#i dont even mind playing the prologue or the first few chapters that much i just hate the constant interruptions
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my thoughts on fire emblem will never be coherent because on one hand you have the nerd part of my brain who hates fire emblem three houses for every second it spends outside of traditional fire emblem gameplay flavours and on the other hand you have the gay idiot who just rewatched ferdinand & hubert's A+ support for the 5th time this year and also has about 280 hours put into fe3h
#'i dont really like 3h' i say starting yet another fucking playthrough#when 3h peaks it PEAKS ok. its just that im not a fan of p5r for the exact same reason. the Life aspect for ME takes away from the main draw#id like p5r more if it was mostly just dungeoncrawling with turnbased combat (i know this because i have and enjoy smtv)#and id like fe3h more if i could skip through the months with no repercussions. now that im chaining ng+#and yeah thats on me for wanting to make s rank everything byleth a reality. i know. i just get bored during the months#and also just the entire first act of the game because again. ive played through it so many times#theres a reason i appreciate fates having the option to just skip to the part where the path diverges on subsequent playthroughs#im so tired of tutorials...#'wow byleth have you considered standing in the trees' WHEN THIS GAME RELEASED I WAS 15 ISH AND AT THAT POINT I HAD ALREADY BEEN STANDING IN#FIRE EMBLEM TREES FOR AT LEAST 2 YEARS. ID BEEN AWARE OF THIS MECHANIC FOR 3 OR 4#I GOT MY FIRST FIRE EMBLEM GAMES WHEN SHADOWS OF VALENTIA DROPPED STOP TRYING TO TEACH ME OLD SHIT WAHHHHH#i am once again asking for separate toggles for general fire emblem gameplay tutorials and gmae-specific tutorials#also bring back having harder modes skip tutorialization entirely#i dont even mind playing the prologue or the first few chapters that much i just hate the constant interruptions#only for jeralt to tell me that i can stand. in the fucking forest.#fe3h blew up the franchise. ok. i get the tutorial is necessary for newer players because fire emblem can get really confusing#especially when youre new#but pleas.e... separate toggles... let me turn off gameplay hints including the forced tutorial in the prologue..... im begigng
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vanilla pudding cups - 1
~~~
A/N: i updated this the other day on ao3 but i didnt put it on tumblr at first bc i dont have many followers and didn’t think people actually saw it, but the prologue got some support so here is chapter 1! it’s not super long but hopefully i can have chapter 2 out soon!
masterlist + AO3
~~~
Rhysand sat in the sterile waiting room of the hospital trying to rub the sweat off his hands onto his jeans. Next to him were his brothers, Cassian and Azriel, along with his cousin, Mor. Cassian was currently making suggestive faces at some nurse, Mor had her nose in a magazine, and Az was tapping away on his phone.
They always showed up to Rhys’ appointments whether he wanted them to or not, but usually he appreciated their support. Today though, Rhys wasn’t sure if he wanted them there. He loves them each so much but if his results came back and weren’t hopeful, it might just be too much.
He didn’t want to have to see that kind of devastation in their faces, he didn’t want them to see it in himself either. Yes, he was the sick one but so often he found himself being the strong one for everyone else, acting as if the idea that his life might be over before it truly started wasn’t absolutely terrifying as to not put them in a state of sorrow.
It was only a year ago that Rhysand was in this same waiting room with Mor by his side, she had forced him to go after he had been complaining that this one spot on his right lower back was constantly aching.
The doctor insisted on doing an ultrasound, then wouldn’t say a word and ordered a CT scan. The next day they received a call to come back immediately and that was when they got the prognosis.
Kidney cancer. Stage 2.
The next few days had been a blur of poking and prodding, honestly he can’t recall much from those days he was so overwhelmed his mind struggled to keep up with the world around him. He couldn’t quite comprehend just what the hell was happening.
He remembers the tears though. He remembers Mor putting her head in her hands and sobbing. Even Cassian and Azriel cried. Hell, Amren shed some tears. And it broke his heart.
The only saving grace was his doctor was confident that with surgery and some immunotherapy after that Rhys would be okay. By the end of it he was virtually cancer free and here he is a year later to get a routine CT scan to make sure nothing has progressed further.
“Rhysand Moon.”
A nurse with brown curly hair called from the doorway, her hip holding open the door with a clipboard in hand. I looked up and felt all of my companions' attention shift to me. Mor gave me a pat on the knee while Cas and Az gave me small, reassuring smiles.
I approached the nurse and she gave me a smile, “I’m Alis, follow me.”
She led me a few doors down and then opened a basic room that housed the usual equipment, folded neatly on top of the examination table was a hospital gown.
“Alright, if you could just change into that real quick I’ll be back in about 5 minutes to get you. I suppose you don’t need the normal pep talk, huh?”
I gave her the most genuine smile I could muster. “No, I know the drill, thank you.”
She nodded her head and let the door fall shut behind her.
Alis returned as she said and took me down to radiology. Now, I just had to lie completely still with nothing to accompany me but my own thoughts.
---
Rhysand was back where he was a year ago, same room even.
Silent tears carved a path down Mor’s cheeks. Azriel had his head in his hands. Cassian just started at the doctor looking utterly broken. Amren had shown up some time during his appointment and was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room looking far away.
Rhysand wasn’t sure what he looked like. Maybe he was a mix of them, he did not cry, it was too much to even fathom tears at that moment. He likely looked defeated. He felt defeated in every sense of the word.
They’d waited a few hours for the results of his scan which ended up being grim. Most people would probably go into this kind of scenario thinking the worst automatically but Rhysand hadn’t. He’d been so happy these last few months, feeling lighter than he had in years. He’d survived the prospect of death and had found renewed motivation to live his life without regrets, to live everyday as if it would be his last.
But here he was again, the same prospect hanging in the air. The cancer was back, and it had metastasized to his liver too.
The day turned into a blur as it had last time and he found himself back in a hospital room, this time it was his own. They had decided it was best for him to stay a few days as they accessed the situation, see just how bad it was.
At some point, Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren all had to leave at 8pm as visiting hours came to a close. They had stayed with him the entire day, but after his results they’d stopped cracking jokes or playing rock, paper, scissors; instead they sat around Rhys in silent support until Nurse Alis escorted them out.
Nurse Alis made her way back into the room.
“Are you alright, dear?” She asked sweetly.
Rhys looked up at her, the tears finally finding their way to the surface. She gave him a knowing nod and held out her arms, a silent offer. Rhys let her hug him and she pulled away soon after.
“It’s okay to be scared, but don’t forget that you’re strong and you’ve beaten this once before. You have so many people rooting for you.”
Rhys only gave a half-hearted nod in response. He knew his family was there for him, that they loved him, but they didn’t truly understand. It’s one thing to watch a dying person, it’s another to be them.
“When you’re feeling up for it, Rhysand, there’s someone I think you should meet,” Alis added softly.
“Thank you, but not right now.”
“Alright, take your time and tell me when. Now, try to get some sleep and press your call button if you need absolutely anything, even if it’s just a friendly face, okay?”
Rhysand looked back at her, “okay.”
The door clicked behind her and Rhysand was alone.
~~~
I hope you enjoyed it & they’ll meet next chapter and i promise it’s about to get more cute rather than sad!
#feysand#feysand fanfic#acotar#acotar fanfiction#feysand au#acotar au#are you dying too?#feyre x rhys fanfic#feyre archeron#morrigan#feyre x rhysand#rhysand#cassian#amren#azriel#acomaf#a court of thorns and roses#fanfiction#vanilla pudding cups
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A Letter From Me To You
Chapter 1
Mornings, it's not really your thing. You hate mornings. You purposely do not set your alarms before you go to sleep just because you dont want to be waken up in the morning. When you stepped high school, Akaashi has been your personal alarm clock. When he wakes up first thing he'll do in the morning is to call your phone to wake you up. It's been both your routine for years. Up until now Akaashi still calls you early in the morning, he never missed.
"Y/n, finally. I've been calling you for like the past three minutes. Didn't I tell you not to put your phone in silent?" He nagged, as usual.
"Akaashi, good morning to you too."
"Get up and fix yourself, don't make this personal alarm to put in vain." You sighed and he continued "Kuroo and Kenma is on their way to your house by the way."
"Ugh! Why? It's too early to hear Kuroo's annoying voice."
"Well you didn't mind me nagging you every morning." He immediately respond. You went silent. Doesn't what to say after what he said.
Akaashi Keiji, the ultimate hearthrob, the perfect guy you've ever met. Smart, sporty, kind, he sometimes salty too but you don't mind a little spice in your life.
Yes, you got a crush on Akaashi, for a while now. You have just realized that when he transfered school. You've been looking for him unconciously, waiting for his emails, waiting for his calls. You were very confused before on why girls on your middle school likes him so much. And then here you are, frustrated because you missed him even though you're still denial with yourself that you have a crush on him.
You shut your eyes and sighed, he probably heard it over the phone so he asked, "What's wrong?"
You being you, you answered, "Nothing. Whatever. I'll go fix myself now."
"You better."
"Nye nye" you childishly respond. You heard him chuckled on the other line and you smiled. You missed that.
"Bye, y/n i got to go. We have early practice." Before you even bid your goodbye, the line ended. "Bye Keiji, hear you tomorrow morning again." You mumbled.
- - - - -
"Hmmm!! Y/n!! I have now decided to eat breakfast in your house starting tomorrow!" Kuroo cheerfully stated. Hand in his pockets walking backwards, facing us, Kenma and you. While Kenma busy with his games. You rolled my eyes on him.
"You just announced that like you haven't been doing that for a week now." You said. He immediately went to my side and nudge me. "Hey i bring something sometimes too." He defended. You just shook your head with what he said. You don't actually mind Kuroo and Kenma eating breakfast in your home, your parents doesnt mind too. They know both of the boys are your friends.
While you two are walking side by side he just randomly snatched your bag to you slowly and carried it himself. He was too carried away with his talks about this one member from their volleyball team named Lev, who's so tall and bad at receiving. You didn't mind. He casually do that all the time when you walk together to school and when you go home.
When the three of you arrived to school you know that both Kuroo and Kenma goes straight to the gym. Kuroo gave back your bag to you and patted the top of your head. Kenma stopped playing his games so he is now looking at you both.
"Bye kiddo, see ya at lunch?" He said while patting the top of your head.
"You're not gonna sneak away, Kuroo. Yaku will kill you." Kenma inserted.
"Tsk. Fine. See ya at dismissal then. Bye kiddo!" Kuroo said and ran off to the gym.
"Both of you literally have the same age." Kenma mumbled. He turned to you and said, "Bye Y/n, text us if you have an emergency ok?" And you nodded and he went with Kuroo.
Kuroo is older than you while Kenma and you are a year lower. The three of you actually, Akaashi, Kenma and you are both 2nd years.
On your way to your locker you suddenly remembered the letter you got yesterday. You didn't mind it at all. It was nothing special for you. It was just one letter. But then when you opened your locker, a letter fell again. Same color as yesterday. You sighed and picked the letter up.
"He knows me?" You mumbled. For you its getting creepier. You aren't in for this kind of things. Letters and confessions. Especially letters from anonymous. You find iy creepy because someone is looking at you without you knowing and it makes you feel weak. Like anytime he can snatch you away.
You folded the letter and went straight to your classroom. Your classmates greeted you good morning as usual and you greeted back. You were in your table and you were preparing your things to put under your desk for the first subject when your hand felt an object under your desk. You looked at it and its a paper. A pretty paper at that. You looked at it and it's sealed, its different than the first one, it's not pink, it's brown.
You opened it, not sure if it is indeed for you, but you dont care because it's under your desk at the first place.
Different hand writing too. It's short but you know that the first letter you've got is different than this. Starry night? You immediately thought about Van Gogh's painting. The famous Starry Night. Your most favorite painting. Only a few people knows about that, the closest ones are your parents, Kuroo, Kenma and Akaashi. Unless, they mentioned it to someone else? But you know they wont do that because they know you dont want them to talk about you.
You are now kind of shaken with these letters. These are not the simple letter you've been getting. These are different and you can feel it. You don't know what to do now. Here you thought you're going to have a peaceful year.
Updated! Lol gonna fix my masterlist soon probably hehe have a nice day everyone <3
Prologue || Chapter 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MASTERLIST
#haikyuu!!#haikyuu#haikyuu headcanons#akaashi keiji#haikyuu x female reader#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu x y/n#haikyuu x you#akaashi keiji x y/n#akaashi keiji x reader#akaashi keiji x you#kuroo tetsuro headcanons#kuroo tetsuro x reader#haikyuu kuroo#kuroo tetsurou#kuroo headcanons#kuroo tetsuro x you#haikyuu fluff#haikyuu au#kuroo tetsuro x y/n
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My Cup of Tea: Prologue
My Cup Of Tea: Prologue | YoongixReader
Warnings for this Chapter: none, just a post-breakup suffering OC who is saved by a whole Min Yoongi
“Coffee is bitter, so people add a little bit of sugar or creamer until it suits their taste. However, once it’s added it can’t be separated. It’s also addictive, it’s your choice to keep it as your poison or to control how much you take. Some people need it, some people don’t...In that case, it really isn’t their cup of tea.”
A/N: im finally deciding to post this after who knows how long sajkdfhd,, tysm for beta reading this for me @jtrbluv !!! again u were a huge help because the tag game you tagged me in gave me the final push to actually post this fic thats been collecting dust in my drafts. ily boo !!! <3 it also took a while because i wanted to do more research for this fic. i dont think ive read about or drank so much tea in my life for the past few months. pls enjoy the prologue everyone!
Word Count: 1,600+
You sat in the worn out leather booth, eyes trained on the steaming mug in front of you.
What just happened?
Something that took five years to grow ended in mere seconds.
Five years of dedication.
Five years of convincing yourself it would work out, that it could be fixed.
Five years spent on a relationship that should’ve ended before it began.
You mindlessly took a sip of your coffee hissing as the hot brew burnt your tongue, mind drifting back to the argument that occurred hours ago...
“You’re never here!”
“Was I not enough for you?”
“Where’s the old Y/N that I knew and loved?”
You weren’t sure about what was said after that except for... “I’m seeing someone else.”
The bruising pain on your tongue began to throb and you couldn’t help the tears that formed.
You never liked coffee, but the café was your favorite place.
Perhaps it was the enticing aroma that attracted you every time you walked in, or maybe it was the cleverly thought out name that was in the form of childlike puns: Bearly Awake Brew.
Either way, you couldn’t despise coffee any more than you already did in this moment.
“Are you alright?”
You whipped your head up to see a man standing above you.
Through your bleary eyes you could make out a set of kind brown ones shielded by black frames which rested atop a boopable nose. On his head, a black mop of neatly trimmed hair along with soft cheeks paired with a soft jawline.
The man was dressed in a black turtle-neck and long-coat as if returning from a meeting discussing the newest stocks and bonds of business.
After a small, possibly noticeable, ogling of the stranger, you shook your head ‘no.’
He motioned to the seat across from you raising his brows inquisitively, “May I?”
This time you slowly nodded.
He seemed harmless enough, and even if he tried anything there was pepper spray in your purse.
You sniffled as he took a seat.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No y-you wouldn’t understand.” He leaned forward onto his elbows—a determined furrow in his brow.
“Try me.”
Who was this guy? He didn’t come off as threatening but somewhat… familiar.
You couldn’t quite place his face or remember his name.
“Not yet, right now I just need a good cry,” you replied sinking further into your seat.
“Alright.” He said, shrugging and not saying much, or really, nothing.
He sat across from you— not making eye contact but quietly observing the café.
Several questions raised in your mind: Where did he come from? Why is he here of all places? Did someone send him with the intention to make you feel even more like a fool than you already did?
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” you asked when the silence became a little too long.
“No, not really...” he replied slowly. “Would you like me to leave?”
“No, I mean, it’s just-“ you hesitated, “You’re fine,”
“Ok then.”
Silence.
One look at him and it’d be hard to believe women find him approachable, but the man came up to you.
Much less, while you were on the verge of outright bawling in the middle of a café.
“What’s your name?” you asked, initiating conversation. You might as well since he was there.
“Yoongi. Yours?” You hesitated knowing it wasn’t fair to not give him your name.
“I’ll reassure you I’m not a stalker, at least not the bad kind.”
You let out an amused scoff, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He chuckles and you couldn’t help but enjoy the sound.
Were you really that joy deprived?
“Ok then, I’m Min Yoongi, and I’m a stocker. As in I distribute and track merchandise in stores.” he reaches a hand out to shake and you can’t help but stare at it.
“Well go on I won’t bite,” you huffed a laugh, taking his hand and shaking it.
He smiles and you can’t help but return it.
Who is this guy?
“Why don’t we go for a walk?”
You contemplate his offer.
You had just met him but you hadn’t had casual conversation in a while… or hung out with friends for that matter. So maybe it’d be good for you after-
“Sure let’s go,” You replied immediately while standing up, maybe a little too quickly— your chair scratching the wooden floors and making a startling sound as you headed to the door.
He raised his brows in surprise at the sudden burst of energy before trailing behind you, ignoring the stares of café patrons.
“Hey wait up!”
-
This was another reason why you visited the quaint coffee shop often.
The park outside was always bustling with life and energy.
There was a little pond where ducks would glide across its surface diving from time to time, scavenging for the weeds at the bottom, maybe even getting sustenance from people who were ignorant of the ‘Do not feed the ducks’ sign.
It also had an open field where locals and families would enjoy the hot summer days by setting up little camps with blankets and food or even play small games of football or soccer.
While children played in the vast expanse of green, parents would sit back and converse with strangers forming new friendships. It was a place of change and growth and you loved it.
“So,” Yoongi continued as you both walked down the dirt path, “other than your name, and why you were crying in my café, is there anything about you I have yet to know?” Your cheeks flushed red as you shifted your sight to the ground.
“There’s nothing much really,” you replied with a shrug before backtracking his sentence, “Wait, your café?”
“Don’t change the subject. There’s got to be one thing about you… how about your favorite color?”
You purse your lips at the dodging of the question, albeit a basic one, but it was a start. “I guess Rainbow,”
He nodded with a hum, “Wise choice,”
You let out a huff of amusement, “Alright wise guy, what’s yours?”
He pondered for a moment before affirmatively replying, “Black,”
You hummed. “Kind of... dark, isn’t it?”
He turned around and shrugged, “I’d say the rainbow but you took it already,”
You scoffed, resuming your place beside him.
He continued asking basic questions to which you replied and vice versa.
You liked dogs, but him on the other hand didn’t have a favorite animal, at least until he adopted a poodle which made him keen on the creatures, more specifically one named Holly.
You were allergic to bees and he was allergic to cats.
You both enjoyed a variation of music from rap to classical piano music, but the question also led to a debate on what artist is the most superior to all.
Neither of you won, and concluded neither lost with valid points made during said argument.
It only felt like minutes had gone by but wasn’t until you looked at the time that you realized how late it was.
The crowd at the park had begun to thin out while shops surrounding the area were beginning to close for the day.
The once bright sunlight began to fade behind clouds as it began its descent to the horizon.
“I should probably be heading home,” you cut in politely before he could delve into the topic of what they would do in a post-apocalyptic world.
“Oh,” he replied, obviously disappointed.
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Well could I ask you one more thing?”
You nodded expecting it to be another ‘get to know you’ question or something along the lines of ‘if you had to would cut your arm or leg off?’ but it was something much more complicated.
“Can I get your number?”
You stiffened, unsure how to respond.
You weren’t sure if he was asking as a friend or a man with an ulterior motive.
Could you really do it?
Especially after you had just-
“I’m sorry that came out wrong,” He quickly mended, fumbling his words, realizing your distress.
“I think you’re really great, and I’d like us to continue talking. Just two people who enjoy each other’s company, you know?”
You looked up at him and saw he was offering to be friends that would be nothing more.
You couldn’t deny: you had fun.
For the first time in a long time.
Maybe it wasn’t a relationship you needed, but a friendship.
You smiled, “I’d like that,”
You reached into your pocket pulling out your phone, “Here.”
You both swapped devices, putting in the respective numbers. Once the contact was added, you returned each device to the rightful owner.
He grinned, holding up his phone, “How about a contact photo?”
You smiled, nodding as you stood beside him while he took a selfie of you side-by-side. Once the picture was taken he slid his phone into his pocket. “Thanks,” he glanced down at the phone, that darn smile growing on his face, “Y/N. I’ll talk to you soon?”
You nodded and finally split ways.
As you began the trek toward your apartment a dopey smile remained plastered on your face.
Maybe everything would be alright.
#bts#kim namjoon#kim seokjin#min yoongi#jung hoseok#park jimin#kim taehyung#jeon jungkook#rm#jin#suga#jhope#jimin#v#jungkook#btsxreader#yoongixreader#btsfanfic#btsfanfiction#ot7#fluff#angst#crack#slowburn#bangtanspeacefulpiegonfics#piegon fic: my cup of tea series#prologue#au#alternate universe#reader insert
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isle of the lost vs descendants 1 characterizations
the book ends literally when the movie starts so their personalities cant be that different right? lets see
(similarities posted at the bottom!)
DIFFERENCES:
book: when evil queen goes on about beauty related things, especially in regards to her daughter, usually evie would begrudgingly recite whatever “tip” eq taught her and just go along with what she says. not to say she hated those kinds of things, but whenever her mother brought it up, she never expressed similar excitement or engagement. more often than not she was indifferent to her mother’s beauty antics, and we only see her talk about them in regards to herself in the last few chapters (im not talking abt the mirror incident, but the one liners she’d drop about her appearance here and there) movie: when the parents first tell their kids about going to auradon, eq talks about sprucing her daughter up before she leaves and evie is visibly excited about the makeover. she also goes onto encourage it on others as seen when they’re all in the limo and she tries to put makeup on mal.
book: the villain parents are not friends and we almost never see them together. the one time we saw the parents/adults all together was in the prologue scene for evie’s 6th birthday party. after that they never interact and dont pay each other any mind. this is especially true regarding evil queen and maleficent, as they state in the book that they’ve been at odds ever since they fought over who’d rule the isle. eq has also just been welcomed back into society after being banned by the other, so time-wise, at worst, they are still enemies and, at best, barely tolerable acquaintances. movie: evil queen & maleficent have a significantly close relationship, so much so that eq knows her house like the back of her hand and where maleficent keeps things, specifically that her spellbook is in the fridge. they even have a laugh about how they use to run things before being forced to live on the isle. they seem to be genuinely close.
put the rest under the cut bc this post is too long lol
book: jafar and jay’s mantra is “whoever has the gold makes the rules” which was significant because it helped them while in the forbidden fortress movie: jafar and jay’s mantra is “there’s no team in I” (while this change was surprising, i also wasn’t that upset abt it bc both book and movie!jay struggle with teamwork)
book: carlos is not athletic at all and goes on about how he hates gym class. he is very focused on stem and doesn’t really care about any other kind’ve hobby. meanwhile jay is athletic and does casual parkour when going anywhere. movie: both of them do extreme parkour in the opening song. im not referring to the dancing ofc, but the extra flips and tricks they do. this is not unusual for jay, but is in regards to carlos.
book: jay isn’t the only one that goes around stealing things, mal very much does it to. at the end of the day they’d even compare how many things they’ve stolen to see who’s the best thief. jay usually wins, but still, both are thieves. movie: when they get to auradon, mal is very confused as to why jay would take the time to steal things and even needs for him to explain why he does it.
book: ben describes audrey as a classic fairy tale princess. she finds all things in auradon lovely and beautiful, and even has a bird land on her finger during their date. while she does think negatively of everyone on the isle, she acts mostly “lovely and sweet” before anything else, and it is not faked. think: giselle from enchanted. movie: idk how else to explain this difference besides “audrey just has a different vibe”. she is more regina george-esque than genuinely cheery, and puts on an obviously fake smile and attitude so often that queen belle expresses distaste for her
SIMILARITIES:
mal likes art and goes around the isle putting up tags --- (the romance storyline wasn’t bad, but it would’ve been nice to see mal maybe join an art club? or get into painting or smthg else related to her hobby)
carlos is afraid of dogs --- in the book he can’t even say or hear the word bc it’s a trigger for him. he can say “puppies”, but he cannot say the word dog. whereas in the movie, he says the word several times. this is an extremely minor difference to be fair
when they’re afraid/think they’re in danger, they all cling to jay
they’re not used to sunlight
the ben & mal tension on first meet (and continued infatuation before the cookie scene) --- in the book both characters have had a dream about the other. they didn’t know who the other was, but they remembered the dreams vividly enough that they were able to describe their faces in detail. in the movie when they first meet, both pause on each other several times. it’s likely because of the o’l Disney Romance™️, but it could also be because of curious recognition.
jay is a flirt/smoother charmer and girls fawn over him
carlos is good with and likes science & technology
mal wanting to prove herself to her mother & the others not being as set on it --- in the book, mal is constantly reminded of the times her mother has called her “not worthy of bearing her own name or of being her daughter” and it causes mal to lose her cool several times. the other VKs also have parental issues ofc, but ones that are not as focused on proving themselves like mal’s are. theirs lean more towards other problems. in the movie she is extremely insistent on reminding them what they’re at auradon for and that this is their “one chance to prove themselves”
the core four freeze in fear when confronted with the reality of their parents’ pasts
mal can touch maleficent’s scepter --- to be fair that dance number in the museum was most likely just mal daydreaming, but still
jay going off on his own/following his own plan --- in the book jay and jafar plan for him to go with mal to the forbidden fortress and then double cross her and steal the scepter for himself, taking it as their “big score”. in the movie when they first see the wand with their own eyes, he runs off in front of everyone and only opens the gate enough for himself to squeeze through. carlos has to open it wider so they can all get through it after him. and once theyre in the same room as the wand, he reaches for it first against mal’s wishes.
carlos is bad at sports --- this is in both the differences & similarities section because, while in the book & movie he’s bad at sports, in the book he also doesnt like them and has no desire to do them as he is completely focused on science & tech. while after some practice in the movie, carlos joins the tourney team alongside jay. (i personally would’ve preferred for him to join a computer or engineering club)
mal can manipulate people with ease (book: evie / movie: jane & ben)
fairy godmother is mainly the one that enforces the “no magic” rule --- beast may have created it, but both in the book & the movie, people/creatures talk about fairy godmother being the one that restricts them
carlos climbs trees/searches for higher ground when afraid
evie knows how to use her looks, specifically her smile, to get the things she wants (book: persuading dr. facilier / movie: getting info out of chad)
audrey likes to dance
carlos is sarcastic & competitive
mal cheers up evie when she’s upset
evie is good with academics
ben wanting to be his own person rather than act like his father --- this was a good continuation from book to movie as ben only realizes he needs to be himself in the final chapters, which he just continues to encourage in the movie.
mal’s spur of the moment saving tactics
the villains aren’t good with computers/the internet --- the isle canonly doesn’t have wifi and in the movie the villains struggle with the laptop that was most likely given to them from an auradon representative
audrey’s family still being deeply traumatized by what maleficent did
belle not letting beast talk shit
mal pitying her mother for what she went through --- in the book: when she sees the past of what happened at aurora’s christening and sympathizes that her mother was nothing but a sad lonely girl. in the movie: the “and i really wish you hadn’t gotten there yourself” line during ben’s coronation
annddd yeah!
honestly there were a lot more similarities than i was expecting, and i am pleasantly surprised! book to movie things dont usually crossover well, but honestly, the first movie didnt do too bad of a job of it.
tbh i think the one that probably suffered the most was audrey’s character. she really seemed very different from her book counterpart. this isnt to say that book!audrey was a saint and would’ve treated the VKs kindly, but she also wasn’t a fake person and was genuinely that cheery and upbeat all the time. whereas in the movie, it seems like almost nobody likes her (except chad) bc of her “fakeness”.
i personally think if they were gonna go with the “bad girl and her minion” role, then audrey should’ve been the minion. in the book she was kind’ve an airhead (?? idk she just tended to have her head in the clouds a lot) and if one of the auradon girls told her to act a certain way towards the VKs for the “good of auradon”, i could see her listening to them. i dont know if she’d be the one to come up with the evil deed herself though.
overall, the continuity flowed pretty well. i wish they didn’t change audrey’s character like they did (they probably could’ve had jane play the role of ‘stuckup girl’ tbh since she was a new character and her mother had a higher position in the kingdom compared to audrey’s parents anyway, so smthg to boast abt), but other than that, the movie’s characterizations were kinda close to the books!
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I was wondering,,, why do you say the dark wife is one of the worst books you've read? I read it a few years ago, and I dont remember anything about it tbh, so I'm curious
Oh boy, where do I start? I had a lot of problems with this novel, both as a Greek myth retelling and from a writing standpoint. Now, keep in mind that I read thisabout 2 years ago, so I might be forgetting some small details here and there, but I’ll try to explain the main reasons it bugged me so much. So buckle up, because this is gonna be a long one.
Characters: All the characters are two-dimensional and poorly developed. None of them have any amount of nuance or depth.Zeus is moustache twirling villain who is evil for the sake of being evil. Hades is as good as Zeus is evil, endlessly noble and selfless and devoted. I genuinely can’t remember a single defining trait of Persephone? She’s such abland and generic protagonist, nothing really stands out about her in my memory other than her obsessive pining over Hades and hatred of Zeus. A lot of this feels like it’s pulled straight from the shallow and occasionally downright inaccurate readings of Greek myths that have become so popular in recent years, especially on places like tumblr (Zeus as an evil rapist, Hades as a pure cinnamon roll, Persephone descending willingly into the Underworld, etc.).But there are also more confusing takes on these characters, like turning chaste virgin goddess Athena into a self-centered, promiscuous lesbian (not to say that being a lesbian or being promiscuous is bad, it’s just such a strange interpretation of Athena’s character that doesn’t make any sense)And don’t even get me started on poor Charis! Charis, Persephone’s first lover in the book, exists solely to be raped and killed by Zeus. She’s fridged to show us that Zeus is BAD and giving Persephone a reason to hate him. The author’s treatment of this character is lazy and offensive. I’m sure this is something that won’t bother all readers, but as someone with a deep love for the mythology, I found the portrayal of the Greek gods franklyinsulting. Plot:“Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie.”Here we run into a big problem with the narrative. We’re told from the very prologue that the story of Hades and Persephone we’re familiar with is a lie, a narrative created by Zeus, and this is Persephone’s attempt to set the record straight.These are the first lines of our story: “I am not my mother’s daughter. I have forfeited my inheritance, my birthright. I do not possess the privilege of truth. The stories told by fires, the myth of my kidnap and my rape, are all that remain of me. Forever I will be known as the girl who was stolen away to be the wife of Hades, lord of all the dead. Andnone of it is true, or is so fragmented that the truth is nothing more than ashadow, malformed. The stories are wrong. I am not who they say I am.I am Persephone, and my story must begin with the truth.Here it is, or as close as I can tell it.”Well, this doesn’t really make any sense when, at the end of the story, Zeus is defeated and thrown into Tartarus. Why does this narrative survive into modern day when Hades and Persephone won? Why is Persephone only able to tell her story now, after thousands of years without Zeus in power? Speaking of Zeus and lies, the justification for the whole “What, Hades is awoman?!” thing really doesn’t make any sense. We’re told that Zeus calls Hades “lord” of the dead as a joke, Hades even refers to it as a “slur” in the story. The reason given for this is that Hades is only attracted to women. Well, if that’s the case, why doesn’t that same logic apply to Athena, who’salso shown to be attracted only to women? Or to Persephone for that matter? Same-sex attraction, even between women, is never shown to be frowned upon in their society, so why would Zeus single out Hades for her attraction to women? And why do all the other gods apparently go along with that “joke” to the point that Persephone literally didn’t know Hades was a woman until she meets her in person? And why, again, did this idea of Hades being a man survive into modern day? The story is constructed so poorly on so many different levels. There are so many threads that are just dropped entirely. For example:- The story starts with Demeter confidently proclaiming that Persephone will become the queen of the gods, setting up this big rivalry between her and the daughters of Hera and Aphrodite. This plot never goes anywhere, in fact, I don’t think it’s ever brought up again after the first chapter, and Demeter basically spends the rest of the book cowering before Zeus. - There’s a significant plotline about Pallas having Persephone try to deliver a message to Athena, a plotline that is unceremoniously dropped without anyresolution. After all the build-up, there’s a throwaway line about Pallas giving the note to Persephone right before the big showdown with Zeus, and that’s the last we hear of it. We never see it delivered, we don’t get to see Athena’s reaction to it, we don’t know how this impacts Pallas, if at all. In fact, Pallas basically doesn’t show up at all after this point. Then there’s the main conflict of the story: Zeus wants Persephone, and as we’re told over and over and over, Zeus always gets what he wants (the author really beats this into our heads). We’re never really given any motivation for any of Zeus’ actions, so this conflict feels weak and contrived. It doesn’t help that we get so much build-up for what a terrible threat he is, and then Persephone defeats Zeus, the most powerful god, feared by all, in like… two pages? It’s such a weak and anticlimactic end to the story.
There was also some sort of convoluted plan concocted by Zeus to, idk, have the dead rise up and overthrow Hades? For some reason? Again, we never get any clear motivation from Zeus. As far as I can remember, we’re never told why he hates Hades so much, or why he wants to overthrow her. I don’t even remember if the author explained what Zeus was going to do with the Underworld without Hades there to rule. I’m sorry, I genuinely can’t even remember the details, but it was just reallybadly set up and, once again, easily solved in a few pages.And that’s really the main problem with the story, everything is so easily solved. Our good guys all get happily ever afters with no sacrifices and no consequences for anything, and there’s always a quick and easy solution to any threat or conflict. Mythology:So how does it hold up as a Hades and Persephone retelling?Well, not great, imho. A lot of classical elements are incorporated into this retelling, but they’re stripped of any meaning or importance to the plot. The pomegranate? It’s there at their wedding, but it never figures into the greater narrative.Demeter causing famine by bringing infertility to the fields? She does freeze the world in this story, threatening everlasting winter, but unlike in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, it’s not an act of agency on her part, refusing to submit to the will of Zeus and fighting to be reunited with her daughter. Nah. She’s just being manipulated by Zeus and it’s used as a cheap reason to tear our lovers apart.And somehow, I don’t even know why seeing as it doesn’t tie into Demeter freezing the earth or Persephone eating the seeds of the pomegranate, butPersephone is still forced to spend half the year on earth and half in theUnderworld.In the epilogue, we see her in modern day New York*, acting as psychopomp (for some reason???), happily guiding the souls to the afterlife, which we’re told is her duty for the half of the year she spends above ground. I’m just so confused as to what the author was even going for here. Where did this come from? It doesn’t originate in the original myths, but it’s also not explained (as far as I can remember) in the book.*This isn’t a problem with the book per se, and it’s 100% a matter oftaste, but I personally really dislike it when mythological figures appearin a modern setting, especially when the author has to put them in anAmerican setting rather than the geographical location of their origin, whetherthat’s Greece or Egypt or Scandinavia or what have you. Romance: Hades and Persephone are destined soulmates and instantly fall in love pretty much the moment they first set eyes on each other, which doesn’t allow for any growth or progression of their relationship. They’re instantly deeply and madly in love with each other and their feelings never change over the span of the story. They spend most of their time together staring lovingly into each others eyes and when they’re separated for literally 3 days Persephone basically spends her entire days languishing in despair.It’s ridiculously melodramatic and cheesy, which again, personal taste thing,I’m just really not into. Other writing issues: - The worldbuilding is pretty much non-existent. The story doesn’t feel grounded in any particular time period or cultural context, and you never get any sense of the setting, or how the world works and what this society is like. - The pacing was really poor, either dragging or exploding into rushed action. - A lot of page time is spent on describing things that doesn’t really further the plot or has any thematic relevance. One example would be the garden of metal and precious stones Hades made for Persephone. It’s cool I guess? But what purpose does it serve? We also waste a lot of time which could be better used developing the characters or moving the plot forward on watching Persephone play with puppy Cerberus or petting Hades’ horses (see poor pacing). - There’s a lot of talk about Persephone having some sort of grand destiny, and that her actions have been prophesized. This is never properly explained and it only serves to weaken Persephone’s story arc, stripping her of agency by implying that she doesn’t really have a choice in the matter. Prophecy and destiny are story elements that have to be handled delicately and are easy to screw up, and they’re just dealt with so clumsily here. - Also the writing was just… not very good.I’m sure there are more things I could dig up and complain about, but I feel like this is probably too long and rambly already, so I’ll stop here.
Obligatory disclaimer:This is obviously just my personal opinion. There are a lot of people who love this book (going by Goodreads ratings, I am clearly in the minority) and I am genuinely happy for them! I also mean no disrespect to the author who seems like a genuinely lovely person.
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And now, cause im bored, here's every chapter of Keys briefly summed up in just a few words each (possible spoilers ahead??)
Prologue: The Thirteen Keys: MoM fucks with his students, what else is new
Chapter 1: Remaining Recusant: Riku rescues his boyfriend through the power of Gay
Chapter 2: To Guard the Light: Bunch of boring lore but Sokai makes it worth it
Chapter 3: To Seek the Darkness: Organization shenanigans; Vanitas divorces his shitty, abusive not-dad
Chapter 4: Hero to Zero: Uhhhhh fuckin' Hercules or somethin idk
Chapter 5: Go the Distance: Rage Mode angst is Fun
Chapter 6: Wandering in the Dark: Riku gets a haircut in the Realm of Darkness and Sora really needs to stop lying to everyone
Chapter 7: Promising Beginnings: Kairi and Lea are forced to wear a "get along" shirt
Chapter 8: Lazy Afternoon Streets: Sora has an Identity Crisis part 1
Chapter 9: At Dusk: YA STUPID ORG XIII FUCKHEADS BEST LEAVE MY SON ALONE OR ELSE ILL THROW HANDS
Chapter 10: Sinister Whispers: ^^^ BASICALLY THAT AGAIN ONLY I MEAN IT THIS TIME
Chapter 11: You've Got a Friend in Me: Being a living toy has gotta create some sorta existential crisis, right?
Chapter 12: To Infinity and Beyond: JEN IS GONNA THROW HANDS WITH YOUNG XEHANORT I SWEAR TO GOD I AM
Chapter 13: Chase the Shadows: Detectives Mickey and Riku play a round of "Where's Terra?" And fail miserably
Chapter 14: Paradise Found: Fun with Balloons and Grumpy Geriatrics
Chapter 15: Adventure is Out There: Sora may or may not fall to his death from ridiculously high up in the air i dont fuckin know
Chapter 16: Unspoken, Unheard: Kairi writes Sora a bunch of letters cause she loves him so much but wont say it cause she shy ahah
Chapter 17: How Far I'll Go: MOANA AND SORA ARE MY NEW BROTP
Chapter 18: Know Who You Are: Vanitas gets yeeted by the Ocean cause he a naughty boyo
Chapter 19: The Streets of San Fransokyo: Sora doesnt understand how Technology works what else is new?
Chapter 20: Immortals: everything's all fun and games until Sora's dumbass self-sacrifical complex kicks in (again)
Chapter 21: Depths of Despair: LOOKS LIKE I GOTTA THROW HANDS WITH MALEFICENT NOW TOO
Chapter 22: Rise and Fall and Rise Again: Sora and Kairi hang out and DAMMIT JUST KISS ALREADY YOU DORKS
Chapter 23: The Lost Empire: Lingering Will pops in to say hi and also uhhhh whatever the fuck happens in Atlantis goes down idk
Chapter 24: Where the Dream Takes You: Sora may or may not have PTSD, boi should probs go see a therapist
Chapter 25: Drowning in Darkness: Aqua throws hands then proceeds to get Norted
Chapter 26: I See the Light: Basically KH3's take on Corona but things actually make sense this time
Chapter 27: What Once Was Mine: In which that bit from KH3 where Marluxia knocks Sora out actually leads to some legit payoff smh
Chapter 28: Firsthand Experience: Kairi and Lea take a trip to Disney World and yeet Vanitas (again) right the fuck outta there
Chapter 29: The World Es Mi Familia: Being an (unliving) skeleton also is bound to raise an existential crisis, right?
Chapter 30: Recuérdame: I cry while writing this chapter, both for my baby Xion and because Coco is just that damn tearjerking
Chapter 31: Destined Reunion: ALL THE POLY DESTINY TRIO FEELS
Chapter 32: Something There: At this point even Riku be lookin at Sora and Kairi and shouting "KISS ALREADY YOU ADORABLE DORKS"
Chapter 33: Tale as Old as Time: Sora commits an Actual Murder (am i kidding? Who knooooows)
Chapter 34: The Realm of Darkness: DARK AQUA CAN STEP ON MAH FACE IMO
Chapter 35: Rise to the Light: Great, now Aqua has PTSD too, thanks for nothin, Mickey
Chapter 36: Return to Depart: Sora has another Identity Crisis, part 2
Chapter 37: Broken Chains: Vanitas challenges Sora and Ven to a fight in the Denny's parking lot and fucking loses what else is new
Chapter 38: So This is Love: YES THEY FINALLY KISSED THOSE DORKS
Chapter 39: Almost There: Frogs and also like... Voodoo and so many BBS callbacks so damn many
Chapter 40: Dig a Little Deeper: Sora is too damn stubborn to admit he needs help what else is new
Chapter 41: Follow the Light: Wayfinder Family Reunion saves my life
Chapter 42: Solving Mysteries, Rewriting History: Sora and Goofy meet Donalds family (who then proceed to take the piss outta Donald cause this is Ducktales fam why wouldnt they)
Chapter 43: The Other Promise: Sora has yet another Identity Crisis, part 3
Chapter 44: Vector to the Heavens: Sora and Roxas drink their "Respect and Protect Xion" juice
Chapter 45: Another Arabian Night: Sora, Roxas, and Xion fuck around in a B-list Disney Direct to Video Sequel
Chapter 46: Out of Thin Air: GONNA THROW HANDS WITH XEHANORT HIMSELF THIS TIME AROUND GET AWAY FROM MY SON YA OLD FUCKHEAD
Chapter 47: Alone on the Run: Sora has a Bad Time, Riku and Kairi also have a Bad Time, generally everyone has a Bad Time
Chapter 48: Trust No One: Ven and Roxas add onto the never ending Twin Pile that apparently exists in Gravity Falls
Chapter 49: Not What He Seems: I KNOW ITS NOT UF BUT LOOKS LIKE I GOTTA THROW HANDS WITH BILL CIPHER ANYWAY SOMEHOW
Chapter 50: A Heart Torn Between: Vanitas learns that Girls exist while Sora continues to have a Very Bad Time
Chapter 51: Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride: Riku's goin on a twink hunt, and dont think he dont know how to weeeeed em out
Chapter 52: Aloha 'Oe: Sora and Riku get into a bit of a lover's spat dont worry about it its nothin serious dont worry about it
Chapter 53: Treasured Memories: Namine is the Very First Person Ever to tell Vanitas he has emotional issues, its about damn time
Chapter 54: Let It Go: KAIRI'S FUCKIN PISSED SHE GONNA BRING HER DAMN DUMBASS WAYWARD BOYFRIEND HOME ALREADY DAMN also Sora hangs out with Elsa i guess
Chapter 55: Love Will Thaw: KAIRI KICKS EVERYONES ASSES INCLUDING SORA'S CAUSE LIKE I SAID SHES FUCKIN PISSED
Chapter 56: Back Into the Fold: Sora doesnt have an Identity Crisis anymore but he sure as hell has Anxiety now, part 4
Chapter 57: Farewell to the Wood: Absolute tone whiplash, brought to you by Winnie the Pooh and Sora's ongoing Existential Crisis too
Chapter 58: Link to All: Everyone just cries a lot for an entire chapter cause they all know they boutta fuckin dieeeee
Chapter 59: Face My Fears: I systematically rip every single one of our protagonists hearts out and stomp on each of them with no remorse whatsoever
Chapter 60: Fragments of Light: The B-Squad saves the day
Chapter 61: The Thirteenth Vessel: Sora hangs out with his New Fam, otherwise known as Organization XIII, family fun ensues and it totally isnt a massive angstfest i dont know what you mean
Chapter 62: Key to the Heart: Riku and Kairi throw hands with their boyfriend while also trying to save their boyfriend it makes sense if ya dont think about it
Chapter 63: The Final World: Sora is McFuckin dead and chilling in heaven with a cute baby plushie cat (hey its not a spoiler if KH3 did it first)
Chapter 64: At Daybreak: "But Jen, if you hate KHX so much then why do you keep making so many references to it???" BECAUSE THATS WHY NOW SHUT UP
Chapter 65: The Keyblade War: Keyblade Fight Club, either you Die or you DIE
Chapter 66: Clash of Light and Darkness: Bunch of teenagers throw hands with some bald old fuckhead, but in the end nobody wins except me
Chapter 67: Kingdom Hearts: You know you're in for something fucking nuts when the chapter title is named after the entire series
Chapter 68: The King and the Crown: Jen pulls off a plot twist so mind blowingly ridiculous that it would probably make Tetsuya Nomura blush
Chapter 69: Reconnect: Everyone has a happy ending except no not really i lied
Chapter 70: Don't Think Twice: Oops I Lied again :)
Epilogue: Dearly Beloved: Fuck KH3's ending this is my new canon now
#this is such a shitpost#though im not lying about any of this stuff tbh#there are indeed spoilers in here if ya squint#jen writes#keys to the kingdom
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a run-down of / my thoughts on the novel ‘trade secrets’
so! i’ve recently finished this beautifully written novel by @bettsican, and am anxiously anticipating for the second book in the trilogy! (seriously, give it a read. it’s a great lgbtq+ thriller and mystery story, i promise you’ll love it!! you can find trade secrets in many places, including amazon, where it’s only $6)
as i was reading it, i noted down all the thoughts i had. it was fun, interesting, and kept me on the edge of my seat!
oh, and spoiler warning, of course.
Chapter One
okay. this is interesting. why are they in paris? or rather, why are they NOT in paris?
2080. damn.
who is cooper hall and why is he important i want to knowwwwwwww
Chapter Two
HOLY FUCK
CHAPTER ONE WAS A PROLOGUE
OKAY IF I DIDNT NEED TO BEFORE I HAVE TO READ IT NOW
-ahem- anyway
nate literally everything you think of has to relate to smoking, doesnt it?
clyde you absolutely bitch raccoon
im sort of piecing together what’s happening here? either way this is a SUPER interesting concept.
i love the idea of every word being important
nate look at you being a nice guy. testing the CAPS before giving them to ur clients
or maybe it’s just good business
but whatever
okay, so credits are money in this world. but how do people get them? obviously there’s what nate’s doing but what’s the legal way to get them? ill probably find out soon
if it wasnt explicitly said by betty that nate ends up with another guy (i forget his name. cooper?) i would have thought audry was the romantic interest
audry you loving caring hypocrite
i feel like she’s gonna be one of my favourite characters
who is this young man that dares disturb nate’s slumber
cooper? cooper.
Chapter Three
nate get up
u turtle get up and hurry down the stairs
or—okay you can fall into that drywall that works too
ohhhhh so nate is a detective. that’s interesting
i also love this idea of keeping secrets (haha trade secrets)
dude are you sure that your embarrassing entrance wasn’t the ONLY reason you blushed? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE HEIG—
nate ur spending an awful lot of time looking at his features you funky little bisexual
oh damn ur smarter than u seem, just watching him take a single breath and you’re already making connections. i guess that’s why he’s a detective
im gonna assume this is cooper, even tho it never explicitly says so
i feel like we aren’t gonna get his name for a while, bc clients and whatnot and not getting attached
Chapter Four
NATE WEARS GLASSES???????
that’s kind of cute
im lowkey gay rn
anyway
NATE CALLED HIM SWEET-FACED AND PRETTY-FACED O K A Y
oh he has curly brown hair
and oh the glasses aren’t real glasses. oh. the use is actually pretty cool!
so from what im gathering civilians are people who don’t live in sanctuaries, and lemnis are people who do?
cooper sweetie why do u need so much money what have u done
nate’s pretty clever
HAH I WAS RIGHT WE AREN’T GONNA GET HIS NAME FOR A WHILE
well that’s that i guess
Chapter Five
he’s so timid awh
hehe he’s on nate’s bed
sorry
goddammit man calm down or else you’re gonna get everyone in a 5-mile radius around you arrested
wait…. zero-credit balance?? didn’t he just have a few hundred thousand credits???
OH THIS IS A FAKE PROFILE HE MADE
so cooper isn’t his real name either
oh
Chapter Six
oh we’re back to 2080
oh they’re back in the apartment??
it was obvious before but at this point it’s confirmed that they’re going to be doing some travelling together or something
Chapter Seven
this is getting really interesting i dont wanna stop reading and type everything that comes to mind
these are gonna be shorter now hehe
“i’d been a petri dish of mixed emotions and wild chemical changes for half the day” I LOVE THAT METAPHOR LMFAO
what happened with nate’s mom
i want to know
my prediction: she wanted him to either change up or completely remove the chip bc she did something horrible? or maybe she just wanted to leave idk im bad at predictions
either way it said she was crazy
o h
that’s why he’s terrified of cutting the chip
poor nate
Chapter Eight
oh this is strangely intimate
very intimate
i feel that, because cooper has such high pain tolerance (or doesn’t show pain), he has some backstory for it
Chapter Nine
lmao nate just went off didnt he
THEIR FLIRTING IS CUTE FHJKJDLSKAJDKLSJAK
also is being lgbtq+ widely accepted as the norm in this setting? bc nate considered cooper to be flirting with him
ughhhh it’s so good so far, from the character interactions to the suspense, especially in this chapter
Chapter Ten
rude cooper is rude, rude nate is even more rude
F E D O R A
“coop”
Chapter Eleven
aw i love jimmy already—
WHAT THE FUCK COOPER
EXCUSE ME
JIMMY
WHAT
HOW COULD YOU
goddammit
what the fuck is cooper hiding
cooper oh my god
you
you’re playing a dangerous game, mate
are you really that heartless
“deceptively innocent eyes” you got that right
this chapter hurted
thanks a lot jess
Chapter Twelve
“like a weeping wound on the canvas of my home” this has got to be one of my favourite similes ever omg
the way nate’s describing cooper makes my heart hurt awh
i feel like butterflies have some sort of symbolism
maybe being ugly on the outside and beautiful on the inside, or vice versa? the vice versa was basically cooper lol
aye we finally get to meet audry!!
PEANUT BUTTER AND TRICYCLE I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THAT
i love audry omg
IT’S NATE’S BIRTHDAY?? HAPPY BIRTHDAY YA SMOKEY CONMAN
“bright eyes” is the cutest nickname ever
Chapter Thirteen
oh we’re back to 2080
wait what they’re trapped together
is this story gonna have a sad ending
please no
Chapter Fourteen
OH IT’S THE LINE ON THE COVER
i like that
nate’s back to where he left cooper
also if it wasn’t obvious before, it’s definitely obvious now that nate and cooper or gonna find each other again. hm. not sure how i feel about that
kind of pissed at cooper but also we need him for the story to progress
O H
COOPER IM ONLY KIND OF PISSED AT YOU NOW
IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE
NATE IVE SAID IT BEFORE BUT YOU’RE PRETTY CLEVER
also who is ‘her’?
COOPER WANTS TO BECOME A?? LEMNIS?? GODDAMMIT MAN
I CAN FEEL THE PRESSURE RISING
nate’s in danger
wow this chapter is
a lot
i need a break
-cue a break-
Chapter Fifteen
i’m back
eisley is a cool last name
oh wait so even people outside of sanctuaries can become a lemniscate
i’m still not 100% sure what a lemniscate is
it’s so ironic elijah’s last name is king, but i assume you did that on purpose. i also like the slight nod to royalty by his first name
OH
COOPER’S BACK
why hello there
Chapter Sixteen
they’re
competing
to become a lemniscate
and one of them dies
do they fight back?? is that why they end up in prison??? so many thoughts are going through my head right now
nate, your fantasy about becoming a lemniscate is surprisingly dark. i’m totally down for it
Chapter Seventeen
oh wait so joshua is cooper’s blackmailer?? Interesting that it’s a lemniscate
i keep forgetting nate is wearing glasses
cooper, my dude, calm the fuck down. you’re gonna get yourself and nate killed
it’s the return of soft™ nate
Chapter Eighteen
oh there’s another one
oh this is very ominous i don’t like
Chapter Nineteen – Twenty-One
okay i was eating while i read so i couldn’t type here but just know that these chapters were really really good
Chapter Twenty-Two
wait fuck what’s happening this is all happening so fast
cooper brought out his gun,,,, it’s aimed at ivonne,,,,,,, they’re walking,,,
OH IT WAS A FAKE KIDNAPPING
nice
i like ivonne a lot
Chapter Twenty-Three
the entire story just changed course
this isn’t just about cooper and nate anymore, it’s about a corrupt government
NATE AND COOPER ARE HOLDING HANDS AS THEY RUN THROUGH THE BARRIER THAT’S SO ROMANTIC
also the line “only the dead are ever truly free” is beautiful
THAT’S WHERE PARIS COMES IN
THEY ALL GO TO FRANCE DON’T THEY
I’m so curious to find out where this story is going
Chapter Twenty-Four
this is doin me a confusion
but tbh these hints/ visions of the future, if you could call them that, are giving just enough information to keep me super interested. props to you
Chapter Twenty-Five
AUDRY STOP TEASING NATE
just joking keep doing it, this might actually get their relationship somewhere
ivonne is definitely my favourite character so far. she reminds a little of melia from xenoblade chronicles, in that they’re both ‘royalty’ that rebel. also they’re badass and smart
oh fuck the brother is here
okay thank god he’s not an asshole
oh god things are happening again
Chapter Twenty-Six
nate stop ogling at cooper when you’re in a life-or-death situation
holy shit the lemniscate are messed up
this crew is pretty great, it sucks that it’s almost the end of the book
WAIT I FORGOT THERE’S A SECOND COMING SOON HECK YEAH
anyway
YES COOPER PULL THROUGH
awwww yiss
Chapter Twenty-Seven
oh
oh
O H
oh my god i ship them so hard
THEY KISSED
THIS IS SO STEAMY
this chapter was art thank you so much for this
Chapter Twenty-Eight
AHAHAH AUDRY
once again, i’d like to state how much i love her
oh the tension just grew twentyfold
this is… great
oh god nate what are you planning, you just got together with cooper and now you want to leave him?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
what’s with all the dancing?
Chapter Thirty
oh god the description
so he’s going around and giving people credits, all the while confessing things that would help the lemniscate track him down. i assume this means he’s going to die, but why?
just what are you planning?
oh we’re back to clyde, the guy who started it all. it feels full circle
Chapter Thirty-One
OH
HE’S MAKING HIS CHIP SHOW THAT HE’S DEAD
that’s much smarter
FUCK
NATE YOU IDIOT—COOPER’S REAL NAME
SHIT NOW KING IS HERE
everything’s going downhill now isn’t it
Chapter Thirty-Two
wait that took an even darker turn
there’s so much happening right now i can’thandlethis
cooper and nate are couple goals
Chapter Thirty-Three
king isn’t as horrible as i thought
still horrible, but not a monster
NEVER MIND YOU’RE A FUCKING MONSTER WHAT IS THIS BS
cooper
actually
shot
nate
Chapter Thirty-Four
OH MY GOD
WHAT
THIS IS HOW YOU END IT
I CAN’T
HOW DARE YOU
NO
NO
NO
NO
i need the next book
like right now
what the hell
Final Thoughts
okay so this book was SO good, and so well written. like damn
aside from that horrible ending how could you do this to me
i’m joking, it was an incredible and emotional ending, i loved it and hated it at the same time
it very rarely felt static, and especially in the first half, there was a good mix of action and backstory/description. it was never boring
the story is just,,, so unique. i seriously haven’t read anything like it, EVER
the world-building?? Is?? so vast?? and insane??
the increasing tension and speed as the story progressed is perfect, i felt my heart beating faster the more i read
anyway that’s all from me
this book was amazing i cannot wait for the next
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The Nightmare Chronicles
Prologue
If you have only just opened the page and picked up the book. Put it down and turn away. This is not a fairy tale story for amusement, this is about my life. This is the first warning.
My name is Narcissa Whitlock, I am 16 and on the run from the world. The story you are about to read is my life. I won’t go into detail for some things, mainly the gorey stuff that made even me squeamish. I will warn you, this story is not for the weak willed. If you want to continue you need to be strong. You have to be able to think things through and see it from every point of view. It will not be pretty and not easy. At first you won’t believe me, but everything is the truth.
If you continue, you MUST be on guard until you finish this tale of woe. It is not an easy road I travel. Oh and last warning, I have three gay best friends so if you don’t want to continue, that is your choice.
Each vision will get progressively worse and more gruesome as the tale goes on. So this is your last warning to turn around. Believe me it will be imperative you continue reading once you start reading.
So join me if you dare on this tale of woe and misfortune. Join me, my best friend, Damien, and my godparents on a trip around the world to save my mother and destroy my normal life. At least as normal as it could be when I get visions of murders and kidnappings. Enjoy my tale and hope you make it through the night. Have fun, you poor unfortunate soul.
Chapter 1
COLD, DEAD EYES STARED INTO mine. I struggled but after a while I realised it was futile. The ropes that bound me to the tree dug into my arms and I bit my lip withholding a wince of pain. My dark brown hair kept getting tangled in the bark of the oak tree that held me. The figure turned and walked away towards a small table a few feet away.
They picked something up that shined in the moonlight and then set it back down. The figure picked up something else and then set it back down on the table. They repeated this process before they finally settled on something. As they turned again to face me I realised they were a male in mid-twenties to early thirties. I caught sight of what was in his hands I screamed. I kept hoping someone would hear and save me as he got closer. The last thing I saw was the sadistic smirk on his face.
My eyes flew open and I released a panic filled scream. My hands flew across my body feeling for injuries. A sigh of relief slipped past my lips when I realised there were none. I threw the covers off and scrambled out of bed over to my desk. I quickly pulled out a sheet of computer paper, my colored pencils and charcoal and set to work. I quickly sketched what I could remember of the man. His eyes, in an icy shade of light blue, were filled with anger, hatred and disdain.
I finished sketching him and went to get ready for the day. I pulled my rainbow hair into a ponytail and I put on my favorite outfit. It was a black pleather skirt, a silver tank-top, a pair of black leggings and a black headband with cat ears on them. I grabbed my black high heeled boots and headed out my door. I was on about the 13th step from the bottom when I heard my mother sobbing. I raced the rest of the way down.
My mother sat sobbing on the couch while the news played on the television.
“... The body of a young woman was found tied to a tree in Aliso Canyon Park. Her body badly mutilated and her eyes were missing along with a few chunks of hair. Not much is known on who she is, the police are still trying to figure out what the motives are, who the killer is, and who is our mystery woman? If you have any Information please call XXX-XXX-XXXX, and you will be anonymous and it will help,” the woman spoke. “This is Laura Jones reporting at Aliso Canyon Park. Back to you Tom.”
I gritted my teeth in anger and slammed my fist into the power button causing my mother to jump. I plopped next to her and covered my eyes. We sat in silence for a few minutes, barely breathing.
“Did you see it?” Mom finally asked.
“Yeah, I just saw it a few minutes ago,” I replied.
“Sketched?” She wondered.
In response I stood up, pulled out my phone, and pulled up Steve’s number. I handed her my phone and headed upstairs to grab the sketch. I looked up at the feeling of being watched. I shook it off and headed downstairs. I never noticed the glint of metal and the same cold dead eyes I had seen in my dream/vision. I could hear my mom talking with Steve as I walked down the stairs. He was sitting on the couch with a rather portly fellow who looked out of place on our small couch. Steve spotted me and stood up. He was like a second dad to me after my dad died and even before then. He hugged me tightly and we only separated when the portly officer coughed.
“Ma’am we can arrest you for calling us here for no good reason besides a social visit,” The man sneered at me.
“Enough, Jones, you have been nothing but rude since we entered that door,” Steve snapped.
“Are we seriously trusting a 17 year old child to-” Jones started.
“Narcissa is the reason we have solved 48 cold cases in the past two years,” Steve snapped.
“SHE IS A CHILD!” Jones thundered, face red.
“Listen here, you fat fuck,” I snarled, my anger finally getting the best of me. “I have done more than you think I have. Now try me you pudgy bastard.”
Steve pulled me away and began muttering calming words to me while Mom tore into the other officer. When I was finally calm Steve told me to go get the sketch. I bolted up the stairs and grabbed the sketch. I turned around and felt shivers run up my spine. I whipped back around to look out the window and saw nothing. I shrugged it off, never knowing that that was a big mistake. I took the sketch downstairs and handed it over to Steve.
I also told him about the feeling earlier. Steve took the sketch and left with his partner. I collapsed on the couch and closed my eyes. A few minutes later a cold can was pressed against my neck causing me to jump a few feet in the air. I took the can of Sprite from my mother with a small smile. I leaned against her and glanced at the clock. 12:08 PM. I groaned as I stood up and headed up to my room to get changed into my work clothes. I bounced down stairs once changed.
I grabbed my keys, lightly jogged outside and headed to work. I won’t bore you with the details. After work I quickly changed and called up my best friend, Damien Blair.
“HEEEEY!” Damien shrieked.
“Ow, asshole,” I snapped.
“Sorry, Cissy, outta work?” Damien laughed.
“Yeah, meet me at the pool, dude?” I asked, trying to force the weird feeling creeping up my spine away.
“Hell, yeah, I’ll be at there in two minutes,” Damien stated as I pulled into the pool’s driveway. Damien pulled in shortly afterwards. I always keep a swimsuit and towel in my Impala. I met Damien at the door and we headed in together. I paid to have the pool all to ourselves for the next hour. I quickly changed into my neon green zebra striped bikini and paused in front of the mirror. Two fingers ghosted over the jagged scar on my stomach and I sighed. I had gotten it when a truck hit my Uncle’s jeep. I shook myself out of my reverie and headed to the pool. Damien had already hooked up his phone to a pair of speakers and started blaring Big Time Rush songs. I dove straight into the deep end, which is 12 feet deep, mind you. I surfaced a few seconds later and locked eyes with Damien. He stood there in a pair of swim trunks, his hair cut.
“You cut your hair? Without telling me?” I demanded, my eyes narrowed angrily.
“You like it?” he asked, twisting side to side.
I climbed out of the pool and sat on the edge next to Damien. He sighed and leaned against me, his tan fingers intertwined with mine. I sighed and leaned against him.
“So what have you been up to at work?” I asked softly,the sounds of country music in the background.
“Flirting with the new guy, perks of being the manager,” Damien replied as he released my hand.
We joked around and swam until an hour before the pool was scheduled to close. I pulled myself out of the pool and headed for my phone. Suddenly ice flooded my veins and the floor seemed to be rolling under my feet. My vision became tunneled and the noises echoed. I don’t know how long the attack lasted but when I came out of it Damien was standing next to me looking worried.
Let me know what you think. Be honest if you have ideas or an OC you want me to place in the story PM/DM or email. [email protected]. please dont steal my work I've worked really hard on this. Thank you!!!
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with the voting gauntlet finished, its finally time for me to get started on my playthrough of FE4: genealogy of the holy war, as promised. i’ll be sharing my thoughts on it as i go along with the game since i know ppl have really been looking forward to that. thanks for your patience and sorry its taken me so long.
if you haven’t played this game yet and you don’t want it spoiled for you, you can blacklist #54462 to be extra safe, even though i will be keeping all of my thoughts as well as any spoilers tucked away under a read more.
for those of you interested in playing the game for yourselves, here is a link to everything i used to get it all rolling.
emulator (i used the 2nd to last link)
japanese ROM
translation patch (instructions on how to use this are on the site)
with all that said, here are my thoughts and first impressions of FE4 so far.
whoa whoa slow down. one historical moment of noteworthy importance at a time.. i literally just started this game have mercy on me.
i don’t trust you, kurth. i don’t trust you and and i don’t trust your face.
and there he is. gotta say he looks pretty damn handsome in this for a 1996 game. he’s got the whole sailor moon villan/utena aesthetic working for him, 10/10.
ah yes, who could forget the YEET desert.
the man, the myth, the legend, sigurd himself.
handsome? yes. DILF tier? debatable. they went a little too yaoi faced for my liking, but he’s definitely handsome. 6.5/10.
“im 11 so shut the fuck up”
S̶͢͞͡T̴̴͞Ŗ͏́͜Ǫ̶̢͞N̷҉G̕͞ ̶̕͘A͡͠͝N͝D̸͘͟҉ ҉́͟͏Ţ͟͢͡͞O͏̵͏͝U͜҉Ǵ̵̷̷͠H̨̢͜͢͞
not sure what i expected tbh. i never thought i’d say arden looks more handsome in heroes but here we are.
the movement arrow is kind of extra when you think about it. a least they were kind enough to make the range more clearly visible unlike FE1.
you know, i’d imagine graphics would be a turn off for many newer players. personally though, i love this aesthetic. it reminds me of shining force 1 which was honestly the game that got me into turn based in the first place, so this style is right up my alley.
imagine how fucking broken the fact that horses could move again after attacking would be in heroes. its practically a built in galeforce by default. horse emblem would be immortal.
rip in pepperoni, character i had literally no way of reaching in 1 turn.
of course marriage is the first thing on his mind, just like the european settlers ‘married’ the native americans. seems legit.
i love me some older FE games, but this blatalant trend of “you are a helpless woman, therefore you are my prize” is one theme i could live without. not even FE7 is free of this sin. its unfortunately realistic of what would happen, sure, but im glad they did away with these kind of themes in the newer games.
but wait! theres more!
troubadors can wield swords here which is very nice since they’re one of my favorite classes tbh.
the maps are definitely as massive as i expected, at least this game throws you a bone by taking multiple turns to burn down villages because really there’s no way you’re getting to them anytime soon.
so ive been playing for a bit now and i still have no idea how you’re supposed to see whether you can double or not, speed seems to be irrelevant to it, or at the very least its not the usual 5 point difference.
i really can’t imagine someone going directly from awakening/fates to this and not being driven up a wall at this point. this is definitely one for the more advanced/veteran crowd.
update: it’s at least a 3 point difference.
update 2: more than a 1 point difference
there’s also the whole calculation of atk - def = damage that you have to do for yourself. similar to how echoes did it. i dont mind that so much it just takes some getting used to. i do prefer the streamlined experience of being shown exactly how much damage i’ll deal before combat since it just feels like a math lesson otherwise.
brigand: fucking burns a village right in front of sigurd’s face
well i didnt make it to this last one in time. hopefully i didnt miss anything important.
i was wondering why the enemies stand on top of the castle rather than in front of it, but now i have even more questions.
there’s also no way of reaching him, and i don’t feel like dragging literally the one character who isn’t on a horse down here to deal with this one boss so..
?? sieze the throne with... sword??
OHH
besiege: surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender; lay siege to.
literally the first time in my life i see this word, but it makes a lot more sense now obviously.
first you beseige then you seize. an added layer of complexity that wasn’t really needed but, i can see them possibly doing something fancy with this in a potential remake. it does add a level of realism though, like the castles aren’t just decorations on the map that the character stands in front of and walks into, but rather obstacles you have to overcome.
hey she’s he’s alive. also sigurd does not fuck around, noted.
great, castle siezed.. so what do i d-
castle #2: SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER
oh my god there are multiple castles to deal with. i remember seeing this mentioned somewhere now that i think about it, probably in an ask or something but wow. you better set aside an afternoon, grab a snack, and strap in kiddos because this is gonna be a long ride.
and of course there are reinforcements why wouldn’t there be reinforcements.
also keep in mind, this is literally the prologue, not even the first chapter of the game yet. i think i hear the sound of multiple awakening-first fans rage quitting and going to find a youtube playthrough to watch instead.
its pretty obvious from arvis’s tone that he can’t stand sigurd, and sigurd is seemingly oblivious to that fact.
things you normally take for granted in newer fe games: being able to tell your units apart.
lets play find the healer shall we?
there she is. maybe on a TV screen these would be easier to tell apart since this is a super nintendo game after all, but as a ROM its pretty much a process of elimination to find the blue one cavalry unit without an obvious weapon in their sprite.
the seemingly “overpowered” built in galeforce of being able to move again after attacking seems a lot less overpowered after playing for a bit and a lot more like a necessary ability. being able to tee off on enemies is pretty much the only way you’re able to clear these maps in any reasonable amount of time.
finally.
all that trouble and you’re basically trolled with ‘sorry your princess is in another castle’
i think that’s going to wrap it up for part 1. i have to say i was definitely not prepared for the sheer amount of time it takes to clear one chapter. i was hoping to knock out a few chapters and post my thoughts after that, but at this rate i’ll only be able to manage one chapter a day so we’ll see how it goes in the future.
so far i like the game, and to be fair i was warned of the length and difficulty several times. but as we saw with ddlc, i tend to ignore warnings. im sure i’ll get used to it more as i progress through the game but right now it seems like the perfect game to play this is when you’re tired, but can’t seem to get to sleep and you’re looking for something to watch or do until you can’t possibly keep your eyes open for another second. if you’re ever in that position, that’s when you should fire this up.
i can definitely see it being offputting to a lot of newer fans, but im stubborn as hell and take this kind of thing as a personal challenge so i’ll definitely be doing my best to step up to the challenge and complete this game rather than backing down.
if you have any questions regarding the game or want to get my thoughts on a certain part of it i just ask that you try to keep it as spoiler free in your question as possible. or just use the reply feature instead.
thanks much for reading.
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I'm curious what are ur thoughts on Takumi? I personally don't like him, but I always give ppl the chance to try to change my mind abt him
lol I had a feeling sooner or later that someone was goingto ask me my opinion on this kid. OKAY BUCKLE UP. There’s no way I can be brieftalking about a character like him so here we go.
Takumi is without a doubt one of the more complex andlayered character of Fates (but not the most, no, that honor would go to Xander.But Takumi is definitely just behind him.) This is a great and welcome change fromAwakening where most of the cast just were as they were and didn’t have anydevelopment or character arcs or great change for better or for worse duringthe entire story (the only ones who really did are Chrom (a bit), some villainsif you count spotpass which is barely canon, and perhaps Lucina a tad). Fatescranked this up quite a bit with many of the royal family members going throughgreat character arcs for better and for worse in both routes, and some nonmain/royal characters who have smaller—but still powerful and significant—charactermoments… some being only for the worse (like Flora and Gunter to a similarextent).
But the real question here is how I feel about Takumispecifically. And I don’t suppose that’s really a simple question to answer (Ialso figure you sent me this ask bc you want to see me analyze him and talk indepth about his character lol. So I’ll do that a bit here too instead of justgiving my opinion.) For one I actually really like complex and multi layeredcharacters. I tend to avoid or disregard the ones that don’t really haveanything going for them (I feel like if Kaze didnt have all his character stuffI might not have liked him as much. If anything it really works to his benefiton how he appeals to me (and a reason why I like him better than say, Frederick)). So as long as a character is complex and goes throughsome nice development, even if I dont like their personality, it’s hard for meto at least not respect how they were written as a character, you know.
And I think that describes how I feel about Takumi too lol.NOW DONT GET ME WRONG, I definitely don’t hate him in any sense of the word.It’s just that……… I don’t like tsunderes lol. And here I’m going to usetsundere here as an umbrella term for “a character who is mean to you but doesn’treally hate you, necessarily”. Fates actually has a few of these characters invarying levels of intensity: Saizo, Rinkah, Selena lololol. And Takumi is oneof them too. But honestly I like to give Takumi the benefit of the doubt herebecause among them all, he’s has the most understandable and relateable reasons for acting the way he does to you. Like Saizo is an ass just because lol (I get his pricklypersonality also stems from how he was brought up and the position he wasmeant to fill and everything but geez dude CHILL). Rinkah is an even worse casehere since she’s just very angry and snippy to everyone bc LOL FLAME TRIBE GETIT!? SHE’S LIKE FIRE LMAO. AND THAT MEANS SHE’S ANGRY LOLOLOLOLOOL.
And while I generally dislike tsunderes (or at least maletsunderes because I find they’re generally more harsh and brutal to you), I’mwilling to give Takumi a pretty big benefit of the doubt here because of what MADEhim the way he is. He has a LOT of reasons why he developed his harsh and coldattitude toward strangers. I feel like most people who dislike or even hateTakumi have no compassion for what he went through and just disregard it asirrelevancy. Like they’re just either unwilling or unable to understand him. AndI get it, like sometimes you’ll come across a character that you can’t findyourself liking no matter what. But I feel like when you understand whereTakumi’s coming from and what made him this way, he becomes MUCH less of a shitand much easier to sympathize with.
Okay so a lot of people give Takumi shit in his firstappearance for being really mean to both you and Azura. Like literally thefirst thing you hear him say (outside of the weird dream battle in the prologue)is that he doesn’t trust you or Azura and he’s not really going to give you achance. Now the game doesn’t really explain why he’s so harsh to you from theget go (which is why I think people get upset with Takumi and his first real appearance gives you a bad impression of him from the start), but guess what he actually has a legit reason for how he acted here. I’m not going to go superdeep into why, but instead I’m going to recommend you watch the Fates drama CD.More specifically the Birthright one which recounts chapters 4ish to 6 in Fates,from mostly Takumi’s perspective. And these tracks humanize him WONDERFULLY andexplains and justifies PERFECTLY his attitude toward you in his firstappearance AND afterward. Like Takumi actually REALLY did want to like you, getfamiliar with you as his family, and form a relationship and a bond with you.Just… a lot of unfortunate things kept getting in the way. It’s DEFINITELY wortha watch and honestly just tore at my heart strings, and put a lot of things in perspectiveand set up the beginning of Takumi’s character arc perfectly. Long story short?It’s all Saizo’s fault lol.
Takumi gets his best development and most exploration ofcharacter ironically in Conquest. Also, personally, I just find Conquest to,generally, be the best written of all three routes. Yes Takumi does have somemoments in Birthright, but they either exist for eerie foreshadowing for whatwill happen in Conquest
or they just aren’t written that well.
sigh.
And when I play Birthright, I find that is the route I enjoyTakumi the least. Yes my feelings are still far far away from hate. But whenhe’s not pushed into the extreme downward spiral situation like he is inConquest, he just ends up acting like a snippy tsundere. I mean even toward hisfamily and very late in the game too he keeps acting this way with theoccasional snarky comment or “more harsh than he meant it to comeoff” remark. Which wore on me a little bit but nowhere near as much asSaizo or Rinkah’s constant mean attitude. Takumi’s support with MU is also agood example of this. And since M!Corrin is canon with BR, and F!Corrin iscanon with Conquest, I think Takumi’s support was written with M!Corrin inmind, no matter which one you pick. Which is why I think he acts so mean to youin that support.
Despite my gripes with Birthright, the one valuable thing itdoes show us about Takumi’s character is his dorky side. Because this boy is adork lol. And this is actually a surprising, but also very welcoming, side ofhis character to see. I don’t think Takumi’s tsundere side is who he is. It’sjust an unfortunate byproduct of his inferiority complex and ptsd from Corrinbeing taken away and leaving a huge void in the family. It’s not who he is. Andin Birthright we really get to see more of Takumi’s better side in a morecasual and less extreme environment in supports with other people in the army.We get to see firsthand he’s actually a very sweet, kind and well meaning boy.Yall haven’t forgot that DAD IS ON THE WAY comment right lol. Takumi is verypure of heart and its really nice to see this part of him in BR. Like, look, he is a NERD
(lol Kaze lurkin in that img I didnt even notice)
AND in his support with Oboro when she makes some clothes and asks his opinion he says “this gets the Takumi seal of approval” AND do you remember how he pushes Leo’s back and brings him closer to the group in that very last cutscene of Rev? YEAH
In my Revelations opinion piece where I talked aboutcharacters, I mentioned the four big ones who get the most development andcharacter focus in this game, those being: Xander, Ryoma, Leo and Takumi. Nowthese four are similar in that they both kind of have a good end character arcand a bad end character arc depending on whether you’re playing BR or Conquest.Like Xander gets his best end in Conquest while BR is his WORST.
So, naturally, the same is applicable for Takumi whereConquest leads to his bad end. Or… does it?
Now everything here begins with Anankos. It’s never actuallyofficially stated anywhere exactly WHEN Takumi was first possessed by him, butif I were going to put my two cents in, I would say it happened when Mikotodied in chapter five. Now going back again to the drama CD, we get to see morehere just how deeply this affected Takumi. In the game Takumi only talks to youpost battle in chapter five where he just screams curses and blame at you. Ifyou don’t know where he’s coming from, this also puts him in a kind of badlight. But the drama CD gives us another more focused account on what Takumiwent through in the direct aftermath of Mikoto’s death and its really notpretty. And if there was any perfect time to want to brainwash this kid, itwould have been here.
Now Leo and Takumi are sort of similar as characters in thatthey kind of have the same problems and struggles. Like they both haveinferiority complexes, and are desperate to live up to their over achieving siblingsect. I think the most important part where they differ—and why Takumi waspossessed and not Leo—is that Leo has his pride. I feel like he has less selfdoubt than Takumi and a higher opinion of himself than Takumi does of himself.(I’m also sure Leo’s magic power helped to stave Anankos’ influence off a bit).Takumi was also put in more extreme situations than Leo was. Keeping in mindTakumi is kind of weak of constitution and has a low opinion on himself, andthat he just saw the woman he’s known as his mother killed before his eyes,gives us more than enough reasons for him to fall hard victim to Anankos’influence here lol.
When you take into consideration everything that happens toTakumi in Conquest, its honestly not hard to understand why he became this way.Firstly, I believe Anankos’ endgame goal here was to kill Takumi, and as soonas possible. For whatever reason, Anankos can’t completely control someoneunless they’re dead first (as evidenced by all the other people he controlslike Sumeragi, Arete, the people of Valla, Garon too—though its not really madeclear to us how or when he died).
Like, we don’t get this
until Anankos hassuccessfully pushed Takumi beyond the breaking point and gets him killed.
Before then Takumi is very angry sure, but he’s stillhimself to at least some extent. He’s not ‘completely lost’.
So what Anankos did instead to further his agenda wasamplify Takumi’s emotions of anger, rage and hate and push him to the breakingpoint. I think Anankos actually kind of sees himself in Takumi because theyboth had similar issues and personal downfalls, and that added with Takumialready being kind of mentally weak and vulnerable, was the perfect recipe fordisaster here.
In Conquest, Takumi suffers. A lot. Think about all of thisfor a second. He fights and loses to you in chapter 10 which, in his mind, allowsyou to move forward and attain greater power that he knows you’re going to useto harm his friends and family in Hoshido. And him losing to you only adds tohis inferiority complex because he was unable to stop you. In chapter 13 afterhe loses to you, Hans goes on a bloody killing spree, brutally taking the livesof Orochi, Reina and Scarlet. And Takumi has NO reason to think you didn’t havea hand in either helping Hans or allowing him to go through with it. And thelast time you see him alive in chapter 23, you’ve just started your invasion ofHoshido, have captured Sakura, her retainers, and Yukimura, and you’ve just gotdone killing Oboro and Hinata—because let’s not mince words here, they do die inchapter 23. So, honestly, taking all this into account, even WITHOUT Anankosbuffing his rage, Takumi has every right to act as angry and frustrated withyou as he does in Conquest. And anger blinds.
And all of that finally culminates to Takumi DOING A FLIPoff the Great Wall of Suzanoh. And nowthat he is dead, Anankos has more control over him. Based on what we see ingame I don’t think Anankos can 100% control a person like a puppet, but more orless influence their extreme negative desires. When we see characters likeTakumi or Garon as a goo zombie, they don’t even mention Anankos by name, impliedor otherwise. When you see Takumi again he’s gone FULLMADNESS and his onlydesire is to kill you, which were his biggest defining thoughts when he wasalive in Conquest, now pushed beyond to the extreme now that he’s dead and completelyunder Anankos’ influence. He’s basically just a zombie made out of nothing buthate and the desire to kill you. I actually think Anankos probably wanted touse him as a trump card just in case you ended up stopping Garon, which you did.
Luckily we still got the power of love to contend with here.The ‘dream sequence’ at the very end of Conquest does wonders for both Takumiand the viewer. Like, even if you DON’T like him, you had to have feltsomething here. What both Corrin and Takumi needed in this route more thananything, but didn’t get the chance to do until now, was to TALK IT TF OUT. Andtalking it out can really do wonders. Takumi in this dream sequence appears toyou as his truest self and is able to give to you all of his honest to goodnessfeelings and smooth things over for the most part. And as a bonus he infusesYato with some Fujin Yumi goodness so you’re all good. (Which, now that I think about it, is some kind of symbolism with him truly forgiving you, apologizing to you, and giving his heart to you)
The Conquest finale will always be incredibly special to me.Because unlike in every other FE endgame where you just kill a transparentlyevil big bad dragon (or in Sacred Stone’s case—SATAN) after all the horrible,cruel, bloody and nasty stuff you went through in Conquest, after hitting rock bottomafter rock bottom, the last thing you do in the route is fight to save someone’ssoul. And that is honestly so powerful to me, and a reason why I’ll alwaysprefer Conquest over BR or Rev.
That’s more or less all I have to say about Takumi opinionswise. He is a very extreme character, and because of some of his actions inConquest I can understand people not liking him. But, much like Xander, he is avery complex and layered character who has a lot going on for him. He’sdefinitely not one of those characters you can just write off at first glancewithout trying to understand what makes him who he is, and why he acts theextreme ways that he does, and understand the reasons why he does the thingsthat people give him flack for.
It’s definitely okay not to like him if you don’t want to—I appreciatehim a lot as a character but I could really take or leave his tsundere side—buthate him or not, you got to admit he’s one of the best characters in this game.If everything you read here didn’t change your opinion on him or cause you tosympathize more with him, then I gotta recommend you go watch/listen to thatDrama CD because like I said, it really does WONDERS for Takumi as a character,explaining where he’s coming from, his stand points on things, and explaininghis volatile attitude toward you. He really doesn’t hate you at all, butsometimes people can let their emotions get the worst of them without meaningto—and when a centuries old evil helldragon is controlling you, it’s honestlyno wonder things got so bad, right.
And, all in all, TAKUMI DID NOT DESERVE THIS SUFFERING AND HE DESERVED SO MUCH MORE AND DESERVES HAPPIEST END
Also here’s a link to that drama CD on youtubePart OnePart Tworecommended tracks if you dont want to watch the entire thingVol 1. Track 2Vol 2. Tracks 4-6 and 8CHECK IT OUT
#Anonymous#inquiries#opinion piece#I can understand where people can be coming from when they dislike Takumi#since he can be a very extreme and volatile character#but honestly I think there's no real legit reason to ACTUALLY hate him#like he's just a goodboy who happened to be pulled down into a whirlpool of suffering#none of this is his fault at all you know he just got wrapped up in super bad circumstances#I cant imagine anyone still hating him after understanding where he comes from#also if you're too lazy to watch the drama CD#long story short when Corrin first came to Hoshido Takumi wanted to be friendly and nice with you#he didnt remember you bc he was too young but he wanted you to feel welcome here and form a bond with you#BUT THEN FUCKING SAIZO SHOWS UP#and you want to know why this is bad?#because Saizo saw you at that Hoshidan outpost at the bottomless canyon#and he SAW you with the Nohr family#and you know what Saizo does with this information?#HE TELLS TAKUMI and sows seeds of doubt and mistrust in Takumi#he's like 'I saw Corrin with Nohrian royals so he might have come into Hoshido as a spy'#like I get its his job to be wary and cautious of these things but SAIZO#why did he have to tell Takumi you know out of everyone lol#that's why Takumi is wary of you at first#a lot of other things happen too which just add on to it#its an avalanche effect#writing this kinda made me emotional about Takumi though he deserves happy end#also if yall actually read all my ramblings and give two hecks about my blatherings then thank u lol#idk if people really care to read 3k word character analyses by me though#idk if my opinion on things holds any weight but here it is lol
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lyraeon
replied to your post
“took me 7 years…but i finally finished Dream Drop Distance :3I somehow...”
Not to be like that but I'm fairly sure all of KH is so convoluted that nothing shy of actually watching a playthrough or at least the cut scenes COULD spoil any of it :P
I know you said- not to be like that but I’ve seen A LOT of people shitting on the convoluted story with KH3 just released and I’ve kept quiet til now cause “meh whatever let em think what they want” this is not meant SPECIFICALLY AS “rawr don’t shit on my game series” but more a “I hear people...but a lot of people are looking at it...MAYBE too myopically)
so yeah sorry Ly...this is not directed at you...but also yeah XD I have been wanting to say something like this since....well probably a LOT longer than I know because I’m surrounded by people who either SHIT ON the series OR admit- they just button mash and thats it- they dont care and it breaks me inside as a story teller SOOOOOO INCOMING RANT TO THE VOID
I’m going to be honest,
I’ve played the games since release, and I streamed BBS, KH1, 2 CoM on twitch (play throughs are on yt for anyone who wants to binge those :D- shameless self plug here) and JUST finished Dream Drop Distance (when I streamed the other ones I played in chrono order not release) so as of now I’ve played from BBS-3D in chrono and release order, I still gotta do the last two parts of 2.8 before starting 3.
and before I dive too deep I’m gonna preface this all by saying
when people say its convoluted-
YES it is, no question, this is a series told OVER a decade spanning many games. Its gonna be messy for a lot of people especially those casual gamers who don’t play games for deep story they play to escape. I get ya- this isn’t for you, have fun gaming ^.^
BUT is it SO convoluted it takes too much to understand if you WANT to?
ok now that I made sure to not DESTROY people’s dash boards--- ON WITH THE SHOW
I don’t think so
I’d even argue FF7 and KH series ON THE WHOLE (like when mapped out beat for beat story wise) so far are pretty equally convoluted but yet EVERYONE LOVES FF7 in spite of its extremely deeply convoluted story.
I think the MAIN difference was that FF7 relied heavily on explicit unreliable narration. In Cloud being the (redacted reason for spoilers) protagonist (seriously, it may be an old game but I’m not gonna spill the beans go play it to find out, this allowed for A LOT of exposition to be given naturally and also for “plot holes” to be filled in as the game progressed when we see “what really happened” when we did. I truly think that HINDSIGHT and that revealed knowledge is why SO MANY clamor that FF7 is the BEST in the Final Fantasy series when to many- its really not, its a great game but certainly not the best (as seen from the STARK as fuck divide in the fanbase over it’s expanded chapters (crisis core, dirge of cerberus, Advent Children, etc)
KH does not do this entirely, they instead rely on a “childlike” narrator (which is still unreliable but I’d argue a different kind) Sora is 14/15 in the first game, so through HIS journey alone we’re seeing the world from his perspective and ITS A LOT TO TAKE IN but even in DDD everyone kinda points out ...SORA IS A BIT OF A DUNCE lol I attribute the story telling to that, cause in BBS when we play as Ventus/Terra/Aqua- its not as confusing sometimes, cause these players are older, so the world is already understood by them, nothing is really NEW, whats new is their personal blossoming philosophies conflicting with the world they are now thrown into
they’ve studied it but never PARTAKEN in it vs Sora...who literally wakes up in another world carrying magic mcguffin after a giant mother fucking eldritch creature with a gaping hole in it’s torso swallows HIS home world (its not spoiling it’s literally the tutorial/prologue of the game)
the other thing- where FF7 had 3 discs (which back in the way back days) was SHOCKING (until Star Wars came out with their 4 disc KOTOR/KOTOR 2 for the PC) like 3 discs for 1 story? wtf man?
KH so far in their series has had -
BBS (3 character’s stories over the course of I think a few weeks)
KH1- 10 years later following a new boy with no prior knowledge of what was going on prior to his story, and this takes place over nearly a year
358/2 days- runs relatively overlapping with Chain of Memories, buut starts 7 days before due to the fact it starts in the final act of KH1
KH2- picking up where said above two games leave off, wrapping up the arc of the Organization and reuniting Sora/Riku/Kairi together at home another year has passed
Coded (not needed but is part of the main timeline) happening I’m guessing in a SHORT as fuck span of time
Dream Drop Distance- taking place between 2 and 3 as a bridge cause it shows Riku and Sora finally hitting a maturing point- they take the tests to be LEGIT keyblade warriors
7 main games over 7 “discs” honestly I like that what they did for us was gave us over time the
1.5, 2.5 and 2.8 remixes cause that condensed ALL that into “3 discs” (JUST LIKE ff7- also mind you, the thing I’d even stress- imagine if Square Enix tried to compress ALLLL this story back when KH1 started, like it’d be too much, this story needs to be digested slowly. LIKE another LONG running series (that for the most part - MANY PEOPLE love (Game of Thrones? Homestuck? ANY anime that started back in the toonami days and isn’t done (look at you Dragon Ball)
GRAND stories take time, video games just were normally NOT that format to showcase such a spectacle...hell Final Fantasy which is like...what? nearly 20 games (including side ones) but only...2 of the “main numbered” games have sequels, the rest are not connected plot/world wise.
being a writer I probably could do all that Kingdom Hearts has done in the form of
the five act plot vs the 3 act structure we are used to (see Dramatic Structure)
normally people are used to a 3 act structure (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax)
but so far I see KH serie as a 5 act structure (below)
Exposition - BBS (explaining the world and following 3 people well versed in it for the reader to fall into it and be ready for the next step)
Rising Action - Kh1/358days/CoM (Sora is plucked from his world and thrown into a larger one, on the way he learned about the dark and the light, growing and preparing to fight it as he feels he is part of something bigger than himself)
Climax - KH2/Coded/3D (this part is guess work) we see the “end” of Sora’s growth, the boy we started with is grown and all in, we see him and Riku raising up to their peak to fight the darkness only for the ending of 3D to reveal that the end isn’t the end,
Falling Action <- this part here I think is going to be ALL of Kh3, the falling action, that stripping away of all things built up with the end in sight
Denouement/Resolution/Catastrophe- and here is where the series will end...however that is be it ONE MORE GAME or...the climax of KH3? I dunno we’ll see
SO YEAH....long story short...Kingdom Hearts IS LONG but like ANY OTHER long standing story with deep, and expansive lore- consumption can’t be done in one go. It’s not for casual consumption, at least the story isn’t. Many people play it and give ZERO shits about the lore/story/etc....and honestly I can’t with those people I literally don’t comprehend it but thats on me not them
BEFORE I LOSE MY TRAIN I END THIS RANT HERE
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Grinding Renown Made Fun!*
*Grinding for Renown in Fire Emblem Awakening is never really fun. Its tedious, and if you want to max it out it will take many, many hours. This guide is just to show you how I made it as fun as I could while still keeping it relatively fast and efficient. Maybe you will want to try it for yourself or make a variation based on what you like.
(also note that my method uses a lot of the DLC so if you dont have at least Lost Bloodlines 2 and Smash Brethren 2 for Dread Fighter and Bride then it probably wont work very well, but maybe you can modify it, I am not sure. It also would probably be nice to have Lost Bloodlines 3 for Paragon and I liked having all stats +2 from Champions of Yore 3 but those 2 arent necessary)
For starters I want to be very clear that everyone knows this isnt technically the fastest way to grind renown. The fastest way to grind renown is exactly what it says on the wiki: make a ton of money on golden gaffe then summon a weak/cheap character, pay to recruit them, then dismiss them, repeat 2000 times. I tried doing this on a file where I was at endgame and I found it terribly boring, which in turn meant it was not the fastest way for me to grind renown since it would take me forever to find the energy to do it.
So when deciding how I wanted to grind renown for myself I had a few objectives: fight the spotpass characters, not buy them, and make fighting them as quick as possible; minimize the number of spaces that a spotpass character could spawn when I summon them to cut down on walking around the world map; minimize the number of times that I go into the wireless menu to make it easier to multitask (basically it was harder to watch movies or tv in the background using the fastest method since its so menu heavy, so I wanted to cut that time spent down); if possible, completely eliminate the need to manage items on my units. I solved all these issues and these are the steps of my method (the Miester Method?):
Step 0: Grind supports before you even start grinding renown. Grinding out supports is much more interesting than grinding renown. You get new dialogue after most fights and a lot of it is interesting. Just make sure you are grinding on spotpass characters instead of risen since spotpass fights/purchases give the most renown, that way you are maximizing your gains for when you run out of supports to grind and are ready to move onto proper renown grinding.
Step 0.1: Pray your past self really loved playing Awakening. Just having played the game a lot normally will put you in a nice starting position. By the time I finished support grinding gen 1 and moved on to renown grinding I was at nearly 45,000 renown, close to half of the 99,999 max. I cant recall how much of that was support grinding on spotpass characters and how much was there from just playing a ton of Awakening, I forgot to check, but both helped.
OK, now on to the actual steps for renown grinding.
Step 1: Start a new game. You arent challenging yourself here so just go normal casual.
Step 2: Play the game up until Chapter 8 (but dont play chapter 8.) Also beat Paralogues 1 and 3 but not 2. This should have your world map looking like this:
The reason you want to do this is because it leaves your world map with exactly 10 empty spaces in which to summon spotpass characters. As 10 is the maximum number of spotpass units you can summon at once, having 10 spots on the map lets you spend the least amount of time in the wireless menu. Its also good to not allow more than 10 free spots because every extra square you add means more time wasted walking across the map. This is why its not a good idea to do this grinding at endgame: you could be on Donnel’s island and summon a bunch of spotpass units in Valm and vice versa.
Now, as for why I picked prologue-chapter 7 and paralogue 1 and 3 over other choices for my 10 map spots, it mostly came down to map layout. They are all small early game chapters that take only 2-3 turns to beat on auto battle most of the time. Paralogue 2 was much too big and would take more turns to beat and Chapter 8 is full of turn adding desert. Remember, youll be fighting MANY battles in these maps, an extra turn or two each time translates to hundreds of extra turns in the long run. That being said, I want to emphasize that if you havent gotten lucky getting second seals from the random shop annas, you should play chapter 8. Chapter 8 gives you Gregor and another second seal, Gregor is especially important because hes got armsthrift without using a second seal (more on that in a bit). I had already gotten 1 other second seal from Anna by the time I got to chapter 7 so I chose to not play chapter 8, whether or not you do is up to you. If you choose to play chapter 8 then you need to cut either paralogue 1 or 3. Paralogue 1 is a smaller map so will be more likely to give you a 2 turn clear over paralogue 3′s 2-3 turn clear, but paralogue 3 gives you a store with access to javelins and hand axes, two weapons that are very nice to have.
Step 3: Build an Army. Trust Armsthrift. Now its time to prepare your team. The maximum number of units youll need to field in any of these battles is 9. If you go under 9 youll need to waste time in battle prep deselecting units, and we dont want that, so getting to 9 units is important. To eventually get to a point where you never need to buy items for your units youll want armsthrift on your whole team. Unfortunately theres a few hurdles to jump to make this happen since we only are at chapter 7/8. First, we dont have our full team to pull from and second we cant buy second seals. Naturally we will need to get as many spotpass units with armsthrift as we can, but only 5 come with armsthrift: Malice, Linus, Ike, Roy, and Ogma. This means youll need 4 second seals to get a full armsthrift team. Robin, Cordelia, Donnel, and spotpass characters can reclass to mercenary this way. You will have one second seal from renown rewards meaning you need 3 more from anna shops (or only one if you choose to do chapter 8 and get Gregor and another second seal.) Chrom is a good temporary member while you train up your team since he has an unbreakable weapon, but sadly its only 1-range which is not going to cut it since enemies will always attack him at 2 range making battles last at least 1 turn longer than they would otherwise. As for the actual training, do Yore 3 over and over to collect all skills plus 2 for everyone and gain levels to be better prepared for Bloodlines 2 and 3 which are a bit tougher but also get better rewards (and youll be doing Bloodlines 2 a hell of a lot to get all the dread scrolls youll need to reset levels until everyone has max luck.) Bear in mind you will need limit break to go over 50 luck, but just capping it normally or even just pushing it into the 40s then giving all your dread fighters and brides a full inventory of hand axes or javelins will make it so that your stops at the armory are few and very far between.
(optional step: if you have golden gaffe then once your units are decently strong run it 5-10 times and then never think about money again)
Step 4: Setting up the grind. By now you are ready to fire up a couple of rounds of proper spotpass grinding. You might want to wait until you have a full team of limit broken armsthrifters but I recommend waiting a bit, I will explain why in a sec. So I will now give the rundown on the actual grinding that will probably become auto-pilot like for you before too long. Open the wireless menu, go to bonus box and bonus teams and summon 10. If your team isnt maxed out then I say pull the first 5 from one game and the first 5 from another, just to be sure you wont run into anything that kills you. You are on casual, so its not normally a big deal if a unit dies in this process, but if its Chrom or Robin its a game over, and even if its not thats stopping for a text box which slows you down. I recommend the shadow dragon and binding blade teams because there are no cleric/troubadour team leaders who slow things down by not killing themselves on your units and theres no armor knight leaders (and few armor knight other units) who sometimes add turns by not making it to your units as quickly in the bigger maps. Dont save after every battle, it adds like 3 seconds each time, just do it after every cycle (10 battles). If your units are over the 50 luck line give them their best weapons and let them go to town. If they are under 50 then give them a full set of hand axes for dread fighters and javelins for brides and they will last dozens of cycles before you need to restock their inventory. If you are still using Chrom and/or another non armsthrift unit then make sure they are at the 9th slot on your team so they dont go into most fights. Then just turn off and skip all animations and phases and set auto battle to blitz and auto battle every turn, forever.
Step 5:
Step 6: Break up the Monotony. This is the crux of the Miester Method. Summoning a full set of 10 spotpass units and killing them with a very strong team will take ~8 minutes and net you 500 renown. From 0 renown thats closing in on 24 hours of still very repetitive grinding (now you see why I recommend you grind supports first, if you can get close to 50k renown before beginning actual renown grinding youve cut that time in half). Some people might not find level grinding to be a sufficient break in the monotony but for me leveling up in awakening, especially if your units have Paragon, is very fast and fun and rewarding. I might even go so far as to say that building super units is the most fun part of Awakening’s gameplay. So what I recommend is every 15 minutes or so (2 cycles of 10 spotbass battles roughly) head back to dlc land and power up somebody. Get another dread scroll to reset the level of someone with a lot more stats to cap then run them through Bloodlines 3 solo to gain like 20 levels in 5 minutes. Then pop back to the world map and do another cycle of spotpass renown grinding. When enough of your units are close to max stats try and start taking on Rogues and Redeemers 3 to get limit break for everyone and start getting luck to 50. Once they are at 50 luck you can throw your ultimate bonus box weapons like book of naga and mjolnir on them and they will never break and you wont need to mess with their inventory ever again. Try to be going back and forth this whole time too: do a few spotpass cycles, then grab a limit break skill, back and forth. Once everyone has limit break on them go for capping every single stat on every unit. This will take a while because some of them really dont want to get points of magic and/or resistance. So back and forth now between cycles of spotpass and getting more dread scrolls and resetting levels to try to get that res. Everytime one of my units maxed all stats I gave them a forged weapon to celebrate. I ran out of characters to cap before I finished renown grinding so I then broke up my cycles running Infinite Regalia to try and get a ragnell for Ike and a second Gradivus for my second Bride. By the time that was done, I had less than 20k renown to go, and so I was ready to buckle down and sprint to the finish line. That last 20k wasnt even all that bad because I felt like only now was I really in a total grind, breaking up the monotony for the majority of the experience really helped make it more fun for me. Hopefully it makes it easier for you too!
Step 7: !!!VERY IMPORTANT!!! Once you finish Renown grinding you need to beat the game on that save file or it wont carry over on new files!!!! So do that. It will be....very easy.
I dont expect it will take more than an hour.
Once its over, congratulations! You are now W o r l d R e n o w n!
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December 14th, 2017 CTP Archive
The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on December 14th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on Zaltera by Morgan Mudway (aka Tri).
Featured Comment:
Chat:
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Zaltera by Morgan Mudway (aka Tri)~! (http://zalteracomic.com/) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~!
With that said, let us begin with this first question~!
QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?
snuffysam
Hey everyone!
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
hey snuffysam~!
snuffysam
I'd say the latest chapter (prologue part 2), and the pages leading up to it. It really helps sell the point that there are multiple sides to this story.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes. i really like how different in tone both prologues are as well. the first prologue came off to me as kind of aggressive and hostile. where the second part just feels more sorrowful and lamenting. and i think that works in a big way to show how each different species is
snuffysam
yeah that was a big aspect of why i liked it
wishjacked
I actually really loved that first prologue, I don't know if it counts as a single scene but I thought it was very masterfully written and, especially, drawn
I usually don't like BACKSTORY openings at all, but I thought it worked super well to show off the creator's skills and it definitely got me hooked.
also, hey guys!! long time no see!!
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
nice to see you as well wishjacked
wishjacked
oh yeah, very good point, Rebel!!
even the way the colors/greyscales were used contrasts the two stories really well.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes. although i like theres a contrast between the prologues and actual story too. i think it helps the prologues really stand apart so you dont need to know theyre prologues. you can just guess from the visuals by comparison what they are.
the visuals are also just masterfully done
snuffysam
yeah i was impressed by the visuals throughout, but especially prologue 1.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yeah i was too. also partly because the writing was very good too. going in i was skeptical cause my experience is that the comics that tend to go the more artsy root suffer in the story department. i definitely didnt feel that way at all this time tho.
snuffysam
Even our main characters feel pretty well-developed, and they've only gotten one chapter of screentime each.
wishjacked
the page in the first prologue where the Zarians find their murdered child was one of the best I've seen, I thought it was a very difficult page to pull of visually and it hit all the right notes. that's been a recurring element through the art, though-- it says a LOT even when very little it actually happening. really, really wel done
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
oh that is a good page, though i liked it for a different reason. for me that was the moment where the two sides aspect was really hammered in. cause the wording was very specific in that all it says was "we found one of our children murdered in cold blood in the streets."
it does not say who murdered that child tho
its implied to be the avolians of course
but the fact theres no direct accusation is kind of telling
wishjacked
yes!!
I thought it was great that even though the first prologue was obviously biased, the wording IS always vague enough that everything can be read multiple ways!!
really keeps interpretation open, it keeps the tension going really nicely and keeps the prologues from feeling "finished" and unimportant
snuffysam
that's a good point. so did people at the time know the truth, and this is just a biased version of history? or were the zarians confused from the get go?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes. i really just think this comic nailed the vagueness as you say. cause this does help it reach its themes very easily. cause a lot of it definitely feels like they are stories being told by someone and not some objective narrator.
and thats a good question
id assume the zarians were confused from the get go
i mean the truth could be a lot of stuff
it could be that some zarian did it to spark a war, could be an avolian did it to spark a war, could have been an accident and no one would own up to it
very many possibilities(edited)
snuffysam
true true. there was probably even some propaganda involved
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yeah thats a good point
i mean its a story
so maybe never even happened at all
QUESTION 2. Some of the key themes in Zaltera revolve around historical revisionism, miscommunication, and the basic fact that history is written by the winners. Given this being the case, what do you think is the true story of events past? Did the Zarians truly leave their homeland because of an oppressive king? Were their accommodations truly so destitute and were the Avolians mistreating them as is claimed? Were the Zarians justified in taking the Avolian city? What do you think about the unicorns who the Avolians are taking refuge with? Do you have any other theories regarding the history lessons each respective culture is focused on?
(a bit early but were on the topic anyway)
snuffysam
It's interesting how the Zarians (claimed to be, at least) refugees in the Avolians's land, and now the Avolians are refugees in the unicorns' land.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes i like this extra theme of history repeating itself. like it really makes you wonder if there'll be a war with the unicorns.
which i also like how complicated the situation is
on the one hand the unicorns feel a bit ridiculous cause they have no leeway for kids being stupid kids. but then on the otherhand as refugees, theyre kind of obligated to respect the culture status quo of the unicorns cause they are the ones who are guests. and the unicorns probably have a reason for banning violence so strictly.
its a really complicated situation that shows a lot of issues sometimes just come from cultural differences
snuffysam
And that brings up the question- how many of the issues between the Zarians and the Avolians were due to cultural differences?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes it is an excellent question. its hard to say without seeing them interact more. although it could be that perhaps the fire magic played a role. cause that seems to be the zarian speciality while the avolians seem to have mostly disdain for it. so maybe its actually a similar playing out. where, like the unicorns, the avolians were like "hey there no fire magic we dont care if your kids are kids no fire magic." and so the zarian grew disdainful cause to them it was a ridiculous rule
snuffysam
What if the kid in the Zarian history committed some serious crime? Something the Zarians would want to forgive (since they're just a kid), but something the Avolians didn't take sitting down. Kind of like what happened at the beginning of chapter 2 with the unicorns, but much more serious.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes that could be entirely possible.
tho i imagine their death was not some act of justice
considering from the sounds of it there were fews witnesses to what actually happened to the kid
i mean heck
kid couldve just killed themselves on accident by misfiring a spell
snuffysam
it's possible. perhaps we'll see a war break out with the Avolians and the unicorns for similar reasons?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes it is possible. although the avolians might just get kicked out.(edited)
which maybe thatll spark another war with the zarians
cause they need their home back
snuffysam
could be. they already need their home back, after all.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
or a new home. which is why i also question the zarian account. like im sure their community had some issues of destitution, but what was the avolian situation? no matter how someone feels about refugees, they do put a burden on the system where they are taking harbor. like were the avolians being like "so hey theres this land over here where you could maybe make a new home" and then the zarians were like "eh maybe tomorrow." like, theres a lot of spitballing i could do, but i feel were missing a key component about what zarian life was like as refugees and how that was effecting the avolian system. cause its possible that the avolian resources were low or something like that too and the zarians were making those resources even more scarce or something.
Superjusting of Time and Space
OMG HELLO
Just thought I'd pop in real quick~
snuffysam
I suppose it is a bit odd that the Avolians apparently rescued the Zarians from dying in the desert, yet apparently they also treated them like hostages? How do you have both?
hey SJoTaS
Superjusting of Time and Space
Thanks for the warm greetings~
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
hi super XD
Superjusting of Time and Space
Hi Rebel!
snuffysam
for that matter, why would the Zarians mention the rescuing part in their already extremely biased history?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yes those are great points that really stand out.
it could just be agenda related though
in that they didnt need to bias the rescue part but for some reason it was super important to make the start of the war biased
Superjusting of Time and Space
True
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
QUESTION 3. On the Zarian side is the figure of Azul who feels that the history he has learnt is wrong and biased. While most of the Zarian’s advocate violence against any Avolian, Azul wants to use diplomacy. Do you think Azul will be able to convince other Zarian’s to use a diplomatic method? Will the pressures of the throne eventually destroy his values? If Azul does manage to convince others of diplomacy, how might that affect his relationship with his brother Jade? Speaking of which, why was Azul’s father murdered and how might that affect his ideas for dealing with the Avolians?
snuffysam
Depends on who he talks to. Some Avolians will be willing to talk. Others, I imagine, will not.
I don't know if Asul'll be able to convince anyone major in the kingdom to see his way. It seems more like he's just going to go off on his own.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yeah. not that i have specific evidence but i feel azul is going to be forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his brother cause his viewpoints well be seen as too radical. like if i assume typical story flow and that the two outcasts, azul and tigfeather, meet, then i imagine that will not go over well. where he comes home is like "mom mom see i was talking to this avolian and were friends now and see everything isnt so bad." and his mom just is like enraged and like what is wrong with you
thanks napples
i am curious why the avolians keep skirting into the city though
snuffysam
try and gauge the opinions of the zarians? i feel like they should have a pretty good idea at this point though
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
idk. like id understand if the avolians were in a better situation. cause if they intended to take their city back then of course you have scouts to plan out the attack. but the avolians i dont think would be capable of a war where they made first strike
albeit
maybe this is part of the two sides thing
the avolians are scared of zarian pursuit so send scouts to watch for attack
and the zarians fear attack so kill the scouts
snuffysam
yeah, something like that
or maybe they're scouting for some resource that they can't get with the unicorns?
not sure what that would be though
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
could be possible
or maybe theyre just hoping the zarians leave the city out of boredom XD
snuffysam
that's possible. they still consider the zarians to be residents of their native homeland, iirc, believing every race has its place and all that.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
the other possibility is that these avolians watching the city are like a splinter cell who believe war is the only answer whereas the rest of the avolians took refuge with the unicorns and were like "nope were done with war"
snuffysam
didn't someone remark on how they lost a few more scouts? or am I misremembering?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
id have to go back and re-read. its possible XD just theorizing and i might have missed it tbh
but on the point of azul i wonder why his dad was killed.
snuffysam
how long ago was the war?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
thats a good question
ive been kind of vague on the timeline tbh
snuffysam
because if it was less than a generation ago, azul's dad may have just been killed in the war. as wars do.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
hmm
so at the beginning with azul the teacher says its been passed down through generations
so it wouldve been sometime ago
snuffysam
ah. so no then. unless she's referring specifically to the beginning of the story - since it's possible generations passed between then and the war.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
although the teacher also is using the diary of azul's great aunt
cause to be fair we dont really know their lifespans
id assume his dad wasnt killed via the war tho
snuffysam
yeah that's a fair guess
so i suppose there were avolian scounts who killed azul
's dad while he was trying to chase them off?
or maybe it was an accident, and the kingdom just pins it on the avolians like everything else
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
well i doubt it was a chase off. cause jade does specifically say he was killed for taking pity on them. so clearly the dad was making friends and trying to repair relationships.
crack theory
it was the unicorns all along
they killed the dad
snuffysam
that would be pretty big. what do they have to benefit from that though? wouldn't they want the avolians to make peace with the zarians so they can get out of their hair?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
maybe the unicorns hope for mutual destruction and then they rule all the lands
didnt have to be violent
just manipulate others to be violent
its brilliant
snuffysam
i mean they do still have to directly kill people to instigate violence in this scenario. so it's not a completely non-violent takeover.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
close enough O_O
tbh i wanna go out on a limb and say it was zarian extremists who killed him. cause they didnt like he was going against tradition. so they killed him and framed the avolians, which i imagine the latter wasnt hard to do since i picture the ones coming around around were easily swayed back to the "they were right about the avolians all along"
QUESTION 4. With the Avolians our main figure is Tigfeather who is able to use fire magic. Her magic, which stands apart from other Avolians, is due to the fact that she, is in fact, a phoenix. What significance might there be to Tigfeather being a phoenix? How does this tie into the past history with Lady Rovira who ruled the Avol Kingdom? Will Tigfeather’s outcast nature make her more receptive to Zarian diplomacy, or will she perhaps help her people wage a war against the Zarians (or the unicorns)? What other ways do you think learning she’s a phoenix will affect her?
snuffysam
that sounds about right. ignore all the extreme burn marks over the king's face and body, it was the avolians.
my thinking is that she'll either be exiled or run away on her own, and then meet azul.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
i doubt shell be exiled but i could see her running away. especially now that she knows shes a phoenix cause it might give her new perspective on how the others treat her. or she may do it from more noble intentions of knowing that sticking around probably means her entire ppl are gonna get kicked out and have no home.
or
maybe
what if something happens to her brother
so she leaves to rescue him
but then azul is already there rescueing him
cue sitcom friendship
snuffysam
what if she accidentally hurts her brother? and she leaves because she doesn't want to hurt anyone else.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
oh that could be too
oh oh
whatd make sense in that scenario is she specifically goes to the zarians to learn to control her fire magic
since fire is their thing
snuffysam
ooh yeah that would make a lot of sense
how good is azul at fire magic? do we know?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
hard to say but i imagine as crown prince he probably had good tutors
i mean that scene where he got angry at least showed hes capable of it
snuffysam
thats true. i wonder who would be angrier at azul and tigfeather's potential meeting (and friendship) - his family or hers?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
id assume azul's if only because his is the royal family so thus they are the example and hes the one who has a dad dead. so far with tigfeather we havent really seen a vast amount of her feelings with the zarians(edited)
perhaps shes also inspired because she learns her ppl are biased
since shes learning "wait phoenixes are not bad"
snuffysam
she doesn't seem to care that much about questioning history like azul does. she really just wants to live her life.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
it could be inspiring tho.
to be fair
her leaving the avolians could be as simple as she wants to learn more about her people's origins in general
to understand why shes a phoenix
but ive just had a thought
what if tigfeather is rovira? cause its bugged me that rovira just died considering in all lore phoenixes do the whole bursting into flames and then theyre reborn
so what if tigfeather is the reborn rovira
snuffysam
i'm guessing there's a reincarnation aspect, yeah. hence why we haven't heard of multiple phoenixes being alive at once. how long ago did rovira die?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
i dont think it was said but i wanna assume it was before the zarians which is the wrench in this theory. cause it doesnt sound like theyd lost their kingdom at that point
snuffysam
unless there were other phoenixes in between them. or maybe it takes a century or so for a phoenix to be reborn.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yeah either or is possible
rovira just might be the most notable phoenix
although id put money on the century reborn thing too if this is the case
as i just picture the end of this prologue being the gma going "btw you are lady rovira reborn so kind of are the hope of our ppl. so yeah. good luck with that."
and tigfeather is like what O_O
snuffysam
yeah i can imagine that would be overwhelming for her lol
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
but potentially another reason she runs away. is like okay better deal with the zarians i am the hope of our ppl. she meets azul and is like "dang it they arent these blatantly evil enemies"
snuffysam
maybe she'd run away from her destiny instead of towards it?
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
very possible too
i could see either or being plausible
on a different topic i wonder whats going on in the original homeland of the zarians. like...are there zarians still there? cause if the war was a long time ago the tyrannical king they ran away from must be dead
which what if they sparked the war. the avolians are like "so umm hey could you leave your homeland is doing way better now." and the zarians were like "but eww the desert"
snuffysam
i feel like some people were probably ok with the regime, and they stayed? and the thing about kings is that there's a dynasty, and his heir may be similarly bad.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yeah the heir could similarly bad. i dont rule that out. but dynasties also die out. so why im wondering what the state of things are.
not to mention has it been long enough for cultural diversion
snuffysam
true true. i don't think communication is particularly advanced though. Before the war, they may not have known if the king was alive or not, and after, they stopped caring.
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
yeah. tbh i dont think its much better so theres probably not a good way for them to know even now
✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨
Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to Morgan Mudway (aka Tri), as well, for volunteering Zaltera for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Morgan Mudway’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at [email protected].
With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Legendary Beings Ara & Celi by NAAN. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (December 21st) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/AraandCeli
#ctparchive#comics#webcomics#indiecomics#start faire#startfaire#comic tea party#ctp#comicteaparty#comic chat#comic discussion#comic bookclub#bookclub#zaltera#morgan mudway
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November 9th, 2017 CTP Archive
The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on November 9th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on Infected Blood by Infected Blood.
Featured Comment:
Chat:
RebelVampire
Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Infected Blood by Infected Blood~! (https://infectedbloodcomics.com/) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~!
With that said, let us begin with this first question~!
QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?
Draco Plato
I liked the introductionary pages the best so far, they really allude to the importance of the story about to come
snuffysam
I wouldn't exactly say I "liked" it, but Karen
's death was a big one
really sets the tone of the story
RebelVampire
i really enjoyed how unceremoniously the death occurs too, assuming it is definitely a death. idk how much i trust the pulse checking here. but either way i like how sort of undramatic it was. just a really quick thing which is often how accidental death occurs.
the intro pages were definitely told in an intriguing way
for me im taking the opposite position and putting my chips on the group hanging out together outside. i liked having a dose of happiness
MathTans the Pun Prince
Hiyo. I rather liked when Alex realized that she'd kinda dissed her girlfriend and told the others to stop it and apologized and all.
RebelVampire
yeah although im still torn on how heartfelt i felt the apology was
MathTans the Pun Prince
Yeah, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt.
Infected Blood
hello and thanks for the opportunity to hear your honest opinions on my comic
MathTans the Pun Prince
I'm pretty sure the death was an actual death btw. It would explain the 'Murderer' thing from the prologue, possibly.
Hello author!
snuffysam
There haven't exactly been many scenes so far, but we've gotten a lot of good stuff in that space.
Hi!
MathTans the Pun Prince
Slash artist! (I tend to forget that.)
Infected Blood
Hello Math, snuffy, Rebel
I was planning on having over 30 pages for you by the time this chat would happen, but I had to take an unexpected hiatus, alas
MathTans the Pun Prince
Happens to the best of us. I'm on hiatus too.
Draco Plato
no worries~
snuffysam
It's all good, no worries
Infected Blood
the next couple of pages are really something - spoiler alter We get to see Stephanie's reaction to what's happening
*alert
RebelVampire
i dont think thats too spoilery. more like an enticement.
MathTans the Pun Prince
Yeah, things escalated real quickly.
Infected Blood
Good, then
@MathTans the Pun Prince I don't like beating around the bush. I'm always trying to compress as much as possible in as few pages as possible, but also doing my best to avoid rushing
MathTans the Pun Prince
Nope, that's fine, stuff like that does escalate quickly. Just that's why it takes time to process all the reactions.
Infected Blood
That's true
snuffysam
Yeah, the events after Karen got hit really felt like they were happening in real-time as I read those pages.
Infected Blood
Thanks, @snuffysam That's what I was hoping to convey
MathTans the Pun Prince
Regarding the classroom stuff, speaking as a teacher, I feel like the prof and the priest were portrayed well to start. Like, I didn't get a sense they were evil or anything (despite what I saw some commenters say) until the stress aspect came up. The priest has severe racism issues and rose coloured glasses, while the teacher, uh, needs a lesson in conflict de-escalation.
They seemed like regular folks until push came to shove is what I'm saying.
(Is that good or bad? I dunno, it's an observation.)
Infected Blood
Awesome! Thank you. I taught myself, so I have a it of experience. Maybe that helped
I agree with you, things escalated because of a combination of the teacher's and the priest's personal issues. Neither one was really looking to hurt anyone in the first place
MathTans the Pun Prince
Hah. That's neat. (I'm Canadian too.)
Infected Blood
Oh Canada!
MathTans the Pun Prince
I think at the heart of it is this crazy fear of the AIMS. Be interesting to see how that plays out in the broader society.
Infected Blood
You are very much correct, Math
RebelVampire
so far ive felt that the pacing is just dandy. cause when things go bad, they go bad very quickly
Infected Blood
Rebel, they're going to go even faster and worse
MathTans the Pun Prince
She loses her girlfriend too?
Infected Blood
Well, I can answer that, if people are okay with spoilers
MathTans the Pun Prince
(Don't feel you have to answer direct quesitons btw)
Infected Blood
you will see that exactly in the next page
MathTans the Pun Prince
Remember these get archived and put on the web, so might be better to keep quiet about some things.
Infected Blood
that's fine, my next page goes live on Monday
I don't think I can avoid spoilers much, anyway, since the comic doesn't have these many pages up, yet. It may help stimulate the convo here
MathTans the Pun Prince
I dunno, I read some of the info page stuff too. Also some of the earlier comic.
snuffysam
you'd be surprised...
Infected Blood
Okay, I will keep quiet, then
If you read some of The Green-Eyed Sniper, then you'll know about Sekhmet. That comic was just a pilot for Infected Blood
My way to practice drawing a comic, since it was my very first comic ever
MathTans the Pun Prince
nods Yeah, so part of me being quiet is not being sure if I want to speculate based on what I saw from that.
Infected Blood
And to practice my writing
RebelVampire
spoilers are up to you. weve had chats that are ridden with them, and some creators just hold their tongues on everything. so self choice on that one but as math said these chats do get archived and the chat history is available too so anybody can come by and read it.
Infected Blood
Well, you
Oops, my finger slipped
Thanks, Rebel
You saw Sekhmet carving MURDERER on her chest in the prologue - Karen's death is not why she did it
snuffysam
So is Infected Blood a direct prequel to Green-Eyed Sniper?
Infected Blood
After all, she's completely innocent. She didn't killed Karen, she just dodged the reverend's hit... which hit Karen
MathTans the Pun Prince
She is innocent, yes, but I thought maybe it was a penance that she'd been forced into doing. For her freedom or something.
Infected Blood
No, @snuffysam , it's the other way around
snuffysam
Ah, ok. I didn't read GES, so I didn't get that
MathTans the Pun Prince
I thought "Infected Blood" came first time-wise? Alex is younger.
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince It will be about something she actually did and which is much worse
Yes, Alex is 16 at the beginning of Infected Blood and in her early 30's in GES
MathTans the Pun Prince
Feels like one of those things where "If everybody's going to blame me for doing 'X' whether I did it or not, I might as well just do 'X'."
So "IB" is the prequel then... ne?
snuffysam
I imagine this current scene in school is a flashback, no?
MathTans the Pun Prince
Ohhh, maybe.
RebelVampire
QUESTION 2. The prologue of the comic shows a scene that occurs 5 years after the events happening in the first chapter. In this prologue, there are a number of uniformed people, and it ends with Alex carving “Murderer” into her chest. How do you think this future comes about given current events? What do you think will happen that causes Alex to do such a thing?
snuffysam
^ ^ ^
Infected Blood
It's more like IB is the main comic to a story that I have told only in a tiny little part
Ha. Nice question... @MathTans the Pun Prince already suggested an answer
MathTans the Pun Prince
Well, as I said, I thought Alex was given some sort of penance, like she had to do that to go free. Like a Scarlet Letter kind of deal. (But on the other hand, everyone already seems to know she's an AIMS so... dunno.)
snuffysam
uhh i suppose she kills someone. But it'd have to be someone she feels guilty about (so, not the priest or her teacher). Possibly her girlfriend? Or one of her other friends?
accidentally, i imagine
MathTans the Pun Prince
She kills her favourite potted plant. (j/k)
Infected Blood
Hahaha @MathTans the Pun Prince You never know!
RebelVampire
or maybe she just kills a lot of people and has remorse over it later
Infected Blood
Well, hint hint, she's a soldier and she just got a promotion...
MathTans the Pun Prince
"Congrats on your genocide, have a new rank." "I suck."
Infected Blood
It is said in GES that she's a military officer on the run, wanted for war crimes
That's pretty close to the truth, @MathTans the Pun Prince
MathTans the Pun Prince
I was more reading for the romance in GES.
Infected Blood
There will be romance in IB, too
snuffysam
Alex is already in a relationship, after all.
MathTans the Pun Prince
So, the new hypotheticals are (1) how's she get into the military in the first place, given where she's at now and (2) what group of people does she end up killing.
RebelVampire
im gonna take a theory stab in the dark that is partly influenced by GES knowledge but maybe for this karen incident shes forced to join the military as "punishment" and thats what starts her on her path
MathTans the Pun Prince
I'm guessing (1) might come from being sent to military school or something, away from her friends.
Infected Blood
@snuffysam She is, even if she forgot about it at the very beginning of chapter 1
MathTans the Pun Prince
Oh, I like Rebel's thought too.
Draco Plato
yeah that's a good theory
Infected Blood
Awesome theory, yes!
MathTans the Pun Prince
We know from the priest that she doesn't get along with her parents, but they might not factor into the decision at all.
Infected Blood
We're definitely going to see her parents, too.
snuffysam
Also, she doesn't necessarily have to kill a group of people to get that promotion. It could just be one very important person.
RebelVampire
to be fair, alex is a tough gal so seems like good military recruit material
MathTans the Pun Prince
Maybe there's an AIMS unit to boot.
I wonder how many admit to being of that heritage.
Infected Blood
@snuffysam True, although her country is in perennial war and promotions tend to come for very special performance of duty
@RebelVampire @MathTans the Pun Prince If you read between the lines, Reverend Jones says that AIMS were created as soldiers
snuffysam
How easy is it typically to tell AIMS apart from humans? Are they all as big as Alex?
Infected Blood
And @MathTans the Pun Prince you hit the nail in the head - they have a hard time admitting to being AIMS
RebelVampire
the only thing i read between the lines was the reverend saying plz punch me i am a jerk
Infected Blood
@snuffysam They tend to be rather big, yes. They look like humans, though
MathTans the Pun Prince
Though Jones also said that the records were lost due to politics (a nice touch btw) so the guy could be talking through his hat based on rumour.(edited)
Rebel: Hah. yes.
Infected Blood
@snuffysam But they have an AIMS form that hasn't been revealed fully, yet. The only thing you can see (from GES) is that their eyes become black while their pupils remain the same color
And they get circuits surfacing on their skin
snuffysam
Right, yeah, but they can turn that on and off at will, correct? So that shouldn't affect them trying to hide as humans.
MathTans the Pun Prince
They've got advanced reflexes either way. Alex sensed the attack coming before it reached her. That might make it harder to hide.
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince Jones is referring to a political decision that saved AIMS from being sent to war with no option to opt out
Correct, @snuffysam
MathTans the Pun Prince
Wait, wait, so politicians made a humane decision?! Must be an alternate reality.
Infected Blood
I left hints here and there about AIMS... For example, one cop calls Alex a "good kitten" Big hint about why they have such great relfexes
@MathTans the Pun Prince It was more AIMS who convinced politicians to do so
MathTans the Pun Prince
Now I just want to see her cosplay with cat ears.
snuffysam
Wait, @MathTans the Pun Prince , are you suggesting a if-she-floats-on-water-shes-a-witch test would be used? Shoot a gun at a suspect, and if they die, they weren't an AIMS?
Infected Blood
hahaha
So, another spoiler: AIMS' DNA is impossible to map
MathTans the Pun Prince
Snuffy: If the shoe fits! ... Actually, I wasn't entirely suggesting that. But if they're at SpiderMan-Catching-Mary-Jane's-Lunch levels of reflex, I'd be suspicious.
Infected Blood
if you want to make sure a woman is an AIMS, just try to take some tissue from her and analyze her DNA - it will turn into a blob
MathTans the Pun Prince
What about a man?
snuffysam
AIMS are only female tho
Infected Blood
AIMS are an all-female species only
yep
MathTans the Pun Prince
That's just what they WANT you to think. It's all propaganda!
snuffysam
i mean that would be one way to go about it. disguise yourself as a man. trip up anyone looking for you for a bit.
MathTans the Pun Prince
(Yes, I am silly sometimes.)
RebelVampire
ya know now im really curious if anyone ever tried that, disguising themselves as a man
MathTans the Pun Prince
Huh, interesting point, snuffy. I guess hormone treatments wouldn't work on DNA-Blobbishness though.
RebelVampire
in the story that is
MathTans the Pun Prince
You'd need a cloak and hat.
Infected Blood
There are reasons why AIMS are only females, but that's too many spoilers
MathTans the Pun Prince
Because lesbian power. ^.^
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince That, too, I personally want to have stories with believable lesbian characters
snuffysam
nah, i'm not talking hormone treatments or anything. good old fashioned suit and false mustache.
Infected Blood
So, I tend to prefer to portray them to other characters
@RebelVampire Not in my stories, no
RebelVampire
darn, no fake mustaches :"D
Infected Blood
@snuffysam No mustaches
They only try to pass as humans, which is hard to do
Because humans are very suspicious of any large woman
MathTans the Pun Prince
They have a hard time being racist enough, like Jones.
Infected Blood
So, in Kemet-Ra, any group of big gals is seen as something bad
Even smaller women, by extension
snuffysam
does this world not have a WNBA?
Infected Blood
There are so many rumors around AIMS... the gist of it is that women have a hard time gathering in groups
@snuffysam Yes, and all athletes are tested to prove they're humans
MathTans the Pun Prince
Makes orgies difficult. (I can say that right? The comic is rated mature?)
(Nevermind that I'm immature?)
Infected Blood
Orgies are good
There will be orgies in my comic. No porn, but clear enough
snuffysam
that's a good question though. hey, @RebelVampire , what are the rules for saying mature stuff in these chats? if the comic is rated mature by you, are we good?(edited)
MathTans the Pun Prince
Uhm, we'll fix it in post?
Infected Blood
Hahaha
RebelVampire
nah you can say much mature stuff. im not that heavy on policing language. just uh dont write a full on porn scene in the chat. but you can mention sex and all that jazz.
snuffysam
ok cool
Infected Blood
There, @MathTans the Pun Prince , you won't have to do any editing. And neither will I!
MathTans the Pun Prince
sings songs from "Chicago"
RebelVampire
no thats too mature math. youve gone too far now. XD
MathTans the Pun Prince
Should we all guess at what AIMS stands for next?
snuffysam
i bet that's the 9:00 question
Infected Blood
Anyway, my comic is rated mature not so much because of sex scenes, but because it's supposed to make people feel uncomfortable and, you know, think a bit deeper below the surface(edited)
RebelVampire
Artificial Interesting Mysterious Stuff
snuffysam
also, all the blood
MathTans the Pun Prince
Autonomic Inhuman Matriarch Specialist
Infected Blood
Nice one, @RebelVampire !
Hahaha
RebelVampire
i might have given up after artificial O_O
Infected Blood
I can't reveal what the acronym means, but these are cool guesses
snuffysam
Artificial Its Mbig Sperson
Infected Blood
@snuffysam The blood is definitely not infected!
No matter what humans claim
MathTans the Pun Prince
Amphibious Intergalactic Mystery Superhuman.
Or not.
Infected Blood
Spoiler spoiler spoiler... AIMS have nothing in common with humans. Zero
RebelVampire
Artificially Infused Master Soldier
Infected Blood
Except for looking like them
MathTans the Pun Prince
Oooh, I like that Rebel
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire Infused with what?
RebelVampire
i have no idea XD
MathTans the Pun Prince
Artificial Sweetener.
RebelVampire
thats the only I word that came ot mind XD
Infected Blood
hahaha
snuffysam
I feel like, from the information we know, they're sort of cat-robots? That look like people?
Infected Blood
I need to set up an extra page to tell the history of AIMS
snuffysam
Not sure what the acronym has to do with that though
Infected Blood
@snuffysam Very close, congrats!
RebelVampire
A cat robot I aM Surely
there we go
MathTans the Pun Prince
Anthropomorphic Identities Meowing Sometimes.
RebelVampire
made it work
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire
Mat
RebelVampire
QUESTION 3. Insofar, the story has dealt with very heavy themes of speciesism. In the most recent page, it’s shown the title itself alludes to the inherent prejudice against AIMS. Where do you think this hatred for AIMS comes from? Was it started by someone with malicious intent? Was it a misunderstanding that spiraled out of control? Or, do you think it was something else entirely? Are there any other related theories you have about this theme or AIMS in general?
Infected Blood
gets popcorn
snuffysam
I feel like AIMS were created as artificial supersoldiers... and people got scared because there are giant supersoldiers walking around? kind of ruins the themes though, because thats not how bigotry irl works
Infected Blood
@snuffysam Right, it didn't work that way
MathTans the Pun Prince
Well... not to make this politicial, but there's a lot of hate for particular backgrounds by some individuals out there even in the present. I feel like it could come from some of that, a misguided feeling that AIMS were taking jobs when they were no longer being used for war, or maybe a couple of them went rogue into terrorism and so all of them are bearing the brunt of it.
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince Closer(edited)
MathTans the Pun Prince
Aha, gotcha.(edited)
No need to confirm or deny, of course.
Infected Blood
Minor spoiler: Jones's religion sees AIMS as abominations (he calls Alex that, too)
snuffysam
or maybe the thought that because AIMS are artificial, they don't deserve to integrate into society at all? like, sort of the "it's unnatural" crowd starting that up?(edited)
yeah that
MathTans the Pun Prince
They might have just been politicized for the gain of an election or something.
Oh maybe.
RebelVampire
id assume it was a complicated combo of everything. AIMS being super soldiers (thus fear), AIMS taking jobs or something, AIMS being artificial
MathTans the Pun Prince
That whole thing with attacking the Pope because of acting out a Dan Brown novel, as you do.
Infected Blood
Let's say there are a lot pf politics in the mix
RebelVampire
although i assume regardless of origin the prejudice is perpetuated by rumors as fuel
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire Close
MathTans the Pun Prince
I wonder what the percentage of them in the population is.
Might be less than people believe.
Infected Blood
That is a great question, @MathTans the Pun Prince The number is currently unknown
Which makes for even more fear
RebelVampire
are there AIMS who are prejudice against humans?
MathTans the Pun Prince
I would imagine some get driven into it.
What are their goals? Or put another way, what are their AIMS?
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire Yes! Alex is actually pretty good toward humans, but there will be another AIMS (can't spoiler) who really hates them
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince
Their goals is to simply have a regular life
snuffysam
something interesting regarding the priest's bigotry- all the stereotypes were pretty much true when applied to Alex. but... it would also work if Alex's personality was completely different. he'd just use different stereotypes. e.g. "you're super docile- that proves AIMS were meant to be obedient servants" that's the thing about bigotry, i suppose. bigots will say whatever it takes to justify themselves.
RebelVampire
math i get the impression you feel the need to earn your pun prince title every chat O_O
MathTans the Pun Prince
Yeah, good point snuffy. They pick whatever truths they need to fit their narrative.
Rebel: It just comes out naturally, I swear.
Infected Blood
@snuffysam Alex is not exactly a good person. She's emotionally oblivious, as you could see with Stephanie
MathTans the Pun Prince
(I'm not even sure who gave me the title...)
Infected Blood
But yes, her personality is just what it is. The real issue is that... everyone knows she's an AIMS, which is rare
Since AIMS tend to live in hiding
MathTans the Pun Prince
Yeah, that was an interesting risk btw. Going with a protagonist who's rough around the edges. (I've tried it myself, it can be a turnoff for some.) I think it was good that she backpedalled a bit with her girlfriend, so she still could get some sympathy points.
Infected Blood
I can't spoiler why everyone knows she's an AIMS - you will find out later in the comic
@MathTans the Pun Prince Thanks, that's going to be a challenge, indeed
MathTans the Pun Prince
Huh. I figured it was an inherited thing.
Like, either her parents were carriers, or did it deliberately or something.
snuffysam
wait, carrier of what?
MathTans the Pun Prince
Of DNA Mushiness.
Infected Blood
Can't spoiler, sorry
snuffysam
i... can a human have an AIMS child? their species isn't similar at all
MathTans the Pun Prince
Not by accident I would imagine.
Infected Blood
They can't, @snuffysam
MathTans the Pun Prince
But yeah, I dunno.
(Word of God has spoken.)
Infected Blood
Yikes, I need to rein in more spoilers
MathTans the Pun Prince
So how do they have parents?
Adoption?
Infected Blood
takes her hands off the keyboard
You will find out in a few pages, that's all I can say
snuffysam
i mean sure, her parents probably adopted her, but Alex physically had to come from somewhere
MathTans the Pun Prince
The hands off the keyboard thing didn't last too long there...
That's why the "I" in AIMS stands for "Interstellar". Alex was fighting in an Alien War.
Infected Blood
At least they came back without spoilers (edited)
hahaha No aliens, sorry
MathTans the Pun Prince
She's actually from Venus. Hence the girl love.
Infected Blood
Her species was created in a cold lab in Kemet-Ra!
But she was born at a regular hospital
MathTans the Pun Prince
(For a moment I read "Kermit Ra" and thought she was a muppet...)
Infected Blood
hahaha
Kemet is the original (Middle) Egyptian word for "Egypt"
Ra is the Egyptian Sun God
MathTans the Pun Prince
That reminds me, interesting having the hyroglyph words in there. Adds an, I don't know, futuristic sort of feel. Like slang terms that don't exist yet.
snuffysam
are there any straight AIMS? or are they all lesbians?
Infected Blood
Thanks! I studied Middle Egyptian for a couple of years, so they actually mean something
There are straight AIMS.
MathTans the Pun Prince
Oooh, when learning languages comes in handy.
Infected Blood
Most of them are
@MathTans the Pun Prince Yep!
MathTans the Pun Prince
They're not playing gayAIMS.
Toranekohybrid
with your heart
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire and anyone else who've read GES - So far, do you have a preference over one comic or the other?
Hello @Toranekohybrid
Am I even allowed to ask questions?
Toranekohybrid
Hai, sorry, I couldn't help but finish the song lyric I saw in that statement. |D
MathTans the Pun Prince
You can totes ask questions!
Infected Blood
Thanks, @MathTans the Pun Prince
snuffysam
what was that? i couldn't read that sentence after you said hello to toranekohybrid
jk
RebelVampire
you can ask questions, thats fine
omg LOL
man
that joke almost went over my head cause ive had less than an hour of sleep
Infected Blood
Yikes
snuffysam
lol ok
MathTans the Pun Prince
For me, it's a little tough to choose, because they're rather different. IB has more of an ensemble cast and is buiding to something. GES (from what I read) is more of an intimate thing with more of a mercenary thing to boot.
I caught it.
RebelVampire
anyway question......ummm rn GES but if only because GES has more story to it and is done. i think Infected Blood will overtake that long term
Infected Blood
Thanks @MathTans the Pun Prince I realize IB is much shorter and... well, it will last years, as you an probably tell
MathTans the Pun Prince
I like the more intimiate nature, because that's the sort of personality I have. But I also like the broader world building of IB.
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire I won't abandon GES! I will just catch up to it
@MathTans the Pun Prince There will be a lot of intimate stuff in IB, I promise
snuffysam
so GES is still going to be canon within IB?
Infected Blood
Only up to a point, @snuffysam
MathTans the Pun Prince
I won't lie, the suicidal nature thing kind of speaks to me too. For reasons. It'll be interesting to see how that comes about in IB, but also interesting to see how it plays out with GES.
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince I can relate to that
MathTans the Pun Prince
Take care of yourself. ^.^
Infected Blood
Oh, I'm a very happy person, now
Thanks!
MathTans the Pun Prince
That's good. The hiatus occurred to me was all.
Infected Blood
That's also why I can write this stuff without drowning in it
Take good care of yourself, too, @MathTans the Pun Prince
MathTans the Pun Prince
Working on it, thanks.
Superjustin of Time and Space
Oh snap we doing a CTP?
MathTans the Pun Prince
SJB, your time and space is out of alignment again. ^.^
Infected Blood
Hello @Superjustin of Time and Space
Superjustin of Time and Space
Hi there Infected!
RebelVampire
QUESTION 4. The comic has presented numerous conflicts that involve other characters, from Alex and Stephanie’s relationship to Karen’s potential death. Do you think these conflicts will be addressed in the future? If so, how do you think they’ll be resolved? Are there any characters you’d like to see more? What other predictions or desires do you have for the story at large?
Infected Blood
You missed all the spoilers! And we edited all of them, so now they're gone
Superjustin of Time and Space
lolol
Infected Blood
grabs more popcorn
Superjustin of Time and Space
My bad for hopping in so late
MathTans the Pun Prince
Pretty sure the relationship thing will need to be dealt with. I have the suspicion that we won't see much of this particular classroom setting for long, if nothing else because the teacher doesn't seem like he'll be calm enough to ever have Alex back in his class.
snuffysam
gee i sure hope those conflicts will be addressed. it would really suck if this flashback that's happening abruptly ended here and was never brought up again.
RebelVampire
nah thats ok SJB, never too late to join (edited)
Infected Blood
While you're getting into conspiracy theories, let me just say that I am sorry I had to pull IB out of StartFaire, but I'm overwhelmed with my regular job, so I couldn't keep up. I'd go back, if I could. If I could pass the selection, that is
MathTans the Pun Prince
It could be that Stephanie leaves Alex once she hears about Karen. That could be dealt with without even having her there.
Infected Blood
And if I had time to catch up
Not to worry... I don't leave conflicts hanging
RebelVampire
@Infected Blood nah thats cool we totally get it. sometimes real life gets in the way and you gotta prioritize.
MathTans the Pun Prince
I almost want to see more of Jones. Just so that he's kicked around a bit more, the jerk. (They're in the future, his back could be healed for all we know.)
RebelVampire
i feel like stephanie would leave just because i remember them mentioning her father was a speciesist or something
Infected Blood
Jones is one of those characters you love to hate - so said a reader
Superjustin of Time and Space
lol
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire Steph's family will definitely have an influence on her decisions
Superjustin of Time and Space
Sorry if I don't contribute anything meaningfull to the chat, kinda don't bother really to binge-read the comics announced for CTP ^^;
MathTans the Pun Prince
Actually, one thing I'd kind of like to see is a sympathetic adult character. Like maybe a principal who wants to help but his hands are tied or something. Could just be my profession talking, so far the education system has looked terrible.
Superjustin of Time and Space
(I will say though this comic has an intresting art style and plot direction at first glance)
MathTans the Pun Prince
Could just be the school.
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince Understandable! there will be someone of that sort. But the school system and the entire country are plain awful
MathTans the Pun Prince
The art is unique. It's got that sort of realism look going for it.
Superjustin of Time and Space
Like a half realistic half american comic vibe?
Infected Blood
Thanks, @Superjustin of Time and Space It's less than 30 pages, if you feel like binge-reading
MathTans the Pun Prince
I mean, Alex had to get into the school somehow, there must be someone on her side. Maybe.
Superjustin of Time and Space
lol thanks
MathTans the Pun Prince
I guess? I don't know comics as well as I do writing.
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince My art is unique, because I have no training!
MathTans the Pun Prince
Heh, me neither.
Infected Blood
Took like 4 courses, most of them in how to do comics
MathTans the Pun Prince
I noticed you said you transitioned to doing it on computer.
Infected Blood
I didn't feel like dealing with an artist, so I decided to draw my own comics
Yes, just last week
MathTans the Pun Prince
Kudos. Easier for you that way?
(I hand draw all my stuff, so curious.)
Infected Blood
I used to do everything traditionally, except for coloring
Superjustin of Time and Space
I mostly do everything digital now
though I know this doesn't pretain to me so
Infected Blood
It's easier just because I got a Cintiq, so I can draw directly on it, without looking at a separate screen
So, I'm definitely going fully digital, now. Saves time and, in the long run, money
Superjustin of Time and Space
yeah
It definitely saved me a lot
as well
Infected Blood
Anyway, I hope you want to see more AIMS, because Alex is not the only one There will be another AIMS character coming in in the next chapter
MathTans the Pun Prince
Back on the predictions side of things... yeah, it'll be good to see more.
Superjustin of Time and Space
I'd be scared to see how much money you'd be using if you illustrated th ebook using copic markers
Infected Blood
She's going to be... very controversial
MathTans the Pun Prince
I wonder if there's a secret society.
Infected Blood
Let's say not everyone hates AIMS @MathTans the Pun Prince
MathTans the Pun Prince
Here's a random thought. Do AIMS menstruate?
Infected Blood
Sure thing they do
RebelVampire
yeah i definitely want to see more AIMS if partly cause i feel its needed to flesh out the world more anyway ;3; im interested to see more of the world in general but thats just personal preference cause im very into world building
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire You'll see plenty of world building! That's just a tiny fraction, so far
MathTans the Pun Prince
So does that mean they can get pregnant? But only to have another AIMS I suppose... unless it would be a half breed?
Superjustin of Time and Space
World building is always good~
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince I asked a biologist friend of mine for help defining AIMS' biology. I wanted something realistic, even if sci-fi
MathTans the Pun Prince
Oh, hey, much kudos on the research there then.
Infected Blood
They can get pregnant, yes, but not like the Asari
snuffysam
Alex was apparently born in a hospital. AKA someone gave birth to her.
RebelVampire
you mean therell be no embracing of eternity O_O what
Infected Blood
Thanks, @MathTans the Pun Prince
hahaha @RebelVampire
Correct, @snuffysam !
MathTans the Pun Prince
So they don't turn blue.
Infected Blood
Nope
The AIMS page will be long!...
So many details
MathTans the Pun Prince
It would be hard to blend in as a smurf.
Infected Blood
I like reference pages. They help avoid giving too many details in the comic about world building
snuffysam
now, there are a few more specifics that aren't yet covered. Like, Alex's mother was definitely an AIMS. Does she have a second mother? Do AIMS reproduce asexually? Or is she a cross-breed (with an entirely different species that has no genetic similarities to AIMS)
Infected Blood
They're too big, @MathTans the Pun Prince
MathTans the Pun Prince
You might want an index page, by the way. So it's easier to jump to Page 11 or something if you want to.
(It could exist, and I'm not observant.)(edited)
Infected Blood
@MathTans the Pun Prince I am in the process of redoing my website. Hard to do, in a way, because WordPress.com has limitations, but I will do that
I had it for GES, it's not hard to do, just takes time
@snuffysam Now, THOSE are very good questions!
MathTans the Pun Prince
True that.
Infected Blood
All I can say, @snuffysam , is that there are cross-breeds inside AIMS
MathTans the Pun Prince
Now I'm picturing AIMS breeding with cats.
Infected Blood
But not outside
That's not going to happen, @Math
MathTans the Pun Prince
The orgies will be normal orgies, okay.
Infected Blood
All will be revealed soon... in the next few pages
MathTans the Pun Prince
...when the clothes come off...
Infected Blood
The orgies will be between humans and AIMS, for sure
RebelVampire
i feel like cross-breeding opens up quite a few social issues. like how ppl generally view them and such.
MathTans the Pun Prince
Yeah, maybe there's even other breeds out there aside from humans and AIMS? Ones that were less successful, or maybe better hidden?
Infected Blood
@RebelVampire AIMS' creators did not want cross-breeding
MathTans the Pun Prince
Breeding with a cross is painful.
Infected Blood
Every newborn stays inside each species
I'm sure it is, just look at... stops there
MathTans the Pun Prince
Just ask Jones.
Infected Blood
Jones is actually enjoying his injury, in a way
MathTans the Pun Prince
The stick up his ass?
Infected Blood
I can spoiler that: he will use it as a godly weapon(edited)
His back is broken
MathTans the Pun Prince
That too.
Infected Blood
But his back being broken brings him closer to god...
MathTans the Pun Prince
So, I wonder what kind of weapons there are in this future? Tasers don't seem to work too well, have they developed other things?
(Flying cars?)
(Those might be an interesting weapon if you drop one on somebody.)
Infected Blood
Sure. Regular guns are still used, but there are other weapons that are gaining popularity, especially among criminals. Like lasers
The military has the most interesting weapons, but spoilers, so...
All I can say is that this story is set in the future, but not so much ahead of our time(edited)
MathTans the Pun Prince
"Where's the stun setting?" "...stun?"
Also, with the Egyptian, is that the region of the world where it takes place?
Infected Blood
Space has been colonized at a very minimum, for instance
@MathTans the Pun Prince Kemet-Ra is a country in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
MathTans the Pun Prince
(I knew there were Aliens.)
Doesn't sound like a great tourist destination.
Infected Blood
It's like a very large platform, floating there, moving to avoid hurricanes, for example
MathTans the Pun Prince
Interesting though.
Infected Blood
Or invasions... or even immigrants. There is virtually no immigration, there
MathTans the Pun Prince
That makes it even harder to hide out. I wonder how Alex ended up there.
Infected Blood
She was born there, @MathTans the Pun Prince
RebelVampire
hmm makes me wonder how large their population is tho in general
MathTans the Pun Prince
Huh. And she hasn't tried to leave? (I suppose you need funds for that.)
Infected Blood
It's about 30 million people, @RebelVampire
MathTans the Pun Prince
VERY large platform. It's own country.
Infected Blood
Where would she go to? It's war everywhere else, except for a small number of countries
Yes, huge one, @MathTans the Pun Prince
MathTans the Pun Prince
Space? ^.^
RebelVampire
dang thats a lot of ppl. that must be one huge platform
Infected Blood
It's not common to go to space, @MathTans the Pun Prince
MathTans the Pun Prince
Canada?
Infected Blood
Hahaha @MathTans the Pun Prince
Yes, it's enormous, @RebelVampire
And it has interesting quirks...
MathTans the Pun Prince
Well, here's hoping Alex doesn't get too beaten up over things that aren't her fault.
Infected Blood
For example, when a hurricane comes and it's not too dangerous, Kemet-Ra raises a barrier so that people can see the hurricane passing over their heads without incident(edited)
RebelVampire
Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to Infected Blood, as well, for volunteering Infected Blood for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Infected Blood’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at [email protected].
With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Ovum by Fervorcraft (“The Schilderich” and “Vanja Bajohr”). Also, please note that this comic is on the more mature side. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (November 16th) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/Ovum
#comics#webcomics#indie comics#comic tea party#ctp#comicteaparty#startfaire#start faire#comic chat#comic discussion#bookclub#comic bookclub#infected blood#infected blood comics
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June 15th, 2017 CTP Archive
The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on June 15th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on Candour is Going Mad by Phenylketonurics.
Featured Comment:
Chat:
RebelVampire
Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Candour is Going Mad by Phenylketonurics~! (https://tapas.io/series/Candour-is-Going-Mad) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~! With that said, let us begin with this first question~!
QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?
DracoPlato
I really enjoyed the scenes with their father, his personality mixed with the personality of his kids was a really nice contrast
plus that got a good laugh out of me
plus i'm a sucker for family scenes
RebelVampire
yes that was still the best meta joke in the comic. cause with all due respect to pheny i do have to look up things in TNSTAJ sometimes. so its kind of refreshing to see that the vocab is pretty advanced. XD
i think overall i enjoyed their family dynamic
i was particularly fond of the line about how the dad will side with avvy if brian doesnt choose oatmeal so brian replied that he "loves hot water and oats"(edited)
DracoPlato
hahah I enjoyed that too XD
maybe i'll call oatmeal that now too
I'm also enjoying learning about the school
and it's atypical set up and treatment of teacher to student ratios
RebelVampire
lol i get distracted by thinking about their poor education and wonder if theyre even learning anything.
DracoPlato
haha i did wonder that too, and thought well that can't be cost effective
oh i liked the scene with brian in the shower too
RebelVampire
LOL i liked that scene but mostly cause i enjoy his interactions with rah the bird
they have a very strange and interesting relationship
i think my favorite scene was with Kamm though where shes inventing a language and playing with little aliens. like this was a moment that just really connected to me as a writer
DracoPlato
LOL I actually thought of you when reading that scene XD
I guess because it was very much like a writer, i did enjoy that too
i'm really interested to learn more about Kamm, she seems like a really interesting character
and their little alien finger puppets
RebelVampire
i like that the scene confused me at first a bit too. cause at first i honestly wondered if wed switch to some girl who was an alien invader in candour. and then i realized imagination is a thing.
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Hmm This is not my usual cup of tea for comics. I find I keep feeling like I am not immersed enough.
DracoPlato
Oh I know what you mean Feather, I always felt a bit detached from the story for some reason
like i was watching it but not "part" of it
i thought that too rebel, haha
I think the detached issue comes from not being immersed enough in the character's mindset perhaps, or where it's coming from. I was actually getting really immersed with Brain since we focused pretty well on him in the beginning but it lost me when we found out his boss was a talking bear since it made the story seem less serious and on a level of realism. So that took me out of it, also the PoV shifted away from brain to characters i cared and knew less about
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
This is the type of comic I would have dropped right at the prologue and reading chapter 1 really is hard for me
I think it was the Story style too
DracoPlato
yeah the story style is a bit rough since it's hard to tell where it's going or what i should be looking for or why i should care
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
It's paced a bit too slow with the idea and it's direction is slightly awkward for me
I think this might be one of those it gets better later comics but it can't hook me in the beginning to get to the good part
RebelVampire
haha oh dear. i am on the lone side since as i told draco earlier, i actually prefer candour to pheny's other comic, TNSTAJ.
but
admittedly when it switched away from brian i felt that a bit jarring
cause madon and roan were new. but i think madon is adorable so that kind of made up for it.
SirDelta God King of Mecha
oh right, thats now, whats going on
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I'm just reading it now
Rip
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I did one if those skip to the middle and try reading and still I can't.
DracoPlato
I agree with Feather that it actually lost me after the prologue and i had to stay committed to it
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I like the character designs, I think they are interesting.
DracoPlato
but i enjoyed it after staying committed, but that hump to get into it was a bit hard
Yeah i think the character designs are great
RebelVampire
i believe in you mharz
SirDelta God King of Mecha
i'm suprised pheny isn't here like last time
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
It could be the audience it's geared towards. It seems to be a brooding type of story while I enjoy wacky adventures or lots of humour
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Rip
RebelVampire
pheny did drop in and out last time so could be connection problems. or just busy. it happens.
DracoPlato
i feel like it's for people who had a goth phase
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Exactly
DracoPlato
I never had that so it's hard for me to relate to anyone but the father atm
RebelVampire
i wouldnt say the story is brooding, but it is serious. so yeah its definitely not the wacky adventure story
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I like serious stories but it should have the premise for it too
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
that wallpaper pattern is distracting me quite a bit...
DracoPlato
like centipedes
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Okay, That is what the kids these days call "#hash tag edgy" XD
DracoPlato
Loooool
RebelVampire
ah yeah that wallpaper was really hard for me but partly cause of the switch from color to black and white. so i was already having to adjust to the black and white as it was
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
As I say, I don't think I am in the right audience for this comic. I think it's really got potential and I hope people who go through with it get their millage worth
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
my eyes can't get rest
XD
SirDelta God King of Mecha
i couldn't really get though it, it felt like too much of a slog for me, i had the same issue with I.T. but it wasn't as bad
RebelVampire
yes admittedly i think for Candour and TNSTAJ they are slower paced and i know slower paced isnt everyone's cup of tea.
DracoPlato
I enjoyed TNSTAJ more too even though i find it more confusing, but the confusion in that is part of the fun since you're trying to figure out a mystery and there's tons of theories to make from it
plus Pheny's colors are GORGEOUS
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
it would've worked better if the wallpaper patterns are gray
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
So how are these comics picked for these party nights?
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
we submit our stuffs(edited)
DracoPlato
I really like Pheny's BW but it makes the goth tone way too much for me(edited)
SirDelta God King of Mecha
the creator submits them and they go on a waiting list(edited)
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Oh man. Alright then I don't think I will submit anything until much later haha
RebelVampire
the back list is huge
DracoPlato
yeah, hahah
SirDelta God King of Mecha
yeah...
RebelVampire
its scheduled up to november but theres a few on the list i havent added
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yeah
SirDelta God King of Mecha
Damn
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
And yes I don't normally like looking at too much of a dark tone for some comics though it fits for this setting I guess
DracoPlato
it was hard to get a feel for what the tone is of candour tho
like i thought it was going to be serious but then random talking bear(edited)
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Like there are some B&W that are really good because working with what you have
RebelVampire
QUESTION 2. Candour is a rather unique place with its gothic style school and talking animal residents. By consequence, the seemingly normal Fristz’s siblings stick out like the newcomers they are. Why do you think the Fristz siblings are there? Do they truly belong or will their presence stir up something at Candour High? Why do they seem so calm about everything in Candour?
SirDelta God King of Mecha
well, i don't have anything for this one
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Joke answer: Because everyone is on drugs. [Don't do drugs] And I seriously think that also really bugs me is that particulary
DracoPlato
Are they calm? XD Roan wasn't that calm, lol
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I think my brain is being dumb at this point(edited)
DracoPlato
Madon was surprised but she likes the macabre so she was enjoying it(edited)
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
probably becos I just woke up
but... I can't pick up the story. LOOL
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I don't like the idea going there. Like is everyone suffering 8th grade syndrome, or is this talking about a mental disorder because a lot of comics I read usually use seeing things you don't normally see as a symbol of a disorder
DracoPlato
it's okay Mharz, haha
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I don't understand why is he talking to that weird bird
DracoPlato
i don't think it got that far into the story
RebelVampire
roan was calm considering. i mean idk about you but i dont just calmly look at a talking animal and go "oh wow thats weird." and then focus on a different topic
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Same Mharz, I could not get into it, I tried jumping around to get myself more into it but I cant
DracoPlato
well damon would
Krazydog
Not to barge in but from what i can gather, i dont think i would read much into the comic of this topic
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
oh phen changed to toning in chapter 2
DracoPlato
not reading it is also a valid opinion on it
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I mean not chapter 2
DracoPlato
since there's reasons for that too
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
but the second half of chapter 1
RebelVampire
yes thats valid. not reading and or finishing it still means theres reasons behind it.
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Yeah this is a drop for me. I will like to hear what other people think who have read more of it
I think the designs are interesting though, I saw one of I think the teacher
DracoPlato
yeah i think the designs are the strongest aspect
I really like Madon's design particularly
although her character itself is so so to me at this point
i'm not particularly drawn to either her or roan
so i wish we'd stuck to brian
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
loving the car tho
DracoPlato
he's also older and i like that
yeah that car was great
i think the art is all around solid
RebelVampire
i like the whole visual style of the designs. like i think something about it captures gothic style so well.
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
too lazy to draw car myself
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
That car is slick, Seems drivable
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
no I don't really have any qualms on the art. Phen's art is really good.
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I just can't do the story. But yes I think it is an audience thing.
I am not the audience for this
Deity Cali of Speed and Dis Pear
it made me think of a pancake
the car
RebelVampire
thats fair. as a person who liked it i can see the many things people would not like about it
Deity Cali of Speed and Dis Pear
Carcake
RebelVampire
so something i want to point out is the description for candour says "Hyper imaginative kids in a hyper rural town where the residents are absurd but the fiction is quite real. "
i think they wouldve eaten it for breakfast then, cali O_O
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
he got hugged by a giant bear
DracoPlato
it lost me at the talking bear(edited)
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
what is going on
DracoPlato
i can't get over that XD
like wtf why a bear
it's so out of place
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I almost thought it's a hamster
RebelVampire
LOL
so ive thinking
DracoPlato
omg XD
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I'll try to finish it up to chapter 3
there's so much dialogue that I'm super slow
should've read it yesterday
DracoPlato
yeah there is a lot of dialogue
the french was kinda hard too
since there was a lot of it
and it's not something my brain is going to attach to since it doesn't understand French
RebelVampire
since the description describes the kids as hyper imaginative, what if the animals just arent real in a sense. cause brian even said rah was supposed to just be a figment of his imagination, so what if the bear and corbin are real people but not actually animals. what if the kids just imagine them as animals cause thats how theyre processing the world out of boredom.
DracoPlato
oh that'd make sense
but as a reader i don't know if that's enjoyable
even if it's logical
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Oh
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Hmm.
DracoPlato
like i feel like that's putting too much work on me as a reader
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
wait they do?
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I think there is a problem I have with that train of thought
DracoPlato
to assume that
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
As what people called "hyper imaginative child" I never saw people as animals. I usually imagined them as an imaginary friend
when you start seeing people as things they are not
As I pointed out before usually other comics use it as a symbol as a mental disorder or something is wrong with the MC
Like in stories and books too
People appear as like monsters
But reality is the same
I don't know
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I mean I can imagine them as animals but I don't think it'll manifest physically
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Maybe I think I am going to deep into this
And like there is an actual talking bear.
DracoPlato
Oh you know what the issue is, usually when this is done and it's an imagination you're seeing from one PoV but here we switch to an omnipresent PoV
so it'd mean everyone was all seeing these things and the same way
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
yeah that's the thing
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Yeah! Good point!
DracoPlato
that's why it doesn't really work
like if it was just Brian, it worked then(edited)
that's why i was more invested when it was just brian
but when we switched and the same things are still there then it's outside of brian that these things are happening so you have to assume that's how the world is(edited)
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I can't tell if this is fantasy or a comintary about reality
commentary
Phone plz
RebelVampire
i can say with confidence reality
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
candour is a place right?
RebelVampire
pheny plays with reality vs not reality all the time
DracoPlato
yeah they do
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Ah I see.
RebelVampire
yes candour is the town they live in
DracoPlato
but i think it's their omnipresent PoV that makes it too confusing for the reader
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
admittedly I haven't read TNSTAJ
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
That makes more sense because I don't know much about the author
DracoPlato
if they picked one PoV it'd be more solid(edited)
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
really need to work on my laziness(edited)
DracoPlato
because reality can be distorted but it won't be distorted exactly the same for everyone since then it really is just the reality
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
wait what?
the bear is seeing something different
RebelVampire
i dont think the onipresent PoV is bad as of yet but i do think a more limited PoV would be better. because it would be more understandable if my idea is correct. like dont necessarily have to stay with brian, but should focus in on one character
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
that means it's a legit bear
if it can shift perspectives like that
DracoPlato
yeah that's what i think too rebel
RebelVampire
but see thats a huge part of reality debate too tho. is about whether something is real just because most ppl agree on its appearance. cause theres always going to be one person who sees something as different
DracoPlato
but if they're all seeing a talking bear then that is reality vs. it being that one person seeing it different
RebelVampire
its their reality but doesnt mean objectively how that thing is
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
so everyone is seeing different
???
@_@
RebelVampire
not necessarily seeing different
DracoPlato
maybe only the teens are seeing things that way
but again i think atm it's falling too much on the reader to decide what the world is like in story
vs. the story telling me
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
but the bear sees them as alien creature thing
RebelVampire
theyre just all agreeing on the reality of what theyre seeing in a way.
its a really hard concept to explain
DracoPlato
i guess there's no evidence that they're all seeing things the same way either
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Hmm.
DracoPlato
since we were shown mr. bear saw them different
RebelVampire
that is true cause it is omnipresent. i mean madon and roan didnt comment the guy was a bear
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Also is it slice of life? I mean there hasn't been any action things right?
DracoPlato
i was wondering if it's going to be horror at one point
RebelVampire
id assume psychological drama
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I can't nail down the genre
DracoPlato
yeah i couldn't either
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Ah makes sense
I feel so bad, I am totally the wrong person to be reading this
Deity Cali of Speed and Dis Pear
pheny likes them psychological stuffs
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Every author has their genre I guess
DracoPlato
oh yeah, and everyone has their own tastes in stories so whether it appeals to someone or not is entirely subjective anyway and doesn't make it good or bad
RebelVampire
you shouldnt feel bad tho. honestly this is part of the point of CTP. to have ppl try comics they wouldnt normally try and if they dont like them to still talk about why. cause its not like not liking something makes you disappear from the cosmos and it gives the creator a good perspective from a different PoV(edited)
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
it's too much for my brain... sorry I can't really pick it up
DracoPlato
i'd still enjoy people saying why they don't like my stories, since it may make me evaluate different routes later for it
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Understandable. It is also helpful for me
I know I am a comedy action dumb things person who does a lot of weird things. So when people are like "I don't like reading humour comics" it allows me to try to incorporate serious moments
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
O_O
sealing people at desks??
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
though I suck at serious moments
SirDelta God King of Mecha
normally i like pychological stuff
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I like psychological stuffs but I really having difficulty with this
RebelVampire
haha maybe that is the difference cause i am one of those ppl. im very particular with comedy so 90% of the time i wont like it. but serious stuff i all about
SirDelta God King of Mecha
i've gotten though the prolouge and a few pages of chapter one so i don't know much(edited)
DracoPlato
yeah, and to call this psychological is almost an assumption
since not knowing pheny i probably would think it was something else
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
like the candle mask
nice design
DracoPlato
yeah that design was cool
SirDelta God King of Mecha
shit thats cool
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Same, not knowing the author makes the hard to understand
DracoPlato
like rebel knows pheny and has read their other works so i think there may be a bias there in knowing it's probably psychological off the bat
RebelVampire
QUESTION 3. A few of the characters in the story have “pets” that essentially haunt them. While at first people assumed they were figments of their imagination, unrelated characters have suddenly become able to see them. Are the “pets” real? Are they a group hallucination? What role do these pets play and why do they haunt the characters?
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Also Rebel, at least I know you are not part of the audience I am trying to appeal to XD I normally only write comedy/action
DracoPlato
it's okay, i'm more of a comedic audience
RebelVampire
idk tho. i think the comic still hints at psychological stuff cause they all start seeing the pets and the minute ppl start seeing things that arent supposed to be real, youre probably heading in the psychological direction
DracoPlato
see that just seemed like fantasy to me
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
God if Willis comes alive I would ride him into the sunset. He is a headless horse man. I would love for my imaginary friends to exist
DracoPlato
like a magical girl esque thing
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Rebel reads anything
SirDelta God King of Mecha
i wasn't sure about it being a figment of imagination
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Also yah for Draco liking comedy :D
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
cus she does reviews too
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Oh that makes sense
SirDelta God King of Mecha
i though its was just a spooky bird
RebelVampire
yes it is true i do read anything. but to be fair doesnt mean i like everything. theres even comics ive given good reviews that personal taste wise i was like "i never wnat to read this again."
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Well ahead of time, the point is always to have fun reading comics so I am willing to give everything a try
DracoPlato
oh 3. birds reminded me of magical girls and i thought they'd need to help with some doomsday magic issue
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
well that's okay
Dichrome
Whn all the rah birds started showing up at the end I got really confused
DracoPlato
i was interested in why they were there but then it went on hiatus
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
at least you give objectiive reviews
RebelVampire
OMG Draco. this is clearly the true candour
its just madoka
Dichrome
And they are all callerd Rah?
DracoPlato
Hey maybe?
I'm all for magical boy Brian
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I would be so down for magical stuff
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I'm on chapter 3 already
DracoPlato
you're almost there Mharz~!
RebelVampire
even if i assume im off my rocker and that the psychological assumptions are wrong and the comic is what it is, id still like the comic. but im speaking highly from personal taste wise cause it hits the right amount of weird where i can still suspend disbelief and accept things are what they are.
DracoPlato
oh no i think you're right it's psychological
just if i knew nothing about pheny coming into it i'm not sure that's what i'd think reading it
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I like weird, but I guess of course everyone had different tastes for weird
DracoPlato
I love weird!
I don't like being confused XD
and i don't like being asked to fill in the blanks
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I have lots of weird stuff in everything I do but yes I agree I don't like being confused or do like "It's all up to your own interpation"
DracoPlato
yeah, but some people love it's your interpretation things
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I read to forget reality, Don't tell me to think
DracoPlato
just i'm not one of them
i got my own stories to write, don't ask me to write yours
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Feather is a dumb and likes to not think when possible
DracoPlato
figuratively that is
same feather, same
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Specially when I think too much
That's why I think I am reading too into this
RebelVampire
the way you word that feather makes me sad as now im like i read to forget reality to. and i do so by reading about reality and giving myself an existential crisis XD
DracoPlato
i usually read things based on characters
if i like a character i'll continue reading
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Hahaha XD sorry Rebel
DracoPlato
i like Brian
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
But it's true I don't like reading slice of life or anything in reality to be honest
like of this can happen in real life I don't want to read about it
DracoPlato
buuut i don't know if i like him enough to continue reading it
RebelVampire
ya know i think this is a huge part of candour thats going to be splitting. cause its not as character driven as most comics. its way more about themes and stuff imo.
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
read to the latest
O_O
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I don't like things getting too real for me
DracoPlato
yeah that's true rebel, that's a good point
it's story based so far
but you can't tell what the story is
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
True.
DracoPlato
so there's not much to hang on to atm
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
But I can handle a story if the characters are good
DracoPlato
same
good characters will do a lot to keep me reading
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I can't handle a character being bad with a good story
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
okay
uhhh hmmm from what I read it's kids with weird imagination just going on their own lives
RebelVampire
waits on bated breath for mharz
DracoPlato
so in a story you're either invested in the characters or the story or both
but this didn't catch me really on any that strongly
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I assume everything they imagine will be real for everyone?
DracoPlato
i dunno
RebelVampire
its possible. its hard to say cause a lot of the things were seeing arent necessarily being addressed
like
what if im the crazy one
what if as the omnipresent story reader i see the bear but the characters in story dont see the bear
DracoPlato
right, this is one of the things we took issue with
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
cus the bird thingies starting to appear so I get the sense that's the direction they're going?
DracoPlato
but the bird always appeared to him alone
so we don't know if nobody saw them before
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yus
RebelVampire
although didnt avvy seem to imply theyve seen the bird before
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I wish to flip a table
RebelVampire
so its more ppl outside their family suddenly seeing them
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
sadyly I'm not invested in the characters
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I forgot how to flip table
DracoPlato
yeah, she'd seen the bird
RebelVampire
or at least roan is seeing them
DracoPlato
but i don't think brian knew
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
/flip table
Darn
RebelVampire
tableflip
slash is right tho
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
/tableflip
DracoPlato
avvy may have never seen the bird around others either for all we know
RebelVampire
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Fhrcjodssjfjdoxd
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
//tableflip
DracoPlato
the assumption is others couldn't see them
but it's an assumption
RebelVampire
you have been denied the table flips
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
/table flip
Cries
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
honestly it's hard for someone who has a simple brain like me
SirDelta God King of Mecha
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Flops over Why
DracoPlato
yeah that was our issue is it's asking readers to work too hard
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I just wanted to make a joke and it doesn't let me
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Rip
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
/tableflip
Why what am I doing wronf
RebelVampire
i really wish the comic hadnt gone on hiatus cause where it leaves off with the pets is really...troublesome as far as understand whats going on.
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
┬─┬ ノ( ゜-゜ノ)
DracoPlato
i think it'll be better when it's further along tho and there's more story to grab onto
yeah
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
too many flipped tables
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
This is how I feel about the comic
like I try to understand but I cant
I want to flip table but I cant
I fail either way
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I can read through stuffs but it's more of whether I can invest on the characters or the emotional feels that will make me continue reading it
DracoPlato
^^^^
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Agreed
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
and also I probably just suck at picking the story up
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Also agreed. Like if I saw this comic and something else I would not pick this comic up in general
DracoPlato
i'd look at it for the visuals
but wouldn't stick with it
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
If the prologue is the only thing for both comics
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
the style isn't my cup of tea tbh
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
at the same time I am super picky because not enough time to read everything
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
^
I am extremely picky
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Also agreed Mharz, I find the Gothic dark stuff not my cup of tea
DracoPlato
the style reminds me a bit of Jhonen Vasquez
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
has no idea who it is
DracoPlato
who did Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
RebelVampire
i really depend on the story. like for me candour has strong enough themes and supernatural elements that i can dig and get through with...not as strong characters. so i dont demand it be character driven
DracoPlato
mixed with manga
i feel like i could like the characters more if there's more story
so maybe if more is added to it my feelings will change
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
it is. but I tend to read more if I like the characters
Dichrome
The start was interesting, thought it'd be about kids who could see figments of their imagination
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I should've read yesterday with a more leveled mind
not after I just woke up
I was busy drawing pages okay
Dichrome
But its like something's affecting ther whole town...
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I think I couldn't even get behind the premise. Hit too close to my reality which means I auto nope qwq
DracoPlato
I couldn't relate to it since I was never a goth I think
and i'm way out of that age bracket now
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I am more for the imagination thing. I was never goth either
DracoPlato
i'd have liked it more reading it as a teen though
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
XD
DracoPlato
so maybe that's more the demographic
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I would hate it as a teen so as I said I was not the right audience and that's okay. I think my friend would love this comic
1
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yus
DracoPlato
yeah i know lots of people who would love this
RebelVampire
to be honest, i think part of the story's flaw as it were is its kind of expecting a certain...reader expectation for rural towns. cause if you read a lot of novels set in rural towns, at least in fantasy and horror and drama genres, they treat it like rural towns like these sleeping grounds for supernatural stuff to be normal. and i think for comics that expectation doesnt work because thats not something i see a lot in comics.
Dichrome
Is... Phenyl goth? xD
DracoPlato
oh you may be right Rebel
I grew up in a rural time
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
ah true
DracoPlato
but it wasn't like that, so i probably never get that feel from rural towns, lol
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
no it seems to be a trope
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I see
DracoPlato
we had more deer hunters than supernatural
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
at this point at least
I mean I hear supernatural lores on provinces
DracoPlato
there were a TON of ghost stories on the east coast tho
cause of the civil war
RebelVampire
this is a very specific trope in novels. like the more rural, the more supernatural bullshit happens. but its rarely treated as weird.
hmm
the more i think about it
the more i think candour reminds me of novels
vs. comics
DracoPlato
oh that could be
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I did read a book here where a guy took a vacation on a province only to find out that the residents are in a cult(edited)
that kind of stuff
DracoPlato
oh yeah that is a super common trope, rebel is right
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yus
DracoPlato
beautiful creatures was one i thought of first
RebelVampire
i thought of most stephen king novels XD
like children of the corn
DracoPlato
and shamalan
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Man i feel really old after thinking about how many things I wouldn't read as a teen because my mind was too old
DracoPlato
Lolol
i actually like things for kids best
cause they're pretty mellow
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
my physical body can't not match my mental age
RebelVampire
QUESTION 4. The beginning of the comic features Brian trying to leave his past of “future-seeing nonsense” due to almost getting hurt. What do you think happened to Brian and how does it affect the larger story? Do you think Brian can actually see into the future or is something else going on?
DracoPlato
i wondered if the students were being experimented on(edited)
and he was part of that
maybe not even as a student
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Hmmm
DracoPlato
but if nothing is real either and they're all just vivid imaginators there's really no point to wondering either
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Draco no, You literally made me think about all the metaphors
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I mean he got the thing about mandor(?) wrong unless they are lying
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
"sealed to seats" Is strapped down to a table
the teacher is a scientist
DracoPlato
will if it's fiction maybe they're just picturing their teachers torturing them
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
the bird is a coping mech
abbbbbdjcdolskxl
DracoPlato
when really the teachers are just giving them lessons
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
/tableflip
DracoPlato
but yeah that'd be way more interesting if they were actually being experimented on XD
i was hoping it'd turn into horror
but the genre was never stated that i saw
RebelVampire
maybe what happened to brian is he had a dream about a serial killer and saw the guy and went after him cause haha fun imagination. but then the guy really was a serial killer(edited)
DracoPlato
maybe brian is the serial killer
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Rip
DracoPlato
maybe it's the talking bear
Dichrome
I can never catch the references orz
DracoPlato
#DracoLetTheBearGo
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
maybe what brian sees will be the endgame
Dichrome
There's so much in the writing...
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
and it'll slowly unravel in the future
DracoPlato
it's sad my mind drifted when reading it to wondering what brian's long terms plans were now that he's graduated HS
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
too early to judge
but I doubt I'll get back to it.
draco
DracoPlato
this is why rebel does reviews, she's a far better reader than i am
are you in college brian, is working in this store your end game, maybe you could be a fortune teller
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
rip
draco
DracoPlato
what's your yearly income going to be brian
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
noooo
jeezus draco
XD
RebelVampire
haha i dont think that makes you a bad reader. i mean i said i did get distracted wondering if the kids were getting a good education with their school setup
DracoPlato
all real thoughts i had while reading
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yeah
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
I am the most worstest reader
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
but LOL those are pretty irrelevant
XD
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
that sentences explains why
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I and the super duper worsest. I can't pick up the story
Rip
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Same Mharz I get flashbacks to when people thought I had mental problems because I had imaginary frienxs
Which is why I think I am accidently projecting too much on this comic and why I can't pick it up
reality sucks
DracoPlato
:<
Dichrome
Whoa
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
it's okay...
I do tend to talk to myself. OwO
Dichrome
Theree there
RebelVampire
i had that happen too in my youth. some of my family thought i was crazy cause i had imaginary friends. jokes on them i dont like that part of my family anyway
DracoPlato
Looool
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I still do LOOL I just don't show it when there's people or at least I try
DracoPlato
I couldn't even make imaginary friends i was so friendless
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Rip
DracoPlato
but i talked to myself a lot
RebelVampire
so since theres only 20 mins left, i wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on what avvy meant by when she told kamm that the invasion was coming.
DracoPlato
I thought aliens were coming
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yeah
DracoPlato
but now i'm thinking it was the birds
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
that was weird
DracoPlato
but she seemed surprised by the birds
so why would you be surprised if you knew they were coming
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I initially thought they're plotting an invasion
XD
DracoPlato
Same
RebelVampire
my current thought is maybe she knew roan and madon were coming
cause theyre the only invaders ive noticed
DracoPlato
oh that could be
and teachers could have said new students tomorrow
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
yus
that's probably true
DracoPlato
who knows
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
especially when the bear saw them as aliens
DracoPlato
could just be her period coming too
RebelVampire
oh wait maybe that was kamm saying the invasion is coming
Feather, Duke of Comedic Timing
Lool
RebelVampire
not that im looking at the page again
DracoPlato
invasion in mah pants- shot
aka shark week
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
tho what did brian saw that madon(?) is a prisoner??
DracoPlato
yeah and that she was 9
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
but she's already 14??
DracoPlato
but looks 9
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
that got me confused a lot
@_@
DracoPlato
so maybe is 9 but lied
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
chances are they are lying
DracoPlato
she could have skipped grades
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
buut it doesn't seem that she's a prisoner
RebelVampire
honestly would not be surprised if he just dreamed and then forcibly gave the role to madon. cause its not like we saw his dream. maybe this story is about how brian is refusing to grow up and leave behind the youthful imaginings of teen life. and thats what the beginning with the laptop was about. he wanted to delete the logs and move on but since he didnt finished hes still stuck being a teen
#rebelplzstopgettingsodeepwiththis
DracoPlato
there is literally nothing this story could do that would surprise me at the moment
which is one of the reasons i can't really get into it that much
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
that might work
I can't think that complex
RebelVampire
to be fair to brian tho, i have a lot of dejavu dreams. so i can see how someone would start to interpret that as having future seeing powers.
DracoPlato
yeah that'd be a neat interpretation of it
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
deja vu is normal I think
that won't make you a fortune teller
when I get dejavu it's only a wee bit fragment
like hmmm I feel that I've done this before
RebelVampire
dejavu is normal. my dejavu is more my brain will decide i remember dreaming about this exact moment happening
but
when youre younger and dont understand dejavu that well its easy to become enraptured with the idea your some future seeing seer
and i say this from personal embarrassing experience XD
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
True
DracoPlato
i think this begs the question how fantasy is the story
if the genre was stated somewhere it would have said ALOT about the story that would have helped i think
RebelVampire
its drama
if you look at the tags
DracoPlato
oh okay
wow
that is not what i would have guessed
XD
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I don't think it was fantasy
but I diidn't think it was drama either
more of a supernatural thriller???
RebelVampire
i wouldve guessed that. i just dont think weve gotten to the drama parts as much. i feel were very much still in exposition territory
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yeah
DracoPlato
it's almost more comedic than drama tho
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
really?
I wasn't laughing LOOL
RebelVampire
its not like drama is devoid of comedy tho
what
you didnt laugh at their dad(edited)
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
me and my sense of humor
RebelVampire
who has hot water and oats
DracoPlato
love that line
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
oh I didn't noticed
DracoPlato
love the dad
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Rip
DracoPlato
really loved it until the talking bear
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I'm sooo dumb
DracoPlato
like yeah i'm digging this, brian is pretty okay, cute hair, going to work, such a good boy
BAM
giant talking bear
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
I thought it was a hamster for a sec
DracoPlato
one big hamster
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yus
RebelVampire
at least the bear is cuddly
DracoPlato
but why
whhhhhhhhhhy
is this care bears
RebelVampire
maybe youre just questioning it too much. just accept that as their reality
that their gas station store owner is a bear
whats the big deal O_O
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
uhhh
it's big
DracoPlato
and i was, was like okay....well there's a uh bear
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
and it might squish me?
DracoPlato
but then the school and the talking birds
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
then I'll turn into mush
DracoPlato
and the teacher like nope can't use my name, but i have a horn and dressed like a priest
what are my expectations meant to be for this world
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
LMAO
DracoPlato
WHY IS THE DEVIL TEACHING YOU AND ONLY YOU
gawd Roan
RebelVampire
admittedly im really fascinated by this teacher who is like graduate and you can know my name
like
DracoPlato
teacher's pet on the first day
RebelVampire
does that have something to do with the horrible brian stuff
DracoPlato
i was fascinated by the teacher cause he was kinda hot
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
probably???
Idk
DracoPlato
who knows
he may just have a horn fetish and likes to play dress up
there may be a bondage room in his classroom
he may literally be the devil
RebelVampire
Teacher: It's been a whole year and you've successfully graduated. Now you can know my names. It's John.
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
draco!
XD
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Rip
DracoPlato
what am i supposed to cling to in this story
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
all that hardwork for john
I'm envious it has an average of 30 likes in every update
RebelVampire
i think thats part of the story tho. not to cling to anything. this is assassin's creed again of nothing is true, everything is permitted
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
LOOL
DracoPlato
yeah I think this story is great and will appeal to a lot of people
like feather i'm not it's target audience is all
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
Yus
RebelVampire
one is the lonliest number :"D
Queen Mharz of Buffers and Wings
it's not my cup of tea either
:' D
DracoPlato
well at least now we know Mharz, now we know
RebelVampire
Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to Phenylketonurics, as well, for volunteering Candour is Going Mad for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Phenylketonurics’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at [email protected].
With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on The Angel with Black Wings by Mharz. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (June 22nd) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/tabw
#ctparchive#ctp#comic tea party#comicteaparty#comic discussion#comics#webcomic#indie comics#candour is going mad#phenylketonurics
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