#ec meta

[gece-misin-nesin]

I am a self-professed hater of the Master of the Heavenly Yard novel. I think there are a bunch of problems with it, and here are the main ones for clarity's sake:

The antagonists and their plan are incredibly out of left field and are only kind of foreshadowed vaguely in album booklets

The antagonist LINEUP is weird (irina, gallerian, gammon, etc.)

There are not enough cameos and especially not enough cameos that MATTER

Allen is suddenly the main character despite not mattering ever since Cloture of Yellow and Wiegenlied of Green (discounting his cameos in other novels such as Fith, Pierrot)

People's character arcs disappear for no reason (Specifically Rilliane)

If you don't want to read what is more of a rant than actual critique/analysis, the TLDR is that I think there should have been another novel between Muzzle of Nemesis and Master of the Heavenly Yard. From here on I will mostly use acronyms and shortened names for stuff.

The antagonists and their plan is incredibly out of left field and is only kind of foreshadowed vaguely in album booklets

and

The antagonist LINEUP is weird (irina, gallerian, gammon, etc.)

Number 1 and 2 kind of go together, so I'll talk about them interchangably. The biggest issue with these two is that they both suffer from "hey, where did THIS come from?".

This is mainly because, for some reason, mothy (the writer) never elaborated on Evils Theater, its inhabitants, and what the fuck they're doing at any point. We only get minor glimpses like Capriccio Farce or the album booklets. On its own, this isn't so bad. We have a lot of stuff we don't know about Evillious' history. However, most of those things don't end up being incredibly important in the literal FINALE of the series.

Now, the final villain in the mothy novel is Ma. However, for a large portion of the book, our main antagonists are: Gammon, Gallerian, Michelle, Irina, Adam (kind of), and Eve (kind of). Now, I don't think I really need to spell out why this is an odd group but I will anyways.

First, we get no indication that ALL of these guys TOGETHER somehow had enough contact with each other to form a detailed plan regarding the end of the world.

Two, Gammon and Gallerian are enemies, meaning them being in the same group (and I recall them being in the same place at some parts of the novel) without serious infighting needs an explanation. We never get one.

Three, when did they make this plan considering Gallerian has been dead for years? In fact, HOW did they make this plan? How did they come to the conclusion that they HAVE to destroy the sinners to stop Ma....instead of just like, killing her? And you can say "But Ma was presumed to be killed by Nemesis!" but that would mean they started to plan just before the world ended. I find that hard to believe. How did they come to the conclusion they have to go back in time? No idea.

Four, why does Gallerian agree to this plan when he KNOWS the sinners have to be destroyed. Aka himself. And let's say that somehow Gallerian accepts dying for the greater good or whatever..why does he let Michelle make a contract with Eve for the plan then!? Her becoming the main contractor for sloth means she HAS to die. This is the same Gallerian that does everything for his daughter and the same Gallerian who ends his song saying he'll come back and achieve his goals to create a paradise for himself and his daughter. I don't even like the guy, but how exactly does this make sense with his previous characterization?

Five, why is Michelle here. HOW is Michelle here? She was in the Heavenly Yard for decade(s), so she couldn't have communicated with them beforehand. Moreover, she was a sheltered, innocent 16 year old when she died. How on earth is she now a terrorist who's fine with suicide if it means saving the world or resetting it?

Six, how did Gallerian learn some important lore for this plan? Uhh because there was randomly a black box belonging to Luna Hazuki in the Hellish Yard....for some reason.

Seven, how did Adam realize Irina was Maria which set off the events that led to him being Neo Adam? Idk

Eight, why does Irina suddenly decide she wants to save the world? Idk. You can argue that it's because she changed her perspective due to her time as Michelle, but that's subtext at best. Her suddenly wanting to save the world technically fits with her NOT being an actual HER as of OSS:C and P, but I'm not sure how much that was preplanned. Besides, I'm still not a fan of that specific reveal because it means unlike every other HER, Irina was just a normal person who wanted to destroy the entire world not because she had a fantasy illness but..because she just really wanted to I guess? But I digress, this is OSS territory.

Nine, pretty minor but, how does Irina make the entire THEATER her body, something unprecedented in the series before this?

Some of these may have been answered in the novel and it's possible I just forgot, in that case please correct me.

Onto our third point:

There are not enough cameos and especially not enough cameos that MATTER

Technically I can just answer this one with "Nyoze" and be done with it, but I won't.

-Nyoze doesn't exist for some reason even though he has a significant connection to Nemesis, one of the main characters of the novel, and is literally in the Court Ending and OSS

-Arte and Pollo are reduced to Banica's servants (this is more an issue I have with their writing THROUGHOUT the series and this was the perfect time to address it) even though their roles as Hansel, Gretel, Ney, and Lemy could have been impactful and tied up loose ends. Lemy is Irina's adopted son, and we have a bunch of Pride Arc cameos here INCLUDING Mariam, Ney's adoptive mother. Also Prim is in the background a lot here for some reason. I get that she was a contractor too, but there were other minor contractors? I guess it was because they weren't HERs..

-Germaine and Allen are somehow on great terms despite their terrible parting

-Despite the abundance of Pride Arc cameos, most of them don't mean jack shit story wise. We literally don't get an actual Three Heroes reunion. What the fuck. Also does Allen even talk to Leonhart?

-Despite the Pride Arc cameos, we don't see most characters from the Greed/Wrath arcs, even though Ma, Gallerian, and Gammon are all antagonists in this novel and there are a lot of characters connected to them (such as the members of PN)

-Do we get any cameos from the Envy arc? The Sloth arc? The original PN?

Allen is suddenly the main character despite not mattering ever since Cloture of Yellow and Wiegenlied of Green (not counting his cameos in other novels)

Now, I know mothy (the author) intended the series to start and end with the twins. I can accept that. The problem is that the series never gives a reason for it? It feels very abrupt. Even if I'm generous and start counting after the Pride Arc, Allen hasn't been relevant for about 6 novels at this point. I suppose Tailor of Enbizaka counts..but eh. That's not even mentioning Rilliane herself, who at least got to be relevant as Postman and Lillith but otherwise wasn't very important either.

Anyway, if we had gotten a novel inbetween Muzzle and mothy, this problem could have been fixed. Alternatively, Allen could have reincarnated more than once, thus keeping him in the story.

People's character arcs disappear for no reason

Just saying "Rilliane" instead of "People" would probably more accurate here, but eh. Honestly this might be the most minor point, but it's still annoying.

Rilliane, in her past life, died as an old woman. Let's say around her 80s or so. She also had a redemption arc where she stopped being..you know, the 'daughter of evil'. In her 2nd life, she was a normal person. In her 3rd life, she had issues, but she wasn't terrible either. However, when she dies...she's in her 14 year old self and is STILL a spoiled princess.

I'm sorry, but if you want Allen and Rilliane to be the main characters and the literal bookends, why are you ignoring Rilliane's character development literally her BIGGEST aspect in the pride arc? That just makes her character seem static, contradictory, and unsatisfying. Because you erased the development that you wrote and showed the viewer in the very first novels!

And that's it. That's my thesis on "Why Master of the Heavenly Yard Sucks, and Why There Should Have Been Another Novel Before It". Thank you for reading until this point.

PS. One of the few good things was Ma's writing. Absolutely superb.

[bathenaswopez]

Tell us why despite being 'problematic', you love eclare and think they belong together. I can't help it - I get why many don't like them, but when I see them onscreen they just scream "soulmates" to me :)

Putting under read more.

Eclare, to me, has such great chemistry and from their first scene, there was obviously a connection there. And their story being the Romeo and Juliet esque type, except they are alive and are both at consenting ages haha.

Eli, for all flaws, absolutely loves Clare and she is his #1 woman (ignoring s13-14). He genuinely wants her to be happy, which is shown when he gets Clare and Jake back together and backs off for the most part (I say most part because the two share a kiss, but even the, he's still so respectful of her boundaries).

And Clare loves Eli a lot too, but doesn't want to be his only good thing or have the weight on all his shoulders. She WANTS him to have other interest and have a healthy life. ANd she's able to confide in him and just cry it out. Even though it took a while, she was able to tell him about Asher and Eli was by her side from start to finish. Same way he was there when Clare had cancer. Which is why it's even more ridiculous that the writers had Eli cheat but that's for another day haha.

Short answer: Chemistry, development, & unconditional love and support.

[lurkamargarine]

Modern Witch 🖤

Meta Salmhofer in her modern design by @meta28050 , for an art trade :3

[gece-misin-nesin]

@inlinecrescendo

i have such mixed feelings about HERS like…overall no im not a fan of the “evil person mental illness”. staring at my beloved visual novels series about being compassionate to people struggling with paranoia and psychosis in the corner. but occasionally mothy drops a hint of complexity and im like ooooojhhhh. remember when in mothy levia (maybe sickle idk it was one of the r gods) expressed doubt over the entire classification for HERS. but that was one line and never brought up again. remember when irina died and her last thought was that she wanted friends

[neyumi]

meta

[tiny-evillious]

Char... meta... Charmander-

[whenmemorydies]

I wonder if Carmy would have gone as hard as he did in season 3 if his ass hadn’t gotten stuck in that fridge at the end of season 2.

[a-song-of-many-wishes]

Silly little gal who's an absolute menace <3

[neomariaoftheinverteggravestone]

Last match was won by: behemo barisol

[yannaryartside]

Shapiro’s angle

I don't think this guy is bad news, or a bad guy per se.

I think he is just an opportunist. And I think he is doing this mostly for himself.

I may be wrong, but for me, the most on-the-nose foreshadowing about Shapiro was Luca telling him:

"Are you getting your sticky fingers on everything again?"

This was right before he asked to talk to Sydney (about the partnership) at Ever's funeral. It was definitely a sign.

Now, it could be a warning about his bad intentions; sticky fingers could be related to wanting to trap someone and never let them go. Maybe Syd should have Pete revise that new partnership agreement.

Mostly, I have a hard time thinking Andrea Terry would have a CDC that was actually toxic or damaging; his true colors would have shown at some point, and she would have known. Maybe that's me being optimistic. Maybe he would show his actual colors when he doesn't have to answer to anybody. Luca hasn't seemed to get awful vibes from him, either.

FINGERPRINTS OF LEGACY

But I associate the sticky fingers comment more with Shapiro wanting to get a "fingerprint" on Sydney. The way a fingerprint may alter the presentation of a fine ceramic plate. Is about marking it as yours, it was in your hands.

Shapiro may think that he has gotten as good as he can get on his own merit, he said he would have stayed with Andrea forever if she hadn't closed Ever, which is a remark on his lack of ambition as a cdc. I think he may be a chef who (also, as he said) is tired of the all-day cooking job, but he still wants to get some glory under his name without all the work. Proteges are a good way to do that.

The only thing about Sydney he knows that could indicate her potential (besides her cooking, which he only tested once) is that she works for Carmen. Carmen has been awarded the best in the world, and the fact that he sees something in Sydney may be enough for Shapiro to bet on her (and a huge bet, considering how much freedom he promised her). Now, what kind of mentor would he be? I would like to think he will try to be Andrea and see where it gets him.

He may have seen the bear's kitchen's obvious lack of functionality and seen it as an opportunity to steal Carmy's best asset from him while she is still unknown by the industry. She could become more expensive to get in the future if she gets a name under Carmen. Shapiro has better chances to get her now. He may even say in the future that he was the only one capable of forming her like a chef while Carmy didn't.

So yeah, he is making a bet on an unknown asset with the hope that it will pay off later since Carmys is not looking. We don't know much about his character besides the fact that at Ever, everyone was cool with him.

I DON'T WANT SYDNEY TO FAIL OR GET SCREWED

Besides how much I care for her—I know it sounds obvious—I don't think it would be a good narrative for the show either way.

Because she has survived Carmy, that has been horrible, but in terms of women in the workplace, at least she doesn't have to worry about being exploited (or other horrible things that we know could happen in these spaces) because Carmy cares about her well-being, the same as the rest of the family.

So, if she hypothetically goes with Shapiro because her voice is being drowned under Carmy's madness, and then Shapiro screws her over, and Carmy has to rescue her.

I am sorry, fuck that.

Because what is the lesson on that? Women should stick around toxic behavior, being grateful that at least they are not taken advantage of? Better the devil you know than the one you don't? Sydney is very capable, and you will punish her for believing in herself?

image by @gingergofastboatsmojito

[witchofmerrigod]

I see that some of the people I've "met" are on here. I suppose I will join them too, since I don't have anything better to do.

I'm Meta Salmhofer, also known as the Witch of Merrigod (as well as Virgin Mother and Mem Aleph). If you have something to ask or something to say, just spit it out.

OOC: Hi! This is @luc1dl1lac's first ask blog. I wanted to try making an EC RP blog and who else but our favorite virgin mom??

Do keep the NSFW away though, that's mostly it I think.

[depression-napping]

Hi ❤️ I’ve uploaded FFVII Ever Crisis - Vincent’s Weapon Comparisons in English and Japanese 🔫

I’m almost done translating his weapon info from the original game, from FFVII Ultimania Omega (pgs 330-331).

I think only 3 of his original weapons have made it into the FFVII EC so far, namely:

- Quicksilver (obligatory starter weapon)

- 銀玉鉄砲/Silver Rifle (“Joke weapon” from Temple of the Ancients)

- Randall/Shortbarrel (Found out some fun trivia about this one!)

Enjoy!

[stick-ball]

pspspspsp Kevin's trauma and his choice to stay with Thea, why her why not someone else? How does it work considering his characters as whole books/ec , does it make sense or just feel "random"

<Picks you up like a little cat and smooches your head.>

This responce has been sped up by the people who asked Nora on twitter to break Kevin and Thea up, making me see red KillBill style, so:

For me, Kevin's and Thea's relationship makes perfect sense. Maybe it's the realist in me, maybe its the idealist in me, I don't care. When it comes to Kevin's traumas, I think that since most people can't really relate to a majority of them, they get all hung up on the one they most definately can, as in, his mommy issues. When we relate to something, it becomes a really big deal. And here we go! Thea/Kevin suddenly is feared to be toxic instead of being seen for what I think it is: finding love in a hopeless place.

The main issue i see discussed is the disproportion of power at the beginning of the relationship. The main concern is the age difference. I personally don't really get the hate about the age gap between them, because if you read the extra content you will know that while they met when Kevin was 14 and Thea 18, it's not like anything happened between them at that age? First, Kevin saw her as an impressive player, when he did actually see her. That wasn't all that often bcs from what I understand from the EC, Kevin and Riko trained with the Ravens sometimes before they joined the team but a big part of their training happened without them, as well as their life growing up was more detached from the Uni students than people seem to think. And honestly, do you think Tetsuji would just let all the freshmen know they signed into the Yakuza sportsTM? Methinks not, but be delulu if you want I guess. 💋

So anyway, from the EC, it seems like Kevin had a crush slowly build up for Thea over the years, growing from his appreciation of her skill and athletism. Considering how cold that guy is, it probably took him some time to realise, after his irritation at her romances (yeah hello she was dating people her age when Kevin was mooning for here as a pathetic teenage boy, bye bye Thea haters) with other teammates started having nothing to do with the fact it could result in the teams distraction during the game, bcs of their hormones and feelings, and turned to conscious jelousy. And here I have to applaud young Kevin because he did not even realise he was distracted from the game by being jealous. Knowing how oblivious Kevin can be about non exy issues, it likely took quite a while.

So what's next? The "getting together"? Kevin and Thea only started having a sort of physical relationship when Kevin and Riko were already freshmen for Edgar Allan, at 18/19.

Whoever wants to fight me on this being a toxic age gap, what exactly is your angle?

Anyway, Kevin was the one to initiate their relationship, after Riko was done with his distraction from the game and his focus on picking fights with Thea, and told him to sleep with her and get it out of his system. (And that's how i met your mother.) It wasn't much more than that for a long time, because having a relationship on a 12 hrs day/night full of training and uni and juggling two other teams on top of that as well as celebrity status literally sounds like the most insane schedule ever, so it's insane they even managed to talk privately at all.

Now, we circle back to the question, why Thea? Why not someone else? Well, first and fucking foremost, because Nora Sakavic said so. Second of all, because Jung and Freud weren't as stupid as imternet memes would have you believe. (Read their books, read all the books please, i can rec you like a 100 psychology texts, dont be shy)

To keep it short, we do base our attraction on the role models we have, one way or another. I saw enough of my friends pick partners that have the exact character quirks that make them just slightly like an after image of their guardians. Kevin doesn't really have a father model, but his mother? She's always going to be a huge part of his life, is it really so weird and dangerous, that he got infautated with a strong, driven, 4 years older woman, who's incredibly talented and just as determined as him? I don't think so. Is it unhealthy? Is it unsafe? As much as life is, I guess, no one is perfect, but I think he could've done much much worse for himself.

Why did Kevin decide to stay with Thea? I would find it pretty obvious, because she doesn't actually need him. She built herself, but she wants him. Even if she will never have the same fame and recognition in her career that he does. Being wanted this way must be really new for Kevin, who was always a trophy to show off because of his legacy, always a property. But Thea is not competing with him, she doesnt want to own him either. I believe his mother is as much of a role model to her, as to him. So, they have sex, when they want to, they talk - when they feel like it. They don't, well fucking fine, so they don't, they fall in love anyway. It's okay if exy comes first in the beginning, considering both spent a lot of time in cult mentality, I think neither is all that bothered as long as its not obsessive (we could discuss how reasonable it was of Kevin to ghost her for over a year and not tell her about how he broke his hand but thats a whole other essay).

What's really wild to me, is that I think the power imbalance in this relationship is the opposite of what many may think.

Kevin holds all the cards. Thea joined the Ravens as a 18 years old talented athlete, she was one of the only girls on the team, and the Nest was not a place to make friends, on top of that it was a mafia cult. She had everything to prove there, and no way of being prepared for all the grooming. On top of that, she knew nothing of the Moriyamas or even of what actually went down with the whole Perfect Court thing. Kevin knew everything, on top of that, up until he left, he had nothing to prove. He ghosted her, is it so hard to believe she accepted his cold shoulder in this dynamic, in which she obviously is not at the top of the foodchain? He kept secrets from her, is it really so hard to believe she was angry? I think neither of them was ready for neither what life at the nest was like, or for a relationship when it happened, but I also think they are incredibly lucky that they have eachother, their shared passion for exy, their daughter, their dog and friends from the dog park who can't talk about exy to save their lives.

I think Kevin was incredibly lucky for finding Thea, because maybe she did not know everything, maybe it wasn't easy for them, but they understood that Rikos death wasn't a one dimensional victory, that it was just as much of a tragedy for them, for Kevin. I'm happy with the canon and I wish more people appreciated this ship, as its very soothing.

As an ending fun fact, did you know I am the only person to make a playlist for Thea Muldani in all of spotify? Pretty insane if you ask me.

[foxstens]

does anyone remember where it says what the perfect court is

[isabeauladyhawke]

Part of me feels like Jean Auel’s Earths Children series is a cautionary tale- directed at those in power in modern human society, mainly men. Yes the clan were “backwards” in a sense, but they also were closer to the earth and “die” with the Earth Mother bc they don’t receive the “gift of knowledge” as AMH do. But that gift that Ayla receives also leads to the subjugation of women, coming full circle back to the “backwardness” that the clan displayed. The clan is a reflection of the bad direction modern humanity has taken. It’s stated that at one point in the distant past the clan acknowledged women’s spiritual power, but that time had passed and now men subjugated women to keep their spiritual power in check. In a way, the clan used their knowledge to go backward, which humans today are also in danger of doing. Ayla is the messenger that there are two paths humanity can take. One of enlightenment and one of ignorance. But we are given the tools to choose while the clan were not, and they die out. The clan die out bc they refuse to change. Humanity today will die out the same way unless we become more enlightened.

@fan-of-the-cave-bear I would love to know your thoughts on this!

[dazzlingfeelingz]

Also I realized yesterday that I've been in love with Meta for over a year- not sure when exactly but it'z def been over a year (I found a year old comment abt me being v lovey w meta that'z from last year)

Funny I say lovey it'z literally my nickname for her lol (which meanz I started selfshipping with her since b4 lavie (the song that made me start using that nickname) came out WTF 😭😭😭😭😭)