#one of the dialogue options offered to me at the ending was being like omg you get to be mystra's chosen again!! 😁

[meezer]

it is actually so insane that after gale's whole everything with mystra he still has to worship her because it comes with the territory of being a wizard? oh the insane complicated feelings that must harbor. gale I know you would've been on tumblr reblogging posts about stigmata and religious guilt in the most tragic fucked up and sexiest way

[senseandaccountability]

What's your verdict of Dragon Age the Veilguard now two months down the road? How do you think fandom has reacted to it, compared to the other new titles that you can remember (I know you're a long-time fan)?

(Two months + a fair amount of weeks at this point, sorry for the delay, anon.) This is going to be salty, I’m afraid and a bit like beating on a dead horse but you did ask, thank you for that and sorry about being whiny.

My first impression was that it’s a 6/10 game. I think now upon replaying it two times, the score is even lower. It’s a very mid game that’s also clearly a salvaged product from a long and erratic production cycle. It has some good lore, some good writing, but it’s hidden almost entirely in optional side quests, subtext and the tiny margins of the text. 

Overall its way too much of a high stakes/low tension kind of game for me. It’s fun and it never truly grabs me except for the bits that are about previous characters. I don’t care about Rook. I like them well enough for a protag, I can fill them with headcanon to make them real but I would easily sacrifice them at the end without a second thought. There’s no pull, no tension, nothing to hold on to. I've tried to write fic about Rook but I just don't know anything about this person apart from the fact that they're very young and likes to say the word team a lot. Maybe Rook works in HR.

For all its high stakes, the game also repeatedly fails to show me these stakes. It keeps telling me how important it is, how busy we are and during the Siege of Weisshaupt and Blood of Arlathan, I really do feel it, momentarily. Those quests have weight to them, and they are tied in with the overall narrative of the series. We know the wardens, we know the Dalish. They matter. 

“Sometimes it takes the wrong sort to put it right,” the game says and doesn’t even dare to show me a single shred of moral ambiguity in Rook. Call me annoying but I don’t necessarily want to feel like a hero. I don’t need to feel morally righteous about my player character. I want the narrative to be complex and challenge me and hold compassion for the world it’s telling me about, dare me to change my mind about its characters and their various plights. What if the hero is wrong? What if the world is too complex to be reduced to simple choices? What if the trusted mentor lies and the liar tells the truth? What then? Somewhere in the far distance DAV wants to offer some complexity but hey we have EVIL ANCIENT GODS TO FIGHT YO! I actually hate the tone. I said early on that it’s one of my main gripes and I stand by it.  It’s chipper and full of HR-department tidiness and in general it just doesn’t move me because it’s just telling, not showing me the emotions. THIS IS THE EMOTION CALLED DOUBT, the game screams in my face. LET'S HAVE A TALK WITH THE TEAM TO PUT IT RIGHT. Immediately after finishing DAV, I went and played Disco Elysium and the contrast was quite honestly heartbreaking. Because the tone in that funny, sarcastic and over the top writing? It’s compassionate. It wants to be truthful about what it’s like to be a human living in a broken, inhuman world. It cares. Veilguard more often feels like an action movie revenge plot where you get to punch some EVIL ANCIENT GODS in the face because they want to drown the world in demons, man, let’s just leave it at that lol omg you can even PUNCH Solas lol whatever thanks bye.  

I also just find the text flat. It doesn’t have the transtextuality I’ve come to appreciate in the other DA games, it doesn’t play much with differences in dialogue for the different characters - like making one stand out as being anachronistic or having a different way of expressing themselves or being very unlike the others in some fundamental ways, it doesn't challenge and/or characterize through banter in the way the other DA games have done and it doesn’t give us companions that seek meaningful conflict or are difficult to understand. Veilguard is the only DA game where I haven’t felt any kind of strong emotional reaction while interacting with the companions, and while you could argue that this is a good thing because teamwork and professionalism or whatever, I’d say that for a text, this is a factor that makes it flat. No great piece of writing has only likable characters capable of self-reflection because no actual human being is only likable or not likable to everyone and by god are actual humans not always capable of self-reflection. In fact, some humans shy away from it for entire lifetimes.

The story of DAV is consistent in its themes, yes. It’s just that it’s also without nuance and - again - without stakes. The companion quests raise big moral dilemmas but the answers are so bland they might as well just be ignored. The outcome changes nothing, doesn’t affect the characters. There’s no price to be paid for becoming first talon, no punishment for being a lich, it’s just another wardrobe choice. Should I wear blue or black, perhaps become an immortal creature? No matter darling, you are always adorable. I think most of all the state of the game is a testament of a really fucking tragic industry that doesn’t care enough about storytelling and authenticity or its workers. I think it’s clear that the writers were trying very hard but I also think it’s clear that it wasn't the narrative the powers that be decided to focus on.  The DA fandom at large, quite frankly, has always just made me exhausted and miserable. I think a lot of the criticisms of DAV have been unhinged. I think a lot of the defences of the game have been so deranged that it makes me wheeze as I read them out loud to my husband. I’ve seen plenty of people dragging up some 17 year old noob’s post from the depths of reddit just to do some edgy take about how stupid people are for disliking the game and it’s just been so many bad faith takes. Overall, I’m truly sorry to say, I have no desire to play this game anymore nor do I feel very tempted to play the other DA games. I’m happy to see that my mutuals are having fun - I wish I felt anything stronger than oh well about the new characters, but I don’t. Maybe I will not be this actively bored in the future and pick it up again, but for now, no. I'll try to finish my fanfic and then probably be done for good with this fandom.

[rocketbirdie]

Hi hi hello, I come to you as a fellow Kunsel liker (and in particular because you have drawn Zack/Kunsel which has such little activity and I am a feral dog about Anything it gets!!! AAA) Since you've been getting a lot of thoughts in your asks I thought I might also drop some ^^

I think a lot about that time right before Nibelheim, where you can have zack say "I love you, man!" to Kunsel, and he says:

"Aww, I didn't know you ca-- ...Hey! Quit joking around! It's that girl in the slums that you're thinking about! You still have some time, right? You should go see her before you leave. Don't worry about it! I'll explain everything to Sephiroth."

And sometimes I like to think. What if it was real. What if Zack was actually trying to say something, and Kunsel, so uncertain that he actually meant anything in Zack's life, assumes he must be being silly. That it must be someone else that's more important on Zack's mind. He does keep doing that, doesn't he? He helps Zack out all the time, but whenever it comes to anything other than Kunsel giving everything to Zack, Kunsel evaporates. Like offering to hang out in Sector 8 and then leaving as soon as they arrive. Does he think Zack is too wonderful for him? That anything more is intruding?

And the "I love you, man" option comes right before Nibelheim, too. What must reflecting on that feel like? Years passing by as it starts to dawn that maybe that was the last time they'd ever see each other, that Kunsel starts to think his friendship with Zack is littered with all these little missed opportunities because he didn't fully realise how much it mattered?

Kunsel doesn't believe Zack is gone. He can't. Every so often, another email goes out, in the hope that Zack is really on the other end. Nothing is ever sent back but maybe they're being read. He swears to himself it will be different next time, if only Zack could be really there. One more time.

But it never happens. Kunsel isn't there when he's needed. He can't get there in time. Zack bleeds out.

(does this add up. Kunsel may be the tutorial character you're probably not meant to think about too much but to me that is only a challenge. mainly I just want to thank you again for the good good zack/kunsel and also thank you for listening!!)

I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS...........

omg just a few days ago i was digging through youtube trying to find ANY players that chose that dialogue option so i could get some screenshots. reunion changed kunsel's response to make it more hetero and it irrationally pissed me off. a friend pulled through for me and found the og dialogue!!!

the idea of it tormenting kunsel for the rest of his life... that tiny half-serious "i love you" that will haunt him forever....... ouhghhhh. OUAAGH

[idl3dreamer]

you guys will have to pry horny religious imagery from my cold. dead. hands.

"[name]'s name leaves/left their lips like a prayer" or "[name]'s name sounds like a prayer as it falls from their lips" is peak writing and NOBODY is taking it away from me

as is any variation on "eyes full of reverence"

or person a considering person b "holy" and/or divine in any way shape or form. you get bonus points if person b is like... sin incarnate in this scenario

its a song lyric but I'm a little obsessed with the line "holy hands, will they make me a sinner?" like more of that please. More of that specific genre of scenario.

false prophet x completely devoted worshipper is *chef's kiss* or like... Whatever Faulkner has going on? and what he could have had going on? (re: faulkner getting to the point he basically believes he's the Trawlerman) that genre of person x someone who will feed their delusion of grandeur. I love it sooo much

and well on the topic of tsv (no this wasn't supposed to be how this post went, but I'm going with it)

I have horny religious imagery for that specifically too, if I was ever to write a fic. though most of it probably works in general, there's an added element of horror and depravity when you put it into the context of tsv that makes both people involved seem just a little more unhinged. it also really puts the level of devotion into perspective

so for instance

person a referring to themself/their body as a sacrifice or offering to person b (optionally, you can throw the line "all gods must feed" in there somewhere) which omg would be so hot. anyway- this one, like I said, works outside the context of tsv. either way, it can come across as pretty dirty and is also the tamest thing on my list

and I keep trying to generalize the other bit of dialogue I came up with but its not really working out. please do not ask what went through my head for me to come up with this, you will not get an answer and I'll be very flustered.

this one is very specific to the Church of Tide and Flesh btw

"Let your hands, like the current of the sacred river, shape me into your desired form. Make me your sacred vessel. Make me a saint."

now. obviously, we all know being hallowed is NOT a pleasant process. And rarely is the end result a particularly desirable form (Val is the only exception)

ANYWAY

to actually explain what I WOULD mean if I were to ever say that, or have a character say that: Its not to do with literally being hallowed. Its a show of submission, its saying that you're so devoted to this other person that you'd let them -metaphorically- remake you in their own image, or in a way that will allow you to serve them even better than you can now

there's just a certain amount of bodyhorror imagery attached to this that makes it reserved for only the unhinged pairings

[wyllzel]

my official ranking 😎😭

spoilers for astarion's, gale's, wyll's, and lae'zel's romances + the house of hope + the dream guardian haha

i'm including "implied sex / fade to black" scenes for this bc there's not actually a lot of on-screen Sex™️ lol

please keep in mind that i am a painfully vanilla & straight young woman and these are just my opinions/preferences haha

🔥 = relative spiciness of the scene (/3) 💗 = relative loveliness of the scene, if applicable (/3)

Gale's Act 2 Romance Scene (Astral) [3🔥 / 3💗] - I can't believe he abstracted and idealized the emotions and sensations of sex and magnified it into an extraplanar / extraphysical representation of devotion and unity 😶

Lae'zel's Act 1 Tiefling Party Scene [2🔥 / 2💗] - Ok, the thing I really like about this scene is that there's an [INTIMIDATION] option to take the lead during sex - but if you ask her a question instead of just jumping into the sex, she actually gives you Advantage on the [INTIMIDATION] roll. That's so interesting to me and I think illustrates the mutual respect that's really core to her Romance! Also her smile at the end before the fade to black :')

Astarion's Act 3 Post-Cazador Romance Scene (Spawn) [1🔥 / 3💗] - I just realized this lately, but in Act 1, it's p clear that Astarion really wants to talk about Cazador and his experiences... but his attitude about the ordeal is always really aggressive and cagey. In this final scene, once Cazador is well and truly gone, Astarion shares more about himself - but with a sense of calm, peace, and self-certainty. It's a really lovely conclusion to his arc!

Gale's Act 2 Romance Scene (Human) [1🔥 / 2💗] - The difference between the Human Sex version of this scene and Astral Sex version of this scene is so interesting?? The scene is shorter and you get a lot less insight into Gale if you don't go along with his ask for Astral Sex 😳 It's still very evident that he cares for the Player though, and has its own charms depending on the type of character you're Romancing him with :)

Astarion's Act 1 Tiefling Party Scene [2🔥 / 1💗] - When I first saw this scene, I was totally shocked and awed, LOL, but in hindsight after a few playthroughs it just makes me a little sad. I think we all know why Astarion initially seduces with the Player... Still, it's a very artfully done scene and a great start to the Astarion Romance!

Wyll's Act 3 Proposal Scene [1🔥 / 3💗] - Honestly, I just really wish this scene had more content... Wyll is such a fascinating character, and I was hoping to get more insight into his #lore than the Romance and this penultimate scene actually offered ;; Still, it's a really sweet and magical scene! I think it's implied that you have sex at the fade to black, but maybe I'm wrong LOL

House of Hope - Haarlep Encounter [3🔥] - I think this scene is the closest the game comes to showing actual graphic sex, LOL?! But it's also just Haarlep kinda. Grinding? on top of the Player, lol, which is, uh, interesting. LOL. Honestly, I kind of hated the way the game handled the dub-con aspect of the scene, though. My Tav slept with Haarlep bc she/I didn't think we had the resources for a fight - and while there's maybe one or two dialogue options that acknowledge that you're being coerced into fucking a succubus, most of the options are like "omg this is so hot <33 teehee!" and it felt really icky...

The Emperor's Dream Encounter [2🔥] - This scene more disturbed me than rubbed me the right way, LOL! But I think it comes down to preferences 😆

hahaha omg. i have now seen 7 bg3 'implied sex'/sexy scenes lol

[jalebi-likes]

Channa Mereya Liveblog | E5: Aditya Needs MBA

Dedicated to the OG liveblog queen *charan sparsh* @tellywoodtrash​ and to the relentless PR of this show by @aye-masakalii​

I ended up with this title because seriously, Aditya’s best friend has a better take in business than Adi puttar who literally knows how to screw a deal than make it! 

Episode 5: Aditya Needs MBA

Lol Ambar just shitted his pants hearing his father’s plans of giving everything to Aditya. Lol, he wish he put the zeher in the lassi to Daarji. 

I love Adi NOT SAYING A WORD and killing it with snarky smiles. 

Tayiji trying to instigate her husband to get the reign from Daarji. It’s all about status. Tayaji wondering what he did to get Ambar as brother and his wife in his life. 

(If yaar I’m stuck had a face)

I like Adi keeping things to himself. It’s… practical. Daarji should you be drinking with your grandson at this age - your heart is weak.

Yes, I like Adi being yo… I didn’t react to getting the family business keeping Daarji ka dil. But I want the dhaba and then get out of the family business. 

Yo Adi, you should make an offer they can’t refuse, not a one option only offer. Koi business sikhao iss munde ko. 

I love that Gulabo ji starts her day by cussing her idiotic son Goldie in her mind. 

Lol Gulabo just put a wedding menu to her daughter. 

Aunty ji you don’t know you’re welcoming your future damaad and business hadapne waala. 

Lol Adi going “meri deal gayi” with seeing who the business owner is. 

Yes, a good exchange of words. Also… Adi being rude to the owner’s mother is not a way to get a business. Koi business ki degree do isse.

Oh ok, the ten lakhs is an advance. HMMM… 

Yo ginni looks like she wanna fry Adi up in her pan. 

YES GINNI TELL HIM HOW THE MONEY AIN’T ENOUGH. 

Yes, what business tactic is it to coerce a person to selling property? You… aren’t even mafia. 

25 lakhs for this property????? ADI THIS IS AN IDIOTIC PRICE. 

Ok, Armaan is trying to sweet talk Aunty ji into selling the property. Thappad maaro inn sab ko. 

YES GINNI YELL AT THEM ALL. STOP THEM. 

YO I feel Armaan is more enamored by Ginni at this point, lol. Wah, kya sunaya dono ko. 

Ok Tayiji subtly trying to take power from Supreet by overtaking the meeting the big family decorations. Tayaji just has one expression - wtf is happening in my life and why. 

Lol the head chef just resigned out of Adi’s fear. 

(Also those are the two types of couples anywhere, lol)

Interesting how Ambar and Supreet are so loving with big big dialogues. I’m laughing at how Tayiji is done with the other half of the family having more important in her daughter’s proposal.

Armaan has future in business - he has researched about the family and the loan. OMG GOLDIE’S WIFE RAN AWAY WITH 12 LAKHS WTH. 

Ok this is super interesting how Adi quickly understood intimidating Ginni won’t work so he’s using Armaan’s sweet words to try and manipulate Gulabo - very very interesting. 

Is Adi interested by whatever Ginni is saying? Lol. Yes Adi finally started opening his mouth and talk about parivar. 

Could Adi really not buy an empty plot and turn it into a dhaba?

Ok, Adi is taking a leaf out of previous MLs and being a bit of an ass to get the property. Huh.. blank cheque… interesting. *unlocks Arnav Asad Singh Khurana Khan Rathore to empty his bank*

Lol Supreet taking over Tayiji in establishing relationship with the important Chima family. Lol Tayiji doing her own praises in front of the family is hilarious. 

Ok now the history of Supreet’s gloved hand - how Adi burned it is fresh in memory. 

Adi really giving a blank cheque to Ginni? She’ll tear and throw it on his face. Hahahahaha she burned it. Good good oh wait maybe Adi will fall in love with how she burns things the way he did.

Adi’s like how dare she take my signature move. 

What’s with the stupid editing? Let me see the acting for god’s sake! 

Which… is pretty good. It’s good they’re giving Wahi restrained anger cause he has a very soft face. 

Thoughts: measured dialogues, good use of side characters. For the life of me I can’t understand the bgm and editing technique. You have talented cast at your plate LET THEIR FACE DO THE TALKING instead of the “oooeeaaaaahhhh” in the background and swoosh swoosh editing. Honestly, looking forward to the next episode!

- Jalebi

(if anyone needs this to be in full English instead of mixed Hindi lemme know)

[jadedragoness]

Review: Peace Talks

First Read Through Reaction

Now staring off, knowing that the book was essentially part one of two did mean that I went in expecting that there would be plot lines that wouldn’t be resolved. I did NOT expect that nearly zero of the plot lines would be resolved, at all. Yikes. Now, I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it. I did. But it felt like there were 50 to 60 pages missing that should have been in the story to at least wrap up minor plot lines before heading into ‘Battle Ground’.

Warning: Full of Spoilers

Such the arrival of the Outsiders those Cornerhounds. Um… Outsiders and at no point that Harry wonder why in the hell they were called to Chicago? Or why they were targeting him and Ebenezer. Seriously, unless the author totally forgot we know that Outsiders can only be called by mortals. So human wizards brought them. So was it someone in the ‘Black Council’ or was it the Formor, since we know from previous stories that they grab humans and mind-whammy them and also modify them. And we know that they’ve been pretty focused on grabbing minor practioners for a couple of years now.

Hell, even just knowing why Thomas attacked the svartalf King would have been good to know in the book even if we don’t find out who it was yet.

That being said lets start of with things I didn’t like.

Thing Which I Wasn’t All that Pleased About:

1. Butters in that threesome relationship.

Now, let me explain, it’s not because its a poly relationship. I don’t even twitch over how Justine and Thomas include others in the sexual part of their relationship. It’s because I kept wondering if Marci was even into dudes. As far as I knew she was only into girls. And now she’s suddenly bi?

What the hell?

I think my reaction has a lot to do with how skewed the sexual orientation gradient in shown among Named characters. You have straight men. Straight women. Bi women who are shown to be blatantly into men and women…and that’s it, now.

No lesbian women with zero interest in men. No bi men. No gay men. No asexual characters. No trans characters. No gender fluid people.

I know that this due to the author’s eye and while it hasn’t irritated me much in the past as we keep getting more and more books with more newly introduced characters the lack is becoming more and more glaring to me. Especially, as I have drifted into reading other series that manage to be way more inclusive about this sort of thing in great and amazing ways *sighs happily over Rivers of London series*. And I don’t just mean in passing with random nameless scenery people that never talk which have popped up in the Dresden Files but with actual characters that have names, dialogue and contribute to the series.

So it really, really annoys me that Marci went from being the only lesbian who is a named character to joining the horde of bi women in the DF verse.

Okay, so its not really a Butters issue to much as a grumble about the spectrum of gender and sexually needing better representation.

*grumbles* Step up your game, Butcher.

I will add that I’m head-canoning that actually the relationship here is Butters with Andi, Andi with Butter and Marci, and Marci with Andi. That pretty much with Butters running around being the new Knight Andi didn’t like how her boyfriend wasn’t paying attention and gave Butters the ultimatum of letting Marci in as Andi’s girlfriend or they broke up.

… yeah, I’m totally liking that spin way, way better.

2. That Marcone took forever to show up! ARGH! I love him ok.

Considering how early he was name dropped in the story the amount of time it took him to show up… Jim Butcher is a damn Marcone-tease. *glares hotly in author’s direction*

3. I don’t like it that Murphy is so hurt. I don’t hate it. I think I’m just uneasy about the future implications.

Having reread the entire series before reading ‘Peace Talks’ I fully expected some lingering injury but not to that level. I’m actually worried about her chances of surviving any upcoming battle, and not just in Battle Ground. There’s even more danger coming down the pipeline in future books and she won’t let herself stay ‘safe’ when she could be watching Harry’s back… so its a worrying problem.

Now if she died I have no doubt that her being recruited to be a Valkerie is an option. But then I remembered how those warrior women go out into the world with ‘clients’ and of the two we’ve seen they’ve been attached to ‘monsters’ aka Lara and Marcone.

Unless, the payment isn’t cash and she can be attached to Harry. *hums in thought*

But then I have to wonder how much Murphy would accept that role. She’s also a pretty devout Catholic as this book reminded us so that is also something that would make her say no to the offer.

4. That the younger Wardens who had so looked up to Harry being so damned suspicious… ow. That hurt. I may have teared up and sniffled into a tissue thinking about it. And then sobbed because so much of it came from Carlos… Carlos! The man went into the Deeps with Harry! Ouch.

5. Rudolph… that roach.

Ugh, I’ve had the disturbing thought that now that magic and the supernatural on the path to being exposed to all of humanity, scared humanity too, that will end up with a resurgence of a new Inquisition and the killing of anything eldritch. And you know that Rudolph would definitely be in it. *shudders in disgust* Creep.

BTW I totally don’t believe that Rudolph answers to Marcone. It doesn’t make sense as to why he was so pushy go get Harry during ‘Changes’. I had thought he was answering to the Red Court but with them being taken out of the picture… now I wonder if he isn’t answerable to the Black Council.

Things I Did Not Expect:

1. Damn… when Ebenezer sent that spell through Harry and ‘killing’ I was so shocked even though I was pretty sure there was a twist coming. Mostly because of what it says about Ebenezer.

Ebenezer actions killed Harry.

Sure it was a fake body that brought no harm to the real Harry. But if Harry hadn’t thought ahead? If he hadn’t used his brain to ask Molly to create a fake? Eb would have killed his own grandson.

Sure it was an accident but it could so easy have resulted in a dead Harry. I was crying so hard I wondered if my eyeballs were loosening in their sockets. Argh.

2. Bonea…. Harry your naming skills are simply weird. I’m so glad that Susan named Maggie.

Although Bonnie is a pretty great nickname.

Thinks I Found Utterly Hilarious

1. The line about the best offense being a T-Rex? Gold. Pure gold.

2. When Harry figured out there are angels in the hilt of the Swords of the Cross and Butter’s immediate reaction of horror because he’d accidentally laundered the hilt, giving it a ride in a washing machine.

OMG! I had the instant image of a miniature angel screaming and growing dizzy when going through the spin cycle.

I know that makes no sense but that’s where my mind went, okay.

3. The conjuritis. Omg, it’s so gross with all the ectoplasm leaking from Harry’s nose but it’s sooooo funny. Also the way he kept getting the ‘aren’t you too old for this’ from Ebenezer and then Lara made me giggle even harder.

Then I thought: dude, it’s like chicken pox, something you got as a kid but if you never had it you get it when exposed later in life. So one of his kids has it. Probably Maggie too.

4. When Sanya pretended to have his hand lopped off. I straightened up and was so worried Sanya had lost a hand. Then when I realized he was pretending to freak out Butters and Harry I admit to laughing way too hard. Got me too.’

Also there’s no way that Sanya was actually defeated there. He’s younger and better trained then Butters, I don’t care how light (Heh) the new sword is. He definitely threw that fight to test his hunch.

5. Murphy’s inability to handle being flirted on with a red-headed warrior woman. Sooooo funny. I mean, Murphy could have said a number of things such as ‘I’m exclusive.’ or ‘I’m not interested in women.’ But she just floundered. Heh heh.

6. I continue to find it completely hilarious that Lara, a couple of centuries old vampire, seems to keep learning a lot of power moves from Marcone.

Such as: having trained fighters that are NOT food, well… mostly. Having those mines installed in the walls. And now hiring a Valkerie of her very own.

I keep thinking, yeah, there’s no way she’d win in a fight against Marcone because there’ s no way that Marcone has let slip all of his tricks.

Things I Really, Really Liked:

1. Marcone. Everything Marcone. *heart-eyes*

And then he proves why he’s so damned scary by standing up to the Titan. Then to the ghouls. Then after proving his bad-ass quotient if off the charts he gets everyone organized to fight.

Yeeessss… It proves to me that when it comes to protecting Chicago he is actually the best person after Harry. Hell, in some ways he’s better than Harry. Now, I’m not saying he’s a white knight or anything like that. Just that he has the intelligence, the ruthlessness, the will, the power and the men to provide the most protection to the city’s mortal denizens. At least when there’s a war raging with multiple enemies who will be attacking at various points.

And oh, I can’t wait to see how he’s going to get revenge for the death of his people. Omg, he’s going to kill the Formor so hard. *goes starry eyed thinking about more Marcone*

But why did he have to appear so late in the book?! *wails in a heart-rending fashion*

There better be a ton more Marcone in the next book! *makes desperate gimme gimme hands*

No, I don’t have a Marcone addiction… I can stop anytime I want to. *sneaks off to mainline some “Even Hand” straight into the brain*

2. The return of Goodman Grey! Oh, I hope he’s around a lot! I’ve really grown to like him.

<b>Things Which Blew My Mind or Were Just Freaking Awesome: </b>

1. Dad!Harry is actually the most amazing Harry. Forget the magic flinging and the fire storms… this is the best Harry.

Just the way he takes care of his kids…. *turns to mush like ectoplasm*

2. Murphy and Harry are finally together! Yay! Yay! Hip hip hooray!

Now, I’m a rather shameless Marcone/Dresden fic writer, but as I never ever expect this to be canon I’m content to write it as fanfic for my own sense of delight. However when it comes to canon I’m full on board with the Karrin and Harry relationship. Be it friendship or romantic, I think its great.

3. Marcone… that is all.

Random Speculation

1. I find myself wondering about Ebenezer’s rage against vampires. And my brain muttered this theory: Maybe Harry’s grandmother was killed by White Court vampires.

Whoa.

It would explain the vitrolic rage.

And if Lara was involved it would also explain her flash of shame.

We don’t know anything about Harry’s grandmother, not even her name. So… that’s a thought.

2. River Shoulders teaching Harry.

Oh man, oh man, I hope Harry learns shape-shifting.

And thinking about it I had to wonder if the animal-shifting had anything to do with knowing the animal in question which of course made me think…

Harry should learn to shape-shift into a T-Rex.

He already knows how one is put together and the mind of one. And he knows that it’s possible to add extra mass to a shift from the Nevernever in the form of ectoplasm… so

Harrysarous Rex, baby…. I may have to write a fic with this premise.

3. Oh, if it’s possible to make a ectoplasmic body can Harry learn to make one for Bonea? After all Maggie would probably really enjoy getting to play with her little sister that way. Even if Harry can’t do it all the time and it wouldn’t last longer than a day. That would be delightful.

4. Okay, not this is more head-canon than speculation but… considering how hard Harry has been made to be analogous to Merlin I can’t help but wonder if Marcone is suppose to be Arthur’s analogue. So wielding Amorrachius *coughs*Excalibur*coughs* would make sense.

…it’s not just my Marcone-love talking dammit.

Speaking of Merlin, I’m convinced that he’s behind this whole ‘starborn’ thing. Seriously, otherwise its way too convenient that a wizard with that power is born every 666 years. It smacks of a spell.

And if that’s the case it also feeds into my pet theory that the whole reason we have Outsides at the Gates is because Merlin was the schmuck who drew them to our reality in the first place. And everything surrounding the war with the Outsiders are his attempts to try to fix what he broke.

*lost in pondering thoughts*

Things I Have Questions About

1. Did Harry forget he has The Ways Map from his mother? I would have thought he would have figured out a way (heh) to get to the island somehow. He was on it for so long I thought for sure he’d spend time exploring it. Also we knew from ‘Skin Game’ that even tiny factors can change where the Way goes in the Nevernever. I doubt the ENTIRE island has Ways that lead to a bad place. Especially for Harry now that he’s the Warden.

2. Also why didn’t Harry get Lea to help him? After all unless she’s moved it since ‘Changes’ her garden is still on the other side of the sub-basement.

3. What did Lara use that first favor from Mab on? *eyes her suspiciously*

4. Where are the Za Lord’s Guard? *wondering about what been happening with Lacuna and Toot-toot*

5. If Harry gets kicked out of the White Council (good riddance, since they haven’t exactly been all that helpful lately) can he get enough signatures to be added as a member of the Accords in his own right? After all being Warden of Demonreach has got to mean a lot to the older members.

Then he wouldn’t be reliant on Mab’s protection.

I can’t help but hope this proves to be the case, especially if in ‘Battle Ground’ Harry ends up taking down that Titan. Because he needs as much protection and influence he can gather if he’s no longer White Council to protect himself, his people and his kids. Especially if he eventually gets rid of that Winter Knight mantle like I hope he does.

6. How in the hell (pardon the pun) did evil demon Sasquatch survive being turned to mush by Hade’s Ice Gate? Or the shades that were part of the security system that almost got Harry?

*frowns* The only reason I can think of would be the coin of Ursiel being the factor. I doubt a Fallen Angel is allowed to stick around in the Greek realm of the afterlife.

7. WHERE IS BOB?! Seriously, if Butters doesn’t give him back...

[arabian-bloodstream]

Gendrya Confirmation, Bitches!

OK, so technically, no, it's not confirmed, but I'm taking this bit of detective work on my part as confirmation, damnit! (Not that I didn't already 100% believe that Gendrya was happening and have been pretty darn firm in that belief all along.) So before I jump to that, I need to set it up and so I shall...

Alrighty then, I wrote a post full of happy-happy-joy-joy, entitled: "Oh, my precious babies! So endgame!" a few weeks ago. I wrote this after the episode when most of the Gendrya fanbase was not very happy. You know, that would be episode 04, yeah, the one when Gendry dropped to his knee and proposed and Arya was all, 'Nah, I'm good' and went back to her target practice while his little heart crumpled to a million pieces before our very eyes. Yeah, that one.

Meanwhile, I was all "YES!" at the end of episode because my precious babies were clearly endgame in my eyes! True story, look at the date on that linked post. So the main reason why I felt so positive about Arya and Gendry after episode 04 was because of the first scene with the Hound and the final scene with the Hound. As I wrote in that post:

In the first scene, Gendry and the Hound were at the feast celebrating the North’s victory over the undead–Arya’s victory. And, of course, Arya was nowhere to be found.

  Gendry: Have you seen Arya?   The Hound: You can still smell the burning bodies and that’s where your head is at?   Gendry: I just want to thank her–   The Hound: I’m sure you do.   Gendry: Look, it’s not about that.   The Hound: Of course it’s about that, you twat. Why shouldn’t it be? The dead are dead. You’re not.

The Hound made it pretty clear he was well aware that Gendry wanted to *be* with Arya and when Gendry tried to deny it, the Hound called him on it and, surprisingly, pointed out that it was exactly what he should be doing. Now, let’s make this clear. Gendry wanted to celebrate LIFE with *Arya* and the Hound flat-out told him that such was exactly the thing he should be doing.

Contrast this with the final conversation the Hound has in the episode.

    Arya: You’re heading to King’s Landing.     The Hound: I have some unfinished business.     Arya: Me too.     The Hound: I don’t plan on coming back.     Arya: Neither do I.

So we have the show using The Hound to illustrate that *Gendry* is life as Gendry wanted to celebrate life with Arya–who you remember was “celebrating” by shooting arrows at a target–and on the opposite spectrum, that Arya has indeed once more chosen a life of death. Now, at the end of that discussion, he also asked that if he needs her to kill him, will she just leave him to not die again and she said probably… which means, that they probably will wind up in a situation like that, but this time she will give him mercy. However, before she does, he’ll tell her to choose life. Something like: Go get that blacksmith cunt that’s always mooning over you and have lots of black-haired babies with him. Don’t be like me. Don’t chase death your whole life. Live.

I later expounded exclusively on that theme in greater detail here in a post (not surprisingly) titled: Arya's Choice. In that one, I discussed the entangling of the Hound and Gendry in Arya's storyline throughout season 08 going back to their reunions with her taking place together. In this meta, I wrote:

The reason that Arya’s first scene with Gendry and the Hound was done TOGETHER [...] is because they represent opposite choices of her life going forth.

The Hound is death.

Gendry is life.

It’s all tied up together. Gendry (life) chose to walk away from her all those years away, and then Arya ran away and was captured by the Hound (death). Now Gendry (life) offered himself to her, but she chose to walk away and met up with the Hound (death). It’s eventually going to come down to Arya making the choice herself to walk away from death–which I believe that the Hound will push her to do–and choose life, choose Gendry.

As noted above, I even gave him some dialogue when I did think that Arya would give him mercy. (Although to be fair, I thought that Arya would do so because everyone around me kept saying she would do so. I hadn't really thought that would happen before it kept getting pushed at me. :shrugs:) But the main thing is that I thought he would give her the push to live comparing his life to hers. No, he didn't mention anything about Gendry--nor (and I can't believe I'm saying this because I'm not particularly fond of the word, but coming from Sandor Clegane it was always hilariously used) did a 'cunt' come from him all season long. He died without uttering it even once. Sad.

Anyhoo. Comparing part of my "something like this" dialogue for his parting words to Arya with what he actually said? I think I nailed it pretty closely.

My words: Don’t be like me. Don’t chase death your whole life. Live. His words: You think you've wanted revenge a long time? I've been after it all my life. It's all I care about and look at me. LOOK AT ME! You want to be like me? You come with me, you die here.

Same point getting across there. And this is what David Benioff said about the scene itself "Inside the Episode” that was on Youtube right after the show aired.

It's a small scene, but it's also, for us, one of the most important scenes in the whole episode because it's the culmination of their story together. The road to vengeance always ends in one place. Which is what the Hound is saying to her here. "I've made my choice a long time ago, and this can only end in one possible way for me. But for you, you have so many other options.

The Hound has genuinely come to have affection for Arya. I think he loves her, as much as he's capable of loving someone. And he knows that if she comes with him at this point, she's not gonna make it out of there.

So, yeah... Nailed it! And if the Hound is death... then doesn't that then make Gendry life considering how they’ve so closely entangled the two characters with Arya this season? Especially with the contrasts? Not only the conversations in episode 04, but Arya choosing to not spend her final hours with the miserable old shits (The Hound, and yes, Beric, but the Hound was the key one there) but instead having sex with Gendry. And sex well, its main purpose is to, you know, create life. And then there’s the first time she saw them both this season in episode 01, “Winterfell,” Arya spied the Hound and then Gendry arrive. The Hound rode in upon a black horse. Gendry? A white horse.

After she turned down Gendry's proposal--in my analysis, rejecting life--and joined the Hound on the road to King's Landing to commit regicide, expecting to not come out of it alive--accepting death--she rode a black horse.

After listening to Sandor's words, after choosing to let Cersei die by a means other than her hand, running through the streets of death and chaos, fighting to live, fighting to try and help others live, surviving because the God of Death declared that no, my former pupil, death was not happening, not today, Arya Stark stood amidst all of that death and she stood in the light. The sun shone upon her and she saw a way out of that darkness, away from all of that death, back to life. She saw a white horse.

And she rode on that white horse away from death. To life? To Gendry? I think so.

Now, taking all of that into account, the Arya and the tangling of Gendry and the Hound--which just had to definitively be deliberate--here's where my little detective work brought me to my final definitive GENDRYA CONFIRMATION, BITCHES! moment.  In early Spring, D.B. Weiss and Daniel Benioff helped create a new Spotify playlist: Game of Thrones: The End Is Coming. Upon doing so, they told For the Record in an email, “The answer to the ending is one hundred percent hidden in the playlist choices. No one will believe us, but it’s true.”

Well, a friend of mine and I have been going through each song to try and guess which songs apply to which characters and situations as we're heading into the final inning. And then I got to one particular song and I literally said: "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! GENDRYA CONFIMRATION, BITCHES!" And this is why.

This is from the official Game of Thrones Youtube channel: It is titled: Game of Thrones | Season 8 Episode 5 | The Hound's Gift (HBO).  The description of the video is: Maisie Williams explains Arya's choice. Yeah, you read that right. Uh huh, please do make note that my post written a week or so ago about the Hound = Death and Gendry = Life, and that Arya will choose life (thus Gendry) was titled "Arya's Choice" and I done wrote that on May 06, 2019! I'm just saying. Ahem, anyhoo. So, the video has Maisie talking about the "gift" that the Hound gives Arya.

This is a really important moment, the Hound realizing that "I don't think this kid knows what she's gonna get into." And turning around and giving her this incredible gift, which is the second ticket to a new life.

He's wanted revenge his entire life, and do you wanna be like him? "Is that what you want?" Just a moment in Arya where all those emotions that she’s been trying to suppress and trying to ignore and trying to focus on the task at hand all bubble up again, and this man who she cares so much about and has learned so much from and admires so much turned around and says ‘You don’t want this. You—you go.' She realizes there is another way. There is another life that she could have.

We tell real stories about real people and in this season, Arya decides against being that character that people love, and she decides to, to take her life into her own hands and take control of what she wants.

Let's break what she says down a bit first. Obviously, all of this lines completely up with where I've seen this going. Arya steps away from the whole list-friendly, death-first Arya-'assassin' that "people love." And it makes me sad that Maisie does know that so many people do love that iteration of Arya. It makes me so sad because Arya is so, so much more. *sigh*

The reaction to the idea of Arya having sex, showing interest in *that* kind of relationship--because no, it wasn't all just about the fact that it was watching a girl we watched grow up, there was definitely a lot of... but that's not Arya!, she's an assassin-baby!--shows that she definitely has a point. Still, what she says here makes it quite clear that, yes, Arya IS going to step away from that. Having Sandor basically say to her that she doesn't want to be a miserable old shit like him was a real wake-up call.

Her first "ticket" to life was obviously the coin from Jaqen Hagar. This is her second, and getting that from the Hound who has seen and been through so much shit with Arya, plus seeing the devastating horror of rampant death and destruction all around her has brought that message home loud and clear. She does not want that life, his life. Which is death. She is choosing now to take what she wants. And what does she want? Well, that brings me (finally!) to that OMG! moment.

Remember what I said above about the Game of Thrones spotify list and those clues that D&D talked about. Well, while going through the songs, and having watched this particular video clip the day before, I was pretty damn shook when I got to the end of "No One Knows" By Queens of the Stone Age. Here are the complete lyrics. However, what I want to focus on is the chorus and the outro as we close out the song.

[Chorus] And I realize you're mine Indeed a fool am I And I realize you're mine Indeed a fool am I Ahh

[Outro] Heaven smiles above me What a gift here below But no one knows A gift that you give to me No one knows

That's right.

"What a gift here below, but no one knows. A gift that you give to me. No one knows."

The Hound gave Arya a gift. Arya was No One.

Thus my "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! GENDRYA CONFIMRATION, BITCHES!"

Yeah. They are the ship that is promised. BOOYAH!

(Plus, yeah, all of the other reasons I’ve talked about ad nauseum over the last month!)

[drunklander]

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 405

MURTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH

The end.

Y’all I haven’t fangirled about an episode of Outlander this much since season fucking one. And can I just say, I fucking missed this feeling. I missed this feeling so fucking much. Comparing this episode to the ones with all of the book dialogue awkwardly crammed in makes me really hope they start throwing the book out the window more and more, and instead just do whatever they want in order to tell a good story.

AND I JUST FUCKING LOVE MURTAGH OK!

PETITION TO LET CLAIRE HAVE FRIENDS WHO DON’T MURDER PEOPLE/GET MURDERED!

Just the mutual respect between Claire and Adawehi gives me the warm fuzzies.

Adawehi: “She is here. No, not in your heart, woman. I mean actually here. Like physically here. Yes, I know you find it comforting to think your daughter is always with you in your heart, but I’m telling you, she can also literally be with you, like in your house.” Claire: “Yeah, it’s really too bad I had to leave her, but at least she’s here in my memories...” Adawehi: “You’re killing me, lady.”

JOKING ASIDE ADAWEHI DESERVED BETTER AND I LOVE HER AND MUELLER IS THE WORST.

Gerhard, not Robert.

I love the white sow with my whole heart.

LOOKIT THESE DOMESTIC FRASERS WORRYING ABOUT HATS AND JERKY.

I’m laughing at Jamie so hard for thinking that Scots are just going to jump at the chance for free land...that ties them to the English government. Like bro, some of the Scots in North Carolina actually give a shit about what the English did to Scotland. And don’t immediately get in bed with them, (especially when it’s common knowledge that they cheat and steal from people) and become the sort of people they fought against.

It’s like Jamie and Claire were like hmmm, our only two options are to move to Boston where we’ll be right in the middle of the revolution or become the colonizing/occupying force we fought against in Scotland. And the rest of the Scots are like nah, bro.

OH HEY JAMIE, WHY YA TAKIN’ THAT CANDLESTICK?! TO GET A RING MADE PERHAPS??? *fangirling intensifies*

“I love bacon.” Same, Young Ian. So much same.

Lady Boner for Frontier!Beauchamp.

Oooh, we’re doing Jamie’s visions are we?

I really do appreciate them doing damage control after last season including Jamie thinking of Bree this season. And I love how ever since Claire came back to Jamie, Bree is still a constant presence in her life. And she continues to live with the cost of her choice to return to Jamie.

Y’all Claire lost her parents. She left Uncle Lamb when she got married. She lost Frank woohoo! when she went through the stones. She lost Jamie after Culloden. And she lost Bree when she went back to Jamie. She’s never really had all of the people who are important to her with her all at the same time. AND IN A COUPLE OF EPISODES SHE WILL AND I CANNOT FUCKING WAIT! I SHIP CLAIRE AND HAPPINESS AND SHE WON’T FULLY HAVE THAT UNTIL HER WHOLE FAMILY IS TOGETHER AND GUYS I HAVE FEELINGS.

Nice hat, Roger MacSeedot.

Miss Baird: “I can see she broke your heart.” Me: *recaps the last couple episodes* Miss Baird: “Actually, she’s better off without you. You’re kind of the worst. Good day to you MacSeedot. I SAID GOOD DAY.

Just noticed that this pic that was tweeted about Wilmington is actually Woolam’s Creek. Lulz.

Ok is this lady flirting with Jamie only supposed to be setting up him telling Bree that he’s a married man? Or else, like, what’s the point? We know Jamie’s not going to cheat on Claire? If this is supposed to be like the Mme Jeanne fake out then hard pass, show.

“That’s a very impressive offer. But you see, the English fucked up our country. Our families. Our lives. And now they cheat and steal from us here, all the way across an ocean. Rent or no rent, I still have my principles.”

“Did six farmers just refuse the offer of land given without charge?”  “There’s no sense in it. Except that it makes them obliged to the English and, you know, as Scots we sort of don’t like them very much. So really I have no clue why they’d turn me down.”

Yo, I fucking love this change, tbh. Jamie’s a dumbass, but I’ve thought that about show!Jamie for a minute now so... Bahahaha. Bro. Rock on, farmers.

“Savages! They steal our water for their horses!” Y’all Mueller is the literal worst. But him being fucking awful, doesn’t mean Jamie and Claire are off the hook for also being fucking colonizers.

But seriously. Gerhard. You are a fucking monster.

“They have no reason to set foot on MY land!” Fuck ALL the way off, bruh.

Claire’s like “Please! I know they’re the literal worst and you’re literally just watering your horses on your own damn land, but please change your behavior to accommodate a racist af colonizer!” Which like, good on her for trying to deescalate the situation, but putting it on the wronged party to change to accommodate the white aggressor still isn’t a good look.

“Water belongs to no one.” Y’all this show claims not to be political, but making this conflict about water is relevant as fuck to the present. (For those who don’t click through to what I link, that’s a profile of the Standing Rock water protectors.)

This episode is really doing a lot to try to frame the Frasers as “good” colonizers. (Look! They make friends with their Cherokee neighbors whose land they’ve stolen! They’re trying to learn the Cherokee language! They respect the knowledge of Adawehi! They know Cherokee customs!) And the Muellers as “bad” colonizers. (This is our land! They shouldn’t be here! Fuck what they’re actually doing, I think they’re cursing us and therefore must murder their witch!) But show, let’s be real. Just like the “benevolent slave owner” is bullshit, the “good” colonizer is also bullshit.

Gerhard Mueller is an unforgivable piece of shit, but that doesn’t mean the Frasers are in the right.

Rollo the body guard is adorable and I 100% want a blooper reel of just him fucking up and Balfe being like OMFG DOG.

Claire tiredly flopping onto the bed is A FUCKING MOOD.

Y’all the Leoch music as Claire does the homestead chores gives me so many feelings. It meant she was starting to feel at home in Jamie’s time and is now signifying her being at home in the place they built together AND I JUST WANT MY BABY TO BE HAPPY OK.

For real though, I fucking love the white sow.

White Sow/Clarence 2020

Claire nudging Rollo out of her food is relatable af. *side eyes my cat*

Claire’s “good morning, ladies!” to the goats is my fucking everything. Also, pretty sure one of the goats is named Persephone and the person who posted this just didn’t know how to spell that. High five for animal name twins! I should get my cat a goat friend...

Claire drinking and being like oh this is gross and then drinking more anyway is also A Mood.

“’Tis my land after all.” Jamie says it in relation to the English. Mueller says it in relation to the Cherokee. Again trying to show a difference between the two, but *looks directly into the camera.*

MURTAGH MOTHERFUCKING FITZGIBBONS FRASER Y’ALL

Lol, I love that in the closed captions, Murtagh’s lines are noted as “Smith” before he turns around. Like we don’t recognized that crotchety voice.

Y’ALL I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY THAT MURTAGH IS BACK.

Oh look, rando flirty woman is back. *hums Say No to This to self*

OMG THE LOOK ON MURTAGH’S FACE WHEN HE HEARS JAMIE’S VOICE IS LIKE THE SAME FACE THAT JAMIE MADE WHEN HE HEARD CLAIRE’S IN THE PRINT SHOP AND I AM SO FULL OF FEELINGS YOU GUYS

YES, HUG IT OUT, GUYS! *JOINS IN THE GROUP HUG FROM MY COUCH* I’M JUST SO HAPPY.

"I’m sorry. Citronella died. They got measles, but at least there were no mosquitoes.”

Gerhard Mueller is totally the sort of person who would shoot up a mosque or synagogue because of some bullshit, racist 4chan conspiracy theory. Entitled white men haven’t evolved at all in the last 200 years...

Yas, Claire, work that gun...

(gif source)

The way Jamie’s face lights up when Murtagh says he can do a bit of silversmithing though.

Y’ALL MURTAGH IS TOTALLY GONNA MAKE CLAIRE’S NEW RING AND THAT ANON I GOT TOTALLY CALLED IT AND I AM 1000% HERE FOR IT OMG YAAAS, SHOW, YAAAS.

Murtagh’s face when he thinks Jamie remarried is amazing. And Jamie sending Young Ian away when Murtagh asks if he married again is hilarious because like “Dude, please don’t blow up my spot about Laoghaire when I haven’t been able to fanboy with my godfather about my time traveling wife yet. And I need to fanboy about my time traveling wife with her literal #1 fan.”

*waits impatiently for Murtagh’s reaction to the Laoghaire marriage news*

For real, his reaction to that is going to be fucking aaaaaaaAAAHMAZINGGGG.

Y’ALL I WANT A CEBRF FANDOM WAR BETWEEN MURTAGH AND YOUNG IAN OVER WHO STANS CLAIRE MORE. “I regularly put my hands in other people’s body cavities for her!” “I’ve been stanning her for twice as long as you’ve been alive, laddie!”

THE CLAIRE ELIZABETH BEAUCHAMP FAN CLUB’S FOUNDING MEMBER IS BACK AND YOUNG IAN BETTER RECOGNIZE.

LOOK AT HIS FACE WHEN JAMIE SAYS THAT CLAIRE CAME BACK! AND HE FUCKING *KNOWS* WHAT THAT MEANS! HE FUCKING PRAYED FOR HER AND HER BABY FOR YEARS AND TO KNOW SHE’S SAFE AND BACK WITH JAMIE AND HIS SHIP REALLY IS ENDGAME AND I’M JUST SO FULL OF HAPPINESS.

Da!Jamie bragging about his kid is endearing afffffffff.

*again side eyes how she was treated in ep. 306*

Ok, but I love that Murtagh doesn’t just like up and change his whole life to rejoin Jamie. It’s been a long time. He has his life. He loves Jame and he loves Claire, but just like they had changed, so has Murtz.

“We’ve had trouble finding tenants.” “Yeah, no shit. Come, Jamie, let me school you.”

Murtagh in a kilt and bonnet while Jamie is in breeks and a tricorn. Murtagh rousing the Scots against the thievery of the English and Jamie trying to get them to become indebted to the English. Which one is truly keeping the spirit of Scotland alive in North Carolina?

I’d bet money that the piece of tartan Murtagh has pinned over his heart is the same piece he’s had with him since Ardsmuir.

Mueller can fuck all the way off with his “we deserve to live because we believe in God” crap.

It *is* their land you fucking piece of shit.

The scene with Mueller when he brings Claire Adawehi’s scalp got me so fucking heated because there are so many white men in this country today who share the same/very similar beliefs to him in regards to various minority groups or people they see as “Other.” Fuck each and every one of those men.

Claire’s funeral for Adawehi is very moving though.

#AdawehiDeservedBetter

You brought this on yourself, Herr Mueller. Good riddance.

But Frau Mueller, yet another woman who is the collateral damage of the shitty actions of men.

Rollo is the least intimidating guard dog ever.

HE REMEMBERS HER SONG AND IT’S LIKE THEIR LITTLE INSIDE JOKE AND HE DOES HIS LITTLE DANCE AND HER FACE AND HIS FACE AND GUYS I AM SO FULL OF FEELINGS AND I LOVE THE TWO OF THEM SO MUCH AND GUYS I AM SO EXCITED FOR MURTAGH TO BE AGGRESSIVELY #TEAMCLAIRE WHEN HE FINDS OUT ABOUT LAOGHAIRE AND FOR HIM TO MEET BREE AND EVEN FOR HIM TO MEET WILLIE AND GUYS THEY SAVED MURTAGH AND I LOVE MURTAGH AND YOU DID A GOOD THING, SHOW.

Ok the letter that Bree left for Roger makes him look even worse for going after her tbh. Like he wasn’t supposed to see it for a year and it was like clearly an “open if I’m dead” thing so like he knows she clearly is intending to come back. But instead of listening to her, he off and does what he thinks is right instead. Which means he’s learned *nothing* since the proposal. Fuck that guy.

Roger really is Frank. He wants a marriage like Frank and Claire had pre-stones. Where it's all about him and what he wants to do and the wife is just along to support him in that endeavor. *gestures at episode 101* Between reading the books again and watching this season, Roger really is the worst and I don't think the show will do anything that comes close to redeeming him since *gestures at how they wrote Jamie last season* so at this point I ship Bree with her damn self. She doesn't need a man to live her fullest life. Especially one like fucking Roger.

Bree is too good for Roger and this is the hill I will die on.

But y’all! Bree’s gonna get to be with her mom again! And meet Jamie! And look hot af in period clothes! AND MEET MURTAGH!

*focuses aggressively on that instead of Rape and Rogergate*

GUYS MURTAGH IS BACK!!!!!!!!!

[light-and-darkness-equally-well]

I Saw The Crimes of Grindelwald

And like any movie, there were things I loved.

Baby. Nifflers.

The freaking artistic departments and the COSTUMING were all very beautiful.

I liked Theseus Scamander more than I thought I would - maybe I was getting more realistic older sibling vibes, maybe his human moments just hit me. Idk.

OMG the cast performed so well??? I’d literally just list all their names if I wanted to point out anything specific. If you’ve seen the movie yell about the spoilery things in the comments with me?

SPOILERS BELOW

Okay, Leta was awesome and I had honestly expected her to follow Grindelwald? But they definitely broke expectations with this one. Really pulled a Last Jedi on us in that regard - the person we expect to be tempted to the dark gave her life for the right reasons, and one of our brightest, most hopeful and wholesome characters in the first movie goes dark.

BTW she made me want to cry when she screamed “Walk with me,” ugh. I really hope she doesn’t die still on Grindelwald’s side. The man must be a powerful occlumens to not reveal his actual endgame to a legilimens that just hears people without even trying. I’m glad it wasn’t just “for love”, though that is a driving factor for her - it’s for freedom to express that love, and being caught in a moment of vulnerability in the crowd, and Jacob finally calling her crazy out loud for that decision.

Also, like, can we talk about how her descent into darkness was definitely not unexpected? She enchanted Jacob to keep him compliant! I mean, I get it - but Jacob was the one who loved more in that scenario, because he cared more about her than about them being together. She could have campaigned for the right to marry him at the Ministry - but she went with mind control. There’s a clear difference in what she believed was right and wrong versus others.

IDK I just hope that if she does come to a breaking point it won’t take someone killing Jacob to bring her to the Light again.

Nagini was pretty cool even though she was just kind of along for the ride? I liked her companionship with Credence. Unfortunately we already know how her story ends.

Okay, gonna touch on Johnny Depp - I’m not extremely well read on the irl controversy and really based off of what I know I can’t personally condemn or acquit him just because I don’t have all the info.

But I’m able to separate a person’s actions from their work either way and - he was a goddamn good Grindelwald. Very charismatic and softspoken when he needed to be, cruel in turn to see where loyalties lie, and he knew how to push all the right buttons. The only part that just made me giggle at the absolute wrong moment for a movie to make me want to giggle (with death and destruction on the line, ugh) was the “I hate Paris”. It was too cheeky for me at that moment, idk.

ON TO HOGWARTS

Freaking Jude Law, ugh. He definitely was an amazing Dumbledore. I was all for his performance, and there were definitely images with the Mirror of Erised scene where I just was like wow, you two had such a profound bond. And Grindelwald used “The Greater Good” line, which was a thing between the two of them regarding their positions on this whole new world order thing. He’s enigmatic and friendly, especially in his interactions with Newt and Leta.

(OMG McGonagall was there for a hot second and it was perfection)

Theseus Scamander, my friends. He is SUCH an older brother around Newt. I am an older sister, and can confirm. My heart broke for him when Leta died, omg.

and Flamel was unexpectedly hilarious and simultaneously badass?

Tina was kind of following a trope that I expected of the spurned girlfriend, so meh on the storyline but A+++ with the “salamander” dialogue between her and Newt and the moment when she pulls out the little bell toy.

I don’t have much to say about Newt because he was very typical Newt. It worked well and I was glad he wasn’t the only main player in the movie, but I adored every bit of him.

AND OKAY THE NIFFLER BEING THE ONE TO STEAL THE THING FROM GRINDELWALD OMG

Okay, you’ve guessed that I’ve been holding back on the Credence bit because -

What the actual fuck?

Okay, the very first option is that Grindelwald is a lying liar that set it all up, and that would not be a surprise honestly.

(Gonna still call him Credence for a bit on account of that notion)

But these things tend to be important, these “phoenixes come to Dumbledores” type of things. So I’ll take it as truth for now.

And we have heard nothing about an Aurelius Dumbledore even existing until this point - and we know very little about Ariana and Aberforth. So I suppose it’s plausible that we never heard his name before. Still!

He has been pulled from every side for every reason to use him or destroy him, and that breaks my heart. Look at how freaking powerful he is at the end at Nurmengard (which we know later, of course, will be Grindelwald’s prison) - all he could do. And that of course worries me, because under Grindelwald he could do a ton of damage.

The one good thing Grindelwald does, imo: give Credence a freaking wand. Ezra Miller has been waiting too goddamn long for this moment, probably vibrating in his seat with excitement, let him be a proper wizard.

And how in Merlin’s name did he get where he is? I have a pretty interesting timeline.

Ariana Dumbledore, the youngest Dumbledore until now, was an Obscurial child because of muggle bullies. She died during a fight between Albus, Aberforth, and Grindelwald (who may have already witnessed her power and had ideas of how to use her? Albus hadn’t enjoyed the burden of caring for, essentially, a disabled sister. Maybe he had been wondering how to take her off his hands, and Aberforth had seen it coming and that’s how that mess occurred.)

Anyway, she died in the fight - no one knows who killed her out of the three. This was 1899.

Credence was born two years later.

Now, he doesn’t necessarily have to be a brother - he could be a cousin - but I’m super inclined to think that if he is indeed Aurelius Dumbledore, that he’s the youngest brother, or at least is symbolized as such if he is a cousin. (Wizards live a lot longer than average humans, so it’s totally plausible to have siblings that far apart I think) It would be a different mother, because Kendra Dumbledore (Albus’s mother) died some time the same year before Ariana did.

And Albus, upon finding out about Credence and perhaps guilty about his own treatment of Ariana, thinks I am not fit to care for a child keep away and offers to send Aurelius and his mother to America. Thus we have Credence.

NOW this is assuming we don’t get an entire retcon of the Dumbledore history. If we do that, then my mini-headcanon is a bit more disturbing.

We know very, very little about Ariana Dumbledore. We didn’t know she existed until the seventh book. Same for Aberforth. We learn a lot about Dumbledore all at once from some unreliable sources (Skeeter etc) through Harry, who finds certain information more important than other info.

I looked up the timelines earlier, so the first theory fits better with canon. If we throw timelines and whether Kendra Dumbledore died at a certain point out - if we assume that the little tidbits might be wrong -

What if Ariana wasn’t hidden away in the house? What if she was born later? What if she and her mother moved to America when it became clear that Albus wouldn’t support them?

And this is sort of fanfictiony, and very weird, but what if -

Aurelius was Ariana? I mean, Obscurials. Dumbledores. What if Dumbledore didn’t love his sister enough to keep her close, and supposedly lost her to a storm at sea?

What if, in a bout of childhood accidental magic, Credence changed their own body, uncomfortable as a little girl?

(This leads Mary Lou Barebone to scream about witchcraft for the rest of her days, but she still takes care of the cursed little boy. She feeds him, houses him, hopes his sins will be forgiven, punishes him because he’s a little curse on her too, and Lord if it happened to her-)

So Albus believes Ariana to be dead, but if he can save this Obscurial boy, just maybe -

Yeah. Okay. So. Tangent over, fanfiction to be written, this movie was great and weird and confusing and cool. Ta-da.

[mensajeroseis]

it’s probably late to join the party but. as a person who was a huge fan of lis when it was ongoing, i just want to say. what the actual hell was that game. terrible voice acting. ReLaTaBlE tEeNs. just. everything. a god damn mess. sorry i just had to jump in. too much frustration towards this game and how it could’ve been better 😤

omg ur fine !! it’s nice to get an actual response to this even as a first time player. i feel like an outlier just bc of how differing my opinion is about the game.

like especially in the first 2 episodes, the voice acting and dialogue, especially from Max and a bit of Chloe is super…embarrassing. Considering an older man was the lead writer for the game and characters. It’s very evident bc of how awkward their dialogue is. There’s a line Max says after saving Kate that’s so fucking ODD AND ABSURD TO ME ? but that can be posted about at a different time… that’s my most petty gripe with the game.

The story is very lacking, because despite the rewind mechanic being the epicenter of the game, they use it in an uninteresting manner. You can just explore options of dialogue. You can hardly/if ever use it to change situations with other characters, and see how they play out. Which I feel would’ve made the game much more interesting to play around with. So you could have a wider array to how you make allies + get info ; or exploring the world building + side characters more. Which could affect in how you handle the choices in game. 

The game has a very obvious “butterfly effect” thing it’s trying to pull, but theyre only categorized in the major choices you make each chapter. and even those are hard to account as actually mattering. Because in the end, you end up being steered towards one path, with just 2 endings. I get that in the end this is Max’s story, but players are supposed to be able to have a leeway of choosing how they want things to turn out, and explore the game. And I feel LIS, doesn’t offer much in that regard.

Also the real antagonist was the most predictable thing, which made the story weaker in my opinion. Given that it focuses on the objectification, harm, and drugging of teenage girls. It’s very shallow and uncomfortable. But knowing that Twin Peaks is it’s number one inspiration, because they make it very obvious. Because I essentially view it as a much less interesting, watered down version of TP. It’s a given they’d go with that kind of antagonist. Instead of focusing on something more supernatural, given Max’s powers. It’s gross ! 

I wish the game was better, everything I saw on tumblr, when it was at its peak made me think it must’ve been a worthwhile game. The characters are the best part of that game, and they’re not even that strong or complex, which is Shit !!!

when i finished it yesterday i just felt like i was taken on a shitty ride.

[ryouverua]

Trial 5 - Post-Execution

Investigation 1 / 2 - second half is where I put my own theories that I penned before playing the trial.

Trial: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Pre-Execution

;’’’) That’s a good look on you, Monokuma.

what this no i’m not crying you’re crying shUT UP

Have any other executions ended with the corpse literally landing in front of them in the trial room? I feel like this is a first???

uUM

K.... K1-b0? Buddy? Are - uh - are you okay? You’re looking a bit.... ?????

A-ARE YOU THOUGH -

Uh, okay??? So I want to go over Kaito’s execution and be upset about his death and everything but suddenly, this? This came out of nowhere??? also skldfj they took the ahoge off his sprite too omg

Crap I badly want to mourn Kaito for a while and yeah this is taking away from that but I don’t exactly want to not address K1-b0 literally BSoD-ing in front of us -

Oh! Gloating! I’m good for gloating too. Rub it in his face, Sweetcheeks. You’ve got my full backing here.

Normally I’m against kicking someone while they’re down but KICK HIM! KICK KICK KICK! I’m so down for this collective group smack-down.

Man, this Monokuma has been so much less in control and emotional than the previous Monokumas. I mean, the competition is pretty stacked - last Monokuma was literally the god of his world and an omniscient being that pervaded their entire ecosystem with one exception - but between throwing up a second motive in the first chapter, getting ‘overthrown’ by Monodam ** (even if he ‘went on vacation’ and this entire chapter, this ^ guy is barely hanging on by his teeth.

** I just realized the whole ‘Monodam takes over the killing game’ may have been bloody foreshadowing for this chapter sdlkfj

Monodam even got pushed to his limit for all of a whole chapter/killed two Monokubs and even though Kokichi didn’t directly kill them, he does have Gonta and Miu’s aka two classmate’s blood on his hands even with the most charitable look at chapter 4′s events before both Monodam and he ultimately take actions to end their own lives

this has been another mini-episode of ‘I read into things too much’

ANYWAY quietly skips over everything but the most pertinent Monokub dialogue, don’t mind me ~

Who would though, at this point? .... K1-b0, depending on what’s going on with him right now?

Shuichi is so pumped up thanks to Kaito and Kokichi’s teamwork! This has to be what Kaito was hoping for. Kokichi probably wanted to win the trial in its entirety, though...

Something about him saying ‘you’re certainly entitled to your opinion’ is incredibly grating and hilarious. It’s so.... passive-aggressive and banal? So un-Monokuma? I feel like behind the plushie, someone is pouting with their arms crossed tightly and just grumbling to themselves. They can’t even muster up a whole ~despair~ rant right now.

SWEETCHEEKS SWORE :O

I want to make a fun reference to Saimota but then I remember Kaito’s corpse is still warm on the ground a few feet away from them and I cry

LMAO IT SWITCHED TO A SILENT K1-B0 IMMEDIATELY AFTER....

K1-b0 isn’t about to like... become a killing game enforcer or something??? Like, completely flip his switch? fml this silence is dangerous

blah blah blah monokubs do their ‘cute’ schtick and I get tired of it, anyway -

oh great, it’s the sprite I blocked out of my brain up to this point

DID MONOPHANIE JUST DRAG ME

Please put away the tongue when they leave ffs

Aaah damn it, here comes the hammer. D:

Participant......... and then he mentioned about it going on for a long time, so.... a cycle...??? If Rantaro is repeating it, does that mean they’re all repeating it...??? The same sets of personalities/memories/talents, in new bodies every time or something - ? Is that an idea I should follow -

FFFF DID MONOKUMA JUST FLASH US

YES, PUN FULLY INTENDED SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE THOSE JOKES IN MIU’S ABSENCE

yeah hilariously while I was starting to think more about his statements Monokuma literally surprised me just like he surprised Shuichi and the rest of them lmao

Meanwhile Sweetcheeks is just twitching beside her, possibly even foaming at the mouth -

YEAH WHERE’S THE NEXT SET OF MEMORIES, BUDDY

anyway he talks about despair and hope again, I glare at the yellow text with tired resignation, etc

It really does sound like it’s something that’s repeating when he puts it like that, right??? And with Rantaro’s video - what is this, a test simulation of the gopher project or something?

Another wild theory appears - the original students with the talents Makoto/Hope’s Peak wanted to preserve, or for whatever reason digitized their memories/personalities/talents (think Gonta Alter-Ego) died - or were ‘hunted down’ aka the Ultimate Hunt - and in their place they pick up 16 ordinary kids to give them to, possibly by force. Or hell, maybe not, if Rantaro remembers and said something like ‘you wanted this’, though wasn’t that in regards to the killing game???  And then... they set up a simulation? Maybe? To test their viability? .... The question is who introduced Monokuma to the whole thing. Is that part of the test, or was that the cult sneaking in... and if the students really are ‘easily replaceable’, are they just picking up new ordinary kids as replacements? Are they looking for an outcome where they can defeat Monokuma? If this is a simulation, does it operate under the same rules as the NeoWorld program, where they die in real life?

Eeh... not sure how I feel about this. It feels like it has holes still. 8′D

ffffffff

!!!!!!

Aaaaw....

I mean I think we knew after the deductions in the first chapter but yes, mastermind confirmed - ! And -

WHAT

NO

WHAT

NO

WHAT

N O

W H A T

please go away

I-I MEAN... YOU REALLY DON’T.... HAVE TO...

BANGS HEAD AGAINST WALL

asdlkfjsdl why junko WHY MUST YOU BE BACK

So I was going to put this at the end of the post but then A LOT OF STUFF happened at the end of the chapter and it... doesn’t really fit there....

Okay... t-there is a second option. I mean, Junko could really be back for the third (fourth? do Shiro/Kurokuma in UDG count?) time and I really hope that isn’t the case fff - but ‘Junko’ facing away from us for a reason, right? Which means it could be someone dressed as her, right? Even if it did sound like her seiyuu...

But out of everyone left, assuming this isn’t happening at the exact same time/immediately after the trial... well, I mean, out of everyone alive, two people could be in Junko-dress right now, right? Both Maki and Tsumugi could fit, and considering we haven’t gotten to look at Tsumugi at all and her talent... I’m heavily leaning towards her.

..... except.................. cospox though. Crap. Hmm....

I think... I could maybe follow up on some of the speculating I made in this post? About Junko being elevated to a larger-than-life figure in history? Maybe there’s some leeway in there, in the same way that we have historical figures that end up being featured prominently in fiction, or even become warped/satirized in various ways because they’re so removed from us in our current time... and perhaps Junko has become more than a person in that same way, or even more than that, a title/role that can be inherited and passed down? Is it possible to get around cospox that way? It would fit in with her early Chapter 1 comments - let me see if I can dig them up from my old posts - ah this one, here, if you want to look at it. i also am totally into what she’s saying if you’re wondering why I remember this so well lmao

If she is from the cult... and this is a parallel to Angie, who constantly spoke about being a conduit for Atua’s message, Korekiyo, who was just a vessel for his sister according to himself, and Kaito, who literally acted in Kokichi’s place............. maybe....... this could work........... ????

...... except I don’t know if it’s enough of a stretch to get around this. I MEAN. MAYBE IT IS. MAYBE. I could just be stretching reeeeeeally far in order to avoid an inevitable Junko returning. maybe i just want to see the power of the ultimate cosplayer since it’s a hobby so dear to my heart idek

Whelp it doesn’t matter the scene is moving on without me anyway so 8′D

FUCK NO MORE TRAINING TIME OR TRAINING JOKES OR STUPID TITLES FOR THE TRAINING POSTS THIS IS THE WORST TIMELINE

Man I really love the close connections Shuichi has to people in this game. Maybe that’s why I’ve been enjoying it so much? He recognizes his classmates and what they have to offer, sure - but he’s a regular kid. He’s got his favoured connections, and the people whose deaths he feels more powerfully than the others, and the reactions he has to everything around him... well, maybe that’s my own bias because they really resonate with me. I don’t usually have much of an interest for audience surrogate characters (I don’t dislike them, I just, you know, don’t adore them or anything) but - and I know now that this is a divisive topic - I really like Shuichi’s personality. I really do. And I think he has one. He’s a quiet guy - he keeps most of his thoughts on the inside - and I get that for a lot of people, quiet = no personality, but the way he has responded to a lot of the situations that have come up previously have both been different than what I’m used to seeing from ‘protagonist’ characters and, erm, pretty... familiar to me personally and that has been a bit of a shock tbh. seriously what’s with this - same birthday, same blood-type, same hobbies, likes and dislikes, same Best Boy, etc....

I’m not sure where this tangent is going tbh, but I guess I’m sorta gearing up for next chapter? We don’t have many people left to work with. 8′D Kaito’s gone, Kokichi is gone, and all we have left are a collection of differing quiet personalities. It’s going to be very, very different, that’s for sure.

“Oh yeah I forgot this turned into a group activity like, three sessions in.”

“I mean, you did too by poisoning them both, but that’s neither here nor there.”

I am being a bit harsh on her though - to her credit, she seemed initially confused about why he was blaming himself (despite him repeating all the things she said to him during the beginning of the trial). There’s no one left to connect them now and she seems to have realized that - they’re going to have to finally do the heavy work themselves.

Like Chapter 4 Maki, I feel like she’s speaking in that same roundabout way she did when asking about Shuichi’s interest in Kaede. “Are you lonely too?” or even, “do you need someone to talk to/be with who understands how you feel?” She still has a lot of trouble being forthright but it’s great that she’s taking the initiative, especially after her earlier confession.

I hate to say it, but I think Shuichi may have ended up in a similar state as Ryoma after Chapter 1 if he was left spinning his own wheels...

Solidarity. 8′/

!!! 

For all the things that he did... fml I can’t think of anything better. He spent so much of his time trying to bring you both out of your shells!

I wonder if Shuichi is including his entire class in there. It was only a few days ago that Kokichi said he considered them all friends too. Also Korekiyo hilariously enough

omg they’re still so painfully awkward but it’s so sad and relatable and they’re trying to start building a bridge without Kaito acting as their support...

Ooh! This is the first time they’ve been approached aside from Tenko in Chapter 3, right?

Aaaw he’s so happy to see them. 8′)

YES!!! New team training! New team training!

Yes this is exactly what they need to do after the trial! They need to stick together! ... Now where the hell is K1-b0???

quietly skips over Tsumugi telling us we won’t lose to despair because I am stubbornly clinging to the time before hope/despair was brought back up -

- Sweetcheeks why

so much goddamn hope

But I’ll allow it because it’s leading to an overdue cheesy friendship speech and after the tragedy of chapter 5 I need that right now.

Though... hm. I was sort of hoping Shuichi and Maki could hash out some of her actions in the last trial, or Maki would offer some kind of apology. Would that have happened if they weren’t interrupted?

Yeeessss new image! I love it! Also lmao Himiko maybe you’d manage to finish one if you took the big bulky hat off...

Good - a commitment to keep living is important, especially from Shuichi. Now the majority of you are carrying someone’s wish, huh... except Tsumugi, unless you count Gonta maybe. I figure Miu could count for K1-b0, though I guess that’s a bit of a stretch too?

fuck my heart had been ripped out and stomped on, especially with the flashback to third chapter training:

.... See you, Space Cowboy.

Now fade to bla -

..... Huh.

I’m glad one of you is concerned after what happened. 8′/ I’ll excuse Shuichi and Maki because they have every right to be distracted by grief but between you and Himiko you couldn’t keep an eye on him?

Because seriously, none of them know where he is. And there is no way that’s a good thing.

BUT SOLIDARITY!!! also robophobic!!!

Well that’s an ominous way to end the chapte - oh never mind it’s not over??? What, three ‘epilogues’ this time? Not that I’m complaining because I’m happy to extend the trial for as long as necessary but jeez -

K.... K1-b0???

It was lost after the accident??? So it wasn’t just programming... a... a transmission then? So it really was some sort of antenna...

Wait that makes it sound like you weren’t just using it for guidance but actually being controlled by it?!

More hope and despair references -

Music change???

Wait, dude, what do you mean by that -

What

WAIT WHAt ARE THOSE TURBOBOOSTERS

HE CAN FLY?!?!

UM EXCUSE ME WHERE DID THIS COME FROM

Kokichi was dying to see all of these cool functions and only now when he’s literally dead do you show them off? RUDE

WAIT WHAT THE FUCK K1-B0 THERE ARE STILL LIVING STUDENTS DOWN THERE

MISSILES TOO -

OH WOW UM OKAY THIS WAS NOT THE QUIET CONTEMPLATIVE END-OF-CHAPTER SCENE I THOUGHT WE’D BE GETTING DEAR LORD

dON’T YOU ‘END TITLE’ CARD ME, GAME

a;sdlkfja

i

i forgot this

happened at the end of the

chapter

oh god

skldfj

ugh, ghghhgh

cool thanks sweetcheeks and I will cherish this forever,,,

...

assuming he survives long enough to

[randomstoriesofabunny]

A taste of freedom

Summary: When you’ve been trapped in your head and your memories haunt you, a little freedom is all you need.

Inspired in the song Gasoline – Halsey

Words: 3000 (ups!)

Warnings: Angst. Mentions of physical abuse. DON’T read it if this makes you uncomfortable!

A/N: I wrote this for @persephone-is-here-omg challenge. I wanted it full angst and it’s fluffy at the end, but I like the story in general :) I wrote some lines of the song in the story like dialogues so they are bold. Let me know if you found typos or grammatical mistakes. And if you liked the story c:

You are going to be hydra’s fist, whispered the voice of a man, over and over like a broken record in his head. His body was still shivering from the cold chamber they got him out. They were dragging him through a concrete hall until they reached two thick metal doors that were kept guarded by two armed men.

When they opened them, in a quick glance he took in the interior of the room. He was able to identify at least four men wearing lab coats, scientists, he thought. They were examining some files, casting glances at him and whispering among them. On his left were several machines he couldn’t recognize and a metal cabinet. In the middle of the room was a metal chair.

“Let go of me!” Bucky wanted to scream, but it sounded like a whisper. He tried to push the men that were restraining him, but his body felt limp, “Don’t touch me!” if they listened to his muttered plea they didn’t show it.

The soldiers sat him in the chair and chained his arms and ankles to it. “Let’s start the programming,” said a short man with a heavy german accent. The chair started to buzz, two metal arms moved and compressed his skull. His heart was pounding hard against his chest, he squeezed his eyes shut. Then a lightning passed through his head, setting fire to his mind. The fire started to consume everything he was, everything he knew.

Bucky wanted to fight with all his strength, to resist them. Don’t comply! He screamed in his head. But every disobedience, every provocation ended with the same result. Pain. He heard his bones crack, he saw his skin bleed over and over again until his mind started to get foggy.

He couldn’t tell how much time passed between every beating or why he was being beaten. Do they want information? About what? He tried to focus on something that made sense to him that could give him a meaning of all this situation. But the images in his mind passed so fast he wasn’t able to focus on something. Besides, he couldn’t remember how he ended in this hell.

Make it stop, please. Bucky tried to focus on something desperately, the first image in his mind was a street, and several cars were parked on both sides. A blond kid was standing in front of him, his eyes were an intense blue, like the sky and he had a wide grin on his face.

He could see his lips moving and his eyes sparkled with excitement while he cuddled a teddy bear. What did he say? He wanted to speak to him, but before he could mutter a single word a sting in his side pulled him back to the dark chamber where he was held hostage.This is not a dream.

A whimper left his swallowed lips, he spit blood mixed with saliva. An excruciated pain in his ribs made it difficult to breathe. Don’t... The voice kept telling him, but it was starting to fade into the back of his mind. What he was not supposed to do anyway? He was falling slowly into the darkness, it was like small strings were slowly sliding into his mind, he could feel it, and how they wrapped around his body.

“Soldat” barked a man. The chains on his wrists, holding his weight, tingled when he flinched after receiving another blow.

“Soldat” snarled the man, grasping his jaw and forcing his head up to look at him.

“Ready to comply” panted the winter soldier. The man let him go, a triumphant grin in his face and looked for one of the guards, “get him ready so he can go in his first mission”

A new cycle began. At that precise moment James Buchanan Barnes stopped existing and the Winter Soldier was born.

It was a never-ending cycle, and Bucky knew it, even when he wasn’t sure of how or why. For him it was like the day and the night, but instead of the warm feeling the sunlight gave when it caressed the skin, he felt cold. His nights instead of being full of peace or rest were filled with violence, either by his hand or by someone else.

He rose again, but this time there was a different man standing in front of him or that was his first impression. They are always the same, the face is different, the color of the eyes changed between blue, green, brown, and it didn’t matter to him. Each man he faced, each handler, had the same essence. Violence ruled their ways to act, they all chased the same twisted ideal of freedom and repeated it as a prayer. Cut off one head, two more will take its place.

“Soldat” said his new handler.

“Ready to comply” he answered as he was programmed to do. He waited expectantly for his instructions. This man watched him, like evaluating the new toy he received.

Another man got into the room “Well, what you think Coronel Karpov?”

“It’s impressive. Hydra’s fist, the winter soldier,” then the Coronel approached to the winter soldier and as asked the other man “How do you programmed him?” “We make him believe he is part of a machine, he is not a human being”

A voice snapped him back to reality, to the room he got in the new avengers facility. He looked around and saw a blond tall man, his blue eyes full of concern. Steve. Bucky nodded slowly. His gaze fixated on the window, he got stuck in his memories again.

“Buck?” Steve approached him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Steve… I-I” Bucky stuttered, a heavy breath escaped from his lips, “I think there’s a flaw in my code”.

It had been a stressful week, since that day he told Steve that phrase he didn’t leave him alone. He mentally slapped himself, he had finally convinced Steve that he was fine, even if it was a lie and now he was back to square one.

He just wanted to be alone, and now he couldn’t. A sigh escaped from his lips, he knew Steve was his best friend and he just was trying to help but his attempts of making Bucky feel accepted by the rest of the team made him feel crowded. They trained together every morning because Steve was the only one capable of restraining him if something happened.

He was forced to eat breakfast with the rest of the team, but he was wary of all of them and they were always on edge, ready to react if he loses his mind. I’m not insane… Am I? The fact that he tried to kill them all at some point made interacting with them more awkward.

The only members of the team he felt comfortable to be around, besides Steve, where Clint, Wanda and (Y/N). He liked to talk with Clint, he had fought side by side with him in Germany and he didn’t treat him like he would turn into the winter soldier at any moment.

He recommended him horror movies, much to Steve’s consternation. But the most important thing for Bucky was the fact Clint knew what is like to be forced to do things against your will. And he offered him the opportunity to speak when he felt he needed to vent to someone besides Steve.

Wanda was a sweet girl, at the beginning he didn’t like the fact she could read minds and tried to stay away from her or put his mind in blank so she wouldn’t read it. But when she explained to him how her powers worked he was able to relax around her presence.

And finally (Y/N), she had moved into the compound a month after him. And in a lapse of two months, he hadn’t had the chance to interact too much with her because she used to disappear a lot.

He always thought it had something to do with her powers, even if he didn’t know what powers she had. At the moment his best option was invisibility. As far as he knew, Steve and the others rescued her from a hydra base six months before they found him.

But with all the fiasco of the Sokovia’s accords she left, claiming she didn’t want to be part of that. Or at least that was Clint told him when he asked about her. He wanted to know more about her and what kind of powers she had. However, Steve has forbidden the team to tell Bucky anything related to her, arguing he had to interact with (Y/N) and ask her directly.

That punk, he usually thought when he caught a glimpse of her around. Gathering the courage to talk to her was difficult, every time he approached to her he would say a thing completely different from what he wanted. When did I lose my ability to speak with a woman? He used to think, but he could speak with Wanda and hold small talk with Natasha. Why he wasn’t able to speak like a normal human being with her?

Bucky was trying to avoid Steve and his plans to do something together like the old times, he just wanted a moment to be alone and he couldn’t have it. All his hiding spots in the compound were useless now because Steve knew them all. With his enhanced senses he could hear Steve coming down the hall and he was chatting with Sam, he groaned annoyed. He needed a place to hide and now!

He turned around and jogged quietly to the first door he found, opening and closing it carefully. He stared at the door, all his focus were in the footsteps of Steve and Sam. When the sound of their boots against the floor faded, he left a sight of relieve out until a voice called his attention.

“What are you doing?” he turned around and saw (Y/N) standing in the middle of the room. Her voice was curious, confusion written all over her face.

“I’m hiding from Steve” mumbled Bucky, dang! He just got into her room by accident, he knew he should apologize and leave.

However, his curiosity took the best of him and he looked around, taking in everything that decorated her room. The fact that all the walls were covered with clocks of all shapes, sizes and colors confused him, and beside each one they were pictures of different places.

She snickered softly, “He’s nice but he can be annoying sometimes”

Bucky chuckled and watched her, she was wearing black boots, jeans and a big coat. That was kind of odd, they were in the middle of May and he was certain they were around 86°F

“Why you have so many clocks?” he asked curiously, and he realized each clock had a different hour.

“So I know what time it is when I travel,” she shrugged and went back to her bedroom. He didn’t understand what she meant by that, but the photos caught his interest. Bucky studied them one by one. All had the name of where he supposed they were taken.

She returned with a bag pack over her shoulder and approached him.

“I’m going to travel so feel free to stay if you want or you can come with me, I’m going here to watch the dawn” she pointed to the photo of a forested mountain covered with mist. The label had written Shirakawa-go, Gifu-shi, Japan.

“How are you going to arrive before the dawn?” Bucky asked confused, the clock said 05:22 AM and the dawn must be close, it was impossible to arrive in an hour or less there. The quinjet wasn’t that fast.

“I can teleport myself,” she explained, but she was a little surprised “you didn’t know?”

“No,” he whispered, now that make sense of why they would want her as an avenger, the fact she could get in an out could be useful. And it explained why she disappeared every day for hours.

“So are you coming or not?”

Bucky doubted for a moment before he nodded.

“Then run to your room and change into something more appropriate for hiking” she smiled and opened the door “I will meet you in the common room”

Bucky ran to his bedroom and got changed. He was thrilled, after two months of awkward small chat; he finally had the chance to talk with her naturally and she even offered him a way out to the compound he wasn’t going to refuse. In less than 10 min he was ready with a bag pack. He packed a gun and some ammo, because you never know when you could find trouble, a medical kit and other stuff useful just in case.

He walked to the common room and he saw her filling her bag pack with snacks and two bottles of water. She instructed him to put away another two bottles of water. When everything was ready she took Bucky’s hand in his and told him to close his eyes and count to three.

When he opened his eyes a small gasp escaped from his mouth. The travel was so light, it felt like he gave a small jump and now they were in another part of the world. Bucky took a deep breath of cold air, taking in all the different smells of the woods and exhaled.

“Let’s go,” she exclaimed, and motioned him to follow her lead.

The forest was covered with a soft layer of mist and a few birds were singing their soft melodies. He never believed he would be in a place so peaceful and beautiful, or that he would be able to feel relaxed. They walked for twenty minutes until they reached a cliff where he could see the top of the trees covered with mist.

“This is so beautiful,” he whispered. He never felt so free before, and he wished he could stay there forever, “Now I see why you disappear all the time”

“I’m not used to be in the same place for so much time” she shrugged, “I feel like I’m suffocating inside four walls”

“I know that feeling”

Bucky started to think in all the time he spent in a forest like this with Steve and the Howling Commandos, how they used to camp together all around Europe. And his heart sank, he missed his friends and he was lucky to still have Steve with him, but here he was, hiding from him. He wanted to scream and punch every member of hydra for taking away his life and turned him into their perfect weapon.

“Breathe” her voice stopped him from getting lost in his memories. He did as she told and tried to relax his body.

“I can’t stop thinking of everything hydra put in my head”

“I know, I’ve been there,” she muttered, her eyes filled with pain. And Bucky felt guilty for making her think about it.

“I’m so sorry”

“It’s not your fault,” she said and he could see she was trying to keep her tears at bay, “Hydra is merciless and cruel”

They sat in silence for another moment, the mist over the forest was starting to fade. He wanted to say something to her, to offer her comfort, but he wasn’t sure of how to do it.

“Thank you,” Bucky said and he glared at her “for letting me come with you”

“No problem,” she smiled and stood up and stretched her body, “Do you want to explore the forest?”

“Sure”

When they returned it was around midnight in New York, but Bucky enjoyed the trip and spending time with (Y/N) even if Steve scolded both of them for leaving for many hours without telling someone. The next day they went to Machu Picchu, with her powers they were able to enjoy the view of the ancient city without cross paths with the tourist. The feeling of freedom and be limitless, her company offered was refreshing.

After a month of traveling around the world, discovering new places and even taking photos of their little adventures he was starting to feel better, he could speak with the rest of the team more than polite small talk. It was slow but it was an improvement.

They were watching the sunset, sitting on the border of a cliff, somewhere in Italy. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks was soothing. Long silences between them weren’t uncommon or awkward, so he didn’t feel the need to break them.

“You know Steve thanked me for getting you out of your shell”

Bucky chuckled, he was doing better, but that doesn’t mean he was fully recovered. At the moment with the friendship he was starting to develop with her was all he needed.

“At last the little punk will stop annoying us”

And when she laughed, Bucky’s heart skipped a beat. He never heard her laugh before, yes, she smiled softly sometimes or snickered from time to time but this was different. A huge grin appeared in his face, he wanted to hear her laugh again.

“I don’t believe is that easy,” she mocked and Bucky laughed.

When the sun disappeared completely he leaned back to watch the stars, he rested his head on the bag pack and (Y/N) imitated him. Bucky started to think in the last chat he had with Clint, before he and Steve left for a mission.

“I guess he was right,” he mumbled more to himself.

“About what?”

“Clint told me something before he left,” he explained and turned his head to look into her eyes “people can mend each other”

Masterlist

[naiatabris]

500 words don't fit here, so my request is for: An Unexpected Future, Chapter 4, starting with "I slept with Morrigan"

OMG thank you so much for this ask!! For those who haven’t read the fic, here’s the passage in question: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3108065/chapters/6734201

“I slept with Morrigan.”Naia’s stomach did a sick little flip. This is what he’d come to tell her? She crossed her arms, hugging them close to her chest. “Oh, indeed? How was she?” she asked, as if she couldn’t care less who else her fellow elf bedded.Zevran shook his head with a frustrated growl. “You are missing my point entirely. The night before the battle, at Redcliffe. She had me steal a goblet from Riordan and drink some Darkspawn blood first. Does that sound familiar?”The world spun around Naia. This is why I’m still alive. Maker, how? Why?Her legs began to wobble and she dropped her hands to steady herself on the windowsill. Her palms scraped against the stone as she fought for control. “Zev, you didn’t,” she whispered, her heart in her throat. “The Taint is a death sentence, you know that. Why?”Her lover shook his head, his mouth tense. “I did it because she told me you would die if I did not. It seemed reason enough at the time.”“And now?”Zevran’s eyes met hers. “Now, I am the father of some sort of demon god. I dream of Darkspawn and I am always famished. And yes, it still seems reason enough, now. I did not wish you to die, my Warden.”Naia had no idea what to say, or what to feel. Anger seemed as good an option as any. “Oh, so it’s back to ‘my Warden’ now, is it?” she snapped, pushing away from the windowsill and walking to the middle of the room. “Zev, you—you’re impossible!” She spun back to face him, her hands flung up in exasperation. “You’re in my tent every night, apparently happy enough to be there, and then all of a sudden you push me aside like I disgust you and you won’t say two words to me. And now you’re telling me that you drank Darkspawn blood and slept with Morrigan to save my life? What in the hells do you want me to say? You’re the most confusing man in Thedas!”“Oh, indeed?” Zevran asked, his upper lip curling. He crossed his arms defensively. “If you’ve only become confused since we reached Denerim, you have had it rather easy, my Warden. Ever since that first night in your tent I have been nothing but confused.”“Really. You seemed confident enough at the time,” Naia taunted.She expected Zevran to storm out, but he just closed his eyes and dropped his hands to his side, his fists clenched in frustration. “I … how can I explain this to you?” He drew a shuddering breath. “The Crows are trained to harden themselves, to focus on the kill. I did not want to feel the way I feel. I know all too well how these things can end. I did not know what to say or do when I realized I—when I realized what you had become to me. When Morrigan came to me that night, all I knew was that I could not let you die.” He opened his eyes, then, and met her gaze with a pained expression. “Do you understand me at all?”

“An Unexpected Future” was the very first fanfic I ever wrote (though not the first one I published). There were two reasons I wrote the story. The first was to explain how a Warden who didn’t accept the ritual might be alive for the events of Awakening. I decided that (spoiler) Morrigan persuaded Zevran to become a Grey Warden and perform the ritual with her.The second reason I wrote the fic was to flesh out my headcanon surrounding Zevran’s weird end-game dialogue. The dialogue options offer no acknowledgement of your relationship, no chance to flirt, nothing. (I heard somewhere that they’re bugged; not 100% sure if that’s true but it’s definitely plausible.) I decided that the dialogue would make sense if the Warden and Zev were not together at that point–if they had had their argument about the earring, but not the reconciliation.The more I got into writing the story, the more I wanted to flesh out something else that interested me about the Zevran romance: unless you’re breaking up with him or you’re leaving him at the castle gate, he never says “love” to the Warden. It was really important to me in this scene to have Zev declare his feelings for Naia without using the word “love.” This is a guy who has been used, manipulated, treated cruelly, had his feelings stomped out of him for his entire life. I don’t think he entirely understands that he’s in love–just that he has powerful feelings for Naia, the same kind of feelings he had for Rinna, and he’s grappling with them as best he can.Though Naia doesn’t share Zev’s tough background, she is also not terribly sophisticated when it comes to her own emotions. She’s cheerful and optimistic, but she likes to shove the hard stuff deep down rather than deal with it head-on. And she absolutely hates being vulnerable. Her response to Zev’s cold treatment after the earring incident was to pull away from her lover. Pushing him to explain what was going on was too scary because she assumed he would tell her that he wasn’t interested any more. And Naia’s got a temper, so I figured that when Zev finally did get up the courage to tell her about the ritual and why he did it, she might not immediately respond with support (though, as you’ve probably guessed, she comes around in the end).Thanks so much for the ask! This was a scene I wrote and rewrote a lot of times (partly in response to a critique on AO3) and it’s a story that means a lot to me.

[gamerszone2019-blog]

How AI: The Somnium Files Blends Absurdism, Love, And Dreams Into A Murder Mystery

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/how-ai-the-somnium-files-blends-absurdism-love-and-dreams-into-a-murder-mystery/

How AI: The Somnium Files Blends Absurdism, Love, And Dreams Into A Murder Mystery

Like many mystery-driven adventure games, AI: The Somnium Files is a little tough to talk about. It’s not exactly action-packed in its moment-to-moment gameplay, and most of the intrigue in games like it comes from the ways in which they challenge your investigative skills and decision-making–plot twists and character dialogue are often at the heart of it all. This is very much the case when it comes to games under the direction of developer Kotaro Uchikoshi, best known for the Zero Escape series.

Since AI: The Somnium Files was first revealed, we knew that it would channel similar gameplay elements from Zero Escape, but it’s aiming to be an evolution of that. As private detective Kaname Date, you travel between reality and a dream world to unravel the truth behind a series of murders. Its overarching theme revolves around a pun for the word eye: “eye” as in your sight, “ai” the Japanese word for love, and A.I. as in artificial intelligence. Not to mention all the murder victims have one eye gouged out as well. Date himself has one eye that’s actually an A.I. companion named Aiba (a Japanese-English pun for eyeball). And the real name of A-Set, the virtual influencer/idol behind music videos and promotional materials, is Iris.

Last time we spoke with Uchikoshi-san, he talked about love, story details, and the dream world’s Psync mechanic, but there’s still more than meets the eye. To get further insight into what’s going on, we corresponded again via email and dug into the game’s direction. We were also able to loop in the English localization team lead Alex Flagg for additional perspective on what it’s like to deliver a dialogue-heavy Japanese game to a Western audience.

If you’re not caught up on AI: The Somnium Files, check out our interview with Iris “A-Set/Tesa” Sagan or our hands-on preview with the game from GDC 2019. The game launches for PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch on September 17 this year.

Can you explain the “Somnium” world? It’s the key to solving mysteries, but are these people’s secrets, true feelings, dreams? How does Kaname Date use that information throughout the game?

Kotaro Uchikoshi: Somnium means “dream” in Latin. So a Somnium world would mean “dream world.” Dreams are made from fragments of memory stitched together like patchwork. Hidden inside are people’s secrets and suppressed feelings. It’s Kaname Date’s job to interpret what he sees in the dream to solve mysteries and move forward in the investigation. For example, there’s something like this: A girl was alone at the scene of the crime. However, she suffered mental trauma and now has aphonia, so she can’t talk. So, Date will dive into the girl’s dream world and find a lead: she heard a phone ring. Then, Date will return to reality, go back to the scene to investigate and look for a cellphone somewhere. Something like that.

We’ve seen AI being both dead serious, cheery, and sometimes outright absurd. How do you strike a tone that comes together?

Alex Flagg: Through a lot of hard work! Uchikoshi has this amazing ability to blend Wikipedia-diving information dumps, absurdist theater, and sex jokes into a gripping and touching story. What I’ve discovered by playing and localizing his work is that you can get away with a lot that seems narratively inconsistent as long as you’ve already captured the audience’s attention with an intriguing plot and interesting characters. Uchikoshi taught me that tone can fluctuate wildly, as long as the heart is centered and steady. Because if your heart is fluctuating wildly, you’re probably having a heart attack and are about to die. You know, narratively speaking.

KU: This is a hard question. All I can say is…by watching the balance. If I were to compare it, it’s like a barista or a mixologist. Their jobs are very sensuous, and it’s hard to put into words how they balance the ingredients. Or maybe it’s similar to hitting on someone. You can’t always be serious and cool and you can’t always be energetic and carefree. They’ll just brush you off, won’t they? It’s important to understand when to be serious and when to be energetic… What I’m trying to say is that everything is balanced out by things and you can’t just explain it away with words. Having said that, my pick-up techniques have never been very successful. I bet Alex is really good at it, so next time I’m in LA, maybe he can teach me a few tricks!

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AI: The Somnium Files – Official Gameplay Trailer

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There’s some body horror, light gore, and morbid imagery in your games, AI especially. Do you ever have ideas then stop yourself from going too far?

KU: When I was writing the scenario for AI, the character designs weren’t finalized yet. That meant that I only had a general idea of the characters while writing. That’s why I didn’t feel much guilt putting the characters through some really tough times. When the designs came in, I thought, “OMG, so cute!” That’s when the characters started to really exist. But then it crossed my mind. “Ah, why did I do that to them…?” I didn’t want to have a guilty conscience about it, so I thought, “Could I at least try not to put them through the darkest of my ideas?” Because of that, some scenes are now milder than the original idea. But this isn’t censorship, this is love. Love for my characters. I decided to tone down some things, but the story isn’t any less interesting or fun because of it. Please don’t worry about that.

What are your thoughts on canonical endings in games with branching storylines? How does AI handle that?

KU: I remember watching a Hayao Miyazaki documentary, and he said something like, “I’m over this, I don’t want to do this” while drawing original cels. Branching routes are like that to me. It’s so much work. I scream, “Augh! I’m over this, too much work!” while writing the story too. In AI, the story splits from the decisions you make in the Somnia. To put it simply, picking either the “A” lead or “B” lead changes how the story unfolds. Branching stories are a pain in the ass for the creator, but to the player, there’s nothing better. There’s a lot of interesting elements in this game due to the branching paths, so please look forward to it!

What are some important things Akira Okada (assistant director) has brought this time around for AI that you didn’t think of?

KU: Of course Okada-kun was a huge contributor, but AI was created from multiple ideas from all the staff members. For example, Aiba turning into a cute girl in Somnium, the video game inspiration behind a certain action scene, one of the stages from one of the Somnia. All of those were ideas from the staff. I mean, the Somnium parts, from the setting to the structure, was mainly done by Okada-kun and Yamada-san. I have nothing but respect and appreciation for the staff.

Are there any particular difficulties that come out of having to do a simultaneous Japanese and Western release?

AF: Oh, absolutely. Working side-by-side with the Japanese creative team is a totally different experience than picking up a completed project and adapting it.

KU: Thanks to the hard work from Alex, Kazu [Okura], the other Spike Chunsoft Inc. team members, and [community manager] Dave Kracker, I didn’t really have any trouble with simultaneous shipping. So, to the Spike Chunsoft Inc. team of course, the development staff in Japan, and the Chinese localization staff: I thank you very, very much, from the bottom of my heart!

You get to control Aiba in the Somnium world, but you only get a limited time to investigate.

What are some Japanese- or English-only quirks you get to put in the game? Are there some unique things players will get out of either language option?

AF: The Japanese and English are largely the same, script and presentation-wise. There are a few times here and there that, say, a joke was intentionally not localized, or a character’s voice performance in the English has a slightly different feel than the Japanese performance, but for the most part they are two versions of the same game.

Some jokes or one-liners might come across differently in either language. And one thing that we’re very proud of is that A-set’s debut single, “Invincible Rainbow Arrow,” is fully localized, right down to matching the Japanese rhyme scheme and poetic meter. So if you are playing in Japanese, you will hear the Japanese version of the song; if you are playing in English, you will hear the English version.

How involved are you with the performances of the voice cast?

AF: The translator for this project, Kazu Okura, and I were either there at Bang Zoom! studios or listening in over voice call every single day of recording. While we offered feedback and direction, especially during particularly intricate or complicated scenes, we can only take a little bit of the credit: it was our audio engineer JP Aller and voice director Chris Faiella that really helped the words come off the page and become something incredible in the performance.

What’s the toughest aspect for localizing AI that folks might not realize?

AF: I would say the humor is by far the most challenging aspect of localization, especially “dad joke” humor, jokes that are intentionally bad. If you localize that joke to make it genuinely funny, you aren’t exactly matching the tone of the Japanese. If you localize the joke to make it unfunny, you run the risk of the audience not realizing that the joke is supposed to be bad, it’s supposed to make you roll your eyes and groan. AI is full of these kinds of jokes, so my translator and I worked very hard to make them funny…but not too funny.

“Tesa, aka A-Set, you bet.” was totally the localization team’s idea, huh?

AF: Yes, it was. Her slogan cheer is different in the Japanese and the English. In the Japanese, it goes something like “volatile solvent of the net world, Aseton, aka A-set!” It’s a wordplay on the honorific “ton” added to her stage name “A-set,” making it sound like “acetone,” the chemical solvent. Keeping it “Aseton” in English would be clunky, invite mispronunciation, and lose the cuteness factor of the Japanese wordplay. So we decided to go with “Tesa,” a cute, easy-to-say nickname that utilizes the game’s prevalent motif of reflection (“Tesa” is of course “A-set” backwards). There was a time we briefly considered making her nickname “Ace,” but Zero Escape fans will know why we decided against that.

A-set has been a huge part of AI’s lead up. Besides being a major character and idol, what was the idea behind breaking the fourth wall with A-Set’s YouTube channel?

KU: One of the themes of this game is dreams and reality. So by linking the real world that we live in with the artificial world of AI, I tried to express the analogy (or is it a metaphor?) of “dreams and reality,” or something like that. Iris (A-set’s real name) is the goddess of rainbows in Greek mythology. She is said to be the messenger girl that delivers the words of the gods. Rainbows are also sometimes called the “bridge of heaven,” so you could say that A-set is the “bridge” between fiction and reality.

With all the lead up to AI and A-Set at the forefront, how involved are you in her video content?

AF: Very involved! Our team and the creative team in Japan were sharing ideas for videos and story beats for months, coming up with the general “plot” of her YouTube channel together. Once that was more or less in place, we localized and recorded each video based on Japan’s video, which was incredibly difficult because of the fast pace they had to be produced. Often times we didn’t even have a final video render to look at while we were recording, so we had to feel it out by the script alone. But it came together beautifully.

How’s she been as a promotional partner?

KU: She was amazing! I know there were times I pushed her, but she didn’t make a face and took everything very seriously. I thank her from the bottom of my heart. Also, she smells really nice. A sweet scent that tickles a person’s heart… If she comes on screen while playing AI, please put your nose up to the screen. I’m sure you’ll start to smell irises…

Will A-Set’s presence in our real world play into events in AI?

AF: “Our real world”? What a peculiar way of phrasing it. You can see her, hear her; she is information in the universe and she occupies space in your mind at this very moment. She exists in this world the same way I do right now, typing away at my computer, communicating with you only through ones and zeros. One and the same.

KU: I already kind of answered this, but Iris is the bridge that connects our world to their world. As long as she exists, both worlds will continue to be linked.

How much tequila have you drank since the A-Set interview we did?

KU: The situation has changed. Currently, rather than me drinking tequila, it’s more of tequila drinking me. My office is always full of it. That’s where I wrote the game’s story. Just like one of those caterpillars in the bottles of tequila.

Source : Gamesport

[comicteaparty]

January 3rd, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on January 3rd, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Princess Pups by Lindsay Hornsby.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Princess Pups by Lindsay Hornsby~! (https://tapas.io/series/Princess-Pups)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite strip in the comic so far and why?

one strip i really enjoyed myself was this one https://tapas.io/episode/295876 where the pups are having a debate. partly just cause of how quickly the debate devolved, and partly cause i loved how cute it was that the judging pups got to have cake and cookies and were basically the ultimate winners.

although my all time favorite is definitely the valentines strip https://tapas.io/episode/284778. this one just hurt my heart with the cuteness and i think sends such a positive message about how maybe the jerks around us also just didnt get their own valentines and are lashing out in jealousy. and i love the princess pups for putting kindness before revenge.

in terms of comedy, to lighten things up from that last one, there's also this strip https://tapas.io/episode/812585 that i enjoyed. partly cause i always love Pug Pups shenanigans of just basically wanting to eat anything and everything. but also because i like the irony that nope the eclipse was just a giant cookie thing in the sky. although maybe theyll figure it out when it takes a while to disappear

L Hornsby

Hiya, I draw Princess Pups and I'm glad you like it @RebelVampire !

RebelVampire

thank you for coming, @L Hornsby ~!

related to pug pup https://tapas.io/episode/499353 i super loved pug pups idea of a horror story is that the fridge is empty. XD but another good strip just cause they once again didnt scorn the ghost. just said come on ghost, join our party. which i mean is a sign theyre great party throwers cause basically anyone is a potential guest.

L Hornsby

They especially love having a party with someone else who enjoys candy

(even if they are a ghost)

RebelVampire

which now made me overthink wondering if the ghost cant actually eat it and it just passes through them. XD although i doubt pug pup would complain about that. can just follow the trail and eat all those candies

L Hornsby

The ghost probably enjoys at least being around candies and cookies I hadn't considered if it could eat it though. Makes me think about Slimer from GhostBusters going after a buffet

RebelVampire

lol. mysteries for another day probably. more important they have a good, fun experience

L Hornsby

Yeah!

RebelVampire

https://tapas.io/episode/266696 another strip i thought was hilarious. the princess pups making all these elaborate plans to get their food back. meanwhile the cats basically self sabotage by beating each other up and having a slap fight. which tbf is very accurate to cats since they dont like food competition XD

L Hornsby

The Commando Cats sometimes work together, but usually don't

RebelVampire

wait theyre called the commando cats? XD thats great

L Hornsby

Yeah Since the Pups don't talk, it doesn't get brought up in the comics unless I'm putting a note under the comic

I wanted something sort of opposite of "Princess Pups" but with cats and I also wanted them to wear hats instead of crowns

RebelVampire

i do enjoy their hats

QUESTION 2. Which of the Princess Pups is your favorite insofar? What about this pup makes you like them? Of the strips so far, what has been your favorite story to have this pup in it? What about their role in the strip made it enjoyable for you? In regards to your favorite pup, which pup do you love to see them interact with and why? What pup(s) do you feel your favorite should interact with more? Lastly, are there any minor recurring characters you enjoy seeing? Who are they and what about them do you like?

despite where my answers may have lead one to believe, my favorite pup is actually Scruffy Pup. I love her overall design and how it suits her messy personality in general, to start with. I especially just love her eyes though. Sometimes about them just makes her have the cutest facial expressions to me. As far as strips with her in it, I really liked Goat World https://tapas.io/episode/516356. partly cause i enjoyed just how plain enthusiastic she was about going to goat world. things go awry, and in the end the goats that she loved betrayed her by trying to eat all her stuff. which i mean is sad, but also hilarious just cause goats just be doin goat things.

as for interactions, im not sure i really have a preference. although i would like to see scruffy pup and pug pup interact more in the future. cause pug pup is my 2nd favorite and i feel the messiest pup + the eatiest pup could result in the best of pup shenanigans

L Hornsby

I drew Goat World due to a visit to a petting zoo where the goats kept trying to take my map, my backpack, and a piece of thread from my shirt

Scruffy Pup and Pug Pup definitely are the messiest and hungriest of the pups for sure though!

RebelVampire

lol omg. that sounds like quite the experience and reminds me why i dont really go to petting zoos

since pug pup is my second favorite, i will also answer these questions for pug pup. i really enjoy pug pup because she basically the most chill. like that whole pizza party story arch. pug pup didnt care what was on the pizza. she just wanted to eat it. and i think that makes her adorable. her immense single minded focus. i dont really have a fave strip in this case cause i generally like all of pug pup's roles in any strips. i think in general she alone provides a ton of the comedy moments for the comic. XD

in terms of minor characters, i love the commando cats. partly out of my biased love for cats, but i also just love both their cute hats and the fact that theyre super cat like in how they react. like theyre the antagonists more by cat nature rather than this over the top manner you usually see in things.

L Hornsby

They're a mix of a few cats I've had growing up / currently. Cats can be really grumpy and fight each other, but can also be cuddle friends, but then go back to smacking each other XD

RebelVampire

yes that is definitely accurate to cats

mathtans

Hello dere. Only had a chance to read the origin so far this week, but wanted to say I'm impressed at how much gets conveyed without dialogue balloons.

L Hornsby

Pug Pup might be one of my most favorite to draw, but also least favorite because sometimes I forget to color her mouth markings, and I feel silly when that happens

mathtans

Also, I love the term "cloud meeples".

L Hornsby

Thanks @mathtans ! The comic I'd been doing previous to Princess Pups involved a very chatty six year old, so I wanted to try to keep this one very pantomime

RebelVampire

speaking of hte origin story, i love teacup pup had to have official princess pup papers that fluff pup scrutinized thoroughly XD

mathtans

Scanning the backlog here. Yep, that seems accurate to cats, though I admit I'm a cat person.

Teacup pup is precious. Vacuum sucks.

I'm reading through more now. I wonder if they make the charts themselves, or use the wands to do it.

RebelVampire

i actually wondered if the vacuum was accurate to dogs. like i know cats consider them their mortal enemies. but ive never owned a dog to know if they too fear the monster vacuum(edited)

L Hornsby

Sometimes they make things by hand (paw), sometimes TeaCup Pup will use Magics

Oh man, my dog can't stand the vacuum. My dog growing up couldn't stand it either.

King Vacuum is based on this awful vacuum my mom had when I was a kid that weighed probably 50 pounds and was super annoying to use. It was called a Kirby Vacuum (not as cool as Kirby from Kirby's Dream Land)

mathtans

Maybe in the sequel they fight a roomba.

L Hornsby

https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDAwWDMwMA==/z/u4IAAOSwxH1UB0PB/$_35.JPG?set_id=2 this is totally that vacuum

mathtans

Reminds me of the vacuum from "littlest toaster" for some reason.

RebelVampire

we still have a kirby vacuum in my house. XD it is very annoying to use and i support it being the ultimate vacuum enemy

mathtans

"Magic" is too funny.

RebelVampire

as in the strip, math?

cause if you mean the strip, i do wonder how long it was before corgi pup noticed the tail XD

mathtans

The strip I got to, yes. Very "bunny".

OMG, all the feels for that Valentine one, you're right Rebel.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. The strips offer a lot of variety in terms of set-up. Which of the strips did you feel was most relatable as far as the behavior of dogs go? What about that strip makes it this way to you? Of all the strips, which strip played out in a way that you didn’t expect and potentially made you laugh or aww at it? Why did it catch you off guard, and what made the twist likeable? Many of the strips also have positive messages within them. Which strip left the most impact on you in terms of endearment or positive messages behind it? What about the strip left this impact?

next time the pups face a vacuum they can join forces with the commando cats. and together they can win against the roomba army.

mathtans

I don't know much about dog behaviour. I had a newspaper route for 7 years and got bitten once, so mostly I avoid them.

L Hornsby

That's too bad

mathtans

It would be interesting to see the dogs and cats against a common enemy.

L Hornsby

That's true.

mathtans

I didn't expect the 'piff' into the cloud at the bottom of the slide, that was amusing.

RebelVampire

https://tapas.io/episode/334958 that was probably the strip i found probably reflected dog behavior the most. also qualifies as one where i didnt expect the twist. i legit thought they were gonna make a nice garden.

and then they didnt

although poor scruffy pup

missed out on dirt rolling

mathtans

Dog gonnit.

RebelVampire

oh no the puns have begun XD

L Hornsby

If the Princess Pups did more than just bark and make dog noises, there would be A Lot More Puns

RebelVampire

they can just write a dog pun book

send the commando cats a free copy

mathtans

The "silent movie" aspect is pretty cool though.

RebelVampire

yeah i think it works well cause theyre all very expressive and the scenarios have that right blend of simplicity where the stories are always understandable and relateable

mathtans

Actually, if it counts, some of the author comments at the end give me unexpected laughs too. (How DO they get a pool in the clouds?)

Yeah, expressions are great. Some of the posing in particular is fun to read.

RebelVampire

ya know im not gonna question a pool in the clouds cause tbh the beginning made me wonder if they were in doggie heaven since cloud imagery usually equals heaven XD

so i will always be thankful its not

and they just live in the clouds

L Hornsby

LOL oh no, I hadn't thought of that

mathtans

Pug Pup seems so amusingly clueless. Might be my fave, which is weird, because I'm not a fan of the wrinkly look in real life.

I was wondering if they were angels or something initially too. Like would they be visiting earth and seeing humans or something.

L Hornsby

Nah, they just live in the clouds and occasionally slide down rainbows to visit the ground

mathtans

Now alien meeples. Meeples is the best word.

L Hornsby

It really is!

RebelVampire

im glad im not the only one who thought the dead angel thing. XD cause that would be a morbid start.

mathtans

Constantly amazed at how much gets conveyed without dialogue in these strips. So good.

Like the no cookie stuff in the space sequence.

Or the ghost encounter and telling stories.

RebelVampire

this is another strip i think had a twist in that i overguessed. https://tapas.io/episode/616509 cause when the dinosaur leg went missing i was like "nah it couldnt be this is gonna be some doggie profiling." but then nope, it was my favorite pup being super obvious about it. which also surprised me cause totally thought pug pup would be the bone thief if it was anyone.

mathtans

Or for that matter, Santa and the goat.

Heh, nice parody of the venus oyster shell painting in that one.

RebelVampire

i questioned corgi pup's choice of gift. i wasnt sure if scruffy pup would still even like goats after the goat world incident XD

and then the goat tried to eat scruffy pup, the nightmares relived O_O

mathtans

I like the one just before that, with the fly needing it's own book. Would not have called that.

Goats are tricky. Like elves.

L Hornsby

Corgi Pup assumed that Scruffy Pup's love of goats hadn't wavered after such and experience at Goat World. But Corgi Pup probably should have examined closer to see that it was a Baby Krampus she was buying instead

RebelVampire

i did like the fly needing its own book. also made me aww just cause i love when the pups are being precious like that and putting kindness first. truly model princesses

mathtans

I hate getting a krampus in my legus.

RebelVampire

at least santa saved the day

mathtans

Yis, very precious attitudes.

RebelVampire

another strip i loved that had a twist was https://tapas.io/episode/833602

like i assumed pug pup would defy the odds and catch something

did not expect it to be scruffy pup XD

and those looks of surprise are priceless XD

mathtans

I'm learning about pineapples.

RebelVampire

haha

i thought it was super lucky teacup pup was the one to get the pineapple

so she could cheat and use the wand

cause idk how the other pups wouldve managed XD

QUESTION 4. The Princess Pups have met with two other pup groups: the CowPoke Pups and the Space Pups. Which of these other groups interested you the most and why? Whether your favorite group, which about each story line did you like? What other groups do you think the Princess Pups might meet? In terms of future stories, do you think we will see the CowPoke Pups or Space Pups again? If so, in what manner might we see them? In general, what shenanigans do you think the Princess Pups will get up to in the future?

i liked both groups, but i think im gonna side with the space pups just cause they had fun things like the ability to turn off gravity. and no gravity makes for some fun parties where you can do lots and lots of things.

mathtans

Huh, I don't think I even clued in that she was the only one with a wand.

RebelVampire

yes it was her prize for defeating king vacuum and being the brave one

mathtans

Space Pups also had alien meeples.

Rebel - I thought it was just her official graduation gift or something, like the others had them in reserve without occasion to use them.

L Hornsby

Oh man, I looked up so many images of Pineapples and how they grow for that Pizza Party story

mathtans

I was wondering how much research was necessary. Ever decide, 'heck with it, they're getting broccoli'?

L Hornsby

TeaCup Pup was passed the mantle of holding The Wand by Fluf Pup after the origin story @mathtans

How DOES broccoli grow?

mathtans

I thought it was just heads in the ground like cauliflower but now I'm not sure. O.o

L Hornsby

It grows up and is quite green lol

still has leafy things around it like the Pineapples

mathtans

Still reading during the chat. I like how the unconventional topping of a cupcake helped save the day.

L Hornsby

I did like drawing the Alien Meeples a lot

RebelVampire

broccoli is a weird looking plant ill say. although would probably have been easier than pineapple. but then again idk how many pups would want broccoli on the pizza. not that i think pug pup would complain. i just assume pug pup will eat anything edible. maybe some not edible things

i really liked in the cowpoke pups storyline where they had to catch up to a moving train and jump on. it felt very epically western and made me admire how cool and brave the pups are.

mathtans

Yeah, pug doesn't seem too fussy.

Also, the Space Pups returned to create an eclipse, that was an unexpected guest starring role.

L Hornsby

The Solar Eclipse in 2017 was sooooooo cool! And it totally looked like a giant sandwich cookie to me

RebelVampire

its kind of a shame the space pups didnt invite the princess pups again to eat the sandwich cookie

i kind of hope we see the space pups again as the call the princess pups needing help on a space mission

ultimate space adventure

L Hornsby

They'll probably show up again

mathtans

I kinda remember that eclipse, aye.

Hm, are there also pups that live in the sea? Mer-Pups?

L Hornsby

The Space Pups are based on my dog Hannah and her brother Walter. We adopted Hannah and someone else adopted Walter a few days later

There might be Mer-Pups?

RebelVampire

omg

i totally support mer pups

that would adorable

and cool undersea parties can be had

with colorful coral

L Hornsby

The Pups might end up going back in time first. I'm a sucker for drawing dinosaurs

mathtans

Oooh, time travel is always fun. Hopefully they don't go for the bones of the live dinosaurs.

I've reached the Go West part.

RebelVampire

that also sounds awesome. can just picture them running from the trex. then making friends. all sitting around having cookies together

L Hornsby

Prehistoric cookies

or maybe just dinosaur shaped ones

RebelVampire

thatd also be cute. endear the dinosaurs to them by making cookie self portraits.

i wonder if there are secret agent pups

who go around everywhere wearing sunglasses

L Hornsby

maybe?

mathtans

(Sorry, little one was fussing, had to run off for a moment.)

Just wanted to say before the end, the goat eyes are interestingly unique, makes it easy to tell them apart from the rest of the animals.

RebelVampire

https://tapas.io/episode/1197013 i really love this vulture train dude with the hat btw. i actually hope we see the vultures again cause they had such great expressive and evil faces

mathtans

Those vultures are pretty petty.

L Hornsby

Vultures are both cute and terrifying in real life

And the same with goats. I wanted to use Actual Goat Eyes because they're SO WEIRD

mathtans

Oh hey, caught up just in time. I like the one balloon falling down.

Goats + Pineapples = wha?

RebelVampire

as we draw to a close, i just want to say the comic was really nice and a great way to start off the year i think. there were just so many heartwarming moments and i loved the immense kindness the pups always showed despite adversity

L Hornsby

A Goat Pineapple?!?

mathtans

Pineapple with slanty eyes.

Agreed, Rebel.

L Hornsby

Aw, thanks guys! I don't have a huge following so it was good to hear from some readers!

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Lindsay Hornsby, as well, for making Princess Pups. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Lindsay Hornsby’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/Princess-Pups

Lindsay Hornsby’s Gumroad Shop: https://gumroad.com/fizzlebit

Lindsay Hornsby’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fizzlebit

Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club

Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about Chasing Little Lights by Evelyn Shi. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, January 10th, from 5PM to 7PM PST for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!

Comic’s Main Site: http://www.cllcomic.com/

Comic’s Tapas Mirror: https://tapas.io/series/cll