#like the concept is great but could they actually be good

[professorspork]

Wicked 1/23/25, National Tour @ Hollywood Pantages in Los Angeles

HELLO FRIENDS.

I have just seen Wicked LIVE AND IN PERSON for the first time since *checks notes* holy shit six years exactly to the day, I saw Jackie Burns and Kara Lindsay on 1/23/19 in this very same theater

that's wild

anyway i was very disappointed in past me's note-taking so today i wrote down EVERYTHING

but also i didn't remember to pack my notepad like i thought i did so i ended up scribbling wildly on my hand, and then my arm, and then my ankle like i was possessed by some eldritch horror

no, i can't read a word of that either

anyway COME ON THIS JOURNEY WITH ME, SHALL WE?

ngl a massive reason I bought this ticket was to see openly queer Mullet Glinda herself, Austen Danielle Bohmer, so I happily took a photo of the company listing when I walked in:

...only to then be very put out when I opened up my Playbill and saw that in fact I was scheduled to see the second understudy, Allsun O'Malley:

I asked an usher if he knew who would be Glinda and he was like "I'm pretty sure the board out front is correct?" so I had to wait in feverish anticipation to know for sure

In the meantime I saw this note:

...which made me hope I might get to hear the audible electric guitar music variants in Dancing Through Life etc that the LA production used to do in the Eden and Megan days but alas, it did not happen

seeing Austen also did not happen, and I could tell IMMEDIATELY because when the bubble floated in there was a visible like EIGHT INCHES OF CLEARANCE between the top of Glinda's head and the bubble and i was like "well that ain't Tall Glinda"

(Allsun is very aware that she is a short queen, bless)

here's the thing about Allsun O'Malley: she has a DISTINCTIVELY naturally low speaking voice and she doesn't do a thing to hide it as Glinda. Helen was pondering aloud the other day if Every Glinda Does A Voice and I had speculated that yeah, probably, bc if they're not doing Billie Burke they're doing Cheno and if they're not doing Cheno they're doing The Concept Of Glinda and like. nah. she'd sing the operatic high notes and then talk with this brassy alto and it was SO distinctive and interesting. (this is also a surprise tool that will help us later)

i cannot explain why I feel this so strongly, but the closest analog I can come up with to the energy and presence of Allsun's Glinda is like. Nate Stevenson???? the comparison came to me IMMEDIATELY and I could not articulate just what it is if you paid me but i felt it in my bones

okay thoughts scene by scene that's how we'll do this

NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKED

I really liked how my Frex, Wayne Schroder, did "I'm off to the assembly, dear." It was like. Actually distracted and off the cuff like real married couples speak and not Hello I Am Union And Delivering My First Big Line and i appreciated that

Glinda got SO close to memory!Boq and almost touched his face, which moved me. Allsun's "it was a long time ago, and we were both very young" was satisfyingly near-tears

DEAR OLD SHIZ

tonight's Boq, Alex Vinh, had a ponytail! spoiler alert his Tinman did not have a silver tinsel ponytail which was a great disappointment

ROOM ASSIGNMENTS

Lauren Samuels is ALSO A SHORT QUEEN pocket sized gelphie made me feral. Lauren's portrayal of Elphie kind of faded into the background at times because Allsun and later Xavier McKinnon (😍🥵 MORE ON HIM IN A MINUTE) were both so charismatic but I did enjoy it very much

her "I'm beautifully tragic" was fuckin great, really leaned into the humor

when Galinda introduced herself as "Galinda Upland... of the Upper Uplands" she held out her hand like she expected Morrible to kiss it

Morrible did not kiss it

speaking of Morrible, Aymee Garcia has a SHOCKINGLY good voice and after seeing so many bootleg Morribles who don't bother to sing at all getting such a strong and lovely singer was a wonderful jolt to the system

Galinda didn't do a full trust fall faint at "something's wrong, I didn't get my way" (totally fair, not something I think is reasonable to expect from a second u/s) but Allsun still linked elbows with her friends, which is notable only because she did it later in the exact same way after Dillamond booted everyone from class like "Animals Should Be Seen And Not Heard" had also affected her (or admittedly possibly like she was worried she'd be blamed for it)

THE WIZARD AND I

Lauren did the thing where when Elphie says "when we work hand in hand" she holds up her best friend Suitcase by the handle and this is a Little Elphie Thing I always love

WHAT IS THIS FEELING?

rather disappointingly, this is one of the moments I honestly don't have big feelings about, which is telling. Allsun's G(a)linda is very obsessed with Elphie but enduringly, tragically straight about it and it was obvious to me as early as here I would not be Getting Everything I Wanted

HOWEVER

she did a full on Tevye-style shoulder shimmy for that last moment when Galinda's dancing and Elphie hip-checks her and it was very good

HISTORY CLASS/SOMETHING BAD

Kingsley Leggs did not get touchy with his students and did do the air quotes for "scapegoat" so perfect Dillamond no notes

I'm also not sure of most Dillamonds do this and it's not in the shot re: boots, but he explicitly shushed Elphaba before she could tell Morrible what happened from behind Morrible's back which I liked v much

DANCING THROUGH LIFE

Xavier's Fiyero is dreamy as fuck and can dance so well and can sing so pretty and i am SO VERY ENAMORED

srsly cannot overstate how fabulous he was, even though he's obviously a fiyeraba truther and not a thropple guy more on that later tho

bc i know my wife will ask, yes Allsun did the pokey stab at "sharp, doncha think" but did not do it hard enough for the hat to actually make contact w Lauren's stomach

Allsun was so short you could barely tell Xavier was dipping her lmaooooo

for the first time i noticed a sad wallflower dancer girl who's by herself near the stairs for most of the Ozdust portion and i want to know what her deal is

Allsun HUGGED Morrible at "how can I express my gratitution?" and lmao Morrible did not care for it one bit

Xavier did the cutest little shoulder nudge at "then what's the matter?" and at hearing "nothing" transformed into The Most Suave Man In The World for "good, let's dance" as like a SEDUCTION line it was great

Lauren's solo dance ruled, peak intense cringe

VERY striking to me that when Galinda first approaches Elphie, the crowd goes "yaaaaas!" like they think she's going to get off a really good zinger. they then LAUGH at "can I cut in?" as though that in itself is the insult they were waiting for. in the boots I've seen I've mostly taken this for audience laughter at that line, but tonight it was VERY clear it was from the ensemble

SECRETS/POPULAR

Allsun started the scene fully belly-flopped on the bed and remained laying down for "Your very first party?" which is the first time I've seen that

Lauren's English accent made its only appearance during the milkflowers monologue when she let out a "mum"

After the popular/LAR moment when Galinda has to dance cross the stage and then return to the bed, Allsun chose to do so by doing a lasso motion and pulling herself back to Elphie which charmed me utterly

Allsun did a full fucking split at "very very popular like me" it was damn impressive

I hope there's an Allsun boot someday her toss toss pose also involves particular foot placement and she MADE Lauren stand up and copy her

Lauren also fully tossed her hair entirely into her face so hard she had to pick it out of her mouth, I'm p sure she must do this every night it ruled

however this Popular still sealed Allsun's fate as Very Straight, the vibes were just. not there alas.

LION CUB

SINCE WHEN IS THERE WIRE WORK WHERE ELPHIE FLOATS TWO OF THE STUDENTS??? WHEN DID THEY MAKE THIS CHANGE??!?!?! i was astonished lmao

Lauren and Xavier really made a meal of "you think i'm really stupid don't you?" "no! not... really stupid" and I knew then for sure this was a Fiyeraba Truther cast

I'M NOT THAT GIRL

another "SINCE WHEN?" moment: the tour cheaped out on getting a bridge the cast could actually walk on, so the bridge is a flat set piece and then in the interlude Galinda and Fiyero actually just run onto the stage to dance in the rain and there's a spinning hug and it is DEVASTATINGLY EFFECTIVE at showing the two of them actually enjoying dating with Elphie on the outside looking in, I loved it, it should be like this everywhere

TRAIN SCENE

they modified the blocking so that rather than drag elphie back after she tries to run after Nessa, Allsun just body blocks Elphie completely from chasing by holding out an arm which I loved

Fiyeraba trutherism cont'd, Xavier *sprinted* past Allsun to give Elphie her flowers before having to cross all the way back for her. she then grabbed the flowers to offer them ALONGSIDE him at "we're both so happy for you" which charmed me but again, it read competitive not compersive

I can't explain how but Allsun delivered "I've always wanted to see the Emerald City" in this sweetly vulnerable way, like it was something she'd mentioned to Elphie before and she was touched Elphaba remembered

ONE SHORT DAY

Ever since Helen told me she heard an audio boot where Lindsay Mendez read the line "finally somewhere I belong" instead of "i belong" and I've wanted one ever since and Lauren delivered

in the long pause after "two BEST friends" it was Lauren who broke and reached first. this was repeated later in "I hope you're happy, now that you're choosing this" which is striking to me because I was/am going to make a punctum about how Annaleigh Ashford always did it the exact opposite, where she reached first and let her Elphies choose to take her hand

AUDIENCE WITH OZ

when Elphie was bowing during "I'm Elphaba Thropp your terribleness" Glinda was coaching her through doing it from the sidelines like Amy Poehler in Mean Girls

Blake Hammond's first two credits in his bio are Edna in Hairspray and Pumbaa in Lion King, and he plays the Wizard exactly how you would expect knowing these two things

A SENTIMENTAL MAN

yes Helen he did do "son or daughter" like Glinda was his son, as god intended

LEVITATION SPELL

Lauren was d e v a s t a t e d after "you have no real power," she wasn't even listening to "exactly, and that's why i need you" she was fully head down hair covering her face CRYING crying

DEFYING GRAVITY

Allsun's "STOP" was authoritative rather than soul-rending, but then she knelt down NEXT to Lauren and HUGGED HER AROUND THE SHOULDERS for "maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are"

Lauren delivered "come with me; think of what we could do... together" near tears and i loved it

this was the biggest moment Allsun's second understudy status shined through, for a second there she couldn't get the cape clasp closed and it was an UNCOMFORTABLY long fermata for the orchestra giving her the room to do it before transitioning into the Elphie gets to her feet drum roll

again, not sure if this was a Them Thing or if this always happens and I never noticed because boots are in closeup and I wasn't looking for it before, but at "and if I'm flying solo" Lauren did a full on goodbye wave to Allsun as like a farewell of forgiveness and understanding and Allsun reach-waved back

growl at the beginning of ~battlecry, ty Lauren for my life

INTERMISSION

it was my intention to spend my intermission beginning the draft of this post and frantically try and decipher the mad scribblings i'd made up my arms, but i instead spent most of it talking to the woman next to me, a gregarious mom who'd brought her two girls

she told me she'd only just seen the movie and then DIDN'T GO ON THE INTERNET bc she DIDN'T WANT SPOILERS FOR ACT TWO

!!!!

reader i loved her this woman made my night

she was so into everything and when I told her about how often I'd seen the show she asked me so many questions about what changed over time and was so impressed by what they managed to do on stage

also one of her daughters was like "mom, elphaba's FUNNY!" in surprised delight and uh yeah that is my greatest criticism of Cynthia's portrayal and the fact that these random normies could tell was. a lot. to me.

it was only at this moment that it dawned to me how FULL this audience was of kids and parents in this exact same position, people who legitimately did not know what was coming in act 2

the following are the moments that earned OUT LOUD GASPS from the WHOLE AUDIENCE due to this fact:

Tin Man reveal

Dillamond under the blanket reveal

"use her sister"

"things that don't belong to us" up through the slaps, gasps on EACH ESCALATING LINE/MOMENT

Fiyero turning the gun on Glinda

"she was yours all along" THEY. DID NOT. SEE. THIS. COMING.

anyway

THANK GOODNESS

pitch-perfect "not how you described it to me"/"not exactly but we'll talk about it later"

because, again, the bridge was not something the ensemble could stand on, everyone was just crowded around the platform for this, which made it feel (purposefully and effectively) claustrophobic. despite being an obvious Fiyeraba truther Xavier is so GALLANT to Glinda in this scene, because like-- when Morrible gets the crowd all riled up and they start choking in, he made this protective motion like he thought they were gonna grab at Glinda and he was keeping her safe

then after stalking off, he trotted back to give Glinda a chivalrous hand down from the platform like it was just pure instinct

SINCE WHEN DOES POPULAR MOTIF PLAY UNDER THE GLINDA AND FIYERO TALK???!?

however the fact that I have more to say about Xavier's choices in this scene than I do Allsun says all you need to know i think

WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST

Erica Ito hadn't made much of an impression on me in act 1 but she ATE in this scene. nessa was fierce as fuck and actually scared me at "lost your heart?"

also before that she did the thing Michelle Federer used to do and looked all paranoid over her shoulder after "i'm an unelected official" like people could be listening and i've missed it

Lauren did EXCELLENT reaching as Allsun and Xavier left the stage in the scene transition into Wonderful

WONDERFUL / FREEING THE MONKEYS / REUNION

sorry Mr. Hammond i have nothing more to say abt your Wizard

Allsun got big laughs on her pained, awkward-trying-to-be-chipper delivery of "we all went to school together"

the fiyeraba trutherism comes home to roost, i have never seen any fiyero burst out "i'm going with her" so fucking fast

his callousness there was balanced by how kindly he pulled off the "well it was -- but it wasn't" to both

still, he was fully out the room and expected elphie to just follow him after his exit bc he didn't grab her hand, so he had to COME BACK FOR HER and DRAG her away bc she wouldn't stop making eye contact w Glinda

Morrible did a full on evil laugh after "change in the weather"

AS LONG AS YOU'RE MINE

exactly as horny as you'd expect given everything else i've said so far but Lauren REALLY gave it her all on that front

the mom next to me literally said "spicy!" under her breath after "for the first time i feel wicked"

lauren was THIRSTY going in for that parting kiss after the Kiamo Ko invite

CATFIGHT

this is where it all fell apart a little, because Allsun being 2nd u/s just didn't have the chemistry there to pull off all the transitions

she also couldn't quite manage the wand twirl which was a bummer

i think this became a more common move for Glindas in the late 2010s but she went in to touch foreheads w Fiyero after "he loves her" and it killed me

NO GOOD DEED

not nearly feral enough for my tastes sry Lauren.

i will say a lot of this was not her fault, current tour choreo for stages without the trapdoor entrance demands she just HOLD the grimmerie for half the scene before awkwardly handing it off to Chistery and it is very distracting

MARCH OF THE WITCH HUNTERS

noose lady was VERY front and center my goodness

again bc tour Glinda and Boq had to enter via platforms being wheeled on instead of having the built-ins, and for the first time i noticed Glinda's is her Thank Goodness platform. that made me froth at the mouth.

aymee was PERFECT at "you've wanted this from the beginning and now you're getting what you wanted" but kind of undersold "so just smile and wave and shut up" tbh

FOR GOOD

helen has been keeping a timer of how long it takes gelphie to touch after the song starts in earnest at "i've heard it said" and tonight was zero seconds Allsun started out already gripping Lauren's shoulder

and here is where Allsun's deep speaking voice comes in, because it has this thing where instead of Glinda taking the lower harmony feeling like she's changed it feels like she's finally being honest/herself for the first time musically

FINALE

somehow DJ Smart managed to make "M-Miss? Miss Glinda...." sound not only like Chistery struggling to speak but like CHISTERY HAD A LUMP IN HIS THROAT BC HE THINKS ELPHIE IS DEAD TOO

NOT TELLING GLINDA AND FIYERO IS ONE THING BUT ELPHABA HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL CHISTERY

speaking of, Xavier passed on the Chain Of Forehead Touch from Allsun to Lauren at "no one can ever know" he was SO SAD and i prefer that so much to Fiyeros who are strident or chiding

SERIOUSLY ELPHABA YOU DIDN'T TELL CHISTERY YOU'RE ALIVE? GIRL.

anyway at curtain call Lauren made sure to do Big Gesture at Allsun bc she gets to do this So Rarely and i had an emotion

AND THAT WAS MY NIGHT oops this took me two hours to write and i still have work in the morning

oh well, worth it

[callisteios]

some of my favourite mixes spotify has put together for me

[sophiegoose]

Me, sitting in the theater watching Transformers ONE after spending over a decade watching the live action films:

[its-a-pain-having-a-name]

Feel like fear isn't really fear but just belief which got shaped into this concept of fear by minds born from chaos, and bias. It's easy to take the good things and attribute them to oneself but the bad? It's easier to project. The web has a great plan which actually underwhelms when you think about it because those without control wish to at least have given it up for something. Fear wants to grow and become because creatures who have always been and strive to continue to be, believe this something else should want the same as it is all they have ever known. People shape belief as make-believe because they want some consistency, some sense of knowledge so they make up rules, construct categories, form words and concepts. In the end it was belief warped and bent into shapes of what people believed, and that was fear

(Lol headcannon, damn wish we could fuck up reality via belief, such fun could be had if one could bend it like messing up that things must occur rather than mix in increasing complex ways because of belief, sorry strange aside tangent)(yeah tma made us have some absurd thoughts, it's fun tho)

“Avatar isn’t a thing, Martin! It’s not- it’s just a word. . . to reduce the messy spray of human fear into a checklist: human, avatar, monster, victim…”

[milkbreadtoast]

looking back at the yjh webtoon screencaps i have saved and giggling... hes so cute... moe... my pookie ^___^ 🥰🥰 poor little meow meow woof woo- *eliminated where i stand*

also these poses are sooooo... 꺄아악🖤🫣🫣🫣🫣

[sysig]

Dr. “Has to get a good grade in therapy” Doran (Patreon)

[hana-bobo-finch]

erm…..posting about an OC via a rushed shitpost was not on my 2025 bingo card!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂get it??? 😂😂😂because his name is bingo??(GETS SHOT)

these are all things he has done or has attempted to do so consider this the full intro post for that freak for now. he’s still too undercooked to fully introduce but damn I love him

[sparkshock]

(I apologize for doing this in a reblog, it was originally going to be a reply but it ended up being too long. I hope you understand.)

Let me start this off my saying that I’m not trying to attack anyone. I am very grateful that I was selected and received an award. Thank you so much for taking the time to organize this! 🫶 However, after watching this unfold for the last few weeks, I believe there is space for some constructive criticism regarding the execution of these awards.

While I think the concept of having an awards ceremony is fun and a good way to bring the community together, these kinds of things tend to devolve into popularity contests fairly quickly. Popular creators are put on a pedestal while smaller creators are pushed down.

I also noticed that the voting poles were not limited to how many times someone could vote. Anyone could go in and vote as many times as they wanted. That, in my honest opinion, is NOT a fair contest, and actually puts it at risk of being rigged. I’m not saying that it was rigged, and i’m sure that you never intended that, but allowing unlimited votes kind of defeats the purpose of it being a contest. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Now for this next part, I want to be clear that this is very much based on my own opinion. You’re free to disagree. However, I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want to upset anyone, but I’m afraid I have to disagree with the way the rairpair category was handled.

Luciben should not have been in the rairpair category. OC x canon and rairpair are two different things. A rairpair is a pairing between characters in a fandom (meaning characters that exist within canon) with little attention/fans. OC x canon is when a fan made character is shipped with a canon character. That, in my opinion, is fundamentally different.

You also said that you added Luciben to the rairpair category because it’s popular within the tumblr side of the fandom. If it’s popular, doesn’t that contradict the whole rairpair aspect of it?

I understand that you added runner ups to all of the other awards, and that’s great. But the fact that you didn’t do that in the first place is kind of strange. Like, why did only Luciben get recognized as a runner up? The creator of Luciben is friends with you, the person who is running these awards. Can you see how that looks a little sus to everyone else watching from the sidelines?

In the future, if we want these awards to continue, I think we need to restructure/revamp the way we handle categories and voting overall. Limit each person to one round of voting, and perhaps give OC x canon its own category to avoid confusion. But that’s just me.

Thanks again for hosting these awards! This was very fun, and I look forward to participating again! 🫶

CC/CT Tumblr Awards Final Results

Thank you all for participating in the awards. These awards were created as a way for the fandom to have fun and interact with creators that they may not have seen before, while also giving thanks to all creators in this fandom. Whether you write, draw, edit or create headcanons and memes for all to enjoy you are a vital part of the camp cretaceous/chaos theory fandom and the fandom would be much duller without you. Whether you have received an award or not you are a truly valued member of this community.

The winner of each award will be announced in the reblogs of this post.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Lord of the Empty Isles

sci-fi/fantasy

set on a supposedly utopian planet recovering from a climate crisis, where bonds between people are able to be seen and manipulated (by some people)

follows a young man whose brother was cursed and killed by an infamous outlaw 5 years ago, and he’s finally able to curse him back - but it rebounds, as he’s somehow fatebound to the outlaw

to find a cure and save them both they have to team up, and he quickly finds out that the resources the outlaw is stealing go to the thousands of people neglected on prison planets, and he has to go against what he thought was right to help them

no romance, aroace MC, focus on platonic relationships

arc from netgalley, out june 6

[akascow]

watching playthroughs of a couple new indie horror games people are raving about rn and just sitting there after like oh thats it ?

[alternativeulster]

swiftie mutuals please know that i still love you i just cant help but be a hater

[mmpookie]

ONE THING? nah I'm rolling up my sleeves for this one (LOTS of rambling)

1. OK quick 😭 the gameplay.❌️ I REFUSE to spend money on this game, if we have to grind through levels for more story at LEAST make some minigames that are actually fun 🙏

2. Second. Easy. Have someone who can actually accurately translate the Korean to English ☹️..Please.... are there any korean mutuals out there......

3. Ok now for actual story and probably just nitpicky things:

Spica. love the guy. infact. he was real close to being my favorite bc personally I found his character really sweet and low-key funny. but man. by the end of game compared to everyone else, this guy got the least development :( I like all the little things, like that he's just some overworked college student who's a lil sassy and loves horses+mythological animals, but if I could make canon, I would say the reason Spica works so hard is because he has to fill the space that his influential parents left when they died in the first great disaster. Would that make? sense to the timeline?? who knows. I think he's a good contrast to Sirius, since out of everyone, he's the best example of someone who's DEVOTE to the constellations and academy, along with his adoration of Polaris' heroism. But. It'd be cool if they could've written more of WHY he's like this, It would neat give perspective

THE TIMELINE?? WHAT IS THIS CANON TIMELINE 😭 IT'S HARD FOR ME TO FIGURE OUT. WHY ARE SPICA ALPHERATZ AND SIRIUS NOT OF HIGHER STATUS IF THEYVE BEEN SORCERERS FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY? ARCTURUS TOO RIGHT? I JUST WISH I COULD UNDERSTAND WHY THERE'S SUCH A LARGE TIME SKIP FROM THE POLARIS ERA. IT COULD MAKE SENSE IF THERE WAS JUST THE WORLD BUILDING FOR IT🙏 I like to think about Marcille from Dungeon Meshi when I think about characters with long life spans, and it can be genuinely a cool concept when done right !

I'll just mention quickly that I like how they wrote Alpheratz to be this kind of cranky apathetic guy, but eventually becomes alot more likeable n compassionate. He's found meaning in protecting the friends that he realizes he actually cares about. mm. love that. But the whole Alpheratz as Sirrah thing was.. pretty brushed by? I think they mainly had it that way so Alpheratz would have more specific reason to protect summoner, it drives the mystery of polaris lore further but I don't feel like it gives the oompth that it should. Cool concept, but! I feel like it should have deeper purpose OTHER than just eluding that polaris=summoner. SAME WITH ARCTURUS BUT WE'LL GET TO THAT. Alpheratz represents the burnt out gifted kids who are uncomfortable with filling in the large shoes they're expected to fill. He could be the character to push forward the tragic narrative of what it's like have your sole purpose in life = dedicating yourself to the constellations as a sorcerer. it'd be so interesting

have castor more involved in the main plot please please please please

Make the Polaris lore more clear?? please??? There was the whole stage play where they were all like ooh Polaris fell in love with a star and ooh the void god was jealous and therefore wreaked havoc-and while I know that Sirius implies that this is far from the truth, I can't help but wonder what the ACTUAL context was for the void's motives (tho I have theories). Also. was Sirrah meant to be Polaris' lover if this was the case or?? Hey atleast it could tie into Alphertaz's whole memory thing

FLESH OUT ARCTURUS' VOID ARC MORE PLEASE. OH MY GOD. Bro when that floor first released I was HOOKED but so dissapointed how quickly they moved on from it bc like- it's implied that Arcturus has been a dark sorcerer for the void for a WHILE, but when mc frees him all he says is "Golly! How weird! Sure glad that's over! Anyways! Here's Ursa Minor! ", and it's kind of like the Alpheratz as Sirrah reveal where it's more of a device to reveal that Summoner=Polaris..than any actual major character development. So. if I could rewrite it, I'd either do maybe two things, one- have it implied that Arcturus HAD the choice of whether he'd become a dark sorcerer, but from his perspective it was a decision he made for "the greater good", but it's something he genuinely does regret later on, and it would create a shift in his relationship to the committee once they discover this. Second- it really is more of a possession that creates a seperate persona he has little control over, (which happens directly after the banquet poisoning incident). I would make it more obvious by perhaps writing in mysterious disappearances he would make or other odd behaviors he can't explain. Either way, after he's seperated from the void I want there to be CONSEQUENCE!! Like maybe he had to sacrifice his magic or something physically, just anything he willingly offers to redeem himself, idk it'd be cool.

If they didn't have to rush through the ending, I feel like an arc where Summoner actually COMES TO TERMS that they're polaris is needed. Its kind of comedic how CHILL summoner is after they have this giant life-altering revelation with this sudden insane magical power. Like- I know mcs aren't written to have too much personality in these games but cmon give them a training arc atleast lmao

Sigh..... Sirius..... I've been humbled the past year while converted into a Sirius lover 😞which is so painful bc his character deserved so much better..... I'll atleast say that when reading inbetween the lines, there's a lot of things I like: like how he's pretty free-spirited guy who just likes to have fun, a trait he shares with other queen tets like pollux, his hobby is theatre and spreading gossip and pranking people with his transformation magic, I mean, he's been around for more than a century so ofc he does. I ALSO like the nuance in how though he rarely opens up to people or reveals what he's truly thinking- at the same time- he can never hide how he's FEELING, his eyes will always give it away haha. I like to think that since he sort of blames himself for what happened with Polaris, his self-loathing makes it hard for him to believe that he deserves any form of love, despite him always joking, and despite his flirting. AND HE'D DIE BEFORE EVER TELLING YOU HE FEELS THAT WAY!! Since then he's always felt uncomfortable with the vulnerability of TALKING about his feelings. There could be a cute arc where he learns to heal from this :') ... Now, for all the Sirius haters, I know where you're all coming from 😭 because.. he tries shooting us.. and they don't even reveal why for SEVERAL. FLOORS. Dude, I would have it so Sirius DOESN'T have this insane impulsive part of his personality that HARMS people!! No!! It would be far more interesting if he played his role through intellectual means, riddled spells and stuff bc. this guy studied under Polaris afterall.

Ok and just one more thing: IF the game is meant to have Sirius as a love interest, I would NOT have mc in their past life (polaris) have a familial relationship to Sirius, it just has weird confusing vibes. I would just easily change it so Polaris and Sirius were close friends or lovers instead. If this WASN'T a romantic otome game and Sirius is never meant to be a love interest, then yeah go ahead the family dynamic would be super bittersweet!

I want your opinions for reasons…

If there was one (or more than one) thing you could change in Arcana Twilight’s writing, what would you change? Be specific please 👁️👁️

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

it sucks to have no one to talk about the big emotions to because they're either too close to you or too far away... i simply don't know how to cope with real life and i don't know how people do

[humanmorph]

austin makes frieren sound so much more compelling than it actually is

[vogelmeister]

anyways i am feeling kinda brave today so im gonna share a potentially unpopular taylor swift hot take. when i was talking to my friend yesterday about ttpd i realised that i kinda have a similar problem with the anthology as i do with evermore.

like don't get me wrong, both have absolute gems (willow, tolerate it, long story short, gold rush and NBNC from evermore are great and i love the albatross, so high school, the prophecy black dog, manuscript etc) but i think both collections (bc anthology is not an album) suffer because they came out connected to a much superior more cohesive work, and both almost feel like rejects from the body of work that proceeded it.

[dawnssummers]

oh yeah decided i believe in faith/willow/kennedy whyever not