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lilmisssammy · 8 months ago

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The Path Iceberg

This is an Iceberg for The Path- created by myself with editing help from my good friends Samhain, Torr and Gloria. If you don’t know what an iceberg is, it’s a chart to discuss different levels of knowledge for a specific topic, the farther you go down, the more obscure or dark the topics become.

Before you read, I need to state that there are discussions of Rape related to people aged 9 to 19, Death, Potential Triggering content within links, and Spoilers for The Path.

Thank you! And Enjoy!

Before you read, I need to state that there are discussions of Rape related to people aged 9 to 19, Death, Potential Triggering content within links, and Spoilers for The Path.

Thank you! And Enjoy!

Tier 1 - The Sky

The Path is a psychological horror art game created by Tale of Tales, now Song of Songs, in 2009. It follows a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood as it's experienced between six sisters, the wolf-loving 9-year-old Robin, the precocious 11-year-old Rose, the tomboy 13-year-old Ginger, the brooding 15-year-old Ruby, the confident 17-year-old Carmen and the responsible 19-year-old Scarlet. Each sister takes turns walking to their grandmother's house, with the only rule being to stay on the path. And the only way to win is by dying. The Path is a walking simulator and is seen as one of the best representations of the fact gaming can be art.

Tale of Tales was a Belgian game development company that ran from 2003 to 2015. It was founded by artists Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn in an effort to bring art to an interactive medium. They're known for games like The Endless Forest, Graveyard, Fatale, Sunset, and especially their cult classic The Path. In 2015 they ceased making commercial video games after the release of Sunset, and now work on art projects together under the name Song of Songs. Currently, they’re working on a remake of The Endless Forest, which is currently in its beta stage open for patreons!

Little Red Riding Hood is a fairy tale about a young girl with a red cape who meets a wolf on the way to her grandmother's house. The basic story has Little Red walking through the woods to bring food for her sickly grandmother, where she meets the wolf who wants to eat the food and her. The wolf tricks her into telling him where she's going while she stops to get her grandmother flowers. When she finally gets there, the wolf has eaten her grandmother and tricks her into getting into bed so he can eat her as well. Depending on the version, a hunter may come in and slay the wolf saving the granddaughter and grandmother from his stomach, or the grandmother could be unharmed in the wardrobe.

Auriea Harvey is a digital artist and sculptor currently living and working in Rome. She’s one half of Tale of Tales and is specifically credited for Design, Direction and Character Design on The Path. She was also the author of the post-mortem on The Path which you can see I’ve heavily referenced throughout this whole post. She currently has an art exhibit at the Museum of Moving Image called My Veins are the Wires, My Body is Your Keyboard which features images, models and the ability to play the path!

Michaël Samyn is a graphic designer and digital artist specialising in VR from Belgium, currently living and working in Rome. He’s the other half of Tale of Tales and is specifically credited for Design, Direction and Programming for The Path. His most recent work, apart from actively working on The Endless Forest, is The Viriditas Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, an utterly stunning VR experience you can get on Steam.

Tier 2 - Tip of the Iceberg

The Path as a game is about building your own interpretations of the character's struggles via item reactions and rooms in Grandmother's House. There are generally two main interpretations believed by most who play the game. One is that the game shows each girl's death, Robin being mauled to death by a wolf, Rose drowning after she falls off the boat, Ginger being strangled/electrocuted on the flower fields wires, Ruby getting into a car accident, Carmen being killed and chopped up, and Scarlet being hung by the string seen on her wolf’s claws. However, these are also usually viewed as metaphorical examples of the sisters feeling like they died after extreme traumas. Using the items and images as clues, there is a common consensus of what each sister went through that made her feel like this. Robin's is learning about death and the consequences of actions, Ginger's is getting her first period and being forced to grow up, Ruby's is falling in with the wrong crowd and getting into harmful behaviours, Carmen's is getting taken advantage of while drunk, and Scarlet's is falling under the weight of responsibility placed upon her to look after her family.

Some places reported that the game would be about rape or pedophilia, like this spread in a Dutch gaming magazine. Something that gives credence to the rape interpretation is the basis of Perrault's version of the tale where the wolf tricks the sister to take off her clothes and get into bed together, as well as the uncomfortable positions the sisters appear in after their encounter. Though, this is how Auriea addressed it in the post-mortem- 'Some say blindly that the game is "about rape." And while that could be one of the interpretations -- and I understand it -- for me, those black-out moments after meeting her wolf are the moments of realization. Those are the times when a girl grows. And what happens in Grandmother's House is not a murder but a shedding of childhood and an initiation to womanhood. Each girl is one step closer to her fate.'

The Path may have intended answers that are mostly agreed on, but the format of the game is purposefully set up so there is no wrong or right answer, allowing for more personal or specific interpretations. You may notice I didn't mention Rose in the last section- and that's because there isn't an accepted answer. The most popular ideas are either her blooming spirituality, or dealing with illness, though those are both contested. There are other popular interpretations for each character- Robin having a family member pass, Ginger being a lesbian or trans man in love with her wolf, Ruby's experience with ableism or addiction, Carmen experiencing society's sexualization of teenagers, Scarlet having extreme psychological issues, with Rose's ranging anywhere from the struggle of a gifted child, actually dying or even the creators not having an actual set intention!

Each sister you can play as has their own Live Journal- Robin's is named Kid Red, Rose's Innocent Red, Ginger's Tomboy Red, Ruby's Goth Red, Carmen's Sexy Red, and Scarlets Stern Red. Here the sisters post about their lives and talk to one another and sometimes other people, there seems to be a group of people who didn't know these were fictional characters, and one person talking about the Rio World Cup. Nowadays, this blog project could be seen as an early form of an ARG, considering its interactive nature.

The Company of Wolves is a 1984 gothic horror film about a grandmother warning her granddaughter about straying from the path and never trusting charming men. Multiple stories are told about girls falling for people who are secretly wolves and how it became their downfall. There are similar themes of femininity and sexual awakening, as well as the usage of Charles Perrault's Le Petit Chaperon Rouge at the end of the movie and in the trailers for the game.

If you've played The Path in recent times you may notice that there are various bugs that range from bearable, game-breaking, beautiful or simply funny. The creators have an image folder of beautiful glitches from developing the game and the VK fanclub has compiled some glitches found themselves.

The game is turning 15 this year- and as time goes on the web aspects that hosted information about it are slowly going out of date. There's been an effort to archive images, the character models for the sisters, and object textures.

Jarboe Devereaux is an experimental rock musician probably best known for being an early member of the group Swans, who co-composed the soundtrack for The Path with Kris Force along with lending her voice to some narration in the soundtrack and trailers. A lot of her music is experimental and I honestly recommend listening to it if you want! At the moment she’s working on her next solo album to come out in late 2024, as well as considering a tour in Europe after the album is released!

The Path of Needles or The Path of Pins is a line from one of the earliest versions of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf asking which path she will travel down, the needles representing maturity while the pins represent childhood. It's said to be based on a French village in which a girl was sent off to become a seamstress for a year, as a sense of sexual maturation. This features heavily in the trailers as well as being part of The Grandmother’s Tale read by Jarboe, with it being referenced to by Ruby in her reaction to the needle.

The Prologue is a short free version of The Path you can find on their website where you play as the mysterious Girl in White. You're unable to interact with items or go to grandmother's house in this version- but you are much more able to explore and find your way back to the path on your own, something you cannot do in the full game.

Izzzyzzz is a YouTuber who makes commentary videos who posts deep dives on things like famous fandom stories, old media and internet legends. In late 2021 they posted a video covering The Path which now sits at 1.4 million views, introducing a good chunk of the modern fan base to the game, as well as causing a surge in new content for the game, with a follow-up video in 2023! Their most recent video is about the game Palworld and it’s plagiarism, as well as having a new line of merch out.

Despite being released in English and Dutch only, The Path very quickly grew a fanbase in Japan and even more so in Russia. Screenshots from Auriea's post-mortem showed Russia was the second biggest purchaser of the game. The European social networking site VK has a fan club of 5.4k members as of writing this- as well as having produced 251 fanfictions on ficbook (for context, Rule of Rose, a game with similar themes and an overlapping fan base has 5 fanfictions on it) Japan's is a lot less archived, but on niconico you can find a lot of fan videos for The Path that is simply not there on the English net.

Though not like how it's used in other games- The Path has an inventory system in which you can collect, store and view items found in the forest. These are deemed "Distractions", and you're able to use these to unlock parts of grandmother's house. There are 30 items you can collect, the bread and wine are already collected which unlock the house and gate respectively, but there is also: A Knife (Unlocking a knife on the kitchen table), a Bullet (Unlocking a deer head), a Feather (Unlocking a Cage with a bird), a Mask (Unlocking the curtains in the kitchen), a Dead Bird (Unlocking a tv), Treasure (Unlocking a stack of money), a Needle (Unlocking pills), a Two-Headed Teddy Bear (Unlocking the bear in grandmother's house), a Boot (Unlocking a table), a Record (Unlocking a stereo), Flowers (unlocking hanging flowers), a Balloon (Unlocking Balloons on the ceiling), a Piano (Unlocking a Cobweb), the Playground Tower (Unlocking a picture frame), a Bunker (Unlocking beer in a fridge), and a Grave (Unlocking a Vase). Each sister then has three special items that unlock secret rooms. For Robin, an Open Grave, Swing and Shopping Cart unlock a crib with a birds-nest, a side staircase and a birthday party. For Rose, a Living Crow, a Skull and a Well, unlocking a long corridor of bathroom stalls, a flooding hallway of doors and a greenhouse. For Ginger, a Twisted Fence, a Climbable Tree and a Shed unlock a hallway, a bedroom and toys under the bed. For Ruby, a Scarecrow, a Wheelchair and a Car unlock a hallway, gymnasium and giant cage. For Carmen, beer, campfire and bath unlock a bush corridor, a basement and a row of fire. And for Scarlet, a cobweb, a clothing line, and a tv unlock a music room, a library and a hall of books.

Tier 3 - Beneath the Surface

Kris Force is an electroacoustic composer, performer and visual artist you'd probably best know from her work as Amber Asylum and with Neurosis. She’s an extremely talented multi-media artist, including such skills as painting, sound and photography. At the moment her most recent release was The Embrace, with Jarboe whom she collaborated with on The Path!

1001 Video Games To Play Before You Die is a spinoff book from 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, featuring games from 1970 to 2013, with The Path being listed right between Punch-Out for the Wii and EyePet the pet simulator. Listed as being so effective due to its interactivity.

The Girl in White, the mysterious forest girl who brings the sisters back to the path, seems to be tied with two of the sister’s Wolves. Ginger’s, The Girl in Red, and Carmen’s, The Woodsman. The Girl in White has a small tent next to the Woodsman’s area, as well as sharing the same skin colour, hair colour, eye colour and similar-looking boots. With the Girl in Red it’s much the same, the only things being different are the colour of their dresses, and the directions their pigtails point, and is directly named as the Girl in White’s twin. There’s even art of all three together named “The Woodsman’s Daughter” but not saying which one is his daughter.

Fey Wolf, if you aren't familiar, is the name in the files for Scarlet's Wolf, the white-haired pianist found in the theatre. You'd not be faulted for seeing them as either an older woman or a long-haired man, or even a genderless ethereal being. The Fey Wolf was never specifically gendered by the creators, but insights about The Girl In Red Wolf reveal that she is intended to be the only female wolf.

Laura Raines Smith is an extremely prolific animator specialising in modelling and textures and was the main animator in a lot of Tale of Tales games. Some of her Tale of Tales animations can be found here, but she's also worked on games like Borderlands 3, Rage of the Gladiator and NHL 95. Her most recent work from what I can find was the animation and rigging on Saturnalia in 2022!

If you’ve been in the community or if you’ve seen people discuss theories for The Path, you have probably seen the interpretation that Ginger is a lesbian, or transgender. This goes beyond just a shared headcanon, there’s a mountain of evidence for both camps that seems potentially intended. Starting with Ginger being transgender, just out of respect, in this section Ginger will be referred to with gender-neutral pronouns. Their appearance is particularly androgynous compared to their sisters, with a short bob cut and a black shirt and shorts- along with having the gender-neutral name Ginger that doesn’t quite fit the family naming theme that could be seen as a chosen name. Ginger also is associated with things that are seen as more masculine, their favourite video game is an action-adventure called Ico, they enjoy exploring the forest and trying to blow things up or fake crop circles, as well as having “boy” toys under the bed, little army men and dinosaurs. Ginger also notoriously dislikes things that are more “girly” like dressing up pretty, going as far as to make their entire family forget their birthday to avoid it. Their wolf can be seen as a manifestation of that, of all things girly and feminine, literally being only known as a Girl in Red- and the GIR’s obsession with barbed wire could be how they feel their feminity is trapping them. Ginger getting their first period is near-universally considered to be the “proper” interpretation of their route, but people who believe in Ginger being transgender use their overwhelming reaction to their first period being a sign of gender dysphoria, and fear of now believing they will be stuck to becoming a woman. This can be summed up in this image, of Ginger clutching their legs together with what's supposed to be in the middle being completely absent, instead with a drawing of flowers in place and barbed wire across, a clear sign of how they see their period as trapping them into womanhood. For the lesbian side, Ginger never specifically states that she doesn’t like men like Scarlet, but more shows her complete disinterest in them and romance in general. She mentions how she hates that “kissing stuff” and describes Carmen as “Hot, if you’re into that kinda thing.” While that does seem to show Ginger isn’t into romance at all, there are some things. The recurring image of two girls holding hands as a doodle can be found all over the game, and her general identity as a tomboy is sometimes seen in young lesbians yet to have come out, but most of the evidence lies within her wolf and their relationship. They’re clearly close, they have a handshake, and Ginger is more comfortable with affection with her than compared to her own grandmother, with the two girls hugging deeply and the GIR even lifting her into the air. The Wolf Encounter is comparably tamer and almost sweet compared to every other wolf encounter, ending with the Girl in Red grabbing Ginger’s hand and pulling her down to lie together in the sun. The final flashes show an image of the GIR leaning in, almost looking like she’s kissing something. On the GIR’s development blog, their relationship is described as “They are what is missing from each other's lives” as well as describing why Ginger was chosen to have a female wolf as “And the girl most likely to be attracted would be Ginger.” These development notes as well as the general tone of the wolf encounter seem to apply that Ginger and her wolf’s interactions weren’t as antagonistic as the others, almost as if her goal was not to hurt, but to trap her, seemingly to stay in the relationship.

If you’ve lurked on forums about the game for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard the question of “Getting an A” in the game's grading system, and speculation on how it’s possible. Well, I’m sadly here to tell you it’s impossible. Even if you get all of the items, all 144 flowers, successfully succumb to the wolf, and become Grandmother's favourite grandchild, you are unable to get an A. It honestly should not be a surprise- The Path is not supposed to be a normal game that rewards you for your completion, it’s… The Path.

Lisa Falzon is an Illustrator turned tattooer and multimedia artist from Malta. She was originally approached early on in the production to design the box art, though I don’t know if this was ever made or shared, and went on to inspire multiple other aspects of the game, being described as "Awkward Realism." She even drew Ginger when Tale of Tales interviewed her! At the moment she’s working in her own Tattoo shop called Upward Spiral Ink- her tattoos involve amazing detail and beautiful shading, I highly recommend checking it out!

Emriss, Redsbane and Bonedevill are three accounts found commenting and interacting with the sisters' live journals in the comments between 2008 and 2009. Most of Emriss' comments come from 2008, while all of Redsbane and Bonevill's are from 2009. The common through line is interaction with the accounts by the sisters and deactivation. Emriss plays a more neutral role, while Redsbane and Bonedevill lean more antagonistic with them referencing something bad happening to the sisters, Redsbane also seemingly implies the 'Bane' of the 'Red' sisters. With these accounts not archived on the Wayback Machine it's not clear if these were accounts used by the creators to provide interaction, or if they are actual fans playing along.

Ruby’s Leg Brace is probably the most iconic thing about her, with the rarity of video game characters using disability aids, her open usage of one is a welcome sight- but from the beginning of her development it’s not clear if she needs it. In her original plan sheet it’s noted that she may just be using it for show and later her description on the website saying “When asked about her leg brace, Ruby says she’s in pain, but she doesn’t specify where it hurts,” implying she doesn’t need it. Conversely, one of Ruby’s secret items needed is a wheelchair, and the final flashes put an emphasis on her legs and how they’re bent out of shape, seemingly saying she needed the leg brace due to a car crash, or an alternative reading is that Ruby was already disabled before the accident, as she gets violently thrown through a high school gym, as well as being the quickest character in the game, maybe signalling she used to be a school athlete before the onset of a condition or an accident.

Kirin San may be a kind of mysterious figure for non-Japanese fans of The Path, especially if you’ve gone through fanart, seeing a random man or giraffe in a little suit with the red sisters. The truth is, Kirin-San could probably be best described as the Japanese Izzzyzzz, being a big part of how the game became popular over there, with his playthroughs inspiring animatics and leading to a Japanese translation coming in 2010 from Zoo Corporation! This is a weird side note I didn’t know where else to put, but while I was researching this topic I found out that apart from translating games like GTA and Left 4 Dead into English, they also create hentai card games like Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire as well as developing medical prescription systems, so that’s hilarious.

144 is described as the essence of the game by the creators, that it represents “a girl's restlessness, the sound of footsteps on dry leaves, the smell of pine trees, dim sunlight through filtering clouds.” The original working title of it was 144, with the original intent to have 144 red riding hoods. This was quickly abandoned due to the scale, but its importance remains, the 144 collectable flowers in the forest are the most obvious example of this, but it's all over the rest of the game. There are 36 items (144 divided by 4 being 36), 18 secret rooms (144 divided by 8 being 18), 3 secret rooms per sister (144 divided by 48 being 3) as well as six sisters (144 divided by 24 being six).

Something talked about in the postmortem but was not mentioned by name in the game is that The Girl in White is quite literally an older version of one of Tale of Tales past characters, The Deaf Mute Girl in The Pretty White Dress from 8. Her models were created based on making them look like the Deaf Mute Girl but at the age of 13. With 8 never coming out; the Girl in White is both the first occurrence of this character and the second time she was in a game.

Tier 4 - Middle of the Iceberg

An interesting detail that 1c changed when they translated the game into Russian is them choosing different names for the main six girls, unlike every other translation which keeps their original. The names are: Robin as Алина/Alina, Rose as Алиса/Alice, Ginger as Ада/Ada, Ruby as Агния/Agnia, Carmen as Алла/Alla and Scarlet as Аврора/Aurora. The translated names are no longer themed around red things, but around the alliterative A’s, probably due to their name puns being lost in translation.

This is an entry that’s probably more well known to people NOT into The Path, in that The Path is featured and shouted out by name in Hetalia. Yeah, Hetalia, that Hetalia the anime about personified countries that once was the second most popular Anime/Manga fandom on Fanfiction dot net, features The Path in both the anime and manga, with Belgium showing off the game as something from their homeland.

Something never mentioned in the games is that each of the sisters was given birthdays. On their livejournals, you can see posts of them celebrating Robin’s, Carmen’s and forgetting Ginger’s, but they aren’t the only ones with birthdays. On their live journal profile descriptions, their birthdays are listed as the 13th of October 2000 for Robin, the 13th of March for Rose, the 13th of September 1996 for Ginger, the 13th of May 1994 for Ruby, the 13th of November 1992 for Carmen, and the 13th of April 1990 for Scarlet. Rose doesn’t have her birth year listed but it’s probably just 1998, due to all of the sisters being spaced by two years. Something interesting is that all of the sisters were born on Friday the 13th, but only Rose would be her actual age as of the game release. Since the game came out on the 18th of March 2009, the actual character ages would be 8 for Robin, 11 for Rose, 12 for Ginger, 14 for Ruby, 16 for Carmen and 18 for Scarlet. Part of me thinks that this is why Rose’s birth year goes unmentioned on live journal, though if she wasn’t born in 1998 she would not fit the profile of being born on Friday the 13th, but it’s possible it was either a mistake or related to another entry on this iceberg.

Only mentioned in one development image and the development blog for Ginger’s Wolf, is the idea that Ginger and Rose were at one point supposed to be twin sisters, both being 13 similar to the Girl in White and her twin The Girl in Red being 13. In the accompanying image found on Flickr, you’re able to see above Rose her age is listed as 11, or as 13 if she was a twin. The thing is- the sister that has age 13 listed above her is very clearly NOT Ginger, it’s Ruby, and it’s Ginger who’s listed as 15. Well, they’re not listed by name, but Tomboy Red and Goth Red are the names used for Ginger and Ruby as seen on Livejournal, and their appearances are nearly identical to those from the final product. Especially weird considering that Ruby was the first character ever made for this game, and she was listed as 15 in that as well!

You probably noticed this if you looked at the image where Rose and Ginger are listed as twins, but they aren’t the only ones with stark differences that go unexplained. The Girl in White is listed as LDMGIAPWD, an acronym for the Little Deaf Mute Girl in a Pretty White Dress, simplified in print as the Girl in White and in fan discussions as the GIW. Another thing you’ll notice is that Scarlet has… A different design. With a long buttoned dress reminiscent of something straight out of a period piece set in an asylum, and a hat with things that look like antennas with flowers. And then it comes to… Rose and Carmen’s original names. Virgin Red and Sexpot Red. We’ll start with Carmen. Sexpot is a more crude way of describing someone who’s sexy, which is what Carmen’s nickname was then changed to. It’s still kind of a touchy issue with fans that Carmen, a minor, uses the name Sexy- but it’s still far more appropriate compared to Sexpot. Sexy gives more of a feeling that it’s self-appointed when compared to Sexpot which is more voyeuristic. And Virgin Red. Virgin has two contexts that are relevant here. Virgin within the context of purity and innocence, related to the Virgin Mary as an example of goodness not seeing bad. And Virgin within the context of never having sexual contact with anyone. Given the fact her name was then changed to Innocent Red and the fact she is ELEVEN- it’s likely that it’s related to that first interpretation, further giving evidence towards the view of Rose’s story being about her relationship to her spirituality.

If you’ve read Rose or Ruby’s live journal you’d find out that on the 2nd of May 2008, Ruby dyed her hair black. That’s not surprising to begin with, you can see her with her hair as black throughout the game (Though sometimes it has a blueish look with some lighting)- a bit weird that it had to be pointed out as dyed due to all of her sister’s also having black hair (You can see Ginger’s black roots), but their live journals give a reason for why. In Ruby’s comment section, she’s asked about her original hair colour, which she replies was Green. It’s not clear if she means her hair was last dyed green, or if she has natural green hair. This seems like a reference to one of her final flashes that’s the same as another but with a green colouring. Anyway- this isn’t what we’re talking about. In the reply of that comment, someone calls her a liar, and says if it really was green, why did she get her sister to lie? What they’re referring to is Rose’s post about it- in which she says that Ruby had made her promise not to tell what her old hair is. There’s still a debate as to what her original hair colour is, and I don’t think we will ever actually get to know.

In 2022 @wammy4 on Twitter began multiple Twitter bots based on the sisters in The Path, posting various things sourced from lines in the game, live journal posts, quotes from grandmother's house and links to the game. It posted multiple times per day, now with so many posts it’s hard to keep track, but as of the fourth of April 2023, none of the accounts other than the creator has posted, due to Musk’s shutdown of free API bots and $100 per month bot subscription.

A staple of fandoms on the internet are Askblogs, where fans can ask characters questions and get a reply, usually with illustrated companions. The Path is no outlier, having a dedicated askblog on VK- with over 800 followers. It’s been active for years and has over 2 thousand different images, and has asks for all of the characters in the game, as well as gender-bent versions. If you can speak Russian I highly recommend checking it out, and even if you can’t, the art is stunning!

The Red sisters aren’t the only ones who have live journals, within the comments you can find Grandmother Red interacting with her grandkids, asking when they’ll next come down to see her. However this livejournal is different from the others given that hers is deactivated, even with the wayback machine- and her livejournal was never linked on the official website next to the others.

Fuco Euda is a Japanese-based surrealist painter focusing on the horrific, sensual and innocent, with girls nearly looking identical as if they were family, or the same girl. She was first referenced all the way back when Ruby was being designed as an artist to look into for inspiration. Her artbook LUCID DREAM is out, with a special bound edition if that’s something you’d be interested in!

Alice Knows Karate is an alt-pop band that takes inspiration from fairytales and J-pop, creating a unique nostalgic sound that feels straight out of a video game. They’ve got various albums you should definitely check out, but what we’re specifically talking about today is their 2018 album Fablewave, with their song ‘The Path’. It was originally posted on the head of the band Keiko’s YouTube channel in 2009, with an updated version coming ten years later. It’s outrageously good, it captures the essence of the game perfectly with amazing lyrics, and I got a bit too attached and it ended up as my number-one song on Spotify in 2023. The rest of Fablewave is also based on other fairytales and fairytale-inspired games, particularly ‘Alice, What Have You Done?’ based on American McGee’s Alice. Their most recent work is Grounded, and they’ve also been featured as the theme song for Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain!

The Path was supposed to be Tale of Tales' first commercial project, and as so it included advertising, but being Tale of Tales, they did this the most extra way they could. Around where they lived, they made a Tear Off poster, with what I believe is Martha Samyan’s art of Robin. The poster asks the reader to choose the path of pins or the path of needles, while linking to the website. On their blog they provide a blank download of the tear-off poster so you can print it off, to draw on it and place it around you!

The Path was Tale of Tales' first foray into creating commercial games, and because of that, there are various different selections of merch, such as: Signed Posters, USB drives, CDs of the soundtrack, Polaroids, Shirts (via Redbubble) and a sticker. Nearly all of this, save the shirts on Redbubble, are no longer purchasable, being limited items when they came out, and then finally being sold in 2015 as Tale of Tales moved. I am still so mad I never got those Polaroids and am still madly searching for auctions of them.

The Rose Problem is a catch-all term I am using to describe basically ‘What the hell is up with Rose’. It’s no secret that Rose is divisive when it comes to interpretations- so much so that I couldn’t include her in the first interpretation section. So, what is it that makes Rose so difficult? Well, you can barely see her wolf, her house is almost all flooded and she speaks with flowery prose. The reason people seem to view her route as spirituality or disability is because of her continued mention of disconnect from herself. But there have been oceans of other disagreeing ideas, related to her perhaps going through puberty early, her experiencing guilt related to her family, her being potentially molested, or even her literally dying. It’s been put forward by some that Tale of Tales went into Rose not even having an intention in mind, or it shifted from one idea during development and becoming aimless during that period.

Scarlet is known to be the last created sister, Tale of Tales describe the making of her as being the first to be born and last to be made, and because of that, her wolf was the last to be made. The final wolf is named the Fey Wolf- related to the Fae Court. As an Irish person who’s in full belief of the Fae, I don’t see the resemblance. But that wasn’t his final name- maybe it wasn’t his final appearance. His original name, according to a rough floor plan of what Grandmother’s house would look like with the secret rooms was Boy Toy Wolf. That’s… A name change. Especially considering the fact Boy Toy refers to a young man in a sexual relationship, usually with an older woman, and the Fey Wolf is a sort of elderly-looking androgynous thing with a 19-year-old Scarlet who is not into relationships. But because the Fey Wolf’s making has no text, it’s not clear if his appearance or purpose even changed between the name change.

Quest3d was a tool used for making 3D applications, with an intuitive way of programming by using graphs and seeing it in real-time without the need for a compiler. On Mobygames only 8 games were ever listed as created by Quest3d, 6 if you don’t count The Path and The Prologue- with three of them being a Ship Simulator. I say was because it’s pretty much gone. You can’t open their unique file in anything so you’re kinda screwed if you want to do anything with the game files.

The Shrine and the Playground Sign are two interesting objects that you really can’t see in the rest of the game. They both appear along the path but not in the forest, and unlike the crow, you can’t interact with them. Though not immediately clear- the reason why those appear is to signal to the player that the Graveyard and Playground are accessible. That’s probably self-explanatory for the Playground Sign, but for quite a few people the Shrine may come as a surprise, including me before I researched it.

The Path, like everything, has speedrunners. There are two categories- All Girls and Failure%. There have been seven runs altogether, one in all girls and six in failure%. Failure% is reaching grandmother's house without interacting with any wolf, beginning when you gain control and ending when you leave first person in Grandmother's house. Though there are no guides available, the strategy is clear, using Ruby as she’s the quickest. The world record holder as of now is from Krayzar with a one-minute 35 seconds. There's only one speedrun for All Girls, and I’m going to be honest, I don’t think there’s a strategy, at least not one clear from the world record holder Multiwinner who admits that the run they sent in was their first and only attempt. If you want to try this out, go ahead! You’ll have the chance to make history!

In 2020 a zine by the VK fan club for The Path was released- featuring illustrations, comics and stickers, a full collection of all included is linked here. As far as I can tell, this is the only one of its kind! It really is a marvel, and I have said this for like the third time, but if you have a copy of this I would love to buy it from you. I do have to warn you- there is nudity in here of Ruby.

Tier 5 - Bottom of the Iceberg

Tale of Tales references three artists and illustrators that inspired the feeling they were going for The Path, naming them as Lisa Falzon, Fuco Ueda and Ray Caesar. For its first anniversary, three sets of interviews of those artists by the six red sisters. You can find the interviews here, but some highlights are: Carmen asking Lisa if she has a boyfriend followed by Scarlet asking if Lisa is a feminist, Robin asking if Fuco Euda's paintings showed "Good girls or naughty girls", and Ginger just asking if Ray Caesar would ever make a video game.

One of the more confusing things mentioned in the Post Mortem is the fact that Tale of Tales at one time considered creating a mechanic where you would have to dance battle your wolf. No, I am not joking. I just have one question. In a game about exploring your deepest trauma in a wolf-infested forest. Why did you make them dance?

The Path Tribute Project was a group of Vocaloid songs created based on characters in The Path on niconico. The project is from 2014, and due to this and a lack of updating links, I’m unable to find the original organiser of the project and one of the songs, but what I do have, is a Paste Bin of all the found links, the Tumblr blog it was advertised on, and a short compilation of all of the songs reposted on VK!

The canonicity of the grandmother house pages is up to discussion, with Rose, Ginger, Ruby and Carmen all seeming aware they’re in a video game created by these people with Scarlet not making mention of Kris’ involvement with the game. The outlier is Robin, who says not only is Jarboe real in their universe, but that she lives in a black house in their forest- and that she was the one who taught the family the Safe Song. There clearly is not a black house in the forest- the only house is Grandmother’s which is white. Maybe she’s referring to the tent in the Campsite, we never exactly do see the Woodsman go into it, or it could even be the Bunker, as it seemingly has a panel over the door, but neither of those are housey.

Given The Path’s limited characters and interactions, the game’s fanbase has never really been prime with shipping, the most you would see is Ruby and her Wolf along with Ginger and her Wolf. But one pairing stands among them all as the most. Ship to exist. The Woodsman, and the Fey Wolf. There’s a weirdly large amount of fanart for this, despite their status of never interacting or existing near each other, but I suppose what fandoms do best is see two men and decide they should kiss. Should I show examples of this? Yes. Am I going to? No. Just… Take my word for it and understand why I am not showing you a sweaty bald man making out with whatever the Fey Wolf is.

Shamus Young was a game critic and blogger who was an early modder in the Doom Community, and held some infamous views related to parts of The Path. I want to preface this by saying- Shamus Young passed away in 2022 at the age of 50, and out of respect for him and his family, I will be only relaying what he wrote instead of including my opinions. The reason Shamus gained a particular status in the fan community is for his interpretations of Rose and Carmen. Starting with Carmen- he states that he knew girls like Carmen in high school, that would “Find the biggest, strongest, best-looking complete-jerk they could get their hands on, and then endlessly whine about how ‘men are such pigs.’” He then goes on to explain that he believes Carmen was not raped, because despite being drunk she had taken the alcohol without asking, and that it was not rape because “She came on to him.” He does say that it “does not excuse the forester for sharing his beer and hooking up with an (in some states) underage girl-” and then proceeds to say “But I don’t think he’s a rapist.” At the end of the aftermath saying that “Maybe this one bad experience will make her more careful.” Rose’s analysis begins with him prefacing that “I don’t actually want to talk about this one, because it involves stuff I wouldn’t even bring up on my blog.” and then again stating “And I really hope you’ll keep a clinical head on when I bring this up and try to be polite even if you disagree, and furthermore I hope we can keep this discussion civil and remember that this is all open to interpretation.” Before he goes on to explain how Rose’s water motifs are a representation of discovering masturbation- that the reason why her wolf is a Cloudy Male figure is that “She knows she’s attracted to men but she doesn’t know what men look like yet, or how sex works”. As stated at the beginning of this entry and by Shamus himself, I’m keeping this civil and I am not shaming him for his personal interpretations.

There’s quite a bit of Micheal’s Daughter Martha present in the game at various points. Martha made the original pictograms, I believe the poster art was also by her- but the most clear inspiration is Robin herself. As mentioned in her Making of post, Robin’s outfit is based on her, specifically her outfit of her blue hooded cloak and stripey boots. Martha’s actually an artist now too! Martha Samyn is a textile artist and interior architect, with her last exhibit being at Texture Kortrvijk in January! You can actually see the start of her textile art related to The Path, showing off her Ruby-inspired outfit for her doll!

A last-minute change mentioned in the post-mortem was the fact that The Path did not contain any text until the playtest. And when I mean any text, I don’t just mean instructions- until they had people play the games they hadn’t thought to include text for the items, to show what the characters were thinking, because they saw that “Some players had difficulty to let their imagination work.” That’s a wise lesson for you all. Involve Beta testers.

The Path Fangame, titled The Path Fan Project, is a game by Kinder and Doll, a spiritual follow-up to The Path with less of a focus on horror and more on open-world explanation and interaction with the sisters. The graphics are astonishingly pretty, with quite a few new locations like a train, a cave, and a treehouse. The game also involves slight voices, giving the characters voices for the first time! I again urge you to play it, especially since I am unable to because of the age of my computer.

The-Red-Path is a LiveJournal community never officially linked on the website like all the other LiveJournal profiles, with only six members- the six sisters. This account has only three posts, all posted in 2008, between April and August, only one of which I will be bringing up. On the 16th of April Robin asks whose turn it is to visit their grandmother, with Rose mentioning that they’ve all gone down the path already. There's a weird sadness in this post, with the normally boisterous Carmen asking why she couldn’t just go with anyone else.

You have probably heard of the first urban legend about The Path, the ability to get an A, but this one you likely haven’t heard of. There’s a phone present on the road on the other side of the path, calling it will allow you to transport the sister back to the apartment without needing to go to grandmother’s house. The general idea is then, if you go through the wolf encounter, but turn around on the path and walk back to the phone- would you be able to call it and actually return back home without the sister disappearing? There have been testimonies of being able to do it, as well as fanfictions about the concept, and not a lot of checks due to the fact you can’t run after the wolf encounter and your speed is already extremely low. But I am going to come out and say, no, I don’t believe it’s possible. I don’t think the creators would have overlooked that idea, especially since they had a large number of beta testers, but I do really like the idea and I wish it was true.

That’s the end! I have quite a few things I left out, due to it maybe not being interesting or my losing of sources, but I’m glad I could finally do this. In all honesty, The Path changed my life. It’s helped me through a lot in my own journey of healing and accepting trauma, and I will forever be grateful. Happy 15th anniversary!

#the path #the path game #the path tale of tales #the path robin #the path rose #the path ginger #the path ruby #the path carmen #the path scarlet #the girl in white the path #werewolf the path #cloud wolf the path #girl in red the path #charming wolf the path #woodsman wolf the path #fey wolf the path #tale of tales

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fortheloveofwonderland · 1 year ago

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Scarlet’s Fic Recs May 2023

I’ll admit, I missed a few months of these 😅 life got in the way but I’m trying to get back into reading your wonderful fics!

Untitled Fic - smut Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @beelmons

Luxury Poker Nights - smut Spencer / Hotch / Morgan x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @/beelmons

Post Mortem - angst (sad ending) Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @actually-safer-to-kiss

Redemption - angst / smut Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @futuremrsreid

Watching - smut Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader - oneshot also by @/futuremrsreid

Sweet Nothing - fluff / smut Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @boldlyvoid

Ex-Boyfriend - smut Spencer x Fem! Reader x Ethan - oneshot by @radiant-reid

In the Dark - angst Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot also by @/radiant-reid

In Every Other Life - angst / fluff Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @irndad

Little Flower - smut Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @foxy-eva

Lock Your Door - smut Spencer x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @incognit0slut

Marry Me - angst / fluff Emily Prentiss x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @leahseclipse

The Art of Film - smut Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader - oneshot by @stairain

#fic recs #scarlet recommends #spencer reid #criminal minds #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid x you #spencer reid fanfic

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scarlet--wiccan · 4 months ago

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have you seen the news about david&tommy breaking up? the reasoning seems so flimsy and i feel like tommy is going to be used even less now, tho hopefully they’ll bring him into wanda’s stuff again sometime. but what was the point of canonizing that ship for basically no content or storylines besides brutalizing david for shock value?!

I'm gonna let you guys in on a secret-- canonizing the ship for basically no content or storylines besides brutalizing David-- and traumatizing Tommy with his mom's corpse -- WAS THE POINT. Everyone is talking about how this was the ship that fans shipped so hard, it became real, but no one wants to acknowledge that that is textbook fanservice. Leah Williams was doing fanservice, and she didn't even bother to justify it with substance or care-- Tommy just became one more ~quirky queer character~ in her parade of unfunny tumblr dialogue and unearned, often racist brutality.

They weren't even a proper couple-- the whole time, they were being written as non-committal friends with benefits. There is no real romantic content or relationship development between them in an any actual comic book. The only time they had any degree of substance was when non-X-Men writers squeezed it in to Unlimited comics and Pride specials. The first and last time they were actually called "boyfriends" was Tommy's cameo in Scarlet Witch, which is now effectively a post mortem on their relationship.

I'm not trying to be a hater, but I need everyone to get serious and admit that this pairing was not what y'all have been pretending it was. These writers have been treating it as a disposable afterthought the whole time. NYX was the perfect opportunity to actually change that-- it's a street level book about mutants rebuilding their lives after Krakoa. It would have been very easy to bring Tommy in as a consistent supporting cast member now that mutants are mingling more freely with everyone else. David just went through a traumatic death that had a big impact on Tommy as well-- giving them room in a book like this to unpack that would be an organic, seamless way to deepen their bond and cement their partnership.

But that is not what Lanzing and Kelly are doing because they do not see this relationship as worth preserving. They have other things in mind for David, and his relationship with Tommy is inconsequential enough that they're just going to brush it aside, and for some reason, everyone's acting like the writing hasn't been on the wall since day one.

#NYX (2024)#tommy shepherd #david alleyne

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perspectivestarters · 7 months ago

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Perspective's Sentence Starters; The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift (Part III)

THE BLACK DOG

You forgot to turn it off.

I just don't understand how you don't miss me.

She's too young to know this song.

Old habits die screaming.

I move through the world with a heart broken.

I may never open up thе way I did for you.

You said I needed a bravе man.

Do you hate me?

Was it hazing for a cruel fraternity?

I pledged, and I still mean it.

Six weeks of breathing clean air, I still miss the smoke.

Were you making fun of me?

Now I wanna sell my house.

I hope you hear it.

I hope it's shitty in The Black Dog

This tail between your legs, you're leaving.

I still can't believe it.

IMGONNAGETYOUBACK

The one that fits me like skin.

You knew the price going in.

I can tell when somebody still wants me.

Once you fix your face, I'm going in.

Whether I'm gonna be your wife, or gonna smash up your bike, I haven't decided yet.

I'm gonna get you back.

Whether I'm gonna curse you out, or take you back to my house, I haven't decidеd yet.

You'll find that you were never not mine.

You're mine.

Small talk, big walk, act like I don't care what you did.

I'm an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch.

I can take the upper hand and touch your body.

I might just love you 'til the end.

Whether I'm gonna flip you off, or pull you into the closet, I haven't decided yet.

I can feel it coming, honey, in the way you move.

We're becoming something new.

Say you got somebody else.

I got someone too

Even if it's handcuffed, I'm leaving here with you.

Bygones will be bygone.

Pick your poison, babe, I'm poison either way.

THE ALBATROSS

Wild winds are death to the candle.

A rose by any other name is a scandal.

They tried to warn him about her.

Cross your thoughtless heart.

She's the albatross.

She is here to destroy you.

One bad seed kills the garden.

One less temptress, one less dagger to sharpen.

Locked me up in towers, but I'd visit in your dreams.

They tried to warn you about me.

Devils that you know raise worse hell than a stranger.

She's the death you chose.

You're in terrible danger.

I've been there too, and that none of it matters

Wise men once read fake news and they believed it.

You couldn't conceive it.

You were sleeping soundly when they dragged you from your bed.

I tried to warn you about them.

I'm the albatross.

I swept in at the rescue.

The devil that you know looks now more like an angel.

I'm the life you chose.

CHLOE OR SAM OR SOPHIA OR MARCUS

I just watched it happen

Seemed like he would've bullied you in school.

You just watched it happen.

I loved you the way that you were.

If you want to tear my world apart, just say you've always wondered.

You said some things that I can't unabsorb.

You turned me into an idea of sorts.

You needed me, but you needed drugs more.

I couldn't watch it happen.

I changed into goddesses, villains, and fools.

Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules all to outrun my desertion of you.

Too impaired by my youth to know what to do.

Will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon?

Could it be enough to just float in your orbit?

Can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses?

Cooler in theory, but not if you force it.

HOW DID IT END?

We hereby conduct this post-mortem.

He was a hot house flower to my outdoorsmen.

We could not cure them.

A touch that was my birth right became foreign.

It's happening again.

We'll tell no-one.

We must know, how did it end?

We were blind to unforeseen circumstances.

We learn the right steps to diffеrent dances.

Lost the game of chance, what are the chances?

Guess who we ran into at the shops?

Didn't you hear? They called it all off.

How did it end?

The deflation of our dreaming leaving me bereft and reeling.

But I still don't know, how did it end?

SO HIGH SCHOOL

I feel so high school every time I look at you.

I wanna find you in a crowd just to hide from you.

Tell me 'bout the first time you saw me.

I'll drink what you think.

I'm high from smoking your jokes all damn night.

Your friends are around, so be quiet.

I'm trying to stifle my sighs.

I feel so high school every time I look at you.

Are you gonna marry, kiss, or kill me?

It's just a game, but really.

I'm bettin' on all three for us two.

No one's evеr had me, not like you.

Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto.

It's true, swear, scouts honor.

You knew what you wanted, and, boy, you got her.

You already know, babe.

I'm hearing voices like a madman.

I HATE IT HERE

Tell me something awful.

You are a poet trapped inside the body of a finance guy.

Tell me all your secrets.

All you'll ever be is my eternal consolation prize.

I was a debutant in another life, but now I seem to be scared to go outside.

If comfort is a construct, I don't believe in good luck.

Now that I know what's what.

I hate it here.

People need a key to get to.

The only one is mine.

I read about it in a book when I was a precocious child.

I'm there most of the year.

My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this.

Everyone would look down 'cause it wasn't fun now.

Seems like it was never even fun back then.

Nostalgia is a mind's trick.

If I'd been there, I'd hate it.

It was freezing in the palace.

They found a better planet.

Only the gentle survived.

I dreamed about it in the dark.

I felt like I might die.

I'm lonely, but I'm good.

I'm bitter, but I swear I'm fine.

I'll save all my romanticism for my inner life and I'll get lost on purpose.

This place made me feel worthless.

In my fantasies, I rise above it.

Way up there, I actually love it.

THANK YOU AIMEE

There's a bronze spray-tanned statue of you.

It was always the same searing pain.

All that time you were throwin' punches, I was buildin' somethin'.

I can't forgive the way you made me feel.

I can't forget the way you made me heal.

It wasn't a fair fight, or a clean kill.

She wrote hеadlines in the local paper, laughing at each baby step I'd take.

Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman, but she used to say she wished that you were dead.

Your words are still just ringing in my head.

When I count the scars, there's a moment of truth, that there wouldn't be this, if there hadn't been you.

Maybe you've reframed it.

In your mind, you never beat my spirit black and blue.

I don't think you've changed much.

I changed your name, and any real defining clues.

One day, your kid comes home singin' a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.

All that time you were throwin' punches, it was all for nothin'.

Our town, it looks so small, from way up here.

#rp sentence starters #rp sentence meme #rp sentence prompts #sentence starters #sentence meme #sentence prompts #lyric sentence starters #lyric starters #music starters #rp meme #rp memes #rp prompts #ask meme #exodusmusing #*mystarters #*ttpd

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moltz23 · 1 year ago

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Three Houses (& Warriors: Three Hopes) Trivia: That One Time 3 Stories Ended Without Solving its Loose Ends.

Of all the things people have spoken about Three Houses’ writing, if there’s something I honestly don’t see discussed often as a whole (aka not just in an individual basis), is that KT’s writers were chronically unable to tie up all loose ends with the stories they worked on: Crimson Flower, Azure Moon, and Verdant Wind’s (quick reminder Silver Snow was written by IS instead). This sentiment is even shared by one of the scenario writers involved with both Three Houses, and in the Warriors: Three Hopes spinoff:

Regarding [Warriors: Three Hopes’] Scarlet Blaze, Azure Gleam, and Golden Wildfire chapters, what was the tale you wanted to tell? Iwata: In order to make it a different experience from Three Houses, one of the scenario writers explained about wanting to depict the things that had been left unfinished in the main game. In Scarlet Blaze, it’s the battle against ‘Those Who Slither in the Dark’, in Azure Gleam it’s reaching the truth about ‘The Tragedy of Duscur’, and for Golden Wildfire it’s the appearance of a huge obstacle to Claude realizing his dreams.

In turn, the purpose of this post will be recapping briefly what each unfinished plot thread was about, if we catch glimpses of them in other stories, and how Warriors: Three Hopes decided to give them a proper conclusion.

Crimson Flower: the battle against “Those Who Slither In The Dark”

Forever immortalized as very sneaky plague doctor-looking fellas.

Byleth’s informed starting Part 2 of Crimson Flower that the Empire/Edelgard has teamed up with “those who slither in the dark” for practical reasons in the fight against the Church (mainly, for their manpower and assets), and that the group’s expected to be next on the chopping block once they’re no longer needed.

As the main campaign goes on, the Agathans are treated as an “Elephant in the Room” sort of deal - being brought up only by a few select individuals when the situation calls for it - all while Edelgard and co. are monitoring their movements. Thales/Arundel tries subverting this in at least 2 different instances (Hubert’s paralogue and, most notably, in Chapter 16), but for one reason or another, the situation never escalates further.

The group’s seen one last time just before the final battle, as Edelgard and Thales have a small chat where both agree to keep their team-up going for a little longer once the war’s over. And after the main story’s done, the Empire’s fight vs TWSITD is mentioned in passing during the Epilogue cutscene, multiple paired and solo endings, and even one S-Support, all while confirming the group’s demise sometime later after a certain “Battle of Shambhala”.

Do we get glimpses of it in other routes?

Kinda? Even though the exact circumstances described in CF never take place anywhere else, we see Shambhala being invaded by Byleth and co. in two other routes: Silver Snow (the other other story branch of Black Eagles), and Verdant Wind (Claude’s story).

The main reason this happens in these storylines is thanks to a post-mortem request from Hubert, who was previously aware a certain Imperial fortress would get bombarded by them ahead of time, and determined (somehow) that the missiles’ origins can be traced back to a location believed to be the slitherers’ HQs.

In these 2 stories, the battle against TWSITD is solved in only one chapter, and the main narrative purpose it fulfills is to set up the real, actual final boss of the story (oh and also kill Rhea in Verdant Wind).

How did Warriors: Three Hopes tackle this loose end?

By axing Edelgard’s team up with the Agathans outright as early as possible, which shakes the entire foundation of the story given how much agency Edelgard’s actions hold over the plot. This is very important because the fact neither the Empire nor TWISTD are bound to work together for a common goal allows both sides to properly fight each other openly while the story unravels.

The way the story’s foundation is shaken is also quite important too, as its done by forcing Edelgard and Hubert to assume a very active role in the story against the slitherers which is never seen in 3H’s story besides CF’s Ch. 16, possible only through a one-in-a-million-chance that cannot happen in Three Houses: having Kostas die vs the House Leaders near Remire Village, everyone never meeting Byleth, and having Jeritza become Garreg Mach’s 3rd professor like Edelgard intended.

As you might have noticed by now however, the one big caveat Scarlet Blaze’s exploration of this story thread has is that the conflict shown in it, due to the involved circumstances, will never be the same as the one described in Crimson Flower’s. In hindsight however, given Edelgard’s battle vs the Agarthans in CF is heavily hinted to be anticlimactic and nowhere near as challenging compared to Three Hopes’ timeline (mainly thanks to her having already neutralized all other threats to the Empire by then), I dare say this change might’ve been for the best.

Azure Moon: Reaching the truth about the “Tragedy of Duscur”

This is a pretty cool CG tbh.

Blue Lions gives you many glimpses of the Tragedy of Duscur pre-timeskip. Most notably, Chapter 8 reveals Dimitri is in Garreg Mach mainly to find and get revenge on its culprits, and Chapter 10 shows how he finds out the slitherers’ were involved in the tragedy… right before Dimitri becomes convinced Edelgard was the mastermind of the event and the plot point is derailed completely for a while.

Some time later, it returns in full force during Ch. 17, where an exchange Rodrigue has with Gilbert reveals the body of Dimitri’s stepmother - Patricia/Anselma - was never found in spite of being one of the alleged victims. Then in Ch 18, Cornelia/Cleobulus as a last act of spite reveals to Dimitri that Patricia conspired to make the tragedy happen just to “see Edelgard again”. In Ch. 19, Dimitri tries to get answers from a dying Lord Arundel/Thales - whom he long since suspected to have been part of it - but fails to make him speak. In late Ch. 20/early Ch 21, it’s shown Margrave Gautier found out Viscount Kleiman’s involvement on the Tragedy, and the interrogation of one of his servants reveals not only the dude thinks he did what was best for the kingdom, but also that Patricia was allowed to escape unharmed.

And then the story ends, leaving the mystery hanging. If you bought the DLC, Dimitri & Hapi’s support chain reveals Cleobulus tricked Anselma into believing she couldn’t see Edelgard again due to Dimitri’s father, and essentially emotionally tortured the woman for +5 years until Anselma *cracked* and became a willing participant. Their paired ending also mentions they later worked on to expose TWSITD and the other culprits of the tragedy. Whatever was found in that investigation, it’s ultimately left unrevealed.

Do we get glimpses of it in other routes?

Mostly no. The tragedy is briefly discussed in Ch. 3 of Black Eagles and Golden Deer, but it never goes on beyond what happened and who died. And the circumstances in which Dimitri becomes so hell-bent on killing Edelgard are never ever shown to the player.

Crimson Flower meanwhile, not only confirms Arundel/Thales was 100% involved in it during Ch.17, if that chapter’s main story mission plays in a certain way, Dimitri in his dying speech of hate towards Edelgard will say the following:

Edelgard! You... I will kill you! You will know the regret of my father, who was killed for you! Of my stepmother, who was slain by her own daughter! You will bow your head before all of the lives you trampled for your ideals before you die in misery!

How did Warriors: Three Hopes tackle this loose end?

First, by focusing on the Kingdom politics during the first half of the story. It starts with Rufus (Dimitri’s uncle) launching a surprise coup in the Kingdom - for reasons irrelevant to the story - under the pretext of undermining House Fraldarius’s attempts to use Dimitri as a puppet, all while the revealing he was the mastermind behind the Kingdom side of instigators. And it all snowballs from there while the mystery develops, because unlike Three Houses, Rufus’ involvement isn’t kept under wraps due to a good chunk of evidence going to the grave with him (non-CF), or because he’s sidelined to put more focus to Edelgard's war (CF).

Second, by gradually making Edelgard irrelevant in the story until her character has been effectively written out, the narrative allows the tragedy’s culprits to be the main antagonistic force of the story.

And third, through making the story one of revenge and bringing justice to the Tragedy’s victims, Dimitri in turn is kept in a middle state between his normal and his revenge-obsessed self to justify it, and this permits the plot to have Thales as a fitting final boss, given his status as the brains behind the Agarthan side of the instigators.

Verdant Wind: The obstacle to Claude’s dreams

Look at that dashing smile man.

Starting Part 2 of Verdant Wind, it’s revealed Claude’s dream is one of a world without discrimination and prejudice. And for that, he sees the idea of an unified land, of tearing down the world’s barriers, as a way to allow everyone to start anew, understand one another and realize we’re more different than we would like to admit. And while by the end of the story Claude’s goal for Fodlan is achieved, he never directly has to overcome some obstacle to accomplish it.

Even though Edelgard, the Empire and the Agarthans are clear-and-cut antagonists during VW’s story*, they’re overall quite divorced from Claude’s dream to directly oppose it*. Edelgard is only an enemy mainly due to the threat she poses to the Alliance, as her ideals are not really that different to Claude’s and even admits such. TWSITD meanwhile, are not that involved in the story besides the lategame of Part 1 & 2, and at their core they’re just a xenophobic hate group, meaning they threaten everyone equally.

So in the end, only one candidate remains which fits the ideological angle of obstacle, which Claude does bring up during the plot but never serves this role in spite of the build-up it gets during Part 1: the Church & Rhea. The main reason for it is simply due to Byleth becoming both the new Archbishop and Claude’s biggest supporter during Part 2 during Rhea’s absence, all while the plot forces Rhea to be not only be rescued so Claude can have someone who can answer all the questions he seeks about Fodlan’s mysteries (which is another plot point of the story), but also conveniently kills her offscreen in a sacrificial manner once all’s said and done.

Do we get glimpses of it in other routes?

Sort of, but nowhere near as openly as you would expect. In Crimson Flower, Claude says the following about what he would’ve done had he defeated Edelgard at Derdriu:

In all honesty, I was hoping to become a supreme ruler and lead Fódlan to peace myself. But... that won't be happening now.

Also, compared to how he acts with Edelgard in her route, Claude in Azure Moon is ominously adversarial towards Dimitri after being saved (even insisting he does not owe him any debt whatsoever), and even says the following:

I'm leaving Fódlan. There are things I have to do. Dreams I need to see to fruition. That's why I became the Alliance leader to begin with, actually. But it left me no time for what I was really after.

How did Warriors: Three Hopes tackle this loose end?

Simple; by having him actually clash with the Church (and also the Kingdom by proxy). The plot ensures such by introducing Shahid - Claude’s half-brother - for the purpose of: 1. preventing Claude from ever becoming invested in Fodlan’s past and mysteries, and; 2. from finishing his fight with the Empire.

Time to process what had just happened after Solon revealed himself in front of everyone? - WHOOPS Shahid is invading, so back to the Alliance Claude goes!

Time to invade the Empire proper after fighting them in Gronder Field? You bet- WHOOPS Shahid is at it again!

With both of these plot points aborted and, due to Claude & Edelgard shifting gears after some uneven success in their campaigns, both deciding to team-up finally allows Claude in the second half of this story to finally pick up a fight against someone whom can ideologically serve as an obstacle to the dream he yearns to see a reality. Because without any bonds nor close connections to someone with power in the Church - more so if they lack Rhea’s approval, her own biases be damned -, the reality is that the church is not gonna allow it.

Now that I’ve gone over all three plot points, I do think only one answer remains to be answered:

Why couldn’t all these 3 story threads be finished in Three Houses?

Anyone who’s been aware or has heard of Three Houses’ development cycle would probably answer this question with something like “Well, because the game was rushed, duh!”, but I believe there’s another possibility which explains the “why” from a narrative perspective.

Because these 3 plot threads are side plots.

I’m fully aware this is probably a very spicy take, but please bear with me for a second.

The ideas explored in them can be very intriguing, don’t get me wrong, but as Three Houses shows, it’s not easy to dwell on plot points which are not the driving force behind the main story:

In Crimson Flower, Edelgard needs to wage war on Fodlan to force the continent to change in the way she sees fit. Due to this, fighting TWSITD in the process when it’s made abundantly clear their assistance is needed, risks massively derailing the campaign in the process and also handicap her war efforts. In hindsight, Ch. 16 is more of a godsend than anything.

In Azure Moon, Dimitri must rise from the brink, reclaim Faerghus and oppose Edelgard to bring peace. However, solving the mystery of the Tragedy of Duscur, and thus force conflict with all of its instigators (which BL heavily hints many lie within Dimitri’s own Kingdom) isn’t a wise idea during times of war, more so given the main antagonist of the story played no actual role on the event.

In Verdant Wind, Claude must secure the Alliance’s future by opposing the Empire, and retrieve Rhea to have her spill all the lore-juice missing from his knowledge fountain. For this campaign he’s also openly allied with the Church in spite of his misgivings with its teachings and its old Archbishop, so the whole idea of opposing them during the story (when said church also wants to rescue that Archbishop) is just plain awkward.

Fascinatingly - and I noticed this just as I was writing all this text -, this situation is pretty much inverted in Warriors: Three Hopes. Unlike Three Houses, the 3 stories of the spinoff, in execution, use the war as a pretext to explore the plot threads left hanging in the routes KT worked on back in Three Houses. And because of this, the stories actually end once those plot points finally reach their resolution, in spite of the war being technically not over once that happens.

So…what do you all think? Do you think it was a wise choice to finally “finish” each plot point left hanging in a spinoff? Or should the devs have been given more time to figure things out back in 3H? I personally would like to see the 3H writers come back to some future entry, all but with the condition they’re given far more freedom with the stories as with Three Houses they were pretty clearly limited to a very specific set of structure and plot beats they had to follow (I even did a post about it like 2 weeks ago, for those interested).

#crimson flower #azure moon #fe3h #feth #fire emblem: three houses #verdant wind #scarlet blaze #azure gleam #golden wildfire #warriors: three hopes #fewath #fire emblem warriors three hopes #fire emblem #story #analysis

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luimnigh · 1 year ago

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You know, if you combined the New U cloning technology from 2016's Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, which somehow manages to recreate a person's memories up to and including the moment of their death, and the Krakoan Resurrection Circuit, which canonically is full resurrection including a completely stable body and a person's soul, then you'd completely unlock full resurrection for anybody who wasn't vaporized.

Like, the main limitation on the Krakoan Resurrection is the need to psychically implant the memories into the physical form, so only those with backups made by Cerebro can go through the process.

(Scarlet Witch since created a bypass, which allows willing Mutants without backups to enter a separate afterlife called the Waiting Room and come to their bodies when it's time, memories intact, but that's not applicable to humans.)

But because the New U tech manages to extract memories from DNA, even long-dead corpses, the need to have a Cerebro backup pre-mortem isn't even necessary for human resurrection.

If you were to combine these technologies, the only limitation on resurrection in the Marvel Universe would be the fact that it's a bespoke process requiring the efforts of five specific people who are already in high demand.

#marvel #spider-man #xmen #x-men

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mexswiftcan · 7 months ago

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🐾TTPD THE ANTHOLOGY🐾

First of all, I cannot believe all of us clowns were right and she did release a double album at 2:00 am

She's insane, I love her

Anyway, here are my first impressions and lyrics I loved from THE ANTHOLOGY

⚠️MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️

🐾The Black Dog

piano is slaying as always

the location giving him away is everything

it hits her = hits different

she's too young

old habits die screaming

omggggg the sounds!

best laid plans = "paper cut stings from our paper thin plans"

i don't understand how you don't miss me

was it hazy? = lavender haze

great, i'm crying again

i wanna sell my house = "that's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend, i'd never walk Cornelia Street again"

even if i die screaming, so she's an old habit, his old habit

and i hope you hear it

the enddd so gooood

🐾imgonnagetyouback

this scratches my brain

short skirt = "but she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts" / "and I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt"

she doesn't know if she wants to be his wife? i think i understood that wrong idk

act like i don't care what you did

i can take the upper hand and touch your body

you were never not mine, you're mine = "you weren't mine to lose" somehow

omg such a great song

i'm poison either way = "i once was poison ivy, but now I'm your daisy"

🐾The Albatross

sounds like evermore

they tried to warn you about me = "i know what they all say, but i ain't tryna play"

SHE is the albatross

she is the death you chose

i love the guitar and her voice and everything

spread my wings like a parachute

i'm the life you chose

🐾Chloe or Sam or Sophie or Marcus

hologram, i think she's hallucinating

are all of those names his lovers?

he looks like he could've bullied you in school?????

joe is bi confirmed? jk

omg, it's building up

she changed for him = "i'll show you every version of yourself tonight"

i loved you, not love

scarlet, maroon???????????

will i always wonder?

this song is so incredibly sad

🐾How Did It End?

piano slaying as usual

vocaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaals i'm dead

WE HEREBY CONDUCT THIS POST MORTEM

we must know how did it end

the piano is too beautiful

most lyrics she gave are here, this must be like an equivalent of a track 5

did they run into the mistress?

sounds so much like folklore

my beloved ghost and me, sitting in a tree d-y-i-n-g

the thing is, she knows how it ended but doesn't at the same time

🐾So High School

excellent beat and guitar

i wanna find you in a crowd, sounds like a love song

so upbeat

i feel so high school everytime i look at you is so sweet

this songs makes my heart smile

so she plays gta now?

she calls him babe, i can'tttttt

she sounds so happy

i bet this is about Travis

very glitter pen coded

🐾I Hate It Here

my eternal consolation

she's scared to go outside, interesting

she hates to be recognized everywhere, that's what i'm getting form her

nostalgia is a mind's trick

i love that she has peaceful places in her mind, but it is sad that she has to do that because she hates it outside of her mind

i guess she loves it too, but she mostly hates it?

like you're a poet like you're trapped in the body of a finance guy

🐾thanK you alMee

the title looks like a drunken message

all that time you were throwing punches, i was building something

i can't forget the way you made me heal = "my broken bones are mending from all these nights we're spending"

laughing at each baby step i take

kinda sounded like a glass broke

my mother is a saintly woman but she used to say she wished she was dead i love Andrea and i hope she's ok

a thousand songs you find uncool = "death by a thousand cuts" / "would hide away and find your peace of mind with some indie record that’s much cooler than mine"

so she thanks him for being her muse

my spirit black and blue = "but just look what I created, i came out alive, but I'm black and blue"

I CHANGED YOUR NAMEEEEEE

A SONG ONLY WE KNOW IS ABOUT YOU must be in folklore and/or evermore

your words were ringing in my head relatable

who tf is Amy? the mistress????

🐾I Look in People's Windows

the guitarrrrrr omg

died the tiniest death

i'm afflicted by the not knowing, she keeps saying she just wants to know why

she wants him to look at her one more time, this is so sad

sounded like beach noises

i'm addicted to the if screams the 1

i think she's saying she stalks him and everyone he interacts with, which is so relatable

🐾The Prophecy

i got cursed like Eve got bitten

someone who wants my company

cards on the table, mine play out like fools = "my cards are on the table, yours are in your hand"

still i dream of him

she's begging for someone to want her, for him to actually want her

i howl like a wolf at the moon

this song is fucking me up

this is too fucking painful

let it once be me, i'm ugly crying with hiccups and all

i looked at the sky and said please

this song reminds me so much of my breakup

🐾Cassandra

she got the call?

when the truth comes out, it's quiet

who is Cassandra?

snakes

do you believe me now?

what doesn't kill you, makes you aware

the piano and her voice are sublime

gives me castles crumbling and rep vibes

they never spared a prayer for my soul, there are a lot of Christian references in this album

🐾Peter

the piano again omg, sounds like Aaron

could this be an analogy for Saint Peter?

i'm never to keep, i hate that i know this feeling

i'm having a headache from crying this much

same moon, different galaxies sounds like they were together physically but their souls weren't together

i'm having a headache from crying this much

hold on to the day that you were mine

the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light, so she can't see into their window anymore

🐾The Bolter

she almost drowned = "eyes like sinking ships on waters so inviting i almost jump in"

they nicknamed her the bolter

i love the rhythm

he was a cat

her watching him jump, then pulling him under

gives me "Slut!" vibes

so she fell through the ice and came out alive, there was a song that said she had an ice cold heart

🐾Robin

the pianoooooo is so good

you're blood thirsty

i want to stop cryingggg

you're ridiculous and you have no idea mood

they kept a secret from Robin, I guess, in sweetness, so like a white lie

it feels like she's talking to a kid or someone that's too innocent and maybe childish

🐾The Manuscript

this already sounds like it's gonna destroy me, she's gonna kill me, i swear

the manuscript of the entire torrid affair, sounds like Hamilton

so the sex was good as the convo but it didn't last, it wasn't enough

he wanted a housewife?

the piano is incredible

this whole album sounds so different and i love it

what you know looking backwards might be the only way to move forward

she knew what the agony was for

so the only thing left from their relationship is the manuscript

why isn't the story hers?

#taylor swift #ts ttpd #ttpd #the tortured poets department

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villagerain · 2 years ago

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Bio

Name/Alias: Balto/Katana

Age: 36, as of the FF7/R timeline

Birth date: [ μ ] - εγλ 1971 Oct. 3rd

Place of birth: Gongaga

Sex/Gender: Cismale

History: Born to a poor family that made their living off the sea. No known siblings. His father was a fisherman, and his mother, the fishmonger. He was a wild child that spent most of his time in the jungle hunting for roots and vegetables or small game. Heavy rains washed away his home and his mother when he was nine. Uninterested or unwilling to raise a child on his own, Balto’s father sailed off for sunnier shores without him.

Little is known about Balto’s whereabouts between 1980 and 1987, but it is assumed that he befriended the legendary blacksmith Inuzuka Shino during this time and the young man earned a reputation as a formidable swordfighter. Scarlet, Head of Weapons Development at Shinra, was interested in appropriating Inuzuka’s steel folding techniques for her weapons division. She and a small complement of Public Security Officers captured the uncooperative swordsmith in late fall of 1987.

Enraged at the incarceration of his longtime friend, Balto stormed Scarlet’s camp and defeated her entire escort on his own. Inuzuka was let go, but Balto spent two years in the Public Safety Detention Center in Midgar before the Turks inducted him amongst their ranks as part of a plea bargain for his crimes.

Skills and Interests:

Knowledge of various sword forms and their applications. Many techniques have been adapted and blended to meet his needs. Anything in his hand is a weapon. He does not have an overtly aggressive fighting style, preferring instead to rely on reflex and flexibility for quick counters and disarmament. Measure twice, cut once. Killing blows, if delivered, are quick and decisive since he is not an endurance fighter.

Blade sharpening. Balto collects a wide array of whetstones of various materials. His preferred method for sharpening his weapons are ceramic whetstones meant to be soaked in water.

Forensic art and restoration, both recreational and professional. While he prefers to work with traditional mediums, Balto is adept at using computer software to enhance or alter photographs and video, reconstruct combat or post-mortem scenarios, or generate composite models of people and/or faces.

Other notes: Part of the secondary division of the Turks. Bladed weapons specialist, particularly katanas. Murasame, 村雨, “Village Rain” is his chosen weapon.

Physical Appearance

Eye color: Blue

Skin color: Tan, warm undertones.

Hair color: Black

Height: 5’11 (181cm)

Weight: 189lbs (86kg)

Body type: Mesomorph

Blood type: B-

Tattoos: Sharkteeth (stacked triangles) band around his right ankle.

Scars/Birthmarks: Pretty much everywhere. Main, identifying scar is a jagged line running down his left cheek from beneath his eye to his jaw. Old injuries are scattered throughout.

Stab wound over his liver. Part of this organ had to be removed as a result of the trauma.

Thinner scars over his ribs (front, back and between them).

A longer, ridged scar running from his right elbow and curving towards his wrist.

Disabilities: Mild myopia (not allowed to drive without glasses level. hah!)

Fashion style: He dresses for the occasion. As far as everyday wear outside of the Turk uniform, natural fiber tunics/loose fitting shirts and slacks are his go-to.

Psychological Traits

Personality type: ISTJ-A

Personality traits: Assertive, dedicated, practical, honest, observant, stubborn, insensitive.

#dossier.

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thearachive · 2 years ago

Photo

꒰the dose that you die on.꒱

ꕀ

✦ ＳＰＯＮＳＯＲＥＤ ✦

⌕ ‘DANIELLE’ set; rigged for Maitreya, Legacy [+Perky] & Reborn [+Juicy Rolls, Mounds & Teacups].

AVAILABLE @MINUIT / HENTAI FAIR.

⌕ ‘LOVESICK ACCESSORY PACK’; unrigged stethoscope and garters rigged for Legacy, Maitreya & Reborn.

AVAILABLE @ORACLE / ANTHEM.

full, hq pic!

ꕀ

⟢ ｈｅａｄ／ｂｏｄｙ

head - Ora 3.1 @LeLutka.

body - eBody : Reborn @eBody Reborn store.

skin - ‘Ari’ [in Velour shade ‘Brownie’] @Heaux.

hair - ‘Maiko’ @Bonbon / Hentai Fair.

booba mod - ‘Teacups’ @Kottr.

pubes - ‘Cute Puss’ @Vermilion / Hentai Fair.

⟢ ｃｏｓｍｅｔｉｃｓ

lipgloss - ‘Lilly’ @tear.

blush - ‘Soft Goth’ @EVERMORE.

face details a [eyebags & cheek highlight] - ‘Basics - blushy & highlight’ @[K] Knaughty.

face details b [nose highlights, misc face highlights] - ‘EvoX Essentials v2′ @Heaux.

bruises, cuts, etc - ‘Fighter Face Bruises’ / ‘Scars EVOX’ @RZ.

⟢ ａｃｃｅｓｓｏｒｉｅｓ

septum - ‘Cullen’ @minuit.

earrings - ‘Venom’ @comatosed.

hat - ‘Scarlet Nurse’ @Mewsery.

eyepatch & syringe - ‘I’m a Nurse’ @Dazed.

⟢ ｓｅｔ

pose - ‘Powder’ set, pose 6 @STUN.

backdrop - 'Post Mortem' @Varonis x CX.

#SecondLife #secondlifephotography #secondlifeblog #secondlifeblogger #secondlifeedit #SL #slblogger #slphotography #SLBlog #slblogging #metaverse

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drumortem · 2 years ago

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because i am working on his carrd ,,, just a few little thingies for now —

• his name is easton summer , he’s 21 and a whole ass capricorn ,, good heavens

• he’s the drummer for the band post mortem , and i headcanon that he gives off the same energy as that scene from lemonade mouth when the girls are losing their shit over charlie while he’s going crazy on the drums — yeah . y’all know the scene ,,,

• he was born and raised in australia , moved to america when he was around sixteen , and met the other members of the band when he was around eighteen and has been with them since . his aussie accent is still just as thick and present

• getting put into the band as the drummer was fairly easy for him due to his adaptable music taste . he actually grew up enjoying 90s hip hop / rap — but his drumming was outstanding and he could vibe with the metal and rock music the band made . he fit in nicely like a soft puzzle piece

• lmao scarlet knows this but i gotta interconnect all my ocs — so , in that regard , easton is kailee’s best friend . he had a major fuckin crush on her when he first met her for a few months but then ultimately realized they’d be better off friends as he can be a bit ,, impulsive sometimes . he didn’t want that for her . but the two are still close as ever to this day and she’s the first one he calls at 3 am when he wants to talk about what to order for a late night snack

• this is a big boy . he’s 6’4 , really built but pudgy as well , so like he’s got the soft and squish to him while also having the muscle to clock someone if need be . but he’s a dumbass at heart and is very quick to get into silly goofy situations

#and the rest will be added to his carrd when i get to work yes yea #ugh y’all don’t understand i love him ur honor

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jhoudiey · 4 years ago

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It’s been a hot minute since I’ve added anything to Loru, but I’ve FINALLY finished her birthday fic! Yay! My bird girl is 18 now! The only warning for this I guess is Implied Violence, 2900 words. Borrowed Theo and Kore from @girl-in-the-tower and Scarlet from @rikanoctrix since I want to try and add more OCs into Yoru canon going forward.

__________

“Neee Fugu-chan” Floyd grumbled, having kicked his way unceremoniously into Yoru’s room

“Floyd it’s too early for you to be this loud, what do you want?” She mumbled, not bothering to pull herself up from her mattress where she way laying face down

“I wanted to be the first person to wish you a h----aaappy birthday” he said, stifling a yawn

“You’re too late for the birthday thing, sounds like you came for a nap”

“That too” he said casually, throwing his uniform jacket toward her desk chair. It missed and landed in a pile on the floor. He jumped over Yoru and bounced slightly when he hit the mattress. She shoved one of her pillows at him, opening her eyes the tiniest amount.

“Its only 9 though, who already said happy birthday?” he whined, clutching the pillow to his chest to look at her. She blinked slowly at him before responding.

“Ortho at exactly midnight, Idia at like 6 this morning when we realized the time, and my dad when I got home. If you wanna nap do it quietly, I just got to bed” she turned away from him and buried her head in her pillow again.

“Have any big birthday plans?” he asked, looking over the edge of his pillow. She rolled back to glare at him

“Dinner later with my dad and some staff. That’s it. No you can’t come. It’s not a party. Good night” she said bluntly, shoving her face back into her pillow.

“Night Fugu-chan!” Floyd murmured, curling up on the other side of the bed.

It was already dark when she woke up, she could smell dinner being cooked from downstairs and hoped that Crowley had at least asked some of the cafeteria ghosts to cook instead of trying to cook it himself. He’d tried to bake her birthday cake 2 years ago and almost set the house on fire, he hadn’t attempted cooking since. Yoru showered, threw some clothes on and made her way downstairs to the dining room.

“SURPRISE!” She was almost blown backwards by the noise and took a step back. The room was full of staff and the few friends she’d managed to collect while haunting the grounds of NRC. Floyd grinned at her from behind Jade and Azul, Ortho was floating near the front of the table with a huge smile on his face with Idias tablet floating nearby, and the staff were all gathered around the room wherever they’d fit. She’d never had a birthday where so many people came for dinner, and was taken a aback

“Neeee Fugu-Chan!” Floyd called “You said I wasn’t invited but I bet you never knew there was going to be a party for you!” He smirked at her, Jade chuckling softly beside him.

“Uhhhh...what...is going on?” she asked, looking around the room at everyone, still shocked to see so many people. Crowley swooped down on her from across the room, draping his arm across her shoulders.

“Oh my sweet daughter, I thought for your 18th birthday we should have a spectacular party for you with all of your friends and family!” he gestured around the room with his other arm. “Everyone is here to celebrate with you, so make sure to not run away!” He steered her deeper into the room, sitting her down at the head of the table laden with food. She awkwardly glanced around the room, was she supposed to say anything? Were there customs for this sort of thing? She sat in silence, fidgeting a little in her chair, hoping that someone else would say something to break the tension that had settled over the room.

“Yoru-san! What sort of gifts did you ask for!?” Ortho chirped enthusiastically, flying a little off his seat. For Idias birthday the three of them had hidden away and played a few board games, what she wouldn’t give to be repeating that experience right now.

“Ummm… nothing. I usually just get whatever I need throughout the year myself… I don’t really know what I would ask for”... She trailed off looking around the room once more, were they going to expect her to open presents? Was there even presents to open? Generally the teachers gave her new notebooks or reference books, but they’d always just leave them for her on the table without ever having wrapped them. Yoru wasn’t sure what else to say, and was worried she’d be further interrogated about gifts; she started filling her plate, hoping that the food would at least act as a buffer for the pressure that was slowly spreading through the room. As she was piling her plate to tottering she noticed an unfamiliar face in the corner near professor Yule, she paused and stared at the girl wondering if they’d met before and she’d just forgotten. The girl smiled shyly at her and waved, Yoru was certain they’d never actually met before, there weren't any other girls at NRC, and there wasn’t any reason for a random girl from the village to be here…

“Yoru, this is my daughter Kore” Theo said to her with a slight nod “She’s come to stay at NRC with me, though she’ll be living in Ramshackle dorm with Yuu for the time being. I’m sure you’ll get along” He smiled at her, knowing that it was unlikely. Yoru was, afterall, prickly and not very open to new friends and Kore herself could be difficult. Yoru grimaced and gave the girl a quick nod before turning back to the table, hoping that there weren’t any more surprises planned for the evening. Theo let out a sigh of relief “honestly I thought that was going to go way worse” he chuckled a little looking at Kore. She had her face set and was looking towards Yoru’s back, fists tightened into balls, daring Yoru to say something about her lack of magic.

The night carried on, conversation flowing more easily once everyone started eating. Azul was trying to worm the recipes out of Crowley so he could co-opt them for the lounge, while Crowley was giving every excuse he could to not have to admit that it was the ghosts that had cooked and not him. As dinner wound down, Yoru started getting anxious again as she wasn’t certain what was supposed to come next. Why did Crowley think it was a good idea to have her entertain a room full of people? Luckily everyone was entertaining themselves for the most part, so she’d been able to have a muttered conversation with Idias tablet, making escape plans for as soon as she was able to sneak away.

“Yoru-san! Me and Ni-san made you this, he said that it would help you out a lot!” Ortho cheered suddenly from the table. “N-Not so loud, Ortho” The tablet groaned “Sorry Ni-san! Look Yoru! It’s a tablet like the one Ni-san has! He set it to easy mode cause he knows you suck!” Ortho beamed at her “Wow Idia, real nice.” She said sarcastically “You know what I meant! You suck with computers! I made this one idiot proof, just for you hehehehe, there’s no way you can mess this one up!” Ortho thrust the tablet at her, where it floated near her head “Oh this is weird” she said, looking sideways at it as it beeped quietly at her, even if it was set to be user friendly, she knew she’d have to get Idias help setting it up later.

“Yoru! My girl! You’re 18 now! Congratulations!” Vargas boasted, throwing an arm around her shoulder. She suspected him and Theo may have had a few too many drinks, he was being more affectionate than normal, and Theo was actually smiling. She didn’t blame him, having to deal with Crowley out of a professional setting could be draining. “You can’t turn 18 without a proper gift though! I brought you something!” He beamed at her, pulling the largest container of protein powder she’d ever seen from out behind his back. She couldn’t help but laugh a little, of course he would think protein powder was a good gift- not that he was wrong. Protein powder would be really useful for her to get back into shape, she’d ended up losing a lot of weight over the winter and needed to gain it back... It had been a while since the two of them had done any training, she made a mental note to ask him to get back to sparring once her wings had fully grown back in and her mobility was back to 100%.

“Vargas, isn’t that a little… hmmmm” Crewel had started, before sighing and shaking his head a little “Nevermind, Yoru, I think this book of antidotes to rare poisons will come in handy” He said, glaring at her. She knew that look too well, there would be hell to pay if she poisoned herself and needed his help recovering again. She’d hoped that maybe her New Years accident wouldn’t have made it to Crewel’s ears, but Crowley was always a loudmouth so she suspected everyone in the room knew that she’d almost died a mere 4 weeks before. “Thanks Crewel” she muttered, rifling through the pages.

“A book of antidotes, Crewel? How disappointing” Theo scoffed, cutting Crewel off before he could respond to Yoru. They’d had a long standing rivalry and no way he’d let Crewel get another word in. “here Yoru, this may be of some help. I found it on one of my expeditions.” He handed her a small compass with the needle spinning wildly “It’ll point you to what you need most at any given time” He smiled at her, chuckling a little at the needle spinning dizzyingly fast. Yoru grinned, Theo always had the neatest stuff, she was glad to be given an artifact of her own, even if this one seemed to be broken. If it wasn’t, it should be pointing towards the Ignihyde dorm, since at that moment she wanted nothing more than to be hiding away in Idias room in silence. She slid the compass in her pocket and glanced to the side toward Kore who was there holding out a cabbage. “I didn’t know what to get you since we’ve never met, but I think everyone has a use for cabbage so here!” she thrust it at yoru who grabbed it with both hands, a grin growing across her face. Cabbage. As a gift. “This is great, I love cabbage” She smiled, thinking it was probably all downhill from here, food was really hard to top as a gift, good job girl she had never met. As she turned to put the cabbage down, Azul cleared his throat gently from the table.

“Ahhh Yoru-san! While we’re on gifts, we’re pleased to say we’ve brought one for you as well!” He smiled at her and Floyd handed her a box. All three of the Octavinelle boys were smiling at her as she opened it, it was quite unnerving to be watched so closely by them. Inside was what she realized was her Mostro Lounge uniform. Azuls smile widened “I’m glad Professor Crewel was able to lend a hand to assist in the tailoring of it, it should fit perfectly for you to start work with us in the Lounge tomorrow”. Yoru rolled her eyes at him. “Oh yay, can’t wait. What if it doesn’t fit?” she asked. Crewel scoffed at her. “I tailored it, of course it will fit, there is no question.” She sighed, knowing he was right. He’d been able to alter her high school uniform for her perfectly before she realized that Walpurga Nacht Academy had a strict “no alterations of any kind” policy.

“Here Yoru-chan! You can use this to take orders in the Lounge!” Scarlet interrupted, beaming at her. She’d been the nurse at NRC longer than Yoru had been alive and was excited to be here celebrating her 18th birthday with everyone. She handed Yoru a shocking pink notebook with cartoon unicorns all over it, complete with a neon-holographic sticker sheet of cute and cuddly creatures. “You can use it to take notes too! I know how much you write down, so I knew a notebook would be handy!” Her smile was shining so brightly Yoru had a hard time looking at her, she felt guilty knowing she’d only ever use this particular notebook if every other object that could be written on disappeared from existence. She took the notebook and placed it on top of the box containing her Mostro Lounge uniform, ready to be carried upstairs back to her bedroom. She felt her chance to escape the party was approaching, the pile of gifts needing to be carted away a blessing in disguise

“Hmmmm my favourite demon-chan has so many gifts!” Sam exclaimed, looking around at all of them, “Perhaps she doesn’t need another...” he teased, smiling widely at her. “Hmmm, but if she didn’t need any other gifts, then what would I do with this vial of Dragon blood?” Yorus eyes widened. She’d asked Sam if he could try and find her some more than six months ago but he’d never gotten back to her. “Sam! You found some! This is amazing!!!” She was ecstatic, holding the vial in her hands, an entire new world of potion making opportunities opening up to her. Crewel and Crowley gave each other a short glance, it wasn’t a good idea for her to have something so dangerous, especially if she was going to continue experimenting on herself. “Hmmm Sam, perhaps that isn’t a good gift for a young woman?” Crowley tried to protest, the glare Yoru shot him quieted him down immediately. “Thank you Sam, this will be really useful”.

“Ahhh Sam, again with the dangerous gifts” Trein sighed handing Yoru a small book bound in a strange leather. “Here Yoru, you had asked me before about Harpies but I wasn’t able to tell you much. I’ve found a history of them, as brief as it is, hopefully this will answer some your questions” He gave her a small smile, she accepted the book with a small nod. She had been beginning to wonder more about her mother and the Strophrades Isle, but there was nothing in the library on the topic, which she had found strange. She’d meant to ask Crowley the best way to get there and information on her mother, but had forgotten . Even if she had, she assumed he’d talk her ear off, having been starved for conversation with his daughter for the last month. She had vowed to never speak with him again after he’d given Azul permission to drug her, and so far had been able to keep the promise to herself.

She placed the book on top of the others and grabbed the pile of gifts to carry up to her room, the cabbage and protein powder balanced precariously on top. “I uhhh.. Don’t know how birthday parties are supposed to end so thanks everyone…” she muttered, walking out of the room to start climbing the stairs to her room. “Just a minute, Nugget!” Crowley called after her “You never got my gift!” he called up the stairs behind her, she ignored him.

“How embarrassing, headmaster, your own Nugget ignoring you” Jade said quietly, staring at Crowleys back. “Jade, if I ever hear you call me Nugget I swear I will rip your tongue out” Yoru yelled down the stairs. “Fufufu, than I shall make sure you never hear me” he grinned. “Neee Fugu-chan! What if I call you Nugget-Chan?” Floyd yelled after her, Azul, Jade, Ortho, and Idias tablet laughing quietly. “The same goes for you Floyd! I will eat your tongue for dinner!” She threatened. Everyone remaining in the room grinned, trying to think of ways to work the word Nugget into their everyday vocabulary.

“Oh!” Crowley cried out suddenly “We forgot the cake!” He rushed into the kitchen, returning moments later with a two-tiered white cake with a large 18 drawn on the top in green icing. “Yoru! Come back and get some cake!” Crowley's face fell when there was no response, he knew she’d likely left out the window already, the promise of cake not enough to bring her back. “Well, it would be a waste to not eat it…” he mused to himself before looking at the room at large “Okay! Who wants cake!” He smiled at everyone raising their hands.

***

“Hey, where’s the cake?” Idia asked when Yoru pushed her way into his room.

“Cake?” She questioned, holding the tablet he’d made for her out to him. “I need help setting this up” He sighed and grabbed the tablet from her hand, easily tapping through the screens to set it up for her.

“You come and ask me for favours and don’t even bring any cake, what kind of friend are you!?” he complained.

“We didn’t even have cake, what are you talking about?” She sat down on his bed, watching him tinkering with the tablet.

“Crowley said there was cake, and you didn’t bring any with you!”

“Oh. I must have left before then. Ortho is still there, get him to bring some back and we can eat it here”

“Oooh! Good idea!” He whispered to Ortho from his tablet, a childish grin creeping across his face at the promise of cake.

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just-patchy · 4 years ago

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"What about us?" With our ships maybe? 0: alternatively with Dominic and Scarlet ?

Thanks for the ask! :3c

Stefano/Amora

“Amora? She’s very cooperative, kind and sweet. I’m glad that she’s willing to help out with Florenetta’s productions. We need all the help we can get sometimes.”

Mordred/Avadine

“Ah yes, Cassiopeia. She’s fun to be around, and she’s really badass. She’s cute when she gets all tsun, but you should probably not tell her that for your own safety, not mine.”

Vhuthla/Marion

“Marion is adorable. I refer to most other schoolmates as mortals, because that’s what they are compared to myself, but something about Marion makes her feel immortal, like she’ll live on in some way.” (basically fancy way of saying she lives rent free in vhuthla’s head)

Alexandra/Maribelle

“Maribelle...is really kind to me. I still don’t quite understand why she spends time with me, considering that I’m not as...outwardly expressive, but I enjoy her company a lot.”

Dominic + Scarlet

“Scarlet? She’s cute, fun, bestie. Love that girl. Probably won’t steal her stuff to turn into some extra cash cause she’s so sweet.”

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #oc ask meme #stefano fuoco #mordred baidam #vhuthla arania #alexandra oleander #dominic trein #amora webeknecht #avadine abyssia #marion knochenthal #maribelle walker #scarlet mortemics #rikanoctrix #diasomnia insomnia #hehe not me answering old asks from weeks ago hoping no one would notice how late i am :3c #dominic probably grades people based on how likely he’s gonna use his um on them. or their stuff

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luciphe-r · 6 years ago

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I was tagged by @sparkly-angell, my lets-get-this-bread pal

rules: bold in what you prefer and tag ten people

coffee or tea

early bird or night owl

chocolate or vanilla

spring or fall

silver or gold

pop or alternative

freckles or dimples

snakes or sharks

mountains or fields

thunderstorms or lightning

egyptian or greek mythology

ivory or scarlet

flute or lyre

eyes or lips

witch or fairy

opal or diamond

butterflies or honey bees

macarons or eclairs

typewritten or handwritten letters

secret garden or secret library

rooftop or balcony

opera or ballet

london or paris

vincent van gogh or claude monet

potions or spells

ocean or desert

mermaid or siren

masquerade ball or cocktail part

Im tagging: @nuytsia-floribunda, @sunny-day-sky, and that’s all the people i talk to on this bitch of a platform

#a couple explanations:#i hate coffee to my core but i will drink it cause honestly i have nothing to lose anymore and i need the caffeine #im neither an early bird nor a night owl #im an afternoon cat and if i could nap from 8pm to 10am i would #musicwise idc i just listen to what im feelin a connection w/ atm #i go from niche shit to soundtracks to kpop to starships by nicki minaj #ivory or scarlet i just chose what is more ethically best honestly both are made with the suffering of animals so honestly?? marble is best #all insects that do not harm us are good so honeybees and butterflies both #i wish i could chose neither opera nor ballet cause as much as i admire both and love seeing both i will fall asleep at either show #cause it gets boring past a certain point and i cant stand more than 20 minutes of either of them #yes i dont care about yalls opinion #both london and paris are nice looking cities #venice is better and that's just facts #ive been to london but never to paris tho so maybe my judgment is clouded by my cultural based hatred of french people #monet is cute and fancy but where is the turmoil #spells>> potions cause wheres the pathos in spilling smth deadly when you could yell at them DIE MORTEM and see them crumble #sirens kill men????????? cleraly theyre better than mermaids????????? wake up america #masquerade ball is sure to give you drama #cocktail party is just deborah gossiping with all your office friends while youre stuck with cold french fries at the corner of a bar #about me

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progg · 2 years ago

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Lovely Ghostwriter

It’s a common theory that the Yorknew City fortunes foreshadowed the deaths of Shalnark and Kortopi. For this reason, many believe Shizuku will meet her fate in the treasure room of the Black Whale, pursuant to her prophecy. Neon’s fortunes predict up to a maximum of five weeks, so it would seem their eventual realization is purely coincidental. However, I believe the realization of Neon’s prophecies is in fact a product of her post-mortem Nen.

LOVELY GHOSTWRITER: PRE-MORTEM MECHANICS

Lovely Ghostwriter is said to be 100% accurate with its predictions, but that doesn’t mean everything it predicts will come true. Remember that Nen, in its most basic form, is an extension of a person’s will. Following Neon’s personal philosophy, her fortunes are meant for the living, so they can make an effort to “improve their lives and avoid misfortune”.

Theoretically, a fortune without a warning should be 100% accurate, without stipulations. But this isn’t really how the ability works. The ability’s lack of rigidity becomes clear through Chrollo’s use of it. Refraining from reading other fortunes is not a condition of the power. In addition, the “warnings” necessary to alter one’s future may actually come from other fortunes. References to the spider losing half its limbs are present in multiple fortunes, some of which do not involve warnings (i.e. Chrollo’s). However, this fate is still avoided. How can it be that the fate in Chrollo’s fortune was avoided using a warning from a different fortune altogether?

Rather than functioning as a hard-defined prophecy generator, Lovely Ghostwriter serves more as a story-telling device with major themes in existentialism. Definitionally, existentialism is the idea that humans are in control of their own fates. Hunter x Hunter is rife with existentialist themes, not only in the Phantom Troupe’s subversion of their fates…

… but also in Killua’s and Koala’s.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the ability’s alleged characteristics:

Lovely Ghostwriter is 100% accurate.

Events referenced in the poem are typically present as metaphors.

Each verse represents a week of the current month, up to a maximum of five verses.

Misfortune can be avoided if warnings are heeded.

However, Togashi’s original intentions don’t necessarily reflect the significance of the fortunes now.

THE PROPHECIES, FULFILLED

Let’s go over the fortunes that have come true, specifically those which indicate an invalidation of Lovely Ghostwriter’s “rules”. These fortunes exceed the five-week limit and suggest there is more going on with the ability than meets the eye.

Deaths of Shalnark, Pakunoda, and Kortopi

“Harvest barren, wine spilled, lovers slumber Beside the bloody Scarlet Eyes.“

Present in multiple of the Troupe’s fortunes, these lines foreshadow the deaths of Pakunoda, Shalnark, and Kortopi. They are not, as Phinks suggests, referring to Kurapika, rather they are juxtaposing the murder of the Troupe members with the massacre of the Kurta clan. As mentioned previously, events in the poems are typically present as metaphors. If these fortunes are to be fulfilled, we should expect them to be resolved in ways that are not necessarily literal, but metaphorical and poetic.

Death of Shalnark

Shalnark’s fortune is unequivocally a warning.

“Even just one call, you must not make When needed most, it won’t connect. To answer your phone is another mistake, One time in three, the reaper calls collect.”

Ostensibly, Shalnark follows this advice and changes his immediate fate. However, we know he is eventually killed by Hisoka in a manner that eerily resembles the fortune.

Even just one call, you must not make When needed most, it won’t connect.

Having had his Nen ability stolen by Chrollo, he is unable to make his most-needed call. It may also be the case that Shalnark was calling Kortopi when he was confronted by Hisoka. It’s a bit unclear.

To answer your phone is another mistake, One time in three, the reaper calls collect.

Shalnark answers a call from Chrollo prior to his death. It’s not so outlandish to believe the third call is the one he receives when he encounters Hisoka.

The One Most Needed

“Amuse yourself with the entr’acte. Seek out new friends once in a bind. Perhaps to the east, one can be tracked The one most needed, you’re sure to find.“

This prophecy is likely realized before Neon’s alleged death, in the Greed Island arc, but I wanted to include it because I feel it is important. The two friends in question here are most likely Abengane, the Nen Exorcist, and Kalluto Zoldyck. However, it is crucial to make the distinction between which is which. Kalluto tracks Abengane with his Nen, meaning Abengane is “the one to be tracked.” That means Kalluto may be “the one most needed”.

Remember that Chrollo’s fortune also had an additional verse after this, and he did not find Abengane nor recruit Kalluto until after the associated week. I don’t think this is necessarily a plot-hole, as the third-week verse was simply Lovely Ghostwriter’s advice, in accordance with Neon’s philosophy. But it does show that Lovely Ghostwriter has always had the ability to see beyond its allotted time frame.

IMPLICATIONS OF POST-MORTEM NEN

Disappearing from Chrollo’s Book

At some point, Lovely Ghostwriter disappears from Chrollo’s book. The implication here seems to be that Neon has died, and this is tacitly confirmed by Chrollo. Shizuku is unaware that the ability disappeared, so we can assume it occurred sometime during the Troupe’s separation. We know from the call between Chrollo and Shalnark that the Troupe has been apart for quite some time after the events of the Chimera Ant arc.

I believe Neon’s death occurred after the Troupe’s separation but before Chrollo’s fight with Hisoka. This sets in motion the effects of her post-mortem Nen before the murders of Shalnark and Kortopi.

Sun and Moon

More confirmation that the only way to remove abilities from the book is death. Not even forcing Chrollo into Zetsu removes abilities from the book.

One possible problem with Neon possessing post-mortem Nen is the peculiarities surrounding Sun and Moon. We learn from Chrollo that Sun and Moon remained in his book after the owner’s death, due to the presence of post-mortem Nen. I can think of a few explanations for this, and I don’t think it actually disproves the possibility of Neon’s post-mortem Nen. In fact, it may support it.

Sun and Moon was “willed” to remain in Chrollo’s Book, by the previous owner.

It’s unclear whether Chrollo was on friendly terms with the person he stole the ability from, but Togashi does make a point of associating him with Meteor City. The Elder shouldn’t need to make an explicit condition for his ability to remain in Chrollo’s book. Nen is an extension of will, so if he wanted Chrollo to keep the ability, it may very well have remained as a result.

The ability does not need to remain in Chrollo’s Book after the post-mortem effects trigger.

Let’s say Neon wrote a fortune just before she died. Would the fortune then become inaccurate? I don’t think so. Lovely Ghostwriter shouldn’t have to stick around for fortunes to become true, so it’s entirely possible the post-mortem effects were applied retroactively, then the ability vanished from Chrollo’s book.

Neon died and was resurrected.

Extremely unlikely, but possible. Her death would cause the ability to disappear from Chrollo’s book, and her resurrection would cause her to regain it. However, I find it lessens the significance of her fortunes coming true and makes the ability’s change in properties more difficult to explain.

I know some of you will remain unconvinced after this section, and I admit the persistence of Sun and Moon is the biggest pitfall to this theory. However, I believe the strongest evidence is up next.

A Change of Intent

We know that Togashi was considering having Hisoka kill Machi after his fight with Chrollo, but he decided it would be “more interesting to keep her alive.”

“Hisoka was supposed to kill Machi after the fight, but I dismissed the idea. There were many things to take into account, and I had the feeling that leaving Machi alive would make it more interesting later on.” – YOSHIHIRO TOGASHI, HUNTER X HUNTER VOL. 34

This decision was made shortly after he emphasized Sun and Moon’s post-mortem Nen and the death of stolen abilities’ users. It was made in the same chapter he killed off Shalnark and Kortopi. Remember that Machi is not supposed to die according to Neon’s prophecies. It would seem Togashi’s mindset going into this decision was heavily influenced by thoughts of post-mortem Nen and the implications of the Troupe members’ deaths.

I propose he decided to keep Machi alive after considering whether Chrollo still had Neon’s ability, what it would mean if he didn’t, and the significance of her fortunes coming true.

An Increase in Post-Mortem Nen

In addition to Sun and Moon, the Succession Arc marks an exponential increase in the frequency of post-mortem Nen. We see this with Spirit Beasts, Hisoka’s resurrection, Camilla’s guards, Benjamin’s stars, and more. It wouldn’t be out of place for Neon to possess post-mortem Nen as well. Much of Hunter x Hunter seems to be shifting toward themes of death and resurrection, spiritual fulfillment, and curses.

With six months gone the year is cursed.

On that note, could Togashi be planning to recontextualize this line to refer to Neon’s post-mortem Nen?

The Ability’s Name

In this case, Lovely Ghostwriter becomes a double entendre. It already kind of was, but now even moreso.

LOVELY GHOSTWRITER: POST-MORTEM MECHANICS

Lovely Ghostwriter is 100% accurate.

Events referenced in the poem are typically present as metaphors.

The post-mortem abilities of Lovely Ghostwriter apply retroactively.

Remember that Nen is still an extension of one’s will. This new version of Lovely Ghostwriter is potentially consistent with Neon’s mental state before her death, and her desire to reclaim her prophetic abilities, and by extension the funds for her flesh collection.

I agree with many other readers that the Phantom Troupe’s main rival is shifting from Kurapika to Hisoka, but a post-mortem Neon, acting as a karmic force against Chrollo, will also have a hand in the Troupe’s downfall.

There’s a lot of irony in the idea of Neon possessing post-mortem Nen. She doesn’t believe in an afterlife, while Chrollo does. Spirits are a focus of Togashi’s previous work, Yu Yu Hakusho. Oftentimes these spirits act as karmic arbiters, and I believe Lovely Ghostwriter is no different.

THE PROPHECIES, UNFULFILLED

The Spider is Cut in Half

“Though cut in half, shall be your number ‘Tis not lost, wherein your advantage lies.”

The spider will be cut in half, by death or some other means. However, it’s unclear at which point in time this tally begins. It could be before Uvo’s death, as the Troupe originally speculates.

If Hisoka counts, having left the Troupe, then Shizuku would be the only death remaining (see next section). If he doesn’t, Feitan or Phinks should have to die too.

However, the tally could also begin after Neon’s death. This would mean Uvo does not count (nor does Hisoka), but Shalnark and Kortopi do. You also have two new possibilities, Kalluto and Illumi, that can be removed from the Troupe in some way. This is more in line with Hisoka’s statement of “10 more remaining”.

Shizuku’s Death

“In the chamber of treasure ill gotten There is no choice but endless sleep. Your greatest fear should solitude be Lest upon your lonesome form he creep.”

Shizuku will be alone with one other individual in the Black Whale’s treasure room. That person will reveal themselves to be Hisoka in disguise. I suspect he will remove texture surprise to reveal his badly burned face, consistent with the horror style of the Succession Arc.

Hisoka’s Second Half

“On the day of the sun under this customer’s care Alone with a man of cross reversed Removed from the calendar is the false hair With six months gone the year is cursed.”

Arguably, this didn’t come true in Yorknew City. This could be resolved in a lot of different ways. Could mean Kalluto dies. Could mean Chrollo kills Hisoka. I don’t know. It’s worth remembering Neon’s fortunes are highly metaphorical and may be resolved in unexpected ways.

Unrevealed Quatrains

There are some portions of the fortunes that were not shown, specifically Chrollo and Nobunaga’s later quatrains. I’m inclined to believe Hisoka’s fortune was longer too. It’s possible these fortunes will come back.

#hunter x hunter #theory #neon nostrade #chrollo lucilfer #phantom troupe

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