#making two different versions since one technically has spoilers

[entropyvoid]

3.X Speculation and maybe some wishful thinking based on a buncha leaks from the r/honkaistarail_leaks subreddit. So take it with a grain of salt, or maybe a whole shaker, because leaks are by nature questionable, subject to change, and at times simply bullshit. My speculations kind of assume many of the leaks I’ve seen (and linked) to be accurate. If you don’t wanna see Amphoreus leaks or spoilers, scroll on past.

Anyway with that being said I think we might be getting Abundance Dan Heng

So, first off, we’ve been getting some leaks about Dan Heng getting a new form on Amphoreus in 3.X, and that the Chrysos Heir with the Earth coreflame at the very least looks a lot like our boy Daniel. It’s Dan Heng dude, we’re getting earth Dan Heng. Off the bat, it feels a little out of left field, especially since he’s kinda got established powers that are way different from any earth-based abilities, but this sorta lead me down a path of trying to piece together or guess more details.

So like, each Chrysos Heir is essentially a hero that holds the power of a corresponding titan, (full chart of what we know about all of them here,) and though there have been some name changes and tweaks for our brand new shiny space fantasy setting, each one is more of less based off of a titan from Greek mythology. So Georios, the Earth titan, from whom Dan Heng is (probably) getting these cool new powers, is more or less a version of Gaia. A.k.a Mother Earth.

In the silhouette that likely represents DH’s new form, all we can really make out is what looks to be an armored/scaled/clawed(?) hand and an orange glow from the flame he’s holding - probably his coreflame. Each of these mystery silhouettes has a particular color, and earth/geo in hoyo games in the past has always been orange, so to many fans that alone kind of suggests that Earth DH is gonna represent rocks more than plant life, especially since hoyo in the past has drawn a pretty hard separation between the two for characters, with geo and dendro in Genshin, and a lotta people are drawing comparisons between Dan Heng and Zhongli, because like. Something something pretty Chinese earth-flavored dragon man. But I think people forget that Star Rail isn’t Genshin, it doesn’t operate on the same elemental system or play by the same rules, and since Gaia represents both the land itself and all the nature that grows on it, I’d like to throw out the possibility that Georios will be the same way and that Dan Heng’s rocking both rocks and plants. It would also fit in really nicely with his other forms - in his regular 4 star form he’s got wind and maple leaves, and Imbibitor Lunae’s got water and lotuses. He’s kind of got a very nature-y pattern going on already, so that would fit him a lot better than just “oh he’s rock flavored now” would by itself.

To take it a lil further, my speculations on what his path might end up being is based on this count of how many characters we’re getting for each path and what we already know about upcoming characters and their paths:

We can probably safely cross off Destruction and Hunt, since Dan Heng already has versions for each of those, and I highly doubt we’re getting any repeat paths for the same characters, barring an upgrade from 4 to 5 star like Herta, which could technically happen with Hunt, but again, kinda doubt that’s the direction Dan Heng’s being taken since Erudition is very much Herta’s whole entire deal, being an emanator and all, and Dan Heng just ain’t like that. Harmony as well, because Tribbie has already spent that one singular slot (wild after there were so many in Penacony,) and Remembrance, since our roster for that seems to be filled up with Harmony Trailblazer, Aglaea, Castorice, and very likely March. Erudition has one slot taken up by Herta right off the bat, with whisperings of Screwllum possibly finally coming out in later 3.X versions, who was leaked to be Imaginary Erudition long ago, and though it could have been changed in that time, I’m just gonna assume he’ll be that until stated otherwise.

That leaves Nihility, Abundance, Preservation as possible paths for our shiny new Dan Heng. And if I’m placing my bets on one it particular, it’s gotta be Abundance, because:

There’s the whole situation with his previous incarnation/predecessor, Dan Feng’s memories still floating vaguely around in Dan Heng’s head due to the preceptors messing with his reincarnation.

Dan Feng knew healing magic, but Dan Heng doesn’t presently have that ability/know how to pull that off

He’s getting these powers on a planet heavily influenced by the Path of Remembrance, so there’s a strong possibility that something or someone there could more easily draw forth Dan Feng’s memories, and Dan Heng talk about facing his predecessor’s actions head on and not running from them, right around that time he stabbed that one guy. If given the chance to regain Dan Feng’s memories more clearly, I could easily see Dan Heng taking it if it means unraveling what exactly his actions and motives, which would make moving forward and possibly trying to right the aftermath of them a lot easier and more doable.

Doing so could very possibly bring back that healing ability in the process

Abundance would fit with the possible “mother nature”-esque theme in general, and the potential mother nature theme also kinda ties into that whole quest Dan Feng was secretly on to try and find ways to make new Vidyadhara since they can’t reproduce and have a dwindling population.

Maybe help from whatever the hell Georios is + memory recovery will actually give Dan Heng the tools he needs to not just try to make up for Dan Feng’s fuck-ups but also figure out a solution to his species’ infertility without accidentally causing a massacre this time? Idk man it kinda depends on what Dan Heng decides to do, exactly.

It would be neat

[tophats-tea]

drawing fanart everyday for Danganronpa: A New Generation until the First Episode comes out

Fay 266: Paper Crane

Check out the fangan!

[yuri-is-online]

Love and Deepspace Timeline: Xavier

This is all speculation and should not be taken as fact, I have made a previous post about Zayne, but as stated there I do not have the necessary cards to make one for Rafayel and will direct you to this post by u/joonmin on the love and deepspace subreddit. This post is being made before I have managed to complete the Myths date (as soon as I hit level 55 it is over for you hos) and will be updated at some point once I have finished it, but I think I have enough information to explain Xav's overall timeline and hopefully clear up a few things for people missing his cards.

I have included a TL;DR at the end of the post for people who don't want to get lost in the weeds of theorizing.

Some information from that post about Zayne will be re-hashed here to help provide context about the game's setting. SPOILERS FOR ALL IN GAME CONTENT UP TO CHAPTER 8, VARIOUS MOMENTS, AND ANECDOTES, PROCEED WITH CARE.

Current Timeline

The current timeline where the main story of LAD takes place is set in the year 2048 in a place called Linkon City. We are told that the Deepspace Tunnel opened 14 years prior and that is when wanderers started invading earth. There is a lack of understanding about why this has happened, and it has sparked an interest in space exploration in the hopes of finding a solution.

The Hunters Association is sort of like an adventurers guild? It's supervised by the government, and is sort of split between Hunters like MC and researchers attempting to understand what makes the wanderers tick.

This includes researching protocores, currently the only thing the hunter's association knows for sure is that they contain a great deal of energy, and that they can cause disease in humans based off of which category the protocore falls into. This is confirmed the be what is wrong with MC, and appears to be a problem all versions of her share.

The events immediately following the opening of the Deepspace Tunnel are referred to as the Catastrophe due to the amount of destruction caused by the influx of wanderers. This is what birthed the N109 Zone. According to the in game Spacepedia, it is surrounded by various other "no-hunt" zones, which it further clarifies as being places with "a chaotic Protofield and frequent Wanderer appearances," i.e. really dangerous places for people to live let alone go to. Civilians are outright banned and hunters need special permission to enter because of just how dangerous these places are considered to be.

Unlike Zayne and Rafayel, Xavier does not have an alternate self yet. The versions of him in his myths card and all of his anecdotes are all the same person, just at various points in his long life. The technicality of this is addressed in one of the shareable posts: Immortality No Longer A Dream! The article goes into detail about how a new biotech company using protocores to regenerate the heart. You can share this article with each of the three boys, who have different types of reactions, but Xavier's is not one of surprise or skepticism, but of acceptance. The article itself talks about immortality as something everyone will one day be able to accomplish, but Xavier disagrees.

Xavier's first two anecdotes, A Special Vacation and Passing By, both establish how exactly he has been living his life on earth since his arrival. We learn that he has been doing his best to keep a low profile by moving between various jobs and tries to avoid making friends. As mentioned by @exactlycleverpirate in the replies of this post (who has made their own timeline you can check out here) "Xavier says he has been on Earth for 214 years, and that this will be his last. That means he arrived in 1834. We also see in one of his Tender Moments, that he rented a book from the library 30 years ago. So he has definitely been on Earth longer than the Deepspace tunnel has been around." Chapter 8 ends tells us that soon Earth and Philos will be in alignment for the first time in billions of years, which is likely why Xavier says this year will be his last, but I am unclear about what exactly that will cause.

We learn that there are other immortals from the same place as Xavier living in Linkon City, and that some of the see him as a traitor. We can assume that many of these immortals are involved with Onychinus due to Xavier's knowledge of and interest in their organization.

It's not clear how or when Xavier chose to start working as a Deepspace Hunter, but the other jobs he's taken all seem to be related to the military/evol combat. He is also very keen on fighting wanderers, so being a hunter is a good way for him to hide in plain sight. Which is what he has been trying to do.

His Precious Bonfire date suggests he has been a hunter longer than MC and has a reputation of not participating in team events. He has the highest level of access to the Hunters Association database and seems to have a good working relationship with Jenna, who seems content to let him do his own thing. She also attempted to assign MC as his partner, in part seemingly because she wants to protect MC's evol.

There is of course also the concept of Lumiere, a legendary hunter who appears during the catastrophe caused by the Deepspace Tunnel and wreaked any wanderer he came across. He has a light evol, a giant bounty on his head, and looks exactly like Xavier when we see his wanted poster in Chapter 8. While MC might have her doubts, since we the reader know Xavier is immortal, it's not much of a jump to say these two hunters are the same person.

Chapter 8 gives us more detailed look at the exact dynamics these immortals have with each other, but I think it makes sense to talk about Xavier's origins first so we know where he is coming from.

Philos Timeline

As I said on my other post, all of the Myths cards take place on the planet of Philos. In the present timeline, Philos is no longer a planet, just a lonely core floating in deepspace at the other end of the deepspace tunnel. In Xavier's third anecdote, When Shooting Stars Fall, we finally learn what Philos is: it's Earth. An Earth that has been reborn by substituting the planet's old core with an artificial one and with a different name.

Now this anecdote takes place in the year 214, which is explained to us as meaning 214 years has passed since Earth was destroyed and reborn as Philos. How does that make sense if we are currently on a very much alive earth with a very dead Philos on the other end of the Deepspace Tunnel? No clue, but I think that's going to be one of the main focuses of the story. Something had to happen to Earth to make it become Philos, and then something happened to Philos to make it uninhabitable. Given what we know, both are likely related to wanderers.

I also want to briefly mention that in Rafayel's myths card, it is mentioned that the sea is missing so the Lemurians have no home. Based off of MC's description of the weather and how "fragmented landmasses" are being held together, I wonder if the re-birth of Earth as Philos is what caused the seas to dry up? And if so what role did MC have in the creation of Philos if any?

This anecdote is from the pov of MC who is studying at a school she simply refers to as "The Academy." It is unclear if this is the same school as she and Xavier are attending in his Lightseeker cards, but based off the uniform he wears and the sword he carries I think this is likely meant to be a highschool of some sort, and the Astria Knyght Academy is a form of military school equivalent to a college.

Xavier's words about immortality being a privilege come into play here as we learn something about MC: she always seems to have heart problems, specifically she always seems to have Protocore Syndrome, the exact same disease she currently has. In this anecdote she explains it as being a birth defect that has only one cure, a special protocore. One that supposedly can cure any illness.

Protocore disease prevents the patient from living forever, something Xavier finds very hard to accept. He abandons MC for a month without telling her where he is going to try and find this Protocore that she needs to live, but comes back too late. By the time he finds her, the core can't save her and he holds her as she dies. She asks if he thinks they will meet in her next life and he promises to always wait for her.

We know current timeline MC has shards of an Aether core in her heart, and that her heart is currently stable. While the anecdote does not outright say that the cure to Protocore Syndrome is an Aether core, Xavier's knowledge of them and his emotions when MC brings them up to him makes me think it probably is. Currently we do not know how an Aether core can be obtained, other than (assuming that is what he brought MC) Xavier was injured getting one. The MC here says she is unable to live for more that a century, something that has changed in her next re-incarnation but we don't know why.

When MC re-incarnates she is brought under the tutelage of the Grandis Knight, the personal knight and retainer to the King of Philos. Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, and is also studying under swordplay under the Grandis Knight. She has no memories of Xaveir, who does not tell her about their shared past despite holding on to the gift she made for him: a star sword tassel. This doesn't seem to bother him as much as you might expect, he mostly just seems happy to have her alive again.

She is stupid jealous of that tassel because Xavier openly admits to being in love with the girl who gave it to him. But he also speaks about her and the MC in the same sentence if that makes any sense? He sees both versions of her as her, and just as he promised he intends to wait for her so they can be together.

Xavier is an interesting character (to me anyway) because he has a pretty clear arc to his attitude towards his relationship with MC as he ages. He starts off as being shy in the third anecdote, then he moves to being openly teasing and affectionate (outright asking to elope and saying things that make it sounds like they might have been betrothed) in his lightseeker cards, to how he is at the end of his myths date and currently with MC: restrained in his interactions with her but unable to completely keep himself away. Why he has become restrained, why he thinks he needs to distance himself from MC is unclear. What is clear is that he has no interest in taking the throne from his father, a man he actively hates and does not seem to see eye to eye with. While their relationship seems to have always been tense, the breaking point is during Xavier's Gladius Ceremony.

The Gladius Ceremony is a sort of coming of age ceremony where the heir proves their ability to ascend the throne by killing a wanderer with nothing but their lightblade. Something happened during that trial that Xavier does not want to talk about and MC mentions he has "changed" since then. Like he left part of himself behind????

As an interesting note this trial takes place in a forest, a sentient forest much like No-Hunt Zone 7 in chapter three.

Xavier says he cannot be the man his father wants. What his father wants is not clear, but I personally think it has something to do with what wanderers are as Xavier seems to have a degree of sympathy towards them if they show a degree of sentience. It also might have something to do with how Philos was made, as both MC and Xavier acknowledge that the planet is dying.

The MC mentions that Xavier leaves her a lot but always comes back within a specified time frame. He goes on expeditions into Deepspace, but never tells MC what he is looking for and we as a reader do not learn. He does, however, mention finding a newborn planet filled with flowers and offers to take MC there if she will give up on being a knight. She is confused, as her entire life's purpose has been to be his knight, and doesn't fully comprehend a world where Xavier isn't going to be king.

But the card story starts with MC being crowned Queen, with Xavier as her Grandis knight, so we know that's what will happen. So neither of them got what they wanted in the end.

The "Lightseeker" title of Xavier's card refers to a unit of knights that are commanded by the Crown Prince and answer only to the royal family. Their duty is to keep Philos safe from Wanderers, much like the modern day Hunter's Association. Both the MC and Xavier are training to become Lightseekers, and have a sort of rivalry for the spot. MC keeps beating Xavier when they spar but he seems to have the stronger Evol so they're quite equally matched. It's stupid cute how everyone but Jeremiah thinks they hate each other, speaking of which:

Jeremiah is a friend of MC's in the same class as her. He's also her wingman who keeps trying to help set her and Xavier up, something Xav doesn't seem fully aware of. He's stupid jealous of their friendship which Jeremiah seems to find really funny (he's the only one who knows how delulu they are for each other and seems to find a lot of enjoyment in teasing them.)

Jeremiah also ends up being a knight under MC's command after they graduate the academy. Xavier however... goes missing after a meeting with his father and does not reappear even after he dies. He is missing for a period of 200 years until MC finds him again in the same forest that his Galdius Ceremony took place in. He saves her from... something. An illusion? A cosmic vortex? Whatever it was Xavier has discovered something that affects the health of people's hearts. And he seems determined to not get close to MC or let MC get close to him because of it.

I think it might just be because she is about to die from her disease, which she doesn't seem aware she has but always does, and Xavier doesn't want to have to watch her die again. But I haven't finished the card yet so I don't know.

He also seems to be under the impression the whole world is going to end now, and not just Philos.

The last thing we need to take from all of this information about Philos is the existence of a group called the Backtrackers. Xavier was with them once, but he isn't anymore. MC was seemingly under their care and, according to his Passing By anecdote, traveled through the Deepspace Tunnel with them but was lost. I'll explain more about what I think about them now that we're ready to return to the present timeline, but just know that the Backtrackers are A) from the Philos timeline and B) likely immortal just like Xavier is.

Back to the Present

In Chapter 8 you are either introduced or re-introduced to Jeremiah, who now owns a flower shop called Philo, likely named after his home planet of Philos. He is a friend of Xavier's and they both share the same current goals, which includes protecting the MC. Jer's job in this chapter is to provide MC with a fake identity to use in the N109 zone, but he does provide us with some information to try and tie up some loose ends with Xavier's timeline.

While the Nonintervention principal he refers to probably does have something to do with MC, it also likely just refers the fact that since both Xavier and Jeremiah are from Philos and therefore the future they are trying not to interfere with the timeline too much. Something that whoever blew up MC's house does not care about anymore, implying that if that was indeed Onychinus then we can assume they likely are also immortals from Philos who want MC and her Aether core for something.

When MC finds Xavier again after his 200 year disappearing act he is leading a squad of Lightseekers from various units. I think these are probably the Backtrackers, and that there was a split in the group after the MC and the Aether core went missing during their journey into the Deepspace Tunnel. We know that at least Xavier has been here longer than the Deepspace Tunnel has been, but there is room for speculation around Jeremiah and the others. As Pirate again pointed out in the comments, whatever disaster during the travel the Backtrackers took into the Deepspace Tunnel likely caused them to arrive at a bunch of different points in time.

While this confirms that Xavier and Jeremiah are not from this timeline it raises a lot of questions about MC. Her memory is constantly spotty, and I had wondered if that had something to do with the Aether core... but now.

With the way Xavier tries to limit his interactions with her and says he's the last person who should be trying to get close to her I wonder if Xavier is worried MC is being erased from time? Or if she belongs to this timeline so while he loves her, while he wants to be the one she chooses, he subconsciously knows he's from a doomed timeline and therefore unable to stay with her. This also raises questions about the other two love interests; we know MC has forgotten things about Rafayel and I theorized she has forgotten something about Zayne. Is this because they also don't belong? Does MC not belong? Or is it something related to the trauma MC experienced from being experimented on?

TL;DR

This was all pretty complicated so I thought I would sum up the basic points because I felt a bit incoherent.

Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, a future version of Earth that was created by replacing Earth's core with a fake one.

This fake core allowed the citizens of Philos to live forever unless they had the rare heart condition know as Protocore Syndrome, something the MC always has no matter how many times she is reborn.

The cure to Protocore Syndrome is a rare Protocore that Xavier tries to get for her but gets back with too late. He watches her die and while he was already shown dislike seeing her injured, this seems to turn it into a genuine trauma of his. He is shown to be deeply distraught seeing her gravely injured or sick in multiple moments/dates and is determined to take care of her. In a rare decision by the writers, this does not appear to manifest itself as a desire to not see her engage in combat as he trusts her ability to take care of herself, just maybe not her willingness.

MC is reborn and begins military training with Xavier intending to become his knight, but Xavier refuses to take the throne of Philos for reasons he does not share with MC. He also begins disappearing for long periods of time on journeys into space. On one of these journeys he finds a young planet filled with flowers and attempts to convince MC to elope with him and abandon her dreams of being a knight. He seems uncertain if MC's desire to be with him is just because she has been told she is to be his knight or if it is because she genuinely loves him; Xavier knows which one he wants it to be though.

After talking with his father he disappears for 200 years and founds a group of knights investigating a forest with an unstable Protofeild where killed Wanderers simply don't stay dead. It is my theory that these are the Backtrackers mentioned by past MC, Jeremiah, and Xavier.

Xavier arrives in this current timeline in year 1834. Other immortals from Philos begin to arrive in the current timeline at different points and agree upon something they call the Nonintervention Principal, likely to keep from destroying the spacetime continuum too much. What they are refusing to intervene in is unclear.

The Backtrackers made a journey through the Deepspace Tunnel with future past MC and an Aether core, but something goes wrong and she disappears. Xavier has been waiting to see her again ever since he got here, and intends to wait forever.

There are more immortals than just Xavier and Jeremiah living in Current Timeline Linkon City, some of which are very likely allied with Onychinus and searching for the MC. Why is related to the Aether core in her heart, but might also have something to do with her Evol.

It is my personal belief that many of these citizens of Philos used to be in the Backtrackers, but even if they didn't they see Xavier as a traitor to his people and more importantly to them. Why is unclear, but I imagine it might be because of their goals for the MC and her Aether core. In a broader sense it might be because they intend to do something to current earth to save their home, and Xavier disagrees with that but the two things do not seem mutually exclusive.

Earth and Philos are about to be in very close alignment, and both Xavier and Jeremiah expect something bad to happen around that time.

Final Thoughts

I would be interested in knowing the direct Chinese translation of these particular lines from precious bonfire to see if there is any difference to them... but honestly this is one of the things that sold me on him. She dies and he follows the traces of her light until he finds her again, and he tries to keep her alive but he fails and so he follows her again.

I saw at least one post wondering of Xavier will betray MC and rip the Aether core out of her heart, and I want to clear that up here. I understand why people might think this if they haven't read any of his anecdotes but no, that's not going to happen unless it's the only way to save MC's life. Xavier very much wants to keep MC alive, his efforts to distance himself and withhold information from her are always done to serve that goal.

Rafayel is the one who has a pretty good reason to want to cut out MC's heart, not Xavier. And I do mean good reason I don't really hate him for it and am not trying to imply he's a bad character or a bad romance option for it.

One of Xavier's immortal friends is name Noah. There is always a chance that this is a coincidence, but there's a part of me that wonders if he shares the same name as Dr Noah because they are the same person. The anecdote he appears in involves Xavier getting him a new identity so I don't think they're likely to be related.

I actually really like MC , Xavier, and Jeremiah's friendship and sort of hope it gets some focus in some small way in the future. Jer and Xav had to have bonded over losing MC, not to mention Jeremiah spent 200 years fighting Wanderers with MC under her command. She talks about him as being her best friend!!! I want to see more of him!!! (if he doesn't have a partner and if I can't have Tara x Jenna I should be allowed Tara x Jeremiah)

I'm worried there might be a plot point that involves Xavier dying in the future and then maybe we get to meet a different timeline version of him and end up on the opposite side of the "can't tell this ghost wearing your face how I really feel" spectrum.

Speaking of which I like how Xav seems to respect MC's current life and doesn't expect her to be a carbon copy of her past selves. It's nice (stares at critically acclaimed mmorpg villain Emet Selch)

Anyway that's it. I'll update the post when I finish the Myths card, which I fully expect to make me cry like a baby. If anything confused you my askbox is open, just because I write for twst doesn't mean I am not open to talking about this if I made mistakes or if you feel like any of this was unclear.

[rottenraccoons]

HIIII I wanted to ask a more technical question related to the game. I know in another ask I think you mentioned that the ending you get in chaper 1 would determine where the story goes in chapter 2, but I was curious if individual/specific choices from chapter 1 would make a difference or effect anything like a bit of dialogue in chapter 2.

Like for example in Oleanders route you pick a trinket and that can effect a few lines of dialogue later. Will some choices like that carry on into other chapters? Tho I'd totally understand if not since it'd probably get too complicated to do stuff like that ^^

I really hope this isn't spoiler territory. I tried my best not to do that ><

The short answer is yes! Choices you make in chapter one can absolutely be referenced or have ongoing effects in later chapters. For anyone who has never programmed before, I'll explain a little about how choices work under the read more and show some examples of Obscura code, but the simple version is that it's only a little more work to include stuff like this: a line of code and then whatever the extra/alternative dialogue is.

So!! If you've never programmed before, the word you'll want to know is variable. A variable is basically just a box that contains information. In basically all visual novels any information the game needs to remember is stored in a variable. And in Ren'py games, it is very easy to make and use variables for a lot of stuff!

Your protagonist's name, for example, is put in a variable box labelled "Name", and so we can just type [Name] in dialogue and Ren'py knows that what we're asking for is the contents of the "Name" variable box, so it just shows that. You can see us doing just that in the first line of this code screencap! So when you enter your name at the beginning of a playthrough, you're telling the game what information goes into the "Name" variable box.

(You can also see how we set variables here, with the "trust_keir" variable remembering if you said yes or no to trusting him, and if you say no then he gets one point added to his affection score.)

Within a single playthrough/save file your variables stay the same until something in the code changes them, but starting a new game makes a new set of variables for that playthrough. That's why no matter how many new games you start and enter a different name into, your old saves will still have the name you entered there.

Since Chapter 2 is going to be a direct continuation of Chapter 1, you're still in the same save file and so all your variables just continue being used. And that means they're available for us to use for all sorts of things! Using variables can be complicated if there's a lot of them that interact in a lot of ways (ask me how a certain date scene is going!), but here's a pretty simple version.

There's two ways onto Keir's route: you can get kidnapped by him normally, or Vesper can accidentally find a way into Mouse Hole after leaving Cirrus' route. If you do leave Cirrus' route, the variable "cirrus_escape" is set to True. That means that later on, I can program dialogue that will only be shown if you left Cirrus' route, in this case mentioning him by name while passing his church. There's a different line for players who didn't leave Cirrus' route. And we can do that with basically any variable in the script!

(For those who want a total breakdown, the screenshot above works like this:

First line: everyone sees this.

Second line: the code that tells the game only to show anything "inside" it (below and indented) if the player left Cirrus' route

Third line: the piece of script that's shown to players who left Cirrus' route

Fourth line: the piece of code that says "anyone who didn't get to see the third line get to see anything inside this"

Fifth line: the piece of script that's shown to players who didn't leave Cirrus' route

Sixth line: everyone sees this.)

So yes, there will be references to previous things that happened where they're appropriate! We love weaving references to things that happened before into the script, it makes everything feel more alive and responsive to your choices, even if those responses are individually pretty small.

[chara2127]

Spoilers for bsd and Crime and punishment ahead.

Why I don't think Fyodor is all he seems? As we've seen before in bsd Fyodor always fakes or hides the true nature of his ability. What we know is his ability is called Crime and Punishment. The ‘crime’ seems to be killing him, whether it be indirect or not, as we saw with Bram. And the punishment being turning into a kind of version of himself, or like a data transfer. His ability seems to function on being a kind of data stacking on individuals and their minds. We can see that because of Bram's oath, Fyodor has the restriction of not hurting Aya. Which leads to the theory that he is just a bunch of personalities stacked on eachother. What if riding the world of abilities isn’t his goal, since chapter 120, and leaving Atsushi there.

What even is his goal or grand plan? Religious ideals or his ability wouldn’t be the full reason for his crimes. What if he wants to rid abilities because the ability we were shown so far isn’t his full ability. I've had two theories on his ability before it was released. What everyone considers to be his actual ability, the one i explained above. Or a form of reincarnation cycle. When we saw what sigma was seeing, all of Fyodor’s memories, were they actually his memories? Were they past selves or reincarnations? What if he did a heavenly crime and his punishment was to be forever reincarnated as a punishment, and that's why he was enjoying his game with Dazai so much, there was a thrill of dying if his ability is ACTUALLY an ability. Think about it.

As we have seen when sigma got stabbed by Fyodor, he seemed to “fake” a sort of personality disorder. What if he wasn’t faking it? What if that was him remembering one of his past reincarnations. What if when he dies it's not because he was murdered and takes over someone’s body, it's a punishment for a crime he did, like I’ve said before. So that’s why he seems to want to get rid of abilities all together. He sees them as a curse, like his is.

But wouldn’t he, knowing Atsushi is the bookmark, need Atsushi to complete his goal? Why would he just leave him there? I say he likely realized that maybe he didn’t need Atsushi at all to achieve his goal, he already has Amenogozen. An entity in a different dimension. Something seemingly godly to people in the 3rd dimension. Fyodor also (technically) broke the 4th wall in the panel when he explains why Amenogozen would always succeed in battle against someone in the 3rd dimension. Or, maybe after achieving Amenogozen, he realized that maybe the world he is in isn’t the original one.

We know it was altered using the book, and we know that maybe “our” reality is considered the original, Kafka asagiri being the author of the “book,” and Atsushi, the “bookmark”, the main character. I believe Fyodor realized that his goal was pointless, but wanted to try to succeed and continue in making his current plan work, to become one on the 4th dimension, to “transcend” the dimension barrier, essentially becoming akin to a god on the 3rd dimension.

[iwillbringyouruin]

Radskier dialogue nuances in different languages

So I have been rewatching The Witcher in French recently and some of the changed lines stuck out to me, in the interactions between Radovid and Jaskier in particular. So i figured I'd compile my favourites from the translated versions I've seen so far here and compare their meaning to the original. I've also included some of the German lines since I'm German and I got curious!

Disclaimer: I'm just a guy who speaks a bunch of languages, don't expect overly technical linguistic wizardry here. Also this is not about the voice actors' skill or how well the lines are matched up to lip movements, strictly about the little changes in meaning when you take the translations literally! All meant to be in good fun.

Since this is about the season 3 dialogue, there are spoilers ahead.

This is going to be a long post so buckle up!

Season 3 in general: The way Jaskier and Radovid address one another

English (original): both use "you" which makes sense of course

French: Jaskier uses "vous" (the formal "you") for Radovid and Radovid uses "tu" (the casual "you") for Jaskier until they have sex in episode 4. When they talk the morning after in episode 6, they're both using "tu".

German: both use "Ihr" and the other formal derivatives for one another throughout (Even Geralt and Jaskier address each other formally the whole time. I'm not a fan)

Episode 1: Jaskier and Radovid meet

The dialogue here is generally very close, just two little things between the original and the German version I want to point out.

English (Jaskier): Fuck, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to… Bow? Or curtsy, or… I’ve been holding your hand a long time, so sorry about that.

German (Jaskier): Shit, I don't know if I'm supposed to bow or be polite... I've been holding your hand for too long, forgive me ("bow or be polite"?? HUH?)

English (Radovid): If your time at court’s been staid, you’ve been doing it wrong

German (Radovid): If your time at court has been too calm/quiet, something went wrong ([gay silence])

Episode 2: specifically Extraordinary Things

I've put the different lyrics as rather direct translations in the pictures below. They're also written out in the alt text. The French ones are a little more pointed compared to the original imo, I like that version a lot. I'm not sure how I feel about the German version but the first line did make me giggle.

Episode 3: Jaskier talks to Vespula about Radovid

I love this scene for many reasons. I have two things to point out about this.

The first thing is that while in the English and French version, Jaskier says that he and Radovid have only met twice, in the German version he says that he and Radovid don't even know each other.

The second thing is that in the English and German version, Jaskier calls Radovid a spoon and he does in the French version as well. However, he specifies Radovid is a "little spoon" here. Need I say more?

Episode 4: the scene in the shed

Ah, the scene of all time. Before the other scene of all time in episode 6. A few things about this one. The first thing is a very small change in the French version:

English (Jaskier, after Radovid admits he's scared): Just saying that makes you braver than you know.

French (Jaskier, after Radovid admits he's scared): The fact you're admitting that proves you are brave

The second thing bothered me more because it isn't really a subtle change. Both in English and French, Jaskier says Radovid has "learned [his] song", but in German he says Radovid "knows [his] song". The German line here isn't saying that Radovid "knows" the song as in he knows how to play it (from hearing and watching Jaskier play it for him once, mind you), the way it's said makes it sound like Radovid has just heard the song before.

The third thing is what they're saying right after the kiss. Unfortunately with the slightly changed lines for Jaskier we don't get the clever connection between Jaskier talking about taking Radovid into the cabin and Radovid asking Jaskier to take him (sexually).

English (Jaskier): I can't take you inside, I'm sorry.

English (Radovid): Then take me here.

French (Jaskier): The cabin is occupied, I'm sorry.

French (Radovid): Then take me here.

German (Jaskier): We can't go inside, I'm sorry.

German (Radovid): Then take me here.

Episode 6: the morning after

The German version is the same as the original here.

English (Jaskier to Radovid): I thought I’d seen through your mask. Turns out there was nothing behind it.

French (Jaskier to Radovid): I thought I had lifted the veil from your soul. But I found nothing but darkness beneath that façade

The subtle differences in the French version on the other hand not only make the pain a little different, it also includes an allusion of sorts to that version of Extraordinary Things with Jaskier talking about Radovid's soul. At least that's how I saw it. Ouch!

Episode 7: the moment where Jaskier finds Radovid at Thanedd

All three versions here make me want to cry. That's all.

English (Radovid): Just let me be there with you. Prove that I’m more than a mask.

English (Jaskier): Maybe.

French (Radovid): Just let me stay with you and show you what is beneath this façade.

French (Jaskier): Why not.

German (Radovid): Just let me be with you and show my true self.

German (Jaskier): Maybe.

[onepiece-oc-archives]

Oda-approved questions to help build your OC

If you head to the One Piece Wiki page of the Straw Hats and take a look at the Miscellaneous section, you'll find a lot of trivia questions about the Straw Hats that Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, has answered in the Q&A portion attached to some manga chapters, called an SBS. I like to call those answers "Straw Hat Fun Facts" and I love them, because they work really well if you want to flesh out your OC and give them a bit more life and depth.

So, even if you're not planning on making your OC a Straw Hat, these questions might still be helpful for you to think about.

The way I'm gonna structure this post for the sake of avoiding spoilers is I'm gonna list all current LA Straw Hats with their facts and all future confirmed Straw Hats will have their facts mentioned without their name, if it makes sense to mention them. That way you can avoid duplicates within the crew if you want to do that and still have no clue about who's gonna join. I'm also gonna comment on how the various fun facts apply to the live action adaptation wherever applicable.

If you're looking for people's birthdays, I'm gonna make another post about them, don't you worry. But you won't find them here.

Animal Resemblances

Luffy: Monkey

Zoro: Shark/Tiger

Nami: Cat

Usopp: Armadillo/Chameleon

Sanji: Duck/Bighorn Sheep

Others: Reindeer, Red Panda, Crane, Falcon, Bull, Rhinoceros, Horse, Giraffe, Whale Shark, Bear

I don't think any of them were mentioned or referenced just yet in the live action, aside from Luffy's name having the word Monkey in it, but that doesn't count. I'm pretty sure we'll get some hints in the future though since these just have such great potential for easter eggs.

Specific Numbers

Now, this is a category that's a bit more complicated because each Straw Hat has at least two signature numbers, for very different reasons. Everyone has a main number based on when they joined, with Luffy being number 1. The second number is the same but it skips Luffy, making Zoro number 1, but this version is rarely used, if ever at all. Then there's the possibility of a Straw Hat getting a number assigned to them based on a pun, whether that be based on their name, their devil fruit, or something entirely different. I'll explain pun numbers in a bracket.

Luffy: 01, 56 (go-mu)

Zoro: 02/01

Nami: 03/02, 73 (na-mi)

Usopp: 04/03

Sani: 05/04, 32 (san-ji), 59 (ko-kku = cook)

Others: 06/05 - 10/09, 110, 87, 26, 43

Now, you may ask: "Evie, I wanna have a pun number for my OC, how do they work?" I got you, buddy. You can make your own pun numbers using a technique called goroawase, using this handy chart I made based on a Wikipedia chart. Everything I added is in (brackets) and consists of variants that would technically be possible due to my own understanding of goroawase, but might not be commonly used.

On a very basic level, all you have to do to create your pun number is to grab the readings from this table and glue them together. I took some work off your shoulders by adding the phonetic changes you can use, indicated by the arrows. You can also only use the first syllable of a reading or add or remove an n at the end of readings that end in vowels or n's. As you can see whith Sanji's ko-kku, you can duplicate consonants, and you can also turn short vowels into long vowels (tsu -> tsū, for example), both for spelling reasons. If you need to transcribe a c, either use an s or a k (or whatever else fits), depending on the pronunciation.

Here are some examples with my OCs:

Cora: 96 (ko-ra) or 25510 (a-ka-i-to - would be very unusual due to its number of digits, but I think I'll use this as a plot device in a future fic!)

Luna: 67 (lu-na/ru-na)

Inari: 576 (i-na-ri) or 53 (ka-mi)

Create away!

Specific Colors

This was in the live action! And I think we'll definitely see something similar again later.

You can't really see it that well but here are Luffy, Nami and Zoro lit up in their respective colors - red, orange and green respectively! I tried to take a better screenshot but, alas, Netflix will not let me.

Luffy: red (aka)

Zoro: green (midori)

Nami: orange (orenjī)

Usopp: yellow (kiiro)

Sanji: blue (ao)

Others: pink (pinku), purple (murasaki), light blue (mizuiro), white (shiro), black (kuro), ochre (ōdoiro)

As you can see, we pretty much have the whole rainbow here, which makes picking a unique color for your OC pretty hard, BUT it's completely allowed to use different shades of the same color (see: blue vs light blue), which is why I listed the Japanese color names for you. I did some digging and it turns out that these are the names of some of Japan's traditional colors. Those traditional colors don’t always match up with what my impression of the character's color is, BUT I made this handy little graphic for you:

In case there are any animal-related characters around and for those of you who like describing smells in their fanfic (me too, me too), this might be very useful!

These are all of the Straw Hats' specific colors (top row) according to the overview of Japanese traditional colors I linked for you above, their color names underlined with my perception of what color Oda might actually have been referring to, in modern terms. As for the grey names beneath orange and pink, those are the traditional colors from the overview that I used to replace the romanized English colors, based on what the first translation that popped up was. The columns directly underneath are a selection of different shades of the same color, also with their names. It just goes to show that you have a huge variety of colors to choose from for your OC - Japan's traditional colors alone are about 1,000 different colors and you can definitely play with hex codes some more. So, go wild!

Specific Smells

Luffy: meat

Zoro: steel (and probably blood, let’s be honest)

Nami: mikan (tangerines, essentially) and money

Usopp: gunpowder

I'd say everyone smells of the sea at least a little bit, realistically speaking, since they are pirates.

Sanji: cigarettes and seafood (and I'm willing to bet he wears some type of cologne or aftershave or something)

Favourite Type of Island and Season

Luffy: summer but he also loves snow, basically everywhere with meat

Zoro: autumn on an autumn island

Nami: summer on a spring island

Usopp: summer on an autumn island

Favourite Food

Sanji: a spoilery gag, so get creative!

We either directly see some of these in the live action or can easily guess.

Luffy: any kind of meat

Zoro: white rice (specifically in the shape of onigiri aka rice balls), sea beast meat, any food that compliments sake (though he's also pretty fond of beer, at least in the live action)

Nami: mikans (tangerines) and most other fruits

Usopp: pike from an autumn island and other fish of the season

Sanji: spicy sea food pasta, food that compliments black tea

Others: not really relevant but maybe interesting; cotton candy, chocolate, sweet stuff in general, sandwiches, not-too-sweet cakes, food that compliments coffee, basically anything that you can find at McDonald's, curry, mozoku seaweed with vinegar and fruits

Basically, Sanji gets to juggle around a whole lot of different flavours and cultural influences - and he does it really well and finds a way to make everything special, by the way! He generally favors the ladies in his cooking though.

Least Favourite Food

Even Sanji can't make them like everything. Their reasons for not liking something are very different, so they probably still eat it, especially if it's used in something Sanji prepared because he's their cook

Luffy: Cherry pie

Zoro: Chocolate (yes, chocolate! Adds a lot more depth to the scene of him eating Rika's rice balls, doesn't it?) - it's too sweet

Nami: orangette (candied orange peels) - she prefers actual fruit

Usopp: mushrooms - he got sick once

Sanji: konjac (Japanese konjac gel is usually made by mixing flour from the konjac plant with seaweed; it pretty much tastes like nothing and is used mainly for its texture) - it's not nutritious

Others: anything spicy, chewing gum, marshmallows, lemons, parfait

As a Family

This is part of the reason why Oda said there would be no romances within the crew in canon - but this is fandom, he has no power here. Feel free to ignore any of these roles and substitute canon with your own

Luffy: fourth son

Zoro: first son

Nami: daughter

Usopp: third son

Sanji: second son

Others: another child, parents and grandparents

Real-world Nationalities

Now, this is interesting, because these played a part in how the Straw Hats were cast for the live action!

Luffy: Brazilian (Mexican in the live action)

Zoro: Japanese

Nami: Swedish (her actress is American, but she was kept as white)

Usopp: unspecified African (his actor is Jamaican-American, so it sort of checks out)

Sanji: French (Sanji's actor is very international, but he's not French - I do believe Sanji is still supposed to be at least part French in the live action though, at least he still has an affinity for the language and he may very well have grown up multilingual)

Others: Canadian, Russian, American, Austrian, Indian

Inner Brain

Basically: What are the five words their brain/subconscious circles around?

Luffy: meat, meat, meat, meat, pirate king

Zoro: sword, sword, strength, train, sleep

Nami: money, money, money, money, beauty

Usopp: warrior, lies, lies, run, run

Suited Flower

Sanji: You guessed it, it's a spoiler-y gag. But, to summarize, he thinks about cooking and women

These were actually answered by one of the voice actresses for the anime (except for Luffy and Zoro's alternates) but they're Oda-approved! I know fanfic writers love flower language, so rejoice!

Luffy: cosmos, sunflower

Zoro: thistle, wisteria

Nami: sunflower

Usopp: daisy

Sanji: delphinium

Others: tulip, casablanca, anemone, rose, peony

Blood Type

-> this is a topic for another post since it's more of a life fact than a fun fact, isn't it? Maybe, I'll put the blood types in with the birthdays and make a sort of Straw Hat info post?

How often do they bathe?

Bathe, not shower, I would assume. Zoro showers after training... right?

Luffy: once a week

Zoro: once a week

Nami: every day

Usopp: once every three days

Sanji: every day

Typical Hours of Sleep

The only reference to this we have in the live action is Zoro's habit of napping. An interesting thing to note is that the Straw Hats' sleep schedules largely coincide in just such a way that someone is always awake - except for during one hour. Maybe this really is a coincidence or maybe this is a habit they built while travelling together. They do still have night watches though, I believe. But that means there's usually always someone to keep the night watch company :)

Luffy: no set time, but usually sleeps around 5 hours

Zoro: 4am to 7am (3 hours) + naps

Nami: 11pm to 7am (8 hours)

Usopp: 1am to 8am (7 hours)

Sanji: 12am to 5am (5 hours)

In conclusion, more than half of the crew has no idea what a healthy sleep schedule is. This is a pattern that's gonna continue, by the way...

Suitable Careers

Basically what careers they would have if they weren't pirates. Their actual careers in-universe also don't count.

Luffy: firefighter

Zoro: police officer (I will not accept this slander)

Nami: childcare worker

Usopp: graphic designer

Sanji: beauty salon worker

Others: elementary school teacher, cabin attendant, pilot, detective, train station attendant

Cooking Specialities

What are they best at cooking? According to Usopp in the live action, none of the guys besides Sanji can even boil water, so I'm willing to assume Sanji may have taught them a little. A lot. Not Luffy though. He's still a disaster.

Luffy: raw meat on a plate

Zoro: sashimi - a dish consisting of variously cut raw fish and meat

Nami: roasted duck with mikan sauce

Usopp: fish and chips

Sanji: literally anything, but he prefers seafood

Who would win a 50m sprint?

Only the current Straw Hats count here.

Fifth: Nami

Fourth: Usopp (he's already fairly fast, mind you)

Third: Zoro, slowed down because he got lost (but I still don’t think he could beat the people ranked higher than him, I'm sorry, Oda)

Second: Luffy

First: Sanji

Alcohol Tolerance

Another very useful one for fanfics! Tolerance doesn't equal how much they like drinking, by the way. I'd be willing to bet that the Straw Hats' alcohol tolerances got toned down in the live action, or at least Zoro's, judging by him stating how he woke up under a table once. With his manga-level tolerance, he would have had to drink gallons worth of alcoholic beverages before that happened. Still, I think the ranking holds up.

Fifth: Luffy

Fourth: Usopp

Third: Sanji

Second: Nami

First: Zoro

And finally one last bit that doesn't really fit anywhere else:

Sanji is currently the most qualified to give the crew a haircut. This makes sense if you read about his alternative career choice earlier and due to him generally putting a lot of thought into appearances.

So, that's it! Hope these help you!

[theknightlywolfe]

Thoughts on Agatha All Along since I gave in to watch it since people on Tumblr seem allergic to tagging their spoilers.

I know it was inevitable but I am annoyed we didn't get Lilia's trial before she was killed off.

Why did amnesia Billy/William go goth-lite? There was no indication from either boy's life. Did he just realize he was gay and randomly choose that from the twink aesthetic catalogue? Did he go with it once he heard about witches and decided to lean into the commercialized version of that aesthetic that they had the whole co-opted culture rant about? If so, that would be hilarious. A bunch of witches stuck with a little fanboy in a Spirit Halloween costume of them the whole time.

I think the potion didn't work for Sharon/Mrs. Hart because they forgot to add her hair to the potion, not because she had drunk more of the wine.

It's going to be interesting to see how the passing of time on the Road vs regular world goes. Because we are talking about a regular of Westview life and a teenage boy just up and disappearing for a while. Lillia can close her shop and it's whatever, Alice just lost her job, and Jen it would make sense she went into hiding to avoid the charges. But Sharon and Billy were expected home for dinner soon. Knowing Marvel, they're just going to ignore that.

Given that only two witches can make it off the road, are they going to loophole Billy (and/or Rio?) since he wasn't one of the witches who summoned the road (or because they're going to technicality him into something not a witch), are they going to end it by trapping/killing Agatha in the vein of destroying the last of Vision in Wandavision so everyone knows there's no s2, is the other witch who made it off the road with Agatha the first time going to come into play (watch, it's Rio), or is Rio not going to make it? I can't imagine, with the poorly done hints at assembling the Young Avengers, that they're going to kill Billy. Also, let's be real, it's still Disney and their execs get nasty at the suggestion of killing children in their media, especially on screen.

The whole jade egg thing was hilarious.

How has Agnes been surviving for three years? Especially with the implication that she randomly goes cuckoo. Is Ralph still paying the mortgage and utilities in the hope he eventually gets the house back? Is she normal enough long enough to hold down temporary jobs to cover her bills and maintain friendships with the neighbors? Especially since they show up to bring her food and make sure she's okay when she does go cuckoo and they all know she didn't live there before Wanda showed up. Does Agnes have access to Agatha's bank accounts and has just been unknowingly draining her savings?

I really need one of those Bohner family tshirts.

On a tangent:

If they are going to Young Avengers Billy, I am even more annoyed at the implication that Kate and maybe Yelena are going to be part of that. Yelena is 30, Kate is going into her mid 20s, and Billy, Kamala, America, and Cassie are mid teens. And how is Shang Chi supposed to fit in? Are they ignoring Secret Invasion or are we really going to see Super Skrulls? If so, what good will Kate and Yelena be except as coordinators and trainers? Billy is the most powerful living witch, America is a universe jumper and wizard, Kamala has super powers and bangles which can build intergalactic wormholes, and Cassie can shrink into a realm where physics work differently and from where she can summon a multi-powers army of friends. Kate and Yelena fight good. Which is kinda useless against Hulk power Skrulls.

If they're going to ignore Secret Invasion the way they seem inclined to ignore Eternals and they're dropping whatshisface because of the actor's legal troubles and poor audience response, then what is the new generation going to be fighting? And if it's basic foot soldier invasion at a level two non-powered mortals can deal with, then what do we need Shang Chi, Kamala, America, and Billy for? I mean, even with everything the Avengers dealt with, the heroes were pretty low level power wise until the last Thanos battle. Thor didn't have his full powers and they're still kind of weak, Wanda didn't know the full extent of her powers, Vision was so busy waiting for Tony to give him orders he never actually used any of his real power, and the rest were mortals. Like, yeah, Cap and Hulk could hit hard but what good is that against Shang Chi or Billy?

So, what? The new full Avengers will be Sam and Shang Chi, with Katie along for the ride to fill the archer role and maybe Yelena, maybe She-Hulk? And then the Young Avengers will be Kate and Cassie and a few planet destruction level super powereds? And if they are going to split Hawkeye 2.0 and Widow 2.0, why bother introducing them to each other and making them be friendly.

And, again, if they are going to give everyone amazing archery skills, why bother with Kate Bishop at all? Kamala has plucky optimism and knows Fury, America has the active connections to the OGs through Strange and Wong as does Cassie in some ways, and Billy brings the purple. Kate has no tactical or strategic training or knowledge, no powers, and while the rest have experience with super powered battles, Kate has ... fought gang members.

And really, how stupid to have all the powers be on a Young Avengers roster while the only person in the potential new full Avengers who would maybe even survive a battle between them is Shang Chi. Because with what they have done since Endgame, all the powers except for him are with teenagers. Shang Chi is the only super powered who can walk in a bar. Are we going to have to wait eight years for them all to be acceptably aged? Is a Disney owned studio really going to lean into child soldiers? Is Sam just gonna swan off and do his own thing and not build a new Avengers team? Is Shang Chi gonna be a Young Avenger? Or is he gonna be the new Strange, there when needed but not really an Avenger.

Is Billy going to be the new big bad? His mom destroyed the Darkhold and the throne room place so he doesn't exactly have the path to world ruling and her full power. And again, is Disney really going to be okay with sending teenagers to kill each other in bloody battle? If Agatha might be the new big bad after she gets her powers back in the show, then they only need to send Shang Chi and Kamala against her since their power weapons are tech not magic and she can't steal them. Or maybe Billy distracts her while Yelena sniper rifles her from behind.

If they just let their stories run, fine, but they hint at team ups that just make no sense.

[strawbubbysugar]

Happy birthday Bubby!

Couple more questions!

-Are you able to say everyone’s ages in So(u)l, including the animatronics?

-Does June ever play his guitar and sing in public or at bars or anything or does he only do that at home now?

-Soulmate question, kinda regarding Rush and Morgan’s bond, does that imply that if you don’t have a soulmate due to your previous one passing away, you can get a new bond later even if your future soulmate already exists? Like the string will “wait” kinda until they’re ready? Or was Morgan and Rush’s string there right when Rush woke up?

-What are June, Hello, and Goodbye’s main fidgets/stims?

-Okay this might be weird lol but I’m curious, what are Hello and Goodbye’s favorite little things that June does in his sleep? Does he talk, twitch, unconsciously cling to them like a koala, anything like that?

-What kind of odd jobs does June do on the side?

Thank you!!

i wanna keep it vague, but June is roughly in his mid 20's matt is roughly in his mid-late 30's Marlow is roughly one year younger than June Morgan is two years older than June Hello is a year old (his AI is somewhere around June's age) Goodbye was a year older than June (now the same age as Hello) Rush is around 8 years old (his ai is early 30's) Wibble is around 6 years old (his ai is the same as Rush) Cammie is 4 around years old (her ai is the same as wibble and rush) Octavia is around 2 years old, but was technically never completed (her size makes it much easier to fit a more complex system in her, so her mental age is around 40) The skrittles have the same AI age as toddlers, but theyre a few months old Astro Cadet has been worked on off and on for about six years, and his ai is about the same age. It grows much slower than the WOW branded animatronics

Absolutely no in public things. He's gotten a lot more shy about performing since his band days. He only ever plays for hello/goodbye and piper

Soulmate marks are all about right time, right place. if you arent the version of yourself that would be soulmates with someone, no markings will show up. Morgan was a very different person with their last soulmate, and their life experiences changed who they are. it happens! people change, especially as they get older. its why a lot of people are told not to be upset if they dont get any markings until later on (SPOILERS BELOW) Its why samir and june didnt have any soul marks until samir was goodbye. he wasnt the person that wouldve been soulmates with june yet, he needed to experience and change and grow before that would happen. So did june!

June chews his lip a lot, and sighs. Sometimes he sighs for no reason just because he forgot to breathe. I think his favourite fidget toy would be one of those fidget cubes Hello stims by waving/flapping his arms, or playing with his hands. I think he'd enjoy fidget spinners or rubix cubes! Goodbye stims with squeezing/pressure. He'd enjoy weighted blankets, and I think he'd enjoy stress balls. Ones with thick stuff inside so he can really squeeze down

Hello likes it when June sighs in his sleep, or mumbles. Goodbye thinks its funny when he snores on occasion, and records it to play it back while pretending to nap. (taking inspiration from my roommate bc its hilarious, sometimes june will make the saddest, softest little sigh in his sleep and hello will wake him up like "WERE YOU HAVING A BAD DREAM ARE YOU OKAY" & june will be entirely confused)

June does a lil of everything. people in town come to him for a lot of stuff like yard work, painting houses/fences, cleaning houses. He occasionally comes into bryn's office and helps with anything they might need too, like fixing the chairs, etc. He's known as a jack of all trades around town (which makes him feel nostalgic, since that used to be what he called his childhood best friend)

[cocozydiaries]

Can you tell me more about your mha dr please?

HIII tysm for the ask!!

noticed two mha related asks really close to each other? anon are you the same person twice🤨

okay okay if ur not new here u probably know i did post about my mha dr before BUT THAT POST WAS AWFUL so now it’s deleted and gone. sorry😞

Honestly with my updated version i’ve just kept most things kinda vague. Don’t get me wrong I love scripting, but i don’t do it that much anymore coz now i just let my subconscious handle it so my scripts are kinda empty.

I do still script, just less but dw i’ll share what i have!! I love over sharing🫶

be warned this is unorganised asf since i wrote it all at like 2am😭

My dr name (spoiler alert i don’t have one):

even tho i think names are very important I haven’t picked a name for myself in any of my drs💀. Partly coz I wanna be surprised but also partly coz just coz i’m lazy.

I did however script that my name suits me and has a nice meaning. I also scripted that my siblings and i all have the same first letter of our names (smth we have here!) but my parents also have different names for each of us, like a sorta nickname (mine is yara coz i have a love/hate relationship with butterflies)

Onto actual stuff related to my mha dr. Also probably the only thing you really care about smh. yeah ik your intentions anon🙄

Quirks!!

soooo basically quirk basically siren/mermaid irl?? tbh idk but the main thing (aside from occasionally cosplaying as ariel) i’m basically able to shape and manipulate water. Very korra coded of me ik but she has always been my favourite.

Me, some of my siblings, and parents mostly have different quirks tho due to that fact that my parents adopted us. That’s a whole different thing tho we can get into later.

I haven’t scripted my family’s quirks because again lazy asf and wanna be surprised. I’m assuming based on their jobs they’re gonna have either powerful or really useful quirks anyhow. Just makes sense

Anywhooo onto actual mha stuff like

UA:

Idk if i’m gonna get in lmao💀 all i scripted is IF i do i’ll end up in class 1A. I did that coz i wanna know if i can get into class UA without scripting it. I mean ik i will but idk funsies ig.

I also changed the uniform coz it’s ugly asf. Honestly i just think dark blue would’ve been so much better than that vomit izuku inspired green.

i also scripted that midnight and mineta are actually chill and normal people. IM SORRY GUYS💔 but mineta is lowkey funny when he isn’t a creep and midnight is so extra i love her. i just don’t like when they’re…. icky. so i scripted that out!

and i scripted that toru gets a proper hero outfit kinda similar to mirio’s thing. makes absolutely NO sense that his hero outfit was made to adapt to his quirk but they leave my girl to freeze? nuh uh

i’ve actually scripted quite a few minor difference or things i want to happen. let me know if that’s smth you guys are interested in!!

Anyways that’s kinda it coz idk what to say… I need y’all to ask me specific questions PLS😭 i suck at answering vague stuff💔

EXAMPLE: “coco” (or yara since you lot did technically unlock a new name) “exactly what are you gonna do when you wake up in ur dr at 5:21am because you heard one of ur rat siblings cluttering around outside ur door while getting ready for school.”

how i’m feeling after checking what other people’s dr intros look like and realising i was only meant to write a couple of sentences and not explain why i picked each thing i scripted for my dr in a stupid amount of detail: 😐

i can drive in my dr btw!! can’t do that here tho. thought you should know. IDK HOW TO

[merionettes]

rubicon ask!!

first off I'm so so delighted that I picked up FE3H last summer and that it led me to finding your writing & especially this fic. what an amazing experience, what a treat with every update, I have all these fun memories now of places I was when I got the update email (and screamed internally every time). a little collection of sense memories colored in.

as for the actual question: very curious about your process. did you have an outline going in? I have to imagine yes (or else you're braver than black friday shoppers). how did you go about structuring this, ie did you have a series of Moments in your head that you wrote around and connected, or did you try to build scenes to fit the arcs you had in mind, or a mix of the two? anything and everything you want to share, I'm 🤲

you're killing me!!! man, thanks so much, seriously. 

as for the actual question, indeed. hahaha. ha. i delayed answering this for so long because it kept devolving into an essay about the emotional experience of writing a novel for the first time. well i give up. this is now two posts. one is the actual answer to your question, only ten times longer than it needs to be. the other is an essay about the emotional experience of writing a novel for the first time. so… caveat lector. 

first part under the cut. ← not kidding about the caveat!!!!!!

i've talked a little about the process before, so i'll piggyback on that post and dig a little more into the differences between the original idea and the finished product, including spoilers i couldn't get into when i'd only posted 55k. ("only." god.)

technically this did start with an outline. technically because at the time i was brand-new to fe3h and hadn't written anything but a few friend-ficlets in about 8 years. thought "skating au!!", spent a fevered weekend outlining all the major scenes, started in on the writing, and…. very quickly realized that i was nowhere near competent enough to actually. write it. "intensely frustrating" does not even scratch the surface, lmao, of what it felt like to have this thing in my head and only be able to produce what felt like the worst clumsiest tritest version of it. very apropos for skating, actually. 

looking back on that outline, it had almost nothing to do with the finished product, especially on felix's side. it didn't have the nationals flounce, the timeskip, training in vancouver, the lake, the nhk trophy sports anime climax, the backstory reveal meltdown. (it did have the redemptive healing free skate.) what, critically, it did have was sylvain's personal arc—burned out, desperate to quit, wants to go to college. it ended at exactly the same place as the actual story, with sylvain and dorothea's final skate together. the last line was one of the earliest things i wrote. 

in other words, even though almost everything between the first and last scene changed WILDLY in the process of writing, i always knew exactly what i was working towards and that was invaluable. 

insert two year timeskip here! during which i would occasionally reopen the skating doc, take a stab at another scene, feel this ominous sense of foreboding, and give up lol. you can thank the 2022 winter olympics for making me get serious, specifically 1) yuzuru hanyu going out in a blaze of bittersweet doomed quad axel glory 2) shoma uno losing to some eighteen year old. i believe my exact words were (consults notes) "anyway time to go back to my fic where i control the narrative and i decide who wins." idk what made this attempt different than any of the others—right time, right inspiration, right circumstances—but this time it caught fire. in uh. in a big way. 

so that's when i wrote what i refer to in that post as a skeleton draft and what i've since come to think of as a storyboard on steroids. this is when felix's arc really took shape, beyond "he is sad… he is mad… he is perfectly positioned to see right through sylvain." the fallout from nationals crystallizing, in particular, was one of the things that snapped felix into place and helped determine the tone and focus of the story overall. (that initial outline had much more of a romcom/classic fwb-to-lovers feel.)

the other thing that did this, of course, was sylvain's narrative voice. when i committed to "burnout who is controlling every single word of every thought to avoid admitting that he is burned out" was when this story became what it is. the voice dictated every single scene, the tone, the shape, what was revealed, what was implied, what was never making it on the page. it led me places i didn't anticipate. it made the cuts for me! cute scene you've got in that outline lol sylvain would never. 

i see past me in that post dancing around the length, lmao. well the ""storyboard"", the skeleton, whatever you want to call it, was over 100k. and yet even then, EVEN WITH 100K ON PAPER, there was still so much i had no fucking clue was coming! felix pushing sylvain on what he wants was there, but sylvain never explained what happened. my oc jm gautier (thanks for nothing, three hopes!!!) was an ominous presence, but he wasn't the final boss. there was no memory of the first time sylvain and dorothea met. (<- insane.) there was no glenn skate. i had to write to discover all of that.

so like—i cannot emphasize how much i grew as a writer through the experience of writing this story. prose, structure, character arcs, thematic arcs. i was harder on myself than i've ever been. and if i hadn't had that end goal in sight i don't know if i would have made it through all those iterations—storyboarding, drafting, rewriting, editing. wanting to deliver that moment powered me through any amount of frustration/exhaustion/bewilderment.

wow this post sounds almost normal. nothing about this experience was normal. which is why you're getting a part 2.

[twistedtummies2]

Let’s Talk About...”A Villain’s Twisted Heart”

So, this is a little different from most posts I make. XD Basically, I just wanted to take a little time to talk to you guys about a couple of games I found out about recently. They have some good characters - as well as very kinkable ones - and they are very “niche” pieces, not especially widely known. So I thought bringing some attention to them would be a good idea. Both games are by a gaming company called “Genius Inc.” They make otome-style visual novels, which are all…TECHNICALLY free to play. Yeah, spoiler alert, I can’t - in good conscience - recommend either of the games I want to talk about AS games. I’ll get to why that is, and tell you where you can find walkthroughs to view, later on in this post, however. First, I want to focus on the positives, and especially on the characters. There are two games I want to discuss, and I think it’s best I do them one at a time. So, I’m going to start with this one: “A Villain’s Twisted Heart.” WHAT’S THE STORY? I am 90% convinced that, since this game came out in 2021, and has a title like “A Villain’s Twisted Heart,” this had to be inspired by the success of my beloved “Twisted Wonderland.” When you first hear the premise, it does bear a few passing resemblances to the game, but it’s different enough that I think it can stand on its own. The story focuses on the POV Protagonist - referred to as “The Reader” - who has the power to make material anything they read aloud. Basically, if they were to read, say, something from Arthurian Legend, they could potentially summon Excalibur; within the story of the game itself, they read from Cinderella and summon the Mice, and from a science book and summon a portal into outer space, just to give you two examples. However, in typical fashion, the Reader doesn’t know how to fully control their powers, and sees it more as a curse than a blessing. Things take a bad turn when they encounter a mysterious antagonist, known only as “The Unraveler.” The Unraveler is a Reader gone rogue, who uses his powers to travel to different worlds via different stories and books, and then basically mess everything up there. The problem is, the more one messes with other worlds this way, the greater the risk of the world itself being completely destroyed by the Unraveler’s meddling. He’s now planning to do the same to the Reader’s own world. To try and combat this threat, the Reader attempts to summon three of their favorite heroes in fiction…but, seemingly because of their lack of experience, they instead summon the villains of the stories in question. These villains are Captain Hook (from Peter Pan), Grimm (the Big Bad Wolf of Fairy-Tales), and Hisame (a genderbent version of the Snow Queen). The Reader thus is forced to team up with these dastardly, selfish, murderous scoundrels in order to defeat the much worse evil the Unraveler presents. In the first season of the game, all the action takes place within the Reader’s own world, with many fish-out-of-water elements for the Villains who are the focus. In the second season, the Reader and the Villains travel between the three worlds of the bad guys’ respective stories, pursuing the Unraveler to try and stop his mad plan to basically become a God. Since this is an otome type game, you make choices along the way to strengthen your relationships with the three Villains, and at the end of the story, you choose to form a romantic relationship with one of the three; they remain in your world (the Reader’s world), while the other two return to their own respective universes…with the promise that they will either visit you or you will visit them sometime down the line.

PROTAGONISTS & ANTAGONISTS

The main thing that both this and the other game I plan to talk about do so well is create strong characters. While the Reader is a mostly pretty blank protagonist - which is par the course for this type of game, to be fair - I do appreciate the person who wrote this visual novel did, in fact, give them a little bit of a personality, and a story arc beyond just falling in love. The Reader starts off as an easily flustered, generally reserved person at the start, and by the end of the game they’ve become just as much of a bad@$$, to be blunt, as the three Villains who they befriend (and, in at least one case, more than befriend). They also have a sense of humor and, despite being shy at the beginning, they aren’t completely spineless, usually ready with a quick comeback or logical argument. On that note, the character IS defined as female, but there’s no reason one can’t imagine them as male in personal writing, or just keep the gender neutral. The Unraveler, our main antagonist (pictured above), is a pretty deplorable villain. And I mean that in a good way: he’s a decent bad guy. He starts off as a straightforward villain without much depth, but as the story goes on, he becomes more interesting. We never find out his true name; apparently, he adopts a new alias each time he visits a new world, and all his misadventures have unnaturally expanded his lifespan, so he’s far older than he seems; just like the Villains we’re facing, themselves. In the Reader’s world, he adopts the identity of a college professor (Moriarty, anyone?), but it’s pretty clear even this identity is something he’s made up. Whoever he is, his backstory is that he was a person who was neglected and shunned by society for most of his life; when he found out about his powers as a Reader, he used them to make himself into the hero of many stories. He craved the attention and praise being the hero got him, but he wasn’t willing to do the actual work to become a true hero; instead, he would organize things to make the heroes of those worlds look bad, and thus present himself as the only one who could stop their evil deeds. It’s this obsessive need to be given attention and adulation that leads to him seeking to become “The Hero of All Worlds,” which would apparently give him powers tantamount to a God. Which brings us to the real stars of this story, the three Villains. What I appreciate about this game is that these three Villains ARE villains, at the start. They aren’t just misunderstood heroes, or even anti-heroes: they, themselves, acknowledge that whatever and whoever they used to be, they became the bad guys of their own stories. A common thread runs through all three of their stories: it’s revealed that each of these Villains used to be the hero of their own respective world. They were protective presences who guarded their people and tried to help them in times of need. That all changed when the Unraveler came to their world: he framed each of them for crimes they did not commit, and when they tried to stand up against him, they failed, lost, and thus their reputations were completely ruined. The suffering they went through led to all three making the same basic decision. To quote a song: “You’re looking for a monster? Well, it’s your lucky day! I’ll be what you want!” As the story goes on, each of the three not only begins to form attachments - both to each other, and to the Reader - but they do start to shape up. By the end of Season 1, they’ve effectively gone from Villains to Anti-Heroes: they’re not exactly GOOD people, but they’re on their way to the path of redemption. And by the end of Season 2, I’d say all three are what would be termed Flawed Heroes. They’re now more or less heroic figures, the way they once were…but after spending so much time as Villains who would kill or even eat you without a second thought, they obviously still have some broken gears in the clockworks, so to speak. On that note, let’s now take a look at the three separately… MEET THE VILLAINS

Captain Hook is the first of the trio we’ll talk about. Hook seems to be the sort of self-appointed leader of the villains, as he’s the one who comes up with most of the plans throughout the story and tends to act as an ironic voice of reason. I do love the way Hook is portrayed in this version: while he’s younger than most versions of the character, he’s still basically the Captain Hook we all know and love. He’s a sneaky, dastardly swashbuckler with a theatrical, charismatic, slightly foppish sort of personality. The game plays a lot with the duality of Hook, between him as the dandified gentleman and him as…well…a pirate. He’s a drinker, a womanizer, and has the sort of cocksure swagger many typical pirates have, but he’s also capable of being quite eloquent and even somewhat of a ham. They also play with the brutality of Hook: he’s a manipulative sadist who loves to play with people’s minds, keeping his cards close to his chest and finding stealthy, subtle ways to solve most problems. You can never fully trust him, and he seems to be the one of the three who gets the most pleasure out of the thought of not only killing but outright torturing those who cross him. As the game goes on, Hook softens up considerably, his sadistic elements toning down bit by bit, as he starts to realize he still has a chance to reclaim at least most of the things he lost when Peter Pan (one of the Unraveler’s many identities) cut off his hand and fed it to the Crocodile.

Grimm, the Big Bad Wolf, actually reminds me a bit of Jack Howl from Twisted Wonderland…except that, at the start, he’s much meaner. Where Hook is a mental threat, who prefers to outwit his enemies, toy with their minds, and use guile and sneakiness to get what he wants, Grimm is a purely physical threat. While he isn’t a total dunderhead, he is, nevertheless, a person who relies largely on brute force and intimidation to get what he wants. At the start of the game, he behaves more like an animal than a human being, and is easily the most physically imposing and strong of the trio. He’s also, being the Big Bad Wolf, RAVENOUSLY hungry. He’s a bottomless pit, really; threatening to eat people on more than one occasion, and constantly chowing down throughout the game, without a shred of manners. As the game goes on, we quickly realize that under his big and bad exterior, Grimm has a soft side; he’s basically a violent tsundere, afraid to admit his true feelings and form close attachments because of past experiences, and trying to seem meaner than he (already) is. As the game goes on, Grimm opens up more and more, and shows a sort of puppyish side to his personality: he’s extremely curious about human life, and the way things work in the Reader’s own world, and goes from trying to push them away to becoming the single most protective of them out of the whole bunch. By the end, while he’s still got his rough edges and doesn’t always like to show his soft sides, those soft sides are clearly taking greater precedence.

Finally, there is Hisame, the Snow King. In order to talk about him, I have to give a bit away about his backstory: Hisame’s origin states that he was stabbed by Kai (the Unraveler’s identity in his world) with a dagger formed from a cursed icicle. In Lord-of-the-Rings fashion, a piece of the icicle knife broke off inside of him, and is working its way slowly into the Snow King’s heart, freezing him from the inside out. As time goes on, not only does this cause Hisame to become more and more emotionally cold and distant, but it also means he runs the risk of dying if his heart freezes completely. The only way to break the curse is, of course, through True Love’s Kiss…but if you’re worried that means you HAVE to pick him, don’t worry: in the same vein as “Frozen” or “Maleficent,” it’s explained that True Love doesn’t have to be ROMANTIC love, it just has to be real. Regardless, for most of the game, Hisame is as cold as his slowly freezing heart: he’s haughty, dictatorial, commanding, passive-aggressive, and thoroughly icy. He’s an emotional threat, constantly seeking to make others feel inferior to himself; a dominating and imposing presence. He’s not a sadist the way both Grimm and especially Hook can be, it’s more that he doesn’t care if you suffer or not…which, arguably, can be seen as even more frightening. Part of the reason he acts so cruel and heartless, it’s revealed, is because he’s afraid of what will happen if he gets too close to someone: he’s scared he’ll hurt them, or that their compassion will be wasted on him in some way. Eventually, he does learn to accept his own emotions and finds a way to both literally and figuratively thaw out his frozen heart. For those reading who know me for my kinkier fanfics, yes, I do have MANY thoughts related to these three lads as kink crushes, especially Hook and Grimm. Perhaps I’ll go into them more if people ask in some fashion, but for now, suffice it to say all three characters are awesome and definitely have the capacity to make me blush. WHY YOU SHOULD NOT PLAY THE GAME. So, I’ve established I like all these characters, and the story itself - while not completely perfect in its execution (the second season is somewhat rushed, in particular) - is actually a decently well-told tale. It blends elements of both slice-of-life romance and a sort of magical/superhero adventure epic together in a very fun and sweet way. I also appreciate that, while you can form relationships with all three, they remember that you can only pick one to be your true love at the end. By which I mean, even though the Reader shares romantic scenes with all three characters, they’re written in such a way that you can sort of “excuse” the fact they ultimately will only pick one lover by the end of the tale. HOWEVER, there are two things wrong with “A Villain’s Twisted Heart,” and to be honest, they are problems that all the Genius Inc. games I’ve looked at (I’ve taken a peek at a few by now) seem to have. The first is that this game is very cheaply made. And I do mean VERY cheaply made: a lot of the artwork featured in the game is taken from stock, with only a few backgrounds, screens, and the main character sprites being original. The music, similarly, is a blend of some original music and stock music together. All of Genius Inc.’s games seem to be made on the budget of a can of beans, but this one seems oddly and particularly low-budget compared to even some of the others I’ve looked at. This problem would be excusable if it weren’t for the other issue: all of Genius Inc.’s visual novels have the same basic gameplay system, and it’s a system that is, to be blunt, rigged completely. The games are free to play, and most of the choices you make throughout the story are totally up to you to make. HOWEVER, there are specific choices - referred to as “Premiere Choices” - which are THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS for the character to make. Choosing one way will lead to basically getting a bad ending, and choosing the other will lead to basically getting a good ending, plain and simple. This is already problematic enough, but this is what really tears it: in order to even MAKE the choices that will lead to the good ending(s) of each game…you have to pay money. Yeah. The games are free to play…but to get the good endings, you have to spend cash. On the one hand, I guess it makes sense from a business point of view: how else would these shoestring budget titles make a profit? But from the perspective of the player…that’s just messed up. SO…how to experience these characters and this story for yourself, without giving in to these miserly fiends? Simple: watch a walkthrough on YouTube. There are actually a couple of channels with walkthroughs of this specific game available online, it seems to be one of the most popular titles Genius Inc. has produced. I can see why: out of all the games I’ve looked at so far from this company, this one is probably my favorite, as I feel it has the strongest and best-written story out of all the ones I’ve seen. So, if you don’t know about this game and want to learn more about these lads, head to the magical YouTube and start looking. It may not be worth playing, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

“But wait!” I hark thou wail. “What of the other game you mentioned? What is it?! Is it on YouTube as well?!”

Patience, my little ducklings, patience…I’ll get to THAT business another time… ;)

[jedi-enthusiast]

For the fanfic ask game: 💖 👀 🥺 🤲 🥰 (sorry I know that's a lot LOL feel free to pick and choose!)

The ask game <3

Oh no don’t apologize! I love people asking a bunch of questions because I love rambling about my fics!

💖- What made you start writing?

I have two answers for this question, since I actually stopped writing a while ago and then got back into it.

I first started writing in general because I was primarily a Wattpad user (I had no idea Ao3 existed, but give me a break I was like 13) and I was reading fan fiction for a manga/anime series called Kuroshitsuji or Black Butler and I just wanted a heroine reader like me.

Most of the "readers" or "ocs" in those fics didn't really stand up for themselves and often let the guy characters walk all over them--or they would be referred to as "badass" but were never really given a chance to be badass. And, at the time, they were also mostly blonde haired/blue eyed.

So I started writing because I wanted a heroine reader that stood up for herself and didn't take anyone's shit and was actually badass on paper--and who had brown hair and eyes like me. I actually still have the full outline of the fic I was working on, and a draft of the prologue, and here are two commissions I bought for my oc:

I did eventually stop writing for a while, though, because I was just tired of writing and rewriting and rewriting (the outline and draft I have currently is my 3rd rewrite of the entire thing, 4th if you count the other completely different version of it--I get very nitpicky with my fics sometimes).

What got me back into writing was actually you. I started reading "Shoulder the Sky" and I saw how much work you had put in and how passionate you were about your fic and I just...got inspired. I already had an outline for The Great War sitting in my Google Docs (from back when I first got into Star Wars) and I basically decided "fuck it, if they can do then so can I, I'm gonna start writing again" and I did, and now I have two fics ongoing and several in the works that I can't wait to get to.

👀- Tell me about an up and coming WIP!

Ok, one of my WIPs that I'm working on (that I hope to start writing soon, once I finish the outline) is a Modern!AU called "Deeper Roots."

Basically Cody and Obi-Wan are high school sweethearts who have had a long-distance relationship for over a decade now, since Obi-Wan had to move away from their town when he got custody of his siblings (Anakin, Ahsoka, and Reva) from their father (Qui-Gon) due to family issues.

Well, Obi-Wan and Cody decide that he should move back to town since Anakin will be starting college soon (he's 21, but took a gap year and then waited since he had an accident that took his arm) and the college of his choice is nearby + Ahsoka wants to go to that same college + they all miss Cody a lot and want to see him more.

Only one problem. Cody hasn't come out to his family and they have no idea he's dating someone, let alone that he has a boyfriend and that he's--for all intents and purposes--technically a father of three. They all try to keep things a secret from his family still, but things obviously get a whole lot more complicated once the two sides of Cody's life start to intermingle.

(also, I think Reva should be incorporated into their family in Modern!AU fics more often, I think she'd make a great youngest child)

🥺- Is there a certain moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Ok, slight spoilers for BCC, but one interaction that always makes me emotional when I start to think about it is this one line that I have planned for the end of BCC.

Basically Obi-Wan and Cody are hiding away in a storage room after a hard battle and Obi-Wan says something about "not wanting to be High General Kenobi."

So Cody says that they don't have to be Commander and General. That, when it's just them, "they can just be Obi-Wan and Cody."

👐- Would you please share a snippet of a WIP?

Nothing else is really written yet, so here's a snippet of the next chapter of Bloodshed, Crimson Clover:

The Force sparked restlessly under Obi-Wan’s skin as he stared at the empty holomap in front of him, eyes searching it for the readouts of a battle that hadn’t happened yet—or, rather, was happening, but just out of reach. He could look away. Attempt to meditate, or finish last mission’s report, or do something more productive with his time, but the near-blinding blue light of the blank screen had already seared itself into his mind and he knew that, even if he walked away, it would follow him. 

So he stayed. 

Staring. 

He hesitantly reached out along his and Anakin’s Force Bond, gently pushing forward the memory of Crys announcing they were only fifteen minutes out and an impression of– you? Them? Safe? 

Part of him didn’t expect Anakin to respond, and another part of him dreaded that very fact, but—as always—Anakin was full of surprises. He was quickly hit with a twin pair of waves, harsh impressions of impatience and frustration that burned the back of his throat, and their corresponding memories—one of the 501st’s Star Cruisers disappearing in a flash of fire and smoke, a supply ship they were escorting quickly succumbing to the same fate, Anakin’s admiral informing him that they couldn’t hold out much longer. 

The taste of ash felt thick and heavy on his tongue, and it took him a moment to recover from the sheer intensity of it all—although he was careful to keep his expression devoid of any emotion. Anakin was strong in the Force, but that meant he often forgot to take into consideration how his power might affect those around him. Obi-Wan was used to it, however, so he was able to disperse the effects quickly enough, and the emotions that followed were all his own. 

🥰- How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

*cough* ahem.

I love getting questions about my fic and I love getting comments and people talking about it--all of it just makes me so happy! I love my fic and I love to see people loving it too!

[asheanon]

So, uh... I stated over on the Xitter how I wanted to go on a Dissidia (personal story/fanfic - yes, it includes OCs and original material. This is Ashe writing this, after all) tangent so badly, but hate fighting with text limitations with these sorts of things, so here I am, hopping over to Tumblr to go on said tangent. 🕺

(Tangent placed beneath a cut. Proceed with caution! Maybe.)

⚠️ Disclaimer for those who have played the game: I'm still experiencing the game. I'm not going to know everything. I just can't help but feel the inspiration blaze through me at certain points throughout the Dissidia OO experience, which compels my mind to take off with thoughts galore (whether or not I want it to. I can't control this brain of mine; it's like a wild animal sometimes, trust me!) I am inspired af, but please keep in mind I could be incorrect about certain bits of lore and still have a lot to experience - and I am fully aware of that even in writing this out.

Also, no spoilers. NONE. Furnish me with the informations only if I ask. If I'm wrong about something, I promise I'll concede that when I later find out about it. For now, this is just me having fun. Let me have fun. I'm just getting all these thoughts out of my head before they drive me crazy...! Hahaha!

Anyway, sorry. That disclaimer may or may not be longer than the tangent itself. Onto the actual tangent!

💭

So...! 🤔 Given how there's a tiny bit of "wibbly wobbly timey whimey" stuff going on with how characters are brought in, if you will, I can't help but to think about some wacky situations that may make for some neat story potential…

I'm going to start with the more "conservative" thoughts. Thoughts on characters from the same world being pulled in from different parts of their own respective timeline, so you have different sections of experiences and memories to play with.

Particularly (spoilers): Sal experienced the deaths of some particular characters who are not only alive, but they were brought in from a time where they had not died. She has a lot of memories about them that they have yet to experience.

When all of this is over, she's going to return to a world where they're no longer alive. And she has that good ol' fun time looming over her. : )

Which, as tragic as that is, I do dig that kind of narrative - I mean, to boot: I dig it, but I started realizing that it was one I'd worked with before, even... it was one she experienced in The Anomaly (FFVII x Original fanfic.) Of course, the moment I realized that, I was like "how original, Ashe. Good. Guess we'll do this song and dance again because you can't resist it, clearly." Haha!

BUT... it was then that I had the less "conservative" thoughts... Namely: since all this "wibbly wobbly timey whimey" stuff is happening anyway, what if... I didn't just inject Starlight (FFIX x Original) material in this, but also injected The Anomaly material? What if both of those stories were allowed some agency in this?

And by extension, what if the Sal (the Sal, you read that correctly) that is brought in has only experienced one of those stories (Starlight, because I'm biased at this time) while the characters from the other story (The Anomaly) experienced a different version of her than what is present? They met her (some rendition of her.) She never met them (that version of her never did.)

Again, reminder: Sal is a world hopper. For her to be part of any given FF world in this type of FF scenario is really just a matter of chance. Technically speaking, she has experienced at least two of those worlds - in different timelines, but given that there is only one Sal present... I was utterly delighted by the oddity of just picking one rendition of her to have amidst the wild and random chance that the renditions of the FFIX and FFVII worlds/characters have characters that both experienced her and didn't.

🤔

It's so weird and self indulgent on my part, I know. I get it. (It's also my own little Dissidia-esque excuse for being able to include some FFVII OCs and story beats from various perspectives, haha!) I literally cannot resist thinking about it in all of its weird and self indulgent glory, though. I cannot be stopped. 🥴

Even if I don't use the idea, I'm still going to think about it, you know? And talk about it too, apparently. Haha!

All of that being said, though, I have entertained the thought of Sal's actual "world" (the original one - not just her inclusion in fanfics) being included in Dissidia as well. This would include characters like Nat, Tsuniah and, well, Vance. This guy.

I'd talk more about what makes the inclusion of Vance and different timelines + funky memory loss stuff going on especially fascinating (to me) here, but it really... wouldn't make sense to the rest of you. It's all original stuff; story I know and have yet to tell the rest of the world, so... yeah. 🥲 But there's potential in that too that I'd love to play around with!

In that respect, between the Dissidia shenanigans and Fall To The Moon ones, should I ever actually manage to write out some story stuff for them, I may yet instill some intrigue in regards to who he is along with these other OCs of mine. Create my own Dissidia effect - basically, compel people to want to get to know them outside of AUs and fanfics (because Dissidia OO makes me want to get to know characters I have yet to get to know, let me tell you. Haha!)

Anyway... Lawdy, I'd say that's a good ol' tangent right there. That'll do it, for now. To anyone and everyone who stopped by to read this... madness... thank you. I hope it was entertaining, otherwise, sorry I wasted your time...! 😅

Until next time.

🌌 😎👆👉

-Moonwalks back into The Twilight Zone.-

[madame-mortician]

DBD x Silent Hill Fun Facts:

(Spoilers for SH1-SH3)

The Lisa Garland that appears in DBD isn’t the real one and is instead the monster manifestation of Lisa Garland. Why this version of Lisa was taken in unclear, since the Entity can take people before they die, but it’s most likely because of how powerful “Lisa’s” suffering was when Harry left her (which is when the Entity took her in the timeline.)

Pyramid Head is also weird, since technically he doesn’t exist and is a manifestation unique to James, so it’s possible that in canon James was taken at the same time as Cheryl despite being added much later. That or the manifestation of Pyramid Head was taken but sometime later the Entity went back for James, likely to motivate Pyramid Head more.

Another thing about Lisa is she seems very happy to be here. It’s not uncommon to see survivors that are smiling or look calm, but Lisa is smiling from ear to ear. It’s likely the reason she is so happy is because even though she’s now trapped in an alternate dimension and forced to be repeatedly killed, she is now no longer alone in Silent Hill doomed to be tortured for an eternity. At least in the Entity’s realm she is with other people, can take breaks, and has a chance to survive.

Akira Yamaoka created a unique soundtrack for the Silent Hill chapter, including lobby music and menu music, though the menu music is currently unavailable since it was only added for the release. You can still listen to it online.

Cheryl Mason was taken roughly at least three months after Silent Hill 3, after hearing Claudia Wolf’s voice on the youth hotline.

Cybil Bennet was taken during an unspecified time in Silent Hill, whilst looking for the original Cheryl Mason.

Lisa Garland was taken shortly after Harry locked her in a room and abandoned her.

James Sunderland was taken shortly after entering Silent Hill, and likely didn’t make it far.

Maria was taken after her first meeting with James. The promotional art also implies this was when James was taken too.

Pyramid Head was taken after the events of Silent Hill 2, it is unknown which ending he is from since the lore is very vague simply saying “when his duty was complete.” This confirms that despite being from the same game, the James that appears in DBD isn’t the same exact one Pyramid Head encountered.

Despite being a manifestation of James’ personal guilt, Pyramid Head in DBD is specifically after Cheryl, likely being how the Entity convinced Pyramid Head to come to the realm (assuming James didn’t arrive at the same time as Cheryl.)

Pyramid Head has a tongue model, that is unused but was likely going to be part of the mori, in reference to one death in SH2 where James is strangled by the tongue.

Eggs are randomly appearing add-ons for killers in DBD, but the two egg add-ons for Pyramid Head are actually relevant as they were dropped by the two Pyramid Head’s once they killed themselves in SH2. One was rusty and the other was clean, with the common theory that the rusty one represents his old murder of Mary, whilst the clean one represents his recent murder of Eddie.

Despite technically being a different character, the Alessa Gillespie skin isn’t a legendary but is a costume, meaning it’s just Cheryl dressed like Alessa. This was likely done because of two reasons. #1 Alessa was 14, and was too young to become an actual character. #2 Cheryl and Alessa are the same person.

If the Maria art is to be taken as canon, it means that Maria hadn’t “died” at all yet, and the James in game doesn’t know the truth about Mary yet.

Maria is the only survivor without a last name.

Maria and Lisa are the only survivors that aren’t real people.

Maria and Lisa were both taken likely because of their emotional connections to James and Cheryl respectively. (Maria for obvious reasons, Lisa because Cheryl remembers her from her past life.)

[hyperfixation-or-death]

Romane Berthauds aesthetics + demialterous flag colors

Fandom: Parallels (Disney, 2022) | Rating: G | Warnings: Implied character death, and a very brief romance mention | Prompt: N/A

@arospecfanworksweek

Demialterous flag colors: White, black, blue, gray.

(The aesthetics turned out way more angsty than I meant them to, just because it was kind of tricky to find images that fit both the character and the color scheme.)

A kind-of fic with major spoilers ahead - my headcanon is that Romane has a whole identity crisis after season one.

_____________________________

She isn't sure how she feels about Sam or Bilal anymore. It's technically been years since she'd thought about a relationship with anyone. She had liked Sam when she was younger, before everything went wrong, hadn't she?

(Now that she thought about it, had it really been that different from how she felt about Bilal? She loved Sam, and Bilal, and Victor. But with Victor, it was closer to how she felt about Camille. With Sam and Bilal, it was more confusing, but a similar type of confusing. She wouldn't have been opposed to dating either of them. But was that the same as wanting to date them?)

Then he and Bilal had been gone, and then they were back. And then came the revelation of a future she had never considered. Then Sam's telling her the things he never had a chance to. But any relationship between them is in her past now, and she's still trying to process her alternate future, and for a brief moment, she can almost forget the present in all the mental chaos.

The moment is brief. Romane is a realist, and the only real thing now is the present, and in the present, Victor is the one who needs her help.

Then everything goes right for once, and she's fourteen years old again. And she kisses Sam, and it's nice. Bilal and Victor are there, because it was always supposed to be the four of them, regardless of if any of them were dating.

(Was she dating Sam now? Nobody had said that, but that was what usually happened after you kissed one of your best friends, right?)

Then they get their memories back, and Romane has never been so confused. She's seventeen. She's fourteen. Sam and Bilal are dead. They're sitting across from her. It's been years. It's been days. It's been three-and-a-half seconds, and all she has to do is open her eyes. Did she ever like Sam like that? Did she ever like Bilal like that? Did she ever like anyone like that?

(She didn't date anyone in the four years they had been gone for. That was because she had been grieving, wasn't it? She hadn't had any crushes on anyone, either. She also hadn't had any friends at all besides Victor, who she only saw on school breaks, anyways. Was any of this even relevant?)

Nothing made sense. Except for Victor. Victor always made sense, he was like the one constant in the mess of inter-dimensional complications that was her life. He was still her best friend, still like a sibling to her, and- he knew that, right? After everything?

She should make sure he knew that.

So they talk, and it eases some of the anxiety over everything. And she could probably chalk up most of the confusion to the disorientation from the time travel. So life goes on as normal. She dates Sam for about two weeks. They decide to stop after determining that she's really not in the right state of mind for a relationship right now. And it's fine. They're still best friends, all of them.

(Honestly, there isn't really much of a difference between dating Sam and not-dating Sam. Was there supposed to be a difference? They still loved each other. People her age - whatever her age was, after all that - weren't usually in love, right?)

Maybe she's supposed to date Bilal, eventually? A version of her married him, after all.

(The thought of marriage is...weird. She doesn't really want to think about it.)

Then, a few months after she and Sam stop dating, Victor says he has something to tell them. Sam has clearly already been told, because his expression is fond instead of curious like hers and Bilal's. Victor is grinning wider than he has in weeks as he explains. Aromantic. Someone who doesn't feel romantic attraction. Victor is aromantic, and his excitement is contagious.

Victor is kind of rambling, but they're all happy for him, so they listen. Romane was familiar with the concept of people not being straight, but she hadn't really given much thought to specific identities.

Victor's expertise on the matter comes from one night of internet rabbit-trails, so it's not exactly flawless, but it's still a decent amount of information. And a lot of words. Grayromantic. Frayromantic. Demiromantic.

(The last one was interesting. But just because she hadn't had a crush on anyone who wasn't a close friend didn't mean she never would, right? Besides, she didn't really talk a lot with anyone who wasn't either family or one of her three close friends.)

Eventually, though, she starts wondering. She was...those had been crushes, right? She knew what she had felt. She just wasn't sure if that was what it was supposed to feel like. She loved Sam, and she wanted to spend time with him. The same went for Bilal. But it wasn't like she wanted to be around them more than she wanted to be around Victor. And when it came to the whole idea of dating, she mostly felt...neutral? She was fine with it, she was fine without it.

She briefly wondered if that was normal. Then she decided nothing about her life was normal. Then she decided to stop worrying about it.

This worked for about three weeks. Then she texted Victor, partially because he was the one who had googled this kind of thing, and partially because he was the only friend she had that she was absolutely certain she had no romantic feelings for.

Two people doing research was faster than one. Alterous attraction. That phrase seemed to fit, but it wasn't exactly an identity. They typed it into the search bar.

Apparently, people could be bialterous. She didn't think she was bi, though. Then again, she didn't really have any friends who were girls, so there hadn't really been any chance for her to develop feelings. She mentioned that to Victor. He looked thoughtful, and asked if she'd ever had a crush on an actress or anything.

She told him that the only time she had ever thought she had a crush was with Sam and Bilal, and apparently those hadn't even been fully romantic feelings.

They did more google searches, and clicked on more links. Demiromantic came up again, but that didn't fit now that she was pretty sure she didn't feel romantic attraction.

(Alterous attraction kept sounding better the more she thought about it.)

It took a while to find a word that fit.

Demialterous. Like demiromantic, but for alterous attraction. It made sense.

(She still wasn't sure if she was bi, though. But that wasn't too important right now; she had a word, and she had the people she cared about, and she had time.)

Romane smiled.