#maybe a lot of these things are addressed in the game in some cursory way

[pagesofkenna]

i dont think its pedantic of me to wonder where the Last Of Us people get their bullets from

like when Joel tells Ellie he's gonna put new strings on her guitar; where did he get those? are they leftover guitar strings scavenged from a factory that's been defunct for over twenty years? is someone in their survivor town making guitar strings?

is everyone's winter gear remnants of pre-outbreak manufacturing or is someone managing to restore a semblance of a supply chain? because those parkas don't look hand-stitched. where would the fabric be coming from?

at one point in season 1 a woman gives Ellie a menstrual cup with very little instruction, and Ellie's just like 'oh huh, cool' and i have to grapple with the fact that this teen girl's going to have to figure out how to use this silicone device that must be older than she is with only written instruction. surely it's not used right?? how many fresh unused menstrual cups do these people have stockpiled?? or do they have to sanitize them and pass them on???

[da2supremacy]

Essentially the ethos of a dragon age game has always been something you can roll around in your hands and interrogate. Dragon Age games have never been some great awesome piece of art that belongs in the MoMA or whatever. Honestly, I haven't really enjoyed the gameplay of a single one except Veilguard and the OG devs personal prejudices are glaringly obvious with even just a cursory read. But the World Building is magnificent and the game let's you disagree with it. Some people hate that. It's why they're constantly whinging about the "all sidesism" or whatever. I don't really think the rampant centrism and borderline fascism was present until Inquisition. CAN you be a fascist in 2? Terrible in origins? Sure. But there's a world around you that reacts to that and when you're a truly awful prick there actually are gameplay and story consequences.

The Inquisition is a righteous religious army taking over sovereign lands for the greater good and the only person who ever questions that gets treated like he's gone insane. Yet even Inquisition gives you more opportunity to interrogate the justness of the Inquisition's existence than Veilguard allows you to question the merits of Solas' goals.

Because some of his goals (as stated in Trespasser anyway) DO have merit. While I may not personally agree with the notion of tearing down the Veil it IS a wound that he carved onto the world and he probably is the only person who could get rid of it. Not to mention they've spent 3 games all but telling us that the Veil was falling apart already anyway. If Solas did nothing the reckoning with the fall of the Veil would have to be addressed eventually because it was happening whether he did anything about it or not. Maybe his method actually would have been better than him sitting back and letting the Blights and the blood magic and the all the other things that were weakening the Veil collapse it naturally. We've seen places where that happened and it's always been pretty bad actually.

But the game never lets you sit with that. I am willing to believe that the 10 years and the region shift could have allowed enough events to equalize most world states but in trying not to say anything about Worldstates they straight up didn't engage with ANYTHING that came beforehand at all. John Epler's insane misunderstanding that people sympathizing with Solas is a FEATURE and not a bug, this is the franchise that gave us Meredith and Loghain and Anders, decided that the pathos of the game's supposed main antagonist and final boss could not be mentioned at all???

The game proves that the Chantry is based off of a woman's misinterpretations of visions she could in no way have ever understood (if you squint you can kind of see the shades of both the Evanuris and the Titans in the the story of the Chantry. Add that to the theory that Andraste was an OGB and well...) and the game itself doesn't mention the Maker or the doctrine of the Chantry at all. All sides of the Western Schism were still Catholics. Being in Tevinter does not actually justify why apparently no one is devout to the Chantry.

This game is great but it's a standard hero's journey. Rook grapples with nothing and sacrifices nothing. Even the one mandatory Companion death really isn't Rook's fault. I don't know how Solas ever thought that prison would hold them. I never actually have to think or question anything. I never actually made a difficult decision. You could replace the place names and file Solas off of the narrative and this could be literally any other fantasy title. The things that made Thedas unique are not there.

I am not calling this game poorly written. It's fine for what it is. It's not a WRONG decision to not include things that weren't directly relevant to the game's narrative and all things considered this game only actually got 3 years of real development time. There's probably a lot that got cut. But I do think still centering Solas as the final boss and the preservation of the Veil as the final obstacle to overcome and then not actually engaging with WHY he is really doing what he's doing and WHY that's actually wrong is a bizarre choice. It really does seem like John Epler was scared they couldn't convince the player as to why they needed to not rip it down and so they sidestepped the question entirely.

The thing about Solas in DAtV is that because they were fundamentally unwilling to engage with the question of whether or not the Veil should actually come down (which is a symptom of them refusing to engage with anything remotely 'problematic' in the franchise to date: slavery, elven oppression, treatment of both city elves and Dalish etc.) he goes from a character who is supposed to be the embodiment of wisdom to a character who is kinda stupid. And further, it affects our questions surrounding his motives and relationships, his actions in inquisition and how compelling he is.

Like, there's a lot of people arguing ATM about whether or not a romanced Lavellans relationship with Solas was meaningful/if she knew him compared to how Rook knows him/if he loved her more than Mythal. And I think the answer is very tied up in this particular issue with the writing.

Because if Solas is a revolutionary who believes that the veil must come down, not just to fix a perceived wrong he did, but for the good of elvenkind...if we take a Solas who says 'people are always dying, it's what they do' and realise that he's saying that because PEOPLE DIDNT USED TO DIE and the way their lives are now so short is terrifying to him, if we take a Solas who says that the world today is full of those who seem tranquil to him and take that SERIOUSLY, if we get a Solas who is sickened by the way spirits are yearning for the world the way it was but are stuck in the fade without any contact and that's twisting them into demons and those willing to possess others to taste a glimpse of what was denied to them by HIS actions...

Then we get a Solas whose actions don't just make sense but we can see WHY they make sense. We get a Solas who is, yes, committing an act of horrendous violence by tearing down the veil but is doing so to literally save the world rather than just fix a regret or because he's bound up in Mythal somehow and what she would have wanted for the world.

THAT Solas who leaves Lavellan because of his revolution he must lead, who leaves Lavellan after seeing what this world does to those who are left of the people, that Solas...I think that we could then argue more than the relationships he formed in inquisition were real and he was tragically forced away from them by his own goals. That in some way he is doing this FOR Lavellan.

There should be a sort of semi-horror tint to this world for us through Solas's eyes because we can see a world of tranquil walking around like he does, a world where life is too short, a world of injustice and pain and reasons to go ahead with his plan

But Solas....kinda lacks agency in DAtV. I don't hate the Solas Mythal plot stuff I think it's quite interesting, but mix it with us never considering the merits of what Solas wants to do, of EVERYONE unilaterally deciding it's evil with no real debate or queries, with ZERO elves in the narrative siding with Solas or taking what he has to say seriously...THATS where adding the Solas and Mythal plot rubs me the wrong way. I don't want Solas to need to be released by Mythal before he can let go of his evil plan...I want a Solas who doesn't have an evil plan but instead a complex one. I want the conviction of Anders in Solas; that what he's doing is RIGHT and the ONLY WAY to fix a great injustice. I don't want to redeem Solas or even understand him I want him to CONVINCE me and me BELIEVE him. Otherwise the Solas we see in inquisition is more shallow and the Solas we see in Veilguard through Rook...maybe Rook does know him better than the inquisition did.

[scholarlygaming]

Social Media as an Artist in 2025

Okay, it's time we have a preliminary talk about things. Including, well, why I'm here in the first place. This is gonna be long, as you can probably already tell...

As you may or may not know, I'm both a programmer and an artist, in the sense that I have put a lot of time into developing my skills in both places for their own merits.

The goal, of course, is to put them together, but suffice it to say, I am a person who's kinda split between two worlds who, well. Let's just say, have a "love-hate relationship" a lot of the time.

I want to use computer science and graphic design to create worlds, tell stories, and make the world better.

I don't think I've publicly said this? But the main character of the story I'm working on now, profile photo girl Katie, is very much in the LGBTQIA+ community. And, I am too, to an extent, as a cursory glance at my profile will reveal.

As an artist who, if we're being honest, doesn't have a super large following, I kinda need social media to exist. At the very least, "getting more people to know I do art things" is an important goal worth prioritizing.

So what am I supposed to do now?

Yeah, I need to at least consider the possibility that I will need to at some point vacate the two social media places I really rely on. But... I don't think I really can, yet.

I would like to not have to use Instagram, but there's really no alternative. For people who would tell me to apply to Pixelfed, yes I have, and I would like to try it out, but it doesn't do videos, and for someone who's literally taking two classes about animation, that's A Problem. Plus it's maybe a bit too categorized for how I'd want to use it. Cara doesn't support videos, either.

I would like to not have to use Twitter, but I'm kind of stuck with it. I see Bluesky as a valid alternative, but there are a lot of problems that there need to be solutions to before I can actually use it.

I think this is worth discussing in specifics, so:

1. The Discovery Feed is Unusable

Because of the way the site shows posts to you, the discovery tab is basically unusable unless you want to sift through a lot of posts about politics / random garbage.

I do care about politics stuff in other ways and other places, but when I'm scrolling through my main tab, I want to see rhythm game anime girl drawings, find people doing other drawings, learn about things occurring in the electronic music/rhythm game music community, and follow the people involved in the games/culture groups I care about. Or at least something related to my hobby-type interest. None of that is scrolling through 100 completely random people I have no personal attachment to going in and voicing their opinions on every single current political event they feel like.

I've tried the filters, I've tried the "show less like this," neither works, I've been hitting these buttons for hours to basically no change. I'm sure they stop a decent chunk of the posts I don't want to see, but some portion of posts are images (many being literally just text screenshots of other social media/news) or ones with a different word than usual/a misspelling, and the amount of people interacting with them means that they're going to be thrown to the top of the discovery feed for everyone.

If it's not politics, it's going to be completely random cat photos/other pop culture stuff that's not my thing, and Bluesky is equally resistant to stopping doing that too.

I believe the flamingo head-in-sand approach is unhealthy, yes. I'm not advocating that. I believe that the kind of stuff being talked about needs to be addressed. Honestly, for the people who read my description of "see 100 random people you probably generally agree with voice their opinions on current political events" and get excited, yeah, it's good that there's a pretty big community for that now. Again, I do care.

But for me, there's a point where seeing more of the exact same reaction to the exact same thing just is... well, meaningless, other than just being stressful to read.

It's important to be able to step up to politics, but it's also important to be able to step back. On Bluesky, you cannot do that without losing access to pretty important features, and it sucks.

Of course Twitter is going to have other, arguably more importantly worse issues with politics-related discourse, but I have to say: if you don't want that, at least you can actually control what the discovery algorithm gives you. I spent like maybe an hour kicking all the vaguely political things off my feed when I first made my account, and that got rid of nearly all of it. Now, it's been months since I've seen one.

My experience with Twitter is that I can see all the rhythm game stuff I care about, all the associated art I want, follow all the associated people, and learn about new events and creators. I just have to delegate the politics to somewhere else.

Simply put, Bluesky does not support that kind of space right now.

(As for suggestions on how to fix this? Make the discovery algorithm less based on just what gets the most reactions, and try to promote accounts related to ones you're following or accounts following who you're following more often. Change how filters work to allow you to block portions of a word. Ideally, have some way to use OCR to get text from images and apply filters to that to stop the "I will take a screenshot of the news I don't like to complain about it" posts. And, lastly, have a setting so that if the replies to a post overwhelmingly contain filtered words, to filter the post automatically too.)

2. Low Discovery In General

I guess I could consider going without a discovery feed and just going off followers, if I'm mainly going to use the account to post stuff myself. Issue is, that also means that as an artist with a comparatively small following, Bluesky probably just isn't going to go anywhere in terms of getting new people.

I'm certainly not the only person who's having these issues with finding communities I care about. If I'm having a hard time getting Bluesky to put posts on my feed from established public figures, then there is absolutely no way anyone's gonna find me on there without me getting really lucky I guess.

It doesn't help that "go without a discovery feed and just look at posts of people you're following / find other feeds" is usually the only real advice given to everyone who's having issues with their discovery feed. Which certainly helps the user experience, but then comes with the question of "well how do I get on those specialized feeds in the first place?"

There's also the fact that Bluesky still has less users in general, which is more than relevant enough.

Look, sometimes I've just gotta scream into the void even if it is a void (case in point this), and I'm not like trying to make perfect engagement posts. But in the end of the day, I am an artist, and I have limited time to do self-promotion things. Trying to keep up with another social media is a time investment, and I've got to pick and choose what's worth it.

3. The Community Isn't There

And lastly, to be blunt, the rhythm game community just hasn't moved over. Most rhythm game official accounts are only on Twitter. And most of the art and fandom is still only on Twitter / compartmentalized into Discords, actually. Same thing goes for the music community surrounding rhythm games.

And, well. As long as I'm spending a couple days a month repeatedly refreshing arcaea_en at 6 PM, I kinda need to keep the account that lets me do that.

(Why might this be the case? Well, the push to Bluesky is international, but America is really the origin. Right now (well, at least in November 2024), 52% of Bluesky's traffic is from America, compared to 7% from Japan. By comparison, Twitter has 100 million American users to 70 million Japanese users.

And it's impossible to ignore: there may be a lot of Western fans, but rhythm gaming is really an East Asia+Japan-led culture.

Some of the bigger artists are moving over/posting to Bluesky in addition to Twitter, such as Camellia, so I hope that this is something that'll happen eventually. But I get the feeling it's probably going to take a while.)

--

Again, none of this is an argument for me not using Bluesky at all. I think it's a good idea to have one to crosspost to, if nothing else for redundancy in case Twitter gets even worse and for people who still want to be able to follow without having to use a platform that they consider makes their lives worse. And, again, I would love to not have to use a platform that's causing people those kinds of problems-

-but I feel that at least for me, it's necessary. Not having a Twitter would essentially lock me out of the community I really rely on.

I feel the same way about Instagram, if not more so because I kinda already have decent numbers on there. In an ideal world I would have been building up the others too, but I didn't, so here we are. It also solves a lot of rough problems with the types of media I use. I guess I could go without, but that would be throwing away a decent step up at this point, which is certainly not ideal... (There's also the small fact that I kinda have to keep it for a class for points, too, which certainly makes the decision easier-)

Now, do I want to reduce my reliance on these platforms? 100% yes, I want to be able to drop them if things get from bad to worse very quickly. Ideally I'd want something more direct+personalized, like maybe a mailing list? I guess building one of those wouldn't be a bad idea-

Part of that involves using my other accounts more, so I will be trying to do that- though I can already tell, being consistent with these kinds of things this semester is going to be hard. All of my classes are doing the "constant pressure" class technique, and I've had basically no energy lately, so I am gonna need to push through both of those-

I guess all I'm saying is that my solution to "what am I supposed to do" is "well, what I can." And that's gonna be how I'm gonna have to get through all this.

Likewise, if you're looking at all of the things going on with social media and finding yourself in the same spot? I think what you really need to do is be honest with yourself and think about is "what can I do about this."

I think Bluesky is a great solution to many of people's problems with Twitter, but it's certainly not perfect and it comes with many of its own problems, and I think saying it's the only good solution for everyone is disingenuous. It's like Linux; sure, if you put the work in, it's probably gonna be better than Windows, yeah, but you are gonna have to do that work to get your basic functions back, and there are some use cases that it just will not be good for.

All of this is to say, I use Arch BTW :hikarii:

...Anyways, yeah I'm not sure how to end this other than "not a stupid joke" so yeah. I hope you found this interesting at least, because I felt I needed to say it. (Seriously, this post has been in my back pocket for like a month...)

[schweiggiemydear]

Regarding the Super League - A Rant

Ok, since the League was more or less officially announced today, I want to talk about it. If you haven't heard about it, you can read the Sky Sports article explaining it here.

I want to add a disclaimer that since I am an Arsenal and Real Madrid fan, my views are biased since both teams have been selected for the league.

However, there are a few things I want to address as a general football fan that are not affected by my club loyalty. I'll include a section at the bottom of this post on my opinion on the new league just because. Editing to add another disclaimer that I do NOT support the Super League. I am just discussing the issues I have seen brought up about it.

Fan Response

A lot of football fans have taken to social media to voice their opposition to the league. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I haven't actually seen any reason for this hatred towards the new league other than "It will ruin football" and "It's just another way for the clubs to make more money." Again, maybe I just haven't seen it, but these two "reasons" aren't really explained at all:

"It will ruin football": It's another competition that only the "elite" and "best" clubs of Europe will be a part of. This is basically the Champions and Europa leagues already. These two competitions will not be eliminated and you can still see underdogs play European football.

Is the concern here that this elevates top clubs at the expense of smaller clubs? (like Champions League already does?) Is the concern here that mechanisms for fair competition will be dropped for the sake of greed? (like Champions league already does?) (Like FIFA does every time they make a decision?) Is the concern here that it undermines the concept of competition and the idea that any team can win a trophy in Europe? This is the only valid criticism I can understand and support, but when was the last time a big club didn't win the Champions league? When was the last time a small club Leicester or Roma held the trophy? If you can count Olympique de Marseille as a "small club", then the answer is 1993.

"It's just another way for the clubs to make more money.": I hate to break it to you folks, but football is a business. (I have a lot of opinions on this - mainly regarding women's v. men's football and equal pay - but that is not the point of this post.) Clubs are always looking for ways to make more money and this pandemic has killed revenue for every club, even top league clubs, and they are looking for new and more steady sources of revenue.

Is the concern that without a ruling body like FIFA, the money for the competition will not be handled fairly? Is the concern that fans will have limited access to matches? If you take even a cursory glance at what FIFA/UEFA done regarding finance, transparency, match fixing, and fan access, you would know this isn't a valid criticism. Well, it is valid. But only if you also regularly call out FIFA, UEFA, Premier League/FA, Bundesliga, La Liga, League 1, Serie A, etc., for these same infractions. Which people don't.

Now if the criticisms were closer to "I think this brings unnecessary competition to top clubs already vying for European trophies", "This competition will make these clubs think they're better than everyone else", or "This puts a strain on players in these clubs who already play for club and country", I'd understand the concerns and would absolutely agree. But right now, the actual fan backlash seems more guided by a general misunderstanding on how football really works. Which leads to the next issue I want need to address.

FIFA/UEFA Response

Now here's where things get interesting because the backlash from FIFA and UEFA has been swift and aggressive to say the least. They are refusing to allow players who play in the Super League to be eligible for the 2022 World Cup and will likely impose fines or even ban clubs from the leagues that do participate. The Premier League/FA and the other major European leagues have issued a joint statement condemning the league. The statement mentions solidarity, a united front, fair competition, and sporting merit and claims that this new league is greedy and self-serving.

Ironic words come from institutions that are all well-known for their own corruption. Absolutely banger response from institutions that milk fans, players, and leagues every year. In fact, people on twitter made really great points and I'm going to provide the tweets here because they said it better than I could:

(including the last one because of Slavia Prague specifically)

We all know the main reason FIFA and UEFA are against the Super League is because they wouldn't get a cut of the revenue. I don't have any money to bet, but know that if I did, I would bet it all that if the Super League offered FIFA and UEFA each a significant cut of the continued revenue, they would get the green light immediately and that trophy would be physically bigger than the Champions League cup.

I just cannot get over the irony, hypocrisy, lack of awareness, and just BALLS of these organisations to make claims of greed and lack of fair play when they are guilty of these exact things. I think Toni Kroos said it best:

"European Super League? We are just puppets of FIFA and UEFA. If there was a players' union, we would not be playing the Nations League or Supercopa de Espana in Saudi Arabia." (Kroos in a podcast on 11/11/2020)

My Humble Opinion

Now here's what I think. And again, my teams would be involved in this Super League so I do have a stake in the game here.

Firstly, I absolutely agree the Super League is elitist in nature and affects the fair play nature of European football competitions and domestic leagues. No doubt that smaller clubs would be financially hurt by this new league and it puts these "top teams" on a pedestal, especially when the last thing they need is an even more inflated ego (Arsenal included). Every club has been hurt by this pandemic and needs funds. Every club has been hurt by FIFA's practices and there's a good chance this will really mess with smaller teams' chances of earning revenue themselves.

Second, FIFA and UEFA can go fuck themselves.

Third, FIFA plans to ban players and clubs who participate in this Super League and to that I say good fucking luck with that because those clubs are your biggest earners. Absolutely no hate or shade to the Bundesliga or League 1, but they just don't bring in the same revenue as Barca, Real Madrid, or Premier League teams. Bayern Munich did recently overtake Man United as the 3rd richest club in Europe, but they are still vastly out-earned by RM and Barca. PSG is #7 (after 3 english teams) and Juventus is #10 (after 5 english teams) (source). The revenue FIFA and UEFA would lose from banning Super League teams would be astronomical. Not just in the domestic leagues themselves, but the Champions League, Europa League, and the World Cup. I mean, what's a World Cup without Messi? (personally, I'm okay with that but you get my point)

Fourth, and hear me out, I genuinely believe that the Super League is a good TEMPORARY idea. The Super League should be used as an experiment to see how competitions would function outside the influence of FIFA and other regulatory agencies. This would be a League run by clubs and players and is a better representation on how football SHOULD be organised. If these clubs take a stand against FIFA, maybe, just maybe, we can get rid of some of the corruption inherent in football. Don't get me wrong, the Super League is definitely meant to be revenue generating for sure. But it's also a middle finger to FIFA and, if its done well, the rest of Europe might take a harder look at how much they don't actually need FIFA. Do I think this is the right way of doing it? No. But has it clearly stirred things up and now people are talking about the issues? Yes.

Lastly, I want to talk about Kroos' comment above. A players union is a brilliant idea and I think the European Super League is actually a great way for players to argue for it. They can use the leverage of the new league to bargain for better rights and a union that actually tells FIFA to go fuck itself when it decides things like revenue gouging Brazil in 2014 or a Qatar World Cup. Or the many hundred other shitty things FIFA has done. For a full list, please see John Oliver's amazing coverage of FIFA in his series "Last Week Tonight" (found on YouTube or HBOMax).

If you made it to the bottom of this post/rant, thank you! Let me know what you think about this Super League and what would you do if you were one of the teams involved?

[smol-nevi]

I don't generally make this kind of thing a habit, but I think if you happen to be on the Crystal RP Discord, aka @crystal-rp-ffxiv, you should probably be aware of this kind of behavior, so here goes.

If you're on Crystal RP and the admin team decides they don't like you, you're going to be living under a microscope while they wait for you to mess up, if not bait you, probably while making up conspiracies about you as well. As for how I know this, I was a moderator for about a week's duration and saw it first-hand.

Unapologetically lengthy post. Receipts in the link above, long version below the cut.

From the first time I looked in the mod chat I knew something was wrong. I read backwards in the channel, thinking I'd acclimate myself and see what kind of rules precedents had been set and that sort of thing. I mostly just found out that they had it out for a particular member (at the time using the name Jericho) for not much reason. They'd spent a troubling amount of time over the past few months watching him and another member like vultures, believing them to be the same person and waiting for them to make some kind of mistake that would justify banning both of them...despite keeping different schedules, having different personalities and typing habits, and visibly being two different people. The admin team had come to the conclusion that Jericho was a troll who wanted to make them look bad, and anything he said or did was scrutinized to a ridiculous degree for evidence that would corroborate their belief.

Except none of the things they believed at all were true: he'd had a minor argument via DM with the head admin Benjimir Thursby's wife, Tessariel Aerlinn, who had made an overly broad statement about anime and Asian culture. Jericho had told her that overgeneralization about 'Asian culture' is potentially racist, and she became extremely angry, saying that because she's Asian, she can't be racist against Asians. After that, it seemed that Jericho was considered fair game for whatever retaliatory actions the two of them could justify.

Even a cursory glance at actual racism in Asia pokes Tessariel's statement entirely full of holes, and having personally read the conversation I didn't see anything actually inaccurate in his statement even if she believed it didn't apply to her. I asked what he had done that would merit such a response, because it felt very disproportionate to anything I'd ever seen him do publicly, and that was what I was told. The exchange via DMs had been screencapped and kept in a channel for evidence, and while I didn't get a copy of it, I did read it, and I said that I thought it sounded awfully one-sided and punitive and would have been much better as an actual conversation. I also expressed that I was concerned how much of the channel had been solely devoted to what was basically a witch hunt, considering that some of the server members had over the course of the past couple of months commented that the admins' behavior towards Jericho seemed biased.

I basically got a pat on the head and told that my opinion was "valued" but wrong. This would happen a lot over the course of the week.

Shit continued to escalate. Their favorite punching bag, who was acutely aware of the grudge by now and probably trying to be nice and discuss something that he thought they could all talk about, brought up some articles that stated that LOTRO might be having a graphical overhaul. This actually ended in him being put into some kind of time-out mute, because "everyone knows those articles are debunked already" despite them still being hosted on reputable games news sites. Back-channel, the admin consensus was that he was in fact trying to bait Benjimir and Tessariel into somehow looking stupid in public, because [paraphrasing] 'he knows how important LOTRO is to them.'

Benjimir in fact went off publicly about how he knows the dev team and they sent him 'personalized swag' for 'being himself' and that everyone should just listen to him because he's right. Someone else made a reasonable request for sources on statements that Benjimir made about the LOTRO improvements not happening, and they immediately became the team's private #2 punching bag.

The whole time I reiterated that this was really uncomfortable and I had serious concerns about the way they were handling Jericho. And as always I received a pat on the head and was told to not worry about it, there were really good reasons for it, really. He was 'bringing down the quality of discourse' on the server somehow. Benjimir decided that the only way he would unmute Jericho is if Jericho talked directly to him, and that Jericho tried to talk to any of the more level-headed members of the team first was taken as obvious evidence that he wanted to evade rules and create problems. I asked when we planned to unmute him, and Tessariel immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had messaged me, which wasn't incorrect but the way she worded it felt highly accusatory and I was beginning to feel that I was also in trouble somehow for not agreeing with the rest of the team.

Things came to a head quickly when I woke up and looked at the mod chat and they were having an animated conversation that started with Benjimir asking if it was 'bad that he was laughing at Jericho' and most of the rest of the team talking about how he was stupid, uninformed, a troll, etc. for the sin of having some misgivings about cryptocurrency, of all the things. One of the mods self-described their behavior as bullying. I said that this was extremely unprofessional and that I thought they should keep conversation to actual moderation matters, and if they had a personal disagreement with a server member they should handle it in a personal venue, not via official server moderation channels.

I was, for the final time, patted on the head, and told that this was not something they would consider, because the moderation team 'needs to be able to vent for their mental health' (never mind that the job was not stressful except for the rest of the team committing worse behavior than the server members) and that maybe I was in fact too sensitive for the job. Benjimir heavily implied that I had become too close to Jericho and was being manipulated, managed to misgender me somehow despite my having used solely male or neutral pronouns the entire time I'd been on the server, and after relating a story in which a couple of years ago a well-liked moderator left after having the same complaints as I did (which he saw nothing at all troubling about), suggested that I should be demoted to babysitting the lore channel.

So I took some time to collect receipts, which are linked at the top of the post, and told him where to shove it.

Since that time, things have actually somehow gotten worse on Crystal RP. Benjimir posted an entire page screed vaguely talking about "rampant negativity" that stated anyone with questions should DM him.

Upon DMing him with questions, Jericho was banned, the only reason given being that he was a 'poor fit' for the server in some vague way. I was immediately banned afterwards for calling out this decision as being driven by a personal vendetta in the feedback channel and let him know afterwards via DMs in no uncertain terms that I had logged everything I needed and would be building my case (and that he is an asshole). Jericho was reinstated, though I'm not sure what the conditions of his return were as that was after my ban and I didn't ask since I didn't want to stress him out further. Benjimir also reprimanded someone for discussing asexuality, stating in a DM to them that the conversation was somehow ERP related. I called him out on this via DM as well. Tessariel was not much later caught posting my last DMs to Benjimir in an entirely unrelated server, though she didn't include the part after that where I brought up his aphobia (during Pride Month, in a server with a rainbow icon no less). Benjimir for some reason decided to suddenly start following my FC's Tumblr well after our falling-out.

And as of today (6/24), Crystal RP now has seven pages of draconian rules, because it wasn't micromanaged hard enough before or something. Notably, a lot of these rules describe behaviors that they wanted to punish Jericho for but couldn't at the time justify, or that they'd like to punish me for but have nothing they can do to me. Or they exist to justify their own behavior, as now seen in the very beginning of the channel:

"This approach also provides our volunteers with leeway to act in good faith without the burden befitting a professional occupation."

"So we afford them the means to speak openly, vent, lament, candidly and yes, sometimes crassly and raw about everything and one."

Not only did they behave unprofessionally and shit-talk before, they have now encoded in the rules that this is acceptable and even good moderator behavior, because they saw someone else do it so it's fine (a lot of this wording is very similar to what I was told when I protested it). So rather than address anything I ever said past or present, Benjimir is choosing to double down and giving himself and his team explicit permission to be shitty, right in the opening paragraphs where you'd have expected a mission statement or at least some sort of welcome.

Which is about all you need to know about that server and its owners, in my estimation. I'd considered not even posting to Tumblr about it, but given that it's only getting worse, I think it should be generally known that this is how you can expect to potentially be treated.

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep5: Female Friends

So I was up hella late because of Daylight Savings screwing my sleep schedule, and I was on Twitch and one of the people I follow was speedrunning a Yugioh game (I think it was called Forbidden Memories like it was some Romance YA novel) and I was like “that’s a thing?” And I watched about 15 minutes of just complete nonsense. Like this game makes no sense when your scrubbing through 30 minutes of gameplay, but when a whole game takes 45 seconds and they have mechanics using like planets and astrology symbols? What?

What?

Y’all, I’m a little concerned your card game ain’t real. Like this is some ploy by knowing adults and this is some sort of Santa Claus situation where everyone else knows that this game ain’t real, but I’m the last person alive who’s like... “it is real though, right?” Hoping that I haven’t been played all of these years, despite having literally no empirical evidence that it is.

Just saying, I’m on to you, Yugioh.

Thanks dub.

I am pretty convinced (could be wrong) but pretty convinced that Grandpa was probably just normal horny in this scene. Like it just kinda matches what I know about horny grandpa tropes (that and Vivian is really talked up to be this hot stuff although she’s just youknow...some girl who exists.)

He immediately falls over. Like immediately, and I don’t know what’s up with Grandpa’s weird slipped disc, but luckily this is the one thing that Mokuba is prepared to deal with as a park manager.

Or what was his job again, Master of Ceremonies? That was the name of Mokuba’s actual chosen job that a 12-13 yo would choose?

Only Mokuba would have the choice to choose “a literal astronaut” and not choose an astronaut. This kid probably hates space though, with his family’s countless war machines now currently flying through the void.

The amount of times that the Kaibas have had to call a doctor for these guys.

(read more under the cut)

Bro was like “So Hawkins paid Grandpa to pretend to fall down so they could ditch Rebecca’s duel, right?” and youknow...probably. It was a pretty boring duel. They got off scott free.

Rex and Weevil do cartoon antics that actually feel like cartoon antics--which feels so weird for this show. Of course, it also has this Vivian plotline that is a little sus for a children’s show?

OK, show. You keep throwing women at Yugi Muto, and I get it’s a joke because he’s the world’s most undateable boy but there is a line of plausibility that even for a kid’s cartoon show it’s like “eh, probably not.”

Anyway, Vivian has Cho Chang energy of “I’m here for a problematic romantic conflict that never needed to happen and hamfisted diversity and uhhhhhh that’s it! I won’t exist after book 5!”

What a step down from dueling on top of the train, right? Like this whole time you could have just dueled next to it? What? In this show?

The rest of the party show up to the train station, where there’s really no other audience watching. Like where are Rebecca’s adoring fans who were asking for her autograph like 3 episodes back?

Card culture is brutal, y’all.

Vivian is not drawn like a 16 yo, being real. I was pretty surprised that she was under 25 according to a cursory Google search. Course, Joey Wheeler is drawn like a built adult, too, so I think the only convincing teenage child on this show is Pharaoh because at least he’s short. Just ignore how sometimes he’s got muscles on his arms that have no right to be there at the age of 16. (17?)

Then we had like a little Season Zero vibes where everyone just picks on Yugi for a hot minute.

And so Tea’s character development comes full circle as she realizes that this whole time, the Female Friend she needed was already here in the form of that small child who has a crush on her kinda boyfriend.

This was such an episode written by a bunch of dudes.

But at least Rebecca and Tea found something in common, although I really wish it wasn’t Yugi, considering how little on screen development he has with either of them. Where’s the reward for me as the viewer? If I cared about either of this love pentagon at all (well, hexagon...Bakura’s still in there.) there will never be a payout. You very well may be waiting forever for a relationship the writers clearly had never any intention to ever write except to act as a foil for our protagonists instead of like...a relationship.

And the show seems a little inconsistent with the relationship between Rebecca and Tea, too. They hang out a lot as the girls on the sideline, and appear to get along a lot of the time--but then they hate eachother a lot of the time as well because of jealousy? It’s just so weird.

I feel like TV shows in general have a really hard time approaching girl friendships, and speaking as a girl, I wish TV and books recognized more that our female friendships don’t have to be so freakin serious. We just act friendly and that’s freakin it.

That and these girls are going to go right back to hating eachother half the time after this is over because the main problem--Yugi not piping up and telling one of them to back the hell off--has never been addressed and never will be because Yugi is a broken, broken wet blanket.

Back at the base, Seto is also making up his own problems to be upset about in the absence of any apocalypses happening on screen.

Unless that hacker is Noah Kaiba, you’re probably fine. I really haven’t had too much of a reason to feel any fear over Zigfried von Schroeder. And maybe it’s because his character design was pretty complicated so no one wanted to draw it.

This was a ‘who’s on first’ joke but still.

...why do cards have to be like this?

Also, I didn’t see anything about this nonsense in the speedrun I watched the other night so, guys, this game ain’t real.

Anyway, Rebecca won.

We find out a little more of what happens to other duelists. Our Cowboy lost to a Sherlock Holmes boy, and I was very happy that I don’t have to come up with jokes about country music because I have none other than like...Taylor Swift jokes? Does she still count as country? I have no idea what’s going on in the country music scene.

On other side of the park, Yugioh decide to pay another tribute to the creative crotch shot with one of these:

Rex and Weevil are off to fight the big bad, and when you think “OK, we’re gonna get a wacky duel battle with these two balancing on top of eachother,” they kinda whiffed it before they made it to the stage.

And then I kind of whiffed it when I realized that Mokuba and Weevil have never spoken in the same place before and they have the same exact font color so fml.

The fact that Mokuba didn’t realize anything was wrong until they fell and revealed they were two small adults in a trench coat says a lot about most of the competitors in this duel.

It is incredible how both the Battle City Tournament and the Kaiba Corp Tourney (s that it’s name?) are both poorly managed, but in a different way. The Battle City Tourney unfortunately had a bunch of murderers in it. This tournament, no one is killing eachother, but they are still kind of sneaking in through the back door and being chronically late to everything.

(and I just want to point out that after the last match Mokuba oversaw that had Joey nearly miss the appointment, Mokuba decided to set this one in front of a Giant Clock just to get his point across)

So Zigfried has some sort of flying horse card that wiped them out right away, which makes you wonder........

.............why use any other cards?

Kaiba makes these cards, right????

Like he should be the last person who’s surprised????

Anyway, Zigfried top-decked a horse, and the guy who spends about 15 minutes getting ready his big ol blue eyes dragons every match he’s ever played was like “Yo I have GOT to get into speedrunning!”

And yes, the speedrun I was watching did not use Blue Eyes White Dragons. They were using a bunch of other stuff that I tried to look up just now and the art is completely different from what I recall so...unfortunately that means that your game is fake. Pretty sure it’s fake and you have no way to prove to me this is real.

Anyway, that’s it for now, not much to say since we’re still at the beginning of the arc. Next week I guess we’ll find out if Seto ever removes his ass from this chair.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[smokeybrandreviews]

Insincere Sensibilities

I touched upon this a few days ago when i ranted about Outrage and Cancel Culture but, with the current Sentai Filmworks purge over at Crunchyroll, i feel like i need to address this sh*t directly. I think that’s over licensing issues but it’s just a drop in the bucket with all of the other purges and alterations being made, all over the place. American censorship of international media is f*cking ridiculous. It is and i can’t stand it. I get that, for a lot of the youngsters out here, especially the ones that are of that Social Justice disposition, certain things, especially coming out of Japan, can be misconstrued, misunderstood, or even seen as offensive. The thing is, though, mind your f*cking business. Not everyone is outraged by the same sh*t you are. If it’s media to be consumed, just don’t consume it. Not everyone wants to fit in your very narrow worldview of assumed offense and righteous indignation. You look like a clown doing that sh*t. The motherf*cker who sh*ts in the pool, forcing everyone to leave. You’re the no-fun police. Chill the f*ck out, man, and keep your negativity to yourself. F*ck off with your soft ass sensibilities. Instead of harassing a Japanese artist, who lives in Japan, and is actually part of that culture, maybe get some f*cking context first? Maybe understand that, where that person is from, the sh*t they draw is fine and probably popular? Maybe don’t insist upon applying your narrow, prudish, American "values” to a country that, in so many ways, resembles nothing that you’d recognize as everyday life? Like, Amazon removed the Grimgar books. What the f*ck was wrong with Grimgar?? Interestingly enough, you can still watch the show on Prime. That hypocrisy is going to be a running theme, just letting you know ahead of time.

Not everyone who likes lolis wants to f*ck kids. Not everyone who likes guro wants to rape then eat corpses. Not everyone who likes Isekai want’s a slave harem or is some weenie neckbeard that lacks all of the confidence. It’s nuts to me that this current wave of pearl-clutching is so selective. Like, Amazon removed all the No Game No Life novels, among others, because of “questionable content”. A cursory search reveals that you can still buy Catcher in the Rye on the site; A book about a teenage sociopath, who sells drugs and tries to f*ck prostitutes. Dude is sixteen. Shouldn’t this be removed, too? Isn’t this offensive material as well by these new rules? It’s required f*cking reading in high schools across the nation! F*cking A Clockwork Orange is still available, both the book and the film. Why? That sh*t is literally a murder-rape rampage. Dude rapes two ten-year-olds in that sh*t! It’s also another book i read in high school just to see if it was as bad as everyone says. The book is, yes. The film? Not so much. Also, and this is probably the most pertinent of the unabashed hypocrisy on display, f*cking Lolita is still available on Amazon! Both films, hardcover, soft cover, and even the audio book if you’re too lazy to read for yourself. Lolita is quite literally, the inspiration for the loli genre that everyone seems to be completely out of their minds about now. Loli is short FOR Lolita. That’s a thing. You can imagine the content therein so why is THAT book okay but not No Game No Life? The Lolita audio book is f*cking free with an Audible trial! Free! But go off about Shiro, though.

This sh*t is frustrating to me because it feels like a targeted attack on Japanese media and ONLY Japanese media. I got Senators getting on TV, talking about how Dragon Ball Z is degenerate trash, even though it’s been on US television for almost three decades. Sony is prematurely censoring games like Sengan Kagura and Devil May Cry V, but Abby gets a whole ass, grunt filled, bro down, f*ckfest in The Last of Us II. That sh*t was so jarring and hilariously gross to see, it became a straight up meme. Her entire peck-a-titty was completely exposed, nips and all. Her animalistic barking and grimaced face, were so brazenly displayed. Graphically. Gratuitously. Uncomfortably. That sh*t looked painful. That’s what sex is like in real life, right? That interpretation is grounded and not sexualized at all, right. Sex can’t be sexualized anymore. No joy or fun in the f*ck. It has to mechanical and the most unappealing sh*t, ever, or you’ll be objectifying women or some sh*t. Okay. Stunning and brave, I'm sure, but why? Why the f*ck was that necessary other than to wag a finger at your player base? Here’s some f*cking in your game, we know you like it, but don’t like that way. That way is wrong. Women are not cum-dumpsters. They are to be respected and never subject to your pitiable sense of passion or attractiveness. They can be inconvenienced by sex, too! That’s what i thought, at least, as i watched this aggressively icky display happen on my television for a miserable amount of time. It’s this way or no way. I get a lens flare on the butt of a beauty like Lady from DMC, but I'm forced to see Abby’s whole body tense as whatshisname goes in raw with no lube? For real?

There’s just so much stupid surrounding the media i love lately, you know? Let’s go after Shield Hero because I'm offended that Raphtalia is a child slave. Because i only watched three episodes and completely ignored the heartwarming relationship that developed between Naofumi and the adult Raphtalia. Because Raphtalia grew the f*ck up. She only appeared that young, for that long, because Naofumi's trauma wouldn’t allow him to see her as an adult. I’m not saying don’t feel a certain way about whatever but at least get the full picture before you start making ridiculous accusations. Let’s get the pitchforks and torches because Scarlett Johansson is portraying a Japanese cyborg, even though the Japanese don’t care. They’re wrong for being indifferent to the racial injustice perpetrated by this Hollywood production! Even though the character of Batou IS canonically of Japanese descent, not a full cyborg so his body is organic with certain cybernetic enhancements, and still got portrayed by a white dude. Yeah, that’s fine. Ignore the whitewashing of literally every other Japanese or ethnic character in this movie, and focus on the one that is literally a brain in a mechanical shell. Outrage! Did I want to see a Japanese actor in that role? Sure. I think Rinko Kukichi was a perfect fit for Major Motoko Kusanagi. However, the Japanese people don't care so I had to let my bias go. If the director of the original anime film gives his blessing, who the f*ck are we to be so pissed off about it? Plus, the Major in this version of the picture is named Mira or some sh*t. She’s not even MY Major and I can separate the two. Apparently, I am in the minority on that one.

My favorite character in the Monogatari series is Shinobu. She’s a loli vampire that’s nearly six centuries old but looks to be about twelve in real time. Shinobu starts as a ravishing, adult beauty named Kissshot. Through a series of events, her power was sapped and, in order to save her life, she was left in her juvenile form. She later reclaims her voluptuous, mature, appearance and carries on for the rest of the series as such, but she was Shinobu, not Kissshot, when i fell in love with her. I do adore both versions of that character; Her haughty, too-old-for-her-looks, pre-teen self and the reserved, stoic, haunting beauty of her true form. That said, even as a loli vampire, Shinobu is still pretty tame. If Shinobu is worth a Change.org petition, what about Claudia from Interview with the Vampire? Claudia is FAR more problematic. She is Lolita on steroids. Claudia is nine when she was turned and was killed sixty-five years later. It is stated, in detail, she wanted to f*ck. Badly. But she couldn’t because, you know, the whole nine-year-old body and everything. That was actually a pretty big thing with Claudia’s character, the sexual frustration. Never mind the, you know, murderous rage and delight in cruelty, you know? Claudia is fine, with all of her bloody, murderous, psychopathy and manipulative, over-sexual, personality proudly displayed, but Shinobu is an issue because... why again?

Cats are apologizing for violent abusers because they’re pretty women, and you HAVE to believe all women, regardless of the fact that they’re pathological sociopaths. Instead, let’s cancel a child for drawing She-Ra characters “wrong”, even though she drew the G1 versions of said characters, F*ck her, right? Because she liked the designs of the old, problematic, version of that show? It’s on the “wrong side of social justice”. This is a child. One that can’t be more than a decade old but these motherf*ckers came for her, like her last name was Weinstein. It’s kind of hard to take your moral outcry seriously when you’ve directed your hateful intent on a goddamn grade schooler. Sh*t like that, the gross hypocrisy and targeted vitriol, is just f*cking exhausting. You’re entitled to your opinion. Hell, you’re entitled to even voice your opinion out in the wild. The internet is an awesome soapbox. I’m using it right now! As long as the discourse is civil, f*cking go for it. It’s rarely ever civil. Attacking someone because you made assumptions of their character over sh*t they follow on Twatter, is pure folly. Raising the alarm because you don’t like seeing “youthful characters” depicted in a certain light, while ignoring other media that takes it even further but is more palatable or subtle with their transgressions, is hypocrisy. If you’re going to be outraged about something, if you’re going to call for censorship, make sure you censor all of it. If you’re going to hide Japanese boob jiggle, make sure you fade to black with the hard sex in your domestic games, too. I’m as offended by Abby’s body in TLoUII, as you are of Ayane’s from Dead or Alive. Why should i be subjected to your bullsh*t while you curtail and demonize mine? Motherf*ckers want to be champions of tolerance and understanding but these same motherf*ckers sure refuse to understand any point of view obtuse to their own. You want that moral high grown so bad? Then stop picking and choosing what is or isn’t offensive. Either all of it is okay or none of it.

[rulesofthebeneath]

how bout a dance: part 4

<AN> Another!!! Another!! Thanks so much for reading, guys. Credit: @euphonyinestetica; Tagging: @pixelburied, @witchiegirl, @itsbrindleybinch, @lilmissperfectlyimperfect, @ajaysbhandari, @aidenzhous, @ravenclawpokegirl25, @catlady0911. </AN>

Ajay settled into his new desk at the front of the theatre, happy to be off his feet for the first time that day. It had been a brutal shift at the coffee shop, but now he got to go back to doing what he loved the most: directing. He stretched his legs out under the table and flipped open his copy of the script. He’d written down the previous director’s rudimentary blocking in the margins, along with a few edits he felt were prudent.

Footsteps on the theatre’s thin carpet alerted him to another presence. Without looking up, he addressed whoever it was.

“I didn’t think anyone else would be here this early,” he said.

“Well, a certain director once told me to be early is to be on time,” came the familiar voice. He looked up returned her nervous smile.

“That I did.” He got up and walked over to her. “Grace, nice to see you again.”

“Same to you. I see your style hasn’t changed since high school,” she teased, pointing out his beige blazer.

“Oh, I guess not,” he replied awkwardly. They both stared at their feet for a few moments.

“So, you went to USC, right?” he finally asked, still not quite making eye contact.

“Yeah,” she answered. “James and I both did, actually. He plays for the Chargers now.”

“Does he really?” Ajay’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, I don’t really follow sports. Especially not from the West coast. Wow, that’s great for him.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Another awkward silence.

“So, Annette talks a big game about you. You’ve been busy.” said Grace.

“I could say the same to you. As soon as I found out we were working together, I looked you up. Your performance in USC’s production of Antigone? Really, really good.”

“You think so? Thanks. I actually did the same, you have a ton of rave reviews online. Especially for Little Shop.”

“Oh, wow. Yeah, Little Shop was fun. I think this is gonna be a little more fun, though. Better budget,” he laughed.

Grace tentatively laughed, too.

“Grace?” called a voice from backstage. “Can you come help me with something?”

As if broken out of a reverie, Grace turned to the stage. “Yeah, coming!”

She turned back to Ajay.

“Duty calls,” she joked. Ajay waved her off, smiling, then sat back down to go over his script. That didn’t go completely horribly, he figured. He settled in to make a plan for the four hour rehearsal, digging through the score to find group numbers that most needed rehearsing and looking at his blocking diagrams for the large scenes.

By 6, the time rehearsal was scheduled to start, all of the actors were gathered onstage. He got up and climbed onstage, gesturing for everyone to sit down. They sat in an arc around him.

“Hey, guys. So, as most of you guys already know, I’m your new director. My name’s Ajay, I went to NYU for directing, and I’ve done some small shows in the area over the last few years. I’m really excited to work with everyone. I want to be able to know everyone’s names by the end of today’s rehearsal, so could you all introduce yourselves to me? Just tell me your name and what role you’re playing, and if there’s anything else I need to know about you. Grace, could you start us off?”

Clearly caught off guard, Grace stuttered for a second before taking a breath and starting over.

“You already know who I am.”

“Humor me.”

“Alright, fine. I’m Grace, and I play Bonnie Parker. Kevin?” She turned to the man next to her.

“I’m Kevin, I play Clyde.” Kevin smiled politely at Ajay.

“Rosa. Blanche.” said a woman with a southern accent, keeping her face completely neutral. Ajay figured she must be one of Grace’s friends and was choosing to reserve judgement on him. He nodded at her, then gestured to the next cast member. As everyone introduced themselves, he found himself adding their voices, heights, and general demeanors to his mental database. After the last person had introduced himself, Ajay nodded and stood up and dusted off his pants. Taking their cue from him, everyone else stood up.

“Alright. Thanks, everyone. I’d like to start off by singing through ‘God’s Arms Are Always Open’ just to get a feel for the ensemble’s sound. Then I think I’ll work with the leads a bit. So anyone not in the song, feel free to relax for a few minutes and look over lines or music. You can go into the lobby or into the dressing rooms to do that, whatever.”

Grace, Kevin, and one other guy (his mind helpfully supplied him with the name Andrew) left for the dressing room and Ajay turned his attention to the ensemble.

“Alright, guys. Let’s take it from the top.” He motioned to the musical director to play the opening of the song.

Ajay worked with the ensemble and the Preacher (an older man named Lysander, and no, he wasn’t kidding) for nearly half an hour, the musical director shifting members of the ensemble around to create the best sound. Ajay found himself pleasantly surprised by both Lysander and Rosa, especially the latter. Rosa had such a bold sound, perfectly fitting the character Blanche.

Just for fun, he ran the ensemble and Lysander through “Made in America,” then dismissed them to work with the musical director. He sent the stage manager, a young woman named Emily, to track down his leads and turned back to his notes for “This World Will Remember Me.”

Grace and Kevin appeared on stage moments later and Ajay got up to talk with them.

“I want to start blocking the scene before, during and after ‘This World Will Remember Me’. We can start on page ten, right where Bonnie’s car breaks down.”

They both nodded and climbed onstage. Ajay spoke with the stage manager, Emily, to make sure she was writing down the blocking, then scanned the stage. He envisioned the set sketches superimposed on the stage, with the help of the flats that had already been placed there.

The blocking process went smoothly for the scene, Grace and Kevin following his direction perfectly and writing down every word he said. Even so, Ajay felt a little uneasy. Maybe it was just because it was his first day, but he felt a tension between the three of them. More specifically, he felt a lot of tension between him and Grace. Given their history he wasn’t surprised, but he was dismayed when she hesitated a moment before walking stage left or crossing downstage right. It seemed almost like she was wanting to say something, to criticize his decision, but she was holding back.

Ajay resolved to just let it go, to wait a few rehearsals and see if the tension eased by Saturday. Since Saturday was looking like an eight hour day for everyone involved, he wanted any tension dissipated by then. He knew that his cast had to trust them, and if one of the leads didn’t trust him then the rest of the cast would follow suit.

They worked their way to the end of the scene and Ajay had to keep reminding himself of his promise to wait until Saturday, especially when Grace let out a slightly judgemental hum at one of his blocking decisions. He bit his tongue to keep the peace.

Anyways, if Grace had any real problems with his blocking, he hoped she’d be straightforward about it. He told himself that she was just stressed, that he was just paranoid, that the rough edges would smooth over after they’d worked together for a while. Even so, he found his nerves significantly frayed by the time rehearsal was over.

As Ajay pulled his coat on in the lobby, Grace gave him a cursory smile and a quick “good night.” He felt a little heartened at that: even if she didn’t like how he was doing things, she still respected him as a director. Things were on course.

He wrapped his scarf around his neck and left the theatre, on track to get to the 2nd Avenue station just before the F train did. He barely flinched as the cold wind hit his face, and with the ease of a practiced New Yorker, he set off briskly towards the station.

[historyoftheemblem]

Three Houses Feb. Direct analysis

Admin Zebra here, with some of my observations from the new footage from the latest Nintendo Direct. I wrote some stuff about the first trailer, like commentary on Byleth’s sleeve inspiration from medieval fashion and the (maybe) symbolism behind the Japanese title, but this time I’ll be going all the way through.

First things first: We got an official logo. I kinda like the typeface on the old one (pictured below) more, to be honest.

Obviously this was a rough working title, given they didn’t even have the classic Fire Emblem logo on it, but the new logo’s typeface for Three Houses feels a bit too much. The capitalized T and H, sure, but having the everything like that, and with that kerning? Not feeling it.

Well, I got a degree in design so it’s my sworn duty to nitpick about these things, but this isn’t analysis, so let’s move on.

Lore

We’re introduced to the continent’s major powers and how they convene at the Monastery in Garreg Mach: the Adrestian Empire (Red Black Eagles, Edelgard), Faerghus (Blue Lions, Dimitri), and the Leicester Alliance (Golden Deer, Claude).

Each country has its own house at the monastery a la Harry Potter, and those houses are led by each country’s first-in-line for succession, whom we were introduced to in the first trailer.

Edelgard, as seen by the above picture, is the first-in-line for succession in the Adrestian Empire. Interestingly, they seem to use “Emperor” as a gender-neutral term for the ruler, as the narration calls her the future emperor rather than the future empress.

In the background, we can make out a few characters seen elsewhere in the video (from left-to-right): Dorothea, Ferdinand, Linhardt, Caspar, and Petra. (Edelgard’s the one with the red magic glyph.) Bernadetta is seen hiding under a book a few seconds later, so she’s in the Black Eagles as well.

We unfortunately don’t get a group shot of the Blue Lions, so the members of this house are largely unknown. I don’t think we see anyone aside from Dimitri in the background video in any other scene, either. There are a few kids whose affiliation we don’t see, like Annette, Mercedes (whom Annette calls Mercie), and Sylvain, so they might be in his group.

Lastly, Claude’s group. Pink-haired Hilda, who was seen as one of Byleth’s opponents in the first trailer, is in his group. Later in the video, we get the names for the large blonde man and the orange-haired girl: Raphael and Leonie.

The Church of Seiros is also headquartered in Garreg Mach as the predominant religion on the continent, and it has its own military force, the Knights of Seiros. The seem to be led by this woman, whom we get a better shot of towards the end of the trailer.

She resembles the woman depicted throughout the first trailer, but it’s hard to tell whether she got an updated look over the past few months, is another character entirely, or changed into another outfit.

We also get to meet the probably-manakete girl seen at the end of the first trailer and get a name for her: Sothis.

A cursory search on her name brings me to the Egyptian goddess/constellation name Sopdet, which translated into Greek as Sothis. (More info on that in the link.) Here, Sothis can communicate with Byleth, the main character, through their mind. How or why this happens won’t be clear until we see the game proper, but the narration suggests that it’s tied to the “unexpected incident” that revealed a “hidden power within” that leads to Byleth traveling to Garreg at the start of the story.

Speaking of which...

Assuming that the first image, with Byleth traveling with the three house leaders and his father Jeralt, takes place at the beginning, it seems that the two images in a scene towards the end of the trailer are set before that -- the aforementioned unexpected incident.

In the second image, that clearly would’ve been a fatal blow on Byleth; his back is turned to the bandit, but then it rewinds to the point where the bandit lunges. Instead of having his back towards the bandit to shield Edelgard, Byleth knocks the axe out of the bandit’s hand with the power of weapon triangle advantage.

This likely indicates two things: 1) a return of the Mila’s Turnwheel function from SoV, and 2) Byleth has some sort of power to either see a bit into the future, or rewind time.

Gameplay

Byleth seems to be something of an avatar unit, which was already known from the first trailer when all the official material called them “Your character” instead of the name shown in the trailer. You get to pick between a male and female form, with no known option for further customization -- fair in that there seem to be quite a number of rendered cutscenes a la SoV (and the cutscene animations are by the same team), which would make customizations tough.

I'm more or less neutral about F!Byleth’s design, simply because I disagree with the avatar option to begin with. I prefer set-in-stone characters, and having an avatar whom we don’t have control over personality-wise makes me wonder why they’re even an avatar to begin with. (For example, I love Dragalia’s MC Euden, but I do not at all understand why we label him with a name of our choosing. I respect his personality and his reasoning, but he is not an avatar of me.)

Three Houses boasts greater interaction between not only the player characters, but as well as between characters as well. As depicted in the first trailer, there’s a semi open-world function that allows you to explore Garreg Mach and interact with characters there. I’m looking forward to it, though I do have my reservations depending on how it plays out.

Combat, First Trailer:

Combat, Second Trailer:

The action select screen seems to have changed, but aside from Attack to Atk, it’s hard to tell whether these are complete changes, or simply caused by having different functions unlocked, having different classes, or because Edelgard is a main character where Bernadetta is not (i.e. Formation and Equip). Combat Arts are now also selected on the attack screen, as seen a few seconds later.

Comparing the weapon selection screens, it seems to have been restructured to show values more clearly. Bernadetta also has the three green triangles next to her HP, which is shown throughout several battle screens in this trailer, but I’m not quite sure what that’s for yet.

The new level-up screen. As will be analyzed later, class options in Three Houses seems to be much freer than previous titles, hence the Class Mastery section in the level-up screen. Professor Level seems to be related to Training, which will be covered later. Battalion is, naturally, the troops following each character’s lead; it seems that battalions can be switched out.

Given the Withdraw and Confirm selections at the bottom-right corner, this seems to be an alternative to the Arena. I assume units can’t die here, because that would be pretty difficult to explain to parents. “Hey uhh your son died during a sparring session, whoops.”

Ah, studying. I’m so glad I’m out of school now. You can tutor students individually, as a batch (I assume that’s what Auto-Tutor and Group Task are), or change an individual student’s studying goals.

We get a look at Dorothea’s tutoring as an example. People have gotten fidgety about that heart on the completion screen as a sign of some sort of affection system with the main character, BUT.

Immediately afterwards, we see Linhardt’s goals screen. Looking at that top-right gauge, we see the >w< meter on Linhardt’s has 4 (full) gauges. Meanwhile, Dorothea had 3 maximum gauges, and the 1 gauge left is consumed during training. IF my deductions are correct (pleasebecorrectpleasebecorrect), the heart gauge may build up the training meter when you get good results from training.

Also notable from this screen is that Linhardt’s class is Noble, the same as Bernadetta’s earlier. (Edelgard’s class shown in the first trailer is Aristocrat, which is... similar?) It seems that most students will start off with a similar class and then progress through different ones based on player preference and their own particular strengths. As seen with Dorothea, it seems that Swords and Reason are two of her strengths, while Faith is a weakness.

We are also shown various skills that can be trained:

Weapons: Swords, Lances, Axes, Bows, and Fighting(?)

Character (unofficial term): Reason, Faith, Authority

Unit: Heavy Armor, Riding (Cavalry), Flying

I assume Fighting is a weapon-type skill because Caspar is shown using claws right afterwards.

If you look closely throughout the video, you’ll see female generic soldiers, which is a nice touch, personally. While this is more story-related, it’s interesting that the enemy is labeled “Western Church”. This either suggests that there are different branches of the Church of Seiros, or that this is a split faction (perhaps the “rebellions” the narrator speaks about earlier in the video as one of the enemies you must fight).

This is the customized class screen mentioned earlier. As is apparently from the side list, it seems that characters can access all of those classes, and aren’t limited to just a few. Obviously, characters will probably lean towards certain classes, but it opens a lot of possibilities. Also, Edelgard can now lawfully pillage villages now with the Brigand certification exam. All this time we thought they were just brutes, but apparently it’s a meritorious profession!

This seems to be how supports will play out in Three Houses, which is fine by me. Having stronger bonds between characters provides a so-called “Gambit Boost”, which seems to provide a boost to combat arts. (Edelgard, in some unknown class, uses Coordinated Gambit.)

The rest of the trailer is mostly just cutscenes, one part which I already addressed earlier. The other shots are too vague to really comment on. If there’s one thing I didn’t really like about the trailer, it’s that it didn’t really give us a sense of an overarching conflict. All we know is that there’s a delicate balance between the three nations, it’s probably getting broken, goddesses/dragons are involved, and the crests are to blame.

[seriouslycromulent]

(Lengthy) Thoughts on Fantastic Beasts 2: Crimes of Grindelwald

I don’t really plan to write a full review of FB2, but since I said I was more excited for it than Widows, Aquaman, and Bohemian Rhapsody, it feels wrong not to share some general thoughts on the second installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. 

Especially since I just got back from seeing it a second time in the theater.

As usual, I haven’t read any reviews, nor do I plan to. I think I’ve established by now I don’t care what critics think. Never have. The only opinion that truly matters in how I view any work of art or entertainment is mine, so if you’re mostly expecting to see me repeat or refute any critics’ opinion of the film here, you might want to keep scrolling. (I address a few at the end. But it’s very cursory.)

Anyway, here are some of my reactions to FB2. And yes, there are spoilers below. I tried to keep them vague as to not give too much away, but I was not as successful in doing so as I might have hoped. You’ve been warned.

And away we go ...

Overall, I enjoyed the film greatly. It didn’t give me the warm fuzzies at the end that the first FB did, but it’s not supposed to. It’s not the first chapter that kicks off the story. It’s the next chapter that leads us down the darker path in the tale that introduces us to true struggle and turmoil that we’re going to have to deal with through the remaining 3 films.

It’s not meant to be shiny. It’s not meant to be sweet. But it is meant to present us with a few twists, turns, and new information to keep us invested in the story. And with that in mind, I was not at all disappointed.

I don’t know if I’ve communicated this yet, but I truly love the look of Fantastic Beasts in general. The 1920s is one of my favorite eras when it comes to design and history. From fashion to automobiles to architecture to hairstyles to music to literature to advancements in technology, etc., I think it’s a very underrated era when it comes to human ingenuity and cultural significance. And to set the second film in 1920s’ Paris was just brilliant. In the first film, I got to enjoy the ‘20s of New York, but now we get a splash of NYC and London, but mostly Paris as our backdrop, and the visual design and production were even more amazing.

I was nervous that they were going to use Leta Lestrange to drive a wedge between Newt and Tina, and even though they sort of did, I was happy to see it was a bit of a red herring. And she was never any real threat to Newt and Tina. Crappy love triangle averted!

Now with that out of the way, I really did feel sorry for Leta. Once we learn her backstory, it all comes together and makes sense. When she says the line, “Newt, you never met a monster you couldn’t love,” I was shook by the accuracy of that.

Newt was probably drawn to that ever-present, misunderstood sadness in Leta that he quite honestly sees in Tina as well. I like Tina, but she does have her terminal anxiety covered by that fake-it-til-you-make confidence that allows Newt to see a bit of himself in her. And I think in no small part, plays a role in their attraction to one another.

I do find it unfortunate that I’m seeing so many people rush to show concern for Queenie’s character and express empathy for her, wanting to protect that character going forward, but I see so little of that consideration and empathy shown toward Leta. Which is ... telling.

While we’re also on Leta Lestrange, I was pleasantly surprised by Zoe Kravitz’s performance. I’ve been a bit hard on her for the past year or so. Not because I don’t like her, but because, frankly, I’ve yet to see her deliver a great acting performance worthy of all the love and praise she gets from fans. I feel like most people just like her because of who her parents are, and they want to see her succeed in Hollywood because of it. But she’s yet to really impress me with her acting at all. I’m not saying she’s changed my mind entirely in FB2, but this performance was definitely one of her better and stronger ones. So kudos to her.

Now I’m not disappointed in terms of performance, but a part of me is really annoyed by Queenie in this. I get that she wants to marry Jacob, and the Ministry in America says no, but what was she thinking in enchanting Jacob?! Like he said, when was she going to wake up him? After they were married and had 5 kids? Come on, Queenie! How was that the answer to your problem?

Yes, I’m upset she joined the dark side in the end. But I’m trying to be understanding because Grindelwald is making some enticing points on why people should join him. For Queenie, she thinks that if Majs are in charge, they can get rid of this silly rule about who can marry whom. But at the same time, she knows Grindelwald is dangerous. Does she think Majs will gain control over the No-Majs without casualties? Does she even care? And with her telepathic abilities, she’s going to make Grindelwald a powerful operative -- as we saw in the end when he asked her about Credence’s mental state. Damn it, Queenie! Why did you have go to the dark side?!

It does make me wonder: If Queenie had known what Grindelwald had done to the family that originally lived in that Paris apartment, would she still have joined him? Is she willing to see innocents killed (even children) in the name of creating Maj rule just so she can marry Jacob?

Also, can someone explain to me why it was OK for Queenie to call Jacob a coward -- especially since we know he fought in the war -- but it wasn’t OK for him to think she was crazy? Why is she allowed to insult him, but he’s not allowed to insult her? Again, she annoyed me with this.

Going back to the look of the film, I not only enjoyed the production design, but I also loved the many special effects. From the Kappa (the Japanese water demon in the tub at the circus) to whatever that giant deer with the enormous jaw Newt was feeding in his lab to the Zouwu (the giant Chinese New Year dragon-meets-Falcor from Neverending Story creature) to the simple stone statue of the woman in Paris who hid the underground entrance, I thought most of the special effects were ... well, quite fantastic.

The only effect that threw me at all were the protective felines, Matagots, at the French Ministry. They not only looked disturbing, but they also didn’t look real enough. They almost felt like they stepped out of a video game. And not one of today’s video games either, but one from like 2013. Perhaps it was intentional because they’re meant to be a bit surreal with their huge eyeballs, but I’m afraid that also made them appear just a tad less believable. Which is odd considering all the things we’ve seen in the Potterverse that skirts the concept of realistic. Oh well. It wasn’t enough to make me dislike the other special effects, so I’ll shrug it off.

Shallow moment reveal: I want Tina Goldstein’s leather trench coat and I don’t even wear leather.

I adore Jacob Kowalski. That is all. Change nothing about him. 

I love that their solution to showing Young Dumbledore even younger is to remove the strands of gray he has from his beard. 

This is going to sound odd, but Callum Turner’s face is perfect for this film. Why? Because he has that classic bone structure we used to see all the time in old films from the 1920s and 30s. Seriously, put a straw boater hat on Theseus and give him a bamboo cane, and he looks like he walked out of the background of a Buster Keaton movie. Maybe it’s just the combined effect of the movie’s setting and wardrobe. Maybe it’s the fact that Callum’s skin is so damn tight across his cheekbones he looks like if he sneezes, he’s going to rip his jawline from the bone. I don’t know. But I do know that he has the perfect face for this film.

When I heard that J.K. mirrored Grindelwald’s speech at the cemetery after some of the things Hitler used to say in his speeches, I knew he was going to be a great villain. In the first Fantastic Beasts, Grindelwald is really just a boogie man. What we know of him is more in relation to how people react to him. Even when it’s revealed that he was wearing a Percival Graves-glamour to hide while doing his dirty work, we still don’t truly see him as the dangerous menace that he is. In that respect, he was a man seeking power (and Credence) to get his ultimate plan underway. The rest are newspaper headlines.

But to see Grindelwald talk to his minions in the Paris apartment and at the cemetery with such effortless manipulation was somewhat jarring. Especially when you think of present day parallels with the rise of more authoritarian regimes around the world. Grindelwald uses seductive language to coax his followers into believing their desires are born from love and a need for safety, not born from hate and fear. He tells them that No-Majs are not worthless, but simply of “other value.” He softens the declaration of war by painting what could be an impending genocide by insisting it’s for the betterment of all mankind. 

This is a villain for a story written for adults. Voldemort is for children. He doesn’t get the window-dressing and subtlety of true real-life villainy. Grindelwald, on the other hand, can exist in our world today. Voldemort cannot.

Now I’m aware that a lot of people are talking about the reveal regarding Credence’s lineage -- which was the truth bomb that left quite a few people stunned while the credits rolled. Understandably. But until I see someone piece together a theory on how Credence can be a Dumbledore (although it would lend itself to explaining his Obscurial nature), I’m inclined to believe that Grindelwald was just lying through his teeth.

When he says that the Phoenix comes to Dumbledore family members in their time of need, why did the bird that Credence was nursing suddenly transform into one? At that moment in time, Credence was not in his most need. Why wouldn’t the Phoenix have shown up in New York prior to Newt’s visit? Why didn’t the Phoenix show up after Credence had gone ballistic and ripped up half of NYC and retreated into the subway? 

Hopefully, at some point in the next film, Credence will question Grindelwald and demand some sort of proof. But even if he does, I can see Grindelwald manufacturing something semi-credible to manipulate Credence further. We’ll have to wait and see.

One of my favorite lines: The line where Dumbledore says he and Grindelwald were more than brothers ... I see what you did there, J.K. ... I see what you did there. ;-)

You know what I want for this film series now? More Nicolas Flamel in future FB films. :-)

I also want more Dumbledore, but I suspect that wish will be easily granted as the series continues. And if we can have more Dumbledore with Grindelwald, I would like to order that as well.

I’m not sure of the name of the actor who played a young Newt Scamander in the Hogwarts flashback scenes, but wow! Talk about matching the perfect youngun’ to the right adult actor. That kid was completely believed as a young Newt. Hell, he’d be believable as a young Eddie Redmayne.

Notice how when Credence goes to Grindelwald in the cemetery, he puts his head on Grindelwald’s shoulder? He did it just like he did when Credence thought Grindelwald was Graves. It was a nice, but subtle callback to the connection these two formed -- even if temporary -- in the first film. And back then, Grindelwald was manipulating him just like he is manipulating him now, by filling a void disguised as love, affection and genuine concern. And Credence is still susceptible because he’s spent most of his life devoid of that.

Although I feel like he would have shown more hesitation at the idea of leaving Nagini behind. But maybe he figured since this is what they were working toward all along, she might understand with time.

I did see some people complain about the exposition scene where we learn of Leta’s secret, Yousef’s oath, and Credence’s connection to the Lestrange family. I thought they did a wonderful job getting the audience through that level of detail without making it boring. You hear a narration, but the visuals communicate the story perfectly. For such a tragic tale to be included in a film where some may think it’s all about love stories and magic wands, I appreciate the inclusion of how evil like Grindelwald’s exists in every generation. And its lasting effects helped create the situation everyone is struggling with in this current story. That is some expert-level storytelling.

Can I just say I love the relationship between Newt and Theseus? It’s not perfect, but it’s not mean-spirited. When Newt says, “This is probably the greatest moment of my life,” after Tina uses her wand to tie Theseus to a chair so they can escape, you can see that these two brothers have had a bit of a rivalry in the past, but you also see love there in the beginning when Theseus warns Newt that the ministry is watching him. And when Theseus is heartbroken after Leta tries to take down Grindelwald, that hug from Newt with the line, “I’ve chosen a side,” really says it all about their relationship. They’re brothers who love each other, even if at times, like many brothers, they don’t always like each other.

It was sad to see the poor Niffler get hurt because of the whole blue fire scene, but it’s also awesome that he snagged Grindelwald’s keepsake. One of the trailers said “No nifflers were harmed in the making of this movie.” Better not be. ;-)

OK. I think that’s all I have for now in terms of original reflections on the film. I’m sure more will come to me as I am exposed to other’s feedback. Like I said, I don’t read reviews. But I do hear different things being uttered by others on social media and in casual conversations. And to that, I say this: I’ve yet to hear one complaint about this film that I agree with. Not. One.

For example:

I don’t agree with the complaint that it had too much plot. (What the f*ck does that even mean?!)

I don’t agree that Queenie was acting out of character. (How is that possible if the person who created the character wrote her doing those things in the script? Not liking what a person does is not the same as acting out of character.)

I don’t agree that J.K. didn’t do a good job with the screenplay. A) She wrote the screenplay for the first one, and B) That’s utter bullsh*t because your desire to not think when you go into a cinema doesn’t have to translate into a script that caters to your desire to not think.

Johnny Depp did a phenomenal job, as expected. And no. He should absolutely not be replaced or recast.

And no. Leta Lestrange was not a disappointment. Quite the opposite.

I try to stay away from reviews, because mainly, I enjoy thinking for myself. So I honestly don’t know what all the critics are saying. All I keep hearing is that the movie is getting “mixed reviews.” So clearly some people like it. While others don’t.

I don’t know what others were looking for, but I do know that this film was exactly what the next act in this story should be. I look at Fantastic Beasts like a 5-act play. The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second act, and it did what a second act should do. The second act introduces a significant complication, develops the primary and secondary characters’ personalities further, and increases the action on all fronts in the plot. 

I think it’s unfortunate that some critics (and perhaps fans) thought that they were going to walk out of FB2 feeling the same way they did when they walked out of FB. And I can’t help but feel that some of the criticism being lobbed at J.K. has more to do with trying to take her down a peg and attempting to find a flaw in her skillset than it is about a genuine critique about what appears on the screen in Fantastic Beasts 2.

I don’t support mindless entertainment. I don’t even want my cartoons and action films to be mindless. It’s a sad state when we see critics demanding films cater to the lowest level of attention spans and depth. And I’m happy to see J.K. not give over to that idea.

As I said in the beginning, I enjoyed the film greatly -- enough to see it twice in 4 days. So you’ll likely see me praising the movie as much as the previous one until the next chapter (or Act 3) is ready for me to enjoy.

[kohakuhime]

The Reluctant Guardian, ch. 18

Hello guys! We’ve got another update for you~! Special thanks for @mpuzzlegirl for help with this latest update!

Disclaimer: this takes place post canon, and this refers to events that take place in an alternate verse. Kazuo, Mikomi, and Isabel belongs to @mpuzzlegirl​; Risa and the twins belong to me; and YGO and its associated characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Noa paced through the room anxiously, eyes darting to the computer every few seconds. He let out a soft impatient noise and flopped into the office chair. Isabel had said nine o’clock, and it was nearly ten after. Maybe something happened and Pegasus had been unable to rendezvous after all. He hoped not—after spending so long desperately trying to find a lead, to lose his one chance at gaining something of a clue was too frightening a thought.

For a moment his vision dipped and spun and his eyes closed. God was he tired. Too many nights spent searching the screens, too many nights spent awake and trying frantically to find any information on an enemy who had hidden his tracks. Too many nights where his eyes burned and his head throbbed. This had to lead to something. This conversation with Pegasus had to have a lead.

The screen suddenly shone and flared and Noa snapped to attention. His eyes locked onto the computer registering Pegasus’s name flashing across the screen for the video call. He took a steadying breath. Here we go.

And then he promptly let out a startled bark of laughter.

“Something funny, Noa boy?” Pegasus asked airily.

“The only thing funny is the bunny,” Noa replied, and Pegasus winked at him with his visible eye.

Only Maximillion Pegasus could make himself look poised and dignified while wearing an obnoxiously loud-colored Funny Bunny t-shirt. He was leaning back in an office chair of his own, silver hair pulled up into a loose ponytail at the top of his head; a portion of it remained in front of his left eye.

“You took nearly a week to answer,” Noa added, feeling cross in spite of himself. He felt an eyebrow arch as he registered Pegasus’s clothes. “So what’s with Funny Bunny anyways?”

“The information you were asking about took time to gather. As for the outfit, pay it no mind. After all, this call is just happening to take place before bedtime. Maybe I should call after yours, hm?”

“Never mind me,” Noa said a touch too quickly. “What did you find out?”

“My, aren’t we impatient. I see that it is a trait passed on from dear Kaiba boy,” Pegasus remarked. “I must admit I was surprised to be contacted through practically a third party for a meeting with you.”

Noa let the jab about Seto slide. He knew better than to respond to it. Instead, he continued speaking. “We didn’t have a choice about how we—“

“Yes, I’ve heard.” Pegasus’s smile sharpened and visible eye glinted. “When Kaiba boy didn’t show up to this conference I knew something had to be wrong. Always punctual, that one.”

Noa started. “You’re at the conference Seto was supposed to be at?”

“I am. Frankly it’s been rather dull without your stepbrother’s usual flair for dramatics. I’ve been mostly helping Mokuba boy douse the fires and redirect attention from his absence, as a matter of fact. No, no, no guilty faces,” he added when Noa flinched. “Based on what I’ve heard, you’ve been understandably busy these past few months. Now then, to the point. I am unfortunately on the clock.”

“Right.” Noa straightened in his seat. “Pegasus, who bought Paradius property after Dartz disappeared?”

Pegasus arched an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you know the answer to that question already, Noa boy? After all, you were once under Dartz’s employ.”

“Believe me, I kept tabs as much as I could. I can’t keep track of everything, though, and I need a different perspective because I’ve hit a wall with the information I have. Let’s face it—you were the one who caught the Orichalcos situation before, and I’m willing to bet you were watching Dartz years before he made his move.”

“Of course I did. Dartz approached me at one point, in the aftermath of losing Cecilia.” Pegasus’s expression was closed and his lips thin. “He came just before I went on a particularly life-changing trip to Egypt, and when I returned I had no interest in what he was offering. Probably for the best, all things considering.”

There was a heavy lull in the conversation, and then Noa cleared his throat. “My earlier question, Pegasus: who bought Paradius properties after it fell?”

Pegasus’s expression cleared and he tented his fingers, elbows perched on crossed legs. “Try everyone, Noa boy. Dartz had substantial amounts of property amassed, including corporate properties, valuable deeds and resources, and real estate. When Paradius was split up and divided, everyone wanted a piece of the pie—even Kaiba boy bought some of the properties Paradius owned. As for the crown jewel of Dartz’s figurative empire in Florida? That was sold to the city and subsequently torn down due to concerns about structure.”

Noa inhaled and blew out a breath through his nose. So much for narrowing it down that way. “Okay then, let me rephrase the question: who was more interested in the arcane aspect of Paradius’s dealings?” he asked then.

Pegasus gained a tight smile, a dangerous light in his eye. “Ah. Now you’re asking the interesting questions.”

“And the answers?”

“Of the acquaintances shared between Kaiba Corporation and I2, there were nine. In that number, one hasn’t shown any recent interest and another passed away. There is of course myself, you, and your stepbrother, although you two are looped in by proxy of Yugi boy’s antics. That numbers five accounted for, with a remaining four in the mix.”

“What about any that we don’t know mutually?”

Pegasus raised an eyebrow. “My dear boy, if they were worth mentioning I would have done so.”

Noa pondered that for a moment and then leaned forward. “So what of the four remaining players in that particular game?”

“One of them is Dartz, of course. As far as I’ve gathered, he’s contented himself with self-imposed isolation and wandering. I’d wager that his activities hasn’t been enough to warrant concern from you.”

Noa frowned. “Now what makes you say that?”

“You asked about anyone interested with the Orichalcos or Dartz’s properties, but you didn’t ask about Dartz himself. Either he’s not a factor—doubtful, since my sources say he’s been more active as of late—or you trust that whatever he is doing isn’t immediately dangerous.”

There was a hidden probe in that last statement and Noa ignored it. “What do you know about the other three?”

Pegasus seemed mildly disappointed that he hadn’t gotten an answer from Noa, but it didn’t appear to last long. “There’s Elric Enterprises, and they show an interest in more alchemic branches and alchemic uses of orichalcum. Yes, the irony of that has not been missed,” he added with a mischievous smile, noticing Noa trying to keep a straight face. “There’s no relation to the brothers of that popular franchise, incidentally.”

“All right, and the other two?”

“Edmund Belmont, in charge of Belmont Industries. His father held no interest and in fact found magic to be a ‘false enterprise of smoke and mirrors’, so Edmund’s forays have been only cursory until his father passed away. He’s held a very general interest in magic, not just the Orichalcos, and there’s rumor he’s trying to integrate magic with technology like Dartz. Interestingly enough, when Paradius was liquidating its assets he bought only the artistic pieces Dartz owned, particularly mosaics. I do believe he also bought a few properties that Dartz owned in Domino.

“The last one would be Olympus, run by a Maxine Zeigler. She’s been interested for more than twenty years in the subject of magic. She’s focused on practical applications with military in thought—turning magic into a weapon. She hasn’t had a lot of fortune with that particular application, however, and she’s not been as active. She’s held a good deal of interest in weaponizing the Orichalcos, so I would not discount her involvement either.”

Noa’s personal phone was buzzing, but Noa ignored it. At last, he had names—something to chase. He had followed Dartz’s paper trail for the better part of a week, and yet names had eluded him no matter how far he had dug into it. Seto likely had names, addresses, and so much more, but with his stepbrother missing and Seto’s computer impossible to access without his stepbrother’s password Noa had been at a dead end. But with at least these three names, Noa could start narrowing down. There was only so long people could hide behind anonymity.

“There is something a touch troubling about all this, Noa,” said Pegasus, and Noa turned his attention back. Pegasus’s visible eye was flinty. “Someone has been so bold as to steal Kaiba boy away. Mokuba has not said as much, nor have you, but I don’t need both eyes to read between the lines.”

Noa’s own expression hardened. “I’ve been working on it—“

“He’s been taken somewhere even you can’t find him, and this person is clearly disguising their electronic trail—something you are acutely familiar with, given your prior history with computers.” Pegasus held up a hand when Noa bristled. “I offer you a piece of advice. There is perhaps a reason you cannot find him. We are all in agreement that this Duel Monsters tournament being hosted is likely where Kaiba boy has been…invited to.”

Noa stayed silent, wondering where Pegasus was going with this.

“The cruise ship seems to be a ghost, as no one can find it. That in part is likely because they are using a cloaking device that blocks GPS, radar, sonar…dare I say even satellite tracking, if someone has evolved the technology enough.”

“Evolved it enough…?” Noa sat up straighter. Pegasus was being oddly specific.

Pegasus’s smile was tight. “It was a prototype electronic jamming device that I used on Duelist Kingdom, to hide both Mokuba and his older brother once they both arrived on the island. After all—people would notice if the youngest and brightest CEO of a generation suddenly vanished. It hid the entire island from the world, up until I dismantled it. It was technology that was developed partially by me…and partially by one Gozaburo Kaiba, whose technology I had access to after our partnership went through.”

Noa’s blood ran cold.

“I haven’t used the technology since then—disabled it, in fact, after Yugi boy defeated me—but four months ago someone broke into Industrial Illusions and stole the prototype from one of my vaults. I had not thought anything of it until Kaiba boy vanished without a trace.” Pegasus’s visible eye flashed. “I do not take kindly to my technology being used without my permission. Find it, Noa, and destroy it.”

Noa’s phone buzzed again and Noa glanced at it. Seconds later he snatched it, eyes widening and features draining of color. “Pegasus, I wish I had more time but I’ve just had a family emergency.”

“Understandable, Noa boy. Do be careful—I don’t need to hear about another Kaiba brother vanishing. I’ll continue watching after Mokuba.”

Noa barely heard him, already rising from his seat as he hurried to the door. His phone was clenched in his hand, the text message from Isabel still visible between his fingers:

Kazuo and Risa are missing.

                                        +++++++++++++++++++

Risa was truly glad that the police impound was outside. If it had been an indoor car impound she wouldn’t have known what to do. It was challenging enough to figure out how to sneak inside without being seen by the guard in the booth at the entrance to the impound.

She leaned back around the corner and took a small breath. It was immeasurably humid at the moment, although it was chilly, and the thick black clothing she wore did not make it better. They were in the alleyway across the street from the car pound, as Kazuo had felt that being in the alley next to the facility would draw too much attention. She was grateful for Kazuo’s level head—she knew she wouldn’t have been able to even get this far without getting caught.

They were on a time crunch at this point. It would only be a matter of time before they were missed back at home. Risa, who was not one for lectures, hoped to be back by the time anyone realized that Risa and Kazuo were gone. The taxi ride had taken at least twenty minutes of their precious time. According to Kazuo, they had about forty-five more minutes before anyone would miss them.

Behind her she heard Kazuo quietly opening up his backpack, pulling out a tablet and a small, thin, portable keyboard. As he typed his eyes were narrowed, gaze focused on his tablet, and after a few tense moments he looked up again. “Cameras are on loop for now,” he said quietly. “The guards won’t see us.”

“You’ve got access to that kind of computer programming from mobile?” Risa was impressed.

He motioned for Risa to come over beside him and she sat down. “My dad and Uncle Seto make programs like this sometimes just because I think they want the flexibility of rule-bending on the go,” he said wryly. “It’s easy to download from Dad’s computer.”

His smile faded and he pulled something up on a separate window of the tablet. “Good news. I was able to find where their car is, and it isn’t that far away from where we are now,” he said, pointing across the street. “It’s about three rows in, if we approach from this direction.”

“What else?”

“The guards inside shouldn’t have a reason to be outside patrolling if we don’t give them a reason to be.” Kazuo pointed to the sky above them. “We’re about to get some rain. As long as we’re quiet and stay out of sight, they won’t think that there’s anything going on with the cameras. At most, the loop I have runs about twenty minutes. After that, we need to get out regardless of what we find. Now,” he said, raising an eyebrow, “how are you planning to even get into their car?”

Risa winked. “I know how to get into a car, Kazuo, trust me. I won’t need keys.”

“And when the alarm goes off?”

“I’ve got a trick for that, no worries,” she said, perhaps a bit too cheerfully. “Actually, two tricks if the first one fails. I like backup plans. Ready to go?”

The two of them slipped the hoods of their jackets over their head, and after taking a moment to gauge if the streets were clear they moved out of the alley and across the street. They kept their approach casual, easy-going, chatting amiably. The police guard who had been returning to the outdoor booth paused and watched as they walked by, the two of them talking and laughing.

The first rumble of thunder sounded overhead and the policeman looked up, startled.

That was when Kazuo neatly spun on his heel, lifting his wrist to his face. Something flashed brightly in the street lamp and there was a soft pft. The guard jumped, a hand going to his neck in surprise. Then he staggered, crumpling into a heap on the ground.  

Kazuo flashed his hand at her, showing the pocket watch on his wrist. “You ever watch Case Closed?” he asked conversationally.

“Oh yeah, watched that once or twice. He’s the kid with the gadgets and the mysteries, right?”

“Yep. Anyways, our friend over there should be asleep for maybe fifteen, twenty minutes.��

They carefully dragged the policeman over to the booth. It took some doing and a few colorful curses from Risa, but they managed to get him into the office chair and position him comfortably in the seat. “With any luck he wakes up and thinks he just dozed off in the chair,” said Kazuo.

“You know, for someone who only just found out what we were doing you seem to have this remarkably thought through,” said Risa, a note of suspicion in her voice.

Kazuo’s responding shrug was on the border of too casual, but he did not further reply. A glance to the watch told them both that they were running out of time—Kazuo’s window created by the virus would soon disappear, and neither of them were keen on being caught by the police.

The two of them kept to the dark parts of the lot, skirting their way past the cars as silently as shadows. They did such a good job of keeping out of sight that they nearly missed the car they had been trying to get to, but they found it in record time and knelt in the shadows cast by a nearby boat.

“Okay, Risa, so what’s your way of getting into the car?” Kazuo asked softly.

Risa pointed to the keypad on the frame of the car, next to the driver’s side. “I watched Ro’s dad once or twice,” she said softly. “It’s been a while, though, so…”

She took a moment to think it over, and then entered the code on the door. Kazuo found himself holding his breath. If Risa got it wrong, it could potentially set off the alarm and alert the police.

He was incredibly relieved when Risa gingerly tested the door and it opened. Some of the tension bled from their shoulders, and Risa turned to Kazuo. “Okay, Kazuo. We don’t have a lot of time. Start in the front and I’ll take the trunk—we’ll meet in the backseat,” she said. She leaned into the car and popped the trunk door open, and after pulling out a flashlight from her backpack she disappeared from view.

Kazuo carefully eased into the driver’s seat and softly shut the door behind him. He pulled out a flashlight of his own. He was not certain what he was trying to find, but he started at the side pockets of the door and the floors, lifting the floormats up and peering underneath the seat.

The two of them worked in silence, light coming from both their flashlights and the occasional flashes of lightning. Kazuo’s search was clinical and methodic, thorough in every aspect—and it yielded nothing. By the time he and Risa made it to the backseat, he already knew their search was futile. Judging by the frustration on Risa’s face, he knew that she had found nothing.

“Risa?” he asked quietly as she pulled the door closed. “Anything?”

“No,” she said, a shadow to her features. She abruptly slammed her fist into the side of passenger seat, startling Kazuo. “I knew it was a long shot. I knew it wouldn’t yield anything—it didn’t when I searched the twin’s apartment, it didn’t when I broke into your uncle’s office at the charity headquarters, so why did I think it would give me anything here?”

A part of Kazuo found himself wondering just when and how Risa had managed to break into both locations without anyone realizing what she was doing. The rest of Kazuo’s attention went to where Risa’s fist had hit on the seat, eyes locked on the opening that had been revealed when Risa’s hand slammed into it. The slit was located in just a spot that was practically hidden from sight. The only reason he had even seen it was because of Risa punching it and disturbing a side of the seat. He saw a button visible on one side, and the edges of the tear were not ragged but sewn.

Kazuo remembered then. It was as if it had been a lifetime ago when he’d overheard his aunt talking about secret pouches in the seats. “You never know what you may need to hide away in the car,” she had said with a laugh.

And though she had sounded as if she had been joking at the time, Aunt Ellie clearly had been serious about the matter.

“Risa, look,” he said quietly. He leaned forward, moving Risa’s hand aside. He pushed the two corners of the seat together to open the gap further and as he did, he felt something firm beneath his palm. His heart started hammering. “Risa, there’s something here.”

Risa shone her flashlight at the tear, and Kazuo saw something glint in the light. Risa reached forward, part of her hand disappearing into the tear. When she pulled her hand out, she was gripping a cell phone.

Kazuo recognized the phone almost instantly, as did Risa. They said nothing for a long moment, and then Risa’s face darkened as she held out the phone. “Kaz, this proves it. This proves it!” she said, her voice a fierce whisper. “What happened was no accident! It couldn’t be!”

Kazuo’s own eyes narrowed. Risa was right. There was no reason for his aunt to put her cell phone in that hidden compartment, not if it had been an accident and if the car had been in the river. There would not have been any time. There was nothing circumstantial about this—Aunt Ellie had deliberately hidden her phone.

There could only be one reason why.

“Risa,” he began, but Risa suddenly turned her flashlight off and grabbed the collar of Kazuo’s shirt, pulling him down to the floor of the car. “What?”

Risa motioned for him to stay quiet. Tension lined her features as she held her finger to her lips. Kazuo was about to protest when he caught sight of a shadow that passed in front of the driver’s side of the window. Muffled voices came through the window, and he froze.

Someone was outside of the car.

“Not cops,” Risa breathed, leaning up enough to peer at the window. “Guys in suits.”

The people watching them. Kazuo felt a chill ride up his spine as his eyes met Risa’s. They had to get out of there, before they were caught. If they were captured…how had these men known they were in the lot?

“Kaz, masks and hoods,” Risa said quietly, and Kazuo pulled up the bandana over his mouth and nose. As he reached for the hood Risa slowly eased out something small and round from her coat pocket. She sat up carefully and looked through the windows before ducking down to mirror Kazuo.  “You know how to get back to the fence?”

“Yeah…are we going to vault it?”

“We’ll have to. It’s got barbed wire on the top of it, Kaz, so just be careful going over the top. I’m pretty sure if they’re sweeping the lot they’re gonna be guarding the entrance—fence is the only option.”

Kazuo heard something matter-of-fact in her voice and he wondered how many other times Risa had done this before. “Risa—“

“They’re circling back. Kazuo, your side of the car’s not being watched. We go out your side. Don’t turn around or wait for me, just go for the fence when I tell you.”

Kazuo slowly opened the door, moving painstakingly slow out of the car. Risa followed him and eased the door shut behind him, crouching beside him. She was about to start speaking when they heard a low voice from the other side of the car and they both stiffened.

“How hard is it to find two kids in a parking lot?” a man’s voice grumbled. Kazuo slowly bent down to peer under the car and saw shoes, motioning for Risa to be quiet. Risa pressed herself to the car, hands gripping the circular object from earlier. “Yo, Turner, where am I supposed to look?”

They did not hear the other voice—it had to be a radio contact. The other man swore and said, “Yeah, I know, the car, but have you seen that I am in a lot full of both cars and police? They could be out here any moment and there’s a lot of charcoal gray cars out here!”

Police. They had forgotten about the police. If they could just get their attention…

Kazuo looked over to Risa just in time to watch her lob something over the back of the car. There was a clatter against the asphalt, a startled cry, and then—

There was an explosive crack and the world filled with the scent of strawberry and pink smoke. Kazuo yelped, choking and coughing—it was one of the twin’s potent smoke bombs. He felt Risa’s hand lock around his wrist as he was dragged away from the car. “Run, Kazuo!”

The two of them sprinted through the smoke, running through the lot even as spotlights came on and shouts filled the air. As they ran the threatening rain finally began to fall, water nearly blinding them as it came down in thick sheets. They did not stop running until they reached the fence, and without missing a beat they climbed.

Kazuo hissed in pain as the barbwire grabbed at his arms and legs, dropping to the ground on the other side of the fence. A few minor scratches were the least of his worries, since his jacket had been thick enough to block the barbs.

There was a sharp cry from above him and he turned. Risa had tried to drop from the fence as well, but her arm was tangled in the wire on the fence. She was dangling by her caught arm from the top of the chain-link fence. She couldn’t pull herself free and couldn’t find purchase on the fence. “Kazuo, go!” she said desperately, her face twisted with pain.

“Not on your life!” Kazuo reached up, arms wrapping around her waist to hold her up. “Pull yourself free!”

Risa squealed in pain as she yanked hard on her arm. He heard the fabric tear before she fell on top of him. There was no time to assess Risa’s arm—there were headlights coming towards them. “Come on!” he urged, and he caught her free arm to run across the street. Risa stumbled, her voice filled with sobs of pain as she ran.

They did not stop running, slipping through alleyways and climbing chain link fences, even weaving through the crowds. Only when Kazuo was certain that they had lost their pursuers did he stop running, taking in heaping gulps of air. For a long moment there was nothing but the sound of desperate gasps. Kazuo caught a movement from the corner of his eye and saw Risa slump against the wall.

“Risa, are you okay?” he asked urgently.

Risa’s face was blanched beneath the flushed color from running. As she cradled her arm Kazuo caught the blood seeping through her fingertips. He moved over to her, gently moving the sleeve away and hissing in sympathy as he saw the deep gouges. Her arm had gotten caught at the elbow and pulling free had torn her arm down to the wrist.

“We can’t go to the doctors,” she said between clenched teeth, seeming to read Kazuo’s mind. “They’ll know we broke in somewhere we shouldn’t have.”

“Risa, it’s been raining since we ran. Chances are high any DNA you left on that fence will have gotten washed away. These are going to need stitches.” Kazuo rose to his feet, eyes locked on the all too familiar sight of Kaiba Corporation’s logo looming above them. “We’ve got an onsite clinic, so we’ll go there.”

Kazuo took her hand again and she didn’t resist as he led her into the crowd. He weaved through the bustle of the sidewalk, his eyes darting through the passing people for any unfriendly eyes. Although it took only ten minutes to make the walk to Kaiba Corporation, it felt like eternity.

“We’ll call Mom when we get in there,” he said as they stepped through the gates. It had finally stopped raining. “We can also look at Aunt Ellie’s phone too and see what’s on it. There had to be something valuable if Aunt Ellie hid the phone.”

Risa followed him mutely, her features pain-filled. Kazuo led her inside the building and hailed one of the security guards in the lobby, and as they escorted Risa to the medical wing he pulled out Aunt Ellie’s phone. He wasn’t expecting it to turn on, since it had been submerged and it would take quite the restorative process, but maybe the SD card would yield something. He checked the slot for the SD card using a small pin to open it, but then felt his heart sink—there wasn’t anything there. Someone had gotten the card before they could.

Still, the phone itself was valuable evidence. It had finally proven that there was a chance of foul play. It probably would not be admissible as evidence, since they had found it after breaking into the car, but for their parents it was confirmation that there was more to the so-called accidental deaths of their loved ones.

Speaking of loved ones…

Kazuo pocketed Aunt Ellie’s phone to pull out his own. He grimaced as he saw the multiple missed calls and texts, all from his parents. Well this was going to be fun. He re-dialed his mother and then held the phone to his ear.

“Hi, Mama,” he said, trying to keep his voice light. “I know you’re probably worried, so I’m calling you back. I’ve got a very good explanation for where I’ve been…”

Previous | Master Post  | Next

[stillrecruitingrp]

The D.A. has recruited Nicky to the character of Padma Patil with a faceclaim of Naomi Scott. Sorry Padma, we didn’t see you standing there behind Parvati. Speak up next time, won’t you?

OOC Details

Name: Nicky

Age: 30+

Pronouns: she/her

Activity Level: medium; I should be able to post multiple replies three to four times a week, with an at least cursory online presence more often than that. Sometimes I get bogged down with other projects or deadlines, but I will always try to alert via the ooc when that is/will happen so my interaction partners aren’t left wondering where I’ve gone!

Acknowledgement: I acknowledge the potentially triggering themes and look forward to the uncertainty and excitement of the roulette.

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General IC Details

Name: Padma Patil; very occasionally called “Pads” (pronounced pahds or pods) by close friends or by people exasperated with her

Age: seventeen, Seventh Year student

Ships: I have no preconceived thoughts about ships for this character but in general the possibility of exploring hetero ships holds less interest for me than queer ones.

Gender/Pronouns: female-presenting lesbian who uses she/her pronouns (see “explorations” below for more details)

Face Claim: Naomi Scott (backup choice if unavailable: Alia Bhatt)

Desired Changes: no changes requested, but please note that I am more than happy to discuss changing any and all backstory elements presented here in order to better mesh with a prospective Parvati player’s ideas!

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BIO Questions

This game is Canon Divergent after the beginning of Deathly Hallows. This means, if a character is not at Hogwarts in canon, that can be altered (maybe Fleur goes to collect her husband’s little sister and ends up unable to leave the rest of the children there? Perhaps Harry comes back earlier…but why, and how? All of these things can be addressed and should be in your application!) Feel free to be creative!

Biography:

Please write at least two paragraphs describing your character’s background. While many characters have a lot of canon details, there are equally as many who do not. To check if your character has “set” information in this game please see the CHARACTER PAGE.

A child of wealth and privilege, Padma’s youth was easy and comfortable despite the occasional moments of culture clash between her parents (her mother’s family has had roots in Scotland and England since before there was a Scotland or England, while her father’s family only moved from India three generations ago when Padma’s father was still a baby). It was also a sheltered life, the outside world and its troubles being kept at a safe distance behind tall hedges and carefully-curated playdates with children of suitable upbringing. Reyansh and Adelaide Patil were protective (some might say, overprotective) parents who wanted to keep their precious little girls safe not only from danger, but from unhappiness as well.

Unfortunately for their parents’ plans -- but perhaps fortunately for the character and development of the twins -- they were curious girls who soon developed a knack for eavesdropping on the sort of serious adult conversations they were not supposed to be privy to. Thus when they entered Hogwarts at the tender ages of eleven, they were not as shocked as they might have been to discover that there were a wider variety of people and unpleasantness in the world than their parents would have liked them exposed to -- although the cossetted twins were still by no means jaded.

What was truly shocking was the separation that followed their arrival: Padma and Parvati had never so much as spent the night in different rooms before, but the Sorting Hat placed the one in Ravenclaw and the other in Gryfindor. This was horrifying and destabilizing for poor Padma. As a child she had always been content to follow Parvati, letting her sister take the lead so she could hang back and assess the data garnered by her brash interactions with the world from a safe distance before choosing her own course of action -- whether that be to follow Parvati’s lead, or run to mummy or bapu to fix whatever had broken (usually Parvati). She had never planned on how she would deal with a world without her sister to trail and consequently grew rather timid at first, sticking to her sister’s side as much as she could outside of class. She did make friends in Ravenclaw, but none of comparable closeness as Parvati’s new best friend and fellow Gryffindor, Lavender Brown (whom Padma spent a few years being incurably jealous of), and she was often quick to ditch those new friends to dog Parvati’s heels instead.

Some of her fellow Ravenclaws scorned her for her apparent fixation on fashion and gossip over more traditional academic pursuits, but curiosity takes many forms -- and Padma was a smart girl as well as a pretty one, and enjoyed learning magic. She simply also enjoyed giggling over the latest articles in Witch Weekly with Parvati and Lavender. When her sister suggested that they join an illicit student groups to practice for their DADA O.W.L.s, Padma was quick to go along with her both for the academic opportunity and for the chance to socialize more with Parvati and her friends. For once, she didn’t stop to think through the possible consequences -- but even if she had, how could she have predicted all this?

School Year So Far:

Please provide at least one paragraph describing your character’s experiences so far this year. If your character stays at Hogwarts over winter break, you can focus on that as well as if they left (why or why not) during the holidays. If your character should not be at Hogwarts, this is the space to develop how and why they came to be here. Note! Your character doesn’t have to start out at the school; if you’d be interested in having your character’s return be an event please make note of it here.

Reyansh and Adelaide Patil did not want to let their daughters go back to Hogwarts, but after the Ministry’s new policies went into affect they didn’t have a choice. They thought about leaving, maybe fleeing to Reyansh’s distant cousins in India -- but the risk of running seemed worse than the danger of staying. Besides, they knew their daughters were good girls who wouldn’t get up to any trouble; they would be all right for one more year.

Unfortunately for Reyansh and Adelaide, neither of the twins were very keen on behaving this year. It was Parvati who returned them to the ranks of the D.A. of course -- she was the one who shared a common room with Neville and Ginny, after all -- but Padma was quick to second her sister’s commitment for the both of them when the news was shared with her. She was less keen on some of the more bold (some might say, foolhardy) activities that the D.A. engaged in; speaking-up in class to politely argue with a teacher (even a very bad teacher, who accepted dissent with even less grace than had Professor Snape) was one thing but painting slogans on the walls and trying to sabotage parts of the school was something else. What if they were caught? What if they weren’t? It wasn’t until the Carrows moved from theory to practical lessons on the Unforgivables that Padma was willing to accept that they were a lot worse than merely bad teachers -- they were monsters.

That was what finally pushed her over the edge into enthusiastic, albeit still nervous, support of the D.A. and shored her participation up into more than lip service. She hasn’t managed to summon the courage (the stupidity?) to do anything alone yet...but as long as she has company to cling to, Padma is willing to put her neck on the line. To sneak around the school after hours and paint slogans, to mess with lesson plans, to booby-trap classrooms and offices, to eavesdrop, to pass contraband and secrets... The fact that her neck being pure means she has less to risk than many of the others is both comfort and goad: Padma never asked for special treatment...but does it make her a terrible person if she finds comfort in that little slice of comparative safety?

(I would like to make it clear that I am happily amenable to changing anything in here in order to find a compromise with the headcanons or background of any player wishing to join as Parvati Patil! I love collaborative character building!)

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OOC Questions

Writing Sample

Padma’s wand wobbled in her hand as badly as if she were still a clumsy, nervous first year fumbling with an unfamiliar bit of wood rather than the natural extension of her arm that the smooth haft of ash had grown to be over the last seven years. Of course, she had never felt so sick or afraid as a first year -- not even on her first night alone up in Ravenclaw Tower, although that had come close. But not even her first separation from Parvati compared to being instructed to cast the Cruciatus Curse on another person.

She glanced sideways at Professor Carrow, wondering if she could get away with begging off the lesson -- but then she looked at the rest of the class, and knew with devastating certainty that being excused would be the worst thing of all. Too many of her fellow Ravenclaws already resented her for her status as a pure-blood and the indulgence that afforded her. She couldn’t let them see her take such blatant advantage of her blood-status; they would never believe that she wasn’t a blood-supremacist herself, if she did that...

But that meant she had to cast the curse.

Padma swallowed, adjusted her grip on her wand (a useless effort; it felt alien in her hands no matter how she fiddled her fingers), and tried to look at Michael without meeting his eyes. It was hard; he seemed to be going out of his way to glare at her, or maybe that was just her imagination under stress...did he think she was enjoying this? He hadn’t hesitated for very long before he’d cast the curse on Terry during his turn, and they were much closer friends than she was with him...was he angry because he didn’t think she’d be able to do it, and he’d be Crucio’ed by Professor Carrow instead? The whole class knew that would hurt worse than being cursed by a novice, it was why they knew they had to hurt one another instead, to spare their classmates from even more pain...

Was he just resentful of the fact that as a pure-blood, she was less likely to be chosen to suffer the curse than any of the half-bloods in their class, like Michael or his friends? That wasn’t her fault, though! She hadn’t asked for the Carrows to take it easy on her, any more than Morag or Stephen did...but of course they weren’t in the D.A., so perhaps Michael didn’t take it so much to heart that they weren’t suffering as badly as the rest...

“Crucio,” Padma snapped, letting her annoyance surge out of the end of her wand. Michael yelped, cowering away from her, and Padma was horrified by what she had just done -- by what she had had no choice but to do. Beside her, Professor Carrow was nodding and smiling, and Padma felt sick.

At the same time, a distant part of her brain merely thought calmly, Interesting. Most spellwork was vulnerable to strong emotions, easily marred by the distraction that an unsteady mind would cause if not properly channeled; the Cruciatus Curse, on the other hand, seemed to be strengthened by emotion -- just as Professor Carrow had told them. Padma wondered why that was, wondered if the Unforgivables were perhaps part of a whole separate, unique branch of magic -- something as distinct as Transfiguration or Charms -- that had never been properly catalogued or explored, an entire subset that relied on heated emotion rather than eschewing it. The idea of anyone studying such magicks was repellent--

But, yes, also interesting. She couldn’t deny that; couldn’t deny that while mostly she wanted nothing more than to turn and run, to shove her wand deep in her pocket and never look at it again, to find somewhere private to vomit or shake or both...there was a part of her, a tiny but unmistakable part of her, that wanted to cast the curse again to see how different it would be if she was in a different mood. A part of her that wanted to study the Cruciatus Curse, to discover how it worked. A part of her that was curious.

A part of her that made her sick...but that wouldn’t be ignored.

When Padma returned to her seat, she put her head down on her desk and cried.

Exploration

Please provide four things you’d like to explore. This could be a character changing sides, darker themes, or basic fiction tropes.

Blood-Purity: Padma didn’t grow up with a lot of direct blood-prejudice in her life, but she did grow up in a culture that told her she was better than other people because of her bloodline. (She couldn’t help but internalize some of that, even if in her case it manifests more as “oh wow, that was a really good spell, especially for a Muggle-born!” than it does as “ugh get away from me, filthy Mudblood!”) Given the current political and social climate, it would be easy for someone like her to bury her head in the same and pretend she doesn’t see what’s happening to other people, pretend she doesn’t notice how wrong it is -- but despite her appearance as a spoiled pure-blood princess, Padma isn’t doing that. She’s fighting back. However...that doesn’t mean she doesn’t sometimes thing about how much easier things would be if she stopped fighting so hard for other people. It doesn’t mean that she doesn’t sometimes wonder if those same people resent her over the fact that she doesn’t risk consequences as severe as the ones they face; doesn’t mean she doesn’t sometimes resent that, because how dare they? She didn’t ask for this privilege, didn’t ask to be protected by the so-called “purity” of her blood; how dare they blame her for that? Shouldn’t they be grateful instead, that she’s putting her neck on the line for their sakes? It’s an ugly train of thought and she’ll be ashamed every time it crosses her mind, but that doesn’t mean it won’t show up sometimes. I want to explore the nuances of blood-supremacy from the angle of a “good” pure-blood -- someone who’s fighting against Voldemort, and who didn’t have to turn her back on her family to do it (her parents her to stay out of the fight because they’re afraid she’ll get hurt, not because they’d burn her off some family tapestry if she gets too cozy with “the mud”), but who comes from the same world as so many of his most lauded followers. I also want to explore the opposite side of that coin: what kind of prejudices do the Muggles have that wix like Padma don’t? (We know from word-of-god canon and implied book-canon that racism and homophobia aren’t major issues in the wizarding world, although how that actually works is a little wobbly...but I think it does mean that at least on a superficial level, the wizarding world is a lot more color-blind and accepting of diverse sexualities -- and possibly genders, too -- than are the Muggles, especially in the 1990s. I intend to play Padma’s family like that at any rate, however other players choose to go with theirs.) How would someone like Padma react to finding out that several of her friends come from families who think it’s a sin for someone like her to kiss another girl -- or a white boy, for that matter? She won’t take it well, that’s for sure...but could it be enough to push her away from the D.A.? Enough to make her briefly betray one of her fellows out of hurt feelings or anger, even if she regrets it after; even if she never meant to hurt the D.A. as a whole, but just to take one ugly bigot down a notch? It doesn’t seem likely that it would be enough to push her far enough to inspire her to join the other side...but to make her sit out the fight? Possibly...or possibly it could lead to a schism within the D.A., with the pure-bloods and more traditionally magical children like Padma still committed to the fight against Voldemort but on their own terms...and the D.A. is far too small and fragile to survive a division like that for long.

Curiosity: Padma is a Ravenclaw. That makes her inherently curious, and while her curiosity has always been turned more toward gossip and fashion and giggling with Parvati and Lavender, she’s curious about other things too -- like weird, old, forbidden magicks. (Who wouldn’t be curious about things like that?) Magicks that Hogwarts students never learn...but that the Durmstrang students who were here a few years ago talked about, when begged and flattered and bribed. Magicks that the Carrows now have them learning, even practicing on one another. Padma is the good girl that her parents always wanted her to be; she hates the very idea of the Unforgivable Curses, hates the fact that they are forced to use one another for practice; hates the fact that they are even being made to cast them at all. But she can’t help but be curious, too; can’t help but be interested in what they’re learning. It isn’t a type of magic that she ever thought she would have either the opportunity nor the motivation to study, and frankly she’d still rather refuse the chance...but since she doesn’t have that choice, she might as well make the most of it, right? That isn’t an attitude that is going to endear her to many of the other members of the D.A.; maybe isn’t even an attitude that her own sister would be able to face without horror. It isn’t a very Gryffindor way of looking at things...but Padma isn’t a Gryffindor. She’s not her sister, even if sometimes she’s wished she could be. She’s a Ravenclaw. And she likes to learn. But oh, the lessons the Carrows offer this year...are they the kind of lessons that anyone can draw anything positive from? Or is all use of Dark MagIc by its very nature corruptive and evil? Maybe it’s possible to use the ugly lessons they’re learning for good, for the good of the D.A. and of Hogwarts at large; wouldn’t that be a good use of what they’re so unwillingly being taught? But even if that pragmatic attitude has merit, can Padma get anyone else in the D.A. to agree -- and if she does, what’s the price she (or they) might have to pay?

Friends on Both Sides: growing up in the upper echelons of pure-blood society didn’t just mean that Padma had a comfortable, indulgent childhood; it also meant that she had friends from that society long before she came to Hogwarts. Maybe they weren’t close friends (she has a twin sister, so she didn’t need to make close friends with anyone else, back then, before the Sorting separated them) but she knew them, played with them, laughed with them. People like Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy...she knew them, before they all came to school and went their separate ways. (Padma couldn’t even being to count how many dolls’ tea parties she shared with Pansy Parkinson, once upon a time, even if she wanted to.) And now those people are her enemy? Just because they don’t agree on who deserves to have magic, on who deserves to be in charge of the world? It’s hard for Padma, because unlike so many members of the D.A. who only ever saw the bad sides of the people they’re fighting against now, Padma’s known them from birth. Sure, some of them she’s disliked from birth...but the rest of them are just people. They aren’t (weren’t) monsters, they were friends...and fighting friends hurts. It isn’t exactly like having divided loyalties -- but it is very, very close to being that. And if approached by one of her old friends, what would Padma do? Would she cut them off, turn her back? Or would she listen? Would she care? I’d like to explore the difficult situation that Padma’s social position and childhood history put her in. It’s not something that many of her fellow D.A. members would understand or sympathize with, but it’s got to be hard for her to look at a person she knows as a childhood pal and think “that is my enemy.” From Harry’s perspective, which the books are narrated from, they all fall pretty neatly into their slots as “bad people he never liked to begin with” but that isn’t how someone like Padma is going to feel about it; she’s going to see them as people she’s known all her life, as friends and parents of friends. As people who might have come to her birthday parties, or who would wave and smile at her in Diagon Alley, or who shared jokes over homework in the library. Maybe she doesn’t have any close friends among the “enemy camp” (and maybe she does) but they aren’t strangers, and they aren’t villains. They’re people -- and that means no matter what she does, she’s going to feel guilty because she’s hurting people she knows. Maybe even people she likes, but definitely people she knows. Maybe that will make her more lenient, more trusting, more inclined toward mercy; maybe it will be the opposite, with Padma being especially firm in her commitment to Dumbledore’s Army because she doesn’t want to be called-out for sympathizing with the enemy. Either way it isn’t going to be neat, isn’t going to be cut-and-dried for her. And that’s fascinating to me. She could wind up being torn in two if someone playing one of her old friends seeks her out (either genuinely or through ulterior motives) and tries to play on her sympathies, on their old connection; she could use those connections to insinuate herself in their confidences and play spy for the D.A.; she could use what she knows about them to hurt them by helping plan strategy to take advantage of weaknesses the others aren’t familiar with; she could sabotage D.A. plans to avoid hurting people she still likes too much to turn her back on completely; she could take them at their word and inadvertently court disaster for her friends; etc!

Gender Twins: if a prospective Parvati player is interested in exploring the twins’ gender identities I would be delighted to jump on board with that, whether that involves making one or both of them trans or nonbinary (maybe they’re “identical” twins because the one is regularly Polyjuicing the other in order to get a body she feels comfortable in? Maybe one of them is really a boy who was assigned female at birth, and he hesitates to “come out” because he doesn’t want to risk growing apart from his sister? Maybe they’re both trans, and the label of “prettiest girls in school” is something they worked hard for -- or something these nonbinary twins resent? etc). I thus hesitate to specify Padma’s gender identity in too much detail yet beyond the basic label of “female presenting” because I want to leave that open for possible later shared exploration with my fellow player. (If no Parvati player materializes in the opening weeks of the game, I may still end up exploring these themes on my own...but I’d rather do it in concert with an in-play Parvati than with a made-up NPC one, of course!)

[smokeybrand]

Insincere Sensibilities

I touched upon this a few days ago when i ranted about Outrage and Cancel Culture but, the current Sentai Filmworks purge over at Crunchyroll, i feel like i need to address this sh*t directly. I think that’s over licensing issues but it’s just a drop in the bucket with all of the other purges and alterations being made, all over the place. American censorship of international media is f*cking ridiculous. It is and i can’t stand it. I get that, for a lot of the youngsters out here, especially the ones that are of that Social Justice disposition, certain things, especially out of Japan, can be misconstrued, misunderstood, or even seen as offensive. The thing is, though, mind your f*cking business. Not everyone is outraged by the same sh*t you are. If it’s media to be consumed, just don’t consume it. Not everyone wants to fit in your very narrow worldview of assumed offense and righteous indignation. You look like a clown doing that sh*t. The motherf*cker who sh*ts in the pool, forcing everyone to leave. You’re the no-fun police. Chill the f*ck out, man, and keep your negativity to yourself. F*ck off with your soft ass sensibilities. Instead of harassing a Japanese artist, who lives in Japan, and is actually part of that culture, maybe get some f*cking context first? Maybe understand that, where that person is from, the sh*t they draw is fine and probably popular? Maybe don’t insist upon applying your narrow, prudish, American "values” to a country that, in so many ways, resembles nothing that you’d recognize as everyday life? Like, Amazon removed the Grimgar books. What the f*ck was wrong with Grimgar?? Interestingly enough, you can still watch the show on Prime. That hypocrisy is going to be a running theme, just letting you know ahead of time.

Not everyone who likes lolis wants to f*ck kids. Not everyone who likes guro wants to rape then eat corpses. Not everyone who likes isekai want’s a slave harem or is some weenie neckbeard that lacks all of the confidence. It’s nuts to me that this wave of pearl clutching is so selective. Like, Amazon removed all the No Game No Life novels, among others, because of “questionable content”. A cursory search reveals that you can still buy Catcher in the Rye on the site; A book about a teenage sociopath, who sells drugs and tries to f*cks prostitutes. Dude is sixteen. Shouldn’t this be removed, too? Isn’t this offensive material as well by these new rules? It’s required f*cking reading in high schools across the nation! F*cking A Clockwork Orange is still available, both the book and the film. Why? That sh*t is literally a murder-rape rampage. Dude rapes two ten-year-olds in that sh*t! It’s also another book i read in high school just to see if it was as bad as everyone says. The book is, yes. The film? Not so much. Also, and this is probably the most pertinent of my unabashed hypocrisy on display, f*cking Lolita is still available on Amazon! Both films, hardcover, soft cover, and even audio book if you’re too lazy to read for yourself. Lolita is quite literally, the inspiration for the loli genre that everyone seems to be completely out of their minds about now. Loli is short FOR Lolita. That’s a thing. You can imagine the content therein so why is THAT book okay but not No Game No Life? The Lolita audio book is f*cking free with an Audible trial! Free! But go off about Shiro, though.

This sh*t is frustrating to me because it feels like a targeted attack on Japanese media and ONLY Japanese media. I got Senators getting on TV, talking about how Dragon Ball Z is degenerate trash, even though it’s been on US television for almost three decades. Sony is prematurely censoring games like Sengan Kagura and Devil May Cry V, but Abby gets a whole ass, grunt filled, bro down, f*ckfest in The Last of Us II. That sh*t was so jarring and hilariously gross to see, it became a straight up meme. Her entire peck-a-titty was completely exposed, nips and all. Her animalistic barking and grimaced face, were so brazenly displayed. Graphically. Gratuitously. Uncomfortably. That sh*t look painful. That’s what sex is like in real life, right? That interpretation is grounded and not sexualized at all, right. Sex can’t be sexualized anymore. No joy or fun in the f*ck. It has to mechanical and the most unappealing sh*t, ever, or you’ll be objectifying women or some sh*t. Okay. Stunning and brave, I'm sure, but why? Why the f*ck was that necessary other than to wag a finger at your player base? Here’s some f*cking in your game, we know you like it, but don’t like that way. That way is wrong. Women are not cum-dumpsters. They are to be respected and never subject to your pitiable sense of passion or attractiveness. They can be inconvenienced by sex, too! That’s what i thought, at least, as i watched this aggressively icky display happen on my television for a miserable amount of timen. It’s this way or no way. I get a lens flare on the butt of a beauty like Lady from DMC, but I'm forced to see Abby’s whole body tense as whatshisname goes in raw with no lube? For real?

There’s just so much stupid surrounding the media i love lately, you know? Let’s go after Shield Hero because I'm offended that Raphtalia is a child slave. Because i only watched three episodes and completely ignored the heartwarming relationship that developed between Naofumi and the adult Raphtalia. Because Raphtalia grew the f*ck up. She only appeared that young, for that long, because Naofumi's trauma wouldn’t allow him to see her as an adult. I’m not saying don’t feel a certain way about whatever. Let’s get the pitchforks and torches because Scarlett Johansson is portraying a Japanese cyborg, even though the Japanese don’t care. They’re wrong for being indifferent to the racial injustice perpetrated by this Hollywood production! Even though the character of Batou IS canonically of Japanese descent, not a full cyborg so his body is organic with certain cybernetic enhancements, and still got portrayed by a white dude. Yeah, that’s fine. Ignore the whitewashing of literally every other Japanese or ethnic character in this movie, and focus on the one what is literally a brain in a mechanical shell. Outrage! Did I want to see a Japanese actor in that role? Sure. I think Rinko Kukichi was a perfect fit for Major Motoko Kusanagi. However, the Japanese people don't care so I had to let my bias go, too. If the director of the original anime film gives his blessing, who the f*ck are we to be so pissed off about it? Plus, the Major in this version of the picture is named Mira or some sh*t. She not even MY Major and I can separate the two. Apparently, I am in the minority on that one.

My favorite character in the Monogatari series is Shinobu. She’s a loli vampire that’s nearly six centuries old but looks to be about twelve in real time. Shinobu starts as a ravishing, adult beauty named Kissshot. Through a series of events, her power was sapped and, in order to save her life, she was left in her juvenile form. She later reclaims her voluptuous, mature, appearance and carries on for the rest of the series as such, but she was Shinobu, not Kissshot, when i fell in love with her. I do adore both versions of that character; Her haughty, too-old-for-her-looks, pre-teen self and the reserved, stoic, haunting beauty of her true form. That said, even as a loli vampire, Shinobu is still pretty tame. If Shinobu is worth a Change.org petition, what about Claudia from Interview with the Vampire? Claudia is FAR more problematic. She is Lolita on steroids. Claudia is nine when she was turned and was killed sixty-five years later. It is stated, in detail, she wanted to f*ck. Badly. But she couldn’t because, you know, the whole nine-year-old body and everything. That was actually a pretty big thing with Claudia’s character, that sexual frustration. Never mind the, you know, murderous rage and delight in cruelty, you know? Claudia is fine, with all of her bloody, murderous, psychopathy and manipulative, over sexual, personality proudly displayed, but Shinobu is an issue because... why again?

Cats are apologizing for violent abusers because they’re pretty women, and you HAVE to believe all women, regardless of the fact that they’re pathological sociopaths. Instead, let’s cancel a child for drawing She-Ra characters “wrong”, even though she drew the G1 versions of said characters F*ck her, right? Because she liked the designs of the old, problematic, version of that show? It’s on the “wrong side of social justice”. This is a child. One that can’t be more than a decade old but these motherf*ckers came for her, like her last name was Weinstein. It’s kind of hard to take your moral outcry seriously when you’ve directed your hateful intent on a goddamn grade schooler. Sh*t like that, the gross hypocrisy and targeted vitriol, is just f*cking exhausting. You’re entitled to your opinion. Hell, you’re entitled to even voice your opinion out in the wild. The internet is an awesome soapbox. I’m using it right now! As long as the discourse is civil, f*cking go for it. It’s rarely ever civil. Attacking someone because you made assumptions of their character over sh*t they follow on Twatter, is pure folly. Raising the alarm because you don’t like seeing “youthful characters” depicted in a certain fight, while ignoring other media that takes it even further but is more palatable or subtle with their transgressions, is hypocrisy. If you’re going to be outraged about something, if you’re going to call for censorship, make sure yo censor all of it. If you’re going to hide Japanese boob jiggle, make sure you fade to black with the hard sex in your domestic games, too. I’m as offended by Abby’s body in TLoUII, as you are of Ayane’s from Dead or Alive. Why should i be subjected to your bullsh*t while you curtail and demonize mine? Motherf*ckers want to be champions of tolerance and understanding but these same motherf*ckers sure refuse to understand any point of view obtuse to their own. You want that moral high grown so bad? Then stop picking and choosing what is or isn’t offensive. Either all of it is okay or none of it.

[commodoreg]

In response to edits:

Oh wow, I wasn't expecting this much feedback from Mel. :O Well, Miss Editor, just know that I roughly stopped at the 15 min mark and didn't have a huge amount of time to edit, but you seemed to catch a couple things I wasn't thinking about, so I guess it doesn't matter. I'm all for critique and learning from my mistakes, so thank you for doing this. :) I don't usually write in this format often as I'm mostly just writing in a script structure for the game, so expect a lot of flaws. Buuuuuut, let me just address a few of the issues you brought up in the comments. (Posting this in blog form cuz screw posting this as comments.)

1) *Gets out her editor’s pen* First and foremost - “That is because that’s only half the story” is a super clunky sentence.

Yeah, you're right about this. I saw just from a cursory glance this sentence was a bit weird, but I didn't really have the time to fix it.

1.5) Also, calling the boy “the youth” and “the boy” in the same sentence is bad. A simple “he” works, as the subject of the sentence hasn’t changed. Really, the solution is putting a period after “understand the difficult text” and starting a new sentence.

Right. I added "youth" and other words to address the subject because I realized when rereading that I only called him "the boy", and I did far too much. It's a bit tough to balance when to say "he" and "the boy" so that it doesn't become repetitive. Because by this time, we don't know much about the boy.

2)  “The father recommended that he skip* over any part”… “The child of barely ten years” is clunky and forced within that sentence, making it too wordy. Just saying “the ten-year-old” would work fine.

You're probably right. I think I was going for a more elegant way of saying "he's ten years old". I could've said a boy of just ten winters or something, too.

3)  "eager to prove themselves older than they’re labeled” is just pointless fluff. Could get rid of all of it or at least the “older than they’re labeled”.

That could've been shortened down, sure, but I still sorta like that line. You can have some fluff in your writing! It just needs to be kept under control, I suppose.

3.5)  Hehe “labyrinthine”. Cute word, but comes off a bit try-hardish within this narrative, like ‘I need a big, intimidating word to really convey the complexity of this tome!“

I'll have you know that I'm the biggest try hard around. But no, I believe the word works because of the boy's imagination and the way I ended it after. I could probably work a little harder to make the analogy work, but I don't hate it. Also no, I didn't go searching for a big word like labyrinthine to make me feel better about myself. It just popped in my head and I went with it. :P

4)  “Of course, books are made exclusively from words and sentences, but they became something much more when you could imagine the scenes, scents, characters, and world—when you could relate to the story or expository written. ” You’re talking to the reader. It’s a style some authors love, but it feels a bit out of place here, much like the “that’s just half of the story” sentence.

I actually really liked writing that bit, so maybe it's my styyyyyle. Only change I'd make to that part is writing more coming from the boy's own personal thoughts than the narrator's voice.

5)  New paragraph at “If the boy had to describe” as the previous was about reading the book and now he’s digesting the experience. Two different subjects. Goddamn why does this reply cover up the paragraph, I hafta keep posting and rereading stuff and making new replies.

Hmm, okay. I do split up my paragraphs, but I usually do it by intution rather than a guideline. Actually, that describes a lot of my writing in general. And yes, the comment function on tumblr is bad. tumblr is bad.

6) Why’d you explain why he’s confused but not why he’s annoyed? Either go all in or not at all!

Two reasons. One, you already should know why he's annoyed. It's explained in the second paragraph that the boy was out to prove his father wrong, but he ended up exactly as his father had said. Second, the story cuts off there because my time was up. The next part would've explained why again by mentioning his father—hopefully bringing the reader up to speed.

[andrewuttaro]

Is the Stanley Cup worthless?

Let’s start out with some disclaimers. For one, the Stanley Cup certainly isn’t worthless to the hundreds of players who fight through two months of grueling hockey for it. Those guys often play through injury and sacrifice their long-term health just for the chance to lift the Stanley Cup. Their meaning vested in the Stanley Cup is thoroughly established and that is almost an entirely different topic. Another disclaimer: this is not about my team’s inability to accomplish the feat of winning a Stanley Cup. I am not here to complain about the Playoff format, the seeding or even the Sabres inability to make the playoffs the last eight years. This question has nothing to do with any of those problems. No, this question is actually remarkably difficult to answer because it’s a question about the fundamental makeup of the highest-skill hockey league in the world.

I openly asked this question on twitter as the first round of the 2019 edition of the Stanley Cup Playoffs drew to a close. I got the answers you’d expect. You’re a cry baby, it’s about grit, its tradition, and my personal favorite: It’s the randomness that makes it worthwhile! There were actually some decent answers toward the end, but I’ll admit there was some venting going on about my bracket getting absolutely demolished by the postseason of upsets in the first round. The root of this is simple: We all venerate and remember who wins the Stanley Cup. That’s where the lore and honor of the NHL game comes from: but why? If it is a tournament of randomness and chance then the team that survives is just the luckiest survivor, no? Twitter was tough on me, but I guess one expects that from social media. Lucky for us, real experts have addressed the question and tried to come up with answers of their own.

Sean McIndoe (Down Goes Brown) at The Athletic wrote a smart piece on it. It’s called “The 2019 playoffs are total chaos. Is that good? It depends on your door.” You should absolutely go read this article. The paywall for The Athletic is a pretty short wall if you have any kind of income and I’m not going to spoil their paid content in my free content. The basic idea however is that we generally look at the Stanley Cup Playoffs two ways: Door One and Door Two. Door One is the best team always wins the Stanley Cup no matter what. Door Two is the best team may not win the Stanley Cup but its fun and that’s all that really matters. Read the article for the full breath of McIndoe’s analysis. It’s very good. These two doors are the convenient and most common ways we look at the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Before we go on here we have to note that many NHL professional writers, those who make a living off of analyzing this league, don’t even want to bother with the middle question here: Is the playoff chaos, particularly in this 2019 go-around, good for hockey? The why there I think is pretty straight forward: its nonsense. Individual things are good or bad for hockey. Whether this incredible Tampa team wins a Cup before it is blown up is ultimately secondary to real stuff like… I don’t know… is the league going to get real about long term head trauma and damage to its players or any number of actually meaningful problems that will be touched on in the next collective bargaining agreement? Those are the real problems and phrasing what we’re talking about today as a big issue is ultimately unhelpful for those dealing with the real problems with this league. There are many. Knowing NHL writers don’t care for the middle question answers part of my question: the way we judge the worthwhileness of the Stanley Cup for fans and Front Offices is more a theoretical question about what we want out of our sport than what actually matters in the politics of the league. Until we have that conversation the folks selling us the NHL product will continue to tell us the same thing about the playoffs.

The NHL says the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports for a few reasons: for one, its great marketing. Two, a cursory look over the playoff format compared to the other major North American Sports will seem to reveal with some degree of objectivity that it is in fact very hard to win. Once again, I’m not diminishing the players or coaches’ sacrifices; that stuff is very real indeed. But even if the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win by the playoff structure, does that mean it goes to the best team when it is finally hoisted in the air? In the McIndoe visual of two doors I took Door Two. In my opinion the Stanley Cup simply does not go to the most skilled, complete NHL team at the end of the postseason. If it doesn’t go to the best team than is it actually worth anything to us Cup-hungry fans? If its not worth anything, why are fans and front offices judging teams, historically and present, based on winning it?

The answer to the first question is that it’s worth approximately 20K purely by its silver content if the market is booming. That was a joke, don’t @ me. Let it be clear that I love the Stanley Cup. I have some of my fondest memories with my father watching the Stanley Cup playoffs back in High School. I was not born and bred into hockey, I’m not a good olde Canadian boy, I’m not even Canadian; but the last decade of my life has been very enriched for having had it in my life. I care about NHL Hockey and the survival and growth of the sport if for no other reason than entertainment and sentiment. The reality is the affection is deep. I write fan fiction about that hunk of metal. I’m not kidding. I would love for there to be some secret history of the Stanley Cup connecting it to the Last Supper so I could venerate it like a religious relic and call it the Holy Grail with a seriously face. That trophy is my jam.

Then again, what about the Vancouver Canucks? I’m not a Canucks fan but that 2011 Stanley Cup Final is seared into my memory. The Canucks of that season and the one after were the best team in the league and yet that organization and all those fans will remain relegated to the ranks of teams without Stanley Cups just because the Final didn’t bounce their way. The unfairness there is palpable. They did get their trophy, the President’s Trophy for the best regular season team. The Lightning got it this year before getting swept in round one by a wild card team. However, the point remains those guys don’t deserve to be thought of as less than just because they weren’t lucky enough between April and June. How many other clubs are similarly cheated out of the status in the hockey history books they deserve? There is a whole rabbit hole I can go into about deserving. The good-old-boy culture of hockey will always respond to this “deserving” argument with the old adage: “The Stanley Cup is earned, not deserved.” God bless you, but the deeper question remains: why are fans judging teams, historically and present, being on winning it?

“Well, what do you prefer instead, Mr. Hockey-Philosopher who never even played the game?” I hear you. I don’t want the NBA postseason. I cannot imagine cheering on a basketball team in a league that has so little variance in who takes home titles. The higher seeded teams in that league are far more likely to win it all and upsets are far rarer. Let me be clear: I don’t want the Stanley Cup title to be a forgone conclusion in April. I am also not advocating for the Soccer world’s solution of not having playoffs at all. The answer to the problem I’m posing is not one we’ll find anywhere else in sports right now. The answer, again, is more about what we want as hockey fans.

The President’s Trophy is essentially the soccer solution. You get that trophy for being the best team of the regular season. Nowadays we talk about the trophy being a curse. In recent years the winner of that trophy fails to obtain the Stanley Cup far more often than not. It was however, instituted in the mid-1980s. If you know anything about hockey in the 1980s you know it was time dominated by high-scoring dynasties. Two teams won 70% of the Stanley Cup titles that decade. The league had to reward all the folks who weren’t the Edmonton Oilers or the New York Islanders who were relative Nuclear Superpowers compared to the rest of the league. Hockey of the NHL variety is not like it was in the 1980s in many ways; most notably there is enough parity in this league that, while there are still dynasties (probably), the variation of teams winning the Stanley Cup or getting close is a lot wider. So, what’s your problem then, you ask? If Stanley Cup titles are more equally distributed than ever and you even have a President’s Trophy to reward regular season greats, what’s the problem? Well outside of the President’s Trophy being viewed as a cursed object you don’t want to win, my problem is really with how we judge the clubs and players in our sport based on luck between April and June.

Before Alexander Ovechkin won the Stanley Cup in 2018 he was on track to be viewed as the greatest player ever to not win the Cup. He was getting gray in the beard and the media was beginning to roast him for it like the memes had been doing for over a decade. The articles written on him read like think pieces on what a trade would look like. Winning trophies is the prime focus of any real sports franchise. If you don’t do that, well maybe we should trade you! You can’t trade fans and the endless merry-go-round of front office ineptitude in Edmonton these days leads one to believe its fairly hard to successfully organize a winning Front Office as well. If you look at teams with the highest salary cap commitments it was all the lower ranked teams winning playoff series this year. The rich aren’t getting richer, it’s more like everyone is poor. And yet, we as fans demand our clubs bring us pride in the form of Stanley Cup banners! We value the Stanley Cup so much in an environment where no matter how much money our team’s decision makers throw at the roster problems we’re no more likely to get one of those oh so valuable Stanley Cup titles than had we done nothing and lucked into a few wins and fortuitous bounces in the Spring.

Clearly the Stanley Cup isn’t worthless. I’ll admit click-bait when I do it. But the reality is us NHL fans need to chill the F out about the Stanley Cup if we want to have any semblance of peace-of-mind. It’s not easy to win and its not supposed to be but its also not a measure of the overall quality of your franchise in the big picture. It isn’t the end-all-be-all of franchise success, it’s a measure of playoff success and that’s really it. Winning is what matters in this league and it should stay that way; but us fans need to reset the way we look at the Stanley Cup if this postseason chaos is going to become the new norm. We’re not prepared for this chaos now but we can be if we start thinking reasonably about what the Stanley Cup is worth.

[thatfragilecapricorn30]

All Things Begin to Appear: Chapter 8

What happens when Scully starts having visions while her and Mulder are hunting a serial killer?

season 5 case file | 30k words | tw: some depictions of violence

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

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“He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” – Nietzsche

“You want what?” Agent Callahan exclaimed, obviously not understanding the agents’ request or not believing that a sane person would ask for the something so ridiculous.

Mulder and Scully exchanged glances. They had waited until the morning to make their appeal, strategizing that Callahan might be in a better mood the next day as opposed to being called in the middle of the night. Now Scully wasn’t so sure that their plan had worked. Maybe she should have brought some coffee along to butter him up.

“The records of all patients being treated for cancer at St. Luke’s,” Scully repeated.

Callahan’s eyebrows reached his hairline. “Are you crazy? Not only will no judge grant that request but it will be impossible to go through that many files. What do you even want them for anyway?”

The two agents shifted uncomfortably. Scully knew how unorthodox their request sounded, but she absolutely needed those records if they were going to solve this case. She just hoped the rest of the precinct couldn’t hear this exchange.

“We have a ... feeling... that the killer has some connection to the oncology department. If you remember, Jane White was being treated for cancer and she was one of the victims,” Mulder explained.

Agent Callahan looked at the both of them, probably trying to figure out how legitimate their request was. Callahan sighed, “Why do I have the feeling that this is how you two normally operate?”

Scully gulped. She was getting nervous that he wouldn’t be able to help them and she didn’t exactly like her competence as an FBI agent being called into question. Callahan studied both of their guilty faces for a few more seconds and then shook his head.

“I might – might – be able to pull a few strings with DA and she may be able to get a judge to sign a subpoena. It's a long shot though. And I still think you both are crazy.”

But with that he walked away, clearly ready to make a few calls on their behalf. Scully let out a long breath and prepared herself for a long wait.

A few hours later, Agent Callahan dropped a stack of folders on the conference table with a loud thunk. Mulder, who had been “resting his eyes,” jumped at the sound, lifting his head from off the table. Scully put down the newspaper she had been reading, and sat up straight, ready to get to work.

“There’s a lot more where that came from,” he stated, gesturing towards the uniformed officers carrying boxes in. “Is there something specific we’re supposed to be looking for? Other than cancer, that is.”

Scully answered without thinking, “Nasopharyngeal cancer.”

Agent Callahan looked at her oddly. Scully opened her mouth to explain but even she didn't know how to rationalize that one.

Callahan shook his head. “You know what; I'm not even going to ask.”

They were lucky that the district attorney was in an argumentative mood today because she went to bat for those patient records, even though the legal reasoning for the subpoena was pretty weak. Luckily (or unluckily?) everyone in Cleveland was getting a little antsy regarding the serial killer so the judge was more lenient than he normally would be. For the first time in a while, Scully felt like they were on the right track and she eagerly started flipping through the files. Mulder and Callahan seemed a little more reluctant to take on such a daunting task but they got to work too.

They literally spent hours going over patient files. It’s no surprise that many people were treated for cancer at St. Luke’s, as it was known for having one of the most renowned oncology departments in the state. The agents had to comb through patient records from the past two years, which is how far the subpoena allowed.

Scully was just completing a cursory review of the files, since she knew exactly what she was looking for. She was almost positive that the killer had the same type of cancer that she did, and since it was pretty rare it would be easy to narrow the suspect pool down.

Scully opened up the next record. It was for a white male, age 52, diagnosed with a brain tumor six months ago. Bingo, Scully thought. She read on further: the tumor was located in his brain, right behind his nasal cavity. Just like the tumor Scully had a little over six months ago.

“I found him,” Scully said, not quite believing it. The other two were so engrossed in their work that they didn’t even notice that she spoke.

“I found him!” she said a little louder, startling both Mulder and Callahan. They looked at her expectantly.

She continued, “His name is Louis John Stanton. He is a white male, age 52 who is currently being treated for nasopharyngeal cancer.”

“Is there a photo?” asked Mulder, moving to look at the file over her shoulder.

“No,” Scully answered after ruffling through all the papers quickly. “But I’m sure we can look him up in the DMV database. And look,” Scully kept perusing his patient file. “His address is 48 Constitution Street!”

That sealed the deal for her. She knew, without a doubt in her mind, that Louis John Stanton was the serial killer. The address matched, the cancer matched and he matched the description that Mrs. Collins had provided. Scully felt her heart start to race, excitement building. She could not believe that they actually had him. Not only was she looking forward to going home but she was ready to put all these psychic visions behind her. It was amazing to think about all the work that had gone into this case and the answer had been waiting for them all along in a few pieces of paper in a manila folder.

Callahan actually looked impressed. “Hmm, well that’s a good sign.”

Scully was ready to grab her coat and track this man down instantly. “We have to go look for him,” she stated emphatically.

Callahan sat up a little straighter. “Now, wait a second. We can’t go confront him just yet. One, we don’t want to spook him and then he skips town. And two, a lot of our evidence is still circumstantial. We really need to put together a good case against this guy before we go talk to him.”

“We have his DNA!” Scully exclaimed, confused as to why their first step wasn’t to go bring him in for questioning.

“And you know that we can’t do anything with that until we have reason to request a DNA sample from this suspect,” he said gently. “I want to make sure this case is airtight so that when it goes to trial we can nail him.”

Mulder decided to pipe in. “I agree, Scully. We need more evidence before we try to take this guy in.”

That really set her on edge. Mulder, king of wild theories and questionable police ethics, was now the voice of reason? But from the looks on their faces, Scully knew that she wasn’t going to win this argument. So she decided to sit tight for now, allow the men to put together the case, and when she got a chance, she would go after him. She wasn’t going to let this guy Stanton hurt anyone else.

When they got back to the hotel, Scully was antsy. The rest of the day was spent building the case against Stanton. They had a lot of evidence: his footprint, his blood, his hair, his neighbor as a potential witness. Callahan was hoping to track down more witnesses that could place him or his car at the scene of the crimes. He also wanted to go back to the hospital and conduct a second round of interviews, focusing on Stanton specifically. That would take way too long, she thought. Scully wanted to get this guy now.

She paced around the room. She couldn’t sit still knowing the name and address of the serial killer that had been terrorizing Cleveland for the past few weeks. “Alleged” serial killer, she corrected herself. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore.

She knocked twice before pushing open the connecting door into Mulder’s room. He was watching TV, seeming totally relaxed. He turned to look at her.

“What’s up, Scully? Wanna watch the game?” He smiled at her.

Scully kept pacing. “Mulder I think we should go look for him.”

“Who?” he asked, until realization dawned on his face. “You mean Stanton? The serial killer? No, Scully.”

“Why not? A lack of evidence has never stopped you before.”

Mulder swung all the way around in his chair. “Ouch, Scully. But we’re not talking about me. I think experiencing these visions has clouded your judgment.”

“What! If anything it has given me a better perspective on this case,” she argued.

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to say. You feel an even greater sense of responsibility towards the victims, which is why you feel it’s your duty to catch the killer. But Agent Callahan is right – if we really want to nail this guy we have to have all our ducks in a row.”

Scully wasn’t convinced. “Well if you don’t want to go, that’s fine. I’ll just go by myself.”

Mulder jumped out of his seat, completely oblivious to the cheers on the TV from the most recent point scored. “Like hell you are! You got near this guy’s house and passed out. What’s going to happen if you’re actually close to him? Not to mention that he’s a dangerous serial killer who has been targeting women.” He looked at her like she was insane.

Scully definitely felt a little crazy. What Mulder was saying sounded pretty similar to thing she had warned him about when he wanted to run straight into danger. However, she just knew another murder was going to occur soon and she wanted to prevent that from happening. She decided that if Mulder was going to be of no help, then she would just figure out her next step on her own.

She gave him her haughtiest look and said “I’ll see you tomorrow Mulder.” She left his room and shut her connecting door with a confident click and locked it.

Immediately, she could hear pounding. “Scully! Don’t do anything stupid!”

She ignored him, deciding that a night apart would probably be good. She walked around the room, trying to decide if she should do her own investigative work. Then she realized that Mulder had the car keys. Damn! She thought. Her plan started falling apart. She could take a cab if she was desperate, but then she was at the mercy of the Cleveland taxi service.

Her nerve was fading. She hadn’t considered what Mulder said. She might react badly to being so close to the killer, especially after getting a view into his mind’s eye. She sighed dramatically and flopped down on her bed. If she was feeling charitable she would go tell Mulder not to worry but she felt like making him sweat a little. It would be payback for all the times he ran off and left her behind. Scully didn’t like acting so petty but decided she was allowed a pass for this case because of the extenuating circumstances. So instead of apologizing to Mulder like she should, she just got ready for bed and went to sleep.

Though sleep did not come easy and when she finally succumbed to slumber, she found herself immersed in a dream. Except it wasn’t a dream. She could tell because everything was brighter than normal and felt more real than her dreams usually did. It was like an out of body experience because Scully wasn’t herself – she was seeing through the eyes of the killer, or Louis John Stanton now that she had a name. She – he – was walking down a dark street and up ahead there was a tall man with brown hair. His back was to Stanton. Scully could see him quietly approach this man and put his arms around him, using a cloth to cover his mouth. Scully was horrified, but she was helpless to stop it from happening. It looked like Stanton knocking someone out with some type of drug like chloroform. But why is he going after a man and why would he not kill him? Scully tried to move or yell but she was stuck just watching the events unfold through Stanton’s eyes. This was the longest she had been immersed in a vision and it unnerved her. She wasn’t sure what she was going to see or what that meant for her psychic link to Stanton.

Scully still didn’t have a view of the victim’s face even as she felt his weight give out. She – and Stanton – lowered him to the ground and Scully caught a glimpse of his visage. It was Mulder.

Scully immediately woke up, her heart pounding. She had never been kicked out of a vision so fast so she felt very disoriented, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dark room. She wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, wiping away beads of sweat that had formed there while she was dreaming. Scully was extremely confused and realized that she didn’t know when the vision was from. It obviously hadn’t happened yet so that meant it was from the future, or the very near present…

She jumped out of bed and almost sprinted to the adjoining door, needing to make sure Mulder was okay. Why did she even want this closed in the first place? When she opened the door, she realized that Mulder wasn’t in bed. Oh no I’m too late, her mind wailed. But then she noticed him sitting cross-legged on the floor, right by the door that Scully shut to keep him out. She was so happy to see him that without thinking she dropped to the floor to crawl into his lap and wrap her arms around his neck.

He didn’t react to her physical touch except to squeeze her tightly. It was almost like he was expecting her.

“Why are you on the floor?” she whispered after a few minutes of hugging him tightly, neither of them saying a word.

“I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to go look for him,” he whispered back, his breath rustling her hair.

That reminded of her of why she went searching for Mulder in the first place.

She pulled away a little. “Mulder, I dreamt–“

But he cut her off, “No more dream talk. It can wait until the morning. Let’s just have one night without bad dreams.”

She wanted to tell him what she saw – it was vital that he know but she also recognized that it could probably wait another few hours. She just couldn’t let him out of her presence.

In response, she nodded and they remained embraced for a few more minutes, still not talking. Scully was just glad that Mulder was alright. She would worry about the dream in the morning.

Eventually, when Scully started getting sleepy again and her eyes were having trouble staying open, Mulder picked her up and carried her to the bed. He helped pull the blanket over her and moved to leave but she grabbed his wrist. Until this was all sorted out there was no way she was letting him go anywhere alone.

“Don’t go,” she said.

There was no discussion after that. He crawled in next to her and turned off the light. She could hear him breathing and it comforted her as she fell back into a dreamless sleep.

When Scully woke up, she felt the most comfortable she had been in a while. Mulder was curled around her like a comma and his body heat was seeping through her thin pajamas. She didn’t want to get up just yet, until she remembered what she dreamt last night, which made her sit up suddenly.

Mulder, who was still half asleep, whined a little and tried to pull her back towards him. She didn’t let him.

“Mulder, I have to tell you something.”

“Can’t it wait?” he asked, his voice muffled by the pillow. His hand tugged on her wrist, his thumb smoothing over her pulse point.

“No, Mulder. It’s important!” She was looking down at him, his hair ruffled. He looked much younger this way, especially when Scully had the physical upper hand, which didn’t happen often.

He turned to face her more squarely, still lying down, but now ready to listen to what she had to say.

“I dreamt that the killer abducted you.”

Mulder opened his mouth to interject but Scully cut him off before he could say anything. “I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to ask if I’m sure it was a vision. And yes I’m positive.”

“Okay,” he stated, squeezing the hand he still had wrapped around her wrist.

“Okay?” she asked, surprised that was all he had to say.

“What did you expect? An argument?” he asked, smiling.

“Well…yes,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Scully, I wasn’t lying when I said I believe you now. So if you say that the vision was real, then I believe you. The question is what we’re going to do now.”

“Well, for one I’m not letting you out of my sight,” Scully declared.

That made Mulder grin. “And I wouldn’t expect anything less. But Scully, we can use this to our advantage.”

“How?” she asked, skeptical.

He looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

That worried Scully but she decided to keep those thoughts to herself for the time being. Until they solved this case once and for all, she would have to keep an eye on Mulder and make sure nothing happened to him. Easier said than done, she thought glumly.

Read Chapter Nine