#it was supposed to be me figuring out how to not only adapt his backstory to that au

[erythristicbones]

i like when i think im gonna be totally normal about some OC writing and then my brain has entirely different plans. like i truly feel sometimes that the OC hijacks my brain to make sure i get them right

[ddwcaph-game]

Hello everyone! The next update isn't close to being finished yet, since as usual I keep adding in new stuff, but before I respond to the asks for Roselyna's Matchmaking Service, I thought I'd update/recap everyone on all the big changes and new stuff that's coming:

New Nickname Changes/Options

MC's Pet Backstory

More Details about MC's Dad

Revamped Twin Fight Scene

New Secret About Julie & Maggie

JM's Mansion Sleepover Branch

Ancestry and Heritage Passives

Character Class, Trait, and Stat Adjustments

New Locket Stat and Intimidation Stat Rework

Missing Choices

Read below for more details:

New Nickname Changes/Options

You will now be able to change MC & Twin's nicknames anytime once you unlock the diary!

In addition, you will now also be able to choose/change the nickname you use for each F6E member (even if you aren't bestfriends), and change what you call Maggie/MC's Dad/Julie/Robert via the diary.

Speaking of nicknames, Wayne's diary entry will now mention that his middle name (and Mary's maiden name) is Hart! Of course, it's very much on brand for him to say that that's his middle name. 😄

MC's Pet Backstory

MC's pet will now have a prosthetic (I'm thinking one of their hind legs).

Okay, it's not an actual backstory, but this opens up new backstory opportunities (you'll know if you read IAC), about why Julie and Robert adopted them in the first place.

More Details about MC's Dad

In the next update, I will be updating the prologue to mention the job of MC's Dad, along with finally giving the option to choose where MC's Dad is from (if your MC is Half-Filipino).

Revamped Twin Fight Scene

I haven't actually played through DDWCaPH! since I finished Chapter 2, and when I finally did last month, I noticed a ton of typos, confusing lines, and awkward scenes, which I'll be working to address.

The twin fight scene in Chapter 1 is definitely a big offender, so I'll try to rewrite it so it has a bit more build up.

New Secret About Julie & Maggie

The last conversation you have with Paddy in Chapter 5 will have new details about Julie's laptop. Technically I've already kinda spoiled this secret before in one of the older versions, but here's a related hint featuring a new choice in Chapter 3:

I've also changed a few details in the conversation about how Tita Josie met Kuya Popoy, but you're not supposed to know that secret until Chapter 6 in the new branch. 😉 Speaking of...

JM's Mansion Sleepover Branch

Since I'll be skipping the Investigation Branch for now, I figured adding this branch is a good middle ground. It also lets me move the unfinished party conversation with Tita Steph/Yaya Connie/Kuya Popoy to that branch instead, since the party scene is overloaded already. Plus, it's also the only chance you'll have to visit his mansion.

Anyway, it looks like the majority want to have the sleepover at JM's instead! (Although I have a hunch that some of you are just more interested in having the chance to talk to B again 😛) I had a bit of trouble adapting some of the Chapter 6 scenes I've planned, but I figured it out eventually.

Ancestry and Heritage Passives

You will now be able to select your MC's Ancestry Trait regardless of your chosen favorite genre! You can check out this post for details about all the new passives.

Character Class, Trait, and Stat Adjustments

Character Class Buffs

Class Bonuses will be increased from 5/10/20% to 10/20/30% to make them more impactful. Class Passives will now also give +25/50/100% EXP from successful stat checks of the same stat as the Class Bonus (since the coding for it is already there).

Vocabulary Trait Changes

Someone pointed out that it's weird that inputting a custom swear word always censors it, so now I'm making it so that only the 🐤[Young at Heart] and 🐣[Child at Heart] Traits will censor your input and most of the swear words.

In addition, the above traits will now grant bonus EXP when increasing your Naive Personality, while the other two vocabulary traits 🦅[Mini-Adult] / 🦆[Childhood Graduate] will grant bonus EXP when increasing your Precocious Personality to make them a bit more immersive.

Gender Traits

As mentioned in the last poll, I was considering including the gender-related options (specifically Trans/Non-binary/Genderfluid/Questioning) to the list of Traits.

The majority seemed in agreement, so I'll go ahead with the change (unless someone has a good argument against it). I think adding it to the list of traits better communicates to the player that it's not just a cosmetic choice that gets forgotten.

Other Trait Adjustments

The 🥇[Top 5] and 🥈[Top 10] Trait Requirements have been lowered significantly (and now takes MC's Knowledge Stat into consideration). To make the EXP Penalty make more sense, it now only applies to EXP gained from Knowledge Stat checks.

This also applies to the 😎[Self-Confident] EXP Penalty (it now only applies to EXP gained from Charm Stat checks).

There are a bunch of other Trait adjustments, but these are the biggest ones.

New Locket Stat and Intimidation Stat Rework

Now that you've discovered one of your locket's powers, I've decided to add a new main stat alongside your HP. This will function like mana or energy in other games, and if you've read IAC, you probably have an idea of what this will be used for in the future. 😉

Your maximum HP will now also be increased to 1,000, and each point of Vigor will now increase it by 10. This was done to make chip damage (like being whacked with a stuffed toy) less threatening.

The Intimidation Stat will now be based on your Vigor Stat, and is increased by 50% of both of your Cold and Composed Personality Stats. Certain Traits/Passives will still increase/decrease Intimidation, but this makes the stat less dependent on your personality stats.

For example: A Tall MC with 30 Vigor, 70% Cold, and 50% Composed will have an Intimidation Stat of 54.

Missing Choices

This includes:

Valentine's Entry in Roselyna's Diary

Karaoke party scene with Paddy, Wayne, and Roselyna

Pinoy Henyo party scene with Lily, JM, Yaya Connie, Kuya Popoy, and Mayari

Sari-sari Store Trinket

Chapter 3 Bike Choice (This was already coded actually, I just forgot to make it selectable 😅)

The 3rd Phone Game (Honestly I procrastinated doing this one because I wanted to make the name different according to your favorite genre. Yup.)

I'm also aware that the background music isn't playing, so I'll try to fix that as well (no idea how that happened)

That's not everything in the next update, but yup, that's why it's taking so long again.

Feel free to ask me questions about the next update! I'm still currently deep in the coding mines, so apologies if it takes me a while to respond to the asks for Roselyna's Matchmaking Service!

[hoppipolla]

I’m curious, what did you think of the first two episodes of jazz for two?

Hi Shawn! I’m sorry for the late reply but I wanted to take my time to write you my answer to your ask.  

Here are my thoughts on the first six eps (I was able to watch the next four eps in the meantime so I thought why not share more than what you’ve asked ><).

Let’s start with the things I don’t really like to end on a nice note.

Doyoon

I’ve told you before but I think he’s the most interesting character from the webtoon and I have mixed feelings with the way he was written in the drama adaptation. I feel like Hangyeom has a pretty solid understanding of the character so I’m blaming the writing on this one.

In the webtoon, I feel like Doyoon is the kind of character you easily misunderstand at first glance. He looks like the typical guy who acts first and thinks later. Although he appears easy-going, he’s also really attentive and thoughtful so whenever he does something, he’d think of the consequences first. He catches on quickly and since he’s attentive, he notices things that most people miss. That’s why I couldn’t comprehend why the screenwriter chose to make him look for his best friend’s house for a whole afternoon. That makes no sense to me. Taeyi is his best friend. Of course he’d know his address.

Doyoon and Jooha’s romance

One of the things that bothers me most about this drama is the pacing and the way the story unfolds.

I’ve never been a fan of Jooha but I think the webtoon makes you sympathise with him a bit more than the drama.

In the webtoon, you first get Jooha’s backstory, then you get Doyoon’s pov and learn that he likes him. The fact that the drama chose to first show Jooha being all weird and cruel and then proceeded to let us hear Doyoon’s thoughts about his feelings for him made me uncomfy. It makes it look as if Doyoon is in love with a bully and it’s just messed up. Jungha is a bully but he’s also someone who’s completely lost and doesn’t know what to do with all the feelings he has stifled inside. He’s not emotionally mature and it really shows in his behaviour. Doyoon falls in love with him because he sees right through him. Because he can see the man Jooha can be and he chooses to believe in him. But the drama doesn’t make that clear and so it kinda ruins the romance between the two of them. The source material isn’t helping to be honest because their romance is quite unhealty at the beginning. The drama toned it down but, in the past, Jooha didn’t break Doyoon’s elbow or wrist, he broke his ankle! Imagine how violent this is. And then the webtoon went on showing Doyoon being all forgiving because he knows that deep down Jooha regrets it and that Jooha has things to figure out and Doyoon is aware of it so it’s all good. I’m being a bit mean here but it’s quite ridiculous to be honest. Doyoon plays basketball and practices hard so imagine having a broken ankle. What Jooha did was plain cruel.  

But it’s really fun seeing Hangyeom act. Plus, his acting is quite natural. I hope he’ll get more opportunities to improve his skills!

I’m also a bit bitter because their first kiss was so rushed. It happens much later in the webtoon and the stakes are different.   

Storytelling

Another thing I don’t like is how they make everything so obvious. You’re not supposed to know that Doyoon likes Jooha from episode 1. The way they made Doyoon’s gaze linger on Jooha… They really didn’t have to make it that obvious. It’s as if the director was scared we wouldn’t get the hints. So, he didn’t give us a choice and made sure we got the message. (How could we not get it?)

I wouldn’t call Taeyi and Seheon’s romance a slowburn but they do take a bit of time to understand their feelings. However, the opening scene is them looking as if they’re kissing. Again, why make things so obvious from the very start? This drama has only 8 eps so things are bound to happen fast. There was no need to spoil the romance between Taeyi and Seheon so early on. Everyone is expecting it anyway so I don’t know what the director thought it would add to start with such a scene.

Cinematography

I know it’s the same directing team as A Shoulder To Cry On but there are so many similar shots. It doesn’t feel like a directing style. It just feels lazy, as if the director has copy-pasted shots and thought no one would notice. (again)

The cinematography is okay but I keep on noticing similarities and it bothers me a bit, hence my rather harsh comment.  

But I’ve watched till ep 6 so I’ve obviously enjoyed some bits!

The cast

I think the casting director did a great job choosing the four main actors. Jin Kwon is the perfect Seheon: his facial expressions fit the character so well. They’re the perfect match.

In the webtoon, Taeyi has the saddest eyes. He wears a mournful expression and although it took me a while to warm up to the artist’s style, I was touched by the way they drew Taeyi’s forlorn look. I think Ho Geun does an okay job overall. There are some moments where he perfectly pulls it off though (the scene where he looks at old videos of his brother for instance or when he looks at Seheon who has fallen asleep next to him).  

Ho Geun makes me like Taeyi way more than when I re-read the webtoon (I don’t remember if I liked him on my first read) although I don’t really know why ><

I like Joo Ha’s micro-expressions and his presence matches with how I imagined Jooha would behave (his voice, his body language, etc.).

The plot

The drama changed the whole plot of the webtoon and I don’t mind it. The webtoon doesn’t have a plot per se. That’s why there are so many kissing scenes that act as fillers (imo). The plot is basically the characters’ journey and their development.

So, I liked that they added the whole ensemble project in the drama. Very dramatic (Taeyi’s entrance I mean) but it was fun to watch.  

Not sure if you’re interested in these but here are some differences between the webtoon and the drama:

If I remember correctly, Seheon was never home-schooled nor was he made to study classical music. I don’t think his brother was ever mentioned either.

Doyoon doesn’t play the drums.

Seheon thought Doyoon and Taeyi were a thing, not Jungha and Taeyi. (I feel like my wording is confusing… Hope you got my point!).

The rooftop is Doyoon and Taeyi’s hiding place to smoke.

Seheon’s mom forbade him to play the piano that’s why he only practiced at school.

Joohee is much more fleshed-out in the drama than in the webtoon and I appreciate that!

The first song Seheon plays is “Autumn Leaves” which was Taejoon’s (Taeyi’s brother) favourite song. That’s why Taeyi reacts so strongly when he hears Seheon playing.

Taeyi’s uncle appears much later in the webtoon.

Joohee’s gives Taeyi’s overcooked cookies and not chocolate and it’s funny because Doyoon and Seheon end up tasting them and it tastes so bad that Seheon forces Taeyi to eat one as well.

This got way too long. I’m so sorry >< I’d love to hear your thoughts on this drama as well!

[tigirl-and-co]

what was that abt Astro boy siblings au? 👀

The Astro Boy All Siblings AU, ready for action!!! also known as

I'm putting it under a readmore, bc it's gonna get long winded!!!

Most important stuff: it's something of a mix of all three major adaptations + Pluto, most emphasis on '63 and '80 though. And really, Pluto's very gently adapted, I really just want Gesicht and his wife in there. Pluto as a character is closer to his animated counterparts, especially the '80 version, where he's not so much 'aggressive' as he is just doing what he thinks he's supposed to be doing.

I should clarify- dub 1963, sub 2003 + 1980. Because that's what I watched.

This AU exists because I L O V E writing character interactions and developing characters with little to no screen time. So I've saved a bunch of characters who were supposed to die, and now they live with each other yaaaaay and also a bunch of one off characters who had good story potential haha

There are some characters whose names I sort of waffle on between the dub and Japanese versions, mainly Minute/Bill and Zero/Denkou.

Both 1980 and 2003 Atlas are here. I figured they were different enough for it. In this case, Daichi has a different name in his alt mode, I just haven't thought of it yet.

idk if Chi-Tan is gonna be here. I'll get back to you on that.

GRAPHIC 1: THE TIMELINE

This is a rough timeline and subject to change.

Marble is on this timeline, but she's not a 'sibling' so to speak, but she and Lucky Louie are kind of Astro's first friends. So Marble is Astro's sort of bestie in this and he takes a trip out to go visit her every so often. Louie, despite being in jail, is kind of an uncle figure to Astro. Astro can ask Louie for advice or opinions without being judged or worrying that it'll get back to anybody else.

The meeting with Atlas is very similar to how it goes in the anime, except I think I'm still going with 'sold his ass to the circus' backstory, so it's more likely he was on a cruise with Ochan, or maybe his parents. Maybe both?

Cobalt has always had middle sibling energy to me, so I switched him and Uran around. I'm working with something a bit closer to the manga backstory, but with the anime personality.

Uran is somewhere between her 1963 and 2003 self. She's more self-sufficient, can drive and did the whole fighting ring shebang (in fact I'm thinking of KEEPING her doing it part-time, for reasons I'll elaborate on later.) But like her 2003 self, she's still emotionally very young, and craves the approval of her older siblings, even if she thinks they're goody two-shoes.

Pook's dad goes to jail, and Ochan agrees to take him in until he's released. He's still very rowdy and kind of a prankster, but he's less actively malicious since his dad instructed him to be nice, and he'll be back.

Pluto! The events play out closer to '80 + '03, but Gesicht still gets to do his whole detective schtick and have ~trauma.~ I'm debating about Epsilon, bc him having the orphans would imply the war was a thing, and that's just not something I'm suited to tackle. On the other hand, Astro being the cool older cousin to a house full of orphans brings me great joy

ANYWAY Pluto is damaged and out of commission, but technically reparable. Ochan brings him to the ministry of science, and works on him in his spare time.

The events of Atlas' episode play out pretty much the same, except that Ochan and Ban have been tracking him down- after all, a robot that can stand toe-to-toe with Astro is a big deal! The whole operation is busted directly after Atlas discovers Livian's parts. Atlas agrees to go with them, but only after Ochan promises he can repair Livian with no problems.

Daichi/Atlas 2003 happens, but instead of building him to test Astro, Tenma does it to *spite* Astro. I'm keeping Tenma out of this au for the most part. I just want him where it would make for good angst.

Livian moves in with Ochan! She helps both as an assistant during research, and as a helping hand with Pook. Ochan is an older man with a busy schedule, and looking after a rambunctious child is not something he can do single-handedly. Livian also wants Atlas to grow as a person without using her as a crutch, and now that he has a family willing to help him she thinks he finally can.

Pluto's full body is restored and he is brought back online! His size means he's kind of relegated to the bigger rooms of the Ministry, outdoor activities, and Ochan's backyard, but he tries to make do. He and Astro get on well, but he's actually much closer with Uran! He and Livian also begin to become good friends, and have late-night chats about philosophy and junk.

Later on, Pluto finally asks to have a humanoid body. He wants to participate in society. He does have a few demands, though! He wants to be tall still, and he wants horns similar to what he has now. Ochan agrees, but says it will be difficult and take a while.

Daichi episode 2! I'm not entirely certain how I wanna play this, but blah blah stuff happens, and Daichi's dad makes a promise to try harder to be a good parent. Daichi moves back into the mansion. Things aren't perfect, but they're actively trying, so it's better than it was before.

Pluto's body is finished! I have some design ideas for him, but nothing I'm ready to talk about yet. He's tall as hell, and keeps his horns curled to the side a ram. I'm going for kind of a teen vibe. He's still got a lot to learn, and I wanted to reflect that in his design. He finds he actually enjoys being helpful, but he is also not afraid to throw punches when need be. It's really just that his standards for 'need be' have been raised. He and Daichi get along okay.

I'm going with the 1963 design for Denkou here. I know everybody likes the 2003 one but I'm not a huge fan. I'm also going to call him Zero just for ease of writing, but tag him as Denkou so he doesn't get mixed up with the other Zero I blog about haha.

His backstory plays out kinda like a mix between all three versions, with him willing and ready to sacrifice himself like in '63, but he lives like in '03. Daichi actually helps out, using himself as an example of how even if you do the wrong the thing, you don't have to be bad forever. Zero moves in with Daichi (after Daichi can convince his dad- it's not hard to convince a wealthy man to take in a very expensive, one-of-a-kind robot, it turns out), and they become very close, with Zero looking up to Daichi, and Daichi realizing that means he really needs to shape up.

I rewatched the ending of Mighty Minute/Humanoid Bill, but I need to take time to watch the whole thing again. I'm going with 'they create a suit with a suitable filtration system, which allows Minute to roam free.' He still needs a lot of rest, but it's better than nothing. He and Pook become GREAT friends. Inseparable. If you make a lot of noise while Minute is resting, Pook will absolutely tell you to shut up.

Eventually Pook and Minute move in with Higeoyaji. He's good with kids, Ochan just really doesn't have the energy to care for them, and they actually can help him out in detective cases! He doesn't bring them to anything he thinks might be dangerous, of course, but Minute's predictive abilities and Pook's strength and transformations are very helpful.

How does he pay for them, despite being a schoolteacher/detective and broke as balls? Why, a stipend from the ministry, of course! Both Pook and Minute are outstanding scientific achievements! It certainly doesn't have anything to do with Ochan being biased, why would you think that?

Last Day on Earth plays out, Bem survives and stays with Astro for a while, but 5 super kids is just kind of a lot. Astro and Ochan reach out to Gesicht, and ask if he and his wife are interested in trying to raise a child again. They've had time to process their grief, and are more than happy to welcome him into their home! Bem is a recurring character from this point, but mostly through video calls.

Then Future shows up! Yaaaaaay Future! He survives his ordeal but is badly damaged. Ochan rebuilds him to the best of his ability, but certain parts were so advanced that it's out of his wheelhouse. He still has predictive abilities, but they're nerfed somewhat. Instead of a picture perfect vision of what will happen, he moreso sees a few different possibilities of what COULD come to pass.

Eventually, Daichi and Zero move in with him. Daichi is still on decent terms with his father, but he feels the need to get out from under his thumb, and Zero goes where Daichi goes.

So, in essence

OTHER IMPORTANT BITS:

I was raised to see my cousins like siblings. Our parents would just kind of shuffle kids around between houses + my grandma's house as need be. That affects how I see characters interacting. So while I see Pook as more of a little cousin to astro, that really more means 'little sibling you only see sometimes'

Zero helps Ban on his detective cases! Zero genuinely REALLY likes using his powers to help people. He'll help put criminals away, sure, but he much prefers doing stuff like tracking down lost pets or items and returning them to their owners. He gets the warm fuzzies.

Idk if you remember those robots with like. sensitive stomachs? Who were escapees from a country or something. The kid's name was Piko. They eventually do actually move in as neighbors.

^these guys.

Atlas is still gruff, but he secretly very much enjoys being praised. He'll work a lot harder for people who are kind to him, but he does NOT express affection verbally, and only very rarely physically. He starts out very cold and aloof, but over time he gets ~*character development*~ and becomes incredibly protective of his siblings. He's also willing to throw down for ANYBODY he sees being taken advantage of. Astro prays he never learns about bosses being mean to their employees.

He's also somewhat misanthropic. Not to the degree he gets in canon, but his first life experiences were of him being abused and taken advantage of. If you can prove you actually care about robots, he'll drop from 'watching you like a hawk' to 'just kind of guarded' and after a LONG while he might consider you a friend. He's now at the point where he's just as protective of Marble as he is any of his siblings, especially once he learns about what went down with her and Astro.

Because of his distrust toward humans, the blue knight actually targets HIM and not astro. This will (hopefully) be a fic in its own right, so I won't get too into it here. Blue Knight is also NOT happy that Uran fights of her own free will

Pluto is completely genderblind. Like fully and completely. But bc he takes looking out for others VERY seriously now, a lot of the women who work at the ministry talk to him about their frustrations, and know he's the person to call out to when they feel unsafe. Icon.

Atlas can not be left alone with Tenma, Hamegg, or Skunk. He would turn their insides into outsides for what they did to Astro and Zero, respectively. Honestly they're lucky he has better things to do than track them all down.

Two other characters that show up from time to time after their introduction is Abra and Cadabra, the magician robots!

astro has free tickets for life.

Astro's school friends are still all here. They're kind of protective not only of Astro, but also Atlas, once they learned what he went through. Atlas and Shibugaki are especially vitriolic buddies. Atlas isn't so stupid that he can't see how similar they are, and also one time shibugaki bit some random guy spewing anti robot shit, and that impressed the hell out of Atlas.

because I'm mental I AM shoehorning black jack and pinoko into this au as reoccurring characters. Dr. Honma was an old friend of Ochan, and thus he and BJ are on good terms. Pinoko is basically a cousin from the other side of the family, since she's in a weird limbo area between biological human and artificial creation.

I think Future just ends up going by a super normal regular guy name, like Dennis or Adam. He, Daichi, and Zero move in together, for reasons that make sense in my brain I promise

I'm also bringing in a lot of one-off characters I like to be background roles, but this whole thing has taken so long to post and I'm tired. I'm NOT bringing back the scary buff horse man, you'll be glad to know.

so uh. Yeah. All Siblings AU. I'm sure there's guys I'm forgetting, and would likely want to add, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. And also once I read the manga

If you read this whole thing mwah mwah mwah thank you for being so gracious about my blatant insanity.

[letstalkloz]

Let’s Talk the Twilight Princess Manga- Book #1

Released on March 14, 2017, volume 1 of Akira Himekawa's Twilight Princess manga adaptation kicks off an 11 part series retelling the story from the original game from 2006, Twilight Princess. The final volume of the series came out in English the other day on April 11th, 2023. With 11 volumes over 6 years, I figured now is a good time to go through the series and see how well it holds up. Since this is a longer series, each book will get its own post. I have a lot of opinions about this adaptation of Twilight Princess, so let’s talk about it.

The Good

First of all, the art style that Akira Himekawa uses for this series is easily the best we’ve seen out of The Legend of Zelda manga adaptations. The amount of detail put into every page perfectly captures the vibe of the scene and the emotions of the characters involved. As someone who has read the other 10 volumes, let me tell you that the art only improves from here, and it's already very solid. The art style is the number one thing I hype up about this series when I recommend it to other people. Even if some of the changes they make in this adaptation don’t work for you, I suggest picking it up anyway for the art alone.

Rusl is another highlight, especially in volume 1. Himekawa perfectly captures that stern but caring father figure vibe for Rusl, having him be the voice of reason while also being the one to comfort Link early on. He also takes his job as the protector of Ordon seriously. I like Rusl in the game, but I feel like we see more of his personality in the manga. Maybe I’m biased because I hate playing through the opening section of Twilight Princess and zone out until we hit the first temple, but even so Rusl is a much needed character in this first volume.

Something else I greatly appreciate is the T rating here feeling earned. The manga adaptation takes those scenes that likely gave the game a T rating in the first place and elevates them, raising the stakes a considerable amount. While I love the previous manga adaptations of Legend of Zelda games, they were all clearly made for children. I appreciate Himekawa giving us a series that doesn’t shy away from its rating.

The Bad

In the first couple of pages, we're shown scenes of Midna fighting alongside a wolf. It's difficult to explain why I am not a fan of this inclusion in the manga without spoiling future books that we'll talk about regarding this series, but this early on inclusion feels unnecessary. If you've played Twilight Princess though, you know who this wolf is supposed to be. I understand wanting to have a link between the Twilight realm and the Light realm, but we didn't need a literal Link to connect them. Plus, we're shown a much better connection between the two realms later on in the series that I'll discuss at a later point.

I hate to say it, but book 1 Link does a terrible job at convincing people to keep reading. He's a bratty teenager to say the least, which can be fun, but his personality feels very different than what we're shown in Twilight Princess. His personality reminds me more of Link from early on in the Four Swords manga, which works for that series, but feels a little out of place here. I am all for making changes from the source material, but this change doesn't make sense, especially considering his new tragic backstory introduced in this series.

The Neutral

Link is given a mysterious backstory in this series, coming from a city that vanished one day after Link tried removing a sword from a stone. The Hero's Shade rises up from the ground as the whole city gets sucked into this strange portal, leaving Link as the lone survivor. This backstory feels very out of place in book 1, but I am placing it in the neutral category because I do believe it has its moments in the story that help add emotional depth and world building. It's weird here, yes, but if you keep going it does get interesting.

Midna's reveal early on is something else that I think is okay. Keeping her true form a secret was good for the game back in 2006, but it's 2023. With the target audience for this series being dedicated Legend of Zelda fans, there's no reason to act like we don't know who Midna is. Her true form is still kept a secret from Link, but getting a scene in the beginning where Midna introduces herself doesn't take away from that eventual reveal later on. The only reason it's not up there with the good parts is because I cannot get over the fact that she has a wolf before she meets our main Link. It just feels like unnecessary fanservice to add in the golden wolf right away and have him know Midna.

Conclusion

Overall I think volume 1 of the Twilight Princess manga adaptation does a decent enough job setting the scene and introducing us to a lot of characters all at once, with the main highlights being Midna's introduction and Rusl's whole character. Every page is crammed with beautiful artwork that matches the game's style, but some of the plot points are lacking early on. However, since I have finished the series, I will say to keep reading past book 1. Even if some of the changes annoy you, it's worth it to keep going.

Unlike Ocarina of Time where I was biased in favor of the manga, with Twilight Princess I did play the game before reading the series, so I may favor the game more at times. If you love something that I labeled as bad, tell me why it works for you! All of the things mentioned here are just my opinion, so I'd love to hear what moments worked or didn't work for other people. For anyone looking to read this series, I will try and find the website that I used to read a few of the volumes online. If I find it, I'll share it in the responses of this post, and I'll see you again for volume 2!

[erusdeerus]

I’m curious about your apex oc

the design is really intriguing and i was wondering if there were any details or backstory you would want to share for them?

also the linework on the sketch you did on Nov 21 looked really good! Cool composition as well

I am so incredibly honored by - all of this! I am very much still figuring out his backstory, but everything about him is largely based on - me!

He is a Gaia Native - and a Native American coded legend (based on my experience as a Cherokee woman who grew up in the capital of the Cherokee nation), the son of a fisherman, who died when he was young of congestive heart failure (based on my own loss of my mother), and a nightclub proprietress. Which, as most know - is a big no-no on Gaia. He was born without one foot (I was not, but many family members are/have been amputees) and lost the other leg in an accident involving his (soon to be discussed) later-life involvement in one of Gaias major underground crime syndicates. A lot of his design is based around his father, and his connection with his heritage. The netting around his shoulders being used in his ultimate, as well as tying back to his fathers use of netting when it came to his line of work. His name means deer in Cherokee (and is the tribe I/he belongs to). And his mask/helm is based on that as well. He speaks both English, as all other legends do - and Cherokee/Tsalagi (as I do, though I am relearning much of what I lost as a child). He joined organized crime…accidentally. The sort of situation where he saw something he wasn’t supposed to, and realized he only had one way out. I loosely intended to make his crime relations connected to Rampart and her Big Sister lore, though with any clear information about that lacking - I’ve not much to go on! But I do know that it is partially the reason he joins the games, if not entirely. His love for all that is live television and fame - is second-hand. Who doesn’t want to be beloved by millions - at least.

Here’s some general information.

AWI - Offensive Legend

Real name: Jarred Patel

Gender: Male

Age: 26

Home world: Gaia

What do you get when you put a fisherman and the proprietress of Gaia's hottest underground nightclub together? Most of a baby. Foot not included.

Passive - Take a Hike: Climbs and hurdles quicker than other legends.

Tactical - On the Wall: No realitively uncluttered vertical surface is off limits. A change in placement is made far easier by a quick run across a wall, over and behind the enemy team.

Ultimate - Not so Fast: Can catch and retract condensed enemies or teammates in a snare from up to 30 meters away. Adapted from a gun that was only really meant for fish, turned into the perfect trap for unsuspecting enemies, or teammates in need of a quick retreat.

His abilities are very Titanfall based. Which I think Apex could use. Though I am loving what we’re getting so far. But I mean, cmon? Wall running? Yes please.

He is a character I have adapted throughout - well, nearly half a decade, and brought through various fandoms. And he has changed drastically. But he has always been very uh…parkour based? Something I enjoy doing myself!

Fun facts, I suppose!

He is pansexual

He ran the gauntlet once, just to see how he would do. Not the best time, but he had fun.

He is 5’7”, he had an inch of height added to his prosthetics, his mother shakes her head at that one.

He has a birth mark shaped like George Clooney (this is something he’s had since his conception as a character 7 years ago, and I refuse to change that), where it is? Use your imagination.

He has watched Octanes streams. I think its blasphemous other legends don’t mention these. I have plotted dozens of voicelines soley based on this.

Edit: One of his eyes is also similar to cryptos augmentations. (I myself have no peripheral vision in one eye, and I thought that would be a HUGE disadvantage in the apex games, so this…seemed like an excessive, but cool solution).

If you have any other questions - feel free to ask!! Very honored you’re curious

[lermisv4]

Hiyaa. I just saw the post where you explain shadow's backstory. If its not much of a bother, could you talk about the theories on Sonic's lack of a backstory? That stuff about the murals really intrigued me. Thanks ^u^

Hi! I can't believe I'm asked about this actually...

OK, obligatory disclaimer: I'm not the ultimate lore expert. Also, this is going to be rambly so I hope it's comprehensible.

Let's start with the canon stuff.

So, the murals:

As I mentioned in that post, this particular image comes from Sonic & Knuckles 3, and it depicts the prophecy made by ancient Echidnas regarding the conflict between Sonic and Eggman.

This is also the total extend of the official game backstory that Sonic is given.

What's going on basically is that various game-related media or side media have all given Sonic different backstories that were either retconned into being non-canon or were never canon to begin with.

For the games, there's this thing called "Sonic Bible". Here is the fandom page on it: Sonic Bible | Sonic Wiki Zone | Fandom

This was supposed to contain the official backstory for Sonic all the way back in 1991, but the problem is that: a) it is USA only, SEGA Japan had nothing to do with this b) it kept geting rewritten all the time so there are several different versions of it c) it never got officially published

You can read the article but basically the different versions given for Sonic's backstory are wildly contradictory. This is also many comic adaptations took inspiration from, most prominently the Archie comics that many, many people mistake for canon. This comes from personal experience btw, as a fanfic writer you have NO idea how many times I had to correct people on "that's from Archie".

OK, so. Back to Sonic.

In the first Sonic game it's stated (maybe in a manual?) that he and Eggman already knew each other. As in, they were already each other's arch-nemesis since before the game. In the game he goes after Eggman because Eggman kidnapped all his friends (the animals he uses to power his machines) but that's just for the first game; we do not know how they knew each other before that. In addition we do not know why or how Sonic has his superspeed. That's not much of an issue nowadays since a LOT of official Sonic characters have powers, but this bit fuelled a lot of the official but non-canon backstories and theories.

So. Sonic has no known family, somehow knows Eggman, and has unexplainable abilities. We have no idea where he's from either. We don't know when he met Eggman, and no idea what he was doing prior to Sonic 1. What do we do with this?

One prevalent theory that's seen in many alternate continuity official media (StAS, Archie, and Sonic the Comic come to mind) is that the Chaos Emeralds themselves somehow granted him his abilities. Considering that many later Sonic characters have abilities and nobody makes a big deal out of them (see Tangle for example), I cll bullshit on that.

However, the thing here isn't that Sonic is just another superpowered cartoon animal. He's noted by everyone to be exceptional.

Cue the mural, and Project Shadow.

As stated in the post you reference, a very long-standing theory about Project Shadow - which is borderline confirmed now that Sonic x Shadow Generations has been anounced - is that Shadow was based on the mural depicting Super Sonic, thus indirectly making him Sonic's clone.

However, what Shadow says on the matter in SA2 raises some eyebrows. Go to 2:33

Shadow thinks that Sonic may be the Ultimate Lifeform. It's not a sentiment he ever expresses again after this (he's... kind of dying in this scene) but it's easy to see where this sentiment comes from.

Gerald Robotnik had certain goals when creating the Ultimate Lifeform, and one of those was for it to be able to use Chaos Control. Sonic figures out how to do it by observation with a fake Emerald. He's also a considerably better Super Moded user than Shadow, because as you can see in the video Shadow is in poor shape.

The fan-theory here is that Sonic was in fact part of Project Shadow, and that he was created way back in the day by Gerald Robotnik. Along the other reasons listed above for that theory, Shadow is a notoriously unreliable narrator, and Gerald canonically has the technology to manipulate memories. For several years it was questionable if any of the "Maria got shot trying to save Shadow" even happened or if Shadow had ever been in the ARK to begin with. Newer canon material says that yes, it did happen, but the point here is that Shadow's memory is canonically extemely unreliable. His memories get screwed in like, three games on top of my head. So he and Sonic could have both been on the ARK at one point and Gerald just screwed with their heads.

Now, on to other theories unrelated to SA2.

This one goes back to Sonic CD, and it claims that the Sonic we're currently playing as is a clone of some kind. The theory goes that the original true Sonic is Metal Sonic who got robotized by Eggman, and that the playable Sonic is some kind of oblivious clone. Some of the reasons behind the theory is Metal Sonic always claiming to be "the real one", and that when Amy used her tarot cards to find Sonic in Little Planet she found Metal first. I don't have much more to say about this theory tbh, a lot of it is fuelled by shipping fics.

Another theory that I have also seen being applied on Knuckles is that Sonic was somehow created by the Chaos Emeralds or the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald is already known to be sentient and screw around with living organisms - Chaos and the Ancients turning into Chao come to mind. So the theory goes that the Master Emerald or the Chaos Emeralds specifically created Sonic to carry out the prophecy depicted in the mural above. As for how this thory applies to Knuckles, it's usually to explain how he is the last of his species, especially since Perfect Chaos wiped out the Echidnas thousands of years ago. Knuckles himself says in the Sonic Frontiers animated prologue that he has been alone for as long as he can remember (mind you, Echidnas hatch from eggs but eggs require care.)

So, there are the three most prominent theories about Sonic's origin in the games: "Project Shadow", "he's metal's clone", or "the Emeralds did it". Of course there's also the whole "he's just some guy".

For less unhinged theories, it's said that Sonic may be an orphan or that his family was destroyed by Eggman's forces and that he's deliberately hiding his past from everyone. This would also explain how he knows Eggman.

And of course, there are the comics which tend to go wild with those things.

Anyway, these are all the theories I can recall on top of my head. I hope this answered your question. Thanks again!

[velvet-games]

hi I designed an arcane oc at 3am one day so here are my delirious sketches

initial brainstorming stuff~

I had a veeeeery rough idea of what I wanted to do at this point. I set some goals since I’d designed an arcane oc before, but that design got too caught up with what made sense and it ended up being really boring and restrictive (hence, the “fun to draw” goal for this new one) 

random outfit stuff~

this was just me playing around with what looked nice for the most part. I tried to keep the eyes motif constant though, as well as the idea that she’d be going from a closed dress to a more open and floofy one (it’s meant to look like a flower opening up but I don’t think I succeeded at that lol). there’s also some really mild snake imagery since she’s supposed to represent envy. 

when I actually start doing design lol~

this is when I started fleshing backstory stuff out a lot more, as well as making changes to the design(s) after actually knowing what her character was about. the bottom left was supposed to be the final concept piece, but I made the upper right to adapt her character to new lore stuff I came up with. 

digital render~ (no I don’t know how to shade gold I’m sorry ;__;)

okay so what’s invidia’s actual bio?

the main idea of her character is that she starts as someone whose motivations are almost completely derived from envy. she’s born to a high house, always told she’s better than everyone else and deserves more than other people. she hasn’t had to lift a finger to get anything she started with; not her home, not her money, not her clothes, and definitely not her council seat. when she sees someone better than her, she only feels resentment, immediately going into an “if I can’t have it, no one can” mindset. she couldn’t even look at a sunset without envying its beauty. 

while cunning, she usually spends her intelligence only on elaborate ways to sabotage people even slightly better than her, insisting she’s doing it for the sake of equality. she has a fierce sense of justice, but it’s focused on punishment and revenge more than actual deterrence. it’s no noble cause, but she’s inherited her father’s charisma, and the other councilors don’t bat an eye when she wraps up her ideas in a pretty rhetorical bow. 

(quick design note~) she wears opulent and intricate gold jewelry as often as possible to show off her wealth and superiority. the barred corset and dark greens in her usual dress is meant to remind the viewer of a snake, both as a symbol of her house and to associate her with envy (the eye motif does this as well). her clothes are tight-fitting and stiff, sleek in a dignified way but also suffocating. there’s barely a peek of a frill at the bottom of her skirt though; a clue that maybe there’s more to her than her uptight disposition. 

(co. ~) the reason she has multiple designs is that I wanted her to change the way she dresses as her arc progresses. as she grows, she manages to loosen up a little, both literally and figuratively. 

eventually, invidia meets mel medarda. invidia thinks mel is similar to her at first: a cunning woman partial to gold and glory, but finds something else when she looks deeper. one day, during a progress day celebration, invidia begrudgingly speaks to mel after reaching what must’ve been the apex of a human’s capacity to experience boredom. despite her charisma, invidia envies mel, never quite able to automatically get the other councilors on her side the way mel could with ease, but she’s also the only other intelligent person in the room, so to hell with it. 

the conversation actually manages to be engaging despite how distant mel acts. in a rare moment of vulnerability however, mel manages to admit that she’s actually envious of invidia’s natural charm. caught by surprise, invidia tries to ask mel to elaborate, but the moment is gone. mel’s returned to the spotless, indestructible picture of dignity she’s always been. 

invidia’s envy manages to melt just enough for her to actually want to get to know mel more, and the pair begin to talk even when they’re not forced in the same space. mel, recognizing the effect she’s having on her fellow councilor, weaponizes more moments of her own vulnerability to keep invidia invested. it might mean a few future favors, after all. invidia recognizes the manipulation, but carefully indulges in it anyway, not having anyone else to be infatuated with. it’s the first time she’s been able to genuinely feel something close to happiness from interacting with another human being instead of being envious of everything they had that she didn’t. it was addicting. 

something changes after a while though. mel starts being vulnerable just because she wants to share herself with invidia, and invidia starts to see the world in a way she’s never considered before. mel seems to actually want to protect people, not to gain the favor of her constituents, not to keep up a facade of kindness, but out of real, genuine empathy. 

time passes. invidia sells the fancy gold jewelry that she was never really fond of in the first place, pushes the hair from her eyes, and feels love for the first time. starting to see more clearly, she realizes she’s never even bothered to use an ounce of her privilege to help anyone; she hardly even knows half the city. 

one day, cloak around her shoulders and mask over her mouth, invidia steps foot in the undercity for the first time. what she sees is horrifying; who she thought were freeloaders and low-borns were victims, ravaged by shimmer, sick from pollution, dying with no hope to hold on to. she trades what little she brought with her to feed a starving child.

invidia starts visiting zaun more and more, each time more desperate than the last. by the time the next zaunite comes to trial, she can’t bring herself to say “guilty.” it was her own decision a year before to make the crime worthy of a life sentence. 

it’s slow, but invidia’s envy starts to morph into love. the visits to zaun were difficult, but never completely devoid of joy. a child’s eyes lighting up at a toy, a young girl’s neon portrait of invidia, a new invention from a sharp young mind. the love is so sudden and sure that sometimes she feels like she’s drowning in it. invidia looks at her superiors and realizes at times that they might be people too. people who’ve mourned, who’ve cried, who’ve laughed. people that she loved. 

before she knows it, invidia’s become a completely different person. jayce talis, golden boy that he is, shows up, and she doesn’t even want to beat him to death with one of his family’s hammers. in fact, she might even feel happy for him. her lengthy speeches on justice and “equality” soon stumble and falter. she sheds the intricate stitching so emblematic of her past self, and with the help of mel and the citizens of the undercity, starts to make change. the undercity brought sadness and joy to invidia, but it also brought anger. a white-hot fury both at herself and piltover’s complacency. she couldn’t stand to send a thief to prison knowing their family would’ve died without the stolen food. she was disgusted that it’d ever crossed her mind. with a burning passion, talk of punishment and revenge turned into actual solutions. rehabilitation, social spending, even the proposal of independence for zaun. she brought the undercity’s citizens to the council, brought the council to the undercity, forced them to see what inaction had done. while she couldn’t fix everything herself, as her community of supporters and allies grew, she didn’t need to. they were improving things together.

so invidia sits now, years of hatred and envy peeled away and fallen at her feet, listening to a story from a white-haired firelight. she smiles fondly, eyes closing as night settles in, head finding rest in mel’s shoulder. 

she’s glad the sunset’s beautiful. 

---

okay anyway sorry that got way longer than I wanted lol

tl;dr: envious council lady learns how to love through the power of sapphic yearning

okay thanks for reading <3 if you got this far you’re a real one lol

[yamayuandadu]

Circe by Madeline Miller: a review

As you might have noticed, a few of my most recent posts were more or less a liveblog of Madeline Miller’s novel Circe. However, as they hardly exhausted the subject, a proper review is also in order. You can find it under the “read more” button. All sorts of content warnings apply because this book takes a number of turns one in theory can expect from Greek mythology but which I’d hardly expect to come up in relation to Circe. I should note that this is my first contact with this author’s work. I am not familiar with Miller’s more famous, earlier novel Song of Achilles - I am not much of an Iliad aficionado, truth to be told. I read the poem itself when my literature class required it, but it left no strong impact on me, unlike, say, the Epic of Gilgamesh or, to stay within the theme of Greek mythology, Homeric Hymn to Demeter, works which I read at a similar point in my life on my own accord.

What motivated me to pick up this novel was the slim possibility that for once I’ll see my two favorite Greek gods in fiction, these being Hecate and Helios (in case you’re curious: #3 is Cybele but I suspect that unless some brave soul will attempt to adapt Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, she’ll forever be stuck with no popcultural presence outside Shin Megami Tensei). After all, it seemed reasonable to expect that Circe’s father will be involved considering their relationship, while rarely discussed in classical sources, seems remarkably close. Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women and Apollonius’ Argonautica describe Circe arriving on her island in her father’s solar chariot, while Ptolemy Hephaestion (as quoted by Photius) notes that Helios protected her home during the Gigantomachy. Helios, for all intents and purposes, seems like a decent dad (and, in Medea’s case, grandpa) in the source material even though his most notable children (and granddaughter) are pretty much all cackling sorcerers, not celebrated heroes. How does Miller’s Helios fare, compared to his mythical self? Not great, to put it lightly, as you’ll see later. As for Hecate… she’s not even in the book. Let me preface the core of the review by saying I don’t think reinterpreting myths, changing relations between figures, etc. is necessarily bad - ancient authors did it all the time, and modern adaptations will inevitably do so too, both to maintain internal coherence and perhaps to adjust the stories to a modern audience, much like ancient authors already did. I simply don’t think this book is successful at that. The purpose of the novel is ostensibly to elevate Circe above the status of a one-dimensional minor antagonist - but to accomplish this, the author mostly demonizes her family and a variety of other figures, so the net result is that there are more one dimensional female villains, not less. I expected the opposite, frankly. The initial section of the novel focuses on Circe’s relationship with her family, chiefly with her father. That’s largely uncharted territory in the source material - to my knowledge no ancient author seemed particularly interested in covering this period in her life. Blank pages of this sort are definitely worth filling. To begin with, Helios is characterized as abusive, neglectful and power-hungry. And also, for some reason, as Zeus’ main titan ally in the Titanomachy - a role which Hesiod attributes to Hecate… To be fair I do not think it’s Hesiod who serves as the primary inspiration here, as it’s hard to see any traces of his account - in which Zeus wins in no small part because he promises the lesser titans higher positions that they had under Cronus - in Miller’s version of events. Only Helios and Oceanus keep their share, and are presented as Zeus’ only titan allies (there’s a small plot hole as Selene appears in the novel and evidently still is the moon…) - contrary to just about any portrayal of the conflict, in which many titans actually side with Zeus and his siblings. Also, worth noting that in Hesiod’s version it’s not Oceanus himself who cements the pact with Zeus, it’s his daughter Styx - yes, -that- Styx. Missed opportunity to put more focus on female mythical figures - first of many in this work, despite many reviews praising it as “feminist.” Of course, it’s not all about Helios. We are quickly introduced to a variety of female characters as well (though, as I noted above, none of these traditionally connected to the Titanomachy despite it being a prominent aspect of the book’s background). They are all somewhat repetitive - to the point of being basically interchangeable. Circe’s mother is vain and cruel; so is Scylla. And Pasiphae. There’s no real indication of any hostility between Circe and any of her siblings in classical sources, as far as I am aware, but here it’s a central theme. The subplots pertaining to it bear an uncanny resemblance to these young adult novels in which the heroine, who is Not Like Other Girls, confronts the Chads and Stacies of the world, and I can’t shake off the feelings that it’s exactly what it is, though with superficial mythical flourish on top. I should note that Pasiphae gets a focus arc of sorts - which to my surprise somehow manages to be more sexist than the primary sources. A pretty famous tidbit repeated by many ancient authors is that Pasiphae cursed her husband Minos, regarded as unfaithful, to kill anyone else he’d have sex with with his… well, bodily fluids. Here she does it entirely  because she’s a debased sadist and not because unfaithfulness is something one can be justifiably mad about. You’d think it would be easy to put a sympathetic spin on this. But the book manages to top that in the very same chapter - can’t have Pasiphae without the Minotaur (sadly - I think virtually everything else about Pasiphae and Minos is more fun than that myth but alas) so in a brand new twist on this myth we learn that actually the infamous affair wasn’t a curse placed on Pasiphae by Poseidon or Aphrodite because of some transgression committed by Minos. She’s just wretched like that by nature. I’m frankly speechless, especially taking into account the book often goes out of its way to present deities in the worst light possible otherwise, and which as I noted reviews praise for its feminist approach - I’m not exactly sure if treating Pasiphae worse than Greek and Roman authors did counts as that.  I should note this is not the only instance of… weirdly enthusiastic references to carnal relations between gods and cattle in this book, as there’s also a weird offhand mention of Helios being the father of his own cows. This, as far as I can tell, is not present in any classical sources and truth to be told I am not a huge fan of this invention. I won’t try to think about the reason behind this addition to maintain my sanity. Pasiphae aside - the author expands on the vague backstory Circe has in classical texts which I’ve mentioned earlier. You’d expect that her island would be a gift from her father - after all many ancient sources state that he provided his children and grandchildren with extravagant gifts. However, since Helios bears little resemblance to his mythical self, Aeaea is instead a place of exile here, since Helios hates Circe and Zeus is afraid of witchcraft and demands such a solution (the same Zeus who, according to Hesiod, holds Hecate in high esteem and who appeared with her on coins reasonably commonly… but hey, licentia poetica, this idea isn’t necessarily bad in itself). Witchcraft is presented as an art exclusive to Helios’ children here - Hecate is nowhere to be found, it’s basically as if her every role in Greek mythology was surgically removed. A bit of a downer, especially since at least one text - I think Ovid’s Metarphoses? - Circe directly invokes Hecate during her confrontation with king Picus (Surprisingly absent here despite being a much more fitting antagonist for Circe than many of the characters presented as her adversaries in this novel…) Of course, we also learn about the origin of Circe’s signature spell according to ancient sources, changing people into animals. It actually takes the novel a longer while to get there, and the invented backstory boils down to Circe getting raped. Despite ancient Greek authors being rather keen on rape as plot device, to my knowledge this was never a part of any myth about Circe. Rather odd decision to put it lightly but I suppose at least there was no cattle involved this time, perhaps two times was enough for the author. Still, I can’t help but feel like much like many other ideas present in this book it seems a bit like the author’s intent is less elevating the Circe above the role of a one note witch antagonist, but rather punishing her for being that. The fact she keeps self loathing about her origin and about not being human doesn’t exactly help to shake off this feeling. This impression that the author isn’t really fond of Circe being a wacky witch only grows stronger when Odysseus enters the scene. There was already a bit of a problem before with Circe’s life revolving around love interests before - somewhat random ones at that (Dedalus during the Pasiphae arc and Hermes on and off - not sure what the inspiration for either of these was) - but it was less noticeable since it was ultimately in the background and the focus was the conflict between Circe and Helios, Pasiphae, etc. In the case of Odysseus it’s much more notable because these subplots cease to appear for a while. As a result of meeting him, Circe decides she wants to experience the joys of motherhood, which long story short eventually leads to the birth of Telegonus, who does exactly what he was famous for. The final arcs have a variety of truly baffling plot twists which didn’t really appeal to me, but which I suppose at least show a degree of creativity - better than just turning Helios’ attitude towards his children upside down for sure. Circe ends up consulting an oc character who I can only describe as “stingray Cthulhu.” His presence doesn’t really add much, and frankly it feels like yet another wasted opportunity to use Hecate, but I digress. Oh, also in another twist Athena is recast as the villain of the Odyssey. Eventually Circe gets to meet Odysseus’ family, for once interacts with another female character on positive terms (with Penelope, to be specific) and… gets together with Telemachus, which to be fair is something present in many ancient works but which feels weird here since there was a pretty long passage about Odysseus describing him as a child to Circe. I think I could live without it. Honestly having her get together with Penelope would feel considerably less weird, but there are no lesbians in the world of this novel. It would appear that the praise for Song of Achilles is connected to the portrayal of gay relationships in it. Can’t say that this applies to Circe - on this front we have an offhand mention of Hyacinth's death. which seems to serve no real purpose other than establishing otherwise irrelevant wind god is evil, and what feels like an advert for Song of Achilles courtesy of Odysseus, which takes less than one page. Eventually Circe opts to become mortal to live with Telemachus and denounces her father and… that’s it. This concludes the story of Circe. I don’t exactly think the original is the deepest or greatest character in classical literature, but I must admit I’d rather read about her wacky witch adventures than about Miller’s Circe. A few small notes I couldn’t fit elsewhere: something very minor that bothered me a lot but that to be honest I don’t think most readers will notice is the extremely chaotic approach to occasional references to the world outside Greece - Sumer is randomly mentioned… chronologically after Babylon and Assyria, and in relation to Persians (or rather - to Perses living among them). At the time we can speak of “Persians” Sumerian was a dead language at best understood by a few literati in the former great cities of Mesopotamia so this is about the same as if a novel about Mesopotamia mentioned Macedonians and then completely randomly Minoans at a chronologically later point. Miller additionally either confused or conflated Perses, son of Perseus, who was viewed positively and associated with Persia (so positively that Xerxes purportedly tried to use it for propaganda purposes!) with Perses the obscure brother of Circe et. al, who is a villain in an equally obscure myth casting Medea as the heroine, in which he rules over “Tauric Chersonese,” the Greek name of a part of Crimea. I am honestly uncertain why was he even there as he amounts to nothing in the book, and there are more prominent minor children of Helios who get no mention (like Aix or Phaeton) so it’s hard to argue it was for the sake of completion. Medea evidently doesn’t triumph over him offscreen which is his sole mythical purpose. Is there something I liked? Well, I’m pretty happy Selene only spoke twice, considering it’s in all due likeness all that spared her from the fate of receiving similarly “amazing” new characterization as her brother. As is, she was… okay. Overall I am definitely not a fan of the book. As for its purported ideological value? It certainly has a female main character. Said character sure does have many experiences which are associated with women. However, I can’t help but think that the novel isn’t exactly feminist - it certainly focuses on Circe, but does it really try to “rehabilitate” her? And is it really “rehabilitation” and feminist reinterpretation when almost every single female character in the book is the same, and arguably depicted with even less compassion than in the source material?  It instead felt like the author’s goal is take away any joy and grandeur present in myths, and to deprive Circe of most of what actually makes her Circe. We don’t need to make myths joyless to make them fit for a new era. It’s okay for female characters to be wacky one off villains and there’s no need to punish them for it. A book which celebrates Circe for who she actually is in the Odyssey and in other Greek sources - an unapologetic and honestly pretty funny character -  would feel much more feminist to me that a book where she is a wacky witch not because she feels like it but because she got raped, if you ask me. 

Circe evidently having the time of her life, by Edmund Dulac (public domain)

[siren-of-redriver96]

Villian Heights (Part 1)

(reading Wuthering Heights for the first time and trying to figure out the deal with this book with some assumptions from previous summaries of the story)

Today: until the point where Nelly Dean recounts little Heathcliff getting sick

(spoilers and kind of heavy themes - also strong language)

Heathcliff seems to be a hoarder for dogs and in general it seems - first glimpse of the psychology aspects of this book, I’m interested

the narrator is kind of a fancy obsessed - and yeah not that likable but I think he’s not supposed to be

kinda caught up in etiquette

Cathy (I’m gonna call her Cathylin from now on to avoid confusion) is kinda cool - you can tell she’s trying to keep herself alive by at least trying to follow orders - but boy does she not take shit from anyone! And I love the part where she threatens everyone with witchcraft!)

the narrator having a gothic horror nightmare after reading Cathy’s diary was unexpected but cool (also the previous dream of a church mass where he has to fight everyone trying to beat him up was kinda funny)

Heathcliff loosing it over Cathy’s possible haunting of the room was interestingly written - kinda reminded me of what I heard about the adaptation ... I’m also filing this under possible villian backstory

was kinda wondering as to how old everyone is/was in Cathy’s diary entry, and though it was cleared up soon, still have to remind myself for all of this to make sense of the time this was written, and the very different ideas of childhood, adulthood, expectations, a shorter average lifespan and people hitting puberty much later than today (mostly because I really don’t like the older brother acting as a father to his sister trope) - but from what I can heard, the characters will always be more or less immature throughout the story, and won’t go past what most people would nowadays call “a kid”

I can see why her and Heathcliff hate Hindley already - props to both for not taking any bs from him too.

Cathy is only six in the flashback but can ride horses? Now that confused me.

the staff at Heathcliff’s house being so few and so old reminds me of the king from the last unicorn - also a heck of a scrooge with an adopted son and a girl who knows of his criminal energy, so works (The Last Wuthercorn)

Mr. Earnshaw, the flashback - I kinda wonder how he could loose both his kids’ presents because carrying little Heathcliff (dude - you’re rich, you’re on horseback most likely, buy a rucksack!)

the way the Earnshaw kids behave reminds me of the aforementioned rules of this time (also I wonder if they may have additionally grown up only with each other mostly, but that’s still out there)

Mrs. Earnshaw only appears when making a racist remark of not wanting to keep Heathcliff around, then fades away again

the way it’s pointed out that Earnshaw didn’t spoil Cathy because she was so strong-willed and favours Heathcliff over both his kids/treats him better - there are two things here: 1. he really doesn’t consider any of them as thinking people, or that his actions and not trying to actually explain stuff to them will pit his bio kids against Heathcliff from the start and 2. is it just me or does he favour Heathcliff because he doesn’t make him aware that he’s a thinking human yet? It feels like the paradox of people being obsessed with babies, but overwhelmed and exhausted as soon as they become too much of a person with own opinions - Earnshaw kinda sucks

Nelly Dean explaining how Heathcliff always pretended not being hurt when Hindley and her hurt him - caught me off guard, and her pointing out that it seems he’s learned his behaviour (this is beginning to really feel like a psychological thriller, I’m taking notes)

she’s happy that a doctor praises her nursing him back to health - took a note of why this meant so much to her, again, the time

And that’s that. A lot of psychology and taking no bs, I like it. We’ll see how things go

[morporkian-cryptid]

Today in "Elliott's Niche AF AUs": one (1) person asked me about this, sooooo...

Lupin III Discworld AU crossover headcanon pile thingy!!!

For those who don't know: Discworld is a flat world held on the back of four giant elephants on top of a giant turtle, floating through space. That world has magic, as well as trolls, dwarves, goblins etc... but in a way that's meant to subvert typical fantasy tropes.

Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Disc, is a hotbed of crime, innovations, and innovations in crime. It is run by a council of guilds, and by a Patrician (a lifelong tyrant; he's elected by the guilds but he has the final say in everything). Notorious for having an Assassins', Thieves', Beggars', and Seamstresses' (sex workers) Guilds. Also notorious for its Watch (the police), which is actually surprisingly good at solving crimes. It's also the biggest immigration destination on the Disc.

Character backstories/situations:

Lupin : half-quirmian-half-agatean (Quirm being the DW equivalent of France), grew up in the Agatean Empire (DW equivalent of China/East Asia). He moved to Ankh-Morpork to follow Fujiko, and/or to escape Zenigata. He’s an illegal thief (meaning he's not registered with the Thieves' Guild), and his favourite hobby (besides just stealing in general) is screwing with the Guild. Commander Vimes, the head of the Watch, is supposed to catch him (or at least help Zenigata catch him), but he's secretly rooting for him because he dislikes the Guild slightly more than he dislikes Lupin.

Jigen : son of a couple of Agatean immigrants in Ankh-Morpork, grew up as a street urchin in the Shades (the most crime-ridden neighborhood of the notoriously crime-ridden Ankh-Morpork). He joined the Assassins’ Guild later in his life as a (mostly self-taught) sharpshooter, with a talent that outshone that of the Guild's best students. He later quit the Guild after he met Lupin (possibly had a contract to kill Lupin, and decided “screw this I’m going with him”). He can use any kind of shooting weapons, but favors crossbows. He’s tried stealing and using the gonne (DW's first and only firearm); it didn't go well. He somehow managed to learn one single spell from the wizards, the fireball, by becoming pals with Arcchancelor Ridcully (wizard, head of the Unseen University, and famous for his unfortunate passion for crossbow shooting).

Goemon : agatean immigrant/fugitive, master swordsman. He left Agatea because Fujiko stole his Zantetsuken and fled to Ankh-Morpork, so Goemon had to follow her to retrieve his sword. He then met Lupin and Jigen and decided to stick around. The Zantetsuken is a talking sword, and its personality is basically the embodiment of Bushido. It's extremely annoying (like all talking swords), but Goemon loves it. (it was probably his only friend back in Agatea)

Fujiko : agatean immigrant/fugitive. Ran away from the Agatean Empire chased by Goemon. She joined the Thieves’ Guild, but everyone confuses her for a seamstress because her technique usually involves seduction. She tried it on Vetinari once. It failed spectacularly.

Zenigata : agatean immigrant, part of the Empire’s police force, who came to Ankh-Morpork chasing Lupin. He only brought his assistant Yata with him, and has to cooperate with the Watch to have resources to catch Lupin. Vimes doesn’t particularly like him, but he’s good at his work so he can’t say anything (they're both too stubborn to get along).

Bonus:

Yata: Zenigata’s assistant, came to Ankh-Morpork with him, rapidly became great friends with Rufus Drumknott (the Head Secretary of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari). He has a bad influence on Drumknott. He also befriended Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson, but then again Carrot befriends everyone.

Ami: She's a clacks operator. Clacks are basically the DW equivalent of telegraph. There's a group of clacks hackers called the GNU, so she might have joined them.

Albert: He's part of the Patrician's Dark Clerks (they're the secret services of Ankh-Morpork)

Rebecca: She's from Quirm. That’s all I have about her for now. (Quirm's the equivalent of France, but in the french translation it was made into an equivalent of Italy)

Random-Ass Headcanons

Lupin gets along like a house on fire with Moist von Lipwig (former conman and current postmaster, notorious adrenaline junkie), both figuratively and literally. Lupin and Lipwig sometimes team up on heists and rely on each other’s help, when they’re not busy competing against each other because Lupin keeps daring Lipwig to thieving competitions.

One of the contests’ goal is to steal Vetinari’s manuscript, The Servant. Fujiko wins. She wasn’t even in the race.

///

Fujiko quickly became friends with Adora-Belle Dearheart (Moist von Lipwig's rather explosive girlfriend), they get together every now and then to trash-talk their respective boyfriends.

///

For some reason everyone thinks Lupin is a werewolf. (it’s actually Jigen)

(maybe. I haven't yet decided whether or not he is. That would be a very good source of angst, considering what most werewolves are like, and also a very good source of domestic fluff if the whole gang has to adapt to the moon cycle and Jigen's transformations. Idk. Might be fun.)

///

Fujiko owns a horse golem (a gift from Adora-Belle or something she stole, we may never know). The Gang also owns a carriage, modified with a spell so it will drive faster, and they drive it completely carelessly. It has been destroyed and rebuilt countless times. (actually a bunch of spells, Lupin probably found a way to blackmail Ridcully so he could mod the shit out of his carriage. Or they rely on Jigen’s friendship with Ridcully)

///

Lupin uses swamp dragons as firearms (dialogue courtesy of @marquise-de-clarabas: Jigen: You stole a dragon??? Lupin: I didn’t steal him! He’s his own person and can make decisions himself! Dragon: I wanna steal). He has an alias and disguise entirely dedicated to visiting the Sunshine Sanctuary For Sick Dragons, and somehow became friends with Lady Sybil Ramkin-Vimes (Commander Vimes' wife, and the greatest expert on swamp dragons in the city, probably on the Disc). Vimes doesn't know about it, and Lupin finds the whole situation hilarious. He constantly makes jokes about how he’s playing with fire.

///

The Thieves’ Guild and the Watch are competing to catch the Gang, but secretly Vimes is rooting for the Gang (the Guild just hates them). That said, Vimes also hates Lupin (only slightly less than he dislikes the Guild), because he's always a little shit whenever he gets put in jail, and then he immediately breaks out.

///

Rincewind (famously bad wizard with a shit luck and a tendency to run from problems) once got arrested by Zenigata, because he got startled by him yelling LUPAAAAAAAAAN! and started running for the hills, making Zenigata believe he was Lupin in disguise. Rincewind is terrified of Zenigata.

///

Zenigata is actively trying to stop the Thieves' Guild from catching Lupin and Co, both because he wants to catch them himself, and because he knows what the Guild does to illegal thieves and he doesn’t want it to happen to Lupin.

///

Lupin stole Ridcully’s hat (custom wizard hat with a bunch of pockets, drawers, a crossbow, and a tiny flask of alcohol) as a gift for Jigen’s birthday. He also stole Lipwig’s hat (golden cap with dove wings), after which Adora claimed she didn’t recognize Moist (dialogue courtesy of @marquise-de-clarabas: Moist: C’mon babe, it’s me, your boyfriend! Adora, knowing full well who he is: I have never met this man in my entire life). He also raided the Assassins' Guild's armory/museum to get a birthday gift for Goemon.

///

About Jigen and the gonne (spoilers for Men at Arms) : basically, the gonne being such a dangerous and destructive weapon compared to crossbows, it has a nigh-magical attraction on people, and awakens and strengthens whatever lust for power, vengeance, blood etc they have. It basically controls its user and feeds on their convictions, addictions, wants, etc. The only person known to have resisted it is Vimes (because he's a stubborn mofo with a sense of morals you could bend iron on), and even he came damn near to losing his mind. (And Carrot, because... he's Carrot.)

Assuming the gonne didn't get destroyed in this AU: after they steal it, Lupin tries to use it, gets completely possessed/cursed (again) and accidentally tries to murder his friends (again), prompting Jigen to take it from him. Jigen then gets possessed as well, and they start fighting for the gonne, until Goemon just walks in, takes it out of their hands and takes it away. Goemon's completely unaffected by the gonne because 1) of his ascetic training and 2) "it is a filthy morporkian artifact and cannot compare to the noble art of the sword."

///

Zenigata often teams up with Angua (resident werewolf of the Watch), they get along very well. The Gang is very easy to track, they smell like a tobacco factory that has caught on fire.

///

Yata and Drumknott (Patrician's head secretary, and confidante, sort of) get together after office hours, and argue about whose boss is the best (because as we all know they both have a crush on respective bosses). One day Drumknott accidentally calls Vetinari “Sempai” after he heard Yata call Zenigata that all the time.

///

Lupin follows Lipwig’s example and steals all of Yata’s pencils every time he visits the Pseudopolis Yard (the Watch's HQ). Drumknott is fuming when Yata tells him about it.

///

Leonardo Da Quirm is butt-naked, because Part 4.

///

Something with vampires, probably.

///

tagging @carriagelamp and @mad-whoman-with-a-book00 because I know you may be potentially interested in this AU ^^

[tarysande]

Hi, Tara! I hope you're having a wonderful day!

For the director's commentary: when you say 'where you THINK you see' the story going, does that mean AHoD hasn't been plotted out completely? Or that the end is planned, but how you're getting there isn't? Or something else entirely? (Maybe this is more of a general writing question instead of something AHoD-specific, lol.)

Hopefully that's not too spoiler-y! Regardless, it's really awesome to hear your look back at Grace Notes has been pleasant! AHoD (and all of Grace Notes in general) has been one of my favorite fics for years, finished or not. Like, in the top five, easily!

Also, uh, please cut this next bit if you want if you reply to the above, because this is maybe kind of sappy and/or really weird? I found AHoD back when there were only 50-ish chapters, which led me to your blog here, and that was kind of a jumping-off point for me in terms of finding people who could relate to things I didn't have words for or felt I couldn't share with people around me at the time, years and years ago--asexuality/demisexuality, burnout, ADHD, depression, and other mental health related struggles, and, like, caring enough about my own writing to hone it instead of treating it as a self-indulgent hobby? It was just really heartening for awkward-teenage-girl-me in a small town to log onto tumblr and see an older, successful woman dealing with the kinds of things I was, and just--existing, I suppose. Like, proof I'd be alright and wasn't alone.

In short, thanks for being you, I guess? And I hope things keep going well for you in all you do! Have a great day!

Gosh, thank you for the lovely message! I'm so glad you found your way here, and that it encouraged you (from one demi, ADHD, sometimes-depressed, sometimes-burned-out writer making it through to another!). I know that, for me, the feeling of not being alone has always been such a huge part of what makes tumblr home. A bit like you, I had older fandom women I looked up to (and who helped me) when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I'm still in touch with most of them! And someday, you'll be that person to a new generation of teenagers trying to figure themselves out. It's kind of magical.

Now, as for your AHOD/writing question: It's not too spoilery. I'm definitely of the plantser school of writing—throw down the seeds and wait to see what comes up, keeping my fingers crossed that the seeds in the packets are what they say they are. It's a bit ironic, really, since so much of my work as an editor is about weeding the gardens of other writers. I'm really good at it!

But it's harder to weed one's own WIP because sometimes weird plants start sprouting and you can't just pull them up; you have to adapt to them. They're already in the garden, and people want to see what becomes of them because they have no idea that I, the gardener, did not entirely anticipate all the flowers they see. My job is to make it seem like those weeds were intentional!

For AHOD, specifically, I've always known certain emotional beats/character growth moments I want to hit. I knew I wanted to tie up a lot of the loose ends I found unsatisfactory with the game's ending. I knew I wanted to dig into the things I'd devised that made my Shepard's backstory unique, like her time with the Callahans, her relationship with her parents, and the strengths and weaknesses of her psychology as I envisioned it.

I always knew I wanted to explore What Comes After War. There's a quote that's been hanging on my wall for a long time: "In war, many things are acceptable. You kill and there seem to be no consequences. But there are consequences—they just come after." (Vitka Kempner-Kovner)

I've always been obsessed with the consequences that come after action.

On the surface, it's a video game. Killing bad guys is part of the mechanics. But BioWare did such a good job of giving me people to care about that I wanted to ... help them recover, but without pulling any punches. I wanted to make their sacrifices and suffering and losses count, if that makes sense, because ... isn't that what we all want? Even if our pain isn't on the scale of Reaper invasions and intergalactic war, there's something universal about facing the lowest lows and somehow still clinging to hope long enough that the hope turns into the first steps of recovery, of rebirth, of growth.

So, tl;dr: Even though I think I know where the plot is headed, I remain open to the possibility that the specifics will change, because they usually do—for the better. Trying to herd the characters in my head onto a specific path only ever backfires on me.

Plus, getting to discover the details along the way makes ye olde ADHD braine happy!

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

Stories I haven’t read yet, but clearly need to put on my ever-expanding List.

~*~

Welcome back queen [Thank you, it’s so lovely to be back!] if ur still doing follower recs I gotta recommend I would wait for a thousand years by bleuett it’s soooooooo good

[This one was actually recced to me by two different people, the other of whom said, “ Maybe I'm crying a little so I feel like a should recommend ‘I would wait for a thousand years’ by bleuett on ao3.”]... it’s def. on my List!

I would wait for a thousand years

by bleuett (T, 10k, wangxian)

Summary:  During the worst of winter, a traveler comes to stay at Lan Wangji's inn. He wears a red ribbon in his hair.

“Do you see the rabbit?” Wei Ying asks and points at the moon. “That’s the moon rabbit, he helps make Chang’e more immortality elixir. He keeps Chang’e company.”

“I do not wish the rabbit for company,” Lan Wangji says tightly. “You are the one I want by my side.”

“And I’m here, Lan Zhan. If you go to the moon, I’ll follow you, I’ll always be here now.”

~*~

I just read a great fic by aisthuu "every love story is a ghost story", didn't see it in your recs so wanted to recommend it! LWJ is a guqin composer and teacher, buys a cheap guqin off eBay which ends up being attached to WWX's spirit from canon era. It's bittersweet, LWJ deals with Lan's homophobia (implicit in a Lan way) and his feelings towards the ghost. This is author's only ao3 fic and honestly I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I'm happy I did and hope you will enjoy it too!  [I’ve recently read this one, and loved it!]

every love story is a ghost story

by aisthuu (M, 59k, wangxian, my bookmark)

Summary:  The man is in Lan Zhan’s bed. Did they—he begins to wonder, eyes trailing to where the man’s body lies under the blanket. Had Lan Zhan—?

Then the sleep-fog clears and Lan Zhan realizes that the young man isn’t quite opaque around the edges.

“You’re a spirit.”

The spirit narrows its eyes. “I’m so much more than that.”

(Lan Zhan buys a guqin off eBay for a suspiciously low price, only to find that it’s haunted. And now there’s a ghost in his bed.)

~*~

Ok so I absolutely have to rec "see you yesterday" by glyphic. It's a wip, but it's currently at 101k so there's a whole lot there, and it's terrible and wonderful and beautiful all at once. The way the backstory of canon events is adapted to the modern-with-cultivation setting is brilliant, and then there's the amnesia, and then there's the time loop. This fic lives permanently rent-free in my brain.

see you yesterday

by glyphic (M, 101k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  

Wei Ying 21:09 hey lan zhan what’s the weirdest way youve died

Lan Zhan 21:11 Falling encyclopedias.

Wei Ying 21:12 omg no way that’s so rude turning books against you???

Lan Zhan 21:13 A betrayal I will never forget.

On Halloween night, an exiled demonic cultivator and a Lan disciple get stuck in a time-loop, find each other, and try to figure it all out.

~*~

If you are looking for recs for yourself I absolutely love (the complete!) story Just as the Snow Melts by draechali on AO3. It's a canon divergence where everyone lives, even WWX! ~ @airmidcelt

Just as the Snow Melts

by draechaeli (T, 67k, wangxian)

Summary:  Like a snowy mountain top in spring the residents of the Burial Mounds trickled down the mountain and joined the flow of society.

“I went to the Burial Mounds,” Lan WangJi said.

“Ah, yeah… I’m sorry Lan Zhan,” replied Wei WuXian, “I hadn’t thought anyone would come to visit. I am still not sure how it happened; I brought A-Yuan to Yiling to play by the river and then ended up somehow teaching a bunch of children swimming and writing along with him.”

~*~

Hello! It's come to my attention that you have not as yet read Grandmaster of Meme-onic Cultivation! Please do! It's the only thing that gave me joy during 2020 😆 like proper belly laughs and disney villain style cackling. It is a wip, and it is long but so so worth it!! The author has reworked the entire canon through these message crystals and still conveys complex characters despite the tricky format. It's just so good!! Highly highly recommend it! ❤ ~ @theladypeartree  [Oh!  I’ve been subscribed to this one, and know that @swaglexander-the-great is a reliable provider of Hilarity, so I’m excited for it to be finished!]

Grandmaster of Meme-onic Cultivation 

by Hades_the_Blingking (T, 49k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  The Untamed universe is exactly the same, except everybody has magical crystals that have a suspiciously familiar messaging system. The story is pretty much the same as the show, except everyone lives!! (so minor changes).

or in which Wei WuXian tries his darndest to date Lan Zhan, Jiang Cheng possibly has a aneurysm, Jin ZiXuan is still the most awkward human alive, and Xue Yang makes me write some VERY cursed things. Written in chatfic format! :3

~*~

Chomrafy on AO3 deserves love and encouragement; she’s written a body of compact, poetic, and eloquent shortfics each of which can stand alone, but that comprise an intricately cross-referential and mostly internally-consistent universe. They’re grouped as chapters in works according to theme; for example, “in cupped hands” focuses upon Jin Ling and his second-generation baggage; “Departure in Autumn” portrays the last years of WWX’s first life. Follow the tag “Chomrafy’s MDZS shortfics.” [I don’t see this tag?]

in cupped hands

by chomrafy (G, 2k, wangxian)

Summary:  Of secrets, of futures, of love. A Jin Ling-centric collection of 200-word fics.

Ch.1: Jin Ling repays a debt (JL, JC, & WWX). Ch.2: Jin Ling and a ghost in the mirror. (JL & JYL) Ch.3: A matter of friends (JL & the other kids) Ch.4: In this house we don't keep dogs (JC & WWX) Ch.5: In the end, he remains silent (JL & uncles) Ch.6: A first night hunt, of sorts (JL & the other kids) Ch.7: Jin Ling, forgiving, forgetting (JL & LXC & JGY) Ch.8: Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling argue (JL, JC, & WWX) Ch.9: Jin Ling and his father (JL & JC) Ch.10: Jin Ling speaks up (JL, JC, & WWX) Ch.11: Jin Ling and a piece of home (JL, JC, & WWX)

Departure in Autumn

by chomrafy (not rated, 6k)

Summary:  Four perspectives. A steady march to the end.

Ch.1: Because if anything happens to them, Wen Qing would never be able to heal with these hands again. Ch.2: As long as this is still home, Jiang Yanli will wait as long as she needs to. Ch.3: Five times Jiang Cheng reaches for Wei Wuxian, one time he turns away. Ch.4: Whether the road is broad or narrow, bright or dark, they would have to keep walking. Wei Wuxian digs Wen Qing's grave.

~*~

Hello, hope all is going well. I don't have an ask, by I do have a recommendation. I read this fic a while ago and found it again. I just wanted to recommend this for everyone. Let me know what you think please. Thank you. [Oh!  This one’s in my To Read list, but  I’d forgotten about it.  Mmmm, fox!wwx and dragon!lwj.]

Ten miles of Lotus Flowers

by Yukirin_Snow

M, 274k, wangxian

Summary:  He was a mischievous fox spirit, wreaking havoc where he went, about to depart on a journey that would span centuries.

He was a heavenly prince, a proud dragon destined to ascend the throne to become emperor.

Neither expected their paths to collide over the span of three lives.

~*~

I forgot if it was your blog 😥 that recommended “Bestseller” (when Wei Wuxian writes the Xianxia cut-sleeve equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, based entirely on his experiences with Lan Wangji, he doesn’t expect it to become the next big hit) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/21528316/chapters/51318766)

But OMG IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! I LOVED IT!! And if it wasn’t your blog, I’m so sorry for how weird this sounds 😭😭😭😭 I just loved this fic so much that I have to tell it to someone 😢 [It’s on my List, but I haven’t read it yet!]

Bestseller

by pupeez4eva

M, 8k, wangxian

Summary:  He had written the book to prove a point. It was never supposed to be a big thing, and he certainly never intended for everyone — Jiang Cheng, Zewu-Jun, the Juniors, literally everyone— to be reading about his sex life.

Oh God, he definitely needed to make sure Lan Zhan didn’t find out about this.

(Or, when Wei Wuxian writes the Xianxia cut-sleeve equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, based entirely on his experiences with Lan Wangji, he doesn’t expect it to become the next big hit).

~*~

I’d like to rec On Your Marks, Get Set, Bake! by @blackwiresgrowonherhead

It’s one of my absolute favorites and I laughed out loud so many times when reading it

on your marks, get set, bake!

by BlackWiresOnHerHead

G, 41k, wei wuxian & juniors

Summary:  Jin Ling resumes thumping on the door to room 721, and the small collection of freshmen starts chanting “Senior Wei! Senior Wei! Senior Wei!” with increasing volume until finally Wei Wuxian opens the door.

“Yes?” he says with his widest, most innocent eyes.

“Senior Wei!” demands Lan Jingyi, shoving himself to the front of the group. “Why didn’t you tell us you’re a contestant on this year’s season of The Great Gusu Bake Off?!?”

--

Several months ago, college student Wei Wuxian secretly competed in the most popular reality show in the country. The show starts airing in the fall. The freshmen in his dorm collectively lose their minds.

~*~

If you're in the mood for v. short ridiculous fun fic, may I suggest My chain hits my chest/When I'm bangin' on the radio by x_los It's 2k modern cultivators AU, featuring WWX calling LWJ's sword Bitchin' [omg I’m laughing so hard] and I think it's more fun going in blind?

My chain hits my chest/When I'm bangin' on the radio

by x_los

T, 2k, wangxian

Summary:  Lan Wangji finds he doesn't even need to call for help for Wei Wuxian to come running.

[mmikmmik2]

If you were to sort the Infinity Train cast(s) into the Major Arcana a la the Persona games, which Arcana would you give everyone?

anon I had SOOOOO much fun thinking about this, thank you so much for sending me this. I sorted all the major characters, plus a few other entries, based on a mix of Arcana symbolism, Persona series character archetypes, and general vibes. I came up with answers I feel pretty good about for all but four of the Arcana. (Was really tempted to say Strength is every human character who doesn't board the train because they can handle their problems on their own lol.) This is going to be a long-winded post, so I thought I’d post just the list as an image (which hopefully won’t be too blurry!) rather than wrestle with Tumblr formatting trying to make a short list, and put a big text wall under the readmore talking more about my picks.

If this list does end up illegible, the same info is under the readmore as text! Plus some characters for Magician, Strength, Justice, and Death that I didn’t want to add to the “official” list because they’re more based on headcanon. (Although my reasoning for some of the “official” picks is pretty weak lol.)

One-One as 0. The Fool

Oh my gosh, what am I?

IT is great at fleshing out character backstories and families, so One-One at the beginning of S1 is one of the few characters who really feels like a blank slate. He's got a lot of his baggage back by the end of the season, and I think One and One-One are more similar than they seem at first glance, but S1 does seem to have been very formative for One-One and how he thinks about what he's supposed to be doing and how he relates to other people. So it does kind of feel like his fool's journey.

Alrick Timmens as I. The Magician

The magician begins the journey... by beefing it on a dirt bike, dying, and sending his wife flying off the deep end. Rip.

Alrick was an engineer like Amelia, so I could see him suiting some of the themes of the Magician, like conscious thought and manifesting ideas. His apparent playfulness and insecurity are similar to the Magician characters in Persona.

Kez as II. The High Priestess

“We can’t make this decision for you, Kez.” “You know what to do.”

I thought really hard about making Kez the Magician because just like every Magician since Persona 3, she's dumb, horny, and insecure dlkjasfdkl

(and also her showing up at the start of the story arc and being helpful but also super needy is very Magician)

But the idea of "intuition" really does suit Kez. Sometimes her intuition is as bad as her conscious reasoning, but I think that's a lot because she's so confused about what happened with Jeremy, and Morgan making Kez feel like she did a bad thing by helping him.

Tuba as III. The Empress

She made me feel like I was warm all the time.

Tuba's a mom. Sorry, this one's not that deep, haha.

Simon Laurent as IV. The Emperor

Highest number! I'm the leader now.

Simon has a lot of issues, but the one that felt the most prominent to me was his unhealthy relationship with power, authority, dominance, and rules. Another quote I considered using here was what he said in Grace's memory of meeting Amelia: "I never thought I'd get to see the Conductor with my own eyes. He's perfect! Everything finally makes sense again." In his emotional crisis, he thought everything could be fixed just by the existence of a huge, scary, powerful, male authority figure, even if they weren't doing anything helpful or informative.

Atticus as V. The Hierophant

I like to think that our stones are sturdy and handsome, like the Corgis that crafted them.

Atticus is a figure of traditional authority who deeply loves the history, society, and culture of his people. He often provides spiritual wisdom and encourages Tulip to get out of her own head and engage with the world around her. Also in Persona, Hiero is the Dad Arcana so it's very funny to me (a) to make the little dog be Hiero and (b) that the little dog really does have the strongest Wholesome Dad Energy of the whole cast.

Jesse Cosay as VI. The Lovers

Don't tell me what to do. I'm not going to be a part of anything like this, on or off the train.

This was my first and easiest pick lol, Jesse is sooooo Lovers. Like, the focus on choice and personal values and relationships? Yep, that's Jesse. It works on an "actual meaning of the Arcana" level and a "vibes with the Persona characters" level lol... popular, upbeat, and having such an identity crisis.

Lake as VII. The Chariot

I'm my own person, who is getting off this train!

I don't know if Chariot captures all the ways Lake grew over the course of S2, but I feel like they had the most externally focused conflict of all the IT characters, which suits Chariot. They've been fighting to stake out their personhood from start to finish, and they took action and used their willpower to achieve that goal. Also they have at least a little jock energy which is a prereq for Chariot tbh.

Frank as VIII. Strength

I dunno, I kinda imagine him as a simple man and easily underestimated, but with a lot of heart. The Cat may say they're keeping things casual but I don't think she'd take him with her on her private vacation unless he had some kind of inner toughness that would let him stand toe-to-toe with her.

Morgan as IX. The Hermit

I need to be alone right now. Kez... maybe... we can talk later.

I like that Morgan embodies toxic self-isolation and stonewalling and rejection, but that she seems to be moving towards the positive aspects of Hermit and taking some time to calm down and process and think. I like it when characters can embody the best and worst of their Arcana.

Tulip Olsen as X. The Wheel of Fortune

We have to adapt to the changes in our lives. It's the only way things can get better.

Tulip has a lot of themes and conflicts, but this one is a clear standout as the most important. I also like it for Tulip because, while she has to handle a lot of difficult and even traumatic situations, some of the change that challenges her isn't as unambiguously bad as e.g. the death of a loved one. It really is just change itself she's struggling with, and that's Fortune babey. Also, from the perspective of the train itself and lots of other characters, by reversing Amelia and One-One's positions again and changing how One-One administrates the train, Tulip is the one giving the wheel a spin. That's fun.

Lucy as XI. Justice

One of my friends once described the Justice characters in Persona as "the ones the player character is ultimately accountable towards", and I like to think of Lucy as kind of being that for Grace (...since Hazel has excused herself). Lucy is the Apex kid we see Grace interact with the most, the first Apex kid Grace admitted to herself that she had harmed (see Grace very briefly showing distress and then regret when Jesse points the harpoons at his face and she stops him), and the first person to confront Grace when she came home in The New Apex.

Min-Gi Park as XII. The Hanged Man

I don't know if we'll sell a single album, but we'll figure that out as we go.

Min-Gi sacrifices his "realistic", "sensible" goals for a more personally (spiritually, even?) enriching life that's beyond his control and outside of the expected norm. Like the Hanged Man, who dangles foolishly upside-down, but as a deliberate choice and in a state of serenity and enlightenment. I also think this arcana suits a reading of Min-Gi's character development as starting off going slower as a way to stall and live in denial, but then going slower with deliberation. Compare his arrogant insistence on refusing to act in The Astro Queue Car to his patience and care in The Castle Car and The Train to Nowhere.

Jeremy as XIII. Death

This isn't about the death of his family - I'm thinking of his reluctance to admit his number was going down. He cared about Morgan and Kez, and it's possible both that he may have really wanted to stay with them despite his exit and that that might even have been a healthy choice - they're real ass people with feelings and everything, not holodeck characters. But I also think Jeremy was using his life with them to avoid moving on out of that fog (because it was hard and it hurt and he didn't want to think about what that would mean for him and Morgan) and Morgan was enabling him.

Ryan Akagi as XIV. Temperance

Maybe the experience is the point. I wasn't just rushing you. I was rushing myself.

I think this one speaks for itself. Also, the other quote I considered putting here, from The Art Gallery Car: "You told me I can't appreciate the song without taking in the rest of the album. I need the whole package."

The Cat as XV. The Devil

I always do the right thing.

Honestly, this is one I really wasn't sure about. The Cat isn't a great pick for a lot of the meanings of Devil. She is definitely consumed by material comforts, and the short-term rewards of ignoring her issues at a long-term cost, though. This is more of a "vibes with Persona characters with this arcana" pick... Devil characters tend to start off being somewhat exploitative or even antagonistic towards the player character, and gradually showing a more conflicted and genuine side.

Amelia Hughes as XVI. The Tower

There's a hole in the universe where Alrick used to be.

Amelia's life is defined by catastrophe and upheaval - both those she's suffered and those she's inflicted on others.

Hazel as XVII. The Star

I'm going to keep loving you like you're still here.

When I think of "The Star" as a small but inextinguishable light in the darkness, Hazel seems like the obvious choice. Although we left her deeply wounded, I think she still has a flicker of her hope, faith, and purpose.

Grace Monroe as XVIII. The Moon

But it's unfair for me to tell you how to understand yourself. I mean, I don't even fully understand me.

Grace is probably the most complex and dynamic character on the show and hence one of the most difficult to place. I considered Empress, Strength, Devil, and Judgement for her... I think ultimately, lies and illusions are the most unifying theme of her character arc. Also, from a Persona angle, her pursuit of status out of a lack of true self-worth reminds me of Ai and Mishima.

Alan Dracula as XIX. The Sun

Brought together by the majesty of a superpowered deer!

I'm sorry dkjasfklads this is largely because I thought it was funny to have this completely inexpressive dead-eyed deer as Sun akfk but also... like... it kind of works okay!!! Think about the genuine joy and comfort and positivity he brings to Lake and Jesse (and me)!

The New Apex as XX. Judgement

"Then what are we gonna be?" "Guess we'll have to figure it out?"

This is kind of a Persona mythology gag again because of Judgement being a group social link near the end of the narratives of P3 and P4, when the protagonists have pierced through the lies and actually figured out who the villain of their game is and are ready to really start making progress.

0 as XI. The World

Ah, train does it again!

It's an ending and the completion of a journey, but also the beginning of a new one. And the world is literally what the passengers receive at the end of their train journey. Welcome home.

[theanimeview]

My Nitpick Issue with Sherlock in Moriarty the Patriot

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting​

It may surprise some of you to know that I have degrees in book reading and writing. While earning those degrees I studied one specific time period more than the others--that being British Literature from late-17th/18th century through the early 20th century. This is to say that it is a time period I know a little more about than you might think. And early 1900s is probably my favorite period out of that timeline, particularly England under Victoria’s rule. 

And, perhaps, because of this strange obsession I have with the period, I presently have a small bone to pick over Moriarty the Patriot. 

It’s not the minor inaccuracies of the clothes, nor the adaptation of character designs. It’s not even the adjustment to social tendencies depicted that are more Japanese than British-English of any period thus far either--because those kinds of things happen frequently in adaptations. And it's not Moriarty or his backstory too! Because, again, this is an adaptation, and liberties will be taken to fit the new story (besides, even in the original works by Doyle the man’s backstory was inconsistent). 

My issue is with the character of Sherlock and his supposed “deductions.” Well, maybe more accurately it's with the writing of Sherlock. 

You see, Sherlock is almost always introduced the same way in an adaptation. He makes a judgment about someone (usually about Watson or the Watson stand-in) and then proves it using his observational skills. This introduction is important because it clarifies that the world of the characters is one based on where common sense and science not only work but make sense. His deductions are logical and based on some semblance of rationality. Here is an excerpt from the original novel: 

“I knew you came from Afghanistan. From long habit the train of thoughts ran so swiftly through my mind, that I arrived at the conclusion without being conscious of intermediate steps. There were such steps, however. The train of reasoning ran, `Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man. Clearly an army doctor, then. He has just come from the tropics, for his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He has undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly. His left arm has been injured. He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.' 

How does this prove we are in a world where common sense and logic works? Well, because he didn’t pull any of these deductions from thin air. He just used his eyes and common knowledge to make a quick judgment. 

In the example above, everything that Sherlock assumes is true and based on reasonable assumptions about the time period and about what he can observe of the person before him. 

The tan of Watson’s skin is something he notes because London is usually dark and wet around this season, so you’re unlikely to get a tan. The way the man walks and stands is also a thing he can observe, and fresh military men walk very differently from the average citizen or gentleman. These two observations, coupled with noticeable injury and limp could lead one to think that maybe he has just come back from the current war (the First Anglo-Afghan War). Of course, maybe he wasn’t injured in the war at all--maybe something else happened; however, you can make a pretty good guess that an abled bodied soldier would not be home and looking for a room in the middle of war-times if something hadn’t happened to him on the battlefield.

My point is that all of Sherlock’s deductions come from observing details, paying attention to the basics of the world (such as the ongoing war or understanding rigor mortis), and using your senses. Sure, there may be a few things the average person doesn’t know that Sherlock does, but that’s because Sherlock has studied different things and to a more serious degree. The level of understanding is different, but not impossible to achieve in one’s own time or effort. And, as another note, Sherlock is not perfectly observant all of the time. There are plenty of examples of him needing to take breaks, of him closing his eyes to block out distractions so he can better focus on what someone is saying, and of him smoking to zone out for a bit so that he can come back to a problem with fresh eyes at a later time. 

It’s absolutely vital to Sherlock’s character, and the original story, that all of the deductions are based on the “possible,” which is why the introduction of Sherlock in Episode 6 of this adaptation immediately irritated me. Here is the scene:

Side note:  I’m sorry it’s shown as a poorly made gif--I literally could not find a copy of the clip with English subtitles on YouTube so I could not include it as a video. If you want to look at it in the episode itself, it starts at about the 13:00 minute mark. EPISODE LINK)

Here is what bothers me so much. Why would a mathematician be checking to see if the staircase on a ship fits the golden ratio? More importantly, why would that in any way matter to Moriarty as a character? Based on what we’ve seen so far of this character, and we’ve had 6 and 1/2 episodes to define him so far, none of Sherlock’s statement makes sense here. 

Like, at all. (And I know that this also happens in the manga--doesn’t make sense there either.)

You know what would make sense though? For the time period and the character development we’ve seen of Moriarty thus far? A pause to consider-- and maybe even compare--staircases on the ship between the main steps for passengers and the steps for commoners or staff. 

Why would that make sense? Oh, thank you so much for asking. Time to get real nerdy here for a minute: 

Class issues were a serious problem in Victorian England (as they are now, though in a different way). These issues were not necessarily the same as depicted in the show but it was still consistently present throughout the society as a whole. (A good, short read on the subject can be found here for those of you interested: Social Life in Victorian England.)

One way that this issue came out was in the very architecture of homes. In Victorian England, nobleman homes and estates were built with main staircases, where the residents and guests walked, and servent staircases, where the staff and other temporary employees walked. The difference in these stairs was huge, as the servant staircases were basically death traps. 

In the late 1800s, a mathematician (and architect) named Peter Nickolson figured out the exact measurements that would generally ensure a comfortable and easy walk upstairs: 

BTW: Here is a great video on the subject and how they were death traps: Staircases in Victorian England

However, Nickolson’s math and designs were not used regularly in the design of houses for years to come. 

By the setting of the story, and given Moriarty’s interest in maths, his understanding of class issues, and beyond--this kind of knowledge would make far more sense than searching for the golden ratio in a man-made set of stairs. 

Moreover, the golden ratio is generally interesting to mathematicians (to my understanding) because it can be seen in nature frequently. It is a pattern found everywhere, from the way that petals grow on flowers, to how seashells form, to freaking hurricane formations! So why on Earth would Moriarty be interested in an architect's choice to use such a ration when planning a staircase? 

He wouldn’t, I believe. Nor would Sherlock generally be able to make that assumption based on his time gazing at the staircase, distance from said staircase, nor angle. 

So what can he deduce, if not that? Well, he may be able to deduce that Moriarty is a nobleman based on his attire. He may also be able to deduce that the man is a student based on age, as in an earlier episode we were told he’s quite young to be teaching in university and appears close in age to his students. Maybe he’s a student of architecture? But, if he’s a nobleman--as we suspect he is based on his attire--then it's unlikely he works a labor-intensive job or one close to it. So, he must be in academia for academic reasons such as mathematics. Physics during that time, as an academic subject, focused more on lighting, heat, electricity, magnetism, and such. And, Sherlock notes that Moriarty is specifically looking at the stairs, not the lights of the ship. 

So, BAM! I’ve deduced Moriarty is a young nobleman who is likely a student of mathematics. Perhaps he’s recently had a lesson on staircases or another algebraic concept that’s caused him to pause with momentary interest. 

It makes a heck of a lot more sense than finding a “golden ratio” in a man-planned and man-made staircase... don’t you think? And, maybe, we can even deduce that rather than a student he’s a professor who has just thought up an interesting lesson--though that would be a BIG jump from the data we’ve been provided here. 

Deductions that come from major leaps in logic make it seem like Sherlock is doing magic... and he is--because it is magical that people find it impressive or believable. It’s not. And I would argue that the original character would find it insulting based on his comments to Watson regarding being compared to other fictional detectives.

Pay in mind, I have this feeling about several adaptations, so my judgment on Moriarty the Patriot isn’t technically exclusive. It just hit me so hard in my first viewing that I felt I needed to share because generally, this issue of deductions becoming magic rather than stemming from logic doesn’t happen in the first two minutes of meeting Sherlock Holmes.

So... yeah. Thanks for coming to my absurd history/lit lesson through Moriarty the Patriot. I appreciate you sticking with me to the end and hope it was enjoyable.

You can watch the series on Funimation.com right now at: https://www.funimation.com/shows/moriarty-the-patriot 

Overall, it’s a pretty good series; although there was a lot more child-murder than I expected...

[firelxdykatara]

kitty i can't wait for your thoughts of Shadow and Bone asdfasfaw

Ok well I just finished and I have so many fucking thoughts. Most good! Some, less so. Part of it may just be my bias because I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology and have little interest in actually reading the original trilogy, because I know how it ends and Leigh clearly hates me personally and doesn’t want me to be happy (/j), so I was already predisposed to be far more invested in the Crows and Darkling/Darklina segments (genuinely, the Mal/Malina scenes/storyline bored me to tears, and while I appreciate that the show went out of its way to change Mal’s character to make him much less of a toxic douchebag [I’ve read enough excerpts and explanations of his actions in the books to really loathe book!Malina], it isn’t enough to make me ship them when Darklina is right there), but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Crows absolutely stole the show.

It’s actually kind of funny, because I’d assumed they were only being so heavily marketed to hype the show up even more, since while there’s a lot of TGT/SoC fandom overlap they are also two fundamentally different genres and I’d wager there are a lot of people who are massive fans of one but not so enthused with the other, while remaining fairly insignificant to the overall plot. Turns out, they make up fully half of the show’s runtime (much to my delight). Which is part of what I think will help this series stand on its own, both as a book adaptation and simply as a fantasy TV series.

I’ll put more of my story-specific thoughts under a cut, so there’s lots of show spoilers to follow!

I know that a lot of early reviewers were saying that Alina’s motivations and storyline revolved too much around Mal, and that really held true for me. It made sense in the beginning--he was the only constant in her life, she was thrust into something new, terrifying, and completely unfamiliar, and they’d developed an unhealthy codependence as a coping mechanism for their childhoods and the traumas they faced, the lives they lead growing up in a war-torn country. But she started coming into her power, falling for the General--not just his power and charisma, but what she felt when she was with him. The way he helped her summon the sun, the way she felt free in a way she never had before.

Until it all went to shit--but the Darklina make-out scene in episode 5? Fucking iconic. Poetic fucking cinema. The way they were quite literally about to have sex on that wartable (and someone better write fic of that moment, what if they hadn’t gotten interrupted), and the General left, but then he ran back just to kiss her one more time... this is what OTPs are made of ok.

I think what really bothers me overall is that Alina ultimately lacked agency in her one storyline, pretty much the entire way through. She did make a few choices, but they were mostly incidental, and a lot of it was Alina desperately trying to get back to Mal rather than seizing her own power and destiny and running with it. The most prominent example is the end of episode 5--Alina is having happy make-outs and almost bones the General in his own war room, and then he leaves, and Baghra comes in and infodumps to her about how evil he is and how he’s only using her and she needs to escape.

I recognize that a lot of this is probably because that’s essentially what happened in the book and Leigh is an executive producer for the show so she has a lot of shot-calling power. However, I really think that even in the book this plotline would’ve been better-served by having Alina make these discoveries on her own.

For example, imagine that the letters which were used as framing devices for episodes 2 and 3 were vitally important to the plot, rather than being one-offs that are mentioned a few times but not really affecting much of anything. Alina begins to get suspicious when she doesn’t receive word from Mal, and she starts wondering if her letters are even reaching him--so she starts snooping. She finds ashes in the war room hearth, late at night,, and recognizes a fragment of Mal’s signature and larger piece of her own. She now knows that someone--possibly the General, but maybe that creepy priest guy, or someone else in the palace--is keeping her and Mal from contacting one another. So she starts snooping around even more. She asks the General leading questions, trying to figure out what the truth is of his intentions. She still feels this pull--this connection to him, and she hopes she’s wrong, but she’s not willing to just sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop.

The Winter Fete still happens, she still gets the hot make-out session with the General, and then when he’s called away, she snoops through his papers, looking for anything that can tell her the truth. She finds a hidden compartment filled with journals.

She reads about Aleksander’s past (and, incidentally, wasn’t that supposed to be a huge moment in the books, him revealing his true name to her in private? kinda wish it had been kept that way in the show but who knows where they’ll go with it in the future)--that leads to the flashbacks in episode 6. She feels for him, but she also reads further--she gets a firsthand look at his desire for power, something that began as a noble desire to save his people, but was twisted by a lust for vengeance (for his lost love and all the Grisha who were killed) and shot through with greed, the realization that if he found the Sun Summoner he could control the Fold, rather than just destroy it. He could create a new world where Grisha could live without fear--where Grisha could rule.

Alina is terrified. Whoever the General used to be--whatever humanity she saw flickering in his eyes, the way his heart fluttered when they kissed--she can’t trust that it’ll be enough to save her from plans centuries in the making. So she goes to Baghra, the woman who helped her discover her power, learn to channel it--the woman who always seemed to know much more than she ever let on. Baghra gives her side of the story--Alina got it from the General’s perspective first, now Baghra is telling her something framed much differently. She isn’t sure what or who to trust, but she knows that Baghra seems willing to help her escape--but rather than trusting her ‘loyal Grisha’, she makes the choice she made in the show, to choose the other path, and winds up with the Crows.

Idk how Mal and the Stag thing would fit into this (if it isn’t obvious by now, Mal just... doesn’t interest me), but Alina’s story and her character arc would be so much stronger for it. And she’s supposed to be the central character, so her story being weak and her agency so frequently being compromised ultimately hurts the show as a whole.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Alina and the Darkling (look, I’m a slut for enemies-to-lovers, and also lovers-to-enemies-and-back, so Darklina and Helnik are where so much of my investment is rooted--plus Kanej, but that almost goes without saying), but the true standouts of the series were the Crows. Inej, Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina and Matthias in their episodes, stole the show (along with the Darkling, Ben is far and away the best actor in the cast and I love that for him, but Freddy, Amita, and Kit are also amazing, and Danielle&Calahan were fucking phenomenal as Nina and Matthias--I do have to say, though, that the whole cast is really solid and has amazing chemistry).

They worked together so perfectly--Freddy and Amita communicated so much with their eyes alone, especially together, and a whole lot of their relationship dynamic is rooted in how they exist together, which really came through. The show altered the Crows timeline considerably (I’m pretty sure Kaz would’ve been 14 during the original trilogy lol), so Inej is still at the Menagerie, but things like Kaz putting up the Crow Club for Inej’s freedom, the way Kaz needed her but could never bring himself to say it (until the end of the season dklhfgdkjfgh i SCREAMED)--the way Jesper played off the both of them, and it’s so obvious they all love each other even though they’re criminals and thieves and murderers, and Kaz would never admit it (out loud--which actually feeds into my theory that his love language is acts of service; Kaz does things for the people he cares about, he never announces it and he will almost always try to downplay it, but the way you know he cares is if, for example, he puts his entire life, everything he built, up as collateral for your freedom), but they’re a family.

One thing that I was kind of iffy about was Inej’s refusal to kill--but I thought it might be something they were planning to work into her overall character arc, and they did. It was the one line she hadn’t crossed--in the books, I’d imagine that it took a while for Inej to wind up at that point, being willing to kill on top of everything else. So I actually like that they worked that into the Crows plotline, and Inej killing for the first time was to save Kaz’s life.

Just like Kaz’s first selfless act was to save her.

(He’d deny it, of course. He protects his investments. He needed her for the job. But the truth is, he did it for her. And he’d do it again. Even if he’d never admit it.)

Meanwhile, Nina and Matthias’ storyline was pretty much note-for-note according to their backstory as it was revealed in Six of Crows, and I loved every second of it. Their chemistry was perfect, their journey from enemies to begrudging allies to friends to maybe something more (Matthias’ stomach cockblocking them when they were about to kiss had me fucking SCREAMING AT THE TV, and then of course the whole ‘betraying him to save him’ thing happened and I sobbed), and then suddenly right back to enemies.

Because from Matthias’ perspective, he trusted a witch--believed in her, liked her, wanted her--and she turned on him. He has no idea that she wasn’t the one who knocked him out in the first place, and no reason to believe her, because as far as he knows, she just confirmed everything he’d ever been told about Grisha. That they are deceitful and treacherous, would turn on you as soon as look at you, that they are dangerous and not to be trusted. It wasn’t revealed in-show but I imagine Matthias’ backstory is largely the same, which means that his entire family was slaughtered by Grisha when he was a young boy, and then he was turned into a brainwashed child soldier by the witch hunters and never knew anything else.

They are perfectly primed for their SoC arc next season and I, for one, am so stoked to see the rest of their journey. And if I slip Netflix a couple twenties, maybe they’ll let Helnik have a happy ending please please please.

Anyway, yeah! I have a lot of thoughts but things are still percolating in my head so I’ll probably float around the tags for a bit and let things settle. This is just a preliminary overview of my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of bingeing the entire show in one night kldfjghdkjfhgkjgf

EDIT TO ADD: I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THE TRUE STAR OF THE SHOW, M I L O

MILO BEST BOY. MILO THE MVP. MILO DESERVES ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD AND I HOPE HE LIVES A HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND FULL LITTLE GOAT LIFE.