#does some damage to her character/that reveal. where like a lot of things that they added even in 1x01 are REALLY good changes. like the

[volfoss]

my #analysis or whatever but its really interesting with how much they cut out of the Jon at the banquet 1x01 scene compared to (at least the leaked version online) the original pilot and book. like not to be like yeah grrm put this much detail in there for a reason but a lot of the detail that they removed really hurts jon as a character and its so jarring to see how much they cut to take the chapter down to about 3 minutes of the episode.

[blueinsomnia]

Ekko and Jinx's History: A Simple Comment

So I read something the other day talking about how fans are making Ekko and Jinx's relationship romantic and not all male and female characters HAVE to be romantically involved. I agree with this. I'll go so far as to say that this is true for any character of any gender. In my own writing (with my original characters) I rarely have romantic undertones. Mostly just friends being friends. While I get the allure of the romantic chase, of most people we deal with in life we aren't connecting to them romantically. Friends are friends.

That said, this is not the case with Ekko and Jinx. From Ekko's release in 2015 there has always been some romantic undertones with Jinx. Riot has always been a bit mysterious about what his relationship is with Jinx. Ekko even has a line in the game where he says:

The foundation had been laid long before Arcane was released in 2021.

Between 2015 and 2021 (when Arcane was released), a lot of official art and such dropped hints about SOMETHING going on between them. Much like Jinx being Vi's sister. You have to remember that this was originally a secret. It was Ghostcrawler who finally confirmed fan theories, even though he tried to walk it back later. Oops! Ha, ha!

(An image from 2015)

To add to the mystery, on both of their official pages, Ekko is listed as connected to Jinx and Jinx is listed as connected to Ekko. However, at no point does Riot explain how they're connected. Their stories don't mention the other at all. So this means that some things were planned, but they weren't ready to reveal. I'm still of a mind that they were waiting to use Arcane as a vehicle to get into Jinx's history and how that intersected with Ekko and Vi. Before Arcane, we knew very little about Jinx and how she ends up the way she does.

Then, before Arcane came out we got this little nugget in Legends of Runeterra:

Remember, this is 100% from Riot themselves. Not the fans. Riot laid the seeds down and it was the fans who picked up on it and ran. I doubt anyone would have ever thought there was something between Ekko and Jinx without Riot dropping hints. By the time we got to Arcane Season 1, the train was already in motion.

Let's not even forget the insane number of Jinx references in the True Damage video they released in 2020. Generally it wasn't odd to see Ekko and there would be some sort of Jinx reference somewhere. That wasn't true for Jinx until recently.

After Arcane, Riot themselves has been dropping hints like crazy. Jinx has been putting Ekko's hourglass symbol on stuff. League Brazil did a huge Twitter AMA with Star Guardian Ekko and Jinx. Jinx goes to the Grammys with Ekko.

Another official Ekko and Jinx moment. Check out her shirt!

And let's not forget this one for the Billboard Music Awards:

They went to the event together!

So...while I see people saying that the fans were to blame for Jinx and Ekko being romantically involved, it should be pointed out that this is all Riot's doing. The best part is that the fans have been largely receptive to their efforts in promoting the couple. Riot has waited a long time to be able to say what they want to say about them.

And if there is any doubt about where they're going with them as a couple, let's just remember this cover for the art book for Arcane:

Another official piece done by Riot and Fortiche themselves.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it was important to point out that it's not the fans who set this up. It'll be interesting to see where this all goes, but based on their track record so far, it should be clear where the end game is headed.

Thanks for reading!

[rnelodyy]

The Owl House And Restorative Justice

At the end of Season 1 of The Owl House, it is revealed that Lilith, the main overarching antagonist of that season, was the one to curse her sister Eda, one of the protagonists, to win a tournament when they were teenagers. This information causes Eda to fly into a screaming rage and attack Lilith, and understandably so.

Eda’s curse is essentially a chronic illness, one that, in Eda’s own words, has ruined her life, being the reason she’s considered a social outcast and why, before meeting King and Luz, she hadn’t gotten close to anyone in years. In season 2, it’s revealed that the curse is why she pushed away her partner Raine to the point that they broke it off with her, and that during a particularly bad flareup, she accidentally maimed her own father, leaving him half blind and with permanent nerve damage to his hands, making him unable to continue working as a Palisman carver. The curse has ruled Eda’s life for decades now, so to Eda, this is the ultimate betrayal.

In the first episode of Season 2, Lilith has defected from the Emperor’s Coven, split the curse between Eda and herself to mitigate the symptoms for her sister, and has moved in with Eda at the Owl House. While Lilith herself still feels guilty and feels she has to make it up to Eda, everyone else, Eda included, has seemingly either forgiven her or chosen to look past it. Eda even makes fun of her for feeling bad about cursing her, and Lilith’s guilt is seemingly absent for the rest of the series. 

The response to this was… Less than stellar, shall we say. A lot of people were angry, saying Lilith got away with her crimes without even a slap on the wrist, and that Eda’s forgiveness of her was far too sudden.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of critique. Amity spent years bullying Willow after her parents forced her to break off their friendship, and when she began trying to mend that relationship, the response from fans was that Willow should have been a lot more angry at Amity, and that they went back to being besties far too soon. I’ve even seen this criticism leveled at Hunter for the things he did while working for Belos, at Vee for impersonating Luz for months to trick her mother, and at Luz for hiding the fact that she helped Philip find the Collector from her friends. And it does seem strange for the show to keep tripping on this same point again and again.

Except, it’s not really. Because I think that, when viewing this show from a different angle, those supposed flaws are actually symptoms of something very important to understand – The Owl House operates on a system of crime and punishment that is very different from our world’s.

More specifically, our world mostly utilizes retributive justice. The world of The Owl House utilizes restorative justice.

So first, what do those terms mean? Broadly, they’re two different forms of handling interpersonal disputes, or dealing with crime. 

Retributive justice is the one our current justice system uses, where the focus is primarily on punishing the perpetrator. Retributive justice can mean detention, suspension, expulsion, jail time, monetary fines, some kinds of community service, exile, or in more severe cases, corporal punishment or the death penalty. It’s the lens most people view the world through, where if someone hurts you, hurting them back is the correct response.

Restorative justice is a very different approach, where you instead focus on helping the victim recover from what happened, and rehabilitating the perpetrator to prevent this from happening again. Restorative justice can look like verbal or written apologies, monetary compensation for costs and trauma, therapy for both victim and perpetrator, education for the perpetrator, mediation between victim and perpetrator, a restraining order, etc. 

When viewed through a retributive lens, The Owl House lets its characters get away with a lot of shit. Lilith cursing Eda, Hunter rounding up Palismen knowing they’ll be killed, Amity tormenting Willow for years, it’s all stuff that, in a retributive environment, they should be punished for, and they’re just not. Eda is only genuinely angry at Lilith for two scenes, Amity and Willow fix their relationship very quickly once Amity starts making amends, and Hunter isn’t punished at all. 

However, I believe the story of The Owl House is best viewed not through a retributive lens, but through a restorative lens.

Let’s look at the Lilith-example again. Lilith’s offense was cursing Eda, which she did because she wanted to win a spot in the Emperor’s Coven. Knowing Eda was better than her, she cast a curse on her, thinking it would only last for a day. But when the time came, Eda forfeited the match, soon after which she transformed into the Owl Beast and was pelted with rocks until she ran. The curse turned out to be very permanent, and Lilith spent the next 20 years trying to fix her mistake by working for Belos to try to capture Eda, since he promised to heal her curse. 

However, when she finally succeeded, Belos went back on his promise. Instead of healing Eda, he ordered her to be publicly executed. When Lilith protested, Belos essentially told her to shut up, that it was the Titan’s will, and left her there. 

So, having realized her method of fixing her mistake has gone real bad, Lilith sneaks down to the Conformatorium to free Eda herself, but arrives too late and finds Luz instead. After a brief fight they end up teaming up, and Lilith leads Luz to the elevator, but they are captured by Belos and Lilith is thrown into the cage with Eda. There, she restores Eda’s partially petrified body, and after fleeing with her, Luz and King, uses a spell to split Eda’s curse evenly between their two bodies.

From a restorative justice point of view, Lilith has done pretty much everything she reasonably could do to fix things. She’s denounced the Emperor’s Coven, returned Owlbert to Luz, helped Luz find the elevator to the execution platform, saved Eda from petrification, apologized to Eda, and while there’s no way for her to cure Eda’s curse entirely, she took on half of the curse at great expense to her own health, in order to ease Eda’s symptoms. 

Eda isn’t angry anymore because in her eyes, Lilith has already fixed things with her. Punishing her more at this point is pointless. What more could Lilith do, really? What other lessons could she learn? The only thing that punishment would bring at this point would be more suffering. 

Let’s look at another example: Amity and Willow.

Amity’s offense was breaking off her friendship with Willow because she was a late-bloomer, bullying her for years, and allowing her friends to do so too. Willow is left with horrible self-esteem issues because of this, and combined with her failing grades, turned her into a horribly shy and withdrawn wallflower (no pun intended). After she’s moved to the plant track she starts actually getting better, but Amity and Boscha especially continue to torment her. While Amity’s bullying of Willow does peter out over time, Willow is clearly still extremely resentful of her. In an attempt to make Willow forget their friendship, Amity accidentally sets most of Willow’s memories on fire, leaving her confused, amnesiac, and unable to grasp basic concepts like that chairs are for sitting in.

Luz pushed Amity into fixing Willow’s brain by going into her mind together and piecing her memories back together. There, the Inner Willow revealed what happened to Luz and the audience.

At this point, Amity shows her that her parents were actually the ones who forced her to end the friendship because they didn’t think Willow was a suitably powerful or influential friend, threatening to make sure Willow would never get accepted into Hexside if Amity didn’t force her to leave. Amity then apologizes to Willow for going along with it, and for the bullying, and vows to make sure her friends never mess with Willow again. 

Willow accepts her apology, but also makes it clear that, while it’s a start, she’s not yet ready to accept Amity in her life again. Restorative justice has not been fully attained, because to Willow, Amity hasn’t fixed everything – Boscha and her squad are still bullying her, and still consider Amity one of them. This changes two episodes later, when Amity tells Boscha to grow the fuck up when she starts bullying Willow again, and joins her and Luz’s Grudgby team despite her personal issues to get Boscha to back off. Willow doesn’t make a grand gesture of forgiveness in this episode, but it is after this point where the two become comfortable around eachother again. 

Did Willow forgive Amity too quickly for years of trauma? Maybe. If she had chosen to continue keeping Amity at a distance I certainly wouldn’t have blamed her. But in the end, Amity fixed the mess she caused as best she could, and has proven herself to want to be a better person, to want to be Willow’s friend again. She worked hard to prove herself to be a person worth trusting, and Willow decided to give that trust a chance again.

And while they did become friends again, that friendship was clearly still affected by what happened, which led to bumps that the two of them had to work through. Like in Labyrinth Runners, where Amity’s overprotectiveness over Willow makes Willow feel like Amity thinks she’s incompetent, and still only sees her as the helpless person she used to be. 

Willow continuing to be mad at Amity and punishing her for what she did wouldn’t be an unreasonable reaction, but it wouldn’t have fixed anything. It would certainly have an impact on Amity, seeing her former best friend rejecting her attempts to make up for what she did, but the hurt on both sides would have continued festering, because deep down, Willow missed Amity too. 

In Hunter’s case, there’s the question of whether he can even be held responsible for his actions. The Palisman-kidnapping in specific was explicitly done under duress – if he failed he would face verbal and physical abuse, and be threatened with his nightmare scenario: getting thrown out of the Emperor’s Coven. 

And that’s not an empty threat either. Hunter has no magic, and Belos has drilled it into him that witches without magic have no future. Without the Emperor’s Coven, his only future prospects would be starving to death on the streets or wasting away in prison. Either way, Hunter would be alone, without family or friends, without a job or job prospects, without anyone to turn to for help. Any child would be terrified of that. Hunter wasn’t always acting on direct orders – in fact he defied direct orders to stay in his room in Eclipse Lake to go look for Titan’s Blood, and then again in Hollow Mind to arrest the rebels. But he made those choices based on the idea that Belos wouldn’t want him if he was a failure, and that he needed a chance to prove that he could still be useful.

And contrary to popular belief, Hunter does know right from wrong. He has a very strong moral compass, he’s just been forced to ignore it in favor of doing whatever the Emperor wants. To shut up that little voice telling him he’s doing the wrong thing, he uses what’s called a thought-terminating cliche, a statement that feels so fundamentally true that the argument need not continue. In Hunter’s case, that statement is “It’s for the greater good.” Sure, kidnapping his new friends and abducting Palismen to feed to the Emperor and threatening someone who’s been nothing but kind to him to take the portal key from her girlfriend and justifying terrorism makes his stomach feel like he swallowed a cactus and saying it out loud makes him sound like a horrible person – but it’s for the greater good. He’s doing it to serve Belos, and Belos knows what’s best. 

So by the time Hunter is out of active danger and able to rest and recover from what happened to him… what would further punishment accomplish? He already knows that he did fucked up shit while working for the EC, and he’s proven time and time again that while he’s not fighting for Belos’s approval, he’s actually a genuinely kind-hearted kid. Punishing him now would likely cause him to react very poorly, because he’s been at the wrong end of that stick so often that he’s developed severe PTSD because of it.

And if you think restorative justice is still in order – Hunter is currently hyperfixated on making sure Belos can never hurt anyone again, and for the long term, he has expressed that he wants to become a Palisman carver when he grows up. While it won’t bring back the Palismen that were killed, it will help the current Palisman population recover and reintroduce Palismen to witches who may have had to give up theirs. 

When viewed through this lens, the writing of The Owl House starts to make more sense. As a show, it is extremely forgiving towards its characters – they’re still held accountable for their actions, but as long as they’re willing to grow and learn and fix the damage they caused, they are very quickly forgiven. 

However, I do understand why these writing choices can be… controversial, so to say. Because it doesn’t feel very satisfying, does it? When someone hurts you on purpose, your first impulse would be to try to hurt them back, that’s just how people work. 

That’s the hardest thing to come to terms with when you become an advocate for prison abolition for example – you’re not just arguing for freeing a guy who got 5 years because a cop found weed in his pockets, you’re arguing for the release, and most importantly, the humanity of some of the most vile, disgusting people this planet has ever produced. Even now, when someone commits a truly awful crime and gets sent to prison for life, my first thought is “Good, I hope they rot in there.” But that’s not justice. That’s just revenge. And revenge is not something we as a society should want to build our justice system on.

It’s not satisfying to see Lilith go from using Luz as a human shield in her fight against Eda to sleeping on the couch in Eda’s house within 2 episodes. It’s not satisfying to see Willow let Amity back into her life when Amity has hurt her so badly before, or to see Hunter become romantically involved with Willow after he literally abducted her the first time they met. But that satisfaction isn’t really the point. Revenge is satisfying in the moment, but an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and if someone shows a genuine willingness to change, it’s often better to give them a chance to.

However, my final point is about what happens when this approach fails. Because not everyone is willing to change. Some people, when faced with the consequences of their actions, decide to dig their heels in and refuse to admit fault, or blame the victim(s), or use those same thought-terminating cliches that Hunter used to justify their actions, “I was just following orders” being a big one.

And thus, we come to Belos.

If Belos showed a willingness to change, a genuine one, not an attempt at manipulation, should he be given the chance to? That vengeful part of me is VERY empathetically saying no. But logically, reasonably, he should be given that chance, if only because he’s a human being and no human being deserves to be mistreated. That doesn’t mean his victims are obligated to forgive him or be around him again, in fact I think that, for the sake of Hunter’s mental health, Belos should stay as far away from him as humanly possible. But he should be given the chance to start over, to truly better himself and do something good with the rest of his life.

But Belos isn’t willing to change. 

Belos is a product of a bad environment and grew up with a cult-like mentality and hatred for witches that he had to adopt for his own safety. It’s hard to break out of that mentality, but not impossible. Case in point: Caleb. The tragedy of Belos’s character to me is that he had so many chances to change, so many people to help him make that leap, but all of the people who offered him that help ended up dead by his hands because he couldn’t handle the idea that he may have been wrong.

At this point, Belos is stuck. Changing would mean not only giving up on his life’s work, but acknowledging to himself that everything he’s done, mutilating his body, killing his brother, slaughtering thousands and installing himself as God-Emperor of a population he despises more than anything in order to facilitate a genocide, was completely pointless.

He can’t admit that to himself. Especially the thing about Caleb’s death. He’s sunk-cost-fallacied himself so far into a corner that all he can really do when faced with opposing viewpoints is dig his heels in even deeper and lash out in a rage at anyone who challenges him. Even now, when his body is literally falling apart at the seams, he’s still trying to commit witch-genocide, because it’s all he has. 

Restorative justice doesn’t work in this case, because the perpetrator needs to be receptive to it. Logically you would assume the show would default to retributive justice, and characters like Willow and Camila do take a very vengeful glee in imagining themselves beating the snot out of Belos. But right now, the primary motivation of the Hexsquad and Hunter in particular when it comes to Belos is to end the threat he poses. As long as Belos is alive and free, he will continue to hurt and kill people, and if he can’t be talked down, he needs to be either contained or killed to prevent him from causing more harm.

The Owl House provides, in my opinion, a very nuanced take on restorative justice. It shows how it works in action, how different situations impact what it looks like, and what happens when it’s simply not an option. It’s not the most satisfying story to tell your audience, because when someone hurts our babies we want them to suffer, no matter how sorry they say they are. But in this case, I think that sacrificing that bit of audience comfort is worth it to tell the story like this.

[the-witchhunter]

I’ve had an interesting thought swimming around my head that I swear I’ve been meaning to write

You know what would be an interesting combination of characters?

Jazz and Harvey Dent/TwoFace

Specifically a Dent just getting back on his feet, released from Arkham and trying to learn how to exist in the world with his condition

I’m thinking a reveal gone wrong, Danny has disappeared to ancients know where, so Jazz cuts ties and Stays with her Uncle Dent, or maybe her bio dad if that’s more your game. Just an soaking wet and miserable Jazz showing up at his crappy apartment saying she’s his daughter or niece and him resisting the urge to flip a coin because he has enough on his plate as is, only to let her in telling her they’ll talk about it in the morning and point her to the shower so she can clean up and dry off

Why do I think this would be an interesting combo?

Jazz’s interest in psychology. A lot of times, as a fandom we depict her as an expert, and in a future timeline where she went to school and has been practicing psychology maybe, but default Jazz? She’s not an expert

Jazz wants to be a brain surgeon, psychology is an interest of hers but her understanding is very limited. She quotes Freud and Jung and has some amount of academic knowledge of the field, but she clearly doesn’t understand that psychoanalyzing friends and family and offering unwanted psychiatric advice is actually rude and something she shouldn’t do. She lacks understanding of actual therapy and is clumsy in applying her knowledge to people she knows

And I find putting her in proximity of someone with DID and probably PTSD would really be an eye opening experience for her

Because Dent might humor her, TwoFace will call her out. They both have hung around Harley to know enough to tell her, “maybe don’t take Freud so seriously” because man does everything go back to sex with Freud, and maybe quoting a guy that says she wants to boink her dad is not as strong of a point as she thinks it is

And the thing is, Harvey would likely still be receiving therapy as an outpatient, potentially taking meds to help deal with his conditions, likely a mood stabilizer or anxiety med to manage PTSD symptoms, so she’s front seat of him learning to live as a regular person in Gotham with his condition. She’s gonna see his good days, his bad days, the side effects of his medication, and it’s going to change her idea of what psychology is. It’s not just quoting things at people, it’s not just saying “this is good for people” but she’d see what it being put into practice would look like

Maybe that’ll push her away from the subject. Maybe it’ll make her more inclined to study, to learn not just about it as an abstract but how to actually apply it to help people. Learning about actual therapy practices. Maybe living first hand with mental illness would be the push to switch from neurosurgery to clinical psychology in her future plans

Also I just think that Dent would be empathetic and do what he could to help her, meanwhile TwoFace would help her cut loose a little, get a little chaotic and have some fun

You can’t tell me there’s not something fun about her and “Uncle Two-y” having a night on the town that only results in a little property damage. Relax Harv, they didn’t do anything too illegal, because they didn’t get caught or nothing

[saytrrose]

Can we see More about your racing AU please?

Looks so amazing and i love It so much

I do suppose I could share the character design line up!

I really just need to finish designing all the go karts, (atleast most are done!) and then I can make proper cards for them and really get into the written details.

To be honest it’s a little hard to just ramble about info and details without specific questions to go off of, so I’ll try my best hhh

for starters, the tent? Not a tent!

It’s actually a stadium, the amazing digital race!

And rooms? Sort of tweaked, they are more like each character owns a personal garage, a large open space where they store their vehicles and then have a loft above that showcases their cozy safe havens. Bed, entertainment, basically a small room in a much larger one.

I haven’t revealed Ragatha, Zooble or Gangles karts yet but I’ll go ahead and just talk about all of them!

Caine:

Caine has a motorcycle, specifically one inspired off of the motorcycle I’m saving up for this summer, a Kawasaki Eliminator. It’s a cruiser, I’m thinking he has a 600cc model but considering Bubble is his right hand man and operates as the races pit crew- he’s definitely tinkered with Caines bike, making adjustments and improving the engine. God only knows what the little psycho did, but it’s a damn good bike that’s not supposed to rev as loud as it does.

Pomni:

Her kart is inspired off a Volkswagen Beetle, seemed very VERY Pomni to me. Her car mimics her outfit design a lot, I might do some color changes to be honest but it will be super minimal, it’ll be final when the cards are done! She definitely stops at the pit the most often despite her placement in a race, are my tires okay?? Do I need my oil?? I know you just filled it but it went down- is anything damaged?? Sweetie you did one lap..

Jax:

Jesus Christ he has a giant supercharger on the hood of his car, and he is absolutely one of those annoying mfs that reva their engine OBNOXIOUSLY loud all the time like he’s super cool. If you’re wondering who most of the skid marks on the track are from, that’s also Jax. Hes the best as drifting, and he loves to show that off. His car isn’t based too much on an actual vehicle?? I stared at Mario karts and pieced it together, but also gave it a very sports car look, the wing on the back fr fr I think Jax would dig that.

Kinger:

OHHSOSK I was so creative with his little wagon,,, it’s castle shaped!! And the best part? Operates like a rocket. In the back past the battlement (the crown looking thing you see atop castle pillars) ARE GIANT exhaust pipes and yes, they do spit fire !! Operates like a rocket. It’s very cool! (Also he has a great muffler because unlike Jax he’s considerate of others hearing 💔) Oh also, he has one of those silly horns, I forgot how to describe it but you can just look at how I drew it on his kart and you’ll know heheh!

Zooble:

Our second motorcyclist, owns a trike! If you don’t know what that is, picture a bike with training wheels but super badass. 3 wheels! It’s inspired off the Harley Davidson freewheeler, I like that design a lot but it’s def not actually a Harley because istg when you buy those bikes your just paying for the fancy name brand- expect it to be in the shop all the time, smh not good- BUT ANYWAY!! The looks are inspired off it though and I can’t wait for this one because it’s just as crazy kooky as Zoobles design is.

Gangle:

Her kart is based on my favorite car, classic style but not too cool because you can bet she has anime stickers on the back and a decal that says “please let me merge before I start crying.” It’s similar to a karmann ghia convertible, 1963. Cherry red (so so pretty) She always has the top down, unless competing because damn you gotta go fast. That car itself is really slow, top speed normally is 68mph, however people have modified them enough to get up to 120mph. Thats still pretty slow compared to others, but her kart only reflects the appearance of the ghia! It’s much faster and I assume Bubble works on all their vehicles if asked to.

Lastly, Ragatha:

Our 3rd motorcyclist. 4 Karts, 3 cyclists. Her bike is a futuristic style, if you want a good idea then look up “icare bike”! Not so much a straight forward posture, she leans over ofc, you’ll likely get the idea when you see her bike. I’ll be honest, I haven’t gotten too into her design yet because I haven’t started drawing but!! Dark blue leds,, everywhere yes yes so cool ❤️

Sorry that’s so much 😭 but yeah! Just need to finish 3 kart designs for you guys and I can make official ref cards 👀

[renewedmotionforjudgment]

You're telling me after she goes ride or die for him like you said and all the stuff she did this episode she's still hesitating between him and the ex eunuch? I saw some people who read the novel say she does some very messy things to him even later on and I'm dreading it so much.

I'm genuinely going to try to not be snarky here, but relationships are complicated?

If you want a cdrama that goes from the spectrum of love, mutual ride and die, and no mess, there are a lot of very fluffy modern cdramas that will cater exactly to your taste.

But here, the drama (and the novel which the drama has been following decently) makes it clear that Li Rong is this character who doesn't necessarily understand love. Not because she's incapable of it (all of her actions in fact reveal her as a character with deep capacity to love), but it doesn't exist in that palace environment she grew up in where her own birth mother is willing to sacrifice her for her brother's and her clan's power. So of course there is messiness! She's unlearning her damage!

And her and PWX's relationship is complicated and nuanced. I will note that even PWX himself is not forcing her to return his feelings after his confession in the rain. He understands that there is a lot of history between them (and with her and SRQ, who after all was her companion for 20 years). But what's so compelling about her and PWX's relationship is that even though they can't quite label it, they consider each other as family.

TL;DR - relationships are complicated. It's perfectly fine to nope out of a narrative you don't like. But the way these characters act make narrative sense.

[cat-napsss]

I think we might all be wrong about Jax (Chekhov’s Bowling Ball Theory)

I posted this on tiktok but I feel like I should post it here too. so I literally stumbled my way into this realization while having a bunch of unrelated thoughts about TADC, and it felt like a moment in those murder mystery movies where the detective is standing by the board and suddenly flashes back to that *one* clue that didn’t make any sense and suddenly it ALL makes sense.

lemme ask you something, did you notice in episode two that no one died or had any sort of concern of death? Ragatha gets stabbed through and gets a knife in the head, while Kinger takes like eight of them. then they drive off into a ravine, and Gangle (one of the more anxious characters) has absolutely no reaction to their possible demise. As for Jax, he stands on the truck as it falls much like a Looney Tune (keep that in mind). With this evidence I fully expect an episode in the future to reveal to Pomni that they can’t die (via her own death and respawn or another character’s, who she panics over before finding out they come back) with this reveal we would establish that the players won’t die while playing these levels, no matter the damage done to their bodies. Now I have two questions.

Why was Ragatha so afraid of the Abstracted Kaufmo if they would all just respawn? And HOW exactly does someone Abstract?

all we know for certain about Abstraction is that it’s the terrible thing that happens when you “reach your breaking point” your breaking point is vague, but what if it’s how exactly it sounds? What if unlike in the games and levels, the circus is a place where you don’t respawn (because as a “safe-place” in the game, that programming was never put there to begin with) so when your character for whatever reason dies (like if you were to “reach your breaking point” and end your life) your file corrupts and creates an Abstraction?

when they found Kaufmo they were surprised, and Zooble comments that they didn’t expect him to have “given up”. Implying that Abstraction to some degree is a choice. Like the only way to do it is to do purposeful harm to yourself while in the circus.

now, to finally get to my point.

who was the one to volunteer themself and others to go check on Kaufmo? Leading three of the five available people to find him, instead of sending more man-power to help Zooble, who arguably needed them a lot more?

it was Jax. Jax volunteered himself Ragatha and Pomni. He then proceeded to reveal he had a key to Kaufmo’s room, and successfully avoided explaining why. Then they opened Kaufmo’s door and found him Abstracted.

why did he (uncharacteristically) volunteer himself and the anxious new girl to check on him?

Well, what does Jax see on the floor and pick up? A bowling ball. HIS bowling ball.

why was his bowling ball in Kaufmo’s room? Why was that something that was added? What purpose did it serve?

and why did Kaufmo run after them? Why did he abandon Ragatha after she was down? Why did he abandon the search for Pomni after that too?

why did Jax dive into the gloink cave?

why did Jax make that expression at the end of episode two when Ragatha invites Pomni to Kaufmo’s funeral, before leaving completely with no sign of him anywhere at all during the actual funeral?

and lastly, lemme ask you how you think someone who behaves much like a Looney Tune, might kill someone indirectly to get away with it?

I think it will be revealed that Jax killed Kaufmo with a Looney Tunes’ style trap, one using that bowling ball.

Because why the hell else was it there.

[spaceorphan18]

The Lady Whistledown Papers : 1x07 Oceans Apart (Part 1)

Welcome back, Gentle Readers, to The Lady Whistledown Papers, where I’m taking an in-depth look at Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s character arcs and romance within the show Bridgerton!

For previous issues, follow tag : The Lady Whistledown Papers

Ooff, sorry for the delay! Life has been busy. But this project isn't going anywhere ;)

Oh, The Angst

For anyone thinking that Colin sulking at the end of Season 3 was out of nowhere.... it was not. This boy lives in his feelings, and according to the Whistledown narration -- it's been days since the reveal. And he's still in bed, feeling angsty and distraught over the whole thing.

The thing is -- at this point, Colin's wallowing isn't just about his own feelings. He's hurt by the scandal of it all, but it's more that he gets to play out the tragic romantic lover aspect of stories -- torn away from his love, talked bout on the streets, his family embarrassed, Marina's reputation in shambles. But his heart hasn't truly been broken... yet.

He's going to be in denial, for a bit, that his love wasn't reciprocated in the same way.

Well, Colin does manage to get himself up at some point, and dressed again, solidly, in his Bridgerton blues.

It's family meeting time, and Colin is still very upset and angry, but I want to watch his anger in the series, because it manifests differently than, say, Anthony or Simon or even Benedict (have we seen Benedict angry? I can't remember). His anger mixes with sadness and emotion, and it's very internal. He doesn't really lash out, but keeps it very much inside himself until he's ready to burst. And in this scene, it's a lot of words in fast sentences as every time he speaks it's like a release of more emotion.

First of all, notably, he thinks Whistledown is lying. The look on Violet's face when he says this is like, oh bb, no. Anthony is, fascinatingly, pretty calm and collected (for him) and reminds Colin of the social order they must maintain. The baby isn't linked to him -- but it will be if he sees Marina, and right now the Featheringtons are baring the brunt of the scandal. The Bridgertons can weather the storm if they just stay out of it.

Daphne arrives -- which has real Main Character can solve everything energy, and the presence of a Duke and Duchess back in Mayfair will deter people from talking? I don't really claim to know how society during this era worked. I can't even claim I understand it now. :P

But the point is, the Bridgertons are pushing all in on the 'let's give them something else to talk about' method of ignoring scandal. If they brush it off as nothing, it'll be seen as nothing.

I want to point out that -- Daphne is going through her own issues, and is visibly upset about her own life and struggles that it comes out, slightly, as she talks. And the only one who seems to pick up on that is Colin, who is remarkably empathetic when it comes to other people's emotions.

But he is still in his own whirlwind of feelings. Violet, Anthony, Daphne (and even Benedict who's hanging around) have all decided the course without letting Colin have much say in it. And he calls them out on it as he storms out of the room (...and scene).

Now granted, they are the adults here, and Colin is still acting like a pouting child in some regards. But his feelings do matter, and with everyone so caught up in how to do damage control (while Daphne is in her own misery) none of them are catering to how he's feeling about it. Which doesn't help when it comes to him feeling alone about these things.

Colin and Daphne

The very next beat, however, is Daphne going to check on him.

And before I get into the scene - I want to check out the room. I assume this is Colin's room? I think that's a bed on the right? I like the sailboat painting over the fireplace. And the little desk. I wish we could see more of it -- I love set design and the details they place in it. His room is also going to be really different in Season 3, so it's interesting to see what they do with it here.

OOHH but -- there are seashells on his desk and there will be seashells decorating his Season 3 home with Pen! I also really want to know who/what that winged statue on his desk is supposed to be representing. Some Greek mythological character, I'm sure, but I don't know which one! (I really hope it's Eros (Cupid) that would so be perfect.)

Anyway... Daphne comes in having real big sister energy even if she's the younger one. She recognizes that Colin had true intentions when he wanted to marry Marina, but points out that she was really a stranger to him. (And I love the shout out that Whistledown knew Marina better, which is a fascinating little side thought -- how has no one questioned, really, how LW knew about Marina in the first place.)

Daphne throws at him that it is better that he knows the truth now instead of after he was married. (She is referring to herself as well as Colin.) And he has an interesting little moment of getting defensive in his physicality, only to relent and be open with Daphne. Admitting that his feelings of lust love have made him a little crazy, that he's not really wanting to listen to logic or reason, that he just wants to be with her, near her, consumed by her.

For better or worse, Colin is someone who will drown himself in his own emotions, and therefore drown himself in his ideas of his partner(s). He put Marina on a pedestal - idealizing and romanticizing a life with her. But Daphne is right, he doesn't really know her (and therefore loves the idea of her more than actually her).

(As an aside, he's going to do this with Pen, too, but that situation is, actually, way more complicated...)

Meanwhile, as much as Colin is awash in feelings, he doesn't miss that Daphne is upset about her own situation and is clocking her, even if they're talking about him.

Time to talk about Greek Myth!! (And I mean, how much do I love talking about Greek Myth and Fairy Tales in relation to Polin-ish things? A lot...I love that it's a thing that keeps coming up in their story.)

So.. for those of you who don't know, Colin references the story of Leander and Hero. Leander sees Hero (and her light) in a tower across the strait, and during the summer months, begins to swim across in order to be with her. (He also, btw, soft charms her into sleeping with him.) However, when winter came, and the water became dangerous, and despite the fact that he probably shouldn't have (because he had love madness) he still tried to swim the strait, he ended up getting lost and drown. (Hero, btw, threw herself out of her tower and died, too.)

And it doesn't surprise me that Colin continues to see himself as the tortured romantic hero, who will attempt to overcome any obstacle to be with his beloved. And his insinuation is that he'll do anything he can to be at Marina's side because his love is so strong.

But, as Daphne is quick to point out, the myth he recounts is, much like Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy. Leander was kind of dumb, and his foolish lovestick actions got he and his lover killed.

Colin, in his naivete, keeps relating himself to these tragic figures, because he's feels he can relate to them, in that the world is pulling these tragic lovers apart. But that's the thing - these stories - Leander and Hero, Romeo and Juliet, they not really love stories. They're cautionary tales; warnings that when you jump in heart first, leaving your head behind, bad things are going to happen.

It's good that Colin is going through this. It's good that Marina is knocked off the pedestal she's been placed on. (It'll be good that Pen will get knocked down, too, actually.) Because it'll force Colin to grow and mature and ground his feelings of love into something more real, more sustainable, and ultimately, more rewarding.

Colin's empathetic nature takes over, however (or, you know, we have limited time so we must get back to the main plot) and he calls Daphne out on her sour attitude. Did something happen with Simon? What's going on with you? Even despite his own turmoil, he still cares about his sibling(s).

Daphne doesn't want to deal with her shit at the moment, however, and instead offers to further the plot by arranging a meeting between Colin and Marina. And of course, Colin is excited by this -- claiming that she'll see that Marina has been just as wronged, and that their love is one for the ages.

Spoiler alert - it is not, and Colin's going to really get his heartbroken... But I'll get into that next time ;)

[writebackatya]

Darkwing Duck’s* Biggest Fans Haters

*As in the old tv show from the world of DuckTales (2017), not the superhero Drake Mallard assumes the identity of to fight evil

To fans like Drake Mallard and Launchpad McQuack, Darkwing Duck is the greatest piece of television history that helped shape their lives to become the ducks they are today thanks to its titular hero who never gave up despite the odds against him

To the rest of the world, Darkwing Duck was just another superhero show from the 90s that starred a problematic diva d-list actor that may or may not have died

Opinions are subjective of course, neither are 100% correct nor incorrect but I feel like when the fandom talks about Darkwing Duck it’s always about the characters that would also like the show. So why not flip the script a little? We’ll start small and work our way up to its biggest hater

Gosalyn Waddlemeyer:

“GOSALYN!?” You might be screaming at your monitor/phone to which I have to say:

“Yeah”

Again we are not talking about the Drake Mallard or his super identity here, but the tv show he and Launchpad are obsessed with. Because frankly, I bet Gosalyn loves doing all that superhero stuff with her adoptive dads. It’s a cool life to live!

Other than the fact that Drake is a huge nerd who INSISTS that Gosalyn do her “homework” and watch every episode of Darkwing Duck, read all the sacred texts (comic books), and playing the original Darkwing Duck video game on the original hardware so she won’t use the rewind or save features that modern games or ROMs have

Like all kids who have had an adult push their interests onto them, she has a little disdain for the show. But not a whole lot since she’s first on this list. I like to think she’s in the same boat as Dewey where she finds the show cheesy and doesn’t really hate it per say and sees why Drake and LP love the show. She even has a few guilty pleasure episodes

But one thing she doesn’t understand is why Drake and Launchpad insist on watching the Darkwing Duck Christmas Special every year when they’re both practicing Jews

Scrooge McDuck:

Yeah the old man can barely remember Drake, let alone the Darkguy Drake played in that movie he cancelled so I don’t really see Scrooge being a fan of the Masked Mallard. (No, not that Masked Mallard OG DuckTales fans)

If Scrooge did sit down and watch the show, he’d find it to be rather ridiculous if anything. Some vigilante running around dressed like The Spirit or The Shadow or whatever superhero kids are into these days getting slapped around and fighting back just doesn’t seem like his cup of tea

I like to think when Donald and Della were kids they watched Darkwing Duck at the mansion and Scrooge just walked by the room, looked at the TV for a few seconds, scoffed, and moved on with his life forgetting all about that nonsense his niece and nephew were watching

Louie Duck:

Honestly I always had this headcanon that Louie just isn’t a fan of superheroes. Like at all. He finds the stories all copy and paste, using all the cliches he hates from other genres and putting them in tights.

And don’t even get him started on superhero related adventures! If he sees a sky beam, Louie is running in the opposite direction of it. He’s not dealing with the many different diva supervillains out there trying to take over the world with cartoony extreme measures, he doesn’t wanna be around all that property damage

He does have a favorite superhero tho. Waddle Duck because he gave him a Pep once

Lena Sabrewing:

She thinks it’s lame.

Gandra Dee:

This is a no brainer for me. Gandra Dee made herself Darkwing Duck’s biggest hater the moment she heard the duck talk shit about Gizmoduck around Fenton who insisted she does not reveal his secret identity to Drake, because Drake is all he has left

Wanting to respect her boyfriend’s wishes, Gandra decides not to spill the beans but instead add more fuel to the fire by talking shit about Darkwing Duck

And she does not hold back

She’s not ashamed to talk shit on the show. It’s predictablity, it’s cheesiness, the plot holes, how lame it was for its own time, etc

It ain’t her childhood, she ain’t afraid to fight dirty either. She will bring up problematic episodes that depicted races in a not so good and stereotypical light (“It was the nineties! They were different times!” -Drake probably) such as the fact that in one episode Darkwing Duck called a group of Native Americans “primitive savages” or that a non-Asian actor played an Asian character in a sterotypcial manner and that how one of the characters names was “Duck Ling”(Okay but for real, all that shit did happen in the OG show.)

This of course frustrates Drake who is extra suspicious of Gandra ever since he saw her with Gizmoduck and writes her off as a blind fan girl who doesn’t know what she’s talking about

She’s pretty chill about not being into the show with Launchpad tho. He respects her opinions because he’s Launchpad and at the end of the day Gandra is still his friend

[anim-ttrpgs]

what kind of lore is Eureka working with, gimme the rundown

Well, as mentioned in a previous post, Eureka is essentially half setting-agnostic, with the intention of being able to run anything from the present day all the way back to the mid-1800s. It could do zombie apocalypse, 1930s Noir, Wild West, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Call of Cthulhu modules, Delta Green modules, SCP Foundation, Monster of the Week modules, etc.

But the other half is where the basis for supernatural player characters comes from. This half is actually heavily based on the lore of my own horror-comedy literary work, working-titled American Vampire, which follows eventful ‘life’ of an eight-hundred-year-old vampire named Yvette as she navigates life in the 1990s and 21st century after nearly a hundred years in hibernation, and finally, finally accepts and embraces her own vampirism. The lore and tone are so similar that Eureka could almost be called an American Vampire TTRPG. (But it cant be called that, the name American Vampire has already been taken by another literary work.)

Here is the lore that Eureka and American Vampire share:

the background of this lore is a normal, everyday contemporary setting. The ‘real world’, not some other planet or completely alternate universe.

There are real supernatural creatures and people, but there is no ‘masquerade’. No worldwide global conspiracy/pact binds supernatural creatures to secrecy.

There is no secret worldwide vampire government or even a vampire community, supernatural creatures cant even usually pick each other out in a crowd.

Despite there being no worldwide agreement to keep all of this a secret, belief in vampires or ghosts or werewolves or anything of the sort is still widely considered baseless superstition. This is partially because actual supernatural creatures are so incredibly rare that 95% of people will never meet one in their lifetime, and even a supernatural person may never meet another of their kind. In American Vampire there’s canonically only, like, about one-hundred vampires in the entire United States. Also, on an individual level, the vast majority of supernatural people have a pretty serious incentive to keep their own identity a secret because they, like, eat people. If they admitted that to the world then at best they would get arrested.

The other reason the existence of supernatural monsters remains widely unknown is because people who do encounter this kind of thing tend to rationalize it and find normal explanations for it. If you saw somebody with huge fangs in real life, you’d probably assume that they got them surgically done instead of assuming they’re a real vampire. In fact, Yvette in American Vampire is “out” to the world by the mid-2010s. She does almost nothing to hide her vampirism, and is even a mid-level career streamer, all with the “gimmick” that she claims to be a real vampire. People tend to think she’s just acting, or that she’s just completely delusional. Many other supernatural creatures live similar lives, working normal jobs, wearing a hat to cover up their horns or sunglasses to hide their weird eyes, and only revealing their true nature to very close friends, if anyone at all.

Monsters are magical and rarely adhere to modern scientific understanding. And most importantly, they have magical weaknesses. The most interesting thing about a monster is usually their weaknesses, and the most interesting, challenging, and fun thing about playing a monster in Eureka is trying to work around those weaknesses while keeping one’s true nature a secret, even from the other party members and their players.

Supernatural player characters in Eureka must be hidden from everyone except for the player that is playing them and the game master. You aren’t supposed to tell anyone else at the table. There are gameplay consequences for if a monster gets discovered, even by other monsters, and it usually involves a lot of Composure damage. (Composure is like an emotional HP system in Eureka, and you lose points of composure from extreme fear and/or stress. It is NOT, however, a sanity system.)

This Composure damage also affects other monsters because, like I said above, monsters eat normal people, but 99% of a monster’s friends are also going to be normal people. You may never even consider eating your buddies, but this guy would chow down on them without a second thought, he’s got to go!

Of course, you could play Eureka without this monster character lore, especially if you wanted to use it for, say, a completely contemporary murder mystery on a train where none of the mystery solvers are secretly vampires, and Eureka works perfectly fine for that, its core gameplay is designed to be able to totally stand on its own, but we have found that the possibility of any party member being something horrible in disguise can really spice up just about any mystery.

Last minute note in case it wasn’t clear: The party members that are secretly monsters are not usually opposed to the main goals of the party, they aren’t secret villains, they’re protagonists just like everybody else, and they want to solve this mystery just as badly. They just have to do it with the added risk that somebody might notice they don’t cast a shadow.

[puppiekit]

To celebrate my Lion au post, here are some notes / hcs:

Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf all have arcs that tackle different themes throughout the arc.

Jayfeathers arc tackles the prophecy-oriented side of things. His character changes the least. I do plan to tweak the way time travel works though (it will be more directly connected to their present - day tribe). Will keep up to date in that regard....

Hollyleafs character is, obviously, altered to an extent. She tackles the code-oriented side of things. She does not murder Ashfur, however..:

Hollyleaf is still driven mad by the truth of her heritage. She is angry at Leafpool first and foremost, viewing her as the root of their problem, as Leafpool was the one to break the code by having kits in the first place. She still confesses the truth at the gathering. She does not run into the tunnels, instead, somewhere more far off.....

After Ashfur is murdered, Lionblaze, wracked with guilt, confesses the crime to his siblings. Hollyleaf, blinded by her code-obsessed rage, later exposes the truth of what happened. Brambleclaw covers for him, similar to how Bramble covered Holly in the books.

Lionblazes character is altered the most (no surprise there). Lionblaze tackles the family-oriented side of things. He is very close to his parents, and you can see most of their drama / conflict through his perspective.

Lionblaze is a character who is simultaneously well-meaning, impulsive, and a bit self-focused. Similar to his grandfather he cares greatly for doing the right thing, even if it means breaking the code (much to Holly's disdain). However, what differs the two is Lionblazes hyper-awareness over his own reputation. Firestar is a cat who will do the right thing, no matter the slack he gets for it, no matter the enemies he makes. But Lionblaze is a cat who needs to be liked.

Due to the nature of his power, Lionblaze becomes increasingly insecure and hyper-aware of the cats around him (he views it as an inherent flaw ; a reason for cats NOT to like him). After his run-in with the Dark forest, he grows paranoid of accidentally harming / killing innocent cats. Frequent nightmares. Battle training sometimes induces panic. Bad habit of bringing home half-shredded prey. He wants to be a good cat, he wants to protect his clan and his family -- but his power only leaves him feeling like a monster. A ticking time bomb. All he's good for is doing the most damage possible, and that's scary to him.

Lions dynamic with Ashfur is expanded upon A LOT MORE. Now, in my au their dynamic is a bit of a mixed bag. They have their bad moments, days where Ashfurs resentment seeps through, but its not all bad. If you know the kind, you know -- The type of adult who will yell at you for a simple mistake, beat you down, but then 10 minutes later praise you and take you out for dinner as a treat. Its complex, it's hard to accept it for the toxicity it truly is, because "They're good sometimes, too". Lionblaze acknowledges that Ashfur was mean, but the attachment is still there. They had their good, genuine moments -- so it's hard to accept the fact that his mentor is a horrible person. Could it be? Could the mentor who told him funny stories about his parents, truly hate them that much? He can remember a time Ashfur peered down at him, smiled and said, "You know, Lionpaw, you're kind of like a son to me." In the moment he felt warm, it felt good. Did Ashfur really care for him that much? Now that same memory sends chills rippling through his fur.

Speaking of, Lionblaze is definitely the most attached of the three. He's incredibly close with Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw. When the truth is revealed, he is easily left the most (emotionally) devastated -- but he is also the first to forgive. He feels hurt, angry, betrayed, but he cannot deny the love he feels for his family, and he cannot deny the love they gave to him. It breaks his heart keeping his distance, seeing the hurt in his mothers eyes while he avoids their presence. He can't keep it up for long. Jayfeather, on the other hand, cant bring himself to forgive as quickly. He is a cat who has difficulty accepting vulnerability - he trusted his family, and that trust was betrayed. (Lion definitely has a bad habit of getting involved in his parents arguments later on lol hes emotionally invested)

The big change: Lionblaze kills Ashfur. You would think he does it out of anger, out of hatred, but no... He does it to keep his family safe. He can't let the secret get out. He can't allow Ashfur the opportunity to harm his littermates, his mother, again. Killing him was the only way, and yet, it leaves him with too much grief and guilt to bare. His entire life he shuddered at the idea of another cat dying at his claws. He was a monster, too strong for his own good, and killing would be nothing more than proof of that. It isn't long before it becomes too much to bare, and he confesses to his littermates. The grief, most of all, is what catches him by surprise. Ashfur was awful, he tried to kill Lionblaze and his littermates! It was wrong to feel this grief, wasn't it? But it isnt long before Lion realizes he wasnt grieving over Ashfur - he was grieving over who he thought Ashfur was; not only his mentor, but a tom who cared for him, despite the short attitude. Not only is his heritage, his upbringing a lie - but so is the very nature of his entire apprenticeship. It is a lot for him to handle.

[crehador]

translation issues aside, the story of reverse 1999 is really surprisingly good for a gacha. i'm vibing with the characters and setting, and the STRUCTURE of the currently released chapters is just downright excellent

major spoilers for chapters 1 through 4 below the cut

introducing us to the world through regulus was such a good call for chapter one, it's all new to her just like it's all new to the player. we get a chance to learn through her eyes

another reason this works so well imo is it paints vertin, in regulus's eyes, as this hyper-competent character with her own agenda and agency (only to reveal bit by bit that she's in a much more difficult position than it may seem at first, and in so many ways is still just a hurt kid trying to right the wrongs she's seen in this world, desperate not to lose more people)

then we move on to chapter 2, where we see schneider's tragedy unfold and meet some major players like arcana. schneider's story even on its own is pretty damn good, but the way vertin acts and reacts in chapter 2 is full of perfect little hints to what kind of past trauma might have shaped her

THEN CHAPTER 3. THE TRAUMA. i loved schneider's story, but i think this is where we really dive into the meat of the overarching plot. and it is such a perfect dive

like after the events of chapter 2, it does more or less make sense that vertin is being treated for Something. right away chapter 3 gives off a bit of a foreboding feeling because vertin's in the hands of the foundation now, which we as a player knows she doesn't trust, and it's deliberately made ambiguous what she's being treated for and exactly when she'll be released

but at this point, to me at least, it still seemed... possible that she really was just being treated for damage from chapter 2

THEN THE HORRORS UNFOLD vertin's past is shown to us throughout this chapter, and bit by bit it dawns that the foundation is capable of much more heinous acts than we already expected. when we meet the ring and isabella, a feeling of dread sets in right away. because they're clearly important to vertin, but where are they in the present? it's not hard to figure out she lost them (which adds so much dimension to her reactions to everything with schneider)

when the escape plan is coming together, with those side looks at what constantine is scheming, the inevitable dread gets heavier and heavier. like even knowing exactly what would happen, that the kids would be deliberately funneled into the storm just so vertin would see them die and feel responsible because it was her plan that led them there... seeing it actually happen was still a major gut punch, very effective

vertin's naivete in this past is such a haunting thing to see as well, there are moments where the text even shines a light on "will they realize this is going TOO smoothly for them?" and no! no they do not!! because they are 12-year-old kids who haven't lost all hope in the world!!!

seeing these grand scenes unfold with chess (and later go) on the screen was visually very cool as well, imo. might feel a bit gimmicky but it's a gimmick i enjoyed

anyway so then we get to chapter 4, and by then the sense of dread surrounding the foundation has fully set in. so it's almost unsurprising (yet still HORRIFYING) when you realize holy shit the foundation is keeping vertin hostage in a medically induced coma!! treatment for trauma my ass!!!

i feel like chapter 4 was the perfect place to end this arc as well, it was like an extended prologue. a lot of the tension/excitement for me came from the realization that vertin doesn't yet have a place to belong, it's not like "manus bad, foundation good" and that's that

looking at it through the lense of arknights, it would be like if doctor didn't have rhodes island at the start. all these factions around vertin, with their own agendas, and she doesn't have her own "home" yet

we get there, at the end of chapter 4. but of course it's not perfect, the terms of her operating her own team are very conditional, and there are loads of unanswered questions for the future

but it's a nice little set-up for future events, for vertin building this team (family) of arcanists who have some measure of freedom. the tension is still there, the foundation is still scheming, and some new mysterious organization is getting ready to enter the chat...?

all in all just, imo, an excellently structured story so far. it's a shame the translation detracts so much from it, i do think some powerful moments suffered from that. but the actual story is really quite strong, and vertin and her circle are all quite captivating to me so far

[yuikomorii]

Let's judge fairly. Yui had her development too. It's not like she didn't have any development.

// I wouldn’t necessarily call it development, I would rather say the story itself advanced and she grew accustomed to the circumstances. Over the course of the games, she got better at managing the Diaboys since you get to know someone after spending a lot of time with them and well… she also started acting more cheeky and bolder with them, for the reason that they started dating. She didn't know Karlheinz well in HDB and MB, so she didn't have any opinion about him, but in DF and CL, she called him out after Karl revealed how much of a jerk he is. It's not like she wouldn't have done that earlier if she had known the truth about him from the beginning—she called out Cordelia in the first game, after all.

However, I do think there are two particular scenes where they tried to highlight some major (?) development.

One is from Ayato's MB route, when she acknowledged acting in a selfish manner and concentrating solely on her feeling rather than on Ayato too, who was also having difficulties. She came to the realization that Ayato isn't perfect, despite being cute and giving her pleasure, and learned to accept him for all of his good and bad traits.

The other one is from Laito’s LE route, in which Reiji tries to make her understand that not believing in your lover can be very painful and that it’s not okay talking like that behind his back.

The message itself was good but this is the type of forced character development I have mixed feelings about. They didn’t have to make Yui act like that because it only portrays her as the bad one here. Yui is the first person Laito has ever opened up to and she was well aware that Laito hates Karlheinz, so getting his powers would undoubtedly damage him, yet she kept failing to understand that, despite the fact that they’ve been dating for some months and should have known better. The scene in which she says that Laito knows everything about her, yet she knows nothing about him only makes her appear so foolish in order to generate conflict. Like… come on, how can the heroine claim such a thing after dating a guy for SIX games?? Plus, the reasons of Laito’s actions were OBVIOUS that not even Reiji could entirely put the blame on him based on his situation.

As for Ayato’s MB route, I can’t entirely put the blame on her; I mean… Ayato is super good-looking and could probably pull anyone, but I can’t comprehend how she failed to realize that he has negative traits too?? It should be crystal clear that nobody is perfect and that everyone has their own issues, so you can’t beg someone to consider you special if they don’t feel like it.

It would have been 10 times better if Rejet actually tried to overcome her weaknesses, instead of adding new flaws. No, writing the heroine to suddenly have a shallow or selfish mindset only to make her “become a better person after realizing her mistakes” was not needed at all. And it’s also not fun making a character learn the same lesson in more games.

Credit to: dialovers-translations on Tumblr

The best scene, in which they could have genuinely made her evolve as a person, was in Carla’s LE route, when she admitted wanting to help him and the ghouls. It would have been nice seeing Carla putting faith in her and giving her an important yet hard task. Seeing Yui try her best to do it right, even if she was struggling at first, would have been such a cute moment. But nope, they decided to push her aside instead.

Other than that, idk if becoming a masochist and less sane as in the beginning count as development, lol, but if it does then it works like that too.

I get that it’s an otome game and most people play it for the guys but I feel like the heroine deserves to have her own storyline where she discovers herself and improves. DL feels more like the Diaboys' journey than her own, which is ironic because she’s the HEROINE, and in her most recent appearance, Rejet literally described her as “Ayato’s lover” without even using her name. I don’t really think the developers care that much about her, otherwise I doubt they’d be ok with all her character inconsistencies.

Yui is my favorite heroine because I find her really cute and likeable, plus I relate to her, but I’m aware of the fact that a likeable character does not equal a good one. She’s your average early 2010s heroine, who could have been indeed better written but serves her purpose, which is still good.

[dn-838]

How Aborted Genocide affects the Mettaton NEO battle

despite it's short length, Mettaton NEOs battle is definitely something that has brought up a lot of discussion, with people viewing it in very different ways. Some think that Mettaton NEO was just really weak and that things like his -40000 DEF in the files is canon, while others think that he never intended to actually fight us and was just working as a diversion to try and help more monsters evacuate before we attempt to face Asgore. As nice as all these ideas are, the nature of the fight is answered quite well in what is in my opinion the best and most underrated path in the entire game, Aborted Genocide. Now I could make a whole blog in of itself about why Aborted Genocide is such a masterpiece and how perfectly it does the arcs of every character, however this will just be focussing on what the route reveals about the Mettaton NEO encounter.

What is Aborted Genocide

For those of you who aren’t aware, Aborted Genocide is a Neutral ending that will always trigger if you spared any Mini-bosses or didn’t tire out the kill count in Hotlands after killing Undyne the Undying. Basically if you attack Monster Kid you are locked into getting Aborted Genocide or Genocide, with your actions in Hotlands quickly locking you into one of the two. While it is a mostly Genocide run with New Home being just like it is in Neutral. Mettaton NEO has a lot more to say when you kill him than in normal Genocide, and the ending itself is very different to your typical Neutral path, with Sans not speaking to us at all and Alphy’s being the one telling us how things are going (Sans isn’t completely absent, but he only has a couple lines aimed towards Alphy’s where he tells her that he found our number before Alphy’s is given the phone).

Technical stuff

Alright, so let’s just get the boring stuff out of the way first. Some people try to argue that the NEO body is canonically very unstable and weak, with the -40000 DEF in the files being his canonical stats. The problem with this is that relying on file stats would also require you to assume that Toriel magically has her DEF go all the way down to -9999 exclusively in a Genocide run, and that monsters like Whimsalot, the heavily armoured version of Whimsun that is trying to kill you, has less DEF than an ordinary shy Whimsun. You could try and make an argument that the stats are canon in Mettaton NEOs case because in Genocide the 900K-999K damage you do to him is scripted and isn’t actually the amount of damage you would do, however if your murder level (a stat present in the files of the game that calculates how far through the Genocide run you are which increases every time you kill a boss, mini-boss, unique enemy and clear an area) is below 15, the scripted damage is not present, and since the Mettaton NEO encounter is activated when your murder level is 12, facing him at any point between murder levels 12 and 14 will cause a normal amount of damage to be done, so the -40000 DEF is to make sure that an attack done would still kill in 1 hit (I know I could have just said that it’s not scripted in Aborted Genocide, but come on, if I’m gonna discuss the technical stuff I might as well go all out). I think we can safely assume that the 90 ATK & 9 DEF we see with Mettaton NEO in his check stats are intended to be the canon ones.

Mettaton NEOs dialogue

This is Mettatons speech prior to becoming Mettaton NEO in both Genocide and Aborted Genocide. Mettaton seems to know what a threat we are to both Monsterkind and humanity, and he tries to stop us by bringing out his original and most dangerous form. Of course you could realistically still gather that he was working as a diversion so more monsters can evacuate before Asgore absorbs the souls and defeats you, at least you can argue that until you see what he has to say when you kill him in an Aborted Genocide run.

Yes… Mettaton knew that Asgore wouldn’t absorb the Souls and that you would easily defeat him, but if that’s the case then he’d have had no reason to have only tried to work as a distraction, since either way everything was doomed. It seems most likely that Mettaton tried to fight you in a last ditch effort out of desperation, but since we grew so powerful and were so willing to cause harm, we were able to take him down easily. Speaking of that, on the topic of the Mettaton NEO fight, I have a little theory to share.

A tragic theory

So, let’s have a quick look at what Mettaton NEO says when we kill him in a normal Genocide run

Yeah… there really doesn’t seem to be anything to it like there is on an Aborted Genocide path, however I believe it actually holds quite a bit more importance than we originally thought, and that these 2 lines of dialogue make this death one of the saddest scenes in the entire game. Of course he talks here about his “fanclub”, which you would assume to be what is mentioned by him in the Neutral ending where he becomes ruler and that some of the Hotlands NPCs bring up, however there is something else that he calls a “fanclub”.

In Mettaton’s old house, he has a set of diaries, one of which he talks about how he first met Alphy’s, at a “human fanclub” no less. Now at first this seems to be the only time this human Fanclub is ever mentioned, but I believe that this was what he was referring to in his final Genocide line. While yes this may seem like a stretch, the thing is in Genocide Mettaton shows more care towards humanity than himself, accepting his death in Aborted Genocide because he knows that humanity will live on. I believe that Mettaton in Genocide meant the opposite. He didn’t know about Sans, he believed he truly was the only hope, and for that reason, when we take him down, he thinks that’s it, he thinks humanity is doomed, and he says “guess you don’t wanna join my Fanclub” for that very reason, to him, they are all already doomed… because of you.

TL;DR - Mettaton was genuinely trying to fight us and believed he was the last hope

[mixelation]

i dug up a scene i wrote years ago for plasticity re: itachi and shitty fiction. context is that tori is hobbling around from a hip injury while they stay in a small town to figure out their lives. this was written BEFORE i decided icha icha was a Thing which is why there is a bizarre lack of mention of it. because of that, who fucking knows what this scene will look like when i do get to this part

Tori spent the next few days laying in bed and drifting between sleep and absolute boredom. She’d occasionally stagger over to the bathroom and managed to wash herself with a wet towel a few times. The ninja mostly ignored her– Sasori disappeared for a full three days to scope out a place for the sealing ritual– but they would occasionally leave her with cartons of their left-over take-out meals. Itachi brought her a truly terrible novel. No one ever offered to help her to the bathroom, which her pride was secretly grateful for. 

She decided against the soldier pills, until Sasori returned and informed her she should be getting light exercise to strengthen her bruised muscles. 

“I put them back together,” he said tersely. “You won’t damage them further by walking. I’m not that incompetent.”

So Tori, unsure of how she had accused Sasori of incompetence, popped a soldier pill and went for a walk behind the hostel. It had a tiny, largely unkempt garden, with an algae-covered pond full of koi that were miraculously still alive. Next to it was a bench that looked like it might collapse at any moment, and Itachi was tempting fate by sitting on it. 

“That book you gave me sucked,” Tori said by way of greeting. Itachi acknowledged her by turning his head slightly. 

“You look like a ghost,” he said. 

“Thank you,” said Tori, quite genuinely, and continued with her walk. 

When she’d done a full loop around the garden, and then a smaller loop around the pond, Itachi was still sitting there, ankles crossed. She sat down next to him and the bench groaned. 

“Do you want it back?” she asked. “The book, I mean.”

“No. I found it in a cafe.”

“Oh, so you didn’t read it?”

“No.” 

They sat in silence. The day was still, with little wind to rustle the leaves, and the various conversations going on inside the hostel could just barely be heard. A woman was yelling, angry, while another room was filled with drunk laughter. Next to her, Itachi looked deceptively normal without his cloak. His baggy clothes made him seem too thin, and his posture was loose and relaxed. 

“What was it about?” Itachi asked.

“Hmm,” said Tori. “A guy comes into a lot of money and moves to the country. For some reason he’s really good at hiring farm-hands to run his estate, so he makes even more money by relying on those hires. Three outrageously beautiful women fall in love with him and he has to choose one to be his wife.”

“Sounds contrite,” said Itachi, leaning back further into the bench.

“It gets worse,” Tori continued. “Almost two hundred pages in, the author remembers conflict can be fun and there’s some drama where the rich guy starts getting death threats in the mail. But then his childhood crush shows up and that plotline gets dropped for a while.”

“Is she also in love with him?” Itachi asked, the beginning of a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

“Obviously,” said Tori. 

“And I suppose she’s also outrageously beautiful.”

“Of course. She’s the most beautiful of them all. And we’re three hundred pages in, fifty to go, and I’m thinking– wouldn’t it be a cool plot twist if she was the one sending him threatening letters?”

“That would be quite dramatic,” Itachi agreed. 

“I know, right? But then it’s revealed the threats are coming from a previously unknown character, who wants to marry one of the other girls, and he apologizes because he’s finally gotten brave enough to ask her to marry him.”

“And does she?” 

“That’s the thing! She does, but first she has to have this whole thing about how the rich dude is still better, but she’s not as perfect as his childhood sweetheart, so she might as well marry someone else. Like nothing any of these other characters do is allowed to invalidate how awesome rich guy is, even if it’s something totally normal like be a woman and not be in love with him.”

Tori had scooted to the edge of the bench by then, gesticulating wildly as she described her distaste for the story to Itachi. He barely moved at all, but did turn his body slightly more towards her to ask, “And that took fifty pages?”

“NO!” She said, waving her arms. “It took like ten pages. Then the rest was their wedding, where everyone we’ve met in this story has to give a speech about how perfect the rich dude and his wife are, and how everyone wishes they could be him. Or fuck him, if they’re women.”

“Terrible,” Itachi said, now smiling. Sort of. There was a slight raise of his lips.

“Yeah,” Tori said, slumping back into the bench. “Anyway, thanks for bringing it to me, I guess.”

“I’ll admit,” Itachi said, “I was hoping it would be about ninja. I quite enjoy civilian takes on us. It’s amusing.”

“I don’t think even ninja could have made that story better,” Tori grumbled, stretching her legs out in front of her. Her hips were sore, and stretching hurt, but in the nice way where your muscles relax afterwards. “Not even ones that cry every time they have to stab someone. Are you saying you didn’t even read the back cover before you decided it was sufficient entertainment for me?”

Itachi glanced at her. “I’ve found reading tiresome recently,” he said calmly. 

Tori opened her mouth to ask why, but then shut it. He was losing his vision. She knew that. Even without her foreknowledge, she’d seen him rubbing the corners of his eyes after reading cooking instructions, back at the base. 

“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Hmm.”

They sat in silence and Tori stretched her legs some more. She wondered how she’d feel after the soldier pill wore off. If she felt alright, she could see if she could walk into town and get her own dinner that night. 

“Maybe,” Itachi said, “you could tell me about the next book you read. You’re very thorough in your explanations about everything wrong in fiction.”

This time there was an actual, macroscopic smile on his face. 

“Oh,” Tori said, dumbfounded. She had thought Itachi didn’t particularly care for her. He’d told her to her face to shut up plenty of times, and he wasn’t much for for friendly ribbing like Deidara or Kisame. “Y-yeah, sure. I’ll pick one about ninja.”

Itachi didn’t comment on that. He stood, the smile drifting from ‘barely visible’ to ‘only noticeable if you know the exact line of his poker face.’ 

“Kisame wants to try a barbecue restaurant tonight,” he said. “You should come, if you can walk.”

He left. She wondered if he realized how ominous he sounded. 

[synergysilhouette]

Remaking "Fire Emblem: 3 Houses"

(Spoilers ahead, obviously)

The time has come for another rewrite! I'm an amateur (re)writer, and I KNOW people are gonna be picky about this rewrite since many consider this entry the Holy Grail of the "Fire Emblem" series, but I hope you'll still be open to my changes, anyway! This is purely subjective and not something that reflects the fandom's opinion or me saying how to make the game objectively "better" (even though the term itself is subjective). I don't remember every single aspect of the game, so if I mention something that I wanted from the game that they actually DID do, be sure to mention it!

General

DON'T RUSH US!--From the get-go, you're on a fixed schedule. Once you become a professor, you've got one day out of the week to explore the grounds, fight battles/do paralogues/xenologues, or another activity. Every Monday, you've gotta do instruction for your student, and the other days literally breeze by until you get to your next story arc. Letting us go at our own leisure would be awesome, particularly since it'd give us more time to get to know our characters via more missions and xenologues. Between school and war, it can get a bit monotonous.

2. Give us impactful dialogue options instead of the illusion of choices--I have the same issue with "Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon." Throughout the game, we're given dialogue options, but most of the time the choices are identical or offer no affect other than a character's approval/disapproval. It felt annoying to have the option to tell the Flame Emperor that you'd join them, only for them to say they could tell you were lying. It's annoying stuff like that that makes it feel like you don't really need dialogue options at all, just cutscenes with Byleth speaking for themselves.

3. Those Who Slither in the Dark being keeping us in the loop--It's wild to me that the people who did the most damage are the most underused in the game. Someone said that making their deeds more pronounced/known would ruin the point, but I disagree. In Crimson Flower, their role in the Tragedy of Duscur is revealed, but Edelgard defeats them offscreen before restoring peace. Dimitri never learns the full truth of this in Azure Moon, and if I recall, the organization does get more attention in Silver Snow (for like 2-3 chapters) and Verdant Wind, but I can't recall for certain. Either way, I feel like each route should feel complete, given that you're playing completely different stories, rather than it feeling like you're missing some information depending on the route you play. Not to mention, Kronya deserves better, even if I'm retconning her actions (more on that in a second)...

4. Don't make us forget about marriage--having to find a ring sucks. After Jeralt dies, you have a certain amount of time in order to find his marriage ring (which I completely forgot about in my first playthrough) that you NEED if you want to reach S-supports with anyone. I'd prefer if Jeralt just gave it to Byleth rather than us having to go to his office and find it.

5. Change the confusing Byleth bloodline--I'm fine with Sitri being either Rhea's daughter or (if you wanna romance Rhea and Sothis without ethical concerns) simply working at the church where she met Jeralt. The family tree above makes things a lot more confusing than what it needs to be.

6. Marriage to (mostly) whoever, whenever--In the game, you have to wait until after the war is over to be married, and out of them, you only have 5 romantic same-sex options for female Byleth--2 of which are route-exclusive--and 3 options for male Byleth--2 of which are either DLC or route-exclusive. I'd rather make it a free-for-all, save for Gilbert and Alois, who are married, and should've never prevented you from a romantic relationship with another character.

7. Keep Jeralt alive--I'm just...I'm just TIRED of the "dead parent/evil parent" storyline that "Awakening," "Fates," and "Engage" have done, along with "3 Houses." I'd enjoy having Jeralt kept alive, in this version. Nevermind, this is probably the longest a protagonist has gotten to keep their parent in one of the recent FE games. Having him stand by Byleth similar to "3 Hopes" would be awesome.

8. Let us have Child units--As someone who got into the series via "Fates" and "Awakening," it disappointed me greatly that child units were removed. While I prefer "Fates" using the Deeprealms, I think an "Awakening" approach fits best here. Perhaps Sothis' time manipulation is more powerful than she knows, having sent the child units from the future to avoid their dark fates. Since it's story-related, perhaps it's Byleth's child who comes from the future first, referencing Chrom's daughter Lucina coming to save him and Emmeryn in "Awakening," only the child comes to save Byleth and Jeralt. Personally I made a lsit of fanmade child units almost a year ago.

9. Recruit Jeritzia outside of Crimson Flower--"3 Hopes" allowed us to do so as long as we had Mercedes in one of our routes, and I'm confused on why that couldn't be done here. Recruiting Mercedes would be the wakeup call Jeritzia needs to join our side, rather than being the opposition.

10. Keep Byleth's hair color--This is a nitpick, but I'd like being able to change Byleth's hair color back to the way it was before becoming one with Sothis. I'm fine with keeping the hair color, though.

11. A 3 Houses United Route--I mentioned in another post about a route where Jeralt survived, TWSITD as the main antagonists. What'd make this route unique (since I'd want the other two changes to be changed in all routes) is that the almost-death of Jeralt would inspire Byleth to leave the church and become a mercenary again, only getting involved years later once they see how the war has affected their students, and they can still recruit others based on their stats, and since they're not tied to a particular "side" in this concflict, they could recruit the house leaders and their aides rather than having to kill them.

12. Fix Dimitri's turnaround (Azure Moon)--It's probably just me, but it felt like Dimitri's vengence and sudden change of heart following Rodrigue's death felt...too quick? I know this is a hot take, but I'd have thought Rodrigue's death would've fueled Dimitri's anger. Plus I didn't feel like Dimitri's redemption (so to speak) was earned. It was just kinda "sorry for being a jerk, guys" even though the whole team seemed to back him. I'd have enjoyed seeing more moments of his sanity and morality kick in amidst the chaos rather than being one-track-minded. I feel like a lot of poorly done villain arcs do this (even if he isn't the villain of this route, per se). Since in my rewrite we learn about TWSITD, it's quite possible that Dimitri's anger is focused elsewhere in any case. Maybe Rodrigue didn't even have to die...

13. Utilize 3 Hopes designs--This may not be a popular opinion, but I think some of the characters looked better halfway in 3 Hopes than in 3 Houses. It would be nice to have the option to switch their costumes to their 3 Hopes looks instead (even though I know they're older in the 3 Houses timeskip than they are in 3 Hopes).

14. NO IGNORANT BYLETH--Instead of other installments that use the amnesia subplots, Byleth is simply kept in the dark about their parents' pasts, the world, and the church (which is kinda the same thing). I'd alleviate this entirely so we can have a mature and well-learned protagonist rather than a teacher who's just learning how the world works and about the tension in the land.

Hope you're not too upset with my version of the game! Lemme know what you think and if you have any questions. The next FE rewrite I do (whenever I get around to it) will be "Engage," which is the last FE game I've played.