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ruthlesslistener · 1 year ago

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not to come into your house after asking an incredibly basic question, but your response is very interesting to me? Interesting feels like the wrong word but it's also v late for me. Most thoughts I hear about the gerudo are either just in it for the Ganondorf lore and thus gloss over other things about them, or only have positive things to say in a way that feels kinda oblivious? Or on rare occasions, people thoroughly tearing them apart. So, seeing your response aknowledge the things people usually tear into nintendo for but still come away liking them pretty wholesale was interesting in a good way! Like a breath of fresh air that hadn't occurred to me. anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts, if you can't tell already they kinda tipped the way I think about the gerudo pretty topsy-turvy in a way I'll examine later when it's not midnight. sorry if this is overstepping or smthn after starting with a two sentence ask. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on them when both of us have more brain power.

Glad that it got you thinking about things! I don't think you're overstepping, but I do want to point out that I really don't have much experience with the nuances of the Zelda franchise, so I might not have very insightful commentary on it. I've never played the games myself, I only watched BOTW, Twilight Princess, and Wind Waker playthroughs/speedruns and am partially through smallant's TOTK 100% vods.

The way I think about it, though (and this applies to anything except Harry Potter), is that you can acknowledge the flaws in a piece of media while also enjoying aspects of it that are not flawed, because nuance is a thing and what matters most is not internalizing the bigoted shit you might see and allowing it to influence how you treat/write others. Additionally, it can help you learn about the pitfalls that other writers might fall into, and whether or not it was intentional or not, because different sterotypes/problematic troupes will crop up in different ways in different cultures, and intention makes all the difference between deliberate propaganda and yet another cultural oversight that needs to be addressed, but can be corrected later on. Stories are written by human beings and human beings are inherently flawed entities, so dismissing any and all enjoyment you might find in a story simply because it has problems just isn't reasonable (though blindly defending it isn't great, either).

(The reason why HP is an exception is, of course, because the author directly benefits from its publicity and uses that benefit to actively harm minority groups, so there really is no ethical way of engaging with that shit)

The Gerudo are very much a flawed concept drawing off of the fallacies of Middle Eastern stereotypes, and there's much to be said about the imperialist undertones that run through TOTK with the kingdom of Hylia and its expansion to other territories (though this might not be intentional- Japan is notorious for being pro-imperialist and glossing over all the horrors of imperialism or their past crimes with it. Then again, America is just as bad, if not worse, so I'm hardly on a moral high horse here). There certainly is a lot more to be said about the racism inherent to making the Big Bad Evil of the series a brown man, and then trying to mask that by turning his skintone green, or black, or just generally trying to dehumanize him. Not to mention the fact that a man is born to the Gerudo once every hundred years, and that he automatically becomes their king for whatever reason (with Ganon, I can see it's because he's power-hungry, but still). But you can also enjoy the flashy decor of the Gerudo, the buff warrior woman society with their codes of honour, and the badassery of their chieftans that can call down lightning, because at the same time, the Gerudo are so fantastical that they end up being just that...fantastical.

So while I'm sure there's a lot of nuance that I'm missing given that I'm more of an observer of new games in the Zelda series than anything else, imo I think its fine to enjoy them while still being aware of the racist elements to their story, because while the racism isn't great they're also so different from like, actual irl human beings that it's not too bad. It's more that they were spawned from racist stereotypes that is the direct issue, if that makes any sense

#anon #reply #again! i only really know botw canon so i am missing a whole lotta context #but yeah i think you can enjoy something while also knowing that its got shitty elements to it

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xxmissarichanxx · 11 months ago

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Introducing ✨XMACX Monthly✨ public posts on ptrn that'll be monthly updates on my original projects! i want non-ptrns to be part of the fun, so cover model polls are open to all! first one drops tmrw on twt/ig/tmblr!

you can read the update on ptrn or here, below the cut!

First month of the New Year and I've got a lot of fun ideas and plans for 2024! Let's dive right in!

XMACX MONTHLY UPDATES AND "COVERS"

First off, I'm introducing XMACX MONTHLY! It'll be a public post that -- ideally -- goes out on the first of every month. It'll include the schedule and plan for the coming month along with a cover image! I really miss drawing monthly character illustrations and I thought it'd be fun to also include non-patrons in polls so here's what I was thinking:

Everyone gets a chance to vote on the cover model for next month's issue, but patrons can vote on the outfit and/or theme for the cover!

For now, the characters I'd like to focus on drawing are my OCs, so the options for cover models will be limited to my OC roster. I have so many! I'd like to shine a light on them some time... And I was thinking, since magazines typically have "cover stories", OC Lore posts can be about the cover model! What are OC Lore posts? This leads me into my next topic...

TIER CHANGES

Here's what I'll be offering for each tier:

Pineapple Slices (3 USD)

Vote in monthly theme/character outfit polls

Digital downloads - wallpaper of the monthly cover model image and/or current visual novel build

Name in credits (must be patron during release month)

WIP/Sketch Dump at the end of each month before socials

Big Juicy Pineapple (5 USD)

All previous rewards PLUS:

OC Lore posts - the "cover story". It might include a character interview or some tidbit about the cover model

Art Process - a video, maybe some thoughts and commentary

NSFW/Spicier/Alternative version of cover model image - you got to vote for their outfit, BUT now you potentially also get to see them with their clothes off LMAO

PROJECT LINE UP

Last year was a pretty busy year for me due to a lot of family stuff, work, and travel. I didn't have as many opportunities as I would have liked to draw my OCs and work on my personal projects. This year, I'll be cutting back on commissions and taking on other projects so I can focus more on my dreams of creating and sharing original stories. Here's the order in which I'd like to work on projects and a lil blurb about each:

Froot Basket: Dark Chocolate Voiced Update

Currently, I'm still working on adding the voiced lines and new artwork to Froot Basket: Dark Chocolate. Tentative release date will be some time in March for the public, some time in February for patrons.

Froot Basket White

The third and last installment of the Furuta Basketball "Froot Basket" series. It will be from Jordan's perspective and will be a direct sequel to Froot Basket Valentine. I'd like this project to be released episodically -- one new route every month or two, 7 routes total. I'm considering making it fully voiced...

Fleeting

My BL scifi horror visual novel! It follows Cadet Masa Takeshiro. It's been a while since I've worked on this project and I'd like to update the demo with everything new I've learned in the last few years. A "face lift" if you will in almost all aspects including writing and UI.

"Kaimana Comic"

It is currently unnamed but in-universe time-wise, it picks up some time after Fleeting. I don't expect to publish the comic at all this year. I'd just like to start thumbnailing it.

Other Projects

I have some other smaller projects like that Dogsitter one I was working on. I'm saving those for when I get frustrated. Those will be my "cool off" projects.

ART GOALS FOR 2024

These are my big big goals this year! If nothing else, at least these please c''':

Release updated FBDC

Begin releasing FBW

Release new Fleeting Demo

Begin thumbnailing Kaimana Comic

JANUARY 2024 SCHEDULE

Okay! That was a lot. Now here's what I have planned for January! I typically like updating every Friday.

January 5 - Character (public) and Outfit (patron) polls drop

January 12 - OC Lore post drops (BJP)

January 19 - Art Process post drops (BJP)

January 26 - New FBDC Voiced Preview! + Current visual novel build update

January 31 - Sketch Dump

Since Kai is like the default model and he's already shirtless, the Cover Story this month will be "What if Kai were a PKMN trainer?" LMAO. Prompted ONLY because I can't unassociate the backwards cap from Ash and his PKMN battles.

Wow. That was a lot. If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading! I'm excited to implement and try all these new stuff out! I hope you'll have fun with it too!

Much Aloha, Ari

#xmacx monthly #vndev #visual novel update #devupdate #original character art #original character #oc art #oc #xmacxart #xmacxoc #kaimana

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jonathanbiers · 2 years ago

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hello may i have some fic lore please. i am requesting a dvd commentary analysis of your favorite ever scene you've written. please and thank you and only if you feel like it <3

EVER WRITTEN? OOOH. uhhhh my favorite scene i've ever written has not been published yet (and may not ever? it's. complicated. but i won't talk about it in detail i'm so sorry) and while my favorite fic in general that i've written, like, with the whole thing taken into consideration is from the tone of your voice, i've talked about my favorite scenes from that one multiple times before, so i'll give you my 2nd fave.

which is from part one of the steddie fic i actually finished last week, which i affectionately refer to as "eyeliner steve" because that's a lot shorter than you're shooting stars from your eyes (it drives me crazy, drives me wild). i'll put the excerpt and my rambling under a read more because i will be quoting whole paragraphs, oops. also it's nsfw, so there's that.

so first of all, the alley scene in part one was the very second image that popped into my mind when, way back in SEPTEMBER, i had the conversation with @jeysuso that inspired me to write this whole entire ass fic. i really wanted to make it so obvious that, sure, while the idea behind the fic was basically "omg what if steve wore eyeliner and eddie fucked him till he cried" (happens in part 2 👀👀👀) this is still an established relationship where they're very much in love, talkin gomez and morticia level whipped and horny for each other. but the scene itself starts in the hideout:

The first time in a few weeks that Steve’s free to make it to Corroded Coffin’s show at The Hideout, there he is in the crowd, eyes rimmed with black and sticking out like a sore thumb in a teal polo. He’s got his denim jacket—he bought it because it reminds him of Eddie when they’re apart, he says—draped over his arm and he’s singing along to Eddie’s every word, knows all the lyrics by heart. He insists Corroded Coffin is the greatest metal band of all time, and Eddie knows it’s because they’re the only metal band Steve likes, but how supportive he is makes Eddie’s heart sing anyway.

i think after time (which it isn't stated but i wrote this with the idea they'd have been dating for a year, maybe two) steve would adopt little eddie-esque pieces into his wardrobe, but definitely not in a "becoming someone else" way where he's donning a new style he's never previously had any interest in for himself. just something simple, so i chose a denim jacket, which would remind him of eddie's vest, and maybe he'd have a little corroded coffin pin on it or something. but he's still going to show up to eddie's show in what he's comfortable in, and eddie would never ever want him to change just to fit in with *his* crowd or whatever. i really like the sweet little moment i wrote to get that across, when eddie spots him in the crowd.

And Then 😈😈😈 the alley.

After the show, before Eddie can so much as get his lit cigarette between his lips, Steve is cornering him against the brick wall between the emergency exit and the dumpster, clinging to his sweat-soaked t-shirt and kissing him like he’ll just die if they part. Eddie’s come to expect this by now. He doesn’t get it, but Steve seems to love how he gets after shows, how he’s all sweaty and flushed and breathing hard and— Okay, yeah, maybe he does get it. That doesn’t mean he’s any less amused about it as he carefully holds the still-lit cigarette at a safe distance. Eddie’s free arm snakes around Steve’s waist, pulling him as close as he can and eagerly swallowing down the sound Steve makes at the contact, using the opportunity to get his tongue inside his mouth. Steve one-ups him, because of course he does, sucking on Eddie’s tongue until he starts to feel like his jeans fit a bit tighter than they had before.

if i had money to commission someone to draw a scene from any of my works, this would be my 2nd choice (behind the shotgunning scene in fttoyv with steve in argyle's lap but again. i've talked abt that one)

this kind of starts off the dynamic i keep in mind through the whole thing, which is: steve gets his way, eddie knows this, and wouldn't change a thing. even if eddie is technically filling the more "dominant" role, steve is the one in control of what's happening, and eddie loves giving him exactly what he wants, even (especially) if he can tease him before getting there. which also happens later. 👀

When Steve finally breaks away, it’s only because he’s trailing more kisses along Eddie’s jawline and down his neck. Eddie tilts his head, gives him some room, and has to suppress a shudder when he feels Steve’s tongue on his skin, licking a line up his neck. It shouldn’t turn him on like this but it does, he knows he’s all sweaty and gross but he also knows Steve loves it. He has it confirmed when Steve’s lips brush against the shell of his ear around a whisper of, “Eddie, you looked so fuckin’ hot tonight, under all those lights...”

i got called out in my dms by a lovely friend for this paragraph ghfjkjgk don't look at me too close. anyway. my point here is that steve has a sweat kink. maybe i'm projecting. that's my business

Before Eddie can even get a chance to respond, Steve is sinking to his knees on the pavement, and all the words fade right off the tip of his tongue. It’s well into the night but his eyes have had enough time to adjust, and between the distant streetlights, the full moon, and the neon red of the sign above the emergency exit, he can see the man in front of him very clearly. And what a pretty picture he makes, kiss-swollen lips and disheveled hair and that fucking eyeliner, all tinted in red as he leans in to mouth at the obvious tent in the fabric of Eddie’s jeans.

i don't even think i need to comment on this one because i just? yeah. that image. steve on his knees <3 i love it as much as steve in laps <3

but behind the curtains, we have steve doing what he does throughout the entirety of this fic, which is intentionally pushing eddie's buttons in order to get what he wants, which of course he eventually does. because they are equally as weak for each other, and steve knows he's hot. also i hc eddie's favorite color as red? but that's just me, and even if you disagree, we all know red is sexy lighting.

i really don't even have that much more to say about it ghdjgdk i'm really proud of this. and of course there's some good stuff immediately following 😈😈

#cheatghost #THANK YOU for asking me this <3 #ily

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clatoera · 1 year ago

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OKAY LETS FUCKING DO THIS!

i don't know why i expected the quell to be ten thousand chapters seeing how every chapter in this fic has been contained to one plot point leading into the next one (which isn't a critique don't take this the wrong way!!! you have amazing flow and i wouldn't have it any other way) but ive been dreading this chapter for SO LONG to see what happens that reading the end and realizing that it's over.... knocked ten thousand mountains off my shoulders.

SO MY FIRST QUESTION(s)! was it always supposed to be one chapter? i'm mainly wondering because you said that the fic was supposed to start at this point (LOL CAN YOU IMAGINE) so was it supposed to be a multichaptered event or not. if not, that makes me TERRIFIED for the rebellion part because my GODDDDDD that means you started this entire fic around the war and that's TERRIFYING!!!

anyways, with the quarter quell over, all of our babies safe (???) (definitely... not sound), did you have any differing plans for how it was going to go or was it always supposed to be like this from the start. because the second clove and marvel decided that he would be the one to kill wiress.... i almost died right there out of fear. i had to reread that whole paragraph like ten times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me and that marvel survived and didn't actually get picked up by the claw machine of death and being sent home with the panem flag draped on his coffin, an arrow in his heart. #LETMARVELBEGOOFY if i were clove i would've laughed at that 5 o'clock joke!!!

SPEAKING OF CLOVE!!!! THE CATHARSIS SHE GOT IN THIS CHAPTER!!! truly an icon of the revenge industry. what do you think the capitols reaction to her just going apeshit on her mother's killer was? what about district 8? his children's? waiting for the horror halloween special spin-off where in 15 years his kids bust into her peaceful home and just go apeshit on HER! that is, well, if she survives not being picked up by the claw machine of rebellion.

i cannot believe that you went with glimmer and cato for the rebellion group... literally the most random pairing with only one thing in common other than being hot & blond. that dynamic is going to be VERY interesting to explore seeing how glimmer is everything and cato is just ken. cato... with the rebellious emotional capacity of a spoon... now being the face of the revolution. that's going to be HILARIOUS!

the aforementioned one thing? how they're the only ones in the group with the most to lose. im blanking on marvels past so forgive me if he has like 8 small siblings that are counting on his victors earnings to not starve and my entire point here just dies, but clove only has cato and enobaria who can fend well enough for themselves. meanwhile glim glam not only has the capitol putting her boyfriend in the un-goofy-inator but her beloved twin victor siblings! the great cashmere and gloss!! are on the line while cato has his darling sister in the line of fire (drawing parallels between him & katniss and prim... now there's a possible trauma bond bestie moment between them!)

i hope i didn't miss any of the points i wanted to make in this ask so if you want to unleash some trivia, some unreleased lore about the background of this chapter and the thought process behind some of your decisions here's a place to say them!!!!

can't wait for the next chapter love you bye<3!

Oh my love I get sooo excited waiting for one of your comments. I know it's going to be good and I can rely on you coming in clutch with the analysis commentary etc of my dreams. My muse, thats you tumblr user @lwveless.

I understand expecting the quell to be much longer. I think it probably should have been, but if I am honest i DREADED this chapter. It was so intimidating, so big, and I was absolutely convinced I was going to fuck it up so significantly. it was the big one and I needed to perfect it. That being said..i never planned it to be longer. Everything that happened in this giant chapter is what always was meant to happen. So..yes. That does in fact mean this fic was entirely created around the idea of the war, and the way the careers, namely Cato and Clove, would fit in. Thats why the title is from The Great War. Thats where this whole fic was supposed to take off from. This whole thing came out of the idea of the war and how Cato/Clove being split in the Katniss/Peeta way would sort of play out. That is the great war really, them trying to get back together. I suppose you could stay the bulk of the fic starts here and now.

I'm putting the rest under a cut for spoilers and length but

So.. yes and no. All the events of the chapter were always 100% planned this way and intentionally SAVE For Marvel killing Wiress, as I literally just couldnt decide who to give the honor to. I gave it to my goofy little king. Other than that..this quell went exactly as planned until the end.

In the ORIGINAL iteration of this fic, Marvel and Glimmer did NOT Have as big of a role. They were taken by the capitol a la Enobaria and let go. I ran into a few issues. How to separate the three oof them from Cato, being one. How to get Cato away from Clove being the other. And lastly, I made Glimmer run her mouth. You may have seen me make many posts about Glimmer being a bigger role than planned and this is what i meant. She ran her mouth about the horrors she faced and there was NO WAY she was getting set free in the capitol. Infact, she wasnt going to survive their hands. I had no choice, I wrote myself into a corner, and thus the split of Marvel and Glimmer came, bringing bestie glim glam into a bigger role.

Also yes marvel is FUNNY, LAUGH at him Clove. Dammit.

Speaking of Clovey YES the girly got her catharsis. I think the capitol is probably losing their fucking MINDS over it. It has to be a big hit. We never know if he had children, or how old they are, because Clove never learns. But here is what I can be sure about: we know what happens to District 8 canonically. Lets leave that at that wink wink (they get wiped out). This was Clove's moment to shine.

Also yes. Bold of you to assume Clove survives this war to have a house 15 years later. Or that there is anywhere she could possibly live.

LMAO TO CATO AND GLIM GLAM.

Listen. As I mentioned, the plot was ALWAYS Clove and Cato split in 13/the capitol. Always. Once Glimmer and Marvel moved in I had a predicament. Glimmer would have faced horrific abuse in the Capitol, and wouldnt have survived. But also, thats SUCH a silly damsel in distress trope if it had been Clove and glimmer in the capitol. We are not doing that here no siree!! And it was ALWAYS Clove in the Capitol and Cato in 13 that was set in stone when I set out to write it. So alas. Glimmer with Cato was born.

yes. They are Blonde. They are hot. But you hit the nail on the head. They have something to lose, but not only that, they both are similar in that they love deeply and with insane devotion. They have siblings back home they love. They have someone they love more than anyone else in the world out of reach. And they are crazy and unhinged to get back to those people. Glimmer and Cato are going to turn out more similar than people realize. That was sort of the whole deal of chapter 12, to ground us back in the fact that we have fallen in love with who these people are behind the scenes, who they are beyond careers, but they are still the blood thirsty trained careers we all know and love.

Spoiler alert? Maybe?? Katniss does make it to 13 too, she was the goal and glim glam and cato happened to be close enough to nab. NO worries, Cato is not the face of this rebellion. WE ALL Know thats not his vibe, he's busy storming around committing homicide to get back to his knife wife clove.

You also uncovered a mystery mous-ka-tool with that Prim comparison, keep that in your back pocket for later use :)

Trivia!!!!! Okay.

There is a cut scene I didnt end up finishing/including where Glimmer talks about all the modifications they wanted to make to her body at 15/16, i'm talking plastic surgery.

The bit about Enobaria wanting to choke them originally had a flashback planned to when she caught them as teenagers.

There was originally more marvel and glimmer that was supposed to happen but i am unsure how the readers felt about them so I left it out but like..they also had way more moments in my intended brain, but i had to remember this is a clato fic for the clato stans.

Uh!

In the very first inception of this fic things were hugely different namely for clove and cato and what was at stake but also marvel was going to die in the war but now he is alive and thriving so. yay marbles.

You are my angel my muse my love thank you soooo much for this.I love you, until next time ❤️

#arwbfb tag #arwbfb reactions #my local marvel stan thats you #long long long post

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reliving-elegy · 1 year ago

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Clueless

"It is so often that mortals draw early conclusions about we Immortals that I have come to entirely dismiss their curiosity. Frankly their minds are enervated so thoroughly by the mere passage of time that asking them to figure the answers out on their own seems to insult a great many of them. 'Why not give the answer?' They'll ask, alongside whatever colorful commentary is in fashion for their maiden tongue."

"There's no real meaning to an answer without understanding how you get there. It's common knowledge- something they should've picked up on in elementary studies. I remind them of this, and still, they feel entitled to the end result. When I refuse, they seethe. Or riot. Or weep. Or whatever else you can think of- each has their own idiotic justification, and each idiotic justification has its catastrophic ending."

"There are, as anything, exceptions to this. Some who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; willing to waste their lives listening to what they would eventually conclude without my aid. To those few, who want for nothing more truly than to learn, I am sorry the rest of your kind are blatant fools as opposed to self-aware ones. I'll indulge them enough to satisfy or confuse- whichever comes first."

"Yet, clueless as the lessers are, what they ask always boil down to the same general array of banal queries: 'What does it mean to live?', 'Where do we go when we die?', 'What is your favorite color?', and on and on. The answers are simple enough to defeat their want of lore in short time; eager to forget what obvious things they now recognize."

"But a query stood out, if only one. It came from a girl little more than half my height, with verdant eyes that saw hate lingering beyond its moment. The bitter, burning gaze of one betrayed by their reality at every shift and change; that failed to glean hope from their own thoughts. Let it be clear that I am not easily unnerved."

"She, through that hateful perception of the world, saw me as the enemy, as most mortals tend to do. 'Bringer of the End', 'The Great Liar', something-something- none of that stuck, but she really wanted it to. So, running routine, I dismiss their raving, reiterate that I've no ill will toward humanity in spite of its many, many, maaany flaws, and bid her to find another fixation."

"Like any well-indoctrinated fanatic, this was ignored. What I did not account for was her... spirit, for lack of a better term. Rather than enforce her religiously-charged nonsense again, she sought to know why I was the enemy."

"Why must you love being cruel?"

"To which I was taken aback: so close, so close to the question she wanted to ask. I am, after all, a reflection of the world; distorted and cold and distractingly attractive and incredibly humble. In her frustration, she'd let a part of her own psyche slip, to question what could answer her own faults. Feeling generous... I corrected her."

"Why must I love cruel things?"

"The look she gave me... rather, the look she had through me- she was pierced. I counter my detractors by tricking them into asking the right questions of their own accord, letting them spiral into madness or begrudging acceptance of their own volition. But then, that moment, that instant could have been... she would have done something foolish."

"I, myself, am no stranger to cruelty. Being cruel is entertaining, true. Being an untouchable, unfathomable thing capable of cruelty- doubly so. But I do not love being cruel, only what comes of it."

"I do not love the cruelty that befalls others, but what it makes of them. Tragedy, misery and pain twist others from what they were to what they are. If I did not love cruel things, then I could not love what is left afterward. All reality would simply be a chill, morose void of utter insignificance; for nothing could ever be appreciated."

"If one cannot love cruel things, one would be incapable of love."

"She looked at me again, her once hateful gaze suffocating from the joint weight of guilt and revelation. So long had she been astray from herself that doctrine was her only direction. What must have become of her? To convince a mortal- a child- that because she wanted to understand evil, she- herself- was evil?"

"Of course, this collision of truth and memory was overwhelming for her, and she reached for a blade. Took my leave, but no offense- like any lesser, she would need time to understand. Wherever her travels took her then-onward, she would see the answer on the horizon as a dim torch within the mirror-fog of faith."

#omen #hallona #drabble #clueless

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rosafulmen · 2 years ago

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random wishlist of ideas i’d love to explore for light ( kind of an ice-breaker, kind of like a springboard ) :

anything in her verses tag. or, when looking more at the themes, explorations of guardianship and its failings, what makes a god a god ( the question of benevolence verses malevolence ), clawing oneself from the brink, themes of found family and love despite unfathomable odds.

explorations of the verses xiii lore; including, but not limited too : the influence of etro, light’s memories as ‘the saviour’ and what that means for this new world, watching the war of a world she helped bring about ( all the while knowing most of the world has no memory of her or her friend’s sacrifices ), themes of faux gods, worship and the suspension of vahalla. there are so many themes that can be snatched from both xiii and xv, take your pick.

i have to properly write out my kingdom hearts verse, but literally anything in that. lightning and her sister were from radiant garden but she’s very estranged from the main crew. let her mentor the kids. let the kids crack past her protective layer to all those themes of hope, perseverance, and strength of heart. watch light panic when serah runs off to help them. let her begrudgingly assist because she claims she ‘doesn’t care about them’ ( she absolutely does ).

anything to do with the horror / existentialism of being the saviour??? the very fact light had no guarantee she would remember people in the next world and vice versa so every ‘saving’ was just a heralding to death. that liminal space of being like ‘we have no promise of tomorrow, so let’s live for today’.

same deal with l’cie, just a different topping. what if tomorrow our brands advance and we lose ourselves. what makes us who we are. what makes us monsters ? just all the horror of gran pulse and seeing those cie'th stones.

angst. i am an angst fiend. again, the xiii verse deals with a lot of themes of loss / death and how people cope with it.

anything where light is a bodyguard sounds absolutely hilarious. let her make flying commentary under her breath while your muse holds it together. let them take her to places she would HATE.

i’ll probably expand on this later, this is just a dump.

character specific:

hope — to this day, i have still not roleplayed with a hope and i am DESPERATE to explore the bond between them. give me all the themes of family and light coming to terms with how poorly she’s treated serah through him. let her do right by hope. let her love him, protect him and watch him become a man. give me all the themes of how his name embodies what he is to her.

serah — a lot of the same themes as hope. ALSO if serah’s want to indulge in my snow/light angst i will just eat that up for breakfast. it’s the absolute self-hatred lightning has that her sister is in crystal / dead and she’s alive and she’s still managing to ruin her life. how serah responds is totally up to you. also themes of sisterhood and companionship. let them go to coffee shops. let light teach her how to do her hair and makeup when their mother died. PLEASE.

snow — hi, i ship them. outside of that, just the development of their bond ; where light once considered him an adversary, now he is a friend. how his staunch optimism imprinted on her to the degree his ambivalence in returns gave her the worst anxiety attack of her life.

fang — how two women can be the same but also very different. themes of guardianship and looking after those smaller/weaker than you ( the costs, the sacrifices, etc ), drawing strength from each other. the growing pains and awkwardness of two people primed for war now having to all but domesticate at the end of LR.

vanille — a lot of the same themes of sisterhood that i applied to serah. exploration of godhood and its flaws ( girlie you absolutely did not need to pull your shit in LR, love you ).

sazh — dajh’s awkward babysitter, lightning. i love the role he took in xiii as a sort of semi-parental figure / guide. he wasn’t overbearing or pushed boundaries, but there was a mutual exchange of ideas and advice. let him complain his bones are old and creaking but he’s loving every second of it and light just smirks so sardonically and ups the anti.

#* ORIGIN OF STORMS ( headcanons )#hi #(:

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systemdump · 2 years ago

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Stray Review

An insightful commentary on capitalism, class divide and authority. And being a cat.

This is a long one.

The cat game! What a delight. Of course, I never expected anything other. This game was fantastic; visually, narratively, mechanically (although I do have some critiques regarding this) and just overall. A solid, great game. For £21 (30 dollars) and 3-4 hours of your time, I'd say it's worth it. I have so much to say regarding this game.

Story/A dive into the commentary

Cat gets separated from pack, Cat finds his way back through a sci-fi city. That's the concept I had for this story. I expected nothing more. I was pleasantly surprised when the lore went so much deeper, providing political and cultural commentary. This game is a complete critique of modern capitalism, glaringly so. It never pretends to be coy when openly drawing parallels between society now and this cyberpunk world, which is meant to be set in our future.

Set at least 300< years in the future, humans have become extinct, leaving behind their robot companions. They imitate human life -- eating, sleeping, social hierarchy, law and order, the list goes on. For unknown reasons (climate change) humans had decided to make a giant dome structure, incasing people into this city so they can continue to live. There are three levels to the dome: the slums, mid town and the control room. This is an obvious visualisation of the working class, middle class and ruling class. A landfill corporation, Neco, decides to make a trash-eating parasite (Zurks) in an attempt to sustain the dome. Although, like most stories go, the parasite mutated, eventually killing all humans. The companions continue to emulate the human way of life after they're gone, whilst fearing the Zurks. You come across a small drone at the beginning of the game called B-12, who acts as a translator and guide to the world. He is essentially your only friend after you've lost your pack.

The slums are overrun with poverty and squalor. The streets are filthy and dark, the inhabitants no better. Most robots who live in the slums dream of The Outside, or play it off as a pipedream and a crazy fantasy. However, this is where our little friend is from. The outside is inhabitable once again. This gives a group of robots from the slums motivation to seek the outside. They call themselves the Outsiders. Pieces of dialogue give more insight into the slums. Whilst humans were still alive, the slums were pitch black. Electricity was rationed, especially for those poorer, until one person lit up their entire shop with neon lights. Consequently, they were taken away and never seen again. This led other people to light up their shops because who could stop them? This very much reminds me of class consciousness, awareness of the masses that are capable of change if they unite. Another piece of dialogue from B-12 tells us that the slums were disease-ridden, and yet the ruling class looked on from the control room as countless died on the streets. Sound familiar?

Mid Town is a different story. A level higher than the slums, it provides a middle-class way of life (hence the name Mid Town, halfway up, the middle level). There are high street stores, restaurants, a nightclub, and a Neco factory. Sounds better than the slums, however, it's overrun by police drones made by humans, who continued their job once they died. Our friend Clementine, an Outsider, is wanted for conspiracy. There's no doubt when I say this is meant to be a police state. Constant surveillance, the heads of these robots are security cameras. There's a prison that sentences companions to 700 years imprisonment, whilst also metaphorically labotimising their prisoners by wiping their hard drives. The Neco factory is also here, which seems to run the place. A friend of Clementine describes their capitalist greed, which is just like every company in the real world.

Then, you reach the control room. It's clean, the companions there have not evolved. They're still cleaning robots. A huge window looks out over the poor. They looked down their noses at the people on the lower floors. They maintained the social divide, the squalor, keeping the dome closed. There are no humans nor intelligent companions; the place is abandoned. You and B-12 reboot the system, ready to open the ceiling to the outside. Doing so will fry B-12's hard drive. By this point, it's also discovered that B-12 was a human scientist who uploaded his consciousness into the network. We say goodbye to B-12, and the ceiling opens. There's a beautiful cutscene of all our companions along the way reacting to the sky, the light slowly creeping across the streets. The Zurks explode as they're exposed to the light. We see our protagonist exit the control room, basking in the sunlight. And then it ends. Roll credits. A thought-invoking story that runs parallel to our reality, detached only by its setting. Truly fantastic.

Gameplay

There were lots of small, albeit useless mechanics that I enjoyed. The meow button is fun, whilst also providing a stealth function. There were a few bugs where I got stuck on a roof and had to reload the save. The game also crashed a few times. There was a bit of lag. I expected this from a day-old game. It wasn't unplayable, far from it. The jumping was sometimes tedious, although that may have been my carelessness. Visually, this game is stunning. I found myself stopping in my tracks and taking in the surroundings. I was incredibly impressed by the detail.

Final thoughts

8.5/10. A beautiful story, political and immersive. Definitely a revisit. Buy this game!! If you're into cyberpunk aesthetic, quirky games or just like cats, you'll love it.

#stray #chloe reviews

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felassan · 4 years ago

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Dragon Age development insights from David Gaider - PART 4

This information came from DG on a recent SummerfallStudios Twitch stream where he gave developer commentary while Liam Esler continued playing DAO from where they had left off in Part 1, 2 and 3. I transcribed it in case there’s anyone who can’t watch the stream (for example due to connection/tech limitations, data, time constraints, personal accessibility reasons, etc). A lot of it is centered on DAO, but there’s also insights into other parts of the franchise. Some of it is info which is known having been put out there in the past, and some of it is new. There’s a bit of overlap or repetition with topics covered in Parts 1-3. This post leaps from topic to topic as it’s a transcript of a conversational format. It’s under a cut due to length.

The stream can currently be watched back here. Next week LE will be streaming a different DAO playthrough with commentary from another guest. Two weeks from now LE and DG will return to continue this playthrough for another stream session like this one.

(Part 5, Part 6)

[wording and opinions DG’s, occasionally LE’s; paraphrased]

The Loghain sequences, where it jumps out of the HoF’s point of view to let the player see what Loghain is up to, were added quite late on in development. Some of the dream sequences (like the HoF’s dream of the Archdemon) were also probably added quite late. Those sequences were added as they felt that they needed to have more indication of the larger goings-on in terms of what Loghain was up to, since they had cut some stuff that was meant to have shown this. Cutting things can be funny like that as you’re then left trying to explain the holes.

An original Archdemon concept drawing had them as a lot more demonic as opposed to draconic, with blank all-black faces, a giant ornate crown, smoke, tentacles and a Cthulhu-esque feel. Things change a lot during the concept phase however. At the time, DG wasn’t sure if he liked the changing of the ‘demon’ into a ‘dragon’, but over time he digs it - it sorta implies some things about the nature of dragons in the world that they later decided “yes, that is probably the case”. They then worked that more into the lore so that dragons weren’t just there to be huge lizards. Given the difficulty the team had modelling things like tentacles and snakes, the original Archdemon concept would probably have been iterated on and would’ve had to become something else eventually anyway.

Having the party camp was probably always part of James Ohlen’s plan. Originally, there was going to be different camps in specific places around the map. They then made it a sort of ‘pocket area’ that the player always ‘took with them’, but here they had problems figuring out things like what would happen if the player rested while in an interior location as opposed to somewhere out in the wilderness, “like, does that change it?” For a while there was a complicated system where the party members would do things in camp that would give the player items and help out in such ways - like a party member who made potions, ones that could be interacted with and asked to craft, a whole crafting system relating to that, etc (this all got cut). This was supposed to act as a reason for the player to return to camp and have more interactions at camp; they didn’t want the camp just to be ‘the place you go just to talk to followers’. A good portion of the team considered dialogue to be boring and not an activity that was engaged in.

As soon as hair/beard hair came past the ‘clipping plane’ of the neck, they had real trouble getting it to move due to lack of proper cloth physics and the troubles they had with hair. Beards were rectangular strips that dangled from the chin with the beard texture attached to it. Sometimes certain points were connected to the chest which is why there’s the weird stretching if models move in certain ways. This happens with robes as well. The reason they did this is so that there’s no clipping. For some reason the BW animation team was so averse to clipping compared to other games from elsewhere which sometimes have a bit of clipping that they’re actually not fussed about. At one point they had a big fight on the DA team because the art team said “We need to make every entrance and doorway [including tents] about twice the size that it is, about Shale-size specifically, because of Shale” because they were worried that there would be scenes where Shale would clip through the wall, and about how this would look to players. Others responded that it’d be rare where Shale would be seen going through a door and also that nobody really cares (as in it’s not a big deal). DG half-seriously suggested that instead of making every door bigger, have it so that after entering the door’s texture at the sides and above it would look cracked and have an outline of Shale’s arms and head as if she’d just barreled her way through the stonework. In the end Shale’s size was reduced as a solution to this (so Shale was originally intended to be a lot larger). This is an example of a place where different parts of the team had different priorities in development. It was pointed out that in the end having giant doors may not have made much difference, as every interior in DA is massive in terms of floor and ceiling-space, as well as items (huge jugs of ale etc) anyway.

Weapons and staves hover on characters’ backs due to the team’s aforementioned aversion to clipping. Originally there were plans for scabbards and straps, but they didn’t have the resources for these and they were also concerned about staves clipping through straps, especially when being ‘drawn’ for combat, even though that would just be a second or so. So this is why we instead have floating magnetically-attached-looking weapons.

DG wrote Nature of the Beast including all of the Brecilian Forest, it’s possibly his favorite plot/questline out of the ones he wrote for DAO. It’s one of the plots that survived best from first inception to final result. One of the prominent cultural features of Ferelden is the werewolves, and so DG had to make ‘the werewolf plot’. All the initial plots were split up like that (the werewolf plot, the dwarf plot, etc). Originally there was a separate ‘elf plot’ but it got joined together with the werewolf one. DG had an idea for a being that was like male and female, terrible and kind, beautiful and horrible and so forth - both at once, like the way nature is. This was the vague initial idea from which this plot grew. The nature spirit encountered is the flipside of the being. The spirit of the forest is both male and female, or something akin to being bigender (both rather than neither). There’s not much difference between the Lady and Witherfang. DG finds it so weird hearing the DAO Dalish elves’ American accents (since their accents were changed for the next game). The American Dalish elf accents bugged DG enough that when they got to DA2, he said to Caroline Livingstone “can we just retcon this” and she was like “yeah”. “I think we underestimated how weird prevalent American accents in the game alongside the British ones would be”. Zathrian is voiced by Tim Russ (Tuvok from Star Trek).

The Cammen-Gheyna plot is a fairly ‘nothing-y’ sidequest relatively speaking, but is so complex in terms of how many options and paths through it that it has that DG got a big of a finger-wagging for it and some people were not happy. LE commented that this quest is “an extremely Gaider plot”, as the player can ruin everyone’s lives in it. Gheyna’s pronunciation of Andaran atish'an is incorrect. This phrase is one of the ones that got mixed up in the pronunciation guide and one of the ones that when they got to DA2, DG was like “ignore what we did before, here’s the new pronunciation files”. One of the first ‘images’ the team had of the Dalish was that they had reindeer-like creatures that pulled the aravels. In DAO aravels look more like standard wagons than the ones in the ‘images’, and they weren’t shown properly. Aravels are wagons but they’re supposed to have big sails (not naval-style sails on top) all over the place to catch the wind, so that they look like a bunch of ships being drawn across a field. They got closer to how they’re supposed to be in DAI. At one point the artists sat DG down and asked him what should set the Dalish apart visually. “Funny you should ask, I have some very specific ideas about what the Dalish should look like that have just never been done”. [I think here he meant hadn’t yet been implemented in the franchise] “Oh, we just thought they were ‘people with wagons’.” “Nobody reads documentation...”

The lamps in the Brecilian Forest are a bit random. They put light sources everywhere and it seems like the Brecilian lamp thing was art-asset use that boiled down to “guess it’s an elven forest?”. The Deep Roads were supposed to be properly dark. The team had a lot of conversations over how dark they could or should make the Deep Roads. They constantly had beams of light coming from above and it was like “this is supposed to be like a mile underground, why are there sunbeams coming through cracks in the ceiling” - the answer is it looks good and they didn’t want to do proper darkness. By DAI, they got closer to the ‘look’ the Deep Roads are supposed to have. This is a recurring theme in the DA franchise lol. “This was a weakness in our team and processes, that it took two titles before we got on board with each other and with the vision.” But they had plenty of good strengths too! DG wishes they had iterated a bit more on the werewolves’ look.

“Evil options” was always one of the big conversations that they had. DG wasn’t a fan of the evil options because they mostly boiled down to being a big jerk. The reason for this is a lengthy design discussion that relies on interface - proper, smart evil usually implies some kind of deception, and how do you indicate to the player that the option they’re about to take has a more cleverly-sinister aspect to it (as opposed to simple Intimidate options)? They didn’t really enjoy just letting the player run around being an asshole to people, “do we have to service this hyuk-hyuk-hyuk, particular type of enjoyment?” DG wishes they had figured out how to do the evil stuff a little better (feeling that in a game, doing good has less merit unless there’s temptation to do evil, and that evil paths should be more materially rewarding).

DG wrote The Dawn Will Come with some help from PW and Karin Weekes. It was the first song he wrote. Trevor Morris sent him the tune and he listened to it many times and wrote out the lyrics. PW and KW helped him make it “less awkward and cringey”. “They’re very good at that”. PW is good at poetry, KW is more musical and knows more about music. “If you get something which is as ridiculous as it is memorable, it’s probably Sheryl. If you get something that’s beautiful prose, it’s probably Mary. Something in-between is probably PW.” The DAI bardsongs were written by an external party brought in specially to do so. This required a fair bit of review and revision to make sure they followed DA lore. “It’s a problem we’ve always had trying to work with third parties, they tend to think that anything that falls under the umbrella of ‘medieval fantasy’ would fit in DA”. (Here DG groaned a bit thinking about Orson Scott Card.)

On the Grand Oak and co: “After I finished writing this I totally regretted it. It’s a big dialogue and there’s a lot involved in this quest. Do you know how hard it is to make somebody rhyme in a way that’s not completely cringey for the entire dialogue? I was three quarters into it and I so wanted to stop but I was past the point of no return. But I did it! And it worked out.” The Grand Oak should have been a LotR-style ent-like being in terms of animations and presence. When DG sees the Oak’s stationary pose he’s reminded of Silence of the Lambs. When he finished the Grand Oak and hermit quest he was like “I make way more trouble for myself than I should”. The Hermit cycles through random animations outside of conversation because he’s supposed to be twitchy and weird.

The haunted empty camp side encounter was a pain for the tech designers to make work because there’s no NPC to talk to. It was a pain whenever companions had to offer critical information like in these sorts of parts in fact, as they had to write 9 versions of each ‘line’ (1 for each companion).

There are certain spells/abilities in D&D that can make a GM’s life frustrating, such as teleportation, telling the future, resurrection. The fact that death is not permanent, for instance, should be a huge thing that affects society and how the people in it view death. This is why they were thinking stuff like “If every low-level mage in the setting had a skill like ‘Charm Person’, what would non-mages make of that?” This ties back to discussions in previous part/s where there are lore rules like no teleportation. DA was originally envisioned as a low-magic setting, but this didn’t last long [this subject is also covered in previous part/s]. The rules of magic didn’t really change though, they just weren’t really communicated that well to the other teams in the early days. They slowly realized that it was incumbent on the design team to explain and sell to the other teams the vision, not just expect them to read documentation. They were also constantly fighting against their own presuppositions of “DA is like D&D”.

Desire demons were supposed to be genderless. DG isn’t a fan of how the Fade turned out in DAO. The quests themselves were too long; they couldn’t do all the original plans they had for them so there was a lot of iteration, “then we ended up settling for something not very exciting”. Another big fight the team had was about whether they should have permanent death since DA was a more realistic world? One side’s argument was that ‘if you don’t allow for resurrection then we can’t have death in combat’. DG wondered if there was a different dichotomy they could get to but didn’t want to dictate how combat should work or tell combat designers how to do their job, as he wasn’t the one doing that work.

One of the best moves they made when working on DAI was the concept artist consulting cosplayers. This was good work not only in a fashion sense but also in that it led to making outfits for characters that someone could actually wear (contrast those with Sebastian’s outfit, which DG remembers cosplayers having trouble making functional/wearable and putting together). DG really wasn’t keen at all on Cole’s hat. When designing the clothing-clothing in DAO, the artists were trying to get the most variation for clothing out of assembling pieces. For the sake of variation they allowed pieces to go together that really shouldn’t go together. This allowed for a larger number of clothing options to be made out of a smaller number of clothing models/textures.

In Neverwinter Nights they added a “jiggle mesh” to the engine, it was used in only one place (Aribeth’s cleavage).

Writers are the first ones that jump onto a project, so when last touches and polish is being added to a game they’re often not aware of it. Once the writing is more or less locked down for a game, they start working on the next project. On every project at some point they had to have what they called the “profanity meeting”, where they decide what types of profanity exist in that world, what level of profanity they’re accepting, establishing the standard on this front, etc. This leads to fun meetings where they go through every profanity that they know and try to create new ones. “Maker’s breath!” and “Void take you!” are some of these kinds of things. They needed exclamations akin to “Goddamnit” but which made sense in this fantasy setting (“Goddamnit” implies the context of God, and the concept of damning, for example, so it doesn’t hold up) and weren’t just word substitution like “frack” instead of fuck or something.

The Grey Wardens gained their trademark blue and silver uniformed look for DA2. When the new art director Matt Goldman came on before DA2, he wanted to re-approach a number of things such as the darkspawn (mentioned in previous parts) and the Wardens. He wanted factions like the Wardens to be more uniform and easily identifiable at a distance by silhouettes and colors. He wanted factions to be more visually distinct and to introduce more color in general, as DAO was very brown and muddy. This was something of a standing mission of his when he came onto the project. He disliked the idea that there wasn’t anything unifying or distinct or ‘easily identifiable as a DAO screenshot’ about DAO screenshots, other than that brown muddiness.

Deciding how to design the Lady of the Forest was a long conversation due to the potential nsfw elements. It was a long haul to get her to look a certain way.

The thing DG found easiest/least painful to write was probably Zevran’s dialogue. He felt less pressure about it and had a bit more fun with it. Zevran has a certain story about trust that DG found pleasurable to build on; Zevran had grown up with a certain expectation of deceit and trauma, and when confronted with earnest feelings, that was the more puzzling part for [Zevran] to process. “When you expect everyone around you to deceive you, you’re kinda like, okay, this is life. But then to figure out, ‘oh, I guess it doesn’t need to be that way’, well how do you even... not?” DG remembers straight male players complaining on the forum after accepting Zevran’s massage tent-invite and not clocking that that was an invite of a certain nature. Overall Zevran was a more relaxed piece of writing for him. Shale came later but writing Shale was also a lot of fun. Like HK-47, “you can string together a few quirks that you find amusing and people will still treat that like a character and love it”.

In DA2 there was an entire subplot centered around the Carta and Varric. It spanned all three Acts. Mary Kirby had written it to completion and it was good. DG had to tell her it was among the cuts they needed to do because it was written a bit later relative to other stuff and because cutting it offered the most return according to the schedule and resources/subsequent downstream work. In cases like these they sometimes take the cut plotbeats and put it in a ‘box’, in the hopes that they may be able to use it for DLC or something later on. In practise this doesn’t happen very often at all. On DAO it did happen once with Shale. Shale was cut from DAO and had to be moved to become Day 1 DLC. Work on Shale therefore took place after most of the game had been finished. If they hadn’t done this, she would have been cut completely. It also sort of happened on DAO with Loghain. It originally had a whole plotline in Denerim involving him which had the player figuring out his background, motivations and interacting more with Anora. All of that got cut (requiring the cutscenes mentioned at the start of this post being added), and this is where the idea came of writing a novel (The Stolen Throne). This occurred in the period when the game had been delayed and DG particularly regretted that particular cut. He thought, “I could take this story that you were going to learn about the history of Loghain and his relationship with Cailan, and rescue it in a way.” [source]

[Part 1]

[Part 2]

[Part 3]

[Part 5]

[Part 6]

[‘Insights into DA dev from the Gamers For Groceries stream’ transcript]

#dragon age #bioware #video games #cole #spirit boy

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libralita · 4 years ago

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Way of Kings Reread

This is my post Rhythm of War reread so if you don’t want spoilers for Rhythm of War then come back later. These are essentially just the notes I took during this read through so things like “Szeth is darkeyed” isn’t really stellar commentary but there are a few interesting things in here. Also this reread was like…very sporadic so I probably missed things.

“A man with a long grey and black beard slumped in the doorway, smiling foolishly—though whether from wine or a weak mind, Szeth could not tell.

‘Have you seen me?’ the man asked with slurred speech. He laughed then began to speak in gibberish, reaching for a wineskin.”—Page 23

Oh god, it’s Jezrien. Nooooo.

I’m curious to see how Humans being voidbringers plays into Szeth’s punishment.

“Occasionally, light would flash without the thunder. The slaves would groan in terror at this, thinking about the Stormfather, the shades of the Lost Radiants, or the Voidbringers—all of which were said to haunt the most violent highstorms.”

Interesting that they’re called the “shades”, perhaps referring to cognitive shadows?

“Talenelat’Elin, bearer of all agonies.”

Wait…do people know about Taln?

“This room is called the Veil…That which comes before the Palanaeum itself. Both were here when the city was founded. Some think these chambers might have been cut by the Dawnsingers themselves.”

First of all, Veil, haha. Second, interesting bit of lore.

“Thaylens had their own systems of rank.”

I’d like to know what it is.

It’s very interesting that philosophy and history are feminine arts and yet the merchant is still trying to sell Shallan on a romance novel

I wonder if Yalb still has his drawing. It was probably ruined so that sucks.

“There, she used all her remaining sphere to fill of all nine colors and all three sizes.”

Hmmmmmmmm. Nine and three. Interesting

“Then he’d have someone to talk to in Damnation. They could reminisce about how terrible Bridge Four had been, and agree that eternal fires were much more pleasant.”

K…Kaladin please don’t joke about that.

“His ways were odd—though Lirin made certain that his son didn’t mix up the Heralds and the Lost Radiants, Kal had heard his father say that he thought the Voidbringers weren’t real. Ridiculous.”

RIP

“He reached the base of the slop, wind-driven rain pelting his face as if trying to shove him back toward the camp.”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

“She looked exhausted. ‘These things are heavy!’ She lifted the leaf. ‘I brought it for you!’”

I love her so much I could cry.

Szeth is a dark eyed.

We need to get the void sphere back.

“It was fairly ordinary, a simple piece of rock with a few quartz crystals set into it and a rusty vein of iron on one side.”

Iron.

“‘Today,’ King Elhokar announced, riding beneath the bright open sky, ‘is an excellent day to slay a god. Wouldn’t you say’”

Owwwwwwwwww my heart

“One might say that gods, as a rule, should fear the Althei nobility. Most of us at least.”

Y’know…Sadeas has a point

Actually they should probably fear Taravangian.

Sadeas wears red plate. I always imagine him in green.

Shardplate is naturally slate gray. I wonder if it’s the same color as what your limbs go if they’re cut by a shardblade. Hmmmm.

“Adolin found himself wishing, passionately, that his father would do a little more these days to live up to that reputation.”

Adolin, sweet pie, NO

I miss Elhokar so much

Also the Thrill of Contest, that’s interesting.

“I felt like a youth again, chasing after your father on some ridiculous challenge.”

Dalinar, we all know that it was Gavilar chasing you

“There was someone watching me in the darkness that night.”

My poor baby…

“‘I defy you, creature!’ Elhokar screamed. ‘I claim your life! They will see their gods crushed, just as they will see their king dead at my feet! I defy you!’”

Elhokar…

“Adolin—stalwart as always—had dismounted beside the king. He tried to stop the claws, striking at them as they fell. Unfortunately, there were four claws and only one of Adolin.”

Hmmmm, Adolin v 4 is becoming a pattern.

“Dalinar should have been there to defend him. Only two things remained of his beloved brother, two things that Dalinar could protect in a hope to earn some form of redemption: Gavilar’s kingdom and Gavilar’s son.”

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

“Let me first assure you that the element is quite safe. I have found a good home for it. I protect its safety like I protect my own skin, you might say.”

It has been ten years and I still have no idea what this means.

“Kaladin punched Moash right in the gut, where he knew it would wind him. Moash gasped in shock, doubling over, and Kaladin stepped forward to grab him by the legs, slinging Moash over his shoulder.”

Ahhhhh I could read this paragraph over and over again.

“He worked himself ragged. In fact, he felt close to collapsing several times, but every time he did, he found a reserve of strength from somewhere.”

I wonder where.

“Rockbuds had opened nearby, their vines reaching out to lap up the beast’s blood.”

Gross.

Insult his son and the Blackthorn will peek through

“I had…things to be about.”

I don’t like the way Wit said that.

“You going to do Alethkar a favor and rid it of both of us?”

That is a very interesting line for Wit to say…Also concerning. Wit what are you up to?

It’s very interesting that without Sadeas and Gavilar, Dalinar has to learn how to be a politician. It’s clear that both men maneuver others while Dalinar is blunt force. Good character development, I really love it as a political scientist.

“Brother, follow the Codes tonight. There is something strange upon the winds.”

Hmmmmmmmmm, I think Gavilar was planning his death.

“We’d protect Gavilar’s son. No matter what the cost, no matter what other things came between us, we would protect Elhokar.”

…Would…Elhokar have died if Sadeas was still alive?

“The book was used by the Radiants as a kind of guidebook, a book of counsel on how to live their lives.”

That…something that I forgot. Dalinar maybe you should have some required reading in your Radiant generation.

It’s interesting that Shardplate and Rsyhadium have no problem with humans using them but shardblades do.

“Dalinar was shocked that he could remember the story word for word,”

Hmmmmmm

“Could he train himself out of freezing in battle like that?”

End me.

“You sure he’s not decayspren wearing a man’s skin?”

S…Syl…is that a problem we have to deal with?

“They break the land itself! They want it, but in their rage they will destroy it. Like the jealous man burns his rich things rather than let them be taken by his enemies! They come!”

The…humans?

“‘Hm,’ he said. ‘Yes. We’ll be getting right to that soon. It’ll be grand. Lots of prancing, sauntering, and er…’

‘Promenading?’ Yis the leatherworker offered.

‘Isn’t that a type of drink?’ Adolin asked.

‘Er, no, Brightlord. I’m fairly certain it’s another word for walking.’

‘Well, then,’ Adolin said. ‘We’ll do plenty of it too. Promenading. I always love a good promenading.’”

He and Shallan are truly made for each other.

“Highprince Aladar has begun to talk of taking a short vacation back to Althekar. I want to know if he’s serious.”

Oh?

It’s very interesting how Gavilar after death is portrayed as having grown weak and yet there’s so much reverence for him.

Three gods, huh?

It’s interesting that Dalinar can feel the thrill in these visions.

“It was a topaz entwined with a heliodor, both set into a fine metal framework, each stone as big as a man’s hand.”

Is that some kind of fabrial? Is she an edgedancer/truthwatcher? She seemed to have Stoneward shardplate. How confusing. I guess she could have borrowed Shardplate.

DABBID MY SON!

“‘Next time it could be you!’ he called. ‘What will you do if you’re the one that needs healing?’

‘I’ll die.’ Moash said, not even bothering to look back. ‘Out on the field, quickly, rather than back here over a week’s time.’”

Oh that would be so unfortunate.

REREADING THIS BOOK WITH THE TEFT SECTIONS OH OHHHHHHHHH BOY SUFFERING. LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE

“I was under the impression that you were going to aid the queen in protecting the king’s interests in Alethkar.”

That is interesting to think about. What would have happened in Navani had stayed in Alethkar? Did the Unmade compel Navani to go? Or would she have been under the influence of the Unmade?

“I have determined that the queen is sufficiently endowed with the requisite skills needed to hold Alethkar.”

Uhhhhhhhhhh

“‘Well, I suppose that’s all right,’ she said. ‘I kind of trust Sadeas.’”

Interesting. Also my son, my love, Elhokar...you are so dumb.

“‘You still argue he isn’t a bad king?’ Navani whispered. ‘My poor, distracted, oblivious boy.’”

HE COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT

Ishar is the herald of luck?

WAIT ROION! TURTLE MAN! My baby!

My god I sometimes forget that Dalinar has no fucking chill and no impulse control.

“The Almighty himself depended on the Alethi to train themselves in honorable battle so that when they died, they could join the Heralds’ army and win back the Tranquiline Halls.”

Is that…Honor’s influence or Odium’s? Or has Odium corrupted this idea? Because judging by Rhythm of War, Odium’s end goal was to raise an army from Roshar and then send them across the Cosmere.

“My sense of honor makes me easy to manipulate.”

Whaaaaaat? You Dalinar. Pffttttt Noooooo. Pfffftttttt.

“‘He is well, though you presence here is sorely missed. I’m certain he could use your counsel. He is relying heavily on Brightness Lalai to act as clerk.’

Perhaps that would make Jasnah return. There was little love lost between herself and Sadeas’s cousin, who was the king’s head scribe in he queen’s absence.”

First, there’s another Sadeas we must deal with besides Sadeas’s nephew that I’m sure will be around in arc 2. Second, interesting wonder where that drama stems from.

“They may be a little too stable. The world is changing outside, but the Shin seem determined to remain the same.”

Hmmmmmmmmmm

“Gavarah hadn’t reached her twentieth Weeping when she proposed the theory of the three realms.”

WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA. Lemme hear this theory, my dude.

“He reminds me of my uncle Dalinar. Earnest, sincere, concerned.” “We could do with more men like Taravangian,”

I…mmm….aw man…I…that’ll be a yikes for me.

“He found a half-finished bridge. It had eventually grown out of that one plank Kaladin had used.”

ASODFKJSLDFJSLDF JUST LIKE THE FOURTH BRIDGE

“Had something moved in the darkness?”

His spren?

“‘Roshone lets them know he finds them contemptible. And so they scramble to please him.

‘That makes no sense,’ Kal said.

‘It is the way of things,’ Lirin said, playing with one of the spheres on the table, rolling it beneath his fingers. ‘You’ll have to learn this, Kal. When men perceive the world as being right, we are content. But if we see a hole—a deficiency—we scramble to fill it.”

This feels like how Lirin is acting in Rhythm of War.

Y’know it really makes sense why Kabsal would be working for Thaidakar.

Is…Kabsal attempting to get Shallan to join the Ghostbloods? Rhythm of War makes me wonder how honest Kabsal was towards Shallan. Yeah, Jasnah thought Kabsal was just manipulating her but she didn’t say how she knew this.

“He smiled, then drew the bow across the edge of the metal plate, making it vibrate. The sand hopped and bounced, like tiny insects dropped onto something hot.

‘This,’ he said, ‘is called cymatics. The study of pattern that sounds make when interactive with a physical medium.’

As he drew the bow again, the plate made a sound, almost a pure note. It was actually enough to draw a single music spren, which spun for a moment in the air above him, then vanished. Kabsal finished, then gestured to the plate with a flourish.”

Well, Rhythm of War certainly made this more interesting.

“Bridgemen aren’t supposed to survive. There’s something about that. He wouldn’t be able to ask Lamaril. That man had gotten what he deserved, though. If Kaladin had the ability to choose, such would be the end of all lighteyes, the king included.

Your inner Moash is showing.

“I want you to go back into the barrack and tell the men to come out after the storm. Tell them to look up at me tied here. Tell them I’ll open my eyes and look back at them, and they’ll know that I survived.”

No wonder a religion might be forming around Kaladin.

“Teft lingered too, as if thinking to spend the storm with Kaladin. He eventually shook his head, muttering and joined the others. Kaladin thought he heard the man calling himself a coward.”—Page 517

Brandon Sanderson, leave me the fuck alone.

“‘Taking the Dawnsahrds, known to bind any creature voidish or mortal, he crawled up the steps crafted for Heralds, ten strides tall apiece, toward the grand temple above.’—From The Poem of Ista. I have found no modern explanation of what these ‘Dawnshards’ are. They seem ignored by scholars, though talk of them was obviously prevalent among those recording the early mythologies.”—Page 524

Wait…who’s he? And aw man this becomes more relevant in a few years.

“‘Then you’re not a murderer,’ Kaladin said.

‘Not for want of trying.’ Sigzil eyes grew distant. ‘I thought for certain I succeeded. It was not the wisest choice I made. My master…’

‘Is he the one you tried to kill?’

‘No.’”

We need some backstory.

Marabethia sounds similar to Twitter.

“It claimed that humming of all things, could make a Soulcasting more effective.”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

“That isn’t the kind of thing the Dawnsingers did. They were healers, kindly spren by the Almighty to care for humans once were forced out of the Tranquiline Halls.”

Is…that right?

“‘We believe that the Voidbringers were real, Shallan. A scourge and plague.. A hundred times they came upon mankind. First casting us from the Tanquiline Halls, then trying to destroy us here on Roshar. They weren’t just spren that hid under rocks, then came out to steal someone’s laundry. They were creatures of terrible destructive power, forged in Damnation creature from hate.’

‘By whom?’ Shallan asked.

‘What?’

‘Who made them? I mean, the Almighty wasn’t likely to have ‘created something from hate.’ So what made them?’

‘Everything has its opposite, Shallan. The Almighty is a force of good. To balance his goodness, the cosmere needed the Voidbringers as his opposite.’”—Pages 634-635

Thaidakar’s reveal really makes Kabsal a more…suspicious character. Like how much does he actually know? How much does Thaidakar actually know? Also, I don’t know if Odium is the opposite of Honor. I guess we’d need all 16 shards names to compare.

“A city where people lived in gigantic, hollowed out stalactites hanging beneath a titanic sheltered ridge.”

EXCUSE ME WHAT

“‘I doubt many would disagree. But I mention these horrors for a purpose. You see, it has been my experience that no matter where you go, you will find some who abuse their power.’ He shrugged. ‘Eye color is not so odd a method, compared to many others I have seen. If you were to overthrow the lighteyes and place yourselves in power, Moash, I doubt that the world would be a very different place. The abuses would still happen. Simply to other people.’

Kaladin nodded slowly, but Moash shook his head. ‘No I’d change the world, Sigzil. And I mean to.’”

Hmmm, yeah that didn’t exactly work out.

“‘That makes you wiser, presumably?’

‘Damnation no,’ Teft said. ‘The only thing it proves is that I’ve more experience staying alive than you.’”

Brandon. Leave. Me. Alone.

“Cenn stopped wheezing. He convulsed once, eyes still open. ‘He watches!’ the boy hissed. ‘The black piper in the night. He holds us in his palm…playing a tune that no man can hear!’”—Page 671

Is…is that a reference to El?

“I’m sorry I drove you to suicide. Here’s some bread.”

How people on this website think Moash’s redemption arch is gonna go.

“‘…why Thaidakar would risk this?’ Amaram was saying, speaking in a soft voice. ‘But who else would it be? The Ghostbloos grow more bold.’”—Page 701

Jasnah was complaining last chapter how she hates being wrong but she was wrong about Shallan’s intentions and that Amaram is not as smart as he seems. Yeah, he’s wrong about who sent the shardbearer to kill him but if I was in the cosmere and someone tried to kill me, I would assume it was Thaidakar. On that note, holy fuck, I need to know what conversation prompted both Gavilar and Amaram to assume that someone trying to kill them had to be Thaidakar. I really hope that Gavilar’s pov is next for KOWT for his death so maybe we could get a conversation where they talk to Thaidakar through cube skype or maybe this avatar (whatever the hell that means.) God Rhythm of War makes this scene so much funnier.

“You’d have changed your mind. In a day or two, you’d have wanted the wealth and prestige—otehrs would have convinced you of it. You’d have demanded that I return them to you. It took hours to decide, but Restares is right—this is what must be done. For the good of Alethkar.”—Page 703

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—this is why we reread—aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Kaladin is going to have some words with Restares.

What happened to Baxil and Av?

?????????????????????????? Why do these two Ardents know about the Physical/Cognitive/Spiritual realm?

“Eight weeks? Forty days of winter at once? That war rare.”—Page 728

Did the weather used to be more consistent on Roshar?

Oh god Rhythm of War has made the Recreance so hard to read.

“If I abandon my principles, then I become something far worse than they. A hypocrite.”—Page 741

A hypocrite is a just a man changing or something. I forget the quote.

“Have you been paying much attention to the conflict between the Tukari and the Emuli?”—Page 753

“And the Tukari are led by that god-priest of theirs, Tezim.”—Page 754

Look at the foreshadowing.

“‘Just as Hatham wishes his partner in negotiations to know of his goodwill, I wish you to know of our goodwill toward you, Brightlord.’

Dalinar frowned. He’d never had much to do with the ardents—his devotary was simple and straightforward. Dalinar got his fill of politics with the court; he had little desire to find more religion. ‘Why? What should it matter if I have goodwill toward you?’

The ardent smiled. ‘We will speak with you again.’ He bowed low and withdrew.”—Pages 756-757

OKAY AT FIRST I THOUGHT THIS WAS FUNNY BECAUSE THE ARDENTS GET VERY MIFFED AT DALINAR IN OATHBRINGER BUT “we” HOLY SHIT THAT’S ONE OF BUG PEOPLE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I can imagine why this bug man wants his goodwill because they’re pretty sure he’ll destroy them.

“‘This thing will not happen,’ Rock said. ‘Is impossible to get sphere out of the chasms.’

‘We could swallow them,’ Moash said.

‘You would choke. Spheres are too big, eh?’

‘I’ll better I could do it,’ Moash said. His eyes glittering, reflecting the verdant Stormlight. ‘That’s more money than I’ve ever seen. It’s worth the risk.’”—Page 766

I swear to god, one of these days Moash is going to swallow a sphere.

“You call him the Stormfather, here in Alethkar.”

So people in Alethkar think that Jezerin and the Stormfather are the same person?

“Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.”

O…Oh man, I hope this isn’t foreshadowing for KOWT.

“We should have expected this, Dalinar thought. We started bringing two armies to a plateau, so they have done the same.”—Page 781

Interesting that Kaladin thought about this when fighting the Fused by Dalinar didn’t fighting the Listeners

“When other men failed, a field of crops got worms in them. When a surgeon failed someone died.”

Well…if your crops fail then you could very much cause a town to starve to death.

“Though there was one thing he clung to. An excuse, perhaps, like the dead emperor. It was the soul of the wretch. Apathy. The belief that nothing was his fault, the belief that he couldn’t change anything. If a man was cursed, or believe he didn’t have to care, then he didn’t need to hurt when he failed. Those failures couldn’t have been prevented. Someone or something else had ordained them.”

Those are some fucking foils right there.

“They watch me. Always. Waiting. I see their face in mirrors. Symbols, twisted, inhuman…”

Babbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbby

“I wish to sleep. I know now why you do what you do, and I hate you for it. I will not speak of the truths I see.”

The sibling?

“I’d surrendered my plans, but you’ve returned them to me. I’ll guard you with my life, Kaladin. I swear it to you, by the blood of my fathers.”—Page 881

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

LISTEN I KNOW ELHOKAR IS AN IDIOT BUT HE’S MY IDIOT

“The further you look, the more pieces that wind breaks into.”—Page 995

That’s interesting

“A champion could work well for you, but it is not certain. And…without the Dawnshards…”—Page 997

Well, we’ll see how Rysn plays into this.

#Brandon Sanderson #way of kings #Stormlight Archive #cosmere #TaylorRereadsSA

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