#but seing it actually executed in the series is just

[cheddarch33se]

Just watched round 6 from Alien Stage and honestly? Idk how am I meant to ever recover from this

[super-ultra-mega-deluxe]

The actual consideration of what fascism is is rather something of general import. A number of folks here have deferred to Umberto Eco's Ur-Fascism, and while I wouldn't discourage it, it is a text from the perspective of semiotics; that is to say, from the perspective of what signifies fascism, not what it is per se. Hence also why Eco emphasizes that none of the fourteen ways he describes are strictly necessary or sufficient for fascism, just that fascism as it has emerges coalesces around such signifiers. The aesthetics and rhetoric of fascists is rather succinctly summed up in Ur-Fascism, but what fascism is in a more direct, structural sense is a somewhat different consideration.

The governing structure of fascist Italy, as an example, retained many of the facets of the liberal democratic system from which it emerged, with a legislature, a judiciary, and an executive. Mussolini was legally the prime minister- though he adopted the title of Duce, literally "leader"- and was appointed by a legislative council- though a new one created by the fascist party called the Grand Council of Fascism that by and large excluded the previous legislature- and the prime minister could legally be dismissed by the head of state, the king, after a sustained vote of no confidence similar to the UK's formulation. Fascist Italy also redoubled- rather than invented- Italian colonial policy, promoting the settlement of Italians into Libya and other African colonial projects and the genocide of local populations. The domestic economic policy of fascist Italy was also much more explicitly in the interests of private business: in 1939, the whole of Italy was explicitly proposed to be legally divided into 22 corporations which appointed members to parliament; labour organization outside of the appointed corporate structures and striking as a practice were banned. The interests of fascist Italy's ruling bodies was very overtly bourgeois, and their economic policy is often referred to as specifically corporatist.

Nazi Germany was similar in structure, though while the German parliament- called the Reichstag- was maintained, a series of laws were passed which enabled the Chancellor- Hitler, who was appointed such by President Hindenburg- and the cabinet to implement laws without parliamentary or presidential approval. The Hitler cabinet is generally considered to have been the defacto ruling body of Nazi Germany, though members of the Reichstag obviously still convened and drafted laws and ran elections and generally supported Nazi rule and the judiciary remained a distinct body. The Nazis also wanted to redouble their colonial policy in specifically Africa- a theatre in which they were snubbed compared to other European powers- but were by and large unable to secure resources there for continued expansion due to the British opposing them in protecting its own colonial projects. A rather infamous and demonstrative guiding principle of Nazi economic policy, Lebensraum- literally "living space"- sought specifically to appropriate land and other productive capital to give to Germans that they might be made petite bourgeois and small artisans; de-proletarianized and bourgeoisified, at the same time that the people such capital is expropriated from were made slaves to fuel further expansion or killed outright. This was imposed both within and, once the resources of social underclasses at home ran dry, without. The interests too of Germany's ruling bodies was very overtly bourgeois.

What all of this is to say is primarily that fascism as a governmental system is a legal permutation of liberal democracy, rather than a strict departure from it. The overriding interests of fascist states are also commensurately the interests of the bourgeoisie of those nations. It's an entirely logical progression of liberalism, to be frank, and a rather stark example of why liberal states should be opposed. The most violent fascist policy at home is often simply what liberal states have as their explicit foreign policy, for instance. As for whether this or the other politician in a liberal democracy is a fascist, I'd ask first and foremost that it be known that the Nazi policy of expansion was based first on the US policy of expansion; the cart isn't pulling the horse, as it were.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Jude's Twisted Tale Dark IF : SE & Main Story Mini Lore Dissection

Just a brief post about the event lore and how it was executed in his route. I could write about a ton of things I noticed, but I'll spare you. I've selected a few main points that I think are important. This will contain major route spoilers, so please move on if you don't want to be spoiled. As always, this is just my opinion regarding how the lore was applied, all viewpoints are valid.

So, Jude's story was quite important for route lore, and if you missed it then I'm sure you'll be able to find it on YT.

So, how does it correlate regarding his route?

Children •ʚଓ Event Lore: Jude and Kate met in the past and he made a promise to her. Main story: There are two children and a promise is made, but Kate is not that child.

Research •ʚଓ Event Lore: Jude is researching a way to cure Kate's illness. Main Story: Jude is researching aerospace engineering & developing a rocket ship capable to flying to the moon.

The Promise •ʚଓ Event Lore: A promise he made to Kate a long time ago to save her from death. Main Story: A promise he made to someone other than Kate to take them to the moon.

Time •ʚଓ Event Lore: Time is not impossible to turn back. Time magic exists. Past, present and future are all tangled together, connecting countless words. Time marches on mercilessly as Kate tries to break her curse

Main Story: Time is not able to be turned back. Time magic/travel doesn't exist, Jude can't go back to retrieve what he's lost. Time travel may not exist, but space travel is a possibility, which would connect Jude to another world once he reaches the moon. Time marches on mercilessly for Jude as he tries to fulfill his promise to the one he made it to.

Fairies •ʚଓ Event Lore: Fairies are rare creatures with outstanding abilities that are often the source of international conflicts. They are targeted, and their deaths give an opposing country military advantage. Fairies can easily overthrow a government with power, and the fairies who refuse to join the military are imprisoned and killed.

Main Story: Obviously, his curse is the 13th fairy, but Jude is extremely intelligent and highly skilled in many things, and because of the cycle of hatred that he voluntarily enters in, he is often targeted 24/7. With the knowledge that Jude possesses in terms of his research in aerospace engineering, he has very lethal technology in his hands. Although his intentions are pure and endearing rather than sinister, a coalition between three groups work against Jude after he repeatedly refuses to give up his research. He is imprisoned and tortured by the military, waiting to be killed.

Death •ʚଓ Event Lore: Jude the fairy is okay with dying over a promise, feeling he's lived long enough. He is able to save Kate from death as he promised.

Main Story: While a part of Jude was determined to live in spite of the world for the longest time, he is exhausted and really just wants to give up. Even his promise - the only thing he has left - isn't enough of an anchor for him anymore. The one whom he promised to protect died as he was unable to save them.

Overall, I loved Jude's SE route. It's very fairytale-like, very sweet, funny in some areas, devastating and romantic to me. The hole I felt in my heart over the overwhelming feelings of loss they both felt in bitter end...it's so relatable. I mean we've all most likely lost someone in our lives, and haven't been quite the same haven't we?

The way they took his route lore and twisted it to fit his whacky tale in the event is superb! And to me it just goes to show how far out the main stories are actually planned and written. To me that feels like excellent planning and execution. Some may feel differently and that's okay, but this is my take on it.

To be frank, I think that all the stories in the Twisted Tale series so far are wonderful in their own way......I really like the name Dark IF actually. Twisted Tale sounds weird to me.

Can't wait for the next set of Dark IF Tales!

[dont-leafmealone]

Jetko fic rec list

Feel free to add your own recs, and if you do read any of these and like them, comment something nice on it! If I find anyone hassling authors for updates I will drop ferrets down your chimney!

Modern AU

the things we leave behind - Mai and Ty Lee start a ghost hunting channel; their roommate, Zuko, cannot stand their new cameraman, Jet. Meanwhile, Zuko's sister just moved into their shared house, and forms a reluctant bond with Zuko's friend, Katara. Multiship, rated M, 200k, complete, HIGHLY recommend (also check out the rest of the author's works! She's amazing!)

never believed in meant to be - Zuko gets in-school suspension and meets Jet, who's cool enough they spend the day together. It's their first and last meeting. Rated T, 5k, complete. (Check out the rest of this author's stuff too!)

you're built to fall (beautiful) - in between the struggles of figuring out life as sixteen-year-old caretaker of kids, Jet finds himself falling in love with a handsome merman. rated T, 8k, complete. Amazingly written <3

paint it red, they'll cover it up anyway - Jet and Zuko are both kindergarten teachers, and both dealing with a lot of complications in their life. and in love. Rated T, 34k, in-progress

Ba Sing Se

up in the city (until the stars lost the war) - canon divergent AU where Jet doesn't see Iroh heat the tea, and Zuko's a little more receptive to city life. Absolutely gorgeous series. Rated T, 50k, in-progress

(Dont) Lose yourself into me - another canon divergent AU! Featuring rebel shenanigans, betrayal and angst all laid out beautifully. Check out the author's other works too, there's some really good ones! Rated T, 80k, in-progress

clay kids - after a misunderstanding about Zuko's - or rather, Lee's - parentage, he and Jet form a relationship built on lies of omission. Rated T, 35k, in-progress

a lesson in new beginnings - the author's summary probably says it best: 'zuko has bad coping skills, jet has a hella crush, and war is hell. welcome to ba sing se.' Very sweet with plenty of angst, drama, and misunderstanding. Rated T, 6k, in-progress

Post-canon

Like The Fire In Your Heart - Zuko's carriage is ambushed by thieves, and he finds that his old friend Jet isn't as dead as certain playwrights would have him believe. Rated M, 9k, in-progress

Miscellaneous

learning how to use a weapon (& other such tragedies) - flood-based apocalypse au! Beautifully written, possibly one of the first jetko fics I read when I was first starting to like Jet as a character. Rated G, 11k, complete

heat and sand - by the same author as above, au where a race of winged beings live among humans, and wouldn't you know it, they're not exactly welcomed by the likes of Ozai. Zuko finds himself taken in by Jet and his freedom fighters. Rated G, 16k, two completed fics. Honestly check out the rest of the author's catalogue it's all A+

Hearthfire- Jet is taken prisoner by the Fire Nation after his village burns. Rather than be put to work or executed, he becomes the young Prince Zuko's ward and they form an unlikely relationship. rated T, in-progress, 41k, covers canon books 1-3.

Perpetual - Jet, not quite mid-redemption arc, kills a firebender. Zuko can't actually die. Jet decides to make this his own problem. Rated M, 180k, in-progress <3

Sthe song in the secret room - haha second lesbeanlatte work on here 😈 a modern/time travel au based off of the Disney channel show Secrets of Sulphur Springs, if it were PG-13 and involved gator-related manslaughter. Hilarious and heart-wrenching 💚 Rated M, 280k, complete

Some further additions found in this reblog

This list will probably get updated if I remember any more or read anything new. And not to shamelessly self-promote but I have a variety of jetko works of my own, linked here if you're interested at all. :)

[starlight-bread-blog]

Katara made it very clear that she never ever wants to see Yon Rah again and most of the Zutara fandom supports that decision of hers.

So I guess the possible downside of Katara choosing to marry Zuko means sharing Zuko's burden of reforming and rehabilitating depraved war criminals like Yon Rha and all those who are even worse than him.

Then there's this whole thing with Aaron Ehasz imagining Zuko being Azula's Iroh and she reforms in that way along with my and a few other's ideas of Aang showing her how open and master her own chakras. Speaking of Iroh, does anyone remember his ruthless and brutal 600-day siege anymore? There's no way he'd avoid dropping bodies that whole time.

Looks like Katara will ironically be taking Aang's advice about forgiveness after all but I don't think it'll be necessary for Katara to look for Yon Rah again and say so.

What do you think?

Tw: War crimes, genocide and nazism.

Disclaimer: I don't know what actually happened post canon. I tried to look on internet forums and it seems as the topic wasn't addressed in the comics. For this answer, I'm going under this assumption.

Sorry for not getting to this sooner, life got busy and I didn't want to give some half assed answer to such a delicate topic. There's a lot to comment on so I'll break this down step by step.

"Katara choosing to marry Zuko means sharing Zuko's burden of reforming and rehabilitating depraved war criminals"...

The fire nation commited atrocious war crimes, leaving them with with many war criminals. War crimes are more than punishable. If it were real life, neither Katara or Zuko would have to reform and rehabilitate any of them.

An example of this would be the Nuremberg trials after WW2. Even recently, in 2022, Irmgard Furchner (an 98 year old women) faced a trial for being a secretary of a concentration camp (to put it lightly, she was very much a murderer). No one is getting away with their actions.

I read the relevant section from a Red Cross's document titled "Analysis of the punishments applicable to international crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide) in domestic law and practice". (The section being "States’ obligations under IHL to prosecute and punish international crimes").

I found something interesting. (ID in alt text).

*Grave breaches are more serious, vile violations of humananitarian law. Everything above applies to "genocide and crimes against humanity".

If Katara were in a position of power in the Fire Nation, not only would she not have to reform anyone, she also might get to help with the trials for them.

"Then there's this whole thing with Aaron Ehasz imagining Zuko being Azula's Iroh"

I don't know about his plans for Aang's other ideas, so I can't comment on them. What I did find was a short thread of his. And after reading it, I maintain that – like most ideas – his vision can work with sensitive execution.

Azula was still very much a 14 year old victim of grooming when the series took place. Her brother can help her through her redemption under one condition – the desire to be better should come from her.

He shouldn't sit through any mistreatment whatsoever. He'll guide her through a path he already went through, but she has to walk with him. Azula needs to be safe for Zuko. Only then, redemption would be possible.

"does anyone remember [Iroh's] ruthless and brutal 600-day siege anymore?"

The difference between Iroh and Yon Rah is what they're up to now. In the present Yon Rah is just some guy living with his mother. Meanwhile Iroh took back Ba Sing Se from Fire Nation colonizers.

Yon Rah isn't out here fixing his mistakes, he just got off scot-free. On the other hand, Iroh is a changed man and took action to correct his past on the same scale.

At the end of the day redemtion isn't Aang's idea. It's one of the major themes of Atla. It wants to show that people can change and grow. So it does. Zuko changes, Mai changes, Ty Lee changes, and Iroh is their future.

He tried to conquer Ba Sing Se, and now he took it back from conquerors. He was the worst of them all, and now he's unrecognizable. He's warm, wise and sweet. There's a meaning to it.

That doesn't mean that war criminals in the current day, scums who made no affort, will get away with their crimes. That doesn't mean Katara would have to go through the mental torture of reforming her colonizers.

That is it! I hope I didn't come off as aggressive, I didn't mean to. Thank you for the ask, sorry for taking me forever to write this, and have a lovely day!

[quantumripple]

Figured it might be neat to give post-mortems of fics I’ve written (in no particular order)

Gonna call this Quantum’s Post-Moretem Mondays even though I’m almost certain I’m never going to post this again on a Monday (work was just suuuuper slow)

So to start off we’ve got Pen Pals: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51609454

Premise: in early 2010 Taylor and Sveta become pen pals (hence the name).

Very much the definition of a rarepair since there’s only one other Taylor/Sveta fic that I’m aware of and it’s not even tagged.

And honestly hot take: the reason it’s a rarepair is that it lowkey just does not work as a ship. Taylor and Sveta are just not compatible, Taylor is far too… her. Sveta deserves better honestly.

What I like about the fic:

The bits of humour always blindside me when I do a reread. This one definitely leans on the sort of online humour you sometimes get with lesbians. Particularly the meme of two girls commiserating you each other that they “wish they could get a gf frfr”

I also just stole some funny bits from worm and adapted them but idk if I should count those bc they were just yoinked from worm.

I’m pretty proud of the background plot that’s happening in the fic. It’s pretty fun to explore those through only the lens of texts between two people. Things diverge a little bit and we end up with Echidna happening early, but the fight goes a lot differently. Ends up being a much longer fight/conflict but upside is case 53 stuff didn’t get leaked. Taylor eventually ended it by tag-teaming with a few heroes, getting the right power combo. S9 shows up after and a while after they’re there Amy takes Victoria. Taylor, thinking the s9 did it went on the warpath, she broke into the prt hq and stole the Bakuda bombs which she used to take out a few members before she found Amy and Victoria, made Amy fix her, then just fully executed her.

What I don’t like:

Taylor is extremely out of character. She’s too like… it’s hard to explain but she’s too cutesy, or dorky in a way that doesn’t really fit with how she is in canon. Triple especially anytime they’re discussing feelings. Honestly the only parts of her that feels in character is latter on in the fic when it starts getting into the broader hero plot stuff.

Sveta is also pretty ooc but not quite as bad as Taylor. She’s a hard character to write because while yea she’s got a lot going on at the end of the day she’s just a really nice person and that’s hard to write out unless you want something super fluffy.

And speaking of: the fic is just way too fluffy for my tastes these days. Like I had to skim the final scene where they’re being all sappy and confessional bc it made me feel ill lmao.

What I would do if I were to redo/re-explore:

Honestly this might be one of my few fics where I’d just cop it and say that it kinda doesn’t work conceptually. Taylor and Sveta just aren’t really compatible without changing one or the other.

Honestly if I were returning to it I’d probably drop Sveta (sorry) and actually just focus on the Brockton Bay plot stuff. So it’d be Taylor joining the wards, getting frustrated and then leaving and teaming up w Victoria and the focus is more in them becoming friends. And the other changes with Echidna and the s9 could be fun to explore.

Or alternatively I keep Sveta and lean into the doomed nature of the relationship, have it be a much more deep exploration of their characters and how they could interact. Follow Sveta as she makes an online friend but slowly realise that this friend of hers is weirdly violent as a cape. Have that introduce a lot more friction with Sveta judging Taylors methods more and more and Taylor just getting really defensive etc. and like…. It wouldn’t even need to have a bad ending per se. It would just be them realising that they’re really not compatible and that getting this invested in each other was a bad idea. Or the super good ending where Sveta comes around to Taylor’s way of thinking and they wage bloody war against evil, that could also be p fun. And not entirely impossible especially if Taylor is literally Svetas only friend.

Final thoughts:

This is one of those fics that still gets the odd random comment on ao3 which makes me remember it more often than other fics despite the fact that I don’t really have much to say/think about the fic beyond what I’ve already thrown up. It sits in my mind as a firm “basically ok, has its moments”

Curious to know what others think of it because honestly I barely do. I think I just picked it bc it was one of my shorter fics and sfw so I could read it between waiting for stuff to happen at work.

[thefastestelementalmasteralive]

procrastinating school work so let me talk about my starwars (Anakin) aus

There's that lion!Vader Au, if I named it I don't remember the name but basically, either Anakin doesn't tell Padme where he's going or she doesn't go to Mustafar. might actually have R2D2 with Padme as her bodyguard or Anakin just didn't want r2 to know what he did to the separatist leaders. anakin doesn't come back from Mustafar because when he leaves the planet, the force decides 'okay, enough atrocities for the next... two decades.' and transforms him into a lion and sends him to a green planet. Sidious finds him a year later and decides to just build a gladiator ring and throw him in there to execute the people he wants dead on television.

19 years later Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Padme, Cody, and Rex all get captured and are sentenced to be executed as a group with some other non-important people. Anakin eats the non-important people and vaguely recognizes some but tries to kill Luke and Leia because he doesn't recognize them.

SITS au - sith in the senate au - me trying to explore my favorite arc (mortis) and what would have happened if Anakin left with the son (and the daughter) and the father let Ahsoka and Obi-wan go thirty minutes later but Anakin is nowhere in sight when they go back to the real world. this is also the au where the Tusken massacre is really addressed in this au, in others it didn't happen, obviously in lion!vader it did since it only changes in rots. i don't know if it's really a character study that I'm doing for this au but I'm actually writing an essay on Anakin for my writing class and I'm so using elements from this for that and from that for this.

(please- someone stop me from making Barriss run away from the Jedi and Anakin adopting Barriss after she ends up on Tatooine and Anakin gets over his initial feeling of 'YOU D:<')

14!au. i have no other name for it as of right now.

anakin gets found by Palpatine and Shmi dies (i think) but surely its not you Pal Friendpatine's fault :0

Anyway, Palpatine finds Anakin at like... 5 and adopts him and brings him on his path to becoming chancellor and then the clone wars start at the Naboo blockade, Palpatine started cloning **early**. no, I have no idea how old Jango Fett is, why do you ask? anakin befriends some of the clones and takes an interest in politics because he thinks he can convince then senate to stop creating clones and just recruit normal civilians to the army.

this au is inspired by Hazbin Hotel song 'you didn't know' and some brave group of clones tries to plead their case to the senate, ankin watches in on it, nala se mentions the chips in the kaminoan rebuttal of clone rights and Anakin FREAKS. palpatine tries to calm him saying 'they are to control them, they're dangerous otherwise' and basically dooms himself. also, Anakin specifically has wings. see, I subscribe to the thinking of 'Anakin can shapeshift due to his unstable DNA' Edit: I Found it! @thewildballyntynesgrow or mballyntyne on Ao3 with their series 'A Wild Thing to Tame'. Anakin leaves taking a majority of the coruscant guard with him and goes back to Tatooine and starts freeing a whole bunch of planets over the years. the meeting in the senate takes place when he is fourteen, the empire starts when he is seventeen. Anakin adopts Boba and Galen Marek. anakin and the freed outer rim either hide rebel bases or use their revolutions as distractions for the empire.

Retconned rebel Anakin Au. aka, Barriss is the same age as Anakin and befriends him and Ferus eventually befriends him, and Anakin is closer to those two and some others than Obi-wan and Ahsoka (who is Obi-wan's padawan) Barriss never bombs the temple, the empire rises but the original empire dies like a year into the reign and another emperor rises.... Emperor Obi-wan Kenobi and his daughter Ahsoka how are both overly attached to rebel leader Anakin Skywalker and are both trying to adopt him and turn him to their side... by kidnapping Anakin's family. (rexanidala). anakin adopts so many kids, most of them are force-sensitive and want to fight so he lets them reluctantly but those not young enough to choose or fight are sent to live with Rex, Padme, Luke, Leia, and their grandparents; Dooku and Plo.

Ventress and Anakin Swap au, sort of. anakin got nabbed from his mom by Dooku. Dooku never found Ventress, Obi-wan does instead. Obi does not train Ventress but they are friends forever after. ventress tries forcefully redeeming the seventeen-eighteen year old Sith lord and it only sort of works. he defects but really only after he finds out about the slavery in creating battle droids. Anakin isn't really a separatist general, he just has a specialized group of droids that he rebuilds after fights with Jedi. he never fights clones with droids.

after defecting Anakin plans with Ventress and decides to free the outer rim then take the former slaves that will join him and start up a third party to the war. inspired by 'blood oath' by the art of pleasing princes.

okay so for this next au, named Anakin Umakkar, The rain storm. sources are ADragonsFriend and @fialleril or fialleril on a03, and @clawedandcute or ClawedandCute (Adi_Fire) on a03. and songs this au is inspired by for this au is (and in order) Puppeteer, Done For, Hell is Forever, There are Other Ways, What Did I Miss? and Respectless.

Umakkar was a name I first read about in a book called 'Elder sisters' by ADragonsFriend. I first heard about Ekkreth in Fialleril's books. the concept of Anakin staying on Tatooine was inspired by ClawedandCute's book and au 'The Accidental Sith'

Anyway, Qui-gon and the queen's ship never stops on Tatooine, but the clone wars do not start early. a solid two months into the Clone Wars, it is revealed that Jabba the Hutt has been dead for a year, and Tatooine has freed itself from the huts. Senator Padme Amidala and Jedi Obi-wan Kenobi (and Padawan Ahsoka Tano) are sent to Tatooine to try to get Tatooine to align with the republic. now please listen to Puppeteer and Done For (no, Anakin does not turn any clones into pigs, just like any non-clone serving in the army ). once Obi-wan draws his lightsaber on Anakin, Anakin just swipes it away, unhurt, and has him and other... three (Cody, Padme, and Ahsoka)locked up until he decided to hear them out. (cue hell is forever, the last lines being, "the freed outer rim has found both the separatists and the republic to be the enemy" ya know due to their armies) then when it looks like Anakin is gonna do something to them to send a message to the republic, Obi-wan pleads with him and mentions the Sith Dooku mentioned and any evil smile on Anakin's face slips away into annoyance "Sidious, huh?" and in 'There are other ways' fashion tells obi-wan about Mortis and other wells in the force that might be better for the Jedi to focus at. when asked why he had that reaction to the 'Sidious' character, he implies that Sidious has reached out to him to join either side of the war, like once per side.

he sends Obi-Wan and the Clones that want to return on their way and a year later decides that enough is enough and heads to Coruscant under the pretense of negotiating. palpatine sets up a committee to welcome Tatooine to the republic only for 'respectless' to happen and Anakin starts arguing with Orn Free Taa, then Palpatine himself and once Palpatine leaves, turns to the Jedi in the room and says "yeah, you might want to look into that..." and leaves.

Detached Mortis god au: inspired by the ocean saga

switching up the timeline here, Rako Hardeen happens, the Wrong Jedi arc happens, *Then* mortis happens. Anakin is alone on Mortis, he decides to stay, Padme is pregnant, the empire rises, Padme survives and joins the rebellion, Ahsoka becomes Fulcrum. Obi-wan joins the rebellion to help train Luke and Leia. Luke, Leia, Han, Ezra and some others start on a mission, but it starts off rough. Ezra decides to pray to a Force Diety he or Ahsoka met once and the diety appears and decides to grant them safe passage to the actual start of the mission as long as they keep Ahsoka, who they meet up with later on the mission, safe. if they accept and fail, another god is going to have a really big problem with them. they accept and all goes well until the last day of the mission, everything falls apart and Ahsoka is separated from the group and captured. the gang decides they need to go back to base to think and plan. on their way back their ship is seemingly attacked but they cant tell by what, they crash land at base and get out of the ship, not the falcon, only to meet two dragon-like-creatures, and a portal opens and a very pissed Anakin steps out. he kidnaps a bunch of rebels and puts them in the world between worlds and tells them they only get their people back when Ahsoka is safe. Obi-Wan and Padme only make it to the hangar this goes down once Anakin has stepped back through the portal.

[acquired-stardust]

Game Spotlight #13: Nioh 2: Complete Edition (2020)

Acquired Stardust's first game spotlight of the new year is here! Come along with Ash on a long look into one of the greatest games of the past generation and a little bit of a look into where its influences, and even its overall genre, lie.

As previously discussed, I think Nioh is a title that lives and dies by its comparisons to Dark Souls. Director Fumihiko Yasuda has been transparent in his admission that Nioh was inspired by Dark Souls, and the influence is clear. As a matter of fact I don't think it's a stretch to say that after a decade in development hell it's likely due to the success of Dark Souls that Nioh was able to see the light of day in the first place. Team Ninja cleverly designed the opening hours of Nioh 1 to appeal to fans of the smash hit Souls series with eerie, tense enemy introductions and a slow combat system that eventually gives way to a deep and fast action game by the time the opening hours of the game are up, at which point players coming to Nioh simply for more Dark Souls are lead to one of two conclusions: either 'this isn't Dark Souls and that sucks' or 'this isn't Dark Souls and that's awesome'.

The slow burn of Nioh revealing its identity to the player as not just a mere Soulslike, instead an unmistakable fusion of Blizzard's Diablo and Team Ninja's own previous success Ninja Gaiden, is a satisfying one. Seeing a game go from standing in the shadow of another massive success to one with its own impressive vision and execution all in a single game, within the space of just a few hours, was one of the coolest experiences I've had with a game. It's my pleasure to report that Nioh 2 doubles down on everything that made the first game special, and represents an official divergence from the label of Soulslike into a little-discussed larger genre known as 'masocore'.

"Masocore" is a large umbrella, a broad style of game and design philosophy, with titles that span a variety of genres from precision platformers to action games and everything in between. And while you may not have heard the term before it's not a new phenomenon per se as you're likely more familiar with the saying 'Nintendo hard' that hearkens back to the era of the Nintendo Entertainment System when games were often cryptic and overly punishing in their designs. It is the goal of masocore games to deliver those sorts of punishing and oppressive experiences to players so that the eventual triumph feels all the sweeter. Not every developer has the vision and expertise to deliver on the promise of the genre - not so with Nioh which saw an incredible utilization of the nature of masocore titles to effectively communicate not just its brutal setting but provide a deep sense of immersion to its gameplay. While many developers simply wear the masocore aesthetic as a gimmick, Team Ninja utilized it expertly in the original Nioh title and continues to do so in its sequel.

It's also important to note that while you may not have heard of the masocore term, Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda most certainly has and while he has freely admitted the influence Dark Souls had on his project he's never actually called the games Soulslikes - he instead refers to them himself as masocore titles. The label of 'Soulslikes' was inevitably but perhaps unfairly attached to Nioh from the start, but is certainly unwarranted for Nioh 2 which represents a bold step forward in both vision and execution for a series that already shined bright in these areas and a complete divergence from any attempt to bridge the gap between fans of Dark Souls and Nioh, proudly wearing its vision on its sleeve from the start.

Featuring every single mechanic from Nioh 1, an already staggering number of ways to interact with a game of surprising and impressive length, Nioh 2 does indeed double down on all of them. On top of every weapon type from the previous title returning with new and reworked abilities as well as three stances (each with their own movesets attached to them), Nioh 2 adds a whopping four additional melee weapon types along with new ninjutsu and onmyo magic techniques as well as making both of those categories much more viable for use. The Living Weapon and Guardian Spirit mechanics make a return and has seen a significant expansion, replacing its upgraded moveset per weapon with three unique forms with movesets tied to them based on the classification of the currently equipped spirit (that's Brute, Feral and Phantom classes) each with their own Burst Counter unique to each class of guardian spirit. Burst Counters are a new mechanic that allows the player to interrupt big telegraphed enemy attacks (always associated with a red glow) and create an opening for offense, with the counter using a small portion of the new Anima gauge.

The Anima gauge is also used for the game's most impressive and obvious addition to the gameplay formula with Yokai Abilities, which sees enemies have a chance to drop a Soul Core which can be equipped to your Guardian Spirit (for a total of up to three different cores) and allow you to perform an attack based on the particular enemy you obtained the Soul Core from. There is an impressive number of these Soul Cores in the game, with the majority of enemies being able to drop them, and each comes with an array of passive effects (some of which baked in and inherent to the particular enemy type, some of which are randomized) tied to the Soul Core which adds an astounding number of additional opportunities for customization. Just as well there are the new Demon Scrolls, items obtained starting only on the game's first run of New Game Plus (of which there are 5 total difficulties, each with their own escalating recommended levels as well as featuring remixed and new encounters).

Demon Scrolls drop randomly from enemies, similar to Soul Cores, and give the player a repeatable arena-style fight with predetermined enemies that ultimately turns the Scroll into an equippable item with an increasing number of passive bonuses depending on the tier of rarity of the Scroll. These encounters, repeatable, can be utilized to farm Soul Cores and items from specific enemies but also allow the player to reroll one effect from the Scroll upon subsequent completions of the battle.

It isn't only the gameplay systems that have seen an impressive expansion and upgrade that doubles down on the original's vision. Opening in the middle of the Sengoku as opposed to the tail end of it like in Nioh 1, we are treated to a surprising and impressive character creation suite with lots of room to create your own character or even attempt to recreate one from various media before being launched into its significantly more complex story.

Opening with our protagonist having a chance meeting with a young Kinoshita Tokichiro, one of history's least likely success stories and most fascinating people, the base game storyline of Nioh 2 chronicles his meteoric rise through the rigid social strata of the turbulent Sengoku era Japan in a roughly 60 year period before his eventual fall. The story features a higher number of active characters and even deeper ties to real-world history, as well as many instances of toying with history and verging into alt-history in fun ways and culminates in a surprisingly touching way before picking back up in an awesome epilogue and its three DLC episodes.

It is unafraid to throw gamers headfirst into the complex web of events and does not hold the player's hand through the twists and turns of territorial gains and political allegiance swaps, in part because it offers a surprisingly robust encyclopedia that features entries on each and every character in the game that unlocks subsequent lore entries as you advance through the game for those who would like to really study the events of the game which largely mirror actual history. As an aside the game sees my favorite integration of face scanned actors in all of gaming, which often feels like hollow and distracting celebrity cameos to me. The casting of Naoto Takenaka as Tokichiro is a particular stroke of genius in this regard, as the actor has played the historical figure several times previously in live action and his unique voice, sounding less like an overly polished voice actor and more like a person you could actually talk to in the real world, lends a remarkably genuine human element to an otherwise larger than life character.

Nioh 2's encyclopedia also extends to the game's large variety of enemies, again split between human and the demonic Yokai, with the majority of Yokai based on actual Japanese mythology. These Yokai have their own language that is heard and seen through undecipherable subtitles upon picking up a Soul Core, with enough Soul Cores having the benefit of translating the aforementioned subtitles and providing a little more insight into the particular Yokai.

Speaking of the different enemy types and changes to the game, Nioh 2 features a drastically higher ratio of Yokai enemies than the original game and marks another real divergence point in how it feels to play. Yokai, who's ki must be depleted before there are real guaranteed openings to attack them (with said ki only being able to be reduced through risky attacks you shouldn't fully commit to lest you tempt a swift death), are prone to otherwise unpredictable amounts of hyper armor that ignore the hitstun of your attacks. They most certainly require a different mindset and skillset to battle, and the huge increase in Yokai enemies may deter some players but it does offer a lot more opportunity for various elements of the game to shine. Tonfa in particular, which eventually allow for the player to animation cancel significantly more often than other weapons, provide a really engaging sense of interaction against these lethal enemies.

With the increase in Yokai enemies comes an unavoidable fact: Nioh 2 is considerably harder than the first entry on a base level. Enemies are harder to interact with in favorable manners and are faster, often with wider ranging attacks radiuses and trickier animations. Burst Counters and Yokai Abilities added into the mix also highlight the issue of input bloat from the first title that has only gotten worse with the increase in difficulty and overall game speed. While certainly absolutely more challenging and even challenging in meta ways like input bloat I do not consider this a flaw per se - it is merely a mild growing pain in the long journey towards mastery of the game mechanics that is, of course, part and parcel with the masocore genre. You are meant to be challenged and feel like survival, nevermind comfortability, are impossibilities and that feeling of danger helps sell the story, world and their stakes incredibly well. Mastery over the game's overwhelming number of mechanics and potential interactions is a long road but more satisfying than almost any other game I've had the pleasure of experiencing.

Of course, this being The Complete Edition, Nioh 2 does feature three DLC episodes bringing more story content and side missions that explore other fondly regarded periods of Japanese history and further utilize the characteristics of the masocore genre to make a very salient point about history: there is no utopian past from which we have strayed. Frantic soldiers in the Genpei War lament their helplessness, villages burn and their inhabitants are massacred, and discrimination sets people down the path of bloody revenge. While there may indeed be heroes and heroism, life has and always will be a brutal struggle against the harsh realities of nature as well as against our own worst instincts. These expansions to the base game are each as fascinating and satisfying as the base game, and can feel just as meaty with the content included, which is a real testament to the overall vision and its execution.

While much has been made of Nioh's connections to and divergence from the Soulslike label, its connections to Diablo and Team Ninja's previous outing in the 3D Ninja Gaiden games run far deeper. In fact while many of the references made in the first Nioh have been retained (such as cameos from series regular Muramasa with the same design as in those games as well as Nioh's small treasure chests' designs being directly lifted from the Ninja Gaiden games) there are even more that have been included in Nioh 2. The Tsuchigumo ninja, rival clan to Ninja Gaiden's protagonist clan, see a glorious return to gaming complete with their eponymous Yokai making an appearance. Ninja Gaiden 2 (2008) opens with an enemy throwing hatchets at protagonist Ryu Hayabusa and Nioh 2 manages to include the same hatchets as a new usable weapontype complete with a weapon throwing mechanic for them. The masocore genre existed long before Dark Souls became synonymous with it and there was a time Team Ninja was thought of as being the kings of it in the days of a waning scene for Japanese games, perceived as being well into a decline in the aughts.

The rise of the blockbuster shooter in the mid to late 2000s completely changed the discourse around video games for one simple reason: it introduced so many people to gaming that many of the people talking about games now simply weren't around then, and many who were around then were likely too young to be playing much beyond what completely gripped the entire mainstream gaming scene at the time. A million games came and went while the likes of Gears of War, Halo and Call of Duty monopolized our collective playtime and this time in gaming is poorly remembered because of it. One such example of this is the way in which Dark Souls has become quite so synonymous with 'hard games', to the point that even Crash Bandicoot, returning to prominence thanks to a wonderful remaster of the original trilogy, has often been called "the Dark Souls of platformers" despite its entire existence playing out well before Dark Souls was born.

Nioh's bucking of the monopoly From Software's Dark Souls (along with Sekiro and Elden Ring - perhaps spotlights for another time) have on our perception of and conversation around hard games is significant, and its place among the upper echelon of masocore titles is simply undeniable. Bigger and better in almost every conceivable way than its already fantastic and extremely dense predecessor, Nioh 2 is easily able to keep you busy for several hundred hours provided you're willing to give it that much time. It's also developed with multiplayer in mind in a significantly deeper way from enemy attack animations to the push and pull of the Assist Gauge as well as a reliable scaling down of player stats if there are large discrepancies to keep things relatively on the rails, making for a wonderful experience with up to two other players across the vast majority of its missions.

Nioh 2 is unquestionably worth every minute you're willing to put into it, and likely even more no matter how much you've spent on it. The sheer breadth of the experience is almost too much to describe and encapsulate in this spotlight - it needs to be experienced first hand to be truly understood.

A gem hidden among the stones, Nioh 2 is undoubtedly stardust.

--Ash

[yurisorcerer]

Starting my AWC Gacha Challenge off with a fucking bang right here.

I've been peripherally aware of the Uma Musume / Pretty Derby franchise for years. I actually checked the first season of the anime out back when it was new and remember not being super impressed (I think I found the trainer annoying? It's been quite a while since then), but I was put on to the existence of this four-part OVA, and a film related to it, by a friend, and it happened to fit both the "watch an anime with the 'athletics' tag" and "watch an anime whose romanized title starts with 'U'" criteria, so I thought I'd knock out two birds with one stone.

Can I just say? This shit is CRAZY. Danny Devito I Get It GIF. I have seen the light. I'm a believer.

I have long said I don't really "click" with sports anime, and that's proven true up until now. Maybe I just needed something in a more streamlined format? Maybe I just needed girls with fun character designs? Either way, this shit fucking slaps. Being an OVA focused on a competitive sport, there's not a ton of focus on "plot" per se, but the basic rundown is that Uma Musume's characters are horse kemonomimi, named after actual, historical racehorses in the real world, who run competitive footraces. Obviously, we follow a few of them on their road to victory.

These first two episodes follow a broadly similar format where the first 2/3rds of the episode is characterization for our three leads and the last third or so is the race itself, which is an incredible exercise in just absolute top-shelf action animation, to the point where that phrasing feels like selling it short. Like, I'm not a "sakuga head" as such in that it's not the main thing I look for in an anime, but I recognize fucking game when I see it and the lightning adrenaline channeled through these races is just a really rare thing, especially in the contemporary landscape. A lot of the more restrained 'character acting' animation is really excellent too, both in the obviously human movements the girls have but also the *in*human movements; the show never forgets that these are *horse*girls so a lot of them emote with their ears, it's honestly really endearing and helps the inherently somewhat goofy setting feel real in a way it would not if less care were put into it.

About the girls themselves, I said there are three main characters. I really like two of them. One, T.M. Opera O (whose historical namesake was at one point the highest-earning racehorse on Earth), is just a fucking crackerjack execution of one of my favorite kinds of character: she's amazing at what she does, and she fucking knows it. She's a showboat, but she's a *likeable* showboat. She's an artist and the racetrack is her canvas. It's her performance, we're all just here to watch it, and she knows it. Also she has what I will call "prince girl" aesthetics and hope you get it. She's awesome. If I have to pick a single favorite character, it's her, hands down, no competition. She wins the race at the end of episode 1 and if this were my show she'd also win the races in episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5, even though there's only four episodes. She's my fucking GOAT. I love this theatrical horse.

One of the others, Admire Vega, is very much a different thing. She's got a fairly serious and reserved personality. She also, we learn in episode 2, has mood swings, which she feels are in fact the feelings of her stillborn sister. I was not prepared for something this heavy---and honestly, this soap opera-y---to show up in this series, but it works surprisingly well in terms of giving her a motivation that feels like it makes sense. She wins the race in episode 2 and for the first time in the OVA's run we see her looking genuinely contented with a broad, serene expression on her face. It's lovely.

Now, there are three leads and I've just described two of them. Unfortunately, Top Road, who is actually supposed to be *the* main character I believe, is the least interesting to me. She wants to win because a lot of people believe in her and she feels like she owes her trainer. I get this as a motive intellectually but something's just kind of missing for me, yet. I WANT to like her, and after watching her get her spirit completely crushed twice in a row I definitely *feel bad* for her (especially as of the end of episode 2, where she cries one of the most pathetic-looking cries I've ever seen animated. Poor girl), but I'm not at the point where I'm actually rooting for her over Vega or Opera yet. Still, I'm hoping I'll get there. There are two episodes left which I'm tentatively planning to watch tomorrow. I'm excited! This is really fun!

[thatgirl4815]

I really hope that the lyrics of the song Ray was singing in the record store is not foreshadowing for the finale. I'm a bit scared though because the song lyrics they picked in this series seems to be pretty literal as far. I read somewhere on twitter that the director said no one dies, but there is still the possibility of a metaphorical death if Ray decides to give up on a healthy mental state and just stop caring about being alive in case his relationship with Sand doesn't work. If the creators decide to put in this dramatic turn I would accept if it's executed well and the scenes are coherent and logical, but I would still be sad. Don't have big hopes right now though.

I know that scene with Ray singing at the record store is played for laughs, but I agree that the specific lyrics he sings are actually quite reflective of SandRay's situation...

"If today I have your love to refuel me

I might have enough energy to move forward

If only my heart had been filled with love

I wouldn't have died"

It's also sad because I imagine Ray listening to this song by himself and really relating to those lyrics, especially in the wake of the therapy scene in Ep10.

I'm feeling fairly certain that things will work out alright between Sand and Ray because of the emotional investment that the series has very intentionally built up. Again, if BOEING of all people is the one who breaks them apart and leads to Ray being alone, that would feel like an incredibly cheap ending. Not to mention, I think it would also lessen the impact of that beautiful scene to end Ep10. That's yet another reason why I wish we would've had Boeing enter the conflict earlier--Ep10 feels like peak conflict for Sand and Ray given the weight of Ray's addiction and his acknowledgment of his feelings for Sand. This conflict feels lesser by comparison, which doesn't mean it isn't a valid conflict per se, but in my mind it does not compare to the sheer impact of the apartment fight, the imaginary Sand scene, and the apology scene to follow at the beginning of Ep11.

Also, for me personally, if Top and Mew end up together but Sand and Ray don't make it, I think that would be the biggest punch to the face. Sand and Ray's storyline is, in my opinion, so much more poignant; for it to end on a hopeless note would almost feel like a betrayal atp.

[samaeljigoku]

001: silent hill and 003: for Helen from clock tower?

Favorite character: Walter, Maria and Heather are probably my top 3.

Least Favorite character: Andrew from SH4 deserved to be a rotting ghost forever. Dr. Kaufmann in SH1 / 0, Alex's parents from Homecoming. I don't hate them as characters, but I find Dahlia and Leonard Wolf to be unforgivable.

Favourite ships (canon or non-canon): Harry x Cybil should've been more of a thing. Harry x Lisa, Henry x Walter, Henry x Eileen, Anne x Murphy from Downpour. Cynthia x Walter is a dark and troubled but interesting one, potentially.

Not a romantic ship, but I like the idea of Heather and Valtiel as a human-monster team. He should've gotten a magical girl outfit too.

Character I would be best friends with: I think Harry, Heather, Angela, and Lisa would all make amazing friends. Maybe Anne and Maria. Eddie also seems like he would be a fun person to hang out with in better circumstances, tbh.

A random thought: I've always thought there should be a Native American protagonist in SH. The series dips into Native American mythology, but it's never explored beyond vague historical pieces, which I think is a shame.

An unpopular opinion: I love the Western games. The concepts for Homecoming and DP were perfect fits, just executed in a mixed, flawed way. I also liked The Short Message, but it had some similar problems.

I also hate the way SH2 characters are discussed compared to other games? There is far more nuance to James than being a wife-hating monster. He's not a saint, but he's not a demon either. He has a lot of flaws and sympathetic qualities too. And the way the female cast is discussed by fans is sometimes so depressing and disappointing, especially for a fairly progressive series like SH. (Not that those fans have actually played the games, but still.)

Most badass character: Minmo the cat. :3 No, jk. I think the fact that Henry can wield an axe and fight through a serial killer's dreamscape while sleep-deprived is impressive. Heather and Cybil of course go here. Lisa's strength is under-rated too. She seemingly fought against that nurse parasite for a long time, and was able to take down Kaufmann even while possessed by it.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Any human being with Stanley Coleman. In-canon, Kaufmann and Lisa. She deserves better and I wish someone had gotten her away from him.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): The victims in SH4, and their relevance to Walter Sullivan. It's fairly vital info that gets left out. If you didn't read the extra material, the game would never tell you that Cynthia and Jasper actually DID have ties to Walter or the cult, even if small ones, before his killing spree. The game also poorly explains Jimmy Stone's relevance, who was Walter's first victim.

Favourite friendship: Well, not friendships per se, but I've always loved the banter with Heather and Douglas or Vincent. Or the bond between Alessa and Claudia, maybe the truest friendship of the series.

------------ Helen from Clock Tower:

How I feel about this character: Under-rated!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I guess it would have to be Jennifer? Not sure of anyone else.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I know this is a result of localization, but she shares a name with the Maxwell family in Ghost Head, and I think it would be interesting if there were some connection there. It would tie the games together more closely!

[simplylove101]

2024 Horror Challenge: [43/?]

↳“Something's happening in that part of the lake." Caddo Lake (2024) dir. Logan George & Celine Held

Plot: When an 8-year-old girl disappears on Caddo Lake, a series of past deaths and disappearances begin to link together, altering a broken family's history.

Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Lauren Ambrose & Eric Lange

This one is another stretch for this challenge I'll admit. Ik there's definitely been quite a few this year like that for me so Idk what to say, but at least with this one I have a good reason to cheat. This movie is M. Night Shyamalan-produced and the trailer was giving slowburn horror vibes. I think there could be an argument for it still being counted as that maybe, but only if there had been any actual scares. lol As far as I'm concerned, most of the movie is giving mystery drama with a twist. But I also think this is a good way to let people who haven't watched it yet understand what they're getting into. I totally get that the main plot of the movie is like one big spoiler beyond the Anna character disappearing but what's frustrating is that it takes almost an hour before we get to really realize the sci-fi part is happening. You can guess there's an element like that based on the trailer, sure, but the execution was a little too slow getting to the point a bit for me. I tried getting invested with the characters since the leads are both people I like watching, in particular Dylan O'Brien (IYKYK lol), but like I said, I just felt like I was waiting for the real plot to get going. That said, the acting was solid enough. I don't think it was enough to really save it tbh, but Dylan & Eliza do their best to carry this as the leads, especially Eliza. She really is one of the best of her generation so props to her being able to do so much with so little to work with. I think the plot twist(s) aren't too hard to figure out once the movie gets to a certain point since there's some obvious clues throughout but also logistically, I was still a little confused. lol And I can't really tell if it makes much sense or not either, even if it's not that hard to figure out per se. Overall, it was kinda just mid for me personally. I will say it's cool they filmed it on the actual Caddo Lake and they were able to use its aesthetic to really sell that part of the story. So, that could count as a highlight I guess. But yeah, if it wasn't for the people involved, I probably wouldn't checked it out or kept watching, but it was okay enough for that reason alone. Not the worst watch ever, but out the movies I've seen with any kind of Shyamalan involvement this year (producer or not), this was my least fave. Anyway, that's all I've got. Can't say I'd recommend it tbh but then maybe if you're curious about the twist, a one time watch is fine?? Idk. lmao Just keep expectations low I guess?

[veenvss]

Night Court

The Family 4/8

day court | spring court | main masterlist | worldbuilding masterlist

ACOTAR to me has always had so much potential but it was just ruined by it's execution. however, I am a grown woman (I'm 18) and I also have free time so I though, "Huh, why not do it myself?"

Hi.

This is a post on the Night Court and its royal family.

The Night Court is the northernmost court in Prythian and it's current High Lord is Rhysand. The Court is technically split into three. The east is governed by the "Court of Nightmares" which is led by Keir and the north is run by the Illyrians, who live in separate tribes. The west is governed by Rhysand and his friends.

Rhys is never given a last name, like many other characters in the series, so I'm obviously going to give him one. Rhys, as a name is Welsh, and it's pronounced "Ree-se", cause "y" is actually a vowel in the Welsh language. I gave him the surname Rhydderch, which is from the Old Welsh "Riderch" which is likely to be derived from "ri" meaning "king" and "derch" meaning "exalted". The name can also be linked to Roderick. I also don't like Rhys so that's why I gave him a "Rhy Rhy" name.

There are three other people in Rhys' family, his father, his mother and his younger sister.

I called his father Gruffudd Rhydderch as the "udd" means "lord, prince" and he was the High Lord of the Night Court.

I named his mother Eluned Rhydderch. Eluned means "image, idol". I think that she had an Illyrian name but after her marriage, she ended changing her name to fit in with the high society she was then forced into.

I called his sister Ffion Rhydderch, even though Ffion is a more modern name. It means "foxglove" and I think it's just a very sweet for girl who was murdered and beheaded.

Rhys' family doesn't just stop there, as Mor is his cousin. I'm gonna say it's more like a second cousin like Rhys' dad was Keir's cousin instead of them being brothers. Morrigan is an Irish name, and in Irish mythology, she's a goddess who was associated with war, destiny and fertility. I'm going out here on a wild headcanon because Velaris and the CoN have been separated for so long that they've developed different cultures which shows how distant they've become from each other.

Keir is a Scottish name, which would be cool cause geographically, the Night Court is in the same place as Scotland but also, Mor is right there and she's more important to the story that Keir is so Irish it is.

Mor's mother is Saorlaith Mohan. Saorlaith means "free ruler". I thought it was ironic that she's trapped in a most likely abusive marriage and she came from a most likely abusive family and then repeated the cycle with her daughter.

Mor's brother is Faolan Mohan. Faolan means "little wolf". Mohan is an anglicised form of O Mochain.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

isn't the book flawed then ? bcuz it doesn't really change things but it's like. the agency have memories of killing those gov officials but they're aware their memories are wrong, so the book isn't. like. foolproof

Hmm. I wouldn't say "flawed" per se, but you do raise a very interesting point here.

It appears the Book changed the flow of events, but not cognition. It changed physical reality to have the Agency in the place of the terrorists, but it doesn't change their state of mind. The only reason the government and law enforcement believed it wholeheartedly was because of the specific condition that prevented them from digging too deeply into their potential innocence.

So this is really interesting because it seems the Book distinguishes commands to change the physical reality and commands to change cognition; it seems you may have to be quite specific there. The Agency was only "revealed" as the terrorists. But they were not written to believe they actually did it. Conversely, the police were written to believe it. No one else in the world has been affected, so they are free to make their own judgements.

As for why they got the memories, we know the Book requires causal consistency (read: calls on a parallel world), so I'm suspecting the memories flowed in just enough to maintain causality (they only seem to remember the build up to and moment of the execution), but because the minds weren't altered, they now have a set of parallel memories. I wish this had been pulled on more in the series tbh. Imagine remembering two sets of events at once, except one of them is an entirely false instance that the world is now accusing you for. Yikes.

Does this make sense?

[fruitsofhell]

Actually I'm bored so I'm gonna follow up with what I said in the last rb's tags.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to add depth to a character in headcanon, but you do gotta respect that more depth wasn't like a missing component to an original work sometimes.

Like I write complex Kirby headcanon out the wazoo, but with a very distinct understanding that 1) I dont think I'm doing this to "improve" much because I'm satisfied with (99.8% of) this series' writing, and 2) That the writing I'm doing is in a style incompatible with how canon just works. I dream of story-dense drama-heavy Kirby Lore RPGS, but that's cause that's a me thing, Hal doesn't make those and I know they never will.

They also just don't WRITE things traditionally, the framing device of the series is often centered around Kirby, so through the eyes of an innocent child if often the mode of expression. And that's what makes this series this series and WHY I write headcanon for it. It's a great starting point, but that doesn't mean I think my landing point is more superior. I'm a big proponent that more detail =/= better with writing which is often why I fixate on mechanics of children's media, cause it's a real skill to pack so many ideas into short, simplistic stories. That's why I like Kirby so much, I think the team is masterful at that, not at writing sprawling political sci-fantasy operas.

What Kirby does is it alludes to those space opera elements in a way specifically meant to spark the imagination, but that's not a page left blank, it's more of giving you an extra notepad and pencil at the end of a story. When Taranza finishes his sad fairytale role of a misunderstood crony, and the rest of the series portrays him as depressed after everything said and extracted from KTD, they're not bastardizing him because they're not continually writing him new lore. Like, they're done-zo with his character and that's fine. They're just showing him like that so you understand the state he was left in after his arc finished, and you can personally extrapolate from there if you wish. He is not supposed to have anymore to his character than what was done in his story, now it's your turn to mess with him and give him whatever extra stuff you like, but that's intentionally left for you.

This isn't actually what the previous reblog was about per se, but in a way I think what Kirby does is a fun building upon the purely fairytale/fable writing of something like The Lorax. The games already have strong execution of their themes, and then a lot of hidden extra detail to give a fun amount of depth and pathos for more mature fans, and then that allusion lends itself to interpretation and speculation. All while still being able to execute an about similarly simple story on the surface (with action-adventure science-fantasy aspects ofc).

[worldismyne]

Kay Soul Eater fans, finally finished Fire Force

Between the shift in tone and the way they developed the characters, I'm still of the opinion Soul Eater > Fire Force.

But below the cut are my pros and cons for it as a lore prequel

Pros...

The concept of The Evangelist being driven mad by humanity's negative desires and that being the precurser to Asura. I liked the idea of Asura being a Fury driven made by conflicting ideals of justice, driven to fear his own father due to how humanity persieved him for my own fics. The Evangelist was just that, with elements of Asura's design in it, so I'm going to go ahead and say headcanon confirmed.

Arthur's hope and dellusions making Excalibur. Having a creature born from humanity's desire to do good and watch over the new world beginning to end was sweet. And also he was a crazy lil shit the whole time? Perfect.

The cyclical nature of the world. (I.E. the birth and deaths of new worlds being more symbolic of great change, rather than the actual end of the world). This lines up with a lot of anchient myths referenced in both series. Ragnarok's literally named after that concept (specifically the war of the gods). So to have that concept canonized and for SE to start at the beginning of another apocalyptic war where the very nature of the moon and stars changed with new gods awakening is good. Neat, love to see it.

Black Star seemingly being named after the Great Cataclysm. In SE he mentions his name meaning "returning to darkness" and kinda hating it. I found that odd since, clearly that's not what that phrase means in English. (Also, according to SEN, he chose to keep it). But seeing the black sun at the end of FF made it all click.

Witches and Shinigami-sama being two side of the same power. (Liking the concept here, not the execution).

Maka's parents reading to her abt this. You know that lil perfectionist enternalized the shit out of this story. (I'm also a sucker for lil kid designs)

Mid/Neutral

The heavy influence of the Bible on the world building and seeing how that's translated through a Japanese cultural/folklore lens. Interesting to see all that interact with Greek mythology. I was getting in my head abt doing that in my own fics on accident (s2g I'm not trying to make Black Star anime Moses, but now I'm wondering >_>) Always fun seeing how people on the outside interpret something you grew up with.

Kinda like the idea of 8 pillars. I would have rather there been more balance with what the pillars represented instead of an edgy version of Inside Out. It seemed more like a way to countdown toward the apocalypse as opposed to something sustainable in the world building, but I get the idea they were going for. Minus points for them not aligning with any of the Old Ones from SE.

Whimsy being the core part of SE. Like, yeah cartoon logic is abundant. Kind of a clever twist, but also a bummer it insinuates heroes would only exist in a cartoon world.

Animals having magic being different from witches with their own patron diety. Makes sense in the grand scheme of things, doesn't line up with LD thinking Blair was a witch then. LD, did you want Maka to fail the first time on purpose >_> I'd buy that tbh.

Cons

I've said this before, I'll say it again, no god of death??? The more research I do on shinigami, the more this seems like an oversight (they just kinda watch, they don't decide who lives or dies). So you have a god of creation, you have an other world/ afterlife, but no god charged with taking good souls to the other side. Humanity clearly wanted that, they had nuns to pray for it to happen, but that somehow hasn't manifested in the two iterations of the world we've seen? Also would have preferred seeing more than two Old Ones ngl.

Shinigami-sama being able to take godhood from someone. I get that you gotta reset the status quo, but... If he could do that, Asura shouldn't have been an issue. Especially since he's the one who gave him the power in the first place. Why didn't he pull and Aang?

The first witch being Kim with less agency and less control over her power, didn't love it. There's so many different ways they could have set up the catalyst of witches v shinigami. Like nature vs nuture or any other number of things would be more interesting than "catch me if you can". They have a whole realm and religion by the time of SE, there's no seed for that introduced at all.

Where are the werewolves? They supposedly had a whole clan of immortals. Everythings better with werewolves.

Honestly don't buy Rekka being granddaddy Star Clan. There's very little that ties him to the way of the assassin, or the aesthetic other than the eyes. Another missed opportunity.

Are dopplegangers still a thing? Kinda unclear on that one, considering how many were left walking around. This could just be me forgetting something that was said though.

More of a nitpick than a con, the translation I read Shinra said he "changed the value of a life" in order to bring his friends back. Implying death isn't as serious now? That just doesn't feel true given the wieght of character deaths in SE, Sid being the one exception. Just left me feeling a lil icky, didn't like it.

Claiming Kid was in anyway modeled after Shinra. I would have taken LD commenting on Soul looking like Shinra or Black Star acting like him, but Kid is the farthest from that character in every way. Once again, if he was going to do that, Asura was right there. (Also is it just me or did LD seem surprised Kid appeared??? Like humanity manifested him?)