#including in game storytelling hints

[puhpandas]

every day I think about how the elevator situation was literally the trolley problem, a famous moral dilemma for being impossible to choose either option and people still see Gregory experience that in ruin and believe he should die

[felassan]

"Journal #3 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is coming October 31 Pre-orders Open Now Hello everyone, We’re excited to finally share the release date for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is officially October 31, 2024 worldwide! Please note, this is a simultaneous release; we will announce exact timing at a later date. We want to extend a huge shout out to the Dragon Age community for your patience and enthusiasm; we can't wait for you to jump into the role of Rook and embark on your journey to save Thedas. We know the wait has been long, but the wait will be worth it. In the meantime, we want to give you a hint at what's in store for you in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. You're leading a desperate fight for the future of Thedas with your companions, the stakes are higher than ever. So grab a seat and click on the thumbnail below to watch this brand new trailer (includes some small story spoilers). “As someone who’s been working on Dragon Age for over 15 years, I know just how much our community has been looking forward to this day, and I’m equally excited to share and celebrate that the game will officially launch on October 31,” said John Epler, Creative Director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. “We wanted to give you the choice to really express yourself, and do that in a world full of adventure and danger. So whether you’re a Warrior, Rogue or a Mage, we can’t wait for you to gear up, gather your party, and set out for another thrilling adventure through Thedas this Halloween.” As a character-driven RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard offers you a crafted experience woven from the threads of rich storytelling and fantasy worldbuilding the franchise is known for. In this bold, heroic adventure, you will experience expansive and dynamic stories that navigate love, loss, and complex choices that affect relationships and the fate of each member of the Veilguard. In true Dragon Age fashion, these bonds of fellowship are the foundation upon which Rook’s journey is built, and it will be up to you to determine how their personal story unfolds. Pre-Orders Now Open Fans who pre-order* the Standard Edition of Dragon Age: The Veilguard for $69.99 USD‡ on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, or $59.99 USD‡ on PC via Steam, EA App and Epic Games Store will receive cosmetic Blood Dragon Armor sets for Warrior, Mage and Rogue classes. EA Play Pro† members on the EA App will enjoy unlimited access to the EA Play Pro Edition* starting October 31st. Check out the full breakdown of the different editions we have available here: Digital Editions"

"- Standard Edition  - Dragon Age: The Veilguard - PC: $59.99‡| Console: $69.99 USD‡"

"- Deluxe Edition - Dragon Age: The Veilguard - 3 Rook armor sets (cosmetic only) - 6 Rook weapons (cosmetic only) - 7 Companion armor sets (cosmetic only) - 7 Companion weapons (cosmetic only) - PC: $79.99 USD‡ | Console: $89.99 USD‡"

"- Pre-Order Bonus* - All Pre-Orders (Standard & Deluxe) will receive: - Blood Dragon Armor Set (Warrior, Mage, Rogue - cosmetic only)"

- “Rook’s Coffer” Edition (Does NOT include Game) - Lyrium Dagger - Thedas Map with Quiver Tube - Rook’s Deck - Potion Flask - Enchanted Die - $150 USD‡"

"- Vyrantium Pack by Scanavo (Does NOT include Game) - Exclusive SteelBook® Case (No Game) - ICONART™ Metal Print and magnet wall mount - Notebook - Collector’s rigid Outerbox Check in with your local retailer to find out about the availability of this edition in your region"

"The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard by Dark Horse (Does NOT include Game, Deluxe Edition shown above)  - Standard Edition - 256-page art book providing a behind-the-scenes look at Dragon Age: The Veilguard - $49.99 USD‡ - Deluxe Edition - Includes extra prints - Includes exclusive slipcase - Alternate cover - $99.99 USD‡ - BioWare Gear Edition - Only available while supplies last, sold exclusively on the BioWare Gear website - Includes an exclusive print - BioWare Gear Edition alternate cover - $55.00 USD‡ What’s Coming?"

"ICYMI, we released our August Roadmap this week! Next week, we’ll have a dive into our game’s combat and more information on our PC Specs. There’s a lot more to come in September and October, too; so keep your eyes peeled on our socials.  We're beyond excited to be on this adventure with you, and we can't wait for you to get your hands on the game. Chat soon. - The Dragon Age Community Team *Conditions & restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/games/dragon-age/dragon-age-the-veilguard/disclaimers for details. ‡Offers may vary or change. see retailer site for details. †Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details."

[source]

[utilitycaster]

i don't watch critical role, so I have no skin this is "is this campaign good or bad" debate, but I just read a post from you saying THEY DIDNT DO A SESSION 0? Why? What possessed them? That's like one of the most important parts! Especially if you broadcast your play to millions of people. Hell, if I was them I would do off-camera check-in sessions every 10 episodes or so to make sure everyone is still pulling in the same direction. That's not railroading! That's making sure that you and the train conductor are using the same map. From your posts I gather they are all still in the same world as the previous campaigns and I know they've all known each other for a long time, so I guess that could be the argument for no session 0. It's a bad argument.

So here's the situation:

Campaign 1: No session zero; grew organically from a one-shot.

Campaign 2: No group session zero. They call the smaller screen-test esque one-shots session zeroes but they aren't, and I know they do regular session zeroes for Candela Obscura and for various Daggerheart works where everyone proposes a character archetype and pitches that, because they film them and air them. However, based on various interviews (there are a lot with D&D Beyond that might not be easy to still find) and cast statements it sounds like Matt was a lot more accurate regarding the nature of the campaign (more morally gray) and offered a lot of suggestions about the characters and had a lot of requirements including, notably, that they all needed to be from the continent on which the campaign was set. Perhaps most crucially, the cast was highly cognizant that they had to land this plane to prove it wasn't just Vox Machina, but their storytelling skills; had C2 not been as strong as it was I don't know if the company would have survived long.

Campaign 3: No group session zero, guidance was "pulpier and deadlier", some back and forth between cast members. I do also think there was less room for the world to be malleable to accommodate their concepts, as it was more developed, and the plot was certainly too rigidly set.

As for check-ins: they are all friends and I think the thing about C3 is that I suspect the flaws are MUCH harder to see from the inside, and also I think the "we're friends playing a game for us" attitude, while valid, means that I do wonder if no one wanted to say "is this like, good as a work of fiction" because I do assume, at least, that no one felt bored or uncomfortable. I know even a lot of us who have been highly critical of the campaign throughout looked to like, episodes as late as the 90s and early 100s as maybe, finally, a clear direction and then at every turn there continued to be some new poorly signaled thing and character beat cast aside, and I really do think it was not even entirely a failure of ambition (though it was that too) but essentially a fanservice loveletter for each other and the world. And that's again entirely fair in a game for your friends, but not a great way to end a trilogy in a way that is narratively satisfying. I think I mentioned it before, but this campaign should have been structured more like Campaign 1 - provide plenty of bonding time and slow travel early on, introduce the hint of the final threat early in a highly character focused arc (Vecna in the Briarwoods arc); follow either an overarching plot with a lot of opportunities for each individual to explore their own past and shine (the Chroma conclave having highly personal moments for pretty much everyone other than Scanlan and Percy, and the deadly nature of it and the Kaylie reveal right before giving Scanlan plenty to work with; alternately, a more character-driven C2 plot could have worked as well with a few guardrails) and then a return to the ultimate threat in the end (Vecna).

My hope is that the flaws of this campaign do become apparent to the cast, and that if they continue with longform works they learn from it. But yeah, this was really avoidable and while I suspect the cast will not throw each other under the bus I'm genuinely interested in an eventual post-mortem after enough time has passed.

[blasphemousclaw]

For send a character ask: Radahn!

ahh, Radahn… forever an enigma

• favorite thing about them

who he is as a person — his family background, his beliefs, and who he ultimately chooses to be — is so endlessly interesting to me. being a child of both the Erdtree and the Moon, growing up idolizing the Erdtree’s champions like his father and Godfrey, but being a talented sorcerer in his own right like his mother, was he conflicted when Radagon betrayed Rennala? did he ever come to resent his father, both for breaking his mother’s heart and for replacing his greatest idol, Godfrey? there’s something so significant to me about Radagon despising his red hair, and Radahn embracing that same hair he inherited as the mark of a champion. did this affect his relationship with Radagon? on the other hand, did he know that challenging the stars was also halting his Carian family’s fate? did he care? there’s such a fascinating back-and-forth between Radahn and both sides of his family!

• least favorite thing about them

his writing in the dlc… will never get over how botched it feels. and I’m not talking about the actual plot points, I’m talking about how those plot points were revealed to us in the story! the reason why everyone felt like him showing up was an asspull plot twist was because there’s no hint whatsoever in the base game that Miquella and Radahn ever had a relationship at all. as a result, I think the writers had to speedrun a Radahn-Miquella reveal plotline with Freyja and Ansbach, while cramming references to Radahn into the dlc (like the Red Bear npc, and his relationship to Gaius and Messmer) to make him seem less out of nowhere… but to me it just comes across as a rushed plotline with extremely clumsy foreshadowing. I guess they didn’t know they would get to make a dlc when they made the game so they didn’t include anything about him and Miquella in the base game so there wouldn’t be random plot threads that go nowhere, or they originally planned something slightly different that didn’t pan out so they had to rework it but were only able to do so in the dlc. either way extremely disappointing. also his promised consort remembrance weapons are the laziest excuse for a remembrance of all time they’re just the starscourge greatswords again but different. is this some kind of sick joke

• favorite line

[footage not found]

just kidding he does have a few quotes: I’ve always liked “I was born a champion’s cub. Now I am the Lord of the Battlefield’s lion.” because of what it says about how he sees Radagon and Godfrey!

• brOTP

Rykard :33 his painting of Radahn means so much to me, it’s such a fond gesture… and the abductor virgins in Caelid seem like Rykard was really looking out for him! it makes me sad to think that they might’ve once been really close but drifted apart because of the war and their own priorities, but also still cared about each other

• ОТР

I don’t actively ship him with anyone tbh nothing has especially caught my interest

• nОТР

I resent Radahn/Miquella ONLY because their relationship has no buildup whatsoever and completely breaks the “show don’t tell” rule of storytelling. we’re told Miquella admired Radahn, but we never see this until he shows up as the final boss! I definitely wouldn’t dislike this ship if they had handled this storyline better but unfortunately with how things went it’s just embarrassing to me

• random headcanon

loves the outdoors… camping, hiking, riding, hunting, any physical activity where he gets to be outside. Rykard is the opposite. Radahn used to bring him on trips and he’d complain the whole way through

• unpopular opinion

I wrote a post about this already, but I think people are too quick to assume that he’s a Golden Order loyalist who wants to preserve the world in its current state. you could go on and on listing reasons why he would actually oppose the current Order… and in fact I did go on and on about it here. I think the most crucial thing to note is that Radahn has always made idolizing Godfrey his entire personality, and Godfrey was literally banished… the Order is very different now from what it once was!

• song i associate with them

again I only listen to instrumental music so I don’t really have thoughts on this sorry 🥹

• favorite picture of them

the Rykard painting <3

I really like how he’s depicted here… he’s got like a mature, lined face, and the way the painting is displayed (in a nicely furnished drawing room above the fireplace) feels like a very public declaration of respect and admiration? I think it says something about Radahn’s character that his brother who despises the Golden Order still seems to look up to him and care for him!

[ask-the-prose]

The Gun In This Guide Does Not Go Off

Hi yall, sorry for the late post this week! I'm running this blog by myself, so if you are interested in helping mod this blog or write guides, please fill out the mod form linked in the pinned post! If you have anything you want to see covered or specific questions answered, please don't hesitate to send an ask! Anon is on.

Onto the guide!

This week I want to talk about foreshadowing, what it is, why incorporate it, and how!

What is foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing is an event, line, dialogue, or other element of a story that alludes to or predicts a future event. Foreshadowing can be overt or covert, and it can appear in many different elements depending on your writing style, story needs, or reader interest.

Overt or concrete foreshadowing is directly and clearly stating a prediction or allusion to an event in the future. This can be a line of dialogue ("Winter is coming" from Game of Thrones or the musical number "Be Prepared" in The Lion King), an event or image (Korra's anxiety dreams about losing her bending in season one of Legend of Korra), even the title of the work can be foreshadowing (The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe).

Covert foreshadowing is a little more subtle. An example includes bad weather in Great Expectations to allude to Pip's future angst. Symbols, setting, and throwaway comments can be utilized as covert foreshadowing as well.

Why would I want to spoil the twist?

Foreshadowing doesn't necessarily mean spoiling the twist or ending of your story. However, spoilers can be utilized to your advantage if you do so purposefully (John Dies at the End started out as a web novel serial. In every update, readers tuned in to see if this was the chapter in which John dies, as spoiled by the title). The key word here is "purposefully." Foreshadowing is not accidental, and it can do a lot of heavy lifting with the emotions and feelings you want your reader to experience while reading.

Your reader is smart and will pick up the hints you lay down. You can use this to your advantage to create tension, dread, excitement, or simply a desire to discover what happens next.

How do I incorporate foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing usually happens at the beginning of the story. If you're a pantser like I am, foreshadowing may be difficult to incorporate in your first draft when you don't know where it's heading. That's okay! Foreshadowing can be added in later drafts when you know what exactly happens in the story.

For the plotters out there, consider foreshadowing during your outlining. When you know what happens next, how do you hint at those events early on? There are so many different ways to incorporate foreshadowing into your story. Your imagination really is the limit.

A few notes about what foreshadowing is NOT

Foreshadowing is not a flashforward. A flashforward is a moment in the story in which the narration moves forward in time. The narrative shows the reader explicitly what will happen in the future by depicting those events. Foreshadowing is an allusion or hint at events but not the depiction of those events as they happen.

Foreshadowing is not Chekhov’s Gun. Chekhov’s Gun is a method employed by storytellers as a rule. Anton Chekhov said in his famous quote that if a gun is described hanging on the wall in chapter one, it must go off in chapter two or three. This is to say, every element in a story is there for a reason. The gun is only described because the gun will be used later. If the gun does not go off, it should not be mentioned in the narrative.

The difference between Chekhov’s Gun and foreshadowing is that foreshadowing is an element of the story, whereas Chekhov’s Gun is about the storytelling process. Chekhov’s Gun is not a real rule, so much as a suggestion that if you are to create tension in the story, it must pay off. Foreshadowing is the act of creating tension.

Foreshadowing is not a red herring. Building off of Chekhov’s Gun, if the gun is described but never goes off, following Chekhov’s rule would indicate the gun is a red herring. A red herring is a hint or allusion to something that never comes to fruition, such as describing a gun to create tension that it will fire and then never firing it.

Conclusion

Foreshadowing is an interesting and, frankly, fun storytelling element to incorporate into your writing. Readers often love rereading books to see all the hints they missed at the beginning! That’s foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing can exist in many methods and elements, and it is up to you how you want to approach foreshadowing. Keep in mind how you want to utilize tension in your story, and you’ll find the foreshadowing falls into place to create an interesting and engaging story your readers will love and love again.

– Indy

** Edit: 6/8/23 fixed an error regarding one of the examples in the first section.

[notomys-mordax-blog]

Regrettably, I have not gotten all of my feelings about Veilguard out of my system. I've decided to cope with this by continuing to post novels regarding my thoughts about the narrative. Since I'm generally here for the characters, I'm organizing my thoughts on a character-by-character basis. I'm going to include my general opinions about the characters, things I liked and disliked about their involvement in the game, and thoughts I have about how I may have improved upon their narrative or things that might have made their stories more effective (for me). 

Part 1 Lace Harding

Overall: 5/10

She's a really cute character with an adorable design. Say what you will about the change in art style, but I find the ladies of Veilguard to be absolutely gorgeous. I also liked the visual storytelling that we had with her design. I could really imagine her adding the little embroidered details to her clothing while away on a scouting mission. 

Lace is our returning companion. When this was revealed, I thought that she was a good choice. She was a fan favorite in DA:I and struck the right balance between being familiar, without having too much pre-existing plot that would need to be incorporated into the story. She's the cute girl-next-door, with some really interesting undertones of having been raised in a farm with all of the bloody pragmatism maintaining a farm requires. 

Before we dive into her story arc, I think it's worthwhile to address her personality. While I don't disagree with the sentiment that she'd be different around Rook (a co-worker) versus the Inquisitor (a literal holy figure), I don't think they've struck the right balance between bubbly and cute with the salt-of-the-earth pragmatism we saw when she was younger. This feels odd, because the situation in veilguard is just as, if not more, pressing than the situation in inquisition.

The romance between Taash and Lace didn't really do it for me. I think there are some interesting parallels between the characters, specifically they are both bicultural (although have very different experiences with what this entails). I also think it's interesting that Taash is very much a person who has gotten comfortable with their own anger, while Lace (who hypothetically has this anger) isn't comfortable with letting her friendly and bubbly mask drop. I like the implication that Lace is the kind of person that people underestimate and mischaracterize, Taash has a very direct kind of sexuality that seems at odds with the "girl-next-door" persona that Lace usually carries, but unfortunately I just didn't buy the chemistry between these two.  

Her story arc consists of getting whacked with a magical MacGuffin and obtaining mysterious magical powers. These powers reveal the painful history of the dwarven people, in which the proto-elves magically lobotomized their ancestors in order to create physical bodies. The dwarves in the DA series suffer a problem that seems pretty common to a lot of dwarves in fantasy series. They have the most fascinating lore and interesting culture, but they never really seem to fit properly in the narrative. The role of the Deep Roads with the wardens helped tie Orzammar to the main conflict better in DA:O, but one of the main problems I had with Harding's story was that there was this really fascinating lore reveal that has been hinted at since the beginning of the series, but it's never really tied back to the main conflict. There is essentially a throw-away line in which harding muses about how messed up it is that the entire economy of modern dwarven society is essentially (unknowingly) mining the bodies of their ancestors. 

The end result is an interesting narrative beat that doesn't really hit right. It feels disconnected with the main conflict, and literally absorbing her race's entire ancestral trauma without any real consequence or impact on her characterization. I'm of the opinion that the lore reveal was really interesting, and something that the series has been building up for a while. 

This is where I'd put my thoughts about Lace's Faction, if it existed

Lace is the only companion who doesn't belong to a faction. 

She's also well positioned to be a bridge between South Thedas and the North, she could have acted as a proxy for the player and been used to explain differences between how the previous games characterized Northern Thedas (especially Tevinter!) and what we experienced. While I believe she has a line or two about how poorly elves are treated in the south, I think this was a largely underutilized aspect of her character.

This post is already upwards of 2k words, so I'll save a more in depth analysis of my feelings about what happened with Southern Thedas and the Inquisitor. Let's just say that I laughed (negative) when Emmrich and Harding decided to go on their camping trip almost immediately after I received notice that the South was completely overrun with Blight and on the Brink of collapse. 

I think part of my longing for a dwarven faction is that in fantasy stories, dwarves often have super cool lore that isn't really explored. DA:O was a bit of an exception, because of the importance that the Deep Roads had to the story, but in the later games ... it doesn't really feel like the dwarves are super related to what's happening in Thedas. With all of the big worldbuilding reveals about the Titans, it would have been nice to have a dwarven faction, and Kal-Sharok is right there. I've been dying to see more of this society since they were first introduced, and I feel like they really would have been an interesting thematic inclusion, given that the entire world is in danger of being blighted. I go into more depth about why I think a dwarven faction would have improved Lace's story later. 

How would I fix this?

Whenever I find something narratively unsatisfying, my brain immediately jumps to fix-it mode. 

So I think the first problem has to do with the characterization of Harding. As mentioned earlier, I always understood her as being a character who is outwardly really bubbly, but also very ruthlessly pragmatic. I don't think this characterization was really well portrayed in Veilguard. Making it more clear that Lace has a brutal side would really go a long way in making the Titan's anger and grief feel more impactful, and making it more clear that she has some darker impulses that could make her embracing her anger dangerous. We get a taste of this in some of her banter's with Taash, but I think I would have liked to see her act on some of these impulses. It's odd that Neve and Lucanis are the only companions who can be hardened. This feels like a perfect place to Harden Harding (heh). 

So, we tweak Harding's characterization and add some gameplay impacts. Better, but Harding's story still feels like it's dangling in space. 

My first impulse was that Harding was the wrong character to tell this story. Narratively, the story doesn't really take advantage of her connection to the Inquisition or Southern Thedas. After all, Lace Harding is a surface dwarf with no real connection to her dwarven heritage, she identifies much more strongly with being ethnically Ferelden than being dwarven. Furthermore she is the most devoutly Andrastian member of the party. Surely a character who identifies as more ethnically dwarven would be better suited to tell this story, why was the Lace chosen when Dagna was right there? 

Given the overall narrative of Veilguard, I think the best way to make the story of the Titans feel connected to the main plot would be to have a dwarven faction as described above. However that would involve some heavy narrative shifting. Without shifting too many major beats, I feel like Harding's story could have been made much more impactful if we were asked to choose "what's next?" for her. She's been given the burden of learning traumatic ancestral knowledge for a group of people she's ethnically related to, but not culturally related to. I think it could have been much more interesting if we gave Taash's choice to Lace. Once the Gods are defeated and the heroes can go home, what does she want to do? 

Taash will probably get their own novel later, but I found it really thematically goofy that the thematic thesis of their character involves "gender isn't a binary, but culture is (apparently)". While thinking about Taash and Lace as a couple, I considered that one of the commonalities the two characters have is the fact that they are visibly part of an ethnic minority that they don't really fully relate to. If anything, Lace would probably experience this to a greater degree than Taash because she's a surface dwarf. Unlike Taash who was raised by a person with a very strong connection to their culture, Lace and her mother feel very integrated with Ferelden society (as mentioned, they've even adopted the majority religion of the region). 

Does Lace Harding return to her mother and the country that she obviously loves, or does she embrace her role as an "oracle" and return to dwarven society (either Kal-Sharok or Orzzamar would have worked)? Unlike Rivaini or Qunari culture which could easily exist in a blended capacity, the cultural taboos of dwarven societies could explain why this needs to be a binary choice.

I also think that this could have made the choice to sacrifice Harding a little bit more impactful. Part of the reason why it hurts to lose Davrin is that you lose Assan too. I think if it was more clear what Harding's future looked like, it would have been more impactful to lose it.

Closing Thoughts

Lace Harding is a good example of a few of the problems with Veilguard. Taken on her own, she's a likeable and fun character, but her characterization feels somewhat shallow compared to what is right there, simmering underneath the surface. Objectionable aspects of the character are smoothed down. In Cullen's bad ending it's implied that Lace straight up mercy-kills him! My girl gets stuff done (with a smile, even if those things are ... emotionally challenging)  If you squint you can kind of see that the implications are still there, but it's so subtle that it truly feels like head-canons are doing the heavy lifting. 

As an aside, two aspects that I think negatively impact Lace's character are the general omission of the Chantry in Veilguard's story, as well as the narrative decisions made around the Inquisitor and Southern Thedas. 

Her freckles are cute tho.

[psychhound]

[ID: a banner that reads "immigration sale" in large light letters, with "8 games 40 - 60% off" in smaller light text. the background is a home's porch with a rocking chair, with a light brown translucent text box over it. end ID]

HEY YALL I'M DOING A SALE

so my little brother @hmooncreates and his partner @paladinbaby are working to move in together!!! faun does not live in america and the visa application is Not Cheap so im having a sale to help out!!!

the goal is $150 but literally anything is awesome!! all proceeds will go straight to paying for the visa application

the sale includes some big games!! if youve seen my sales before, you'll be familiar with:

little shepherd, little spy: a solo or duet journaling game where you are a spy in the fairy war, delivering messages through your spy ring through coded messages in the books on your bookshelf

dead mans hand: a solo storytelling game where you travel around the weird wild west learning peoples stories through a poker hand oracle system

little celestial fieldwork guide: a solo or multiplayer city exploration photography game where you use tarot cards to get hints as to what objects little spirits are hidden as to catalogue them for your research

familiar field trip: a competitive multiplayer game where you are all witches' familiars causing havoc in the village, teaming up or betraying each other to get the most mischief points

some BRAND NEW GAMES that have NOT been on sale before are:

shadow/giant: a duet game where one player is a gruff, jaded adult and the other player is the magical child now under their care

the graveyard game: a solo journaling game where you interview people to write an ethnography of a magical, haunted graveyard

with breath & sword: a solo journaling game where you gear up and fight monsters in order to calm down from real-life anxiety, using grounding methods and breathing techniques

the narrator paradox: a solo narrating game where you have to wrangle your protagonist into listening to the story you're trying to tell and not defying the narrative

each game 40% off or get all 8 for only $18!!!

also check out hollis's fundraising sale with a zine and dating sim inspired ttrpg (its so so fun) and faun's fundraising sale commissions (theyve drawn most of the art for my dnd game theyre amazing)

checking the games out and spreading the word so appreciated!!! thanks yall!!!

[arcadiabaytornado]

do you think that Chloe being able to take Rachel’s bracelet in BTS even though Frank has it in LIS was another inconsistency or was it supposed to be like. tragic?

like did decknine forget about that or do you think they were trying to imply that rachel would take it back at some point?

I think the bracelet could be read either way.

There's a non-zero chance that Decknine just didn't care about the continuity in general and therefore didn't bother to account for Frank having Rachel's bracelet. My proof to back this statement up is: Joyce both being referred to as a smoker and a non-smoker. Max and Chloe being 14 in Farewell instead of 13. James Amber being super over protective of Rachel and then just...not looking for her in LIS. The fact that neither the truth or lie choice we're given at the end of the game fits into canon.

So, yeah, it's possible that they just didn't care. However, it's also possible that the bracelet was supposed to be a hint about how Rachel and Chloe's relationship faded a bit over the years. Rachel taking back an item that symbolized her and Chloe's escape to give it to someone else implies a LOT. The heaviest implication being that she had stopped holding out hope to escape with Chloe, and had given that hope to Frank instead.

However, in my personal opinion...I just really think that Decknine did not care at ALL about the continuity and that's what happened with bracelet. I don't know that for sure anymore than the next person, but Before The Storm did such an overall bad job with it's continuity that I just have a hard time giving the game the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe and hopefully the bracelet was meant to be this genius piece of wordless storytelling that gave us a hint to Chloe and Rachel's romantic relationship deterioration...but I lean more toward the idea that Decknine just, for whatever reason, did not want to make a prequel and so instead made a stand alone story that very loosely took elements from LIS 1. Including Rachel's bracelet.

[timeskip]

Hi! I've been following your umineko thoughts, just out of curiosity, did you figure out what is going on with the number of people on the island from the end of chapter 6? (when they shoot Erika)

Hi!!! I was told that it required future information so I wouldn't be able to solve it immediately. Obviously there's some trick to it, but I'm not very smart in the way the game needs me to be smart...

My final theory was related to who "thought of themself as human" ie excluding Kanon because he's "furniture," which still hasn't been excluded from possibility I guess but I doubt is the real answer. A lot of the red truth in that situation blocks off theories, like stating that nobody would be mistaken for someone else, that "everyone else" is in the cousin room, etc. This is intentional, clearly, but yeah. It's weird.

As for the number of people specifically, the red truth also attempts to block out the possibility of someone unknown existing on the island, but allows for them to exist in the cousin room alone. Do I actually think there's another unknown person in Kanon's place in the cousin room? I... I mean I guess it's possible, but I don't see what the purpose of that would be, narrative wise. Regardless of if the detective proclamation was made, it IS weird storytelling to say that there's another person with no foreshadowing. Now, would the foreshadowing be in ep6 specifically? Not necessarily. So it's possible there was some clever hint left wayyy back where I can't remember it. And of course it would make the "number of people on the island" weird too since iirc they limited that number to 18 (excluding Kinzo, including Erika), which I'm assuming takes into account dead bodies, so unless the "Kanon doesn't see himself as human" thing is applied it doesn't work.

This is a longwinded way of saying "no, I did not," but thank you for asking anyways!!!

[winchester-reload]

I have a few thoughts about the Winchesters finale, and though I wasn’t gonna weigh in on this, it turns out I needed to write this down to get it out of my head, so here we go.

I understand that Misha was approached to be included on the show and that there was a “scheduling conflict” that included multiple conversations with Jensen. Here’s my interpretation of that: 

I believe Cas was supposed to make a cameo in episode 13 to tee up the confession resolution—this was always the episode where they were going to crack open the “surprise twist” even before learning they would only get 13 episodes total. In the original scenario, episode 13 would have been the hellatus episode rather than a finale, leaving room for everything to come to a head with episode 22 instead. It’s then they would have given us the actual Dean and Cas reunion. This would have wrapped both stories nicely with each group going off into their own respective sunsets—their own happy endings, while still leaving all the room for the new crew to explore more seasons; all along, we see, The Winchesters was about Dean and Cas as much as it was about Mary and John.

When they didn’t get the back half of the season picked up, I assume they feared it would be more dangerous to show a Cas cameo without getting to address the confession, so Misha likely opted to be left out instead. With the only hint to Cas being Dean’s line that he was looking for his family when he found the Akrida, then directly drawing the parallel that Jack and Bobby were “family.” The core crew for Dean has always been Bobby, Sam, Jack, AND Cas. And he wasn’t looking for Sam because he was still on earth. So who’s left? You might be compelled to believe he was window shopping AU versions of his parents, but he confirms he ran into the Akrida in this world and then sought to interfere with the order by approaching John in an effort to prevent it from spreading to Sam's world. (Why Cas would be AU hopping, idk. The boy is really afraid of being shot down, I guess.)

It goes far to explain the vast narrative parallels we saw reflected in the Monster Club crew if it was intended as a setup for the confession payoff. It honestly doesn’t make a lot of sense otherwise. There’s no reason these people should be living Dean's experiences and regrets every episode unless the writers wanted the viewer to be thinking about the lessons and resolutions in how they relate to Dean too.

Additionally, as this has been a largely uncontested take, this is Jensen's well-funded fanfic come to life. Complete with the embracing of many of our favorite fanfic tropes and emphasized by Dean’s own words throughout the season. Because this is an obvious embrace of that “write your own story” fan side, I believe the reason Dean couldn’t even say Cas’ name in the episode is because they were going to change the spelling from “Cass” as it was in the show proper to the fan-adopted (and more accurate) spelling of “Cas,” which would have appeared in the subtitles and later the script pages.  And even that little thing right there would have been a huge giveaway to the whole game. And a very dangerous thing to do if there wasn’t going to be enough time for follow-through. 

But the truth is, this isn’t a game for many people, and the harm that can be caused by good intentions is just as real. It also begs the question: why should this be so difficult? The answer is it’s not. Edging forever isn’t fun. It’s torture. I understand there’s an art to storytelling, but your audience is weary, and trust has been violated too many times. Even still, the flip side of that coin is honest to god respect for DeanCas endgame means taking the story and the reveal seriously. It’s a tightrope walk. And one that Robbie somehow managed to keep balanced after the finale, without it falling either way.  Also we also need to consider the possibility that Jensen did pitch a full-on destiel love story spin-off but got shot down, opting to couch it in a more CW-branded world instead. He’s mentioned over half a dozen pitches were rejected. It's up to you whether you want to give him the benefit of the doubt on that.

But, I’m gonna be honest here, I don’t know that we will ever get that resolution we crave. Even Robbie confirmed The Winchesters were always meant to “go it alone” after the first season. It’s hard to imagine Dean popping in there to fuck around again after that handoff. But the dude is clearly a very restless sea-faring*, swoopy-haired mofo right now, so I’ll leave that one up to the SPN multiverse and the new Mr. Superwholock’s magical universe-traveling impala. (This show used to be about what again? *looks at notes*.) And FWIW, if they do get green-lit for a whole second season or are allowed to move networks, I believe a good-faith effort will be made to tie the narrative parallels we saw in season one to some real Dean and Cas resolution. If there gets to be a world where John *might* not turn into an abusive dick, then this possibility has to be true too.

For the record, I enjoyed The Winchesters, all the new characters, and the doors the finale opened for the possibility of more. I would have been fine half-watching it with no promises, empty head no thoughts, but I got my clown** suit on again, and though I mostly kept quiet, unlike last time, I did regrettably manage to drag a few friends down with me yet again.  Though the spec sessions were epic, and we did get some art out of it—it still rocks the boat when the base level expectations were only 1. Dean alive, and 2. seeing Cas again. 

But for anyone, like me, upset by the (likely unintentional) Cas-baiting or anyone still reeling about why this stuff can hit so hard, here’s an interesting article about the way our brains respond to fictional characters. Tl;dr: There’s nothing wrong with you. This is science. And while you’re at it, take a look at this article about the very real power of disenfranchised grief over character loss.

Ramble on, fam. And take care of yourselves.

<3 Jackie

*Um hi he appears as a sailor? Literally, on a show with a story Dean is writing whose audience is looking for a resolution to a conversation between two people who’re famously the “most shipped” characters of all time? That’s not an accident. That’s intentional. And it’s another reason why there might be a bitter taste in your mouth. These nods came without resolution, so it still feels dirty, despite the brilliant Easter egg.

**I hesitate to say “clown” here because the lesson on episode 12 was that the clowns were the ones who chose a self-induced limbo rather than face some personal hard revelations. That sounds more like a certain closeted character than it does the people cheering him on, and that felt like an intentional nod too.

***obviously, this is my own rambling spec as I try to reorder my thoughts in the wake of the finale.

[kinnoth]

The fuckin garbage thing is that radahn/miquella should have been a use-the-force-luke guided missile right up my specific fucking alley, I mean:

- fatalistic ideologue + devoted vassal? 👍

- literal star crossed lovers?? 👍👍

- gods cursed to fates they simultaneously strive for and yet do not fully understand???? 👍👍👍

- brotherfuckers?????? 😮

And yet there is so little substance to this ship that I can't even make up something to do with it. It's just. A dead end of zero buildup, zero interactions, zero environmental details, just a couple item descriptions that are totally exclusive to the AU bubble of the DLC and not foreshadowed or hinted at anywhere else

Like it would not have been difficult to include .... Literally anything that tied radahn personally to miquella in the base game. Give him a single haligtree crest on his armour somewhere, have him use even one of miquella's miracles, sneak in there somewhere that he's got mysterious beef with mohg, have him wearing a golden lock of mystery hair in his-- like, fromsoft, this is literally your whole deal, this is the reason your games have a whole category of games named after them, if you are not supposed to be the kings of environmental storytelling, who the fuck is?

Like I still cannot reconcile the HUGE FUCKIN PLOTHOLE that is radahn NOT throwing the fight with malenia. Like if he was a willing participant in this 5D chessmaster plan, surely the whole point of the whole war was that radahn ACTUALLY DIES at malenia's hand. But he doesn't fucking die. Radahn resists malenia for real and he doesn't fucking die. He does not throw the fight, he does not let her kill him. Like how are we supposed to reconcile that very concrete plot point with "radahn agreed to die so he could be miquella's consort"? He didn't fucking die!

Headcanon: everything related to radahn in the DLC is miquella's propaganda campaign to paint a pretty story ahead of his ascension to godhood and radahn's forcible ascension as his elden lord

[acesw]

Uniforms and Emblem Customs in the Foundation

The St. Pavlov Foundation & SPDM both have uniforms that are representing of the goals of the Foundation and tend to have different variations. Some officials would have customized uniforms while some do not. Every official in the Foundation, including late stage SPDM students, wear insignias that look akin to angels.

Now, this post will serve as a documentation of the uniform/uniform variations we have now, as well as exploring the possible symbolism behind them.

Insignia

The Foundation uniform is notable for having an insignia that serves as a telltale sign that the person is from the Foundation. Every official is required to wear one and it has to be visible. However, there is no say on how it can be worn for certain people.

The insignia itself is a golden emblem, with its centerpiece being an angel with its arms held out. Variations of this insignia are found everywhere, including brooches, medals, buttons, and pins.

In SPDM, once a student has reached Academic Year 6 (10-11), they will receive their own insignias, which are worn around the neck. Interestingly, they wear a cloth around the middle of the emblem. covering the head/torso area of the centerpiece. This can symbolize that the student is still training to serve for peace and humanity.

It's only when they graduate that the cloth is abandoned, which then symbolizes that they're ready for the world that they're tasked to serve for.

Such a custom is also applied to students in the School of Discipline, I think. Since Jessica wears the insignia in her graduation uniform. But because she's in Vertin's team, this requisite is excused.

(look at her, she's so <3)

Anyway, speaking of Vertin, she—alongside other arcanists in her team—are not required to wear the insignia. Why? This can be because of Vertin's status as the timekeeper. As the timekeeper, she's required to be outside a lot, and to only observe and document with no growing suspicion.

This can mean that she has to be undercover in some tasks, resulting in her not wearing the insignia on her uniform. And because the arcanists under her wing are not taking direct orders from the Foundation, they are not required to wear them as well. In a storytelling perspective, this might be for creating a distinction between Vertin's team and the Foundation; that Vertin and the suitcase arcanists are not completely on their side.

The only other exceptions to this rule is Tooth Fairy and Mesmer Jr. Tooth Fairy only works part-time as the school physician, while Mesmer currently works at Laplace, which does not make wearing the emblem a requirement.

Now that this is out of the way, I will go into the uniforms.

Main Elements

The main elements in the Foundation uniforms are that they follow a monotone color pattern (black, grey, white) while having a checkered diamond pattern. The standout colors are gold, purple/violet, blue, and occasionally the afflatus colors. (I'll show why later down)

There are also some occasional gold patterns found on the uniforms like the crowns on collars and stars on the grey sleeves.

The reason we find checkered patterns everywhere is because it symbolizes the duality of existence, balance of two sides (good and evil or light and dark). The Foundation prides itself of being the beacon of balance between humans and arcanists. Clearly, it's not like that and there is an imbalance at play.

Update: Upon further research, I found that the crossed laces are found to be also a symbol. Based on Ms. Moissan's "Foundation Heeled" boots, the crossed laces symbolize obedience.

Uniforms - SPDM

There are two variations of the SPDM Uniform that we see in game. One is where Vertin and Sonetto were around 8-9, and the next is seen throughout the rest of Chapter 3.

Students are required to wear fully white uniforms, but they vary between the stages that they are in. In early stage, they wear a collared shirt or dress with a hint of gold underneath the collar. Meanwhile, for late stage/work immersion students, they wear a long-sleeved shirt under a tunic, alongside their covered insignias.  The boys are wearing shorts while the girls are wearing a skirt or a dress altogether.

When its winter, they wear black cloaks with the hood being in its checkered pattern inside. It's held together by the insignia as well.

The students have a bit of freedom when it comes to their hair as well as (in very restricted fashion) the accessories that they wear. Sonetto and Mesmer wear a headband (which was carried after graduation), The Ring wears a giant bangle around his head and a chain of rings on his belt, Isabella wears two brown clips on her hair as well as a checkered scrunchie around her wrist.

Otherwise, this is the standard uniform that's expected to be worn with modesty and cleanliness.

For the Instructors, they're expected to wear a brown coat with the insignia. Meanwhile, for monitor assistants, they wear a grey uniform with hints of red. The insignia is worn as a badge with two red tags on it.

Foundation Guards

Guards wear varying uniforms that would tend to go by functionality and tactical-ness, and the main colors tend to go with the usual color palette alongside the insignia and colors that match an afflatus. Some wear jackets, and some wear capes depending on rank. There are also patrol defenders, security guards (SPDM), and general officers who all wear additional headgear.

In 4-21 (Good Weather), the Guard Leader boss is wearing an additional suit with equipment coming from Laplace. It continues to serve the point of the practicality needed for all situations.

Investigators

Investigators from the Foundation wear a grey and white uniform that covers most of their body, and wearing a headdress that obscures the entirety of their head. The headdress of female investigators would have an additional veil at the back of their heads, while the male investigators wear a cape. The insignia is also worn around the neck.

The only person that has a variation of this uniform is Sonetto. Since she is a squad leader and thus higher ranked, she has a bit of liberty in modifications to the uniform. So with it, she abandons the headdress and wears a cape that's adorned with her merit medals. She also wears a few accessories. Truly one of the best of the best.

Foundation Staff

The Foundation staff in headquarters and the offices wear varying uniforms, especially the politicians. But we can start off with the normal staff.

The normal staff wear a standard office suit, with either a jacket or a coat to compliment it. They also wear headgear that is smaller in size compared to ones worn by investigators. The checkered pattern is more prominent, found in ties or garments worn over the dress shirt.

(These two are investigators named Adolf and Angie, I'd see them having lunch together as friends :) )

Horropedia, also being higher ranked and coming from a different investigative unit, wears a variation of this uniform. The cuffs are checkered and he wears a light grey vest. Additionally, a green clip is donned on his tie. While semi-compliant, Horropedia stands out for his wits and his eccentric-ness with his love for horror. He prides himself on his knowledge and wants to show that now that he has a taste of the little freedom he has now.

Meanwhile, as the Timekeeper, Vertin wears a different outfit entirely. She wears a suit with a color palette of indigo, purple, cyan, and black; Complimented with a cravat with an indigo gem, and a purple top hat with a cyan ribbon. On the cuff of her right forearm, there is a nixie tube watch timer that helps her foretell the storm's countdown easier. Once again, this creates her distinction from the rest of the Foundation. Indigo amongst black and white. And Indigo conveys integrity and deep sincerity. - Empowered by Color (the text is linked!)

(bonus vernetto crumbs for the gays)

Government Officials

Now, for the politicians in the Foundation. The politicians wear varying uniforms, but they are meant to be relatively the same as any other professional suit. Most of them wear coats and/or vests that are in the same monotone colors. Many wear the insignia on the left side of their chest, with the exception of Constantine and Madam Z, who wear it in the middle.

The politicians can wear formal suits for debates just like with the one between Delegate Mark Hal and Committee Member Pedra Rosa. Mark had a green and orange color palette for his formal suit, which made him stand out quite a bit. Meanwhile, Pedra wore standard blues and greys.

Now, the people that stand out to me personally are Madam Z, Constantine, Pedra, and Bernard. The reason for this is how distinct Z and Constantine's uniforms are, while Pedra and Bernard have colors that stand out amongst the monotone colors.

Madam Z wears a collared dress with a style similar to the one that the female investigators wear. She has a grey and white coat and its sleeves are pushed up by black gloves. The insignia is found to be worn as a centerpiece for a tie. She looks like she could be an investigator herself, really. As if she were one with her colleagues of lower rankings for that matter.

Constantine wears a suit with ridiculously large collar and odd-looking sleeves. Donning a grey vest and wearing the insignia as some kind of necklace. There are also a garments worn under the suit, showing the checkered pattern once again, and the diamond accessories. This really makes the distinction of her being the Vice President, no?

For Pedra and Bernard's case, they're the only people that we know so far that integrate the navy blue in their outfits. I can see it representing their power as humans, in a way. It evokes the conservative and authoritative traits that they have across the Foundation and the world by extension.

There's a lot to ponder about the Foundation and the uniforms. Even with its plain colors, the game manages to bring so much depth in the Foundation's uniforms and the people who wear it. There's so many characteristics that show through the modifications our Foundation characters have, and it makes them stand out amongst the sea of black, white, and gold. Hopefully there might be more modifications in the future now that we're back in the Foundation. For now, this is all I can find about the topic at hand. Thanks for reaching the bottom here and feel free to add/ask about this. :)

[adalwolfgang]

Last year I made a oc for hhn but then scrapped it cause I suck at making oc’s, but I’ve been re-inspired by others and Pinterest. I’m gonna attempt to make a oc sheet and introduction either this weekend or just whenever I get the chance. I’m keeping the same concept I had for my first hhn oc where they are a staff member for universal studios and is kind of like a servant/proxy/steward (you get the point) to all the icons in fears lantern, including fear himself (itself?🤔). I’m debating keeping the mutant power they had that was similar to Logan’s from the X-men, but I do know I’m keeping the concept that they’re related/familiar to Elsa Strict/The Storyteller because the poor girl gets no love and she hardly has any info on her. Also I got this concept idea from scarecrow from the Arkham games.

For the time being, here’s just something like an Easter egg? I guess you could call it that, of their aesthetic and hints to what they’ll look like.

[sattorntempura]

Hi friends, if you're bored at this moment, give this a read, this is a DMC AU (idk if this is the appropriate term but it takes place in the DMC universe, not canon ofc.) Sorry for the lack of pages, I just started! More info at the end of the post for those who gave it a read :)

I had somewhat of an idea of how hard comic artists have to work but WOW now I definitely know at least a portion of what they go through.

Sorry if the quality changes, im trying to figure out what's best for the platform(s) since they do have a limit.

And the delay too! Im sorry about that! I know I promised last month but things happened and I was upset once I realized that I couldn't post it on the month I promised :(

You may see a change of the art style, I'm debating between Grayscale and monochrome/B&W.

All main characters still have their respective roles, this AU is Ezra's POV and how he ended up meeting the canon characters. I also hope in the future to have characters from other medias (that were not included in the game. Like the anime, manga, novel etc) to shine some light on them in my little AU. This AU also shares some features that the game has, and just like we discovered today, it includes the Orbs! I also want to explore into darker themes in this AU, (dw ALL CANON CHARACTERS ARE SAFE except from their CANON events... hehe get it?) But in all seriousness though, viewer/reader discretion is advised from here on out. I will be putting it on every update I make so even if something sensitive or NOT sensitive happens, you will still be warned.

All I ask is for a lottt of your patience :) Pretty please with a cherry on top.

Yes i gave Ezra that derpy hair bang, I don't know, when I was deciding his "Little Ezra" design and applied that hairstyle for the first time, i couldn't stop laughing and so I kept it.

I don't know when I will upload the next part again, i hope sometime around next month or so. I have a few other projects that I will be focusing on, but when there's free time, I will work on this :) I created this to challenge and bring out my art and storytelling out of its comfort zone. Also because I am scared to work on my dream project. Haha *cries in corner*

Oh yeah and just giving a heads up just so no one says that i didn't warn them, this includes canon and oc ship

"OH GOD NOOOOO IT WAS GOING SO WELL UNTIL THE LAST PART AAASSGH" I know, I know, but hey, :P we are faaaar from that saga LOL users who have followed me before i made this post already know who it is. *hint: read tags*

[etaindelaserna]

Can I ask from this ask game : https://www.tumblr.com/toomanyfandomsthings/749729499738996736/send-me-a-ship-and-a-number-and-ill-tell-you?source=share

No. 2, 10, 11, 12, 15 for Dramione, KakaSaku and SukuIta....Thanks 🌻

Dramione

No 2. Draco's love letters are written on the best pergament one can buy with gold. In addition he has made an effort to charm them to smell like freshly mown grass, because he knows how much Hermione adores the smell. His impeccable handwriting and phrasing are meant to turn these letters into literary pieces of grandeur about the nature of love and how obessed he his with Hermione and when she is finally going to marry him BUT in reality they are discussions about charm and potion theories, books they think the other should read and A LOT OF arguing about the practical application of said theories. There is still a lot of flirting and teasing on Draco's part, which never fails to either make Hermione almost explode or smile with the hint of a blush on her face. Hermione takes her responses very seriously and thus they are always too long, which in return causes Draco to point out, that she had made her point already 3 pages earlier. Since Hermione doesn't really get the hint that Draco is indulging her with these discussions, he at one point had started to include book pressed flowers with his letters. He even extended that to her most read books in the library.

No. 10. They are united by their love for adventure and fantasy shows that have either a certain storytelling or entertainment quality to them. They watched Game of Thrones, Vampire Diaries (of course comparing these vampires and werewolves to the real deal), Westworld, The Walking Dead (but only till season 5), Once Upon a Time (they're both intrigued by how mystical magic is portrayed), Stranger Things, Charmed, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Xena, The Witcher and American Gods. They tried to watch Outlander but Draco was annoyed that Hermione seems to get awefully quiet every time Jamie smiled or smirked or was shirtless, so Hermione watched Outlander, Spartacus and Rome on her own. Draco on the other hand was hiding from her Band of Brothers, Homeland, House of Cards and The Pacific.

No. 11. Draco's first impression of Hermione was, that she seems to be just as snotty and aristocratic in the way she carries herself as he was but without the name or reputation to back it up. She thought too highly of herself, her opinions and seemed to think she was better than anyone else. She seemed to only help others if it benefited her. Hermione thought Draco to be just another rich brat, who thinks Daddy's money is going to solve all of his problems instead of working hard.

No. 12. They don't talk about it, athough Draco is dropping hints and he wants to negotiate what they are going to do for their anniversary, but Hermione says, she's too busy and whatnot. In the end Draco kidnaps her. They are visiting Versailles and the Louvre and he schedules an interview with one of Hermiones favourite authors. Hermione feels guilty for not realizing how much this day means to him and allwos him to take her to a fancy restaurant. Afterwards they take a walk along the Seine and they dance and laugh and drink a bottle of wine. She tells him, she loves him and kisses him and in response he asks her if they now can start working on "Project Baby".

No. 15. Sometimes Hermione whised Draco wasn't so high and mighty but then he wouldn't be Draco and she wouldn't be able to tease him about it. Draco sometimes whished Hermione wasn't so god damn selfless all the time, he whished she would take more care of herself instead of sacrificing everything for everyone.

KakaSaku

No. 2. Kakashi's love letters are basically just post-its or random torn-off pieces of paper which Sakura finds EVERYWHERE: on her desk, her drawer, the fridge, among her medical supplies, sailing out of her clothes or stuck to her backpack. They mostly contain one or two sentences, sometimes just a word or a doodle. But the most emportant thing: they always make her smile. Sakura's love letters are at least two pages long and contain detailed reports about a new medical jutsu she has mastered, a new food item she has tried or the complete mystery of why all of her plants keep on dying. In between she slips sentences about what he would have said or done in these situations. One of Kakashi's ninken has been put on mail duty and is to stay with her until Sakura has finished her reply.

No. 10. Sakura would never admit it but she actually enjoys watching rom coms, period drama or soap operas with Kakashi. Not because she wants to use them as ammo to tease him about it but because they are lighthearted entertainment with some analysis or commentary about the hardships of relationships sprinkled in every now and then. They ease her mind and she adores how invested Kakashi is. It's kinda cute. They watched Bridgerton, How I met your Mother, Ugly Betty, My Secret Romance, True Beauty, Downton Abbey, Poldark, Tudors and Outlander. The more teenage-targeted shows like Vampire Diaries, Never Have I Ever, Reign, Riverdale, Smallville and One Tree Hill she keeps to herself. Kakashi doesn't watch anything if it's not with Sakura.

No 11. Kakashi's first impression of Sakura was that she is just another kid who hasn't figured out life yet and who is still too focused on herself and on superficial things that won't matter in the long run. He tries not to judge her too harshly for her perspective because just like all genin, she'll have to grow up faster then she thinks. Sakura had a hard time believing that this man really was an elite shinobi with a widespread reputation that makes him known, respected and even feared by s-class criminals. He seemed too goofy, yet bored to be their teacher and not really interested in teaching, which enraged her.

No. 12. Sakura debated with herself for a long time whether she should bring up the "anniverseries" topic at all with Kakashi. Not because she thought he was indifferent to it. The contrary: she knew him to be a hopeless romantic. So she felt a lot of pressure to deliver something profound. Kakashi noticed within a week what it was that put Sakura under this much stress and decided to plan little things for them before the actual date: they tried the new ice cream flavor in Konoha's one and only gelato shop, he bought a new board game for Saturday nights, they went to take pictures of them with silly little hats and mustaches, they took a dance class together and tried to paint a portray of each other, which caused Sakura to laugh so hard, she almost peed herself. It made Sakura realise that they didn't have to do anything super extraordinary. So when their anniversary came around, they spent the better part of it assembling a new kitchen cupboard. Sakura cooked Kakashi's favourite dish and in the afternoon they went to the book shop and challenged each other to find the funniest romcom title books. They read them out aloud and whoever laughed first, lost. Sakura lost and Kakashi decided to drag her to a karaoke bar. Afterwards they sat down in the park and watched the stars together.

No. 15. There are times when Kakashi wished Sakura had abandoned Sasuke earlier. Not from her life but from her heart. A lot of her training and strength was a result of not wanting to put the burden of dealing with Sasuke on Naruto alone. Some of her heart was broken and it took a long time to fix the damage. Sakura wished Kakashi wouldn’t try to handle everything by himself all the time.

SukuIta

No 2. Yuuji loves to write love letters. He spends hours deciding on the perfect paper and what kind of colours Sukuna likes or doesn't like. When it comes down to the actual writing, Yuuji isn't a man of huge or many words. He likes to ask Sukuna silly questions such as "Would you still love me if I was a worm?" or "Do you want to be my boyfriend? Yes, No, Please don't check both". Yuuji decorates the letters with little hearts or flowers, sometimes slipping in one of the fotos he's taken of Sukuna while eating or napping with a commentary on the back of it. Sukuna would rather die than admitting that he kind of adores Yuuji's innocent, silly displays of attachment. He still thinks they're a waste of time. If he didn't like the brat, the brat would know. But he doesn't want to be an asshole so he either writes Yuuji beautiful poems or paints something in return. But he never answers Yuuji's letters, which bothered Yuuji at first, but then he read the first poem and still tries to recover from that.

No. 10. Yuuji always thought it would be such a headache to persuade Sukuna to watch ANYTHING with him, let alone comedy horror, body horror or horror with some romance or strong friendships sprinkled in it, but no. Sukuna does complain a lot about the nonsensical plotlines or the lack of gore at times but for the most part he was down to watch What We Do In The Shadwos, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Last of Us and The Walking Dead. Since Sukuna wanted a little bit more suspense and psychological horror he blackmailed Yuuji into watching American Horror Stories, The Hounting of Hill House and Hannibal. Ulterior motive here being to make Yuuji snuggle up to him. Sukuna doesn't bother watching anything without Yuuji but Yuuji tries to hide the fact that he likes to watch Jane The Virgin, Sex Education and Young Royals when he feels down.

No 11. Sukuna's first impression of Yuuji was that he thought him to be weak and overly concerned with the safety of others to the point of it being not entertaining anymore. Just an annoying brat who lets himself be easily manipulated and who would break under the slightest pressure. And yet said brat was able to control him, which angered Sukuna beyond measure. At least his vessel had a great physique if nothing else. Yuuji on the other hand felt indifferent about Sukuna at first. He didn't know who or what he was only that he wasn't about to surrender his body to him.

No 12. Yuuji thinks anniversaries are important because it’s important to make new memories and also to remember the old ones. Sukuna couldn’t care less but let’s the brat do whatever he likes to do for an anniversary. So they end up in the ice cream shop from where they kissed for the first time and eat ice cream until they feel ill. Afterwards Yuuji drags Sukuna into a nearby park to watch the clouds together. Sukuna thinks it’s silly but he is indulging Yuuji and at least he gets to cuddle with him.

No 15. Yuuji wished Sukuna would stop thinking that Yuuji only likes him for his power. This and that he has zero empathy for everybody else. Sukuna wished Yuuji would finally use his power for selfish reasons and unleash his full potential. That’s something he wouldn’t be able to forgive him.

[love-too-believe]

Why Namor x Shuri makes sense in terms of story structure

So if we go off context, Nashuri was already planned by the writers, as seen in interviews and the og script. Which isn't surprising because viewers picked up on their chemistry and romantic undertones in the movie already. The only reason this was changed is because they wanted to focus on the theme of grief and dealing with loss. Which has been the main theme for phase 4 in general since we're moving on to new heroes.

Also not sure if people are aware of this but the choice to kill Ramonda was more or less a last minute decision by Ryan. Angela only agreed to it after Ryan brought up how often it is for characters to come back.

So this could mean Ramonda's coming back to life or will continue to make appearances. If she does come back to life this more or less weakens the "but he killed her mom!" Argument.

Now let's talk about Shuri's story and Namor's role in it. Because at the end of the day this is Shuri's story.

Shuri's story in WF is her journey from childhood to adulthood. Tenoch has said this is his favorite thing about her story.

In the beginning she is a girl by the end she is a woman.

The particular kind of story structure Ryan used is called "The Heroine's Journey" a popular method to use in storytelling with female leads.

You'll find similar stories following this method in movies like "Star Wars, Labyrinth, The Hunger Games, The Wizard of Oz etc."

"The Heroine's Journey" is a female version of "The Hero's Journey" which is used for male leads. T'Challa actually goes through his hero's journey during "Civil War" and "BP" so im not suprised Ryan used the female version for his sister.

If you look at the structure of the heroine's journey Shuri pretty much hits all of these.

Distancing herself from her mother, venturing out of Wakanda (both in America and in Talokan) aka leaving the nest, and having her time to shine.

Both the hero and heroine's journies are a method to mature your lead in a way that makes sense and is relatable since hey, we all gotta grow up some times.

Also a subtle thing Ryan incorporated was how both Ramonda and Okoye treat Shuri like she's a child while Namor treats her like an adult, because she is.

Now something that is not always included but is common in both, is the hero or heroine's being presented with sexual incitement, at times for the first time. This signifies them coming into sexual maturity which is why you won't see it in every story or may just get subtle hits of it.

Now if it wasn't obvious Namor is ment to be Shuri's expirence with sexual enticement. Possibly her first encounter since we don't know her history.

And this isn't a "maybe" situation he literally just is. Firstly, this role usually is presented when the hero leaves the nest, not to mention Namor takes up every single trope of this role.

-Invades the hero's space (hut scene)

-whispers to them (again hut scene)

-touches or caresses them (First holding her hand then putting his mother's bracelet on her)

-shows them something new and exciting (Talokan)

-Is usually older then the hero (20s vs 500)

-Often times wears clothing that is either tight fitted or very little clothing (bro is literally walking around in nothing but jewelry and booty shorts)

Secondly, sometimes you'll straight up get subtle hints and/or introductions of sex it's self.

-In Star Wars there's a scene where Leia has to sit on Han's lap and the ship starts bouncing up and down...

-Again, in Star Wars Kylo Ren wipes his mouth which we see has water on it after meeting with Rey through the force...

-With Shuri in Namor, their fight has a weird amount of grappling and holding, not to mention the back scratching...

Namor treats and speaks to Shuri like she's a grown woman. He doesn't handle her with kid gloves like everyone else, he respects her as an adult who can make her own decisions.

In a dark sense even when it comes to either raging war after Ramonda's death or the alliance. He leaves it up to her to decide.

Also Riri, just isn't this to Shuri. This is not to say people can't ship it cause you can ship whatever you want, their all fictional. But Shuri refers to Riri as "a kid", "a child" or "a girl" depending on what translations you watch. This is to show the audience that Shuri does not view Riri as an adult. They're confirmed to have a sisterly bond. Shuri lost a sibling and gained a sibling.

But back to Namor, he also is noticeably kinder to her then he is to literally anyone else in the movie besides his people. Not to mention it's canon that he finds her charming and interesting. He also likes her smile.

It's confirmed by Ryan that he never wanted to kill her even during their fight which some fans noticed, he never tries to kill her even when he has an obvious chance.

And lastly, he sees Shuri as an equal by the end of the movie, showing he has respect for her as a protector of her nation and possibly even views her as a god now but we have to wait and see on that one.

As quoted by Ryan, Namor is ment to be a Peter Pan archetype and when you think about it he really is. He's black and white way of thinking is very childish, he's incredible stubborn, he's arrogant and cocky, yet at the same time, curious and charming. Like Peter he's a father to his people (he literally refers to them as his children) and their sole protector.

There's innocence to his character that's very compelling and shows how young he is in mind.

-he collects (maybe steals, very Killmonger of him) Mayan artifacts from the surface since he never got to see Ancient Maya.

-speaking of collecting things, he even collects random surface world stuff. He has 2 gramophones in his hut, which he most likely got from a ship back in the day.

-he's suprised and charmed by Shuri's kindness. Which makes session since she's the first surface person he's ever spent time with.

-and hey, he got his love of drawing from his mama.

Now what does all this mean for Namor and Shuri in the future? Well for one you got a good amount of back up for them no longer being enemies.

1. Shuri's heroine's journey is over now.

2. Namor was the one who forced her into womanhood.

3. We concluded the story at her finalizing her grief

4. It's canon that Namor was humbled by Shuri after their fight.

5. Wakanda and Talokan will be working with each other.

6. Namor may play a mentor like role with Shuri

7. Dispite many romance scenes being removed they still chose to keep enough hints for people to pick up on.

8. Their fight is described as "intimate" by both writers.

9. Namor and Shuri are described as "two sides of the same coin" and "twin flames" (these are the same descriptions that were used for Rey and Ben Solo in Star Wars)

Why does them having a possible relationship make sense? Well the most basic answer? They're the only two people that can understand what the other is going through.

Their both protectors of great nations that are centered around a resource unique to their land and have a culture and ancestry untouched by colonization. They both know grief of losing people they love. (Namor's mother and his two handmaids, Shuri's brother and mother) Their both EXTREMELY intelligent. (Namor build a vibranium sun underwater and I don't remember where I read it but he learned English in a week.) They both find each other interesting. They both see each other as equals. They both have alot of growing to do.

So will they have some kind of relationship? Most likely. Will it be romantic or platonic? Who knows. But we know they won't be enemies so we have to wait and see.