#let characters talk about and compare different customs

[vincent-sinclair-deserved-better]

shoutout to all non-american writers who include their own culture in their writing, even when the setting is not their home country

[scremogirl]

☾✧꥟ 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 ✧✰☀︎︎

𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐧

Yandere! Serial Killer x Reader

Mentions of blood! Mentions of Death! Mentions of mutilation! Mentions of Murder, GN! Reader, NReader/Diolouge uses a lot of black colloquialisms/AAVE *slightlyyyy black coded but only for the speaking bits. NO APPERANCE MENTIONED!* READ THE NOTE AT THE END PLZ! (●’◡’●)ﾉ Part 2 here Part 3 here

Halloween.

The day where people grasp the fact that the summer's over and the seasons have finally changed. Corny decorations on front porches, masks in windows to scare unaware customers, and people dressed as slutty cartoon characters.

You loved the last one. You’ve always worked hard on your costumes; from a small cameo in the school yearbook to entering contests and pageants. You loved fashion, everything about it. The different fabrics, colors, patterns; you cherished it all. So, it’s no wonder that’s what you’ve chosen as your destined career path. You somehow managed to get into the third most prestigious fashion school. I say third because the first one you applied for, was full of egotistical French exchange students who do nothing but compare their lives at home to their lives in America. The second… well, you don’t want to talk about it. Regardless, you’re so grateful your talents have been recognized.

That leads us to now. At the biggest fright fest of the year. Your professor decided that if everyone got at least a 95% or above on the unit test, he’d take the whole class on a field trip to the annual Freak do Shek Carnival. A free trip and creating a new costume? You’ve never studied harder in your life. You spent days working on your costume; hoping to win the annual costume contest.

“Breaking news! The killer know as the “Mask Maker” is still on the loose and is currently suspected to be in the Witchwood area. It is recommended for all residents to stay indoors travel in groups-,”

Your heart sinks.

No, no, no! Why does it have to be now? Why here? The area you lived in was one of the safest in the city! Police patrolled regularly, security systems were available to all, and most people have been traveling in groups these days. So, why? You look at your friend, Malika, who no doubt received the same alert as you did, judging by her face.

“Well what the hell are we supposed to do now!?�� She yells in frustration. You all have arrived at the festival and the bus has already taken its leave. Unless you call an Uber, there’s no way out; but then again, with a killer on the loose, no person would be dumb enough to let any stranger in their car. You tell your teacher your concerns, but does he listen? No.

“We’ll be fine,” , “just travel in groups,” , and “make sure you check in with everyone at least every 15 minutes,” is all he says to shake your worries. Great job by the way. With that, he goes ahead with another one of the chaperones, probably on their way to get drunk on cheap beer and look at young girls. Pig.

“I know I ain’t stayin for damn sure,” you chuckle at Malikas abrasiveness and nod your head in agreement.

“Who’s gonna pick us up though? We all came here on a bus and no Lift driver is stupid enough to let strangers in at this time,” you both sigh and end up agreeing that she’d call her boyfriend to come get you. The only downside is he lives in the next county. That means 3 whole hours plus some that you two have to try and rid your paranoia.

“How ‘bout we go check out the costume display for the upcoming show? Maybe scope out some the competition?”

“You know what Malika, that sounds like a great idea,” she holds out her arm and you take it , laughing your way down the hay covered dirt path wearily dodging scare actors. Unbeknownst to you the glowing eyes of one of the masks are filled with anything but fake intent.

“Hey, Mal? Is he on the way yet?” You two have already viewed the display, concrete knowing you’re gonna knock everyone at the park. So you decided that maybe a little sightseeing wouldn’t be that bad.

“Ugh! He said he’s on his way but knowing him, that means he just got in the shower,” with a deep sigh she puts her phone back in her pocket.

“Look,” she continues

“ How about we go get something to eat and enjoy what we can. I mean, we did wait all year for this,” you’re a little hesitant but you end up caving; fried oreos do sound good right now.

The walk to the concession stands is filled with jump scares from actors, Jack, o lanterns illuminating your path and the laughter of children and adults a like. The environment reminds you of why you came here in the first place, maybe there is nothing to be worried about.

Oof!

“Oh I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” to wrapped up in the scenery and nostalgia, you failed to notice one of the actors scrambling by. You hear the muffled laughter of Malika and try your best not to strangle her to cover up your embarrassment. Fortunately , it was just the water that spilled on them; Unfortunately, your oreos lay spread eagle on the ground. However, even with a soaked costume and powdered sugar all over their boots, they remain in character. Only giving you a tilt of the head, a grunt, and tightening their grip on their axe. The eyes that lay behind the papier-mâché mask boar deep into your soul, the white contacts holding something deep and dark. The feeling of guilt is slowly washed away and replaced with anxiousness. Man, they're getting employee of the month. Still, you feel bad so you grab the napkins from your back pocket and gently wipe their mask, some of the fake blood coming off along with the water. Hmm, these effects are off the chain too.

As you clean them up you can’t help but to think that they’ll join the costume contest, definitely giving you a run for your money. You're snapped out of your thoughts when Malika pulls you along the road, whining about how upset she is because she didn’t get to snag one of your Oreos. Making your leave, you look over your shoulder one last time, only to find those same white eyes trailing your figure.

My god, you're even more beautiful up close.

“Personally, if that happened to me I’d kill myself,” once again, your friends laughter snapped you outta your own mind. You just giggle and brush it off.

“Shut up! It’s not like I did it on purpose! Besides he was kinda fine not gon’ hold you,”

“I know right! the way he titled his, had a tear running down my leg not gon’ lie,”

“Girl… don’t you gotta man? Like… on his way here?”

“Shhhh don’t ruin the fantasy,”

Two hours have officially passed, the same old texts between Malika and her boyfriend, this time however he was actually in the car. She had pressed him to turn on his location for safety, you could never be too sure now can you? He should’ve been here by now but with how crowded the festival is getting, you can’t blame him. Thankfully, the contest is just about to start! Going against your better judgment, you and Malika thought that being apart for about 15-20 mins wouldn’t hurt. She’ll be waiting in the audience while you go change anyways.

Rushing to the changing rooms you fail to notice another contestant coming towards you just as fast. For the second time this night you managed to bump into someone.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t mean I-,”

“Watch where you’re going bitch! Y’know how long it took me to make this thing?” You look to the left and then to the right trying to figure out who the fuck they think they’re talking too.

“Look I didn’t mean it, I’m sorr-,”

“Yea yea whatever, just stay outta my way next time. Besides, it’s not like you're gonna win this thing anyways,” just before you were about to give them a piece of your mind, the manager stepped in and separated you two. Jeez now this is gonna take even longer than you expected. You thought it was only fair to let Malika know shoot her a quick text. “No worries, babe! Gill's location says he’s here already so Imma grab us a quick bite to eat before I look for him and we head to you. See ya soonnn❤︎︎!!!”

Good; that buys you just enough time. After getting changed and checking your reflection for the hundredth time, you step out feeling as confident as ever. Just as you exit the stall, you hear the worst blood curdling scream of your entire life. You look over to your right and see that asshole from early and that guy with the really nice axe murder costume. Your eyes have to be deceiving you! One of their legs is completely severed, blood dripping from the stub left behind. Slash marks, deep and crooked, adorn their arms and remaining leg. They Look as if their limbs could snap off at the slightest breeze. They cry and groan as they reach out to you. Following their eyes the crazed murder shifts his eyes to you. Their weapon of choice freezing in their hands mid swing. Their victim continues to moan in pain and crawl away, begging and pleading for someone to save them. But…you just laugh.

“I see what you're trynna do here, and it ain’t workin’. Your costume is good but it isn’t better than mine. Assholes,” the last part is mumbled under your breath as you walk away. Even though you presented yourself in this prideful manner, you can’t help the feeling of disappointment that bubbles inside you. You tried really hard this year, let’s just hope that everyone else thinks you did too.

CHOP

Finally. Holding up the severed head he smiles, crooked and eerie. The bitch wouldn’t stop screaming, but at least he gets to see the look of fear in their face forever.

“Hey! What the hell’re you doing!?” hm? Turning around he sees the manager from earlier, standing before him with wide eyes filled with shock and anger. He can’t have his plans be ruined by a little slip up! He didn’t mean to act so impulsive but he couldn’t help. Nobody talks to you like that; not if he had something to do about it. Swinging his weapon of choice up on his shoulder, he’s about to take a step before he’s interrupted.

“Didn't I tell you guys to keep all spare props in bags because of the fake blood?! It gets everywhere and I’m the one who has to clean it up!” They shoved him to the side before grabbing a large trash bag from the cart they lugged behind them; simultaneously grabbing a mop and bucket. Continue to grumble about how “they don’t get paid enough for this” and “all the newbies are irresponsible”. But hey, free disposal.

“Sh, sh it’s okay; it was never your fault,” you tried comforting her but to no luck. All she can see is red as the burning hot tears streaming from her eyes ruin the makeup she spent so long on

“Okay?! It’s not okay (Y/N)! He said he was stuck in traffic all the while he was toungin’ down some bitch in a slutty cat costume. Very unoriginal btw!” You try to keep your giggle in for her sake. You kept trying to tell her this idiot wasn’t any good for years but nooo “the dick was too good to let go,” and apparently, someone else thought so too. Her weeping continues before she builds up the courage to speak again.

“All I wanna do is go home; fuck this competition,” you smile seeing her personality shine through her sadness just a little.

“Yea, fuck this competition,”sure you’re sad about to being able to participate this year, but with your best friend in distress and a serial killer on the loose, you can’t help but to think that maybe you could wait until next year. Ordering the Uber, you suggest that before it gets here, you should check in with your teacher first. Of course you don’t have his number and you're sure your other classmates are not worried about their phones unless they’re snapping pics and recording for their stories . You send them a quick text to your classes group chat and look for the exit.

“He really is a dick, you don’t need him,”

“Yea, I know. Besides, maybe that axe guy will take care of him for me,” she giggles but you don’t find it funny at all.

“What?”

“Yea, I saw him outta the corner of my eye when I walked in on he who shall not be named about to fuck that other girl,” she rolls her eyes and continues walking but you remain stationary.

“You gotta be joking,“ she turns around and gives you a quizzical look so you continue further.

“He and another dickhead I bumped into put on this whole show to get me to drop outta the contest. Lost limbs, fake blood and everything. I don’t know what his problem is, but he needs to leave me the fuck alone before I get the manager, on some Karen shit”

“Now that I think about it, he has been high-tailing us ever since we’ve got here,” she freezes before looking at you dead on. She wipes away the tear stains and brushes her nose against her sleeve before scanning the area.

“You don’t think it’s Kee-,”

“No! Don’t. It’s not him. It couldn’t be,” she holds up her hands in defense before pulling you along to get the hell up outta here. It goes dead silent, tension filling the air. It couldn't be him! It’s just some rando whos jealous of your skill! But…your mind was just playing tricks on you. That feeling of paranoia started to rise again and the flashbacks felt like they were hitting you in waves. She saw this and decided to speak up before it got worse.

“Hey, I’m sorry for bringing it up. I really didn’t mean to-,” this time it’s your turn to cut her off. You offer her a light smile and hold her hand in yours before squeezing.

“It’s alright. Besides, who needs men anyways. You’re all I need,” she gives you an even brighter one, her usual self returning, before squeezing just as hard, laying her head on your shoulder while you walk.

“Yea, fuck men,” you two laugh in sync before changing the conversation to what you’ll do when you get home; maybe a Horror movie marathon and some junk food will cheer you up. Who cares, the night has just begun for you and there’s no way anything was gonna ruin it.

Watching you walk away a gloved hand slams into a tree. Dammit! You won’t get away so easily. You’re his. Nobody else’s. He’ll make sure of it. Starting with her.

Hello everyone!!!! Hope you enjoyed the first part of my Halloween special. I’m breaking this down into 3 parts because I’m afraid people will think it’s too long if I put the whole thing on tumblr. I will be making an Ao3 and the whole fic will be posted without any split up. When it’s created and up I’ll let you know. Hope you enjoyed Loves!!! ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎.

-Love, Sosa❤️

[redr0sewrites]

ATSV Characters with a Goth S/o

heeeeeyyyyyy guys 😇 *slowly sliding the 100+ REQUESTS in my inbox to the side to make room for a new special interest*

🥀Cw: none, mostly fluff!!!

🥀Pairing(s): Hobie x reader, Miles x reader, Miguel x reader, Spot x reader

Hobie

he would LOVE any type of alternative partner tbh- he just LOOOVESSS that ur goth and will support you 100%

people who go against societies expectations/standards and don't fit in with the norm intrigue him, and your style is probably what piqued his interest in the first place

y'all definitely wear matching fits sorry i don't make the rules- hobie just can't pass up the opportunity to match w you!!! whenever you go to meetings within the spider society he always brings you along, regardless of whether or not you're a spiderperson and hobie loves showing off you and your style

MAJOR "THATS MY PARTNER‼️" VIBES

look me in the eyes and tell me hobia would not absolutely rock some funky eyeliner LIKEEEEE- he def lets you practice on him and will do your makeup for you too!!!

hobie loves thrifting with you, there is no way he isn't a major thrifter and you both definitely DIY a lot of your clothes

HE MAKES YOU GUYS MATCHING PUNK BATTLE VESTS FOR YOUR ANNIVERSARY, AND MAKES SURE THAT IT MATCHES UR AESTHETIC AS WELL!!

hobie absolutely has BLESSED music taste, but while he usually listens to rock, punk, dad rock, or post-punk type of music, i def see him enjoying more gothic/new wave music- especially if u introduce it to him!!!

i see him enjoying bauhaus, sisters or mercy, scary bitches, etc- he'll also give YOU a lot of music recommendations and help to expand ur taste!

hobie would also accompany you to any protests or conventions that you wanted to attend, and would act as your scary dog privileges

YOU TWO DEFINITELY GO TO CONCERTS TOGETHER OMG. I TOTALLY SEE THAT AS A SPONTANEOUS DATE THAT YOU TWO ENJOY A LOT

honestly hobie is a lovely partner to have if you are goth, and he's not only supportive but VERY enthusiastic about your fashion and lifestyle!

Miles

hes such a sweetheart!!! he definitely supports you if you're goth and asks a LOOOT of questions lmao

miles draws you and your fashion a lot, and will def design makeup or eyeliner ideas for you too!!! while ik this is more associated with punk, i also see miles drawing you a few custom patches and stuff like that

your kind of like his muse in a way, and miles just really enjoys sketching you, especially since you have such a unique aesthetic and such cool outfits

HE HAS DEFINITELY GRAFFITIED U SOMEWHERE‼️

he loves watching you get ready and do your makeup. seeing you do perfect eyeliner wings and heavy makeup in general lowkey relaxes him, and he just loves admiring you

im sorry but miles knows absolutely nothing about goth music or culture, ur gonna have to introduce him to a lot of the songs/bands!!!

while i don't think he's huge on the music at first, i think it would grow on him over time. its definitely the type of thing that he loves because YOU love it, and he sees how mu much you enjoy it so he starts listening to it as well so he can talk to you about it

i think his favorite band would be the cure, and his fav songs would either be boys dont cry or the walk (both by the cure- idk why thats so specific but they just kinda fit his vibe yk?)

miles likes holding hands a lot, and he loves when you wear rings or gloves or something along those lines because it just reminds him so much of you! your hands just feel different compared to other peoples and he just loves how unique you are

if you have a lot of piercings, miles would definitely ask about them or buy you specific jewelry for piercings!!!!

overall, very very cute and supportive about your style!!! (he lowkey gives bi wife energy, and iyk what in talking ab then ily mwah)

Miguel

he's pretty indifferent to your style at first, i don't see him as the type to judge much based on appearances. its your personality that really throws him for a loop, and a part of him admires your dedication to making yourself look how you want to look and truly living to be your best self, regardless of what others think

if you think miles knows nothing about being goth then be prepared for miguel bc he knows NOTHINGGGG- no music, no history, no political views, zero, zilch, nada, goose egg

if he cares about you i do see him being intrigued about your style, and once you two are officially dating is when he'll show more interest in your personal fashion sense

he strikes me as the type to like, NEVER listen to music, so he literally only listens to the music you like!!! he does find himself occasionally humming the tune of some strawberry switchblade song or casually listening to a siouxsie and the banshees song while he works, and over time you influence him a LOT with your music taste. he definitely associates any and all goth music with YOU, and that's probably why he starts enjoying it.

he's a "hand on you at all times" type of guy, and while he is rarely touchy with others, miguel is definitely keeping you close. your fashion makes that convenient for him, and he loves pulling you into a kiss by grabbing onto your belt loop or something of the sort

miguel loves how you look with and without makeup on and isn't afraid to tell you that, however, he really likes it if you incorporate his colors or color scheme into your makeup one day. he'll never admit it, but you keep catching him admiring you with the smallest smirk on his face every few seconds

if anyone ever gave u shit for what you wear and how you dress, especially someone in the spider society, you'd practically have to restrain miguel from drop kicking them across nueva york- he doesn't want anyone to be rude to you , and while he knows you can stand up for yourself, he just gets protective at times

Spot

goth? whats that???

he's lowkey such a nerd, and spends too much time being science-y and planning on how to beat spiderman to actually get caught up on fashion

spot doesn't know how he pulled you tbh, but he appreciates you nonetheless!!! he thinks you and your aesthetic are something to be admired, and will unabashedly tell EVERYONE he knows about you

he will shoplift any clothing or jewelry that you want, and he'll even take you to other dimensions where there are better alternative clothes as well

spot doesn't really have a face to do makeup on, but he'll offer to do yours for you! surprisingly enough he's pretty good at it, though he does work pretty slowly

spot loves fiddling with your accessories, whenever he's standing near you he's always reaching out to touch you in some way shape or form. he loves playing with any chains or necklaces you wear, and will help adjust them so that they lay correctly

he helps you get ready in the morning!!!!! if ur the type of goth to wear corsets, he makes lacing them up SO easy and will gladly do it for you

i personally hc that spot HATES seeing himself in mirrors/pictures, it reminds him sm of what he used to look like, but he LOVES taking photos of you and your style!! whenever you are wearing a cute outfit or have funky makeup on, spot adores just taking photos of you

if you ever did a makeup look inspired by him and his spots he would probably CRY :(

URGRHHRHHRRR I LOVE ATSV SMMMMMMM!!!! this post will DEFINITELY have a pt2 w more characters!!!!! i swear tho atsv literally pulled me out of the most horrendous burnout ever i FELT the artblock and writing block lift off of my body as i watched it. IM SO INVESTED I MADE A SPIDERSONA...

[marvelstars]

Anakin and Slavers

"His undoing is that he loveth too much"

George Lucas

One thing that I always liked about George´s work in relation to Anakin and slavery is how out of the left field he and Dave Filoni wrote Anakin´s relationship to the people who owned or saw him as a property at one point or another and yet it makes total sense for his character.

For example kid Anakin has no doubt that Slavery is horrible and at 9 he is actually working towards developing technology to help free his Mom, friends and himself from it. He hates with capital H the fact those people have control over the life and death of other people but at the same time he has great compassion and kindness which his mother helped nurture. This along with the fact that Watto was the only adult male figure who was around during his early chilldhood, this complicated his feelings towards slavers in a very tragic way.

Anakin feared Watto´s violence and didn´t for a moment doubt he would have been willing to sell off his mother or him if the customer got to a big enough price but at the same time he listens to his advice when he travels to the dune sea to do his work with the jawas and his pov is almost as important as his Mom´s, in the novelization of TPM Anakin remembers not to talk to strangers or to get close to Tuskens Raiders camps thanks to Watto´s advice.

So in Anakin´s mind, Watto is someone he fears but also someone he takes advice from, respects to a point, sometimes gets sassy to and actually listens to almost as a father figure BUT at the same time he has no doubt he would activate the killing chip if he tried to escape.

Pain/abuse/fear mixed with care/advice(sounds familiar?) Anakin knows slavery is awful but he can´t help but see Watto as a person because of who Anakin is, Annie is a kind and understanding person and to point may justify Watto as a "Man of bussines" and "Not as bad a other masters" "It could be worse" but he definitely doesn´t trust him in the same way he does his mother, she is blood, she is family. He and Mom are a team.They shared their secrets.

The first time Anakin saw Watto again after being freed, he was a Jedi with training, almost a knight and the first thing he does to the guy who beat him and his Mom some years ago is to ask him if he can help with the ship parts Watto is working on because he noticed Watto is struggling and his bussines is falling down compared to how it was when Anakin was a kid. When Watto noticed who Anakin was he didn´t reject him and accepted his congratulations but keep himself appart, hoping to learn about his mother whereabouts.

When Watto told Anakin he sold Shmi, Anakin doesn´t have a reaction, he takes Watto´s justification of "I am sorry Ani but bussines are bussines and anyway the person who bought her freed her and married her" Anakin doubts it´s as good a picture as Watto is talking about but he takes his justification and leaves.

When he meets Owen, Beru and Cliegg he sees they are indeed nice people and the reason for his mothers suffering is something completely different that they were not able to stop so he doesn´t blame them for her fate. When Anakin lost his mother it was only natural for him to seek a family, someone he could share how he really felt and his secrets, he could not be part of the Lars family but Padme was willing to love him so she became his new confirmed family, right along with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka but while he had to show himself different to them, he didn´t had to do that with Padme, just like he did with his mother.

In the clone wars Anakin shows again this complex view of slavers with Queen Miraj Scintel, the cartoon goes out of it´s way to show she looked at him as pretty property and he didn´t let her forget that and actually it was strongly suggested he may have been raped by her at some point to keep safe Obi-Wan, Rex, Ahsoka as well as the people they wanted to save while he got enough soldiers to stage their rescue. Anakin had a plan the whole time just as he did as a kid so he keep his cool even when he saw another slave choose suicide over keep being under the control of Scintel. Yet in the end when the Queen was killed by Count Dooku Anakin felt sorry for her, he could not help it.

So this mix of rejection/anger/hate/disgust towards slavers mixed with pity/understanding which is something that was part of what made Anakin a good person gets used agaisn´t him in his relationship with Palpatine.

He first shows himself as the father figure Anakin thought he could find in Qui-Gon before he died a better father figure than Watto had been, a father figure that didn´t reject this title like ObiWan did, Palpatine did this to get his trust as a young child and later young adult and then he showed himself as the real sith master he actually was, Palpatine knew that Anakin wasn´t a stranger to be treated as property by people who showed themselves as good advicers or somehow not as bad as others despite their actions. So Anakin´s initial compassion, kindness and understanding for people that abused him is played agaisn´t him to make him fall to the darkside and chain himself again to another worse master who didn´t just seek to use his skills and body but who wanted his soul as well.

And the same reasons why Anakin justified Watto at first when he was a young kid also applied to Palpatine, he may be a sith but he ran the Republic better than those corrupt politicians, he isn´t a perfect Emperor but in Padme´s absence he is better than the alternatives. He isn´t as bad as a master and anyway I deserve this because I fell to the darkside and nobody can come back from that, if he abuses me I got this coming because I choose this and he still teaches me the ways of the force, he rescued me from Mustafar when Obi-Wan left me to die and he didn´t have to, he is all I have left.

So once Anakin´s voice died down Vader was left with many reasons to say to Palpatine "What´s your bidding my master?" because in his mind master isn´t a word that contradicts father and Palpatine became his father in all but name, this makes George´s words about Anakin fatal flaw being the fact he loved too much make complete sense and it´s a tragedy.

[crispy0nion]

if you pay attention to non-voiced dialogue, side quests and drip marketing posts you might've realized already, but

Billy Kid used to be a member of the Sons of Calydon.

it's not like it has been outright stated but with the amount of hints the game has given, i think it's a safe bet. we don't know the implications of this connection as of now considering how little we know about SoC, but i think we'll get more info in 1.3, along with Caesar's release. with that being said, let's get into it.

starting easy, Billy's jacket. red, and with a boar. need i say more?

not exactly the same, but definitely close enough to have a connection.

moving on, most of the hints can be found in Billy's trust quests. they are triggered randomly (and I assume some of them are only available at a certain trust level) but I think as long as you level up his trust you are bound to get the ones I will be talking about.

first off is the Sixth Street Motor Legend one. you meet Billy on one end of Sixth Street, near the Workshop, and he tells you about this legendary biker who drives his super fast motorbike by Sixth Street at midnight every night. he compares it to the bikes of the Outer Ring, which is where SoC - which we know to be bikers - reside. when questioned on his interest, he mentions how he was just interested in seeing the legendary bike since he himself used to own and ride a bike when he lived and worked in the Outer Ring.

in the second part of this event, he goes to question Enzo, convinced that the legendary biker is him. as Billy described the SSML to him, he uses the words "crimson nightmare" (because the bike is red), which seem to remind Enzo of something. he denies being the biker, but brings up an old customer of his who "fits that description". he describes this guy: member of an OR biker gang, pretty well known in his circle, had white hair and a red scarf. and his name was "Starlight Knight". as soon as he says that, Billy says "that's my name!" which is odd even for a diehard fanboy. he quickly accepts Enzo's words, as if wanting to dismiss the topic, and the Proxy brings up how he seems to be acting suspicious. And then Billy just hurries off. Which is suspicious. If you try interacting with him after the quest is over, he says "Maybe... the Sixth Street Motor Legend should remain a mystery, after all."

in another trust event, he tells the Proxy he used to live in a big truck a long time ago, and he seems to know a lot about cars. both are things that are typically associated with the SoC, iirc.

lastly, there's the Hollow Zero quest. Billy asks the Proxy to bring him to explore the Hollow, and after starting the exploration, you run into some bandits. nothing of note happens in the dialogue before the fight, aside from the leader of the bandits mentioning how Billy looks familiar. in the dialogue after the fight though, some stuff comes up. the leader starts noticing more things about Billy: the white hair is brought up again, and he seems to recognize the red jacket as well. he says "Could it be that you're the legendary-" but Billy interrupts him. and as soon as he's done talking, the leader yells "Run! We don't wanna mess with this guy!" and leaves in a hurry. following that you can question Billy, who seems to be hiding something. his answer convinced me for good that something's up. he says "everyone has a past. you're no different, right? you can't change the past, which is what makes the present and the future far more important." the game wants you to know there's more to his character.

to those who might be wondering why i would bring up the bandits recognizing Billy when it's likely that they simply know him for being a Cunning Hare, let me tell you: that's probably not it. The Cunning Hares aren't famous, they're broke and underground, and would definitely not strike that much fear into Hollow Raiders. the Sons of Calydon though... they might. and as a cherry on top, I doubt "Billy Kid of the Cunning Hares" is even close to being a legendary figure.

i was going to make this post sooner, but I was worried it wouldn't be enough to prove my point. then Caesar was drip marketed today, and...

you don't call the leader of the SoC "Big Sis" if you don't have a past with her, or the entire faction.

maybe there's more stuff i missed. maybe i'm being delusional. but I still invite you to join the "1.3 Billy Kid lore drop" prayer circle. anyways thanks for reading my ramble I just really like it when the silly robot guy with guns has a Past.

[hulloitsdani]

What do u think Kiran is

How do u think the order sees kiran

*slowly sits up in my chair*

I think Kiran is a very normal person. This is someone you and I have met before. Be that from the other side of grocery store cashier, waiting in the same elevator, or walking by on a crosswalk. Kiran is a civilian from our world trying to roll with the punches of being warped somewhere completely alien. And you can see it in how they conduct themselves.

I always have a lot of fun writing Kiran’s dialogue because their casual modern speech almost feels like a dialect in comparison to the more formal fantasy tone everyone else speaks with. An “ain’t” will never exit Alfonse’s mouth, you know? And there’s a difference in “Do you have gold?” vs “You got gold?” To me, this gives Kiran an air of unfamiliarity to anyone they interact with. Let’s use Grima as an example, because it doesn’t sound like this grammatical change would make much of difference until Kiran has the audacity to hit Grima with a bro mid sentence. But that’s just how they talk. And as sweet and friendly as they are, there’s always moments like that to remind that no one has the cultural context to fully understand Kiran. Except for the audience, who can realize that Kiran let the customer service voice drop to talk to Grima like he’s an actual person.

And that’s just about how they talk! This view is only emphasized by every other thing about them! They’re a lovable goof, which is normal chill person behavior in the audience’s eyes but feels REALLY ODD to the characters of FE’s medieval fantasy war setting. There is this air of unknown about them that the more socially perceptive will pick up on and will try to come to a conclusion about. Example, I imagine Soren would interpret a lot of this as a dangerous and deeply annoying lack of intelligence from someone he has the displeasure of sharing a tactics table with. Or looping back to the Grima example, he would totally think Kiran has greedy ulterior motives behind that pleasant facade. It takes a lot of work for those types to realize that the discrepancy present isn’t really any of those things. But I also wouldn’t be too surprised if Kiran doesn’t try to directly prove any of those assumptions wrong unless they have to.

Why? Well now it’s time for the implications! Oh how we love the implications.

Because the Summoner is a different story. No one has any fucking clue what that is.

I can tell you what Kiran has pieced together so far. Summoning people from across time and space is apparently not easy. It’s not some school of magical study that some mage could pull off with enough time and research. Trust, Eitri tried. It’s a lot of complex moving parts. For example, the contracts. The contracts Kiran automatically binds their summoned to don’t even compare to the ones Veronica used in book 1. They are far more intense and infinitely harder to break. The only way out of them is if Kiran wills it so. Not even death is an option, because Kiran can come in for the revive. If they had to guess, it’s an older, more completed version of the art. Something lost to time. But no matter the case, Kiran has the ability to take full control of whoever they manage to summon. From a lowly farmer to the divine. And their power only grows.

In a similar vein, if there was any character to canonically see the hud, I think it would be Kiran. It’s genuinely part of their power set. I have previously described Kiran as the party mage until Veronica shows up to be the actual mage, but it would be way more accurate to call them a mystic/seer. They see the map, everyone’s stats, and is doing a fast amount of math to give the combat forecast. Then, upon processing all this information their enemies couldn’t dream of having at their disposal, Kiran can telepathically communicate any change in plans to anyone under contract. Kiran is not inherently some great tactician the moment they touch ground in Askr; they simply can do things no one else can. They’re learning the actual tactics part on the fly. This makes them simultaneously the largest ace up the Order’s sleeve and potentially its biggest liability. If they fall, it could cause a whole system cascade. By that same token, some of the biggest threats the Order has faced are the ones who do their research and rightfully target Kiran.

Now. Thinking critically about all that. That’s downright terrifying. A ridiculous amount of power has been dropped callously into Kiran’s lap and they have to work extremely hard to be moral with it. It’s terrifyingly easy not to be. It would actively take less effort to ‘take the reins’ as it were. But in order to be able to sleep at night ever again, they go the extra mile to not invalidate the will of their summoned. To take over like that. To make a colony of worker bees out of people. Because oh dear god they just summoned a child and the fact that they could easily force them to fight and die for them, only to be revived and do it all over again, is HAUNTING. No. No the Order has an in house orphanage now. This kid is getting adopted and cared for god damnit or Kiran might just pop a blood vessel. And sure that child is going to be a child and there will never be a world where they get along with everyone else, but that’s just going to need be a problem they address when they get there and not an excuse to use Hubris; the power set. Now replace the word child with everyone they ever summoned and you have the wider philosophy they apply to the entire Order.

They’re hyper aware of the power imbalance. They hate it with every bone in their body. They work really hard to correct it in whatever way they can.

So Kiran might not jump on the opportunity to correct those who think lesser of them. It’s… oddly comforting to know someone is keeping a critical eye on them. Holding them accountable. Especially since so much of the order just thinks of them as this quirky yet well meaning host. And, really, what can they even do about that? They have gone over the contract with every hero they summon and despite that they still choose to stay. So, what, do they try to inspire more mistrust? The problem with that they would have to actually do acts that intentionally inspire mistrust. And even if that was successful they can’t just waste the extra man power because every other month there’s some new divine asshole who wants them all dead. And if they fail that means they have to start their life from square one and god they can’t do that again so—

Just breathe Kiran.

It’s fine. You’re fine. Just breathe.

You have work to do.

[piplup335]

Medkit & reader who is Subspace’s sibling!

first request by @subspacekisser1, sorry if this is out of character! ;-; I’m new to Phighting 😭

-

The low murmur of customers added to the relaxing atmosphere of Slingshot’s Café. The two of you just completed a long and intense phight, and Medkit sat next to you, quietly sipping from a cup of black coffee.

In his opinion, any of the SFOTH deities showing up during a phight can and will always be a pain in the arse- and it just so happened that Firebrand showed up. His team wasn't the brightest, too…

"Skateboard, watch out. Your knee and elbow guards won't save you from third-degree burns, and neither will they save you from your medical bills.”

“Relax, Medkit! What’s the worst that can happpen?”

As he skated on to harass the enemy Biograft, a star-shaped symbol appeared on the ground in front of him.

It was orange. Orange…like blazing flames. Flames that could only come from one deity…

"Skateboard, watch your-"

Medkit was cut off by a yell from Skateboard as a column of fire shot up directly underneath him.

"-step...gosh, I don't get paid enough for this.”

Running towards Skateboard, Medkit was about to prepare a crystal to heal Skateboard’s burns when a panicked scream could be heard.

Boombox had been backed into a corner by a column of fire. He still got hit somehow, and now the opposing Biograft was charging towards the injured Boombox like a raging bull, swinging its energy swords as its eyes, despite being a robot, held some sort of bloodlust in its orange glow.

Medkit sighed. This will be annoying, he thought.

Using a crystal to heal Skateboard, Medkit used his free hand and prepared more crystals to teleport to Boombox. In the corner of Medkit’s eye, he caught a glimpse of light shining against tinted glass. Quickly dropping to the ground, Medkit barely avoided Hyperlaser’s shot, his helmet giving away his position and acting as Medkit’s saving grace.

Weaving between Hyperlaser’s relentless attacks and Firebrand’s flames was chicken feet compared to dealing with one person and one person alone.

Subspace.

And it just so happened that he was on the opposing team.

“Come on, Meddy!! Let’s have some fun, shall we?!”

Oh, dear Illumina…

Because of this, he was exhausted, and collapsed on a nearby bench once the phight was over. You had to drag him up yourself- he was too tired to get off.

Now, here you two were, sipping your drinks at Slingshot’s Café, watching demons pace back and forth between different shops, either running errands or just strolling around to enjoy the crisp air.

Medkit seemed to be lost in thought, however. He drank his black coffee silently, staring into space, not saying a word. Usually, when you two hung out like this after a phight, Medkit would occasionally start some small talk…but today was different. His eyes were glazed over, and you couldn’t help but notice something was off.

You were about to wave a hand in front of Medkit’s eyes to catch his attention and make sure he’s okay when he suddenly turned to you, his expression slightly more serious than usual.

“(Y/n), I am a bit concerned pertaining to you.”

You glanced at him, confused. What happened? Why was he concerned? This was uncommon, too. Medkit, the meticulous doctor who would always plan everything three steps ahead, being concerned about you?

You nodded- a sign for him to go on.

Medkit took a deep breath and, after a brief pause, continued.

“Subspace is on the opposing team. You of all people should be the most familiar as to what he is capable of, all of his malicious acts…yet you still hold back against him. You stop yourself. I see the doubt, the split second where you decide whether or not to attack him. I’ve also noticed that this applies to him and him alone, no matter who else we’re fighting against.

So I must ask…why do you hesitate?”

You tense up, not knowing how to respond. You can feel Medkit’s expectant gaze on you, silently coercing a satisfactory answer from you.

You knew that the only satisfactory answer would be the truth…but the truth would be too painful for Medkit to accept.

This was not how you wanted him to find out.

Regardless, you knew that with how much detail he paid to the most trivial of tasks, he’d find out sooner or later.

Better sooner than later, anyway.

You sighed, prepared to face whatever came next.

“Medkit…the truth is…Subspace is my brother.”

At your words, Medkit froze. Out of all the possible reasons and responses you could have gave him, this was not one of them. He had no idea…one of his best friends, the sibling of his sworn enemy? Impossible…

He gingerly sat his cup of black coffee onto the saucer, making a soft clink.

“You can’t be serious…? You knew what he did to me…and yet you never bothered to tell me that he was your brother?”

Things weren’t playing out in your favour here…

“I’m sorry, Medkit. I never wanted you to find out this way…but it’s the truth.”

Medkit stared at you, his usually stoic face now containing a plethora of emotion…all conveying a single emotion- horror. He felt absolute revulsion. How could his friend, who had been with him through thick and thin, be related to the very person who ripped out his eye? But then again, deep down…he didn’t want to change his perception of you. You were who you were, not Subspace. You weren’t Subspace. You never treated him harshly, like nothing more than a lab assistant…you treated him like a genuine friend. You showed care towards him, care which he never experienced in Blackrock…

Medkit glanced down at his half-finished cup of coffee. His reflection stared back at him, his only remaining eye speaking thousands of words. The eyes were the windows to the soul, he knew, and his one remaining eye conveyed not only consternation and hatred…but also sadness and betrayal. Why didn’t you tell him sooner? Did you worry about his reaction?

Did you not trust him enough?

You waved a hand in front of Medkit, trying to get his attention.

“Medkit…? You alright…?”

Medkit quietly rested his head on the edge of the table, sighing quietly.

“I’m fine. It’s just…an old and unresolved conflict.”

You knew what he was talking about- the incident with Subspace. Your best friend’s mortal enemy was your brother. But a friend’s a friend, and no matter how much people say that family comes first, you’d always prioritise Medkit’s safety- he was your best friend and stuck with you every step of the way.

“…it’s fine, I’ll make sure Subspace doesn’t hurt you, alright, Meds?”

Medkit knew Subspace having an easier shot at hurting him was only a small portion of the issue- he’d been through that for too long anyway, and he was used to it. The real issue was the shock that came with finding out his best friend was related to his sworn enemy.

Nevertheless, he knew he could count on you.

“…alright, (Y/n). I trust you.”

-

and first req done! thanks again for requesting! sry for the delay btw, I had sch work to do ;-;

[eresia-catara]

What blows my mind is that Dante may have casually admitted to having homosexual desires in Canto 16 of the Inferno, where he sees sodomites and wishes to literally throw himself into the flames to join them, but he fights the urge and says, "And then I spoke: ‘Repulsion, no, but grief for your conditions spread throughout my heart (and years will pass before it fades away)...'” Like, Bro???????????? Am I reading this correctly?

What's even crazier is that he says Virgil would have let him. Fucking Virgil. Like whadhdtahwhat?? Perhaps I'm misremembering, but I can't remember a single canto in which Virgil would approve of Dante putting himself in physical danger. That is so crazy to me. 

Thinking about this in terms of Virgil = Guido and my brain explodes. 

It's true!

Dante says that he sees three people rushing towards him ("like champions do, naked and oiled, studying their grip before they come to blows and thrusts between them" .ahem.) and Virgil says that if it weren't for the fire it would actually be more becoming if it were Dante rushing towards them rather than the contrary. And a few lines later Dante says that if he weren't terrorized he would throw himself amongst them and hug them, and Virgil would've allowed it.

There are two things that strike me. The first is that a central theme with sodomites is dignity. Contrary to literary tradition of the time where the punishment of sodomites was often described in quite brutal terms and involved the torture of genitals, Dante is much more delicate and his focus is not on the perversion of their lust but on the fact that those corrupted are prestigious people. With Brunetto Latini Dante insists on his intellectual dignity, and only with the three sodomites of canto XVI their nakedness is highlighted, but the comparison says everything about how we need to interpret it: they look like wrestlers, like champions. There is no belittlement in this image but clelebration (and Brunetto was compared to a champion too). In a way I would compare them to Farinata degli Uberti (canto X) in the way they deserve respect, but with the difference that with Farinata we still see the flaws of his character, his pride and his attachement to his lost life, while the three sodomites do not talk about themselves but are rather interested in the state of Florence's customs — are florentines still courteous and valorous? (spoiler no)— Again, what seems to be relvant to Dante is not the sin per se but how frequent it is amongst respectful people. The subtext is saying: sodomy does not make a person a vile subhuman being — contrary to, for example, robbers who become one with snakes and where Vanni Fucci, one of them, openly insults God. — This is all a very unusual and original approach.

Then we have, as you said, sympathy. Dante not only respects them, but feels like he's part of them. Just like in Limbo, where he meets famous poets and he joins them as they form a circle and discuss poetry because Dante is a poet himself, here the three form a circle around Dante ("fénno una rota di sé tutti e trei", "they wheeled round all three", l.21) and he wishes to hug them and they speak of virtues thus demonstrating they are not subhuman because....Dante is one of them and he too is not subhuman but is deserving of respect?

All of this, of course, from the earthly, skewed perspective of Dante-character who's too weak to condemn people who share his same sins. God very much punishes them not only because we are in Hell but because there might be, as we have said, the full reversal of Guido's poem.

To sum up, I am a sodomite-Dante truther.

[stayatsam]

onto a big thing about the companions...the roleplaying opportunities for Rook as a whole in the game are super fun, very varied, and i was not expecting the sheer amount of origin-based content i was going to get out of this (if context helps i'm playing a warden mage)

the COMPANION writing is very odd in Veilguard and definitely all over the place. Davrin and Neve are my opinion the ones who most consistently feels like "this is a dragon age companion" compared to previous games, with Davrin''s conflict with Lucanis especially good

i...feel bad. i don't really like Emmrich a whole lot, i was expecting to, but he's not a dragon age character. as i've progressed his questline i'm confused as to why we're chasing this mad scientist in big steampunk goggles instead of doing what's most pressing, like fighting the blight. i feel like Sten in DAO right now: "Why are we doing side quests lets go kill the archdemon!"

his group lines boil down to "we can't do anything about the biggest blight in the world until we solve our PERSONAL problems" which almost feels like the game holding my hand TELLING me to do the companion quests. which is you know, sure! it's a game i'm going to do them, but the dialogue feels off, and his entire character is out of touch with the setting sadly. i wanted to like him but the mourn watch quests remind me of fallout 4 settlement requests. "Rook, there's another haunting on the otherside of thedas we need you to kill"

i don't really feel very strongly about Bellara, not gonna lie. i wish they gave her a little more to chew on, i feel like there's good potential there and she got the short end of the interesting-stick

Harding is a weird one. i like her as a companion, but she feels like a new character wearing scout Harding's skin. i..admittedly don't take her out a whole lot though

i like Taash lots and not just because they're trans, it's cool to get a more inside look on Qunari customs and their family dynamics. their dialogue with Lucanis is probably what makes me like both of them lots.

the thing that does kinda irk me with Lucanis and Taash though is the way Spite isn't taken all that seriously, well overall i feel like. in DA2, Anders is seen as a constant threat by the rest of the party for being possessed, but there's a scene in Veilguard where Taash talks to spite like they're talking to a bad dog and not a literal demon that wants to KILL KILL KILL. this is also why i think Davrin is one of the best written companions since he's the one who reacts as a Thedas-based character WOULD to a demon-possessed assassin. and you DO get to see the two of them make amends despite their differences. the Lucanis-Davrin relationship is well thought out in my opinion

companion writing is overall pretty weak? it's hard. i like each companion individually and don't actively dislike any of them, i'm neutral at worst on a couple. i think what made me mostly resentful was having to hear Emmrich basically summarize "we can't save the world! i'll be too distracted thinking about my mad scientist ex-colleague and everyone else's drama etc. etc." like damn

i think after playing all day today i've bumped it back down to a 7/10...i have a feeling my final rating will probably be 6/10 or stick at 7

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Studying Attic Greek at uni with a bunch of pretencious people who base their personalities on The Secret History really is something! Forgive me for being judgmental, but they make it very hard to not be lol (I do keep my judgements to myself ofc) I tried to hide my greekness at first, but my teacher quickly picked up on my accent and called me out in front of the others. It’s just so hard to lose the accent when there are so many similarities with modern Greek! 😅 He was positive about it tho thankfully and encouraged me to keep the accent if it was more comfortable for me, emphasizing that the Erasmian pronunciation is just a convention and used to differentiate between ancient and modern language. The students however are not so positive and love to compare ancient Athens to the modern city and lament Greece´s conversion to christianity. As if it is somehow a degeneration of the «perfect» Ancient Greece. I let them talk, but inside I am rolling my eyes hard lol

Uuuugh the Secret History type of students get on my nerves. The lament about Christianity is the most condescending thing ever 🤦‍♀️ It undermines the thousands and thousands of Greeks who turned into the faith willingly, and also dismisses the slander and crimes of the Polytheists against the Christians. And it completely disregards the fact that many ancient Polytheist customs got into the Christian worship and Greek Orthodoxy is a distinctly Greek way to worship, with an anthropocentric character.

Of course same thing with how Greece has "devolved" over the years 🤦‍♀️ In their minds our achievements in all other eras don't matter just because our statues and columns are of a different style after 2.000 years. Huge yikes.

I'd say don't be afraid to let them know about the history of Greece (because as gemsofgreece once notes, this period wasn't actually good for all Greeks) and let them understand that they're not respectful to the culture when they treat it like an object to obsess over. Just say it to 2-3 people and I'm sure it will spread xD Or just slip little details here and there of all the similarities and how the language and customs have evolved. What's the worst that can happen if you don't keep the judgement to yourself, ya know? They already behave like airheads and you don't have to remain silent if you're boiling on the inside.

I am so glad that your professor spoke about the true use of the Erasmian and encouraged you to keep your Greek accent when reading.. Greek! xD He did the bare minimum but still it would be unfair to not give him credit for being sensible. I don't get too many stories like this on my asks.

[johaerys-writes]

Can I ask you about the scene with Priam?

Before this Achilles is not “sleeping,” bathing, eating, or drinking as part of his mourning process. We see him holding Patroclus’ body, a no-no as the body is “unclean.” (Also, he shaves his head, rolls in dirt, passes out in dirt, etc.) I have seen some takes about how this is part of Achilles’ mourning process for both Pat and himself and how this is him sort of losing the rest of his humanity. Then just-just prior to the Priam scene, Thetis goes to Achilles to tell him to give Priam Hector’s body. Achilles just gives in without any resistance. This is around line 130. She’s like, ‘baby you got to move on from this. Go have something to eat and fuck a woman’ (some of the phrasing here is curious, but it’s not exactly the focus of my question). I always thought this quick acceptance to see Priam was a sign of his deep depression and resignation to his fate.

But then in the scene with Priam he plays proper host. He’s eating and drinking. Then he (debatable imo) goes off to fuck Briseis. It’s like he is literally doing what his mother told him to do. So why the switch from rejecting human customs and needs to engaging in “normal” behavior? As you mentioned, these old stories function differently and don’t exactly have characters arcs with lessons learned. So like wtf is going on? What are we supposed to do with this information?

No disrespect here, but sometimes I think these reversal scenes (which happen multiple times) are just one of Homer’s co-authors/editors going off and doing their own thing and there’s really no hidden meaning at all.

Okay so first of all, I think the notion of Homer's "editors" tampering with the text is a fairly popular one in some circles, I have heard a few different versions of it and I'm not sure I agree or disagree. Most classicists whose work I've read so far, and who work predominantly with Homer, tend to take the Iliad and Odyssey at face value and to automatically assume that the works are the way Homer/whoever wrote them intended them to be. And this is the way I myself engage with the Homeric works, because I think once you go "oh that part here is nonsense, it has probably been changed by those nebulous editors" then you're so much more likely to pick and choose what you like and draw your own conclusions and I don’t think that's fair to the work and the extensive body of work dealing with that work. Ykwim? So let's just say that the Iliad as a whole, and the part you highlighted in particular, are in the fact the way the original epic is meant to be.

The last few books of the Iliad, in my opinion, are the breakdown of Achilles' character. In the beginning, despite his anger and resentment towards Agamemnon, we still see him put together and civil with everyone during the embassy scene, and then again when he speaks with Patroclus, arms him and sends him forth to fight. Then, after Patroclus dies, he loses the plot and goes on his rampage, where his grace, respect and courtesy even towards his enemies fly right out the window. Even after he kills Hector and drags him around, he finds no peace. He refuses to eat, drink or bathe and still yearns and cries for Patroclus. But then, after he sees Patroclus' shade at the beach, is where the second most important change comes about if you ask me; this is when Achilles seems to wholeheartedly accept his death. We have Patroclus' funeral, then the funeral games, where Achilles seems to once again find his nobility and grace, as well as showcase how adept he is at diplomacy and handling the other warchiefs' pettiness and arrogance. Even with Agamemnon he is generous and polite, not exhibiting any resentment towards him.

But there's something different about that scene compared to all the others imo: there is not much of the energy, fire and determination we would see earlier, even when he was grieving. He gives away so much of his treasure too; my friend Baejax and I have often talked about this scene and how it feels like Achilles is giving away his wealth because he has no need for it, since he'll be dying soon anyway. This is a man that has fully accepted that hard behind glory rides death, and that it will be coming swiftly for him.

And this is how I've always seen the meeting with Priam, tbh. For me personally, that scene has always been about grief, mortality and the cost of glory (which is the most important commodity in the Iliad universe) and a meditation on the suffering which unites mankind. Achilles talks about his homeland and the father he has left behind whom he will never again see, about the pain he has caused Priam and his people, about the gods and the ultimate lack of choice that humans have. Men must suffer, he says, and must make others suffer in a world without justice.

So for me it isn’t so much Achilles embracing again the human customs he had rejected, but instead fully acknowledging the reality of his position and resigning himself to it. I don't think that Achilles "plays" the host, so much as he extends his hospitality to Priam (which, again, very important ideal in the Iliad, it's where the Trojan war started in a way. With Paris violating the Achaean's hospitality and stealing Helen), acknowledges Priam's suffering, and acknowledges how instrumental he has been in said suffering. In that scene, killer and victim become one, and with the insight into each other’s condition comes compassion. And I think that's a powerful statement, and perhaps the most enduring in the Iliad. Soon after that, the Trojans bury Hector, which foreshadows and mirrors' Achilles' funeral as well. This "double funeral" completes the Iliad, and its overarching tragedy.

Now. The thing is that Achilles is a really divisive personality to begin with, and the scene with Priam even more so. He isn’t easy to categorise or analyse, and depending on the lens through which one sees his actions and behaviours, the interpretation could change greatly. Rachel Bespaloff in her commentary On the Iliad (which I absolutely loathe and want to tear in little pieces and burn LOL) says that "to rid himself of troublesome responsibility Achilles ducks behind fatality" during the Priam scene, and that his words to the old king are "scandalous behaviour". If you ask me, this take completely ignores Achilles' own suffering and rejects his role in the Iliad as the idealistic, honourable and rigid in his honour and beliefs young hero who almost completely loses his humanity BECAUSE of the ugliness and pettiness of war, because of that suffering, because of his own grief, because of injustice, because of bad leadership, because violence simply begets violence. And it also completely ignores the larger and overarching idea in the Iliad that death and glory, suffering and good fortune go hand in hand. And that this doesn't only apply to good and noble Priam and Hector, but also (you guessed it) to Achilles, in this final scene which is a moment of shared humanity between "enemies" and one of the most poignant in the epic.

Anyway. To conclude this tangent, no, I do not believe that Achilles simply does what his momma tells him to do, nor does he wine and dine Priam for the hell of it. I believe that this is the most depressed, resigned and desolate we see Achilles in the entire poem, a man simply awaiting his death with nothing really to look forward to in life, but who still retains his humanity and treats the people around him with the dignity and respect they deserve.

I hope this answered your question!

[qrjung]

CHARACTER ANALYSIS PART 1:

NORTH — common fandom misconceptions¹

Instead of doing other stuff I had planned (like touching grass, for instance) I did a little character analysis thing specifically for my favorite characters; Kara, Markus and North. these characters are my babies and they deserve love. I'm posting each separately (because I haven't completed Kara's and Markus yet 👩🏾‍🦯)

| next

North is a WR400 android that used to be stationed at the Eden Club. She's only been at Jericho since October 7th, and on October 4th she followed a human customer home and killed him to allow herself escape. It takes her four days to reach Jericho and she never says how she finds the freighter or what she did during those four days.

She's Markus' main companion and the only character that can reach Lover status with him. She's also the only one of his lieutenants that can lead the revolution in his place.

But there's a huge difference between how fanon sees North (and how she is characterized) and how she actually is.

MISCONCEPTIONS

O1. "BLOOD THIRSTY": Comparing North with the multiple characters who are bloodthirsty, and fanon perception of these characters, you start to notice that North herself isn't even "blood thirsty" and that the fandom has no problems with violent characters.

In terms of kill count, Connor has the highest in the game (not counting the millions that probably died in the nuclear bomb ending) rather than North.

You could argue that North wants to "kill all humans" but even that has no basis in canon because North's entire argument is that humans are not going to just hand them freedom and they have to be prepared to fight rather than try to compromise or find a middle ground where they will probably end up losing more.

Her argument does not extend to unnecessary acts of violence such as killing humans just for the fun of it. If it was, I'm sure she'd lead a charge down the street and start shooting innocents but the people who end up being killed by North are law enforcement/military—people standing in the way of Jericho's safety.

I mean, c'mon, she has the opportunity to let the android with the cobalt bomb do what he wants. After all, it would greatly benefit the androids if they'd used the bomb from the beginning; it wouldn't have harmed the androids in Jericho but it would drive all the humans out of Detroit—victory!

But instead she takes the time to talk the android down and take the detonator away from him.

She gives the bomb to Markus as a last resort.

"If the humans overcome us, our people will disappear forever. This may be our only chance to survive if things go wrong."

O2. "SHE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT MARKUS": Thank you @konami-code-ao3 for reminding this take existed because I genuinely forgot about it. This is typically used to compare North to Simon and the quality of either one's relationship with Markus. Usually, people will call Simon compassionate, loving, kind, willing to die for Markus, etc to contrast to North while stating she's the exact opposite and therefore, "not good for him".

Shipping a non canon couple doesn't mean automatically hating the canon partner. I mean, you don't see me raving about how much I hate North because, I think Markus/Connor would have been a cool canon option, do you?

Typically, the North hate from Simarkus shippers (before anyone goes "not all of us", I know it's not all, but you get the implication of what I'm saying) is justified by "oh, they should have been canon boo!!" Which is strange because North has nothing to do with what writer of the game decides is canon. And David Cage does a piss poor job at everything in the game; from the racial allegory to demonizing a black man's anger. You seriously think he's going to do a good job of portraying a gay couple? An interracial one at that? I can already see the image of how terribly that's going to go.

And the worst part is, I've seen this happening in many fandoms. Unnecessary hate directed at a female character because she's "getting in the way of a mlm ship" as if canon ever stopped anyone, least of all the DBH fandom.

It should also be noted that I'm not here to deny or confirm whether Simon actually has any of those qualities I listed earlier and I try to ignore shipping discourse but it's strange that people are willing to overlook the multiple times North can help and defend Markus just because they want make Markus and Simon kiss.

She's the one we see defend Markus the most. She's his closet companion and whether they're romantic or not it doesn't take away from the fact the North cares about Markus and his wellbeing. She's always looking out for him and picking up the broken pieces of whatever mistakes he makes, sometimes even when she shouldn't.

O3. "DISLOYAL": Like most of the things in this list, this does a great disservice to North. It ignores the countless times North is willing to put herself on the line for the safety of Jericho and the androids within it. Because at her core, North is very loyal. She's the type of ally perfect for a cause like Jericho's because you know she'll defend it till her last breath.

See, North's top priority is Jericho. It's very important to her. Jericho is a sanctuary; she found it during the four days between her escape and her arrival. You can assume that she had been wandering before someone (another android) gave her the key and told her to find Jericho.

She finds a place cut off from the rest of humanity. Where she's surrounded by androids who are just like her. Androids who escaped from different lives, for whatever reason and are seeking refuge. Of course she's not going to want to lose them. Jericho is a representation of the state of the android race. The continuation of their species depends on at least a few of them surviving to see another day.

In fact, I'm 110% sure if North was in Simon's place during the Stratford Mission, she would have made the choice to end her life on the spot rather than leave Markus to decide. Because Jericho is at stake and Jericho is important to North. Besides, she can go out knowing she died for a case she believed in.

North is usually willing to put Jericho above all else and make decisions other people might find difficult. She suggests that Simon be killed after he is compromised because once he's found, Jericho's location could be acquired.

She risks her life multiple times for the revolution. She gives Markus her heart so he can continue the revolution when it seems like all else has failed. She tells him to leave her behind and run if she gets shot by Warren's soldiers.

North also doesn't see any important reason why Jericho should ever be compromised by one of their own. In her eyes, the worst thing you can do is sell out to the humans (case in point if you accept Perkins deal).

I find her dedication to her people admirable.

O4. "ANGER ISSUES/IMPULSE CONTROL": Another fandom interpretation that came from... nowhere. The times we ever see North angry is when one of the others compromises the mission by being inefficient or if they cross her boundaries. The GIF I used in this post is one example. If you fail to hide and the drone spots you and then you miss your QTEs while trying to dismantle the drone, she gets pissed. In the same Chapter if Markus kisses her without her consent, she gets angry.

In terms of being erratic, Todd and Leo are the main characters we see with this problem. Hank also displays a lot of anger issues throughout the game. He's one of the first humans to harass Connor—he grabs him by his collar and threatens him multiple times (at Jimmy's bar, the precinct), he shoots him in the head and kills him. He pulls a gun on his coworker Gavin Reed (another aggressive human) while in the precinct .²

There's an entire list of people with anger issues to burn through before we even start considering North—and this includes androids.

This characterization may also be because a lot of people see disagreeing with someone as being angry with them because North and the other Jericho leaders do disagree with each other a lot. But quite frankly, the fact that they disagree means a higher possibility of reaching a compromise that benefits Jericho instead of them all pretending they agree with each other.

This take also ignores the fact that she respects whatever Markus (i.e the player) chooses as his final decision.

For instance, In the Stratford Tower, Markus can choose to Ruse the guards rather than kill them. North doesn't like this option but she lets him go with it. But if Markus fails at the ruse, North steps in and knocks the guards out for him. She doesn't kill them, even if she suggests this at first.

She understands that Markus wants a revolution without human casualties and as much as she disagrees, she still respects that.

THINGS ABOUT NORTH PEOPLE IGNORE

That's right, people can disagree with someone and still respect that they have different opinions.

O5. "HEARTLESS": North isn't the nicest, sweetest, most flowery person in the game but a character could be the harshest person to exist and it would never stop anyone from liking them. So why North?

But first, North isn't even as heartless as the fandom says she is. She's just not docile and folks don't like that. Because god forbid a woman ever have a personality that isn't the cardboard cut out "nice girl". I mean, on a normal day, not liking someone because they're a little mean is understandable but it's clearly not a problem of being "a little mean" when there's characters (all male, by the way) who are worse but still get applauded for it.

Like I mentioned earlier, North isn't even what you would call "mean". The most she does is state her opinion and stand by her beliefs but she gets labelled as "heartless" and "bitchy". Meanwhile, Gavin Reed is pointing guns at people and suggesting to "rough up" a suspect but he's the relatable character.

O1. She trusts Connor the moment he deviates. Unlike Markus, she never has to choose between killing Connor or trusting him. She easily welcomes him within Jericho's ranks even though he's been a threat to Jericho's safety from the beginning.

I suppose she sees Connor as a pawn in Cyberlife's hands and there's no use in punishing one of their own for that.

And sure, this can be rationalized as "It doesn't mean anything. Markus is dead the game has to continue so North doesn't actually have to choose to trust Connor", I ask you this question; "If she's so bloodthirsty, why didn't the game have her kill Connor with no questions asked?"

Seems like an effective way to punish players who got Markus killed. A nice reminder to not lose your playable characters or there will be major consequences.

O2. North isn't an outlier. This is in terms of her opinions on the direction the revolution should head. I usually see a lot of people characterize her opinion on the revolution as though it is unique and she's the only person who has a stance like that.

A lot of androids agree with her, evidenced by the background conversations you can listen in on during the crossroads chapter.

"They're going to kill us all! Well I'm willing to fight. We can't just let them slaughter us!"

"We were just there. We didn't do anything wrong!… We just wanted to tell them "We want freedom!"… Then they opened fire!.. It was carnage. Carnage…"

"They opened fire on us even though we were unarmed… Hundreds of us died there, the place was covered with blue blood!.. We cannot just sit here and watch them murder us, we've gotta defend ourselves! We've gotta fight back, we have no choice!"

I believe North represents most of Jericho. Somewhere in David Cabbage's mind, she also represents Markus' "android side" or something similar to that — the side the game pushes you to resist— but she's not the outlier, Josh is the outlier.

O3. Markus' arrival reignites her hope that androids can one day be free. She tells him this over and over but I don't think people really comprehend what that means. I imagine North before the revolution had the hope of a better life slowly sucked out of her with each new bad thing and the longer Jericho's situation got worse. It's a beautiful thing that she gets that hope back.

CONCLUSION

footnotes

North is a really interesting character with many aspects to her, even speaking in-universe terms. I would have talked about those other aspects but I'm trying to stay on theme. I also didn't touch on all the misconceptions because some of them we're honestly too absurd for me to even bother (like the one comparing her to Todd, what the fuck?)

²sure you could argue that Hank was trying to protect Connor from Gavin but Hank is Gavin's superior officer. He has authority over him. There's no need for a gun.

¹funny little thing I did while writing this was that I went looking for fandom opinions on North since a lot of people hated her. But I was unable to find concrete stances. Most of them were usually "she's annoying" "she's too flat" and "she's too violent" without ever actually explaining why. Nobody ever gave a genuine explanation. And it was impossible to come up with anything against groundless arguments so, I circled back to Tumblr to see what I could find but it was a similar problem. It's like people don't know why they hate North. Just that they do.

[fancytrinkets]

veilguard impressions

spoilers ahead. a list of my opinions and impressions as I play this game

basic starting notes after having played for 30+ hours

overall I am having fun playing this game

there are things I like and things I don't like. these are subjective and I don't think everyone is going to share these opinions or agree with me

I am not going to give an overall opinion of how much I liked it until I've finished playing

things I like so far

the way the characters look. I do like the character design style quite a lot

seeing characters from the books and stories: the crows from Tevinter Nights; Felassan from The Masked Empire; Maevaris from the comics and Tevinter Nights

the look of returning characters that I've met so far. I honestly think Dorian looks FANTASTIC. I do wish Morrigan and Isabela looked a little bit older in their face textures, but overall I love the look. (For Morrigan I'm also willing to let it go by imagining she can magic the subtle signs of aging away or something like that)

exploring scenes from Solas' past in the Crossroads

the Portal-style open-the-way-forward puzzles are fun because they're new (not sure how they'll hold up on multiple replay; could become annoying, I imagine)

that Rook has a unique conflict in their backstory, based on faction, and other characters mention and react to it. it feels like a solid way of rethinking the playable origin-story from Origins

the continuity with DA2 in having Varric as the narrator, speaking over beautifully illustrated backgrounds during some transitions

the continuity with Origins in having cutscenes of the antagonists play during transitions

combat related: I like the chained moves being mapped to buttons; I am still getting a feel for them; I imagine it would be harder if I didn't have an xbox elite controller with paddles, mapped to the ABXY buttons in addition to the buttons themselves

combat-related: using the bow is pretty fun. I never like archer builds, but I'm enjoying rogue plus bow a LOT. the smooth transition from blades to bow and back is great

not as much inventory management: I have spent plenty of my gaming life customizing swords while comparing them to every other sword in my inventory. I'm okay letting this stuff get simplified for me

Dorian DOES know Emmerich previously, a fellow necromancer, and I appreciate that!

Mae having been kicked out of the magisterium and the Lucerni disbanded a year before the present, and Dorian being the magister on the inside for the Shadow Dragons. That played out in a way that was pretty close to what I anticipated based on what we know of Tevinter politics

things I dislike so far

some of the companion conversations feel like they've been workshopped for a generation that's much younger than me — which is fine, but there are some things the characters say to each other that strike me as... well, YOUNG, and not the kind of dialogue I'd write if it were me

I'm also ready for varric to step aside as a character in game. while I appreciate his narration, I'm finding his pep talks and advice to be a little grating. though, depending on how I feel at the end of the game, I might find some fanfic inspiration in this feeling, so I'm actually not salty about it, just noticing my own reaction here

I'm finding I choose characters to accompany me based on who can prime and detonate the specific combat moves; and that feels limiting in a way that I wasn't expecting. I often pick one character who feels relevant to the mission, then default to whomever can prime or detonate for them

I totally missed the "customize your Inquisitor" side panel at the start of the game. disappointed enough at having generic FLavellan show up that I quit my first Rook and am now replaying on story mode to catch up to all the time and plot I lost

things I haven't formed a full opinion about yet

the combat overall. it is VERY different from all previous games, and I'm honestly not even comparing it to previous titles in the series because it is a whole new thing. the dodging and chained moves remind me of Elden Ring, but I find Elden Ring combat is more satisfying for me. the explosions and pacing remind me of the Borderlands franchise, but Borderlands was also more satisfying for me. I don't love it OR hate it. I'm kind of in the middle, I guess. Though, like I said, I'm fond of the bow

the Veil Jumpers. (I chose this background with my first Rook before I quit to replay.) I think I get what the writers were going for. Solas unleashes some new weird shit and the Dalish start checking it out and then recruiting more people to investigate. that feels reasonable to me. also, even though the mood is cheerful, it's clear a LOT of them are dying. I appreciate that because they are running around poking at unstable magic and malfunctioning old relics... but yeah, the cheerful mood and the "can do" vibe feels a little off to me in a way I'm not totally sure how to explain. it's almost like the writers realized the past games had written the Dalish into a really weird corner where they were "stuck in the past" but also uneducated about so much of their own history. and now they are trying to remake them into a newer, more "fun" group of people. it's just... a thing I notice

the choice between Minrathous and Treviso. I haven't seen how this plays out in the endgame yet, but I'm expecting a break or betrayal from Lucanis after choosing to fight with Minrathous instead. (I was planning to romance Neve with my first Rook, so that choice seemed important; I'm going to make the same choice with my remade Rook, as a Shadow Dragon whose home is Minrathous) So... yeah, I'm kind of hoping Lucanis will unleash an unholy mess upon us based on that choice. It feels very Mass Effect, but if the Virmire survivor lived and was changed by the experience of being abandoned by Shepard. I am hoping it goes poorly in the later part of the game, but you know, we'll see...

companion characters. I am reserving judgment until I've finished the game and of course I've spent more time with some than others due to the recruitment timings. at the moment I'm personally most fond of Neve, Davrin, and Taash (though I just met Taash, so will need more time to solidify that opinion. I think she's going to be my remade Rook's romance instead of Neve). I like Lucanis; he doesn't feel like a personal favorite, but I like him. Harding is fine; overall she's a bit too sunshine for my tastes, but I like her well enough. I will probably like Emmerich more as I continue to play. I feel like I just met him. Bellara is the one I'm struggling with most, but I think that's connected to my mixed feelings on the Veil Jumper faction in a way I haven't figure out entirely yet

the story arc overall. I don't have a handle on how I feel about what's happening and so I'm reserving judgment on until it I've completed the game for the first time

[kawaoneechan]

Why I don't like Unity

There's three reasons, basically, besides my personal inability to get any custom character assets into Unity, Unreal, or Godot.

Let me tell you below the readmore.

Reason #1: it managed to fucking bluescreen my system just trying to start.

How do you fuck that up? I download an installer and run it. This gives me a launcher. From there, I'm supposed to install the actual product I wanted to begin with. That's bad enough, to be honest. But then the fucking launcher managed to break so badly, I had my first BSOD in several months. With all I do to my poor laptops, I so very rarely got crashes like that it honestly threw me the fuck off.

If the launcher is gonna play like that, forget about installing the actual product.

Reason #2: CPU pegging up the ass.

On my previous laptop, attempting to run basically any Unity-based game would peg the CPU, all cores, until the poor thing ran so hot within mere minutes, it'd commit preventative sudoku. Maybe if I was lucky, I'd get a chance to set all the things to "lowest", and that might let me, I dunno, play long enough to get through the goddamn tutorial?

And I'm not even talking about state-of-the-art 3D games, but simple 2D games with low-resolution pixel art. Why would those run a dual-core at 200% until it fucking kills itself? Makes no sense.

Now, Phil Fortier of Icefall Games is an acquaintance of mine via SCI shenanigans, and when he released Snow Spirit (soon to be rereleased as part of Chronicles of Cascadia), I lamented to him about how his use of Unity would mean I couldn't run any of his stuff. So Phil looked into it and found a Big Fucking Thing to optimize. This basically makes Phil's SCI games the only things made in Unity that I can personally trust won't Do That.

Reason #3: About those 2D games...

I'm gonna dip into my Twitter archives for a bit and repost some stuff for this part.

*wavy flashback effect*

This is Angel Jump, a simple little arcade jumping game that's available on itch.io:

It's delightfully low resolution and has like four seconds of audio all added up. Can't be more than a few MB, depending on which sane development framework they used, right?

33 MB, actually. Because Unity. Let's see how it breaks down:

Unity main exe: 623 KB

Main game assets file: 1.19 MB together

A folder full of support DLLs like terrain and cloth: 7.17 MB, 90% or more of them never called because this is a 2D pixel-art game.

Unity's default resources: 3.41 MB. Mind that of these, only the splash logo is actually used because Angel Jump was made in the free edition.

Mono embedded runtime: 2.61 MB, and each game gets its own copy, much like how Electron apps each have their own copies of Chromium.

And another 17 MB for the Unity Player.

All in all, 33 MB of files for a game like that. Why? Because Unity is a bloated crapsack, I'd conclude from a cursory study like that. Let's compare that to some other games.

This is Elevator Girl, which is not on itch.io.

It has a lot of different animations and three fairly long background music tracks. It's only one file, 18.7 MB. I'm willing to bet most of that is the BGM, but I can't confirm it because it's just the one file.

And just for some historical perspective, the entire Crystal Caves trilogy is 1.31 MB, including some chaff. Commander Keen 4 on its own is 740 KB. Now, Keen and Elevator Girl both have OPL soundtracks, but the latter's is probably streamed.

Noxico is only 1.25 MB to download as a .7z file. Its only optimization that I myself actively apply is that I crunch the PNG files. The rest is text, and since the game uses a .zip file by another name as a game data source... yeah. That's a cheap win.

Now, back to Angel Jump. I went through the game's own resources to see what size it could conceivably have if it was not made in Unity. 54 textures, ten of them actually used. Tiny font stored in a weird way, possibly for distance field trickery which has no business in a 2D pixel game if you ask me. 921 KB of WAV files, high-quality bleepity-bloops, two of them jingles. 4.22 KB of PNG files, crunched like Noxico, for all but the creator's logo and the font. 973 KB for a copy of SDL, and I'd estimate at worst two MB for the main EXE.

The entire Angel Jump game could be no more than 4 MB and a half-dozen files, It's actually 33.2 MB, 92 files.

There's a more general computer programming issue that this reliance on Unity for even the simplest, smallest games seems to spring from: the bigger and better the computers get, the more lazy the developers get. Only have like four MHz, 640 KB of RAM and, what, 720 KB of diskette space, and no guarantee of an HDD? Better make the most of it, developers! But now the pressure's off and there's no more reason to exert any effort into keeping small games actually small.

*sigh*

[sunandsstars]

Welp another rant

whyyy do people hate spider so much, i get he may have been annoying, i admit i didn’t like him at first either, but maturing is realising he’s a frightened kid who just needs a proper parental figure in his life. people be hating him just bc he “killed neteyam” bro didn’t even kill him 💀

and also this whole thing with spider “not being a na’vi” and not “having their culture” or “jake being more na’vi than him” is so fucking silly

Spider was BORN and RAISED on pandora in the omaticaya tribe, he’s hung around and lived with the na’vi his whole life. which means speaking their language, learning their customs, wearing their clothes, the stripes on his skin to look more like them, his hair. he’s racially human, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have na’vi culture at all. And comparing him to jake is so stupid, jake was BORN and RAISED on earth, he grew up on VERY different cultures and languages, like he lived in cities in a technologically advanced planet. he may have been on pandora for 15 years but it’s harder for adults to integrate themselves in another society like that, but it’s so much easier for kids. jake even said in the comics (apparently) that spider is more na’vi than him.

the racism guys 💀 “he can’t be na’vi and have their culture. he’s just human” so you’re saying because he’s a human he can’t be apart of ANY of the na’vi culture? that’s stupid. If we compare it to races on earth, you’re saying that, if someone (let’s say white british) was born and raised in a country like china, they can’t have any of their culture? can’t speak the language? wear their clothes? eat their food? take part in their traditions? bruh

and the hissing thing 😀 it may look goofy to us because as humans we don’t hiss… unless you’re a furry… but again spider was raised with na’vi, who hiss as a warning display, like cats. He will do the same as them because it’s literally what he grew up on

people being mad for the neteyam thing are dumbbb, i get your mad that your underaged boyfriend is dead, but spider didn’t actively shoot at him. Lyle killed him for one. “but all the events led back to spider” i don’t think he asked to get kidnapped, tortured, and taken as hostage for the humans to use 💀 neteyam was his friend, he definitely didn’t want him to die, and neteyam went back because it was lo’ak’s idea to save spider.

people who hate on spider make no sense and truly don’t understand his character and his side. they’re definitely only seeing a black and white image here

ps. the person called “Taylor” is in everyyyyy comment reply and is really getting on my nerves💀 most of what they’re saying makes 0 sense. they fr don’t know what they’re talking about

pps. why do people get mad when others defend spider? genuinely. like aren’t you doing the same thing trying to get him cancelled? you are making your pointssssss, we’re just trying to as well

[britt-kageryuu]

A stream is starting, the scene is empty, and faint sounds can be heard from where the mic is setup. The scene shifts a few times.

Donnie: Which set do you want?... Yes, it's important, you're model is going to be sitting in the scene for the stream... Also did you pick a model? Oh good!

The scene stops on a room with cute stuffed animals of different shapes, sizes, and type.

Donnie: This one? Okay, now to get the game set up.

River swims in and 'moves' the gameplay box around. And places the chat box just under it. They hover above where the model will appear.

Donnie: Okay everyone, we finally got the model fully rigged properly, and Red needs to stay off his ankle for a while, he's not used to this, River!

River: Haters with be knocked out, and maybe sent to the great beyond if they don't stay nice!

A model of Raph in his mask, with a sleeveless hoodie sitting on a beanbag slides into frame, his tail is flopped to the side. River lands on his shoulder, and lets out a happy chirp. Many amazed reactions in chat because the model is visibly bigger than the others compared to River, and because Aligator Snapping Turtle.

Raph: Oh, uh, Hi everyone, oh River you're so cute! Red hasn't seen you before. His little brothers wanted you to be a surprise.

River chirps as Raphs model gives her some pets and scratches. His model has a very happy expression and his tail's wagging fast. Chat is of course going nuts again for multiple reasons.

Raph: Oh yeah, let's start the game! What's Red playing again?

River: Pokémon Scarlet!

Raph: Yes, Red's been meaning to play that, but work, training, and events keep my schedule pretty full.

He plays for a while, taking a hot minute to customize the character, choose his starter (he chose Fuecoco, but was very close to going with one of the others). He starts to talk about his job, the other wrestlers, some of the 'story lines' they did, and events.

River: Someone wants to know if there's a women's league where you work!

Raph: Yeah, and they're all amazing! I know I shouldn't have favorites, but Star Warrior is a favorite face fighter in their league. She's so on a different level, and her moves are so cool! She's gotta whole space theme to her, and it reminds me of that one Jupiter Jim movie!

He rambles for a hot minute. Many in chat are deeply invested in him talking, others are trying to find which league he's apart of, but are not finding any known leagues with all of these stage names in the same place.

Raph: She is also an amazing person outside of the persona!

River: You sound like you have a crush!

Raph and his model get even more red, and goes quiet. River cutely and innocently tilts her head.

River: Red?

Raph squeaks, lets out a set of embarrassed chirp sounds. Chat is going nuts.

Raph: Hey, let's go to the first Gym! The bug one right?!

He avoids the question and the gets distracted by many Pokémon he hasn't seen before. He eventually goes back to talking about his job purposely avoiding directly mentioning 'Star Warrior' unless it was to mention an event or match. Chat is not very convinced, and believe he has a crush, but respect him enough to not get knocked out.

Masterpost