#he's such a major character and yet his plotline has no title

[circusballoon]

Doodlin' together with @erradox in Magma!

[destinysbounty]

When you think about it, Lloyd's storyline in s9 is actually lowkey kinda funny actually?

Like, think about it. Up to this point, Lloyd has been captured/imprisoned at least once in almost every season. It's kinda his whole ThingTM. Seriously. Try making a tally of all the times he is kidnapped, imprisoned, or otherwise captured/restrained in some way. Its a little depressing, actually.

Now, what's the title of s9? Hunted. What is the premise of s9? Lloyd and the survivors of s8 are being hunted down to be systematically captured and/or killed by the SoG, while the og4 are off in the First Realm facing a very similar crisis with Iron Baron.

How many people are successfully captured/imprisoned in s9? Just off the top of my head weve got the og4, Faith, Wu, a majority of dragons in the First Realm, almost everyone in the Resistance, Harumi, Garmadon if we count him going to jail...

You know who isn't on that list? Lloyd Garmadon. Yknow, the guy who normally gets captured and imprisoned so often its practically a hobby at this point. During a season thats all about people being hunted down and captured. With one of the main plotlines being about Lloyd specifically being an individual to be captured.

And yet, Lloyd isn't. Oh sure, he'll get locked up in a cage any other day of the week, but during the designated Let's Capture Lloyd Season?? Nope! In fact, he's one of the only main characters who isn't captured in this season!!! He even does some capturing of his own!!

Lloyd took a break from being caged for like two weeks and the universe made everyone else compensate for him.

[markantonys]

Rafe said that they have plans for Anvaere down the line and I am like 90% positive she's gonna be the show's version of Colavaere with her motives being restoring the Damodred name. And with Rand knowing her plus her being Moiraine's sister that's gonna give that whole plot, especially with Rand refusing to kill her (and it'll be cause she's all he has left of Moiraine rather than cause she's a woman) a lot more emotional weight

yes!!! i might even go so far as to say i'm 100% positive haha the idea of this merger had never occurred to me prior, but once rafe said they have plans for her later, i went OH. i should've guessed straightaway that all the focus on a basically show-only character would be A Surprise Tool To Help Us Later in addition to the present benefit of fleshing out moiraine and cairhien! the show's always doing its best to kill multiple birds with one stone.

anyway, audiences typically feel the impact that killing someone has on a character more strongly if the victim is somebody we and/or the killer and/or other major characters have a connection to. of course in real life, for an innocent country villager who's not accustomed to violence, killing someone would be traumatic no matter who they are, but this isn't real life, it's a story, and in a story audiences are more likely to roll their eyes over a character being overburdened with morality for freaking out over killing some random asshole we hated anyway (especially a fantasy story where death and violence are commonplace). this is why laila's death being the origin of perrin's fears of his own capacity for violence hits harder than it being the deaths of a couple of random whitecloaks who were threatening him and egwene.

and similarly, we will feel how traumatic anvaere's death is for rand way more deeply than colavaere's, because out-of-world she's a character we've spent time with who was friendly to our heroes and who we came to like and because in-world she's someone rand came to like and is the sister of his mentor whose death he feels responsible for, like you say. plus, the show establishing anvaere as someone who spent her whole life working admirably hard to improve the reputation of her family - not only does it set up why she might be driven to suicide upon having her house stripped of its titles, it even lends some sympathy and dignity to it, framing it as that popular idea of honorably falling on your sword rather than living to be humiliated in defeat (very roman of her), and this will make it more emotional, and if WE'RE emotional over anvaere's death on its own merits, then we'll completely understand and feel rand's pain over it too. colavaere was just some random selfish power-hungry idiot with no redeeming qualities whom rand only tried to spare and whose death only upset him because Women Are Delicate And Precious And Must Be Protected.

sudden thought: if the end of this plotline is house damodred being permanently stripped of its status, could that be more evidence to predict elayne's dad was not a damodred in showverse? since she wouldn't have a claim on the sun throne if house damodred were to be completely, irreversibly ruined in this plotline. i've already been assuming her dad wasn't a damodred in showverse since there are other signs pointing in that direction, but this could be yet more possible evidence to add to the pile.

[bi-bard]

You Don't Have to Sing it Nice, But, Honey, Sing It Strong - Eleventh Doctor Imagine [Doctor Who]

Title: You Don't Have to Sing it Nice, But, Honey, Sing It Strong

Pairing: Eleventh Doctor X Reader

Based On: To Noise Making [Sing]

Word Count: 1.305 words

Warning(s): grief, mention of major character death

Summary: [Season 7] The Doctor suddenly stopped when he lost Amy and Rory. (Y/n) makes it their goal to get him to move forward and continue the good that he had done.

Author's Note: I talk about this plotline so fucking much and I am so sorry. I just... I have so many thoughts about it and when it came out, I was either not writing yet or my writing was shit, so I'm making up for lost time.

WASTELAND, BABY! - HOZIER WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

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I took for granted how easy it had been for the Doctor to walk into trouble.

I never realized how hard it could be to search for something that he would think was interesting. Especially when I was confined to one time period on one planet.

After losing Amy and Rory, I did everything in my power to take care of the Doctor.

He cried at first.

I could still vividly see the time spent holding him as tight as I could as he sobbed into my shoulder. There were a few times where his crying would soften but his nails would dig into my back or sides. I thought it was a way for him to remind himself that I was still there. I was real.

There were times when I was convinced the dull marks were still there. A reminder of how long I held him.

I don't remember exactly when the crying stopped.

It felt more sudden than it probably was. All of the sudden, he just stopped. A switch was flipped.

He parked the TARDIS in the skies above London and completely stopped. No helping, no adventures, no running. His curiosity suddenly ended.

I started to split my time.

I would spend half of my time in the TARDIS. I would stay with The Doctor and talk or read or merely rest my head on his shoulder and try to enjoy the admittedly tense company. Granted, it never felt tense on his end. Only mine. It must be my longing for escape.

The other half of my time was spent walking the streets of London, searching for something interesting. Not for me. For the Doctor. I needed something that would spark enough curiosity to get him to just... investigate. I guess.

I needed the Doctor back, and this felt like the best way to do it.

"Wasting your night again?"

I jumped at the sound of a voice behind me. "Vastra. I'm not one of your suspects. You don't need to sneak up on me."

"I'll be sure to make a note of that. Now, would you care to answer my question?"

"I'm not wasting my night. I'm helping the Doctor."

"You and I both know that he has no desire to be helped now. How many times will you break your own heart?"

I closed my eyes and turned away from her, continuing on my way.

She had a point. That was what annoyed me the most. There were too many occasions where I stood in front of the Doctor and told him of something I found only to be dismissed. It had gotten to the point where those conversations didn't consist of any substance. They were just me begging for him to listen to me. To do something.

I just wanted him back. I didn't care if we went back to our normal routine. Just some sign that he was still there would've been enough for me.

"(Y/n)-"

"Forgive me if I feel no need to sit and talk about this anymore," I snapped. "I... I have to help him. I can't just sit and watch him wither away in that stupid box. I can't. I... I am going to help him. You can either assist me in that or leave me be."

I was never one to be confrontational. Especially not with her. But anger and fear and grief all mixing together can lead to many people doing things that they never thought were possible.

"If you have no interest in helping, then stay out of my way."

I refused to believe that this was hopeless. I refused to believe that this was going to be my existence for the rest of time.

I just needed to find something to help fix it.

And then, there was the snow. Alien and new.

And there was Clara. A young woman who stumbled into the same alley as the Doctor and me.

The more I look back at this time, the more tragic the story looks.

She had been that thing I had been looking for. She caught the Doctor's attention. She got him to come down from his blue box in the cloud and help when the world needed it. I remember the countless moments that I made a mental note to thank her later. To thank her for helping him, even if didn't even know that he needed help.

But that hope had a price.

We met the Great Intelligence. A name that still burdened my heart with so much dread that it felt heavier than stone.

Worse than that was the fate of Clara.

Even after defeating the Great Intelligence, for the time being, Clara was still dying. And we couldn't save her.

I knelt next to her as she rested under the device that was meant to be keeping her alive. I grinned at her.

"I wanted to thank you," I said. "I... I thought I'd have more time."

"For what," she asked.

"Doing what I couldn't," I whispered.

A small, amused smile crossed her lips. "The Doctor and his cloud."

I nodded. "Thank you."

I pulled her hand up and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

I stepped back so the Doctor could have a chance to speak with her. They whispered back and forth until her voice stopped.

I saw something change in the Doctor when he heard the last words fall from her lips.

I didn't hear what she said.

All I knew was that the moment she was gone, the Doctor jumped up with this shocked look on his face. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the TARDIS, which had been conveniently parked in the very room all of us had gathered in.

"What's going on," I asked as he dropped my arm and took off around the console.

"She said something!"

I furrowed my eyebrows. That didn't help much.

"Do you remember the girl from the Dalek asylum?"

I nodded. Another heartbreaking story. We were just too late. She deserved more.

"When I found her, she... she said something. 'Run. Run, you clever boy, and remember.' I didn't think much of it, but then Clara- this Clara said the exact same thing! They're the same girl! Both named Clara, both saying the same words!"

"So, now?"

"I'm going to find her. And figure out exactly why she's jumping around my timeline."

I nodded, still stuck in my spot.

I couldn't help it.

I stopped and watched him as he ran around the console again. It was like seeing a ghost. It had been so long since I got to see the Doctor with a mission. Something had finally caught his attention. That idea brought me a lot of comfort.

"What," he asked, stopping for a moment when he saw me staring.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"(Y/n)..."

I let out a breath. "It's just... It's nice to see you like this. With something to run for."

The Doctor walked over and cupped the sides of my face. "I'm sorry that it took so long."

I didn't say anything. I had no interest in waving off his apology like it didn't mean anything to me. That wouldn't be fair to him. Instead, I reached up and pressed my hands to his as I smiled at him. A soft grin traced his lips. The silence was enough to show that forgiveness had been offered and accepted.

He wiped away tears that I had no memory of shedding. My brain and heart were a jumble of emotions. Grief and relief. Heavy yet suddenly weightless.

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

Through that confusing mess of my feelings and thoughts, one thing stuck out to me as clear as day: it was nice to have him back.

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[phoebehalliwell]

not me spamming but uhhhhhhhh writer asks 12, 25, 35, 57, 76

(i can hope this will somehow further inspire continuation of the warren witches after august but i also get it lmao)

12. Do you outline your fics? If yes, how detailed are your outlines? How far do you stray from them?

it depends! usually my ficlets (like the ones for AUgust) are not outlined just bc they're so short i kind of just fuck around until the narrative comes together, but for the longer pieces (like the warren witches or w&s) there are definitely some stronger outlines. for things like the warren witches which is done in an episodic fashion, i actually have a separate doc full of just monster of the week type plots that i'll pick and choose from as needed (one's i've already used include the sihuanaba one and the selkie one, ones to be included are:

the sigbin one actually had been crossed out if anyone remembers the old version of the warren witches that actually made it to print (posting, i guess lol) in vace and virtue (the working title was "the sigbin is sigbout) but the updated version of it has not come out yet. so those would be my little outlines for small plots, for bigger plots those outlines usually live in my brain (for example, we're doing a reintroduction of the demon academy in warren witches bc i think it's slay, but that's gonna be just longer in general) and then of course most longer plotlines come in the form of relationships (viola + kat is an example, as is kat + laurel which kind of snuck up on me lol, pj + her boyfriend obvi will have some obstacles given that he is not in on the secret, and then the mystery max from the sihuanaba episode will def be making an appearance in ale's/melinda's/also effie's too ig uess bc she's there lives again. but these are technically less outlining per se and more dotting. a lot of this centers around singular dots, little points/moments i want to include, and plots are built around them. the only thing that i kind of give more concrete outlining, usually in the form of a small, unproofread text doc, is people backstories, esp those not involved in the family. so viola, for example, has her entire life written in a doc so i can keep going back to it and keeping kind of her actions/character/motivations consistant.

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

i would say probably brainstorming sits at number one for me these guys live in my brain and run around just constantly i already have a decent amount of "endgame" relationships picked. (chris and bianca, obvi, that shouldn't be a spoiler bc it's obvious i love them so so much), melinda's endgame is also pencilled in in my mind, as is tamora's and probably kat's, henry's "endgame" has also been picked even if they don't End Up together his main relationship is def sketched out in my mind. beyond ships i just love putting those motherfuckers in Situations. i want a bianca training chris type situation. i want a melinda attempting to date in college while being an empath situation. jumping over to warren and sheridan, i have their christmas planned out, as well as a narrative that spans from valentine's day to st. patricks day that is mainly poking at the bruises that define major relationship issues. i love situations!!

i would say my next fav after brainstorming would be not just writing but creating -- esp in regards to aesthetics. it helps me kind of hone in on a vibe for each character and allows me not only to understand them more but also to communicate said vibes to others. third favorite is getting comments/asks about them haha i loveeeee talking about them (which kind of circles back to the brainstorming part) but like the fact that these are guys who live in my brain but then they also get to exist in your brain!?!?!?? that's crazy!!! it makes me so happy <3

35. What’s your favorite fic you’ve posted?

probably a toss up between The Warren Witches and Warren & Sheridan, just because those are kind of two really big labors of love that I'm really proud of, but I am also really super fond of 2/14/2001 lol

57. How conscious are you about including symbolism or foreshadowing in your fics?

i try to stay conscious of it lol bc there's nothing more fun that seeing all the pieces come together and i really want to work to create that. usually this ties into the "outlining" concept, where, if i have a big moment i want to create, i'm going to try to sprinkle in little pieces here and there leading up to it. (so, like, spoilers for warren witches, but with viola as the twice blessed, when kat is able to locate the twice blessed with chris and wyatt via scrying, it actually is pointing at the cafe were viola works). i don't do too much symbolism lol (skill issue) but i feel like that is something i'd like to try to hone.

76. How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

i mean like i definitely try to work within my "tides of creativity" (concept that writing/creating/all that is akin to breathing, you can't just keep exhaling. there are going to be periods where you can't create, and that's cause you need to "inhale": go out and experience new stuff, engage in new media, chat w new people). that and then i am like an adult in my 20s with like a job and responsibilities (i am moving again 😃🔫) so trying to work with the allotted amount of spoons i have a day can be a doozy as well. when i'm stuck i usually try to work with aesthetics/visuals because that can be a different muscle if the writing one is burnt out, and then i also try to write little blurbs that don't exist within anything really. a lot of these tend to just be conversations as i tend to be a very dialogue heavy writer, sometimes if i'm up to it i'll even go back through and add in descriptions to make it more of a proper story. past midnight (an ode to smoking outside the club) was actually written as one of these, i wrote it in early may during a creative block.

[holocene-sims]

🍄, ♻️, ❤️, and/or 🧭?

thank you so much for sending me these from the wip asks!!!

❤️ not a question, just a second kudos to send

thank you thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu 💖💖💖

🍄 describe your wip in the format of “_ + _ = __”

i think this goes for all my wips (everything the stars promised & the yet unnamed wip featuring yunha, her brother, and a currently developing cast, the formula is:

trauma + slice of life = profit! (in terms of dopamine, that is LMAO)

♻️ a scrapped idea for your current wip

oooohhhhhh

that's a really good question! honestly, i have *not* cut that much. i am a maximalist, and unless i run severely low on motivation or i can't portray the idea in game, i'm going full steam ahead on the idea

a few of the major cuts i've made in grant's story are:

him moving houses (which i weirdly recall made someone on here upset at me? idk why lmao. however, this idea might have to come back because a game patch broke a bunch of my lots and now they're randomly missing cc and vanilla furniture & decor, which i also can't replace for some godforsaken reason)

i guess generally the situation with grant's job? the story started off with my original idea that he'd go be a professor the fields he studied in college/worked in, but i decided that was too boringgggg for him as a character and had him go pursue his original job as a pilot again

overall, scenes with friends! i'm not, like, trying to cut all of that out, i really want him to just have fun with people as much as possible, and canonically, he does. but i want to tell as tight a story as i can, so i have to pick and choose what fun scenes i include, or i have to move them around to a different spot in the plotline or just cut the dialogue

🧭 an alternative title to one of your wips

interestingly, everything the stars promised is the only title the story has ever had! i was tossing around ideas in my head and playing around with some inspo i looked into online, and that was the first fully-formed title that came to mind. i liked it, so i went with it!

as for the other wip, it doesn't have a title just yet because i'm not quite there yet (the title is always the very last thing i do), but i'll probably pick something that mirrors everything the stars promised. creative continuity and all that :)

[chatonarya]

Gnosis and Monch

Original post on reddit.

In the CN 4.5 livestream, at last was announced the next installment of the Kjerag storyline and the sequel to Break The Ice, official title as of yet unknown. With the continuation of the Kjerag storyline, we can expect to see the return of most of the major characters of BI: the Silverash siblings and the Browntails, Gnosis, Kjera, and the fan favorite and highly anticipated Black Knight.

Many people are also expecting to see the return and possible playability of not just Degenbrecher, but also Monch, another favorite, which is not an undue expectation as her plotline was open-ended at the end of BI. (In addition, the Kjerag operators are numbered JC00–JC09, with JC06 and JC07 missing, so it’s quite fair to say we’ll be getting at least two more.)

With this is mind, I wanted to put this out there before the release of Kjerag 2, just to sort of once again share my thoughts and perhaps offer an alternative perspective on a divisive character.

Perhaps Gnosis’s most contentious act in the entirety of Break The Ice was his deception of his subordinate Monch, and indeed, for many readers, this was a moral event horizon that damned his character forever in their eyes. However, I didn’t feel that way, and this is an attempt to explain why, hopefully in a reasonable fashion. Let’s go through the story.

Our first interaction between Monch and Gnosis (and our first introduction to Monch) takes place in BI-1 After, a scene some time after Gnosis is "dismissed" from his post as CTO:

Monch: Sir Gnosis. Gnosis: I've warned that we should not converse on these occasions. Monch: Yes, my apologies. Only... I received an urgent message. The train carrying Rhodes Island's delegation is almost at Karlan's foot already. You had some interest in this company. Do you want to go and meet them? Gnosis: The Snow Realm has reached a major juncture. If they're external forces that have been drawn in, then I'll naturally meet them when the time comes. No need to go out of my way. Besides... I'm merely an employee on probation now. What position do I have as pretext to meet them? Monch: ...Sir… It really was disappointing to see how Enciodes acted, ejecting you as a figurehead just to appease the other two clans. Gnosis: Appease? Enciodes's thoughts are by no means as simple as that. I've heard Rhodes Island really did succeed in slowing the exacerbation of Ensia's Oripathy? Monch: Yes... Gnosis: Hm. Then they do, in fact, have the resources to win the Silverashes' favor. But the attention of Enciodes is both a blessing and curse. No easy judgments yet. Monch: You mean... Gnosis: There is no extraneous meaning to what I said. Anyhow, presumably those in the company must have applauded and cheered, the same way those two dilettantes did just now, hearing I was gone. Monch: None of them understand your worth, Sir Gnosis. Gnosis: Using the word 'worth' to describe a person implies that person can be weighed. Monch: Sir... Gnosis: By now, Enciodes should have proposed his idea for the Saintess to lead the Tri-Clan Council. The meeting hall, at this moment, should be utter chaos. Enciodes, in the end, this is the step you took after all. Monch: You're the one who understands Enciodes the most. Only you can stand in the way of his ambitions.

Interesting how the first thing Gnosis says to her is that they shouldn't be seen together under these circumstances; Monch’s true role as Gnosis’s subordinate and not one of the Browntails’ is a secret. Monch has made a misstep from the very first, and reading the whole conversation, they really don’t discuss or exchange any important information beyond Gnosis musing aloud (expositing for us, the readers) and Monch buttering him up.

It’s the latter to which I would like to draw attention. Aside from Monch’s initial question if Gnosis would like to go and meet with Rhodes Island (which she really should have known he couldn’t at that point), almost all of her lines carry some form of praise. Monch talks about how Enciodes shouldn’t have ousted him; how nobody understands Gnosis; how Gnosis is the only one who can stop Enciodes.

This is noteworthy because it’s our introduction to Monch as a character, the first time we meet her. What impression does she give? A sycophantic subordinate who doesn’t fully grasp the true depth of the events taking place but who has an almost blind devotion to her master, though not being quite as sharp. I’m not trying to paint her in the worst light, this is just how she comes across to me at first meeting: loyal, and very devoted to the point of inexplicable adulation, but who can’t really see as far ahead as her master does, either.

Let’s move onto their next scene in BI-3:

Monch: ...... All the requirements have been met, just as Madame Sciurus expected. Enciodes sent Weiss presumably as some kind of insurance policy. But that's not nearly enough. You are to ensure that things go according to Madame Sciurus's plans once Weiss is gone. Kjerag Warriors: Yes! Monch: ...... Gnosis: You were followed. Monch: ......! What?! I didn't... Gnosis: There was only one of them, now long gone, running after the men Sciurus assigned to you. Monch: I'm very sorry for betraying your expectations, Sir Gnosis. Gnosis: No, perhaps this is for the better. Monch: I'm prepared to be your pawn and to do whatever you say. Gnosis: I'm just a researcher, Monch. Pawns are meaningless to me. What I want is a partner that I can work with. Monch: ...... Gnosis: Proceed with the plan. Don't worry. Ratatos and Sciurus won't catch you. Monch: Understood.

The standout line for me is this one: “I want a partner I can work with.” This line, on second read, hits a little different. The word "partner" is a very loaded one for Gnosis. It's the equivalent of Enciodes's "dearest friend," and notice that this is how he returns the sentiment. "You're my partner-in-crime."

At this point, he's cozying up to the Browntails, and first impression of this line is that he's looking for someone else to finance his endeavors (be his "sugar daddy" as it were), but on second read, it's quite possible that he's referring to his relationship with Enciodes. He doesn't care about having the network of people that Enciodes has, moving them around the board, all of that. He just needs someone who will work with him and let him do his thing.

Is it possible that Monch interpreted his desire for a partner as a role she could fulfill? It’s possible, as I extrapolate later, though she does continue being servile to him throughout the ensuing events. But I can’t help but notice how she goes silent when she offers to be a pawn and he says he doesn’t need that. As mentioned above, Monch has a strange, borderline adoration of Gnosis that is unexplained as of this writing. Maybe she was secretly hoping to be his partner; maybe not in a business sense, but another sense, because…

…My interpretation as I read the story was that, for whatever reason, she harbors a crush on him. It would wholly explain her peculiar behavior towards him: her flattery in BI-1; her desperation to prove herself to him; her hanging onto his every word; her almost idolization of him; her unwavering support of him; her wounded feelings when he doesn’t trust her with the entire scheme; her returning of his dagger at the end.

And this is one of the things that lends to me the opinion that (as I will elaborate more on later) Monch is easily swayed by her emotions and generally in poor control of them, which isn’t befitting of her job or her position, particularly as it’s exceedingly clear that to Gnosis, Monch is merely his subordinate.

However, we lack context for “her most prized weapon,” the dagger Gnosis made for her. We don’t know why he did this; why he saw fit to bestow upon someone he clearly sees as a mere subordinate, albeit a fine one, an object which carries a heavy meaning for him. We also do not know why this token is so valuable to Monch other than because she admires him. We lack context and reasoning, in general, for why Monch is so servile towards Gnosis. The simplest explanation I can think of is that he did her a good turn in the past (not unlike Enciodes did for Weiss), or that she has a crush on him.

Second, look at Monch’s line here: “I’m prepared to do whatever you say.”

In addition to her adulation of him in BI-1, here she’s more explicit about her willingness to follow his commands. She couldn’t have possibly predicted the chain of events which he was planning, but she nevertheless states that no matter the situation, she will obey. This is no doubt as much as he expected from her, but I want to keep it in mind going into the next scene. Note also that once again, Monch has apparently made a mistake—she was followed—yet Gnosis allows this to slide without reprimanding her as it will not affect the rest of his plans.

Next, let's move onto BI-5 After, which is the next time we Monch and Gnosis together:

Gnosis: Are all the preparations in place? Monch: Yes. ...... Sir Gnosis! May I ask you a question...? Gnosis: Now this is rare. This might be the first time you've asked me anything. Go ahead. Monch: If I may be so bold. I'm afraid that the Browntails might get caught up in the investigation that follows, if we go through with our plan. I... I'm just worried that, now that you and the Browntails have formed an alliance, wouldn't it be detrimental to your plan if anything should happen to the Browntails? Gnosis: I've considered that, but it doesn't matter. What becomes of the Browntails isn't important. This is a rare opportunity, and I do not want it to go to waste. At the same time, I hope you'll know to save your own skin. Should worst come to pass, you needn't think about the Browntails. I know Enciodes. If your testimony is useful to him, he won't harm you. At least for the time being. And when the time comes, I will send men to ensure your safety. Monch: Sir Gnosis! I... Gnosis: What's the matter? If you are having any second thoughts, we can bring others to execute this plan in your stead. Monch: No...! Please, let me do it! Whatever your orders, Sir Gnosis… Your wish is my command.

This little conversation between Gnosis and Monch is another point of interest to me.

Monch worries about the Browntails, who have treated her so well, though she attempts to conceal her concern for them by worrying about it in relation to Gnosis's plan. Gnosis tells her not to worry about them, and to focus on saving herself when the time comes. (And we know now that Gnosis wasn’t really aligned with the Browntails, which is why he dismisses Monch’s concern about them.) Note also that she refers to it as “our plan,” for a moment there, which it’s really not; again, is she hoping to be his partner? Is she hoping that by proving herself worthy, by being bold and offering this observation and considering him, she can reach a new level in their relationship?

(This is another mistake on her part, by the way: she is a double agent. She is a spy. She has always been a spy. This is the reason Gnosis rebukes her for approaching him openly in BI-1. From the very first, she infiltrated the Browntail house as a Silverash mole. Getting emotionally attached to the people she's spying on and going to eventually betray is a massive no-no. We see her leading Sciurus on in BI-4 After, playing her animosity against Ratatos to Gnosis’s plan; earning Sciurus’s trust and manipulating her is part and parcel of Monch’s job.)

As she wavers, however, Gnosis offers to have someone else do the job in her stead. She, however, insists. She, clearly, wants to prove her devotion to him. So with all that in mind, Gnosis went ahead with the plan, expecting her to be able to handle it. Which she does, of course, and even earns his praise at the end.

So on Gnosis’ end, she was ready and capable for the emotional turmoil which awaited her; capable of setting aside her personal feelings to do what needs to be done (not unlike Gnosis himself). He took her at her word when she said she was prepared to do whatever he wanted, and that his wish was her command. Notice also how he says it might be the first time she's ever asked him anything; Monch has always followed his orders without question, which is another element he doubtless took into consideration.

This is another point of interest to me, as we can see by Gnosis offering Monch a way out, he notices and recognizes that she is wavering, particularly with her unusual question, which he willingly hears out. Remember, by his file, Gnosis isn't incapable of understanding others' feelings. With this moment, it's shown that Gnosis isn't forcing Monch to carry out this task. This is a gesture of kindness on his part. She may, however, have interpreted this as Gnosis lacking faith in her ability to carry out her mission, and that is why she doesn’t back down, aware though she is what it means for her.

I highlight this because despite his deception of Monch, he's still doing what he can to be as considerate of her as possible while still keeping a clear eye on the goal and what needs to be done. Worth noting, however, that because her role is so crucial, he cannot afford to have her falter at the important moment, so that's another reason behind his offer. But I don't believe that's the sole reason.

Was what Gnosis did nice?

Well, no. Obviously. This is the crux of the matter. It was not considerate of him to keep her out of the loop. She plays a crucial role in his scheme, yet he kept her ignorant out of necessity, and it’s likely that keeping her informed would not have made much difference in the execution of the plan.

But it was not a risk he was willing to take. He wasn't willing to risk the plan and increase the chances of something going awry solely for the sake of her feelings, as achieving his goal in this situation is far more important to him.

But despite that, unbeknownst to her, he always had a contingency plan for her. On the subject of that contingency plan, by the way, that's another thing worth noting. In saying that Enciodes won't harm her, he's reassuring her in a roundabout way, without spilling the beans, that she'll be fine. She just needs to follow her orders, keep her mouth shut, and she'll be okay (which we see later in BI-6 when they are both "captured" and allowed to go free once more). He also says he will send men to ensure her safety, so again, he has plans for her.

However…

Gnosis' justification for his actions

However, it's worth noting that up until BI-6, on the other side, nobody else knows, either: all of Enciodes's most trusted subordinates (Weiss, Matterhorn, and Degenbrecher) were equally ignorant. We know this from their reactions when all is revealed:

Matterhorn: Gnosis, Sir Enciodes has told us everything. We owe you much. Weiss: I never thought it could all be a ruse... Degenbrecher: Convincing performance.

Finally and most importantly, the situation at this juncture is a delicate one. Despite Enciodes’s confidence, Gnosis says these two lines to Enciodes before they part ways for the final act:

I only wish I have a chance to save you before your own arrogance ends up killing you. That is, if you make it back here alive.

As I've said before, regardless of whether or not you read their relationship as romantic or platonic, Enciodes is very important to Gnosis. Gnosis' primary concern right now is executing the rest of their plan and keeping him from getting killed if things go south, as Gnosis does not share Enciodes’ confidence that they’ve clinched their victory, evidenced by the way he chastises Enciodes for enjoying a challenge he cannot afford to lose. As he says, "there is no do-over." The state of affairs is still precarious despite their success in obtaining public support, and I don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest that if anyone involved slipped up prior to BI-6, both Gnosis and Enciodes would have been publicly lynched for their power grab.

Containing on, I would also like to add, as I've mentioned previously, that Gnosis's apology to Monch reminded me of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and the occasional deception he would employ even against those he trusted deeply in order that his delicate plans would unfold as needed. In fact, it's a running theme throughout the stories that Holmes rarely reveals the true extent of his knowledge to his allies or his plans until the end when the case is resolved, lest something go awry. And in my humble opinion, it's not an inappropriate parallel as both Holmes and Gnosis are portrayed as extremely intellectual men who think with reason first and emotion second (while also being more emotional than first glance would indicate).

This is from "The Empty House", during which Holmes has reunited with Watson and recounts his escape from Reichenbach Falls and his subsequent life:

“I had only one confidant–my brother Mycroft. I owe you many apologies, my dear Watson, but it was all-important that it should be thought I was dead, and it is quite certain that you would not have written so convincing an account of my unhappy end had you not yourself thought that it was true. Several times during the last three years I have taken up my pen to write to you, but always I feared lest your affectionate regard for me should tempt you to some indiscretion which would betray my secret.”

There are also two more incidents where similar things occur (and there are probably more).

In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes secretly follows Watson to Dartmoor, while allowing Watson to think he is in Baker Street attending to something else. This is so Watson can continue his investigation independently from Holmes in a different sphere without their enemies suspecting of Holmes’s presence. Here is an extract from chapter 12:

“Well, I am glad from my heart that you are here, for indeed the responsibility and the mystery were both becoming too much for my nerves. But how in the name of wonder did you come here, and what have you been doing? I thought that you were in Baker Street working out that case of blackmailing.” “That was what I wished you to think.” “Then you use me, and yet do not trust me!” I cried with some bitterness. “I think that I have deserved better at your hands, Holmes.” “My dear fellow, you have been invaluable to me in this as in many other cases, and I beg that you will forgive me if I have seemed to play a trick upon you. In truth, it was partly for your own sake that I did it, and it was my appreciation of the danger which you ran which led me to come down and examine the matter for myself. Had I been with Sir Henry and you it is confident that my point of view would have been the same as yours, and my presence would have warned our very formidable opponents to be on their guard. As it is, I have been able to get about as I could not possibly have done had I been living in the Hall, and I remain an unknown factor in the business, ready to throw in all my weight at a critical moment.” “But why keep me in the dark?” “For you to know could not have helped us and might possibly have led to my discovery. You would have wished to tell me something, or in your kindness you would have brought me out some comfort or other, and so an unnecessary risk would be run. I brought Cartwright down with me–you remember the little chap at the express office–and he has seen after my simple wants: a loaf of bread and a clean collar. What does man want more? He has given me an extra pair of eyes upon a very active pair of feet, and both have been invaluable.” “Then my reports have all been wasted!”–My voice trembled as I recalled the pains and the pride with which I had composed them. Holmes took a bundle of papers from his pocket. “Here are your reports, my dear fellow, and very well thumbed, I assure you. I made excellent arrangements, and they are only delayed one day upon their way. I must compliment you exceedingly upon the zeal and the intelligence which you have shown over an extraordinarily difficult case.” I was still rather raw over the deception which had been practised upon me, but the warmth of Holmes’s praise drove my anger from my mind. I felt also in my heart that he was right in what he said and that it was really best for our purpose that I should not have known that he was upon the moor.

In "The Dying Detective," (arguably the most egregious example, in fact) Holmes feigns being fatally ill with an exotic disease in order to draw out the murderer, who uses said disease as a murder weapon. Part of his plan entails sending Watson to beg the murderer (a Mr. Culverton Smith), who claims to know how to treat the illness, to come see Holmes. Holmes says this in the end:

“It was very essential that I should impress Mrs. Hudson with the reality of my condition, since she was to convey it to you, and you in turn to him. You won’t be offended, Watson? You will realize that among your many talents dissimulation finds no place, and that if you had shared my secret you would never have been able to impress Smith with the urgent necessity of his presence, which was the vital point of the whole scheme.”

But no matter the reactions of Mrs. Hudson and Dr. Watson, it's likely that Holmes will do it again, because that's how he is. Holmes cares deeply for Watson, but aware that Watson is not a good actor, he conceals information from him as is necessary to capture criminals. His work almost always supersedes all else for him.

Obviously, Monch is nowhere near as close to Gnosis as Watson is to Holmes, but we know he gave her one of his friendship tokens (her knife), and he is visibly affected at the end when she leaves it behind. So while the analogy doesn't fully work on that front, I think the Holmes/Gnosis parallel one does, as much like Holmes, when Gnosis decides on a plan, he executes it without much input from others, and to a certain extent, Enciodes is the same way (which is probably why they understand each other so well).

It's also clear that he recognizes her pain by the way he says he'll judge for himself what he'll say. He truly goes out of his way for her in this scene from BI-6. Let’s read it again:

Monch: Sir Gnosis… (Monch takes out a dagger from her boot. It is her most prized weapon. It is a gift that Gnosis made for her between his experiments. She lightly strokes the dagger, her eyes clouded with doubt and uncertainty.) Gnosis: Don't do anything stupid, Monch. Monch: ...... It looks like you're well… Thank goodness. Gnosis: I'm fine. You've done a great job. Monch: I... I promised you. Whatever your orders, your wish is my command… ...... Gnosis: Judging by your look, I assume you've figured it all out. Right, Enciodes and I had all of this planned in advance. Monch: ...... I see, so that's really how it is… The Silverashes' Weiss was waiting below the cliff to rescue me, and I've been wondering ever since. If this was all a charade planned in advance, then what role do I play in it? And now that I find you here, I'm finally sure… Gnosis: ...... My apologies. Monch: You needn't ever apologize to me… Gnosis: Monch, you stand firm in your beliefs. I understand, but I will judge for myself what I say. Monch: ...... Gnosis: Enciodes and I had a rift, leading me to leave Karlan Trade and make contact with Ratatos. That was our plan all along. And the fewer people who knew of this plan, the better. That's why I never told you. Monch: ...... Gnosis: Both of us knew the risks. I had to make sure even the finest details were under our control. Everything had to be absolutely perfect. This isn't one of my usual maneuvers... There is no do-over. If that displeases you in any way, I must apologize. Monch: ...... No... T-That's not it… ...... Why... Gnosis: What? Monch: It doesn't matter what it is you want to do or what plans you have. I… ...I will always support you. Gnosis: ...... Monch: Why didn't you believe me? You could've trusted me. Gnosis: ...... Monch, I hope you can understand. It's because I fully trust you that I handed you such an important task under those circumstances. I trust you, my finest subordinate, to perfectly execute my plans. Monch: ...... Gnosis: Don't overthink it. You've done very well, and everything is over now. Try to relax a little. You should take the time to rest. Monch: ...... Gnosis: Looks like you're not in the mood to talk… I'll come see you again. (Gnosis leaves.) Monch: ...... Trust me...? Who trusts me? And where are they...? ...... Sir Gnosis... Can I still trust you?

This is a very significant moment to me.

Gnosis, a man that we’ve seen so far be rather callous and undeniably ruthless, goes out of his way to:

– Reject the notion that an apology is unneeded

– Apologize

– Explain his actions

– Reconfirm that he does trust her

– Praise and reassure Monch that she has done well

For Gnosis, this is big.

He not only recognizes that Monch is likely feeling upset, but also that it's his responsibility to explain himself (he doesn't dismiss it when Weiss says it'd be better for Gnosis to explain to her), and takes the initiative to do so, refusing to allow the opportunity to slip by. He specifically states that he feels the apology is necessary. He also repeatedly emphasizes the necessity of his actions, harsh though they may have been, and praises her for carrying out her difficult role with aplomb.

It'd be so easy for him to simply brush her off, to let her believe whatever she wants, to dismiss her concerns and her feelings as unimportant, to carry on with the next phase of their plan, to toss her a flippant offhand comment and move on, but he doesn't.

You can almost argue that he speaks more kindly to Monch than he does to Enciodes, his partner-in-crime! He gives Enciodes a dressing-down in response to Enciodes' casual conversation when they reunite (which Enciodes isn't bothered by at all and reconfirms that they're unshakable friends as always), saving his concerned words about Enciodes returning alive for the very end.

However… What's a significant effort for Gnosis can be said to be the bare expected minimum for anyone else. He intentionally kept her in the dark about her true role in the farce and her true fate: apologizing and explaining is the least he could do.

(Though once again, a reminder: Monch is a spy, who willingly pledged herself to do whatever he needed. Spies must not become emotionally tangled with their targets, nor allow their emotions to sway their decisions.)

But, as I just said, it's worth noting however that if Gnosis didn't care about her at all, he wouldn't have gone to all this trouble. I'm not arguing he cares a lot, but he cares enough to do this, and enough to feel a sting when she leaves and symbolically rejects his friendship by leaving her dagger (his gift). It's clear that in Gnosis's eyes, he did nothing wrong, or that he did everything he could under the circumstances and did his best to ameliorate the situation and assuage Monch's doubts and hurt feelings.

And this may be another facet of their falling out: Gnosis's best, and Gnosis's way of doing things, wasn't enough for her. Whether what he did was wrong is up to interpretation, but to her, it was. And of course, she is entitled to feel that way. She's not required to be satisfied with his best if she feels it's lackluster, if her emotional needs are not being met (though the question arises if she ought to be having emotional needs in this relationship at all; if it wasn't a mistake on both their parts to conflate friendship with an inherently unequal relationship).

In addition, much like with Enciodes and his subordinates as I mentioned above, it's not even that Gnosis singled Monch out for deception: she says "you could have trusted me," but the fact of the matter is that he trusted nobody. If she had bowed out and someone else brought in, he wouldn't have told them either. What he did wasn't personal in the slightest. As he says, "the fewer people who knew, the better."

(And of course, it's just my personal feelings, but when I first read this scene, my kneejerk reaction was that Monch was the one being unreasonable in the face of his explanation, apology, and praise. She asked why, and he told her why, with a justification that made sense to me.)

Once again, notice this line: “I had to make sure even the finest details were under our control. Everything had to be absolutely perfect. This isn't one of my usual maneuvers... There is no do-over.”

It’s a matter of life and death. He couldn’t take the risk that Monch knowing may have thrown the plan off. Her behavior had to be absolutely genuine. She doesn't seem to grasp the severity of the situation, nor the scale of what they're attempting to do. Gnosis and Enciodes aren't merely moving some pieces around, they're executing a coup and orchestrating a power shift that will affect the entire country and its future. Yet Monch allows her emotions to cloud her head and take the forefront (perhaps on account of her crush), and focuses on Gnosis's deception of her rather than the reasons behind his actions and his praises and reassurances. By the line "my usual maneuvers," even, it's implied that he's done this before, it isn't the first time, and she might even have been part of such a “maneuver” before. What he and Enciodes are doing is of tremendous magnitude, and that is why he did what he did.

A further question can then be asked: how sincere is his apology at all? After all, while he explains himself, he stands firm in his decision to keep her ignorant, as he believes it was necessary. Personally, given the gravity of the situation, I think that's reasonable, but YMMV as it's a contentious moment (obviously). I believe, however, by his reactions both in this scene and when she leaves, that he was in earnest. As I said above, he did his best in his own way.

I'd also like to draw attention to her remark about Weiss waiting for her. Looking at BI-5 where she attacks Enciodes, the assumption made by those at the top is that it was a perilous leap, but it’s not really clear if they fully assume she’s dead. Would Enciodes really send people after her if he believed she was?

Her movement is swift as always, as though she is leaping across a river, and as though she is leaping off a tree. In an instant, her black figure springs off the ground, before falling and disappearing below the cliffs. Sharp: She leapt off... Enciodes: An unexpected choice. You didn't stop her. Sharp: That's not part of my mission. You don't seem so surprised either. Enciodes: There aren't many who can properly set up the pieces on the hunting grounds. If we search for evidence, we're bound to find some. Of course, having a witness would've saved us some trouble... Though whether the witness is alive or dead doesn't actually matter all that much. Sharp: Your underlings are absent… Enciodes: Perhaps they are tied up with the beasts running amok. [...] Arctosz: I'm only here to flush out the underhanded lowlife who dared to disrupt Kjeragandr's Grand Ceremony! They will pay for this! Enciodes: You are truly Kjeragandr's most faithful follower, Arctosz. I'm afraid you came too late, though. Arctosz: What do you mean? You would never let an assassin go. Where are you hiding him? Wait, this cliff... Don't tell me...! Enciodes: Exactly, Arctosz. My men will look for any traces of her.

“Any traces.” While this could be interpreted to mean any body parts in a literal sense, it could also mean where she’s gone.

I've seen some people say she tried to kill herself by jumping off the cliff, but I’m not completely certain on that: Gnosis talked about her testimony being useful, and said there would be people to ensure her safety and to “save herself,” i.e. not die, as I understood the situation. She had to be captured to be used against the Browntails. Weiss was there to ensure she didn't get away, but it’s not really clear if her leap was inherently suicidal. Gnosis told her he would have men for her—meaning that even if she took the radical way out or chose to run and hide, there would have been someone there. She was taken by surprise, however, that it was Weiss waiting for her, someone who ought to be on the opposite side at that point, and technically was as we know Weiss was ignorant of Gnosis’s gambit. This is obviously the moment where the pieces began to come together for her. (Interestingly enough, Matterhorn even calls Monch an "old friend" of Weiss's at the beginning of BI, even if he refers to Monch as "him" for some reason; typo, I assume.)

I admit, however, this may be simply my interpretation. But it's worth noting, as I said, that Gnosis wouldn't have mentioned testimony if the plan was never for her to be captured. It’s not really clear to me if Monch leaping off the cliff was her attempt to rebel against the plan, or following the plan; but I’m not inclined to think she was going against the plan given Gnosis’s comments as I’ve already outlined.

An additional note regarding the plan: this is pure speculation on my part, but to return to Gnosis’s comment of desiring a “partner” in BI-3, it’s possible that a part of the reason Monch felt so hurt about Gnosis’s deception is because she expected to be treated not as subordinate, but as an equal. She may have believed she was Gnosis's collaborator, which she really wasn't. She wanted to be trusted with everything; she wanted to be whatever he needed, be his “partner,” but ultimately, she was never on that level to him (which again you can add to the crush theory if you so choose).

Now, once again, I'm not saying she was wrong to feel hurt or that people were wrong to feel hurt on her behalf or sympathize with her pain. What he did would be a deal-breaker for a lot of people, and that's completely okay and understandable. After all, to go back to Sherlock Holmes, it takes a great heart to forgive such a slight. Monch is allowed to have feelings, and allowed to have those feelings hurt, and allowed to desire more consideration of those feelings.

In conclusion:

Fundamentally, Gnosis and Monch are extremely different people, who treat the people around them in extremely different ways, making them very ill-suited to each other. Gnosis is a cold and ruthless person who prioritizes goals above emotions, committing to the best route regardless of any wounded feelings it may generate. Monch is open with her emotions, wearing her heart on her sleeve and bonding quickly with others and easily caring about them, thriving under warmth and sincerity.

In addition, this makes Monch ill-suited to her job as double agent. This is not a strike against her or a bad thing, so much as I'm pointing out she should not be doing that job, and it likely led her into further emotional turmoil as the subordinate of someone essentially her polar opposite.

In fact, I'm almost inclined to contrast her with Weiss, who was also technically a double agent within RI: at the end of BI (and during), he apologizes to the Doctor for being on the opposite side, but makes it clear where his true loyalties lie and those loyalties will not change for him regardless of how fond he is of Rhodes Island. He would prefer not to raise his blade against his RI comrades, but he doesn’t waver in his sworn duty if it means he has to do so. (And funny enough, both Doc and Sharp understand this when they acknowledge it's nothing personal and hold no hard feelings against Weiss or Matterhorn for supporting their sworn master Enciodes Silverash.)

Contrast this with how Monch grew too attached to the Browntails—though one can’t really say “too attached for her good” because perhaps what she really needed was a more normal relationship than the one she had as Gnosis’s subordinate, and being with them gave her a new and different perspective that allowed her to break away from a position in which she was unhappy—the warmth and sincerity offered to Monch by Sciurus clearly fulfilled a need which she had been hitherto unaware of, and was a catalyst for her character development, giving her the strength to break away in the end (though she does the honorable thing and remains with Gnosis to finish executing their plans alongside Matterhorn and Weiss and only departs when all is over). This act was a significant character development for her, representing her recognition of her own desire to be fully and completely trusted by others, and her justified feelings that she desired and deserved a better treatment, and her willingness to pursue it.

As a final note, please be aware that I don't deny for a moment that Gnosis is a callous person. He cares little for the feelings of others, and he makes this point clear. Under the circumstances, though, his actions and explanations were sufficient justification for his behavior for me, and I was left slightly baffled by the outcry against his actions towards Monch when it appeared to me that he was as kind to her as the situation and his personality allowed. (I'm not trying to say he did nothing wrong; I'm trying to say that his motivations were understandable.)

However, obviously, YMMV, and one thing is clear: they are quite incompatible as people, and I believe it was for the best that they parted ways at the end of Break The Ice. I hope that Monch is able to move on from him and find new and better relationships where she has her emotional needs met, and that Gnosis will learn something from her departure.

TL;DR:

Gnosis did his best for Monch under the circumstances and as someone emotionally distant. His best wasn't good enough for her, so she rightfully left him. Their personalities and needs are so radically different that their fall-out in hindsight isn't surprising.

[i-like-eyes]

DevLog 2

We are at log 2 and real life has already got in the way. As I don't got a lot to show off I'll post some non-spoilery asset stuff and hide the rambling under read more.

While I did get a good chunk of the script done, there is still plenty of dialogue I need to get to. As a result, I didn't get any maps done. I'm trying to make this game with RPG Paper Maker's strengths in mind, but every once in awhile I'll realize I made an assumption of what the engine can do and the script has to be put on pause because of it. For example, a lot of this game I had already planned out having pictures on screen for more cinematic scenes. Literally two days ago I realized I don't actually know how to do that in the engine. Thankfully there is a Discord for RPGPM and the people there have been a huge help.

To supplement my question I had drawn a reference of what I meant; it's nothing significant I just think it looks funny.

I'm probably not going to show off the script itself because words on a doc isn't terribly interesting. Here are talk sprites in the mean time.

In order they are Holly, Jim, and Micheal. I might talk more about them next month.

Grant herself I debating making a talk sprite for, I probably will in the end but I'm wondering if how she reacts in those sections should be left up to the player to interpret. I'm thinking about how you see Phoenix clearly while in a courtroom because of the more cinematic approach to that section of the game, but when talking to other characters you don't see his face; instead the characters are talking directly to you because it's more personal. That (and a stupid amount of over analyzing the portraits of FE13-16 because FETH criticism is fucking weird) contributed to the npcs in this game looking directly at you. Also because horror game, things are supposed to be a bit unnerving. If Grant had a sprite she wouldn't look at the player because you are playing as he;, she should reflect the fact that you are looking at the npcs.

While this is the first game I've taken really seriously as a personal project, it's development cycle still throws me off because of what I've done beforehand for school.

It's weird, normally when making a game I'd focus on gameplay first and story last. I've done a handful of small scale projects at school, and the number one thing teachers drill into your head is to have the gameplay and the narrative play off each other. Most students go in with this epic idea for a story and only really want to make it a game because games are cool, not that they think they can have the gameplay enhance the plot. This combined with a lot of demos we made were based on popular genres (FPS for example) meant our development cycle looked a lot like gameplay first then story built to compliment that. My other game ideas either looked like that or smth more equally balanced, I think of a story element and a gameplay element I thought of happens to compliment that, but I've never had to come up with the majority of the plot first then the gameplay afterwards. Part of it was trying to discourage students from doing that, because they tend to have far too ambitious plotlines in mind. The other part was like fucking hell they are teaching us that weird niche visual novel shit because we are being trained to work for some company's Toronto division pumping out sequels.

But ultimately I've just never had an idea like this one before. Half my game ideas are fighting games and the rest are platformers, puzzle games, etc. I have thought of two -ish TRPG's, and briefly came up with a couple of other visual novel ideas, but they never stuck with me as long as the likes of Red Spikey Hair Guy Needs To Let Out Some Anger The Platformer (WIP name). If that title is any indication, the plot isn't my main concern for that game yet. That's because I want to figure out the gameplay more before I further flesh the story out because I want it to blend together. And then it gets put on hold because I forget how to program. Anyways, with Riverside there is very minimal gameplay. The reason why it is still a game and not just a comic or smth is because I think it is very important that you are put in the shoes of a patient at a nursing home, because you can't really get the same empathy with any other medium. Or hell, you don't get that same experience in real life until it's too late.

[leeyanyanyaaan]

About the Time and Memory Universe + Random Tidbits :)

About:

SO... this Time and Memory Universe of mine is just a self-indulgent, college, slice-of-life series that I do not plan on legitimately writing 💀

It may or may not also include time travelling and dystopian features... I'm yet to decide

Yes I know it has a lame ass name but I'm terrible at titles LMAO

It's more friendship-centred than romance, but all the characters are open-ended for ships :P

But yeah, there's no legit plotline. They're just struggling college students and a gang of friends :D it'd probably be an SMAU

They may be underdeveloped, but they are a work in progress!

PLEASE ask me questions about them (or literally any oc of mine) I'd be so happy to talk about them 😩🥺💕

The Full Cast:

Character Profiles pt 1 | pt 2

Education Majors

Cornelia Lee Anne Santos ('04) - Baby of the group, studying as an educator (unsure yet)

Joshua Jeongseok Lee ('03) - Friendly classmate, studying as an English language teacher

Angelina Mariel Bautista ('01) - Mom of the group, studying as a literature teacher

Samsul Hakim ('00) - Oldest, mentor, peacemaker, studying as a secondary teacher

Communication Majors

Jessica Jisoo Lee ('03) - Hangout planner, Big sis, studying as an advertising designer/event planner

Elijah James de la Cruz ('03) - Introvert adopter, chaos mood maker, studying as an interpreter and translator

Elena Mae de la Cruz ('03) - Keeps her brother in check, studying as a journalist

Design Majors and Others

Beatrice Abigail Mendoza ('04) - Childhood best friend, BFF, studying as a game designer

Kevin Shuchang Chen ('05) - The quiet but savage one, games 24/7, studying as a game developer

Yukiteru Sakimoto ('04) - Cafe worker, studying as an architect

Gabriel Zackary Santiago ('04) - family friend, coworker with Yuki, studying as an engineer

Supporting Characters (aka idk where to put them 🤡)

Daniel Chanyeol Yoon ('02) - Popular rich boy, studying business management

Seonghoon Kim ('03) - Tired of that guy above but his best friend, studying finance

Caleb Jayden Ramos ('04) - Childhood friends to strangers, studying construction

Vincent Nathan Steyn-Khan ('05) - Arrogant asshole classmate, studying engineering

Height Chart:

Now for some fun random stuff XD

The main gang's group chat (+Lee's contact names):

Barely Functioning Braincell Sharers™ (8)

Elijah (Eli)

Elena (Ate Ellie)

Jessica (Jessie Unnie)

Joshua (Josh)

Mariel (Ate Mari)

Samsul (Sam)

Kevin (Vin)

Lee

Headcanons

Ellie and Jessie first met being classmates since intermediate, bonding over having twin brothers. The brothers eventually meet too and the four have been pretty close ever since.

Eli met Kevin through being in a club together, and Eli being the extrovert, adopted the introvert.

Josh met Mari and Sam being in the same education course and often worked with them and they eventually joined the group.

Similarly, Josh meets Lee through the same process. Coincidentally, Lee caught Eli’s interest and he adopted the introvert too.

Eli and Ellie bicker the most and cause the most silly drama. Surprisingly, Kevin is one to start drama too. Eli tends to be the butt of the jokes. Mari and Sam are the parents of the group, and everyone babies Lee (and Kevin).

After hearing Lee call Ellie and Mari “Ate”, Jess insisted that Lee call her “Unnie” too

Lee bonds with the girl twins the most, talking about drawing, designing, writing, and music. 

Karaoke, dancing, gaming, binging, and study sessions!

Kevin isn’t usually called by nickname, BUT, only Lee is allowed to call Kevin “Vin”.

Hogwarts!AU

Gryffindor

Elijah (H)

Elena (H)

Jessica (H)

Zack (H)

Caleb (S)

Hufflepuff

Joshua (G)

Mariel (R)

Samsul (R)

Beatrice (R)

Yuki (R)

Ravenclaw

Kevin (S)

Seonghoon (S)

Slytherin

Lee (R)

Daniel (G)

Nathan (G)

Podcast/SM!AU

BFBS have a podcast called “ChillPog” (Eli came up with the name, please think of something better.)

They started it during their first year of uni, when the gang got together. Lee and Kevin have become a new addition.

They all use online aliases, eg. Lee = leeyanyan

Their real names get used in the podcast most the time anyways.

Yes, they all have clips and compilations of each other from fans.

They just chill and chat, talk about anything and everything. They have game nights, karaoke sessions, study sessions and all sorts of things.

Kevin, Eli and Samsul are gamer streamers.

Jess, Mariel and Yuki are vloggers.

Ellie (often joined by Eli and Jess), Zack and Bea are cover artists.

Ellie is also a content creator, and is generally all-around.

Lee is an underground casual cover artist. She hasn't told anyone about it and doesn't plan to :)

They each all have their own fanbases, Lee’s growing after her involvement with ChillPog

They’re basically like DanPlan/Plan3

They also have a second account for when the group needs to split into two for 4-player games

Jess, Ellie and Lee are in charge of the visuals. Ellie, Eli and Kevin are in charge of editing. Everyone else helps plan and storyboard.

Zack, Yuki and Bea also occasionally appear on the podcast.

Daniel is a model, Seonghoon his assistant. He gets fawned over at campus most the time.

Caleb and Nathan are Instagram influencers

Their Usernames:

Eli (EliJ) - the chaotic butt of the jokes guy

Ellie (emmielina) - picks a fight/gets bothered by her brother the most

Jess (Jijisoo) - their lovely sun

Josh (joshualee) - voice of reason

Mariel (Mariella B.) - mom of the group

Samsul (Hakimsul) - tired dad leader of the group

Kevin (Shuunken) - savage bastard

Lee (leeyanyan) - gremlin baby

[celticbarb]

Book: A Scot’s Pride

Author: Eliza Knight

Series: Distinguished Scot’s

Release Date: 08/15/2023

Publisher: Knight Media

Book Length: 242 Pages

Overall Rating: 5 Stars

Blog Rating: 5 Saltire Flags

London, England

Coming from Scotland Bryson Mackenzie

Fraser, Baron Lovat, comes to London seeking a Countess, in other words a wife. The problem is he has been dishonored due to previous fabrications that have ruined his reputation in Scotland. Which means it must be someone who is clueless and that has no knowledge of this information from his past. This also must be kept hidden at all costs or it could ruin his chances of ever finding a wife!

Furthermore his Grandfather made it abundantly clear in his will that the only possible way Bryson could inherit his title, lands, and fortune was he must take an English wife. Therefore Bryson has no choice in this matter, which means he had to put away his kilts for the conforming uncomfortable English breeches! He also felt most English women had a prejudice against Scottish men thinking they were wild and uneducated and uncouth! He also felt these women were only interested in him for his title, and fortune not for himself. Now he has felt this was more or less just a business contract with no feelings at all.

However his Aunt makes a list of possible candidates and he is happy the one woman named Freya he is attracted to but annoys him so much is not on the list. Unfortunately his shy best friend Grey is madly in love with Freya’s sister Riley and her best friend. Plus Bryson insults Freya right from the start as they are like oil and vinegar yet both are extremely attracted to each other. What he does not know is that Freya’s father has major financial issues which they have been hiding from society or they would have gotten the direct cut. Unfortunately there are no son’s in the family of five daughters so their irritating cousin Albert will inherit which will force one of the daughters to marry to do her duty and save. With that being Freya it looks like she is the chosen one because she does not want to marry this boring cousin who she does not like in the least!

However Bryson and Freya soon become matchmakers for Grey and Riley which forces Bryson and Freya to spend more time together. Of course their love/hate relationshipturep starts to shine but not everyone wants Freya and Bryson together. On top of that just as Bryson starts to realize he has feelings for this English Rose, he overhears Baron Braye talk with his solicitor about his financial troubles. Will Bryson think he and his best friend Grey are being used by Freya and her sister Riley for their fortune, lands and estates?

Freya is the the first woman to ever capture Bryson’s heart, plus the one person he can talk to honestly about anything, now will she break his heart? Shall Freya believe Bryson has used her and left her in the dust? On top of that there is a Scottish villain named Campbell in London who ruins women and their reputations and is stalking one of the Grysham sisters. Will he succeed in destroying the Grysham family? Find out what happens in this Scottish regency masterpiece.

Eliza Knight pens another phenomenal Scottish regency novel that I could not put down! She is an author I have been reading for over a decade and never disappoints. It does not matter if it is historical fiction, medieval fiction, Scottish historical or a historical regency. It is always filled with wonderful gripping storylines, characters and plotlines that are absolutely brilliant! Ms. Knight definitely has a special gift and I am absolutely thrilled she shares her unique talent with the world!

A book I highly recommend!

Disclaimer: I received an advance readers copy from the publisher. I voluntarily agreed to do an honest, fair, review. All words, thoughts and ideas are my own.

Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Scots-Pride-Distinguished-Book-ebook/dp/B0BLP56QQS/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-scots-pride-eliza-knight/1143315104

https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-scots-pride/id6447363978

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-scot-s-pride?

[howhow326]

What if Fate: The Winx Saga was written by a Winx fan

Part 1: Runtime and Synopsis

Season 1: Witness the Winx Club as you have never seen them before! Join Bloom, a natural girl that wants to be supernatural, as she uncovers the secrets of her magical destiny. Along the way, Bloom will face many trials and tribulations, but all of them can be overcome with the help of her four girl-friends! But does Bloom really have what it takes to stop the force that threatens the Magical Dimension...

Season 1 Runtime: 12 episodes, 26 minutes long.

Season 2: The Trix have been defeated and Magix saved... but we all know what comes next! Join Aisha, the princess of Andros Igbi as she embarks on a quest to defeat the horrifying Dark Phoenix! Aisha will not complete her goal alone, she has the help of the Winx Club!

Season 2 Runtime: 16 episodes, 26 minutes

Season 3 (Finale): It's finally time to end the Y2K Epic! The Winx Club are facing their strongest foe yet, the evil wizard Valtor! Friends, family, home worlds, nothing is out of reach for him. Can the Winx Club endure against this threat, or does this modern retelling have a nasty plot twist...

Season 3 Runtime: 14 episodes, 26 minutes, 52 minute finale special episode.

Part 2: Main Characters

The Winx Club

Bloom Peters

Fairy of the Dragon Flame

Fallen princess of Domino

Is Abigail Cowen

Protagonist of Season 1; the plot is mostly focused on her learning the secrets of her past while also learning and growing as a person. Deutagonist of Season 2; is a mostly static character that who is defined by her relationship with Aisha and the mysterious new teacher. Deutagonist, for the first two thirds, and Protagonist, for the last third, of season 3; has finished her development that started in Season 1 by the start of this season but has a close relationship with the main villain and too much screen time.

Princess Stellaria Lumen of Solaria & Selenetrix

Fairy of the Sun and Moon

White Latina/ Spainard coded

Nickname: Stella

Deutagonist of Season 1; has the most direct involvement with Bloom's plot line. Her plot is coming to terms with the fact that her parents only had her to save their (political) marriage, with help grom her friends! Is a major character in Seasons 2 and 3 with complete development and has a mini arc in season 3.

Flora Esperanza Garcia Rosas

Fairy of Nature

Puerto Rico coded and plus size

From the planet Lymphea, a tropical world full of exotic forests and islands.

A major character in Season 1; sets up her character arc of struggling with her insecurities but dosen't have a conclusion. Tertagonist (is that a word?) Of season 2, her character arc is finnally concluded where she accepts herself for who she is. A major character in season 3 with complete development.

Has a cousin named Terra who's family has been in Alfea for generations.

Ming Zhang

Fairy of Music and Sound

Disgraced princess of Melody Xuánlu, the Realm of Harmony. Musa's father, one of two imperial princes, lost his title when he had a child with a common woman

Chinese coded

Nickname: Musa

A major character in seasons 1 and 2; her plotline is learning to open herself up emotionally to others after dealing with the death of her mother... and Riven. A Tertagonist to Deutagonist in Season 3, her character development regresses because of youknowwhat and she develops a special hatred of Valtor

T-90

Fairy of Technology

Caucasian coded

Citizen of the Planet Zenith, the Cyperpunk City of Innovation

Nickname: Tecna

A major character in seasons 1 and 2; her character arc if focused on accepting her emotions as a real and valid part of her identity. The Protagonist for 2/3s of season 3; Tecna is voted leader of the Winx Club which causes her to take a more active role in helping her friends work through their issues, even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice...

Princess Aisha Mustapha of Andros Igbi

Fairy of the Infinite Ocean

Is Precious Mustapha

Nickname: Layla

Introduced in Season 2 as the protagonist; the main plot is focused on her journey to defeat Lord Darkar while she also learns and grows as a person. A Major character in season 3 with completed character development; her new plotline is dealing with her stalker.

Part 3: Special effects

Fate: The Winx Saga primarily uses traditional/ oldschool horror effects (makeup, props, lighting, etc.) for the majority of it's scenes and magic stuff. CGI is almost only used for Fairy transformation sequnces and monsters.

The clothing of Fate: The Winx Saga is primarily Y2K fashion and aesthetics that are close to Y2K fashion (90s fashion, 2010s fashion, etc).

[alltheworldsinmyhead]

ON FEYSAND’S PLOTLINE IN ACOSF

              !!!!MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE ACOSF!!!!

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Let’s be honest for a while, okay?

ACOCF had potential to be SJM’s best book, if not for any other reason then because of the sheer idea of it. Coming-of-age, healing story of the most complex and polarizing character she has ever created set in the time of peace, away from the familiar setting (according to the later changed concept which still remains in the snippet at the end of ACOFAS), development of her arguably most feisty and angsty love story... It could be her absolute trumph. Even with the change to stick to Velaris instead of exploring the Illyrian culture of the Mountains and with the added conflict of the Mortal Queens and Koshei, it still could work quite well. 

It didn’t. For many, many reasons, but the most important one, in my opinion, being the feysand pregnancy plot. 

Nothing about this plotline made sense. Not a single thing. From start to finish, it was an absolute disaster from the character-writing POV, from the narration POV, from every single context of it. It broke the rules of real-life logic, it broke the rules of this fantasy world setting and it completely exposed that Rhysand, while not a bad guy, is a pretty terrible partner, even worse ruler and an absolutely terrible contender for the High King title. 

Let’s break this whole mess down (and expect this post to be mammoth-sized. it’s not my fault, though, write to SJM if you have any complains):

1) Feyre, 21, decides to get pregnant, even though less than a year earlier, she expresses the delight with not being forced to bear children to her new mate and told him herself she wants to wait a while and enjoy her life with him. Feyre decides she wants a baby though and Rhysand goes along with it, even though he is aware how young Feyre is and how hard her life has been up until this point. He wants a baby too much to have an honest discussion with Feyre about it, to stop and wonder what is the reason for her sudden change of heart, to reassure her that they have a lot of time ahead of them and don’t need to rush. No. She mades a sudden decision to have a baby after A YEAR OF MARRIAGE and not much more of being turned fae, JUST AFTER having her whole world put upside down, having received a completely new title and responsibilities, surviving the wat and being mated. Great. 

2) Feyre decides to get pregnant and Rhys goes along with it less than a year after the end of the bloody war. It is politically a delicate time, everyone is still not sure how the balance will shift, some countries don;t want to sign the peace treaty, etc. There are a lot of enemies and a lot of turmoil remaining. But sure. Let’s have a baby. Perfect time to add yet another target, another weakness that can be use by the Mortal Queens, Beron or whatever else with malicious intent towards the Night Court. 

2) Feyre gets pregnant after approximately a year of trying. I know healthy people of reproductive age for whom it takes ages more than this. Fae’s pregnancies are rare af and precious and happen once in a blue moon, but ofc SJM broke the world’s rules for her darling Feyre. And again, for Kallas and Vivianne who are also expecting the baby, even though it has been a maximum of 3 years since they’ve mated. 3 years is also not a particularly long time to try to have a baby for those who have issues with their reproductive systems like Fae women. Thank you, next. 

3) Rhys has unprotected sex with Feyre in her Illyrian form when she conceives, even though he knows full well having a winged baby would kill her. He does it anyway, for shits and giggles apparently. They probably have sex in the sky above Velaris, for all we know. 

4) The baby has wings. Now, the whole explanation with Illyrian wings being bony (bc they resemble bat wings) and Seraphin ones being more flexible (bc they resemble bird ones) is so insanely stupid that it takes around 3 seconds to wikipedia this shit and find out it’s exactly the opposite. But okay, the baby has wings and Feyre will die while giving birth, along with the baby. Madja forbids Feyre from turning into an Illyrian to carry the pregnancy because it MIGHT hurt the baby. Now, remember, Feyre conceived while in Illyrian form and then turned into High Fae. The baby survived it just fine. The baby MIGHT be hurt by Feyre turning .... but it will FOR SURE die if she stays High Fae and Feyre will too. Idk about you, but I would take the risk of MIGHT instead of FOR SURE. Especially when she is already in labour and dying. Cauldron or Nesta or idk who alters Feyre’s pelvis after the baby is cut out of her for no apparent reason but to allow feysand to make exactly the same mistakes later on. How convinient. And Nesta also alters her own pelvis bc god forbid she won’t be able give Cassian babies like the little useful mate she is now. She should’ve probably done it with Elain too, just in case she decides to fuck Az in the future, because fuck consequences and fuck the stakes in the story that make the readers actually CARE about characters bc they know the author may actually kill them and not save their life every fucking time.  

5) I don’t even want to comment on the fact Rhys hid the true danger of this pregnancy for Feyre and their family went along with it. It is absolutely disgusting. And Nesta telling her and that being condemned as the act of the ultimate cruelty which is a final straw to break her self-loathing back.... is abhorrent. It made my sick, actually, phisically sick. There is no justification for it. No at all. And the fact that they did not even consider abortion sends a message that I really don’t want to think too much about it. Feyre was 2 months along when they learned the baby is winged. 2 months. 8 weeks. It wasn’t a baby yet, let’s be honest. They could’ve at least discussed it. She - oh my god, I cannot believe SJM wrote it this way, I’m gonna be sick. 

6) For the entirety of Feyre’s pregnancy, they have no plan to really help her. Labour plan? Haven’t heard if it.  They have money and power and access to the healers of the whole land. And did not figure out how to stop her from bleeding out after a fucking C-section. THIS WORLD HAS MAGIC AND THEY COULDN’T STOP HER FROM BLEEDING OUT AFTER A FUCKING C-SECTION. Didn’t even ask Thesan, the High Lord of Healing, to be present. Cassian had guts hanging out of his stomach and survived. Az was fucking slashed apart in Hybern and survived. But yeah, Feyre was on a brink of death after a C-section. Great, Sarah. Keep it up. Let’s force the thought into young girls’ heads that labour is the most lethal thing ever, why not. 

7) Also, for the entirety of Feyre’s pregnancy, Rhys keeps quiet about this idiotic bargain. He, as far as we know, doesn’t make any plans for the moment when him and Feyre and possibly their baby are dead. If they died and baby survived.. who would take care of it? Does Rhys have a conversation with his family about it? NAH. Doesn’t write any sort of plan how to keep the Court going, doesn’t inform even the closest of his co-workers how they should proceed to act after he’s gone and his and Feyre’s power go to god-knows-who. Their deaths would mean a sure chaos for the weakend and fragile Prythian and the Night Court especially and yet nor Rhys nor Feyre make any sort of preparations for it. Rhys doesn’t tell his brothers or Mor or HIS SECOND IN COMMAND they will all soon have to somehow manage without him. He was about to just leave them to their own devices and told them in the last. possible. moment. 

And this man - this man is, according to Amren, the best candidate to handle the whole country? To unite it? This fool who makes idiotic bargains, who thinks first about his cock and his own selfish desires and considers his subjects and his responsibilities as a High Lord last and least important of all? Who has so much trust in his wife, in his High Lady, the mother of his son that he doesn’t tell her she will almost surely die on a birthing bed because it MAY UPSET HER? 

This plotline was the straw that broke my back. ACOTAR, at it’s heart has always been a ya fantasy with added ‘spice�� and I was willing to bend my critical-thinking skills in many cases and forget and forgive many smaller idiotic issues in this series. But this? It is not idiotic. It is massive and stupid to the point when it becomes insulting to the reader. It was a plot straight out of a bad fanfic, not something that should be in a published book written by someone who writes for a living. You could even argue that Twilight has handled this toxic trope better.  I have wasted my money on this book and thinking about it will always be painful for me. So yeah.

ACOSF could be great. Ended up quite pathetic. 

[azureflight]

The Legend of Vox Machina Tin Foil Hat Theory: No real death will happen until the one in the end

Alright people, I know that title reads like gibberish, I apologize. I was trying to be as vague as possible in order to avoid spoiling things too much for show only fans. With that said, be warned, massive spoilers for Campaign 1, way beyond any points covered in the animated series.

SPOILERS FOR CAMPAIGN 1 *

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Okay, now. What I mean here is that none of the VM will truly die, until Vax’ death in “Race to the Tower”. Several of the important deaths that occur in the story, will instead be really heavy “near-death experiences”, with the only real death being the Vax’s. I also believe majority of the deaths will simply not happen, and we will simply focus on a few key ones that were major turning points for characters or the overall plot. The rest will at most, get a nod in the form of someone getting heavily injured or almost dying to something and making a comment about it. 

My reasoning for this goes like this:

While death still carries weight in the game due to Matt’s resurrection rules, this is unfortunately not something that translates well into a scripted story. In the game, we know anything can happen, because of the roll of the dice. In the show, people will never get that feeling no matter how much meta info is dropped on them. Within the animated show itself, everything feels pre-arranged, so any resurrection will always feel cheap.

While I believe you can absolutely write a story with the generous resurrection system of 5e and still make stakes high and risks compelling, I’m afraid TLOVM did not go that route in the first season and now it’s too late to establish such a thing. Mind you, no show on tv ever managed that yet either, so this isn’t really a point against tlovm, just that this aspect of TTRPGs and fantasy settings is yet to be properly translated onto screen.

Most of the deaths, are results of HP/DS based game mechanics and don’t have any impact on the story beyond the momentary stress it caused the cast and the viewers.

The “important deaths” as I call them, would actually translate into non-death events pretty well and would carry that weight in the animated series in a way that they wouldn’t if they were left as death-resurrection.

The way I see it, we have three important deaths in C1, other than Vax. We have Vex in “The Sunken Tomb”, we have Percy in “Cloak and Dagger”, we have Scanlan in “The Deceiver’s Stand”. Each of these deaths represent a massive turning point in character’s own journey and the overall plot itself.

The first one is obvious. Vax offers himself to the Raven Queen, starting off the Fate-Touched plotline which shapes entirety of his character arc, eventually tying into the very ending of his journey and the story of Vox Machina. Vex herself has a change of perspective and approach, becoming bolder, more carefree, trying to learn to forgive, open up more and work through her trauma and inner conflicts.

Percy’s death is essentially the true closing chapter of his previous arc lingering since Whitestone-Briarwoods. His forgiveness of Ripley with his dying breath, his friends saving his soul from Orthax and Vex’ love confession bringing him back to life. This is the end of his descent and the start of his recovery. Launching of a major romance that builds up the conclusion of both his and Vex’ personal journeys.

Scanlan’s death against Raishan and the aftermath of his resurrection is when he finally get the development that has been hinted at since the start. All of the subtle tension building up throughout the series, the insults, the self-doubt, the desperation, all of it blow up in one infamous rant. We temporarily lose Scanlan completely in the story and instead given Taryon as a character in his place. It is one of the major events that turn the ever tense relationships of VM, solidly into one of found family, albeit a a bit dysfunctional one.

I believe, all of these can be near-death experiences, “almost dead/stuck in purgatory” type of deals:

Vex’s is obvious and they almost laid down the ground work for it in season 1 with the spinning orb of death in Ziggurat. Audience is familiar with the concept of magic failing and some places not allowing normal healing etc. The Sunken Tomb, the domain of the Goddess of Death, not allowing her to heal after Percy triggers the trap, and her slowly fading away pretty much like how Keyleth was depicted in season 1, only for this time, there is no safe place to retreat and instead the entity in charge, Raven Queen, appears, and Vax, who was also desperate to save Keyleth and kept trying till the last moment, offers himself up in a bargain.

Percy gets shot, so far so good. We already know his deal with Orthax and how his gun feeds him souls. Now he is on the receiving end with Ripley’s deal and gun. Again, they try to heal him, it doesn’t work. They realize Orthax has his soul because gun shot. They banish Orthax, Vex calls out to Percy as they try to heal him one more time. He decides to “come back” from the weird pocket dimension of Orthax instead of passing on.

Scanlan almost dies, is in a coma. We first get all panicky, but after his “life” is secured, the party goes on to do stuff, as he sleeps in essentially intensive care, pretty much what they did in campaign. He blows up after he wakes up, just like in the campaign. we may even get a glimpse of Scanlan in drug/magic induced healing sleep, seeing dreams and getting more hints about his inner turmoil.

What does these changes achieve? 

They keep the stakes high throughout the series, without trivializing death itself. It prevents the age old, in my opinion silly, yet stil prevalent complaints of “if they could resurrect X there, why not Y here?”

It lulls the audience into a false sense of security. They know the characters can be in danger and be injured, they will have tasted the drama and emotional weight of all those “close calls”. But ultimately no one died, so “everyone will be ok in the end” will be the common sentiment towards the end.

And then BAM! Vax actually, literally dies. No close-call, no near death. My boy literally gets disintegrated. The shock, the fear, the pain. And then, again the audience will be sure “oh no way, they will find a way right?”

And yes, we do have a “way”. But there is a catch! It is not permanent, it is gonna pass once the mission is done, or the year is over. That anguish and hope we all had, that all of VM had to deal with, the theories and speculations, will properly translate to the audience.

And in the end, when he is not saved, when there is no gimmick, when the Wish is used on the Whispered One and the VM saves the world, but Vax is lost forever... It will be the epic bittersweet ending that was the legend of Vox Machina. It will be adapted not only in the sense of the events being depicted, but truly. They will do justice to the hearth and the soul of the story.

Or they will find a way to depict all those resurrections without feeling gimmicky/plot armor/asspull in a scripted narrative, and we will all enjoy it together.

The reason I call this “tin foil hat”, is because while I am certain most of the deaths will simply not be adapted, I believe the three important deaths I mentioned here can still be adapted in a way that does not cheapen death, at least not by much. I just think this is a far more neat and clean “solution” to the “resurrection in D&D games not translating well into scripted format” problem. 

[rollflasher]

My current thoughts on Sonic Frontiers

With the unstoppable courage Get a fire pow- Oh wait, wrong Frontier.

So, almost a week ago we got a new trailer for Sonic Frontiers and...my thoughts are pretty mixed, so I’ll just get out of the way what I thought of the trailer itself.

To be frank, I actually loved it! My main critique is the obvious lack of gameplay, which is a red flag considering SEGA’s own confidence in the project. I think it can’t be stressed enough the fact that by this point we SHOULD have some footage of actual gameplay, granted what we say wasn’t all CGI but we shouldn’t have to wait more to see how Sonic plays in this game. I just hope that SEGA is indeed doing this for the sake of giving a surprise to the audience instead of more unfortunate reasons like a lack of confidence or progress.

About the aesthetic itself...if I’m honest, I wanted a less cartoony and whimsical Sonic game for a long time, however I have to point out that the enviroment is guilty of suffering of the ‘’Sonic on Unreal Engine 4 Fan Game’’ syndrome, since at first glance it looks generic and unremarkable. However, I also saw some interesting bits that makes me hope this new enviroment will have a chance to stand out on its own during gameplay. I am aware of the BotW comparisons but let’s be honest, that game was a big hit and it’s impact on other open world games is to be expected, so I don’t see the point in calling this a BotW rip-off. From my perspective at least, it’s like calling a Metroidvania a rip-off of Super Metroid or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night...when it has become a standard for games in the genre to use those titles as reference because of the impact they made.

Now here’s the interesting part...the story.

This post might get outdated in days because apparently the plot summaries we got are inaccurate, but I’m still going to give my two scents on what we actually have to work with.

So far the premise we got of the story is that Eggman discovers an ancient technology, installs an AI program to hack it and then it turns out this gets out of his control and now Sonic has to save the day.

I’m going to be frank here...

This premise is absolute garbage.

I’m not usually the one to jump to negative conclusions regarding Sonic, and anyone who follows my blog knows that, but I’m also not going to pretend this is fine and I will quickly explain why.

The reason this premise is so bad is because its yet ANOTHER plot of ‘’Oh, Eggman awakens an ancient monster but he gets upstaged because he can’t control it’’ and to be frank, I don’t even want to give it the benefit of the doubt because this trend should have stayed dead, period. We already have 10 games with this shitty ‘’Eggman gets fucked up’’ plotline, so why do it AGAIN, specially when the post-2010 games, in spite of all their flaws, have moved on from this?

I’m just gonna ask a simple question to illustrate how pointless this trend is.

Why shouldn’t this franchise have new antagonist who don’t need to upstage Eggman to stand out?

I repeat

Why shouldn’t this franchise have new antagonist who don’t need to upstage Eggman to stand out?

And it’s not like they never did this before, the Storybook games had Erazor Djinn and Merlina and it turns out they’re more memorable than the majority of generic villains this series has that had to upstage Eggman to prove their worth.

In fact, with this premise I can be sure that the antagonist is going to have the personality of a cardboard box and I can assure Eggman is going to get upstaged in a stupid way.

Besides, it’s been apparently confirmed that Ian Flynn is writing the script of the game. I know that there are a lot of folks hyped for this but to be honest, Ian shouldn’t be writing for the games since he has proven to be unreliable with his hijinks in the comics, particularly his superficial understanding of the characters and his habit of bending characterization for the sake of plot convenience.

The fact that the Metal Virus arc in the comics ended up with Eggman being upstaged to ‘’raise the stakes’’ is part of the reason I’m sure Flynn will play the premise of ‘’Eggman fucks up because plot needs new villain’’ painfully straight.

I know someone will inevitably say

‘‘But Flynn is better than Pontaff!’‘

And yes, he is...but here’s the big question. Is that enough?

Because really, Pontaff didn’t set the bar high to begin with, and Flynn has more than a decade under his belt repeating the same writing mistakes, to the point that the recent Sonic Encyclo-speed-ia is filled with errors regarding continuity and game events...and if we speculate that Ian probably did this on purpose to fit his headcanons into the canon, then it’s even worse. I find it very ironic that the fandom preaches about not accepting mediocrity in Sonic, and yet it lowered its standards so much that they’re happy to have consistently mediocre writing because ‘’It’s better than Pontaff’’. If the characters are going to be bent whenever the writer sees it fit, then Pontaff and Flynn are interchangable, the only difference is that the later’s writing pretends better to be IC.

Am I really supposed to be hyped about the games’ writing resembling this in the future?

Please bring Maekawa or Nishiyama back instead.

On a side note, Ian writing for the games also worries me in the long run because it means that now he has a more direct influence on the canon, and considering what I just mentioned that’s far from a good thing. Because if Ian doesn’t care about bending the canon if it suits whatever he’s writing at the moment, the results will be incosistencies that will slowly but surely pile on each other until it becomes obvious and I certainly don’t like the sound of that.

I know I’ve been pretty harsh with Ian Flynn but really, I’m just tired of his influence on the franchise as of late. And regardless of the fact that I’m tired of Sonic having western writing, I would be more open minded if not only Ian actually tried to improve from his trademark writing mistakes, but also if his fans stopped excusing every controversial take or writing choice he does, specially considering that apparently he can only do wrong when SEGA is involved according to them.

I don’t think he’s a bad writer per se, but I would definitely take anyone else over him to write for the actual canon games.

Anyway, I hope the actual plot of this game is not another Eggman getting upstaged story, but if it turns out only minor details revealed to us were innacurate, then my grievances still stand. I just hope Frontiers at the very least turns out to be a good enough game to make up for the potential problems its writing might have.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Master Fu: Master of Failure (200 Follower Special)

Mentors are some of the most important characters in all of pop culture, as they help the protagonist advance in his journey while helping them improve in skill and personal growth. Because of their vital role, mentors tend to be among some of the most memorable characters in their respective franchises.

Mentors can be a variety of people, from wise sages, to former soldiers, to just regular people with a strong moral compass. What matters is the impact they have on the hero, and the role they play in the story.

Master Fu does a poor job at accomplishing both of those qualifications.

Like, well, basically every bad thing in Miraculous Ladybug, the ideas behind Master Fu were interesting in concept. The problem was the execution, or rather, what little we got with Master Fu. Yet he still manages to be memorable (no pun intended) for all the wrong ways. But before we get into Master Fu, let's get into a problem with Miraculous Ladybug in general that plagues several characters and plotlines.

Order of the... What Exactly?

Despite being “the last known member of the Order of the Guardians”, Master Fu hasn't really explained much about the Order he's from. All we really know is that he was trained to guard the Miraculous and distribute them to worthy people. And the Order does this... why exactly?

This is a huge problem with Miraculous Ladybug, the underdeveloped lore behind a major part of the story. Despite being connected to the Miraculous, you know, the magical artifacts the show is named after, we still don't really know much about why they were formed in the first place, and what their connection to the Miraculous is.

Oh wait, the origin of the Miraculous actually is explained... in an issue of the tie-in comic.

Someone seriously thought it was a good idea to explain that Kwamis are connected to abstract concepts like creation and destruction, and how the Miraculous were created, both very important things to learn, AND THEY DID IT IN A GODDAMN TIE-IN COMIC THAT ONLY LASTED THREE ISSUES! 

I shouldn't be expected to read supplementary material to understand the backstory of a show. You don't need to watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars to understand the tragedy of Order 66, so why would you expect your audience to read a comic book to understand the origin of the magical objects that give your main characters superpowers?

Even the explanation we got isn't that detailed. Okay, fine some guy created the Miraculous to give the Kwamis tangibility (which actually explains how they can phase through solid objects), but... how and why? How was this sage able to see Tikki, how was he able to create the Miraculous, and why did he do it?

This extends to the Order of the Guardians as well. How and why were they formed? What exactly do they even do besides guard Miraculous? Why do they even guard the Miraculous in the first place? We even learn more about their methods, and trust me, I'll get to that later.

In Xiaolin Showdown, the pilot episode of all things explains why Shen Gong Wu are so important, and why the Xiaolin Dragons dedicate their lives to protecting them, because they maintain the balance between good and evil, and if they fall into the hands of evil, the world could fall into 10,000 years of darkness. Yeah, the first episode actually does a good job at explaining the backstory of the show, who would have thought? And it's from a show that has a better representation of Chinese culture when this is what the main character looks like.

Overall, the Order of the Guardians is an underdeveloped concept that does very little to help out Master Fu as a character. If the backstory of a character is so vague, how can we even understand the character's motivations in the first place? And by God, are Master Fu's motivations confusing.

Master of Not Doing Anything

Before I started working on this, I saw a video review of Miraculous Ladybug by someone who had never seen the show before, and only did so because one of his friends said they would start watching One Punch Man if he did. Even though he only mentioned Master Fu a few times, he described him as “a dude with a jewelry box full of superhero bling”, and felt like that was all those unfamiliar with the show needed to know. As someone who is familiar with the show? Yeah, that's basically all Master Fu is.

Despite being classified as a mentor, Master Fu doesn't really do a lot of mentoring. Sure, he occasionally talks to Marinette, but whenever things get rough, all he really does is hand out a Miraculous for Marinette to give to someone else temporarily.

And I've said it multiple times, but the Rent-A-Miraculous system is a horrible idea. Not only does it require Ladybug to basically leave Cat Noir to fend for himself while she rushes over to Master Fu, she has to think of an ideal candidate for the Miraculous she takes, find said candidate, rush back to where the Akuma is, hope Cat Noir wasn't incapacitated by the Akuma, and then haul ass to Master Fu's place to return the Miraculous as soon as the fight's over.

The idea of introducing new heroes is interesting, but because we see them so rarely, they don't really feel that important. I get that the title is “Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir”, but I just wish the show would do more with the temporary heroes, like see how it affects their lives. Unfortunately, I can't, thanks to “Miracle Queen”, as usual. I'll get to that episode again later on.

Even when Master Fu takes out the Miraculous, he doesn't really help Marinette think of which one to choose. He just says something like “Take a Miraculous, but be sure to return it to me when you're done.” It doesn't matter, because Marinette apparently knows how all fifteen Miraculous in the box work. Hey, wouldn't it have been nice to see Master Fu actually teach Marinette how every Miraculous works? Maybe have him suggest which Miraculous to take based on the Akuma's powers? I'm just saying, maybe you can take time away from Ladybug and Cat Noir fighting a giant baby to actually give more focus on other characters.

Before that, he was just planning to do nothing and hope Ladybug and Cat Noir could reclaim Hawkmoth's Miraculous for him. According to Tikki in “The Collector”, Marinette isn't even supposed to see the Guardian, and only met Master Fu because she found the Grimoire. So despite being “Guardians of the Miraculous”, he doesn't even help out the random people he decided to give Miraculous to? It's a miracle Ladybug and Cat Noir survived an entire season without any real guidance from Master Fu.

The third season tries to do something by having Master Fu train Marinette to become a guardian, but all of the training is entirely offscreen, and by “Feast”, he just says that her training is complete, and then makes her a guardian against her will in “Miracle Queen”.

Then there are moments unrelated to the Miraculous where he fails to actually be a mentor. Everyone knows about how stupid it was that the writers wanted the audience to sympathize with Adrien for threatening to quit being Cat Noir while Paris is flooded, but this also could have been a moment where Master Fu helped him talk about his feelings, or maybe dispense some wisdom about how hard it is to understand if someone actually trusts him or not. You know, act as a mentor to Adrien?

But instead, they brush over this potentially interesting character moment, because that would actually imply that Adrien has flaws. Because we all know Astruc loves to show the audience that Adrien Agreste is basically the second coming of Jesus Christ, right? And even though the episode making a big deal about Adrien not knowing Master Fu, they really don't have any meaningful conversations outside of that episode, except maybe “Party Crasher”. Though the episode does have Master Fu taking action when Ladybug is incapacitated by the Akuma by giving a Miraculous... to someone he barely knows swimming in Adrien's bathtub. Even he regrets his choice a few minutes later.

And then there's the fact that despite it being his job to guard the Miraculous, he does literally nothing to figure out where the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous are. Sure, he briefly talked with Marinette about Gabriel possibly being Hawkmoth in “The Collector”, but she did most of the investigating in that episode.

Hell, “Sandboy” establishes there's a way to contact Nooroo, the Kwami of the Butterfly Miraculous, on his birthday, but Master Fu turned it down, so they did it behind his back! For the love of God, this is a chance to figure out who Hawkmoth is and bring the conflict with him to an end, and you're passing it up?! In “Heart Hunter”, Master Fu says that Hawkmoth “talks a lot, but hasn't achieved much so far”, but you could easily apply that to Master Fu himself.

Outside of giving Miraculous to Marinette to borrow, what has Master Fu actually accomplished in the story? Maybe his backstory will shed more light on him as a character, and won't just make him look even worse.

The Bungled Backstory

One of the most frustrating things about Master Fu's backstory is that it actually has some pretty good buildup.

In “The Collector” we learn that Master Fu made a mistake that led to the destruction of the temple the Guardians operated out of, and the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous were lost in the process. This does a good job at setting up the mystery of what Master Fu did to destroy the temple in the first place. It continues in “Sandboy”, where Master Fu's worst nightmare is him heing haunted by the ghosts of the guardians he accidentally killed, and then we see in “Backwarder” that Master Fu had confidants to help him keep the Miraculous safe from what are assumed to be the Nazis. Because I guess guardians get to share their secrets, but not Ladybug and Cat Noir?

And then we learned the full backstory in “Feast”. Much like how “Oblivio” and “Cat Blanc” killed any chances of me ever showing any sympathy to Alya and Gabriel respectively, I lost all respect for Master Fu after watching this episode.

We learn that Fu was chosen to be a guardian at a very young age, and had no other choice but to start his training. One day, he was assigned to watch over A Miracle Box as a test for twenty-four hours without any food, water, or sleep. He decided to use the Peacock Miraculous to create a Sentimonster to get him some food, but his anger corrupted the Sentimonster that made it go on a rampage to eat the Miraculous in the temple... and somehow set the temple on fire judging from this shot.

In my main blog, I had originally made a post calling out Master Fu for what he did, but since then, I've mostly softened up. This is just a fan theory you are free do disagree with, but I like to think that Fu was supposed to use a Miraculous during the test. Maybe he was supposed to use the Mouse Miraculous to get some food while one of the clones sat and watched the box, or use the Horse Miraculous to sneak to the kitchen.

My problem comes from how his backstory affects his actions, and makes him look like a complete hypocrite.

Even though he hated the fact that he was basically drafted to become a guardian when he was only a child, he saw no problem handing out Miraculous to children who weren't that much older than he was when he burned down the temple. I don't even think he should even qualify as a master. His title shouldn't be “Master Fu”, but something more along the lines of “Acting Master Fu” on account of the other guardians burning to death.

Say what you will about Zordon for recruiting teenagers with attitude to become the Power Rangers, but what makes him more likable than Master Fu was that he actually cared about them. He routinely gave them advice, never really lost his patience with them, and understood they had lives outside of their jobs as Rangers. Hell, he was even willing to let them retire to peruse major opportunities in their lives, like Jason, Zack, Trini, and Kimberly, because he knows what it's like to be trapped in a situation that prevents him from living a normal life.

In fact, if Fu really hated being forced to become a guardian, why did he have no problem doing the same thing to Marinette? If anything, Fu should hate the Order of the Guardians, but it's never really explained what really motivated him to continue their practices.

Usually, a backstory related to a supporting character is meant to be followed up by the main characters doing something so history doesn't repeat itself. Anakin Skywalker was driven to the Dark Side because he was afraid of losing someone close to him, with the Jedi Order giving him no support due to their rules against personal attachments. This ideology is subverted in the original trilogy when it's Luke Skywalker's compassion for his father that motivated Anakin to rebel against the Emperor and fulfill his destiny as the chosen one.

But instead of learning from past events, or maybe realizing the Order of the Guardians was never as noble as we were led to assume it was, Master Fu just upholds their tradition of enlisting child soldiers to protect these world-ending artifacts while barely doing anything to help them out. And nobody ever acknowledges there might be anything wrong with the Order.

The Cowardly (and Hypocritical) Turtle

Despite being established to be 186 years old (which still hasn't been explained), and the destruction of the temple happening when he was a child, Master Fu hasn't really done anything with his position.

Despite having all the time in the world, as well as a Miraculous that lets him teleport anywhere, he still hasn't found the missing two Miraculous that Gabriel managed to find at least 129 years after he lost them, give or take.

There's also the fact that, at least, according to the flashback in “Backwarder”, Master Fu may or may not have chosen to sit down and let several historical atrocities and conflicts happen because he didn't want to risk losing the Miraculous. You know, minor things like the Taiping Rebellion, the Crimean War, World War I and II, the Rape of Nanking, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Tienanmen Square Massacre and God knows what else. What did Master Fu even do while he ran around the world to keep the Miraculous safe anyway?

These both factor into the biggest problem with Master Fu as a character: He's a coward.

Whenever he's confronted with a tough situation, Master Fu's first instinct is to run away and hide. As soon as the Sentimonster that destroyed the temple returns, he takes back Marinette and Adrien's Miraculous and runs away. As soon as Hawkmoth finds out about his existence, he packs up his stuff and runs away. When he's captured by Hawkmoth and Mayura, he gives up his position as Guardian and forces Marinette to take on the role, so he can run away safely.

And once again, despite hating the Order for forcing him to train to become a Guardian, Master Fu has no problem with forcing Marinette, someone who was only a few years older than he was when he was drafted, to become the next Guardian of the Miraculous, all while conveniently losing his memory in the process, which implies that Marinette will lose her memory when she retires as Guardian. I once made a submission to Terrible Miraculous Ladybug AU's joking that he only made up the whole amnesia thing just to dump the responsibility of being Guardian on Marinette, but with his appearance in the Season 4 teaser, I'm genuinely worried that may be true.

And yet, despite every incompetent thing he's done, the show keeps trying to portray Master Fu as this wise old soul, because like with so many characters, the writers think if they keep saying things that aren't true, the audience will just give up and accept these ideas as fact. “Master Fu is a wise mentor”. “Alya is a good journalist”. “Ladybug and Cat Noir are equal”. “Chloe is irredeemable”. “Gabriel is a sympathetic villain”. “Lila is a good liar”. “Thomas Astruc responds to criticism like an adult”.

And I'm not against the idea of a flawed mentor either. I already talked about how complex Dr. K is as a character, and how her connection to Venjix makes her an interesting mentor. What I want is for the narrative to acknowledge that Master Fu is way out of his league. I want someone, anyone, to actually call him out for how poorly he's handled things. I don't want to be told he's a great mentor when the evidence clearly shows otherwise.

But it seems like we may never get that in the show, even though it looks like he's going to return in Season 4.

Let's just hope Master Su-Han is a better mentor, and actually appears in more than a single episode before being escorted off so Marinette can't have any confidants as Guardian. Who am I kidding? That's basically what's going to happen.

[cttrajan1206]

#arrow sys#Love them#Absolute sweethearts all of em#And suoer fun to sprint with

FIRST OF ALL SOBS /pos

second,,, i know nothing abt twst or obey me but grabby hands at a ramble; i will absolutely listen if you wanted to talk about it :starry:

JSHDJF [WAILS ALOUD] I TOOK SO LONG SO GET BACK TO YOU THAT I FINISHED ONE OF THE WIPS IN THAT TIME LMAO!!

Well!! This is good promo! :> The one that i was typing up is finished now and it's the obey me fic! You can find it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33644662

Mammon and Movies:

Basically! Someone read another fic of mine that included my self insert flappy stimming and also getting mental breakdown so it asked if i could include a couple other stims in another work since he enjoyed my first one! I. Took that request and made an entire fic dedicated to him lmao. So! I asked it later on for what it would like me to include and which character to use and here we are!

This is a 4K fic of Mammon from Obey Me paired with a Neurodivergent!Reader. The plot is that of him showing you a magic trick and smoothly whipping out a movie ticket!! You've been wanting to ask him to see a movie with you for a while so this is perfect! So perfect in fact that you're overwhelmed with happiness and have a brief moment of being nonverbal as you're overwhelmed with euphoria. Then the next day, you meet him at the venue and the date begins! Other scenes include him allowing you to hold onto his bracelets as it's one of your stims (he wears one of every texture to accomodate to your tastes), you dissociating out of anxiety in a movie theatre and him helping to ground you, and finally! Him sleeping on your shoulder before the movie ends.

Ik i kinda just said the majority of the plot lmao but! Its just a fluffy and sweet movie date! I enjoyed writing it a lot although i got about 80% of it done a month ago and tyn didn't touch it for like 2 weeks sjdbsjd i was p sad abt that. I like finishing things quickly esp when its for other people!! But it was a comfort during a hard time to write this work at 2am under the light of a night lamp and to the tune of street life ambience.

ALSO I FOUND OUT THAT MAMMONS OFFICIAL SONG "ARE YOU READY" LEGIT HAS NO HOURLONG LOOPS AND THAT WAS A HARD HIT TO ME BC LIKE I WANTED TO LISTEN TO IT ON TV BUT IT WASNT HAPPENINGGG TWT WHY DOES EVERYONE LIKE ALL THE OTHER OTHER BROTHER'S SONGS INSTEAD LIKE PLSSS

Anyway lmao i'm quite happy with this work, it feels very round and finished to me which makes me happy because it means I didn't need to worry about editing it to feel satisfied. The requester liked it a lot too! Which made me super super happy. :>

Now!! For the twisted wonderland!! That’s a comfort plotline of mine that doesn’t really have a title yet and is still a wip that is written through my friend’s DMs BUT! I will also take the time to promo my twst writing blog! It is dead QvQ On there, you can see a bit more about the self insert in question but for now, i’ll just put the ship name as the title.

https://twst-sumi-squad.tumblr.com/

Kalim Al-Asim X Sumi Bint Khattar (Plot line):

So!! This one stemmed from me drawing something out of self indulgence and to show it to my friend, I described Sumi B in full and then I told them about my ships and around that time I had like five love songs I was obsessed with. And for each of them. I had. A separate animatic. For like at least 1 ship, the average was two but one had three. Sumi B was the centre of the most ships but not the only one. Anyway!! I told my friend about this and asked if I could dump my ideas onto them! They agreed and I started with a summarised version but then realised I needed a bit more build up so I started to write it in a bit more detail. Hah. It ended up being a Lot More Detailed but even then, I would write the scenes in a much more fluid and descriptive way if it were Real Writing so! I call it a Plotline. It is very long.

The plot itself is. long now. it’s a slowburn lmao because most if not all of my self insert ships tend to be slowburns. But this one? This particular self insert? Sumi B? Yeah she’s the only one with trust issues so she mothers the BIGGEST slowburns known to history. It takes them a year before she even considers him a friend despite seeing him every day and also having multiple deep conversations with him. Anyway though, this one is a big comfort becuase it has something I didn’t really dare to do before. Kalim, the canon character, falls in love with my oc first. Normally I have it the other way round becuase I’m too scared to assume that I would be like, deserving or like desirable enough for someone to have a crush on me. But with Sumi B, even I have a goddamn crush on her lmao. I indulge myself a bit with this one and really play around with emotions and!! In the most recent scene! We have finally reached the part where she actually starts to love him back! :D

I started this one a loooong time ago, at least a month and maybe two? It was Intended to be finsiehd in one night and then i got carried away and my friend got invested and then I ALSO got invested and so I started to develop the plot further so make it more interesting and keep the buildup going. It’s very fun and though i try to limit myself to summarising actions and dialogue, i fail. very often. so it often has little tidbits of more beautiful sentences and tension lmao. 

This particular fic is based off of my imagined animatic for the song “Would you be so kind” by Dodie! I didn’t know about the song until i saw other people’s animatics and I ended up taking it and running away haha! I’m currently really happy with it however I am really dreading the day where I actually write it out properly. If I don’t? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll post the plotline by itself. I have another fic just like it, one with a different self insert who (in fact) is very very close with Sumi B and considers her his older sister, that i ALSO wrote in semi detailed plot lines in someone’s DMs. Both are massive comforts to me and though i love them, their plot lines are so goddamn long that i will dread the day i decide to write them all out.

So uhm!!! Yeah!! XDD Those are the two fics I was talking about! I hope you enjoyed my small ramblings about them haha. I’m starting college soon though so I fear I might have much more time for fanfic.