#i really thought the wizard was going to be more involved in the story also

[itstimeforstarwars]

I watched the wicked musical for the first time today and somehow even tho I knew the basic storyline I was still surprised about what happened because there are some bits that you don't get just by listening to the soundtrack.

[metalomagnetic]

Hii how would you describe Sirius's and V's relationship in 'It runs in the blood?' Is it based mostly on manipulations? And how could V ever love Sirius? 

I started reading your fic and so far I really enjoy your writing and your ways of characterization especially regarding the Black family and their dynamics. What I'm interested in however is why did you decide to pair the two together and why would someone like V ever became interested in someone like Sirius? No criticism just curious about your thoughts.

Even if there was manipulation involved in the relationship, that doesn't mean the feelings aren't genuine.

I decided to pair them together because I was curious how they'd work, in what way, what circumstances. I like to challenge my writing with rare pairs.

Why would someone like V become interested in Sirius? Well, Sirius is incredibly charismatic, he's handsome, he's intelligent, he comes from a powerful family with an ancient name, he's ruthless but he also has this shred of goodness in him that interests Voldemort, yet Sirius' morals are so lax that he wouldn't care too much about Voldemort's horrible crimes. Sirius is loyal to the bone, willing to fight for those he loves, everything else can go to hell. He's passionate, brave, filled with energy, he has a great sense of humour, he's not bigoted enough to look down on Voldemort for not being a pureblood, yet he is bigoted enough to think muggles are inferior to wizards, so he and Voldemort together can complain about how crazy purebloods can be, while also bitch about how 'backwards' the muggles are. And, of course, he has the unique astral magic that no one else in the world has, and he's willing to confide in Voldemort about it. Also, did I mention how incredibly handsome he is? Voldemort is a dark lord, but man isn't blind. When Sirius walks by, anyone with eyes notices him haha.

At the beginning of the story, Voldemort finds some type of kinship with him, in the way that they both rejected their family, yet they both crave family, even if they don't admit it. Of course, Voldemort is an extreme version of rejecting family for rejecting him (he killed daddy and sent uncle to prison), but he recognises the struggle in Sirius, who wants his family to love him, who sometimes deeply dislikes his family, but he'll forever be tied to them, bonds that can't be broken. For all of Voldemort's rants that he became his own man, we can see that Voldemort is deeply obsessed with is own heritage- with Slytherin side (a source of pride) and with the muggle side (a source of constant self-loathing).

Voldemort was born in poverty, hated and pushed aside from birth, he had to work for everything; Sirius is the opposite of this, and yet they are both defining themselves by their blood, and both are obsessed with names, names that haunt them, put burden on their shoulders. Voldemort will never get rid of 'Riddle' no matter how he pretends he had, no matter how he terrifies people into not saying it, and Sirius will never get rid of Black, no matter if he left home and he's trying so hard to 'be different'.

Also, the most scary villain from all the Harry Potter books was Sirius, for me. Sirius in POA (before we learn he's innocent) managed to scare me more than Voldemort did in all the books lol. So I figured, why not pair them up, see where this goes.

[sammy-deserves-better]

Hey people who definitely didn’t follow me for my AUs here’s another AU I thought up on the spot!!!

Fantasy/Royalty AU bam lets get into it

Julia and Bowie are the princess and prince of the kingdom, as you do, it’s gay and lesbian hostility in that castle every day

Axel, Wayne, Raj and Emma are knights with Axel being the head of the knights, Emma is also secretly a florist because why not

Priya is the head of the guards while Caleb is the personal guard/advisor to the king

Chase is a travelling bard who loves to talk about his ‘amazing’ adventures of ‘helping’ people

Nichelle is still a famous actress but instead of movies she’s like, famous from plays and all that jazz

Ripper’s a barbarian that’s pretty good at his job, unfortunately he is not taken very seriously

Millie is a famous writer but she’s so damn difficult to find at times and only a few people know where she actually lives

Damien is a wizard’s apprentice, he’s still learning but he’s got some real talent within him

Zee is the court jester, he didn’t even like try out for the role he just started talking one time and the king thought he was hilarious

Scary Girl is a famous necromancer because she is, funnily enough, scarily good at her job

And MK, silly ol’ MK, is a master thief who is wanted all over the world, but can never be located, always managing to escape at the last moment

Alright here’s some more details yippee

Raj and Bowie are like, in love, obviously, knight x prince romance! Forbidden love that isn’t really forbidden but like it’s super cute and Raj is so smitten and Bowie just loves this handsome knight that would do anything for him

Wayne and Emma are friends here because I also think they’re silly, Wayne’s the only one who knows Emma’s secret florist job because she trusts him enough and also he accidentally found out but it’s fine!! But he also nearly gives away Emma’s secret so many damn times because he’s just a little bit stupid

‘Man I wish I could get Bowie a nice bouquet…’

‘Oh well Emma is actually a fl-‘

And then Wayne gets elbowed so hard he can’t breath for 2 minutes

Emma also definitely has a thing for the cute court jester but she has no idea on how to actually approach Zee so she just sends him flowers anonymously and sighs while looking at him lovingly

Julia and MK meet because MK climbs up the damn castle walls at 2am and sneaks into Julia’s room just to rob her, gets absolutely slammed by the princess, wakes up and is tied to a damn chair with Julia right up in her face about to rip her to shreds and all MK can say is ‘you are REALLY attractive oh my gods’

This throws Julia off, they start talking, Julia realises that despite the fact she is holding one of the most wanted criminals hostage in her room, she wants to keep seeing MK because she’s entertaining and mean and just slightly pathetic, so she lets MK go on the promise that the thief will come back every night and so she does and yadda yadda lesbians toxic yuri wins

Millie’s stories actually come to life because shocker she’s actually a wizard in disguise and she needs to be really careful about what she writes so that’s why she hides herself away and is so hard to track down because if the wrong people knew about her magic capabilities oh no that’s a lot of blood and injury and angst and 10k words every chapter

Millie’s parents also had this ability to create anything from mere writing, they shared this ability with the kingdom, and so if an important figure asked them to say…make a protector of the kingdom, they would do so, and they did, and that’s where our villain/antagonist comes in but that’s a story for another day

The older gens are also involved in this one way or another as well, most are just backgrounders but some hold important to the story

Damien is the wizard apprentice to Leonard and Tammy, two great and powerful sages who spend their time helping the world

DJ is the one who taught Emma how to be a florist, he’s kind and understanding and always helps Emma choose the right flowers to give to Zee

Eva trains Ripper under her watchful eye, she’s proud of how far he’s come, but feels he can do just a bit more

Aleheather are the king and queen of the kingdom, Bowie and Julia are their adopted children

And that’s all I got for now uhhhh add whatever you want to this it’s just a silly time

[antianakin]

Am I the only one who just lost any and all love for newer Star Wars material due to Jedi hate ? Like- the only merch or show or even FANDOM topic I get involved in is clone wars stuff and MAYBE TBB. Like- why would I want the watch shows who attempt to rewritte canon and portray the very heroes of Star Wars as the bad guys ?

Why would I want to watch shows that assassinate characters left and right (looking at you, Ahsoka and Sabine) ? Why would I want to buy merch of characters who I not only NOT care about, but who also are used as meta mouthpieces for stupid Jedi hate ?

I think there's TONS of good newer Star Wars material, to be honest.

I loved the Kenobi show and it is arguably one of the most pro Jedi pieces of media to have existed since the Prequels films. Aside from one itty bitty somewhat awkward word choice in one line of one episode, there is absolutely NOTHING in that show that can be used to indict the Jedi or blame them for anything and it is arguably one of the only shows to really spend time MOURNING the Jedi and recognizing the horror of what was done to them. Rebels comes closest after this, but its structure makes it a little less visceral than the Kenobi show was to me.

I really adore Visions and I recognize that this is sort-of Star Wars adjacent more than anything else, but SO LITTLE truly understands what makes Star Wars compelling as a story and really hits on those primary themes the way that Visions does. There's SO MUCH Jedi content in Visions and I remember people complaining about how much Jedi content was in Visions and other people responding that if you were given free reign to just play in the Star Wars sandbox with near zero restrictions on what you could make with it, you would probably ALSO immediately go for the psychic space wizards with laser swords. Who WOULDN'T? Visions also just genuinely has some of the most engaging and heart-wrenching stories to come out of Star Wars in a LONG while and it does it in these beautifully animated 15 minute packages. It's such a gem and I am so glad to be alive at the same time as Visions.

Rogue One is older now, but both Rogue One and Andor, despite having zero actual Jedi in them, really hinge on the themes from the Prequel trilogy about the tragedy in the Star Wars universe, stepping up when no one else will, choosing to be selfless and compassionate for the greater good, etc. Faith and hope are MASSIVE themes within these two works and even though there aren't any space wizards, good or evil, in either story, they feel like some of the most pro Jedi things Star Wars has come out with in a while based on thematic messages ALONE.

The Mandalorian's first two seasons actually have this absolutely BEAUTIFUL story about the selfless sacrifice of one man as he gives up everything in order to help this child find his way back to the culture he'd been ripped from. Everything AFTER that regarding Grogu and Din's storyline is a piece of shit (it's not explicitly anti-Jedi or anything, but it undoes a lot of the things that made their story so compelling and beautiful), but the first two seasons are genuinely GOOD and very pro Jedi in a lot of ways despite the lack of many actual Jedi characters.

The Book of Boba Fett is a terrible show for a LOT of reasons, but shockingly none of them have anything to do with its treatment of the Jedi. If it ever ends up with a season two, I desperately hope they leave Mace Windu's name the fuck out of it, but at this point it is a pretty Jedi neutral show if you're willing to deal with the rest of its bullshit.

Rebels is also somewhat older now, and it has a few lines here and there that are a tad more Jedi critical, but it is by and large VERY Jedi positive and does also follow a lot of the themes of selflessness and sacrifice that go along with being a Jedi. It also has themes of mercy and patience and facing your fears in Sabine's storyline that got entirely thrown away in her later storyline. Just thought that was worth pointing out. For reasons.

TBB is also fairly Jedi neutral, but its treatment of the clones is basically the clone version of being anti Jedi, so I'm not sure it's actually any better. It just traded hating on the Jedi to hating on the clones, and I find that just as distasteful.

I can't really speak to things like comics and novels much since I don't tend to consume them really. I've read a few of the adult novels in the High Republic Phase I and the first one was genuinely very good, but there were some relatively heavy-handed Jedi critical themes within the third book of Phase I (The Fallen Star) that put me off of it a little. I haven't continued into Phase II or III at all, so I have no idea if those themes got continued in later books. I've heard generally good things about the Padawan book, I think.

The Cal Kestis video games, Fallen Order and Survivor, also have their small Jedi critical moments, but much like Rebels, it has these massive overarching themes and messages about compassion and selflessness and sacrifice and facing your fears and mercy. They are immensely Jedi positive in a lot of ways and I really enjoyed both of them.

So out of everything I have seen (and know about) the only stuff that's truly heinously and insultingly anti-Jedi is the Ahsoka show, the Acolyte, and Tales of the Jedi. Three shows and like 30% of one book. Out of a list of like ten different shows and one film and some books and video games. It's not even really HALF of the content we've been getting recently.

A lot of people talk about the Disney era like it's ruined Star Wars, or like nothing it releases has ever been good. But it just straight up isn't true. It's a little insulting to all of the genuinely wonderful work that is being done by all of these other creators to just brush aside everything that's been coming out recently as awful and bad because some of the MOST recent things have been pretty explicitly hateful towards the Jedi. It's not fun that we had the Ahsoka show immediately followed by the Bad Batch followed by the Acolyte. I hate that, too, it feels like we're on this neverending shitshow of stories explicitly aimed at hating a group of characters for no obvious good reason. But I don't think that the last 6 months or so of bullshit should overshadow some of the really beautiful stories we HAVE gotten within the last several years.

If you feel like things are getting difficult, maybe do a "good Star Wars" marathon of sorts. Watch the Prequels, followed by the Kenobi show, then Andor, then Rebels, then Rogue One, then the Original trilogy. This one long beautiful story of people stepping up to fight against selfishness and greed and darkness no matter what.

Or go rewatch Visions or read some of your favorite fanfics and remember all the things about Star Wars that are just universally cool and compelling across the world. Hell, you can try writing something of your own! Anything! A lot of my AU concepts stemmed from spite and really helped me feel a little bit better about Star Wars when it sometimes felt like I was just surrounded by the parts of it I liked the least. Go buy yourself a cool t-shirt or some fun jewelry. Find some pretty stickers and put it on a water bottle or an enamel pin to put on a canvas tote bag or a corkboard.

Curating your fandom experience goes beyond just the internet. There's a reason I am boycotting the Acolyte and it isn't because I think Disney or its creators are going to care at all. I'm doing it for ME, because I had such a shitty time watching the Ahsoka show and it made me so miserable each week that I seriously think I will be better off just leaving it the hell alone and just absorbing whatever ends up crossing my dash from a distance. I only participate in Star Wars fandom servers that I feel safe in and only really get into discussions with personal friends who I know well. If participating in Star Wars fandom is making you sad, maybe take a step back or find a way to create your own corner of fandom that feels better. Ignore the damn Ahsoka show, pretend it never existed. Ignore the Acolyte. Ignore Tales of the Jedi. Ignore Filoni-related bullshit. Focus on the parts you DO like, or give yourself the space to remember why you liked it in the first place.

[utilitycaster]

did you have any more thoughts about the "going down equals a level of exhaustion" house rule for 5e? a group I'm involved in is considering adding it, and though I've strenuously argued against it, the retort seems to be that a good healer would be spending those spells anyway, so the healbot concern is irrelevant. As the person playing the healer in the group I'd be leaving if they choose to implement it, but I'd like to give it one more good argument before I pull that card.

So my arguments here are somewhat subjective and I think gain efficacy if you are willing to gently but firmly say "I would leave this group over this choice," at this time.

My first one is a pretty basic one. For all the complaints people have about it, I actually find D&D 5e is pretty balanced, rules as written. Sure, there are rules I ignore, but most of those are like...very finicky little things (eg: small creatures not being able to use heavy weapons; it's not like halflings have such great racial abilities that you must nerf them by not letting them use a warhammer) and not core elements of gameplay. It was pretty thoroughly playtested as is. I think DMs who try to play with this kind of thing tend to be either be people who are struggling with a way to make encounters more dangerous but haven't used the (RAW) tools at their disposal; or are the sort of people I've described before who are incapable of enjoying something unless they can figuratively pee on it to mark their territory. The former is fixable; the latter type can change but it tends to have to come from within. Though I will say: Rusty Quill Gaming's Unconscious Rule was that you get a scar (no mechanical penalties unless you want) whenever you're knocked unconscious. It was purely a story thing, but if your DM is just itching to homebrew something in order to carve their initials onto the tree of D&D instead of leaving well enough alone, that might be a way to let them feel like they've homebrewed something relating to unconsciousness.

The second one is that there's multiple approaches to healing! I do tend to be a fairly proactive healer when I play one, but letting people go down is a valid strategy. Plus, shit happens! People roll really badly or the DM rolls really well or you roll all 1s on your healing dice and bam, they're unexpectedly out. It puts an undue burden on the healer not just in terms of pushing them towards a very specific playstyle, but at high levels pushes them to burn extra 5th levels (and diamond dust) on Greater Restoration). It also simultaneously makes it perhaps advantageous to not heal someone who's gone down. If they go unconscious and you're not able to heal them up beyond what they're likely to lose in another round, maybe it's better to leave them making death saves (or do Spare the Dying) so that they don't have two levels of exhaustion...but then they might die. It's a really screwy thing because the game isn't fucking balanced for this because it's stupid. It also can push the party into the One Combat Per Day behavior that has been rightfully criticized.

And finally, tying back to both of the above, there's a reason why going unconscious doesn't kill people in D&D and that's because it makes for a good story! It adds drama and tension, but you don't lose the character. This both penalizes you for allowing that drama to happen and ratchets the tension to a level that isn't really fun.

Another thing I'd add is to ask why specifically they want to add it because if someone says "it's more realistic," for example, you have my permission to say "in the pretend to be an elf wizard game?" and make a jerk-off motion. You may want to tone that down if you wish to part on good terms but like, for real, if they want a more realistic game, perhaps they should find one. I'm not a Pathfinder person myself but I would never begrudge other people from playing it in their own homes and I think PF1e (or an older version of D&D) and its less generous overnight healing might be worth your while. Perhaps exploring another system would be the better option. I think people who wander around the internet whining about how other people play D&D are sad losers, but they do have a point that if you're tinkering with core rules (as opposed to like, homebrewing a race, class/subclass, item, spell, feat, or monster) that's a sign you should probably look for another game.

So with all that said: I think it's fair to point out a (more tactful) version of all of the above but also say "I feel, as the healer, this would make my role a lot less fun, and I would leave this group over this choice." If you say it politely and calmly it may make your DM realize how much you dislike it. That doesn't mean they won't barrel ahead anyway, because people have free will and whatnot, but in a social situation, sometimes logical arguments aren't helpful! Sometimes it's better to just say "I've said why I don't like this, and I hope we can find a compromise, but ultimately you can do what you want; I can also do what I want, and I don't want to be here if you disregard my input on something that affects my enjoyment."

[atlasdoe]

THE HOGWARTS CLASS OF 1978 - pt 20

JAMES POTTER

Name - James Potter

Blood status - Purebloood

Date of birth - 27th March 1960

House - Gryffindor

Academic achievements - Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Quidditch captain, Headboy

He was killed by Voldemort trying to protect his wife and son after they were betrayed by their secret keeper

Cannon

Both of his parents were elderly even by wizarding standards

Having been conceived so late in his parents lives, he was raised in a doting household with little material limits and pampered a great deal. Hence, it was no surprise that he's grew to be proud. arrogant and boastful but deep down still a good person

At some point during his school years, James took a photo of Hogwarts Castle at sunset and gave it to Remus

At the age of sixteen James' parents allowed Sirius to move in with them so he could escape his family

Both of James' parents attended his and Lilys wedding

In around 1977 he and Sirius were involved in a motorbike chase with two Muggle policemen. Although the chase started off as a bit of fun, it turned more serious when the pair were attacked by three men on broomsticks

He and Lily defied Voldemort three time

At some point between 1979 and 1980 James' parents died of Dragon Pox and he inherited the cast Potter family fortune from them which enabled him to comfortably support his family without the need for a paying job

James also used his wealth to support a Remus who was en employed due to his status as a werewolf

Headcanons

Pansexual

Growing up, whenever his parents had to go to work or out with their friends they would drop them off at the ice cream shop where Florean Fortescue would watch him for the day as he also took care of Alice. Barty Crouch Jrs parents also did the same

Usually, when they were really young theyd only just sit in a booth together and colour and play hide and seek in the shop (which theyd always get in trouble for) and as they got older theyd be allowed to go around Diagon Alley but only if they stuck together and would stick to the village only. (And theyd have like everyone there keeping an eye on them because Alices father is well known and liked so nobody would let anything bad happen to them anyways.)

* Alice goes to Hogwarts first and when she comes back she is telling stories upon stories about school to the point where James and Barty would tease her about always talking about Hogwarts and nothing else.

* James goes next and gets sorted into Gryffindor along with Alice. While at Hogwarts Alice watched James like a hawk for his first few weeks, she really was the older sister he never had and she was so excited to share Hogwarts with him. She gave him a tour and told him everything about everyone and wanted to know all of his thoughts

* When Barty joined he was sorted into Slytherin and made it his mission to get James and Alice to leave him alone. He wanted to fit in and he had no trouble in doing so. He made sure that he acted his worse around James and Alice and no matter how hard they tried they weren't getting him to change

* Alice gave up on Barty before James did

* James became friends with Dorcas Meadows when they were in their fourth year during a game of seven minuets in heaven

* James had wanted to befriend Dorcas for a while, mostly because she was Remus’ step sister and James thought they would get on most

* Dorcas was hesitant to be his friend at first because of not only the history and common knowledge f James hating all Slytherins but just because she didnt think they would be good friends, but she did accepted his hand of friendship

* That night they came up with three ruled for their friendship also 1) No house slander off of the Quidditch pitch 2) No telling on each other to Remus and 3) Only say "I love you" if its for a dramatic goodbye

* Since that day James and Dorcas began to build a bond. One that went further than house colours and rivalry. From the friendly nods that they gave each other in the corridor to the countless times that Slughorn now had to call them out for talking too much. Something had sparked between the two that only grew into a friendship that neither of them could ever deny

While Lily and James were in hiding James got a letter from Dorcas which she sighed off with "I love you" James knew what it meant but couldn't do anything since he was in hiding

He was a little bit pissed off that he didn't make Prefect in his year since he thought he had it in the bag. He started working more in his academics after that and improved so much that he became Head Boy

While Quidditch captain he chose who was on the team based on his friends. He told everyone that every position was up for grabs but there was no universe where he wasn't having Sirius, Alice, Frank and Mary on the team

Everyone was his friend but he was not everyone's friend. There was only a few people who James truly cared about

Those people were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, Mary MacDonald, Alice Fortescue, and Frank Longbottom

His first crush was Patricia Rakepick who was in her fifth year when his was in his first

He secretly dated Regulus Black during his fifth year and Regulus' fourth. The only people who knew was Sirius, Alice and Pandora Ollivander. James and Regulus had an agreement that James could tell Sirius if Regulus could tell Pandora. Alice found out about them after walking in on them kissing

Regulus started ignoring James after Sirius ran away because he was mad at James for letting Sirius stay with him. James attempted to get Regulus to talk to him but gave up completely when rumors that Regulus had joined the Death Eaters started going around the school

He and Lily got together during the summer before their seventh year

When James and Lily got married they went all out. They had a wedding weekend in the country side and has a massive reception that everyone they knew was invited to

[anthurak]

So this is almost certainly going to be an unpopular opinion for some, but for a long time now I’ve been feeling that the RWBY fandom puts just a bit TOO much stock in the various fairytale/mythology/literary allusions of the characters when it comes to theory-crafting. It feels like people find out that a certain character A is an allusion to another character B from an already completed story and go ‘Well that must mean that Character A is going to turn out just like Character B!’

Which of course completely ignores that these are allusions and references. Ruby Rose might have strong parallels and similarities to Little Red Riding Hood, but that does not mean she IS literally Little Red Riding Hood. Just as Weiss Schnee is NOT literally Snow White, Penny Polendina is NOT literally Pinocchio and Oscar Pine is NOT literally the Little Prince. Ultimately, whatever allusion a character might have comes SECOND to who they are as an actual character, NOT the other way around.

Whatever allusions a character has might inform what could happen to them, but that should still be treated as secondary to what we actually see them do in the show.

For example, I see a LOT of ships in the RWBY fandom that people seem to largely use interpretations of the characters’ allusions as ‘evidence’, rather than what the characters actually DO in the actual SHOW. Like has anyone noticed that discussions of ships like Bumbleby, Renora, Nuts and Dolts or White Rose have historically not involved much interpretation (relatively speaking anyway) of the potential ‘complimentary allusions’ of these characters? Because there is no NEED to, because all the evidence for these ships is right fucking there on the screen. Meanwhile we’ve got ships (and I am NOT naming names) that people will swear up and down are TOTALLY going to be canon for really-realsies where most or even all of the ‘evidence’ consists of people effectively playing some kind of matching game with their allusions. Or saying nothing more than ‘Character A kinda-sorta resembles the love-interest of Character B’s allusion’.

And ALL of this doesn’t even take into account the biggest factor which I keep getting the impression that WAY too many RWBY fans still having gotten the memo on:

The fact that RWBY literally NEVER plays its allusions STRAIGHT.

All the way from minute one when we saw an allusion to Little Red Riding Hood cutting down a horde of Big Bad Wolves, RWBY has ALWAYS been subverting, inverting, flipping, twisting and otherwise playing it’s allusions, references and archetypes literally ANY way but actually STRAIGHT.

Little Red Riding Hood hunts the Big Bad Wolf. Snow White is equal parts Princess AND Knight in Shining Armor. Cinderella is a tragic villain origin story. Pinocchio was always a real girl. The Great and Powerful Wizard Oz is far more powerful than anyone thought, but is ALSO far more of a fraud than anyone thought.

So when people use these characters’ allusions as some kind of rigid road-map to theorize what might happen to them, it’s not just that this detracts from their identity as their own characters; the story itself isn’t even using that map!

I mean speaking personally, that’s what has always made RWBY theory-crafting FUN. Trying to guess how the writers might twist and flip the allusions they’re using. But that also means that the allusions of the various characters simply DON’T actually provide ANY kind of accurate ‘road-map’ for where they might be going. Instead, the best we can do is use what the actual show has actually shown us to get any kind of idea where the characters are headed.

Ultimately, I feel like too often I see that when people are making theories about RWBY characters, they are treating them more like the characters they are based on, instead of the characters they actually ARE.

[markantonys]

Someone on Twitter: Rand was such an asshole in s1. They handled his character's stubbornness much better in s2. You're calling him an asshole? Based off one episode? I am a s1 Rand defender

this is the worst take!!!! the only difference in rand's stubbornness in the two seasons is that in s1 all the trauma and upheavals are extremely fresh and also he still has some hope that he can get his life back, and so he's more argumentative and hot-tempered, whereas in s2 he's hopeless and downtrodden and so he's too tired to argue as much. in s1 his entire world was turned on its head, but by s2 he's had 6 months to settle into the new status quo, which is a shitty status quo even before he finds out he didn't actually defeat the dark one, so when moiraine does come to tell him that, he's more like "[deep sigh] you know those days where you're like, this might as well happen". the reason he doesn't try and fight her in s2 is because he's long accepted he can't go back home again, not because he was an asshole in s1 but is written differently/better in s2. (also, it's almost like coming-of-age stories involve the heroes becoming more mature and better at managing their emotions as the story progresses. imagine that!)

it really is insane how harshly s1 rand is judged for having normal human emotions re: getting dumped and being led away on a life-threatening quest by an extremely shady wizard. i'm sure many of the haters would handle all that way worse than rand did if they were in his shoes! (plus when you look at the other kids: mat and perrin have painful memories in the two rivers (childhood trauma & laila) and so are not that opposed to leaving, while egwene is interested in becoming an aes sedai and so not that opposed, so naturally rand has the most reason to dig his heels in and resist being taken away.)

i think it kinda stems from our human tendency to see all conflicts as A Bad Guy vs. A Good Guy. rand & moiraine both have valid and understandable reasons for clashing (rand is scared and doesn't want to leave home; moiraine is acting for the good of the world) as do rand & egwene (rand is hurting over the breakup and upset that egwene's trying to act like nothing happened and get back with him now that her first choice of being a wisdom fell through; egwene is scared and wants to cling to the comfort and familiarity of their relationship after her whole life was overturned). but people's instinct is to make someone the bad guy in every argument, and so they give that title to rand. we see that time and again in the books too - WOT is really quite good about having the heroes disagree and have conflicts with each other even though they share the same broad goals, but fandom always simplifies it down to "X character is Right and A Good Guy, Y character is Wrong and A Bad Guy". (rand & egwene with the seals: egwene is the bad guy. rand & elayne with the dragon banners: elayne is the bad guy. egwene & gawyn with their TOM relationship negotiations: gawyn is the bad guy. mat & the wondergirls constantly: the girls are the bad guys on reddit, but mat might be the bad guy if you ask some people on tumblr.)

in conclusion, i will leave you with some of my earliest thoughts on rand as a show-only. he immediately came off to me as a walking green flag, and that opinion only strengthened as the season went on! him getting angry and having emotions never soured my opinion of him, it just made him feel real and human! so the haters can suck it, their experiences are not universal.

(i think this was from only about halfway through the season, because he did become my #1 favorite by the end of the season!)

[scarlet--wiccan]

How did you feel about the Pietro and Tommy interaction in Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver? A lot of people seemed to think it was Pietro being a jerk to Tommy but I didn't see it that way necessarily, Pietro seems to respect his nephew and care in his own way (it's implied he stops over from time to time).

While not a father figure or close to them by any means (that's Jeff Kaplan) Thematically ofc Pietro is often more associated with Billy and Tommy than Vision. He shows up with Wanda in that love unlimited comic and Wanda casually mentions Pietro when she visits Billy in #6.

On a side note. We have Wanda teaming up with both her boys coming up in the new solo. Are you excited? Anything your hoping to see?

I enjoyed it! I certainly didn't think Pietro was being a jerk-- he's on edge about the fight with Wanda, and he and Tommy have always had a slightly competitive dynamic, but it's not like he says anything rude or mean. If anything, I thought he was being encouraging. Tommy comes across as very protective, and it seems like he really cares about his family, which a very sweet full-circle moment for him. I think Pietro was also being protective, in his own prickly way, by trying to prevent Tommy from getting further involved in the fight against the Wizard.

My only real problem is that I wish they'd gotten more page time together. This is Pietro's first truly significant interaction with either of the twins since Children's Crusade, which means that Orlando had the opportunity to set the tone of their relationship and fill in any family bonding that might have happened off-page. There have been hints and indications that they do spend time together, so I think he could have gotten away with giving them a closer dynamic, and I'm a little disappointed that he didn't. Having a solid relationship with Wanda's kids, on top of being more active in Luna's life, as we've seen, would support the growth and maturity that we're supposed to be seeing from Pietro.

I'm super happy that Billy and Tommy are both going to be in Scarlet Witch. I was really sad that Tommy and Wanda didn't get any time together in SW&Q, so I'm glad he's coming back-- I just always want to see more of him, in general. Similarly to what I said about Pietro, I want Orlando to establish that Wanda and her sons do a have a close relationship off-page-- that they stay in touch and see each other regularly, even outside of these team-ups. Billy sometimes implies that he's learned more about magic from Wanda, but we've never seen that aspect of their relationship. I don't necessarily expect this comic to get into it, but being Billy's magical mentor would create more opportunities for Wanda to talk about her family history. I really want to get more insight on how Billy and Tommy-- and Luna-- relate to this part of their heritage, and this would be a good way to bring it up in conjunction with other story beats.

We also haven't seen much of Billy and Tommy together in the last, like, decade. Even when they are on-page together, they don't have always speak. I'd like to get a better feel for what their relationship is like as adults. It was stated, once, that Tommy had joined Billy and Teddy on some kind of diplomatic mission in space-- I have to imagine, then, that they're much closer and more trusting than they used to be.

[sixpillarsofgenesis]

A Thought on Lies of P

So, I have recently - kicking and screaming, mind - gotten into Lies of P, and there's some things that bother me about the primary driver of conflict. I'm going to put this under a spoiler, so... sorry anyone who isn't expecting what's underneath.

Spoilers under the cut for the reading material, gameplay, and mini cutscenes in Lies of P.

How did Carlo die?

This entire plot point is the driving force behind how the plot in Lies of P starts, narratively, and it's also the core reason for the Real Boy ending. The reason I ask this is because common fandom concensus is that Carlo died during the Rose Estate Incident, where an outbreak of Petrification Disease killed a good chunk of the staff, including Carlo, Romeo, (allegedly) and Sophia's father.

But when you explicitly come across the memory of Carlo's death near the end of the game, it looks like he was cut in half given the Famed Stalker was apologising to him - which is further supported by the Nameless Puppet's body being entirely puppet material from about hips down.

But it also begs the question - what killed him? We never really get an answer on what, who, or even why he was killed. Carlo's death wouldn't have been a boon for anyone involved - Geppetto cut ties with the Alchemists to some degree about this in particular, and Geppetto's assistance would have been well worth keeping Carlo alive.

Given that the famous Stalker apparently rejected Carlo from training, we could infer that perhaps he wasn't up to the regular skill level she was famous for. But Romeo's message - and all of the remaining details in the game - paint Carlo as a much more competent potential Stalker than what would have been anticipated. While our Player Character is also apparently very much his own person, the fight with the Black Rabbit Brotherhood implies that Carlo learned enough of the Famed Stalker's combat by observation alone to have had it affect his combat style and capability significantly. Romeo also specifically makes note that Carlo was relentlessly stubborn and that him demolishing the puppets he sent out as an envoy to try and tell the Player Character the truth was pretty much what Romeo expected of him.

All of that marks him as very competent and capable indeed, to say nothing of the Nameless Puppet, if the puppet itself had anything of Carlo left in it, or whatever pressures Carlo might have faced as the famous Union Workshop President's son.

It's also implied that there was at least a year or two since Carlo's death. If we assume Carlo was old enough to read the original La Storia di un Burattino (The Story of a Marionette) in 1881 aka what would be the published novel of Pinnochio in 1883, then Carlo could be enrolled in the French Education as young as three years old and likely old enough to read La Storia di un Burattino as an actual book around five.

(Yes, I am aware Carlo Geppetto is Italian. For the best accuracy to match both the Belle Epoque and the Italian history, I have placed Krat near the seaside a few kilometres from the Italian Border to account for the culture blending we see in Lies of P. So sue me don't.)

Given Pinnochio is canonically Carlo's favourite childhood story, we need to look at the next landmark in the games - The Wizard of Oz. (Did you know that The Wizard of Oz was officially released in 1900?) Carlo could then have been born in 1878, placing him at 22 (or would have been) at the time of Lies of P. Around this time, it was more common to have apprenticeships around age 14-18, which would have likely been when Carlo approached the Famous Stalker to apprentice under her. As we don't know when the Rose Estate Incident took place, Carlo could have been there to complete his lycée (French secondary Education akin to high school) or baccalauréat, colloquially known as le bac.

(The reason I place Krat in France is for this reason, as Italy had a much more difficult time encouraging parents and children to attend formal education - elementary, middle, and high school, more specifically - than France, and the baccalauréat is actually pretty similar to the Stalkers, Alchemists, and Workshop Union as it is presented in canon. The entire premise of the original Pinnochio was quite literally C.Collodi's attempt to convince children to learn their basic education.)

Now, the game does not say how long either the Petrification Disease or the Puppet Frenzy lasted - but I'm still playing the game, though I did watch a walkthrough to try and get all the juicy bits - but given how fresh the bodies are, I would think that the Frenzy was definitely more recent. I would think that - for the purpose of this attempt to make sense of the Lies of P canon - in this case, the Puppet Frenzy was the most recent part, with Simon Manus causing the Rose Estate Incident when Carlo was somewhere between 16-17. Old enough that he could have graduated to become an Apprentice Stalker, but still young enough to not have anywhere to go (as he certainly didn't want to spend any time with his Father, and it was unlikely that Geppetto would have allowed Carlo to live with him anyways.)

All of these things allow for a few specific, unanswered plot points to be addressed - the apparent transformation of Gemini from Stalker to Sophia's Monad Lamp, The time Geppetto would have needed to create at least three P-Organ Prototypes and do whatever tf he did to his hand if that wasn't there already, and for him to additionally steal the Arm of God - as the only transport the Alchemists had would not have accepted Geppetto.

(This would also allow Geppetto to hold Carlo's funeral, attempt Nameless Puppet one, fail, and attempt making the Player Character/Pinocchio/P however you call him, fail again, and then kick the Puppet Frenzy into high gear.)

Outside of how Gemini was put into the Player Character's care, this timeline accounts for everything up until the reveal of Dorothy, who, if she is the person based on the 1900 novel, could have travelled to Krat to escape the fame the novel The Wizard of Oz and the subsequent sequels would have cast on her, as the original novel was so popular as to spawn around 13+ sequels.

Of course, since I am posting this here, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. If there's a better, more comprehensive timeline, I'd love to get a chance to look at it.

Some additional thoughts:

Why three P-Organs? Three because the one Romeo uses in the play is pretty close to what we see on the menu screen - I could see it being perhaps his conceptual design or prototype copy that, once the first real P-Organ was made, was left for future reference.

Why make a big deal out of Dorothy? Because Dorothy and subsequently, The Wizard of Oz would be released during the Belle Epoque (1890-1914) timeframe which this setting takes place. Given the Endgame Credits Scene, this makes considering Dorothy's appearance in Krat at the very least somewhat relevant.

A fun thought I had was the idea of Dorothy being the Famed Stalker, but that person in particular is implied to have been so much beyond the Stalkers that she superseded their hierarchy and had her own place at the top without belonging to any particular faction.

Another interesting thought was the idea of Carlo having been a Listener - as Listeners were often hunted down and experimented on, it seemed like a fun idea to play around with, but in this case, it's not certain one way or another.

[pastelpeterparkerr]

Selkie!Elliott HCs

No one asked, but yet y'all shall receive, woot, let's get it, this is my first in-depth one of these so plz be nice lol. There are multiple versions of this that I've thought about so there are a few ways this could go down. Not proofread or anything so yeah

angst, selkie!elliott x farmer, farmer with magical knowledge, fem farmer, maybe some fluff but idk, new relationship, friends to lovers

VERSION 1

So the farmer and Elliott's friendship progresses as normal until

They're at the Saloon one night

Willy is telling fishing stories and talking about things he's seen around the beach recently

"Aye, and then there was a seal, which was odd since they don't swim here until winter!"

But it's early summer

The farmer handwaves this until she notices Elliott get anxious

Elliott is defensive and chugs his drink, leaving soon after

Worried, the farmer follows him out of the Saloon

He doesn't open up to her about being a selkie, but how could he?

She's the farmer, she's been one of the friendliest people he's met in Pelican Town and definitely one of his closest friends

(Also he's like... super into her)

What if she thinks he's weird, at best, or a monster, at worst?

Elliott's rationale for not telling anyone is that being a selkie isn't really who he is

Like, that's just not how he defines himself. He is a writer, a pianist, and maybe even a half-decent ballroom dancer. But a selkie is just what he is.

Also he's not confident that other humans would still associate with him if they knew his secret.

But the farmer runs up to him and asks what's wrong

"Nothing to worry about, just tired from writing all day"

She can tell he's lying. He brushes his hair behind his ear more often when he's upset, but she takes him at his word

A few nights later, the farmer is reading about magic on the beach from some books the Wizard lets her borrow. It's crazy late out too, maybe around 3 AM

She just likes it because it's quiet

She hears Elliott's cabin door open and he sneaks onto the beach with a fluffy coat before freezing upon seeing her

"I-I was just... " Elliott looks at the sealskin coat in his hand and back to her, sighing. Lying is futile and it's clear he was caught.

The farmer giggles, closing her book. "I won't tell if you won't tell... "

Elliott blushes, whispering to her. "But you don't think I'm... a monster? Or at least... bizarre?"

The farmer laughs. "Of course, you're bizarre! That's why I like hanging out with you!"

After this, Elliott opens up to the farmer.

There are tears involved too, duh

Overall, they're way closer because of this

Working towards a romance if you catch my drift

This is the less dramatic version, obviously

VERSION 2

This is the dramatic version, sorry not sorry

So Elliott and the farmer's relationship progresses normally with LOTS of flirting on the farmer's part

Side note that the farmer still doesn't know Elliott is a selkie in this version

Elliott feels awkward flirting IRL so he holds back quite a bit, although he still really likes the farmer

Somehow, the farmer flirts her way into a date with him and they decide on a brunch picnic on the beach. At 9:30 AM, the farmer is to meet Elliott at his cabin and they'll have a picnic

HOWEVER Elliott feels the urge to change into his seal form the night before

When that happens, he's like... a literal seal so he loses track of time easily

So he doesn't answer the door, and she's pissed, rightfully so

She doesn't know he's in the ocean doing selkie things

He changes back a few hours after the date and realizes what time it is

Poor guy FREAKS OUT, he feels terrible

Because he really likes the farmer, you know?

He ends up rushing over to the farm with a bouquet of fairy roses, the farmer's favorite

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, [Farmer]! I have no excuse! I didn't mean to stand you up. In fact, I meant quite the opposite!"

The farmer glares at him, quite hurt. "So where were you anyways?"

Elliott is tired of keeping secrets, especially from her

So he tells her he's a selkie

At first, the farmer doesn't believe him, but that night, he shows her

The way the farmer's jaw drops

She has SO MANY questions

After answering all of them, Elliott sighs, "So I suppose you're not interested anymore, especially since I stood you up this morning"

Poor guy has so much self-doubt :(

The farmer smiles, clearly teasing him, "I suppose I'll be able to overlook this morning's blunder if you plan another date..."

Elliott beams and hugs her

He takes a risk and kisses her on the cheek too. If he already put all his cards on the table, he might as well go all in.

[keepmycandleburning]

So the last few weeks I've been writing Peter Pettigrew's perspective of the first war in my same universe because my favorite ao3 reader mentioned the possibility of it while reading KMCB. Peter in my opinion is a character who gets misunderstood very badly, I mean he's clearly a very competent wizard and the conversation he has with Voldemort in the Riddle House where he essentially sasses him multiple times is not the person we're supposed to think he is.

The other three Marauders though are characters I don't really understand or care about that much. I've tried to find fics where they're portrayed according to their canon personalities and relationships but I have failed, or I don't know what I'm looking for. I asked for recs a while ago and nobody replied. I've meant to read ATYD because of how much people seem to like it but it's too long (and don't even...) and whenever I start looking at ch 1 I immediately x out the tab. The Sirius and Remus I most often see online don't resonate with the books. Nor the James that is hooking up with Regulus. I've just been looking for metas on them which is more helpful.

What little we see of James in canon he seems like a huge asshole. He gets talked up a lot after death but really generically, and of course he is considering what happened to him. How can I write this person nicely?? I can't! So I'm writing him as a huge asshole. How could his relationship with Lily possibly be healthy? There's no basis for that at all. Well I looove morally gray characters so I'll try to make him ambiguous.

Is the idea that Sirius and Remus could be romantically involved something that stems from something in canon (like how Drarry comes from the fact they're both canonically obsessed w each other for years) or is it made up? If so, what?

Obviously much of the Marauders lore is made up and contains things that are very unlikely like half the Order being at Hogwarts with them. So I'm just ignoring pretty much all the existing stuff that I'm aware of.

Also, I forget if I said this in my author's note or in a comment reply but I also have a continuation of KMCB if Voldemort had won, like the following year after the battle of hogwarts. I was embarrassed of it because it was initially like really going off the rails and reading too much like a fanfiction so I took big parts of it out and filled them in with other things and it's better. I'm writing them both simultaneously.

Anyways does anyone have any thoughts on: Can you recommend any fics or metas on the Marauders? What are James's positive qualities, other than being willing to give his life for his family? What in the books hints at what his relationship with Lily was like? What points to Wolfstar in canon? Is there anything I should make sure to put in or leave out to ensure it's canon compliant as hell?

It's going to be some Hogwarts era and then probably, unless I develop a much higher interest and knowledge level on the Marauders, mostly Hogwarts grad-Halloween 1981 and increasingly Death Eater based with my DE characters and Voldemort making up much of the story. I like them way more. I don't really give a fuck about the marauders map or whatever

Some snippets. Don't worry it's perverted as hell but I want that to be a surprise

[misc-obeyme]

I have so many thoughts. SO MANY THOUGHTS.

Spoilers for Lesson 20 under the cut.

From a storytelling standpoint, Lesson 20 was kind of underwhelming for me. It was kinda boring.

Everything is totally resolved and then we have a party? And MC is given the completely pointless title of Devilsitter? And the Celestial Realm is just like yeah okay see ya.

Seriously, Diavolo? Everybody knows you just made that up. Also why did they have to give him that goofy hat? I think this would've been a little more impactful if he'd been in demon form, you know? Anyway...

It felt like we went through all of that for a whole lot of nothing.

It also feels like they want to tell a more complicated story and that's why this whole separate app situation began. But then they were like well we wanna keep some of the overall vibe, so it still has to have seasons and the first one still has to be twenty lessons. Like they should've just scrapped that and let the story play out how needs to. Because I felt like they were just putting filler in there so that they could extend the Nightbringer part of the story into the next season.

All that aside, though, there were things I did enjoy about the lesson, mostly involving the usual character shenanigans.

Sometimes it really feels like Simeon is just always on the outside, longing to be part of this family. He loves them so much he's willing to sacrifice his own standing to help them, but he also knows he's not part of them. We already knew this of course, considering he does exactly that in the OG to make sure MC gets to stay with them. I just feel like Simeon is so selfless. And it's kind of heartbreaking? I just want to hug him.

And oh, my sweet precious Barbatos... if you choose him to escort you, he says some amazing things.

YES. TAKE ME. I'M READY.

Is this the fancy butler way of saying I love you? Don't misunderstand, I am so soft for sweet kisses to the back of someone's hand, but if you think that's gonna cut it, sir, I really need you to try harder.

What can I say, I just want Barbatos to profess his undying love. I want him to break his butler persona and spill his heart out. I want him to actually tell us exactly how he feels and what he's been through and how hard it must have been to live the way he has for so long with the power of time and space at his fingertips. Ugh. Okay, sorry I'm getting off track here. We already know I could probably write another couple of essays about Barbatos aside from the one I've already written lol.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Solomon in this lesson, too...

I thought this was an interesting reaction from him when MC asks him to be the brothers' ally. Like yeah, obviously not against the human world, but this was about keeping the brothers in the Devildom? I'm trying not to read too much into it since it could just be that they wanted to make it seem like MC was the one who convinced everybody and stuff. Like okay whatever!

But truly the best Solomon moment was if MC chooses him to give them the "special emblem."

SOLOMON. My stupid wizard loving heart can't take it when you say stuff like this!

And then the forehead kiss, I was just like this is so soft and sweet I'm losing my miiiiind.

What can I say about it other than it was great? Of course I went back and chose all the options. Having Diavolo or Lucifer give you the emblem is pretty sweet, too. But there is just something next level about it being Solomon because of the whole master/apprentice thing, but also because he's the only one who knows what you're really going through. I just really love him, okay?

Lastly, I have to say I was a bit surprised with Mephisto in this lesson... he's starting to grow on me.

Mephisto! I'm pretty sure that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!

For once, I agreed with him. Also, if it was actually me, I'd be like your arguments are pointless because my last dance is going to be with Thirteen.

I was expecting a little more after the end credits, but it was just a repeat of those weird Nightbringer lines from one of the earlier lessons... I can't remember which one it was. I was really expecting Nightbringer to make a final appearance, but nope.

The hard lesson completely blew my mind, though. I have to make a separate post just for that.

In the end, this lesson had some good parts, but it definitely just felt like filler because they needed to end the season. We're not getting any real answers until next season, apparently. I swear if I have to wait for a season three for some decent answers, I will be flipping tables.

Of course, I'm really just here for the hot anime characters so... I'll just go back to simping as soon as I'm done table flipping lol.

[deansapplepie]

Marchweres Day 4 - 5

Prompt: Cursed, Finding out

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Reader

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: non-sexual nudity, werewolf shifting, mentions of being sick, bruises and cuts, probably ooc Remus lil angsty but ends fluff. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

A/N: I’m only writing for Daryl Dixon since last year, but there are ages that I have an idea about Remus and Sirius’ sister, but the idea is not this story I’m publishing now, but maybe they can be in the same world and that can be just the start. Remus is 20 in this one, therefore that’s why I’m using Andrew Garfield to represent him. I hope in the future I can bring “old” Remus here.

Not proof read.

It was dark times, the dark lord and his followers were unstoppable, killing and torturing muggle born and half-blood wizards and witches. You were part of the Order of The Phoenix and very often you’d need to reunite with all the others to talk about the next plans or missions.

The last thing your older brother wanted was for you to be involved in this, but both of you were already deep on it, being children of pure blood wizards that agreed to everything the dark lord was doing… Gods, you even had cousins that were death eaters. Being a Black wasn’t easy, specially when you were everything your family despised. At least you could stay at home, opposite as Sirius that was kicked out by your parents. There were still Regulus, but he was one of them… or at least you thought.

You pretended to not be involved in any of this, that you were in neither sides. You tried to be discreet so yours parents wouldn’t suspect. You were 18, had just gotten out of Hogwarts a year ago, your brother and his friends being 2 years older than you, the last years in Hogwarts were a little bit tedious to be honest. They were also your friends, and you missed their chaos all around the school, but now you could see them more often… specially because of the order pf the phoenix meetings.

Speaking of it… you noticed that he wasn’t in the last reunion. Remus wasn’t there, and by what you knew he wasn’t sent in any mission. You even asked Dumbledorre just to be sure, and he answered you with a smile and a mischief in his features that he didn’t. As soon as you got home you sent Remus an owl, asking if he would be home, you’d pay him a visit. The truth was, you had a crush on him, since you were 11 and as you got older is just became bigger and bigger, besides being one of your dearest friends, he always refused your investments and you never really understood. Of course he went out with other girls, but he never dated any of them, he looked you with so much tenderness that you thought it was impossible he didn’t like you back like you wished. But he didn’t. Remus looked at the world like this, he was someone so smart and good, and it was clear he struggled with something, but even like this he always looked at the world with love.

Some hours later you received an answer from him, a simple answer.

‘Don’t come, I’m sick.’

Did he really believe it would stop you from going to see him? Now, you NEEDED to see him. Why being all by himself, if he could have someone taking care of him? You changed your clothes, found some chocolate you had stored in your room and then apparated to his small cottage in the middle of the woods. His reclusion was too much sometimes, but that was your opinion and if he was happy like this, what were you supposed to do.

You walked to the front door and knocked on it. It was taking a while for him to open it and you were almost entering the house to see if he was good.

“What are you doing here?” You got startled by the angry voice that was normally so calm and contained.

“You said you are sick. I came to check on you.” You held the bag with chocolates firmly in your hands.

“I told you to not come…” he said greeted teeth.

The sky was getting darker and darker, soon the moon and the stars would appear.

“You shouldn’t be alone when you’re sick.”

“You shouldn’t be…” He started to say, but was cut by a wince of pain.

“Rem… what are you feeling? How can I help?” You touched his arms in comfort for his pain.

Another grunt of pain, he nearly snarled and stepped in your direction making you walk backwards. He put his hand in the door behind you. The moon was now high in the sky, a beautiful full moon, it would have been nice to appreciate it with him if he wasn’t feeling bad.

“Rem…”

“You shouldn’t have come!” He looked in your eyes , a hint of insanity on it… his face, it looked different. His nose seemed more pronounced than the normal, his ears more pointer… “Leave.”

“Rem, I don’t… understand.” You were scared, what was happening. If you didn’t know any better…

“LEAVE!” You were static, you had never seen him this aggressive. He wasn’t like that.

He pushed himself away from you, going to the middle of the patio. You couldn’t move as you watched him curve himself in pain as his body changed.

“Go! Go inside!” You didn’t move, you couldn’t as you watched your friend turning into a werewolf.

When the change finished and he howled at the moon, was the moment you woke up from your trance. You turned around and opened the door getting in. You locked the door behind you and observed as he disappeared into the woods.

You didn’t notice when you fell asleep… you kept sat by the window observing the darkness worried about him. You glanced at the sky a few times observing the moon and the stars, and at some point you fell asleep.

You woke listening to soft knocks on the door. You opened your eyes, the morning light blinding you. When you looked around you and noticed you were not home, you came back to your senses. ‘Remus’, you thought.

You ran to the door, opening it as quickly as you could. When you opened you were faced with an exhausted naked Remus, he had some cuts on his skin and you couldn’t care less the man you loved was naked in front of you, your priority was to take care of him. The look on his hazel and eyes were heartbreaking, you tried to get to him and help him inside, but he entered without your help avoiding contact with you.

Before you could say anything to him, he started to talk. “Are you happy now that you know my secret? You couldn’t stay away when I told you to. Now you know I’m a monster! Someone cursed with lycanthropy, a danger to everyone around.”

“Remus… you’re not a monster.” You said, taking a blanket from the couch and wrapping it around him. “You’re just Remus. This isn’t something you choose because you’re evil, I don’t know the story, I just found out, but I know it was probably an accident.”

“Aren’t you disgusted? Aren’t you afraid of me? I could hurt you.” He observed while he studied your face. Now that man speaking sounded more like your Remus, he wasn’t angry anymore, at least not as much as he was before. He seemed relieved, calm… sorta worried, but just Remus.

“I would never have any of these negative feelings towards you. I know you since I was eleven, we’ve known each other for years. I know you aren’t evil. You’d never hurt me, till the last minute you were trying to tell me to go to safety.” You got closer to him, your hands cupped his face while you saw all the bruises and cuts he had. You ran your fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes at such tenderness. “Do the boys know?”

“Yes.” He confirmed and opened his eyes. “Don’t fight them, I asked them to not tell you.”

“You shouldn’t. If I knew, I could have been preparing Wolfsbane potions for you. It would be a little better for you of you could keep your human mind when you changed. You know I’m good at it, I can do it.”

“I’m sorry, I was afraid you’d be scared of me and wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore.” He trembled a little effect of his shifting and the long night he had.

You directed him to the sofa and made him sit. “I’d never not like you or be scared of you.” You stood in front of him and caressed his cheek. “Take some rest, I’m going to make something for you to eat. If you eat everything, I may give you the chocolate I brought for you.” You smiled at him and curved to give him a kiss on his face. His heart skipped a beat, he had had a crush on you for ages, but even with your brother telling him he should make a move and date you, he’d never put you on that risk, not even now that you knew everything. For him, having your sweet friendship was already enough…

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mdni banner by @cafekitsune

Cute paw divider by @lazyneonrabbitt

[sweetfirebird]

okay I stewed on it and I know it's a Stephen King miniseries from the 90s so who cares but having watched two King miniseries from the 90s this week (and who once watched The Mist as well), they have the same flaws but in Storm of the Century, the flaws are especially obvious and I need rant about it on the internet for a second. This is a mess of thoughts and I don't care.

I am going to ignore how the danger of the storm changed from moment to moment depending on what was convenient for the action. And I am also going to assume that a lot of the costuming and makeup decisions were a matter of budget and not character hints or anything. I know this production was not that deep. I know that.

That said (whew boy), this story does that thing that some King stories do where they are structured like a mystery (in fact, SotC and Rose Red are both set up like that, and a closed circle mystery at that). So there is horror but the mystery conventions are front and center--until the end, when King abandons them, and you, completely. Something that probably worked more in a 90s tv miniseries format where it was unlikely that people would rewatch it, or watch it all at once with other miniseries, so the issues would be less glaring.

Anyway. So because it's set up like a mystery, your brain is looking for clues like it's a mystery--and you are apparently given clues. Which is why the endings feel especially stupid and meaningless because all indications were that the ending and big reveal was going to matter!!

But then, JJ Abrams surprise! the endings do not matter and none of the clues mattered or were even really clues! And you feel stupid for thinking they were!! You fucking idiot, expecting competent writing!

This is slightly less the case with Rose Red, but it's still evident there. All the showy bits, all the references, all the details that seemed relevant because the story focused on them? Just window dressing to make the story seem deeper and/or cooler than it actually was.

Let's talk SotC because this set up several possibilities for the identity of the big bad and then it never really answered them.

Since part of his identity was his undefined threat hanging over the townspeople for most of the series, one would assume his threat was meant as a clue, right? And that all conversations about him and his threat were then also clues, right?

Wrong. None of it was relevant. He is just a bad demon guy or something and incidentally implies Christian Hell might be real but don't worry about it. Also he dresses like a wizard. A stupid wizard. Now, again, because every single story element has been about this guy and his motives, you would think this identity issue would be resolved. But no.

And then we get into the things specifically mentioned regarding this guy and how actual good storytelling would have used them better.

For example

In the beginning, the camera lingers on a sign for a daycare that is called "Wee Folk" so oh okay, are the fae involved?

no. red herring in the mystery that King had no interest in resolving. Because it's not a mystery it's a horror story. It's just written like a mystery until the end so shut up.

Then we get a Biblical story about Legion, so oh ok, is this about that?

Never mentioned again don't worry about it.

Hell is mentioned and he's called the Devil more than once, though he says he isn't. (Though the Devil would lie, I suppose, but would he dress like a stupid wizard?)

Roanoke gets mentioned, several times, in the corniest aspect of the whole thing, and is also never resolved but I guess the implication is that the people of Roanoke chose not to listen to the weird random bad guy who showed up there. And this is just a thing he does sometimes every few hundred years even though from what else he says, it sounds like there is a time limit, and also why wouldn't he try it elsewhere in the meantime? Fuck you for asking! This isn't a mystery, it's a horror! Just because it's structured like a mystery doesn't mean anything! Pay no attention to the man behind the c--

And then, and this one is the most egregious to me because it shows how little thought went into this story--they mention the Book of Job. I'm not going to explain Job here but that is.... not a book that I think should be brought up lightly if you are exploring why bad things happen to good people and/or asking where god is during dark times. (you heard me, season two of Good Omens, I said what I said). But if you are going to bring it up in a story like this... then you'd better fucking address it. It's not just a "clue" in the mystery that never was, it's fucking thematically relevant!!! Writing 101! What the actual fuck, Stephen King?

idk what Methodists in small-town Maine think of the Book of Job or the Old Testament in general, but how this book is perceived and interpreted by Methodists/Christians feels like an issue worth exploring in a story about god leaving you to suffer and taking your children. What would you expect the "good" Methodists on this island to think and do.

The Book of Job discussion also again sets up the idea that this entire thing is part of a divine plan or test. But I guess it wasn't!!! What kind of idiot would think it mattered just because they kept mentioning it! And showing shots of the small town buildings with quotes about god and faith on them!!!!???? You must be really stupid if you think any of that was important! Scary monster man! Wizard clothes! Sharp teeth! grrr!

Okay. OKAY and then, related to that subject. Outside of this movie, in like, faith circles, there is talk about possessions and angelic or demonic visitations are about how the possession (or visitation) is not really about the person it's happening to. It's about someone else. Or several others. It's about showing them something or testing them. And on this fucking island in this story, we are shown one person who is consistently mentioned as trying to be good, and to see the good in others. Despite all the crap around him. When horrible secrets are exposed, his worst secret is cheating on a test one time for something that wasn't even his major.

So clearly that is important too, right? This is maybe some Old Testament-esque test for the town, or for him, or the bad stupid wizard demon man is here to torment and test this guy specifically, right?

no.

he's just here to be evil, and dress like a wizard, and then leave, the end. and the good guy is like a little sad at the end but moves and gets a new job and I guess that is supposed to be some sort of Job thing? But then also no and everyone mostly on, the end.

And it was corny. Did I mention it was corny? Colm Feore tried though. The second they mentioned Roanoke, I groaned out loud. The constant CONSTANT use of children's rhymes to indicate scary things will happen? the nonsense couplets about sin???? implying he isn't evil maybe but instead a more Old Testament way of punishing sinners? Just there to sound cool. Ultimately meaningless. Fuck you again.

Oh and it definitely felt stretched. It got repetitive real fast, which--surprise! also felt like it was on purpose at first because the villain said outright, "Hell is repetition."

But it wasn't on purpose. It was just padding the run time.

I will stop now. This isn't even really a review. I just was not expecting to say, "This is so fucking stupid" out loud as many times as I did while watching this.

[utilitycaster]

Hi! I'm soon (finally!) starting a Netherdeep campaign with my lovely friends. This is my second time DMing, but character work is not my strong suit. Any suggestions as a fellow Netherdeep DM for preparing how to roleplay the rivals? I thought of writing out fanfic style how they (the rivals) would adventure through the module, and writing out dialogue/party banter to get a feel for them, but I'd love to hear from you as a more seasoned DM on how you approach this kind of challenge. Thanks for your time!

I hesitate to say character work is MY strong suit either but I do think about the rivals a lot! so:

Read through the full adventure if you haven't as it does cover the rivals' arcs. I will warn you that my main criticism of Netherdeep is that there's a few assumptions it makes regarding what you and what the rivals will do, especially in Bazzoxan and in choosing factions in Ank'Harel. [btw: I did not have the rivals ally with Consortium of the Vermillion Dream despite my party allying with the Cobalt Soul because frankly based on how Bazzoxan went down it made no sense, and I'm happy to talk through how I've set them up with the Allegiance of Allsight. I think if your party chooses the Allegiance of Allsight it might be trickier due to the nature of the Cobalt Soul and the arcs of the rivals; you may want to have them join the Vermillion Dream with a goal of infiltration.] So while I think you should maintain the emotional arcs, you need to be flexible regarding the exact factors involved.

I think the book does cover what interests and drives the rivals, and that's very helpful. Honestly, the most basic advice of "know overall what this character is running from and what they are running to, and also what they want and fear in the short term" is pretty much how I play NPCs. This is also way easier than writing fanfic.

With that said: if you do want to write out their side of the story I think that's great - essentially, yeah, I do at least vaguely have a sense of what's going on for them and if making it more concrete will help you, go for it. My only warning is don't go ahead because they will be shaped by how your players interact with them - I expected my players to be super into Ayo and Dermot, and instead we've had a LOT of Maggie and some important Irvan stuff (my fighter has some really interesting parallels with both of them) and some fun Galsariad drama too (because we also have a snobby wizard in the party). Also, real talk, if someone does a rivals POV fic for a full netherdeep campaign in this manner I would 100% read that.

I don't know how helpful this is. I will admit I have a bit of a Spenser Starke problem in that like...while GM-ing while I do not per se black out it's kind of just pure improv instinct and vibes for how characters react. I am also ngl a little bit lazy and drunk off the power of the module being already written so I'm like "oh i don't need to prepare as extensively? GREAT."