#my protagonist is like a wizard who specializes in punching magic

[quibliography]

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Synopsis:  This novel is about a professional investigative detective slash wizard. Harry Dresden is struggling to make business ends meet when he gets a call from a woman named Monica Sells asking to hire him to find her missing husband. It's just the job he needs to cover next month's rent when he gets another call from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, director of the Special Investigations Unit of the Chicago Police Department. This one is a grisly double murder but that isn't the most disturbing part. Someone out there is practicing black magic. And they seem to be more powerful than even Dresden.

My Quibs: I've been meaning to read Jim Butcher and I'm a big fan of noir so I was hoping this was going to be right in my wheelhouse. Although I just learned this novel was Butcher's writing debut so I might cut him a little slack. But I don't think I really need to since I generally enjoyed it. The main protagonist is more or less entertaining if not a tad cliche. I appreciate his attempt to balance being self-degrading and egotistical (about being the only one capable of epic levels of magic). Now that I think about it, it gives me El from Scholomance vibes, but luckily he isn't an angsty teenage girl. He's just a self-aware douchebag, which I guess is the foundation of a noir inspired PI. It wasn't the characterization of our hero that I had an issue with. It was Butcher's use of the femme fatale. So first we have Monical Sells. Like Dresden, she's pretty much a copy of the classic character: doe-eyed, vulnerable, sexy, etc. Fine. Then we get Lieutenant Murphy. She's confident and firm, but because she looks like a cheerleader? Being blonde and petit and cute gives her a complex and an attitude. Ooookay, fine I guess. Then we get Susan Rodriguez, a reporter who knows she's attractive and how to leverage it. 🙄 *le sigh* And then there's Madame Bianca St. Claire, Linda Randall, I could go on. Butcher just barely toes the line between objectification and appreciation. Dresden even says "She would have punched me in the mouth for being a chauvinist pig." And I may have been able to tolerate it if it was more equal, but besides our protagonist all the male characters are distinctly unattractive. From paunchy idiot cops to a thief who is "short, harried-looking [with] hair [a] listless shade of brown". We get it, Harry, you're super straight. Girls are pretty and boys are not.

Should you read it? If you like classic noir and gritty supernatural elements, sure you should give Dresden a try. I'm wavering on if I should continue the series though because it takes Butcher a couple more books before he finds his footing.

Similar reads? At least for his debut, Storm Front doesn't deviate from the dictionary definition of either urban fantasy novels or classic noir stories. It's not distinctive enough for me to find an equal.

(Spoiler Alert!) Haha. Spoil this novel? Impossible. Even though it's a mystery, Butcher follows the blueprint for detective mystery. It's like watching a procedural television series. You more or less know what's going to happen and should just follow along for the ride. Come for the banter, not the "captivating" plot.

What did you think of Storm Front?

[instantpansies]

well. alright then.

thoughts on episode one:

holy fuck that was long. hour and 28 minutes and for no reason whatsoever

so, it's tropey. especially the characters i'm just gonna go through everyone:

dot: dorothy's daughter, alright. pretty standard Sweet Girl Protagonist, honestly just a very dorothy-ish characterization, fairly caring but determined and driven. not a lot to say. likeable tho!

neddie: dorothy's son. The Child. emotional, needs comfort and protection, empathetic to animals and 'outcast' people, caring and sweet and naïve and helpless. whatever honestly he could be much worse - i'm hoping we see more complexity moving forward is all.

frank: wizard's son. Serious Nerd/Tech Whiz. ehhh, honestly. he's focused, no-nonsense, and knowledgeable, but we do see a more casual or caring side, so i guess that lends him a bit more nuance?? i like that his name is frank (homage to baum!)

scarecrow: i think it's pretty obvious whose kid he is. if frank is the Serious Nerd, junior is the Comic Relief Nerd. a literal punching bag but it's not played too far, which i appreciate. makes jokes, isn't just the butt of them. smart, and the show makes it clear, but his intelligence isn't really utilized. if anything we could call him the Useless Nerd, even. idk, i like him okay. i hope he doesn't get flanderized into a true punching bag bc there is some potential here

tin boy: yes, he's called tin boy. i know, im disappointed too. yes girl give us nothing!!! i know nothing about him and he had the fewest lines of all the gang this episode :( very unfortunate this is definitely a strike for the show :(

jack pumpkinhead's son: i don't. i don't know his name. sorry. it's probably jack. he doesn't have much more characterization than the tin boy (chill runs down my spine every time i write that), but he gets some points bc he stood up to a couple of the approximately one thousand villains of this episode. so. the scrappy one, i guess?

boris: lion's son. The Coward/Afraid Of Everything. that's his whole entire thing. every other line is "that's scary!". it's not even the 1939 lion thing where he puts on a brave face but is still terrified (because remember? the lion was courageous all along. king of doing it scared tbh), it's just he's scared. okay.

bella: lion's daughter (they're twins). wowza. the Girl Who Can Fight. she punches, she yells, she can do anything. slay, honestly, but it's a boring tropey character. her whole thing is making fun of her brother for being scared, but not in an interesting way like she's secretly also scared and just isn't showing it. at the end this is briefly subverted and she's shown to feel similarly to her brother despite all the contradiction, but it feels kinda shallow. if they'd introduced this earlier, i'd still think it was a boring direction, but it would've worked better.

andrea: is she?? glinda's kid? or the wicked witch of the west?? or ozma???? i don't know. it was never established. she's the Mean Girl Who Just Wants To Be Included, she can do magic, it's whatever. has a good bit of potential - this trope is kind of irritating to me (idk this type of character i just don't enjoy watching. they're being irritating and unhelpful in a boring way on purpose and i just get tired of it so fast). is she supposed to be dot's rival? idk she was just kinda thrown into the middle of things. anyways, gets a Redemption Arc but is still A Little Mean, you know the drill, even down to the fingers crossed promise. like. okay.

okay that's the kids. rick (rake?) is the Down-On-His-Luck Lovable Old Man, gets 'saved' from his unfortunate circumstances by people from a utopia. very narnia cabby driver core. he does have some decent dry jokes tho, which is fun occasionally. anyways, this show is. it's nothing special. the humor is okay, i've already mentioned it, they're trying. voice acting is very hit or miss and the timing is terrible throughout, so no jokes land and banter feels flat and intense moments are reduced to 'my seventh grade youth group putting on a campfire skit' levels. also what is it with oz adaptations and sound design? the music is very repetitive and doesn't suit the tone of individual situations at times. feels really awkward.

the plot was so convoluted i can't even believe. they made a whole feature-length episode based on the premise 'andrea is mean and magics toto to new york city so now they have to save him". this did not need to be an hour and a half. there were so many sidequests and random micro setbacks and. like i said before it feels like getting blocked in an improv, which is one of my least favorite feelings. it got hard to watch after a while - i just want things to keep happening, ideally in a forward direction, but it just kept stalling and doing little spins in the middle of the road or going off to the side to look at a flower but not pick it. i can excuse filler for a while but THIS WAS A FEATURE LENGTH EPISODE ABOUT RESCUING TOTO FROM UNFAMILIAR PLACE. 90 MINUTES OF THIS IS TOO MUCH. so that was the biggest thing

some nice references to the books! the ork, like i said. andrea's circlet/headdress (which is why i thought she was ozma). the scarecrow taking falls to be a landing pad for someone else. the deadly desert.

also some just. weird shit. there were two Mean Teens (who the show and i have been calling 'the goons' who initially steal toto for money and then have a complete change of heart and just. help everyone? they're not the Two Halves Of A Whole Idiot trope, not quite, but more like a stand-in for that sort of dynamic? idk it's weird. also they just threw some crabs in here for some reason. just a bunch of crabs. your guess is as good as mine

sooo, overall, i'd rate this episode a 1:29:43 out of ten - way longer than necessary or enjoyable, forgettable characters, convoluted and unsympathetic plotline. it wasn't very good. i realize i'm biased, since this show is based around a concept i fundamentally dislike (yes i've written descendants fanfiction what's your point), but i've tried to look at it from a lens of actual analysis of presentation, not believability per se or my own headcanons. it's not very good. i'm gonna probably do this for the other episodes, but definitely in a separate thread bc this is longgggg

wahoo

against my better judgement. i'm gonna watch oz kids

ughghg

i hate kid fics/next gen aus (nothing against them per se, i just personally don't enjoy them at all)

apparently the dorothy chara is like. the daughter of dorothy and zeb???????? they are cousins!!! ?? (i could be wrong about this but that's what i've heard) and listen i am starving for zeb representation too but NOT LIKE THAT

a few minutes in and it's very awkwardly paced with too much silence and the dialogue is hard to hear and there's no subtitles. this is going to be so hard to watch

why am i doing this? bc im desperate that's why. leave me alone

also like. how many extra characters are they gonna have to introduce?? who is the mother of scarecrow's kid?? scraps???????? but i know that's not happening

[sineala]

Queer novel recs

[A repost from my Patreon.]

By request of the one person who is pledging at a Patreon tier that lets them make meta/review requests of me, some recommendations for queer novels. Fiction-wise, I read pretty much exclusively science fiction and fantasy, with the occasional excursus into historical fiction, so that's what you're getting.

SF/F these days is, happily, getting queerer and queerer. As a general recommendation, a good place to start is the lists of winners and nominees of the Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Award), which, according to their website, "encourages the exploration and expansion of gender." There's also the Lambda Literary Awards, which are awarded to both fiction and non-fiction LGBT books across various categories, including genre (mystery, romance, SF/F & horror). It's obviously not going to be a guarantee that you'll like any particular one of these books, but at least it means that somebody did.

A whole lot of the Hugo award nominees and winners this year coincidentally happened to be queer fiction, especially in the longer categories. The Best Novel winner, Arkady Martine's The Memory of Empire, is a sprawling space opera starring a diplomat who incidentally (very incidentally) happens to have some Feelings for her cultural liaison, and it's a really good book, anyway. I actually voted for Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, which is billed as "lesbian necromancers in space," and it is pretty much exactly that. It's a murder mystery, which you'd think would be less mysterious in a book where half the characters are necromancers, but this doesn't actually help them much. I thought it was delightful and I have the sequel sitting here on my Kindle waiting for me to read it. But had Gideon not stolen my heart, I would have voted for Kameron Hurley's The Light Brigade. Everything else I have read by Hurley -- well, okay, that's just the Bel-Dame Apocrypha series, actually -- has starred kickass queer people, and this one's no exception. It's military SF in the vein of Starship Troopers or The Forever War with a really well-done time travel plot, in which the twists just keep coming. The narrator's gender is intentionally obscured for about 95% of the novel, and for added fun, they're bisexual. (Charlie Jane Anders' The City in the Middle of the Night also had queer characters but it didn't really grab me.)

(I have to admit I bounced off a lot of the Hugo novella nominees this year, including most of the queer ones, but Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone's This Is How You Lose The Time War (lesbian time-travel agents) did win, although it wasn't really my thing, and Rivers Solomon's The Deep (lesbian mermaids) appears to have gone on to win this year's Lambda instead, although that one wasn't really my thing either. Becky Chambers's To Be Taught, If Fortunate also had some lesbians and I liked that a bit better, but none of those got my #1 vote.)

I have not read it yet and cannot vouch for it but my wife is reading N. K. Jemisin's new short story collection and she says they're very good and a lot of them are queer.

Okay. So. What about less recent queer SF/F, you ask?

I started reading SF/F in the mid-90s, and there wasn't a whole lot of queer SF/F out there in the mainstream SF market, so I imprinted pretty heavily on what there was that I could find, which was basically, at first, the blink-and-you'll-miss-it gay dragonriders of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. Pern is what The Youth these days would probably call problematic in several ways, but there wasn't much else out there. I also then read Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, which is basically iddy iddy whump fic with magic telepathic animals who love you, so I'm not saying it's a complete literary masterpiece but Confused Baby Lesbian Sineala sure spent a lot of time wondering why she was identifying so very hard with Vanyel from the Last Herald-Mage trilogy. (I also really enjoyed Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books, especially the ones about the Renunciates (the lesbian ones), Heritage of Hastur (the gay one), and The Forbidden Tower (the one where a telepathic orgy solves everyone's problems) but owing to the, uh, terrible things we all found out about MZB after she died, I don't think I can recommend them. Or read them ever again.

Other older queer SF/F that was beloved among my friend group: Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint and its sequels are about a duelist and his boyfriend and a lot of people liked this one, but I never liked it enough to keep up with all the sequels. The first few of Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner books, however, punched me straight in the id; the protagonists are a pair of spies and thieves who are, more or less, this fantasy world's version of elves. There are a whole lot of grätúìtôūs dīåcrìtïcs and after the third book everything gets a little too horrific for me, but I really loved the first three.

But if I had to pick a top three list of authors who have written queer SF/F, this would be my list:

(1) Diane Duane. She is pretty much my favorite author ever, so I am biased here. I first discovered her work with her Star Trek tie-in novels (which, if you like Vulcans and Romulans, are amazing) and then her YA series Young Wizards, which is about teenagers who can do magic and use it to make the universe a better place and it's about ten thousand times more meaningful to me than Harry Potter ever was. But, anyway. She also has a fantasy series called The Tale of the Five, which is an everyone-is-bi-and-poly series started back before that kind of thing was even cool. Also there's a group marriage involving, like, six people, one of whom is a fire elemental. There are three books out in that series, she's still writing novellas set in it, and she swears that she's going to write the fourth and final book that we've been waiting about 25 years for.

(2) Melissa Scott. Everything I have ever read by Melissa Scott, either as a solo author or with her late partner Lisa Barnett, is queer as hell and has amazing worldbuilding. I first encountered her work when I randomly picked up Trouble and Her Friends (lesbian cyberpunk) at a used bookstore and ended up adoring it. Her other works include Shadow Man (set in a future where humanity has a whole lot more intersex people), The Kindly Ones (which has a protagonist whose gender is never specified), and The Armor of Light (alt-history involving Kit Marlowe and a demon). But my favorite series of hers is the Astreiant series, which is a Professionals AU with the serial numbers filed off, but they're filed off really well. It's a series of police procedural mysteries set in Fantasy Matriarchal Renaissance Netherlands, starring a m/m couple, and the fantasy gimmick here is that astrology is really real and really works. They're a lot of fun.

(3) Nicola Griffith. All of her books are about queer women. She has a few that are modern-day thrillers that I didn't so much care for, but I really love her SF. The first book of hers I read was Ammonite, about an anthropologist who gets sent to a planet of only women to try to figure out how they reproduce and ends up going native instead. I really adored it. I also remember really liking Slow River although I no longer remember the actual plot, except that the main character worked at a sewage facility. And it's historical fiction rather than SF, but she's probably most famous for Hild, a novel about Hilda of Whitby. I liked it a lot except for the part where it annoyed me that Griffith invented out of whole cloth the idea that women would have a special female companion and made up a name for it in Old English and everything, and most people who read the book probably believed it was a real thing. But, uh. I did really love Ammonite. I am so weak for planet-of-women books. (This is why I am so sad that I can't ever read the Renunciates of Darkover books again.)

That's about all I can think of right now. I hope some of those recs are, at the very least, new!

[masterweaverx]

I’ve decided that the main characters of "My Next Life As A Villainess” can have D&D classes! So here we go. Big thanks to 5Etools for helping me out with this!

Katarina Claes: Kalashtar Redemption Paladin. Nobody said holy warriors had to be smart!

In all seriousness, Paladins of 5E are charisma-based “Half-casters,” which means they mix melee with magic. And it’s easy enough to reflavor a lot of D&D spells as “Oh, yeah, this character just happens to know X random thing or can talk so convincingly!” (Or the character doesn’t realize they’re doing magic, which would be so Katarina.) Plus the Redemption oath just fits so well for the girl, both thematically and mechanically. Throw on Strength-based combat skills because of years of farming and sword-training... it’s pretty obvious.

As to the race choice, the Kalashtar are a third-party Eberron race that are described as being “a fusion of humans and beings from the realm of dreams.” Which hey, what else would you call somebody who remembered their past life? And from a mechanical perspective, it would give Katarina resistance to psychic damage (she’s that dense) and automatic advantage on persuasion rolls (she can say just the right thing).

Maria Campbell: Variant Human Life Cleric. A “Well Duh!” if I ever saw one.

Clerics, the traditional healers and support characters in all of roleplaying, are wisdom-based casters in 5E. I was originally considering making Maria a Light cleric but, mechanically, Life clerics are closer to Light magic as portrayed in the series so, yeah, Life.

Variant Humans are the “Pick an ability increase and get a free feat at the start of the game” race, and Maria is sorta kinda the protagonist of the old game? Her player would probably just set herself up to fill in the gaps of the other characters anyway. So yeah.

Mary Hunt: Kaladesh Elf Samurai Fighter. Look, she can be scary, alright?

Fighters can be strength-based OR dexterity-based, and Mary would have a lot of dexterity skill from all the gardening and stuff. A lot of the Fighter perks are basically “No I’m NOT giving up!” which, yeah, fits her well. Being a Samurai not only enhances that, but it gives her perks for certain wisdom traits--Mary is not an idiot by any stretch of the imagination.

Kaladesh elves synch pretty well with this build, giving both Dexterity and Wisdom boosts, but primarily I picked this particular race for the free Druid cantrip in order to represent Mary’s water magic. Still, she would be one to choose to meditate instead of falling asleep, just to keep an eye on... things.

Sophia Ascart: Detection Mark Half-Elf Divination Wizard. She likes them books.

The class side of this was easy. Intelligence-based caster? Wizard. Love of books? Wizard. Not a physical fighter? Wizard. Had a talk with her past self? Divination wizard. What can I say, Sophia is pretty good at being a wizkid.

Race, though... oh, wow. So many options. I went with a Detection Mark Half-Elf because Sophia really, really notices things and that seems to be what that particular race was built for. Plus it’s an Eberron thing, like Katarina’s race, so that’s a past life connection! Yay!

Nicol Ascart: Storm Mark Half-Elf Swashbuckler Rogue. That smile works wonders.

Com on, how couldn’t I make Nicol ‘incapacitates a crowd with a smile’ Ascart a swashbuckler? Plus Rogues are usually known for being the skill class of 5E, doing things handling things that come up in adventures beyond punching monsters. Nicol does seem the most... level-headed of the group, so he would probably be the one to handle the little details.

As for race, I’ll admit I went with the ‘Sophia’s a half-elf so Nicol’s also a half-elf!’ route. But Storm Mark Half-Elves do come with a lot of wind-based magic, which not only fits canon but also enhances what Nicol could do as a rogue. Admittedly he would have to multiclass slightly to get at most of it, but hey, Gust is a cantrip and the other spells are there for him if he ever does.

Keith Claes: Fierna Tiefling Monster Slayer Ranger. Friendly, but dangerous.

Rangers are another half-caster class, and one with many ‘summon allies’ sort of spells. Sure, they’re technically animals instead of earth elementals, but I do subscribe to the ‘reflavor is fine!’ school of thought so Keith can have his dolls come out when he casts Conjure Animals. The Monster Slayer subclass is built around countering and containing dangerous beings... like, say, Keith himself? Oh, wow, I just picked it because it looked cool. Huh.

And why is Keith a Tiefling? In another life, he was a playboy, so of COURSE he’s going to get a charisma-boost race! A resistance to fire damage makes him perfect for, ah, interrupting a certain prince’s advances. And Fierna Tieflings get spells based around convincing people of things, like Friends and Charm Person, and there’s a certain dense girl in Keith’s life that needs a little guidance.

Geordo Stuart: Gold Standard Dragonborn Draconic Sorcerer. BURN BABY BURN!

Sorcerers are one of the charisma-based casters, with the idea that they have magic IN THEIR BLOOOOOD so they can, you know, cast without needing to do all that silly Study business. Plus they get some of their subclass stuff right off the bat, and Draconic Sorcerers get extra hitpoints every level. Geordo may not use his magic often, but it’s implied that as a royal his magic is redonkulously powerful, so this? This was basically set in stone.

And why did I make the prince a dragonborn? Why, because DRAGONS ARE AWESOME. Look, I don’t make the rules. More seriously, basic dragonborn have a charisma boost, strength boost, and a breath weapon. Admittedly this would probably make Geordo look a LOT different, but what the hey.

Alan Stuart: Silver Draconblood Dragonborn Lore Bard. He knows things so you don’t have to.

Bards are the other charisma-based casters, and a lot more support-based then sorcerers. Plus they’re good musicians, which fits Alan to a T! Lore Bards lean heavily into the ‘Jack Of All Trades’ mindset, with bonus proficiencies and extra magic secrets, because there was that competitive ‘I will best you some way!’ streak early on and that did lean into ‘I’ll learn all I can’ later in his life.

As to why he’s a draconblood dragonborn instead of a standard dragonborn? Draconbloods get an intelligence boost instead of a strength boost, and also get the trait Forceful Presence instead of Damage Resistance. He might not be able to do as much damage as his twin, but Alan is really good at getting attention and using it.

Anne Shelly: Standard Human Open Hand Monk. Somebody has to clean up after these kids!

Monks excel not just in unarmed combat, but in unarmed ‘getting places nobody thinks about’ as well as ‘keeping a cool head when everything goes nuts.’ And the Open Hand Monk doubles down on that, throwing in the ability to basically say “Stop That” whenever needed. This is perfect for Anne “My Mistress Is The Source Of All Chaos” Shelly, wouldn’t you say?

And yeah, she’s a Standard Human. In 5E Standard humans don’t get any special traits, but they do get +1 to every one of their abilities. That’s a small but significant boost to all rolls and a number of stats. Don’t underestimate Anne; she may be in the background, but she’s in the background of Madness and it takes a lot to survive that.

Rafael Walt: Fallen Aasimar Great Old One Warlock. Retired Edgelord.

Warlocks are, ah, not the easiest class to play. They’ve got a lot of special mechanics about their spells, having fewer slots but easier time restoring them. But they do also get a few free invocations, and their patrons can let them spread into different specializations. Rafael knows how to use his magic to the best he can, and... well, the Great Old One patron features just fit what he can do very well.

Aasimar have charisma boosts and darkness resistance universally, but Fallen Aasimar also come with a transformation into a terrifying shadow warrior. Look, Rafael's been through a lot, I’ll grant you. He probably deserves a break. But both thematically and mechanically, this just fits.

===

So that’s that! For now, anyway! Thoughts and opinions are always welcome.

[arkus-rhapsode]

Ok. So what do you think of the latest chapters of fairy tail 100 years quests? What what's happening to characters? I think you're so possed that you even stopped reading more

Hoo boy... *Cracks knuckles* We may be here for a while.

So before I start, let me make clear that I actually keep up with 100YQ, though not for any actual interest anymore. I now stay with it for ironic enjoyment. Because I could say EZ has dumb stuff, but at this point, if you’re Hiro Mashima’s main audience, its fine. No, 100YQ is unique in that it has WTF moments that transcend just the FT fandom sensibilities.

Before I dig in, I’m gonna lay out some formatting rules because we’re cover A LOT. Im gonna be fair and split this up into positive and negative aspects of the series. Because I at least try to be intellectually in what I do.

To avoid from going on tangents and jumping around, I’m gonna be going in chronological order of events. Now this will not be an overview of the series up to this point because that’s stuff I’ve already talked about. Instead I’m gonna start from the point this went from genuine interest to ironic interest. That begin the Whited Out FT Guild.

Positives:

The concept of the wood dragon god having a kingdom on his back is really cool world building. Its actually something that I really liked about the Sea Dragon God as well. Having a realm reliant on the dragon as well as a reason to revere them. What with the water dragon god controlling the tides while wood dragon god is the supporting the city on his back actually makes them seem like god figures and adds to the lore of the world of Earthland in a way that Ishgar and Alvarez sorely failed at.

Laxus punching out Kyria. Petty yes, as Kyria is my least favorite dragon slayer. However a lot of Whited out FT mages were getting jobbered like crazy or just given unceremonious defeats. So Laxus actually seeming like an obstacle was good.

The cat twist with Touka is actually a funny bit of trolling and was one of the few times there was effective foreshadowing with Touka having a tail. (Too bad it was suck in the meandering Gajeel plot.)

The Dragon Eater guild is a much better final villain army than Spriggan 12. The 12 had little structure as to who was the stronger members, resulting in multiple Spriggans feeling like such major disappointments.

Most Mashima Villain organizations tend to broken up like this: Boss->Special Units (I.E Spriggan 12, Nine Demon Gates, Element 4)->Fodder Units.

No one cares when the fodder of a villain group is beaten as they’re just faceless minions. However, when you get to the special unit, that’s wheen there are actual obstacles and the villains start becoming more like characters. However, Hiro has been bad at this when he’s dealing with bigger organizations.

He never had to worry about telling you which member of the villain group’s special unit were more powerful than the others. Due to working with units composed of low amounts of characters, such as Team Lyon, Element 4, and Death’s Head.

You could say that all were roughly around the same power threshold. However, where the spriggan 12 royally failed was there were 12 of them in that unit and they were all just given the blanket term of being on the same level of the number 1 wizard saint. Yeah... that’s a check so large that Hiro could not cash it.

Hiro even seemed to retroactively acknowledge this by stating that August, Irene, and Larcarde were the three best to cover his ass for the fact that all the spriggans seemed to be jobbered far easier than ones supposedly equal to the number 1 saint.

However, the Dragon Eaters are opponents we’re gradually introduced to over the storyline and we actually see a demonstration of what a group of them can do, instead of 1 just trying take on all of team Natsu at once. We see that Skullion’s team is roughly equal to Team Natsu, giving us a gauge for the Dragon Eater strength, but then we get both Wraith and Nebal, underlings not part of Skullion’s thre man team, implying that are of a weaker variety and thus serving as a stepping stone to fight Skullion. But also introducing us to the Black Dragon Slayer Cavalry. Members above Skullion’s team that give us an idea if when they show up what the audience should expect of their strength level.

There’s a reason why in One Piece why Yonkou opperations have so many categories. You’re not gonna care about the minor thugs, but by making a distinction between the Headliners and the Disasters in Kaidou’s crew, you’ve made it so that we the audience will not feel disappointed if a Headliner is beat by a weaker character like say Usopp but still know that they are more than a foot soldier so this win meant something.

Now time for the negatives:

The concept of White Out is not awful, and is actually a fairly interesting concept for a villain motivation in FT. However, the White Witch is one of the most transparently evil characters in the series, thus you know that she’s doing this morally ambiguous action because she’s evil. Imagine if this were about humans or royals who feared the growing power of mages. Or a disillusioned mage with the concept of people like Zeref or the GMG, where is seems like magic is endless and how that’s a threat to the world. No, White Witch really seems like she wants to be this grand manipulator and actively enjoys calling heer whited out people, puppets.

However, there’s also the fact the whiting out doesn’t make too much sense. Some characters seem like mind controlled puppets like Juvia, while others are basically the same except their evil now like Gajeel, Mira, Elfman, Laxus. And some are dumb jokes like Jellal.

So there’s no consistency to this brainwashing. Only other time I’ve seen a mind control plot like that in media before is Yugioh GX. Sometimes people act like they’ve been brainwashed into something different like Alexis. But then people like Bastion and a lot of the gag members of the society like Rose and Bob act as if they’re not affected by anything.

Yeah, this white witch plot feels distractedly ripped off from the society of Light from Yugioh GX.

The concept of Team Natsu vs FT in the vain of the fighting festival arc is dumb narratively from two standpoints. First from a story standpoint in the idea that why the battle of FT arc was opportunity, due to the fact they were all willing to fight to free the frozen girls. Which allowed for others to show shades to their motivations Like Alzack willing to mow through his other comrades for Bisca or Thunder God Tribe assisting in protecting Laxus so he’s the last man standing. There’s a tangible reward on th line that motivates the characters to act as do.

Here, the characters are clearly fighting against their will because of an intangible force. This white magic makes them slaves and are fighting because “white doctrine.” Something they only believeebecause brainwashing. As such, you want to see Natsu and gang beat them up to stop the white witch and free them. There’s no force or intrigue that makes the audience care about both sides like seeing Alzack vs Jet and Droy because you know they both want to save their partners but only one can. Instead people only care because a surface level of “friend turned evil” device. It takes the B and C list cast of the FT guild and makes them props.

And from a meta standpoint, there is no tension, due to the fact this is a post final battle with acnologia Team Natsu. The team is bounds ahead of so many guild members like Macao, Reedus, Max etc. that the only real threat is the S class mages. So that makes that big page spread of evil FT in cult robes dull as only like 3 of them are gonna actually matter.

Then there’s Wraith. Nebal was a boring an generic crazy guy is unimpressive, Wriath was actually really interesting at first. Is ghost magic allowed for an interesting fight and his possession actually having limitations on how effective it was made for a cool skill.

But then the reveal about him and Makarov. I eye-rolled at that point, but then I saw the previews and was like, maybe this’ll be the best thing to come out of this series. Everyone wants to know more about past FT around team Makarov’s time.

But all the potential of young Makarov and young Porylusica and the rest of their team is put on fast forward as they’re all suddenly thinking about leaving. But maybe the reveal with Wraith could be interesting. I saw a lot of good theories like Wraith was Makarov’s half brother or Wraith was the son of Makarov and Porylusica who was killed by Ivan.

Well... Any theory would’ve been better than Wraith was some random ass mage and when they say he a Makarov are related its because the bonds of FT that is real family and transcends death itself.

...Gag me...

And and Wraith just fucks off into the afterlife. Because we can’t actually end a fight because of the protagonist’s ingenuity. No, the villain just kills themselves because feels. Isn’t that right August and Irene?

In conclusion

That’s my thoughts as briefly and coherent as I could make them. So if you wanna know my feelings on 100YQ, it can basically be summed in FT being FT. If you expected more, you’re gonna be disappointed. But if you genuinely love the world and character regardless of Hiro’s writing, you’ll probably still enjoy it regardless of what I’m saying

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E15 (Apr 24, 2018)

Hello hello hello! As @eponymous-rose​ is away doing Important Science, I’m covering TM recap duty tonight! Tonight’s guests: Marisha & Liam. Tonight’s announcements: 

This Saturday is International Tabletop Day! G&S is running special programming all day to celebrate.

VM Origins #6 is out at all available online comic retailers. The final touches are being placed on the comic collected edition; details to be released soon!

Wednesday Club airs tomorrow at 7pm PST.

826LA hit the $35,000 reward tier this week! This means Matt will be hosting another Fireside Chat soon. (Liam reveals that the vintage robe & a tiger ring Matt wore in the last chat were gifts from him after a certain jazz-hands-related event in the last campaign.) As a reminder, all donations are doubled up to $40,000 thanks to a generous critter matching donations. 

Pillars of Eternity is out in two weeks! Reminder that the characters of VM will be playable as voice sets in this campaign; the new portrait art for Vax was released this week. Check it out at versusevil.com/criticalrole! Liam extols Travis’s voice acting and the “finesse” in his performance and hopes that fans will be very happy with it.

Reminder: Dani Carr hosts Critical Role Recaps every week. 

CR Stats for Episode 15

48 natural ones this campaign so far ($4800 from D&D Beyond to 826LA!)

67 natural 20s so far, even without a Lucky rogue!

Over both campaigns & 51 initiative rolls, Ashley averages only 9.5 on her initiative rolls. :( However, she’ll be on Talks next week! Yay!

Beau is super into working for the Gentleman right now. As long as she makes friends in high places, she’s happy (in part because she knows they won’t last long). 

Liam doesn’t miss trap duty at all. (He’s enjoying being a screw-up wizard.) That said, he still enjoys watching Sam bring his magic touch to his old class. 

Beau fundamentally trusts that people will always act in their own self-interest, which is why she told Jester to take care of herself first. To Beau, selfishness & survival are synonymous--most people want to make sure they aren’t going to get caught or killed. That’s how she can trust untrustworthy people to work for the good of the group, and why she thought Caleb & Nott needed to be part of a bigger conversation.

Sam, of course, very briefly FaceTimes into the show with the knowledge that Liam called him a comedic genius. He wishes everyone to know that this is accurate, does a remarkable Howdy Doody impression, and leaves.

Caleb didn’t have any experience with the Zone of Truth spell before and paid close attention while it was being cast, but “nobody asked him any questions, so I guess it’s fine.” 

Caleb’s one-on-one with the DM hasn’t changed his playstyle or character interpretation yet, since it didn’t reveal anything significant. He does think it might have given Caleb a mildly different outlook on certain things/his mood a little bit, but no fundamental shifts yet. Beau’s one-on-one shifted her perspective a lot--she doesn’t respect authority at all, so being put in her place was a good check on her personality & took the edge off her wrecking-ball habits. Both Marisha & Brian talk about respecting someone willing to call them out on their crap.

Gif of the Week: this glorious thing by @scottc_miller on twitter. Poor everyone. Poor drunk Nott.

Beau is officially warming up to Molly. Awwww, my heart. “I don’t know if Molly’s warming up to Beau, but...” Brian: “Self-preservation, guilty until proven innocent...an optimist!”

Molly’s amnesia reveal hasn’t really changed Caleb’s opinion of him. He does trust that Molly told the truth within the Zone’s context, but he knows that may not be the whole truth. The only person who’s changed in Caleb’s estimation is actually Beau; Liam talks about a low score he rolled on an arcana check on the magical symbols, which Beau surpassed, and in the moment Caleb realized that meant Beau must have had some formal schooling. “A little checkmark went ‘boop!’ in a box.”

Beau is aware of her own terrible flirting with women, & Marisha references Beau’s strong preference to be in charge in her interactions. Marisha also talks about some of her Meisner acting classes/acting methods in how scenes are structured and it’s actually really, really cool. Liam segues into his first week in NYU at his very first voice acting class where they laid on the floor and did “pelvic thrusts” to loosen the diaphragm. Marisha recalls her college voice acting teacher telling her she was terrible and shouldn’t pursue voice acting because she spoke from the back of her throat. 

All of Caleb’s spells have been selected for RP reasons over functionality/utility. Liam knows it’s not the most optimal build &, as might be expected, doesn’t care in the slightest. You go, boo.

Liam and Marisha giggle over fighting such a classic old-school monster as a gelatinous cube. Liam honestly wishes Frumpkin could have been dissolved; Caleb emphatically does not. Marisha remembers finding the old cube mini with Matt which could be opened up so other minis could fit inside, and they sat in their living room for some time putting minis inside it. The pair that slays together stays together. Liam also remembers a Comic Con that had light-up gelatinous cube minis which he attended riiiiight after meeting Marisha. 

Fanart of the Week: this by @sephiramy! Look at how good everyone looks, awwww. 

Liam jokes that he personally excluded Quebec from the giveaways and it’s inexplicably hilarious, especially given Matt’s apologies for it on the regular show.

Beau’s hand going numb on the cube attack didn’t phase her at all; she’s still in the “adolescent” phase where she isn’t afraid of any bad things that might happen to her.

In re: screwing the DM with in-universe D&D choices: “Path of the Duck for the fuck.” 

When it comes to HP management, the rest of the party is trying to make sure they can get people up when they’re down, especially since Jester canonically dislikes healing. Marisha reflects on the last campaign where she & Sam often filled the blanks around Ashley’s healing, and feels everyone’s trying to fill a similar role now. Liam and Marisha would ideally like another healer, but neither Beau nor Caleb are paying much attention to maintaining a balanced party comp. 

The cat’s paw version of Caleb’s spell was always planned given his attachment to Frumpkin.

Liam talks about pre-stream puzzles from campaign one, including a complicated hydraulic puzzle that Taliesin’s dragonborn paladin sidestepped with one brute force elbow. He also remembers a child’s square puzzle that took “a group of adults an embarrassing time to solve.” 

Cast- and staff-wide digression into puzzle-shaming Gandalf for flunking the Moria door riddle. Gandalf the Grey--more like Gandalf the Bad at Riddles, amirite

Beau’s ability to solve the magic puzzle feels to Marisha like the lessons your dad makes you learn as a kid, even though you never think you’ll use them--(such as being made to learn to change your own oil despite thinking you’ll always use AutoZone), but then you end up using the skill later on and resent it the whole time. 

Caleb’s increased participation in discussions lately is an intentional choice on Liam’s part. 

Beau’s improvement in dealing with the rest of the M9 is due to her becoming more comfortable with them.

Caleb recognizes Fjord’s arcane power, but doesn’t question it at all due to the magical nature of their world. (Neither Liam nor Caleb trusts Fjord to be neutral good: “He spat saltwater out!”)

Marisha makes a great point about how everyone in a D&D party is by definition magical and special, but everyone in the M9 right now feels like they’re still discovering what that means. Liam points out that VM very much felt like strong, special people with greatness thrust upon them; M9 feels like a troupe of random carnies. 

Marisha on why she’s playing a human in D&D when so many possibilities exist: “Some people like playing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.” She likes going from an all-powerful half-elven archdruid prodigy to a schmo who can just punch things really hard. 

While discussing impostor syndrome, Brian quotes David Milch: “So much of the accomplishment in art comes not from the discovery of one’s gift but from its acceptance.” He likes that the leveling system supports the slow growth of a character in an RP sense and allows the character to learn and accept his or her strengths. He likes that it’s not straight escapism, it’s the combination of one foot in reality and one foot in fantasy.

Liam points out that since their group is very theater- and story-driven, they often use the leveling process to support story choices and character growth over class optimization. Marisha relates it back to the choices in Disney movies, where sometimes the protagonist discovers their innate power & embraces it in order to succeed, vs. where sometimes a protagonist must overcome an innate feature and rise above it in order to succeed. She loves that dichotomy. (Brian feels Scanlan represented similar principles in the last campaign.)

Liam’s favorite moment of the last episode was Sam’s small drunk goblin irritation. 

In re: the rising from the floor at the end of the last episode, Liam hopes there’s a way to talk their way out of any upcoming fight, since Caleb’s pretty tapped. Beau: “This is fine.”

After Dark: I Know What You Did Last Summer Edition

On transferring from the relationship between Vax & Keyleth to Caleb & Beau--both Liam & Marisha have had some disputes about everything that went down in the High Richter’s house. Marisha: “I wouldn’t use the word ‘disputes.’” Liam: “What would you use?” Marisha: “...Clarifications?” They both are struggling with how much their in- and out-of-game relationships have changed over the course of the two campaigns. 

The crew photoshops Liam’s hairy V-necked chest onto Marisha live. What even. How.

Marisha does miss some things about spellcasting, but enjoys watching everyone else struggle with concentration checks and saving throws. 

Liam and Marisha both enjoy building characters and then assigning the classes that fit their story, instead of deciding what class to play first & building a character to that.

Brief aside where both Marisha (not Beau) & Caleb (not Liam) talk about how much they love Jester. 

Liam discusses in- and out-of-player knowledge when it comes to Fjord. Liam knows there’s an eldritch horror behind him, but Caleb has no clue. Marisha sees him as the altrustic half-leader who’s hiding a lot. Liam hypothesizes that someone was about to die, and Fjord saved whoever it was by offering himself to Cthulu. Liam doesn’t think Fjord is good-aligned. Marisha doesn’t trust his smarts. 

Marisha tells a story about Taliesin’s hair at C2E2. They were doing group photos when a family with a little girl came up who asked Taliesin his favorite hair color. He answered “I’m really into the peacock fade with the blue and the fade into green and the purple and the emerald,” and the poor girl was a little overwhelmed. (Marisha once answered her second-grade teacher’s question about her favorite color as “iridescent” and feels the teacher was more impressed with her vocabulary than her color choice.)

If they were pulled into Exandria today, Marisha would like to be a wild magic sorcerer or a paladin; Liam would be a wizard. 

If the M9 were stuck in a cavern with no food, Marisha would eat Fjord first since he’s probably already a little salted. 

Beau’s martial artistry is inspired by Ip Man. 

Liam steps out for a moment after a coughing fit, then returns in order to stand very, very close to Brian. Close enough that Brian’s ear rests on Liam’s stomach. Close enough that Marisha feels left out and both of them cuddle on Brian’s lap to end the show. I’m glad I’m not kidding. 

See you Thursday!

[untitled-fighting-game]

This is Sorina:

Sorina is the daughter of a vampire hunter who was killed in his line of work when she was very young. She began training immediately to avenge her father and continue his work in protecting others. It's a dangerous and respected profession. Killing the vampire who killed her father cost her the sight of her left eye.

I pulled some direct inspiration from Sharon stone from quick and the dead (look it up!). A mechanic that I’m exploring is giving everyone something to do with blood. The lore logic is blood is... well, magical. Vampires drink it to extend their life. Wizards and witches need it for spells. It’s a resource, and that makes it very interesting to think about the in world implications of that, and I do not want a world of good vs evil. I’ll get into that another time.

Here’s my very crude mock up. She has a glove that’s a standard vampire hunter equipment. In game the current idea is that it gives her access to a special shotgun.

In terms of game play, she’s basically a shoto (not shota) which is basically a catch all term for characters like Ryu, Ken, Sakura, Akuma, etc. Think characters that have a projectile, dragon punch uppercut, spinning kick. She’s going to be our protagonist.

[the-foxwolf]

MTG: Where will Chandra’s Heart Go?

A subject of great conversation among the Tumblr community- among the Magic Fanbase in general. For the purposes of conversation and this article, let us work off the assumption that Chandra willing, able, and desirous to enter in a romantic relationship with a member of the Gatewatch. Who would she end up with? Nissa? Gideon? Note that I’m not saying “Who would she choose”, “I’m saying “Who would she end up with”. There is a difference. After a deep look at their personalities and their histories and where they are right now, I’ve come to a conclusion. Using my skills as a natural storyteller and psychology student, I’ve come to a conclusion. 

Wanna know who I think it will be? Let’s find out! 

Gather `Round. It’s Story Telling Time!

Before We Begin...

I’ve written personality assessments of all three characters involved. Reading those articles would go a long way in understanding my reasoning behind the things I’m gonna be talking about.

Read Chandra’s Personality Article --> Here! <--

Read Nissa’s Personality Article --> Here! <--

Read Gideon’s Personality Article --> Here! <--

The Magic Story on the Wizards Website related to this article are here.

Read “Homesick” --> Here! <--

Read “Burn” --> Here! <--

And if you REALLY wanna deep deep, read “The Purifying Fire” by Laura Resnick.

I will write this article as if you’ve not read any of this. Now. Let’s proceed to talk about her options.

Why These Two?

In “Homesick” we see Chandra melt in her boots at the very thought of Nissa. I get flashbacks to my teenage years just thinking about it. Because I’m sure many of us were the exact same way back then. Heart pounding. Speaking before you think. Getting clumsy. Beating yourself into the ground for even the simplest mistake- mistake only YOU probably noticed. Classic teenage crush. 

In “Burn” we see Chandra have the same erratic spontaneous thought-to-words behavior she exhibited with Nissa in “Homesick”. It is possible that you could argue that this can be applied to Chandra in general, but I don’t buy it. She isn’t as erratic with Liliana or with Jace as she is with those two. Or with anyone she’s interacted with on Kaladesh for that matter. Just with those two. 

We could see even the start of these feelings toward Nissa way back in the BFZ block. It just got a lot more brilliant towards Kaladesh.

Her feelings toward Gideon have been around since "The Purifying Fire”. (Which they summarize in “Burn”). While those died down for a little bit, it’s not been entirely extinguished. She still gets tingly and warm whenever she’s near. And she’s made it more than just a little clear what she thinks of his appearance.

She’s bisexual. There’s really no doubt about that. She’s attracted to both men and women. Which is cool that Wizards is doing that. A major protagonist being bisexual speaks volumes of their attempt at inclusivity.

Nissa

(Art by Wesley Burt)

Chandra’s Thoughts About Nissa

Chandra hasn’t exactly had close and intimate relationships with anyone. I go so far as to venture to say that she’s never even had a best friend. Friends, sure. But a best friend is something else entirely. And I don’t think she’s ever had that. She’s had Mother Luti and the Abbot of Keral Keep, but those were authority figures/ parental figures. They weren’t friends. Chandra has always been surrounded by people, but she’s she’s always felt alone.

That all changed when the fire nation attacked Chandra and Nissa touched each other in their special place. Their very souls, so to speak. The essence of their beings were merged together when they burned Kozilek and Ulamog to death after bringing them into the 3rd dimension. That kind of connection is something that can’t really be described. It’s a level of intimacy without restriction or barriers. During those moments, they were almost a single entity. Chandra, who has never had any kind of relationship with actual depth, was introduced to something she was not prepared for. 

(Art by Chris Rallis)

I’m not talking about love here. I’m talking about intimacy. Between one person and another. Not sexual intimacy, but personal. In the blink of an eye, Nissa and Chandra went from total-strangers to almost-soul-merging. Its must have been overwhelming. Extremely overwhelming. 

I don’t think Chandra understands what she feels about Nissa. We, as an audience, may interpret her behavior as attraction or desire. But I argue that we might be misunderstanding Chandra’s behavior entirely. Consider this: Maybe what Chandra is feeling isn’t love in the sense of relationship-parter to relationship-parter, but rather a love in the sense of intimately-close-best-friend to intimately-close-best-friend. 

Chandra has never experienced what it means to have someone that close, a friend of that kind of depth. But she has experienced romantic and sexual attraction with Gideon. It is possible that we, as an audience, are assigning emotions to Chandra based on the behavior we see. But the cause of the behaviors may be something entirely different. We should ALSO consider the idea that Chandra’s is misinterpreting her own feelings. She might be confusing the love one has for a best friend with the love one has for a significant other. She’s only ever known the latter, so it is quite understandable that she might have trouble differentiating the two. 

I am NOT discounting the idea that it might actually be love or attraction she is experiencing. I am saying that we should consider the multiple other options it could be.

Nissa’s Thoughts About Chandra

If Chandra has difficulty being social and intimate with someone, Nissa is in far deeper waters. Chandra is the first person Nissa has managed to make any kind of relationship with anyone. To Nissa, Chandra is real, she’s human, she’s true to herself. These things make Chandra the best introduction to the social realm for Nissa. Our elven friend needs Chandra to help ease her into the world of people. imagine what it would be like for Nissa if her only examples of social interactions are Liliana and Jace... She’d probably just go back to Zendikar.

Nissa needs Chandra. She needs her. Because outside of that, Nissa can’t even human. But what does Nissa feel about Chandra? She has no clue. She’s even more lost than Chandra when it comes to interpreting her feelings.

Gideon

(Art by Wesley Burt)

Chandra’s Thoughts About Gideon

On Diraden, Chandra developed feelings for Gideon. We’re talking romantic feelings. Sexual, mental, emotional, personal- all of it. It didn’t fully develop or blossom into something special. But these feeling developed to the point that Chandra is capable of recognizing those feelings as romantic even today. That has a lot of ramifications about where they were and where they were going.

What does she think about him today? We’ve seen her constantly mention how much she finds him attractive. (Honestly, who doesn’t find him attractive? The man is beautiful.) 

But what does she think about him now? She doesn’t know. Chandra has been way too busy trying to figure out what her feelings for Nissa are and what it means to be back home and back with her mom. Gideon just hasn’t been a thing she’s had time to consider.

Gideon’s Thoughts About Chandra

He’s hopelessly in love. There is just no way to argue against that. He really really loves her. To quote “Burn” by Chris L`Etoile.

“He bolted up the stairs, and tried not to think about the fleeting heartbeats when he'd been privileged to hold a tiny, maddening, precious sun against his chest.”

I’ve been there. It’s beautiful and, as he says, maddening.

Honestly, I don’t know what else to add. This is the most straightforward response I can give.

So Who Will She Give Her Heart To?

(Promotional Art for Battle For Zendikar)

Let’s talk about why.

Gideon’s Heart Would Do Chandra Good

Nissa isn’t ready for a relationship. Honestly, some could argue that Chandra might not be ready-but that’s not what this article is about. But in my opinion, Nissa isn’t ready for romance. She’s barely ready for friendship. She barely comprehends friendship. Her entire current character arc is her learning what it is to have friends. And it’s gonna be a while before she’s able to.

But Gideon is patient. The man knows how to roll with the punches that hit him beyond his indestructible barriers. Even if it hurts. What’s best is that he isn’t going to push for anything she’s not ready for. Sure, he might express his feelings. But he won’t want her to do anything or say anything she isn’t ready to do yet. Even if he knows he must wait a while before she is able to return his love.

A lot of what draws Chandra to Nissa is Nissa’s ability to calm her, to ground her. But we’ve seen Gideon do that same with to Chandra. When she was afraid and stressed all Gideon needed to do was wrap her up in his warm, muscly, embrace to ease her fears. Even if only for a moment. 

(Art by Chris Rallis)

Chandra’s needs discipline. Before you start making lewd comments, take a moment and think about that. She needs someone solid, someone patient, to help her discover herself. Chandra at a point in her life where she is learning who she is and what that means- who exactly is Chandra and why is a good thing to be her? Those are the questions she needs answering. And now that she’s gone back home and faced the troubles there, I think Chandra is ready to start looking in. 

I believe that Gideon is the person that can best help her through that. Allow me to defend myself before some of you lash out for thinking that she needs someone to help her through that. My relationship with my girlfriend has been beautiful and loving. Dreamlike. Plenty of troubles and difficulties and trials, but it remains to be one of the greatest gifts I can think of. My relationship with her has lasted for several years. My entire college career in fact. This age, between 19 and 23, is where many people start to discover themselves. I can claim with absolute certainty that my relationship with my girlfriend has made me a better man. I could sit here for hours writing about all the flaws she has helped me find about myself and how she has encouraged me and inspired me to work hard to overcome them. Flaws I never would have seen, or identified as weaknesses, without her. 

Some people can discover themselves without the help of a loved one. But sometimes the presence of another is exactly what one needs to become who they are meant to be. 

I believe that Gideon is that man. Gideon knows who he is. He’s got a lot of issues to work through, lots of self-loathing to overcome, self-forgiveness to experience. But he’s not in an identity crisis/turmoil like Nissa is. For Chandra, Gideon would be a lighthouse, a railing, a shoulder to lean on as she goes through that difficult time of self-identification.

Nissa just isn’t in a place to help her with that.

Chandra’s Heart Would Do Gideon A World Of Good

(Art by Dan Scott)

Gideon needs her. The man is a soldier and has been his entire life. Gideon has no idea how to be a normal person. His identity has been thoroughly colored by the fact that he’s always been either part of the rank-and-file or part of the leadership. He’s never had another option. Chandra is, to him, the spark of life. A breath away from his regimented world. She is freedom. She is the purity of life itself. She is everything he isn’t. That’s part of what makes her so special to him. With her, I think his world would relax, ease off from what it is now. He needs to escape from leadership-Gideon and become friend-Gideon. But he cannot do that without her. He simply can’t. Jace and Liliana are perfect for each other far too manipulative to help Gideon learn to be a normal guy. And Nissa is only just learning what being a friend means. Gideon knows what a friend is supposed to look like, he just sucks at it.

Chandra’s Heart Would Do Nissa No Good

Nissa doesn’t need Chandra’s love to get to where she needs to be as she discovers herself. Just being friends with Chandra will be enough for Nissa to learn by example. Being romantically involved with Chandra would throw everything Nissa knows about social interactions out the window. 

She must first learn to walk before she can run. And romantic feelings right now are not what Nissa needs to develop as a character.

There You Have It

There were 3 ways to end this article. With Nissa, with Gideon, or with no one. It didn’t matter who I said I thought she might end up with. People would be unhappy with me. Argue away, if you feel that you should. I merely presented my opinion and addressed it with my understanding of story telling and psychology.

That’s all the time we have for today. Thanks for reading, everyone. If you liked what you read, please hit the “reblog” button below. For more Story Telling Time, hit “Follow”. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to message me or reblog with your comments. Always happy to chat. This has been @the-foxwolf . Until next time!

[sophiasharp]

Hi, no one asked for this at all but I’ve been getting back into Wizard101 as I tend to do every summer break and since I saw someone else do something similar and since Resident Evil has thoroughly infected my brain as of late, I’m gonna go ahead and give y’all what school of magic I think each of the RE protagonists would be. And hey, if y’all think differently then feel free to say something, I’m still new to this mess and am always happy to learn more about these characters

Chris Redfield: The man is a shoe-in for Fire. We all know the dude packs a punch, just ask the boulder so he’s probably more attack-oriented than straight support. Having said that, he’s also not just some meathead that hits everything that moves- he’s a team leader, someone people rally around, not to mention he’s pretty smart to have survived as long as he has against the impossible odds he’s been faced with. Having said that, we have seen him to be somewhat impulsive and doesn’t always think through the consequences of his actions to the fullest extent, i.e. getting discharged from the military before joining S.T.A.R.S. Fire’s high damage output combined with the follow-up of damage-over-time spells would work well to balance out of those traits into a really effective figure in battle and let’s Chris’s strength and strategy show itself in full force.

Jill Valentine: A bit trickier than Chris, but if I had to put money on it I’d say she’d be an Ice wizard. Jill’s been through a LOT- she’s part of the OG group that first dealt with Umbrella at the mansion, she went through the hell-on-earth that was Raccoon City and Nemesis, she helped to co-found the BSAA, she even got kidnapped and experimented on by Wesker. Yet, despite it all, she’s just kept going. King shit, honestly, and it’s that tenacity that makes me think she’d do well in Ice, with it being the school that gives the highest HP and specializes in outlasting your enemy to the bitter end, just like how she survived everything thrown at her.

Claire Redfield: You know, for a while there I was certain she’d be Fire like her brother, but after some thought I think she might actually be better suited for Balance? Work with me on this, will you? Claire’s a hardy son of a gun, dropped into hell with little warning and not only making it out alive but also bringing Sherry with her out of there, so she’s definitely one of the resilient schools. However, I feel like her altruism makes her more of a support class than just a tank. After RC went up in flames, she dedicated herself to helping people recover from BOW attacks while still being more than able to step up when things get rough. In my own personal experience, that willingness to help combined with the ability to wreck shop is something that fits Balance to a T. Also just as a fun little side thing, I think the different types of grenades she gets for her grenade launcher in RE2R matches well with Balance’s whole thing of taking magic from all the other schools.

Leon S. Kennedy: Okay Leon was by far the hardest out of the core four to pick, not because he fit into a lot of the other schools but because he specifically had to be either Myth of Death. His whole deal is being a good solo op, a one-man army who gets back up no matter how many times he’s knocked down. Death’s famous for being the single best school for playing solo and although it doesn’t work in practice, Myth was built to be the same. See, Leon’s resourceful in a way unique to him; He thinks fast and and hits faster, not having the same raw strength as Chris but still being plenty sturdy enough to stick it out on his own. Both of these factors could translate into either school with Death’s wide range of utility, Myth’s stun attacks and de-buffs , and both school’s decent damage output. What finally ended up turning the tide was the official descriptions of the schools that describes Death magic as being powered by inner courage and the channeling of one’s own fear into their attacks which, at least in my mind, matches up with the Leon we see in RE2R and the reasons he joined the police force in the first place. Not to mention one of the hazards of the job is “becoming morbid” and, well, that sounds about right for the beginning of Vendetta. So… yeah. Leon Kennedy, Necromancer Extraordinaire. Who’d of thought?

Carlos Oliveira: Originally I pegged him for another Balance guy but after some more reflection, I think Carlos leans more towards Life. Going by his appearance in RE3R since that’s how I know him best, Carlos is a charismatic team player who is chiefly here to help people, even to his detriment. My guy risked life and limb for some lady he just met getting harassed by an abomination unto God, going out of his way to help her when she needed it most, all while working with Tyrell to keep the government from blowing the place sky high for as long as possible; as I said for Jill, King Shit, but more importantly it shows us that his priority is helping others before himself, and that to me screams Life. As the single best healers in the game, Life wizards can be the backbone of a team; tanking damage when necessary and healing the party when needed. While they tend to get type-cast as the healers, however, higher level Life wizards can hit like a truck and seeing as we’re talking about the guy known to deck Hunters in-game… yeah that feels about right.

Piers Nivans: Another hard one, although more because of my embarrassing lack of experience with RE6, and full disclosure this is gonna be a theme for the rest of these. However, what I do know about Piers is that he’s got bravery in spades, is fiercely loyal, and is a damn fine shot with his sniper rifle. Dude can be hella clever and knows how to assess a fight quickly. From what I’ve seen he can also be a bit emotionally driven- he didn’t HAVE to search for Chris, he states multiple times how he doesn’t trust Jake but doesn’t shoot him when he has the chance and reason to, and he didn’t HAVE to stay behind in RE6. With that in mind, I think Storm might be his best match. Storm is built to hit hard and hit fast, having the single best damage in the game also the worst health but don’t worry about it which to me makes sense for a sniper, and according to the lore Storm wizards are quick thinkers and ingenuitive types which to me matches the man who would even think to inject himself with a deadly virus that would probably turn him into a monster in order to save the day, not to even mention the titanium balls he had to have to pull it off. Also, it’s easy to forget considering the actual gameplay but Piers and Chris mostly worked in teams, Piers especially being a team player, and while it’s possible to play Storm solo, the school really shines the most in a team setting with people there to back them up. Maybe I’m interpreting him horribly wrong, but that’s what my gut is saying.

Sherry Birkin: Look, I know it’s the obvious given her condition, but I think she’d be Death. Her regeneration is very reminiscent to the signature life drain and other health-related mechanics present in Death spells and since Sherry became an agent because of what happened at Raccoon City, it would it wouldn’t surprise me if she would gravitate to the school for the same reasons I listed for Leon. Idk, something about being faced with one’s own mortality in a traumatic event and deciding to face it head on in the hopes of never having it happen to someone else. Just screams Death school to me.

Jake Muller: Ah yes, the emo kid, the mercenary doing his best in a harsh world. Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s Myth. Jake advertises himself as a cynic, and as a mercenary he probably works alone most of the time, or at least keeps to himself, which already that narrows things down a decent bit. He’s obviously resourceful to have made it this far in such a cutthroat work environment, yet while he tries to hide it he’s got a softness to him that becomes apparent by the end of the game and through his relationship with Sherry. Jake’s whole story is supposed to be a reflection of Wesker, right? And how his father’s legacy and absence effected him but how he still chose to be better and save the world his father tried so hard to destroy? How Jake could have easily stopped to the level of what everyone expected from Wesker’s son but chose to be better? How ultimately they were more different than they are alike? In case one couldn’t guess by his everything, Wesker would probably be a Death wizard, and as the other “solo school” and Spirit school Myth is closely related while still being completely different. Reflections, man, idk, it just seems to fit the best.

Ethan Winters: I mean. Come on. Even if he didn’t start out as Death, he certainly ended as Death. Fucker did not die, could not die, and would not die. He lost his wife and at the first chance of getting her back he ran after it head and heart first and ended up losing his humanity in the process without even knowing it, and unlike a certain ex-professor of the macabre, it actually worked. Malistaire WISHES.

Quick honorable mentions to Rebecca, Sheva, and Helena, all of whom are great characters but I don’t know enough about them to write full paragraphs. If we’re going by vibes alone, I’d say Rebecca would be Life, Sheva would be Storm, and Helena would be Myth. Thanks for putting up with this, have a great night.

[gabbybirog-blog]

Breaking Gender Stereotypes

A List of Emma’s Strong Heroine Portrayals:

While Emma Watson has a special place in all our hearts as Hermione Granger, she played a great deal of roles that depict strong, female characters. Here's a list of some of Emma's best roles: 

1) Hermione Granger: The Harry Potter Series  

Of course, Emma's most well-known portrayal of this beloved, stereotype-breaking character has been commended by women's rights activists and movie critics. Hermione has been considered a character who shatters all gender expectations. She does not end up the main protagonist and enjoys Arithmancy (math) as opposed to Divination (fortune telling). While most girls are portrayed as weak and unintelligent, Hermione displays strength, courage, compassion, and knowledge. Throughout the series, she has proved to be a valuable accomplice to Harry and Ron. On multiple accounts, she even saved their lives.

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hermione saves Harry and Ron when they are trapped in Devil's Snare by utilizing one of the spells she read about in her Charms textbook. Additionally, if it had not been for Hermione's persistence to uncover more information about the stone, Harry would not have any leads on who is involved with the stone.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione is revealed to be Muggle-born, a wizard/witch who obtained their magic powers spontaneously rather than inheriting their talents from their parents. In the Potter world, Muggle-borns are associated with a  negative connotation and also have a derogatory name attached to them--Mudblood. In this novel, attacks on Muggle-borns threatened student safety. Hermione knew very well of the precautions she must take, but remained determined to catch the culprit of the attacks. Despite her petrification, she still managed to crack the code. The crumbled torn-out page helped Harry and Ron determine the creature behind the attacks--a basilisk. Towards the end of the film, one can tell how vital Hermione is to the gang. Ron even states when they are ambushed by acromantulas, "Where's Hermione when you need her?"

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione not only became a time-traveling master but performed, for lack of a better word, the most “badass” action in the Harry Potter series--PUNCHING DRACO MALFOY. She had grown tired of his use of derogatory terms and bullying, eventually culminating in that punch. She had landed a punch even before Harry did, despite the fact that both Harry and Draco were considered enemies. 

Hermione serves as the perfect role model for young women. She taught me to take pride in love of knowledge, to face my fears, and that it was okay to be smart. 

2) Belle: Beauty and the Beast 

Perhaps one of Emma's most recent roles--Emma Watson fans, including myself, jumped for joy when we heard that she will be playing Belle in the live action version of the timeless classic, Beauty and the Beast. I could not think of anyone else more perfect for the role than Emma. She embodied not only beauty, but brains, compassion, and innocence.

Often Disney princesses are viewed as weak, waiting for their prince to save them. However, Belle depicted courage when she took her father's place in order to save his life, putting herself in a possibly fatal situation. In the end, despite the possible danger anticipating her when Gaston's mob stormed the castle, Belle went back to warn the Beast. Even before the live action, Belle is seen as a strong feminist character, who risked her life to save her father and her lover.

Nevertheless, Emma spoke in a Buzzfeed interview about the changes she had made to Belle's role. In the animated film, Belle's father is a struggling inventor, but the live action changed Maurice's profession as an artist who not only paints but also makes ornate music boxes. Emma asked the director if they can transfer the inventor traits to Belle, in order to reverse the stigma of women merely serving as domestic workers. As seen in the film, Belle invents a more efficient laundry system, so she can also read. She also has an adept knowledge for tinkering. When her father struggles to figure out how to place the finishing touches to his music box, she hands him the right tools, even one that he thought he did not need but ended up using. She also knew how to pick a lock, allowing for her and her father to escape from the asylum carriage.

Belle serves as a role model to not be ashamed of who you are, to not care about what others think, ALWAYS read, but most importantly, learn to look beyond what you can see.

3) Sam: Perks of Being a Wallflower 

Sam is an eccentric, yet driven and down-to-earth character with a traumatic past. When she was seven, she had been molested by her father's boss. Her traumatic experience took a hit on her self-worth, as she began drinking and sleeping around throughout her adolescence in order to feel wanted. When Charlie gets to know her a bit better, he realizes that she is more than what others think about her. She demonstrates kindness, compassion, and a free spirit.

When she met Charlie, she slowly began to realize her self-worth. At the time, she was dating Craig, who seemed more interested in a physical relationship as opposed to an emotional one. He also seemed to be full of himself. It was also revealed that he had been cheating on her. However, Charlie loved her for everything that she is. She finally discovered that she had low self-esteem from her trauma when she acknowledged to Charlie that she had chosen to stay in a relationship despite being treated like she was small. Despite everything she had been through, she regained her composure, studied hard for her SATs, and was ultimately admitted to her dream school.

Sam taught me to rise up from that deep, dark cloud of despair and to never give up on your dreams. Despite her dark past and her failed relationships, she soon learned to love herself and became more aware of what she is truly capable of. 

4) Lena: Colonia 

Emma's character Lena and her boyfriend Daniel were unfortunately vacationing at the wrong place and at the wrong time, when they somehow became entangled with the military coup in Chile to depose Salvador Allende. Under General Pinochet's orders, his secret police called DINA captures Daniel, leaving Lena with the determination to do whatever means necessary to get him back. Lena puts herself in harm's way by joining a suspicious organization to get some details regarding his disappearance. The role breaks the typical "guy slays the dragon to save the girl" archetype seen in several movies and teaches women to be fierce and determined to fight for what you love. 

Lena was yet another fierce warrior character by putting herself in harm’s way to save Daniel. Her determination inspired me to take to have a fixed mindset on any task that I do.