#but maybe certain characters will have more? they're titled as if there will be more than one. hmm

[aromanticasterisms]

the anecdotes are very fun!! i like seeing characters out in the wild :] but. feels like when everyone asks for "characters in the open world" this is not really what they had in mind

[snitchbo]

Broke: No one introduces themselves via first names, so Evbo refers to them with titles because he never has the courage to ask later on

Woke: Parkour Civilization doesn't have or use names, only those titles to refer to each other as a cultural and linguistic quirk, Evbo and Seawatt ( the only characters with actual names ) also have these cultural titles but instead go by shortened/nickname versions of them, which eventually became more akin to an 'actual name'

And maybe this doesn't make sense to yall, like, why would everyones title name then revolve around Evbo if he wasn't the one giving them those titles in the first place? Well, because he is the one giving them out. Titles reflect personal relationships and experiences, my friend may be your enemy, your mom may be my boss, and so on and so forth. It's not insane to assume that this alienated-from-reality civilization doesn't use or never learns the concept of names and thus refers to each other by their relationships to one another. Based on this line of thinking, it's ALSO not impossible to think certain people have more "permanent" titles or official names because they're more well known, like the parkour champions ( evil parkour champion, the old man, even the legends ) or seawatt, who everyone only knows based on their fake implanted memories, which would also make sense why a lot of people are comfortable calling Evbo Evbo despite not really knowing him personally- because hes well known. Even before hes well known and throughout the whole series hes given lots of his own titles, like "the noob that ranked up" and "the 360 guy" which are universally used to refer to him, almost as if it were some kind of name.

[houseoflibra-if]

"House of Libra? It's best not to talk about them, lest you wish to end up silenced like how they once were."

House of Libra.

Once the peacekeepers of the kingdom, now reduced to nothing but a lost tale. They were well respected by many for maintaining the balance of the lands, yet betrayed by those who wished for too much.

However, without House Libra keeping the balance alive, the world succumbs to the ire of the Zodiac Aura. A powerful dose of magic pulses through the lands, mutating anyone without protection. But protection can only last so long, and it's only a matter of time before the Aura consumes the lands whole.

Your family remains as one of the only branches of House Libra left alive. Due to the natural essence of your house, your family is less affected by the Zodiac Aura. No matter, as House Libra grows smaller, the world continues to eat itself alive.

It's up to you to restore the peace in the lands, for you were born under the Equinox sky.

"Never forget my words, little star. This House may have fallen, yes, but we will rise again."

House of Libra: Resurgemus is an upcoming interactive fiction inspired by the zodiac signs. You will have the freedom to explore the story and its characters with depth, so questions and various asks are greatly encouraged! This series will be 16+ (TBC), on Twine.

Features:

Play as a male, female or non-binary person. Have the freedom to choose your appearance based on what you like.(Please take note that I am a new writer, as such I do not have much experience with writing non-binary characters/pronouns. Please bear with me!)

Shape your character and personality, should you be kind, cold or a sassy boss, the choice is yours.

Build relationships- or break them if you wish. The choice is yours, but your actions will have consequences.

Have a say in the way your back story is woven. Choose your desired trauma that will affect certain plots of the story.

Choices matter. Your actions and words will influence the ending you achieve, so be wise with how you wish to shape your story.

Romance ranges between the 4 given options, shower them with your own type of affection for they will adore you nonetheless. Or you could lead them to their deaths. Woopsie.

Choose your relationship with your family. Are you a loving family? Or do you constantly need family therapy? Choose their fates as well (but don't kill all of them, that's kinda mean.)

Gain new skills and various powers that will aid you in your journey. But be warned, will they great power comes great responsibility. And a greater chance of messing things up.

Various endings will (hopefully) be available based on your choices.

This IF will be more focused on interactions and choices compared to stats. I don't think I plan on having stats. Maybe a sanity bar, but I'll see how well the coding goes.

Romance Options

Avira/Aurelius Lozenges, [RO]

Age: 26

The eldest child of House Leo, Avira/Aurelius is the epitome of the zodiac's charms. Charismatic, ambitious and loyal to a fault, there's no wonder why they're called by the admirable title of House Leo's Golden Lion. They are expected to take over the ruling throne once their father retires.

Although, with every envied perfect child comes a chamber of secrets, and they are no different. Guarded eye(s) and tense shoulders, they seem constantly restless under judgmental gazes of everyone in the kingdom.

Perhaps, you may be able to give them the freedom they long for. After all, a lion in a castle is still a caged lion.

Romance trope:

Love at first fight

Tame a wounded beast

Cocky/Arrogant -> Soft/Sweet

Castora/Castor Dioscuri, [RO]

Age: 24

The renowned child of House Gemini, they are known for their sharp mouth and playful personality. Castora/Castor remains as the number one It Girl/Guy of the kingdom as they're not only captivating in nature, but they too posses a brilliant mind like no other. Having them on your side would be quite advantageous, no?

There's something off putting about them though, as the House of Gemini have always borne children that are twins no matter how different. Yet, Castora/Castor remains as the only member of House Gemini to be born alone.

Will you dig deeper into their depths? Or will you drown in their eyes, just like everyone else? With them, you are never alone.

Romance tropes:

Slow burn

Frenemies -> lovers

Closed off heart that's waiting to be loved

Esme/Esmeray von Aquaria, [RO]

Age: 28

Some people call them cursed.

And to others, they were simply unlucky as a child for straying too far.

Esme/Esmeray is a child of House Aquarius, yet they couldn't despise it enough. Known for being one if the most influential houses due to their unyielding intelligence, a child of House Aquarius must be perfect in the eyes of others.

Yet Esme/Esmeray is the exact opposite of that. Cursed by the effects of Zodiac Aura when they were younger, they carry the mark of the Waxing Moon. This affected their life despite protection given, and they will not rest until they slay the beast that hurt them so.

They have a cold and distant personality, paired with one of the brightest minds in the kingdom only to be rivaled by the child of House Gemini. Will you be the one to thaw this icy heart? Or will you suffocate in the depths of Aquaria?

Romance trope:

Grumpy/sunshine

Cold -> absolute simp

Heated arguments and soft confessions

Nyoka Constello, [RO]

Age: same as player character

The forgotten children of the banished zodiac. Nobody remembers how this House used to flourish as they are now called the Followers of Ophiuchus. Scorned by the lands and cursed by the stars, the last surviving followers live in hiding. Now, they are nothing but tales woven in time.

Well, that's for everyone else. Nyoka just so happens to be your childhood friend, having been born under the same moon and stars aligned. They used to be docile and caring, but times have changed and so have they. Don't fret, little star, for they still have a soft spot for you.

They have an unusual appearance, with a long and sturdy sea-snake tail paired with sharp semi-curved horns. Their dark eyes seem to pull you in, rivaling the stars above.

But the mutation is spreading, and they've no clue how much time they have left. Save them, if you must. Or watch the one you once loved die.

Romance trope:

Angst. Just angst. And maybe fluff.

Childhood friends -> strangers -> lovers

"Perhaps we were soulmates in another life."

Here are some things you need to know:

I am a new writer (this is my first interactive fiction project.) so not everything will be smooth sailing.

I estimate the demo to come out mid this year, but personal matters may change some things.

This is my passion project. Please don't expect me to dedicate all my time onto this as I have a life as well.

I'm very new to coding, so learning twine will take a while. I'll have to do a few test runs before releasing the demo.

I adore feedback and asks about the game. It helps me improve as a writer while getting to build my characters more.

I want to have fun with everyone, so hateful criticism will not be tolerated. Treat me with respect and I will return the gesture.

That's all for now (I think). Have fun reading!

Demo (TBA) || Character Post (TBA) || World building (TBA)

Credits to Doshiart on picrew for the character portraits!

[hauntingofhouses]

While theorising about the events to come in future seasons, I just keep going back to the question about who Mizu's parents really are.

So to try to figure it out, let's go over what we already know about Mizu's parentage and the white men. This info is from the flashback of Mizu as a baby in Episode 3, from the bounty hunters who came to kill Mizu in Episode 5, and from Fowler's reveals in Episode 8, assuming that everything he said is the truth.

Mizu must be someone important, as Fowler calls her Little Miss. It is capitalised in the Netflix official subtitles. This implies that Little Miss is something like a title, rather than just a nickname.

There is a bounty on Mizu's head with a sum few can resist. Whoever is trying to kill Mizu is rich and powerful.

Two men are sent to kill Mizu as a baby. They are Japanese. We know this because their swords are both katanas, and they're shocked when they see Mizu's blue eyes, discovering she's a "half-breed." Man #2 also calls her a "devil child" at the end of the flashback.

Man #2 is hesitant to kill her, as she's "only an infant," and ends up killing Man #1 to stop him from killing Mizu. Man #2 then gives Mizu to Mama, who is actually her maid.

Mama is paid to keep Mizu hidden. Mama does as told for years. We can infer that there was a steady stream of income going towards her, as she did as told until "the money ran out."

Skeffington and Routeley were the "worst" of the four white men, making their money from "selling Japan's unwanted daughters." Unwanted daughters like Mizu.

One of the white men "tried to burn Mizu alive as a baby."

One of the white men killed Mizu's mother ("Don't you want to know which one killed your mother?").

When bounty hunters came to the ranch to ambush Mizu, she asked them which white man they worked for. They only replied that the only white person they see is her. This could just be a way to avoid her question, or it could also imply that they do not work for a white man at all.

So from this, again assuming this is all true, let's go over some things:

The white men are NOT the ones who paid Mama to protect Mizu, as one of them had been responsible for trying to burn Mizu alive as a baby.

Mizu's mother was killed by one of the white men. She likely died protecting Mizu.

If it was the white father who tried to kill Mizu and her mother, then it's likely the mother's side who paid Mama to hide Mizu.

Mizu's mother must have been rich enough to afford servants.

Mizu's mother must have been someone powerful enough to have been in the shogun's inner circle, allowing contact between her and the white men.

Furthermore:

Mizu's mother should be someone tied to existing characters, to make the reveal of her identity more narratively significant.

So with all that said, let me dip my toes into wild theory-land for a bit and propose a new idea.

WHAT IF: Mizu's mother was a concubine or even the previous wife of the Shogun? And, considering how people have pointed out how similar Lady Itoh and Mizu look (credits to @roninzuzu in particular for her post on this), what if, maybe just maybe, Mizu's mother was also Lady Itoh's sister?

If this is true, then Mizu's connection to the shogunate would explain why and how Fowler knew so much about Mizu's past, especially regarding her maid taking care of her, etc. This is because Fowler is allied with the Shogun himself, as well as one of the shogun's closest advisors, Master Chiba. So if it were true that the previous wife/consort of the shogun gave birth to a blue-eyed baby, it would've been a big scandal that was certain to reach Master Chiba's ears, and he would have in turn informed Fowler about it.

If this is the case, both the shogun and the white man would be trying to kill Mizu and her mother. The shogun would be trying to cover up the scandal, while the white man would be furious that she wanted to keep the baby at all, as the scandal likely ruined his business dealings in Japan and forced him to retreat back to London or wherever else he came from.

But then, if that is the case, then who would have been the one paying Mizu's maid to take care of her? I think it's Lady Itoh. If she and Mizu's mother had indeed been sisters, perhaps Lady Itoh went behind the shogun's back to protect her sister and her baby niece. Because maybe Lady Itoh knew that Mizu's mother had wanted to protect her no matter what happened. In such a case, what kept Mizu alive would thus have been love. Her mother's love. In this scenario, Mizu would have been brought into the world through the sheer strength of her mother's unconditional love. This would be a very poignant message that overturns everything Mizu believes about herself.

Moreover, Mizu having connections to the shogunate would inevitably lead to her wanting to discover the truth about her mother's identity. This would thus bring Mizu back to Edo palace, and would neatly tie Mizu and Akemi's storylines together again, letting them cross paths once more and work together to face the main plot-conflict.

TL;DR it's my crazy theory that Mizu's dead mom was the sister of Lady Itoh and the previous consort of Shogun Itoh. She had an affair with one of the white men, and against her better judgement and against what everyone else wants from her, she decided to keep Mizu. By making this decision, she risked and sacrificed everything for Mizu, out of love.

[jasmineandcedar]

The bigger picture | the poorly picked bonds

I’ve been memeing for days, so I wanted to write about something a little more serious. One of the main reasons why I'm excited for Elain's book is it's implications for the agency of the females of Prythian.

Sometimes I think our obsessive love for individual characters in the fandom leads us to not see the forest because we are so obsessed with the trees. But this can turn things a little smaller than they are sometimes, and we narrow down the stories to such small concepts as vibes between certain characters, maybe even individual lines or scenes. I for one am quite obsessed with Elain and Azriel’s dynamics and sigh dreamily at their individual scenes and lines.

Nothing wrong with that, fandom is the space for vibes. And the trees can be very nice. But I want to zoom out and look at the bigger implications of Elain and Azriel's love story, and why this is the story it seems SJM has been wanting to tell for years, has been carefully setting up, and which needs to be told (and why I’m excited to hear it told). The story about the poorly picked bonds.

Female empowerment is an overarching theme in ACOTAR. SJM has said as much, and we can see it in the books. Focusing on the spinoffs, Nesta's book opened up the title of warrior to females, in a social context where they had been excluded from it, despite their competence and willingness. Elain, the quiet dreamer and hopeless romantic, has been set up to grapple with the issue of females' choice in love in her book. 

The ugly side of the coin that is mating bonds

This has probably been pointed out before but since I'm still quite new here I hope you can forgive me if I'm beating a dead horse. The importance of telling the story of a rejected mating bond stretches far beyond just setting up a thrilling forbidden romance trope for Elriel. SJM has framed the rejection of a bond within the context of mated females being seen as the male's possession in Prythian, with the Autumn Court being seemingly the worst (as confirmed in Azriel's BC).

[Rhys, about mating bond rejections] For the females, it is usually easier to ignore, but the males … It can drive them mad. It is their burden to fight through, but some believe they are entitled to the female. Even after the bond is rejected, they see her as belonging to them. Sometimes they return to challenge the male she chooses for herself. Sometimes it ends in death. (ACOWAR)

[…] On the continent, there are territories that believe the females literally belong to their mate. (ACOWAR)

The last we heard of the mating bonds was SJM depicting Elain as losing her boldness around Lucien, and Azriel pointing out how the bond in Elain's case has given her to a male she does not want, asking, ‘what if the Cauldron was wrong?’ In doing so, SJM reminded us of what Rhys and Feyre said in ACOWAR in relation to Elain, Azriel, and Lucien: ‘Sometimes the bond picks poorly’, ‘Is there no free will’, ‘Why not make them mates?’

We have seen two stories told about mating bonds that worked out. But we’ve known since ACOWAR that isn't always the case. Yet we still haven't heard of a rejected mating bond. Certainly not a high stake one like Elain and Lucien’s. Rejecting a mating bond has therefore implications for every female in Prythian. Whether it is simply rejected by Elain, or if she, through her nature of being Made, finds a way to not just reject but actually break the unbreakable bond. 

A (high stake) mating bond rejection has implications for females like Rhys and Tamlin’s mothers, shackled to bad men because of the cultural and religious importance of the mating bond. It has implications for females like Elain, shackled to a male they never chose and do not want (regardless of if we might find the male to be good, because females owe nothing to males simply because they're nice and good). For females like Mor and others who are queer, and more/exclusively into women, and might still be shackled to a male. It has implications for all the females threatened with carrying the responsibility of driving a male they never chose mad should they reject him and refuse to succumb to being his possession. For females mated to Autumn Court males, threatened with the responsibility of their true love's death should he/she be forced to take part in the Blood Duel and fail. This is the ugly side of the coin that is the mating bonds of Prythian. The side which story hasn’t yet been told. The side which story SJM has set up across four books. About the poorly picked bonds.

The power of Elain's choice

As it appears, we are getting Elain and Azriel’s POV for the next book, and not Lucien's (as the spinoffs are dual POV of the love interests). Given Prythian's history and customs, I think there's a narrative strength in centering the female and her choice when telling the story of their rejected mating bond. Elain's POV, and the POV of her love interest, not because he is Azriel but because he is who she has chosen. And he has chosen her too, despite her being 'given to another' according to the customs of Prythian, a fact even Rhys and Feyre (however reluctantly) are using to their advantage when navigating court politics and try to maintain peace. Azriel is not wrong to question that this is how the mating bond is viewed in Prythian.

Aside from the minor detail we haven't gotten to Elain's actual story yet, it is understandable why SJM hasn't made Elain simply casually reject the bond yet. It is understandable why Azriel has been staying away even though it ruins him. SJM doesn’t have Elain and Azriel just playing forbidden romance for the thrill. And there aren't just short-term political implications of them pursuing each other, potentially resulting in the longer term loss of fragile peace. A rejected mating bond grapples with philosophical questions of agency and fate, as SJM pointed out in her TODAY interview. And as we see in the books, SJM has given it major social and political implications. This is the stuff for a long book. Because it's so much bigger than Elain. Her reclaiming her agency is also reclaiming the agency of the females of Prythian. That's the power of Elain's choice.

And it makes sense it should be the notoriously defiant Azriel who, at her side, defies fate and tradition over his love for Elain regardless of who fate has given her to, which could result in females as a whole gaining freedom from the poorly picked bonds. Azriel, who SJM so clearly has depicted as not only defiant but as uniquely supporting and standing up for the females in his life, and as hating backwards traditions and customs. SJM has tied this story to Elain and Azriel, weaved it into their arcs across several books so seamlessly and with such forethought it is sometimes missed. Because you really have to read all books to see this overarching bigger picture clearly. But when you do, I think it is very clear. 

I think this is the immense potential of Elain's book and Elriel's forbidden love story. It isn't just Elain going "ew, swipe left" in a paragraph. It is about the females of Prythian getting their freedom and agency back. It is about the other side of the coin that is mating bonds. About the poorly picked bonds. And I very much look forward to hearing this story told.

(and Lucien will very likely be just fine!)

[nitrowyverine]

I think I write dating sim/VNs/etc reviews now? Anyway,

LOST IN LIMBO REVIEW/THOUGHTS

This VN piqued my interest, so I gave the demo a shot! This review will follow the same general format as my Obscura/Touchstarved review, except there's 7 (!!!) romance options.

Since I totally loved this game, I'm going to put the conclusion promo up here too: if Lost in Limbo interests you, consider playing it Here, Here on steam, and/or backing it Here!

ALSO! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE DEMO!

My (long winded) thoughts are below:

(Banner image courtesy of the Ravenstar Games tumblr account pinned post. Individual character pics courtesy of tumblr posts from the studio. Individual posts are linked in character titles.)

Gameplay design thoughts:

the plot immediately sucked me in, I'm pretty invested in whatever the hell is going on with the protag, the realms, the lords, etc. I think the setup/land are deep enough to draw me in, but not so intimidating in it's depth that I'm afraid to explore more.

I always enjoy a little bit of nightmare fuel in my games, so the voidbound are perfect. They're so gross and horrible, but not just a stock zombie/nightmare creature design. Whenever the voidbound pop up, it makes the back of my neck itch, which is perfect.

I have no idea whose route I'll pick first. Usually I have one candidate that I can pick out as number 1. This game however? I go back and forth all the time, since I love all of them. I do think I have bias for Ara/Gael/Amon/Envy, maybe?

I really want to design an MC to doodle for this, but I feel like I don't know enough about other people in the realm. (Mostly, I'm assuming that standard humans don't have pointy ears? how close to our reality is the regular world?) I might say "screw it" and design an MC anyway (with some speculative clothing for once they get cleaned up)

The backgrounds have been great set pieces so far. Sometimes I catch myself just kinda staring into space at them. They've got a fantastic flavor.

Misc. Thoughts written during a replay

Fun touch to have Evie's rock image from the beginning fortune shop scene line up with the 7 LI's color schemes.

Each of the VA's does a lovely job with their voices. I've been turned off of certain dating sims because of bad voice acting, but the acting in this game is superb so far. It really helps set the richness of the story.

I have a theory that the LI's (and possibly people in Limbo in general) experience pain differently. The characters seem largely uninterested in the MC's stabbed, weakened state, beyond a "Oh that sucks....we'll clean you up later" mentality. I wonder if they have different pain tolerances, or are just less attached to such things. (Then again, Amon and Raeya have full missing limbs/eyes, so they probably have a decent perspective on pain altogether)

What does wielder/non-wielder mean? Xal says the MC "Can't wield, can't see." What do the LI's see that we don't? Ara mentions that the MC seems "Completely normal". Many mysteries.

I need those monster forms like crazy oh my goodness. Please devs PLEASE SHOW THE MONSTER FORMS

Now, to the lovely love interests!

Amon

WHO LET THIS MAN BE OVER 7 FEET TALL? PRIDE YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

I only just noticed he also has a few freckles, *chefs kiss* (Waaaiit do all of them have little freckle skin textures??? Oh this is a glorious day.)

It's hard not to love a big friendly guy. I was honestly relieved when he first showed up, because I did Envy's route first, and I was thrilled to see a friendly face in the big dark scary woods.

This does not mean, however, that I'm not excited to see what this guy turns into when he's mad.

I like that he has pity for MC when they first show up, but I do worry it makes his resolve weaker. I'm not as confident that he could handle society/reality breaking down as well as the others. Can he put aside his affable nature for when shit hits the fan?

Question: What level of fight had to happen for Amon to lose his eye? He's already huge, and has some sort of telekinetic powers. My theory is that he was taken by surprise, maybe by someone close to him.....(Envy I'm looking at you)

RIP Amon you would have loved Hawaiian shirts

Conclusion: Most likely to be the camp counselor who hurts his back from always giving piggy back rides. Least likely to keep his composure during a badly timed pun/dad joke.

Raeya

I'm fighting for my life whenever shes on screen good LORD

Similarly to Amon, I GOTTA know the story behind her prosthetic arm. Its so rad looking, but how did she lose a whole arm? (I am also considering that she was also not born with one)

Playing the demo again, she makes a specific comment about the monsters having not "infected a limb" of the MC. My bet is that's how she lost her arm.

I wish I could have spent 1:1 time with her, but it wasn't offered in the demo. I'd love to have like, a sit down discussion with her about history. (Well I'd be fine getting lectured about history and drinking tea and hanging out)

Out of everyone's motivations, I think I understood Raeya's the most. Even if she was against MC, I think her concerns are completely valid. If an alien fell out of the sky from a different reality to earth I'd ALSO be taking every precaution

She and Amon have matching ear chains, that's adorable....

I hope I can take her on a nice date and spoil her and let her relax in the full game, pretty please. Nothing bad will happen right???

Conclusion: Most likely to gently remind the waiter that you said NO pickles with your order, thank you very much. Least likely to admit to being the one who farted in a crowded room.

Envy

every other line from him is "UGGGHHH" and i love that for them.

After playing, I think I've finally realized that I've got a soft spot for grumps. just grumpy lil friends with their pouty faces

I want (vivi's) Envy's nails SO BAD. I need him to do my nails because theirs are perfect. Envy, envy PLEASE

They pretend not to care, but are already getting attached to the MC by the end of the demo. I can't wait to see what they're like when they actually DO get attached

Elephant in the room, what could he have possibly done to get himself demoted so severely? Everyone seems to be fine with him being demoted except Amon, who sheepishly vouches for him when he can.

I just wanna wrap him in a blanket burrito like you do with a spicy kitten. and then give him little smooches

Conclusion: Most likely to be they guy who gets one drink at a party and sits in the corner with the dog/cat all night. Least likely to allow their partner to willingly boop their nose with any regularity.

Pride

Old man yells at cloud? No....old man IS cloud.

The dev's tumblr has mentioned that he's a pathetic old man, but for now at least, I am afraid of his authority and power. since hes like. yaknow. the big god of this world

The VA did some fabulous work for his voice. I definitely got actual chills in certain parts. 10/10

Okay, so WHAT is this guy's deal with mirrors? He looks great, why is he worried about it. I sincerely doubt he's just 52 though, if he's a god. (as a note for all these interests, I have a feeling that the ages are their physical ages, and not their actual ages. Or at least, age relative to ours. I think they're much older in our years than in their years.)

We also didn't get any 1:1 time with Pride in the demo, so I'm fascinated to see what alone time with Pride would be like. Is he quiet? a chatterbox? Just a guy??? does he only play piano and not talk to you. (power move)

Conclusion: Most likely to show up WAY over-prepared for Parent-Teacher conferences. Least likely to understand and survive the cinnamon challenge.

Ara

Certified CUTIE PIE

We got a pretty clear demonstration of everyone's powers in the demo, except for Ara. Unless it was too subtle for me to realize, I'm not actually sure what her cool powers are yet.

If she DOESN'T have plant powers I'd be very surprised.

I keep wanting to think things like "I have to protect her" or "keep her safe at all costs". But then I remember she's likely absolutely terrifying, and I honestly should be actually afraid for anyone who gets in her way.

I would like to remind/inform everyone that so far, she is the only member of the cast who is visibly armed at all times. (Raeya doesn't count even if her arm claws look really really sharp.)

If I have to pick anyone to party with, it's probably Ara. I know she'd throw an absolute rager, but would also make sure you stay hydrated. I wanna hold her hand too. Please?

I'll go butch for her, i'll do it if thats what she wants. I'm weak

Conclusion: Most likely to be able convince you to give her your kidney. Least likely to let you skip a bloodthirsty game of monopoly because you "Have a headache"

Gael

where did he find pants long enough for him.

Okay. So its HIS fault that Amon has the deepest V-cut since time immemorial. Do you think Amon and Gael had an extensive argument about the minimum amount of clothes Amon has to wear at any given time? Because I do.

His powers certainly did not. Awaken anything in me. Nope.

he has the shortest and most perfect arc from stranger -> friendly -> ???? -> BETRAYAL

I am MASSIVELY curious about his dissociation/spacing out during the demo. He was 8 million miles away in the tower for some reason, and I HAVE to find out why. I just KNOW this man is doing some questionable shit with good intentions and I can't wait to find out what it is.

So, he has SOME issue with touch. No idea what it is, but I can't wait to find out what it is. Also noting he's the only one with full-coverage gloves in the cast. Interesting...

Conclusion: Most likely to cry after being sent those sad FB/insta animal stories. Least likely to let you open your own car/carriage/etc door under any circumstances.

Xal

He looks so soft. I have to bully him, in a good way. (Like grim from Date with Death)

I am fascinated as to why he would lie for MC. That's such a great hook to his character. What does a guy who so desperately wants to be left alone have to see to stick his neck out for a stranger?

SOMEONE get this man a NINTENDO DS POST HASTE

THIS GAME HAS TO GET FUNDED BECAUSE XAL SAYS HE HAS A CAT AND I WANT TO SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will do it, I will be the one to tuck him in when he is too eepy. I will carry him to bed and kiss his little head good night

Wait, if he can "Figure something out" by touching it, he could be like, the worlds greatest doctor. Xal please get off the couch and help me diagnose mystery ailments in a medical sitcom

Conclusion: Most likely to injure himself rigging up a Rue Goldberg machine to scratch his back. Least likely take it easy on you once he learns how to play super smash bros. (He's a fox/falco main)

Concerns:

What the Ravenstar team has already been able to accomplish is incredible. I'm worried that with 7 whole love interests (with a possible two more on the way if the kickstarter goes well), i'm worried the devs are taking on a whole lot of work. I think they're fully capable of taking this on, but I hope they don't burn themselves out in the process.

I'm pretty happy to see the kickstarter is moving along, but there's always the chance that something happens, and/or the kickstarter goal isn't met. BY THE TIME I FINISHED WRITING THIS IT GOT FUNDED LETS GOO!!! I still hope this project makes it all the way to completion beyond the kickstarter. Things can always happen, so Ive got my fingers crossed for the Ravenstar team!

OVERALL CONCLUSION:

I loved the demo, and I have now backed the project! The team is trying to hit stretch goals now, so share Lost in Limbo with your buddies! I crave content for this game like nothing else.

[toomanyideasandfandoms]

I apologize if I'm clogging up ur inbox, but the brain did another screech and I am curious. Would the Creator have a "favorite" in terms of who they'd rather come across?

After the first few couple rounds of deaths, I imagine they'd go for the folks who they learn will give them a quick and (relatively) painless end. Like "Well, shit. It's Inazuma again...maybe I can find Itto or Thoma? At least if off me, they'll do it fast, unlike Kujou Sara, that [beep]ing Crow 🐩"

Then as they slip into their Death Seeking mentality, they start looking for the ones who enjoy fighting and will instigate shit. "Oh looky here, it's Childe! Time to start some chaos! 😈"

Also, random thought I offer up: the idea of the Death Seeking Creator, but someone (let's say Albedo) decides to capture them and try to study them, as to learn how they came to possess the Creators face/learn why they keep coming back. Yay or nay?

Hmm, tbh I would say they only have a "favorite" before they started to get mentally broken. Which is basically them trying to talk to those who are seen as the most peaceful and easier to negotiate with characters. Though that doesn't really work since even the laws of the world are against them (we can thank the Primordial One for that ya bitch-).

Once they do start breaking down, they don't necessarily care who ends up finding them? Sure they'll still kick and fight for maybe even a chance at being left alone. But once they're totally broken and completely believe their purpose is to be the prey of everyone, then they seek those who would be believed to give more "entertaining" deaths like you've said. Though entertaining wouldn't equate to just looking for a fight.

One character they would probably go out of their way to find would be Dottore, his experimentations would lead to all sorts of different ways to die. Though the creator only does it rarely since the time it takes for them to die tends to be long (since the doctor would want to note down what's happening and wouldn't give them to give up immediately) even with the pain they feel urging them to die faster.

And as for the whole coming back bit, that's actually not known of until the truth of the creator's title is revealed. What everyone assumes, even when the creator is broken, is that the imposters are just those who were either born unfortunately (only certain characters think this) or who've massacred their image in order to look like the creator as either some religious fanatic or because they seek power or they simply wish to defile the creator's face abd reputation. And when our creator is broken the main concensus is that these imposters have grown mad, believing they're living multiple lives and talking nonsense about death.

It's only when Nahida, who would be one of the first to discover the truth, immediately holds a meeting with the archons to ensure an effort of capturing (they hated using that word but there was no other way than to refer to the creator as some wild beast with the mental state they're in) the creator and rehabilitating them.

[animalpetcel]

Path of Life Ramblings (Story Spoilers below)

mentally I compare Mylnar and Ulpianus a lot. They're both the 1 dude of previously all female groups (the Nearls and the Abyssal Hunters) and both hold the title of being basically the Eldest and one of the strongest of the group were a lot of the overarching lore comes from.

But, I dislike Mylnar. Mainly bc of how mean he is to Blemishine in her debut event and I kinda always hated how he felt like he wanted to drag everyone else into his permanent pity party (his voicelines making him out to be a complete Eeyore didn't help either). I'm guessing that he gets better in his own event (bc I still found him annoying in Near Light), but it's taking me a while to sit down and read it bc I still hold a grudge for how he treated Blemi (who is one of my fav characters) And what I heard from people who play CN during Path of Life's original announcement made me worried that I would fine Ulpianus either boring, or as irritating as Mylnar.

But that wasn't the case! Despite Ulpianus' withdrawn and similar stick up his ass attitude, it was easier to see that he like, cares about the other Hunters and other characters like Underflow & Jordi even when he's still refusing to actually team up with anyone else! I was actually really concerned about him by the end, bc what he's doing is incredibly dangerous and he doesn't even have someone to help him/witness the info he's about to gain if he loses himself to the seaborn. So I'm excited to see what happens when the other AH finally catch up to him, whether it be to help or capture him, or both. And maybe he also needs a lecture about how wonderful working with a team can be instead of wanting to carry everything himself.

I do have to say that it's also, kinda weird that Path of Life is when he's playable? Like, it ends with him vanishing to gain the knowledge that the Seaborn/Matus has on the past of the Aegir/The Firstborn, the danger of him maybe losing himself the same way Martus did and the other AH vowing to find him and bring him in for like, an actual explanation of everything. But now he's just...on the landship...still completely lucid....with an epilogue of his experiences being in his files...kinda working with the other AH now but not really

It feels kinda anti-climatic? Honestly it felt kinda weird how the narrative kept kinda asking us to doubt if he was still in the right mind when he never did or said anything for us to really doubt him besides like, refusing to work with others or explain more than what he viewed as the bare minimum. Also I kinda wanted him to like, actually have a moment where he accepts the other AH's help and officially joins them under Gladiia's command.... Tho it also kinda feels like Ulpianus was basically the only person they could have had as a 6* this event. The rest of the AH already released and Jordi & Irene are too early in their developments still to get alters. Lucilla's screentime would be too criminally low given what the story is trying to accomplish as well. I guess...maybe Underflow could have worked as the 6*? But I'm not super certain. And then it feels too early for Gladiia's moms as well.

But hey I'm glad I don't hate him. Now my next wish is that the next AH event finally lets Andreana and Iridescence join the fray. I kinda feel like Aegir would be interested in the church of the deep creating a half-abyssal, given their own difficulties with the procedure. (Also I just want Andreana to be more present in AH stuff....please HG...)

[byemambo]

4Minutes EP. 1 - My Takeaways

So after finagling with my VPN options, I managed to watch 4Minutes episode 1 shortly after episode 4 of This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans released. Given that I haven't read a singular novel/source material for any of the series I end up consuming: my analyses are not anything more than just pastime fun and pondering thoughts.

Title Sequence

When I first saw the title sequence along with the score: I immediately thought of WestWorld (which I haven't seen the show myself because I'm not great with intense themes surrounding it but my professor showed us the title sequence and I immediately fell in love with it). The score is dynamic and although the title sequence itself doesn't give too much away besides showcasing the two main characters in fragments, it sets the tone for how I'll be viewing the series moving forward: intense, dark tones, small pockets of joyous moments within the storyline (but won't be the main focus of the story itself), and following the lives of morally gray characters.

Camera Angles (Bird's Eye View)

For starters, I noticed a repetition in using a bird's eye view angle to introduce us to new environments and exposition. Whether it be Tyme's introduction after suffering out a possible fatal injury, Great's apartment away from home (which his family members allude to his absence majority of the time in visiting the home), Korn being transported to the "department" that earns the family company most of their revenue, to Tonkla's place of stay (is it Korn's place as well, who knows at this point in the story). However, the scene that stood out the most to me is the right image in the third row of Great descending from his apartment level down a spiral staircase rather than taking the elevator as usual, which hinted at Great's spiral of wrapping his mind around his experiences with sporadic short term time travel and why time is warping the way it is. What I find interesting and continue to ponder during this point of the exposition: why is Great experiencing these symptoms and when? Did he start experiencing them out of the blue, or did he suffer some sort of freak accident or injury prior to the hit (and almost potential run)? Even during the family dinner scene, Great's father even emphasized him having to clean up after his son's "messes," so him experiencing the consequences of past accidents is possible.

I also appreciate the usage of the bird's eye view to emphasize the size of the characters within the space/environment they occupy. That in some instances, they're a small part of the entire whole within the context that they reside in. Tyme running away from the killer who injured him and left him for dead, Great occupying his apartment alone, his only companion that is briefly introduced to the story is Title (which rip for him not getting that calculator for the exam), Great also occupying the elevator to reach the bottom level of his apartment building (which makes me wonder if there's a correlation between the physical levels he occupies and the levels of consciousness he has awareness of, maybe even having its own spin on Inception's take on dream levels now that I referred back to the series's trailer). Korn taking a boat ride to the company's place of organized crime/gambling that seems isolated from the rest of the world where the story takes place, Tonkla's lack of fulfillment and feelings of loneliness after Korn leaves the apartment to attend family dinner (which a lot of us are speculating a cheating or romantic betrayal story arc). The director and cinematographer does an amazing job with utilizing the space through framing and placing each character within the composition, which is intentional and pushes a continuation of how a certain environment shapes the interactions between characters within the environment.

The Number 4 and Time

We know how significant the number 4 will be throughout the entire series, but my question right now is how the gift (since I don't think it's a power that the holder can control willingly) works and its parameters. From the first time leap: Great's car clock read 12:39 just before entering the tunnel and meeting his doom. However, after hitting the woman and attempting a hit and run, it had been four minutes since the incident occurred, latching onto Great and forcing him back four minutes to redefine his fate and making different decisions.

This also happens when Great pays the woman a visit at the hospital the next day: spending four minutes between speaking with the nurse at the desk and attempting to leave the premise after running into Tyme and desiring no confrontation. Once his phone clock reads 13:14, we are transported four minutes back to speaking with the nurse again, this time Great peeking at Tyme's visitation with the patient in room 1 and still running into Tyme regardless. Rather than walking away, Great helps Tyme with his papers, which makes me wonder just how much of these occurrences are solely coincidental and which are repeating itself for Great to revert down a predestined path for the appropriate events to happen in sequence. If Great hadn't left the woman to die out from her injuries or slow down the time taken to aid her injuries, he would not cross paths with Tyme. Even after visiting the woman and attempting to leave the hospital without saying anything to Tyme, time leaps backwards and establishes a second chance for the first meeting to occur. I wonder until the next episode is released: is Great only acting out based on what he's been taught and has known for majority of his life and being met with another chance to act according to his own volition? Is this a matter of nature vs nurture? Is he going to realize that he's being given chances to make different decisions that he will be better off living with than if he were to act based on what he's always known despite not 100% aligning with them?

Family Dinner (Introduction to the Dynamics)

Great doesn't strike me to be someone who thinks like an inherent nepo baby (at least that's what I got from Korn's character introduction as well). Between the two brothers, Korn appeases his father's wishes that involve the state of the family company's successes and endeavors, whereas Great despises them, seemingly living a more "detached" life (while still having access to things like his luxury car) of going to university and focusing on graduating. Again, with the director's intentionality when framing the characters within the environment, we get another rendition of rich family, empty homelife that we all know and love. Even Great establishing the disconnect even further by physically sitting in opposition to his father by being on the opposite end of the dining table, he not only refuses to become one with the family by bowing down to the head of the household, he desires to be viewed as an equal to his own father and cause a rift between the family members.

Despite being unified by sharing the same color grading, we can see how Tyme's home environment is much more inviting, much more lively, much more loved. We can see this through not only his relationship with his grandmother, we can see this through how the home is decorated and cared for, and see how Tyme's priority in life is to become a surgeon and take care of his grandmother by repaying for all she has done for him for what seems like majority of his life. I'm curious to see how the relationship between Great and Tyme play out after being introduced to their temperaments: both having their own expressions of stubbornness, Great being more outward and Tyme being more subdued. However, both characters have shown their sillier sides that's dependent on the closeness of their relationship around those individuals, so I wonder how long it'll take before both characters take down their walls around one another.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

I absolutely adore Den already. I feel the stark contrast between Pol in KinnPorsche and Den in 4 Minutes, which makes me so excited to see what Job will bring to the story as a more relevant supporting character that we couldn't get enough of in KinnPorsche. His smile is gorgeous and just from the kabedon alone in the image below already lets me know that his character is about to be a hoot, and I'm ready for it. The look on Tyme's face is sending me, which makes me wonder where Tyme stands in terms of romantic experience as he's a focused medical professional with a clear goal that may stray him away from other priorities in life like his social needs.

But how much I adore Tyme's relationship with his grandmother. Nothing is more wholesome to me than a family man, but specifically for their elders. The contrast between Tyme's relationship with his family versus Great's will be an interesting juxtaposition for both characters to teach and learn from one another's upbringing that carried into their adult lives. We still don't know their backstories so early on in the series, but I can only speculate that Korn's mother is either deceased or no contact with the remaining family, which may put a strain on how Great and his mother fit within the family's dynamic, since wealth and status seem to be key players influencing the direction of the story. One main character having inherent access to wealth and status that can save him from all sorts of struggle and difficulty, whereas the other main character coming from a humble upbringing that places a lot of strain on his desire to earn a living well off enough to take care of him and his family. We will definitely see how these core values will create friction or shape the characters' outlook on life and the world in which they occupy.

[archoneddzs15]

Microsoft XBOX - HALO

Title: HALO / ヘイロー

Developer: Bungie

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Release date: 25 April 2002

Catalogue No.: K43-00002

Genre: First Person Shooter

"Combat Evolved" describes things very well. HALO was the killer app that Microsoft needed to sell consumers on the XBOX platform. The combat in HALO is indeed a step up from most FPS' and is challenging and fun. Enemies will duck and dive for cover, engage you in a variety of ways, and generally put up a good fight. What may even be more amazing is that your own team is not entirely useless. It may be one of the ground-breaking features of Halo that your own team actually puts up a good fight and helps you out by making themselves useful. No standing around looking curiously at the primed grenade at their feet or running into your line of fire (well at least not too much). They actually engage and kill the enemy effectively! On the other hand, maybe this says more about the incredibly sad state of AI in gaming than it says about the AI in Halo.

The vehicles are also very well done. It's immensely fun driving around in the Warthog with a gunner while fighting aliens or laying down the pain from a Banshee fighter. The Warthog, fun as it is, has somewhat odd driving characteristics though; it skids like Bambi on ice even when you drive on dry concrete.

Halo also has my favorite type of cut scene: the in-game engine cut scene. Not only that, they're also reasonably well-directed with a certain flair that gives them a movie-like quality. No talking heads here.

One positive thing that actually surprised me was Master Chief himself. I had expected a DOOM-style mute hero, but it turns out Master Chief talks and actually has a personality. Granted, he doesn't have the "charm" and "charisma" of Duke Nukem but he's no Gordon Freeman-style mute either. I really don't care much for the personality-free protagonist style of Half-life and DOOM. It works in DOOM because there's really no one around for your character to talk to but when people are talking and addressing you and your character just says nothing it just gets a bit weird.

The Covenant is an interesting collection of alien races with unique traits. I almost feel bad every time I shoot a grunt. With their runt, short appearance, high-pitched voices, and the clumsy way they carry their weapons, especially when panicking, they have a very child-like appearance to them. In some ways, the grunts are more disturbing than The Flood. Unfortunately, we get to know almost nothing about the Covenant and its alien races other than "they want to kill all humans".

It's also a plus that there are no boss fights, just increasingly difficult battles.

[m0ssycobblestone]

Ok but do you know how insanely cool a Trigun themed found footage/analog horror style video could be??? Between all the cryptid Vash concepts in the fandom and the low key insane events that happen in canon, there is. So much you could do with it. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS YOU COULD PICK TO FOCUS ON!!! With Stampede's JuLai ALONE there is so much you can do. And you wouldn't even need to primarily focus on the main characters to have them appear in interesting ways, think of the cameo opportunities!!!! Blurry, shaky footage of a feathered creature with glowing eyes crawling away from the city's remains, rumors of some weird guy with a cross chiming into conversations about a certain outlaw, mentions of a reporter and alleged survivor who seems a little too invested in potential Vash the Stampede sightings. Like, imagine for a stand alone or even a first video entry of a series the title could be like "JUL_21_XX_ViewFromOutsideJuLai.mp4" or something and it could straight up be two people camping with the city in the distance and one of them grabs a video camera because "what the fuck? Is that a giant woman?? Martha come look at this" and they're freaking out about what it could be when it just. Disappears. And then a light shoots up into the sky, and another light beams down and engulfs the fucking city with a rumble that makes the campers scream, and in the footage we see the camera get progressively more unsteady and shaky until the cameraman drops it and the footage cuts out. And when it cuts back in the camera is still on the sand and we see the unfocused, tilted view of the campers just sitting there like "what the fuck did we just witness?" WOULDN'T THAT BE SO COOL???? You could even do a mockumentary style with it!!! Or hell even a No Man's Land rumor mill/tall tales video series type thing!!! Like what do you mean you caught footage of what looks like a spaceship hiding in a sandstorm, that's totally edited! Right? ...Right? And what do mean your aunt saw a swarm of worms turn into a little kid and is trying to catch evidence of it on camera now, just say she drank too much one night and call it a day! Like, dude!!!! Imagine the possibilities!!!!!! OF THIS SETTING!!!!!!! WITH THIS FORMAT!!!!!!!!!! IF DONE WELL THIS SHIT COULD BE SO FUCKING COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have I watched too much of this genre today, MAYBE?? Will I continue to think about this for the rest of the day, ALSO MAYBE?????

[sam-keeper]

Susan Twist: Word Lord?

Many* people** are wondering about the theory held by certain Doctor Who fans*** online that the actress Susan Twist in the new season of the long running franchise is playing what's known as a "Word Lord".

Now, granted, many more are wondering whether she might, in fact, be Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. That, my friends, is exactly the kind of question a Word Lord would want you to be asking.

Lemme break this theory down for you.

Throughout this whole new season of Doctor Who, the protagonists have been haunted by the recurrence, in different roles, of a stage and character actor who happens to have the delightful name Susan Twist. Like, not in the show, in real life. According to Russel T Davies, she was the only actor they could get due to an "actor shortage", which seems like a pretty terrible and even implausible dilemma, but luckily Davies has made lemonade out of this very real production constraint! Twist popped up in every episode this season, in some form or other. That's versatile writing! No wonder they brought Rusty back as showrunner.

But perhaps there's more to the story than just the unfortunate realities of filming in a country ruled by a failed regime...

The Doctor and his companion Ruby started noticing Twist's recurring roles over the past few episodes, though the plot of each episode intervened before they could put anything definitive together. It's one of a number of nods to the metatextual content of the show--literal winks to the audience, another character (Mrs Flood) directly addressing the viewers, a whole musical number about how there's "always a twist at the end"--that suggested maybe some authorial tomfoolery was afoot, that maybe something a little tricky or tongue in cheek was happening.

But what could the explanation be? Could Susan Twist really be playing THE Susan, a relative of the Doctor's that hasn't been seen in the franchise since the 60s? That seems a little silly, surely! Or could she be playing another character, like... the Rani? or the Monk? Both of them got namedropped alongside Susan at one point. Or maybe she's the portended head of Maestro and the Toymaker's extracosmic family. I guess there's a theory this is Sutekh, the evil alien god from Pyramids of Mars? Sure, seems fun.

But no. Fuck all that noise. I know what's really going on here and it just coincidentally involves a character that I'm feral about, and that no one else has even heard of, a guy called, somewhat fittingly, Nobody No-one.

No-one shows up in just one and a quarter stories by Steven Hall for Big Finish's series of audio dramas, first as a minor opponent (in 45) and then as a much more motivated and fearsome one (in A Death in the Family). In the latter story, he manages to--no points if you worked this out from the title--kill the Seventh Doctor. How did a character with such a low profile manage such a feat? Well, Nobody No-one has powers comparable to a Time Lord: he is a Word Lord.

Word Lords are one of the most delightfully bonkers concepts to come out of the early exciting and experimental period in Big Finish's line of audio dramas. Hailing from another universe, they're the equivalent of Time Lords for a reality where narrative rather than chronology drives all existence. It's like if the Anchoring of the Thread established not linear time but, I guess, TV Tropes instead. Nobody No-one regenerates like the Doctor, and has his own equivalent to the TARDIS: the CORDIS, or Conveyance Of Repeating Dialogue In Space-time, which is a memetic construct transporting the Word Lord through repeated phrases, jokes, coincidental number recurrences, and so on. The CORDIS is heralded by the number 45 popping up, and you'd better believe I sat up and noticed how many times that number recurred in the code pattern in Dot and Bubble! In Death in the Family there's a whole military organization the Doctor's mucking around with--No, not UNIT. No, not Torchwood. A different thing, one run by a human supremacist vampire hold on we're getting off topic--and Nobody casually reveals at one point that his CORDIS was bouncing around inside their "For King And Country" mantra for years.

Nobody No-one's real fun as a villain comes from his special Bullshit Powers. He's a Word Lord, so he's basically a memetic being, right? He IS language in some sense. Like, apparently his CORDIS crashed into the alphabet after his first encounter with the Doctor, annihilating the 27th letter of the alphabet and causing the English Great Vowel Shift. This story does a ton with the concept of "what if a guy was words".

But what makes him so dangerous is a quirk of his own identity. To grasp what a Word Lord can do, you have to think linguistically, dialogically. Imagine someone haplessly says: "but, nobody could have gotten into that locked room to kill the ambassador!" What would that allow a Word Lord to do? And imagine further:

"No-one tells the sun whether or not to shine." "Nobody could survive that!" "Nobody could just kill the Doctor!"

One slip of the tongue, that's all it takes for Nobody No-one to gleefully command godlike power.

That's Nobody, though. I don't think Susan Twist is just Nobody. I mean, No-one could seriously ask you to believe that this character who appeared in an (unfairly, given its quality) obscure audio adventure, written by an author who only ever wrote those two stories for Doctor Who, with a bunch of wild over the top and no doubt difficult to write around powers, is going to suddenly come back as a major character in the third tv revival of this 60 year old franchise. Like, Nobody would expect Davies to start referencing, I don't know, the Shalka Doctor either, surely. And I wouldn't ask you to make that kind of totally absurd leap, not even if I happened to be writing some sort of tongue in cheek article.

No, what I'm--I mean, what the fans are suggesting is that this concept of a Time Lord but for stories, who comes from a Borgesian narrative dimension, appearing in one and one quarter obscure audio dramas by an author who never wrote anything else for Doctor Who... what the theory proposes is that there's a SECOND one of those guys.

Just think about it, think about it like a Word Lord. What has the fandom asked itself about this season? Surely, one of the foremost questions is simply: what about Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter? She's been name dropped a few times, the Doctor doesn't say she's definitively dead... could there be some reveal here that Susan is alive? There's got to be, right? That's what they're leading up to!

There's just got to be a Susan Twist.

That, my friends, is exactly how she snuck into this reality.

Now, maybe the "Susan Triad" slated to appear next episode isn't this Word Lord proper but a kind of, I don't know, fictionsuit or vessel or entry point. I'm also not sure what a "Susan Twist" would even want, what the grand scheme would be. Unlike Nobody No-one, there's not a lot of word games you can play with "Susan Twist" beyond the obvious. But, maybe that's part of the point. Nobody No-one was a megalomaniac, a guy who really did just want to watch the world burn. The Doctor's companion Hex accuses him of being "proper mad", and he responds, "Mad? I'm FUUURIOUS!" followed by an explosion from the grenade he had tossed into the duck pond. Nobody is a brash, arrogant, chaotic, and... probably not that bright guy, who has the advantage of his CORDIS's many tricks and his incredibly versatile name. Perhaps this new Word Lord wants something other than chaos and destruction. Maybe she simply wants what we've already seen her achieve in the show: universal ubiquity. There's always a Twist at the end.

Actually, this would weirdly parallel another beat from Death in the Family. In order to trap Nobody, the Doctor weaponizes his own narrative against the Word Lord, tapping into the universal internet and googling himself in order to build a whole proxy universe based on his own life. From another perspective, he basically uses the entire narrative of Doctor Who--all the episodes, all the Big Finish audios, all the Doctor Who Monthly comics, all the Virgin New Adventures--as an ideatic missile. This is such a cool concept I'd feel guilty about giving it away, only it happens about a fifth of the way through Death in the Family. Seriously, this audio GOES places. Anyway, the suggestion is that the Doctor is so entangled with the history of the universe, so threaded throughout all these other narratives, that his history effectively is a world unto itself that a being of narrative like Nobody might get completely lost in.

That's a kind of narrative ubiquity if there ever was one. If I was a Word Lord I'd be sorely tempted by that. Nobody is: he appears a perverse counterpart to the Doctor (and personally I think David Tennant would do a GREAT job playing him if he ever appeared in the show). I can't help but notice, incidentally, that we just got an episode where the shapeshifting Chuldur quickly became obsessed with cosplaying as the Doctor, and Wild Blue Yonder also introduced a couple of not-things trying to copy him. Could this Word Lord be seeking to build a narrative as strong and inescapable as the Doctor's?

It would be an interesting way of incorporating some of these meta elements without slipping too far into a kind of self-referential morass. It feels like Davies has been dancing right up on that line this entire season in a way that's exhilarating, but that also has been a bit nerve wracking for me. The more metatextual storytelling has exited the realm of weird independent art and entered the mainstream, the more cloying it's started to feel. Like, when you engage the audience, entreat them directly to care about the characters or write tearful paeans to the necessity of the Hero as a Symbol, the more it can start to feel like a bit of a desperate exercise in brand management. Clap if you DO believe in fairies, and all that. Doctor Who certainly has some history of guilt here--sorry, Steven Moffat, but sometimes it does get to be a bit much. And it does risk standing the purpose of literature on its head, where ironically through characters lauding the virtues of storytelling within society, the virtue of having participated in a transaction consuming art becomes the foundation of fandom, and the actual literary content is assumed, but treated as an afterthought.

Davies has thus far instead treated the meta content in two ways: as a unique physics to be solved, and as a way of exploring a particular bit of social commentary (sometimes more than one at once). Goblins use a "language of luck" and a physics of rope and knots, the Toymaker brings the world into a State of Play, and Maestro introduces a State of Musicals. To challenge these beings, the Doctor must understand their particular ontology and exploit it. As soon as the Bogeyman in Space Babies faces real peril, all the children who were afraid of it rally to its defense, which doubles as both a commentary on the "Teatime Terror for Tots" charge thrown at children's media like Doctor Who--children LIKE scary stories and creepy, gross monsters!--and reinforces Davies's acidic anger at social and political abandonment of people who are inconvenient to the bottom line. Rogue plays gleefully with fanfiction tropes, and its positioning of the Chuldur as "cosplayers" would riiight up to the edge of being a little too navel gazing about toxic fans... if not for the fact that the Doctor and Ruby are also explicitly cosplaying as Bridgerton characters, and the episode is still giving fans exactly what they want in the form of a whirlwind gay Doctor/Rogue romance. This season is concerned with these sorts of metatextual games, without being subsumed by them and becoming entirely about self-referential brand building.

A Death in the Family is also, notably, only partly about Nobody No-one and his machinations and the counter-machinations required to stop him, set into motion by the Seventh Doctor and carried out beyond his death by companions Ace and Hex. Like I said, a lot of the seismic action of the story is over within the first 25 minutes. The Word Lord is really just used as a jumping off point to talk about a bunch of other stuff: truth, lies, choices made for ourselves or made for us by others... we see multiple information-worlds built in the story, some of them more subtle than others. At one point Ace tearfully proclaims that traveling on the TARDIS with the Doctor "is the only life I've ever wanted!" The Seventh Doctor retorts, with some audible guilt and distress, "No, it's the only life you've ever HAD!" In a very real sense, the Doctor has created the notional worlds that Ace and Hex inhabit, defining the contours of Ace's life since she was a teenager, and deliberately staying silent about Hex's traumatic family history, deciding for both of them "what's best". Nobody No-one in that sense is a pretext, in the best tradition of Doctor Who, to dig into questions about power.

The metafictional is risky, but it's a narrative tool like any other, and it fits with a long history of Doctor Who as a franchise reflecting on itself and its place in culture, with everything from the Mind Robber's suggestion that the Doctor himself might be an escapee from fiction, to Vengeance on Varos and Trial of a Time Lord's dramatization of Doctor Who's conservative culture war critics, to the Last Great Time War as metaphor for the show's cancellation. In a sense, behaving as though cosplay or fandom or whatever don't exist and couldn't possibly be the idiom through which characters--even weird alien characters--interpret their reality and act upon it might equally alienate the show from being about any wider culture beyond itself, endlessly, the same dalek and cybermen and Master stories recycling forever. My hope is just that as Davies barrels into the finale at full speed, it's this sense of a meaning for Doctor Who beyond its own lore driving him. The anger we've seen from him about social issues, the commitment to changing the show where it needs to grow, and the willingness to take big swings at continuity all give me some reason to feel confident.

Confident, of course, that he has seen the wisdom and logic of building his arc around Susan Twist being a Word Lord. What? That's what this article is about, remember? That didn't stop being a thing. Anyway, I'm excited for friday, when all of us pulling for this theory will be proven indisputably right, and you will all, in deference, subscribe to my Patreon.

* alleged ** hypothetical *** me, specifically

[sirjuggles]

Things My Partner Knows About The Locked Tomb Through Osmosis

I am an unrepentant and annoying TLT fanboy, to the point where my partner has sworn to never read the books on principle (for this I respect them). However, given that I never shut up about these miserable books, they have picked up quite a bit of knowledge about them purely through my rants. With that in mind, I asked them to describe to me everything they think they know about The Locked Tomb (notes in italics are mine)

There are characters named Gideon, Nona, and… something like… Pacifica Sales Bonecruncher of the West? I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be Harrow's full name and title.

It's a scifi-fantasy world in a necromancy space realm 

There's… 10 kingdoms that are all part of an Empire? Or maybe houses? But they're part of a monarchy? 

The ruling classes of each of the realms gets summoned by God because they want to play a Hunger Games thing to find their… new God child? 

It's not a God child like he's gonna adopt them… it's like rebirthing them into a new god? They will also become God? 

Each one of the realms has a special quirk about them, something that's their specialty. Like, one realm are accountants. Shockingly accurate.

Gideon and Pacifica’s realm are like cool goth themed? More goth than the others. Extra-goth.

Oh there's a person named… Electra? They have long blonde hair and kickin curves and they're really hot? Everyone likes them? I'm pretty sure this is a conflation of Alecto and Corona as seen through reblogged fanart.

Personal philosophy aside rant: The whole necromancy-as-center of-an-empire thing… I find it kinda rude? I don't like the idea of people and their remains being used as a resource/tool. Like, I don't like using people as interchangeable cogs in a machine under someone else's control, both in life or in death. It doesn't seem consensual or respectful. In death your obligations should be released. 

I think Gideon has a big hero’s death while trying to save Pacifica, and then their… souls mingle? And then after that Pacific has Gideon-flavored intrusive thoughts? And I'm not sure if it actually is Gideon or just, like… the same as if you stare at the sun and get the after image burnt into your cornea. This isn't wrong, but I'm almost certain part of this is actually my ramblings about Baru Cormorant leaking through.

Is reincarnation or resurrection a thing? I feel like it should be in a necromancy setting. 

DIRECT QUOTE: “Is there a Jesus allegory in here? I feel like there is. Wait... Is Gideon Jesus?” Folks, upon hearing these words casually spoken out loud by someone with no knowledge of context, I straight up left my body.

God is just a chill dude. He's just a guy making pancakes, and occasionally he'll go “How's that whole Hunger Games thing going? You want a snack? I'm just gonna be over here.”

God was wanted by aliens or something? There's something bigger going on with entropy or heat death or the Discworld auditors and it's a problem for God and that's why he's doing the whole Hunger Games thing. 

I think God used to be not a God and that's why he's such a chill dude. And then there was a problem and everything was dying so he did something and necromancied everything and that's why he's God now and also why things are so weird? 

One of the groups from the houses was two annoying siblings who split from the party and died really quickly. 

Gideon is big and bulky and has short red hair. 

[moonsoupstar-ao3]

Demons in aoex: a common misconception

Hi guys! Here I'm again talking :)

I posted this last night, but Tumblr decided to be an ass, almost gave me a heart attack (the post wasn't showing anywhere, not even in my own blog), and not show this in the tags, so here we go again.

Warning for some minor and major spoilers from the manga, read at your own risk!

Most spoilers are for Asylums' arc, and the lastest arc in the manga. So, if you haven't read them, maybe don't read the examples I've used after Mephisto! I didn't explicitly said too much, but I spoke about some major events a few times.

So, demons in aoex are a big part of the story (no shit!), but there's also a HUGE narrative that has been given to us, the audience, and the characters in the manga from the very beginning.

Demons are evil (or, to a certain degree, "neutral).

And

Demons are demons.

Sorry for how redundant that sounded, please let me explain.

Demons in aoex has been presented to us as "biblical/mythological demons" (depending on where the inspiration for them came from), mostly for the top demons and so one. But, in the very story, we have been repeatedly told that this is not true.

One of the mayor arguments of this is in the fight against that spore castle demon (sorry, I don't remember the name right now) from season 2. Both, in the manga and the anime, the fire demon (again, I'm sorry, I suck at names and I just want to get this done) that helps Rin burn the spores told him that he (or it was a she?) had been given tons of names an titles during his existence, from angel to guardian to demon, it was always just a label given by humans to defined him.

So, if demons are not necessarily demons, what are they? They are "spirits", plain and simple. Beings with powers from the mirror dimension (Gehenna).

Why are they evil then? Most are not! They're just mischievous or curious, especially the ones that don't tend to interact with humans. They're driven by impulsivity, naivety, ignorance, desires, curiosity, jealousy, resentment (does this remind you of any example? I'm sure it does), but not raw evilness MOST of the time.

Of course, there are evil ones, I won't be the one to deny it.

But, as I said, they're driven by emotions. The thing with demons is that they're not emotionally mature, nor do they completely understand human cultures and human's needs. On top of that, demons has been even worshiped all over the world during every step of civilization, so try to teach them to treat humans, well... humanly?

One of the biggest humanity supporters (not humans supporter, humanity as a concept/single thing and its creations), Mephisto, despite all his efforts for protect and help humans, doesn't see most of them as "equals". He does care, except that he just truly cares for the ones closest to him, everyone else are more like "ants" in his eyes. He's driven by desires when it comes to protect humans, the desire too see what things they would invent in the future.

(I have like, a LOT to say about my jester man (actually about almost all the main characters), so here's a limited extract of that).

And, then, there's the other side of the coin, Lucifer. I do believe that he, in his own twisted vision, do what he does because he thinks it will be good for everyone, but we cannot deny that he's following his plan for his own selfish reasons. He doesn't care about humans, or demons, or anyone but himself, not in a deeply way at least. He won't sacrifice himself for anyone, geez, he won't mind putting them at risk if his emotions get off control (that damn million yards stare when Yukio betrayed and challenged him 👀👀👀), but will stop if he's, well, stopped first.

Someone may think, "what about Satan? Wasn't he doing all that shit to get him a body?" And, let me tell you, he doesn't care about him either. He literally destroyed his body to catalyzed the Blue Night (though I must say I don't think he saw that coming, he just did it because he was furious and, partially, jealous that his father not only got a body (the thing he has yearned since forever and is obsessed about getting) before him, but also decided to threw it away as well as the elixirs research because he found "something better" ← quotation marks, 'cus I also think he thought Satan was being delusional), and took advantaged of the fact that Satan thought it was Yuri who betrayed him to convied him into (potentially) allying with him.

And speaking of, what about Satan? The "big baddie", dear, all I have to say is that I have a whole entire post in my draft dedicated to him. So, to summarize it, Satan is the equivalent of a child king throwing tantrums, who is trapped in the middle of political and royal plots to control everything through him, and has barely or no one who really cares about him at this point. (← I also has a LOT, LOT to say about my last statement, and it needs at least three entire paragraphs to fully bring the meaning behind it, so please take this bit with a grain of salt).

ㅤ

With all that being said, I don't know how to close this post :D! Jokes aside, I really don't JABDNDJDBDK

Sorry for any grammatical mistake or weird wording, English isn't my first language. I also would love to know your point of view! Or, overall, discuss my post! I love talking about aoex, so feel free to speak to me, even if you disagree with literally everything I said! /Seriously.

[undead-cypress]

Some MRF thoughts that I don't have shitpost images for but I feel like nobody but me and my tiny group of freaks talk about. I promise this isn't another "it's QDS!!" post

(spoilers)

- there's universal themes here for sure but this game is still entirely about Japan. Like honestly I feel like some nitpicks ppl have about the game can just be summed up as "this isn't reflective of America". I could elaborate but it'd take a whole essay with how dense this could get. And we know people hate to read

- there's no romance or dating because the devs knew that's what all anybody would talk and think about if they added any. They learned their lesson. Unfortunately for them this will not deter anybody

(frankly I think there is a canonical intended love interest but it's not who most ppl think it is and whatever happens between the characters in that regard is none of my business unless it's for making shitposts lol. Nor does it really matter to me)

- there's a few things lost in translation, but tbf there was no way to really translate them, they're mostly visual puns and unspoken running themes. Like how the "Prince" archetype in Japanese was more like... Ruler? Sovereign? It's not really a hereditary kinda title, nor was it gendered. But it doesn't have the same weight in English, and usually refers to monarchs, so. Also "Savior" was "Messiah", because it was supposed to have a more sacrificial connotation. I'll probably make a whole long post about the Healer line design stuff later. "anxiety" being 不安 (lacking safety) and 不安心 (unstable heart). Like it still absolutely means anxiety and there's no better way to translate it but anxiety doesn't have the same weight in English as 不安 does in Japanese....

- for a game literally titled "a metaphor about fantasy reflecting reality" people sure aren't picking up a lot of these extremely obvious metaphors. I'm not even talking about the ones they literally spell out in the text, I'm talking about stuff like. The Sanctist Church isn't really talking about Catholicism or Christianity because they're not that big a deal in Japan, and this game is still about Japan. Sanctist Church is about the LDP. Y'know. Abe

- and then there's actually very good trans subtext? I don't even know it should be called subtext because it should be overtly obvious to Japanese people. It would take a long post for me to explain here though.

- speaking of, Junah is my favourite character. Absolutely did not expect that but she's incredible. The dialogue in this game is so carefully considered, especially hers. There's people saying her story is too simple - I'm sorry you've fallen for the trick. Hope you figure it out soon

- I actually don't think there's a single second of filler in the game, which really is a foreign feeling. Maybe because I do design, but the storytelling even in the random enemy, battle, and dungeon designs are all so intentional. You might have to play on hard to fully experience how the game nudges you to play or navigate certain ways that subtly informs you way more about the story and characters. They built it around the story rather than having the story be an afterthought. I haven't seen them attempt this since p3 tbh

- I think DDS/QDS enjoyers will get WAY more out of this than anybody. And some P3 enjoyers, if they're the type of p3 fan who's more obsessed by the literary influences and themes than the fandom perception of the characters. Also a little bit of musing on Nocturne, but I'm feel like I'm the only one who noticed (._. )

- ppl saying the game is grindy or hard - lol skill issue. I did 0 grinding ever, even against the dragon towers. Being Megaten Georg outlier that should not be counted didn't even help me in this aspect because I started off playing as if it was megaten and immediately got humbled. If you pay attention to what the game is saying (in the "please pay attention and think about what you're reading" game), it's really well balanced.

- like yeah this game rewards you for thinking and reflecting, the more you mull it over the more interesting and fun it is. I think that's where the true enjoyment is, and the game isn't subtle about this either. Which is why it's WILD to me I still see posts of ppl complaining about stuff that if they thought about it for more than 2 seconds are either just untrue or has a point or was a setup to be resolved later.

- the vistas on the bottom half of the map is either a reference to the laser cannon from Paradise Lost OR GODZILLA and I'm the ONLY PERSON WHO NOTICES THIS????

- honestly I'm so glad I go out of my way to read weird stuff a lot because truly. What you get out of MRF as a person who's a little too hyper aware of literary techniques, design intention and media presentation is so delicious. I'm literally here rotating shot compositions and event sequences and the story telling in the UI design in my brain (Will is sideways on the screen because they're. Lying down). The fuckin shade on the screen you can pick "this isn't utopia" option being the shot showing you the most billboards...

- this explains so much about the past few major games they've put out tbh. They really wanted to do more stuff like DDS and perfect the vision they couldn't get with p3 due to hardware limits and later financial troubles. It's like every single grievance they've had with executive meddling put into one game. Ppl know them as the persona guys but I remember they also made DDS and Nocturne and that weird Maken X thing 🫡

- I've been jokingly calling p3 depression simulator and catherine anxiety simulator I'm gonna start calling MRF recovery simulator because that's kinda one of the underlying themes

- Louis is so funny. "Nobody will commit atrocities anymore if I commit all of them", I'm paraphrasing but, girl, what kinda QDS5 Heat logic....

On less serious notes:

- Atlus still sucks at official merch...

- I might be making notes on the Raidou style Eupha game that exists only in my head

- and the comedy road trip movie where Strohl and Hulkenberg must find Will who is pretending to be kidnapped for plot reasons, and Gallica didn't tell the two because they're not good at acting

- I still think it's very funny that the dogs at the beginning would either kill you in one strike or even if you kill one, give you nothing. They fungered me. I don't think the parallel to Fear and Hunger was intentional but that was an extremely funny coincidence, to me 😂 immediately upon the start

- I referred to More as Ike the entire playthrough as a joke to my friends because I thought it was funny they have the same voice and both games' about fantasy racism. And then I got the Radiance skill from the Prince archetype... "Behold... I walk a path of radiance..." (Not what they actually say but I said it a lot)

- I think wanting to fuck Louis is fine and hilarious but Will isn't the most fitting character to project that onto. They hand Zorba to you on a silver platter and people deny him and for what. His awesome design? Dedication to serving cunt? Awesome accent? Sexy fucked up arm? I weep to see my son's established personality sacrificed in the name of fucking Louis. It's like people giving Hulkenberg ass. Why would you do that to her, her flatness is the charm point. All that to say horny is fine I just wish so much of it wasn't OOC.

- however, I did make a lot of dumb jokes towards the end of the game that it must be canon we never fucked Louis because otherwise we can just teleport the gauntlet runner straight into his ass, Antman vs Thanos style, killing him immediately

- addendum:

Me: man I wish there wasn't so much OOC art of the MRF characters

Manga: hold my beer

Me: Hulkenberg would obliterate you

[pianokantzart]

Reading your most recent post on Movie!Bowser… it does make me quite curious as to how they’ll handle Bowser and Mario’s fighting dynamic in the hypothetical second Mario movie. In terms of physical strength, I mean. Game!Mario is quite capable of taking down Bowser in his original form(as in, can physically take Bowser down without power-ups) but Mario more or less needed the aid of the star power-up to do so. The movie versions of M&L are definitely closer to normal humans in terms of fighting prowess, so it makes me wonder if they’ll try having Mario, and Luigi by proxy, fight in hand-to-hand combat with no power-ups with Bowser at some point?

Maybe that could be a plot point in the second movie? Bowser worms his way out and starts whichever villainous plot his evil little heart desires, and Mario and Luigi start off a journey of sorts to find another star power-up, believing it crucial in obtaining victory? But, unable to find it, they’re more or less thrown into the fray with their wits and only limited power-ups in tow? And thus sustain a significant amount more of injuries without their invincibility from the star? (And perhaps the fabled green mushroom makes its debut that way…) The movies could have an interesting juxtaposition with the first movie bros being inexperienced + power-upped vs. second movie bros being more experienced + ….not-so-power-upped lol. They sort’ve have to earn their hero titles more(though moreso in the eyes of themselves only. Mostly everyone around them is already like ‘Duh. Your heroes with or without them.’ But, alas, character arcs! Potentially!) Sorry, I’m kinda word vomiting, but day by day I grow ever more curious how the second movie could play out….

One thing I like about The Super Mario Bros. Movie is that it's pretty much just an origin story. There is so much room to expand between where the movie left off and the full Mario lore as we know it today, and I for one am interested in the process of Mario and Luigi going from "Haha! We're heroes!" to "Oh f*ck, we're heroes," to "Okay... we're heroes... we can do this."

Like, how would they react to the idea of facing off against Bowser again without a power star to help them? How will their dynamic shake out when they're bouncing from one life-or-death situation to another? How will they balance their protectiveness toward each other with their moral obligations? Where will the new stakes take them? What new powerup/ally/enemy will they encounter? But back to what you're saying. If Mario and Luigi don't use powerups– even small ones– in the fight against Bowser, I predict a combination of the following tactics will be employed:

Reliance on dexterity. Bowser has them beat in terms of speed, strength, and resilience, but being a giant turtle monster he isn't nearly as agile as Mario and Luigi.

Using Bowser's emotions against him. It's his most glaring weakness, so while prodding at his ego is risky it could also make his movements more predictable.

Using their surroundings to their advantage instead of relying strictly on their own physical ability, which is a pretty common thing to do in Mario games (and video games in general.)

Leaning heavily on teamwork, not just with each other but with Peach, Toad, and probably Yoshi given the post-credits teaser.

And maybe a certain green and white mushroom will need to come into play at some point? We'll see. My biggest fear is that the writers will nerf Bowser a little so that he's easier to take on without the aid of the super star, but I really hope that doesn't happen. Speedy, strong, ruthless, unwavering, tactical, durable Bowser with a fire breath powerful enough to destroy civilizations is my favorite Bowser.