#i will only say the barebones regardless

[shuckstruck]

saw some horrors this weekend that changed me fundamentally i think

AND- the horrors aside- my mom accidentally left the gate open and my black lab puppy took off for nearly two hours this afternoon. we drive all around town looking for him and couldn’t find him fucking anywhere. eventually we got a call and got him. we almost drove right by him cause he stood so stock still when he saw our car that i thought he was one of those tacky lawn ornaments ppl put out of animal silhouettes lmao

[percheduphere]

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE LOKI SERIES' ROMANTIC TROPES AND JANE AUSTEN

I am going to compare the relationships and romantic undertones of Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius with my all-time favorite Jane Austen adaptation because the character archetypes and plot-points are strikingly similar with Ang Lee and Emma Thompson's 1995 Sense and Sensibility.

This sounds cracked, but stay with me. Tropes are tropes for a reason. They are often repeated in writing subconsciously because they are very old and near-universal story arcs regardless of the literary genre we are discussing.

Please note that this is not a 1-to-1 comparison. This is an analysis of basic archetypes, tropes, and plot-points: the barebones skeleton of story structure. With that said, let's dig in:

Loki = Kate Winslet's Marianne Dashwood

Sylvie = Greg Wise's John Willoughby

Mobius = Alan Rickman's Colonel Brandon

For those of you who have not seen (or read) Sense & Sensibility, the story is about a family of women who are rendered near-destitute when the patriarch passes away and, due to English law at the time, all the family finances fall to the only son. The only hope for the women to escape the edges of poverty is to marry into wealth.  

The Loki series’ main storyline is a far cry from that of Sense & Sensibility. It is first and foremost a sci-fi action-adventure, but don’t let that genre fool you. Well-written stories are always character-driven. The setting serves to establish the rules of the world and the tangible challenges the characters must confront to achieve their goal. The end goal for Loki is his ascension to the God of Stories (and time). Therefore, his character arc must follow a trajectory that prepares him for that ascension.  

Love, above all else, is essential for Loki’s journey. In order to understand and be capable of love, Loki must experience love in all its forms including but not limited to romantic. I've seen a lot of social media posters mocking shippers with comments saying, "the story is not about romance." I wholeheartedly disagree. While romance is not the main concern of the series, romance does serve Loki's character development.

It is critical that we remember romance does not require physical contact or even blatant declarations of love. If that were true, unrequited love would not be thought of as romantic, which we know is not the case. Further, it is possible for physical intimacy to exist without any romance at all. One does not require the other.

While dismantling HWR’s old regime is the Loki series’ “Plot A” thread, Loki’s emotional experience serves as the series’ “Plot B” thread. Love and romance exist in Plot B.

THE CHARACTERS & THEIR ARCHETYPES 

LOKI & MARIANNE 

Within Sense & Sensibility’s plot, one of the main heroines, Marianne, has the archetype of the mercurial, passionate, and freewheeling spirit. She is rebellious at heart, chaffing at society’s rigid expectations of emotional repression and polite rather than fiery courtship. Much like Loki with Sylvie, Marianne is drawn to John Willoughby because his temperament, values, interests, and talents very closely mirror her own.  

Like Loki, Marianne is emotional. Her emotions drive many of her decisions, some of which are rash and socially unacceptable for her era. 

Like Loki, Marianne detests social norms. Refusing to contain her nature for anyone, she is unafraid of the stares and judgment of others. 

Like Loki, Marianne is poetic, a lover of words and metaphor. 

Like Loki, Marianne is a hedonist. She will follow where her heart takes her regardless of the consequences. Just as Loki runs after Sylvie through the portal door, Marianne chases after Willoughby.

SYLVIE & WILLOUGHBY 

Willoughby fulfills the archetype of the ideal lover at first sight. He is young, handsome, strong, deeply romantic, and a lover of poetry, pleasure, and unfettered emotion. I will not go into the deeper details of his character and plot here as I don't find them relevant for the purposes of this analysis. The key point to remember is that Willoughby is meant to be Marianne's perfect match by virtue of similarity.

Like Sylvie, Willoughby is emotional and consequently chaotic in nature. At his worst, Willoughby is unafraid of hurting others in the pursuit of his desires. 

Like Sylvie, Willoughby chooses absolute freedom over the genuine love and care he has for Marianne (Loki).  

Like Sylvie, Willoughby views institutions with social authority with contempt.  

Like Sylvie, Willoughby judges character based on association with institutions rather than the individuals themselves. He holds repugnance for Brandon’s (Mobius’s) association with the military (the TVA). Fair enough, both the TVA and the military (especially the British military) are institutions that have committed horrific global atrocities.  

Like Sylvie, Willoughby is unable to separate the institution from the individual people living and working within it, who are capable of goodness.  

MOBIUS & COLONEL BRANDON 

Colonel Brandon, a decorated military officer, fulfills the trope of the “dark horse” in love. He is Willoughby’s opposite: older, "less physically attractive", reserved, practical, and orderly. The main character (Loki/Marianne) appreciates his friendship yet does not feel any romantic affection for him (Mobius/Brandon) until the primary love interest (Sylvie/Willoughby) abandons the relationship for absolute freedom.  

Like Mobius, Brandon is drawn to intelligent, artistic, footloose nonconformists. 

Like Mobius, Brandon accepts and loves Marianne exactly as she is, including her faults. He does not want her to change against her will and gently reprimands her older sister, Elinor, at such a suggestion.

Like Mobius, Brandon serves an institution with significant influence on the lives of others. 

Like Mobius, Brandon accepts that his love is not returned yet continues to express his love through his support of Marianne’s (Loki's) wishes, including his romantic rival Willoughby (Sylvie). 

Like Mobius, Brandon is seen as a dear friend rather than a potential romantic partner in the first 2/3rds of the story. 

Like Mobius, Brandon’s personal desires are secondary to Marianne’s (Loki’s) happiness. 

THE ROMANTIC PLOT 

It is understood by the audience that love is not only a feeling; it is also an action that requires incredible responsibility. In that responsibility, both lovers must choose to take into consideration the feelings, wants, and needs of the other.

The trope of a main character meeting their perfect match and falling quickly in love informs the audience that conflict must lie ahead, and that the third party of the love triangle will be tested for their worthiness as a romantic partner.

Loki & Sylvie and Marianne & Willoughby possess a fast, passionate, and explosive love.

Loki & Mobius and Marianne & Brandon posses a slow, steady, and gently burning love.

These two relationships, which are BOTH valid AND romantic, are set against one another to contrast each suitor's strengths and weaknesses, as well as to shed light on which suitor best meets the feelings, needs, and wants of the main character.

The main character's (Loki/Marianne) love interests inevitably collide in a tense confrontation. Being the Georgian Era, Brandon and Willoughby do not discuss their dislike for one another directly but with Marianne's older sister, Elinor.

Sylvie, on other hand, is not afraid to tear into Mobius, saying exactly what she thinks of him. Both directors of photography frame their shots in a near-identical fashion, demonstrating who are at odds and the individual (present or not) who is between them.

Whether in the realm of fiction or reality, the act of love inherently requires some degree of self-sacrifice.

While Sylvie performs self-sacrifice by pruning herself in hopes of finding and rescuing Loki from the Void, that self-sacrifice does not extend to her personal values and beliefs with respect to free will.  She therefore fights Loki, ultimately kissing him farewell before kicking him through a time door to get what she wants.

Likewise, Willoughby, cut-off from his family's estate due to indiscretions he refuses own, prioritizes wealth over his relationship with Marianne in order to continue his lifestyle of luxury and absolute freedom. Willoughby therefore marries the exceptionally wealthy Miss Grey to achieve this end, abandoning Marianne and breaking her heart in the process.

At the midpoint of each storyline (where the narrative turns), both Loki and Marianne have lost the person they felt most strongly about because they were not that's person's priority.

Marianne's quote in the above gif is significant. It is a poem she and Willoughby recited together when they first met. She recites it again, alone, as she looks upon the estate Willoughby has married into in the rain. The poem is as follows:

"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. Oh, no. It is an ever-fixed mark that looks upon tempests and is never shaken."

This poem defines love as not fickle but persistent in the face of challenges and "never shaken".

THE DARK HORSE IN LOVE

Brandon, who falls for Marianne first, establishes himself as not only a friend of Marianne's but her whole family's. All of his actions throughout the film are performed out of love for Marianne, but these actions are not read as romantic by Marianne because there is no fast-burning fire and (seemingly) little commonality between them.

Marianne's mother cautions her, pointing out that the romances she cites all meet pitiful ends. In return, Marianne describes such love as not pitiful but "glorious."

Brandon and Mobius express their love for Marianne and Loki through practical means. Their actions are predominantly viewed as marks of friendship rather than marks of romantic love. It should be noted that in both cases, no verbal declaration of love, nor any physical declaration of love, such as a kiss, is ever made by either Mobius or Brandon on screen. Brandon's unrequited love, however, is readily apparent to everyone (the characters and the audience) due his presentation of the opposite gender.

Brandon, upon seeing Marianne struggle cutting reeds for weaving, offers her his pocketknife. Mobius, knowing that confrontation with Sylvie at Roxxcart will be dangerous, offers Loki his daggers for protection. 

Brandon, recognizing Marianne’s need for artistic pursuits, gifts her a piano. Mobius, recognizing Loki’s need for validation, provides him with words of affirmation, encouraging Loki’s talents in magic and cunning.

Brandon, acknowledging Marianne’s love for Willoughby, invites Willoughby to a picnic at his estate despite his distaste for him.  Mobius, acknowledging Loki’s love for Sylvie, frees Loki and is pruned despite his jealousy of her. 

Marianne, out in the rain and in distress over her loss of Willoughby, succumbs to a deadly fever. Loki, kicked through a time door and in distress over his loss of Sylvie, succumbs to time-slipping.

Brandon and Mobius actively make themselves available in response to their loved one's individual break-ups with ZERO expectation of having their love returned.

Brandon, concerned that Marianne's illness may kill her, rides nonstop for hours to retrieve her mother during a storm. Mobius, concerned for Loki's wellbeing, risks his life on the loom's gangway, risking exposure to temporal radiation and death.

In the end, both Brandon and Mobius are the triumphant winners of Marianne's and Loki's hearts.

Indeed, Brandon reads poetry to Marianne, and when he announces he must "away", Marianne worriedly asks "where?", demonstrating her desire for him to stay. Brandon teases her, fulfilling Marianne's need for romance and excitement by saying, "it is a secret."

Mobius, meanwhile, begins to open himself up to worldly pleasures, allowing himself to drop the strict, no-nonsense behavior he exhibited in S1. Loki, in turn, begins to provide him with the type of emotional support Mobius has consistently given him since the beginning (yes, he has a jealous meltdown, but he recovers relatively quickly).

The outcome of their successes, however, diverge due to their gender presentation.

Whereas Brandon happily marries Marianne ...

... Loki returns Mobius's selfless love with a sacrifice of his own, and they are separated.

[gb-patch]

Hi! I saw your ask about skin tones and honestly, that is very much a barebones excuse to not include skintones in your game. You act as though adding skintones to a sprite would be a complete hand-drawn new asset when it would quite literally be filling in a pre drawn base for both Opal and the mc. Not only that but you potentially have thousands of mc outfits you promised for specific tier havers on the kickstarter. And then for 250,000 dollars, you're telling me we'll get more colors but not even 2 or 4 skintones when there are games with Less funding who have more skintones? Especially considering OL:B&A had the exact same amount of skintones and I could count all the afro centric hairstyles in that game on my two hands. I rather have more skintones than just pale, peach, olive, tan, brown and dark brown (most of which screams a 2000s foundation line of tones) than have more hair or clothing colors. I'm sorry, I love your games, I really do but that's an extremely lazy and abhorrent response from you and I am extremely disappointed.

"Hi. I just saw the post about you not adding in more skintones. I really hope this doesn't come across as rude or demanding but I find your reasoning for not being able to add them...lackluster at best. With all due respect, you set this goal for 250k, over three times the original goal you set for the kickstarter, the idea that somehow you can promise an additional set of darker colours for the clothes, accesories hair and eyes alongside the additional MC pieces people are going to request but not an additional skintone because of Opal seems a little ridiculous. I'm not an experienced artist but I do know how art files tend to work and I imagine adding additional colours to Opal's base design wouldn't be an extreme undertaking. In fact, by contrast, the work to add more colours to the clothes and hairs seems much more labourous considering the amount of them and the fact that some of the clothes have subcolours.

Again, I do hope I don't come accross as rude but I just feel like this announcement was highly dissapointing, especially considering the fact that the additional colours are currently the biggest goal for the kickstarter at the moment" There were two replies, so I put them together. I hope that's alright.

I understand. It would be bad and make no sense if that didn’t happen. I can say that this has nothing to do with funding. I'm not gonna attach more skin tones to a stretch goal, that’s not fair. It’ll be done whenever it can be regardless of what happens with the Kickstarter.

The other colors for hair and such is something I confirmed can be done by our programmer ahead of time using a color picker system in coding.

The situation as it stands today for Opal is that I personally don't have the skills to recolor her myself, the artist we have is in a situation where it would be unkind to increase how much work they have to do (it'd be easier if even less work could be on them), and while another artist could be hired- that hasn't happened at this point. So, saying it "could happen but maybe not" is cautious development process. It’s how it went with both the Cove Patreon Bonus Moments, where I pretended for months that it may or may not happen while working on it behind the scenes because I wasn’t sure how long I’d need to finish it and was worried it could be delayed for long stretches of time.

Being realistic, it is virtually a 100% certainly that before the game comes out, the skin tones will be expanded. There is no good reason why it wouldn’t. I was waiting until things got to a better point in production before coming out to officially say that it’s happening.

And I could’ve said it’s extremely likely but we’re not able to do it quite yet and avoided making anyone feel hurt. I wish my way of handling it hadn’t made the people who believed in our games sad. The reason why I didn’t is that I just can’t help but be averse to making promises I can’t do/the team can’t do and so have to rely on something else working out at some point in the future, even if it is entirely likely that it will.

That’s because I know that these things will make a lot of people happy. I want the excitement and any praise that might come to not happen until the goal has been achieved or is on the way to being achieved for sure. To a degree it’s helpful for players to have confidence in what the company is promoting, but it’s mainly to help with my own habit of catastrophizing. I tend to believe bad things could happen and I’ll let people down even when it’s so unlikely it’s not worth considering. I consider it anyway. And so, you get this kind of long-term hedging before the feature people hoped for suddenly appears. Even now my compulsion is to add a caveat that “there’s still a chance something (I don’t even know what) could happen and it won’t be added so don’t thank me yet” despite me already coming out with the truth that there’s every intention to have it added. I’m sorry to have disappointed you and made you feel disregarded by doing this. Hopefully when the skin options are expanded people will be able to enjoy the game a lot more than how it is with the current demo. And thanks for taking the time to let me know what you thought rather than giving up on the project entirely.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Quirk Classification

Cause, I was thinking more about the Quirk Counsellor thing, and figured I’d write down what sort of system I think these people have to work with. Keep in mind, this is the same system that they’ve been using for almost 3 centuries, with VERY little adjustment or additions.

the Basics:

Emitter 

Physical

Mutation

the first three Quirk classes thought up, the ones still around. They are VERY basic and barebones, making it both wildly easy and insanely difficult to actually use them. Emitter Quirks would be classed similar to Katsuki’s or Mina’s - their Quirk lets them “Emit” something That does whatever thing. Physical would be something like Sato, who’s Quirk affects his physical state, increasing his strength and so on. Mutation is for people whose Quirks change the user from the “human baseline”, regardless of how obvious it is. Most Mutation Quirks are obvious, such as Mina, Koda, or Tokoyami, but you could have a person who looks totally normal, but has an extra heart or extra lung capacity, or who’s liver is capable of processing poisons, and that would count as a mutation quirk.So, these are the barebone basics that Counsellors had to use to describe people. Now, Other classes, that have been added since:

Mental - this one was the first added to the initial trio, only a few years after the system was put in place, so some count it as part of the “basics”, though others argue this point. Exists to class ANY Quirks that predominantly work with, focus on, or effect the mind. Hitoshi’s Quirk would count, and you could make an argument for Illusion Girl. But, again, this is deliberately broad, so there are plenty of arguments for what “counts” as a Mental Quirk. (Sidenote: given the stigma on mental health care, I could see early on being classed as having a Mental based Quirk being seen as being “crazy”. How prevalent that is currently? Unknown.)

Elemental - technically started as a “sub-class” of Quirk, most often paired with Emitter or Mental. Now, can be used on its own. Quirk user can control, or has a high affinity, with an “Element”, either defined by the “basics” (Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, sometimes Wood and Metal) or by the periodic table. One of the most common types of Quirks, was unofficially used as a qualifier for a few decades before being added as an official designation.

Shifter - like Elemental, started as a sub-class used as a qualifier, mostly still used that way. Used to designate that the user’s Quirk “shifts” them from one state to another. Himiko’s Quirk would be classed as a “Physical-Shifter” Quirk, because it shifts her physical state, the shift is total and complete, but not permanent, so doesn’t count as a Mutation. (Sidenote: I could see this one being variable on its official use. Like, say, Japan uses it, but somewhere like Russia might not recognize Shifter as an official term, and would instead class Himiko’s Quirk as a Mutation type, as an example.)

Reality - this is one I see as a more recent addition, one that’s a bit tentative, and not seen in much use. Mostly cause it scares the crap out of people. It’s used to denote a Quirk that effects an area, or the physical world, around a person - I.e. effects the “reality”. Best examples I can think of would be Stars & Stripes, and Eri. Their Quirks affect the very world around them, and change it accordingly. I see Ochako eventually having her Quirk classed like this, because (as we see from her Quirk Awakening[fuck is this Spoilers???]) her gravity manipulation can eventually become a field around her that she can control. However, having your Quirk classed as one that effects REALITY ITSELF would probably paint a massive target on you, so I bet you anything Eri’s is classed as Emitter on paper. Stars & Stripes might be the only person in the WORLD who’s Quirk is officially classed as “Reality”, cause she’s a grown ass woman with basically the whole  US Army standing behind her.

so, those are the basics I thought of. If you think this sounds inadequate, you would be correct! It really fucking is! Again, the idea is that initially, Quirk Counsellors were put in place, not to help people, but to identify threats. And even if society’s perception has changed, even if the Job itself has changed goals, the general structure hasn’t, so the system reflects that. Those aren’t things you use to label someone’s health, they’re what you use to denote how dangerous they are if they attack you. It’s why getting your Quirk still counts as a “diagnosis”, like it’s an illness, something foreign and different from the “baseline”. Which means that most of these Quirk Counsellors, if they genuinely want to help those they are Counselling, are struggling against a system that was designed to identify nuclear bombs, but is being used to offer life skills coaching. And if you don’t give a shit, if you just slap a name and a class on a Quirk, you do well, because the job isn’t long term care, it’s Fast-paced threat assessment. The more “patients” you have, the more Quirks you identify in a year compared to your peers, the better you get paid.

There’s probably a large movement to get the whole system redesigned (I’d imagine Canada and Norway, maybe Sweden? have better Quirk Classification systems, attached to healthcare, while places like Japan, America, and Russia haven’t changed since they were implemented, the whole thing is adjacent to healthcare, but officially distinct), but the whole thing keeps getting shot down. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” is the prevailing mindset - and the fact that all of this benefits a certain underground boogeyman clearly has NOTHING to do with it!

-

Honestly yeah just!

There should be so many caveats to Quirk Classification and none of them really fit in the box even the most basic ‘looks like one type’ Quirk is still multiclassing.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Thoughts on Kris x Ralsei, continued

(this is a continuation of my first post on this subject, creatively titled Thoughts on Kris x Ralsei. The parts all build upon each other, so it's best to read from the beginning. Here's a little TOC so you can get up to speed:

Part 1: And They Lived Happily Ever After Part 1.5: I Believe Your Choices DO Matter Part 2: A Pair of Star-Cross'd Lovers <- (You Are Here!) Part 2.5: In Another World, We Could Have Been (Just) Friends (Future parts to be added as they are written))

(Please be aware that this series will go over topics including coercion, non-consentual romance, and an observation pertaining to potential incestual undertones. If any of this makes you uncomfortable in any way, please proceed with caution. Thank you)

Part 2: A Pair of Star-Cross'd Lovers

Kris Dreemurr is doomed the instant the player assumes control of them.

If Undertale is a game about how your choices can affect the world, then Deltarune is about how sometimes, your choices mean absolutely nothing. Fate grinds on, irrespective of your wishes. Onward you march, towards your ultimate destiny.

This concept features heavilly in a lot of RPGs - the idea that the protagonist is the "chosen one" who will save the world, which due to the constrains of narrative and gaming, is what ends up happening 95% of the time. Much like the Knight and Princess dynamic I discussed in the previous part, this trope is so heavily ingrained in the gaming psyche that we do tend to accept it when it happens,as part and parcel of the RPG experience.

This very familiar setup is where Kris and Susie find themselves upon meeting Ralsei, who waxes lyrical about the very Non-Specific-and-Light-on-Any-Identifying-Details Legend. They are told that the balance of light and dark is being disrupted and a "terrible calamity (will) occur", are shown some apocalyptic imagery, three heroes who are identified by their race/species (and not their name - a detail which may become important later on), who will stop something nefariously dubbed the "Angel's Heaven". It is Prophecy 101, the most barebones framing for a quest you can imagine... but hey, the game needs a hook, doesn't it? Some grand stakes to get the ball rolling.

And so, the roles are doled out: Kris is the human, the unwavering leader; Susie is the no-nonsense contrarian who doesn't really care much for concepts of fate and determinism, and Ralsei is the exposition fairy, doing his best to keep his comrades on the path he has set out for them.

Ok, cool. But where does Kralsei fit into this? Well, in Part 1 and 1.5 of this series of posts, I brought up how Deltarune goes to great lengths to bring the idea of this pairing to prominence... but I didn't really talk about why the game is doing this. And the answer is, because it ties in with Deltarune's central theme of destiny and determinism. Or to put it another way:

Your Choices Don't Matter.

And here, you might protest. Because surely when the game says that, it's only refering to Kris's choices, right? We, as players, can choose from different dialogue options, we can choose to FIGHT or SPARE our adversaries. More fundamentally, we are the ones in control of Kris's movements and actions, while they are almost entirely powerless to fight our influence (note how I say almost - this will be important later).

But think for a moment about the choices we are given as players, and ask yourself - what meaningfully changes as a result of our actions? In Chapter 1, it doesn't matter whether we fight or spare anyone, they'll all return regardless in Chapter 2, with a single line of dialogue added as a handwave to explain why. And while Chapter 2 gives us a little more say in this - we can lose potential recruits to Castle Town by fighting rather than sparing, and they won't turn up in Ralsei's dark world at the end - the main points of the story do not meaningfully change to reflect this.

(there are, of course, things that we CAN do to change things in a pretty big way *coughSnowgravecough* but given that the means to achieve this are rather well-hidden, and it involves doing some very, VERY messed up things in pursuit of it, we can consider it an exception that proves the rule - technically your choices CAN have consequences, but those consequences are so horrific that you're probably better off not choosing in the first place.)

Okay, sure, you say. But this doesn't apply to the interpersonal relationships in Deltarune, now does it? If we don't want Kralsei to happen, then we simply don't choose any of the options that hint at it. That much must be in our power, surely?

To which I have one riposte: the Acid Tunnel of Love.

Brief overview of this sequence: Kris and Ralsei are tasked with "distracting" Queen while Susie and Berdly go to rescue Noelle. Literally on the next screen, the only way to proceed is across a giant river of acid, atop a swan pedallo, while soft carnival-style music plays in the background. Partway through, Ralsei has a heart-to-heart with Kris/the player, Rouxls Kaard does what he does best, and a photo may or may not be taken at the end.

You don't get to choose not to do this (unless you do that other thing which we're not discussing here). This just happens. And it's difficult to get away from the fact that this entire scenario is dripping with romantic undertones, especially when it's contrasted directly afterwards with Susie and Noelle's equally-romantically-charged Rescue and Ferris Wheel ride.

But then, perhaps it's a parody. A funny contrivance that sends up the absurdity of Kralsei by comparing it to a romantic pairing with actual weight, Suselle. But there are two problems with this; the first is that if we write off this scene as parody, then we must also do the same with the ferris wheel, because they both operate under the same logic - they're both based on a massive contrivance.

The second problem is that Ralsei doesn't seem to have got that memo. And no matter how you respond to his questions, the scene will end with his admiration for Kris strengthened. There is NO dialogue option you can select which will dissuade him from his feelings.

Exhibit A: calling Ralsei a lackey will have him cheerfully exclaim "Ooh, I've never been somebody's lackey before!" (because he's a darkner, that's literally what he was designed to be). Exhibit B: saying "It's strange" has Ralsei write off his question as, erm, "sarcasm". Which would perhaps be read as a rebuttal, except that his understanding of social situations is so minimal that he might genuinely believe he's committed a serious faux pas here, rather than interpret the response as a rejection. It also doesn't change his follow-up response, either. Exhibit C: Saying nothing when he says "it's good that you're you" has him laugh at how "Kris-like" not saying anything is, before saying that he "[likes] you-like things".

Cue Ralsei haters throwing their hands up in exasperation.

Contrast again with Susie and Noelle's scene. Here, too, we're presented with options to influence how things will happen. But the crucial difference is, we have absolutely zero sway over Susie, and she will always choose to say and do her own things. Here, too, we are powerless to intervene, but in a more direct way, whereas with Kralsei, even though we CAN choose an option, none of them make a difference to the scene or its outcome. This serves to show just how much agency Susie actually possesses, and is a stark contrast to Kris's severe lack of agency... as well as our own.

What does that mean, exactly? Well, consider this: Susie is free to make her own decisions, up to and including choosing NOT to pursue Noelle romantically. Kris, on the other hand, has no such freedom, and thus cannot choose to opt out of entering into a relationship with Ralsei. And, as I have alluded to a few times, neither can we, despite what our own feelings on the situation might be.

And thus we come to the title of this part - Kris and Ralsei are Star-Crossed. No reference to this line is made in Deltarune as of present, but it has numerous connotations which I believe are relevant to these two characters. Firstly, the idea that their connection is destined to occur - it's written in the stars, woven into the game's literal architecture. As such, there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it from happening - not Ralsei, who probably would be quite thrilled with it, not the player, who try as they might cannot influence it either way, and certainly not Kris, who is almost entirely unable to voice their own desires. We are each as powerless as each other in this instance.

Secondly, the idea that this destined relationship, no matter what form it might take, is doomed to end in tragedy. From the reaction to the various teas, we can infer that Kris is lukewarm on Ralsei at best (this may change as future chapters are released, but it's not exactly a ringing endorsement). And as time goes on, it becomes increasingly apparent that Ralsei is likely labouring under a false notion of who Kris actually is, and has fallen for the idea of Kris that he has conjured up in his own head, rather than the genuine article.

But the problem is more fundamental still, for if we understand the prophecy correctly, light and dark must be in balance - they cannot mix. That means no new dark fountains, which means that Ralsei can never manifest anywhere as a darkner once the events of the game are concluded. This would of course preclude any sort of interpersonal connection, romantic or otherwise. The best that could be hoped for in such a scenario is that Ralsei returns to whichever object he represents in the light world and Kris keeps him around as a memento.

This all assumes a great deal, of course - Kris's stance on Ralsei may well change, and for all we know Ralsei is more than likely very aware that we exist separately from Kris, as evidenced by his clandestine conversations with Kris while we see what Susie's up to. Additionally, it is entirely possible that Ralsei has instead fallen for US through Kris, which presents... additional complications. More on that later.

All of this leads us back to the central conceit of Deltarune: Our choices do not matter. Nothing we say, nothing we do, can change what is going to happen. We don't know exactly where this is going to go, whether they will fall into a full-on romance, or if they become something more akin to queerplatonic partners, or good friends, or something like siblings, or perhaps even mortal enemies. But one thing is for sure - Deltarune is going to continue cramming Kralsei down our throats, whether we like it or not.

...okay, think I best stop there for now. And look, I know I haven't really gone too much into the why of all this just yet. But patience - much of the past few essays have been establishing the groundwork - the what and the how, if you like. I'n Part 3, I'll attempt to go over what I believe the Narrative (i.e. the game) is trying to accomplish with Kralsei - what it's trying to say about games, stories, romance, and how we can be manipulated into endorsing a potentially problematic relationship, irrespective of the wishes of the vessel we control.

Thanks for reading!

[rogue205]

Read a little article about fictional characters that people idolize by entirely missing the point and saw this:

Hell yes. Say it louder for the people in the back. Snape is NOT a good guy and there is also a reason that he is Neville Longbottom’s worst fear. A child is so petrified of his teacher and whose fault is that? Yes, it’s Snape’s fault. He terrorizes children/teenagers because he can and if it was the real world, he sure as hell wouldn’t be teaching for long.

It’s also Snape whom Harry only noticed upon his arrival at Hogwarts because Snape was glaring at him. What on earth did Harry do to warrant this? Nothing. He just happened to look like his dad is all. The same dad, might I add, that Snape owed a debt to for saving his miserable life even if James probably did it more to spare Lupin the consequences than to help Snape. The point stands.

And no, Snape did NOT “love” Lily. He was obsessed with her to the point that he even copied her patronus for gods sake. Lily, whom he drove away by being the Magical equivalent of racist. Lily, whom was put in mortal danger partially by Snape’s own actions then he tried to get Voldemort to spare her but not her husband and child regardless how LILY would feel about that. It’s only because he helped get her killed that he switched sides and became a double agent. Too little, too late.

Also, can we PLEASE STOP trying to link Snape and Credence Barebone together?! Sure, I get it’s because Credence has long black hair and wears dark colors in FB3 but STOP. Snape is a jealous, racist, condescending prick among other things while Credence is an abuse survivor with a pure heart despite being gaslit and groomed by the bad guy. YES, he did help Grindelwald for awhile but only because Grindelwald lied to him about his family and Credence left him after he learned what he was told wasn’t true. So no, these two aren’t anything alike.

This is an anti-Snape rant. Arguing with me is not going to get me to like the man because I just don’t. (Even if I love Alan Rickman. I do wonder if he is part of the reason people like the character.)

[padfootastic]

I’m fairly ambivalent on Jily as a whole (most of my interest in the Marauders-era is for Sirius), but I have to admit, I kind of like the idea that James starts dating Lily and once it’s clear it’s serious and important to the both of them, Sirius just welcomes Lily into their group, into Sirius’s family (nobody can convince me Sirius didn’t use his friends as his family, especially once he left Grimmauld and got disowned). If James loves her and she loves James, then she’s family and Sirius will welcome her with open arms. Plus, I headcanon Lily as the kind of person who gets real snarky when she’s comfortable with someone and Sirius, frequently described as haughty and arrogant and who has the vibe of another snarky and sharp-tongued character, adores having a partner is snark; RIP anyone who gets on both of their bad sides, verbal evisceration is an understatement for what happens to them. Also, it’s funny to imagine that Sirius likes to aggravate James by saying Lily is his favorite Potter once they marry, because he’s just like that, even though everyone knows James is his absolute favorite person (I saw someone else say that, but Tumblr’s search function is terrible and I can’t find it anymore, hopefully I’ll find it soon). Plus, he and Lily both understand the whole “my sibling is a horrible person, they hate me, but I can’t help but love them regardless, because for years we were each other’s closest friends and I will never be able to forget all our history” thing, which is something the others, as only children, can never truly understand. But anyways, I just really like to think that once Sirius knows the Jily relationship is important to James and Lily, and James won’t get his heart shattered, he’s immediately accepting Lily into their little group. Biggest surprise at Hogwarts was when other students saw Sirius and Lily talking in Seventh Year because Sirius only really talks to James, Remus, and Peter; there’s the time some other kid insulted Lily and it turns out Sirius has a unique ability to tear someone apart with words alone and without ever raising his voice

dude, the way we’re literally on the same wavelength with this. i’ve talked about this in a couple older posts before, but i genuinely think s & l are so similar (and i have a very barebones prongsfoot fic in my drafts where j&s never meet and sirius is best friend w lily based off this exact assumption) and once they get let all the the awkwardness and problems, they’d be really good friends ykno? (it’s another reason why a triad works but not a s/l couple which is a random tangent lol)

and like. yeah. lily is accepted into sirius’ inner circle (lol) but imo, that only happens after he’s fully confirmed that she’s not here to hurt his james. that is the most important bit. i’ve kinda included this in shovel talk but i feel like, as canon stands, sirius would put her thru the wringer to make sure she’s good enough before he fully accepts her. and once he does, he’s all in. no questions asked.

and of course, james is in heaven. his two favourite people ever getting baking as well as they do, sometimes at the expense of his own self? he can’t be happier.

[patricia-von-arundel]

The more I think about it, the more I wish that there was a completely independent FE game like Engage, but not Engage - one that isn't relying on nostalgia and recognition of past characters. Or if it does, have it be something fun where you can just pick whatever older characters appeal to you and put them on a team together, regardless of how ridiculous it would be to throw Tiki, Robin, Corrin, Ninian, Rhea, and Alear together (because they're all dragons, but very, very different types of dragons).

Before Engage came out, they literally made a video introducing the gameplay like you might have a "My First Book of Numbers" for a 3-year-old. But... Engage isn't that. It relies quite heavily on the player knowing the Emblem characters, and that comes at the expense of the new characters (who are tropier than a Disney princess movie).

But a similarly simple plot and solid gameplay (rather than social micromanaging) with either all original characters (who are well developed over the course of the game) or all nostalgia characters (as mentioned above) would be perfect to gently guide those who've never tried an SRPG into the genre. (Especially since until FE took off with Awakening, the genre had been all but dead in the water for quite some time. The only somewhat similar games I can think of from around the same time are XCom - which was M-rated sci-fi - Valkyria Chronicles, and Disgaea. Other games of the same ilk - FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and the Shining Force games come to mind - had not been dusted off for a decade or longer, but with FE's success, we got Triangle Strategy and Tactics Ogre Reborn, we're [theoretically 😭] getting a polished up version of Advance Wars, and I suspect Square Enix is watching sales of Tactics Ogre carefully before potentially announcing a new FF Tactics.)

What I'm trying to say is: as amazing as Fates and Three Houses (and to a lesser extent Awakening and Shadows of Valentia) are, they're a lot to deal with on top of the strategy if you aren't comfortable with the genre. Fates and Three Houses' route choices, Awakening's lean on nostalgia and uneven difficulty, and Shadows of Valentia's throwing in dungeons and retaining some really, really tedious maps that hinder progress (either because of terrain or because of the fucking witches) are a lot to take on if you're still trying to figure out the weapons triangle and permadeath and recruiting. Engage is much closer to old-school FE (games before New Mystery of the Emblem, FE12).

Especially considering how difficult it is now to track down the games before Awakening, a Switch (or next console) game that is battle-focused and possible to win without micromanagement and supports seems like it would be a perfect game to recommend to those interested in the genre but a little reluctant to try because of the possibility of multiple routes, rough difficulty curves, same-turn reinforcements, etc.

Just a thought. I usually recommend Awakening of the more recent games to total newbies, but it's over 10 years old (in Japan) and will likely get increasingly difficult to find (not to mention the option to buy it digitally will be gone by the end of March). Shadow Dragon might be even better, since it's absolutely barebones story and 99% battlefield, but it's already hard to find. Someone unfamiliar with the series would likely enjoy the gameplay and be able to handle Engage, but much of the fun of seeing older characters brought together would be lost on them, and the otherwise silly plot/new characters might be enough to see them dismiss the game quickly, and potentially then any future games. (I mean, look at how many people who came in with Three Houses are whining about Engage...).

Then again, Nintendo could just do what Square Enix has done, and make the older games available on Switch. 🙄 FE7's Lyn chapters, Sacred Stones' relatively easier difficulty, Shadow Dragon's straightforward "the plot is just there to justify maps," or Awakening's ability to grind would all make decent intros to someone who just wants to get the hang of the gameplay.

Plus, then, y'know, ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO FOUND THE SERIES THROUGH AWAKENING OR THREE HOUSES COULD ACTUALLY PLAY ALL THE GAMES THAT ARE ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND, AND NINTENDO, YOU WOULD MAKE MONEY, NOT SCALPERS AND SECONDHAND SELLERS.

But... it's Nintendo. Not holding my breath on that one. 😕

[koolkat9]

2, 4, 20!

Fun meta asks for writers

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I have a fic planned with the idea that Gil is Ludwig's dad and him panicking over it and wishing Germania was there to guide him. We don't have enough good dad Germania which is a shame because according to canon he really loves his family.

---

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

Oh gosh let's see...

"The icy caverns that were once Matthew’s eyes burned bright and hot like blue stars. He was no longer that little boy in the bush, and he was no longer that young dominion that needed Arthur to fall back on. He was Canada, wild and rugged, a force to be reckoned with. What Arthur had always wanted him to be. But now, he just hoped that sweet little boy was still in there somewhere. "

-Time Ticks Away

One, I really liked the simile I used. Blue stars are actually the hottest and brightest stars in the galaxy so very fitting for Matthew's rage induced blue eyes (my astronomy class was good for something).

Two, I just love how the dynamic turned out here. Up until this point, Arthur has only known Matthew as a quiet, anxious little boy. But he's grown, and he's angry and his strength is on full display. Arthur had always worried that Matthew was too sensitive, that he needed to teach Matthew hide that all away like how he was forced to as a child. He wanted Matthew to be strong, to be a fighter, to be tough as nails. And in the trenches of WWI Matthew has finally embraced those qualities. But looking at his son, angry, vengeful, hungry for blood makes Arthur feel sick. And this line gives me chills. We always don't know what we have until it's gone (or think it's gone).

---

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I never include symbolism or hidden references or callbacks. At least not on purpose most of the time. But I will ramble about my fic Ludwig.

The barebones of this fic have been in my mind since I started shipping GerEng three years ago. I only ever seen the whole Germany = HRE debacle through a primarily Ger//Ita lens (I was lucky if I got some exploration of what that means for the german bros on the side). So when I got into GerEng, I wondered what it would mean if GerIta wasn't together. ''

I also started liking the idea of Ger//Ita where Feli just loves Ludwig because Lud looks like HRE or was HRE. I say "was" because I like to imagine Ludwig as his own character even when working in the realm of the Germany = HRE. Regardless of what version of a theory I'm going off with (they are exactly the same or they're separate souls that share the same body) there is a distance between Ludwig and HRE. Ludwig has become his own person and his past as HRE doesn't feel like it's completely his own.

Anyway, GerEng Week rolls around almost 3 years later with a prompt absolutely perfect for these two ideas. It turned into more of an introspective of Ludwig's conflict with his identity. But I really love how the dynamics turned out.

I've loved the idea of toxic Ger//Ita for a few years now, but I'm terrible at making these characters bad people so I never really got to write it. But here, Ger//Ita becomes toxic because Feli is projecting his feelings for HRE onto Ludwig who is no longer the same boy Feli remembers. Not to mention how he's in a vulnerable state, head over heels for Feli and willing to compromise himself to make Feli happy. They don't mean for it to get toxic, but it does. Ludwig realizes this eventually, that he's losing himself, that Feli doesn't actually love him. He also realizes his feelings for Feli had gone out decades ago, only reignited in this one moment where he thought he could connect his present and past self. And Feli knew deep down for awhile that what he was doing wasn't right. And his revelation and apology is one of my favourite things I've ever written. "It’s clear your heart doesn’t belong to me and I’m sorry for feeling entitled to it because of the past" gets me every time.

And Arthur, being one of the only relationships Ludwig has where the other party wasn't so close to HRE. Unlike the others, he isn't blinded by the happiness of being reunited and sees Ludwig struggle. He becomes one of the only people Ludwig feels comfortable talking to to let it all out. Arthur becomes the one to pull him out of the role he put himself into to try to appease others. Because he loves Ludwig for Ludwig. Not for who he used to be. The romance may have been a little rushed at the end and I wish I made reference to Ludwig's crush on Arthur earlier in the fic, but I think it's sweet. Arthur had to pull Ludwig out of a funk once before and he did again proving he'd be someone Ludwig could count on.

[karygurl]

what's there to celebrate? (ffxiv)

Takes place after the final quest of the base Shadowbringers expansion. Cassandra’s “victory” feels more like a failure.

Despite the late hour, the Crystarium was alight with lanterns and fireworks after the Scions and Exarch had returned. Drinks were on the house at the Wandering Stairs (much to Giott’s excitement), and the plazas were filled to the brim with people shouting and laughing and cheering. Beyond a barebones crew of sentries that were rotated several times during the night so that all could partake in the celebration, all of Lakeland had arrived to celebrate as well. It as a party like none Cassandra had ever seen. 

Ishgard, Doma, and Ala Mhigo all had celebrated amidst varied states of rubble. This, this sparkling place of hope, was a beautiful city already poised and ready for the chapters ahead. 

And Cassandra couldn’t bear to look at it.

All she could think of was another city, deep beneath the waves, hovering in its twilight at the precipice of disaster. It hadn’t mattered to her that it had been a recreation; it had happened. Those people, innocents, multitudes, had died. She’d beheld the entire world at her feet as it burned and suddenly all of Emet-Selch’s posturing and dramatics had made sense. He wanted it back, and he would do anything for his world.

So would she.

It didn’t make the loss any easier to swallow.

She knew his plans had to be stopped at any cost, but the loss of memory to history was something she couldn’t overcome. He had been one of a staggering few who remembered, who’d lived through it, not just the end of his own world but the end of several shards of the Source; all the horrors and joys and rises and falls of the ages, and he was someone who’d been there for it all, lived it himself.

Someone who looked at her and saw… what, exactly? She never did find out, though at times she could have sworn that there had been something inside of her drawn to him. And now the only one with the answers she sought was dead, at her own hands. The tears that had flowed freely down her cheeks as he'd died, smiling at her, confused her more than she could express, leaving a knot in her chest that had yet to ease.

So she remained standing on a quiet balcony overlooking the festivities below, and tried to keep out of sight. Her mind was too full, processing too much to be of much use to those who needed this moment to celebrate. They deserved better than a maudlin, distracted excuse for a “hero.” 

“Are the drinks not to your liking?” a voice piped up from behind her, nearly sending her over the railing. “Not that I’d blame you, if I didn’t know better I’d say Glynard is watering them down to make them stretch far enough to keep everyone in their cups.”

Thancred settled in next to her, his gaze drawn down to the attendees but she could feel his attention on her. As always, he missed nothing.

Cassandra watched him for a moment before her eyes returned to the reveling as well. 

The companionable silence stretched between them, the din from below a pleasant hum to Thancred’s ears. He’d watched her earlier when she’d done her best to try and participate in the proceedings. He was used to cataloging people's reactions, passively, almost lazily; they were often more telling than their words. In that regard, it had taken mere moments to see the almost too-wide smile on Cassandra's face, the thundering pulse at her neck, the sound of her voice pitched just a hair too high, to know that she was pushing herself to be friendly to everyone who approached her. It looked like panic, smelled like fear. She’d brushed him off earlier when he’d offered her an excuse to leave early, but it seemed she’d finally given in and snuck away on her own regardless.

Up here on the balcony, away from the expectations and exultations, she looked exhausted and miserable. His heart ached for her; after all she’d been through, she deserved rest, and he knew that celebrations like this had always made her uncomfortable. But he had a hunch that this was more than just exhaustion. 

He wanted to lighten her load, offer something to make her smile, but he sensed that this burden was too great or deep to be affected by buoyant banter. Instead, he offered her sincerity, a gift she’d proffered no few times to him. “What is it?”

Cassandra remained silent for a moment, though her furrowed brow was proof of her putting effort in figuring out how to answer the question. Finally she spoke, in starts and stops. "I don't know how to… be normal, anymore. Everything is... it's hard to respond to everyone’s excitement when everything feels so inconsequential, compared to…” She shook her head. “But that's not fair, to anyone! I should care, about everything that's important to them, they finally have hope for their world for the first time in a century and no matter what I'm thinking of, I should care, I should..."

"Because that's what you do?"

Her shoulders hunched. “Isn’t it? Because it’s what they need? After everything they’ve been through, how can I be so selfish--”

“Because you’ve saved their godsdamned world, that’s how,” he snapped, inhaling sharply and biting back his tongue. When he spoke again, his tone was more even. “You have given everything for these people. They are grateful, certainly, but their feelings should not supercede your own. You’re just as important as they are. And if you need rest, then you have worked harder and longer than anyone else across the length and breadth of these lands, and if you don’t deserve it, then no one does.” 

She bowed her head, sighing heavily as the weight of his words to sink in. “Do you think… I could skip the party? Would anyone notice?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “If you’re asking if I can get you back to your quarters unseen by partygoers, then perhaps you haven’t seen me in action lately.”

That got a smile out of her, though her gaze was still on the commotion below. She hesitated before glancing over at him again. “Is it okay that you’re missing the party? You’ve already sacrificed some of it for my sake, I don’t want to take you away from it if it’s something you’d enjoy yourself.”

Thancred stepped away from the railing and offered her his arm. “I would be nowhere else in Norvrandt.” After she’d looped her arm through his and they began a lazy stroll along the elevated walkway, his mind racing ahead to formulate a route that would have them arriving at her room with the least amount of attention, he added, “Particularly as Urianger has taken it upon himself to remind me of my… indiscretions, when last I imbibed on the Source. I can’t tell if he’d rather I drink only water, or if he’d like to see me return to my old ways for his own personal amusement, but either way I think I’d rather just avoid his schemes completely, if you don’t mind.”

Her laugher brightened her whole expression and brought a smile to his lips. Anything he could do to make her life easier and happier, he would. She’d saved them all, after all. He owed her everything; it was the very least he could do.

[at-thestillpoint]

3,18 & 27

[fic writer asks]

3. how you feel about your current WIP

GUILTY! I wish more were written, I wish I were spending more time writing, etc. But more specifically…

Olympics AU: I think I cracked the code with this one. If I can pull it off, it’s gonna be good. I’m still trying to hold myself to publishing this on/before the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, because I work well under pressure. But we shall see if I can make it happen.

Politics AU: This is actually the one I’m most excited to write right now! The ideas are flowing! But I’m also struggling with how I feel about Hangman’s characterization during their first interaction. I think you have to know Hangman to hate him, and that as a stranger, he’d be incredibly charming. I have them starting off as strangers, wherein Natasha is open to it and charmed, but I’m not actually sure that works? In essence, I’m trying to make sure I’m staying true to the characters while transposing them.

Other FWB fic: This is on the back burner right now. The first half/third is pretty fully formed and I know what I want the last half/third to look like, but I’m struggling with bridging the two. The bridge is where a lot of Hangman’s emotional development happens (off stage/unbeknownst to POV character Phoenix), so there needs to be enough time for it, while not being boring. I’m letting it marinate.

18. if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

My deleted stuff is never that good, because I write in layers (quick and dirty exposition/dialogue for the skeleton, then emotion/depth, then zhuzhing the language), and when I cut things, it’s usually in the barebones stage.

I just dug through my Google docs and found the original proposal scene from you could be the one that I keep. I ended up repurposing a good chunk of it, but I did what the HIMYM writers couldn’t, and scrapped 3,000 words because my original plan (having Natasha seriously hesitate saying yes) didn’t make sense with the character development. Regardless, I’m still kind of sad I had to scrap these exact words:

His voice is whisper soft, cautious and yet achingly tender, the same tone one would take with an injured child or a spooked deer. It holds her delicately, and instead of making her feel better, only feeds the guilt already roiling within her. 

Natasha’s not sure there’s a right answer here, other than “yes” five minutes ago, so she reaches for the honest thing instead.

Honesty—she owes him that.

She reaches for the honest thing, and finds it out of her grasp. It’s a slippery thing, as gossamer as clouds, as inchoate as her own dreams, but she reaches and strives for those, too.

27. your favorite part of the writing process

Lately, I’ve really come to love plotting, world-building, and ideating. I’ve been having a lot of fun jotting down little snippets and details when I have a spare moment, and it’s made me actually want to sit and write, which I’ve been struggling with.

(Also, being done. Being done with writing is the best.)

[moipale]

the maddie-jack-vlad college trio make me literally insane. NO they aren't that deep in the show but so be it! we are all in the building-upon-canon's-barebones-foundation trenches, alright, and the college trio/family breakfast dynamic is my hill to die on

cos like. what an insane premise to start with, first of all. 3 people, potentially the ONLY three people ever, pioneering a niche almost-pseudoscience together in college. young twentysomethings with probably zero funding to their name and a batshit dream to follow. and as it turns out their science is legitimate, ghosts are real, and their first (that we know) proof of it all is literally enough to murder 1/3 of them.

vlad masters gets an ectoplasm facial & next thing he knows is he's hospitalized, he's half-dead, and his best friends, the only canonical connections he has have completely abandoned him. the accident happened and they dropped trow and ran. & vlad spends twenty excruciating years stewing in that abandonment. (idr if twenty is canonical but it makes sense given how old danny and jazz are)

and thats all just backstory! the college trio's relationship is already smoldering ashes by the time we get to it; we only actually see the long aftermath, where vlad is obsessed with the fentons and they act like they never abandoned him. it's such a compelling premise, with so much room to explore all three of their characters and motivations, and canon SPITS ON IT by dumbing down the consequences to "vlad is a big bad villain with a homewrecker complex." the college trio is deeply compelling to me in the sense of what it could and should be & there are a few particular points that i will truly die on a hill about:

a) vlad's anger/betrayal should be directed at both the fentons, not just jack. regardless of what or who actually caused the accident, they were both there, and both contributed to the proto-portal. more damningly, though, they both left him alone for the years afterward. they even went and got married, cementing their bond and leaving him all the more alone by comparison.

b) maddie and jack should have reason/motivation for abandoning vlad, and they should each be different. no friendship can be walked away from like that without strings attached. for that matter--when vlad hosts the reunion, the fentons attend without a second thought, even after leaving him so long ago. why? have they been thinking about him as much as he has thought about them, these past twenty years? (yes!!!!!!!!! there was no closure to what happened! of course he has haunted them! look what they did!)

c) the fentons should FIND OUT WHAT THEY DID. in any iteration of their story--whether vlad is danny's villain, or he's just a man, or he reconciles with the fentons--i think that jack and maddie should learn the consequences of the portal accident. i dont say this out of malice. vlad is, in most iterations, a bad person, in more ways than can be attributed to his half-death. and the portal accident was an accident. these are true things. it is just so deeply, deeply narratively compelling to have them find out. they made a mistake, they left it behind, it has dogged their thoughts for twenty years, and--oops! it was always as bad as you feared it was, in fact worse! you killed someone! you killed your best friend! the potential for themes of guilt and betrayal and preventable tragedy make me off the wall fucking bonkers.

im enamored with the college trio's story because it is so messy and so tragic and it has so much potential, whether flavored as enmity or friendship or any variation of romance (especially family breakfast). augh. ive written three fics about them already with a fourth on the way via invisobang and i am nowhere near done exorcising the thoughts they've stirred

[thessaliah]

I don’t think I posted this exchange before, but it’s nice to look back to LB4 and previous Lostbelts in general to refresh those who are doing Atlantis that the story themes point out the world system an status quo is inherently monstrous, hellish and tramples those designed as outsiders and weak, by denying them the basic right of existence (because mana needs to be allocated to special chosen timelines). It is  story of survival sure, but it becomes a bit messy in the so-called heroic Novum Chaldea where they justified the forms of oppression as Holmes does as how things are and we should accept them. 

The story of the Crypters so far are the story of outsiders of many kinds. Like the lostbelts, discarded from Panhistory. All experiencing  some sense of otherness, or being very empathetic to this (Kirschtaria), or both (Pepe). Pepe brings it up in LB4, that they are outsiders and rebels. Those who don’t fit in for most part.

 Kadoc and Ophelia offer the tales of the misgivings of mage upbringing and coming of age from different perspective (dare I say to call it “gendered” with some sterotypes?). They are negatively impacted by the competitive and classism world of mages, enough to try to eliminate their hearts and harden themselves (Kadoc to prove himself as if he lacks worth and desperately tries to argue he can live by trying to push himself and prove it; Ophelia meets all expectations she has and pours all her worth in her Mystic Eye, never thinking anything about herself has anything else to offer). Their coming of age arcs is a basic admission they are people with feelings and their worth is not linked to what they were indoctrinated to believe which could probably not happened outside the Lostbelts.

Hinako and Beryl are both outsiders to normal society by their birth, though one is deviant and the other is a victim, but humans would never accept them; one has positive resolution, and while the other does not. Those four have an overfocus on romance, remaining fulfilled (Kadoc, Hinako) or one sided (Beryl, Ophelia). 

On the other hand, Pepe and Kirschtaria are both characters who criticize society and Panhistory, and themselves suffered within their families as a common point (and is not connected to lack of talent but the excess of it), although Pepe is more passive and resigned while Kirschtaria is more hopeful and proactive to change things. They both are on the clock and know it by different reasons (Pepe’s case his ability to read fate and lifespan). They are both more emotionally mature (although Kirschtaria is socially awkward), to need a focus on romance as easy-way to develop vulnerable emotional side to nuance them. They might fancy some people (Pepe does like Daybit, and Kirschtaria’s feelings are ambiguous and open discussion topic), but this doesn’t overtake their characterization.  Daybit is a mystery to speak about him and how he fits in this meta, so I won’t. 

Pepe is the first one to call out Novum Chaldea’s hypocritical mindset (despite being fond of them as a friend and ally), although this is not (openly) dwelled upon by the barebones characterisation protagonist and Mash (whom Pepe feels sorry for they carry those burdens). The players surely remember Russia, right? Where they preached and pushed how Panhistory was kinder and more peaceful to demoralize and get a “higher ground” from the Yaga? Yet in this Lostbelt, they flip and acknowledge (through Holmes) Panhistory is more hellish than any Lostbelt ever and that’s why it’s “good.” Pepe does not allow any illusions of heroism of Chaldea actions, by admission they only “helped” those people to later get the rid of them more easily, even if they feel bad about it. One thing is sure, though:

Panhistory (speaking of a choice from Humanity to take shape, not humanity as concept or individuals here) is not presented as a passive target of what happened unlike Part 1, regardless of the dubious credibility to the Specimen E existence outside a metaphoric sense. All hints that this bad end is something they had hand in it themselves:

“A hidden theme is revenge.” Nasu said once. It reminds me of Jason’s words as those are fresher for NA. Different context, but certainly pertains to my points about the darker nature that’s the elephant in the room, and a cycle that won’t end if all Novum Chaldea will do is perpetuate the same status quo (certainly that seems Holmes is on this for):

[astramachina]

First night of auditions: done.

And I Have Thoughts.

I'm a writer. That's it. The end. I know nothing about set builds or stage directions or any other tech stuff that goes into building a play. I create the world, write the words, and a team of people take care of the rest.

The invitation for me to sit trough the first round of auditions was a courtesy that isn't often extended to playwrights, so I was grateful for the opportunity to see how it's done. I think everyone who got on that stage and read scenes did a fantastic job and there was certainly a select few who Got It(tm). No complaint there, but it's not like I have any real say on who gets what role anyway.

What was really interesting to see, though, was the difference in vision between me and the director.

It's a short play because no one is going to take a stab at staging a three-act debut, which is the first constraint I had to work with. Ten pages is what I was allotted which meant I had to sacrifice setting and background for the sake of dialogue to carry the full story.

The second "constraint", is that the heart of the play is a social commentary that reflects a variety of marginalized identities. It was written by a person who sits at the intersection of said marginalized identities. The director, on the other hand, is a white middle-aged cisgender straight woman.

Now, I don't care. I'm of the belief that all sorts of stories should be explored by everyone regardless of who they are. But what I do find utterly fascinating is how the director has read these characters.

She gets the point of the play. We've talked about it. She understands the references, nuances, symbolisms, etc. She's championed it as the resistance piece that it is, but it was in her directions to the actors that really made me sit back and go "huh, of course this is how you see this".

The protagonist is the chillest motherfucker on the planet. Sure, he's frustrated, he snarks, but he's very low-vibe. The "antagonist", for lack of a better word, as well as the neutral party, blow his reactions out of proportion. They try to frame him as violent, volatile, unstable, when he's literally just hanging out, asking them to either help or leave him the fuck alone.

The increase in agitation and discrepancy between action and reaction is very clearly labeled throughout the script, but the director just... didn't catch that? She's made the protagonist this angry ball of disdain because, apparently, that's the only acceptable (or at least known) way that a trans qpoc reacts to injustice throughout daily life.

Again, as the playwright, I have no real say on how the director chooses to go by staging a story. When you write something and release it into the wild, how characters and stories are perceived is entirely out of your hands. However, this birthed two thoughts.

One, how would this have gone if, had I the space, I had provided more context to the story. My cast page was pretty barebones because I was uncertain of just how brief brief actually meant. (Turns out you can get away with a LOT according to some properly published plays I have sitting on my desk.) In short, I'm certain a lot of mischaracterization could be prevented by having some pretty hefty author's notes in place, something that is actually encouraged in playwriting.

Two, how would have a QPOC staged and directed this.

Through and through, despite my best attempts of stripping the play of it, the director managed to (subconsciously) incorporate biases and stereotypes, undermining the whole point.

On one hand, like I said, I am exceptionally lucky and grateful to have even been given the opportunity to not only set something of mine on a stage but to be mentored and resourced into the Big Blue Ocean of theater (D.C. & multiple competitions are currently on the hot seat). On the other, I have to work myself up to probably making a fool of myself and stepping on toes to get answers that I might not like but will have to live with for the time being.

Either way, this has and will likely continue to be a huge learning experience on all kinds of fronts, and I'm both excited and terrified about it.

[tainbocuailnge]

fgo criticisms have been flaring up in the wake of dw’s sakura wars mobile game quitting after only half a year but I have a disease that makes me get defensive when people try to rip fgo apart as this uniquely terrible game with uniquely terrible devs so i’m going to complain about people who are complaining for a bit.

i hadn’t heard of the sakura wars game before it shut down but from what i’ve been able to find it suffered from a lot of the same problems as (launch) fgo, terrible gacha rates with no pity, slow ap recovery rates, barebones repetitive gameplay. so i guess seeing how fast sakura wars was shut down people feel like it’s only the fate name holding up fgo and in the early launch days of barely playable fgo that was definitely the case but I don’t think it’s fair to fgo to act like people only continue to play it because it’s fate, and “being like fgo” wasn’t the only problem with sakura wars either. sakura wars is a vn/dating sim series that attempted to revive the series with a mobile game that featured none of the original cast that fans cared about while fate was already a series with new characters and a new setting every instalment and the thing that stood out in this new game was actually that it DID have characters from previous fates available. hell, it’s not fair to sakura wars to claim that its series name is simply weaker than fate’s when there were other factors involved in its failure beyond “being a delightworks game”

fgo DOES improve, launch fgo is unrecognisable compared to current fgo in a good way. events have become more streamlined (events have mid- to lategame enemy hp scaling but feature damage ce’s to let newer players keep up, mission events are set up so that they basically clear themselves just by farming the most recently unlocked node), they experiment with new game modes and gameplay mechanics on the regular, they’re taking more care to make viable permanent servants and buff the older ones, and the past few months there’s also been a noticeable effort to throw out random banners for minor things as an excuse to rerun old limited servants more often. I’ll admit the bar is on the low side (strengthening quests are a ridiculous model, there shouldn’t be this many limiteds to need reruns in the first place, etc) and progress is slower than many people are willing to put up with, and I’m not saying anyone Has to put up with it or they’re a fake fan or whatever, but like, granblue fantasy is seven years old and still doesn’t have the ability to uncap a weapon multiple stages at a time when its entire gameplay loop centers around farming and uncapping weapons and they’ve buffed heles like 7 times but she’s still shit, none of fgo’s problems are exclusive to fgo.

i LIKE playing fgo. i like tapping the cards and watching my little guys go and coming up with different teams to make them go harder or just look good together or even lean into the Themes. and this is going a little bit on a tangent but i have this post window open anyway i was talking with friends earlier that one problem that a lot of mobile games seem to have is that they use “making the game play itself” as substitute for “making the game fun to play”. the only game with autobattle functionality (out of the ones I play, i don’t know everything that’s out there of course) that I feel DOESN’T do this is arknights, where you solve the puzzle that the stage presents in order to earn the right to not have to solve the puzzle every single time you play the stage and coming up with different efficient or perhaps ridiculous ways to solve the puzzle is part of playing the game. the worst case I know is dragalia lost which upon realizing that playing it sucks implemented an item to just let you skip playing stages altogether. “this game is good because you don’t have to play it” is not the selling point some people (and devs) think it is, and fgo refuses to fall into that trap - something I believe is an intentional decision because of their explicit refusal to implement NP skip.

one big advantage that fgo has over the other mobile games i’ve played is that it’s entirely turn based with no real time elements beyond start and end times of events. fgo doesn’t NEED to continue playing itself when you look away because looking away has no bearing whatsoever on your ability to clear the quest, fgo doesn’t give a shit if you look away for six hours and then close the game and only reopen it another ten hours later, you can continue right where you left off. the problem is not that you have to manually play the quest, because as far as the system is concerned you can take as much time as you like to clear that quest, it’s that the greater structure of the game wants you to repeatedly manually clear the same low-stakes quest for disproportionately small rewards. this one’s easy enough to solve by just increasing material droprates across the board. repeat clearing a low level quest is much less frustrating if you actually get drops every other clear.

but that’s a bandaid solution, because related to the issue of having to manually farm low-stakes quests is the lack of high-stakes quests to do when you want to do something a little more engaging than routine farming. outside of event challenge quests with their time limited availability, certain main story chapters that you can’t replay, and recently on JP the permanently available kiara challenge quest in the main interlude, there simply isn’t any difficult content to play. you could argue about fgo’s merit as strategy rpg in the first place i suppose but if you ask me it does have that merit and there is a clear effort from dw’s part to improve the depth of fgo’s strategy elements, the issue is that there is simply not that much content available to unleash those strategies on. of course you’re gonna get bored if all there is to do is either brainlessly repeat the same quest for minimal rewards or play the specific challenge quest that the game hands you right this moment regardless of whether that’s the kind of challenge you feel like facing right now. the solution to this one, although it’s likely going to take some significant effort on dw’s side to implement, is to make main story quests replayable.

you want to flex your brain muscles but there’s no challenge event right now? you stomped on a boss by using overpowered servants the first time but want to challenge yourself with some 3* this time? or the other way around, you beat a boss by the skin of your teeth the first time but want to stomp all over them now that you rolled some bitching 5*? you rolled a servant that’s not that suitable for day to day farming but would really shine in more difficult content and you want to try them out? you have a silly strategy in mind that would only work against certain story enemies? you’re like me and just really crave the shimosa duels? all of this involves content that already exists and is available in the game, dw would just have to figure out a way to let you access it again after clearing the chapter. and of course ideally this extends to event story quests once they’re added to the main interlude

i guess another way to put it is that i think the reason a lot of people say fgo has bad gameplay is not that its gameplay system is actually bad, in fact it has the potential to be very engaging, but rather that it’s a system that is set up to respect your time through the ability to put down the game absolutely whenever you want without being penalised, only for the game around it to go and penalise you for putting it down anyway. if you don’t diligently spend all your ap farming this quest you won’t get single damn material drop, and if you don’t play the event while it‘s happening you’re going to miss out because you can’t be sure when if ever it’ll return. so the number one way to solve the problem of fgo’s “bad gameplay” is not to make the game play itself whenever it tells you to play, but rather to make content more easily available so you don’t have to play if you don’t want to and CAN play if you do want to. thank you for coming to my ted talk i suppose

[vermillioncrown]

As the F-22 commenter, I feel like I lost my point with said comment. My real interest isn't "haha fighter jet go brrr" so much as it is the complete strangeness of ZYX's life and understanding compared to everyone else. Sense I started reading DBD genre blind, I didn't know that dream/mind reading was a thing, and it fits the plot much better anyway. With that out of the way, I would love to hear more about ZYX's hijinks in the Rouge!zyx AU

it's kinda on me since that's the most obvious 'thing' that distinguishes zyx's modern skillset vs xianxia fantasy. bc lbr, any of us getting yote to the past - doesn't matter what we know because likely we'll only know of it. we don't understand wide-scale implementation of technology in a useful and robust manner (most laypeople).

(bc aerospace is my field, i do get a little grumpus and disillusioned with the excitement. i know the hard work it takes to bring a concept into reality, from the barebones physics to the detailed manufacturing. it's not enough for a single person to prove that they're different or smart or knowledgeable. but let's not bore you with that.)

zyx's weirdness is definitely not as well-hidden (??) as it seems from their pov in dbd. ostensibly, yeah, they can rely on their second life upbringing and patchwork cultural things from their first life, but if anyone takes a longer look past, let's say, the duration of good behavior at the cloud recesses, the cracks really start to show. (eventual hou-shifu and/or zhu yunfeng pov's will go into it)

ah, dream/mind-reading is ... not that common - at least mind-reading as we think of it from western fantasy. the uses in canon are more like permitted possession, another form of communing with spirits. dream-reading is a scum villain thing, and the dream fuckery a la incense burner is via very specific spiritual tools.

either way, you want people to know, huh? know the true depths of gremlin-hood that hide within zyx?

it will come out when it will come out 😎

=

OKAY, a little more on rogue!zyx...

oh fuck, i just realized that the whole golden core/"bssr's mountain" thing is going to go sideways.

no matter where rogue!zyx ends up post-self-expulsion, no one is blind, deaf, or dumb - we have an actual tangible connection to bssr roaming this fucking land right here right now.

(she's lurking near qishan, trying to find the xuanwu cave with no regards to the canon timeline bc time is a construct)

("how fucking bad can the vibes of the cursed sword be??" fucking bad, apparently)

bc of previous map fuckery, i will posit that yiling and the indoctrination camp are linked via a tributary of the yangtze (also linked to lotus pier), so it's just easy to end up in that area. a desperate wwx does bring up the core transfer w wq, and as they come up with the plan -

"we can pretend that bssr -"

"... wait... do we... actually have to pretend?"

(wq is def fighting between two low probability crossroads:

1) do the transfer w a 50% success rate. +: novel medical surgery; personal innovation; she can supervise the process entirely. -: failure means losing two cultivators; irreparable harm will be done to the donor regardless; lying; active action against wrh.

2) actually find bssr through her disciple, also a low success rate. +: responsibility is out of wq's hands; bssr's cultivation is much better; passive action against wrh that can be excused (thus protecting her family). -: no guarantee what bssr will do, what she'll ask for, or if she'll even help. loss of a chance to try something truly novel.)

they try to hedge their bets. wwx (supervised by wn) will go off to search for bssr/rogue!zyx while wq hides the yunmeng siblings in the 'dungeons'. if they don't find rogue!zyx by some deadline, the surgery will happen.

luckily, they find rogue!zyx nearby. unluckily, she doesn't have good news.

"no matter your mother, wei wuxian, you will not be allowed on that mountain. you are not her disciple."

"and you?"

"technically, i cannot go back either. if i were to return, it would be at great cost to myself. it would be me begging for your shidi's cultivation."

she does not ask wwx to beg her. he dares not (just barely) cross that line.

"if you transfer cores -" she casually brings up and wwx lunges at her, eyes wild and hushing her.

"how did you -"

she pushes him off. "ugh. rude." all hands, no composure - how do they expect anything to succeed with such clumsiness? "if you do a core transfer, it will work. however - it's not about the physical success. there is a mental aspect that will rely on your shidi."

as in, now that rogue!zyx knows, she refuses to let them go through with it unless they thoroughly prep jc. studying under someone closest to ascension, there are philosophies crucial to higher levels of cultivation that bssr knows, and that none of these family sect motherfuckers have (and it really shows). how stable can a man's cultivation be, one begotten through deception, insecurity, and lack of introspection and self-understanding? with unhealthy attachment to the material (not money, but power, reputation, etc), rooted in heart-demons?

it's lucky that canon-jc didn't blow himself into smithereens, and invoke heavenly lightning to destroy lotus pier for a second time.

(something something, there's a lot of heavy involvement with rogue!zyx in helping jc regain either a core (if he mentally can accept what it means and get over himself) or regain self-worth without cultivation)

(if going core-route... let's just say being a model cultivator isn't being a 'good person'. that core has to come from somewhere, someone.

as cultivators get closer to godhood, it's easy to see that a lot of a god's cruelty can be attributed to their indifference)