#please take the time to analyze characters not just make them full evil or full good
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To those who keep saying But.cher wants to be like his father and also pushed Ry.an away just cause he's an ass/hates kids. Why do you think he's trying to keep him away? To protect the kid from himself, as he always does with the people he actually cares about. Does that really make you think he hates kids? Even Bec.ca said "I know you hate kids" and he was like "tf? No, I just know I'd be a bad example for them" or something. The narrative is screaming all of this time and time again. Sure, his method of doing it is bad and severely flawed, but that's But.cher's character through and through. He's trying, he's just not good at it. He takes the worst decisions thinking they're the best ones â he is a flawed man but fuck, he tries. He's not just some uncaring demon. That's what's fun about the whole cast of the show â they're all nuanced.
#;; the choleric slaughterer ;; (billy but.cher)#it just makes me so mad I havenât gotten over it because it's such a wrong take#Billy is bad yeah but he is trying to be good and he also has some good traits he's not a demon#please take the time to analyze characters not just make them full evil or full good#that's not what the boys (the show) is about#these tags were from like 3 days ago#But yeah basically this#call me the but.cher protection unit cause I don't give a damn what comes off him later - the nuances have been there and I adore him#sorry for the long post but teehee this has been sitting on my drafts for a while#and that tag just got to me again lmfao#of course unrelated to my mutuals or followers#just tag nonsense man
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Thanks for explaining the entirety of the Galidraan incident/Jango's role in it. It's been ages since I've read that particular comic so I only had vague memories and ideas of how that incident went down. Hazy memories combined with the weird Jedi vs True Mandalorians takes I've seen in a lot of fics was making my head spin.
I'm glad it was helpful! I get that a lot of people create/consume fanworks without actually looking at the original media. Which, is ok! I'm not here to gatekeep anyone and how they choose to enjoy fandom and fictional entertainment.
But for me personally, the fun part of creating my own fanworks is personally watching/reading the original media, and then reflecting on it, reinterpreting it, altering, all with an understanding of the base materials that I'm working with. If I choose to discard part of it, I do it with full awareness and intent. Collecting the pieces of the puzzle and figuring out how I want to put them together is what's interesting to me!
That means that to the best of my ability, I will try to collect and actually go through the base media as much as I can before making a thing. I sometimes can't get through everything, because in a franchise as big as Star Wars there's always some obscure media I haven't or can't get my hands on, and my time and sanity is limited. But it's important to me that I make an effort.
With Galidraan specifically, Jango's a character I really care about and am fascinated by, and have spent a crapton of time analyzing, both his past and motivations. I also really like both the True Mandalorians and the Jedi! So it's frustrating when I see people pit these two groups together, when they are BOTH generally portrayed to be noble, with good intentions, and then there's Death Watch manipulating it all from the shadows. Combined with Death Watch's increasing role in new Star Wars media like the Mandalorian, being consumed by people new to the fandom....
and I'm just like please y'all. Give Evil credit where it's due instead of pitting the good guys against each other, yeah???
â â Send YukiPri an Ask! â â
#YukiPri replies#Anonymous#Galidraan#Star Wars#True Mandalorians#Jedi#Death Watch#OP comment: to be clear I do not mean that EVERYTHING about both the True Mandos and Jedi are good#they are both flawed#but that in no way makes either organization the same as Death Watch#and in this particular story there is an *explicit* antagonist#and it is neither Jango nor the Jedi nor even Dooku
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Why I love the Spymaster #99: The begging!
Find my full series under the HELP I WUVS HIM tag.
#99: The begging!
This is a slight rewrite of an essay I wrote [When the Master kneels and begs...], redone so it can be added to my list.
God, I love it when the Master begs the Doctor. There's the sadistic Schadenfreude of watching a character who has been so merciless pleading for mercy. There's also the opportunity to analyze the pleas and determine what the Master really wants. As the Spymaster would say, "So satisfying!"
Let's look at three scenes in which the Master grovels to the Doctor. [This is not a comprehensive list of all begging scenes, just a few with which I am familiar.] In order of air date or publication date, they are as follows:
Delgado Master begging Three for mercy in The Time Monster
Delgado Master begging Three for help in the novel Harvest of Time
The Spymaster begging Thirteen in The Power of the Doctor
Our first example of the Master LITERALLY FALLING TO HIS KNEES AND BEGGING occurs in The Time Monster, which aired in 1971. In this scene, Kronos, who was tortured and imprisoned by Delgado Master, tells the Third Doctor and Jo that they [Kronos] want to torture the Master in retribution. H/T @themastergifs for the Time Monster gifs!
(The Master comes out of his TARDIS.) MASTER: No! (The Master falls to his knees.) MASTER: Doctor, please. Please help me. I can't bear it. Please, Doctor, please. DOCTOR: Mighty Kronos, may I ask one last favor of you? KRONOS: Name it. DOCTOR: His life. His freedom. KRONOS: He made a prisoner of me. DOCTOR: Yes, I know. But would you allow us to deal with him in our way? KRONOS: I do not understand you, but if that is your desire, so let it be. MASTER: Thank you, Doctor.
The Third Doctor says that Delgado Master is returning to Earth with them, but of course Delgado Master skedaddles in his own TARDIS, prompting Jo to remark, "Here we go again!"
For our second example of Masterful abjection, we turn to the 2013 Doctor Who novel Harvest of Time by Alistair Reynolds. In this story, all of the Master's past, present, and future incarnations have been turned into a giant genius battery by the Sild, evil robot crabs, to take over time. In chapter 27, Delgado Master somehow feels released from the influence of all his other "genius battery" incarnations. He wants to be a kinder person. Three does not believe the Master and rejects the Master's claims, even when the Master grovels in abject supplication on page 269:
'As one Time Lord to another. We were friends once. Let me live. Don't make me become that thing again.' [âŚ] The Master fell to the Doctor's feet, clutching his trouser legs. 'I beg of you. Put aside all I have done to youâŚ' But the central column of the console had ceased its rise and fall. The Doctor stepped away from the pathetic, kneeling figure. The Master was sobbing. 'It was a nice try,' the Doctor said, not without a certain fondness. 'But really, after all we've been through, did you honestly expect me to fall for it?'
The Master snaps out of it as the influence of the evil "genius battery" incarnations reasserts itself, restoring him to his usual arrogant, destructive personality. Then the Doctor thinks [pages 270-271]:
The Doctor wondered if the Master was simply up to more trickery and gamesmanship. But some vile intuition told him otherwise. The Master was being sincere now, as he had been sincere in the TARDIS. And that could only mean that the Doctor had committed perhaps the gravest error of judgement in all his years.
The Master's words tolled in his head like a cracked bell. You, of all people, have always been ready to see the best in people, even in their darkest hours.
And that was true, most of the time.
'I'm terribly sorry,' the Doctor said, quietly.
Our final example of Masterful supplication appears in The Power of the Doctor. Ruth Doctor and Yaz are undoing the Spymaster's forced regeneration of Thirteen into the Spymaster. "I erased you, Doctor!" cries the Spymaster. "Don't let me go back to being me."
For all their fucked-upness, both Delgado Master and the Spymaster are both truly, desperately groveling in these three cases, asking their Doctors for help. In The Time Monster, Delgado Master seeks to avoid pain and suffering. In Harvest of Time, Delgado Master wants to remain separate from his other selves and have the chance to be a better person. In The Power of the Doctor, the Spymaster is sick of being unhappy, and he wants to change.
In these three cases, the Master feels confined and miserable in their cruelty and meanness and sadness. They want to be something different. [Or, in the case of Delgado Master in The Time Monster, he wants to avoid consequences of his actions and pain and suffering in general.] They ask for help from their old friend/worthy opponent/best enemy.
Only in the first case does the Doctor show compassion. In The Time Monster, the Third Doctor asks Kronos to spare Delgado Master. Three is not exactly giving the Master a chance to become a better person, but the Doctor is allowing the Master a chance to escape an endless cycle of pain and suffering and instead to be punished in "our way" -- presumably by imprisonment in UNIT confines. [I would also argue that Three pleads for the Master's release because the Doctor is heavily invested in endless competitions of oneupmanship with the Master. The Doctor doesn't want to quit playing with their former friend/best enemy, so they ask for the Master's reprieve, knowing full well that the Master will escape and the games will continue.]
In Harvest of Time and The Power of the Doctor, Three and Thirteen each make the not-really-Doctor-like decision to ignore their Master's pleas and assume that he's insincere. Only Three acknowledges and regrets that mistake, however. I really hope that Thirteen's ruthlessness and general denial of feelings will come back around and BITE A FUTURE INCARNATION IN THE ASS.
@sclfmastery @natalunasans @whovianuncle @rowanthestrange @timeladyjamie
#the master#doctor who#dw meta#the time monster#harvest of time#the power of the doctor#delgado master#roger delgado#sacha dhawan#spymaster#the spymaster#HELP I WUVS HIM#don't let me go back to being me#don't make me go back to being that thing#begging#when the master begs#the master begging the doctor#schadenfreude#is the doctor merciful?#is it mercy or allowing the master to escape consequences?#themastergifs
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Why ACOTAR 5 Is (Without a Doubt) Elainâs Book
Warning: This post will be a long one, and will analyze the series as a whole (including ACOSF). As you read it, please consider taking your shipping goggles off, as none of this has anything to do with shipping and everything to do with character development/plot/the overall narrative of the series/good storytelling. Thank you!
Main points:Â
Elainâs role in the ACOTAR series
Elainâs character evolution throughout the series
The foreshadowing in ACOSF (+ bonus POVs)
The overarching plotÂ
SJMâs own words
The ACOTAR Series and Elainâs Role
We have multiple interviews of SJM saying that Nesta and Elainâs role started off as a fairytale trope: that of the evil sisters. Then, Nesta surprised her when she decided to go after Feyre in ACOTAR, and the rest is history.
The sisters went from being a trope to being an instrumental part of the series. In ACOMAF, they were a link to Feyreâs human life (a final thread that she needed to let go of), as well as a means to an end (first, by being a bridge between the IC and the Queens, and then, as leverage, or weapons that were used against Feyre in Hybern). The final scene in ACOMAF was the catalyst for everything that happened in ACOWARâand everything that is yet to comeâbut, most importantly, it also opened the door to two new character arcs/journeysâtwo new protagonists.
The protagonist exists as a sympathetic device to drive a story. To be effective in this role, they are usually there from the inciting moment to the end.
The similarities between their journey and Feyreâs are astounding: human made into something that she was raised to fear; coming to terms with trauma; letting go of the past; accepting her new condition; and the list goes on and on.
Now, who had more to lose by becoming fae?
And who lost more than anyone else?
Elain lost a future.
She was happy, content, in love.
Then, everything was ripped away from her in the span of a few minutes.
She was turned into something she had been raised to fear, something that her own fiancĂŠe had been raised to hate.
And, if that wasnât enough, she was also forced into a bond neither her, nor Lucien, wanted. Mated to a man who participated, even if unknowingly, in the loss of her lifeâof her future. A man who did not know her, want her, love her.
This, right here, is good storytelling. It sets the stage for what is to comeâfor Elainâs future story and character arc.
ACOWAR is centered around repercussions:
For Elain, this book is one of healing, at least on the surface. SJM built the foundation of Elainâs journey, evidenced by:
Elain hitting rock bottom
Erasing any hope of a future with Graysen
Severing the last thread to her human life (with the death of her father)
This book also emphasizes Elainâs vital role in future books by:
Making her powerful (a seer)
Making her instrumental in the war against Hybern (due to her visions)
Having her save both, Nesta and Cassian (the protagonists of ACOSF)
Creating a connection between her and Vassa (and, ultimately, between Lucien, Vassa, and Jurian)
Having her introduce the next big bad (Koschei)
Hinting at her being the only one who can locate the one thing that can kill Koschei (the onyx box)
So, when you add everything that we know from ACOMAF and ACOWAR, what do we have? Potential.
We also have a character whose journey has been building since ACOTAR. The most significant hint is the constant use of the âdirty handsâ imagery in reference to Elain. But more on that later.
Once the ACOTAR series wrapped up, we learned that, while Feyre and Rhysandâs journey was over, Sarah had more stories to tellâspecifically, Nesta, Elain, and the ICs. As such, ACOFAS had two purposes:
To wrap up Feyre and Rhysâs story.
To introduce the future plot/main conflict and, with it, the next couple.
ACOFAS, however, also served to set up the stage for future protagonists, as well:
We saw some progress in Elain (her keeping busy with gardening and baking, her still having bad days, her friendship with Nuala and Cerridwen, and her slowly finding her place within the IC)âall of this was brought up again in ACOSF.
We got hints about Azriel and Elainâs growing feelings for each other (a storyline that was present throughout ACOSF, and confirmed in Azrielâs Bonus POV).
We learned about Azrielâs estateâRosehall.
We got Morâs POV, and learned some new things about her which will probably factor into her future book.
Again, SJM spent time focusing on Elain, fleshing out her character (while still giving Nesta and her journey center stage), which only solidifies the fact that she will be getting her own story soon.
Itâs interesting to note that Azriel was not given a POV like Mor, and had very little character development (in comparison to Elain).
Now, letâs look at ACOSF. We have:
New conflictsâwith the Queens and Beron
A new villainâKoschei
An overarching plot that connects the conflicts with the villainâthe alliance between Koschei, the Queens, and Beron
A secondary, but related, plotâVassa and, with her, the Band of Exiles (Lucien and Jurian)
Potential weaponsâthe Made objects
A potential solutionâthe onyx box
What do all of these have in common?
Elain.
She is directly tied to both, the Queens and Beron (and the Autumn Court). Sheâs had ties to Koschei since ACOWAR (she was the first to tell the IC about him, after getting visions about him). Her visions, in turn, led to the introduction of Vassa, which created a link between them both (and Lucien, because of their mating bond). She is the only one, apart from Nesta, who can find the Made objects (and a 4th one was introduced in ACOSF). She is also the only one, apart from Nesta, who can Make an object. Finally, she is the only one who can locate the onyx box (an image sheâs been seeing since ACOWAR).
As a seer, Elain is arguably the most valuable character in the NC. She has been having visions about both, Koschei and Vassa, since ACOWAR.
Most importantly, howeverâher journey has been hinted at since ACOMAF:
Her role in future books having already been established, what about Elain as a character, as a protagonist?Â
Letâs begin by looking at what a character arc is:
While main characters might face big challenges, character arcs have to do with internal, personal change. Characters will find their strengths and weaknesses tested over the course of the storyâso that by the time they arrive at the story's end, they are a changed person.
When the protagonist overcomes external obstacles and internal flaws in order to become a better person, it becomes a heroâs journey.
At its core, this arc is made up of three points:
The Goal: Every character needs to have a goal. It might be to fall in love. Or it might be to make as much money as possible. Either way, their journey will be hindered by...
The Lie: A deeply-rooted misconception they have about themselves or the world that keeps them from reaching their true potential. In order to reach their goal, theyâll need to acknowledge and overcome the Lie, by facingâŚ
The Truth: While the character may have their own plans, the positive change arc has its own goal: self-improvement. This is achieved when they learn to reject The Lie and embrace The Truth.
Now, letâs look at what we know about Elain:
The Goal: To defeat Koschei/the Queens/Beron.
The Lie: That she doesnât have what it takes. That she is not as strong as her sisters. That she is the weak link, too gentle and sweet to get her âhands dirty.â
The Truth: That she is just as powerful AND capable as her sisters, and that she can do anything she puts her mind to (find the 4th object, discover the location of the onyx box, fight against Koschei/the Queens/Beron).
We already see SJM start to break down the Lie in Feysandâs Bonus Chapter:
This is followed by Feyre saying:
So not only is Elain not afraid to get her hands dirty, sheâs also not afraid of getting hurt in the process.
ACOSF is filled with moments that hint at Elain becoming just as powerful (if not more so) than her sisters. She has a very important role to play in future books, because she is the only one who can locate Koscheiâs box and the 4th object. Her visions have been instrumental in the series so far, and there is a big hint that she might have more than just seer abilities:
Powers. Plural.
It makes sense for Elainâs book to be next. SJM has been scattering crumbs for her story since ACOTAR, and she is the character who would add the most to the plotâthe only character who can move the plot forward.
You cannot ignore all the foreshadowing:
= a literary device that writers utilize as a means to indicate or hint to readers something that is to follow or appear later in a story.
Clear foreshadowing in ACOSF (it would take too long to list all the passages in previous books, as well):Â
These are just a few examples but, for me, the one that gives it away is this passage (that can easily be overlooked) in Feysandâs Bonus POV:
SJM is basically telling us that, once Nestaâs journey ends, Elainâs will begin.
And it makes sense!
This series is about the Archeron sisters. About human women turned fae.
The first three books were about Feyre. The fourth about Nesta. It would not make sense to skip Elain, only to return to her story in the final book. Why?
Because, in order to defeat Koschei, all three sisters need to have reached their full potential. All three need to be healed, and strong, and fully in control of their lives and powers. You cannot cram everything into one book: Elainâs healing journey/character arc, Vassaâs own journey (because there is no way that SJM will NOT write a Swan Lake retellingâjust look at her Pinterest board!), finding the 4th object, finding the box, and, ultimatly, defeating Koschei.
Feyre had a whole book to healâACOMAF
Nesta had a whole book to healâACOSF
Elain will have a whole book to heal, as well.
No other character adds as much valueâor has as much untapped potentialâthan Elain.
Also, there is no way that SJM will postpone telling her story in favor of a male character (Azriel). If youâve read any of her books, you know that it is always the female characters that eclipse the male characters.
Also, if Elain will become dark or even a villain (temporarily), then this will take place in her own story, and will not be used as a plot device for angsty!Azriel or for another couple to make sense/be pushed together.
If we look at the pattern in ACOTAR, we have:
The first book ends with a happily ever after. The MC has defeated the big bad and has walked off into the sunset with her LI. There are hints about a future conflict, but nothing is fleshed out (in ACOTAR, Feyreâs bargain with Rhys + a potential conflict between the courts and with Hybern).
The second book is all about development (both, character development, in the form of the MCâs healing journey, and plot development). The scene is being set for the final conclusion (the war/battle), and everything that takes place serves to bring the characters closer to the main conflict resolution. The book ends on a false happily ever after (Feysandâs mating bond, having what they need to annul the Cauldronâs powers), followed by a cliffhanger (the sisters turning fae, Feyre returning to the Spring Court).
The last book is centered around defeating the big bad and ends on a happily ever after for (almost) everyone involved. It brings the main players together in a final showdown that ends with good ultimately defeating evil.
If we are to look at this pattern, then:
ACOSF - Ends with a happily ever after (Nesta has healed, reconnected with her sisters, found her place in the IC, and has a family outside the ICâGwyn, Emerie). She has defeated Briallyn, but the biggest threatâKoscheiâhas barely made an appearance, and there is no ending in sight.
ACOTAR 5 - Elainâs healing journey. Finding the 4th object. Knowing exactly what has been happening behind the scenes with Beron, the Queens, and Koschei. Finding the 4th object and uncovering the location of Koscheiâs onyx box. Cliffhanger: Koschei has been freed/has found a way to free himself.
ACOTAR 6 - The journey to find the onyx box or a way to destroy whatever is inside. The repercussions of Koscheiâs freedom. Vassaâs story coming full circle. Now that all three Archeron sisters have reached their full potential, they will most likely join forces/powers to hold off Koschei long enough for Vassa (because she NEEDS to have the killing blow) to finish him off.
This post is already long enough, but here are some honorable mentions that I havenât spoken about because I wanted this to be a mostly character-driven argument:
The mating bondâElain needs to either accept it or reject it, and I cannot see this happening in the last book because it would lose its effect (considering that they need to defeat Koschei in this book)
ElrielâThe unresolved feelings between them need to be addressed/dealt with.
The Blood DuelâThere is no way this isnât happening. SJM wouldnât mention it without it playing some sort of role in Elainâs book.
I might make another post (because I still havenât addressed everything I wanted to), but Elainâs book is (without a doubt) next.
As a reminder: SJM has recently said that writing about characters that are hated/disliked is something that she loves doing. I think itâs safe to assume that, given the recent wave of hatred/dislike towards Elain, we are in for an epic journey.
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Deltarune: On tea, relationships, and why people probably need to stop exaggerating
Alright, so ever since the introduction of the âcharacter flavoredâ teas in chapter 2, there has been a lot of discussion about them. If you havenât heard of it yet, in Deltarune Chapter 2, thereâs an item thatâs a tea that you can buy from an NPC and choose the flavor of, giving you a flavor that is named after a party member. So, Kris tea, Noelle Tea, Susie Tea, and Ralsei Tea.
The fun thing about this item is that it can more or less be used to âtrackâ the relationships between the characters, so to speak. For example, if Noelle has the Susie tea, even if sheâs not supposed to drink it due to normally leaving the party, sheâll still have a reaction to it, wondering if they would sell this in gallons and recovering an absurd amount of HP, 400 to be precise.
(this is long as hell, so please continue reading under the cut)
These teas are also actually a reference to a book series Toby is a fan of, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, which does have a chapter about students having ice cream flavored after their classmates. This is most evident when the characters drink their own tea, which tastes like nothing to them and recovers the least amount of HP: 10. In the books, the students also could not perceive the taste of their own flavor of ice cream.
So, the fandom gets ahold of this information and starts testing out the teas and how characters react to them, right? The thing is, Iâve seen people kind of exaggerate the importance of these items and even the meanings of them, and while I think everyoneâs entitled to harmless headcanons speculating on the relationship of characters, the problem is people are using these teas as immutable proof and part of their theories.
One of such exaggerations comes mostly in the form of the infamous Ralsei Tea, as to which Kris apparently does not show much reaction, though curiously Ralsei is still happy to see Kris drinking it, and it only recovers 60 HP. For reference, the teas usually cap at a good 120 HP, which is when a character loves the flavor, Noelle being the outlier because she really is just that in love with Susie. For the most part the Fun Gang has pretty positive reactions to each otherâs flavor of teas, recovering 120 HP⌠with the exception of Krisâ reaction towards Ralsei tea.
And the problem starts now: Due to this, people started using this little tidbit in their theories, claiming this was proof that Kris actually dislikes or even hates Ralsei, that we should be ashamed of ourselves for making Kris hug Ralsei, that it is torture for them that we choose nice dialogue options towards Ralsei, some going as far as to claim this is somehow tied to the infamous âRalsei is secretly evilâ theories.
But does this speculation hold any actual weight when analyzed more deeply?
⌠No. Iâm sorry, it just does not, Iâm not going to entertain this. In this post, Iâm going to deconstruct how the teas really work, and exactly why claiming that this is good enough proof that Kris would dislike Ralsei is an exaggeration at best and downright false at worse.
To truly make a precise conclusion, we must first look at the full picture. We know that 10 HP means âtastes like nothingâ, and we know that 120 HP means âtastes amazingâ, but are there any other reactions that arenât either 10 or 120, aside from the 60 HP we already know from Ralsei tea?
Pictured: Noelle reacting to Kris tea.
Pictured: Kris reacting to Noelle tea.
Pictured: Ralsei reacting to Noelle tea.
Pictured: Noelle reacting to Ralsei tea.
I think what people forget here is that you donât have to really adore someone or outright hate them. Sometimes youâre more neutral on people. And I think thatâs what happens here. As you can see here, Ralsei recovers 10 less HP for Noelle than Kris does for him, and still calls her flavor âsoft and sweetâ. Meanwhile, Noelle claims his tea has ânothing in itâ, even though she still recovers 50 hp.
Does this somehow mean Ralsei hates Noelle, or she hates him, for that matter? ⌠No, that wouldnât make sense, they just met, they know nothing about each other. We do learn here one important thing though, flavor is not tied to HP recovery, as in, the flavor of each characterâs tea will taste different to a different person based on what they perceive of them.
As a comparative example, while Kris tea tastes like apple juice to Susie due to her always smelling the apple shampoo they use, Kris tea tastes like blueberries, which is a reference to Krisâ appearance in the Dark World. So while Ralsei tea tastes like nothing to Noelle as she canât perceive him well enough yet, it still heals 50 HP due to it not being her own tea, and Ralsei heals for the same amount, but he seems to perceive others based on appearance and wants to find something good to say, so he ends up tasting it as something âsoft and sweetâ because thatâs what Noelle appears like.
We can also gain a new âbaseâ HP recovery that is accounted for when characters drink tea that is not their own: 50 HP. And we know 50 HP means âI was literally just made aware of your existence and canât comment much on you yetâ. Now, if you look at Kris and Noelle, they recover 70 HP from each otherâs tea. In Noelleâs words, they have been neighbors their entire lives, yet they still find it hard to call each other friends, necessarily. Although you can choose the prompt âweâre friendsâ, the reasoning still stands: Kris and Noelle just donât have that much to say about each other. If you remember, when you visit Rudy at the hospital in chapter 1, then Noelle afterwards, theyâll comment on how Kris usually isnât as involved or interested in their neighborâs business, suggesting they really donât hang out as much as youâd think.
So, 50 HP, 70 HP. Where does that leave us for Ralseiâs 60 HP? Does it actually reveal evidence of hatred or at least dislike?
⌠The answer, if youâve been paying any attention, is no, of course not. If 50 HP means âliterally just learned the other existsâ while 70 HP means ânot exactly great friends but have known each other for a long time and shared memoriesâ, then that puts Ralsei at a pretty advantageous spot all things considered. Even with him acting somewhat suspicious, even with him being a creature from an entirely new magical world Kris was made aware of literally a day ago, even with Ralseiâs clingy behavior, Kris considers him more than just some random person they just met, and almost a good acquaintance to the level of Noelle.
And sure, you could still bring up comparisons to the higher HP recoveries, like Susie recovering 120 HP from everyone despite also not really being exactly friends with any of these people for too long, and for that I will sayâŚ
That girl will eat anything and considering they are all flavors she enjoys sheâll obviously down it in a second, and
Susie is just⌠a more open person. Once you get her guard down and let her know you truly want to be her friend and think she is cool, sheâll immediately consider you a friend and part of her team. (Itâs also kind of sad in a way because it shows she may be desperate for the feeling of belonging but letâs not get into that right now).
Kris, however, is a much more reserved person. Once again I must remind you how everyone in Hometown comments about Kris not usually being very outgoing or talkative. Hell, even when they drink Noelle tea, no one can tell whether they like it or not. Susie may be an exception to this rule, simply because they do have a lot in common, particularly to the fact she was also always an awkward quiet person that their classmates could never place and would often get in trouble. Even if she was mean to them and a downright bully in chapter 1, teens can still have some pretty weird appreciations, and you can tell they must have been wanting to befriend her from the start. It simply just is a better relationship to them. Otherwise, people they havenât invested in knowing well will probably not cause the same reaction.
Bottom line is⌠why are we having this debate again? In the end, it feels rather silly. Yes, Kris doesnât recover 120 HP from Ralsei tea. Big deal? That doesnât mean they hate or even dislike him, that thereâs a deep turmoil and conflict going on between the two already. Ralsei is just a new friend they are still getting used to, thatâs it. Canât blame the kid for having boundaries.
For further proof, if you learn more about the content that is being referenced here, youâll learn that in the same chapter of the book, there is actually a way for oneâs flavor to taste âhorribleâ due to a person being perceived that way, but at no point in these reactions itâs suggested anyoneâs flavor tastes bad, that any of them are disgusted, so I doubt any of these reactions can be seen as dislike.
Dang⌠this got a little long⌠but I just felt like I had to make this post because, reiterating, I find myself a little irritated at the fact people will use the teaâs reactions as part of their theories, claiming it as actual proof, when it is far from proving anything.
And before someone brings it up, yes, Kris has been shown to prefer Susie over Ralsei, do I have to point out the flaw in that logic? Preferring someone doesnât mean you outright dislike the other person.
Moral of the story is: Donât take conclusions for your theories without good backing in canon, feel free to make your headcanons but donât state it as proof, byeee.
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Big Hero 6 The Series: It could have been better
Hello, friends. Today, I will be analyzing a TV series based on a movie that I fell in love with for its colourful themes, deep plot, compelling characters, great CGI and memorable messages. Before I get into it, I want to take a moment to say that I have quit doing videos. They are too big of a pain in the petunia to make and I write better than I speak, so I will stick to writing essays, reviews and more. Anyway, onto the analysis.
All I can say about Big Hero 6 the series is that it had a great concept, it presented some great ideas and tried hard to be a cartoon of the times, but it could have and should have been a lot better. The showâs downfall all centers around trying too hard to be kid friendly which makes the shame sting all the more because Big Hero 6 was already kid friendly even with its dark themes, sharp edges and intelligent writing. If anything, even the brightest kid friendly cartoons (Steven Universe, She-Ra, etc.) had those things and actually benefitted from them. By needlessly trying too hard, character development got scrapped, the edges were all smoothed out, storytelling was subpar, the humour was too silly and the executive meddling in the end produced a dismal final season. However, I donât want this analysis to be one lengthy negative rant about how awful the series was because in its defense, awful is an unfair word. It did have potential and ideas which are worth carrying over to a reboot that I hope will be done someday in the future. Also, we should root for a reboot because Big Hero 6 would not be the first story that needs it before striking gold. Just look at how many times Spider-Man was rebooted in film before MCU found the version that worked. Anyway, I will list all the things in Big Hero 6 that could have been better in my opinion;
1- Go easy on the laughs and be more generous with the action. - I love adding comedy to my own writing because I think a good sense of humour makes everything better, but Big Hero 6 is not a stand up comedy routine. It is a superhero story where we expect action, suspense and life or death situations that are to be taken seriously first. The comedy should be for relief and with the right timing. Also, the chibi cutscenes and having characters act like fools arenât funny. Ren and Stimpy are the exception not the standard and their way of making you laugh doesnât fit an action series. In a show as big as Big Hero 6, real life physics and danger matters.
2- Make the villains menacing and gritty. - I admit that after having a movie villain like Yokai who was the stuff of nightmares, it is going to be a challenging act to follow, but it was obvious that the writers were trying especially with some villains who could have easily gone into some dark relatable territory. For example, Mr. Sparkles (the gentleman in the photo above) embodies social media and Internet personalities. Right off the bat, you have a long list of things which embody the dark side of that like scams, fraud, using social media to dox or harass, driving people to suicide, online predators, the Internet personalities being very depressed people in real life, and much more horrifying things. When you stop and look at it, Mr. Sparkles even looks like the Joker which hints how dark and scary he could have been if the stops were removed. The same goes for enemies like Hardlight who embodies online gaming, Liv with cloning, Obake an amoral and insane scientist, and Trina and Noodle Burger Boy (more on him later) being evil robots. Globby especially should have been painted and written in much darker colours rather being played off for laughs because he has many parallels with Clay Face. The only two villains who I can say were supposed to be campy, charming and comical were Baron Von Steamer and Supersonic Sue because they were a satire of the Adam West style villains.
The rest of them needed to be dark and threatening including Mr. Sparkles. In fact, I would love a rebooted version of Mr. Sparkles who gives me the heebie-jeebies. Going back to Noodle Burger Boy, I must confess that I was actually excited when I heard that he was going to be the main villain of the final season because I thought he was going to fulfill his masterâs final wish and as a reminder, Noodle Burger Boy was based on a super robot for military purposes.
It would have been fantastic if Noodle Burger Boy was upgraded into a full military war machine with a new threatening look. For that, I think all of the villains deserve to be rebooted and have their full potential unlocked for better or for worse.
3- A show about geniuses merits genius level art quality. - I am usually forgiving towards art styles, but in the case of Big Hero 6, the oversimplified style with minimal details and lack of textures did not suit the show. The characters blend in with the background which makes them look flat and the special effects were extremely dulled down. I also know for a fact that Disney can do a lot better than this because I saw how superbly Tangled the Series was drawn.
You can see and almost feel the difference in quality, the number of layers and level of detail between the two styles. I think there was no excuse Big Hero 6 was not done in the same style and at the same level if not better as Tangled.
3- Donât dumb down or flanderize amazing characters. - I absolutely detest it when characters are flanderized because it makes them one dimensional and grating. For example, Go Go is tough as nails and extremely calm, but she is not cold or hesitant towards helping her friends. She doesnât require very special episodes for us to know that. If anything, the movie version of Go Go reminded me a lot of Garnet in how she deconstructed the broody character. She isnât cold or emotionless. Just calm and mature. Another good example was how Honey Lemon was rewritten to be overly positive to the point of toxicity, naĂŻve and oblivious with a juvenile obsession with stickers. Then you have poor Fred who was rewritten to be an incompetent fool. The spark that makes Big Hero 6 shine is that they are a team of geniuses meaning they are all intelligent. Even Fred is genius in his own way just not a scientific one. He has a vivid imagination, he is resourceful and can get himself out of tight spots. Please, donât turn characters into dummies especially if their intelligence is a part of them. It doesnât make them better or funnier. It ruins them.
4- Tadashi needs closure and honour. - I am all for Hiro making peace with the loss of his brother, but Tadashi is to the Big Hero 6 team what Uncle Ben was to Spider-Man. His loss was the catalyst if not the reason. He should never be forgotten. Moreover, there was never any true closure to him especially with the possibility that he may still be alive up in the air. After all, like Callaghan, his body was never found and it turned out that Callaghan was still alive.
With that said, who is to say that Tadashi was not secretly still alive and just hiding or being hidden? This is something that Disney really needed to clear up if not for the fans, then at least as a service to such an important character. Never just forget about them.
5- The format can only be episodic with a deep plots, continuity and character development. - Random episodes with a mere monster of the day is an outdated format which doesnât fit Big Hero 6â˛s modern and bright setting. In seasons 1 and 2, when the episodes were plot heavy with character development, the series shined brightest. It also helped move the story along, but with the final season, plot was removed, closure was abandoned or poorly written if any was given, and characters were disallowed from growing. A good example at how plot and character development could have made this series and its characters better was the relationship between Hiro and Megan. Would it have truly survived or would they have broken up?
Would Richardson Mole have eventually lost interest in his obsession with besting and bullying Fred or would his obsession consume him compelling him to become a super villain? I do see quite a few similarities between Mole and Reverse Flash.
Then you have Karmi who is in my opinion, the biggest wild card of the bunch. She was intentionally introduced as an arrogant, prickly and unlikable yet complex character who rivaled Hiro bitterly.
Yet had a huge crush on his alter ego and as time went on, started to grow up and even form a friendship with Hiro. What would have happened further down the road with her? Would she have become a super hero herself? Or maybe even another love interest for Hiro kind of like how Black Cat is for Spider-Man?
Is Obake really gone?
What does the future hold Diana (Livâs clone), Liv herself or the Sycorax the genetics company?
Is Alistair Krei going to become an ally to Big Hero 6 or an antagonist? There is also the issue at how little we know about the other Big Hero 6 characters other than Fred, Hiro and Baymax. What are Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Go Goâs backstories? These questions matter and while not every mystery can be solved, leaving none of them solved is lazy writing.
6- Executives, kindly stay out of the writing and any other part of the creative process. - Iâm sorry, execs, but there is no nice way to say it. History itself proves that every time executives got involved in the creative process of any media, it got worse not better. Leave the writing to the creative team and the execs should only handle the legal stuff. Please. We understand that TV is a business, but writing itself is not. It is an art which you just donât have a talent for. Let the creative people do their thing with the freedom necessary and you do your thing, deal? Deal.
7- Focus on Hiro and Baymax. - The are the main characters so keep them at the heart of the series no matter what happens around them. That is all I can say.
And that sums up all the things that could have made Big Hero 6 the series better, but this is all just my opinion. What is yours?
PS: I am well aware that the Big Hero 6 series is being retconned because a new series called Baymax is in the works as well as the long awaited sequel to the first movie. I am looking forward to both with an open mind. PPS: I also am aware that some people liked this show the way it was including the art style and I am cool with that. An analysis for art that includes cartoons is never right or wrong. It is solely based on opinion. I may have thought this series could have been better, but there are people who make arguments that it could have been worse.
#big hero 6#big hero 6 hiro#big hero 6 the series#big hero 6 wasabi#big hero 6 fred#big hero 6 gogo#big hero 6 tadashi#big hero 6 baymax#baymax#hiro#tadashi#honey lemon#gogo#krei#obake#noodle burger boy#analysis#character analysis#diane#live#sycorax#karmi#megan#richardson mole#reboot#sequel
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8 Letters
OR: 4 times he couldnât say he loved you + 1 time he did
Ok, here we are with the very over hyped Vince fic! This was inspired by 8 Letters by Why Donât We and has been swimming around in my head for a while before I realize it fits with this himbo.Â
Shoutouts to the following (and hopefully this is short because this is not an awards show even though it would be fun to pretend it is): @vincecdunn because Nikkiâs the reason Iâm on the Vince train so as retaliation Iâm just going to keep sending her ideas for more fics to write, @pucksnsticksnhockeyboys and @broadstbroskis for allowing me to come into your inboxes and be annoying and bounce ideas off of, and then @pettypetey and @pumpkinpatchmakar for the ways to say I love you and Iâm 100% forgetting people but thatâs just because I suck
Other people who wanted to be tagged: @all-time-fanatic @marialovesdean @oyeinpayne @ghstandpucks @maybehockeymaybenotâ @itzelmunoz and @thecasualyogi (unsure why it isnât letting me tag you sad boi)
So, here we go, all 7.8k words of this 4+1
______________________
I
Tonight was one of the first nights in a while that the two of you were able to spend together, Vince on the road on and off for what felt like longer than usual and you just drowning at work. Any chance you got to be together at this point was almost always spent alone in the comforts of your place or his. You were spending it at your place, watching him stand at the stove as he cooked dinner for the two of you.Â
âGod, who you have thought someone could look so sexy stirring pasta,â you admire him, propping yourself up on your elbows to watch him.Â
He laughs, putting the large spoon on the counter, turning around to face him. Vince approaches you, pulling you close to him. His hand finds the small of back, the other tilting your chin up to him. He bites his lip, looking down at you. âYou think thatâs sexy, just wait,â he says, his lips planted against yours before you can say anything else.Â
You pull away at the sound of splashing water, seeing the pot boiling over. âAh, fuck,â Vince releases his grip and runs to turn the burner down, you laughing as he goes back to stirring the boiling bubbles away.
âYou know whatâs great about this?â you say, sarcasm dripping in your voice.
âOh no,â he mutters, bringing the pot over to the sink to drain the excess water, knowing that whatever youâre going to say isnât going to be great for him.Â
âYou get to clean up.â
He puts the now empty pot back on the stove, shaking the remaining water off the pasta in the strainer, âBut I made the dinner!âÂ
âYeah, and then you made the mess.âÂ
He turns to you, a mischievous look on his face. âYouâre evil,â he says, lunging at you, lifting you off the ground and sending you into a fit of giggles as you try to wriggle your way free of his grasp.Â
âVince!â you squeal, your arms overlapping his. âPut me down!âÂ
âI like holding you, though,â he whines, putting you down without letting you go.
You turn around to face him, putting your hand on his face, tracing a random pattern on his cheek with your thumb. âHold me on the ground and after you put the pesto on the pasta,â you tell him, giving him a quick kiss before pushing him away. âI thought you didnât like pesto?â
He shrugs, putting pasta into the bowls you hand him. âIâm not crazy about it, but itâs your favorite, so Iâll put up with it for you.âÂ
You can feel the heat rushing to your cheeks over something so simple. âYouâre nice,â you tell him, in a sing-songy voice, taking a bite of the pasta.
âOnly to you,â he says, sending you a wink that makes your insides flutter.Â
Properly full from the simple dinner, after you clean the dishes and Vince cleans the stove, you retreat to your bedroom where you planned on spending the rest of the night. âWhat do you want to watch tonight?â Vince asks you, settling onto your bed with your TV remote in hand.Â
He reaches his arm out, gesturing for you to come snuggle up next to him, perfectly fitting against him as he kisses the top of your head, the warmth from his body comforting you more than the blankets that covered your bed probably ever would. âGossip Girl,â you insist, knowing what his reaction would be.
Vince groans, throwing his head back. âCome on, that show is so bad.â
You look up at him, imitating the puppy dog eyes and signature pout he would give you all too often when he was asking you to do something. âYes. But thatâs what makes it so good to watch,â you plead.
He rolls his eyes, giving in and pulling it up on your Netflix. âNow how could I say no to that face,â he tells you.
âYou canât,â you tell him as he pulls up the show.Â
Letting out a small, âYay,â you earn a giggle from his lips before kissing him quickly and settling into the show. You start with the first episode of the second season, Vince stroking your arm absentmindedly, laughing at how cheesy the show is. He steals the occasional glance at you, loving how closely you could pay attention to anything in front of you, analyzing, critiquing, admiring what was before you. You did it with anything and everything that you fixated on, something Vince could never do and something he loved about you.
Not that youâve said you love each other yet. But, you were the only thing he could focus on outside of hockey at any moment.Â
âThe true reason I should stay right where I am and not get in the car,â the two of you watch Blair Waldorf on your screen in her scene with Chuck Bass. âThree words. Eight letters. Say it, and Iâm yours.â
The screen cuts to Chuck, his hesitation. âI-I...â
âThank you. Thatâs all I needed to hear,â with Blair getting in the car, leaving Chuck standing there watching the girl he knew he loved drive off with his heart.Â
That part always made you cry, letting out a soft sob at the sight of the character you hated the most, actually experiencing heartbreak, slightly humanizing the demon that you thought he was. Vince, paying more attention to you than the show, had no clue what was happening.
âThis is a dumb question,â he starts, watching you wipe the tears that had fallen down your face, âBut what are the three words?â
You sit up, your hand placed on his thigh sending a chill through his body. âI love you.â
His eyes go wide, swallowing hard. Given what just happened in the episode, he knew it was ridiculous to think, but he couldnât help but wonder if what just happened on your screen would happen right now. âAre... are those the words or are you telling me?â he asks, his voice shaking.
You hesitate for a moment. You had been together for five months already. He was the person you trusted the most, no matter how dumb he might be sometimes. You would do anything for him, and you were sure that he would do anything for you. You thought about him constantly, but you had never been in love before. Whatever you felt for Vince was something you hadnât felt for anyone. âBoth,â you decide, seeing the panic wash over his face. âYou donât have to say it back. Iâm not gonna leave you if you donât,â you reassure him.
He opens and closes his mouth like a fish, trying to muster up the courage to actually say what he wanted to. He knows how he feels about you, but, âI canât say it.â You knew the pain you felt at hearing those words flashed over your face for a moment because of the quick, âIâm sorry,â he let out before getting up off your bed and heading for the door.
âVince, hey, wait,â you say, chasing after him and beating him to your door. With your back against it, you look at your boyfriend, panicked, breathing fast, hands shaking. âVince,â you say his name again, hearing it coming from you calming him down, âYou donât have to say it. I promise. Just please, donât leave.âÂ
He studies your face, the pain that he just caused you still showing. âIâm sorry,â he whispers, dropping his head.
âHey,â you say, tilting his head up to look at you. âListen to me when I say this: itâs fine. I donât want you to feel pressured to say it just because I did. I told you that because I do love you. If you donât feel the same way, thatâs fine. I canât force you to love me,â you tell him, smiling through it. He had to know it was a fake smile, just using it to hide how you really felt. âYou still want to be with me, right?â
He hesitated for longer than he should have, even though his answer popped into this head immediately. âWhat? Of course I do. Can we just,â he takes a deep breath, trying to find his words, âDo you think we can watch something else?â
You nod, taking his hand and leading you back to your bed. You just fucked everything up, didnât you? But Vinceâs panic and now lack of attention to even the Netflix catalogue he was scrolling through was more worrisome than him not saying he loves you. âActually,â you say, gently taking the remote from his hands, âDo you think we can talk about this? Like, Iâm ok with it, but, I donât know, youâre kind of worrying me.âÂ
He canât look at you, staring at the TV instead as the now muted screen flashed with characters he didnât recognize. âI donât know,â he lies. âThe girls I was with before I met you kinda fucked me up I guess.â You could feel your heart breaking watching him like this, more so than when you watched Chuck and Blair. âI thought I was in love with them, but then it always ended with them using me for my money, because I play in the NHL, for sex. I mean, my purity score thing is so low for a reason, right?â he jokes, you trying to smile even though you could feel yourself wanting to cry. âFuck, one of them even called Sammy because she liked him more while I was asleep in the bed next to her and asked him to go pick her up.âÂ
You take his face in your hands, pulling him in for a kiss. Using the pads of your thumbs, you wipe away the tears that you got on him, unsure if they were just yours or if he had started crying, too. âI will never do that to you,â you assure him. âIâll even call Sammy and tell him that youâre better.âÂ
He laughs, sniffling a little bit. âCan you do that every day? Really wear down his self esteem.â
You laugh, giving him a quick kiss, happy that he was at least smiling again. âIâm not going to emotionally destroy a man.âÂ
âBut itâs Sammy!â
II
You, Nikki, and Patricia were sitting on Nikkiâs couch together, each with one glass of wine for the night because of the need to drive later, pizza, popcorn, and much more junk food than you would like to admit. Dressed as if you hadnât seen daylight in years, you all had on sweatpants, sweatshirts, hair tied back, makeup free, everything that would signal to an outsider that you had all stopped caring, but to you, it was just a night in after work. It was a much needed girls night, the stress of work getting to all of you while you sat there with your best friends trying to find something to watch. With the boys off on a road trip, you could definitely use the company. Part of you was bothered by Vince not saying he loves you, but could you really justifiably get upset but that?Â
âWhat are we watching?â Nikki asks, pulling up Netflix, practically forcing you to relive the conversation with Vince from the other night.Â
âUh, Gilmore Girls?â Patricia suggests.
Without saying a word, Nikki plays the episode she left off on, Rory and Dean celebrating their anniversary together by going out to what was supposed to be a nice, sweet night.Â
âWhat do you think Connecticut is like?â Patricia asks about the setting of the iconic show.Â
âMy ex in college was from Connecticut. Nothing good comes from Connecticut,â comes from Nikki, you barely hearing her as you fixate on the episode.
âGilmore Girls comes from Connecticut.â
Without missing a beat, Nikki says, âOne good thing comes from Connecticut.â The two of them keep talking, you barely hearing anything they say as you watch Dean and Rory in the car that Dean had built for her, telling her he loves her for the first time. Rory doesnât say it back, the same expression on her face that you say on Vinceâs that night. âHey, Y/N, whatâs up?â Nikki asks, snapping you away from the show.Â
âOh, nothing, why?â you lie through your teeth, your best friends exchanging concerned looks.
âYou know that youâre crying, right?â Patricia asks, snagging the remote and pausing the episode.
You reach up, feeling your now damp cheeks, wiping away the tears you didnât even know were there that were brimming in your eyes. âOh, wow,â you let out, laughing a little bit. âI guess the episode just got to me,â you lie again. Nikki sits there, eyebrow raised, lips pursed as if to say âbitch, please,â while Patricia just sat there, waiting for you to answer. âI told Vince I love him,â you start.
You get cut off by the two of them screaming, âOh my god!â and âWhat did he say?â
âHe,â you sigh, debating on telling them the truth or not. âHe panicked and couldnât say it.âÂ
Both of them gasp, you trying to figure out what emotions they felt; anger, sadness, disappointment, you swear all of it flashed on their face.
âDump his ass!â Nikki yells, loud enough that her neighbors could probably hear her.Â
You take a handful of popcorn, throwing it at her in response, Patricia laughing and dodging the mess the two of you were creating as kernels flew past her face. âIâm not dumping him! He said heâs afraid of getting hurt,â you tell them once you stop throwing the food at each other.Â
âDoes he think youâre going to hurt him?â Patricia asks, concern washing over her face.
âIf he thinks that, you dump him,â Nikki pips in.
âYou cut that out,â you fire back, pointing your finger at her. The ridiculousness of the simple action made all of you laugh, forgetting for a moment the conversation at hand.Â
âDo you really love him?â Patricia asks another question, both her and Nikki with the same expression on their faces.
You feel a soft smile growing on your face, nodding. âI really do. Iâve never loved anyone like I love him. Can we just talk about something else, please?â
They go back to talking about Connecticut, you trying to keep up with their banter.Â
âWait, so why did you date that Connecticut boy?â you finally join the conversation, asking Nikki.
She shrugs, shoving the popcorn that was still in the bowl into her mouth. âConnecticut boys have money. I figured I could get some nice shit from him.â
âSo you're a gold digger?â you tease her, Patricia nearly spitting out her wine.
Nikki sits there, mouth open pretending to be offended. âTalk about being a gold digger, youâre dating a professional athlete!â
You mirror her look, Patricia laughing as the innocent bystander in this. âFuck,â is you can muster out before the three of you are laughing together.Â
âHow could he not love that!â Nikki says once you catch your breath, pointing to the smile on your face and immediately making you turn red.
âAre you flirting with her?â Patricia asks
âSomeone has too,â she shrugs, winking at you while sipping her wine.
You sit there, in awe of her bluntness. âIf Vince were here he would get mad at you.â
âWhere are they, anyway?â Patricia asks, changing the subject before Nikki can flirt with you more or make other snarky comments about your boyfriend.
âYou see,â you start, setting down your glass of wine, âVince told me they were going to California but when I checked the schedule it said they were going to play the Florida Panthers tomorrow,â you explain, all of you unable to contain your laughter, âso I think heâs confused.âÂ
The three of you fall back into a rhythm that doesnât involve talking about your boyfriend who was just about off your mind. After a few hours, youâre all yawning, the single glass of wine having no effect on you as you drowned out the alcohol with more water than anything so you could drive, Nikki kicking you out so she can go to sleep.Â
While you and Patricia are walking to your cars, your phone starts buzzing, an incoming Facetime call from Vince. You answer, immediately turning the camera away from you, âHey, babe, Iâm walking to my car.âÂ
âAnd youâre not showing me yourself because you donât want me to see the guy walking you there?â he jokes, smirking at the camera. He was in the bed in his hotel room, the white sheets pulled up just low enough that his chest was exposed, shirtless as he always was when he was ready to sleep. He knew what he was doing; showing just enough of himself that it would drive you crazy enough to be distracted.
âYeah, this is the man,â you tease, panning over to Patricia getting into your car, âSay hi to Vince!â
âIâm stealing your girl!â she yells, ducking into her car and shutting her door, Vinceâs laugh echoing in the air.Â
You prop your phone up in the thing your mom got you, suctioned to your dash so you can still see your phone while driving, even though you told her you had Apple CarPlay and had no need for it. Driving down the street, you fall into a mundane conversation with Vince about getting to Florida, teasing him for confusing it with California, telling him about the girls night you just had.
âCome on, show me your face!â you hear him whine. Without taking your eyes off the road, you know exactly the look on his face: those green eyes of his wide like a puppy, his bottom lip jutted out and if he werenât holding his phone, his hands would be intertwined in themselves under his chin to show you he was begging.Â
âNo, I look gross. My hair is tied back, I have no makeup on, and Iâm in a groutfit.â
âHave you ever seen me?âÂ
You roll your eyes, hitting the button to flip the camera now that you were at a red light. âYes, Iâve seen you. Youâre hot,â you say without shame.Â
âFuck,â you hear him let out a long and low whisper. You roll your eyes at him, even though you canât help but blush and smile at the way he was practically visibly drooling over you. âI didnât know gross could be so beautiful.âÂ
âI look like a Founding Father, shut up,â you say, glad it was dark enough that he couldnât see the heat rushing to your cheeks.Â
He laughs again, making you smile even wider at the sound. âWho would have thought I would like sleeping with a Founding Father.âÂ
âThat is necrophilia!â you scream, loud enough that you could probably be heard outside your car, drowning out the sound of his laugher. âI never want to hear you say anything like that ever again!â
You pull up to your building, getting out and walking to your place while Vince rambles on about something that Sammy had done on the plane. âOh!â he says once you unlock your door, startling you and almost dropping your phone, âLook what I got you!âÂ
âYou got me something?â you ask him, walking through your dark apartment into your room.Â
âI saw and I liked it and thought you would like it so I had to get it!â he says like a giddy child. He holds up a small stuffed puppy, shoving it almost too close to the camera, âCan you see the tag on his collar?â
He pulls it away slightly, the letter on it becoming clear. âHis name is Vince!â you exclaim, the biggest smile on his face as he holds it next to him.
âBecause you say when I get excited I remind you of a little puppy.â He sits there with the small stuffed animal pressed to his face, beaming at his purchase that he couldnât wait to give you, even though he ruined the surprise he had anticipated because he couldnât wait until he got home to see you. You take a screenshot, unable to hide how adorable you found him in that moment.
âI love it, Vince. I canât wait for you to get home,â you say to him, a big yawn coming from him. His eyes get droopy, the way he gets before heâs about to fall asleep, a lazy smile on his face that means he felt the same.
You settle onto your bed, turning on your tv to watch whatever was on. You sit there in silence holding your phone, yawning a few times yourself. âHey, babe, Iâm gonna go to sleep,â you say, leaning over to turn off your lights, âI love you,â you say, forgetting that you're upset over his inability to say it back, seeing that he was already asleep, anyway, unable to return with a response.Â
III
You were swamped with work, having to hustle on a Saturday to get everything done. Vince was tired of being cooped up inside, only really going out when he had practice or a game, so he was the one to suggest going to the coffee shop half way between your apartments in order to just be somewhere that wasnât the four walls of your apartments.
âYouâre not working,â he says in a teasing voice, watching you sit there staring out the window at the people passing by.
âI just,â you sigh, âI donât want to do this project.â
âCan I help?â he asks, getting up from his seat and standing behind you, just enough room between your chair and the wall for him to fit and lean against you. âYouâre on Facebook.â
You look up at him, an innocent look on your face. âIâm using a rewards system!â you defend yourself. âI was working for half an hour, so Iâm watching a video as a break.â You scroll back to the video you were just watching as he rests his hands on your shoulders, rubbing the slightly. You find the video of an artist with a bunch of metal strips, twisting them into a metal tree art piece. You turn to him, eyes wide with excitement, a huge smile on your face that he canât help but roll his eyes at, mirroring your smile. âIsnât it cool?â
âYouâre acting like a child. Thatâs my job,â he says, kissing your cheek before going back to sit down.
âThat just means youâve rubbed off on me. Or maybe Iâve rubbed off on you?â you wonder, scrolling to find one more video to watch. The next video is scene from That 70âs Show, and old favorite of yours that you havenât seen since it was taken off Netflix. Eric and Donna were in a car, probably the Vista Cruiser in one of the earlier seasons judging by how young they look. The captions on, your sound off, you read the scene instead of watching. It was Donna telling Eric she loved him, only for him to panic and respond with, âI love cake.â The smile on your face disappears, looking up at Vince and thankful that he was paying more attention to his phone than he was to you.Â
You just wanted him to say he loved you. You were sure that he did, and you had told him that you did. But he couldnât say it. You were constantly going back and forth between being ok with it and being upset by it, knowing that it wasnât fair to force him to say something if he didnât mean it, but also knowing that it wasnât fair to you to spill your guts to him for him to remain closed off.Â
You take a deep breath, switching back to the tab that had the new marketing pitch you were working on. You get to typing, focusing on the project while you see four other cursors working on different parts, occasionally switching to another section to check one of your partners' work while they do the same for you. You barely notice the people around you, the coffee shop practically packed to capacity as an afternoon rush came in. Vince would look up from his phone, stealing the occasional glance while you take no notice.Â
You both jump at the sound of someone knocking on the window next to you. Look up, Vince knew who it was immediately, irritated by your âOh my god!â sqeual as you practically leap from the table to run outside.
Vince watches as you jump into the guys arms, a huge smile on your face, unable to read your lips as you talk with him. The guy was more attractive than Vince had remembered. Fuck, he looked like a model, and there Vince was, a hockey player, mad about it.
âHow have you been?â you ask your friend Jack, someone you hadnât seen in years.Â
âPretty good,â he tells you, his arms lingering on your waist once you pull away from the hug you practically forced on him in the first place. âYou?â
âGood, busy. Getting out with my boyfriend instead of acting like an old agoraphobic couple,â you tell him motioning to Vince sitting at the table, arms crossed over his chest. You both wave to him, Vince mirroring with a wave and a very unenthusiastic look. âWhoâs apparently tired from practice,â you lie, hoping he would buy the explanation for Vinceâs unexpected attitude.Â
âIsnât he a hockey player?â You look back at Vince whoâs now looking down at his phone, nodding, a soft smile on your face as you just stare at your dumb boyfriend. âYou really have a thing for athletes, huh?â
You roll your eyes, knowing what he was referencing: Jack was technically your ex, having hooked up a few times, gone out on a few dates, he even brought you to a family wedding of his because you were seeing each other when the invitations went out, breaking up not long after the event. You never called him your boyfriend, and as far as you were concerned, you werenât his girlfriend, but still, you werenât just friends. âHockey players are a little better than baseball players, bub,â you tell him, knowing it would hurt his ego a little bit.
He scrunches his face, pretending to be hurt but laughing anyway. âYou always know how to hit a guy where it hurts, Y/L/N,â he tells you, both of you nodding. You were about to tell him goodbye, missing your chance when he says, âDo you think I could meet your new guy?â
You feel your breath stop for a moment, your eyes going wide at the thought of your âexâ meeting your boyfriend. âUh, sure, if you want to?â you tell him, obviously unsure of the situation that was about to unfold. âVince?â you snap his attention away from his phone, the two of you standing over him. âThis is my friend Jack. We went to school together,â you say, Jack extending his hand for Vince to shake.Â
Vince swallows hard, a wave of jealousy washing over him as this guy stands in front of him. âNice to meet you,â he says, a cold tone in his voice. You shoot him a look, Jack taking your seat while Vince pulls you into his lap without you expecting it, planting a firm kiss on your lips. âSo, Jack, what do you do?â he asks the guy sitting across from you, holding you tight around your waist as if he were marking his territory.
You look at your boyfriend, confused by why he was acting like this. He sends you a soft smile, his eyes flickering down to your lips, making you melt a little as you turn your attention back to Jack. âI work in marketing.â
âOh, just like, my girl here.âÂ
âMy girl?â you mouth to yourself, unsure if either of the boys saw you.Â
âThatâs how we met,â Jack starts, a little confused as well by Vinceâs actions. âWe were both marketing majors so we had all of the same classes.âÂ
Vince keeps on asking Jack questions, practically leaving you out of the conversation, occasionally kissing your cheek while Jack was talking.Â
âWow, you two are clearly in love with each other,â Jack points out, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Vince freezes, his heart racing against your chest as Jack gets up. âIâve actually got to get going, but it was great seeing you, Y/N. We should catch up again.âÂ
You nod, agreeing with him as he leaves, taking your seat back across from Vince, glaring at him. âWhat the hell was that?âÂ
 âWhat? I canât kiss your cheek occasionally?â he scoffs, leaning back in his chair. You watch as he stares out the window, Jack still in his view.Â
âYou never do it like that,â you point out. Then it dawns on you: âYou were jealous! Why were you jealous?â
âI was not,â he pouts, his arms crossed.Â
âYouâre so cute when youâre jealous!â you squeal, careful not to be too loud in the quiet environment. His face turns red, his lips pursed as he stares out the window, clearly ready to deny it. You reach over to poke his cheeks, just to agitate him.Â
He swats you away, hating that you were right. âYou think Iâm cute?â
âWhy were you jealous?â you ask again.Â
âYou think Iâm cute?â he says, leaning on the table.
You smirk at him, imitating his body language. âWe both know I��m going to win this so you should just answer me now,â you say slowly.
âHeâs the guy you dated in college,â Vince says.
âI never showed you his picture.â
He hesitates for a moment, knowing the exact reaction this was going to illicit: âI saw the pictures you posted with him on Instagram.â
You stop and think for a moment. The last time you even saw Jack was a few years ago. âThose pictures were from my freshman year of college. Youâve scrolled that far back on my page?â
He sticks out his bottom lip, eyes wide to give you his puppy dog face. âSometimes, when I miss you, and I know youâre busy and canât talk, I scroll through your Instagram so I can see your face.âÂ
You feel yourself melting at his words, the face he was giving you making you love him that much more. âCome here,â you tell him, pulling him up around the table. You take him by the collar down to your level, giving him a sweet kiss. âAnd, yes, I do think youâre really cute,â you say to him, kissing him again.Â
IV
Vince watched in awe at his teammates. All of them were drunk, him, for once, being the most sober one around as they entered the bye week that took place around All-Star Weekend. He was waiting for you to show up, anxiously checking his phone to see if you had texted him anything saying that you and Patricia were at the bar. He hated being the only sober one, especially since it meant he would have to play dad if something happened unless you two showed up soon.Â
âYouâre not drinking?â Sammy asks him, two beers in hand. Someone would think one was for Vince, but, no, both were for Sammy as he put the openings of both bottles in his mouth at once.Â
âIâm waiting for Y/N.âÂ
âYouâre whipped!â Sammy slurs, sitting down next to his friend in the booth he was refusing to get up from while he anxiously shakes his leg waiting to see you, rolling his eyes even though part of him knew he was right.
âStop that,â Vince says, getting up and trying to shake his friend off in the crowded bar.
âYou love her, right? I mean you have to love her to be like this,â Sammy insists, something he wouldnât be doing had he not been drunk. Vince opens and closes his mouth, trying to figure out how to say what he wanted. âDude.â
âYou know I canât say it,â is all Vince can let out. Sammy knows his past, Sammy knows what has happened to Vince. Saying it would mess something up. Those eight letters would ruin what he had with you when they were out in the open.Â
âI donât know how to talk about this with you,â Sammy admits, eyes narrow since he was thinking about it anyway.
âI donât think I want to talk about this with you.âÂ
Before Sammy can say anything else, like magic, you appear at his side, Patricia in tow. âHey,â you say to him, kissing him as he wraps his arms around your waist. He pulls away, looking over your shoulder to see Sammy making faces at the two of you, Vince giving him a look that told him to go away without you noticing.Â
Patricia wanders off with Sammy, leaving the two of you by yourselves. âHow far deep are they?â you ask, dragging him to the bar so the two of you could start drinking, knowing you couldnât drink so much that you would catch up with them, but enough that you wouldnât have to act as the mother of the group.
âWeâve been here for an hour so I expect someone to be throwing up soon,â he laughs, not dropping your hand when the two of you sit down.Â
âIf youâre drunk, do you have to take care of them?â you ask him, signalling to the bartender to come take your drink orders. You fall into conversation, watching Sammy strike out with multiple girls, Patricia spending the entire night with a single guy following her, something she clearly enjoyed as she milked at least four free drinks out of him.
âThink sheâll go home with him?â Vince asks, nodding over to Patricia as he finishes what might have been this third drink that night. As far as he knew, no one was throwing up, but now, he didnât have to worry about it if he was just a little drunk.
You shrug, putting down your now empty glass. âIf they both want that I guess.â You could feel yourself getting bored and tired, wishing that you and Vince could just leave and go home yourselves. But he looked like he was having fun watching the guys, a smile on his face whenever they did something stupid. You study Vinces face, his slightly pursed lips and his eyes sparkling as he watched Sammy strike out with what was probably his fourth girl of the night, Vince smiling as he couldnât help but laugh at his friend. Your attentioned is pulled away by your phone buzzing in your hand, Nikki bombarding you with texts.Â
âHave Vince watch these with you ;)â
She sends you two clips, both from a Halloween episode of New Girl. Unfamiliar with the show, you tap Vince to have him watch over your shoulder. You watch the two girls get into a limo, one going as far as exclaiming, âHey, look! Iâm in a limo! I wish I could have really long legs so I could stretch them out the length of the limo!â
The camera switches to a guy, telling them to have fun, saying, âI love you,â an immediate look of regret washing over his face, the girl in the limo responding with finger guns while her friend behind her mouthed, âNo.â
You swallow hard, texting Nikki back yelling at her for it, definitely partially a product of the alcohol. You donât even bother to look at the second video, afraid of what it would be and what it would bring considering the first one brought an awkward silence in the middle of the loud bar.
âDid you tell them?â he asks quietly, sitting back down next to you.Â
You straighten your posture, forming a thin line with your lips. âYeah. I did. It was bothering me more than I thought it would and they figured it out.âÂ
âHow would they figure it out?â he snaps, his voice a little louder than it would have been had he not had so much to drink. âThatâs not something you can just read on someoneâs face.âÂ
You take in a deep breath, knowing that people were starting to turn to look at the fight you were about to have. âCome on,â you grab him by his arm, leading him outside so at least if you started really fighting, they couldnât kick you out. âLook, we were watching something where someone said I love you and the other person didnât and I started crying,â you explain to him, feeling tears brimming in your eyes.
The people around you in the city were staring as they walked by, two idiots on a weird night causing a scene in a public. âY/N,â he says, taking a step towards you and reaching for your hand.
You snatch it away, startling him that you were so quick. âNo, Vince. I know I said it was fine,â you sob, âBut it hurts. It hurts to love someone who doesnât love you back. And I know youâve been hurt before, but youâre letting that get in the way of you and me, and I donât know how much longer I can handle being in love with you when you wonât even say you love me.âÂ
He drops his head down, tears falling down his face while you were trying to fight your own from falling. âIâm sorry,â he whispers. âIâm sorry for being afraid, but I am.âÂ
âDo you love me?â you ask him, taking a step towards him.Â
He looks up at you, both of you crying. His eyes are red, he looks like heâs in pain. He tries to say something, only to shake his head, taking you in for a hug before either of you can do anything else. You can feel him crying in your shoulder, one hand in your hair, the other at the top of your back. You stand there for a moment in shock, not sure how to react. You react into his hold, trying to calm him down. You had never seen him cry like this before, in fact, you werenât sure you had ever seen him cry at all. You pull his head off your shoulder. His face soaked with tears. âI think you need to go home,â you tell him, wiping the tears from his face.Â
He doesnât say anything, just pulling you in for another hug when the guys and Patricia stumble out of the bar. âHey, weâre going to go to another bar,â Patricia tells you as you shake your head, signalling that she shouldnât ask what was going on. âDo you guys want to come?â
âWe can?â Vince questions, only looking at you, his face still red from the sobbing he had just done. âUnless you donât want to.âÂ
âYou go with them. Iâll be fine, I want to go home anyway,â you insist, trying to push him off you. If there was one thing you hated, it was the kind of girls who made their boyfriends miss out on things with their friends because they insisted on attention, but you also didnât want to be with him at this moment.
He smiles at you as you try to force yourself to not succumb to his looks, refusing to let go of you, âItâs not worth going with them if you arenât going to be there with me.âÂ
âThen donât go. Iâm going home.â You break free of his grip, turning on your heels and walking down the street to go home by yourself.Â
+one
âDude, have you seen Nikkiâs snapstory?â Sammyâs voice comes through Vinceâs phone.
âNo, why?âÂ
The concern in Sammyâs voice resonated with Vince, âI think you need to go look.â
Vince puts his teammate on speaker to go find one of your best friendâs story. âIâm looking now, hold on.â
Nikki was in her car, a picture of your favorite flowers in front of her steering wheel, your apartment building in the background. She had captioned it with âBought my best friend flowers to go tell her I love her because her boyfriend wonât say it.â
âAh, fuck,â Vince mutters, closing out the app.
âWhat are you gonna do about this?â
âI gotta go,â he says, hanging up before Sammy can say anything else.Â
-------
You run to the door when you hear the knocking, hoping it was Vince since you hadnât heard much from him since that night at the bar. Instead, you find Nikki standing in your doorway with your favorite flowers. âWhat are these?â you deadpan, still a little irritated with her.
âVince wonât say I love you so I figured I would,â she tells you, kissing you on the cheek and brushing past you. âI love you!â she says, dramatically, plopping down on your couch and putting her feet on your coffee table.
You look at the flowers, biting your lip. You just wanted Vince to say it. But you get it. âTheyâre just eight letters. He doesnât have to say it when he can just show it. And you sending that video the other night does not and will not help anything,â you scold her.Â
You hear her scoff as you go to put the flowers in some water. âYou know I was right to send that video. How does he show you he loves you? How could he possibly tell you he loves you without saying âI love you?ââÂ
Rolling your eyes, knowing that sheâs seen him show you loves you plenty of times. You could either argue with her more over what she did, or just list the ways you knew she was already aware of. âHe always makes sure Iâm the last person he sends a text to or calls at night and the first person he does that with in the morning. Even if he wakes up in the middle of the night and answers someone else, heâll still send me another text right after. Heâll give me his pickle whenever he gets them because he knows I love them, even though he does, too. If he sees something on the road that he thinks Iâll like he gets it for me to surprise me with when he comes home.â You can feel yourself starting to cry thinking of all the way Vince has shown he loves you. But you really just wanted to hear those three words. You just wanted that verbal confirmation from him.
âI mean, babe, thatâs great, but if he really meant it, wouldnât he say it?â
You join her on the couch, trying to figure out how to answer. âNot everyone is good with expressing their emotions with words,â you shrug, unable to look at whatever expression she had on her face. âHeâs been hurt before, when heâs told a girl that he loved her. I understand why he wouldnât want to flat out say it to me.âÂ
You get up, going back to your kitchen to at least fake the need for a glass of water. âWell, what else does he do?â you hear Nikki call over the sound of your tap.Â
You swallow, unsure if listing the ways was making you happy or sad. âHe asks me to call him when I get home so he knows Iâm safe. Heâll snapchat me funny faces when Iâm sad because he wants to see me smile. Heâll even leave the guys if Iâm upset and stay on Facetime with me until Iâm happy. When weâre in the car he has my playlist on because he wants to listen to my music because it makes me happy. He doesnât have to tell me he loves me.âÂ
âYes he does,â you hear from the other room, a voice that wasnât Nikkiâs. You see Vince standing there, bags in hand, Nikki slinking away into the other room to give you privacy.Â
âHey, babe, what are you doing here?â you ask him, giving him a kiss for the first time in what felt like forever, trying to take the bags from him when he pulls away. The two of you walk over to your couch, setting the bags down and hearing clinking from inside. âCan I look inside?â
âNo, not yet,â he stops you, taking your hands in his to prevent you from reaching in. âIâll get everything out. Just, just trust me.â He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath. âI told you I couldnât say...it because of the girls Iâve said it to before. And god, Iâm the worst for not saying it. But you deserve so much more.â
âVince, what are you talking about? I donât need mo-â
He cuts you off, handing you the first thing in the bag. A bottle of your favorite wine, a note taped to it. âYouâre my partner in wine,â you read out to him, laughing at the goofy grin on his face telling you that he was proud of himself.Â
A bag of your favorite coffee grounds is placed in your hands next. âWords can not espresso how much you bean to me.âÂ
A can of your favorite soup. âI âcannedâ live without you.â
A snack pack of pudding. âThanks for pudding up with me.âÂ
There was food item after food item with a note taped to it with a different pun revolving around what he thought about you. He went to the grocery store for all your favorites, handing them to you one by one until he gave you the last item in the bags: a bar of your favorite cheese. âSorry about being so cheesy.â
You look at him, seeing the embarrassed look on his face. His cheeks were red, unable to make eye contact with you but smiling anyway. âWell, now I donât have to go grocery shopping,â you joke, him laughing along with you, âVince, I love this.âÂ
âAnd I love you.âÂ
You canât help the smile on your face, staring into his green eyes as his expression mirrors yours. âReally? I mean, I knew,â you explain, âBut I didnât think youâd say it. Why now?âÂ
He smiles at you, taking your hands in his. âBecause Nikki shouldnât have to tell you she loves you because I canât.âÂ
âYouâre welcome!â you hear Nikki yell from your room, both of you laughing.
âOh my god,â he lets out at her obvious eavesdropping, his eyes closed, biting his bottom lip. âItâs not fair to you that you told me how you felt and I couldnât tell you how I really felt.â
âVince, you donât have to apologize,â you try to tell him.Â
âNo, no. I do,â he says, dropping your hands and cupping your face. His thumb traces along your cheekbones as he keeps going. âI chose shitty girls before you, and them hurting me ending up hurting you. I love you, and it shouldnât have taken me so long to say it. Youâre the only one Iâve ever really loved.â He pulls you in for a kiss, soft and sweet.Â
âI love you, too.âÂ
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ok hereâs a dissection of a post an anon sent me the link to and bc i have the worst time management possible and i completely forgot i had it lol so sorry anon here you go â¤ď¸đ§Ąđđ��đ
I am constantly thinking about how Edelgard just doesnât seem designed to appeal to cishet men.
i hate to be the one to break this news to you op but just because a character doesnât show skin like charlotte fire emblem doesnât mean she isnât designed to pander to men. sheâs very much designed to pander to the (majority straight male) player base with her âuwu i only trust you professor omg did u see that rat? pls donât look at my painting of you uwuâ.
then thereâs the whole edelgard c support in japanese where byleth makes reference to having come to her room for âyobiâ which is
thereâs also the scene where byleth can make an unsolicited comment about edelgardâs breast size. which is⌠uhh⌠gross.
edelgard also has cipher cards that go from slightly fanserviceie to full on suggestive
and also her breast armor that my sister relentlessly mocked lol
and hereâs a chart from the 3h subreddit about gender/sexually in regards to edelgard and edeleth. itâs extremely straight male. op might have just overlooked this since they probably donât go on reddit and stay on tumblr (which unlike reddit is mostly female and has a high lgbt demographic).
Like the joke is that Bleagles is the Gay House, but everything about her feels deliberately non-hetero.
i donât like where this is goingâŚ
Sheâs dressed in sharp outfits covering her upper body, with proportions that donât seem exaggerated.
so women who cover up must be lgbt because straight women are naturally more revealing? oh y i k e s
Her poise and the way she effortlessly flourishes her axe exhibits an air of coolness. While titties out =/= character of no substance, Edelgard being dressed more modestly suggests that she wasnât designed with male-centred fanservice in mind.
âtitties donât equal no substance but hereâs my post on how she has more substance because she doesnât show tittiesâ ok
And she still looks absolutely stunning in her more modest attire (like seriously, I havenât felt the need to return to cosplay in years but I want to do her academy look so bad).Â
yes she does. amazing design 10/10. i have a feeling this is the only part iâm going to agree with
Edelgard is intense. She does not mince her words and she is constantly evaluating you. Though she tries, she has a difficult time understanding her peers initially. Early on, she talks about how she would sacrifice herself and others in the name of some greater good. She is terrible at communicating with her peers. She has to be seen as infallible. Her heart has been hardened for years and she assumes she has to stay that way. She also assumes everyone mourns the same way she does - which is why she (kind of insensitively) insists you move on when Jeralt dies. Because to her, grief has to be channeled towards action, or else youâll get lost in it. This attitude is demonstrated time and time again as she presses on. It can make her come off as cold and unfeeling - but look closer, and sheâs anything but.
donât really have anything to say at this part. it is pretty on the nose though i would slightly disagree with that last sentence a bit. i wouldnât say sheâs as i feeling as hubert is but all of her talks of the war boil down to how she feels and never her victims.
Her story is ultimately about her realizing that to achieve her goals, she needs to let people in and allow herself to want things like cakes and tea parties and lazy days in peace.Â
????? what ????? her goals include imperialism, ethnic and religious targeting. her story is about having a set of beliefs and mowing down anybody who stands in her way. that has nothing to do with tea, friends, and lazy days. also am i supposed to be sad that she has to get up everyday and work? i do that and i didnât start a war and only throw a pity party for myself
The game leaves the player guessing as to how involved the Flame Emperor was in each Part I event, makes you feel hurt by her betrayal, and leaves you with a choice: do you follow the orders of the woman who tried to make you a god without your consent, or a young girl with questionable morals about to throw the world into upheaval?
this isnât an ideal situation but i think iâm going to stick with the woman who tried to make me a god since iâm not selfish and i know itâs not only my desires and life at stake here. plus the green hair slaps ngl
Choosing her of your own volition (not for completionist reasons) requires the basic ability to sympathize with a womanâs pain. It also requires the player to read beyond her unwavering will and dubious methods to get a sense of how deep that pain goes and how the theme of humanity relates to her differently in each route.
iâm not going to touch this since @nilsh13 made a post on it that iâll link here. i agree with everything he said so to repeat it would be redundant.
The player must be able to see a young womanâs desperate resolve to change the world so it stops exploiting people and ruining lives. They must be able to accept the fact that women can make the same morally wrong and ambivalent decisions that complicated male characters get to make all the time and still be the one to root for.
literally the same reason i love rhea lol her goddess experiments are dubious at best but her reasons are the same you mentioned. i would say that i like this quality in edelgard too if her ending, while bloody, actually ended in a good outcome for fodlan.
This is not unique to LGBT+ people, but this population is likely to understand why Edelgard feels so strongly about why she has to change the system.Â
i understand wanting to change a system, i really do. like edelgard, iâm an opinionated bisexual woman (whoâs also physically disabled) so yeah i get it. and change can be good but it can also be terrible. even if the church was the boogeyman edelgard treats it as she still replaces it with her own shit regime. so itâs the same circus just with a new conductor.
I donât think âEdelgard gets undue criticism because sheâs a womanâ captures the full picture. An important aspect of her treatment by certain parts of the fandom is that sheâs a radical woman.
or maybe she does some pretty fucked up shit and it goes unacknowledged in her own route. and yeah sheâs radical but in all the worst ways.
Her hatred of the Church and the Crest system resonates way harder with people who have been hurt by institutions that are deeply engrained in our society.Â
and what about people who have been hurt by systems where their âmeritâ didnât measure up and they were left behind? what about people from nations that experienced imperialism?
Siding with her means siding against the Church - which, while different from real world religious institutions, still invokes language about âsinâ and âpunishment.
yeah the âsinsâ and âpunishmentsâ are used in relation to attempted murders which i think everybody can agree is a bad thing that needs to be condemned.
Choosing Edelgard will likely hit different if homophobic and transphobic Christians used that rhetoric against you.
it has literally nothing to do with âsinsâ and âpunishmentsâ in regards to being gay or trans. thatâs you projecting. especially since the church has 2 canon gay characters and two coded ones.
like i can understand why having a church condemn you can be uncomfortable but iâm begging you to please look at the context of whatâs happening.
Iâm willing to go out on a limb and say that the reason F/F Edeleth is the more popular iteration of that ship because most people who would choose to S-support Edelgard are LGBT+ themselves. This is not a revelation. To anyone in the community, itâs fairly obvious.Â
i was talking to nilish and he said
so yeah⌠while there is definitely sapphic femleth shippers out there, thereâs still a whole lot of weird fetishizing going on from straight men about edelgard.
Crimson Flower was my first route. I went into the game knowing absolutely nothing. I played it during the last week of 2020 and hoo boy was it cathartic.Â
i can tell. this wasnât supposed to be a dig but it came out that way and iâm not taking it out.
I felt like I was living out a gay revolution power fantasy, where I could truly change systems of oppression while fighting alongside a group of troubled students Iâd shaped the lives of.
so a gay revolution power fantasy (cringe) goes hand in hand with imperialism and installing a dictatorship? also the war had nothing to do with sexuality.
Through your unwavering support, Edelgard learns that she needs to be human, that she must listen to her friends, and that sheâs allowed to enjoy the world sheâs creating.
edelgard gets to learn how to be human all while hunting those who donât. and she doesnât listen fo her friends. she doesnât even trust them. sheâs willing to talk to byleth but keep the people whoâs been by her side for five years in the dark about everything. and yeah she gets to enjoy her new words since sheâs on top. hate to be a commoner under her rule after she burned down my village in her war.
I love this character so much.
clearly. and i honestly donât care if somebody likes her. i do as well even if my sometimes scathing words can make it seem otherwise.
It has been six months since I first played and I am still analyzing her,
me too. please help me escape iâm losing my mind
because thereâs so much depth. Yet so many people fail to see that depth and dismiss her as evil,
i mean, she does some fucked up shit that goes beyond any of the less than desirable actions of the other main characters and does an extremely poor job in trying to make herself seem innocent. i personally donât think sheâs pure evil but i completely understand where the people who say she is are coming from.
because they never had the will to understand complicated women in the first place.Â
thatâs big talk from somebody who implies that a gay pope is comparable to homophobic and transphobic irl religions and that leads an oppressive regime all because she uses the vague terms of sin and punishments that you have to gay power fantasy your way out of
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One Hundred Evils and You: Stall Teams (for the F2P Player)
Introduction:
Here is a guide on how to defeat the Hundred Evils/Hundred Calamities with easy-to-acquire units and easy-to-aquire memoria!Â
Please note that this is not the only approach to the Hundred Evils, and it might not even be the best approach for you personally. However, it is the most generic approach that is made with Free-to-Play Players in mind. Stall teams are easier and more accessible to make than most Charge or Magia teams. Blast teams can work in the Hundred Evils (Iâve done them before) but itâs tricky and theyâre not always applicable, depending greatly on who you fight. In the end a Stall team might be your best option!
This is an extremely long guide. I wanted to be thorough, but I might have overdone it. Still, I hope this is helpful! Some of these hints might be a little obvious, but I wanted to make sure that even new players could get some practical advice.
What is the Hundred Evils?Â
The Hundred Evils is located on the far right tab where you have three different battles to fight that only cost a reasonable 1AP each. Inside, youâll battle against several different waves of Magical Girls (and only Magical Girls-- no Witches, Uwasa, Kimochi, or other kinds of minions will be found inside).
What is a Stall Team?
A Stall team is a team thatÂ
Uses Magia to protect its team + deal out damage
Uses memoria to protect its team and debuff enemy
Uses specific characters for buffing, debuffing, healing, ect
This is not a team that will kill fast, but is one that can take some serious hits and stick around.
Preparing Your Team
Like many strategies, most of the difficulty is in the planning. But before we talk about the characters themselves, letâs take a quick moment to talk about the preparation needed to make them excel at their work. Unfortunately this will require investment in both their Spirit Enhancement and in their Magia (youâll want several of them to have Doppels).
More importantly, youâll also want these characters to have multiple slots-- the worse your memoria are, the more slots youâll want. Essentially, you really need each character to have four of them.
For more established players, itâs very possible that youâll have several of these girls kitted out already with their required slots, but for very new players, it might take a few events to finally get them fully slotted. Luckily you can do this easily with Magia Chips and Destiny Bottles, unlike with natural four-stars, but this still might take time to build up.
As for Spirit Enhancement, it depends-- some characters youâll really want that Active (for example, Kakoâs party-wide HP Regen heal) and some characters... eh. Itâs not as important.
But itâs still a good idea to grab as much as you can. Some characters, like Kako again, have SE that gives them more MP at the start of the battle or HP Regen. This is inconsequential for high-end content, but vital for a FTP Magia Stall strategy team. You want everything that will make a character live longer, heal themselves on their own, get them to Magia faster, ect. You donât need to get them to 60/60 SE, but itâd be good to aim for them to have all their Passives and Active.
Who to Use:
Let me introduce you to a F2Pâs saviors:
Letâs go through them and analyze why these girls in particular are so good for Stall teams.Â
Oriko Mikuni: Oriko is the team leader of this bunch. Why is that? Sheâs your go-to Magia damage dealer. Sheâs a Magia type, she deals a decent amount of damage for an uncapped girl, her Magia is an AOE, and her typing (Light) means that she should be able to deal decent damage against anything you throw at her. Her Spirit Enhancement is full of increased Magia Damage Up, and she also has the passive 15% chance to inflict Skill Seal on her enemies-- itâs not enough to be reliable, but I find that itâs still really useful when it pops off unexpectedly. The focus on Evade can be useful in some circumstances-- sheâs fragile, and itâs an easy way to protect her. Lastly, her connect gives Accele MP Gain Up, which lets her help your team gain more MP.
Kako Natsume: The GOAT for F2P, Kako Natsume is pretty mighty. Her Accele Draw personal memoria is great for getting things set up, she offers good heals through her connect, her Magia/Doppel, and even through her Active SE, and her SE is also pretty decent with giving her lots of stuff that helps her survive. Her damage isnât the best as a Healer, but her single-target Magia/Doppel can kill troublesome Aqua-types when needed. Her Magia/Doppel/Connect also gives âRemove Status Ailmentsâ which can be extremely helpful. Lastly, her Doppel will provide âRemove Buffsâ towards the target which can help with increasing damage potential.
Emiri Kisaki: Donât let Emiri fool you into thinking sheâs all giggles-- she's fearsome! Sheâs excellent as a Debuffer and will protect your team through inflicting Dazzle onto the enemies. Not only does Dazzle make them more liable to miss, but it also means the enemy takes increased damage from their weak element, so she can also help increase damage done. Additionally, her Magia/Doppel gives all enemies Damage Down for three turns, making her Magia even more protective. Lastly, she has Skill Quicken as part of her Spirit Enhancement, meaning itâs an excellent idea to equip memoria on her that you want to use more often than the cooldown letâs you.
Manaka Kurumi: Manaka is fucking incredible. Like Kako sheâs a heal-type, but donât be tricked into thinking thatâs all she can do. She has one of the highest Attack Up connects in the game and her Magia/Doppel offers an excellent amount of Attack Up to all allies for three turns. This gives her the role of being the buffer-- if youâre facing a tough enemy, use Manakaâs Magia/Doppel first and then use the other Magia after. She has two Accele MP Gain Up passive nodes and an active that gives her more Accele MP Gain Up, so donât be afraid to use her Magia/Doppel often.
Other Good F2P-Friendly Units
Now, youâll probably notice that I only included four up there, but that you can use five in total for your team. If you need to use a Magia Stall Team, then I recommend using all five spaces so that you have more room for potential Magia/Doppels. The fifth slot can be swapped for anyone in particular, but if youâre looking for a F2P-friendly character then Iâd recommend one of these girls.
Umika Misaki: Personally this would be my most recommended option. Umika is another healer, which makes your team even more protective than before, and she can fill a very protective role. First, her connect wonât just heal someone but itâll also give them Damage Cut and almost 100% Defense Up-- making her excellent at protecting someone. Her Magia/Doppel act similarly to Kakoâs, restoring health to all allies and also removing Status Ailments. Her SE is similarly useful-- like Emiri, she has passive 15% Skill Quicken, so sheâs a good choice to equip active memoria you want to use often on. Like Oriko, she has a chance to Skill Seal on attack-- not enough to be reliable, but enough that it should still be good. Her SE active is MP Damage for 30MP-- situational, but it can be extremely helpful if youâre not able to kill an enemy before they can Magia you. Her DEF and HP make her solid, not as much as a proper tank, but as someone who can stand in for one.Â
Hotaru Yura: A bit of a bold choice, but Hotaru can be good. Sheâs another healer, but she has some excellent supportive capabilities. First, you donât need to worry about her dying, unless she canât Regen HP-- her SE Active gives her 100% HP Restore (with the cost of Attack down on self, but no one is using Hotaru for damage). She has passive HP Regen, Defense Up, and Status Ailment Resistance so she can take a bit of punishment. Her connect is a generic heal, and her Magia has a generic HP Regen, but what makes her really shine is the MP Regen from her Magia-- this means you can use her to keep your party having topped off MP gauges.Â
Haruka Kanade:Â If you have Haruka, she can be a good choice as a tank. Despite being a Support, she has a ton of tanking capabilities, and she can protect your team through a variety of methods. She has passive Provoke chance, meaning she can draw aggro away, Skill Quicken (you want to probably use her active slots for taunt memoria and for defense up/damage cut memoria though), and HP Regen. Her active lets her taunt the enemies while also inflicting a 52% chance of Charm onto them-- itâs a long cooldown, but can serve as a panic button when things are going wrong. Her connect gives Charm as well, meaning you can protect the party from hits. Her Magia/Doppel is also a good defensive panic button of sorts-- the target will deal less damage, Haruka gains Provoke and Damage Cut (and hp regen), and she can protect your team for that turn.
Sana Futaba: Sana has decent DEF and HP stats, so she will do well as a tank. She has a passive Provoke and a passive Endure-- meaning that she can draw hits and also stay alive past one potentially fatal one. Her SE gives her Accele MP Gain Up and MP Gain Up nodes, so it shouldnât be too difficult to get her to Magia/Doppel. Her Anti-Debuff SE active is situationally useful. Her connect gives 100% Damage Cut, making it a good way to protect the user, and her Magia gives Damage Cut/Defense Up to all allies, again making her a good way to defend her team. Her Doppel has a chance of being very defensive or of inflicting Status Ailments (Burn, Darkness, Bind). This does make her more tricky to use if she gets to 150 MP as opposed to 100-- you canât guarantee if sheâll protect your team or inflict ailments on the enemy.
Good Four-Star Units to Use
There are too many good units to list here-- believe me, I tried to actually do that and after the first twenty characters I realized Iâd have to tackle this in a different way. However, here are some extremely notable characters, who you should bring even if they only have one slot:
Madoka & Iroha
Madoka Kaname
Mikage Yakumo
Outside of that, if you have someone with a few slots and youâre wondering if theyâre good to bring, ask yourself these questions:
Do they have good disks? Characters with two or more Accele disks are better than ones with only one.Â
Do they help with MP generation in any sort of form? Itâs not a must-have, but itâs a plus.
What do they provide to the party-- do they have a protective role, a defensive one, an offensive one? For example, you can swap out Emiri for a slotted Mifuyu since they share similar roles, or a Sayuki for a Manaka.
Last Notes on Choosing Characters
Here are a few last things to consider when choosing some characters.
First off, you donât always fight every element. You might not know who youâre fighting, but you can know what element theyâll be-- you can then use your characters accordingly. For example, it might not be worth it to bring an Aqua-element if you could use another Forest type here. Just make sure that you donât miss important team roles!
You can always try to use memoria to fill in missing character gaps. For example, some fights might have you face teams that build up MP to use on deadly Magia. You could try to get your one-slot Touka to work... or you could just use Magia Damage Down or MP Gain Down memoria instead.
Tanks can be really helpful here but also sometimes not. A tank really needs 3+ slots to work properly so that they can have enough defensive passives plus an active that grabs aggro. However, you donât need to choose a proper tank-- any character with a passive Provoke or Guardian can work if they have the right memoria for it. Just make sure you keep them alive.Â
Three healers on a team might seem excessive, but personally I find it to help cover bases. This way you donât run into a situation where your healer needs help but no one can help them, and you also are able to use Magia more strategically-- Manaka can heal, sure, but you donât need to waste her Magia on someone when you donât need the Attack Buff right then as long as Kako has her Magia up still. This is also really helpful if you donât have any tanks on your team.
When it comes to filling in the fifth member of the F2P team (Oriko, Manaka, Kako, Emiri), I prefer aqua types so that you can fill in all elemental slots. Again though, make sure you check what elements youâre fighting first!
The formation you use can be important too. This one for example gives increased Status Ailment Resistance and HP Regen. Additionally, make sure you place your characters with consideration. Characters closer to the front will be targeted more than characters towards the behind. If you have a tank with Provoke memoria, then make sure whoever is horizontal and vertical with them can also take some hits when the enemy uses a blast attack.
Equipping Your Team: What Memoria to Choose?
Okay, so youâve chosen your characters. What about memoria? Do you need top of the line stuff here?Â
Nah. You can do this with event rewards easily!
Going through a list of everything that could potentially be helpful would be extremely long, so the above provides some examples. Letâs go over some notes:
For passive memoria, I prefer to do one Accele MP Gain Up/MP Gain Up memoria paired with one Attack Up/Damage Up/Damage Increase memoria. That way your units can get to Magia easily and still deal decent damage when they get there. If your characters are fragile, then using memoria with Defense Up/Damage Cut are good ideas too. Memoria with passive HP Regen arenât a bad idea-- you probably have a lot of good healers on your team, but a character who can passively heal themselves means you can use those Magia for more offensive purposes.
As for Actives, your choices are expanded. I mentioned above that memoria can fill in missing gaps that you couldnât fit characters in for. Actives are part of that. Accele Draw memoria are always a must, and memoria that help increase your MP Gain is always a plus. The biggest key though will be Attack Down / Damage Down memoria. Memoria like Mito Rain are the best thing possible for a F2P-- it has a low cooldown, effects everyone, gives a ton of its percentage, ect. Youâre actually better off keeping five separate copies of Mito Rain instead of max awakening it to one, because then you can give each character one copy-- this means you can use a Mito Rain on every turn. This will protect your units and keep them safe in addition to all the healing you can do, and it also will help you deal increased damage thanks to its Defense Down.
One memoria that can inflict MP Gain Down is generally a good idea.Â
Characters with passive Skill Quicken should be given memoria that you want to use more often-- Mito Rain is a good idea on them of course, but so are other debuffers.Â
Tailor your memoria to your needs. If you find that all your characters are constantly at 150 MP but youâre never in a good place to use it, try decreasing the amount of MP Regen memoria youâve got going on and replace them with more damaging effects.
DONâT OVERLOOK THREE STAR MEMORIA. They can be extremely helpful and even better than some four-star ones! For example, Leila Rain is an overlooked hero and definitely worth considering! Three-star memoria are easier to max awaken too, so in some cases, a max awakened three-star memoria is going to be better than a single copy of a four-star one!
If youâre a newer player, then chances are youâll struggle with having good memoria along with having good units. Memoria can be just as much an investment as characters can be-- so make sure youâre getting 3* Over Limiters from your events and spend them wisely.Â
Donât forget you can negate Evade through Status Ailments-- memoria can be extremely helpful with that.
Actually Fighting
So now youâre fighting. Cool! What now?
First you want to build up your MP for everyone. If you have an Accele combo without needing to use an Accele draw memoria, take it!
For your first wave, try to build up MP slowly across everyone. Use your Accele Draw(s) here and prioritize Accele combos-- even if it means using an Accele disc for someone who already has max MP. For example, if I got an acele disc option from Umika, Manka, and Oriko, Iâd still use Umikaâs to get all of that MP.
Remember that the order the Accele disc goes in determines how much MP they get! The first character gets the least amount of MP with the last one getting the most. Using the previous example, Iâd use Umikaâs disc, Orikoâs disc, and then Manakaâs disc. Donât forget that the characters get a flat +20 MP boost too.
Choose your target enemy wisely. For example, you can generally count on Touka featuring some sort of anti-MP gain/MP Gain on self, and Nemu to inflict a status ailment onto your team. Here, the Rena hits harder than her Rena-chan self. You canât always predict who is going to use what, but general familiarity with the characters helps.
Some enemies are better for generating MP against than others. You canât always predict who youâll get and what theyâll do, but if you come across easy enemies, take advantage of the situation to farm some MP.Â
There are lots of tricks to getting more MP out of situations. For example, all characters will gain more MP after they hit 100MP than before they do-- so using an Accele disc before a Magia is an easy way of regaining your losses.
Using an Accele disc before any others will increase the MP gained by each subsequent disc, even for Blast. If your disc selection is bad, try to make the most of it with squeezing out what you can.
Additionally, if youâre confident a Magia will kill a target, use the Magia last. You can put two potential accele discs in front of it to get even more MP out of the thing.Â
This line of thinking can go with charging up connects. You donât actually need to use the disc (if the enemy dies) to get the + for it, so if youâre confident a Magia will kill a target, pick discs that will give you a connect on your next turn.
This is a little overkill, but personally I like to go into the last wave with as many Doppels and Memoria up as possible. Donât stay on any character too long-- you can only use three doppel a turn after all, and using one of your five to finish someone off isnât a bad idea-- but also donât be afraid to sit for a bit either. Just make sure youâre under the 40 turn time limit. Itâs possible that whatever you face in the final wave will need more than three doppels to die.
Itâs time. Itâs the final, toughest wave. Youâre here! Youâve got all the Doppels ready and a bunch of memoria ready too. So what order do you do this in?
In general a safe bet is to go Manaka > Emiri > Oriko. This is so that Manaka will buff the entire team, making each Doppel hit harder, Emiri can inflict Bewitch (possibly making Oriko hit harder if she counters the element, though it doesnât work in this scenario) and use your main damage dealer (Oriko) last.
If your characters have some lingering status ailments, or if the enemy has an annoying buff, Kakoâs doppel might be a good idea to go first instead. Itâs not a bad idea to save your defensive doppels/healing doppels for a potential second round though.
And thatâs it! You did it! Congratulations!
Other Advice that I Donât Have Screenshots For
Youâve got at least two healers who can heal through connects, magia/doppel, and one through her SE Active. Donât blow a Doppel when a connect will do just as well.
If you donât have enough debuff memoria to âblanketâ the enemy every turn, then use Emiriâs connect to try and blanket them with Bewitch instead.Â
Connects in general are a tricky thing to use. You want to save them for times when their effects are needed, but sometimes you also want to give someone an Accele disk to get their MP up. Donât get too greedy, but conversely donât hoard them.
If you mess up and want to redo a wave, forcefully exit the game. When you bring it back up, youâll have an option to go right back to the beginning of that wave (the answer âyesâ is the right button).Â
Try not to overcap on effects. For example, donât use two active Attack Up effects Oriko, have Manaka use her Doppel, then have Manaka connect to Oriko. Attack Up has a cap of 100%, and anything over that is completely wasted. Space stuff out over turns, or use a variety of different memoria to provide different buffs.
Conclusion
I hope this helps! I think I covered everything...? You might notice that some of these screenshots come from different events because I was lazy��because this took a little while to write.
There are lots of strategies you can use for this challenge. But this one is for new players/F2P players who donât have a lot of good units/memoria yet. Eventually youâll outgrow this team and have better characters to use. There are all sorts of cool strategies one can employ with the right characters; lots of people will try to finish the Hundred Evil fights with as few turns as possible using Charge strategies for example.Â
But, if you need a tried-and-true method of defeating the Hundred Evils with easy-to-aquire characters, then the above method is for you. Good luck out there, you can do it!
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She-Ra S5 E09 - An Ill Wind
In which the Best Friend Squadâs back on Etheria and Iâm back to writing up my thoughts about it. (The real question is whether Iâll manage to finish these posts before season 5âs one-year-anniversary.) I probably really donât need to say this anymore, but there might be spoilers for the rest of the season in this post.
- I think itâs funny how Catra canât stand teleporting, but whatâs even more important is how visibly concerned for her Adora is each time. Have you seen how she touches Catraâs shoulders and looks at her with such a worried expression? Dâawww.
- âWow, you donât trust the princesses? I am shocked.â No Glimmer, Catraâs 100% right. This has nothing to do with trusting the princesses; you really donât know whoâs chipped and which places are occupied by clones. Perfuma literally told you the rebellion was compromised.
- âCatraâs right.â THANK YOU, ADORA! (Also, I love Catraâs satisfied little smirk in the background when Adora says this.)
- I just paused the episode when they arrive in Erelandia and counted the Horde flags you can see hanging all over the town: 14, plus one giant Horde sign in the sky and a spire not too far away. Prime, are you compensating for something? (Also, Adora has an arm on Catraâs back again. Cute.)
- Is it a little disappointing that all the rebellions against Horde Prime on other planets got reduced to one brief exposition scene where a clone mentions theyâre happening and a few quick images? Yeah. But I also get why the show just didnât have the time for more and wanted to focus on Etheria.
- Speaking of, are those the magicats we see in the second image? Interesting⌠Iâm not sure how I feel about the idea of Catra potentially being an alien as well. But then again, the show never clearly answers it one way or another, and thereâs no reason magicats couldnât have existed on multiple planets.
- Also, am I understanding this right: The Star Siblings started the intergalactic rebellion after meeting the Best Friend Squad? And now there are already rebels on several planets? Nice job, Star Siblings!
- âMy heart aches for these misguided children.â Iâm not sure if Iâve ever properly addressed the heavily religious symbolism around Horde Prime and his cult, but⌠that right there is *such* a Christian-extremist-coded line, holy hellâŚ
- So Prime says he wants to use the Heart of Etheria âto bring peace to all the universeâ and at this point Iâm not entirely sure what his exact goal is. Does he just want to destroy all the planets with the Heart? Because Iâll be honest, I tend to find âI just want to destroy everythingâ a bit boring as a motivation in villains. Whatâs the point of him ruling the universe if thereâs no one left to rule over? I mean, I know Prime had his whole âIf thereâs no one left, there are no wars, etc.â speech in an earlier episode, but thatâs also just so dumb.
- Where did the Best Friend Squad even get those cloaks? Either way, Catra looks adorable with the outline of her ears showing under the hood. đĽş
- âI hope you, too, are full only of love for Horde Prime⌠and have no crippling doubt eating at your soul.â / âBrothers, there is nothing to see here!â Like I said in an earlier post, all of Wrong Hordakâs lines are absolute winners. Also, I love how the other clones just keep falling for his very obvious bluffs.
- Wrong Hordak learning to wink so quickly makes me jealous because I canât wink. (No, I really canât; Iâve tried. Whenever I try to only close one eye, I always end up closing both. If anyone has good advice on learning to wink, let me know.)
- I love the character designs of the mushroom people.
- Catra wasnât wrong about the locals selling them out and not telling them anything useful. The others should listen to her more.
- Bow posing as the âaverage traveler passing thoughâ is especially funny because Iâm pretty sure there are no âtravelers passing throughâ in times of Horde Prime.
Catra: âA town that hates princesses? Should I buy property here?â
Everyone else: *glares*
Catra: âIs what I would have said before I joined you. Go, team.â
đđđ Catraâs quiet little âGo, teamâ in the end is what gets me most about this moment đ. Sheâs adorable and trying her best, okay?
- I love how Wrong Hordak just calls everyone âbrotherâ regardless of gender. Also, Adoraâs little âDid you just wink at me?â / âThatâs not how winking works!â moments are hilarious and adorable.
- âYouâre wearing hooded cloaks, itâs highly suspicious.â Okay, mushroom ladyâs not wrong, though. And I love how someone finally points this out, since hooded cloaks are so often used as âundercoverâ disguises in shows like this.
- That said, both she and mushroom guy earlier did try to sell the Best Friend Squad out super quickly. Like, I get that the locals are scared, but still⌠They could have tried to stay safe without running towards the clones to tell them everything right away.
- Iâm just noticing that Erelandia has mushrooms everywhere. Obviously the people are mushrooms, but there are also mushrooms growing outside in the streets everywhere, and the shop theyâre in is selling mushrooms and clothes with mushrooms on them as well.
- Both Bow and Glimmer blowing their covers almost immediately and Adora just quietly shaking her head at both of them in the background is amazing.
- Love Catra (and Melog) just casually stealing a mushroom from a mushroom lady.
- So Catraâs just chilling in a tree and eating stolen mushrooms and Entrapta wants to analyze samples thatâll be ready in 4-6 weeks â neither of themâs really helping right now. But then again, Catra wanted to leave in the first place because she thought the locals would sell them out (and she was right about that), so she probably thinks itâs not worth the effort.
- Also, you know who this scene with Entrapta and Catra is missing? Scorpia. If there is one problem I have with season 5, itâs that we didnât get any Super Pal Trio reunion / moments with all of them on the same side now. (Or just in general, that we didnât get to see Scorpia and Catra properly talking things out.)
- âThatâs the windy one, right?â Okay, am I the only one who finds this line weird? Spinnerella literally has Adora, Bow and Glimmer trapped in a tornado as Entrapta says this. Obviously sheâs âthe windy oneâ? Entrapta can literally see that??
- âLord Prime has given me peace.â Oh, Iâm just realizing thatâs just what Catra said when she was chipped. Thatâs got to be awful for Adora to hear again.
- Glimmer grabbing Bow and Adoraâs hands and teleporting them out of the tornado was badass.
Adora: âHow are we supposed to fight our own friends?â
Catra: âIt never stopped you before.â
OMG. I love that Catra still considers their time as enemies as âbeing friendsâ.
- I really love Netossaâs entrance. What makes it really cool to me is that at that point the Best Friend Squad didnât even know if there were any unchipped princesses left, so Netossa jumping in there with a casual âWelcome back, guysâ was just an amazing moment.
- Also, I donât know if Iâve said this before, but I really like that this season finally made Spinnerella and Netossa more important characters. (And I wonder how much network censorship of LGBT+ storylines had to do with them not being that important earlier on.)
- Hordak getting flashbacks of Entrapta again (while Prime looks at his older bodyâs memories) is just đĽş. I like how Prime talks about Etheria while Hordak slowly remembers more and more about his own life on Etheria.
- âSo, the only person Iâm fighting here is⌠my own wife.â I love the on-screen confirmation that theyâre married! But also, Netossa wanting to attack Catra and Wrong Hordak at first was pretty funny.
- Catra and Glimmerâs respective expressions when they hear about Scorpia and Micah being chipped are a gut punch. Also, Netossa talking about how she has to get Spinnerella back is making me tear up.
- âWhere are the rebels?â âRight beside you!â đđđ Amazing, just amazing.
- Love to see Catra taking out those bots. Sheâs so badass â¤ď¸.
- âBe careful.â âAlways am.â I wonder at what point Netossa started to realize whatâs going on between Catra and Adora.
- Love Netossa whistling at She-Raâs new look. Your wifeâs right there, darling. But then again, who wouldnât whistle at She-Raâs new look?
- Honestly, why did anyone ever say Spinnerella and/or Netossa were weak? Their fight here really shows how powerful both of them are when they donât hold back.
- âStop holding back. She wonât.â Looking past how hard this must be for Netossa, this line really sums up why so many characters in shows like this seemingly become more powerful when they turn evil (or less powerful when they turn good): Because the bad guys have no reason to hold back.
- Adora firing a rainbow beam from her sword was amazing. I wish weâd gotten to see a bit more of She-Raâs new powers this season.
- âPlease. I love you. Come back to me.â Iâm crying đ˘. Thatâs a nice first taste of all the âI love youâs to come in the finale. And I love that it works (even if just for a bit). The whole âpower of love helps you break free from mind controlâ thing might be a clichĂŠ, but itâs a clichĂŠ I love, soâŚyay, awesome!
- But also, and Iâll probably talk about this more when I get to the next episode (that I had a few problems with), I like how Netossa doesnât only rely on the power of love, but still realizes she has to first fight Spinnerella without holding back to get her into a position where they can even have this talk.
- Yay, mushroom town is saved!
- Catra reassuring Netossa that Spinnerella will be okay was so sweet. Sheâs really trying to be nice and I think sheâs doing great đĽş. (Also, Adora looks at her so proudly.)
- I just noticed that when She-Ra replaces the Horde symbol in the sky with her sword symbol, all the Horde flags around town are already gone, too. Did Catra, Glimmer and the others just like⌠take all of those flags down in between fighting the bots? Or did Wrong Hordak maybe walk around taking off the flags while the others were fighting?
- That said, the rainbow sword in the sky looks amazing.
- âI think Horde Prime is going to know She-Raâs back.â âGood.â Love Adoraâs determined expression here.
- Geez Horde Prime, no need to punch the screen. The screen didnât do anything to you.
- Okay, so Horde Prime finally decides to go to Etheria himself, and when he announces that, Hordak looks at the crystal in his hand â itâs all coming together.
- âThis is where the rebellion is hiding out?â âYup. Why, have you been here?â The looks on Glimmer and Catraâs faces here are amazing. People have of course already written all kinds of amazing metas analyzing their expressions, but the short version is that Glimmer seems to remember their fight fondly, while Catra seems embarrassed.
- Perfuma trapping them all in vines and demanding to see their necks is not only hilarious, but also shows that the rebellion has learned from their past mistakes. đ
- All of their reunions (Bow and Perfuma, Glimmer and Frosta, Adora and Swift Wind, Entrapta and Emily) were super sweet â I like big reunion scenes đĽş. Wrong Hordak meeting Emily was adorable. Perfuma clinging to Bow and crying about how she doesnât want to be in charge anymore had me laughing so hard đ.
- Okay so, I know Frostaâs punch breaks the mood a moment later, but I really think Adora wanting to officially introduce Catra to everyone after seeing her standing there alone while everyone else was having big reunions was super sweet. The way her face falls when she sees Catra standing there sadly, the way she asks her to come here so gently⌠itâs just so sweet. đĽş
- Also, unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who didnât really find Frosta punching Catra funny? (And the same goes for Scorpia electrocuting her in the next episode, by the way.) I know these moments are meant to be cathartic âdrag the former villain because some people are still mad at themâ moments, but Catraâs whole story is largely about being a victim of physical abuse. Wasnât there some way for the story to make fun of her without having other characters physically assault her? I like how Catraâs redemption was handled overall, but moments like those kind of rub me the wrong way. (Netossa trapping her in a net was fine though, because that didnât actually harm her.)
- That said, Adoraâs âCatraâs with us now. Okay? Hmm.â was hilarious. I love how she just gives the briefest explanation and then turns away from Frosta with a smile and little âhmmâ, just completely expecting Frosta to be fine with this now.
- That ending shot of all of them together is epic.
So, what changed this episode is that Erelandia was freed, the space group has reunited with the remaining princesses, and Horde Prime is heading for Etheria. Good episode!
[Previous episode]Â Â [Next episode]
#spop#spop s5#spop s5 spoilers#An Ill Wind#Spinnetossa#Spinnerella#Netossa#Catra#Adora#Bow#Glimmer#Entrapta#Wrong Hordak#Scorpia#Frosta#Perfuma#Catradora#Horde Prime#Hordak#Best Friend Squad#Erelandia#long post#actually this one didn't even get that long
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Mistakenly Saving the Villain - Chapter 5
Original Title: 莺ćéĺć´žçä¸ĺş
Genres: Drama, Romance, Xianxia, Yaoi
This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 5 - Wrong Answer
Readers who have read novels such as transmigration, quick transmigration, and system plotlines, know that if the fate of the character in the story must be changed, it should be prevented before the character's tragic fate has occurred. However, Song Qingshi interpreted this as the event having already occurred, and was meant to save the character who had already suffered a tragic fate. This train of thought meant that his decision was a thousand miles off.
In the original book, Yue Wuhuan only appeared three times:
The first time was when the shou protagonist had just been sold to Golden Phoenix Manor. When he saw the unbearable scene of Yue Wuhuan being played with by the guests, his three views shattered.
The second time was when the protagonist's naive illusion of the future was destroyed and he was forced to accept his identity because of the ridicule and humiliating remarks of Yue Wuhuan.
The third time, Yue Wuhuan was taken out by Jin FeiRen on the Langgan stage to treat the guests and was accidentally torn to pieces by the demon tiger. Jin FeiRen concealed the actual explanation of the demon tiger's madness and treated it as a deliberately arranged game for the banquet. With this extreme fear, he shattered the last trace of the protagonist's dignity, making him completely surrender and become a plaything.
In short, Yue Wuhuan was a small supporting role with little substance, leaving the plot early, using his degeneracy to offset the beauty of the protagonist. His beauty was only like that of a beautiful flower that was about to wither. How can it be compared with the pure and clean flower bud that had not yet bloomed in the dawn?
This was a super simple multiple-choice question that every reader could figure out!
If the system was a living thing and watching over the exam being taken, it would be so angry that it would have come out and beaten that foolish Song Qingshi to death.
Scholar-Tyrant Song didn't know that he had drifted so far from the original goal, but he was still eagerly confident, trying to do his best and vowing to get a perfect score!
On the way back to the Valley of the Medicine King, Song Qingshi had recalled all the memories of his original body and integrated it with its massive knowledge of medicine and alchemy. There were rare and exotic herbs and miraculous medicines in the cultivation world. However, similar to traditional Chinese medicine, even if the medicine worked wonders, the science behind the effects of these medicines was still a mystery.
Modern medicine conducts systematic research on traditional Chinese medicine to find out the monarch-minister-auxiliary relationship within its components, extracted the useful ingredients in each concoction, and then developed medicine that was easier to take and had even better results.
A female scientist won the Nobel Prize for this, benefiting the world. Song Qingshi focused on modern medicine, leaped away from the traditional path of immortality, and quickly found new ideas for solving problems for many areas that the original body had failed to properly study. He used the Tiangong Pavilion to make modern scientific instrument substitutes, and then analyze the effective ingredients in the immortal medicines, purify them, research them, and even artificially synthesize them. . .
In Song Qingshi's mind, there were countless experimental schemes in an endless stream, and there were tens of thousands of books and inexhaustible medicinal materials in the Medicine King's Valley, as well as abundant research funds.
He was overjoyed, like a mouse that fell into a vat of rice. He wanted to kiss the system if he could.
Song Qingshi fully understood why the original body lived here, staying in such a cultivation paradise. He could live here for the rest of his life!
He could immerse himself in the ocean of intense studying and research every day. He could dedicate his life and soul to his favourite medical god. No one could send him back!
Song Qingshi looked at Yue Wuhuan in his arms. The more he looked at him, the more he loved him.
This was the big treasure that had given him everything! He would do everything he could to save him, just like his parents used to treat him before; indulged, spoiled, loved, and giving him all the good things he needed so that he can live a happy life like a prince in a fairy tale!
Song 'a father's love is like a mountain' Qingshi was full of ambition. He suppressed his excitement and immediately placed Yue Wuhuan in the side hall of his bedroom. He did everything by himself. First, he poured the elixir carefully with the crane-mouthed pot to re-invigorate the breath of life. Then he changed into white clothes, put on a homemade mask, and found a pair of extremely thin animal leather gloves. After he finished disinfecting the wounds, gently cut off the blood-soaked gauze and feather skirt on Yue Wuhuan's body with scissors, rinsed the wounds, and then sutured them with very fine silkworm thread. Then, he cut off the shackles and treated his ankle wounds.
Song Qingshi's movements were extremely gentle and quick, barely touching any skin, but Yue Wuhuan's body was extremely sensitive. He twitched slightly and groaned a few times before falling asleep again. Song Qingshi took the opportunity to take some blood samples for analysis, and also performed a full-body scan of him with his mental probe. He was a good-tempered person, but after seeing the disastrously ruined dantian and meridians in Yue Wuhuan's body, he couldn't help but curse darkly at those beasts. He scolded them repeatedly, thinking about how he was going to explain this situation to him once he woke up.
Song Qingshi was not good at communicating with strangers. He was able to make do when discussing his interests, but his thoughts often went blank when forced into small talk. For example, when everyone watched the popular men's group selection variety show together and argued over who was the male god?
He answered sincerely that it was Asclepius, the god of medicine. . .
Song Qing hasn't understood why everyone said he killed the conversation.
He thought hard for a long time and remembered that when his Lou Gerhig's hadn't been as advanced, he worked in a hospital for an internship. His senior brother knew that Song Qinshi was afraid of social interaction and would end up a stuttering mess when he tried to have conversations with his patients. He taught Song Qingshi: "Push down all of your feelings and act like a medical machine. First write down their case in detail and their treatment plan, recite it with a smile, and then end with a comforting sentence." Song Qingshi took this secret technique, practiced many times in front of the teacher, and, finally, he could talk to patients without fear.
A hospital is a place for treatment, just like how the Medicine King's Valley is a place for treatment. What's the difference?
After Song Qingshi had this epiphany, he replaced Yue Wuhuanâs bed sheets and bedding with the white ones commonly used in hospitals. He ordered the valley servant to make several sets of patient clothes, put them on by himself, and then tied roots on his wrist to represent the hospital information band. With a red wristband and a sign on the bed with "Special Care" and the instructions for how to care for him, Song Qingshi instantly felt calm in this makeshift hospital environment.
He wasn't comfortable with the type of care that the valley servantswere giving and took on nursing himself. He was careful and not afraid of getting tired. He wiped down Yue Wuhuan's body and washed his face, fed him medicine and water, and even replaced the bedding to deal with all kinds of filth.
When Yue Wuhuan woke up three days later, he was confused. He didn't know where he was. He stared at the white veil on the top of the bed in a daze for a long time. He finally realized that he was still alive and he hadn't been this relaxed in a long time.
He closed his eyes, faintly recalling the slight fragrance of medicine lingering from his dream and the hands that had gently released all the restraints for him. He took a deep breath. He didn't want to wake up and face the never-ending nightmare.
After who know's how long, Yue Wuhuan threw his eyes open, remembering where he had smelled the fragrance of the medicine. He slowly turned his head and looked at the round table next to him, but saw that Medicine Master Xianzun was attentively making changes to the cursive writings on the table. He was frowning, his expression serious, as if thinking about something bad. There was also a familiar spirit bead in the silver plate next to him, and it became obvious that he had been given to another guest to be played with.
Yue Wuhuanâs phoenix eyes shrank. The rumors of the perverse and evil deeds of the Medicine Master Xianzun appeared in his mind, but he was not afraid. Whether he was willing or unwilling meant nothing under the control of the spirit bead. Besides, his broken body was no longer worthy of being cherished. He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and struggled to get out of bed, but a sharp pain came from his shoulder, which made him dizzy and he fell right back down. Song Qingshi never had any distractions when he was researching. He heard the movement and found that the patient was awake. He was afraid that Yue Wuhuan might have moved his body and reopened the wound. He quickly reprimanded him with a stern tone: "You, go to bed right away! You are not allowed to get off for ten days!"
This stern technique was a secret taught by the head nurse of the hospital. It had a good effect on treating patients who didn't follow the doctor's advice.
"Ten days?" Yue Wuhuan was stunned. He couldn't help but look at Song Qingshi up and down. The more he looked, the more he felt that his appearance was deceiving. He had been with guests for many years, and he was used to seeing many lustful scenes, but he never would've guessed that this person had such prowess in the bed. . .
Seeing that he hadn't gotten back on the bed, Song Qingshi put down his pen, walked over and picked him up with his own hands.
Yue Wuhuan remained unmoved, stretched out his hand and gently hugged his neck. Hot fingertips touched his cool skin, as smooth as cool jade, and the clear and clean scent of medicine wrapped around him gently like if he was in a dream. Yue Wuhuan couldn't help but shake for a moment. He chasticized his heart for still not knowing how to behave, then resumed his usual posture, and breathed out ambiguously: "I hope that Xianxun will take pity. . ."
"Don't worry, I will." Song Qingshi put him back on the bed carefully, then pulled the blanket up. He wrapped him up tightly, and solemnly told him, "The valley is wet and cold. You have a mortal body so be careful of the cold and stay under the blanket. Keep your hands and feet tucked in and donât kick off the sheets."
Yue Wuhuan had never seen this trick in bed before and was at a bit of a loss.
"You;re a patient now. Let me tell you about your situation." Song Qingshi turned back to the table, picked up a stack of paper covered with words. He nervously pushed the non-existent glasses on the bridge of his nose, and read with a smile, formulating his tone. "The patient is Yue Wuhuan. There are three lacerations from the right shoulder to the chest, which are 18 cm, 14 cm and 12 cm long. The right shoulder bone is fractured, and the suprascapular artery has been ruptured. The right elbow has a skin contusion. The left and right wrists have skin tissue bruises, the left and right knees are bruised along with the left and right ankle tissue. The buttocks skin has soft tissue lacerations. There are signs of drug abuse in the body and potentially drug addiction. Do you understand?"
Yue Wuhuan only felt that his stiff smile must look increasingly forced. The more he thought about it, the crazier everything seemed. All he could do was nod his head and pretendto understand.
"Very good." Song Qingshi felt that what he said was both detailed and easy to understand, and began to recite the preliminary treatment plan. "Your dantian and meridians have been destroyed, and your body is seriously damaged. Your body is too fragile right now to use stronger medicine, so you cannot take Rejuvenation Pill, Gather Breathe and Disperse Pill, All Creation Pill or the Bone Growth Pill. You need to be treated with mortal medicine first, and then treated with the Six Meridian Rejuvanation medicated bath. Then you'll take the Rising Dragon Pill and Nine Revolution Blood Lotus Pill."
Yue Wuhuan finally understood what he was saying. These pills were common immortal medicines, and he had also taken it when he was seriously injured.
The All Creation Pill and Rising Dragon Pill were worth thousands, and he had heard that the poster of Jape Pearl Tower's Lord had used it for his own treasure.
He didn't know what the Six Meridian Rejuvanation medicated bath was, but the Nine Revolution Blood Lotus Pill was the treasure of the immortal world. It is made of ten thousand year-old blood lotuses. There were only nine in the world and only few know where their locations. He only knew that the master of Xuanji Palace had used it and ascended to Fen Shen; the lord of Fluttering Snow Fortress turned against his Daoist companion and killed him and his wife to win the treasure; one appeared in the Qizhen Pavilion auction, and it was won by the owner of the East Sea Langya Pavilion with hundreds of thousands of high-grade spirit stones. For some reason, Jin FeiRen wasn't able to participate in the auction. He always brought it up as one of the greatest regrets in his life.
If it were described in mortal terms, it would be like saving a beggar on the side of the road and saying that you would give him precious delicacies, golden houses, jade horses, and billions in wealth. FInally, you tell him you'll give him the fade seal of the country and all lands under the heavens. Only an idiot would believe these claims.
Yue Wuhuan laughed but his heart was cold. He basically confirmed that Song Qingshi was just toying with him.
He had also encountered many such sweet talkers, pretending to show compassion for some and pity for others. All he wanted, though, was to coax his slaves to play this game with him. He only lusted after his dirty body, in the end.
Song Qingshi finished off with some final closing words: "Don't worry, as long as you follow the doctor's advice and cooperate with the treatment, you'll be cured."
"Okay," Yue Wuhuan's phoenix eyes showed a bit of flattery, and he replied in a sultry voice: "This slave depend on Xianzun for everything. . ."
"I almost forgot." Song Qingshi looked into his eyes and suddenly remembered something. He put on the animal skin gloves again, picked up a luminous bead the size of a goose egg and placed it in a strange, long, tube-shape lampshade. Then he sat on the side of the bed, leaned over and looked at Yue Wuhuan. He gave him a serious warning: "This may be a little uncomfortable, please bear with me."
Yue Wuhuan smiled self-deprecatingly. He let the phoenix eyes show waves of desire, and he relaxed his body, waiting to be played with.
Song Qingshi stretched out his hand and opened his eyes, illuminating the inside of the eyes with the luminous bead. He carefully observed for a while, then whispered: "The problem of the lacrimal secretion system is not visible on the outside, so I still have to do a colored dye inspection..."
Yue Wuhuan: "???"
#mistakenly saving the villain#mistakenly saving the villain translation#chinese bl#chinese novel#english translation#yaoi novel#song qinshi#yue wuhuan
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Athena
Greek goddess of logic, truth, intelligence, knowledge, wit, wisdom, war, battle strategy, heroism, protection, law, justice, order, good counsel, skill, victory, and handicrafts
Athena (Roman: Minerva) is the magnificent goddess of Truth, she is a tremendous being of light who ensouls the cosmic consciousness of Truth and grants it to the world. She is the guardian over all knowledge and despises ignorance, facing it and destroying it like light ripping through darkness. She was one of the most important goddesses of Ancient Greece and is said to have led the Greeks to their homeland and supported their development by teaching them many things. She was also their greatest protectress and would valiantly defend them while defending their cities, even mentoring them in particular battle techniques. As a very complex goddess, Athena would watch over many areas of life, including all forms of education, crafts/inventions, and philosophical thinking. She also is one of the three Virgin goddesses (along with Artemis and Hestia) who are never swayed by romance or lust, since Athena values being solely devoted to the realm of the mind.Â
Mythology:Â Many ages ago when Zeus was less moral than he is nowadays, he was very jealous of anyone who threatened his position of power. When he learnt that his wife, Metis, the goddess of wisdom, may birth his successor, he became desperate to end their lives. Zeus devoured Metis while she was pregnant, thinking this would secure him. But when the time came, Zeus began feeling tremendous headaches. As even he couldnât bear them, Hephaestus struck Zeus with his axe and Athena leapt out of Zeusâ head, fully armed and with a furious cry. This frightened some of the deities, but Zeus, however, was delighted and full of pride. In this story of Athenaâs birth, we see her as enraged wisdom that fights as a defender and upholder of justice.
A popular myth of Athena is the story of Arachne, a mortal craftswoman who boasted that she was more skillful than Athena herself. Athena offered her a chance to repent, but after Arachne refused, she challenged her to a weaving duel. The goddess fashioned a beautiful tapestry which illustrated the gruesome fate of the mortals who had the hubris of challenging the gods. Arachne, on the other hand, chose to depict stories of the mortals unjustly victimized by the gods. But she didnât even have a chance to finish it for the enraged Athena tore Arachneâs fabric to pieces and turned her into a spider. As such, Arachne is doomed to weave ever since. This was a myth written by the Greeks as a warning against hubris, and does not portray an actual event, especially since Arachne is actually a goddess of spiders and wasnât a cursed human.
Roles: Despite Athenaâs connection to war, she moreso represents the strategy behind it and the ability to protect and bring about order (whereas Ares represents battle-lust, Athena fights out of necessity). She was also known to bestow victory in war, as she is at times seen accompanied by Nike, the goddess of victory. Through these connections, Athena is the patroness of heroes and is known to wisely advise them in their quests and grant divine weapons in times of need.
Other than the art of battle, Athena is known as a skillful inventor and even holds the title of âprotectress of agricultureâ. She is represented as the inventor of the plough and rake: she created the olive tree (the greatest blessing of Attica), taught the people to yoke oxen to the plough, took care of the breeding of horses, invented the bridle, instructed people how to tame horses, and much more. At the beginning of spring, offerings were given to Athena in advance for the protection she was to afford to crops and fields. Besides the tools of agriculture, Athena was said to be the inventor of numbers, science, hand-made crafts, chariots, and other such helpful things.Â
Athena is a magnificently powerful goddess who can easily strike fear into her enemies. In times of battle, she is known to have lightning flashing from her eyes, and can even overpower Ares himself with her strategic mind during combat. She is peace gained through battle, courage gained through struggle, and clarity gained through wisdom. She has explained to me that the Aegis (the head of Medusa) on her breastplate represents her victory over her own shadow, the part of oneâs psyche that creates negative emotions such as fear or cruelty. This is a true mark of wisdom and shows even further just how glorious Athena is. She can always be relied upon for sage advice in any matter, and knows how to directly tell someone what needs to be done or how they should change to become better. Athena says that she is also the goddess who inspires women to be more than their domestic roles that are pressured on them. She inspires rebellion in their hearts and teaches them how to fight and overcome oppression. Thus, Athena is the glorious warrior goddess of illuminating truth and courage; there is nothing that can break her down.Â
Appearance: a tall woman in her 30â˛s with long brown hair, gray eyes, and wears either a white dress or silver armour
Personality: Overall, Athena is wise, intelligent, serious, diligent, straightforward, courageous, determined, perfectionistic, and a steadfast protector of peace. She has a very strong sense of morality and is able to keep calm and collected under a great deal of pressure. She loves to spread knowledge to others, but does not guide us through everything since she seeks to make her devotees independent. She greatly values strength of character, open-mindedness, and the desire to make oneself better no matter what. Athena can be a bit motherly at times with those she likes, but not too much in a âsoftâ way but more like a quiet and dedicated mother who wants the best for you. Although she does not have much patience for most people, especially if they are unwilling to take responsibility or overcome their ignorance. She also has no patience for people who disrespect her or disregard her nature as a virgin goddess. When Athena is angered, she becomes terrifying and cold. Lightening begins flashing out from her eyes and is relentless in bringing her fury upon whoever offended her.Â
Athena is very empowering and knows exactly what to say when her devotees feel down or lost, for she can see past clouded emotions and into the clarity of truth. She also hates injustices of any kind and seeks to destroy all ignorance. She is a very protective warrior and an Illuminator, following the path that Lucifer teaches about wisdom through adversity. She is also a very close friend of the goddess Lilith, so they work well together for gaining Illumination. One of the most sacred animals of Athena is the serpent, which sheds its skin to be reborn, making it a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. This is one of the lesson that she often teaches to her followers, that their current self must die to be reborn in wisdom. In some of her statues, a giant snake can be seen beside her.
| Symbolism of Athena |
Owls
Eagles
Doves
Snakes
Helmets
Shields
Weapons
Olive Tree
Books
| Some of her epithets |
Alkis (The Strong)
Areia (The Warlike)
ĂrgĂĄni (Instructor of the Arts)
Axiopoinos (The Avenger)
DĂa (Heavenly)
DrĂĄkaina (She-Dragon)
Chalinitis (Tamer of Horses)
ErganĂŞ (The Worker)
MĂŞchaneus (Skillful Inventor)
MĂtir TÇ˝khni (Mother of the Arts)
PaiĂ´nia (The Healer)
KĂłri (The Maiden)
Parthenos (The Virgin)
Pallas (The One who Brandishes Her Weapon)
Lýteira kakóhn (Deliverer from Evil)
OmvrimĂłthymos (Strong of Spirit)
OplophĂłros (The Warrior)
OrmĂĄsteira (She Who Urges You Forward)
Polias (Protector of the City)
PolĂŚmitĂłkos (Bringer of Necessary War)
Polývoulos (Exceedingly Wise)
Nikephoros (Bringer of Victory)
SĂłhteira (Saviour)Â
Devotional Actions:Â Above all, Athena values offerings of action. She expects those devoted to her to constantly seek to improve themselves by gaining spiritual advancement, overcoming their Egos, and gaining as much knowledge as they can. Wisdom is embraced through battling hardships, analyzing yourself, and learning from trial and error. Dedication to what she teaches pleases her far more than physical offerings.
Offerings: Fine quality white wine (esp. if flower-scented), olives, olive oil, milk, bread, goat cheese, pomegranates, citrus, apples, cherries, figs, white lilies, myrrh incense, sandalwood, almonds, honey, cakes, cooked lamb or goat, beeswax candles, non-fiction books, fancy pens, quills, pottery, paintings, swords, daggers, silver armour, snakeskin, owl feathers, votive owls, clear crystals, silver jewelry, chess games, wool, knitting tools, pretty antiques, white marble, artworks, poetry, snake statuettes, and imagery of her sacred animals.
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Guide to Writing The Hero
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Masterlist || Work In Progress
â
Strong Motivations
The hero is usually unsuspecting of their part in the conflict until it hits them in the face, so itâs important that you build a believable motivation in them to take action against the antagonist in the short time between finding their place and embracing it.Â
Make The Reader Care About Them
The hero is the hero because the reader roots for them. If the reader has no motivation to give a damn what happens to them, they wonât, so you need to create a substantial reason why the hero deserves the role theyâre in, or a reason they rise to the occasion.Â
Family Matters
A heroâs family history, family issues, or chosen family structure forms how they progress along their journey. Make the family one of the most interesting part of the heroâs story, because no hero is a hero without the guidance of people who care about them.
Flaws That Match Their Strengths
I have a post on this topic that goes into depth about this dynamic:
Flipping Character Traits On Their Head
Giving Characters Flaws
Giving Your Protagonists Negative Traits
Compelling Internal Conflict
The typical character archetype must include a sense of aversion to accepting their role in the conflict. There should be a conflict in their mind about whether itâs worth risking whatever it is in order to help the cause, and whether they feel itâs their responsibility to fight the antagonist.Â
Pump Them Full of Contradictions
Archetypes by themselves are boring. People are complicated and contradictory and shifty. The hero shouldnât be one-dimensional simply because they do the right thing in the end.Â
Equally Compelling Villain
For every good hero, there needs to be an equally evil villain. Not just evil, but also complicated, rounded, and easy for the reader to (somewhat) empathize with. Itâs not a story if itâs just some random person walking through the forest for 17 chapters to come upon an evil witch with no real motivation or backstory or traits that create conflict in the hero. If a hero is just there to kill the problem instead of holding onto some hope that the villain can be saved, theyâre just an assassin.Â
Common Struggles
Hero versus antihero...
Hero: Virtuous individual who commits to doing the right thing and has traits such as routine honesty, bravery, and kindness.
Anti-Hero: actions of a hero but without the typical heroic traits. Might be conceited, dishonest, unkind, etc. but are ultimately the central character that is compelling and sympathetic.
Avoiding a Mary Sue... A Mary Sue typically occurs when an author sticks too closely to an archetype or creates more of a self-insert central character rather than a well-rounded, flawed, and complicated personality. In order to do this, you have to sprinkle in some contradictions and a pinch of unpredictability (though too much can just make their characterization inconsistent).
Not making the hero the center of the universe...The hero may be imperative to solving this conflict, but the sky will not open up before revealing the face of Jesus Christ himself when the antagonist is finally slain, so donât treat the hero like heâs the most important thing to ever exist, because that destroys their relatibility to the reader and that delusion of grandeur can cheapen the conflict.Â
Hero versus Vigilante... These things can sometimes be one and the same, but itâs important to note the fact that vigilantes are defined as those individuals who take the law into their own hands. Superman and Spiderman, for example, both fall into the category of vigilantes, but not every vigilante is a hero. Itâs about intent and outcome.
Heroine versus hero... Not to be controversial, but theyâre the same thing. One is male, one is female. Yes, typical hero archetypes are notably masculine while heroine archetypes are notably feminine, but they truly are only separated by gender. Itâs about how their gender affects their journey within their inner conflict and their actual handling of the main antagonist, and itâs up to you how relevant that is in your story.
Related Resources
Resources For Describing Characters
Resources For Describing Emotion
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any advice to write Silver or Shadow?? Shadow it's the most difficult for me to write D:
Disclaimer: I am not a professional writer, but I wrote this with the few fanfiction experiences that I have as well that all of this is based off MY interpretation of Shadowâs character.
I am not going to lie Shadow the Hedgehog is hard to write. Mostly because you wonât have much canon content to work with. Or at least, thereâs not canon content that portrays the REAL Shadow the Hedgehog (Besides Sonic 06 and SA2). If you are going to write Shadow then you are going to write it solely based on character interpretation mostly. Thereâs something I most say, there is a CONNECTION between Shadow and Silver (Thereâs a connection with Sonic as well, but we wonât talk about that right now). If you think these two hedgehogs are nothing alike ⌠then let me tell you, they are actually very similarly written. Â
Before we go into writing tips, itâs important to analyze the character at hand.
Letâs shortly analyze the character.
Alright, letâs talk about Shadow the Hedgehog
      Shadowâs character has constantly been mis-written throughout the years. Even in the recent IDW Sonic comics, the current writer didnât do his character justice. The best interpretation that we have of his character is in Sonic 06. (SEGA may have failed to write a coherent plot story but they did great in Shadowâs character and portraying Silverâs character, but will talk about later) Thereâs a lot into Shadowâs character but to make things simple, Iâll say that there are 3 main traits that make up Shadowâs character (And a few other sub-traits that donât show up often as well but they are there). First off, Letâs get rid of the idea that Shadow is an âedgyâ character. He is not.
So, if Shadow is not edgy? Who is Shadow the Hedgehog? Shadow is this âŚ
1.   Determined. This may seem as a simple asset, but it really it is not. The Shadow that we see in Sonic 06 is not the same Shadow from SA2 or Shadow the Hedgehogâs game. After all the turmoil he went through, Shadow still wants to save the world and play an anti-hero character ⌠But, why? After his tragic and complicated past ⌠Wouldnât he want to disappear and live a peaceful life? Why doesnât he want to? Simple ⌠He cares for others. (We will talk about this into more detail later) He cares for the world and the friends he made. He cares for Team Dark. He wants to keep saving the world because HE WANTS TO. Not because of a promise, not because of Maria, not because he was created to protect earth. In Shadowâs game, it was shown clearly that Shadow let go of his past and was born a new. If thereâs something we all can agree on is that Shadow is the depiction of âDeterminationâ because even when the whole world is against him, he will still fight. Â
If you are going to write his character, then this is an asset you for sure need to include and keep in mind when writing him. Â He is determined and he cares.
2. Â Insecure. Â Although I really dislike how Sonic brought up Shadowâs past and even dared to compared Shadow to Eggman, the author did something good. He portrayed Shadowâs insecurities. Shadow has made ALOT of mistakes in the past. He had messed up again and again till the point in which he is insecure about the decisions his takes. We can see 2 things in these panels. Â
1. Â Â Shadow regrets and recognizes his past mistakes.
2. Â Â Â Shadow is extremely insecure. (Which is really ironic because of his determination but we will speak about that later)
Alright, so what is there to insecurity? There is a lot actually, Sonic knows that Shadow is determined and he would do anything in order to accomplish his goals. Nothing will stop him, so the blue blur used Shadowâs insecurity against him to get what he wants. Shadow lets Sonic get into his head leaving the faith of the world on Sonicâs hands. Because unlike him, Sonic is a hero, Sonic has never done anything bad. Sonic always makes the right choices ⌠unlike Shadow, Sonic was never evil.
He came to the realization that no matter what he chooses, he is going to be wrong. Â If he âkillsâ Eggman and it turns out that he was good, then that would be another mistake. If he lets Eggman go around freely and it turns out that he was evil, then that would be another mistake. In reality, no matter what he choses he would blame himself for whatever the outcome is. The only difference is that he can blame Sonic along with himself as well.
So, we see that Shadowâs insecurities can easily be manipulated by others. Thus, making him do whatever other people pleases.
This is character flaw that plays extremely well with determination, only if written correctly. It is hard to do but it is possible. Iâll talk about that in a few.
3. Caring. One of the best things to came out of Sonic 06 was Shadowâs interaction with Team Dark. Can you see how betrayed Shadow looks when Omega tells him that he would be the one to persecute him? How he says he will remember Rouge will stay by his side no matter what? Like I mentioned before, Shadow the Hedgehog cares for them and he is loyal to them to death. As you can see, he didnât say anything to Omega nor plans anything against him even if in the future they become enemies. He may not show it often but the bond that he has with Team Dark is the main reason why he wakes up and saves the world from disaster. As well as that he cares for everyone living on it.
So, now that we know his main traits ⌠Determination, insecure and caring ⌠What do we get? Shadow the Hedgehog. These are traits that are hard to write and thatâs what is so appealing to this character. One single mistake and you can mess up the whole character. So, here is the question. How can we be determined and be insecure at the same time? Donât you need to be confident about yourself in order to be determined? Not really and here is why.
      If you are insecure but you really care for others, then you are determined to protect them no matter the cost. It doesnât matter if you will regret your decisions later, as long as the people you care about are safe.
Shadowâs blind loyalty is double edge sword. We can see in SA2 that Shadow is completely determined to blow up a planet because that was what âsupposedlyâ Maria wanted.
âBesides, thereâs no way to save anyone.â
      This can imply a lot of things. I may be overthinking it but to me, this sentence revealed something about Shadowâs character. Before Amy arrived to ask for help, we find Shadow looking at the Earth, really REFLECTING for a long time. There was a part of Shadow who DID NOT WANT TO DESTROY EARTH.  The boy probably actually NEVER wanted to destroy Earth.
âThat is the only thing that matters to me now.â
      Shadow really didnât care if he was the real Shadow or not. Shadow is so loyal and he CARED so much for Maria that he puts his insecurities a side (Yes, he has insecurities even here. He is about to blow up a planet, of course he is insecure the boy doesnât even remember fully who he is and he actually doesnât want to destroy earth.) His determined side takes over and we can see that he would do ANYTHING, overcome his insecurities (even if it will haunt him later on) and destroy planets just because he really does CARES for others.
With this said, I think you will understand now why writing Shadow the Hedgehog is difficult. He is a complicated character and it is supposed to be so. How can you show that a quiet character cares without it being âout of character?â How can you write a determined character without it being prepotent? How can you show that a character is insecure without making him look weak?
There is clearly a balance and itâs your job as a writer to create such balance.
So, I will pint point SEGA current and past âmistakesâ while writing Shadow the Hedgehog.
They want to highlight Shadowâs determination SO MUCH that he comes out as prepotent, arrogant, cocky, egocentric, etc. It just seems that they canât get the balance right in this one. Letâs take for example this:Â
âI donât run.â
      So, Sonic IDW. Everyone hated this, calling Shadow a clown and such. Letâs take it into context. Shadow is stopping an army of Zombots to give time for a truck full of Mobians to escape. If you think about it Shadow sacrificed himself so the others could run away safely. Thatâs actually not bad, itâs a very Shadow thing to do. This panel had so much POTENTIAL to highlight Shadowâs personality but the writer failed to compliment one important element and that is to add Shadowâs caring side.
      The writer preferred to highlight Shadow and Sonicâs rivalry (which honestly is non-existent at this point). He wanted to show just how âdeterminedâ Shadow was to prove that he is better than Sonic. However, it just came out as plain clownery. It made it seem that Shadow only cared to prove how ultimate he was instead of caring for the situation at hand.  The whole story could have been saved if Shadow had said something along the lines of: âIf I donât stop the Zombots everyone is going to get infected ⌠Rouge and Omega, everyone ⌠I canât let that happen I am going to stop them no matter what!â
      That short dialogue alone showed two things, Shadowâs determination and that he cares for others. The author did show Shadowâs insecurity as to how surprised he was when he found out that he was infected. However, it came out short because once again his âoverly determinedâ side showed up.
Like I said before, this panel had potential to show Shadowâs personality. The writer really wanted to highlight Shadowâs three main traits but it wasnât well balanced and it came out as another bad written Shadow the Hedgehog.
Before we continue, I want to say that I am not writing this to talk bad about Ian Flynn. He has written the other Sonic characters pretty decently, and it bothers me more how he wrote Sonic recently (but thatâs another talk for another time) I understand why Shadow is hard to write and thatâs why I donât get as upset when people sometimes wrongly write him. Â It honestly just shows how complex this character is.
So, now that we know that SEGAâS main problem is the unbalanced systematic writing of Shadow the Hedgehog, letâs jump into trying to keep on âcharacter.â
Now, here are some basic tips.
1. Â Â Remember Shadow top three traits. He is determined, he cares and he is insecure.
When writing him, always try to think of these traits. Shadow is composed of so much more but including more traits would be complicated to write about and many of your readers may not follow along as well. Especially if you starting to write. Even professional writers have problems writing him, so donât put too much pressure on you. Ask yourself the following questions: âWhy is Shadow doing this? Does this correctly highlight one of his main traits? Am I adding this to put more meaning to the story or the character?
2.   One of the main reasons why SEGA has such a hard time writing Shadow is because there has been so many writers throughout the years who wrote character. Everyone has different character interpretations. Although this is not wrong, having different character interpretations in writing is wrong when there is a CONTINUITY. Which is why most of the times Sonic gameâs stories arenât that great. Letâs talk for instance ⌠Sonic has always being a good character throughout the whole games and then suddenly he is bad. Weird, right? It just doesnât seem right. This is what happens to Shadow in every single game, his character has been interpreted in so many ways that at this point it Shadow is a really messed up character. So, my tip for this is to be consistent. You are going to be the only one writing your story, so donât be influenced by other writers and suddenly writer Shadow in another way.
3. Â Â The game Shadow the Hedgehog really tried to incorporate something about Shadow. That depending on the circumstances, Shadow would react differently. He is a very dynamic character and you never really know how he will react. Allow Shadow to experience many things. For him to experience unknown things and feelings because only that way the REAL Shadow the Hedgehog would come into light. Write stances that are unknown to him. He is at G.U.N. and others are trying to make friends with him? If he likes someone how would he react? What kind of activities would he do for fun? I cannot stress enough how important it is for your character to interact with other characters and for them to experience new things. Explore all of these!
This turned out longer than I expected, and I am actually missing so much more information I want to add but I donât want to make this too long. Sorry for any writing mistakes, I wrote this on the go lol. Iâll write some tips on how to write Silver tomorrow. For now, I hope this helps you understand a little bit more of Shadowâs character and why he is hard to write but donât worry! The more your write, the better you get. Â Iâll give you some Silver tips soon, and explain how he is connected with Shadowâs character.
Thank you for the ask!
#shadow the hedgehog#shadow#sonic the hedgehog#sonic fanfiction#sonic fanfic#writing#writing tips#fan fiction#fanfic#fanfiction
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Runeterra Retcons 1: Thresh
This is something that I did today. I plan to make this an on-going series (might even take it to YouTube someday if I get the nerve to share my voice), but for now have it as a tumblr post.))
The world of Runeterra is one of the most interesting and complex fantasy settings in modern gaming; a fictional realm bustling with fantastical beings, characters, and a wide variety of plot points offering near endless potential for story-telling. The story of League of Legends is not, in fact, a singular narrative, but rather a collection of different stories spread out across a variety of fictional countries, continents, and even dimensions.
Runeterra as we know it today wasnât always like this, however; in 2015 Riot Games opted to effectively reboot the lore of their world to be rid of the more restrictive plot elements like Summoners and the Institute of War to allow themselves more wriggle room to tell the stories they wanted to tell. While the decision to effectively make League of Legends non-canon to its own story was initially controversial, the writers of Riot Games have effectively proven themselves extraordinarily capable of using this newfound freedom to its full potential⌠For the most part.
With a retconned world came the need to retcon characters; Riot has made a substantial effort in the last few years to reimagine and redefine the backstories of the iconic Champions to make them fit into the new narrative, albeit with mixed results. Letâs face it: no writer is perfect and hindsight is 20/20, so a number of characters throughout the years have been left with less-than-stellar backstories compared to most of the roster.
Welcome to Runeterra Retcons, a series in which Iâll be analyzing some of the more controversial champion bios in the game to pick apart the good, the bad, and the horribly missed opportunities. With all that out of the way, letâs begin, shall we?
Episode 1: Thresh
Thresh is at once both an interesting and a bland character. Heâs arguably one of the more iconic characters in the game, to the point where heâs practically become the unofficial mascot for the Shadow Isles. In-spite of this, Iâve long felt that Thresh is one of the most awkward fits into the region; before we can discuss the problems with his current lore, however, we first need to address Threshâs backstory pre-retcon and see if we can analyze the core of his character.
Insert original lore here
So, we can see the concept behind Threshâs character pretty easily: heâs a jailor who loves tormenting his charges, so much so that he continues to do so even after death. If you were to describe Thresh in a single word, it would probably be âsadistic.â Unfortunately, the original lore doesnât give a lot beyond that; not where heâs from, not when he died, not even where his prison was located. The bio itself literally says that no one knows the details, and while that does add a faint air of mystery to the character, it doesnât do much to tie him into the faction heâs supposed to represent: The Shadow Isles.
With that out of the way, letâs now take a look at Threshâs new bio and see how Riot decided to change him after the retcon.
Insert new lore here
Alright, so, thereâs a lot to unpack here. Perhaps the most notable change is that Thresh went from tormenting people to⌠Tormenting âliving relics.â The relics are offered no further explanation in the lore or given any prior context. Thereâs just⌠A mirror with a soul in it. Thereâs a sentient book hidden down in the vaults. For some reason, the monks of the Isles even decided to stash a living person down there because he infused his body with raw magic. Why? Who was this person? What did he do to end up in chains? If this was a dangerous mage, wouldnât it be better to build a proper prison for him rather than stuff him in a vault full of powerful, dangerous artifacts?
There are so many mysteries here, but perhaps biggest one is this: why was Thresh changed from a warden of people to a warden of relics? Why did they feel the need to turn him from a jailor who enjoyed tormenting his inmates to a curator that was slowly corrupted by the very magics meant to help him do his job? Well, I believe thatâs meant to tie into the change made to the Shadow Isles themselves, or rather, the Blessed Isles.
While we never had much info on what the Isles were like before becoming an undead haven, a lot of the lore suggests that they were effectively a paradise, hence the name âBlessed Isles.â This was a place without war, without starvation, without corruption. Naturally, there would be no criminals in paradise, and so this of course means that to make Thresh a warden of things that are inhuman⌠At least, this is the thought process one might have until they introduce the mysterious regenerating mage, but I guess heâs meant to be one bad egg amidst the crowd, assuming he even came from the Isles at all. Again, itâs never really elaborated on.
So, while the change does make a degree of sense, it kind of feels⌠Flat. I mean, a guy who enjoys tormenting prisoners in their cells to hear their screams sounds a lot more terrifying than a guy who just stops his sentences halfway through to spite a book. Also, the fact that his lantern just becomes a seemingly endless vessel for souls because of the Ruination is a little silly; like, I know the Black Mist does all sorts of nonsensical things to matter, but the fact that an ordinary lantern gets turned into a relic arguably far more dangerous than anything Thresh was ever guarding seems kind of backwards, at least in my opinion.
So, how can we change this? How would I, personally, retcon Thresh if given the chance? Well, there are a lot of base elements that I would keep, but also some key components Iâd like to alter. Iâve written up a short bio of my own for you all to enjoy, so without further adoâŚ
In an age all but forgotten to history, there existed a realm known as the Blessed Isles. Hidden away from the world by a veil of magical mist, the Isles were a place of peace and prosperity; a land free of war, corruption, plague and misery. This paradise was ruled by an order of sacred monks devoted to learning and enlightenment. It was within this paradise that Thresh was born and raised by a pair of humble farmers, growing up surrounded by natureâs bounty.
Though expected that he might follow in his fathersâ footsteps, Thresh showed an aptitude for learning from an early age. In-particular, Thresh seemed fascinated with matters of philosophy; the nature of the soul, morality, and other complex subjects were frequent on the boyâs mind. This attitude quickly earned Thresh the attention of the brotherhood, who invited him to join their order as soon as he was of age. Thresh agreed without hesitation, leaving the farm behind to study at the Islesâ monastery.
For many years, Thresh studied under the tutelage of the order, distinguishing himself from his peers for his ability to grasp complex philosophical issues. Though acknowledged by his teachers, Thresh was met with looks of envy and scorn from his fellow students; rather than let himself be disheartened, however, Thresh instead took an interest in the root of their envy in scorn. Upon approaching his elders with such questions, Thresh found himself being led to a secret chamber deep beneath the monastery, guarded by powerful wards and runes. It was here that Thresh learned the truth of the Blessed Isles.
Thresh watched as one of his fellow pupils stood surrounded by figured in ominous robes, chanting an ominous spell in unison. Threshâs teacher explained to him that this was ritual had been used by the order for ages to ensure that the Isles flourished. Evil was present in all humans, and so the only way to ensure it did not corrupt their paradise was to extract it from the soul, and seal it away. As the ritual drew to a close, Thresh saw the essence of all the other studentâs hatred, envy, malice and warped desire ripped from his body, and placed into a special lantern made to contain it.
Thresh was intrigued. He approached the lantern without hesitation as the other boy was escorted from the chamber, and to his surprise, he heard voice whispering to him from within. The monks explained that though the evils of humanity could be removed, they could not be truly discarded. They needed to be contained, and more than that, they needed a warden to watch over them. Thresh volunteered in a heartbeat, and the monks smiled, pleased by their pupilsâ devotion.
What they did not know, however, was that the whispers in Threshâs mind had already begun taken root. From that day forward, Thresh vigilantly stood guard over the lantern, watching each successive cleansing as it took place. Each time, the wicked essence in the lantern grew stronger, as did the whispers in Threshâs mind. He began to dream of enacting twisted torments upon the monks, the other disciples, and even his own parents. Slowly but surely, the brotherhood noticed a change in Threshâs behavior. Fearing that he himself would be subjected to their cleansing rite, Thresh stole the lantern and fled the monastery.
The monks chased Thresh for days, but their search was brought to an abrupt end when strange ships arrived on the Blessed Isles: something Thresh thought impossible. From the safety of the cliffs, Thresh watched in delight as a soldiers led by a foreign king massacred his fellow monks. Their screams were music to the wardenâs ears, and as the chaos spread, Thresh found himself reveling in the suffering of all who fell to the foreignersâ blades. Even at the cost of his own life, Thresh dared to move about the battlefield, searching for survivors left in the kingâs wake only that he may snuff out the remnants of their lives himself.
Finally, as the screams of his victims began to subside, Thresh turned his attention to the heart of the Isles. From there, he saw a cloud of pure darkness rushing to meet him, and opened his arms wide to embrace it. In that moment, all the wickedness trapped within Threshâs lantern was freed, bound to his soul through the power of the Ruination. Thresh emerged a being of pure maliciousness, and his lantern, now empty, would serve as the perfect vessel to enact his twisted fantasies.
Thresh now roams Runeterra as an avatar of sadism, bringing pain and misery to all unfortunate enough to cross his path. He stalks his victims and torments them by slowly stripping them of their sanity, before finally prying their souls from their bodies with his wicked sickle. If you hear the sound of chains in the dead of night, run⌠Though it may already be far too late.
So, what did you think? Now, itâs at this point I feel I need to clarify something: Iâm not trying to bash on Riotâs creative team, nor am I saying that I can definitely make a better version of someone elseâs character. Hell, Iâm not even really saying that my version of the story is flawless; it would probably need to go through several more rewrites before Iâd ever consider publishing it as canon, not that I have the power to do so, of course.
Rather, I wanted to take a closer look at Threshâs character and how well his current lore represents him. I said earlier that Thresh is at once and interesting and a bland character. I consider him a little bland because you can sum him up in a single word: âsadistic.â He has no goals and no motivation other than to cause pain and suffering. Even the other undead of the Shadow Isles typically have some kind of agenda, even if itâs only to spread the Black Mistâs influence. Thresh doesnât care about that; he just wants to see you writhe in agony, both before and after death. Iâd argue he has more in common in with Leagueâs demons than the other specters of the Isles, but itâs BECAUSE Thresh is undead that he has so much potential for an interesting backstory.
The main points I wanted to emphasize in my rewrite are: expanding on the magics that corrupted Thresh into being so sadistic, giving his lantern some greater significance in the story, and replacing the vault full of otherwise pointless macguffins with something a little more sinister that gives the Blessed Isles a hint of dichotomy. Riot loves adding a little morally grey to all their characters and factions, after-all.
Anyways, what do you all think? Could Threshâs lore be improved, or do you all like his story the way in currently is? Lemme know down below, and Iâll see you all next time!
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i filled out this super cool button character profile by @extraordinarymage for sabrina! thank you for making this, it was a lot of fun to fill out <3 the bulk of it is under a cut and oh boy is it long !!!
Short, Quick Reference
Name: Sabrina Wiseman
Pronouns: She/her
Sexuality: Bisexual
Love Interest: Kent
Main personality trait: Confidence
Secondary personality trait: Morbidity
Relationship with Nick: Full of love, haunted by unaddressed guilt and frustration. But mostly full of love.
Nickname for Nick: Saint Nick (used sparingly)
Resentful or accepting?: Slightly resentful
Main strategy (interpersonal, insightful, innovative?): Insightful
Ethical or expedient?: Expedient
GENERAL
Name: Sabrina Larkspur Wiseman
Nickname(s): Sab, used by anyone; Sabby, only Nick and Sally; and, of course, Button for Nick.
Birthday: I think I made her an October Libra for the purpose of a template I did months ago, but Iâm not sure! No concrete birthday yet, Iâm always very slow to nail down details like this.
Age: 20
Pronouns: She/her
Sexuality: Bisexual
Hair color + style: Blonde. A little past shoulder length, sometimes wavy. Usually a middle part. For Aeon, tied back in a bun.
Eye color: Blue, entirely because of the section of Frank OâHaraâs âMeditations in an Emergencyâ that goes, âMy eyes are vague blue, like the sky...â
Height: 5â˛5
Piercings: Multiple in each ear, but a couple have started to close.
Tattoos: None yet! Sab likes the idea of a tattoo but is worried about finding the perfect design, whether sheâd end up hating it, that the pain might be greater than she expects and sheâll look like a baby in front of her tattoo artist. Iâd like to think she eventually consults Sally and/or Glitch to come up with an idea that she falls in love with, but I havenât come up with what that would be!
Clothing style: Mostly solid colors, not a lot of patterns. Nothing super bright, but a fairly varied mix of pastels, neutrals, dark colors, black. Partial to denim skirts and sweater tops. Ankle boots. Likes a good turtleneck. Sheâs bolder when it comes to formal wear, and especially loves suits. Big fan of silk and satin.
Since she has a pretty accurate face claim, Iâll link some gifsets Iâve rbâd for appearance ref if you are so inclined.
STATS
Iâm always adjusting minor things and swapping scenes around, but these are from my most recent Sab run! Most scores hover somewhere around these values.
Personality:
Confidence: 53%
Humor: 5%
Morbidity: 22%
Resentful: 57% | Accepting: 43%
Strategy:
Interpersonal: 12%
Insightful: 50%
Innovative: 10%
Ethical: 43% | Expedient: 57%
KEY DECISIONS:
What is Nickâs nickname and why?: Saint Nick, used very rarely. Itâs a joking reference to the time she thought Santa was an evil Ment out to ruin Christmas, and a point about Nick overdoing it with the cheer. âSaint Nickâ is usually code for âI know you mean well, but please mind your own business.â Otherwise, she just calls him Nick.
What is their favorite type of cookie (and its name and why?): Salted caramel chocolate chip! No special name.
What was their initial reaction to Sally hugging them, as kids?: She just froze. That could just be me projecting adult Sabrina onto her childhood self; I donât imagine that she was as uncomfortable around strangers or quite as cautious back then. But thatâs what Iâll stick with.
How did they ace the ASE test?: The in-game option she takes is âMy entire life has revolved around strategic avoidance,â but the one about being just plain smart also sounds like her. If Sab has the chance to thoroughly (over)prepare for something, she will do it. Her mind blindness also has her constantly (over)analyzing situations. So, hard work and relentless anxiety!
Did they manage to win their first assignment? How?: Yes, by having Sally block the door. Iâve headcanoned some slight differences in how it plays out, which I wrote about in-depth here. To summarize, Sab thinks of blocking the door as a desperate last resort, not a clever loophole, and she pushes back against Rosyâs praise because she wishes she could have done it the ârealâ way. Rosy goes from being impressed to being annoyed that sheâs willfully missing the point.
What was the primary emotion Button felt during the Aeon bombing (love, gratitude, etc?): Guilt. She feels very guilty about how much Nick has given up for her in general, but I think that in the moment, itâs on a smaller scale. The fact that Nick was on the phone with her when it happened, coming to her rescue like always, becomes emblematic of their whole relationship for her, and she really fixates on that.
Who drove them home from the hospital from and why?: Glitch. Sab responds to her initial text with âAre you sure?â, and is relieved when Glitch takes that as âYes, please.â She doesnât relish the idea of being around someone more connected to her family or Nick at that point.
How do they feel about Nick riding around in their mind?: Worried, at first. Just because itâs so unknown and absolutely insane. After seeing Doctor Amari, sheâs excited! Sab is thrilled to be a Pollard Five and intends to take full advantage of it. I am not looking forward to seeing how she reacts when thatâs taken away from her.
Why did Button agree to do the undercover mission?: To prove she still deserves to be an MIV. Sabrina feels stupid and reckless for putting herself, Nick, and Aeon in this position, but she knows sheâs smart, and she hasnât worked this hard for nothing. She wants to prove what she could do with a normal Pollard Score and make herself too valuable to give up even when sheâs back to Zero.
Told Glitch about your mind blindness?: Depends on the playthrough. Iâm constantly going back and forth on whether Sab meets Glitch for coffee or wanders the city with Nick in her second chapter 5 slot (after trying to track down Kent). If she does meet Glitch, though, she absolutely tells her; with how touchy Sab is about privacy, she couldnât stomach not warning Glitch that Nick could hear everything they said.
Figured out Kâs secret?: Nope. She finds enough of the clues to be given the âI knew it!â option in-game, but she didnât actually put it together. Sab is too angry and embarrassed by learning that Kent is an AMO to find any reason to interrogate it. âThe random guy I met before school just happens to be a jerkâ is a perfectly sound explanation to her.
Found Nohâs clues?: Not at the metro station. Sometimes she sees the Vengeance brooms in chapter 5 (again, depending on the playthrough), but thatâs it.
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP:
Love Interest: Kent
Why them?: Sab feels an immediate kinship with Kent after learning about the NPO program. Itâs kind of funny how quickly he moves from the least sympathetic position in her eyes (Ment who got past me and read my mind without my knowledge) to the most sympathetic (non-powered child of a prominent family aiming a league above where he âbelongsâ). A lot of new respect for his competence. Her fate is sealed when she realizes that his kindness at the hospital wasnât him trying to make up for some wrongdoing, but just him being very sweet. (She had scoffed over âYou needed help.â But now sheâs like, âOh. He meant that?! Fuck.â)
As they spend more time together, Sab realizes how weirdly similar they are in other ways, too. And she starts to feel safe/secure around him in a way that sheâs extremely not used to. Growing up surrounded by Ments, Sab has a lot of issues about being too much, too difficult, needing to âbe worthyâ of love. So someone like Kent who is not a Ment, who has no âobligationâ to care about her, and whose judgement she trusts implicitly? Being around him and being loved by him mean a lot, and I think will go a long way towards helping her reflect on her other relationships!
What are their first impressions of each other?: Okay, there are like 3 first impressions with Kent. First: heâs tall and handsome and secretly adorable, and they have similar career goals, so sheâs drafting a five-month plan to woo him and get his number. Second: heâs a lying, self-obsessed loser who owes her many explanations. Third: oh no, the first impression was true! And heâs been continually, selflessly kind to her in spite of her overt hostility. Scratch the five-month plan, because the crush was only fun when it was entirely superficial; now she really, really likes him and that just sucks.
We know that Button makes a good impression on K by stopping for their dogs, but apart from that... I mean, the âwe confused each otherâ from chapter 7 is very apt. Sab has lots of shifting personas, and Kent sees pretty much every one within 24 hours. The prevailing impression before everything gets cleared up is probably just that she cares a lot? About everything? Her stopping for the dogs, how seriously she takes the first assignment, the way she seems so deeply affected by something he said or did that morning. Itâs a rare side of her to meet first because she usually pretends to be above everything.
What feature does your Button find most attractive in their RO (ex. appearance, personality, etc.)?: Probably his composure. And his... steadfastness? The way he seems unruffled by anything, his soothing presence. She really admires that about him and finds the calm contagious.
What do they do to spend time together?: Going on drives together! Kent driving while Sab plays songs she thinks heâll like, talking or not talking. Cuddling on the couch while reading their own separate books. Museum dates. Walking the dogs together.
Do they argue? How do they handle arguments and disagreements? How do they make up?: I imagine that the first month or so of their relationship would be difficult, just because theyâre both bad at expressing themselves and not used to relying on other people. Kent kind of negates a lot of Sabâs impulses to get defensive or hostile, so instead of arguments, I think there are more likely to be awkward periods where sheâs just stewing in something without addressing it. Most of their fights would be, like, one of them becoming really distant for a concerning number of days until the other tries to awkwardly check in on them.
What does their future look like?: Uhh some random lore: I think eventually they do get married, despite neither of them caring that much about it. Sabrina would be excited to have something to plan, and she knows it would make the people around her happy. They have a long engagement; thereâs never really an âofficialâ proposal, just an acknowledgement that yeah, theyâll get married one day, and then eventually they get rings. The engagement is almost Sabâs favorite part, honestly. She likes planning and showing off her ring and calling Kent her fiancĂŠ, a lot of fanfare on her part for a wedding that ends up being very modest and chill.
OTHER RELATIONSHIPS (Feel free to go in depth!)
Relationship with Nick: When I first started developing Sab, I thought that with as difficult/prickly as she can be, her relationship with Nick would be worse than it is. Never bad, but certainly strained, with more jealousy/resentment on her side. However, she rejected this. She is resentful, but never towards Nickâshe internalizes the negative parts of their relationship so they manifest as guilt instead. And thatâs the problem, not resentment. Sab thinks heâs overprotective, but that doesnât make her angry; it just makes her sad. She wishes things were different and he didnât feel so responsible for her, but she also doesnât know how she could manage without him taking on so many of her burdens. So, guilt! So much love, but always looming guilt.
Having Nick in her head has helped. Itâs added a new kind of guilt (âIâm a horrible person for being so giddy that people canât hear my thoughts even though that requires my brother to be in a comaâ), but getting inside Nickâs head for once and really feeling his love for her changes things. Makes her feel way more secure, I guess? Itâs easier to see her brother as human person, a friend who loves her, rather than a perfect selfless paragon who sacrificed everything to raise her, which is an important shift.
There are also Things happening with self-presentation in the fact that theyâre both models, and flirts, and pretend to be shallow. And the ways that theyâve responded to vastly different expectations. And selflessness versus selfishness. But I have no idea how to talk about that yet.
Relationship with Father: Strained and distant. Sabrina doesnât necessarily blame him for leaving, but she hates how heâs handled it. Sheâs incredibly frustrated that John insists on keeping them in this miserable limbo of uncomfortable visits, even though moving away was (to her) a tacit acknowledgement that she and her parents are better off without each other. Heâs trying to force a relationship that Sab thinks is ultimately harmful for everyone involved. For Nickâs sake, sheâs willing to grin and bear the visits, but it never works because John can obviously tell itâs an act. He pushes her, she gets defensive, and so on to infinity.
Relationship with Mother: Like with John, Sab doesnât resent Hope for the incident itself, or for leaving afterward. It was terrifying, and the idea of being around Hope makes her panicâbut she thinks of that as just another irrational anxiety symptom, and sheâs trying to work through it. What she does resent Hope for is letting it get to that point at all. Sab is incredibly bitter that Hope will suffer silently to the point of almost killing her (during the incident) and potentially herself (with the BRS), while Sab has no choice but to be completely open. Especially because theyâre so similar in that wayâsheâs almost jealous. âOh, so your silence is allowed to almost kill me and itâs ânobodyâs faultâ but I canât pretend to enjoy a single lunch with Dad without him calling me out for lying?â
And even though she doesnât hold the incident itself against her, Sab is very hung up on âWhy are you never quiet? Why are you always there?â She knows, on some level, that this was not a Personal Judgement against her. But because Hope keeps so much quiet, this is the only honest expression of her motherâs feelings that she can remember! It would take a lot for Sab to believe that Hope was really, genuinely interested in reconnecting with her, rather than just pretending to love her "enoughâ this time because to do otherwise would reflect poorly on Hope as a mother.
Relationship with Sally: Besties <3 Sally is the only member of the Wiseman inner circle that Sab doesnât have complicated feelings about. They both have hidden morbid streaks that they bring out in each other, and can laugh about. They both have competitive streaks that work well together because theyâre always on the same team. And their wants/needs from the relationship complement each other well, I think. Sally has always felt valued because sheâs useful and not because sheâs loved, while Sab has always felt smothered by love/care without feeling like she genuinely adds value to other peopleâs lives. So it means a lot to both of them that theyâre able to help each other practically, while also genuinely loving and supporting each other outside of that.
Relationship with Gray: Full of trust and genuine care, but predicated on distance. Sab loves him a lot for being so careful not to cross any boundaries, physical or emotional, with her. Sheâs grateful that heâs there for Nick in a way that she doesnât feel she can be. But "I like Gray because he doesnât push me and is good to Nickâ means that any hand he extend makes her defensive, because sheâll either view him as an emissary of Nick or start to panic because their normal routine is being disrupted (she doesnât tell him about Hope in ch 3, for example).
They get along very well in a friend-of-a-friend sort of way, and bond over being cautious counterparts to Nick. Also, Sab never had a crush on Gray, but she is not immune to tall superhero and thinks itâs fun to fake flirt with him. (You know Isabelaâs âYou have pretty eyesâ routine from DA2? Sab does that to Gray when conversations steer towards things sheâd rather not talk about.)
Relationship with Glitch: Iâm really excited about these two! They click from the start, and Sabrina feels immediately comfortable around Glitch, which makes her feel distinctly uncomfortable whenever she catches herself. Externally, they have pretty different personalities, but theyâre both perceptive and... socially manipulative? aware of their self-presentation?... in ways that they both pick up on right away. So itâs a lot of conversational maneuvering and trying to figure out what the otherâs game is, while also genuinely enjoying each otherâs company.
Relationship with Kent/Kenna: I could go truly insane here. See the romance section above instead.
Relationship with Kim: Sab wants him to like her sooooo bad. Heâs one of the only people to ever really get through to her, re: my headcanon conversation after the first assignment. Authority figures tend to treat her as special, whether thatâs negatively because of her mind blindness or positively because sheâs such an overachiever. She had no idea how to respond to that not being the case (and didnât handle it well at first), but chapter 6 solidifies her respect for him.
It also turns Rosyâs opinion of Sab around; he was impressed by her in class but left his office thinking she was self-absorbed and naive. But the bombing is a reality check, and her response is very measured and practical in a way that surprises him.
Relationship with Lev: She doesnât mind the comparisons to Nick or the âmaybe one day theyâll fix youâ comments as much as you might think. They arenât her favorite, but she prefers that sort of thing to the inspirational platitudes belied by coddling that she got from her family growing up. Sab has fond memories of Lev and is grateful that heâs always been kind to her, but doesnât have any particular feelings apart from that.
Relationship with Clarence: Holds a grudge against him for causing a scene, making her late, and generally being a jerk. But she canât fault him for being right, after what happened! Mostly she just wants to avoid him, but sheâll be thrilled to lord her success over him if/when she proves herself.
Relationship with Dean Branham: Like Rosy, another authority figure that Sab desperately wants to impress. But without the personal investment she has in Rosyâs validation, more âOh, this person is in charge, so I should make her like me!â Despite Nickâs and Rosyâs reservations, Sabrina doesnât really have a problem with being âstrongarmedâ or manipulated into cooperating; for now, she figures Branham was just doing her job and respects her tactics.
Relationship/attitude towards Ments in general: Mostly just uncomfortable and wary around them. Sab doesnât want her mind read, and she figures that no Ment wants to be forced to read it either. So she has a pretty strict âno Mentsâ rule for close personal relationships (excluding Nick, Sally, and Gray, of course. But only Nick really counts because heâs the only one who can hear her thoughts whenever sheâs nearby). Not out of hatred or resentment, just because she knows it will be easier for everyone in the long run.
Do they have any other important relationships, past or present? (Relatives, friends, etc.?): Not many, but yes! Sab dated around a lot in the 2 years before Aeon (more like year and a half, because she completely shut it down once she was more focused on preparing for the MIV program), but there are 2 relationships that were formative/important for her. A high school sweetheart, and someone Sab met through modeling. She doesnât keep up with her high school ex, but the model is her best friend outside of Sally and Nick, and they still keep in touch! Iâm still developing them/the relationships, and Iâll probably post more about them someday. Theyâre fun!
PERSONAL BIO
Describe their personality: Confusing and contradictory. She has two main modes that confuse people who meet both (e.g., Kent). Sheâs either cold, stuck-up, and sometimes hostile, OR sheâs charming, frivolous, and sometimes flirty. Mode 1 is tense but stoic and inexpressive; mode 2 is seemingly relaxed but very posed and insincere. Mode 1 is for when she feels uncertain or has no agenda apart from âget to point Bâ; mode 2 is for when sheâs more comfortable or trying to manipulate someone. Her actual personality is a bit closer to the second, but she doesnât pretend not take things seriously or hide when sheâs annoyed.
Strengths: Analytical, methodical, detail-oriented. Very driven and hardworking. May not always act like it, but does have social skills/charisma; a great liar, if you canât read her mind. Unfailingly loyal and loving to her favorite people, so so so warm and affectionate and supportive if she really loves you. Very perceptive.
Weaknesses: Way too proud. Can be petty and vindictive. Self-absorbed (she doesnât mean anything by it, but itâs hard for her to see past herself sometimes). Stubborn, hates being wrong. And... emotional isnât the word, but strong negative emotions can really cloud her judgement. It ties into her being proud, petty, and stubborn; if sheâs really upset about something, she can cling to that emotion instead of re-evaluating it or moving forward.
Phobias: From this ask about the phobias that are planned to show up in-game, there are a few that I could see fitting Sab, but I want to wait to see how theyâre implemented before I fully commit. Which is very metagame-y, I know (and I am very metagame-y about IF), but âfear of Xâ is so broad that it really does depend on when/how it manifests in the text.
That being said, agoraphobia is almost a lock; crowds do make Sab very anxious if she canât keep track of everyone within a certain distance, and if she canât leave when she starts feeling antsy. Claustrophobia is a maybe. The choice that triggers it (in chapter 4, about hating MRI machines) suits Sab, but Iâm not sure if she hates MRI machines because she hates tight spaces, or if itâs more related to her general anxiety about hospitals, medical tests, etc. Which she definitely has!
What activities/club did they do in school?: She avoided anything group-oriented as far as possible. She took piano (maybe violin?) lessons and did recitals, but wasnât in orchestra. The one exception was maybe National Honor Society or some equivalent, which she would have joined for her resumeâs sake. And I think she would have tutored!
Where do they escape to when they need space?: A little used library corner, where she can people watch without being seen/heard.
How do they feel about/cope with their mind blindness?: Sab hates it but tries not to dwell on it. She knows that itâs no oneâs fault, and she mainly just tries to... minimize it? Drown out her thoughts, limit her contact with Ments. And, least healthily, very rigidly managing herself. Because thereâs so much of her that exists outside of herself, without her control, she tries to either filter or completely suppress everything else. Part of why she got into modeling, she can perform and be perfect and have total control over the final product of her body in the photographs for whatever campaign. Some Day This Will Be Better. But definitely not where she is in current canon.
How has your Button changed since the Incident with Hope?: Developed many new anxieties and disorders and syndromes :) She also became way more self-conscious, as in literally conscious of and way more tightly monitoring herself, what sheâs thinking, what sheâs expressing, how sheâs sitting, etc. Less emotive face, more rigid posture.
If they werenât an Aeon student, what would they be doing?: Sab would have beaten herself up forever if she âproved everyone rightâ by avoiding Unity/Ments entirely, so sheâd want to stay in the family business somehow. She probably would have ended up doing scientific research on mental agility. Maybe even working for Mirrortech or some other biotech company, which I imagine would have been an interesting conversation to have with the family.
RANDOM FACTS:
Zodiac sign: Like I said, I assigned her Libra months ago for the sake of a template. But I donât know enough about astrology to commit. Libra or Leo, probably.
Hobbies: Music, reading poetry, âcookingâ (i.e., sitting on the counter and not helping while Nick makes dinner)
Likes: Watching other people (Nick) play video games, dressing up, taking long showers/baths, dark chocolate with caramel, back hugs
Dislikes: Being patronized, hot weather, going to the doctor, driving, doing anything she is not good at
Type of bedsheets: Bamboo.
Drink of choice: Cucumber mint lemonade! For hot drinks, some kind of caramel coffee. For alcohol, she refuses to get drunk because sheâs terrified of having even less control of her mental broadcast, but at home/around people she trusts sheâll have a glass or two of wine. Doesnât know enough to be picky, but doesnât like it too sweet.
Favorite food: Probably some pasta dish Nick makes with asparagus and tomatoes and a lot of garlic.
Favorite color: Like a light turquoise!
Favorite music: Music to her was another mind-shielding tactic before anything else, so she tends to like upbeat-ish electronic/pop stuff. Catchy and repetitive, and/or with lots of personality to drown out her own thoughts. On the other end of the spectrum, she does have a soft spot for crackly, lo-fi, old or old-sounding slow songsâsomething about fuzzy recordings simulating a weak telepathic signal.
Favorite season: Hmm, spring and autumn are both good. She likes either side of winter.
Anything else youâd like to share: My heart and a long, fulfilling marriage, with anyone who reads all this đ
#wow this is so long. insanity luv lit ral insanity#this was super helpful for articulating certain things about sab's character so it's already done its job#pls do not feel pressured to read Thousands of words about sabrina my beloved. but if you read all or even some of this <333 a kiss for you#why am i embarrassed to overshare about my own ocs on my own blog. i live here#oc: sabrina wiseman#also this was very much a stream of consciousness deal but i tried to go back and make it comprehensible. good luck all ye who enter here
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