#greys has like at least 12 people on its cast at every given time

[mad-as-a-box-of-frogs]

Yapping

[sprawa-przybyszewskiej]

Gnostic inspirations in Przybyszewska’s works

At the highest point of her intellectual life, Stanisława Przybyszewska spent over 12 hours each day simply on writing her own works, continously, and with maniacal care, educating herself on absolutely everything (she was constantly looking for fields in which she might be a natural genius) and she rarely did anything else at all, which included things like earning a wage or sweeping her own floors. The effect of such existence was of course that she was severely depressed, but also thoroughly educated. It means that traces of whatever matter from history or philosophy can be spotted in her works, are most likely intentional and put there exactly with the hopes of showing her erudice.

One of such matters was gnosticism. Gnosticism is a set of beliefs which put emphasis on obtaining liberation from this life through gnosis (knowledge) and cast aside all that is not of the mind – so not only the flesh, but also the spirit. Without going into details of some specific gnostic rite it is simpler to say that gnostics value gnosis higher than any of their base beliefs and teachings (in Europe gnostics are mostly mentioned in relation to early christianity, Cathars are an example of this). Then the contrast one can find within religion (for example sin and liberation from it) is replaced with earthly illusion and gnosis, which frees one from the illusion and guarantees a higher level of life, of sorts (in gnostic beliefs, our presence on Earth is not linear, leading from birth, through life and death to afterlife, but resembles more of a ladder, with each rung leading closer to obtaining total knowledge, and simultenously losing all that tethers one to earthly illusions.

In literature, strong contrasts are a good indication we can look into it to spot gnostic inspirations or at the very least make a strong case they could be there, even if unintentional. In Przybyszewska's case, however,  they are all the more probable, for I vaguely recall she was well aware of the presence of these beliefs and everything she wrote on the nature of genius points in the same direction, too. She held these beliefs in her own, private set of core values, and there isn't any better place for her to show them to us but through her works. She presented us with an utopian vision of mental progress in her plays, while in her prose works, she focused on the darker side of the same things.

The axis of conflict in gnosticism is between the mind and the spirit. Robespierre is without a doubt a man of the mind much more so than of the spirit, and all the important figures surrouding him are more on the spiritual side of things (with Camille being the most prominent in this regard). Maxime has achieved the gnosis, the crown that will burn [his] brains right through.Before it happens, though, he is elevated onto another plane of understanding, a place where no other person can reach him, or even understand him:

Danton, of course, is lying.

(There is, sadly, no French translation of Thermidor; on another note, it took me this long to realize the French decided to change the person's tag from Camille to Desmoulines, which is suprising in the best sense of the word).

Robspierre is clearly constructed to be a genius, standing above everybody else and thus bearing greater responsibility, something which demands of him more than it does of others.  Madness which he suspects within himself at the end  is only a threat because it potentially leads to commiting mistakes, and a mistake is an unforgivable offence when it is committed by the one who ought to know better. Mistakes by a hand of another – for example Camille – are a different story altogether, for the majority of people not only don't achieve gnosis, but even cannot achieve it, their mental state isn't developed enough for them to grasp at the higher concepts. I think this is one of the reasons why Saint-Just's words: It is not madness, it's despair, are actually calming Robespierre down. Despair is simply a sign of being weary, something to be expected.

Maxime's knowledge and better judgement of everything is of course still a curse, leading to his death. In gnosticism, death isn't meant in a macabre sense, since it leads to yet another, higher rung of the metaphorical ladder we're standing on, but the gnosis obtained beforehand makes a death a good one instead of a waste. When Robespierre is going through his moment of despair at the end of The Danton Case, he betrays the gnosis he has in favour of admiting that the future will turn out differently than what could be expected: his death won't be a natural progression, but a failure, his depaire sets him back into the crowd of the sad, grey mass of the people who are not – like him – predestined to understand more.

From the linguistic point of view, I find it interesting that in the original and in the French version, he is using somewhat esoteric language (the future is under the sign of Danton – to my eyes, it is a clear refereance to the Zodiac signs, something which is supposed to predestine our futures, and which is also esoteric and ritualistic; given all the hints that she was abused by her satanist father, it makes a really sad, hopeless final note on the grand scheme of things for the humanity, that we, as humans, are incapable of running away from the brute forces which will continue to rule us simply because the world is built like this – not to mention the inability to change the future or even just the fate of one's life is a staple of gnostic beliefs).

No matter what he says about it, the inability to escape from one's fate is something which we rarely associate with Robespierre, because – as much as Przybyszewska makes it clear, thet he is a genius and thus everything he does he is not only allowed to do, but must do it for the greater good – he seems a bit like a self-made man, perhaps because we see him all the time in situations which are hard and difficult, but not impossible. A much more tragic situtation of the lack of escape from his own poor choices is being presented to us through Camille.

Camille has had a chance to be continously tethered to Maxime, securing for himself relevant safety in the public life, and calmess or even happiness in his private one. Yet he breaks with Robespierre over and over again, starting even before the plot of the play. Maxime reaches out to him against his better judgement, and Camille – also against his better judgement – decides to stay loyal to Danton. He is as if glued to his leader, even though he sees him clearly for what he is. Camille is an apotheosis of a spiritual being, someone ruled by impulses, perhaps even with the best of intentions, but whose mind will never achieve gnosis, the clear vision of what is right and true. When Robespierre argues with the Committee by demanding they leave Danton (and Camille by proxy) alone, he plots against Maxime in his newspaper; when Robespierre goes to him under the cover of night, he doesn't want to see him and then throws him out; when Robespierre tries to either break him free from the prison or at the very least console him by admitting his love (I never actually knew what was his plan here), he follows the advice of his bad influences and doesn't admit him. It's as if a strange force kept him by Danton's side, and I don't think it was any normal feeling (of shame or guilt) keeping him away from Maxime. In The Last Nights of Ventose he makes it quite clear being a stronger person's lap dog would never bring him shame, but honour, thus I don't think he'd have any problem with returning to Robespierre after a long while of abuse and slander.

The relationship Camille has with Danton is another aspect of gnosticism, namely its duality. Danton is a stand-in for Maxime, which doesn't work because Danton is anti-Robespierre, his negative double (much like in some gnostic beliefs world was created and being conducted by two gods, one good and one evil). It is unclear whether Camille had any real, true potential to serve "good" Robespierre, but  even if he didn't, if his friableness kept him from serving a greater purpose (which I don't know if I believe, in The Last Nights of Ventose we are presented with a very different portrayal of Camille, one who could achieve something much greater than he did if only he was by Robespierre's side at all times), serving the "evil" Danton couldn't possibly have a good outcome.

He even does return to Robespierre, for a short while, steered by emotions rather than anything else. But in this dualistic, gnostic reality, emotions have little to do, they aren't worth very much. What's more, if we focus solely on Camille, we have to admit that – as in every story, revolving around a single character – a person is in a way stuck in time. He can go about in the space his life takes, but time is more like a deity, untouchable and something you cannot pact with. For Camille, it doesn't matter how many times and at what point in time (before their fallout, during the crisis or at the last hour) Maxime asks him to break with Danton and go back to him, because time and predestined fate hold all the power of what is happening, while individuals hold none (and the aforementioned last statement of Robespierre explains right away that it is so even for the "great" individuals, who in other aspects are being held to different standards, but against time and fate they are just as powerless).

I like to think, though, that Przybyszewska has left a small postern for Camille to achieve gnosis or its more humane equivalent by drawing a symbolic parallel between two scenes, which are only made significat by their possible relating to each other, but mean next to nothing on heir own:

In the first scene, the key could have been a completely incidental choice of words/tools, after all it's a logical conclusion of the scene. There is, however, a more symbolic reading of it, as a key is of course a symbol, and a pretty easy one at that. If Camille gave Robespierre the key himself, this could be read as an end to their relationship, Camille returning the power  that Maxime holds over him to Maxime's own hands. But since we only see Lucille relay the key, and we know that Lucille is also capable of influencing her husband and directing his steps (even if she says she can't; Robespierre's words, seeing as he's the genius here, are the final judgement of this), this could mean she is giving her portion of power to Maxime, whom she trusts to save her husband. And Maxime uses this one more time, when he tries to visit Camille in prison. That he fails miserably is against Camille's wishes, because Camille even in his demise only succumbs to wishes of others.

But we know he regrets this step mightily and we know it precisely because he dreams (or rather has a nightmare) about the very key he was supposed to convey to Robespierre earlier. He regrets the desire to give Maxime his power back, he regrets that by doing so in any way, shape or form he has finally given up his life. Choosing a beautiful death over an ugly, humiliating life only sounded good in his head, but in truth, he is beyond terrified and would love nothing more but to Maxime to come in again and if not save him, then at the very least – forgive him. But for that, they'd have to meet again, and he couldn't throw Maxime out. I also don't understand why both the English and French translation added the word "effortlessly" when describing his last moment with Robespierre, because make no mistake, it is very much an unnecessary addition, going against everything that he has been portrayed like so far. Their last conversation is just as much a tragic one for Camille as it is for Maxime.

Przybyszewska took great pains to paint Camille in front of our eyes as someone so weak that we find him as more of a comic relief than anything else, but in reality he is just a differing portrayal of powerlessness when faced with fate. Camille is not a comical character, but a tragic one, he is just the same as Robespierre, his other half: they both believe in their own agency, they both believe they are the ones making choices and pushing their lives forward, but it is not a coincidence that they both end up in he very same place, in a span of mere weeks.

This post would not have been born if it weren't for @patricidefan​.

[gregorygrim]

Dragon Prince Hot Takes

!!! Full Spoiler For “The Dragon Prince” Seasons 1-3!!!

So I finally got around to watching The Dragon Prince. Timely, I know, but better late than never i guess. I’m not completely caught up yet as I only got as far as S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” in this first sitting. Considering I haven’t binged any series in almost two years, I think that’s pretty respectable. This means I won’t discuss the last few episodes here, except for a couple of things I was unfortunately spoiled for already, hence full spoilers.

These are basically my first thoughts and opinions after the binge and a good night’s sleep. It’s gonna be a lot so if you don’t care or don’t want spoilers…

TL;DR: 7½/10. Generally enjoyable, there are some aspects I’m not exactly fan of, but no dealbreakers

Firstly to everyone who told me that this was the new ATLA: you all need to rewatch Avatar stat! Like seriously. There are definitely parallels and given the cast and crew I think that’s what they were going for too (which is why I think it’s fair to compare the two), but still, no.

Secondly I love most of the worldbuilding and love that the series at least tries to give it to us in a bit of a non-linear fashion, even if it is kind of clumsy at times. I know some people are put off by expository dialogue and flashbacks, but I’m an epic fantasy nerd, I need that sweet, sweet lore to live as much as you mortals need food.

I like that there was clearly an effort made to integrate the worldbuilding in more subtle ways. For example you may initially find it kind of weird that all these different human ethnicities are existing perfectly integrated in what looks like a medieval society, until you remember from the opening monologue that the Human Kingdoms are the result of a massive diaspora following the human exodus from Xadia, so obviously people got all mixed up everywhere. It’s representation with an excellent in-world reason and that just brings me joy.

I also love the magic system(s) even though we haven’t really gone into that just yet. it really feels like there was a genuine effort made to create underlying mechanics for the magic rather than just making each spell a vaguely elemental themed ability. I really hope we’ll dive deeper into that in coming seasons.

I also like the little nods to other works of fantasy: Ezran’s ability to talk with animals is a reference to Tolkien’s world where some royal bloodlines had the ability to speak with animals, specifically birds; Primal Magic and its spells being cast with Ancient Draconic runes and words might be reminiscent of the Ancient Language from the Inheritance Cycle etc.

Thirdly the main cast is great. Callum, Ezran and Rayla are all interesting and relatable characters in their own right and as a group. I’m not going into each of them individually here, but while I think the series as a whole falls short of ATLA, as protagonist parties go I dare say this one is nearly on nearly on par with the gAang.¹

And yes, I love Bait, which I really did not expect following the first few episodes. I love his weird pug-toad-chameleon design, I love that he works like a flashbang whenever somebody says a quote from Scarface (I wish they hadn’t dropped that later on) and I love how done he is with everything and everyone at all times. I’ve only had him for 25 episodes, but if anything happened to him I would kill all of my followers and then myself.

On top of that, and speaking as someone who god knows is really not into shipping, I love Rayla and Callum’s relationship. It’s believable, it’s refreshing and it brings out the best in both characters without changing basically anything about them. Just two good friends who fell in love. A++, maybe even S tier.

Unfortunately though I can’t sing the same kind of praises about the villains. None of them are terrible (as in terribly written, most of them are pretty awful people), but with one exception they just don’t stand up to the protagonists in quality.

I could simply not take Viren seriously. Even now that is probably the single most powerful magic user in the world, he just has such strong Karen energy, every time he finishes a speech I am overcome with the urge to say “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” and it does not help the mood. I’m not even sure why. It might’ve been the voice because the guy who did Viren (Jason Simpson) also does a lot of kinda slimy characters in various anime dubs, it might be that over-the-top walking stick, idk.

What I’m saying is that as a primary antagonist he simply did not work for me. Which is doubly a shame because this kind of tarnishes the real “Big Bad” of this story by proxy. Aaravos, even as an invisible ghost, with his voice coming out of a caterpillar and next to no info on his backstory, has more style and gravity than all the human antagonists combined. It helps that he is by far the best designed character and Erik Dellums has the voice of a young god, but I’d argue even without that unfair advantage he has the potential to be a top tier villain. While he is stuck as Viren’s “little bug-pal” though he is just being dragged down.

(I’m aware that as of the final episode the caterpillar familiar is undergoing metamorphosis, probably to create a new body for Aaravos’ spirit to inhabit outside of the magic mirror, so I’m definitely hyped for more of him in the coming seasons.)

As for Soren and Claudia, I’ve got mixed feelings. This was one more aspect of the show that a lot of people compared to Avatar and while I see the parallels to Zuko & Azula, they are still very different, at least where Claudia is concerned. I’d also just like to mention that a lot of people told me that they thought the direction in which their storylines went were really surprising and I can’t disagree more. I predicted that Soren would defect to the protagonists on episode 5 right after Viren told him to kill the princes and I knew Claudia was going to stick with her father from episode 12 onward. My point is, it didn’t feel like some kind of plot twist, the way some people made it out to be, and which I don’t think was the intent.

I definitely got the sense that Soren was at least a Zuko-type character, though still not a Zuko clone, and as with Zuko I was consistently able to empathise and sympathise with him and his predicaments. I also appreciated that his dilemma is the result of his convictions and not him being kind of dense, which would’ve been all to easy and probably would’ve ruined his character for me. As it stands he is extremely milktoast, but perfectly functional for his purpose in the story and I can definitely see him evolving further and getting more interesting as we go on.

Claudia is where it gets complicated. Again, I can see the Azula parallels. But unlike that character, who is her father’s animal 110%, Claudia doesn’t strike me as a victim of Viren’s manipulation the way Soren undoubtably is. The way she talks about and uses Dark Magic, how she talks down to Soren and how even Viren finds it difficult to communicate with her, tells me as an audience member that she is an independent person. Which tells me that the cruelty and enthusiasm for causing harm she regularly displays is her own will. And that was before she straight up leads Callum on to manipulate him.

On the other hand I can absolutely relate to her devotion to her family, her big sister role (even though she is younger than Soren) and the way both the separation of her parents before the story and Soren’s injury in episode 16 must’ve affected her because of this. I know that, if my brother had become paralysed from the neck down and I knew a way to heal him, I would not have hesitated to kill that fawn either. Then again her relationship with her father is very different from parental relationships I am familiar with, so I can’t really say I see why she is so devoted to him, other than she promised her mother to stay with him years ago? ¯\(o_Ō)/¯

So basically Claudia falls into an emotional grey space for me. I can’t really tell how to feel about her either way and I’ll just have to see where she goes from here, which, while fine, isn’t necessarily great for an end of season cliffhanger imo.

Seeing as I’ve already talked about some of the show’s shortcomings, I think it’s time to dive into some of the what I would consider flaws.

Firstly this show needed at least 12 episode seasons. I have never made a secret out of my dislike for the modern short seasons and while I recognise that in the current climate in the industry giving everything full 25 episode seasons isn’t really doable, the pacing of this show, especially for the first season is just outright bad at times. It works as of the second season, but the first season alternately feels like it’s either rushing through or crawling along the whole way through.

The believability of Rayla’s and the princes’ relationship really suffers from this the most. It comes a bit out of nowhere on the boat ride and is then taken for granted way to quickly. Like Callum, seriously, this girl tried to kill you and your brother not even a day ago and you are currently cut off from all allies you have ever had until now. A little skepticism isn’t misplaced here. I also wold’ve liked if we’d just gotten a bit more of a sense of movement with the characters. I get that this is not the kind of show where we can just make an entire episode about the characters travelling and camping, intercut with plots centred around a more expansive supporting cast, but still I really would’ve preferred if Xadia didn’t feel quite so around the corner.

Another issue is with setup and payoff, which I think is partially a consequence of the pacing as well. A lot of smaller plot points are set up within the same episode as the payoff just wreak havoc on the narrative structure. A good example is the episode where they ride down the river in a boat and Bait tires to go into the water, but is saved by Ezran, who then explains the story behind Glowtoads and how they are pefect bait for large water predators. Then Bait falls into the water and is attacked by a massive water monster. This happens within five minutes of one episode and never comes up again. To me that looks like sign of rushed editing, which is probably not entirely the crew’s fault, given that they are on a schedule from Netflix, but it’s still a point of critique.

It unfortunately also manifests in the occasional line of horribly forced dialogue, often for things we can literally see happening on screen. Again, this is mostly the case in the earlier episodes, but it never completely goes away.

Finally, and this is where i get into serious issues that made me want to write this, we gotta talk about representation in this show.

First: disabled representation, meaning Amaya. Why is Amaya deaf? Because it’s good to have disabled representation.

Why is Amaya deaf and a high-ranking military officer? Because they didn’t think it through.

I know this may be a contentious opinion, but it is my belief that the purpose of representation, particularly of disabilities characters may suffer from, in fiction is to, y’know, represent people as they are in life. That includes especially the struggles they face and have to overcome, sometimes their whole life. This is not just me talking out of my ass either. A couple years ago I discussed this with several people that are disabled, specifically blind or otherwise severely visually impaired, in a different context obviously, and the general consensus was that it’s better to have representation that shows their life and their abilities as they are, rather than how they might wish they could be.

A mute or deaf person cannot be a medieval fantasy army general, no matter how good they might be in melee combat or who’s sister they are, because at the end of the day, they’re not able to give commands while they are holding a sword and shield. That such a massive logical oversight, especially in comparison to the extremely well done example of representation I mentioned above, and has so little impact on the plot that it leads me to believe, this aspect of Amaya’s character was tacked on in the last minute without being given any thought for the sole reason of the story having a disabled person in it. All this does is necessitate the existence of two otherwise entirely unnecessary characters, Gren and Kazi, both of which achieve nothing, aside from sometimes being literal set dressing.

That is where representation ends and tokenism begins.

And unfortunately this generally lacklustre attitude also extends to the LGBT+ representation on the show.

As of S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” we have had two onscreen gay couples on the show (onscreen in the sense that both partners were onscreen and they were somehow confirmed to be in a relationship on the show). One of these, the queens of Duren, literally die in the same flashback they are introduced in, which incidentally also features them invading a foreign nation to poach a rare animal and subsequently starting the conflict at the series’ core. Not a great look.

Aside from serving as a tragic backstory for their daughter, the most impact they had on my viewing experience was that they made wonder how the fuck royal succession works in Duren. (People who know me are rolling their eyes right now because I’m bringing anarchism into this Dragon Prince review, but I’m telling you, this why fantasy monarchies aren’t compatible with LGBT+ politics in the same setting. Dynastic governments are inherently bigoted, you can’t have it both ways.)

The other couple are Runaan and Ethari, Rayla’s caretakers, although if I’m being honest you wouldn’t be able tell based on Runaan’s treatment of Rayla in the first episode. By the time we actually meet Ethari and find out about their relationship with Rayla, Runaan is suffering “a fate worse than death” (direct quote from the show) trapped in a gold coin.

I mean come on. That’s about as “technically not ‘bury your gays’” as it gets.

I think I need to reiterate here that my point is not that this show or its creators are somehow malicious. As i stated in the TL;DR: I don’t think this is a dealbreaker for liking this show. But it does demonstrate that they are prone to slipping to some potentially harmful tropes and this needs to be criticised and pointed out to them.

In conclusion, I really love this show. It’s not ATLA, it never will be, nothing else will ever be ATLA no matter how badly (and terribly) Netflix tries. But it does and should not have to be.

What it has to do though is improve. A lot of the building blocks are already there, such as Aaravos or Claudia’s development, Callum’s father, the origin of Ezran’s ability, the purpose of the “Key of Aaravos”, the true fate of King Harrow (we all know his soul is in the bird, right?) etc. Some things like the treatment of Amaya’s disability unfortunately won’t be fixable as far as I can tell, but if they at least manage to fix the gay representation I can make my peace with that.

¹ I know I said I wouldn’t go into each of the characters individually, but a) you should never trust a stranger on the internet and b) I really want to talk a bit about Callum. Specifically the “mystery” of why the hell he is connected to the Sky Primal. I write “mystery” because I think it’s fairly obvious from whence this talent came: there is only one humanoid species we know of with innate access to the Sky Arcanum and one of Callum’s parent’s is unidentified, presumed dead. 2+2=4. Callum’s father was a Skywing Elf. That’s why he recognised Nyx’s boomerang weapon. He remembered one like it either from his very early childhood (remember that he has photographic memory) or Sarai kept one and he found it at some point.

On top of that the name “Callum” or at least the pronunciation is clearly derived from Latin “caelum” meaning “sky” or “weather” and I already mentioned that Ancient Draconic is just bad Latin. It’s not very subtle. Unless they pull a complete 180 concerning the lore about Primal Magic he’s definitely going to be a half-elf, which would also just so happen to make him the perfect mediator between the Human Kingdoms and Xadia. Hmm, it’s almost as if they are planning ahead.

My question: How the fuck did that happen? Or rather: how did that fuck happen? I don’t think even Harrow knew or he probably would’ve a) paid more attention when Sarai advised against poaching the Magma Titan, because obviously she’s gotten around Xadia more than him, if y’know what i’m sayin’ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) or at least b) put it in his final letter to Callum. Unfortunately we know basically nothing about Sarai except that she was a soldier alongside Amaya and already had Callum before marrying Harrow. So does Amaya know? This is probably the most interesting plot thread in the whole story and as far as my friends told me it’s not going to be touched on anymore in the last two episodes than it already has thus far, which is basically not at all.

[monstersdownthepath]

Spiritual Spotlight: Nivi Rhombodazzle, the Grey Polychrome

True Neutral Demigoddess of Gems, Stealth, and Gambling

Domains: Community, Earth, Luck, Trickery Subdomains: Caves, Deception, Fate, Thievery

Faiths of Golarion, pg. 47~51

Obedience: Engage in a game of chance in which gems, money, or objects of value equaling or exceeding 10gp are at stake. Offer a prayer to Nivi Rhombodazzle out loud just before the wager begins (before the dice are thrown, the cards are drawn, the wheel is spun, etc). If there is no one else to wager against, make a bet against yourself on Nivi’s behalf, setting aside the winnings as an offering to her should she ‘win.’ In either case, afterwords, spend the remaining time in private reveling in the thrill of chance and steeling yourself for the moment when fate will turn against you. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus to Bluff and Sleight of Hand checks. The type of bonus depends on your alignment; if you are neither good nor evil, you must choose whether it is a sacred or profane bonus when you first perform this Obedience and cannot be changed after.

Much like Cayden Cailean, keeping Nivi’s faith on the down-low is more or less impossible. Thankfully, her faith is accepted (or at least tolerated) in more or less any settlement, aside perhaps in those where gambling is viewed with scorn.

This Obedience may at first seem like it’s difficult to do consistently because after all, you stand to lose 10gp every day! But note that it says that 10gp must be at stake, not that you, personally, must have contributed to the prize. If ten other people each donate 1gp and you toss in a single copper (or a button that looks like a copper in the right light and when not examined too closely), the thing still counts for your Obedience. You don’t have to spend a silver, you just have to be part of the wager.

Also note that this Obedience can very well apply to things like a party deciding who gets to carry the Cursed Artifact Of Horrible Death (certainly worth more than 10gp) for the day, though you CAN’T use it if someone’s spinning a chore wheel. Your labor may certainly be worth more than 10gp, but her Obedience demands that material goods be at stake.

Also, there’s nothing saying that you can’t simply give items back once you’ve ‘won’ them, or that other winners can’t give their ill-gotten gains back to their rightful owners. The alternative Obedience requiring you to bet against yourself also doesn’t say you need to donate or otherwise lose Nivi’s winnings, so you can just pocket them once more at the end. Nivi might look down on that, though--despite her penchant for gambling, she does not tolerate actual cheating--so do that carefully.

That benefit is pretty good, though. Bluff is a very valuable skill for moments where Diplomacy can’t be used, and though Sleight of Hand is much rarer, the moments where you NEED to use it will make you thankful you have the bonus.

Boons are gathered slowly, typically obtained when a given character has 12, 16, and 20 hit dice. Unlike fiend-worshipers, servants of the Eldest, and devoted of the Empyreal Lords, characters worshiping Neutral gods do not seem to have catch-all classes (though I could very well have just missed it)… but Neutral-aligned characters can enter the Evangelist, Sentinel, and Exalted Prestige Classes earlier than Evil characters, classing in as early as level 6 (they need +5 BAB, 5 ranks in a single skill, or the ability to cast lvl 3 spells); entered ASAP, one can gain the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14.

----------

EVANGELIST

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Boon 1: Gambler’s Essentials. Gain True Strike 3/day, Augury 2/day, or Haste 1/day.

I love this ability’s name. Not above steering luck in her own favor (NOT cheating!), Nivi grants her followers the same blessing. 3/day True Strike is fairly decent, though as your levels climb, you may find it more and more difficult to justify giving up a round of actions in order to assure your next attack strikes. Augury I’ll usually never take even as a spell-like; it takes too long to cast, and knowing the future may cause it to change.

Besides, those two options are stacked up against Haste. They never really had a chance. Unless you desperately need a fortune told, Haste is always, ALWAYS the way to go every time it appears as a potential Boon.

Boon 2: Gambler’s Egress. 3/day as a swift action, you may cast Litany of Escape as a spell-like ability targeting yourself or an ally.

I had no idea Litany of Escape existed until doing this article. For those not in the know, it’s a Close-range (25ft + 5ft/level) spell that can be used on a willing creature (and yourself, which is a Gambler’s Egress-only blessing) to instantaneously pop them out of a grapple or a pin, and teleport them 10ft in any direction while getting them to their feet.

I know a lot of times I’ll say that an ability is invaluable or that it will save your life, but it goes without saying that instantly breaking a grapple regardless of how skilled the grappler is while also giving your friend 10ft of breathing room can stop an encounter from immediately ending. Even if you’re not in direct combat, this spell renders the old “knife to the throat” hostage situations a non-issue and keeps you from being kidnapped by some stealthy, grabby enemy. Normally, the litany is limited by its need for verbal and somatic components (difficult to use while grappled), but as a spell-like, it uses no components.

AND it’s a swift action! So not only can you squeeze out of a Purple Worm’s mouth, but you can then blast it/slash it/run screaming in the same round! I also appreciate the fact Nivi is generous enough to let her followers use this power three times a day.

Boon 3: Gambler’s Prayer. 3/day as a standard action, you may make a wager against Nivi Rhombodazzle. This wager manifests as a Wondrous Effect generated by a Rod of Wonder, which can be aimed towards a target up to 60ft away provided the effect does not affect the wielder. If the 88-90 result is rolled, the gemstones fired are blessed by Nivi and each successful strike deals additional damage equal to your Charisma modifier (min +0). 

It’s important that you know what a Rod of Wonder is so I’m linking it twice. These weird and wacky items can do everything from provide cover via a cloud of butterflies to instantly turning the victim to stone, to reducing the wielder by two entire size categories, to simply blasting someone with a Fireball. This is one ability that actually gets endlessly weirder to use depending on if your DM uses variant Wondrous Effect tables, which I highly encourage when using this power.

I adore this ability! Though how useful it actually as obviously depends heavily on how lucky you’re feeling. Fitting for someone worshiping a goddess who embodies the rush of a wager! But less practical for an adventurer who wants a situation handled, especially once you realize that the save DCs for the Wondrous Effects are pitifully low by the time you get this power (a blessing in disguise, as it reduces the chance of you getting screwed over). If nothing else, it makes for a great distraction, a good party trick, and a good trick to pull out when you just want to make things more interesting.

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EXALTED

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Boon 1: Faithful’s Fortune. Gain Bless 3/day, Misdirection 2/day, or Heroism 1/day.

Ehhh, not a lot here, really. Bless and Heroism are nice, though I’d lean more towards Bless; giving everyone a weak boost is usually better than giving one person a better buff, Heroism is obviously better if you have someone on you side who’s consistently making full-attacks, or someone you expect to be in the thick of it, so it’s a tossup about whether it or Bless is better to take each day.

Misdirection is a cute spell, but unlikely to come in handy unless you really need to hide information about yourself or another. It’s the niche spell in this lineup, one you’re unlikely to need, but will be happy to have when you do.

Boon 2: Gemstone Guardian. 1/day as a standard action, you can summon a Huge Earth Elemental. You gain 100ft of telepathy to commune with the Elemental, and it follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute/Hit Dice before vanishing back into the Plane of Earth. This called Elemental will never obey a command that would make it cause direct harm to a gnome or svirfneblin, though it can be commanded to grapple or otherwise restrain such a creature.

A Huge Earth Elemental is a CR 7 beatstick, undecorated and plain in stats but resilient and obedient. They possess a 15ft reach and two slam attacks which deal 2d8+9 damage. Nothing particularly special, another body on the field, but they do ALSO have the very interesting Earth Glide.

Earth Glide allows the Elemental to pass through anything short of solid metal while burrowing, making it an amazing scout despite its immense size. Earth Glide technically allows it to pass through even worked stone, allowing it to weave easily through stone fortifications protecting an enemy camp, a dungeon, or a castle, so long as it’s not reinforced with metal or wood. With 100ft of telepathy between the two of you, an Earth Elemental can easily report everything it sees to you, and even crossing out of that distance doesn’t mean they instantly die. They can come back and report on what they saw.

Note that the first time you use this to your advantage, it’s likely the DM didn’t forsee it. The second and beyond? Awfully weird how enemy vaults and bedchambers are so often lined with lead nowadays, eh?

That being said, having a bruiser big enough for you to hide behind is still decent, even though it becomes less useful as your level climbs.

Boon 3: Seven-Pipped Gem. As an immediate action, you can gain a luck bonus on any single d20 roll equal to half your total HD. You may use this ability after you’ve rolled, but you must use it before the result of the roll is declared. If you use this ability on a Sleight of Hand roll, or a roll pertaining to a game of chance, the luck bonus is equal to your total HD instead. You can safely use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier (min 1), but if you have no daily uses of this ability left, you may still invoke it. Doing so results in a 50% chance that your luck bonus becomes a penalty instead.

Any d20 roll. Any. Skill check, ability check, attack roll, saving throw, weapon damage roll with a ridiculous weapon, random chance rolls on specific weird abilities, death rolls... It’s really astounding how many d20 rolls a single player character makes in one session, isn’t it? And you, servant of Nivi, can get a preposterously huge luck bonus to any of them. Getting +4 to any roll is an amazing ability, and getting +6 is astonishing. You, at minimum, get +7 (fittingly enough), which rises all the way to +10 at level 20.

And if you’re doing some cute Sleight of Hand trick or dealing cards? +20.

Even at 1/day, the ability to get +7 and up to any single d20 roll is... Not particularly incredible compared to most final Boons, I’ll admit, but as your Charisma modifier rises, this ability goes from ‘useful’ to ‘outrageous.’ 2/day? 3/day? 4/day if you’re a Swashbuckler or Charisma-based caster? You basically become untouchable.

And, of course, if you’re feeling daring, there’s the chance of using this ability as often as you feel like in order to try and succeed. At a certain point, like with attack rolls and saving throws, there’s very little reason not to, because if you fail you’ve already failed and things can’t get any worse. But if that +7 would let you just squeak by? Go for it! If you’re going to die, you might as well try, right?

Just note that, because it’s an immediate action, you can only use it 1/round... And that a DM may take abuse of this ability as a signal they need to be harsher on your failures. Maybe you take a swing at a monster with 20 AC and roll a 13. You’ve already missed, right? So might as well try and use the Seven-Pipped Gem to succe--oh you got a penalty instead. Oh well, not like you lost anything! Unless the DM decides that your foul luck caused your weapon to slip from your hands, opening you up to an Attack of Opportunity...

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SENTINEL

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Boon 1: Communal Combatant. Divine Favor 3/day, Shield Other 2/day, or Prayer 1/day.

Back in Milani’s article, I discussed both Divine Favor (Exalted) and Shield Other (Sentinel), so just pop over there and give them a look if you need a refresher! Favor is a lot more useful for the traditionally-martial Sentinel than it was for the typically-caster Exalted, so it’s a pleasure to see here! Its power rises with your level, up to +3 to attack and damage rolls, and while its spell form quickly falls off in usefulness, its spell-like form is much more flexible. Its 1 minute duration will last likely an entire combat with some time left over (meaning you should slap it on the moment you detect trouble), and it’s always nice to have.

Shield Other is typically nicer to have, though. Granting your allies expanded durability is always good, and your own (presumably) fat HP bar buffering your fragile but more blaster-y friends will keep them from being downed the moment they’re focused.

Prayer is... Actually really good? It’s a very small bonus, but it applies to everyone in a 40ft burst, works on more or less every roll they make, and penalizes enemies at the same time. That’s a +2 swing in your favor, and it offers no saving throw. It won’t change the course of an entire combat, but it’ll certainly make everything run a little more smoothly. All three of these options are actually really good! It just depends on what your party needs, really.

Boon 2: Stone Strikes. 1/round as a free action when successfully striking an enemy with any weapon in the hammer weapons group, or any weapon with “gnome” in its name, you may attempt a sunder combat maneuver check against any one weapon or piece of armor your target is wielding/wearing. You get a +2 competence bonus to this check for each size category above yours your enemy is.

First thing’s first: Note that there’s no daily limit to how many times you can use this power. There’s really, really no reason NOT to use this ability, beyond wanting to steal your enemy’s equipment for yourself, because even failing your check doesn’t cost you anything but a bit of extra time from rolling the dice. Going for a sunder build can see enemies peeled right out of their armor or robbed of their weapons in short order, though it should be noted that this ability doesn’t state that your sunder attempt doesn’t provoke an Attack of Opportunity. Easy enough to overcome with a single feat (Improved Sunder), and building your character with this ability in mind can make for a very, very fun but very, very frustrating (for the DM) character.

Note that sunder attempts take the object’s hardness into account, though. Without powerful magic weapons, you’ll likely only be hitting for 2 or 3 damage at a time. For enemies with unenchanted gear, this is often enough (a typical weapon has around 5 HP), but enchanting them boosts both their hardness and their HP, making actually shattering them extremely difficult to do. You can, at least, give them the broken condition relatively easily.

And, again, since you can do this for free on any successful attack, there’s really nothing stopping you from just tacking it on every single round until your enemy’s breastplate or longsword lays in a thousand pieces. I do like the touch that you’re better at breaking things that are bigger than you, though, which means you’re actually encouraged to get into a giant’s threat radius for once.

Boon 3: Strength of the Earth. As a free action, you may enter a specialized defensive stance. In this stance, you gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC, a +4 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution (which causes you to gain +2 HP per HD you possess), and a +2 morale bonus to Will saves. In this stance, you cannot willingly move from your current position, or the stance ends (it is NOT ended if you are forcibly moved by an enemy). You cannot enter this stance while raging. You may maintain this stance for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + your Constitution modifier, plus an additional 2 rounds per day for each Sentinel level you possess. Breaking or being broken from your stance fatigues you for 2 rounds for ever 1 round you maintained it (min 2), and while fatigued from this ability, you may use your Stone Strike ability 1/round against an enemy that strikes you in melee.

Hmmm... You know, on paper this looks good, but against any enemy that doesn’t actually want to fight you, this ability is defeated simply by walking away. Not a fan of that, unless you’re wielding a compound bow (or any ranged weapon, but a compound bow lets you use the extra +4 Str), in which case you’ve just become a shielded artillery platform.

I’m just really not impressed with this power, despite that. I am aware that most combats in Pathfinder tend to devolve into “standing next to the enemy and pushing the Attack Button,” but against enemies that DON’T want to stand next to you and attack away, like, say, around 60% of the classes in the game, this power translates to turning yourself into a Do Not Cross barrier. There’s a LOT of interesting things you could do with this ability, especially if you had a reach or ranged weapon, but, again, all an enemy has to do against you is walk away. If you break out of the stance to reposition, you get fatigued, and any enemy worth their salt will attack you at that point. They’ll probably lose their weapons for doing so, but being fatigued is painful nonetheless.

... All that being said, though, there’s a great many enemies who simply won’t recognize the fact you’ve just taken on your defensive stance, and will continue to stand next to you and attack without realizing why their strikes are being deflected more and more often, and without realizing that you’ve just gained +2 HP per HD and that you’re suddenly hitting much harder and much more often.

You can read more about Nivi here.

[dailybiblelessons]

Thursday: Preparation for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Roman Catholic Proper 21 Revised Common Lectionary Proper 16

Complementary Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Numbers 15:32-41

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and to the whole congregation. They put him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.” The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture from the Latter Prophets: Jeremiah 6:1-19

Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,  from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,  and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil looms out of the north,  and great destruction. I have likened daughter Zion  to the loveliest pasture. Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her.  They shall pitch their tents around her;  they shall pasture, all in their places. “Prepare war against her;  up, and let us attack at noon!” “Woe to us, for the day declines,  the shadows of evening lengthen!” “Up, and let us attack by night,  and destroy her palaces!” For thus says the Lord of hosts: Cut down her trees;  cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished;  there is nothing but oppression within her. As a well keeps its water fresh,  so she keeps fresh her wickedness; violence and destruction are heard within her;  sickness and wounds are ever before me. Take warning, O Jerusalem,  or I shall turn from you in disgust, and make you a desolation,  an uninhabited land.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Glean thoroughly as a vine  the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer,  pass your hand again over its branches.

To whom shall I speak and give warning,  that they may hear? See, their ears are closed,  they cannot listen. The word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;  they take no pleasure in it. But I am full of the wrath of the Lord;  I am weary of holding it in.

Pour it out on the children in the street,  and on the gatherings of young men as well; both husband and wife shall be taken,  the old folk and the very aged. Their houses shall be turned over to others,  their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand  against the inhabitants of the land,    says the Lord.

For from the least to the greatest of them,  everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest,  everyone deals falsely. They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,  saying, “Peace, peace,”  when there is no peace. They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;  yet they were not ashamed,  they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;  at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,    says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look,  and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.¹ But they said, “We will not walk in it.” Also I raised up sentinels for you:  “Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!” But they said, “We will not give heed.” Therefore hear, O nations,  and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people,  the fruit of their schemes, because they have not given heed to my words;  and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.

¹This passage is reflected in Matthew 11:28-30, where our Lord urges us to rest in him.

Complementary Psalm 103:1-8

Bless the Lord, O my soul,  and all that is within me,  bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Semi-continuous Psalm 71

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;  let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;  incline your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge,  a strong fortress, to save me,  for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,  from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. For you, O Lord, are my hope,  my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth;  it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.

I have been like a portent to many,  but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise,  and with your glory all day long. Do not cast me off in the time of old age;  do not forsake me when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me,  and those who watch for my life consult together. They say, “Pursue and seize that person  whom God has forsaken,  for there is no one to deliver.”

O God, do not be far from me;  O my God, make haste to help me! Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;  let those who seek to hurt me  be covered with scorn and disgrace. But I will hope continually,  and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,  of your deeds of salvation all day long,  though their number is past my knowledge. I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,  I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

O God, from my youth you have taught me,  and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs,  O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might  to all the generations to come. Your power and your righteousness, O God,  reach the high heavens.

You who have done great things,  O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities  will revive me again; from the depths of the earth  you will bring me up again. You will increase my honor,  and comfort me once again.

I will also praise you with the harp  for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre,  O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy  when I sing praises to you;  my soul also, which you have rescued. All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm  have been put to shame, and disgraced.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 12:3-17

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—

“My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, ; or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.”¹

Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and ‘make straight paths for your feet’², so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.

¹Proverbs 3:11   Proverbs 4:26

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Footnotes in the Hebrew Scriptures that show where the passage is used in the Christian Scriptures are based on information from the The Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) by David H. Stern, Copyright © 1998 and 2006 by David H. Stern, used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved worldwide. When text is taken from the CJB, the passage ends with (CJB) and this copyright notice applies. Footnotes in the Christian Scriptures that show where a passage from the Hebrew Scripture is used are from The New International Version Bible® ( NIV®), copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. When text is taken from the NIV, the passage ends with (NIV) and this copyright notice applies. Image Credit: Hands image by Gerd Altmann, downloaded from Pixabay, text added by Michael Gilbertson using Photoshop. Hands image used under Creative Commons 0 license. Combined image may be used under the same license. Please credit www.Lectionaryreadings.org.

Year C Ordinary 21, Catholic Proper 21, RCL Proper 16: Thursday

[cococrazies]

Lovestruck Series Review: Starship Promise (Season 1)

Personal playing order: Orion - Jaxon - Antares - Nova - Atlas

Warning! Minor spoilers ahead for Antares’s/Nova’s/Atlas’s routes, as well as CGs under the cut.

Orion: I’m torn on this one. I really enjoyed the story -- a lot more than I thought I would, given my lack of enthusiasm for the series concept -- and Orion himself. (If anyone ever wanted Shang from Mulan but in outer space, this is it.) The writing also had a very natural cadence and flow; it pulled me in easily, never getting too heavy-handed with sudden plot twists and cliffhangers... except for one instance, but more on that below.

And the MC! She was a pleasant surprise. I hadn’t been too impressed by her in the first-ep sneak peeks we get in each route, but she’s really cute -- she can be a bit of a space cadet at times (sorry, bad pun intended), but she isn’t dumb. Furthermore, she really develops over the course of the route, which is impressive given everything else stuffed into these mere 12 episodes.

So now to the things I didn’t like about this route: for one, the romantic development. It seemed really sudden and almost shoehorned-in as a result of the route length, which was jarring given how well-paced everything else had been up to that point. 

Also, the Antares plot twist; it felt cliché and gimmicky, especially since I could see it coming from a mile away. I think I would’ve preferred for it to be a Season 2 reveal, or at least presented to us right from the start -- as it was, it just seemed like it was there for the “shock factor” + to forcibly give us a reason to care about the antagonist if we didn’t already. But since this was a pilot season, I guess I can understand how they wanted to tease at an intriguing backstory as early as possible to get players invested.

Overall, they still did succeed with the latter, because now I’m pretty curious about where they’re going with this. And also because I need more Orion/MC in my life; rushed or not, those two are simply way too cute.

Jaxon: Whoa, this story was jam-packed with action scenes and chemistry between the OTP. The pace is hella fast, but you never get the sense that we’re skipping past important details; the writing makes the most of every episode it has got. Not a single scene is wasted or filler-like.

Jaxon himself is a bit of a harder sell. His gargantuan ego, jokester personality, and YOLO take on everything make him one of those characters that you either love or hate -- although for me, he fell somewhere near the middle of the spectrum. I like his concept and find him a refreshing addition to Lovestruck’s character lineup, but he’s not really my type as far as romance goes; and sometimes he toes the line for being near annoying.

(The fact that I constantly seemed to make the wrong choices -- at least judging by the sheer amount of weird looks or lukewarm responses he gave me after 90% of my choices -- didn’t help. Heads-up: don’t try to play it cool. This MC really, really can’t do cool. I had several near-death experiences from sheer secondhand embarrassment while playing this route.)

That aside, he makes a surprisingly good team with MC. Except from some cringey non-heart options (which were brutal this route, by the way), they naturally eased into working as a combo. I like how they both are able to pull each other out of their respective emotional ruts, as well as complement the other’s shortcomings. Jaxon’s character turnaround near the end felt a little sudden, but I like the teased insight on his past, and am looking forward to learn more about it.

Antares: Oh, MC. Trust me, I of all people totally understand crushing on the hot, mysterious, and possibly noble anti-hero holding you captive for unknown reasons, but even so. Being constantly unable to focus on anything but your attration to him -- and using it as a basis for your foundation to trust him almost straight away despite how he works for the Big Bad, and is literally using you as a tool(-fixer) for whatever evil purposes the Empire has in mind for the galaxy -- is like a whole new level of uncool.

(Also, how is a sheltered colony girl’s reaction to seeing a military leader telling his troops not to leave a single ship standing “swoon, he’s so charismatic” instead of “holy shit, he kills people”? Priorities, MC.)

Beyond that, Antares’s route was very intriguing to me. Out of Lovestruck’s villain routes so far this is the one that has done the least to paint the love interest as less of an antagonist, or the side he sympathizes with as more morally grey. I also appreciated seeing another side of Antares himself that actually knows the definition of the word chill  isn’t perpetually dressed in bunny-ear mecha armor  that’s not completely absorbed by his thirst for vengeance against his brother.

Similar to Orion’s route, the romantic development also dropped on us out of the blue here... but strangely, I didn’t mind. In a way, it seemed to make sense for Antares’s emotionally dysfunctional personality (to the point that it gave me Chance S1 in GiL flashbacks). I think I almost preferred this to him doing a sudden 180 and going all mushy on MC when any potential romantic build-up outside of premium choices has been minimal. I’m holding my thumbs now for a gradual turnaround -- much like Chance got -- in his future seasons.

Nova: I keep going back and forth re: how I feel about this route. To again start with the positive -- I’d been worried that Nova would be a Space Medusa 2.0, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn’t. For all the kuu in her kuudere demeanor, Nova still spends a fair amount of the route bonding with MC through actual conversation, and unlike Orion’s/Antares’s routes this season the romance didn’t even seem that rushed. Furthermore, I was intrigued by Nova’s backstory (not to mention that she’s hot as hell).

But to be entirely honest, this story is also the most formulaic, “typical otome”-esque route I’ve read so far in Lovestruck -- not so much in concept as in execution. It reminds me of one of those Voltage JP fantasy routes where we spend the first 1/3 of the route with semi-slice-of-life scenes interspersed with action, the middle 1/3 of this route discovering the LI’s angsty past and them distancing themselves to protect MC, and the final 1/3 with MC dissolving into hysterics/apocalyptic depression, stupidly running after LI alone, and declaring their undying love for them after having known them for a couple of days in the middle of a life-or-death situation.

Since I do play Voltage JP games I’m not saying it’s necessarily a terrible thing, just... jarring. I might seem like I’m awfully hard on Lovestruck’s writing a lot of the time, but that’s because I have high expectations of it. In a sea of near-identical mobile otome clones Lovestruck stands out with a more Westernized and creative take on standard otome tropes, hence often avoiding common pitfalls associated with the genre. The writing in general is a cut above what I expect from mobile games as well, hence all my criticisms; I don’t balk (as much) at LIs doing sudden 180s or MCs being stupid in a Solmare game, but I do with Lovestruck because I know -- and have seen firsthand -- that they can do better.

So this route was confusing to me. Because, if I were to go for my usual standard from what I would expect run-of-the-mill Voltage JP route, for example, or a Shall We Date? one -- then I’d think it’s fine. Or even good. But for Lovestruck? I don’t know. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, just not... good. (The GiL-esque Pokémon-battle narration for action scenes -- yes, this is my official pet peeve now -- didn’t help.)

With all that said though, I didn’t dislike Nova’s route. (Hence the confusion.) And definitely not Nova herself. I just don’t really know how I feel about its writing direction, and how it measures against my expectations of a Lovestruck route.

Atlas: I fell head over heels for this route. Seriously, this was Astraeus-in-season-3-of-AFK level instant love, except without the devastating angst and with a decent helping of fluffy feels on top. Not that it was all fluff -- we had our share of prospective angst here too, if less literally earth-shattering. And hell of a lot of action, character development, and tons of other goodies tightly stuffed in a 12-episode-package of awesome.

Similar to my review for Astraeus, I don’t even know where to begin talking about this route’s good points. The prose, for one -- there were just so many beautifully worded narrative transitions, and the dialogue didn’t lose out in that aspect, either. The sass, sarcasm, and the humor were well-timed, but didn’t go overboard/seem out of character for MC or the rest of the cast.

Then there’s Atlas himself. Breaking down tsunderes is one of my favorite otome pastimes, and doing exactly that to our resident grouchy pilot was no different. First of all, I love that he maintains a healthy balance between insults that are obviously all bark and no bite, and genuinely worded criticism that should logically be voiced. In fact, there’s so little unnecessary tsun here that he could almost pass for a kuudere. 

Regardless of whatever mold he’d better fit into, finally crumbling down that cranky demeanor of his and seeing him dere was a sweet, sweet reward. (I actually caved and went premium twice despite my agonizing wallet because I couldn’t resist seeing more of it.)

Or heck, even the platonic moments building up to that were great. Because the romance with Atlas was really well-paced; I love how we went from almost-hate (my favorite trope!) to begrudging respect, then to friendly equals/teammates, and finally something more -- all the while there was obvious chemistry between him and MC interlacing every interaction. I was kind of worried whether we’d get some last-minute romantic confession slapped on near the end, but thankfully we got a development that, for all its unrealistic corniness, still had me squealing. Especially with that cliffhanger; dammit, how am I even supposed to emotionally last until I get to his second season?

The main plot was really interesting, too -- probably my favorite premise out of the ones we’ve been offered so far. Even though it starts out similarly with MC on the run, I like how 1) we see the Union as evil right from the bat, avoiding having another MC-gets-out-of-her-naïve-colony-girl-mindset mini-arc; 2) rather than being perpetrated for some valuable information/artifact that the Starship crew might benefit from, MC is in a situation where they actually have no reason to keep her around, adding more tension to the intro; and 3) how all of this tied into Atlas’s own personal character arc. (Not that I minded how the other premises played out, it just made for a fresh change of pace.)

To wrap this gigantic word-vomit ramble up, I’d just like to conclude by gushing one last time how fantastic this route is -- I’d warmly recommend it to anyone interested in giving Starship a chance, because after this, the series personally had me hook, line, and sinker.

Final character ranking: Atlas > Orion > Jaxon > Antares > Nova

....This got a little longer than I intended it to be, oops. Kudos to anyone who has made it to the end of this season review. (I’ll try to be a little more concise in my next one, i.e. GiL S7.)  You can follow my tag #coco reviews lovestruck for more reviews of Lovestruck games, or check out the ones I’ve done so far on this list.

[lvtvr]

s4 thoughts under the cut

i have criticism and i have praise, but most importantly i have common fucking sense and i dont lose my mind if a kids cartoon doesnt go my way so dont worry about that palios

please read this post in a neutrally speculative tone because that’s my voice in my head as i’m typing it. also of course my opinion is just a star in the sky and your mileage, as always, may vary. warning its the Great Wall of Text

sweet stuff

most importantly its a great time to be a lotor stan. i love my boy my problematic trash fav i love him so much hes officially my favorite character now 1000000000% (it used to be lance, but he’s been dethroned for real now)

not only is he a fucking babe but whenever he appeared the plot was guaranteed to move forward so every time he came onscreen i got my two favorite things in one

listen im just not going to go overboard w this but lets just say i think about him and grin a lot what a fucking GREAT character he’s so MORALLY GREY so FUCKED UP so INTERESTING so sexy

matt holt is in fact a meme! good job fandom, well predicted. the allura heart eyes stuff was lame stock cartoon humor which imo added Nothing of value, but that aside he’s an angel boy and brilliant addition to the recurring cast and i love him

i thought the rain and the big no during the cemetery scene were kinda over the top cheesy but that episode was, overall, really great

okay but real talk that one dog looking captain has to be somebody’s fursona???????????? somewhere a furry is fucking thriving right now

fighting animations and space backgrounds were gorgeous, as always

i adore where they’re taking keith’s development!!! i had some pretty serious concerns post s2, but they’re taking him in exactly the direction i had hoped for

i feel like he’s honestly really happy with the blade, their style really suits him and i mean that both figuratively and literally *wink wonk*

he’s a loner, but he’s not alone. he’s in a position where he’s expected to function as an independent unit within a team, instead of being literally connected to the others in his squad; at this point in time that autonomy is what’s important for his development. he has both the insight to realize that and the empathy to be concerned that it might be selfish or wrong in the eyes of others

but his friends support him!!!!!!!! the group hug oh my god

his self sacrifice... i almost died that was just so. beautiful

im just really emo about keith

why does zarkon hate lotor SO much? i have a feeling it must be connected to the circumstances of his birth. SOMETHING is up and i can’t wait to find out WHAT

and what the fuck is going on with haggar

shes still the most aesthetic character in the show sjlgdjsdgjsg PURPLE WITCH PURPLE WITCH

LANCE AND ALLURA!!!! OMG IM CRYING honestly i am still rooting for no canonical romance but at this point i wouldnt even mind canon allurance, because the way they’re having lance mature and act around her is just... im still crying dont look at me

that said i think its beautiful how canon lance, in stark contrast to the awful character that is fanon lance, is a selfless and insightful boy who -- once he steps out of his theater-kid attention-seeking leo persona -- has a better grasp than perhaps anyone of the true dynamics of the team

he gave allura the speech that shitty lance stans want the rest of the team to give him. i can’t believe he single handedly screwed over all bad characterization. im so proud of him.

salty stuff

lance’s sweet moment at the end of ep6 aside, i’m still pretty bitter about the fact that we know virtually NOTHING about either lance or hunk. to some degree shiro is also still a mystery.

the reason it’s so frustrating is because to varying degrees, keith, pidge, and allura all have some sort of backstory and ongoing arcs

in comparison, hunk and lance have been kind of stuck in support roles for four seasons now. they are occasionally shown maturing, but im just lacking a foundation for what’s driving them?? besides lance’s insecurities, what do we really HAVE?

episode 4 was a waste of time that i hope the under-12 demographic enjoyed more than i did. the meta wasn’t on point like, for instance, the avatar theater episode. also, it treated hunk terribly. like, lampshading how horribly he’s treated as a fat comic-relief character isn’t funny when your writers are the ones giving him that treatment in the first place lol???

it was, how u say, a shitty filler that could have been dropped entirely without affecting a thing

the sailor scout poses were pretty okay tho

why would you create a setup for whatever is going on with shiro and then not so much as allude to it during an entire season? 

like, a forty-second scene implying some weird juju would have been enough, but completely dropping one of the plot threads for six consecutive eps makes for a pretty porous story-tapestry. im assuming they’ll pick it up again but this season is just... a gaping hole, dramaturgically speaking.

if i had written it i would be kicking my own ass for lack of continuity

seriously this makes me feel less bad about my first-draft mess of a fanfic because holy shit lol its a lot tighter than this was

lotor killing narti came literally out of nowhere, and im not saying this to defend him (she was my favorite general and im incredibly sad she’s gone?? im lowkey hoping haggar’s mojo will revive her tbh) -- but, again, we have some really weird writing decisions going on here

lotor was set up in season three as someone who values mercy and explicitly orders his people not to kill. like, im not trying to excuse what he did -- im just saying it seems like a contradiction, based on what we’ve been shown

why wouldnt he just incapacitate her or kill kova instead?? the nature of the psychic bond was never addressed enough to make killing her seem motivated, and his character was never built up as someone who would succumb to a random murderous impulse, so tl;dr I Don’t Get It

also we havent been given enough background on the team to be able to say for sure, but what i assumed was a tight-knit elite group with history seems to have actually been a ragtag group of neutral-aligned mercenaries, temporarily banded together for personal gain.

while i’m okay with a plot-driven show that doesn’t spell things out and leaves most things as implied subtext, i still feel like there is such a thing as being too subtle

like you can’t set up plot threads only to put them completely on pause to have some ships blow up, it will only frustrate the audience and make the action seem like a cover-up for the writers having no idea what the fuck is going on

its not hard!!! to just throw in allusions to things!!!! like we’re talking literally just tossing out HINTS so people remember that “oh yeah that thing existed at all” @ dreamworks please uh... do that?

the pattern seems to be that we get a mindblowing season followed by a mediocre season so time to hype s5!

so anyway those are my two cents ("its more like ten dollars char" yeah yeah i know!!!) and i’m very happy to discuss the events of this season, and for people to disagree with me (as long as its polite and... at least relatively motivated lol)

[sidfox]

Cyantale Masterpost

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CYANTALE

-This post may have updates every now and then-

What is Cyantale?

Cyantale is an Undertale AU that takes place after the 7th Fallen Human, also known as “Frisk”, goes through several neutral runs. A fault in some of the timelines however, overlap as a result of the countless amounts of runs, causing permanent death for monsters. A RESET cannot bring back a dead monster at this point. Also, they could engage in a FIGHT without the opponent accepting it. The amount of neutral endings Frisk trekked through, from the King Papyrus ending to Queen Alphys and so on, fuels their apathy, and because of this they go on a Genocide route.

Why is it called Cyantale?

The symbolism contributing to the AU revolve around the colour light blue, or cyan. This includes Echo Flowers, the Light Blue SOUL, the Light Blue SOUL’s items, and of course Sans himself.

When does Cyantale take place?

It takes place during Frisk’s very first Genocide route. Most of the AU is Sans’ POV. From discovering his brother’s death due to Frisk, to the secrets in Waterfall, to facing the human in the Judgement Hall, and so on.

Why is there Cyantale and Cyantale: A New Echo?

In the comic, there are two main parts that explain the plot of Cyantale; the first part, and New Echo. New Echo is the sequel to Cyantale.

Why does the comic revolve a lot around Sans?

Much of the comic is my personal head canon on Sans’ vague past [with some small additions such as SOUL fusing and ‘Cyans’]. Toby Fox created characters in Undertale with a brief description on their personality, along with a small amount of their past. This gives people more freedom for head canons and theories, and I wanted to create my own and gradually mold it into a comic.

The comics:

Cyantale

Cyantale: A New Echo

Main Cast

Appearance

Cyans wears a dark grey hoodie, with the hood almost always on. He also wears his brother’s scarf around his neck. Four cyan bones appear on his hoodie [two on each side]. He wears the usual shorts, except the white stripes are now cyan. His slippers are now blue.

Personality

Cyans is still roughly the same personality-wise, except for his sheer loneliness. This makes him desperate to talk to someone - anyone around, to distract himself from the echoes in his skull.

Differences from original

he can only see out of his left eye. All of his sight and SOUL energy are sustained in his left eye.

he summons more light blue bones than regular ones, especially if his opponent is agile

his Gaster Blasters are black with yellow-green aura radiating from their eyes and snouts

he can constantly hear Echoes - little things Echo Flowers repeat from the timelines. However, often they come out in broken sentences. Only Cyans and Echo can hear the echoes, unless he taps his skull.

He has two new “special attacks”; Determinatience and The Last Echo. Determinatience is when Cyans regains a small bit of his own Determination, mixed with his Patience. In turn he summons a huge Gaster Blaster that is white with a cyan aura radiating from its eyes and snout. It can do heavy damage to the opponent if it hits. The Last Echo is when translucent cyan roots shoot up from the ground and trap the opponent, summoning a large spirit-like Echo Flower through the opponent’s SOUL Finally, a bone impales the SOUL, and can be an instant kill. Both of these attacks drain Cyans’ energy, so he only uses them when the time is right.

he has no purple magic [Karmic Retribution or KR] but he CAN sense how many people his opponent has killed thanks to the echoes.

his SOUL is outlined with light blue magic

depending on Cyans’ emotions, the glow that appears on the left side on his hoodie varies in brightness.

Cyans [pronounced the same as Sans] is just a pun-like nickname he gave himself on the spot

Appearance

They always wear the light blue/red ribbon. They have light brown hair, a purple sweater, blue shorts and dark brown shoes. Depending on if it’s Frisk or Chara, the stripes and ribbon will change from light blue to red.

Personality

They have a “split” personality; Frisk is polite, remorseful and tries their best to aid in people’s need when given. Chara, however, is apathetic and violent.

Differences from original

their “Chara” is nothing like the original; they only obtained their Determination due to the amount of runs they went through.

they are around 10-12 years old in this AU.

the main colour of their sweater comes from the mix of blue and red; originally their sweater was pure grey.

the weapon they equip is either the Toy Knife or the Real Knife

their SOUL before doing all of the runs, was clear/empty; they were practically soulless.

their nicknames are either “CT” or “Patience”

because they killed everyone in the Underground except Cyans, their LV exceeds past 19 [it is unknown what their LV is exactly]

“Frisk” is left-handed; “Chara” is right-handed

Appearance

He wore a light blue scarf, a white t-shirt with a skull on it that had the blue SOUL in its forehead, red mittens and boots, and yellow pants.

Personality

Flashback wasn’t as confident in himself as the original Papyrus, but he still believed in others and doing what was right. He still loved cooking, or at least trying to.

Differences from original

little is known about Flashback, other than he appears in Cyans’ memories

he wore clothing with the primary colours on it from Sans - because Sans’ brother was the most important person to him

he ADORED hugs, especially being the first to hug his family/friends [unless he was sad]

Appearance

Echo is the embodiment of Flowey but as an Echo Flower [with a face].

Personality

His personality is a little different as Echo. He’s not as into “taking over the world and becoming the strongest” as he was in his regular flower form. But he still likes bugging people, especially with echoes to Cyans.

Differences from original

he has no SOUL, but it is because he’s technically “dead”; his magic was transferred over mysteriously to an Echo Flower 

he, too, can hear echoes and repeat them back

however, he can choose what to repeat back, even though they almost never come out in proper sentences

he’s responsible for a lot of the echoes that Cyans hears

he can summon Echo Flowers at will

Appearance

He is a void goop-like monster that can form legs if he wants but retains his form as shown above. He inherits the blue and orange SOUL, changing the markings on his face. He also has two tubes protruding from his back.

Personality

He is insane after living in the void for so long. He is also power-hungry, trying to gain as much power as he can take. Along with that, he is a scientist genius and utilizes his knowledge to gain power.

Differences from original

not much is known enough from the original “Gaster” to decipher any differences

the tubes from his back fuel his body with energy

he was originally “soulless”; all that remains of his original SOUL was scattered bits and pieces

he can summon giant hands at will, and depending on what type of SOUL he obtains, changes their colours and abilities

he too, has Gaster Blasters 

Appearance

Her armour is roughly the same except it’s more mouldable around her body, giving her enough flexibility to chase after her foes. The heart shape on her chest armour can glow a bright green, along with the heart shapes on her gloves. She has an arrow-shaped scar on her left eye. If her natural determination runs low, she begins to melt.

Personality

Her personality is a little different from the original. She is still kind to people, but this can be a disadvantage. She tries to do what is right for her friends, but sometimes she will act passively if it’s too extreme. Despite all this, her own bravery is what makes her strong, even if it puts her life on the line.

Differences from original

although she makes a minimal appearance in the comic, this is a huge turning point for the plot because of how she gives up in the end after finding out Alphys has died in the hands of the human

she calls people she doesn’t like “brat” instead of the usual “punk”

the more her Kindness takes over, the more her heart symbols glow

if she starts melting, this will weaken her greatly

[bad0mens]

Title: The Forest of Memories 12/14

Pairings: Fluri, Ristelle (Juristelle if you look hard enough)

Warnings: Historical-ish Fantasy AU garbage/Robin Hood AU

Authors’ Notes: *says that she’ll update more regularly* *goes a month without an update* Good job A+.

Disclaimer: Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

For the people of Nottingham, the capture of Robin Hood felt like the death of their hope. The heaviness of it seeped into every corner of the town, every nook and cranny. Despair over the prince's success was silent but inescapable.

Although he could not show it, it weighed just as heavily on Flynn, making the slightest task a chore and the slightest word of it torture to his ears. It was nothing compared to what Yuri was going through. He experienced the true torture at the hands of Alexei, who never let him forget that the gallows were all that awaited him. Alexei went though every necessary measure to make sure that the hangman's noose that awaited Yuri was nothing less than perfect.

Flynn could see its construction from the window of his office in the guard station, and he was certain that Yuri was made to see it from his jail cell. It was a reminder for the both of them that time was growing dangerously short.

He was still at a loss for what to do. Saving Yuri was his priority, but /how/ was the question that always came up. He needed help, but that was not forthcoming with any ease. Flynn wracked his mind for options as the days to Yuri's execution wound on. He would have to talk to him, and getting into the jail to see him would be the easy part. Whether or not Yuri would talk to him was another matter completely. He had to try. They were running out of options.

Once Alexei had gone for the day, Flynn took the opportunity given to him. The city guards would not question his presence in the jail as the pursuit of Robin Hood had been his mission. As far as they all knew, he and Alexei were working toward a common goal. He strode to the jail with purpose in his step, although his subordinates would never guess to that particular purpose. He need only carry the illusion of complacency.

The guards at the jail entrance didn't question him and barely gave him a passing glance as he walked between them. They shut and locked the gate behind him as normal and he was allowed to continue up the spiral stairs of the tower.

Thanks to Yuri's efforts, the number of people imprisoned had dwindled to a couple of dozen. Many had not been there long, but their glares and hushed tones still cursed him and what he was supposed to stand for. He couldn't blame them for their vitriol.

Cramped stone stairs led all the way to the topmost cell of the jail. Behind a wooden door and metal barred window, Yuri sat, arms chained to the wall with heavy shackles. He was slumped as if asleep. Although the leather of his jerkin was still intact, his shirt was in shreds dripping from his body, exposing flesh torn with bloody red welts and cuts, still fresh from his last beating. Alexei had been careful not to kill Yuri. It was no secret that he was saving that for the gallows as a demonstration before the prince and the people.

Quietly, he unlocked the door and closed it behind himself. Yuri did not stir.

"Yuri..." he spoke barely in a whisper.

"You shouldn't be here." He had likely been awake the whole time if Flynn's entrance hadn't woken him. "Why did you come here?"

"I'm trying to find a way to get you out of here."

"But I'm a criminal. I belong here." Now he decided to mark his actions as criminal and shove it not so subtly in Flynn's face.

"This isn't right. This isn't justice and we both know that."

He chuckled coldly, a strange smirk tugging at his lips.

"Have you given up just like that?" A heat rose in his own voice, but he kept the volume low.

Yuri's eyes lifted and looked at him for the first time since the night Flynn found him injured. Grey ringed in dark bruises and weighed, made dull by the lack of light. He looked so unlike the friend Flynn had known as a boy, so unlike the dark and mischievous phantom of Sherwood that it was startling and unsettling. Those eyes moved, head tilting weakly to look out of the window. Below, the gallows were almost ready. Only hours separated him from death.

"I don't think I'll be coming home."

Such soft words had more impact than if Yuri had stabbed him. He staggered back a step at hearing them. "Y-Yuri..."

"I trust you to do what you think is right. And please, take care of Estelle for me." He exhaled and it seemed like all the strength left him with that breath.

Flynn could find no words, no strength to reason with him in this final hour. It wasn't over yet. Alexei hadn't won yet. The prince hadn't won yet. Yuri was acting like the rope was already tightening around his neck. There was still time. There was still hope. Why was he giving up so easily?

He had to force himself not to run away. He left Yuri alone, unsure of what more to say, of what he could do, knowing that none of it would be of any comfort and there would only be more painful words exchanged. He couldn't bear them. If anyone was going to save Yuri, it was going to have to be Flynn. But he wasn't going to be able to do it alone.

With Alexei personally overseeing the constructions of the gallows and a feast being prepared in his honor, Flynn's presence was barely noticed. Servants and guards and nobles alike didn't pay him any mind. It made slipping up to the east wing easy. Even the guards at Estellise's door seemed largely unaffected by his presence. They still stopped him, however.

"State your business, Sheriff."

He had planned ahead for this. "Lord Alexei ordered that I question Lady Estellise further on Robin Hood."

"Robin Hood's been captured already--"

"But his gang of fellows remains at large. If they were to interrupt the execution tomorrow and provide any hope of escape for our prisoner, I can imagine that both our Royal Highness and Lord Alexei would be furious to say the least."

They looked at each other and nodded and let him pass. They locked the door behind him.

Estellise was seated by the hearth, calm and quiet, but green eyes locked with the fire. The embroidery hoop in her hand was fitted with fabric, but not a single stitch of the gold thread clenched between her fingers. From her stillness, it seemed like she had not moved in years, as if she was flesh made stiff marble.

"Lady Estellise?"

Her head snapped over to look at him and her face softened." Oh, Sheriff..."

"I'm sorry to intrude."

"No, not at all." She motioned to the seat opposite her own. "What can I do for you?"

He sat, casting his eyes about the room. They were alone. He spoke just loud enough to be heard over the crackle of the fire. "I'm here about Yuri. I want to find a a way to save him. But my first concern is for your safety."

"It's not my neck that will have a noose around it tomorrow. But Yuri asked you to, didn't he?"

"Yes."

She smiled, soft and sad. "He's been that way as long as I've known him. I can't say I'm surprised."

"He told me about your relationship."

"Yes. We share a father, but for the longest time, I had no idea that I had a brother. Father sent him away when I was very young. For years, he has been protecting me. Now I want to protect him in return. What are you planning to do?"

"I'm not sure." It was painful to admit that with how short their time was. "I plan to seek out his companions for help. Surely together, we can come up with something."

"Do you know where to find them?"

"Yes, I think so."

"I will find some way of escaping then. Do not worry for me."

"Yuri would never forgive me if I left you without aid."

"Excuse me, Lady Estellise." Sodia presence in the curtained archway of Estellise's bed chamber startled him. Here they were plotting subterfuge with another listening.

"Yes, Sodia?" Estellise did not seem to fear the consequences.

"I don't know what help I can be beyond helping you to escape, but I'm sure I can do that much," Sodia explained confidently. "While I don't agree with Robin Hood or his methods, I do owe you this and it's what I think is right. I won't see you sent to the block because of someone like him."

"How will you do it?" Flynn asked.

"At night, I wear my cloak when I leave. If Lady Estellise wears my dress and cloak and leaves with the hood lifted, I doubt the guards will suspect a thing." She ducked back into the room a moment and returned with a plain, dark brown woolen cloak, a far cry from the silk embroidered cloak of dark purple Estellise wore. "When I go to fetch supper, I'll ready my horse. If you slip out with the dishes afterward, you'll be free to go."

Estellise stood, taking one of Sodia's hands in her own. "That's very brave of you, but what will you do if they find that you are not me?"

"I'll try to slip away later tonight. They won't be looking for either of us until tomorrow."

With that agreed upon, Flynn had one more plan to make, and he had to come up with something much more complex very quickly. Sunset was only hours away, and dawn only a little further.

With sunset finally settling in, Flynn was able to break away from work once more. An early day for him, because they knew he would be in again before the dawn to oversee the execution. He rode from town slowly, letting the horse take an easy pace in spite of the rush he needed and the time constraints ever closing in. He could not act suspiciously in any manner and risk rousing concern.

Once he was far from the sight of the town and safe back on his family lands, he urged his horse into a run, flying across the meadow and down the trail that he could never forget no matter how overgrown. Their pace eased once moving over tree roots. He had no time to have his horse injured. Darkness was settling in, making the forest abuzz with animal life, when he finally caught sight of the tree fort. The camp was quiet and the fire in the pit little but smoldering embers. It was unnerving.

Flynn dismounted, tethering his horse. "Hello?" he spoke aloud as he strode toward the cluster of buildings.

No reply came and he continued. "Hello?" he called again, scanning the walkways above. "I'm here to--"

Stepping a pace forward, he was caught completely off guard as his legs whipped up out from beneath him, and he tumbled backward. It wasn't the ground that caught his fall, but a net that very quickly hoisted him up. Still reeling, he struggled in the web of it, pushing against the sides and tracing the pathway of the rope through the branches with his eyes. He reached for the knife at his side, intending to cut himself free, but stopped at the sight of figures standing below him.

"Well, what have we here?" the archer from the contest spoke with a twang, whistling afterward.

"If it isn't the honorable Sheriff of Nottingham," the minstrel spoke next, bowing with a flourish. "I'd be terribly interested to hear about how you found this place."

"Yeah, how did you?" the boy asked. "And what have you done with Yuri?!"

"Please, I can explain. Just let me down."

"If you can explain with your feet on the ground, you can do it in the net," the minstrel replied.

"I want to help save Yuri. I--"

"Why?" the boy cut him off, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're the Sheriff."

"He's a dear friend and I don't want to see him hanged."

Suspicions filled all of their faces, obvious disbelief.

"I've got an idea," Raven said. "We'll do a hostage exchange. The Sheriff for the lad."

"Yeah!"

"Not a bad idea really...."

"The prince would never agree," Flynn said. "He and Alexei would sooner see me hanged than let Yuri live another day. They'd probably be content to hang me beside him."

The minstrel opened her mouth to speak, but a series of barks cut her short. Their eyes all turned to see Repede dashing toward them, followed by two familiar forms. Rita regarded the display with disgust, and Estellise with horror.

"Let him down, you idiots," Rita huffed.

"What?" the boy asked. "But why? He's the enemy!"

"No, he's not. Flynn wants to help us save Yuri," Estellise explained, an gentle hand falling on the minstrel's arm. "Judith, please, let him down. Rita and I can both testify on his behalf."

"He's the one who saved Yuri's life. How else do you think he made it to the abbey with a wound like the one he had?" Rita waved sharply in a dismissing motion. "Yuri trusted him and we can, too."

Thankfully, they lowered him safely to the ground and he was able to shrug off the net. Half of the group still regarded him with suspicion, but Raven shooed the boy off to get the fire going. Estellise introduced them all and very soon after being captured as a prisoner, he was asked to sit by the fire as a guest.

"I wish Yuri had told us about you," Karol said, helping Judith break up kindling.

Flynn still didn't know why Yuri hadn't. Estellise, however, had the answer. "He wanted to. He just wasn't sure how to do it."

"Well, it's a moot point now that the lad's in jail," Raven stated grimly, ice blue eyes fixed on the fire. "Ya said ya wanted to help him. What exactly were ya planning?"

"I don't have a plan. That's why I'm here."

They all nodded somberly and fell silent.

"He's heavily guarded now, and will be even more so tomorrow. But if they expect us to attack, they'll be waiting for us tonight. They probably won't think us fool enough to try in broad daylight," Judith explained, turning to Flynn. "So that's when we need to do it. The last minute when they won't expect us. How many guards are slated to be on duty?"

Picking up a twig, he traced a map in the dirt around the fire. The tower, the guard station, and the gallows as well as every possible exit. He marked them simply and used circles to represent the guards. The letter Y marked Yuri, an A for Alexei, and an F for himself. He could even predict, hopefully with some accuracy, Cumore's position.

"Thirty guards are planned to be there, but I wouldn't be surprised if Alexei has fifty or more waiting. Two wait at Yuri's cell, two on each level of the jail, two more at the entrance, six around the perimeter. Four will watch the entrance of the grounds and no less than six will guard the gallows itself. Two guards will retrieve Yuri from his cell and escort him all the way down. I'm one of them. My deputy will be among those overseeing the gallows."

"Can we trust him?" Karol asked.

"I'm afraid not. Whether or not he believes what Alexei is doing is right, he is still a guard, and still loyal to the crown."

"So that leaves us no less than seven against thirty," Judith did the figures in her head. "Highly outnumbered. And Alexei will not take this lying down. He'll be number one to get out of the way."

"Allow me to handle him." Flynn was almost surprised by his own voice, the crackle of his words like lightning.

"Here's what we'll do," Standing, Judith took a long stick from behind her log seat. With the tip of it, she refined and fleshed out the simple map he had made in the dirt. She added more circles and letters and marks they could define as buildings. Thin lines marked paths of travel, thicker one walls and areas to avoid.

Once the map was set, she went through the plan, detailing the steps each of them would need to take, where to be at what time, and what to be ready for. Rita added notes and quips and the two answered questions through the first run. A few walkthroughs, and everyone knew their place and time.

The knots twisting his stomach and the sweating of his hands were constant reminders that they only had one chance to do this right.

[tekmodetech]

Apple revises its guidelines on template-based apps, now requires business to have their own developer accounts

Apple as we speak introduced it’s amending the App Retailer guideline that banned apps created utilizing templates and different app era companies. When the corporate revised its policies earlier this year, the transfer was meant to scale back the variety of low-quality apps and spam. However the determination ended up impacting a much wider market — together with small companies, eating places, nonprofits, organizations, golf equipment and others who don’t have the in-house experience or funds to construct apps from scratch.

Apple’s new rule is supposed to supply higher readability on what kind of apps will and won’t be accepted within the App Retailer.

Earlier than, the 4.2.6 App Store guideline learn as follows:

four.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app era service will probably be rejected.

The corporate’s revised wording now states:

four.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app era service will probably be rejected until they’re submitted immediately by the supplier of the app’s content material. These companies mustn’t submit apps on behalf of their purchasers and may supply instruments that permit their purchasers create personalized, revolutionary apps that present distinctive buyer experiences.

One other acceptable possibility for template suppliers is to create a single binary to host all consumer content material in an aggregated or “picker” mannequin, for instance as a restaurant finder app with separate personalized entries or pages for every consumer restaurant, or as an occasion app with separate entries for every consumer occasion.

That is Apple’s try and make clear the way it thinks about templated apps.

Core to that is the concept that, whereas it’s high-quality for small companies and organizations to undergo a intermediary just like the app templating companies, the app template suppliers shouldn’t be those in the end publishing these apps on their purchasers’ behalf.

As an alternative, Apple desires each app on the App Retailer to be printed by the enterprise or group behind the app. (This is something that’s been suggested before). Which means your native pizza store, your church, your gymnasium, and many others. must have reviewed the App Retailer documentation and licensing settlement themselves, and extra actively take part within the app publishing course of.

Apple in early 2018 will waive the $99 developer payment for all authorities and nonprofits beginning within the U.S. to make this transition simpler.

It’s nonetheless high-quality if a intermediary — like a template constructing service — aids them on this. And it’s additionally high-quality if a template-building service helps them create the app within the first place. In reality, Apple isn’t actually involved a lot about “how” the app will get constructed (as long as it’s not a wrapped webpage) — it cares concerning the finish end result.

Apps want to supply high-quality expertise, the corporate insists. They shouldn’t all look similar; they shouldn’t appear like clones of each other. And, most significantly, they shouldn’t appear like the online or function only a wrapper round what might in any other case simply be the enterprise web site or their Fb Web page.

Apps are supposed to be extra than the online, providing a deeper, richer expertise, Apple believes.

Above: The unique model of the Official Lumineers app, constructed by AppMakr

There’s some disagreement on how extensively this rule is being enforced, nevertheless.

As we speak, customers might work together with one in every of these “templated clones” — like an app for his or her favourite taco place, their church, an area band, their faculty, and many others. They don’t know that the app is one in every of many who look similar to it, they usually most likely don’t care.

As well as, a type of uniformity to apps in a given area might make them simpler to make use of, some argue. You’ll know the place to seek out the “cell ordering” characteristic, or the place the menu is situated once they’re not all distinctive snowflakes, attempting to be completely different for distinction’s sake.

On the flip aspect, Apple sees an ecosystem crammed with hundreds of copycats and clones as a really dangerous factor. It’s unfair to builders who’ve custom-built their apps, and it could actually even crash the App Retailer when one tries to load some 20,000 apps printed underneath a single developer account.

Whereas most usually agree that low-quality apps don’t should be on the App Retailer, there’s trade concern that banning template-based apps as an entire has been an overreach.

The transfer even caught the attention of Congressman Ted W. Lieu (33rd District, California), who informed Apple it was “casting too broad a internet” in its effort to take away spam and illegitimate apps from the App Retailer, and was “invalidating apps from longstanding and legit builders who pose no menace to the App Retailer’s integrity.”

It appeared odd, too, that an organization that on the one hand had argued that everyone deserved free and equal access to the internet created a rule that makes it harder for smaller firms and nonprofits from doing enterprise on the App Retailer — particularly at a time when accessing the online is extra usually performed through the gateway of mobile apps. (See above chart — the browser is passé).

On the very least, this amended language appears to supply some respite for the templating service suppliers. They will nonetheless act as a intermediary for the smaller firms, as long as they construct personalized apps that don’t appear like each other, and the purchasers publish them underneath their very own accounts. They will even use parts to construct these apps, so long as the apps have selection to their interfaces and supply an app-like, not web-like, expertise.

The rule arguably is supposed to supply customers a greater App Retailer crammed with well-built, high quality apps, however it can have a sweeping impact on small companies and their capacity to compete with bigger entities. Certain, the pizza place might promote by Uber Eats — however at a steep value. Certain, the nail salon might promote on Yelp or the mom-and-pop might have a Fb Web page — and lots of do, after all. Such is the character of the world. However that additionally places the enterprise on the mercy of the bigger aggregators, whereas an app — very like an internet site — places the enterprise in additional management over their very own future.

Not too long ago, TechCrunch reported that many companies operating in this space were given a January 1, 2018 deadline for compliance with the revised pointers. After this date, the App Retailer Overview staff informed the businesses their new apps wouldn’t be allowed within the App Retailer. Some apps had already fallen underneath the ban, and had been seeing their submissions rejected. (Apps already reside had been grandfathered in, and might be up to date. Nevertheless it was unclear how lengthy that will be the case.)

Some firms had even shut down their enterprise because of these adjustments.

The adjusted language doesn’t seem to permit them to proceed as they did earlier than. As an alternative, they might want to develop new instruments to supply purchasers with “personalized, revolutionary apps that present distinctive buyer experiences.”

In different phrases, be extra like Squarespace, much less like Google Websites — however for apps.

Above: One among these is a template-based app. You may inform, proper?

The affected firms weren’t all what you thought-about “spam” app makers. Whereas after all some that had been wrapping webpages made sense to ban, others operated in additional of a grey space.

They ranged from those that offered tools for small businesses that wished their very own app retailer presence to those who served explicit industries — like ChowNow, which builds apps for eating places that need their very own cell ordering techniques, or people who construct apps for church buildings, health studios, spas, politicians, occasions and extra.

These companies informed us the four.2.6 (and generally the four.three) pointers had been being cited by the App Overview staff when rejecting their apps. Additionally they informed us that they had hassle getting readability from Apple when discussing the matter in non-public, one-on-one telephone calls.

The previous rule (four.2.6) bans the template-based apps, whereas the latter (four.three) is extra of a catch-all for banning spam. The four.three rule was used at instances when Apple couldn’t show that the app was constructed utilizing a wizard or drag-and-drop system, we had been informed.

Display Shot 2017-12-20 at three.41.33 PM

Display Shot 2017-12-20 at three.41.42 PM

Above: the wording of the principles earlier than as we speak’s adjustments

When Apple first announced the changes at WWDC, many of those template suppliers and app era companies thought they wouldn’t be impacted — the ban was meant to weed out the clone-makers and spammers. That’s why it got here as a shock when Apple reviewers started informing them that they, too, would no longer be allowed to publish their apps to the App Store. They didn’t consider themselves as spammers.

Apple’s newly worded coverage supplies extra readability on the matter, but it surely doesn’t actually change Apple’s prior intention.

If the app is principally only a web site, if it seems like different apps, then don’t trouble; the App Retailer just isn’t for you.

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