She was born to Seteth and some woman who we know nothing about, only that they met at a Church in Enbarr long before the establishment of the Empire. 

And Edelgard also calls Seteth a Child of the Goddess as well. 

Rhea herself also calls Nabateans “Children of the Goddess” as well, albeit a slightly different way. 

As well as Seteth:

This tells me there are two meanings to the phrase “Children of the Goddess”. The first meaning is how Edelgard and Seteth means it- the race of Nabateans. The second is the literal meaning, the actual Children of the Goddess, as Rhea is. 

The Dynamic Between Seteth, Flayn, Byleth, and Rhea

One thing to note early on is how the last remaining Nabateans regard themselves, one another, and their relationship to Sothis, the progenitor god. In the case of Rhea, she literally calls Sothis “Mother” and calls herself a “Child of the Goddess”. 

But this does not extend to Seteth and Flayn. Neither one of them never call Sothis “Mother” (especially Flayn, since we already know that Sothis isn’t her mother). In fact, Seteth, strictly only refers to Sothis as either the goddess, the progenitor god, or by her name:

This doesn’t necessarily exclude the possibility of Sothis being Seteth’s mother, but it would seem odd for him, in private moments or in moments of extreme emotion, to never, not even once, refer to Sothis as “Mother” if this was the case. 

Furthermore, the relationship between Seteth, Flayn, Byleteh, and Rhea is often muddied by the language from the game itself. Seteth repeatedly refers to the remaining Nabateans as “like family”:

“Like family”. But you aren’t actually family to any of them, not really. Seteth knows this too. You were born from a Nabatean homunculus and a human man. But to be “like family” is to show that you are still close to them. You are related to them as in being of a similar race to them, of Nabatean blood. 

Furthermore, Seteth never refers to Rhea as anything more than “like family”. In fact, he holds great reverence for her. Rhea respects him too, but it is Seteth who shows devotion. 

He never calls her sister, just like he never calls Sothis “Mother.” 

Of course, it could all be an act. He does put up an act with Flayn, after all, with them pretending to be brother and sister instead of father and daughter. But even in private moments, the act is never dropped. And as shown in an earlier image, when he is attacking Rhea in Silver Snow, he states “I will inherit the pride of Nabatea”. The implication is that Rhea was upholding the pride of Nabatea, not him. 

Of course, none of this is truly a nail in the coffin regarding their relationship to each other. 

Flayn also doesn’t necessarily help matter. In the game, there are two paralogues where the player can fight two other surviving Nabateans: The Wind Caller (Macuil) and The Immovable (Indech). When Flayn is brought into battle with them, we can see that she calls the both of them “Uncle”.

(To note here, The Immovable’s dialogue implies he has never met Flayn before, while the Wind Caller has). 

Flayn calls them both Uncle, and it is often thought in the fandom that both the Wind Caller and the Immovable are Sothis’ Children. If they are truly Flayn’s uncles, then that would make them Seteth’s brothers. But, like Seteth, they do not call her “Mother”:

Rude. 

Furthermore, in a support with Bernadetta, history remembers Indech and Seteth as “close friends”:

This does not necessarily exclude the possibility of Incech and Seteth being siblings. Siblings CAN be friends. But history did also remember Cethleann (Flayn) as Cichol’s (Seteth) daughter. Per her own statue:

“A statue of Saint Cethleann, one of the Four Saints. It is said that she was a beautiful and kind soul who was beloved by all for her empathy and her ability to heal severe wounds. She is the daughter of Saint Cichol.” —Saint Statue placard

Why would it not remember Indech and Cichol as brothers too? 

Flayn also has this to say: 

Now, Flayn is putting up an act so Rhea and the others may be actual family, but she never calls Rhea “Aunt” and, in Japanese, the term “Uncle” and “Aunt” is simply a term to use for those who are older than you. It doesn’t necessarily mean a literal “Aunt” and “Uncle” as we know it in the west. 

The Nabateans

To continue to illustrate my point, I want to turn my attention to the Nabateans and their history. 

There is a lot about the Nabateans that we do not know. However, there are a few things we can note:

They have long lives

They have green hair

They can transform into dragon-like beings, and they can lose the ability to transform

They have second names, like “The Immovable” or “The Immaculate One”

They have Crests

They once lived in Zanado

They are also called the “Children of the Goddess”

Their bones and blood were used to make the Hero’s Relics and to give Crests to humans

They can go into long periods of hibernation 

They have point ears

None of these things take much digging to figure out. Ultimately, they are powerful, superior beings to humans on average, with long life spans and great powers. 

But where did they come from? Well, according to the lore, when Sothis descended upon what would become Foldan, she used her own blood to create her Children, the first Nabateans. Rhea is among this group for sure, as she directly refers to Sothis as her mother. 

But it wasn’t just the ten or twelve Nabateans the game wants you believe only existed (estimated by the number of Crests you can come across in the base game). No, it was a whole society. 

The DLC gifted us with more insight into the past and what may have happened. One example comes from the Shadow Library, and the book The Truth About Heroes’ Relics:

...Heroes’ Relics have been found that are not linked to the 10 Elites. ______the 10 Elites______ Could it be that others were gifted this power by the goddess as well? Perhaps the disturbing___that the Relics were not gifts from the goddess___ Additionally______the same Crest Stones_____

This little broken snippet tells us two things. 

There were more weapons made from the same materials as the Heroes’ Relics (known to be made from Nabatean bones)

There is more than one of the same kind of Crest Stone

We are given evidence of this as well from the DLC pack, in particular the weapon Vajra-Mushti, Balthus’ gauntlet relic. 

The original Heroes’ Relics required Umbral Steel to repair when damaged. Similarly, so does Vajra-Mushti. This tells me that it is made of Nabatean bones. For reference, Edelgard’s weapon Aymr was specifically made for her. It is not a Heroes’ Relic, and not made of Nabatean bones. It requires a different material, Agarthium. Agarthium is an ore required to make Those Who Slither in the Dark’s weapons, like the Death Knight’s scythe. 

Vajra-Mushti also has two Crest Stones of Chevalier inside of them, one for each gauntlet. In the base game, we also got two Crest Stones existing at the same time: Crest Stone of the Beast. One for Marianne’s weapon Blutgang, and one in Aymr. 

Now, Crest Stones are actually the hearts of Nabateans. They are literal body parts, necessarily for their life. A weapon without the Stone is basically powerless- its the Heart that powers the bones of the weapon. As stated by the Truth of the Heroes’ Relics:

I, a priest of______the findings of my investigation___ When a Crest Stone was removed while its Relic was being wielded by a______all movement within the Relic ceased. When the stone was returned, the Relic once again___ It is beyond question that Crest Stones supply their associated Relic with power of some kind. And the impetus of said power is clearly related to the Crests that certain humans possess...

The odd thing about Vajra-Mushti is how it exists in the first place. Based on how many fans perceive the game, there is one Crest per Nabatean, that is always unique. However, Vajra-Mushti and the Crest of the Beast could imply the opposite. That there can be more individuals bearing the same Crest. 

There are two alternative solutions. One is that we know that the Slithers make fake Crest Stones, so duplicates could be fakes. Another alternative is that a Nabatean could have multiple hearts. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough evidence to prove or disprove any of these possibilities. 

However, I believe that Nabateans can share Crest types. 

The second strange thing is that Nabatean bones were used to make Vajra-Mushti. Chevalier was an Apostle that was not killed by the Slithers, and history tells us that Saints (and by extension, Apostles) were Nabateans. However, there is nothing beyond patterns to suggest that Apostles were Nabateans too. Were they humans who were granted Crests, or were they Nabateans? The fact that one of the Apostles, Aubin, was still alive prior to the events the game and able to pass on his Crest to Yuri may suggest Nabatean. But we know so little about Nabateans and their abilities that Aubin could still be a human, as he died due to old age not long after saving Yuri. Again, we don’t know. 

But if Chevalier was a Nabatean, how were the gauntlets made in the first place? Was he killed later and made into weapons? After all, Linhardt does state: 

And made after the war:

This is support by the book in the Shadow Library, Burnt Remnants of a Report:  

 ...the Faerghus Rebellion. I harbor doubts about the army Loog has raised. How did he recruit soldiers without raising suspicions in the Empire? How did he acquire those mysterious weapons, so like Heroes' Relics?

So it is possible that Chevalier was caught and killed for his bones... But there is not enough evidence for that either. 

If in-game evidence wasn’t enough, however, take this interview from the devs themselves. They stated: 

In that world, the Nabateans, the people who could turn into dragons, were scattered across Fodlan and ruled over the land as both dragons and gods...

Nabateans being as gods is supported by the book Mysteries of the Calendar, Vol.2:

There is no way of knowing when the old calendar was created. Any attempt to trace its origins leads only to the era of the gods and more unanswered questions. All we know for certain is that the calendar has existed for a nearly incomprehensible length of time.

To change a civilization's calendar would inevitably cause great confusion and unrest. Why, then, did Emperor Wilhelm—the first leader of Adrestia—choose to abandon the original calendar in favor of the Imperial calendar?

And the Nabateans beings scattered across Foldan and even the world is support by Petra’s description of legends in her country: 

I almost wonder if the spirits of her religion are the dragon forms of Nabateans.

And finally, the ruins of Zanado suggest a civilization, much larger than a few individuals:  

So why did I spend so much time proving my point that there were more Nabateans that like, 12? Because it directly ties back to the family of Seteth and Flayn and Rhea. The civilization was big. Were they all Sothis’ children? Flayn’s existence proves that no, not all of them were. 

I also believe Flayn’s mother was Nabatean herself. Flayn implies as much in her support with Seteth:

“How you AND Mother” as a group, how Seteth and his wife lived as “ordinary people” with their comrades, the humans. “Even if it cannot last” implies her outliving her peers, as Seteth and his wife would have. 

Because remember, Enbarr and the church Seteth and his wife met in actually existed before the human Empire. From the History of Foldan, Part 1:

- 41 Years Before the Founding of the Adrestian Empire - Saint Seiros appeared in the land of Enbarr and, through the many unfathomable miracles she performed, spread light across the land.

Now we don’t know how old Flayn actually is. Was she born after the founding of the Empire or before it? We don’t know how quickly Nabatean age, but its slow. Very slow. 

Regardless, the point stands that Nabateans had their own children. So only some of them would have truly been originally Sothis’ children. Rhea has already stated that she was the youngest of Sothis’ children, so she was the last one made. And that the rest of the “Children of the Goddess” where possibly Sothis’ grandchildren and beyond.

Some Data Mining

While we do not have ages exactly for the surviving Nabateans, we do have some data mining that gives us estimates of what their equivalent human ages would be. 

Flayn is coded as 17

Seteth is coded as 26

Rhea is coded as 28

Yeah, apparently Seteth became a father VERY young. 

Ok, jokes aside, Seteth would have still been thousands of years old at the point of having Flayn and Nabateans clearly mature differently than humans. 

But by the data mining standards, Rhea is older than Seteth. 

And yet, the youngest Child of Sothis. 

I think this all lines up very nicely with my conclusion on Seteth being younger than Rhea, and how he and Flayn relate to Rhea.

Nabatea was a vey old civilization, long before the Empire, as gods and leaders of humans. 

Sothis made her Children, with Rhea being last. This would make Rhea a sort of demi-god, in a way. 

Seteth is offspring to some degree of these Children. He is not brothers with Rhea or the other surviving Nabateans. 

Since Rhea would be a higher being than Seteth, it would explain his reverence for her. 

This would also explain why Seteth never calls her sister, or Sothis Mother, and why Flayn states only Seteth is her remaining family. 

You may be wondering why I didn’t just start with the data mining? That’s because I had a point to prove first. 

Final Thoughts

With Three Houses being... well, three houses, it is totally possible that this is way off the mark. Per the dev’s own words:

From the basic foundations of our setting, the development team’s passion and emotional investment snowballed and poured in such extensive data, more than we could’ve imagined, and as a result, I think we’ve made a game that’s like a living creature. Even among the development team, I don’t think there’s anyone who understands everything there is to know about the game in a comprehensive way.

Kusakihara: I think there’s a good ten thousand years’ worth in total. Though I’m also the kind of guy who wouldn’t put this chronology out there (laughs).

It’s like you’re telling theorists out there to form theories from the fragmentary information they see in the game and fill in the holes .

Kusakihara: Yeah. We actually start to forget this stuff, so I think the players might end up knowing more about it than us in the end (laughs).

Thanks. Assholes. 

Anyways, if I missed something you have anything to add, please feel free. But I’m pretty confident in my stance! At least, more confident than the devs seems to be at times. 

Lol.

Marry Daddy Seteth

[butwhatifidothis]

I mean, on that same twitter post I mention we have BOTH sides (edelstans and edelcritics/whatever you wanna call em) calling eachother fascists for liking/disliking edelgard. Theres also the dude that posted cropped Edelgard r*pe porn in the comments so...I wouldn't exactly call either side better. At best, I'd say the Edelcritics that hate edelgard to THAT extent kinda went quiet while the edelstans that SUPER like edelgard got louder. You can find the shittier Edelgard haters (I say hater because they legit hate her ass and say legitimately sexist shit in regards to her) if you looked for it or stumbled upon it.

Also, I feel like you're taking it way to seriously by going "Yeah but one side has people who HATE Rhea and Dimitri so they are the worse ones since they want to put down people with mental illness!" When Rhea and Dimitri AREN'T people, they're lines on a screen. They don't even have any stated specific mental illness and rhea's mental illness is just going as berserk as every other dragon in the series except the thing that's caused her to go berserk is Byleth's betrayal (or just it's just a thing that happens in the normal church route for x reasons because whats a fire emblem game without a berserk dragon? And while we're at it, lets make the fact she went berserk turn some members of the church into dragonish monsters through dragon blood because why not!)

And Dimitri's is further bogged down by the fact that during the church route he ends up becoming a voice in *byleth's* head and is a ghost??? Or something? (It's been two years and I still don't know what that was all about)

I'm not even going to TRY and wrap my head around the implications that IS were going for his FEH story where he talks to the literal goddess of the dead and another undead character who talks about the people hes sees. Are they trying to say that Dimitri is ACTUALLY haunted???

Then we have Edelgard who was tortured at a young age and had her siblings die presumanly yet her only real issue (outside of lacking a brain and being paranoid) is that shes uwu scared of wats!!! Owo isn't that qwuirky! Shes got twauma and twust isswues!

God. You can REALLY tell they had trouble with consistently writing the routes AND making it so the characters make any sense on other routes.

The people who did that shit are horrible - that's not to say that they are as prevalent of a fandom problem as the other, however, which is much of the point I was getting at.

Yes, both sides have done some terrible shit. Not gonna deny that. Also, again, not about to sit here and say that both sides are equally committing these sort of shitty things as each other. Just because you can find this shit on "the other side" doesn't automatically mean that both sides are actually just as bad as the other. You point to one post as proof that both sides are equally as bad as the other - I can assure you, the stuff that I and others talk about when we say "Edelstans have knee-capped the fandom" is far, far more widespread than that.

And "one side has people who HATE Rhea and Dimitri so that are the worse ones since they want to put down people with mental illness" look. When people come in, look at mentally ill characters, and say independent of anything else "yeah, they should be put down cuz they're too dangerous specifically because of their mental illness" and they mean that with 100% sincerity, am I not supposed to get, y'know, a little creeped out by that?

Like, for another example, there's a difference between someone saying "Yeah I don't care about Byleth x Student ships because in the end I like their dynamic and they're not real" and someone saying "Well teachers dating their students isn't that bad of an issue anyway so who cares." One is acknowledging that this is fiction and that doesn't necessarily reflect on one's real life opinions and enjoying it as fiction, and the other... is the real life opinion, being applied to the fiction to justify it.

Also, "rhea's mental illness is just going berserk as every other dragon in the series except the thing that's caused her to go berserk is Byleth's betrayal" um and also the fact that the Nabatean genocide is being recreated. She and her family are being chased out of their homes by someone aiming to kill them with the mutilated remains of her mother - that's Zanado. That's what Nemesis did to the Nabateans. That's what Byleth and EdeIgard are doing to Rhea, Seteth, and Flayn on CF. "the thing that caused her to go berserk is" the recreation of the eradication of her race, forcing her to relive it.

Also, I'll give you that saying we need to "put dimitri down" is shitty, I can't say rhea is in the same camp. In two routes she goes berserk but for two different reasons, and in golden deer and blue lions the only 'mental illness' she has is being stuck in the "denial" stage of grief for a million billion years but otherwise shes just hunky dory by the time the game ends (except in golden deer because she tanked some missiles.)

“she goes berserk for two different reasons” yes and one of them is the recreation of the genocide of her people, banishment from her home of Garreg Mach, and the killing/exilement of the last remaining family near her pushing her past the brink and breaking her mind. Y’know. What happens in CF. We can speculate what irl equivalent best fits her, but to sit here and say “yeah no Rhea was pretty much completely fine throughout the game” is not only ignoring the game, but how the fandom itself treats Rhea as a whole, which is saying that she along with Dimitri should be “put down” because they’re too mentally unsound to be safe around others.

I hope I don’t come off as too rude or anything, but yeah

Edit: Very recently (so not something nonnie could have known about so nothin’ against them but yeah), there was someone unironically saying that Edelgard’s war was a good thing because in real life violence must be used to enact change and believing otherwise is idealistic, using real life examples to showcase this point, which further shows off what I mean by some questionable things being said by Edelstans

[septiembrre]

It just seems really flat? And cliche? Rio feels like he’s falling way back into the Latin criminal stereotype with a resurging hint of Latin Lover~ and i don’t love that. I just feel like it’s weird that he’s narratively punished when he isn’t an active love interest for Beth

You’ve put my exact jumbled thoughts into words. They also barely acknowledge the fact he’s Latinx. Except those 2 words of spanish he spoke in S3. That’s why I love your fics so much. You’re always showing a more layered version of him 💕

Thank you!!! Looking at the character roles is really helpful to me even if it’s hella fatiguing. I was hopeful that by now there would be a better standard of representation for Latinx characters on-screen across film and tv. 

A digression on the character stereotypes: 

Charles Ramírez Berg published Latino Images in Film: Stereotypes, Subversion and Resistance in 1990 — it’s a foundational text of Latinx-American film theory/critique. In it, he explores his theory that there are six stereotypical roles that any Latinx characters in classic Hollywood and in the 70s and 80s can fit into. 

1. The “Bandito”/The Criminal (the criminalized, dangerous, lawless Latino — in Good Girls this is Rio and Mick)

2. The Harlot (the sexualized, ~spicy Latina, think Salma Hayek in any role she’s ever been in)

3 & 4. The Male Buffoon and the Female Clown (Latinx folks characterized as dumb and comedic relief, think Gael Garcia Bernal in his American roles or like anything with George Lopez. For ladies, I feel like it’s usually a Latina who is gorgeous and dumb)

5. The Latin Lover (this specifically refers to the sexualization of Latinx men and the fetishization of the sexual experience they can provide for white women — Rio in Good Girls) 

6. The Dark Lady (mysterious, traumatized and/or sad women that are visual foils to white female characters — I would argue Rhea could fall into this stereotype). 

I’m not a huge film theory nerd but I do appreciate Ramirez-Berg’s framework. It’s somehow both absurdly salient and also antiquated (it’s literally older than me). More recent Latinx film critique has argued that it’s missing the stereotypes more relevant in film post-90s/post-NAFTA/post-waves of 80s-era immigration: 

7. The Immigrant

8. The Servant/The Maid

Rio very easily falls into the stereotype of the Latinx Criminal. As his storyline progressed through the end of Season 1 onwards to Season 2, his character began to occupy a hybrid-role of Criminal/Latin Lover, too.  I would say as of 4x03, he’s at about 95% Criminal,  5% Lover. Hahahah, I guess I don’t need to break it down into percentages but I would say he still occupies a hybrid-stereotype. 

I think the word “stereotype” is universally understood as bad. But, just a reminder that stereotypes are redundant, problematic, harmful for lots of different reasons across race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other identities -- it lands differently depending on what we’re talking about. However, a common consequence of a stereotype is that it perpetuates power dynamics for the sake of saving time or as a placeholder for on-screen characterization. For Latinx representation a common harm is lack of on-screen commitment to a character’s background — it means that Latinx end up reading as racially ambiguous and lack cultural specificity. 

Despite falling into stereotypes, Rio’s characterization on Good Girls is still net positive for me. Yes, it’s an old fucking line, but I do love that Rio is a crime boss. I also ~mostly? enjoy his toxic relationship with Beth (idk this is more contentious, but I am obviously a huge a shipper!). I think this is because despite the limitations of what is written in the scripts, Manny Montana does an incredible job of bringing nuance to the character. There are pieces of Rio that just read as so subversive to me -- like that he’s wicked smart and that he’s a good dad (sometimes). 

But, at this point in time, having just watched 4x03, I am feeling the fatigue of this ongoing problem of shitty Latinx characterization. Good Girls should do better. I’m holding out hope because there’s the promise that ~soon~ we’re going to meet a whole bunch of Latinx folks on the show??? We’re going to see his family? In this fourth glorious season, we are finally going to build out his character? We will actually learn more about his motivations? WILD.  

I just-- y’all— I am holding out judgment until we see it. I feel like 90% of what I like about Rio has been willed into existence through Manny Montana’s personal headcanons and acting choices. I would love for this show to do more to earn my trust. 

[pynkhues]

Advice on what to do when you realise you started a scene in the wrong place and don't know what the right place is, please?

Ah, that’s a tricky one, anon! 

Scenes can be hard to wrangle at the best of times because they have a lot to do – both individually and collectively – in terms of pacing, character, settings, tone-setting or re-setting, among many other things, and honestly often the hardest thing can be working out the parameters for what that looks like. The fact that you’ve identified what you’ve written isn’t the right spot (even if you’re not quite sure what is just yet), is amazing and truly half the battle when it comes to editing and re-writing, so well done! 

My suggestion would be to ask yourself what the intent of the scene is. In asking yourself that, have a conversation with your story and your characters. Ask:  

What do you want the scene to do? 

How do you want the scene to move the characters and the plot? And are you moving them forwards, sideways or backwards?

What does this scene reveal to the readers?

And what’s the main thing you would like the reader to take away from the scene? 

None of the answers to these things have to be big! Sometimes the only thing you want a reader to take away from a scene is a feeling, or a deeper understanding of a character. Sometimes the scene only moves the plot incrementally (although every scene should move your story in some way), because the focus is perhaps more on themes or building a tone or an atmosphere. 

Sometimes these things happen naturally too and you don’t need to think so specifically about them, but if you’re stuck, I do find that they’re good ones to percolate on. After all, once you’ve answered them, you should have a pretty firm idea of what your scene actually is, which should in turn give you some sturdy parameters around what you need to do.  

So, now that you know what the intent of the scene is, where could you start?

There’s no right or wrong place to start a scene, and there is such a diversity in the ways that you can do it, that it’s sort of hard to make real suggestions on how to proceed (particularly without knowing the details of your story specifically). That said, where and how you start it is going to have a big impact on what the reader gets out of the scene, and so being able to answer those questions above can help you to really work out what’s going to be the most punchy, effective start.

Again, there are a whole lot of ways to do this, but I thought I’d explore a few here that might help you get your scene going. I’ve even included some exercises, because apparently I miss teaching creative writing that much, haha.

You could start:

1. As Close to the Action as Possible.

This is one of the most common pieces of writing advice that gets thrown around, and I both agree with it and disagree with it. I think starting close to the action or the drama of a scene can make for an excellent hook, particularly if the scene is thrilling or especially dramatic, but it’s not always appropriate. 

It can be a great exercise though when you’re unsure of a scene!

In that sense, look at your intent, how you want the characters to move, and forget about any establishing work for a minute. Try starting literally as close to the drama or conflict as possible.

Say it’s a scene where two characters kiss for the first time. Try and start the scene with the kiss. Does it work? Probably not, because there’s not enough build up to it. From there though, you can start to reverse engineer it and work backwards until you find your scene’s natural starting point.

Or perhaps it’s a scene where a character gets thrown through a window! Is it a surprise for the character too? Well, then it might work best to actually just start with that, because too much beforehand would feel superfluous to the point of the scene, which is, well, a character getting thrown through a window.

This is actually something I did in the second scene of Blue Moon where Ruby and Beth are watching Ruby’s mother at her father’s wake. Originally, there was a lot more set-up, and I felt that it weighed the scene down and removed some of the momentum, particularly because the intent of the scene was not the wake, but to show that Ruby didn’t know how to comfort her mother while grieving her father herself.

I cut it all out and even then, I thought I’d write a shorter intro, but when I re-read it, I actually really liked the sort of cut effect of Ruby taking her father’s hand in the first scene and then Beth telling her to talk to her mother in the second.

2. With the World You’re Leaving Behind.

Harry Potter is a really good example of this. Frequently the scenes don’t start anywhere close to the action or drama – Rowling’s style instead typically centres on focusing on something specific and then using that as an entry point into a moment that might not actually happen for a little while. 

Think of the opening scene for example, which doesn’t start even remotely close to the action/drama of the scene - that would be Hagrid arriving with Harry. Instead, it starts with Mr Dursley’s Very Normal Life. In fact, there are six paragraphs before Mr. Dursley even notices anything unusual - that being a cat reading a map. In this particular scene, this method is used to create a juxtaposition between the mundane and the magical, and to be an entry point for readers into the unusualness of the world of Harry Potter. 

She doesn’t just use it in this opening though. She regularly uses this technique to build atmosphere and ‘otherness’ across the series.

You can actually do this one as a bit of an exercise too if you like!

Think of the moment of change in your scene. When does the environment shift to build towards the action? What happens before that shift?

Let’s go back to our kissing example! The world we’re leaving behind here is one before intimacy, so it’s a significant change in the dynamic between characters and the overall plot. So think about what that means and what that looks like. Has the air crackled with their UST? Has one character been oblivious to the other’s feelings, making the kiss a moment of revealation that explodes their world open? Does one character not feel the same way – making the before a space of possibility, and the after space a place of lost possibility or rejection?

Think about what happens before and after the action at the heart of the scene, and how the juxtaposition of that can bring the scene’s purpose home.

3. With the Central Idea of the Scene.

I do this a lot, haha.

It’s one of my favourite ways to write a scene, and sometimes I’ll do it extremely literally, and other times less so. You can also do it via dialogue (in the pirate au, for instance, one scene starts with Annie telling Beth about lambskin condoms, a seemingly innocuous, fun starting point, but actually a pretty major signpost to the scene’s purpose overall, as the intent is realised in Annie later being shamed for having a child out of wedlock), by an image or metaphor (perhaps a scene about a character having a great realisation starts with them seeing a bright light, or alternatively, a scene about a character misinterpreting something might start with them trying and failing to untangle a necklace chain), or an emphasis on a place (Beth sitting in the loading bay looking at Fine and Frugal in 1.01 before the girls rob it).

This can be a great way of teasing out your scene overall before you actually unpack it.

So again, try it out! Think about the pivotal moment in your scene, however big or small, and try thinking about what you might encompass it. Let’s go with our first kiss again as an example. Maybe the scene could start with a character putting on lipstick, drawing attention to their lips. Maybe it could start with them texting their friend, wondering if the other character even feels the same way, maybe it starts with them trying to fluff the couch cushions they later crush beneath their body during a make out.

Think about what might foreshadow your pivotal moment, and what might underline the intent of your scene.

4. With a Focus on Tone and Atmosphere

Some people might disagree with me, but I really think that tone setting is one of the most important things in writing, and that goes for the overall tone of the story, but also for individual scenes. It’s what guides your reader to the feeling that you want them to take, and really informs the way your story builds. So while you’re thinking of ways to start, why not think of the atmosphere of your scene? Think about the way the mood builds and shifts and how you want the reader to feel within that.

In my story, Need a Little Time, I did this in both scenes, but particularly the second, which started with Rio in Rhea’s kitchen, remembering being in Beth’s.

It’s the smell that does it – cinnamon sugar and dark coffee and box macaroni cheese – and he blinks and he ain’t in Rhea’s kitchen anymore, he’s in her’s, staring at her kids’ artwork, pinned with cheap, ugly magnets to the fridge, cardboard boxes of cardboard meals scattered over her kitchen island, and then her, smiling, face open and unsure in that way she ain’t ever, and him, cunt struck and fuck dumb, smiling back.

His chest aches.

His fingers twitch.  

This (hopefully, haha) gives the reader a sense of Rio’s headspace and the fact that despite his best efforts, he’s really, really not over Beth, but also links back to the softness of him then (cinnamon sugar, box macaroni, kids artwork) and the harshness and woundedness of him now (dark coffee, cheap, ugly magnets, harsh words like ‘cunt’ and ‘fuck’, fingers twitching). It functions as a tone setter and a memory box, but it also exists to serve the purpose of the scene overall, which is Rio’s complex emotions in finding out that Beth has gotten close to Rhea in his absence.

So! Think about your scene and it’s purpose. What do you think the tone or the atmosphere is? If you’re not sure, think instead of the emotion within it. What are your characters feeling? And how do you want your reader to feel? Once you know that, think of imagery or objects or sensory detail that might build that.

Let’s have a look at our kissing example again! Let’s say it’s a first kiss between two people who really love each other and just haven’t confessed their feelings yet. What would the tone of that scene be? Well, probably one of possibility, vulnerability, intimacy. What imagery goes with that? A new bud on an old plant maybe? Clean, fresh smells like soap or newly cut grass, skin still pink from the wind outside. Cold hands warmed between somebody else’s. The sound of a familiar voice. Maybe a kettle boiling, or a warm meal about to be forgotten.

5. With a Bookend

Bookending scenes is another favourite of mine, haha, both to write and to read. Bookending scenes is a way of starting with a concept and then finishing the scene by circling back to the concept but looking at it in a slightly different way.

This is technically two scenes, but since I still have it open from the last point, I’m going to use it as an example again, haha. Need a Little Time starts with Rio remembering his mother telling him that if you stay away too long, people and circumstances change in your absence:  

It was something his mother had said to him once – drunk off cheap merlot and good company at the party after his little cousin’s baptism – her long fingers clamped around his chin.

“That’s the thing with havin’ kids,” she’d hummed, smoothing her touch at his clean-shaven cheek. “You wait too long to see them, they’ve done a whole lot of growin’ without you. Not always the good type either.”

This is revisited directly in the scene later where Rio thinks about how much Marcus has grown and changed since he’s been gone, but it’s actually bookended at the end of the second scene too:

“She said you guys used to talk a little at the - - I mean. Her daughter and Marcus knew each other.”

And it’s just like that he’s back on that park bench, Elizabeth sitting a foot away, one of those pinched, cagey looks on her face she’d get when she thought they were being watched, like anyone looked at her and thought anything except some variation of mama, like that part of her costume ever fuckin’ tore, and he thinks his mom was right about this too.

You wait too long to see someone, who knows what they do while you’re gone.

In this, Rio’s grown to understand that his mother’s words are more than just about parenthood, and that things don’t pause while you’re away. Everyone has the capacity to change.

So bookending a scene or a story can be a great way of marking growth of a character, or making changing circumstances clear.

You could also use a visual metaphor. Perhaps a character’s at the end of her rope, and she’s shopping, and is trying to get one of the last punnets of strawberries, but gets frazzled and distracted by her children, and turns around at the end of the scene and the strawberries are gone. This would be a clear symbol of her losing what little she has, and how much more she’s lost during the scene.

So, the last exercise, haha. Think again about the intent of your scene, and how you might like to frame it. With that framework, is there an image or a thought that could symbolise the growth across the course of the scene?

Let’s look at our kissing example! You could start the scene with her wondering what it might be like to kiss him, and bookending it with her no longer having to wonder. You could start it with him cooking a meal, and then returning to it and laughing and not caring about it being cold at the end of the scene. You could start with her bemoaning not being able to get something on a crossword to a friend, and finish the scene with him filling in the last answer as a sign of their wholeness together.

Again, these are all just suggestions and ways to tease out scene starters when you’re struggling to find the right spot. I hope it’s a help, and if anyone else has suggestions for anon to try out, I’d love to hear them too! :-)

[isuzukuretsuki]

me before playing blue lions: haha I’m not like ~other girls~ I don’t like Dimitri and I think he’s boring and basic.

me after playing blue lions: I will die for Dimitri.

I finally finished Azure Moon!! Can’t believe it took me 4 damn months to finish this route. Just like with Crimson Flower, I decided to do a very long write up of my thoughts of this route after letting my thoughts marinate for a bit. There will be spoilers for both Azure Moon and Crimson Flower. Also disclaimer: these are just my personal opinions.

Tldr: this route was so fucking good!!!! I jumped ship from being team Edie/BE to team Dimitri/BL faster than Sylvain jumps girlfriends because I enjoyed this route more than Crimson Flower in almost every way possible. The Blue Lions are my KIDS and I will die for each and every one of them. Blue Lions may not be my first route/house, but this is where my heart rightfully lies. 

I guess the first thing I should get out of the way are the negatives. While this isn’t really a complaint about AM specifically and more so the narrative over the entire game... the conflict between Edelgard and Dimitri seems really stupid and contrived. In other games, war happens because the villain is evil. In this game, war happens because the villain is fucking stupid. Basically, I still ain’t convinced that Edelgard’s war was ever necessary LMAO. She straight up nuked the church’s authority and relevancy out of orbit the chapter before the time skip, so she technically already accomplished her goal; why she still feels the need to go on a savage conquest alludes me. 

Speaking of nuking the church’s relevancy out of orbit, that’s exactly what happened to Rhea LOL. Despite all the church goons clamoring every .5 seconds about how they gotta save Rhea, we literally never see her again at all after the time skip, even at the end of the game. It makes no sense why Edelgard would keep Rhea imprisoned and not kill her, especially when Rhea seemingly served no greater purpose to Edelgard and became completely irrelevant in the war phase.

Edie says some mumbo jumbo of “I weighed the victims of this war against the victims of the world and I deem that there will be less victims of war” like bitch, how??? How do you tangibly quantify “victims of this world”. If she means “people who had a shitty life because of shitty society”, then those people are always going to exist because every society has its flaws. Even if you change society, you aren’t decreasing that number because you’re only solving problems by creating new ones (Edelgard’s specialty). Also the mental gymnastics you have to do to be tortured by an evil organization only to team up with said evil organization to take down another organization that, unless I missed something, isn’t even directly responsible for the death of all your siblings??? In both CF and AM, Edelgard comes off as incredibly thoughtless and illogical in her actions and I can’t help but feel that if she had been just a little bit more diplomatic, then maybe, just maybe, she could have found a better solution without starting a bloody war.

This brings me to the god forsaken chat between Edelgard and Dimitri. Dimitri demanding to know why Edelgard started the war only for her to go “it was the only way” has about the same narrative weight as “Riku why did you become one with the darkness?!” “Because I’m the worst”. Instead of bitching about whose ~ideals~ are better, how about y’all sit down and actually discuss what each person wants to accomplish and maybe figure out a way to accomplish these goals without murdering each other over it? Not that I think Edelgard would accept anything BUT murder, but jesus, this is why you don’t leave diplomatic matters to actual children.

Speaking of why you don’t leave diplomatic matters to children, god that Gronder battle. I get that it’s supposed to be an epic showdown between the three houses that mirrored the mock battle pre time skip but... the Kingdom had literally NO reason to fight the Alliance!!! The reasons they provided to justify why the Kingdom and Alliance couldn’t team up at Gronder was so fucking dumb, especially when two chapters down the line, Claude is knocking at our door begging for help. I will say tho, I never knew how much I appreciated himbo in distress Claude until now lmao.

Rodrigue's death was also really poorly done imo. As much as I liked having Dimitri’s father figure be the one to snap him out of his insanity, (I love found father/son relationships...) how on earth are you guys so fucking incompetent that you let this tiny little girl kill Rodrigue??? It doesn’t help that the exact same thing happened with Jeralt and Monica. This... just ain’t it, chief. 

I think the biggest bone I have to pick at AM specifically is... so what the fuck is the truth behind the Tragedy of Duscur LMAO??? They literally blue balled me by dropping the bomb of “Dimitri’s step mom may have conspired in it” ONLY TO NOT DO ANYTHING WITH IT. I assume that the full truth behind the Duscur tragedy will probably be revealed in VW (I hope) because it involves the slithers but it’s highkey ridiculous that the BL goons... never actually find out what really happened, and why. And I get that the story is about them moving on from their trauma and the past, but they should have at least figured out the actual truth behind it so they can get the closure they deserve???

Despite the gripes I have with some of the writing, unless VW or SS is mind blowingly amazing, this route will easily stand as the best route for me, because.... it is kind of is mind blowingly amazing. I wholeheartedly love character driven stories, and this route absolutely delivers in that respect-- the character writing is amazing and is essentially the heart of this story. To think Dimitri and the Blue Lions were the lord/house I was least interested in at first. Even after hearing people talk about what the BL goons and Dimitri’s character arc was roughly about, I was still blown away by just how damn fucking good it was, and this route exceeded my expectations in every way possible. 

When playing CF, I struggled to connect with a lot of the beagles; I didn’t have that problem at all with the BL goons and the route does a phenomenal job at making me actually give a shit about these characters and their problems. Childhood friend squad (+Marianne and Ashe) are easily my favourite characters in this game by a landslide, and the dynamic between not only the childhood friend squad, but all the BL goons, was just so, so amazing. Watching these characters that are seemingly joined by a single tragedy, rise above all their suffering as they grow, heal, and overcome hardship together is just so... MY KIDS... MY HEART..... I really got the sense of not only their shared pain, but also shared intimacy, care, and friendship. Their support conversations with each other had everything; from goofy and fun, to soothing and nurturing, to painful and harrowing. 

The connections that the BL goons have to the pre time skip missions gave part 1 story so much more meaning, and it only gets better after the time skip. I really appreciate that the BL bean boys actually feel relevant to the main story, and that their input and opinions actually mattered. The cast’s struggle to come to a consensus on the best course of action during the war phase made them feel like actual people with opinions, unlike in CF, where everyone was just a mindless passenger to Edie’s not so merry joyride. This also made Dimitri’s arc way more impactful because the narrative actually holds him accountable for the consequences that his behavior/poor decisions had on others. What I also really liked about the war phase is that you could just feel how war torn the kingdom was and how much everything went to shit after the time skip. I felt really strongly to the characters’ sense of hopelessness at fighting a losing battle as they struggled to keep their home land in tact while everything just kept spiraling out of control and deteriorating further. 

So to see the BL goon beans slowly, one battle at a time, turn the tide of the war and push back against the corner they were backed in, was SO fulfilling and rewarding. The battle of Fhirdiad is probably my favourite battle in the entire game because it felt like all the suffering and toiling that the BL goons went through was finally worth it, and just watching the kingdom slowly heal after being liberated was just such a good feeling. This kind of payoff is something I think CF sorely lacked, since tbh, I struggled to celebrate Edie’s victories with her. Though I do appreciate how Edie’s a much more threatening antagonistic force than either Dimitri or Rhea were in CF too bad Edelgard’s boss battle was pathetically easy and Dimitri shredded through her armor like swiss cheese... at least Rhea put up a slightly challenging fight.

I could gush about the characters all day, but Dimitri? He makes this game, 100%. This truly felt like his story and he was the star of this route. On a superficial level, I’m a basic bitch as well as a slut for angsty boys who have trouble talking about their trauma because I want them to rail me. I fucking loved his feral personality it was just so fun to watch and interact with LMAO 10/10 would let him use me until the flesh falls from my bones. His dialogue in this state is just so demeaning, belittling and raw that it somehow comes a full circle and becomes charming I promise I’m not a sick masochist.

I’m also a degenerate and dimileth is my otp. The way the relationship between Dimitri and Byleth develops over the game truly felt like a bond forged over time. The way Dimitri admits that he couldn’t trust Byleth at first because he was put off by the way they could “kill without batting an eye”, to being so elated when he sees them smile for the first time that he’s completely mesmerized when they starts expressing emotion... oof, talk about otp material. I think what really sold me is the way he’s their anchor after Jeralt’s death; their emotional support both in a traditional sense, but also in a darker sense when he declares he will kill anyone so they desire it because their enemies are his enemies. Character A declaring they’d die for character B? Soft shit. Character A declaring they’d kill for character B? A+ romance right there, boys. 

On a non superficial level, Dimitri’s character arc of his fall from grace and subsequent redemption was absolutely phenomenal. Just seeing how far he sinks, how far he goes, only to see how far he climbs his way back up after hitting rock bottom, was such a roller coaster and I loved every minute of it. I also probably like revenge stories more than I care to admit. Dimitri has everything; blood lust, cruelty, obsession, but also empathy and compassion so extreme that it’s his very own innate kindness that drives him into insanity, which is what makes him such a compelling character in my eyes. The extremity of his psychosis was absolutely heart breaking, but despite everything, him making the conscious decision to change for the better and rise up to fulfill his role as king was just astounding to watch. 

I will say though... maybe I have a screwed up moral compass but tbh Dimitri brutally killing imperial soldires didn’t really upset me because... this is war??? That he didn’t even start?? Everyone is killing everyone??? Even if he never went feral, he’d still be killing because his bloody kingdom is being invaded?????? But I digress.

While I think just how damn avoidable everything was kind of detracts from the tragedy of his relationship with Edelgard, I still really loved how steadfast and unconditional his love for her was (after he stops going feral), and you can tell just how much she meant to him every time he spoke of her. I also love how the dagger kind of becomes a symbolic motif throughout the story, and Edie throwing the dagger at him in the final cutscene as a sign of her wholehearted rejection of him was just fucking depressing, but also very fitting of her character. 

I adore the whole overarching narrative and themes surrounding grief and death, befitting of a war game. How, as tempting as it is to constantly keep the memory of the dead alive, there comes a point where you have to move on and not let your life be ruled by those no longer around. The way that the characters react to the death of loved ones and grieve so differently was a huge highlight of the BL squad’s characterizations, which just makes them feel more alive and human. Honestly, no words can really describe just how incredible of an experience Azure Moon was.

Anyway my order from favourite to least favourite BL goon bean boys are: Dimitri > Ashe >/= Sylvain >/= Felix > Ingrid > Mercedes > Annette > Dedue. (I love Ashe/Sylvain/Felix almost equally LOL)

tldr my experience with Azure Moon:

tfw my second best girl is childhood friends with all the best boys in the entIRE GAME and she settles for a guy with a dead wife, daughter, and most likely triple her age :|.

I’ll be finally playing Golden Deer next, which I’m gonna do on NG+ Maddening so.... hope that goes well!!

[inyoursheets]

writer asks

tagged by the wonderful @bourbon-ontherocks, @mego42 and sorta by @sothischickshe whose attempt to tag me made me laugh 

ao3 name: 

nomind. im not even sure why at this point

fandoms: 

ive only published good girls fics on ao3, but there may or may not still be some terribly written unfinished hp fics (probably x reader) made by thirteen y/o me floating about online somewhere.

number of fics: 

i keep thinking the answer is like, three, but it’s actually five. that’s how memorably my fics are lmao

fic i spent the most time on: 

oh, for sure my latest, warm water. ive never spent this much time plotting, editing, thinking things over. as evidenced by the rest of the fics ive published lol

fic i spent the least amount of time on:

i thought it was maybe the spanking fic but that one actually sat unfinished in my drafts for a long time now that i think about it, bc it wasn’t gonna get its own fic, it was supposed to be part of chapter two of the never have i ever fic . i think it was how do i even... say that? bc once i knew what i was trying to say with it, it got real easy to write, but im not sure! 

most hits:

this is so funny bc i had no idea -- i expected the answer to be warm water, but that one is just barely third, almost fourth! the winner is actually my super self-indulgent never have i ever fic that i can’t believe so many people fuck with, some time in your sheets

most kudos:

now that one is warm water

most comment threads:

also warm water! and everyone is so sweet! but also so frustrated! which is very fair haha, im frustrating myself by writing this tbh. but i think the frustration is gonna be worth it. i hope?

most bookmarks:

once again, warm water

highest total word count:

warm water and im very excited about the fact that i've only published like, half, and i still have to write a couple of scenes, some of which i expect to be pretty girthy. im so happy i finally managed to start a (proper) multi-chapter fic.

favourite fic i wrote:

i think either how do i even... say that? bc the subject matter matters to me and actually grew out of my own need to process some things -- verbalizing what you want during sex is scary ok! -- and i think people also took it that way? there have been some really kind comments on it, specifically about the message i was trying to convey/stumbled upon while writing, so that is wonderful! i actually never responded to any of those comments bc i suddenly got self-conscious about author comment etiquette and im thinking it would look weird to do so now, but i am really surprised and humbled by them!

 or warm water for reasons im not gonna go into until ive finished it, but yeah, it gets a special place in my heart, too, trust me on that. it also unfolded in such a great way as i was writing it, it really took a different turn from what i had originally planned out, which has been such an interesting process and it really made me feel joy to be writing again, you know? when characters/scenes just sorta take over? so it’s been definitely the most enjoyable to write i’d say. but also the least haha, which makes it so special.

fic i want to rewrite/expand on:

i feel like my very first fic could lend itself pretty easily to being expanded and becoming a proper AU, it would be pretty hassle-free to continue, but i don’t know if that’s a path i wanna go down. maybe some time in your sheets bc i did weave in that they’d been fucking regularly and i kinda liked their dynamic there, but my goodness, it’s so plotless! all my smut fics are so plotless! technically even the spanking fic could like, get another chapter of more spanking, but what would be the point? 

maybe how do i even... say that? would be the most interesting to continue, to see how beth learns how to vocalize her wants and needs in bed, how she grows in that, but idk if i am equipped to write such a thing. hmm. im gonna think about it, after i finish the beast that is warm water.

share a bit of a wip or story idea you’re working on:

so ive got some dialogue between beth and stan sitting in my drafts bc i love a beth/stan friendship, but it didn’t fit in anything else i wrote, nor will it fit with an AU like warm water. im excited to use it one day, not bc the dialogue is any good (it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if literally none of the actual dialogue ever makes it to the actual fic) but i love the vibe in that scene. they discuss d*nsie, so unfortunately that fic must include that douche canoe, so that’s sad

what i also have is a barely-there rough draft/idea for a beth/rio/rhea threesome fic (mostly inspired by one particular sex position i wanna see them in) that is gonna take a while to actually write bc as @foxmagpie has pointed out it’s really hard to try and make that not be completely ooc, and i think im not gonna start until finish warm water.

and that’s that! im tagging @missmaxime @fairhairedkings @sothischickshe (who i now realize probably already did this?) and @sdktrs12 if you feel like it!

[elixir448]

All the wishes I’ve made during the countdown.

Hialriously, I made the same wish twice, which I’ve pointed out. I started wishing for stuff about halfway through the countdown. Gosh, hiatus was rough. I’m planning on crossing stuff out if they ever happen. Lol, as if. Here’s to a fab season everyone!

0 days – Can we all just be cool please?

1 day – Beth, Annie, Ruby and Rio all together at some point this season. Like in the same scene. I think this is one of the main reasons I miss the drops in season 1.

2 days – More Judith and Beth scenes (totally inspired by what Christina dropped in her interview) where they have thinly veiled yet profound conversations about how much men suck.

3 days – Getaway car scene. I don’t care if it’s the girls or Beth and Rio speeding away from a scene. Or Beth speeding away along. I just think it would be cool.

4 days – Rio playing Turner. I think we all have a feeling that Rio’s going to use Turner to clear the board and it would make a lot of sense.

5 days – Beth not being able to hold a gun. Until the moment where she can.  

6 days – Beth and Rio openly yelling at each other, like in 2x07, and getting all in their feels for each other.

7 days – More flashbacks to Beth, Ruby and Annie’s lives. Doesn’t even need to be to when they were kids. I would love to see a flashback to Annie finding out she was pregnancy or Beth going through post-partum depression.

8 days – Beth touching Rio’s tattoo(s). I don’t think this will ever happen but I can dream. Like can you imagine her touching or kissing his neck? Or any of his other tattoos WHEN they have sex again?

9 days – Can I get Beth recklessly driving her car? We saw that chaotic energy in 1x01 but then she just point blank refuses to get tickets haha.

10 days - Beth and Rio in each other’s cars. We had it in 1x05, 2x02 and 2x12 but I want it again! And look, I’m not saying that they need to have sex in each other’s cars. I mean, I wouldn’t say no...it would be nice. It definitely doesn’t need to happen though.

11 days - I seriously doubt this will happen but Beth and Agent Turner having a drink together. I don’t care that they’re antagonists, I feel like they genuinely get such a kick out of each other. I want to see this even if it’s just Beth drinking and Agent Turner crashing her alone time and then he orders a drink too. Give me all the snarky banter!

12 days - Beth and Rio panting against each other’s mouths again. Rio furrowing his brow. Can you believe that they were so overcome that this is what they did in 2x09?

13 days - Protect Stan and Ruby. Manny saying that he’s super excited for Stan’s storyline has stressed me the hell out. Please just let the Hills be okay! I want Stan to have an awesome storyline but I’m not sure I’m ready to see my bbs in pain.

14 days (REPEATED WISH) - Rio pushing Beth’s hair out of her face (haha, he’s not even pushing it away, he just wants to touch her). You know what would kill me? If he reaches towards her and starts to push her hair away and catches himself. And then gets annoyed with her and with himself.

15 days - I really, really, really want there to be a moment where Beth and Rio team up against a common enemy. And we know that’s going to happen in some way from what Manny has said about them being forced to worked together this season. What I mean is, I want there to be a scene where they come together (and it’s not quite forced) and turn on someone and then that person realises they’ve fucked it.

16 days - I kind of wonder what would happen if one of the kids started to clock on to the shady stuff their parents are involved with. Sara had that last year and Sadie kind of had it when she called Annie out for always lying. I kind of wonder if Sadie will question how Annie gets the money to pay for her hormone blocker medication? I guess I want a scene where Sadie realises that something’s not right.

17 days - A scene between Rio and Dean. Oooooffft. Imagine how loaded it would be. Rio resisted spilling the beans in front of Dean at the end of 2x04 because Beth asked him not to. There’s nothing much stopping him now, aside from the fact that he potentially regards Dean as inconsequential and he may want to keep certain aspects of his relationship with Beth to himself. Hmmmm…i’m not really sure. Regardless, I want a scene!

18 days - Oh god. A significant moment where Beth sees the scars on Rio’s chest, from the gunshot wounds she inflicted. I don’t know if this will happen but I can picture it as either:

1. A taunt from Rio to Beth. Him wanting to see the guilt on her face, to drag up the trauma she’s been trying to suppress, to show her that there’s no way she can run away from what she did because he himself is a constant reminder and that he carries the scars that represent what she is capable of, something she spent a huge chunk of their relationship denying.

2. A fragile moment of tenderness, guilt and longing. Omg. Give me Beth kissing Rio’s scars.

19 days - Beth and Rio eating together. Not Rio eating and Beth refusing to eat or them drinking together, although I need more of both of those things too. Both of them eating at the same time in one another’s company. Even if they are angrily eating together haha. I’ll take it.

20 days - (again, inspired by the shooting in the hotel, specifically in the bathroom) Repeat bathroom sex. That’s it. This show loves it’s parallels so give it to me!!!!

21 days - Beth and Rio pushing each other out of harm’s way. Oh my god. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do to make that happen. Imagine they’re being shot at and they start scrambling to push the other person behind some cover.

22 days – (totally inspired by the new info about shooting for 3x09 taking place at the Millenium Biltmore hotel) Beth and Rio somewhere fancy or semi-fancy. Even if it’s just work related, which it definitely would be lol. And then it’ll probably all go to shit.

23 days - I am sooooo excited for the show to dip its toes into “the adult world”. I feel like that sounds patronising but I absolutely don’t mean for it to sound that way. The show deals with a lot of adult concepts, such as misogyny, disillusionment, boredom with the life you’re living etc. And it’s amazing in that it does so in such a dynamic, fun way that doesn’t detract from how serious the issues are but just highlights that a lot of us have these problems but just kind of continue to bumble along living our lives.

What I mean by “the adult world” is related to the strip club that has been theorised to be Stan’s place of employment in season 3. I didn’t really think we would see something like this in GG and it makes me happy that doors seem to be opening into parts of the world we haven’t seen before in the show. I dunno, I just really want to see how it’s included in the wider storyline. Like, will the girls wash cash through it? Haha, I kind of just want to see all 3 of the girls in the strip club and how they act in there.

24 days - Will we ever find out what happened to Beth and Annie’s parents? I really want to know! Are they alive, dead, divorced, together?

25 days - Beth playing piano. I seriously doubt it will ever happen other than in fanfic but I want to see it. And Beth singing. So basically, Beth playing piano and singing.

26 days - A really heartfelt scene where Beth looks at Marcus and thinks of Rio. Maybe sees some of Rio’s traits in him and she just looks and OMG THE PAIN.

Seriously though, who thinks:

(1) Marcus is going to recognise Beth and she will explain to Rhea that she met Rio and Marcus in the park.

(2) The writers ignore the fact that Marcus should recognise Beth and Rhea thinks that this is literally Beth’s first time meeting Marcus.

27 days - Ruby and Annie realising who Rhea is and what Beth is doing. Even though it looks like a great storyline and I’m excited to see it unfold, it’s super unhealthy and deceitful behaviour. I wonder if Rhea will ever find out who Beth really is?

28 days - You know what? Screw it! I want to wake up to the trailer. Bye.

29 days - Ruby and Annie becoming aware of the nature of Beth and Rio’s relationship. Pretty sure I’ve done a wish like this before (wanting Annie and Ruby to call Beth out for feeling relieved that Rio is alive). But I’d really like to see them realise that Beth and Rio’s relationship was far more complex than just sex and eye fucking.

30 days - Beth feeling sad about Rio. Sitting on the couch thinking about him. Lying in bed thinking about him. Going to the park and thinking about him. Standing in front of the fridge and thinking about him. Looking at the picnic bench and thinking about him.

31 days - Rio’s boys knowing what’s up between him and Beth. I loooove it whenever people realise or know what’s going on between the two of them and are either confused, horrified or amused by it.

32 days - Can we meet another crime boss or kingpin? I wonder if that would make the season too crowded since there already seem to be quite a few new characters and a lot going on because of the fallout from season 2. I just really want to meet someone else who is actually dangerous to the girls. I think Rio can be dangerous to the girls, especially now, but he and Beth have a lot of history and that affects how he interacts with her.

33 days - More Gretchen! She was under utilised in season 2. I’m not sure why but maybe they filmed scenes and decided to cut them out after. With everything going on with Rio and Jimmy, it only makes sense that she’ll be in the picture.

34 days - Flashback to Rio teaching Beth how to use a gun. “Just like we practiced.”

35 days - Sadie with Dakota. Annie with Dakota. Nancy with Dakota. Beth with Dakota. Greg with Dakota. I want a baby on the show other than Mary Pat’s!!

36 days - I really, really want a moment where Beth and Rio are standing or sitting next to each other. We had it in 2x03 in the park but they were sitting on different benches haha. We also had it when they were sitting in eachothers’ cars. And again in 2x08 with the picnic bench scene (I could ugly cry just thinking about it). They are so often depicted standing opposite one another (even in 2x04 and 2x09), positioned as though they are semi-antagonists sometimes and as equals at others.

I just want something where either:

1. They are standing next to one another against a common enemy. Like, on the same side. I can picture them joining forces, even if it’s just temporarily, against a common enemy. Maybe even permanently if it’s at the end of the season? (Or season 4?)

Or

2. They are sitting next to one another watching something in front of them. Maybe they’re sitting talking about business and then it shifts into something quiet and content, like watching Jane and Marcus play in the park. And then just turning to look at each other with something on their faces.

37 days - At some point in the season, Rio pushing Beth’s hair off of her face (bahaha, he’s never actually pushing her hair off her face, he just wants to touch her). Maybe it’ll be towards the end of the season when their has been some kind of resolution or tentative healing between them. Or maybe it’ll be because he can’t quite help himself. Or maybe he’ll be in the middle of doing it before he even realises.

38 days - Backstory for how Rhea and Rio met and got together. How much she knows about his life and why they split up. Maybe some info about his family and his real name (I do actually like Christopher now).

39 days - Annie, Ruby and Rio scenes. We were robbed I tell you!!!! I would have killed to see more of them in 2x10 and I’m holding out hope for season 3. It’ll be so interesting, as neither Annie or Ruby shot Rio. And I think they’re going to be really curious as to why Beth and Rio are still undoubtedly going to be orbiting around one another. I just need some scenes where Annie and Ruby are scared but then it shifts into them hesitating to ask him questions and then just borderline interrogating him.

40 days - A major Beth and Dean confrontation. Like, something that absolutely drags all of his wrongdoings out and lays them on the table. If he tries to make excuses, I want her to call him out and absolutely wreck him. If he tries to flip it around and blame her, I hope she completely obliterates him. Fuck that guy.

41 days - Sadie and Sara in scenes together. And like basically parenting the other kids. These two have such strong presences on screen, I need them in a scene together. You know they would kill it. Also, Beth and Ruby are besties and Annie is Beth’s sister but we never really see their kids interact with one another.

42 days - Beth in a dress at least 4 times OR those t-shirts that she wears when she’s in the house chilling (I specifically remember the grey one in 2x07 and the pink one in 2x10). And Rio seeing her all of those times. More up and down looks regardless of what she’s wearing. Can you imagine though? Given the weight of their history, it almost being a habit, can’t quite help himself, doesn’t actually care because he likes looking and it sets her off kilter.

43 days - Dean moving out at some point and a divorce. I mean, all that stuff costs money but please don’t drag it out. At the very least, I need this to happen before the end of season 3. Like, if this doesn’t happen, the chat that Beth and Dean had with the kids in season 2 would have meant nothing.

44 days - An indication at some point that Beth is relieved that Rio’s alive, rather than just scared. Like maybe she says it to him towards the end of the season or Annie or Ruby call her out for looking at him a certain way or for her conflicted feelings, given that he’s probably going to be spending this season terrorising them.

45 days - More Nancy and Annie scenes. Maybe with Annie helping out with Dakota or giving advice. And then Nancy helping Annie navigate stuff with Sadie.

46 days- Beth doing something to protect or help Rio, maybe even save his life. Not because she wants anything in return but because she doesn’t want to see him hurt or in trouble anymore. I low-key think that towards the end of the season she might do something to help him and, as a result, it’s pretty clear that what’s going on between them is more than how fucked up their relationship is inevitably going to be throughout most of the season. Haha, I’m probs wrong though.

47 days- Beth and Rio have angry sex. On a table. Or anywhere really.

48 days - Can Dean just get what’s coming? I’m sorry but it wasn’t enough that he was shot, especially with all the shit he did in season 2. And please bring up the cancer lie. I just need retribution. Anything. PLEASE.

49 days - Actual mental health consequences for Beth after being kidnapped and shooting Rio. There’s no way anyone could walk away from that unscathed, especially since she cared about him. The show’s touched on issues like binge eating and post-partum depression and I’m curious to see if and how they can incorporate anxiety disorders, like PTSD. I need at least one scene where Beth experiences a physiological fight or flight reaction or wakes up from a nightmare or has a flashback or hypervigilance. Just something to acknowledge that it’s normal to walk away from trauma and not be okay afterwards.

50 days - No more paying people off unless it actually makes sense or will work.

51 days – (POTENTIAL SPOILER) An extremely satisfying scene where Boomer dies. From the spoilers, it looks like Rio’s gonna be shooting someone in front of the girls. Please God, let it be Boomer. It would be amazing if he shot Boomer and Annie just had a total non-reaction or wasn’t frightened.

52 days - Please god, Rio interacting with Beth’s kids again and Beth interacting with Marcus. I especially need to see him interacting with Jane since it looks like Marcus is her bestie.

53 days - More scenes with Beth and Turner. For me at least, their scenes were some of my favourites in season 2. The way that Turner’s always chasing after Beth, trying to pin her for something and how she’s always getting away and sassing him. And, oh my god, I really want their reunion in season 3 to be good.

54 days - More context for Rio’s actions. Now that Rio is presumably going to be working with Turner, I feel like we need more scenes of Rio, out with Beth and the girls, for plot progression. It’s fun theorising on Tumblr and reading explanations in fic but I need the show to help him make sense. The show is about the girls and should always be but I need some things to make more sense.

55 days - With Beth becoming her own boss, I really want some doors to open into the dark underbelly of Detroit. I want to meet new characters who are criminals and who the girls have to be really weary of when they’re navigating their new business.

56 days - I really wanna see Annie, Ruby and Beth interact more with each other’s kids but, more than that, I want to see Stan with Sadie and with Beth’s kids because talk about wholesome.

57 days - The return of Beth’s pearls. I don’t even care what the context is at this point but I would die if we had either:

1. Rio using the pearls as a way of fucking with Beth when she thinks he’s still dead / using them to announce that he’s not dead

2. A Rio POV scene where we see him take out the pearls from wherever he keeps them and like touch or hold them and then the show cuts to a scene with Beth (this will never happen in a million years but I can dream)

58 days - A scene where Turner tells Rio about Beth’s lie in 1x05. I kind of picture a scene where Turner is being snarky about it but also failing to hide his curiosity as to whether or not anything ever happened between them. The other scenario I picture this happening in is Turner slowly realising over a few episodes that Rio and Beth had more than just a “work” relationship and he tells the story just to see Rio’s reaction.

[fanfictionlive]

What are some overly specific ship dynamics you like that you somehow managed to find more than one of?

Mine is creepy death-themed siscon boy and his kind older sister devoted to a goddess, and the pairings are di Angelocest from PJO and Jeritza/Mercedes from FE3H. Almost forgot that I liked the former until recently, but then I looked at Jeritzedes and was like "hmmm wait a minute this dynamic feels familiar" and yeah.

There's also the non-corporeal being and the "chosen one" of said being, plus someone who has another (more literal) connection to the being. Pairings are Sothis/Byleth/Rhea from FE3H and Thunderhead/Greyson/Jeri.

Like, even outside of pairings, I have some really overly specific tastes in stories, which is why I also write original works, but sometimes I manage to find things like this, and it's kinda cool.

submitted by /u/slotumn [link] [comments] from FanFiction: Where Magical Ponies battle Imperial Titans https://ift.tt/3akOlEF

[this-sapphic-paradise]

Supergirl Season 1-3x05 analysis

I just want to start this off by saying that this analysis is being made by someone who just started studying screenwriting/storytelling, so in no way is this meant to be without flaws, and I welcome everyone to discuss the points being made, giving your own opinions and points of view.

And BIG thank you to @lena-lipbite-luthor for making the gifs for me!

Okay, so let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Let’s take a look at season 1.

During the first season of Supergirl, Kara had 3 close friends: Alex, Winn, and James. Their purpose on the show was to push Kara toward her ultimate goal, which was becoming a hero on her own. That doesn’t mean they were always in agreement; sometimes conflict and friction between characters are better to propel the protagonist, than nice encouraging words.

Kara also had 2 mentors: Cat Grant and J’onn – maybe three if we consider the fact that Alex also helped train her. Cat was important to both Kara and Supergirl, helping her see more clearly what kind of hero she wanted to be; while J’onn helped train Kara physically, teaching her to be a more responsible hero and a better agent.

We also had Lord, Astra, and Non as the season’s villains. Each of them, in their own way, helped shape Kara into a better hero, forcing her to make tough choices and sever some of the links she had with Krypton.

The season wasn’t perfect, it had its holes, like after Kara is healed from Red Kryptonite poisoning, and Alex says they need to work on their issues, but we never see that happening. But all in all, the season (and the protagonist) had a main goal: Kara had to learn to be a hero on her own.

Then comes season 2...

Can anyone tell me what Kara wanted, what was her desire on season two? …besides being a reporter and dating Mon-El, that is…

Because while wanting to be a reporter is not a bad thing on itself, it’s merely Kara Danvers’s desire, something that she got to do, and something that wasn’t the focus of the show.

And wanting to date Mon-El wouldn’t have been bad on its own if in order to get these characters together, the writers didn’t have to “deconstruct” Kara’s character. A quick and simple example of this is how throughout season 1, we were told again and again how important it is for Kara to maintain an equilibrium between Kara Danvers and Supergirl, and yet on season 2, we had that scene of Kara telling Mon-El that being Supergirl and having him was enough for her. When storytellers start to break the internal logic of their own fictional world, that’s when their story starts to fall apart. Robert McKee writes in his book Story:

Consciously and unconsciously, [the audience] wants to know your “laws,” to learn how and why things happen in your specific world. … For once the audience grasps the laws of your reality, it feels violated if you break them and rejects your work as illogical and unconvincing.

That’s why it’s so important for us, the viewers, to understand why characters make the decisions they make, and why it has to make sense within the context and reality of the show’s universe.

Now you must be curious as to why Kara having a bigger desire or goal is so important, and to explain that, I’m going to borrow the words of John Truby:

In the dramatic code, change is fueled by desire. The “story world” doesn’t boil down to “I think, therefore I am” but rather “I want, therefore I am.” Desire in all its facets is what makes the world go around. It is what propels all conscious, living things and gives them direction. A story tracks what a person wants, what he’ll do to get it, and what costs he’ll have to pay along the way.

Once a character has a desire, the story “walks” on two “legs”: acting and learning. A character pursuing a desire takes actions to get what he wants, and he learns new information about better ways to get it. Whenever he learns new information, he makes a decision and changes his course of action.

So you see, Kara must have a desire because that’s what turns her into an active protagonist; that’s what insures an attention-grabbing story line, making the audience go on a journey of (self-)discovery and learning with the protagonist, cheering her on and hoping she’ll achieve her goal. One of the main complaints I’ve seen floating around tumblr is how Kara has been bleak and uninteresting, and I’m afraid that’s the reason why: without a desire, Kara has no drive, becoming a passive character who mostly reacts instead of acting, and in turn the audience has little interest in investing their time and emotion on her.

The only two characters on season 2 who have any sort of true desire (in my opinion) are Alex and Lena.

Now you might say, “but Alex only wanted to be with Maggie! How is that different from Kara and Mon-El??” And to that I reply, the difference is that Maggie and Alex’s relationship is a result of Alex’s true desire: her need to be true to herself/to be comfortable in her own skin.

Alex’s journey through season 2 isn’t the story of how “she got the girl”, Alex’s story arc is her journey to finding happiness (and that she is deserving of that happiness).

Lena’s desire has been crystal clear since her first scene on the show: she wants to make L-Corp a force for good while simultaneously proving that she’s not like the rest of her family. Every single action she’s taken since that very first episode up to episode 05 of season 3 has been to try and make that desire come true, and that’s why Lena has been the most compelling character of the show lately.

To further argue that idea, Lena is the only character on the show whose actions cause consequences to her and others. Every major decision has equally major repercussions: she testified against Lillian, Lillian framed her for a crime she did not commit; she trusted Rhea, the invasion took place; Lena bought CatCo, now Morgan Edge wants to destroy her; Lena found a way to stop the Daxamite, she was accused of poisoning kids even though it wasn’t actually her fault.

Those events take the audience through a roller coaster of emotions with Lena, we experience those consequences with her, and by going through those struggles, Lena grows and changes as person. Watching that change occur, according to John Truby, is what gives the audience the deepest satisfaction, and it doesn’t matter if the change is positive or negative.

Now, the last point I want to make is about the supporting characters that have all but disappeared on season 2 and continue to be missing on season 3.

J’onn, James, and Winn have had a story line here and there, but their characters have come to a complete stop in terms of development. None of them have any goal they wish to achieve, none are of significant value to the season’s overall plot, they’ve stopped pushing Kara to be her best, and if they were to literally disappear from the show tomorrow, they would leave as the exact same people they started season 2 as (unlike Maggie who, even though had very limited time to develop, leaves the show a stronger person than when she first appeared). J’onn, James, and Winn haven’t grown as characters, and the writers are not giving them any chance to.

Starting on season 2, the writers isolated Kara by making her main focus her relationship with Mon-El. Again, having a relationship isn’t the problem (we have Sanvers to illustrate that), but when it’s the only focus of a character whose show is based on her wish to make a difference in the world, it goes back to the issue of making it look illogical and unconvincing.

Besides, by isolating (or limiting) Kara’s interaction with the rest of the characters, the writers have unmistakably dimmed the light of each of them, making each character look shallow and bleak in comparison to who they were on season one and who they had the potential to be.

To quote John Truby once more:

The single biggest mistake writers make when creating characters is that they think of the hero and all other characters as separate individuals. Their hero is alone, in a vacuum, unconnected to others. The result is not only a weak hero but also cardboard opponents and minor characters who are even weaker.

The most important step in creating your hero, as well as all other characters, is to connect and compare each to the others.

And most importantly:

Each time you compare a character to your hero, you force yourself to distinguish the hero in new ways. You start to see the secondary characters as complete human beings, as complex and as valuable as your hero.

This is Writing 101 apparently, guys. If I know this, professional screenwriters must know this as well, and I just can’t understand why they aren’t practicing it.

For the sake of the show we love, we desperately need to writers to keep that last piece of advice in mind.

Season three has me a little optimistic on that front: they have Kara and Alex having more scenes together again, and they are creating a good dynamic between Kara/Lena/Sam, my only concern with that is their intention behind it; I’m afraid they are only bringing the three of them together to cause a bigger and more “devastating” effect when Sam turns into Reign. Shock value for shock value is poor storytelling.

Speaking of poor storytelling and going back to things that must be basic knowledge for professional storytellers, I doubt I was the only one who felt the scene in Kara’s apartment with Lena, Sam, Alex, and Maggie was a little off, right? At first, I was bothered because they were only talking about men, then I thought it was just a weird a scene, but after the episode was done and I was able to take a step back, I realized why the scene was “needed”.

First of all, I believe they wanted to do a bit of fan-service by putting all of them together. But that’s not why the story “needed” the scene, that’s just how they chose to execute it. The writers needed the scene for exposition; they wanted Sam to learn Kara is healing from a “break up”, they wanted the sisters, Maggie, and the audience to know Ruby’s father is not in the picture; they wanted the other characters to learn Alex and Maggie had agreed to not have kids, and they wanted someone to touch on the theme of the episode – which was religion – and that befell on Lena, prompting her to tell that awkward story about the guy who wouldn’t sleep with her.

And here my frustration grows exponentially, because if I can buy a book on Amazon (Story, by Robert McKee), and learn this:

Why then is the scene in the story? The answer is almost certain to be “exposition.” It’s there to convey information about characters, world, or history to the eavesdropping audience. If exposition is a scene’s sole justification, a disciplined writer will trash it and weave its information into the film elsewhere.

Then the CW writers most certainly already know it as well, and there are only two possible reasons why that scene still made into the script: 1) some big-shot executive forced it to exist, or 2) the writers are that lazy/bad.

With all the “mistreated” characters (J’onn, James, Winn, M’gann, etc.), the forgotten story lines (Jeremiah, CADMUS, etc.), and all around bad writing and characterization, I feel like the show greatly underestimates its audience’s intelligence, and it just goes to show that the Supergirl writers, producers, and show-runners have forgotten one of the most important rules of storytelling:

“Story is about RESPECT, not disdain, for the audience.”

I truly hope the writers will find their LOVE for storytelling once more, because I know Supergirl means a lot to a great number of people, myself included, and there’s nothing we would like more than to sit back and enjoy the show again.