#i think it's down to how consistent and strong the rules of this game are

[castleinthemist]

i wondered this many times while playing but how do you even come up with these types of levels. like how on earth do you design and test this stuff, especially the EX levels

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Why the Alpha Timeline is the Alpha Timeline

I figured I'd make a post, since it's pretty subtle and I think it genuinely passed a lot of people by? Homestuck is made up of a lot of words, haha.

The alpha timeline is described by Doc Scratch, functionally, as "the timeline that causes LE to exist."

The path which alone has my absolute mastery is the alpha timeline, a continuum I define as that which boasts exclusive rights both to my birth and to my death, two circumstantially simultaneous events.

Aranea also gives the explanation that the alpha timeline is the one where reality is perpetuated.

AG: Reality itself is using you and many others to propagate its own existence. Strictly speaking, there is only one path to its successful propagation. 8ut it still permits you to make choices.

Caliborn also states that his quest as a Lord of Time is coming to terms with the inevitability that everything, ever, in all of time, will be because of him - that he'll be the one to shape it, including the circumstances of his own defeat.

uu: AS A LORD OF TIME. I THINK I'M GOING TO MASTER TIME. NOT WITH MY BRAIN. WHICH WOULD BE TOO HARD. BUT WITH MY INSTINCTS. uu: LIKE IN A WAY THAT WORKS WITH MY NATURAL IMPULSES. SUCH AS MY AMBITION. MY WILL TO COMMIT MAYHEM. MY DESIRE TO PUNISH THOSE I DESPISE. uu: SO IF I WANT YOU TO BECOME STRONG. SO YOU CAN CHALLENGE ME LATER. AND I SEE EVIDENCE. THAT YOU PROBABLY BECOME SUCCESSFUL. uu: I THINK TO MYSELF. WHY SHOULDN'T I BE THE ONE TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN? IF IT'S GOING TO ANYWAY. uu: I THINK PART OF MY PERSONAL QUEST. IS TO BECOME AT EASE WITH THE FORCES OF INEVITABILITY. uu: INEVITABILITY THAT ALL THINGS SHOULD AND WILL FALL IN MY FAVOR. THAT ALL CAUSALITY ANSWERS TO ME. AND THAT ALL OUTCOMES NOT ONLY SERVE ME. BUT CONSIST OF MY BEING. uu: SO I FEEL THAT. THE MORE I GROW IN POWER. uu: THE MORE STUFF IT SHOULD TURN OUT I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR. uu: UP TO AND INCLUDING. EVERYTHING THAT EVER HAPPENS. uu: EVEN IF IT HAS TO BE. uu: RETROACTIVELY.

Aradia's stint as stewardess of the afterlife is explicitly described as "service to the lord of double death," and Dave explains that he acts instinctively - like Caliborn does - to fulfill the conditions of the alpha timeline. It's also worth noting that their classes, Maid and Knight, are roles that directly serve a Lord in the real world.

TEREZI: LUCK1LY YOU M4K3 4N 4DOR4BL3 H4NDM41D TO TH3 M4ST3R OF D34TH, 3SP3C14LLY 1N YOUR CUT3 CH3RRY P1X13 3NS3MBL3 ARADIA: you think so?

GG: well youre from the future right? GG: dont you know already if itll work? TG: yeah more or less TG: i never really studied how it went down all that closely TG: i just figured when the time came to sort it out the right thing to do would be obvious TG: like it is now TG: managing the loops is a balance of careful planning and just rolling with your in the moment decisions TG: and trusting they were the ones you were always supposed to make TG: by now im pretty used to having my intuition woven into the fabric of the alpha timeline

I'm starting with all that so I can explain that the GAME OVER timeline doesn't end when the time players disappear from it, like doomed timeline offshoots normally do, because it IS the alpha timeline: the sequence of events that causes GAME OVER to occur is the sequence of events that Caliborn/Lord English have chosen: one where (nearly) everyone dies, all hope of victory is lost, and his servant, the Condesce, gets to claim the Ultimate Reward, perpetuating the same misery and oppression in the new universe, and presumably all universes to come.

We see from Caliborn's chess match with Calliope that his (and by extension, LE)'s modus operandi is to follow the rules to the letter, while manipulating his opponent, tricking them with "shitty twists". It's always been explained that LE's actions have been "sanctioned by paradox space," that is, everything he's doing is explicitly allowed, nothing he's doing is against the rules - including the fact that he must be defeated. He has, via his mastery of time, perfectly engineered a situation where the only viable reality is the one where yes, he IS defeated... in the dream bubbles, by the dead and doomed, whom he sent to the dream bubbles in the first place via Condy, Jack English, and all the other boss fights. And his will, his ideals, are imposed on the new universe in spite of his defeat.

In a completely Watsonian read of the text, Lord English is an incredible villain because - subtly and unsublty - he IS basically responsible for every bad thing that ever happens, ever, to everyone. He has legitimately been the puppetmaster pulling the strings the entire time, pretty much all because Caliborn is a huge asshole who loves to hurt other people, and wants to do it as much as he can, to as many people as he can, for as long as he can.

But I think he's especially interesting through a Doylist perspective, through a reading of the text as a coming of age. Homestuck is a worth riddled with theme and symbolism, and thematically, Lord English represents everything that these kids need to overcome in order to mature into kind, empathetic adults who will be one day responsible for the care and oversight of a new universe. He represents selfishness, sadism, greed, destruction, oppression, fascism, murder, genocide, and hatred. And also literally the patriarchy.

And, you know what? Don't take my word for it. Here's Andrew Hussie's commentary from Book 6 Act 5 Act 2 Part 2:

Much of the logic [for who contributes to Lord English] orbits around these negative traits associated with men, or more specifically, the “toxically masculine” aspects often linked to certain male personalities. Dirk has a lot of these traits, which are central to Dave’s feelings of tension and abuse concerning his bro. The intellectual aggression, the power of assertion, the knowitall-ism, the mansplaining. That’s a lot of Dirk stuff when he’s at his worst. Equius shares a lot of those traits too, with some different points of emphasis. Both of them have this creepy-guy streak running through them, with strange or offputting interests, and seem to get a quiet kick out of making others uncomfortable through demonstrations of these fascinations. They are actually pretty similar characters in this way.

He's invited into the trolls' universe (and, by extension, the kids' universe) via the Dancestors, in an original sin kind of way. I'll let Hussie explain on their Formspring (emphasis mine):

We learn more about the troll race, as a once peaceful species and such before kid-ancestors as players scratched their session, though the short term relevance of this is mainly as a preamble to Scratch's religious story. Establishing an Eden-like paradise from which there is some departure through sin is sort of the boilerplate basis for religious lore. ... The failed players from peaceful Alternia made a classic "deal with the devil" move by causing the scratch after being given a choice by the mother of all monsters. (Echidna. Hey, she's a big snake!) By doing so they brought Scratch into their universe, and therefore all the things you'd expect that comes with summoning the devil.

The Dancestor's "departure through sin"? It was the fact that they couldn't get their shit together and grew up inside the Medium. That's why they're the age they are, 9 sweeps - adulthood by troll standards. They aren't kids anymore because that's the ultimate sign of having failed to do a coming of age. Symbolically, the Dancestors represent a prior generation of grown-ups that fucked everything up, leaving a huge mess for their descendents to clean up after. In fact, Doc Scratch even describes the alternate choice Echidna gave them:

The heroes could either accept their defeat along with the extinction of their race, and put no others at risk.

In other words, they could have stopped LE if they'd simply chosen not to Scratch. But once more, in line with their behavior up until that point, they chose the selfish option, and bore descendants into the world they ruined. They're immature, nasty, mean-spirited, cruel, callous, and shallow on purpose, because their role in the story is antagonistic. They're aligned (even if unwittingly) with Lord English, as they're the ones who directly invited him in via their failure to grow the fuck up.

There's also a reason why SBURB/SGRUB directly tie achieving godhood and reaching the Ultimate Reward to planetary quests fundamentally designed to help children mature. God-tiering is supposed to come at the end of one's quest, as achieving it directly teleports you to the Battlefield for the final boss.

AG: I really think how successfully they mature is tied to success in the game. It challenges the players in all the ways they need to 8e challenged to grow, which is different for every individual, and veeeeeeeery different for every race. AG: I don't think we were so hot at that aspect of the game. In fact, I'm sure we were quite awful. Hell, even I wasn't that gr8 at it! I actually just kinda fell ass 8ackwards into the god tier, to 8e honest.

And there's a perfectly functional Watsonian explanation for this - in order to increase the odds that the new universe will successfully propagate new universes, it's ideal to leave it in the hands of kind, mature people. But the Doylist explanation is, again, even more interesting.

Hussie has spoken extensively about the comic having always been about two things at its core: first, a creation myth... and second, a coming-of-age. These are complimentary themes, as Homestuck also makes statements about society and its effects on kids. In the real world, the kids of today become the voters, revolutionaries, and lawmakers of tomorrow. In Homestuck, they create, and are responsible for, a new universe.

I always saw HS as an exploration of young people developing relationships over the internet […] There’s a lot more to HS than just that obviously, but if there’s anything which it’s been about through and through, it’s modern kids relating to each other from afar, developing as people and growing up.

In fact, all the initial kids' entry artifacts are metaphors for "departures, loss of innocence, and sometimes the journey from childhood to adulthood outright." John biting an apple, symbolizing the act that cast Adam and Even from Eden. Rose breaking a bottle, the act of christening a boat, and an item integral to the main means by which she relates to her mother, alcohol - an adult substance. Dave hatching an egg, literally the act of bringing new life into the world. Jade shooting an effigy of her dog, both symbolic of Old Yeller, and of breaking a pinata, an act often done at quinceneras.

There comes a point in childhood where the child stops being a child - the safe, familiar, comfortable world that they knew stops existing, and they can never get it back. They are thrust into a world that is alien and massive, and forced to grapple with the weight of their future duties. They deal with losing their guardians and finding direction in their absence. They must decide how they want to grow up, and then are responsible for shaping the society that comes after them. In other words, SBURB/SGRUB in this metaphor represent adolescence.

Within that context, God-tiering is actually interesting because it symbolizes adulthood - a semi-permanent state that a child is supposed to reach at the end of their SBURB/SGRUB journey. And, in fact, it's treated that way - none of the characters reach god-tiering the "proper" way... and of our god-tiered characters, nearly all of them have some sort of emotional struggle with growing up too fast. Vriska with the expectations of her shitty society, Rose with her emulation of her mother, Dave with his abusive brother, and the Alpha kids with substance abuse (the jujus) and romantic drama.

Anyway, sometimes when Mario's running sideways he gets a star that makes him magic and invincible. OH. YOU MEAN HE BECOMES TRICKSTER MARIO. Yes, but less stupid. So for a while he becomes flashy and hyperactive and nothing's challenging anymore. He just starts barreling over mushrooms and leaping over pits as fast as he can, then gets to the end and jumps on the flagpole and that's it. Mario "wins". But the point is, he didn't really win. That magic star was actually devastating to his development as a human being. WHY. Because he skipped over many critical trials on his spiritual journey. Mario NEEDS to stomp on all those mushrooms. He NEEDS to bonk those bricks with his head, for the sake of his personal growth. By using the star, he is denying himself many powerful moments of catharsis.

Like... I dunno... seems pretty blatant to me!

So with Homestuck so firmly being a coming of age, and with the Dancestors - whose primary failure is that of unrelenting immaturity - being cast in an antagonistic role, doesn't that make Caliborn's position of ultimate final boss extremely fitting when we take this conversation into account?

You may be destined for bigger things, but you’re still an atrocious, stupid child. And you may have won the “game” with your sister, but that doesn’t mean it was the best thing for your development as a person. You had her dream self killed, which is not an opportunity your species typically gets. So she died prematurely, instead of allowing the conflict within you to settle itself naturally. In short, you forced your predomination to happen a little too early, and now you’re stuck. STUCK? Yes. Your personality is stuck in some sort of cantankerous prepubescent limbo. You are going to be a stunted, miserable tool forever.

He's literally a child who chose to stunt his own growth so that he could reap all the game's rewards for himself. Someone who so stubbornly desired the selfish, greedy, and immature option that he was willing to hurt himself to achieve it. Caliborn - and by extension, Lord English - is a direct symbol for the refusal to mature, to be kind, to care about other people. By including Dirk, Gamzee, and Equius at their worst, he also comes to represent misogyny, toxic masculinity, the patriarchy. He's the Condesce's master, and so by extension, he represents fascism and oppression; as Doc Scratch, he gets off on abusing girls, and so he also represents predators and abusers. And his goal is to perpetuate himself, his ideals, what he symbolically represents, down every successive generation. Much like how these cycles of abuse and oppression seek to perpetuate themselves in the real world!

And that's why the alpha timeline, the GAME OVER timeline, is the way that it is: it's one where Lord English WINS. In Lord English's version of the story, everything is fucked up forever. He might be defeated, as is the timeline's inevitability, but his politics, his bigotry, and his ideals live on.

Except.

Our Breath player gains a power that literally unsticks him from time.

Now, personally, I don't believe that the ending we got is the one that was originally intended. I don't feel the need to elaborate upon that here, but suffice to say, given how clearly and consistently these themes are set up throughout the entire rest of the comic, it just makes sense to me that the ending we got, where characters stay dead, never finish their character development, etc. etc., is a MASSIVE tonal and thematic departure, which smacks of external pressures and influences. Everything after [S] GAME OVER is soft canon to me for this reason. But there's things that survive in it that are really really interesting, so I'll mention some.

First, the pre-retcon versions of the characters still exist, as we see from (Vriska). That means that everyone who died in GAME OVER would not necessarily have stopped mattering to the plot. I firmly believe that the original ending would've seen Lord English confronted by the GAME OVER (characters), who would also have the most karmic claim to beating Lord English's face in. This would also satisfy his whole deal of playing by the rules - he knows he HAS to be defeated, he just gets to choose the circumstances of his defeat; without realizing that John's retcon powers can rewrite a timeline, he would've set up his own death to be in the bubbles, at the hands of the already-dead, while Condy claims the Ultimate Reward - thus making it so that he still wins in the end.

But Breath represents freedom, choices - and the retcon powers are something John gains mastery over after completing his personal quest, which we've established is directly tied, both literally and symbolically, into growing up and maturing. By becoming a kind, empathetic, mature adult, John is able to choose something else.

Second, that the Ultimate Self is brought up at all, which seems to me like it would mitigate the bittersweetness of the (characters) from GAME OVER staying dead - because, in my head, the original plan for the retcon was that it would bring everyone back, and therefore, all the (characters) from GAME OVER would live on through the surviving post-retcon gang, who will eventually achieve Ultimate Selfhood, as Davepetasprite^2 says they will. This would also directly mirror the words Godtier!Calliope gives to her counterpart:

CALLIOPE: bUt then... CALLIOPE: what shoUld i do? CALLIOPE: you don't need to do anything. CALLIOPE: be who you've become, and who i didn't. CALLIOPE: consume the fruits of an existence i could never understand. CALLIOPE: live.

Third, there's just so many outstanding plot threads, even for the characters that DO survive. Jake's prophesized to defeat Lord English, Dave never actually gets over his hesitance about time travel and defeating Lord English, Karkat has multiple means of bringing his dead friends back to life and doesn't say anything, Vriska and Terezi still aren't 100% reconciled, Gamzee's tragedy is never addressed, Jane, Dirk, Jake, and Roxy never really figure out their situationship, etc. etc. etc. ... to say nothing about all the plot threads left dangling for the characters that stay dead.

And finally...

Isn't that just kind of a better story? One where the kids get to grow, change, learn from their mistakes, and create a better, kinder universe, after defeating the avatars of cruelty, oppression, and immaturity?

Is it just me? Haha.

[reishifts]

HOUSE? — hogwarts scripting guide.

as we‘re all aware there are four different hogwarts houses; in this post i’ll guide you through their traits, weaknesses etc. to help you chose one for your dr ! remember this is based on what i think, not literal facts.

traits ; positive or neutral aspects that describes how sm acts

weaknesses ; areas where a person might struggle

random ; random things that remind me of the houses

songs ; songs that remind me of the houses

GRYFFINDOR.

traits: fearless spirit, passionate, willing to stand up for themselves, adventurous, bold, driven by a strong moral compass, loves challenges, enjoys leadership, doesn’t mind taking risks, loves the idea of protecting others and fighting for themselves, quick to act, often relies on their instincts, brave, strong sense of justice, naturally charismatic, direct

possible weaknesses: acts before thinking, impulsive, can overlook details, recklessness, may struggle to back down in arguments, sometimes overlay idealistic, prone to taking too much to prove themselves

random: campfires. superhero movies. red. lions. espresso. fireworks. rivers. escape rooms. leather jackets. motorcycles. snowball fights. comics.

songs: everybody wants to rule the world - tears for fears. die w a smile - bruno mars. right now - one direction. wide awake - katy perry. pride - kendrick.

HUFFLEPUFF.

traits: heart & soul of hogwarts, compassionate, known for their dedication, approaches everything w patience and perseverance, hard worker, fair, patient, loyal, kind, quick to forgive, willing to give second chances, willing to put in effort, stays consistent till they succeed, good listener, harmonious, grounded

possible weaknesses: puts others‘ needs above theirs, tendency to be underestimated, may seem as naive, struggles w setting boundaries, may avoid the spotlight even when they deserve it

random: bakeries. board games. flower field. yellow. gardening. herbology. dogs. honey. pottery. family albums. road trip playlists. popcorn. stickers.

songs: why i love u - jayz. me myself n i - bebe rexha. wildflower - billie eilish. again - noah cyrus. my blood - ellie goulding.

SLYTHERIN.

traits: stragetic, values success, has clear sense of their goals and how to achieve them, resilient, adaptable, resourceful, doesn‘t shy away from things they want, self-motivated, strong sense of determination, can thrive under pressure, can read people like books, smart

possible weaknesses: selfish, competitive, trust issues, prefers to work alone, secretive, vulnerable, doesn’t ask for help, jealous

random: chess. black cars. green. goth. statues. wine. chocolate. secret diaries. crowns. luxury hotels. rare gemstones. spy novels.

songs: give me everything - pitbull. supermassive black hole - muse. jealousy - tnbh. ultraviolence - ldr. chihiro - billie eilish. heartbeat - cg.

RAVENCLAW.

traits: intelligent, creative, wise, curious, loves exploring, good analyst, can easily solve problems, values personal space, enjoys intellectual pursuits, open minded, observant, often philosophical, quality over quantity, amazing memory, drawn to abstract thinking

possible weaknesses: may seem aloof or emotionally distant, self-critical, burnouts, overly perfectionist, socially withdrawn, too introspective

random: library. ink. blue. night sky. music notes. art. operas. documentaries. fashion shows. poetry. birds. podcasts. mascara. tea.

songs: wicked game - chris isaak. art deco - ldr. glory box - portishead. softcore - tnbh. mind games - sickick. chihiro - billie eilish.

[mysteryanimator]

ANIMATION BREAKDOWN PROCESS OF THIS LETS GO (Sorry for any grammatical errors!)

SCRIPT/STORYBOARD: (you can watch here)

Now THIS. The script was very weak because I wanted to board immediately, so it started strong then fell off at the end (also generally I'm not a stronger writer, which haha fics my beloved). Now I know this, spending more time simmering with the script will genuinely only 1) stronger compositions for storyboards 2) it will be so much faster to board. Like I can board fast, but I can board fast AND well if I sit with the idea a bit longer. This will be a massive running theme how I like my shots earlier rather than further in.

side note I LIKE PANEL 11 A LOT, I just feeI didn't translate it well enough into animation which sucks because its a pretty panel and you get a softer moment from Olrox which I found was important to get across.

Also at some point, the 180 rule (which keeps characters on like one line behind the camera... not sure if I worded that right) gets broken and it bugged me for AGES but decided I had to just move on LOL.

These are my thumbnails b4 I go to animatic/cleaned storyboards which are SO MESSY (I'm a lot better at annotating my thumbs now LOL). The original prompt was top service blood bag x powerbottom vampire and i don't think i portrayed that well enough throughout BUT i think the intro did a good establishment. Which fun fact, this was scrapped but there was actually 20 seconds of Mizrak eyeing Olrox "What is it like? Blood?" Then Olrox leans down and commences the thigh glide.

These backgrounds are a mix of texture-bashing (walls/floors) along with some good ol' painting materials from scratch. Also, these are olddd and I can do a lot better yay, but was a good test to see how to make a consistent-ish scene.

ANIMATION: (You can watch the rough anim here)

I'll be super upfront how I don't like most of it AHHA. From starting this in July to posting this in September, I've improved a lot since then.

Since this was a bit ago, I don't remember too much but I remember going ham onto learning material from Dong Chang and animation servers. However in all honesty I think this was only really applied to the earlier shots. I got super frustrated with my "slow speed" so I tried to jump ship and do cleans super early on, which like lets be honest- pumping out two rough anims a day with uni on top is not slow idk what I was on about. This ended up giving me MORE work during the line/colour stage PFFT because I would end up correcting my mistakes in my roughs. Like Myst stop, this is for fun and you're learning, please take it easy LOLOL.

COMPOSITING:

Working on compositing this time around was slightly different, and I'll also admit it is not my favorite composite I've done (and again, I like my earlier shots then my later shots). My after-effects layers looked insane keeping track of the highlight glows on their clothes BUT it definitely paid off. Skin tones however were SO DIFFICULT (mostly in part to the fact I decided to experiment with how I approached it, so it definitely skewed how I worked with this)

I also definitely struggled between the dreamy look and keeping it clean and crisp, and while the dreamy blurred aesthetic does work in some cases, I opted out for the sake of clarity.

Beloved edge light my friend. It's making me learn SUPER late into it how I probably should have planned out a third shadow pass since edge light at the point is a crutch and I think planning it out ahead would get nicer more precise shadows LOL.

Because I brain rotted so hard for this animation I actually commissioned two people to help me work on this! I'll briefly talk about their stuff but please check out their work!

MUSIC: Astralbardkeep

Due the fact I don't have voiceactors, and I had a very specific vision in mind, I decided to go "you know what, let me be super self-indulgent". I had a lot of notes and inspirations for the music, BUT i wanted to have Olrox's theme from the original games peek through, which you will notice happens at the bite AND at the end.

TITLE CARD: Hataui0

This might've seemed overkill, but this friend of mine is very talented at making graphics/typography to suit the requirements of each individual project. (Also a secret ploy to make him make nocturne fanart /lh). So that entire end bit, he illustrated it along with that title, in which the themes I bestowed him were Mucha and Gothic art.

Thank you for reading if you got this far! Suffice to say this was supposed to be a compare and contrast between the animation I did in February, and while I may not quite find this body of work up to my normal standards, it substantial amount of improvement, which is the most important thing here! With the ten billion other things in my life going on, I can only be happy with the progress thus far :D

February on the left/September on the right

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 4/8

The thing is, Davesprite's situation is more complicated than an unfulfilled time loop. His timeline isn't an irrelevant offshoot - in fact, it's integral to the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and presumably always was. Davesprite forms part of a weird, fully intact time loop which spans multiple timelines.

And since this is a future Dave, you have to assume he knows about Bro. The two clearly had a complicated relationship, but he's surely shaken by his death - if nothing else, it's a sign of how serious things have become.

That'll be a fun thing to check out when I've finished the comic! It reminds me of those Hunger Games simulators that were doing the rounds a couple of years ago.

That's true. Dave knows how strong the Underlings have become - and yet, he's still confident that Jade can stand up to them. Presumably she finds some sort of workaround for their First Guardian powers?

Sunslammer is so good! A standout song, even in a comic with as many bangers as this one.

Honestly, part of why I'm dragging my feet on the album reviews is because I want to hear these songs for the first time in context. If I'd heard Descend before watching Descend, I feel like it would have robbed the song of some of its dramatic weight.

I assumed it was just because witches are associated with frogs.

That would have explained why they're part of her Land, but I'm pretty sure that Kanaya's glitched planet was also a frog Land, and she's not a Witch, so...?

*The rest of Sal's response has been redacted, lest we fall once more into the Frog Theory Black Hole.*

I'm pretty sure that's a statue of Echidna, the mother of monsters and Jade's Denizen. Dave's probably close to LOFAF's Palace!

The Seer sees all - and sometimes, she understands the implications before we do.

It'd certainly be interesting. I just reread that conversation, and the biggest takeaway would have been that the kids were going to befriend the trolls, and get involved in their personal drama. This would certainly be consistent with the tone established by an Act 1 Hivebent!

Yup. Vriska was only able to 'create' Perfect Jack because Becquerel didn't object.

Really, he could have prototyped anything he liked, no matter what Vriska did. Even if she tried to shut the Entry down by incapacitating Jade, he could simply have activated the piñata himself.

I mean, that's basically what happened!

If any Aspect is geared around survival, then it's Feferi's. There's no breath left in her body, but our girl is still in the game!

Getting back to the trolls will be interesting, especially since - I assume - we'll be zipping back to when Feferi was still alive. The Veil is a much less friendly place, now - but does Feferi know this? What, exactly, is about to happen to the trolls?

I suppose. I guess there's no reason for every Carapacian to be created with knowledge of the Rings.

Actually, Sburb might not want them to know - Jack's probably not the only one who wouldn't respect the Ring's rules. There could be potential ringwielders out there who are far more dangerous.

Thank you! I feel like I've been doing a lot more character analysis in Act 5 versus previous Acts, where most of my speculation was about the lore. It's a fun change of pace.

Damn, I didn't think we'd actually be explaining these!

It's moments like these which really enhance the comic for me - justifications for things that I genuinely thought were just nitpicks on my part. It's really gratifying, honestly.

@thelegendofgreg asked: Here's some commentary from the jade enter flash, theres uh. alot to read but its all neat stuff "I talked about this way back, maybe even in an earlier book? Well, here I go again, so hold on to your ass. There are four entry items: Apple of knowledge, Bottle of wine, Crow's egg, Dog piñata. A, B, C, D. All of them are related to new life or new beginnings. You bite the apple, you fall from grace, enter a new world, begin this wild journey. You smash a bottle to christen a ship. An egg hatches, creating new life. You break a piöata to celebrate a birthday. Each involves breaking or puncturing something. Each involves a form of sustenance, or something to consume (piñatas have candy inside). Two are vessels for the substance (bottle, Piñata), two are the food items themselves (apple, egg), and one arguably counts as both (egg). Two of them drop from the same basic tree template (apple, piñata). They ramp up in complexity. John's is a simple test: bite the forbidden fruit. Not much to it. A single unit of departure, almost conceptually elemental, like an apple, as Rose goes on about later. The challenges get trickier. Rose has to break a bottle. Easy enough idea, but things go wrong, and she has to take a blind leap to get it done. A sacrificial gesture, and one of faith in a friend (Jaspers). Dave's is even more obscure. A simple test of patience, but one that's not clear. He isn't told what to do and just has to wait. Non-action is the key, and in a way it's another gesture of faith under dire circumstances. Finally, Jade's challenge incorporates a lot of these elements. It's another "blind faith" situation. She has to take a shot in the dark. There's a sacrificial gesture, but instead of risking herself (like Rose), Jade must symbolically sacrifice her friend via effigy and cannot complete the sacrifice without help from that friend. (Bec must redirect the bullet. There's no way this works if he doesn't.) It is also a signifier that the pet she knew as a friend her whole life is about to, in a way, become her enemy. Like a good dog gone bad, who now must be put down."

So they are all intended to be foodstuffs! And, apparently, alphabetical - although I think 'Crow's egg' is a bit of a stretch.

There are also themes of sacrifice and faith that I didn't really think about before. Choosing to enter Sburb at all, knowing the stakes, is absolutely a leap of faith - and it's a game which sacrifices your whole planet. Skaia's been telling us the score this whole time.

Homestuck absolutely deals with dark themes - but they start out buried under the surface, and even now, are still in the process of revealing themselves. This makes sense for Homestuck, a coming-of-age-story whose protagonists are slowly coming to terms with some dark truths about their lives.

Awful Hospital, however, immediately says: here's our protagonist. Her baby is dying. She just woke in a strange room. She doesn't know how she got here. Her baby has been stolen. There are monsters inside her brain. By the way, here's a quip, because this is actually a funny comic. It just felt... dissonant, and not in a fun way. I don't really know what it's going for, tonally.

Don't take this as a negative review, though! I only read a couple dozen pages, so I'm really not qualified to rate the comic - I just wasn't feeling it at the time, so I shelved it. I enjoy a lot of Bogleech's writing, and Awful Hospital's lore sounds pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it another shot at some point.

Not for the most part! I'm super into time travel stories, though, so I'm well-Primed to understand their intricacies.

So there might be intermittent stages between the four we've seen in the kids' session? That'd be interesting - I'd love to see the intermediary stage between John's 2D chessboard and Rose's 3D cube.

There are, at this point, too many awesome songs for me to pick favorites. Umbral Ultimatum and Sunslammer are excellent, but what songs aren't, at this point?

I can't imagine what we're in for when we reach the Act 5.2 finale...

Ooh, interesting. Considering how many accidental references Hussie seems to make, it's honestly up in the air whether that was intentional.

That said....

Jack is looking awfully divine these days.

I suppose Tavros has probably logged the most rocket-hours, yeah.

I'm sure all Breath Players probably learn to fly, unless there are some oddball classes which don't let you interact with your Aspect.

Anonymous asked: forwarding this message to you from someone who doesn't have a tumblr account. ~DJ "Important fact. Dave and Aradia both use musical instruments for time travel, but different ones. Aradia’s is a music box, it has a single prerecorded music, the only way to “play” it is to turn it so it plays the music that was always in it. Dave’s is turntables. They contain a preexisting music, but what you do with them is to jump, cut and shuffle this music, creating something new, having full control of it. - RM"

I like it! As Time Players, they both follow the set path of the Alpha Timeline - but Dave gets a little funky with it, multiplying himself with a complex series of time loops.

Aradia, ever the fatalist, instead turns to doomed clones for reinforcements. I don't think we've ever seen her make a stable loop.

[star-light-shadows]

A comprehensive explanation of why I think Suselle will likely not happen and Kriselle is the true end-game pairing.

I personally do think there's a pretty strong chance of them falling through in the end. While I do think that they are far from the most interesting pairing possible, it isn't solely because of that. There are a lot of details that to me suggest that they are not truly meant for each other like it may immediately seem. And Noelle's "romantic destiny" may actually fall to someone else.

Starting with major details that strongly suggest the pairing isn't going down without a hitch, Susie is very strongly suggested to only be interested in Noelle as a friend. The character teas tell us that Susie feels equally for Kris, Noelle, and Ralsei, and while you could say that this is before the Ferris wheel ride, even after that in the chapter epilogue, when talking about bringing Ralsei or Noelle to the fair, she says that Kris would obviously be there, not getting/caring about the concept of how dates work. By all means it seems like Susie just wants to have friends. Frankly there's a massive chance with how she's portrayed that she's AroAce.

Even bigger than that, tho, is how Suselle is pretty clearly portrayed parallel to Kris x Ralsei, and there is some pretty damn obvious lore that makes it very clear that Kralsei is not going to turn into a proper end-game pairing, even being describable as a downright weird ship on-par with pseudo-incest. So if Kralsei is seemingly being pushed by the game, but is most likely going to fall apart at some point, I feel it's incredibly likely that Suselle is too.

In fact, while I wouldn't go nearly as far as to say that it's toxic, I think this comparison shows that we shouldn't shy away from acknowledging that some aspects of Suselle as it's been presented may be unconducive to the two being in a proper romantic relationship.

The biggest thing that leads me to think these two aren't end-game material is that there are a lot of details that suggest to me that Noelle's crush on Susie is best described as "misplaced."

The primary target of Noelle's attraction for Susie is very often displayed as being for things that Susie simply isn't beyond the surface. She simps for Susie as a rough and mean bully who slams people into lockers and would push her over before laughing at her. A presentation that Chapter 1 thoroughly establishes as being a defense mechanism, not what Susie is really like. And she's the one person Susie wouldn't bully anyway as a result of the Pencil thing, something Noelle has to be told. Noelle doesn't want/expect Susie to soften up to her at all.

The other half of how her feelings for Susie are presented is basically the part of her that admires Susie for what she wishes she had. Being brave, unafraid to break the rules, generally being strong. And while that's all fine and dandy for a romantic relationship on its own, Romantic feelings that consist of that and thinking they're hot for reasons that aren't actually true, when put together create a situation that can only be described as Noelle having a crush on the IDEA of Susie, rather than who Susie actually is.

Now I don't expect this to turn into something toxic or obsessive, quite the opposite, I expect this to be something Noelle will begin to realize as her crush on Susie begins to actually FADE the closer she gets to Susie. (Something Susie will be totally fine with because she just wants to have friends.)

So who else would be Noelle's romantic interest? Well, I was talking before about me not thinking Suselle is interesting, and while that's still not my main argument, I think it's important to explain a little of why. Noelle and Susie seems painfully bland as a pairing to me mainly because it doesn't feel like it brings anything out of the two characters. Whether romantic or not, the best relationships between two characters are going to bring out the best parts of the two characters. Both in the realistic-romantic-viability sense and in the character-writing sense.

While they might not be romantic, an example of this I'd like to bring up is Susie and Ralsei. Their personalities complement each other perfectly to the point where they bring out each other's best qualities. Susie is snarky and crude and her love language is largely comprised of playful teasing, but is also very empathetic with a big heart. Ralsei is kind and tolerant of others, making him the perfect "victim" for Susie's love language, but is noticeably lacking in empathy. Ralsei makes Susie more open to affection while Susie teaches Ralsei to be more assertive. Ralsei acts as the voice of reason, but in emotionally charged situations Susie makes up for Ralsei's lack of empathy. Plus, Susie is the one Lightner who doesn't see Ralsei's similarity to Asriel, likely being the one person who sees Ralsei as his own person, something Ralsei has been shown to struggle with himself.

Not dissimilar to this, there's one character that consistently brings out the best pieces of Noelle's character. And it's Kris.

Noelle's whole arc in Chapter 2 is about becoming mentally and emotionally stronger, right? Well, while most gravitate to connecting this to Noelle's admiration of Susie, when you look at how this arc actually plays out in the story narratively and mechanically, It's actually Kris that has this affect on Noelle. We see her boldness stat go up as we trek across the Cyber world with just her and Kris. She becomes bolder as a result of fighting alongside Kris and enduring their playful pranks. Noelle may admire Susie for her strength, but being around Kris is what brought that strength out of Noelle. (As well as her playful and goofy side.)

This deep effect Kris has on Noelle is the entire basis of the Snowgrave route, just twisted and warped. So isn't it interesting that this corrupted version of Noelle and Kris's relationship is multiple times characterized as an abusive romantic relationship?

Plus, in the epilogue of the Snowgrave route, despite everything that the player, through Kris, did, she monologues about how she wants to investigate what's going on with Kris, knowing that something is wrong, that the friend she knew would never do what happened, and vowing to figure it out and help Kris. Showing an incredible level of personal dedication.

Kris and Noelle go through a lot of interpersonal development in chapter 2, significantly more than Noelle and Susie do. Kris knew Noelle as a close friend in the past, but they seem to have had some kind of falling out. Despite this falling out and an air of emotional uncertainty around the two, several key moments with Noelle make it explicitly clear that Noelle deeply longs/longed to be close with Kris again.

"Yep! That's right! We're friends!" (It's. . . surprisingly nice just hearing Kris say that.) (Kris hasn't given me a gift like this. . . since we were little kids. . . Are they saying they want things to go back to. . .)

The "dating shoes" dialogue is especially interesting with this context, as it almost makes it seem like there are deep feelings between the two that even They don't understand.

And Kris brings out by far the deepest pieces of Noelle's character, even by her own direct admission. Her conversation with Kris late into Cyber City brings her history with Dess to the table, one of the more narratively interesting parts of her character, and at the end She says

(Kris is the only one who knows how weird I am.) (It's not fair, y'know!? Everyone knows how weird YOU are. Fahahaha.)

Simultaneously saying Kris is the only one who understands her, and that she truly likes Kris's open weirdness, to the point of believing it to be admirable rather than to be ashamed of. (Which honestly is probably something Kris needs to hear.)

While this may be venturing a little into fan-fictiony territory, Kris and Susie are superficially similar enough that I wouldn't doubt that her crush on Susie somehow stemmed off of her feelings for Kris in Kris's absence.

Overall, there's just a lot going on between Kris and Noelle that suggests something deeper than just friendship. Romantic undertones, estranged but longing to be together, bringing out the deepest pieces of each other, knowing each other better than anyone else. . . Unlike her crush on Susie, being based on a defense mechanism, Noelle likes Kris for who Kris is, even more than Kris themselves.

They're practically the perfect couple, only in the making.

Childhood friends to lovers is a common trope, and it's very characteristic of this game's emotional complexity to have two who've drifted apart be the ones destined to be. Not every love story is as simple as "Immediate crushing -> Confession -> Dating."

[biff-adventurer]

fuck lore strictness. seriously.

i don't care if you're a spongebob squarepants oc adapted for xiv. that's way more interesting and endearing to me than a character pretending to belong 100% to the game. fan content will never be canon and that kind of authenticity is both pretentious and impossible. unless you're part of the actual writing team, your work will always be fannish. and fan content is only at its best when it interprets, creates or transforms its source material. that is how art is actually made. by pushing boundaries and commenting on the themes at play.

plausibility and its degrees are there to let people in. i don't care whether they want to opt into the world of that character or not. "it's too much of a stretch" is not the fucking same thing as looking down on people for being cringe. but it's often used as a cover for judgment and elitism, and that's literally the opposite of what the ffxiv team is about.

yoshi p said, if you believe it can happen, it can happen.

square enix is a company that wants to sell a game. if the demand in the fandom is strong enough, or even if their own rules get in the way of telling a profitably interesting story, they will even change the lore or disregard it altogether. that's what leads to inconsistencies. and, honestly, consistency is not necessary to understand the themes of the story. if you want to make it happen, you can interpret as you please.

obviously, media literacy is at an all time low. some people break the lore without even thinking about whether or not it's even the same game anymore, or if they'll find any partners to be compatible with them based on how much they deviate. there are people, in the same vein, who literally say, "if it does not exist in the game, there is no basis for this idea and we will reject it." that kind of conservative nonsense is full of pretension and repression. both directions lead you into nonsense and, depending on the person's biases, move them to write stories riddled with unintentional bigotry.

i used to think my meteor survivor one punch man himbo would be seen as the lowest of the low. nope. people i know, thoughtful people, enthusiastic people, have been treated like shit because of this attitude of elitism. yeah, yeah, it's nothing new, but it fucking sucks. we're all playing dollies. most people prefer the playing part of roleplaying without actually behaving as writers. but the ones who delude themselves into thinking they are good writers, then go on to treat others like they are less than, is fucking ridiculous.

anyway, i'd much rather play with foster's home for imaginary friends adopted for xiv than pretend to an imaginary standard unrooted in compassion or the spirit of real creativity.

[evelmiina]

Hi Eva,

I have a fee questions regarding your wonderful work. I'm currently working on my visdev portfolio, but going a bit insane thinking about keeping my artstyle consistent if i'd ever be hired. I just looked through your background paintings and wondered how you keep your backgrounds in a consistent style. I love your nature studies too, and they look so different from your work pieces... More free and explorational. Is it difficult to keep up the habit of learning new techniques and exploring styles once you're on a job? I'm so full of ideas and feel like sometimes the idea would require a certain style/technique to be pulled off in the best way. Do you feel that too sometimes and is it restricting in a way to then keep the style of the paintings the same.

Would love to hear your thoughts on that!! :)

Hi Eekonis!

First off: don't worry! I don't think consistency is an issue... I feel like any artist no matter the level, feels like their work is all over the place. I think of consistency more like per project, rather than overall my work. 

If you're interested in vis dev, a good way to showcase your work in a portfolio and not feel overwhelmed and all over the place, is to create just one project. I saw in your portfolio the bat story exploration, that's great! Just pick one of the ideas you have. Truth is we never feel ready to do something and we postpone and ruminate, but you have to start somewhere. My friend always says, "vain tee se" (just do it) and that's really all there is. Imagine your story as a film/TV (or game, or comic, but you have to choose one), and make designs and paintings of how you imagine it. You can try searching for visual development portfolios and see what other professional artists have included in theirs, there's so many ways to go about it. From the top of my head I'm thinking Aurelien Predal, Marie Thorhauge, Scott Watanabe, Kevin Roualland, Sylvain Marc. Also art books of movies or shows you like are really useful. There's a lot of art of movies and artists, tutorials etc collected in character design references website, from all around the world.

If your own idea feels too vague or the story is not set and you get stuck on it, you could also choose an existing story like a fairytale or a novel. Try to be intentional with your pictures - you want to be clear and tell a story after all, you want people to feel like they get to know the characters and the world from just one picture, and they really want to know the full story. In your portfolio, I like your bat story explorations and it seems cool, but it's currently missing some characterization and story. It would be a good idea to illustrate story moments or character design that really shows the personality, gesture, acting. And when you create environments, make them feel lived and inhabited, give them just as strong mood and character as you would to characters. 

Consistency within a project is just about setting rules and limitations, some of them come from the ability and skill. Others are more like, what brushes to use, what are the visual goals, influences and references. You can go pretty far in breaking down how pictures are made and what makes a style. For example, why do Ghibli movies look like Ghibli? What kind of color palettes, compositions, camera angles, tools were used? How realistic/cartoony is it? There’s internal logic to everything designed, and with practise it becomes more visible.

I don't know if I intentionally try to learn new styles all the time. I'm generally just motivated by doing what I think is fun or what I want some piece to say about story, character or my own feelings and trying to do it best I can. It sounds simple but... if the goal is to do something really well, then I just do my best to learn it. There are some styles that I really love and think are amazing, but would probably take decades to pull off and I just accept that I don't really want to go that way, and I focus on things that I really want to keep at. It's always possible to switch directions, but to get good at something you have to commit to one thing at a time. 

So yes, I face my limitations all the time. I'm very familiar with feeling like, so and so would do better job, someone is always better than me for sure. Sometimes it is painful to not be able to draw or paint in a way I want. I think this probably never changes, it's just human nature. But I dunno, some people get satisfaction from making AI do their project in the style they want, but if I was able to do something in a snap of fingers, like just get the perfect style for my project, it wouldn't feel good to me. I guess I want the full experience of suffering and joy of figuring things out myself. Sometimes it will suck and hurt, but you learn more about yourself and it'll get easier to recognize what you really want to make. Then, you can always do a little bit better next time.

[archivalofsins]

Now I bet nobody thought they’d see me discussing Kotoko again- Given the things I said about her ideology. I bet a lot of people think I have nothing positive to say and this is going to be full of I told you so’s.

However, that’s far from the case. So, let’s get started on what has to be the best finale to trial two. What everything has been building up to from the very beginning-

Spoilers, for Deep Cover, Yonah, the streaming heart cover and all things KOTOKO YUZURIHA!

Firstly- Man really giving up soon? Is it really over with just that? It’s hard to think that people even liked her character at all if this is all it takes to have people switch up. I’ve been honest about it from the jump these characters could be the worst people imaginable, and I could still be able to find a way to like them. Calling it game over before the starting bell even chimes it’s kind of weak, isn’t it?

So, what have we learned about Kotoko that we didn’t know before? She’s judgmental of everyone around her including herself. Hardheaded and never considers the idea that what she believes could be wrong. Quick to run with her own assumptions and doesn’t show mercy to anyone regardless of their perceived weaknesses or shortcomings. She’s been the pull yourself up by your bootstraps or get stumped under hers type from the jump.

What exactly has changed here?

That she’s pointing some of that vitriol and hatred in our direction now? That she reiterated the fact that she does not intend to go easy on someone just because they’re young? That her morals weren’t as righteous as people assumed them to be? Well, it’s not Kotoko’s fault everyone conflated the definition of vigilante with hero. Because of what- how they’re commonly portrayed in media?

Vigilantes are consistently shown as people with immense privilege who believe themselves to be above the law for one reason or another. Some do in fact attack children, some do in fact kill people regardless of if they’re weak or strong just because they’re in their way, to some the ends really do justify the means and morals are simply a weakness to be ignored that stops them from meeting those ends.

I don’t know what anyone else here thought a vigilante was but maybe how mainstream comics and superhero culture has become watered down that word for a few.

Yes, Kotoko is still a vigilante if she attacks people that others find to be weak or worth protecting. Because a vigilante is simply someone who believes that they themselves are the law. That only they know what is truly right and have the will to act on it.

Literally anyone can be a vigilante, it doesn’t mean they’re morally just or right. It just means they’ve said that everyone else is inadequate and only they can right the wrongs they see within society regardless of what anyone says or whose job it actually is to do so.

Oh, she’s not a vigilante like Batman from Batman the Animated Series. Yeah, Bruce Wayne literally went to a mountain to train and has a psychiatry degree. Kotoko is on a break from law school. I don’t know what made anyone here conflate Kotoko with the traditional idolized concept of vigilantism but- Unfortunate that whoever did played themselves on that one.

A vigilante has never been and will never be a person that is morally correct.

Bruce Wayne commits crimes and lets others commit them. His no kill rule has led to the deaths of thousands including his own sidekicks and romantic partners. People play by his rules or hit the fucking bricks. He’s not always the good guy or the pinnacle of morality. He’s just a guy with his own morals.

Just because people disliked the individuals she was attacking before does not mean she will only attack people whom we dislike. That’s the point of being a vigilante, you don’t act on other people’s orders, you work under your own discretion.

From the beginning of trial two everyone has told us Kotoko is this way from Jackalope-

To Yuno,

Yuno: Yep! Kotoko, who you forgave, went super violent, and then injured people came rolling in one after the other! Es: You mean Mahiru and Fuuta. That was an incident even I had not expected. Yuno: Really? If you ask me, Kotoko is someone I would never want to make my friend, though. She’s the type who picks a conclusion from the very beginning and won’t actually talk with you.

And what does she do from the beginning of her second voice drama Yonah. Pick a conclusion from the very beginning instead of actually speaking with Es. When Kotoko sees that Es is upset she assumes that they are upset because she wasn’t able to properly punish Mikoto Kayano and Amane Momose. This is after she tells Es that they were late as well.

Throughout her second voice drama based on the translation I’ve seen she makes minute references to some of the second trial interrogations of the prisoners and even their trial songs.

For example,

“In order to stop someone, you have to squeeze their throat without mercy.”

Purge March

“So nary a sound can be uttered a second time, I’ll crush your throat too.”

“You’ll forgive their sins just because they’re close to you? Make their punishments less sever just because you get along with them? What next- Are you going to start giving them leniency based off their looks? Their personality? How long you’ve known them?”

Despite that Kotoko says she’s playing by Milgram’s rules and taking into consideration what Es' superiors want her statements are in direct contradiction to Jackalope’s own desires. Her getting upset with Es for forming attachments and voting based on biases is directly antithetical to the project Jackalope is trying to have and has claimed to want to have from the beginning.

This is especially interesting considering that Kotoko calls Es imperfect but from a conversation from the bonus story that came with the Milgram novel we know for certain that Jackalope considers Es the perfect guard.

So, if Kotoko thinks Es is bad at their job and that they are an imperfect guard her statements are directly in conflict with Jackalope’s our superior and the one running this Milgram/advising us.

A second reference to another interrogation comes up during this statement as well-

“…Hey, Es. Please, listen. I don’t want this either. I’m at my limit. I can’t stand it anymore. If someone died because I bashed them online and you find out about it- Even if I learn my lesson from it that won’t put an end to all this.” Futa… “Listen, I’ll forgive you for what you’ve done too. I’ll accept this pain. SO- please- Forgive me, I’m begging you!” … “It hurt… It hurt so bad, I thought I was going to die. I was scared!” Huh… “The feeling of getting judged by countless people at once is the worst, too… I can’t sleep feeling like the whole world is watching me.” … “I’m tired of everything hurting and being difficult. PLEASE! I’m sorry! ES!!” … Sigh… Futa. It’s not like I hate you guys. “… …!” I’ve been by your side for a long time, and I’ve had a look inside your hearts. Even if you are murderers, you’re no longer just strangers to me. That connection is something that can’t be cut so easily. “R-right-?!” Seeing you hurt like this makes me regret my actions too. Haahh… I’m feeling torn since my judgement my judgment may have made the situation more complicated for you guys. “…!” And also…first and foremost. I’m starting to think of you all as something like comrades. “Es…!” It’s a pity… that I’m…the warden. “Eh?” No matter what kind of suffering you’re going through, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to evade justice. “…?! That’s…!” Either way I have yet to figure out what the relationship between your current hurt self and the crime that you committed is. “…” Of course I can’t blame you for not having words of apology to say to the person you killed. “…!!” But even if you apologize to me about things that happened in the past- It’s not like I care. “Gwuahh, you’re wrong! YOU’RE WRONG!” Thank you, Futa. I realized that this requires resolve. “…!!!” The warden has to… I have to judge the sins of my comrades without holding back even while they’re weeping right in front of me. Phew- That’s all the interrogation is over.

Like honestly Es came into Kotoko’s interrogation acting real different from how they came into trial two.

Throughout her second trial cd everything given to us restates and further highlights the sort of character Kotoko has always been.

Streaming Heart perfectly following up on the disdain she's shown towards herself and receiving affection that was alluded to with her previous cover Anti Beat.

While her voice drama and song show off just how much she knows about Milgram in subtle ways without just laying it out on the table for all to see.

Heavily alluding to the fact that she’s been looking over things in her own way since the series began. Something that was heavily implied during Mikoto’s first voice drama when she came out of hiding from somewhere to help Es.

So, what does this mean exactly? Kotoko isn’t just being a pain in the ass because that’s her regular state. I mean it is but- She’s heard every prisoner's statement on her since the beginning of trial two. She’s seen every music video, heard every excuse, see how they behave in front of the guard- and did what Yuno told us she did from the drew her own conclusions about them without talking to any of them.

Kotoko also admits she’s been eavesdropping from her first voice drama because when Es asks her how much she knows she says,

Even if it’s true that you saved me, I don’t remember promising to forgive you for that rogue-like behavior.

“Is that so? Then, I’d like to ask- is Milgram purposefully designed that way?” Designed that way…as in letting prisoners do what they want? “You should be the one to know about this. The cells here don’t even have locks.” I…should know? “For example me being suspicious of Mikoto Kayano’s actions, carefully tracking him and his behavior, it’s all under your permission.” In deciding whether to forgive or not… One has to observe human nature… “It’s something like that.”

From the beginning up until now Kotoko has been using Es to get the information she wanted on the other prisoners. Because that’s expressly the deal she made. Something she reiterates in Yonah.

Cooperation is about doing what the other party cannot do. Meaning she is cooperating with us so we can do what she cannot. Not just that we’re just cooperating with her because she can do what we can’t. Es/us are the guards we can interrogate and interact with the prisoners how we see fit.

“Guard-san… no. Es. Don’t you want to join forces with me? I think the two of us would make good partners.” Join…forces with you? “With, you in the role of prison guard with the information you gather from interrogations, and me in the role of prisoner with the information I gather from my daily life in here… Working together and sharing our findings what do you think?”

But that’s weird, isn’t it?

She said sharing our findings but during her first interrogation and her second Es never shared any information, did they?

They never willfully told Kotoko any of their opinions on the prisoners. Yet she still acts as though information was shared. Because she wasn’t really asking. Throughout both of her voice dramas and over the course of Milgram one thing is consistently showcased about Kotoko. She doesn’t ask for permission ahead of time.

She takes the fact that Milgram is not taking precautions to stop prisoners from observing each other as permission enough to start observing Mikoto. Probably why he doesn’t fucking sleep too. Since she implies, she’s been observing him since Milgram started simply because he was acting funny and emphasizes their cells don’t have locks. To be honest just because no one is saying that you can’t do something doesn’t mean they’re in support of your doing it. The lack of an objection is not indicative of consent but okay Kotoko okay.

So, why did Es or really anyone here think Kotoko would treat them differently?

Especially when she showed off, she was already observing the interrogations from the jump. Then she never answered how she got into the room either. She just kept that a trade secret and diverted the conversation to a secondary issue.

How did I break into the interrogation room- What a funny question. Es the cells don’t have locks here. Hey, do you want to team up with me? To someone like Kotoko who can get anywhere she wants to and see whatever she wants within Milgram-

Someone like Es who barely has a full grasp of what's going on is always going to be beneath her or just another prisoner. We still don't even know how she figured out who had the highest guilty percentages. She's that ahead of us and that's an issue.

Guilty or Innocent might not even stop her at this point.

Her voice drama puts on full display her disgust in disappointment at not only Es' behavior over trial two but the audience's behavior as well. Then Deep Cover barrels in with all the vitriol she feels towards the other prisoners who spent all their interrogations framing her as a threat to them- People who are no better than garbage to her.

Going around crying about unfairness for someone giving them back what they gave and deserve. Going as far to say just like Futa that's karma isn't it. Even pointing out Es and the audience wouldn't care at all if they didn't feel like they knew these people or her. They'd just see a bad guy getting what they deserved just like they saw with her first mv and everyone would be oh so happy right?

Why is it any different when it happens to a bad guy that you know? If something is bad it's bad regardless of, who does it right? Why should it matter if you think they're nice, if they're just a kid, if they were having a hard time- It's so dumb because none of those things cancel out what the person has done. It doesn't bring back the people they've killed it's just making yourself feel good.

Taking those things into account won't make them change, won't stop them from offending again- It's so dumb. What about their victim's reasons, their lives, their struggles? People like that who just go forgiving the unforgivable because of those sorts of feelings alone can't change anything. The only thing they can do is excuse everything then act like what happens after that is nobody's fault.

It's nobody's fault I just did what I thought was right, I didn't think this would happen, it'd be good if I could have made it so it wouldn't have happened, even if my choices were bad ones they were still my own, to save the things that couldn't be saved I had to try it's all nonsense and never ending justification all the way down. Can any of that be considered taking responsibility at all?

While still carrying that feeling of self-loathing and recognition. that just screams I hate it because it's like me and that means i'm like you. It's annoying and depressing because that's just how people are. They're contradictory. Their morals are flexible. They're not subservient to any will but their own and even if someone else were to come a long and call them stupid, weak, overly sentimental, delusional, self-righteous, promiscuous, entitled, or a liar literally they don't have to fucking listen.

That's the entire point of Milgram, it's not about giving anybody what they want but everyone being able to do what they want because they want to. Plain and simple. But when you play like that the least you can do is take responsibility for your actions instead of conveniently putting all your problems on someone else.

Like Es said to Futa-

No matter what kind of suffering you’re going through, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to evade justice.

It's hard so what- Would it be more fun if it were easy? Is living a fulfilling life something that can just be handed to everyone as simply as forgiving a transgression that didn't happen to you? It's different because it does feel like it's happening to you.

Because that's how people are and that's how they're always going to be.

[coffeebooksrain18]

matchup trade with @daemontargaryennn

I match you with Aegon Targaryen!! he was the first one to come to my mind so here you go, have this sad boy as your man.

HOUSE

You're from house Martell the eldest of 2, it’s actually because of your younger sibling that you met Aegon, for your families were looking for a match that would put aside your families quarrels. But instead of them catching his eyes it was you (and let’s just say Artificial insemination was a thing as well as Gay marriage was aloud.) because of this your families decided it would be best if you two were the match instead. Your sibling didn’t mind as they had someone who had stolen their heart back at Dorne.

HEADCANONS

You and Aegon both have WAY too much energy, so much so you two are known to just hop on your dragons and go travel for a week or two. By your wedding you two have seen Pentos, Yi Ti, Yunkai, and Volantis. Every Time you get back you both get scolded but still run off to see more of the world together.

You two love to race through the skies on your dragons, always trying to outdo the other on tricks that usually ends up with one of you falling through the sky and the other has to save them (mostly you saving him). Once you make it to the ground both of your mothers yell at you two being so reckless again. 

You and him love to cuddle, it’s his way of saying I love you without saying it. Aegon wasn’t raised with words of support so as he cuddles you, you tell him how much you love him, how much he means to you, how strong he is, how kind, anything and everything you can think of to show him you love him with all your heart.

If you two fight it doesn’t last long, for Aegon was never good with arguments and confrontation. He will stare at you pouting (even if he tries not to) until you forgive him. But if you are truly aggrieved you will ignore him until he makes some stupid act of love that more than likely leaves him with a some scars and bruises.

DRAGON

I give you Meleys, I know, I know “but that’s Rhaeny dragon”. I couldn’t give you Sunfyre as he's Aegon's but she would be my next pick for you. She is agile, fierce, gentle, and quick, all things that you are from your protectiveness to your ADHD. She truly is the one besides Aegon that understands you. The day you claimed her was when you were young, she had yet to be claimed by anyone after Princess Alyssa’s death (let’s just imagine Rhaenys claimed a different dragon). She came up to you and just laid down next to you nudging you to scratch her nose. Being so young you didn’t get what was truly happening until you were on her back feeling the beat of her wings and reaching up to touch the clouds.

SHIP SONG(S)

I like the way you kiss me by Artemas

Confident by Demi Lovato

SHIP TROPES

Let’s party!!! (Aegon) x still recovering from a hangover from last nights party (You)

Idiot always getting hurt (Aegon) x personal nurse (You)

Always getting into trouble (Aegon) x Always having to get them out of trouble (You)

OTHER RELATIONSHIPS

Alicent Hightower: You and Alicent had always gotten along, you’ve agreed to disagree on your religious outlooks and how you few bastards. Because you two avoid these subjects you often speak of how to rule, rant about Aegon’s stupid decisions, and family values (besides bastards of course). No one thought you would be close but they’ve also not heard the charming words that come out of your mouth. 

Aemond Targaryen: You and Aemond’s relationship mostly consists of training and dragon racing. You both are very competitive with each other, to the point people joke you act like brothers. And in many aspects you are, I mean he is your goodbrother, he comes to you for advice ranging from war tactics, to love. He truly sees you as a blessing as you have helped him and Aegon’s and his relationship that had been so strained.

Otto Hightower: You don’t like Otto and he doesn’t like you, he treats his grandchildren and daughter as pawns in a game that none of them asked to play or be a part of. Because of this Aegon quickly gets rid of him when he ascends the throne. Otto was furious but Aegon stood steadfast in his choice and named Cole in Otto’s stead stating “my husband of Dorne and so shall the hand of the King.” Otto walks away glaring at you as you have a triumphant smirk on your face

Helaena Targaryen: You two are the best of friends, truly you two know everything that goes down in the Red Keep and are the biggest gossips in Westeros. You two get each other, for she has dragon dreams and you have schizophrenia, you both see things no one believes or understands. You both help each other out when either of you is having an episode, for her she needs her hand stroked to keep her grounded so she doesn’t sink into her mind, and for you she brings calming tea and a reassuring smile. Truly two people there for each other in their time of need.

Laenor Velaryon: I know, Laenor he’s off in Essos? But if you remember I said you and Aegon love to travel, and on one of these trips you and Aegon saw Laenor. I feel like Laenor would like to get to know you and talk about why he left and why he married Rhaenyra even though he didn’t need to (yet again lets imagine gay marriage is legal). He’d be glad you two are out and proud but ask that you don’t tell anyone where he is or that he’s alive, to which you agree

[theangrypomeranian]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤

I'm sorry this is so late orz life has been pretty crazy this past week lol.

Baby Steps

Summary:

After going through a terrible break up, Tina is left trying to pick up the broken pieces of her heart and life. Luckily, Zeke is there to help her with his tried and true method: touch therapy (literally). Through many trials and tribulations, they slowly learn how to grow and move on...together. A story of healing, friendship, and falling in love.

i doubt anyone is surprised by this choice lol. this fic is my pride and joy, i worked on it for a year and kept up a consistent update schedule for it. it's a story that is very near and dear to my heart and helped me start to heal my inner teenager.

2. i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this)

Summary:

Best friends Louise and Rudy get married for tax purposes. No, really, that's totally it, honest. No way are any actual feelings gonna form. No way... ...unless...?

the fic i wrote for Roudise week 2023. this story was SO MUCH FUN to write omg. the whole premise started as a joke between my beta reader Red and I about these two getting married for taxes and the prompts for the week were announced i knew i had to use the idea. it was a huge hit with the Roudise side of the fandom and i'm so glad that they all loved it so much.

3. Safe and Sound

Summary:

When Tina Belcher is reaped for the Hunger Games, she's sure that her life is over. But when Zeke Tisdale volunteers as the male tribute and promises to protect her in the arena, she realizes that she might have a chance of surviving this...if she can avoid falling for him.

the Hunger Games AU i wrote for Zekina week 2023. as most of my followers probably know by now, i freaking LOVE the Hunger Games series, both the movies and the books (though I lean a lil more towards the books lol). the prompts for the week immediately made me think of it, and since i'd already had the first 2k or so words typed out already i figured why not finish it for the week? it was also written as the week went on because it was a last minute decision lol.

4. Long Way Home

Summary:

After Zeke leaves for three months to work for a logging company in Alaska, Tina receives a call telling her that he passed away in an avalanche. Devastated but determined to stay strong for her loved ones, she must learn how to live without the one that got away. ...or does she? Because unknown to all, Zeke survived - and he is fighting with the Last Frontier to get back home.

my current WIP. this one started as a weird ass dream i had about my otp and i told Red about it, then she proceeded to pitch a reworking of it for a fic and i was instantly in love with the concept. it's very niche so i don't blame anyone for giving it a pass, but i love it and that's all that matters. and for the fifth rec i'm putting down two because i genuinely cannot choose between them (and since when do i ever follows the rules for these kinds of asks XD):

Meet Me in the Afterglow

Summary:

Three months after she's peer pressured into breaking up with Henry, Susmita gets a call that her grandmother has died. Henry offers to take her home for the funeral and she quickly realizes that she's made a huge mistake. Can she sort through her feelings and win back her man? Or is it too late for them?

i LOVE this fic. normally i hate break up fics but i worked very hard on this one and did SO MUCH RESEARCH for it. overall i think i did really good with it and i'm always thrilled when someone reads it.

you better leave (it's not safe in here)

Summary:

Tina lives an idealistic life in the small community of Victory. Every day is the same, structured, secure. All of her neighbors know and like her, and her husband Jordan is a quiet unassuming man who works hard so that she can stay home and be a good housewife. Life is good and peaceful. However, sometimes she can't help but feel as if she doesn't belong there, and her nightly dreams of a tall and handsome man with an accent make her question if her marriage is really as happy as she's been led to believe. But then strange things start to happen and Tina starts to wonder if something more sinister is going on in Victory...

the Don't Worry Darling AU that no one asked for lmao. i was so let down by the movie but still loved the concept, so i decided to use it for a fic and loved the end result. just like with LWH, this one is very niche so i understand why it's not more popular. but i really love this fic and hope that one day it gets the recognition it deserves.

[devondespresso]

Writers 20 questions tag game!!

tagged by the beloved @eriquin 💕💗💖 i haven't been able to participate in a lot of tag games lately (as evident by this being at least a week late ahnsgdsynkd)(edit: its been way more than a week) but i still really really appreciate the tags!!

divider by @/saradika-graphics

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7 !! I think i still need to put one up there but i haven't yet cause i wanna edit the ending a tad

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

10,746

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Thingssssss, and i think its fair to say the Steve Harrington fandom specifically gdnzngxngxgn

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Sweet and Spicy (the one steddie drabble tdnydyndny), My Sunshine, I Can Only Hope Now, Never Again, and Mr. Crayola Henderson

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes absolutely!! its usually a lot of heart emojis and keyboard smashes mixed in with my actual response zgnzgbzgnzng

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uhhh itd probably have to be Never Again still, i usually like to lean positive with my endings, that whole love-being-alive thing, so whenever i don't its usually because the focus is a different strong emotion that'd conflict with blatant positivity.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

oo okay also hard to decide for the same reason, I'd say the ending that feels happiest is probably from either I Can Only Hope Now (the Claudia prompt) or Now That We're Alive because both go from sad to happy and hopeful for the future. My Sunshine ends on a good note but its less "aw yippee!" and more "AAAAAAAAAAAA". I like my drabbles (under 400 words) to end pretty fluffy so far, and stuff like Mr. Crayola Henderson stays a pretty consistent light and fun so I don't think the happy end hits as hard.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no, thank god, not yet anyway

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

nopeeee tho Never Again has an E and M version it's not exactly fun enough to be smut i don't think

10. Do you write crossovers?

also nope

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that im aware?? I'd be pretty pissed if it was but also like. is it doing well? is it popular? 👀

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that im aware but i give full permission if anyone wants to

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope, most ive done is bounce ideas or beta, but I'd be down to try it!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

i don't know if i have one?? just in general for stranger things i enjoy steve ships a lot. big fan of Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane but im not really in fandom for that show cause what would i change?? im very much a gen fic enjoyer and if i had to list all my fav platonic dynamics... we'd be here a while xgnzngzgn

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

oh irony my cruelest adversary. a few months ago i was happy and ignorant in my haven of only one active wip. Now there's a small handful, and unless i get possesed with the same emotions i was venting in it, i fear the short Robin-centric letter style thing won't be finished soon. its decent so far but there would be a good bit of editing trying to actually articulate the feeling in a realistic way plus fitting it to Robin's first-person writing style. I don't intend to drop it but lately it just calls to me the least, but that could change

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think its a strange mix of intuition and a technical understanding of writing that works really well for the way i think. Its very broad and basically has no rules, just a understanding of how my favorite stories work, how most writing rules are really trends that tend to work better and then you can dig deeper behind a lot of them to see the *why* behind it. that plus trusting the nagging feeling that something's off makes editing my most productive stage, i can vibe check the area and then start digging dgnxnhxngxng

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

god this changes every time i revisit this draft xumxhmxmxhm this time its probably character introspection. i love writing like a movie and having character action or dialogue or setting or symbols communicate things, but putting down what the characters thinking with similar tact is soooo harddddddd and especially in angst or emotion moments, i want my readers caught in the same thought process as the pov character, i want it to feel so real that even if they never experienced the situation the characters in and even if they know logically the characters wrong, they understand. and that unfortunately involves bypassing their stance as an outside perspective on the matter, which is uhhhhh very very hard xhmznhxhnxhm

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends on the intent, i think it works best when the author speaks the language themselves, and especially with stuff like asl it helps clarify the grammatic differences. I think if its a language the pov character isn't supposed to understand then "said something in x language" works better for universal immersion.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stranger things babeyyyyyy, i actually started writing the Steve Henderson au first, tho the first drafts of chapters are very different from current ones

20. Favorite fic you've written?

MY SUNSHINE!!!!!!! i am so open about my favouritism with that one, its the most contemplative and atmospheric and emotional and its short enough that i was spending time on every word, every line to make sure it felt right and contributed to the picture i wanted. they say its more achievable (compared to long fiction) to make a perfect short story and that's what My Sunshine feels like to me, the perfect little taste of themes I'm enjoying most in writing rn, specifically with the Steve Henderson au (my second favourite fic xgnxngxgn)

i forget how many ppl im supposed to tag so im gonna do 20, no pressure ofc!! @marvel-ous-m @acasualcrossfade @pearynice @imfinereallyy @tinytalkingtina

@klausinamarink @puppy-steve @queenie-ofthe-void @eyesofshinigami @stellarspecter

@dreamwatch @lightoftheseraph @withacapitalp @findafight @hbyrde36

@vegasol @carolperkinsexgirlfriend @lingeringmirth @momotonescreaming @sourw0lfs

[eastgaysian]

I get the food motifs on the show because, you know, same. But I never understood the animal motifs. I get roman/dog m and kendall/water motifs but I see many others floating around tumblr that I just don't get. Maybe I focused on the food too much to notice the rest? 🤔

[guy who only thinks about succession animal death motif] i feel like there's plenty of recurring ideas around animals/nature/hunting if you keep an eye out for them tbh

i honestly feel like the dog motif is a little overemphasized tbh... dial it back for a second, come back later once you've calmed down, and we'll see what connections are actually supported by the text. like these are things that recur periodically and with consistent meanings throughout the show but not everything has to be about dog all the time. also i think it's fair to say roman gets hit with the dog motif more often or memorably than other characters, but people can get myopic about this. the idea of being (treated like) a dog gets brought up with all of the main cast.

[^ i'm literally the doggy suit guy so feel free to think i'm full of shit]

i don't know what specifically you've seen floating around tumblr wrt animal motifs in succession, so i can only comment on the things i've seen or talked about. generally speaking on succession, animal metaphors are employed when characters want to gesture towards a 'natural order' of things, some kind of hierarchy or strong-rule-the-weak theory of the world. comparing someone to an animal can be dehumanizing-demeaning or dehumanizing-mythologizing, suggesting innate (biological) traits and behaviors because that's just how an animal is, as opposed to humans being complicated and capable of change or self-determination. the stronger animal wins, because it's the stronger animal, because it was born with the sharper claws and the stronger jaws compared to the animal doomed to be prey. ofc this is also dependent on a very simplified narrative of animal behavior lol

off the top of my head, scenes/lines i'd point to underscoring this idea (excluding Dog): - lawrence's 'you just invited me into the chicken coop' line to kendall (domesticated, sheltered, helpless animals before a predator) - stewy calling logan a 'brontosaurus' in s1 finale (doomed to extinction, not adapted for the current environment) - boar on the floor ofc - nan pierce 'you've brought me animals' to frank in tern haven abt the roys lmfao - cut logan 'i'm a lamb, i'm a fucking lamb' in the all the bells say confrontation (rolls around my head a lot, lambs as the symbol of purity and innocence)

obviously animal death motif is kind of my baby i love to rotate it in my mind. this rambly post gets at what makes it stick in my brain so much, the idea of their inability to cope with animal death/refusal to engage with unclean or demeaning labor becoming a point of weakness and potential site of resistance. which is ultimately futile. exchange value completely disconnected from use value humans completely disconnected from the 'natural' world. animal death motif ^_^

maybe this sounds a little too obvious but like, if your interest is how food is talked about and used in the show, then in the context of hunting specifically there's a direct connection between killing an animal and eating it. in the episode hunting, the roys/associates are absolute shit hunters (completely removed from the reality of having to exert physical effort or interact with the environment to sustain their livelihoods) and their dinner of the boars they killed turns into a punishment game with their family and colleagues as the boars fighting for sausage. it's easier for them to turn on, hunt, and eat each other than to hunt actual animals. and they can all stomach it.

also in return when caroline warns shiv and roman about eating the pigeon because there's a lot of shot in it. killed for eating in a way that made it inedible. unnourishing queen give us nothing <3

i hope this wasn't a totally incoherent answer...? obviously i do have a fair amount of interest in succession's animal motifs haha so i appreciate the opportunity to talk about my thoughts.

[pleasejustletpercyrest]

The Seven Vs. D&D

Back on the Seven being actual friends and hanging out with each other in between life threatening adventures: they would play Dunegons & Dragons.

Once again, my lovely roommate (@gargoyl3city) and I were having a stupid conversation about how Percy Jackson would be tiktok famous and also would in fact be That FriendTM in the group chat of kids he goes to high school with. (That’s an entirely different conversation and just lmk if you want a post about that one, but I digress). In the middle of all of this, we were talking about how sometime during their journey on the Argo II, they definitely would’ve gotten into D&D.

It was funny to think about what all of them would pick as classes, and how Percy would absolutely dump stat his character as -1 Intelligence and then like +5 Charisma. I think Hazel would be really confused at the rules, but would end up being the one most invested in role play, besides Annabeth, of course. Annabeth—we couldn’t decide if she would be a Wizard (for obvious reasons), or if she would choose violence and be a Barbarian or Paladin main. I also see Jason as a strong Paladin, and he would try to take his character a little too seriously, and Percy would try to start fights with him endlessly, so much that the DM would have him roll disadvantage every time he asked to “roll to hit Jason in his neutral good ass face”.

Speaking of Dungeon Master’s, I thought initially that Frank would be the DM, the only one who isn’t riddled with ADHD and would have the attention span for session plans, but no, my roommate argued, Leo would be the Game Master. Yes, I was absolutely blind for not considering this first. And yes, Leo is the only option as a DM when you really think about it.

He would be an absolute menace as a DM. He would roll up every session with no plan, a single sheet of paper in front of him, half a bottle of Gatorade, and a desire to ruin everyone’s lives. Leo would start each session by asking everyone if they remembered what happened last session, not because he is planning on giving a recap, but because he does not remember what happened. Despite his disorganization, he would pull battle plans out of his ass, traumatize every character, and whip out super specific character arcs that would leave half of the party in tears by the end of his monologue.

Also, because of how much of a gremlin he is, Annabeth, the most curious of the players, would consistently try to look at Leo’s session plan. Of course, it must be written on that one sheet of paper he brings with him every session. It’s the same sheet of paper, a little crumbled and stained with chip crumbs, but it must hold secrets to the entire Universe for Leo to be able to come up with such heart wrenching plot lines.

It would go something like:

Annabeth: what do you possibly have written down on that paper, Leo????

Leo, who has a single sheet of paper in front of him that says ‘fuck bitches, get money’ with a shitty drawing of Percy on it: uhh

Leo, flipping the paper over: sorry, DM secrets

I fully believe that if Nico played he would be a Rogue main, and he would have the worst luck when rolling, so his Tough Guy Rogue Act would immediately be foiled by a Nat 1 on stealth. Also, Frank would be a Druid.

Thank you so much for coming, once again, to my Ted Talk.

[lacklusterhero747]

Hacking the Game

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with running a game entirely according to the rules as presented in the book, most Game Masters I have encountered in life tend to have their own House Rules. After all, running a game comes with a certain amount of game design inherently built into the experience. I know some might disagree with this assertion, but I believe this to be true, starting when you craft encounters while agonizing over whether or not you believe your party of player characters can rise to the challenge and then eventually expanding as you begin to craft unique magic items or monsters specific to your campaign.

Why then shouldn't a Game Master eventually start tinkering around with the very rules that underpin the entire system in order to meet their specific needs? With the agreement of your Players, of course.

Success at a Cost

Not so much a house rule of my own design in this case, but rather an optional rule presented within the text of Fabula Ultima itself, well... I let the text box speak for itself:

I like this rule a lot because it gives the players the opportunity to turn those agonizing near misses, when you just miss the check difficulty by one or two, into successes... assuming they're willing to take on a complication. A Devil's Bargain, if you will, to borrow a bit of terminology from Blades in the Dark. Of course, to tinker with it a little bit more, I think I probably would not allow Success at a Cost on rolls that miss the mark by a wide margin in most cases, reserving it for say... within 5 of the Difficulty at most, but I suppose I would willing to hear my players out if the cost they proposed was suitably troublesome. After all, the more they're willing to get themselves into trouble, the easier my job becomes, right?

Starting Bond

Bonds in Fabula Ultima are a source of narrative power for the heroes, in some ways like the grease that keeps the wheels turning. They can be used to help improve Checks or Aid allies during Group Checks, and even some Class Skills or Equipment can benefit from a character's bonds.

So I thought it was pretty weird that Player Characters do not begin play with even a single Bond written down on their character sheet.

Thankfully, we can turn to an optional rule in the book yet again:

In short, the way bonds work, you may have a strong emotional attachment to characters, nations, kingdoms, organizations, and even religions. These bonds are composed of emotional pairs, consisting of Admiration or Inferiority; Loyalty or Mistrust; and Affection or Hatred. A bond's strength is a number equal to the number of emotions you have attached to it, up to a maximum of +3 if you've selected an emotion from each pair, and your bond can be invoked in different scenarios to grant you this numerical bonus to a roll.

With this optional rule in play, as it says above, we have a chance to hit the ground running with at least one bond predefined for each character, telling us a little bit more about who they are and allowing them to engage with this mechanic from the start.

Quirks

Another optional rule, this time from the play test material, Quirks are something that exist as a mechanical narrative reinforcement of a character's unique nature. You could almost think of them in a manner similar to picking a race in Dungeon's & Dragons, like elf or dwarf, but in this case it's more like giving yourself a bit of niche protection by adopting a Heroic Trope common in anime and video games.

Take these, for example:

I like this optional rule because it gives players a bit more room to define who their characters are and what they're about.

Earning Experience

This is probably the biggest one, and the one where I've done the most work on my own. Normally, the game simply awards players 5 experience points for showing up, plus an additional amount of experience defined by how many Fabula Points (think hero points from other games) the players spend during a session and how many Ultima Points (Hero points for villains) that the bad guys spend. Once you've earned 10 xp, you level up, and reduce your current xp ten, keeping any points that are left over.

In a broad sense, this is fine, but I've always been the sort of Game Master that prefers to reward players by giving out experience points for engaging in behaviors that I specifically want to encourage. So, I changed the model to look more like this:

Players will still gain XP from Fabula and Ultima Points being spent during the game as normal, as well as 1 point for participating in the session, and an additional point for playing to their character's Identity, Theme, Origin, and Quirk (your standard good Roleplay award). Next we go to a checklist of Experience questions to determine the additional amount of Experience Points that the Party gains. The questions are as follows:

Did we learn something new and important about the world?

Did we overcome a difficult or noteworthy obstacle?

Did we make significant progress towards our goal?

These questions help encourage the behaviors I want to see in the type of game we're playing: curiosity about the world, demonstrating fighting spirit or intellectual ability to overcome challenges set in their path, and setting goals as a group and staying on task.

Then, after we answer those questions, there is the experience vote. A chance to really let each player shine by sharing the spotlight. There are three awards, given out at the end of each session, and each award grants the player who receives it an additional 2 XP and if two or more players are tied, they will each gain this bonus experience!

A few rules apply, however: You cannot be awarded this bonus XP twice in a row, you may only win one award per session, and you cannot vote for yourself or for the Game Master.

The Awards are as follows:

Embodiment: Embodiment is for the player who perfectly captures the mood at the table or drives the story onward. Stopping the table dead in its tracks with humor while in character, or making great speeches, desperate decisions, or achieving gruesome revenge fall into this category. This goes beyond simply playing to a character’s background and motivation and speaks to a scene or action that the group finds particularly memorable.

Team Worker: The Team Worker is the player who worked the hardest to keep the group together and in good shape or to keep the story moving forward. This award goes to the ones who help despite the risks, the ones who the group leans on to get shit done without any thanks in return, and the ones who sacrifice their goals for their companions.

MVP: The MVP award goes to the player who makes the biggest splash. This could mean being in the right place at the right time, playing to your Identity/Theme/Origin in a way that hauls the group across the finish line, taking the big hit so the rest of the party can succeed, or simply making that crucial roll that enables party to face down the big problem besetting it in the session.

And that's really all there is to it. I like the voted XP awards for a game like this because it encourages players to stay engaged. They have to be involved in handing out the XP to one another, so the theory goes that should be paying attention to what's going on, as well as putting their best foot forward to try to earn these accolades. And the small insurance policy built in that you can't continually win the same award session after session should (hopefully) keep any one player in particular from steam rolling ahead of the others in this now, slightly more asymmetrical level system.

[bidaubadeadieu]

calibree for the ask meme! 1, 6, 17

Ahhhh thank you for asking! Sorry it took me super long to get back to you. Though the d&d campaign that Calabree was a part of ended a few years ago now, she just recently showed up again as an NPC in my playgroup's current campaign, so she has been on my mind. (Thanks @wymanthewalrus for reprising her!)

1. What drives them? What is their ultimate goal?

Calabree thinks a lot about power. She is an "I would be a good benevolent dictator" type. She is extremely self-assured and would say something like "Absolute power might corrupt you absolutely. Not me though. I'm built different." Her ethical code considers mostly equitable outcomes, not fair rules and processes, which also enables her to be a "steal from the rich to give to the poor" type. She grew up feeling really disempowered due to a prodigy younger sibling who was clearly the family favorite, leading to her decision to run away from home and take matters into her own hands to find a community to lead, somewhere where she can be admired. And she does want to genuinely do good and help people and make the world better, which can conflict with her inexperience, but the admiration is a big part of what she wants. There is a fundamental misunderstanding she has, where she seeks leadership positions because it will finally give her the power she needs to help others, but in reality it's the reverse; people become respected leaders over time by consistently helping others.

6. How have they changed in the last year? The last 5 years?

I'm a little bolder with a wider range of ages of my characters now, but when I made Calabree, I made her my own age, and I was 21 at the time. So a lot of how she's changed has been, broadly, coming of age! She had some early, fumbling attempts at sexual relationships, she's left home for the first time, and she's taking her first real for-pay jobs. She's learning to discern who is worth looking up to and who doesn't deserve their station. In this way, of course I see myself in her! More concretely, her relationship with religion has also changed. Gods played a very large role in the campaign in which I played Calabree, they were among the most important recurring NPCs, and though Calabree didn't grow up with a traditional pantheon, she became interested in appeasing the ones she met, getting on their good side, as part of her wider plans toward acquiring power.

17. They're crying, what did it take to make them cry?

There are a few patterns among the characters that I seem to always like to make, things that appear again and again. One of the big ones is denialism. I really like to play a character who maybe knows something deep down, but will not face it head on. For Calabree, this manifests as a kind of unearned confidence. She is very sure of herself. You may recognize this trait in my character Liz, from our Dragon Heist game, too! (this denialism is in my OC Yulia, too, though it manifests in a different way and I can't talk about it without spoiling some ppl for our ongoing d&d game)! I find it is simultaneously a source of comedy (funny for Calabree to punch above her weight) and dramatic irony/tension (I know she's being dumb even if she doesn't know it herself). What makes Calabree cry is being ripped from that fantasy of her own competence, especially if she has been played or manipulated by someone else (and she's a low INT sort of character, so this happens with some regularity). She's got strong bodily awareness, so she'll feel her throat tighten and her face flush with the embarrassment of suddenly realizing she's deeply out of her depth and it'll only compound itself and make her feel even more out of control, which makes her want to cry more.

But thank you for asking and giving me an excuse to rotate her in my mind!!