#so maybe there's also the element of the characters having to fit in different roles to represent multiple personalities

[mysticbeaver]

I find it interesting that potentially NONE of the kids have any friends/acquaintances outside the cul-de-sac. I know it's only cause there was a hard-set rule of not introducing other characters, but think about it... The parents' are still mentioned, their presence (or absence) is implied throughout the show. It would make sense in the school setting for some of the kids to even casually mention someone they know in some class/school club or whatever, especially Nazz or Kevin cause they're the most likely to make easy friends, and yet they don't. Especially Kevin, who seems stuck with Rolf as his only "best bro" lol

[emryste]

hihi hello is there anyway you can share your cuteguy /hotguy designs? or maybe share some notes about them?... im very fond of them and would like to draw em....

of course anon :^] thank you so much!! i'll also take this as an opportunity to share how I landed on their designs, if that's ok!

my initial sketch of them was done pretty quickly to throw around some ideas.

i wanted hotguy's to be reminiscient of his namesake (hawkeye) but different enough that it wasn't a direct 1 to 1. i also REALLY wanted to play with the idea of him using redstone leg braces and actor scar primarily using a wheelchair. originally i was thinking that they would've actually been made/designed by tango, though i'm not sure if that fits in with the finalized timeline/lore anymore. me and luna also talked very briefly about what the effects of wearing redstone so close to your body could do to you, but i dont think it ever went anywhere in lieu of Skulk taking more of a front role in that regard.

hotguy's design ended up not really changing much at all from this since i was already pretty happy with it, but cuteguy's definitely did based on a bunch of factors (the era of the zine we were in, character development, other contributor's designs etc).

thus begins the great Cuteguy redesign. i jest, but i was um-ing and ah-ing a lot over what i wanted him to look like, mainly because i wanted to keep him looking practical and less showboaty than hotguy. but at this point we had decided a timeline and i knew we were in the last era, so it felt important not have a design that looks like he quickly put it together or like something he'd be wearing in his early years as a vigilante.

eventually, i landed on these designs for them both! cuteguy matching hotguy's outfit as an established vigilante duo, keeping the casual elements of the hood and the joggers but having them more integrated into his suit, that all felt like a best of both worlds situation to me. i also switched the mask to a heart-shaped visor, both purely for cool effect and to match better. it isnt here, but additionally in the comic i switched his wings as cuteguy to a sort of maroony colour, as one of the things contributors played around with early on was the idea that he would dye his wings to hide his identity. i liked that idea as a failsafe if he was in a situation where couldn't hide them as a civillian, hence the change!

if you need any more info i'd be happy to share, or maybe even draw less messy references (i didn't think i'd be sharing these publicly LOL). thank you so much for reading the zine, and i sincerely hope you enjoyed it :^]

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I don't know if this has already been asked, but what did you think of the Halloween event? Is it too early to ask? How did it compare with the other events?

Aaaaah, thank you for asking!! I was actually in the middle of writing my own "these are my thoughts" post even if no one specifically asked 😂 but I'm glad I can just reply to this ask with what I was cooking up~

***Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!!*** ***Please also note: these are just my OWN thoughts and opinions! In sharing them, I do not mean to disparage those who think differently than me; I only mean to contribute to the discussion.***

I'll be quick and rip off the band-aid now: I liked this event about as much as I did Stage in Playful Land, maybe a little better than Playful Land if I think about it. If you know anything about my thoughts on the previous Halloween event, well... Let's just say it's a mixed bag. Neither of them comes close to toppling the peak that was Glorious Masquerade. (Fandom consensus seems to be quite positive though, with many liking Nightmare more than, if not the same as, GloMasq while Playful Land is still considered the weakest of the bunch.) Playful Land and Lost in the Book with Nightmare Before Christmas both suffer from general pacing issues. The former had an intriguing premise and setting but also many plot holes, a lack of active involvement from the SSR squad, and a resolution that was way too convenient. The latter, Nightmare, was very boring throughout because the majority of the event was centered on party preparations. I enjoyed everyone's bickering and the SSR squad's role in the event, but I wanted more than just that. It's basically like Terror is Trending, but if it had the Nightmare Before Christmas characters also featured. However, Nightmare did have a really interesting ending that played with amnesia and time paradox tropes. It's just that the road to get there wasn't anything special. I'll now get into all of this in detail, but it's quite long. Ready for a read? Then let's go ^^

My Extended Ramblings:

The initial aesthetic is strong. VERY strong, especially to me, a girlie that loves Nightmare Before Christmas and formal wear😭 BY GOD DOES EVERYONE LOOK SHARP AND DRESSED TO KILL IN THOSE NIGHTMARE SUITS... The devs totally popped off with the fits. I also loved how all the characters' coloring shifted once they entered the book; there's notable hatch marks on their shadows and even their skin and hair adopt bleaker saturations. These are SO much better outfits than the GloMaq and Playful Land ones, I'M SORRY BUT THAT'S JUST THE TRUTH. The other events tended to have chunky silhouettes and/or overly embellished elements to their designs that didn't sit quite right with me. NIGHTMARE SUITS HOWEVER ARE PERFECT AS THEY ARE...

... That being said, I think this event's premise was not great. I know everyone's mileage with this will vary greatly, but personally I don't like Lost in the Book events. I don't enjoy having Disney properties so blatantly shoved at my face; I'd prefer it to just be a distant part of the lore and history of the Twst world. The other issue with the event being so closely tied to its Disney film is that the story becomes so predictable. You can't really explore beyond the bonds of what the film has already set up, so you're trapped with whatever status quo Disney has mandated is "okay". (For example, in Nightmare, it has to be set BEFORE the events of the actual film in order to keep things "the same" when the film events actually play out.) Lost in the Books rely on individual nostalgia to some extent to get you invested in what it's trying to sell. This was particularly evident in this event, which featured several characters from the film and made Jack a very big fixture in the story. I for one was not sold on it despite my own fond feelings for Nightmare Before Christmas. I needed it to prove its own merits to me, and I'm not entirely sure if it was successful on that front.

I have made it no secret that I don't like most Twst events in general. Too often does it feel like pointless meandering and sightseeing without anything of real substance happening (though I do enjoy meeting new characters and learning new lore). That's also the case with Nightmare; the scale of the conflict isn't anything spectacular--but that's fine, it can still work as is, even if I don't personally find it interesting. I was still plenty entertained by all the bickering between the boys and between them and the residents of Halloween Town. The highlights for me definitely have to be Jade being a little shit to everyone, Jamil being tormented with bugs, Sebek's big speech in the climax, and Leona just beefing with EVERYONE in sight (particularly Malleus). The comedy and character interactions helped the middle part of the event not feel dull. I do feel like them having to switch groups around halfway through was short of a shoehorned way to prolong the middle of the event though 💦

One thing I noticed like, right away as I was playing this event was how disjointed it felt. And for the life of me, I could not pinpoint why… until I went back and compared the number of chapters per part. This is how the parts break down:

Part 1 - 13 chapters

Part 2 - 22 chapters

Part 3 - 20 chapters

Part 4 - 13 chapters

Part 5 - 16 chapters

For comparison, Glomasq:

Part 1 - 15 chapters

Part 2 - 18 chapters

Part 3 - 17 chapters

Part 4 - 19 chapters

Part 5 - 18 chapters

And Playful Land:

Part 1 - 16 chapters

Part 2 - 21 chapters

Part 3 - 11 chapters

Part 4 - 16 chapters

Part 5 - 18 chapters

Generally, Part 1 is dedicated to setting up the scenario and reason for travel. Parts 2 and 3 are meant for exploring the new location, with a big reveal dropping towards the end of 3 that kicks the conflict into high-gear. Part 4 is for combat, and then Part 5 is the continuation of the combat (with a focus on confronting the Big Bad), climax, and resolution. … Did you notice it? GloMasq (the only event of the three I consider overall excellent) is pretty evenly spaced out. Playful Land meanwhile has a weirdly short 11 chapters in Part 3 but had the extremely long 21 chapters in Part 2 beforehand. The discrepancy is made even worse in Nightmare, with Parts 1 and 4 being woefully short and Parts 2 and 3 being 20+ chapters each. It has the (likely unintended) effect of making the conflict resolution feel really rushed.

Alright, I think I've held off for long enough. Let's talk about the elephant in the room, our new addition to the Halloweenies, Mister Skully J. Graves himself. Right from the get-go, he had a mysterious air about him, especially since he's the first ever character to meet his twisted inspiration. Like I said in my first impressions post, I'm really into his design, but his personality shocked me. I expect some whimsy, but not a guy that flat-out kisses everyone he meets and calls total strangers "lovely dears". At the same time, he has the spirit of "sad wet cat" energy, and his expressions can whiplash between that and being absolutely deranged, which I found kinda charming. I get the feeling that he charmed a LOT of fans, as I saw many gushing about his otome-esque behavior and loving how he always calls attention to Yuu and Yuu's opinions. Unfortunately, Skully has what I lovingly dub "Ashengrotto Syndrome" due to my own experiences with Azul. That is to say, I started off liking both Azul and Skully, but after a certain point (book 3 for Azul, part 2 for Skully) they both took a nosedive right into my dislike zone. This is something I vaguely alluded to in my halfway through the event impressions post. I'm under the impression that this is a surprising opinion, so I'll try to do my best to explain why Skully lost his appeal to me. So the initial deterrent was his defensive and controlling behavior surrounding Halloween. He also gets so nasty and speaks down to others who don't see his perspective, which I don't find cute at all. I've mentioned before that I hate it when characters act elitist/gate-keepy and refuse to accept other opinions or change, and Skully fits that bill to a T. Sure, he might have his reasons, but I still find the result of his reasons distasteful. It's fine if he wants to respect the past or celebrate Halloween the way he's been taught, but it's another thing entirely to force those views on others. I've been on the receiving end of this kind of attitude and it was very unpleasant; I would not wish that upon anyone. (To make a long story short, I had invited a friend from outside my culture for a holiday meal so neither of us would be alone that year. That friend then complained that I was eating "non-traditional" food for the holiday.) Really rubbed me the wrong way when Skully started to tell others about HIS Halloween while being totally against everyone else's suggestions. Some of the others (like Jamil) even made an effort to try and include him anyway after his outbursts, and Skully was still unable to accept this lying down.

The hand-kissing thing was... charming at first, because I thought it was just his way of greeting people. But the more Skully did it, the less charming it seemed to me because of how everyone reacts to it. The others are CLEARLY uncomfortable with it, but he disrespects their boundaries by continuing to do so. To me, that seems very invasive and rude. Skully especially kisses Yuu a lot, and whether or not you like it will be up to individual preference--but personally, as someone who doesn't like strangers touching me intimately, I'm not into it.

During the Halloween planning, I noticed Skully speaking to Yuu directly quite often, which is different than the previous Halloween events. I started to feel a little uneasy about this, and for the longest time I could not tell you why. Then I realized. I don't think I can explain it any better than how I did in a previous post, so I'll copy and paste from there:

Another thing that really bothered me was that Skully keeps asking Yuu for their opinion. It SEEMS polite to consider them, but his intentions are way less selfless than they appear. Skully is often asking Yuu for their thoughts AFTER some other character has disagreed with him. So he is literally only consulting Yuu because he wants someone on HIS side. If you ever pick the dialogue option where you disagree with him, Skully insists there must be a misunderstanding and he will explain it to you no matter how long it takes. Don’t you see??? He doesn’t want to know what Yuu truly thinks; he wants validation in his own way of thinking. That’s NOT actually being considerate. The same shit happens when Skully tries to kiss Grim again. Grim dodges but Skully sneaks behind him and kisses him anyway because I guess that’s what gentlemen do according to him. Bro has demonstrated time and time again he does not value consent nor what others’ thoughts are on anything that differs from his own thoughts.

Skully lets his true colors show around the end of the third part. There, he feeds Jack Skellington a sleeping poison, turns Grim into a pumpkin, then takes Jack, Grim, AND Yuu as his hostages while claiming he'll reign over Halloween. Okay, that sounds great on paper, right? But there's so many practical problems with this.

Firstly, HOW does Skully plan to achieve this??? He's not that powerful since he's a first year; how does he intend to stand up to the NRC students? We even know at this point that he can't use his UM that much. Skully has shown he is impulsive and doesn't think ahead too, because he just assumes that Grim figured him out after walking in on the scene of the crime instead of lying/deceiving him about who poisoned Jack. He could have easily blamed someone else or claimed he walked in and found Jack like this already, but he didn't. It comes off as very near-sighted and not well planned out on Skully's part (which may very well be intentional; I don't think he was written to be a large threat.) I know this event's plot isn't meant to be as serious as prior iterations of Halloween events, but it sure doesn't help build tension for the finale.

We find out later in the event that Skully isn't mistreating his captives; he's keeping them in the bathtub Lock, Shock, and Barrel ride around in, feeding Grim and Yuu snacks, and asking them to please keep quiet. He also rambles on a lot about how he admires Yuu and how he wants to grant them a perfect Halloween, etc. That's... wholesome for a kidnapper, I guess??? But what I don't appreciate is (again) how he keeps shoving his ideas onto me and acting like he knows what's best for everyone. He’s not respecting my autonomy or right to think how I want. Skully is literally made of the most negative traits of Idia and Malleus while having none of the danger level of either one/j 😭 This makes me continue to not take him seriously and think that Skully could easily be beaten up--which does, in fact, end up being the case.

The ones who truly shine in this event are Sebek, Jamil, and Leona. The implementation of the SSR squad in Nightmare is much better than Playful Land. In Playful, it felt like Kalim, Ace, and Ortho hardly did anything unique to save the day; instead, it was a convenient phone call that rescued them from demise. The most I can say is Kalim was open-minded and tried to welcome Fellow and hear him out. Most of the other things could have been fulfilled by any other character, which didn't make the SSRs feel as integral as they were in GloMasq (with Azul's UM being needed, Malleus being the one Rollo has beef with, and Idia understanding the feeling of losing a younger brother and mourning). In Nightmare, each of the SSRs is similarly given a chance to shine with their special skills and UMs.

Beginning with Sebek! He leads a lot of the planning and serves as the one to draw up plans, which earns him praise from everyone, including his seniors. It's excellent set-up for him to later confront Skully about the idea of being recognized and acknowledged by one's idols (which I will discuss later in this post). Sebek is also the first to confront Skully on Spiral Hill after Skully has kidnapped Grim, Yuu, and Jack. In an act of desperation, Skully starts firing off magic and making really deranged expressions; Sebek unleashes his own UM, Living Bolt. This results in a strong flash of light in their location. The impact destroys Skully's shades and causes him to break down--he wore them as part of his ensemble, trying so hard to emulate his Halloween idol, Jack. Skully manages to pumpkin Sebek in the midst of his fit, and Sebek insists that Malleus--his own idol--will surely rescue him. NEXT UP IS L*ONA OTL WHO HAS MADE ME SO ILL THE ENTIRE MONTH OF OCTOBER, HURK 🤢 who heard the shouting. He rescues Sebek (he’s de-pumpkin’d) and Skully isn’t able to touch him because King’s Roar is just too OP 😭 (I’m sort of confused about how tf Leona’s UM works though?????? He seems to be sanding Skully’s MAGIC, which shouldn’t even be tangible???) I’m confused. dbsvsjsnskwk And he tells Skully to get back up do he can keep beating him back down????? BRUTAL. Leona’s been pretty useful up until this point too, taking charge in leading the group, strategizing, sussing Skully out, and thinking long and hard about what his true identity is. Bro’s really working those fat brain cells of his, huh…

I think this is the first of the Halloween events (that introduce new characters) where the new guy’s explicitly said to be in danger of OB. Not sure why that is, it’s just interesting to note???

SkULLy RUNS FOR IT and bumps into Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who proceed to subdue him. Surprise, turns out that Jamil had gotten to them first and Snake Whispered the trio. The kids call Jamil MASTER and -SAMA… My guy, you are so repressed 💀 (I recall it being said in book 4 that using his UM on multiple people can result in rapid blog accumulation so UHHHH I guess I’ll overlook this for now or assume 3 people isn’t an issue????) Earlier in the event, Jamil was like the only person to approach Skully to try and include him in the planning. Must be used to this being a big brother + always dealing with his dorm.

I’m not sure if it’s just me but??? It feels like they overlooked how some of the SSR trio’s UMs worked just to have it fit in the context of the climax they wrote. For Jamil’s, maybe you can excuse the fact that he’s controlling 3 kids by saying it’s easier for him to manipulate young minds. BUT THERE’S NO EXCUSING HOW LEONA CAN SAND MAGIC 😭 At least say he has strong defensive magic that Skully cannot break through????

It’s times like these that make me really question whether or not Yuu is actually important for helping these people learn to get along, because they seemed to have resolved the issue just fine without any kind of intervention from Yuu. Yeah, they bickered and picked on each other too, but they still fixed things on their own (albeit on their own, but it comes together in the end anyway) while Yuu is kidnapped and completely out of the picture.

Vcdnsksksksn The moment that follows is kinda funny and wholesome… Well, for the SSR trio, not for Skully. They all sort of rub it in Skully’s face that he lost and then praise each other but in a back-handed way??? Like they call each other nasty and shit at planning, etc. Leona says Jamil bullied Skully so much that the poor thing started crying, then Jamil accuses Leona of threatening Skully a ton… then they gang up on Sebek (wow, they’re both awful and I love that for them).

Seeing this camaraderie makes Skully throw ANOTHER fit because he’s jealous that Sebek gets all this praise and attention. Meanwhile, Skully is all alone, always alone. Though it’s not explicitly stated, it’s implied Skully is deeply insecure about being by himself, as his classmates at school don’t understand him and rejected him + his interests. He extols a lonely and desolate version of Halloween too, something that reflects his own soul... clinging to the only solace he has in this world, the one constant. A holiday that he cherishes so very much--to the point where his own UM is linked back to it. The big dilemma he goes through this event seems to be a mix of having his own views being questioned as well as having his impression of his Halloween idol challenged. This makes Sebek a good foil character for him, similar to how Kalim was for Fellow and Idia for Rollo in the previous Halloween events. Skully even calls out Sebek explicitly, saying that he has all of the things he has never had. He'll never be disappointed by his idol Malleus (sadhbaslidbas this is ironic, considering the events of book 7), he has senpai who praise him, he has Zero for a friend, etc. Life’s soooo unfair, Skully claims. And like??? I was so shocked to see Sebek acting mature about the whole thing??????? He refutes Skully's claims and tells him straight up that to believe in someone isn't to force your own views onto them so your idol stays how you pictures them in your head. It's a mistake to think of one's idol as perfect--not even Malleus is perfect. Even so, Sebek explains that agreeing with someone and loving/respecting them are very different things... so he will accept Malleus's flaws and love him nevertheless. Even if he disagrees with Malleus, even if they have to part ways, Sebek will accept it. That's really surprising coming from him, seeing as how Sebek acts absolutely SURE of Malleus's absolute goodness in the main story... Now I'm wondering if this event must take place after book 7??? Because that's when Sebek has his own views on Malleus totally shaken. Still, I'm so proud of Sebek for dropping this hard truth on Skully--it's definitely something Skully needed to hear and be reminded of to be pulled back to reality. He also just outright calls Skully put for all his cowardly moves, including going after those who cannot fight back 💀 Very Ace of him to do…

Speaking of Skully, what really put the final nail in his coffin and sent him to the Shadow Realm (my dislike tier lol) was all the tantrums he threw this event. I understand being upset and frustrated. Really, I do. I understand being envious of others, of feeling like you've got no one by your side. But is it REALLY necessary to react like that…? And so frequently… He just shouts “shut up” over and over again… OTL I don't know, it feels like I could sympathize with him more if they properly explained why it is Skully is so into Halloween (besides his hometown being the same) and why he holds the past in such high regard. The most we get is it's just something his hometown is into and when he left for school, none of his peers really accepted that. Is the implication that Skully retreated further into his hyperfixation to cope with his loneliness????? If so, I'm not sure if this was properly conveyed so now Skully is left acting like a big baby and overreacting to everyone trying to get him to calm down. The worst of it is when he claims he’s the one who TRULY loves Halloween and everyone else is fake. That sounds like something straight out of an angry elitist otaku’s vent post. Other characters acted similar to this when on the brink of OB (which Skully was) but never so childishly. This might just be a me thing though, I don't really care for overly emotional characters; they're usually not my cup of tea.

I'm not sure how I feel about everyone forgiving Skully and partying with him at the end for the Halloween celebration. On one hand, yeah, forgiving him makes sense because it's not like he was plotting anything crazily world shattering like Rollo or a participating in a large-scale crime ring like Fellow. Skully didn't really harm anyone (though he did try to shatter someone he pumpkin’d), at least not on a large scale like Rollo and Fellow did. On the other hand, I think it was a little bit too overdone with how sappy it was??? Like why did Jack say he was PROUD of Skully for being so passionate that he went to these extremes for Halloween? Why did Jack give Skully a HEAD PAT after the shenanigans he pulled?? I felt that saying he's forgiven and inviting him to join the festivities anyway would be sufficient. And again, I detest how Skully disregarded everyone’s consent and kissed them (Yuu and the SSR trio) as an apology even when they (SSR trio) already made it clear they didn’t want to be kissed. That just felt super gross to me, not funny or cute 😔

One of the big highlights of this event was, of course, the Twst cover of This is Halloween. Everything about it is just so... *chef's kiss* from the strong vocal performance to the perfect selection of characters to recreate each scene. It's a shame that we can't access the song outside of this event, but I know that I'll be playing it on an endless loop off of Youtube 😂

For all of the issues I had with the story up until this point, I'll be the first to say that the ending was genuinely sweet. Skully actually expresses gratitude towards everyone (a first, lmao) and calls us his friends, the best thing that has ever happened to him, etc. He wants to meet with everyone and celebrate Halloween with them again. BUT. I don't like that he singled out Yuu specifically as someone he really likes. I get the same feelings from him as I do with Malleus... Like, there's a weird over-familiarity and attachment he has with Yuu despite Yuu not doing or saying much to bond with him. His reaction seems unwarranted to me, with a lot of the appeal of his friendship coming from how much the player projects onto him. (And to be clear, I say this ONLY for myself, as Yuu is meant to be a character for self-inserting; in the case where I put myself in Yuu's shoes, I would be uncomfortable with how Skully is acting toward me.)

Now we get to the ending that seems to have emotionally broken the fandom.

I said earlier in this post that I don't like Lost in the Book events, and another reason for that is because there's amnesia involved at the end. I feel like an event isn't worth it if the memories get wiped anyway because then it's like the events never happened at all. However, Nightmare actually played with this trope and did something really cool with it. Even though those who leave the book have their memories erased, they're still left with some residual feelings that can propel people to act. In the Stitch event, this resulted in the boys wanted to vacation to the beach. In Nightmare, Skully--who was transported within the book from his original time HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO--was so touched by the connections he made in the book that he essentially becomes a changed man. He graduates from NRC and travels the world to spread the joy of Halloween, thus being responsible for why it's such a big holiday in modern Twisted Wonderland, the era which our main cast is from.

No one remembers the book's events, but Skully is so thoroughly motivated by his lost memories... He somehow recreates the Nightmare Suit, BUT DROPS THE SHADES (a symbol of him trying to emulate Jack) BECAUSE HE HAS NOW BECOME HIS OWN PERSON. He shares a jubilant version of Halloween because that's the version he cherished celebrating with his idol and first real friends. History doesn't remember him, but his legacy is still going strong. LIKE THE GAO POSE... DID IT ORIGINATE FROM HIM???? ? ? ? ??????? ?? AND NOW I'M THINKING ABOUT ALL THE FUN THE GHOSTS AND STUDENTS HAD IN THE FIRST EVER HALLOWEEN EVENT... BECAUSE OF HIM SPREADING THE HOLIDAY AROUND

The NRC students don't remember him either, but they must somewhere in the deepest recesses of their hearts... CUZ THEY ALL STILL MAKE COMMENTS ABOUT HIM, LIKE LEONA SAYING BRO LOOKS LIKE A PATHETIC LITTLE MEOWMEOW (exaggeration). There's also the implication that Skully's spirit is still around, since the characters remark feeling a strange cooling sensation on the back of their hands. We never SEE him, but we sense that there's something there. In the end, they promise that they'll make the best Halloween ever in honor of his legacy and we get sequel bait.

Twst REALLY had to go and drop that ending on us and then peace out, huh 🤡 It's hard to put my feelings about this ending into words, but I think I would personally describe it as very bittersweet yet romantic. Not lovey-dovey romantic, but like... it portrays a hopeful future even though it's sad too. Like, it's tragic that the NRC students and Skully will never be able to celebrate together again. But isn't it cool that even though they were born in totally different eras, fate still allowed them to meet and completely change the course of history? And even if they forget about their encounter, that meeting still impacts them to this very day. It changed the world and their lives forever. Reaching for that thing you're missins and forgetting, without really know what it is... Something lingering there, without a form... There's something so dream-like about the concept, I have to commend the Twst devs for coming up with it. In that sense, I'm quite satisfied with the conclusion despite the bumps in the road I ran into on the way.

IN CONCLUSION. Yeah, I thought this event was another mixed bag. The pacing was bad and nothing that interesting happened since the story was mainly about preparing for Halloween. I'm not a fan of Skully. However, what I can say is that Nightmare had a good showcase of Sebek, Jamil, and Leona's strong suits and actually allowed them to resolve the crisis. The ending is also much stronger than Playful Land's and poses many interesting questions about Skully and his impact on history.

[sepublic]

The Owl House Ending Anniversary Livestream

            These are the notes I’ve taken from The Owl House anniversary stream, just the stuff related to the show (though there was a hilarious anecdote from Sarah about having a theater light shine on her bald spot while attending an acting school);

For the finale, the VAs (and Dana and Eden) got to record voice work together for the first time since the covid lockdown. Sarah scream-cried and sobbed right after finishing the final lines for Luz. The recording occurred a few months before the finale aired.

            Zeno revealed that anime dub voice directors usually want a different direction for voice acting than with western animation, but when Zeno did a take for Hunter that he thought might’ve sounded too anime, everyone else was in full approval. From there, Zeno approached Hunter as the “anime emo boy” or “Sasuke” of the show, going for an “eastern anime edgy feel.” Sarah thought this fit given how much Hunter is trying; Zeno feels Hunter wears his emotions on his sleeves no matter how cool he tries to be.

Hunter would 100% be an anime fan and be obsessed with anime conventions in the human realm. Eden mentioned that Dana took a lot of anime inspiration when doing segments such as fight scenes or character power-ups, with Luz’s Titan form being based on Pokemon evolution.

            When voicing Lilith, Cissy would pull from her memories of her aunt Kim in translating the “fun, goofy” energy, and she normally does this for other fun aunt/maternal roles. Elizabeth Grullon brought in parts of her culture and ancestry when doing Camila, as per the advice of her late mentor Ken Washington.

            If the VAs could hang out with their characters for one day: Eden would take Boscha to therapy, and all of the VAs agreed, with Zeno ready to pay for Hunter’s (“The credit card will NOT decline”). Cissy would have a ride on Mike Socks. Elizabeth would visit the Demon Realm with Camila, get some drinks in her, make some arroz con pollo and tostones, put on some salsa music, and just vibe out. Sarah would also visit the Demon Realm with Luz, and wherever Luz likes to hang out; Maybe a beach day.

            Cissy thinks Lilith would go full-nerd when visiting the human realm, having a notebook and pen and going mad as she’s scribbling everything down. She’d stop people on the street to ask if they’ve had apple blood, and be an absolute menace, people would be freaking out.

            Pulling from themselves, Avi thinks Raine would meet things with a little bit of caution, having lots of disinfectant wipes, and eventually get comfortable, freely exploring without inhibition.

            Eden imagines Boscha would thrive in the human world, since there’s so many gullible people she could trick into being her followers. She’d either use the third eye for attention, or grow bangs/wear a beanie to hide it. Cissy joked that Boscha would run for president and win in a landslide, which is a bad idea because she’d have too much power at her fingertips.

            When it comes to Camila exploring the demon realm once everything’s cooled down, Elizabeth thinks she’d be a bit skeptical, but eventually relax, have some apple blood, kick back and make some friends… And then be ready to go back. Not an overnight stay, just a brief visit.

            Cissy was proudest of her performance as Lilith was “Why were you so easy to curse?!” in Agony of a Witch. For Zeno it was Thanks to Them, he felt it was a closed circle for Hunter; He enjoyed balancing various Hunter elements like the Golden Guard role, and the catharsis with Luz right afterwards. He’s glad it was vulnerable and open, wanting his performance to be honest and realistic. For Elizabeth it was Camila reacting to various Demon Realm segments such as Belos, or preparing to fight Kikimora.

Eden liked Boscha’s arc in For the Future, how it came full-circle when she helped the resistance because she didn’t mean real harm and just wanted things to go back to normal. For Sarah it was the ending of Yesterday’s Lie where Luz promises to stay in the human realm, she found it heartbreaking how it was Luz’s two worlds colliding; Sarah couldn’t wait to see the episode in its entirety. Raine was Avi’s first voice-acting role for animation, and they summoned the ‘guttural response’ to free themselves when doing the possession scene with Belos in the finale.

Luz’s favorite human realm drink is coffee or matcha due to her ADHD, the caffeine can help her focus, “turn Demon Realm,” but is also helpful for a nap. Sarah often brings large drinks into the studio, and described her performance as Luz as a cold brew, plus a giant gallon of water, plus some tea with honey after she’s done screaming.

            Hunter would like Red Bulls and go crazy with the energy. He’d apply Demon Realm mentality by believing Red Bull’s “gives you wings” advertisements, and write a letter to management demanding a refund when this doesn’t literally happen.

            Camila would love café bustelo, it’s a big Latina drink and was introduced to Elizabeth by her mom. The 4pm kind brings you to life and it’s the time for tias to gossip.

            Boscha is either a giant slurpee girl, or popping boba, because her third eye gives Boscha an inclination towards eye aesthetics. Plus Boscha could spit boba at people through her straw, which led to Sarah joking about Luz and Hunter walking in bespeckled with boba (“No Hunter, they do not give you wings”).

            Lilith would like pina colada, she’d think it’s the cool thing that everyone drinks, what with there being a whole song about it. Then she’d drink it and go on a tangent about how her mom never loved her, and Luz would ask her in concern how many she’s had. Lilith would collect several of the parachutes in her hair.

            Raine has a sensitive stomach, so they’re into kombucha and brew their own.

            (Fun fact; The group realized the eclipse was happening during the livestream and had a discussion over how to protect your eyes when watching it!)

            Rebecca Rose herself sent a question, asking what they think a palisman would taste like. They joked that Matthew Rhys was NOT here, and Dana apparently headcanons that palismen essence tastes like gushers. Zeno and Sarah joked that Belos has a sweet tooth and he’s obsessed because he left the human realm before they invented gushers. It never even occurred to Eden that palisman essence would have a flavor, it’d just be an energy boost, like pipe tobacco (and Sarah added this was appropriate because palismen are made of wood). Yesterday was Rebecca’s birthday and the VAs wished her a happy one.

            Zeno’s favorite quality about Hunter is his loyalty and dedication; When he sets his sights on something, he’s pretty relentless. He has a really deep well of complexity in him, half is angst but the other half is real heart.

            Elizabeth loves how Camila loves her kid so much that she’s willing to step past herself and her own limitations, her own fears and comfort zone, to connect with and support Luz. Sarah noted it’s like Camila is learning to be a kid again with her arc.

            Boscha doesn’t have a ton of great character traits, but she’s a strong athlete, doesn’t give up, and is powerful; Eden admires that about her, she’s badass. Everything else about her though…

            Sarah likes how Luz doesn’t have an ego; Yes she’s unapologetically herself and doesn’t know any other way, but when she messes up, she has no problem taking the blame and apologizing. She’ll own up to things and fix them. Though it was misguided, Luz was even willing to let go of everything she loved to make up for letting down the Demon Realm and protect everyone. It’s not easy to put aside your own wants and needs sometimes and apologize, accepting that you’re wrong.

            Lilith had a lot of faults, but her willingness to admit her own wrongdoing and go into the depths of her soul to figure out how to be better; Such as being a better auntie/sister, forgiving her parents, etc. She had a lot of growing up to do, and Cissy felt Dana gave Lilith such a beautiful way to go about that.

            Avi was glad to see Raine have stage fright and awkwardness/shyness in public and with social settings, but they can transform by stepping into this fierce protector/hero role, and find that confidence. It’s a multi-faceted character, a full human experience, and felt genuine to Avi.

            When asked if Boscha ever said sorry to Willow and Luz, Eden joked that love means never having to say sorry; Boscha probably skipped over that. Assumed she already said it at some point, the others just have bad memory. I’m sure they know, I helped them. I didn’t kill them and they’re still alive, so clearly…!

            The hardest episode to record was Thanks to Them for Zeno, the VAs had to take a break. It was already cathartic and then Hunter didn’t even get a break afterwards, plus Zeno had the knowledge of the show ending. For Elizabeth it was the finale due to the sadness of the show being over, but otherwise there was nothing hard for her because the experience was a dream come true; She was in pure joy when in the booth. Even when Camila was crying or saying goodbye, it was still fun for Elizabeth. But when she herself is saying goodbye, that’s when it’s hard for her.

            Eden also agreed on the finale due to how long it was (and she accounted for her role as voice director as well), mentioning how the episode was the culmination of so much, there was a lot of ground to cover, etc. It was so emotional how everyone brought so much, saying goodbye together as a cast. Not to mention the catharsis/closure of stamping Belos to death together.

            Sarah concurred, it was meta saying goodbye to the show and each other. But she also found Reaching Out hard, due to Luz’s complex emotions, her coming in and out a lot. She’s dealing with a great loss, and Sarah wanted to honor that grief, but also had Luz masking it, popping up, acting out, and needed to choose how/when to let that emotion come out. The grief wasn’t super-fresh, it comes in waves, and it was in that state where some are in shock or others cry; You never know when it’ll strike, when it’ll put you on edge. So Reaching Out was hard to map out for Sarah, especially with Luz just popping up to do one weird thing and then going away. It was a lot of fun, and workwise it was a lot of pressure to get it right.

            Cissy also had the finale, with the switch from Lilith making amends to being terrible again in the dream sequence being jarring. There was also Agony of a Witch, as the landing needed to be stuck to make the episode work; But Eden and Dana were there for the recording session to help.

            Avi had Follies at the Coven Day Parade, when Eda and Raine had their duel. Avi really had to tap into being angry and mad at someone they care so much about.

            If Elizabeth could give advice to any character, it’s for Boscha to go to therapy. Sarah tells Lilith to stand still and feel her feelings, you poor beautiful witch. Avi tells everyone to not be so hard on yourself. Cissy, to all (especially teenagers): It gets better, you think you know everything and you think you have the weight of your world on your hands (and tbf that was the case), but it gets better. Eden would tell Hunter to take a day off, take a nap. Zeno would tell everyone to do the same, it’s okay to let go. Eden would also advise Eda to lay off the law-breaking, Sarah said not to start her day with apple blood (save it for happy hour).

            Sarah’s favorite Hooty moment was the tea party, and how he would be haunted by his actions forever in Adventures in the Elements. Cissy loved Hooty and Lilith’s friendship, “No witch is an island!” Eden loves the first appearance of Port-a-Hooty, it had her in stitches the first time she saw it; There was sheer terror knowing he could travel. Sarah loved Hooty’s off-screen attack by Amity. For Zeno, it was two guards struggling to describe Hooty. Elizabeth concurred with everyone, and Avi liked it when Hooty just ate things and sometimes ruined a situation because of it. Cissy brought up Hooty’s skeleton bathing.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Different nonnie from the Tikki-Xuppu person, but what you said about Tikki’s personality fitting Order better than Creation made me think about how Pollen would’ve be a better fit for Creation symbolism-wise over Tikki given how much bees better fit that image over ladybugs with their beeswax, honey and hive-making, not to mention the intimate relationship humans of various cultures have had with bees for literal millennia. Even the restoration of Miraculous Ladybug fits bees better due to the connotations of pollination and how essential bees are for the world’s ecosystem. In a universe where Pollen was the kwami of Creation with Tikki’s canon powers (though with bee-theming of course) to Plagg’s Destruction, how do you think things would’ve gone with Marinette and Adrien while having their canon personalities? How do you think they would have played off of each other with their canon personalities?

(Post that spawned this ask)

Before we begin, I want to note that my answer is probably going to be at least a little biased by @zoe-oneesama Scarlet Lady comic because Pollen has a big role in that and Zoe's read on Pollen pretty closely matches mine. Do with that what you will.

This is the first Kwami swap that I could see working. Plagg's personality is so iconic that it's hard to imagine anyone being an improvement, but Tikki is pretty generic. While she has a clear personality, she has no real interests or hobbies that make her stand out. She's mostly just here to be cute and act as the writer's mouthpiece. While I hate that for her and think she deserves better, it does mean that booting her and replacing her with a different Kwami doesn't feel like you're breaking a core element of the show so long as her replacement plays off the other characters well.

We don't see much of Pollen in canon, so it's hard to get a great read on her, but she her love of calling Chloe "my Queen" and the fact that Pollen is a bee give me vibes of a loyal, devoted Kwami who thinks that her Chosen is the best thing ever no matter what. Compare that to Plagg who delights in tormenting his Chosen and there's major potential for some excellent banter and fun contrasting moments, which is what Tikki's replacement would need to be able to do. Tikki and Plagg's contrasting dynamic is a lot of fun and you wouldn't want to lose it. Pollen and Plagg's dynamic would be different, but in a similar enough vein that I think it could work. Which is actually a point in Pollen's favor. If she was just another Tikki, then there would be no point in making the switch.

While Tikki is often dishing out lectures, her most valuable role is building Marinette up in moments when Marinette is feeling down. Pollen should be able to do that no problem. If anything, Pollen may be a little too zealous in supporting Marinette, but since Marinette isn't often shown to listen to Tikki's advice, that's not really an issue. It could even be a new source of comedy where Marinette comes up with insane plans and Pollen hypes her up while the audience watches in fascinated horror. It could be a lot of fun and also give Alya a better chance to fill the voice-of-reason role that she's occasionally allowed to have. That's one of the many awkward things about Alya knowing now. Her and Tikki often fill the same role on the civilian side since Tikki isn't presented as a wise, ancient mentor who knows things that these kids don't.

I especially love the idea of a Kwami swap where Adrien is praised to death and then refuses to give Pollen back because he needs this right now, okay? His lady can have the cheese loving gremlin for a few days while Pollen floats after him, calling him a Queen and praising his every move. Maybe Pollen even starts sneaking into his backpack and leaving him whatever her favorite treats are as a little sign that he's appreciated, leading Plagg to get all territorial, which further validates Adrien. (I just really like comedy that has a sweet undertone, okay?)

Since we don't have a full understanding of Pollen's personality, I won't speculate further than that as I'm trying to avoid getting too far into the realms of headcanon, but I do really like this idea and think it could be a lot of fun. I even like the idea of Pollen as Creation because bees do make more sense than ladybugs from a theme perspective. Plus Ladybee was such an iconic look, one of the few good unifies, and a version of that without the red would still be fabulous!

[anthurak]

So I’ve been reading/watching a few different Helluva Boss theory posts/videos recently, and I really have to ask:

We all recognize that when it comes to serious theory-crafting on lore, character backgrounds and most other things, basically EVERYTHING from the pilot is firmly in ‘take with a grain of salt’ territory, right?

Like this is not some ‘true episode one’ or weird ‘episode zero’ thing. It’s a pilot, a proof-of-concept and basic introduction to the series premise and main characters. Now it is certainly a GREAT intro to that premise and those characters, but it’s also clear that at this point the writers were still ironing out the characters, lore and other elements. I mean just compare Stolas in the pilot to Stolas in just the first episode, or how Tilla went from being Blitzo’s older sister to being his mother.

And we can really see this dissonance all over the pilot, as well as possibly getting a sense of what earlier drafts of characters might have looked like.

For example, Moxxie’s ‘dreaming my parents were getting murdered’ line in the pilot certainly feels like it may have at one point been foreshadowing, but it also just doesn’t fit very well with what we later got in the actual show. It seems like Moxxie would have nightmares about his mother being killed, but find dreams about Crimson being murdered to be quite appealing. Instead, I think we can guess that the plan at the time of the pilot was for Moxxie’s parents to have both been murdered by the mob/Crimson, possibly leading to Moxxie being adopted (perhaps by force) by Crimson. But between the pilot and the first episode, Vivzie and the team opted to streamline things by making Crimson be Moxxie’s father in the first place and him having murdered Moxxie’s mother. As evidenced by how Moxxie’s ‘maybe a shitty dad, or a mob family…’ line in Murder Family is MUCH more in line with what we end up seeing in Season 2.

Likewise, I imagine that Tilla originally being Blitzo’s sister likely had her in a nurturing, adoptive older sister role to Blitzo and Barbie, until the writers decided it simply made more sense for Tilla to just be the twins’ mother instead.

So when I see people doing stuff like using Loona’s implication that she has syphilis as a major part of or even the whole basis for theories on her messed up background/childhood, I can’t help but feel like they’re unwittingly building up their theory on a pretty shaky foundation.

Like don’t get me wrong, I fully agree that Loona went through some major shit in her childhood. I even have a hunch/headcannon that her backstory is actually going to have Blitzo AND Moxxie beat in the fucked-up department. It’s just that I think a far more reliable source of foreshadowing on this is something like Loona’s whole ‘This kid probably sets dogs on fire’ spiel in Murder Family, rather than anything from the pilot. Particularly since we now how at least two other cases of seemingly offhand, inconsequential jokes from that episode actually being foreshadowing; again, Moxxie’s ‘maybe a shitty dad…’ line, as well as Blitzo’s ‘we’re just killing a mother…’ line.

Finally, everything I’ve said here goes double, triple and frankly QUADRUPLE for Hazbin Hotel. Whereas we only had a little more than a year between Helluva Boss’s pilot and first episode, we’ve had over FOUR years for Hazbin. And it’s clear already from the trailers and other promotional material that things have changed quite a bit since the pilot. Like I’m as hyped as anyone else to finally see this show get released, but when it comes to specific expectations, we REALLY need to take basically all but the most general, basic, broad-strokes story, character and lore details that were in the pilot with a MASSIVE grain of salt.

Things like the basic premise, general character personalities, Charlie and Vaggie being a couple, etc; those we know are still a thing. Everything else is WILDLY up in the air.

[toothlespoggers]

here’s some concept art for an Idea I’ve started to plot out!

I had an idea recently that Papyrus and Sans moved to deltarune because sans didn’t wanna be stuck in the loop and papyrus had to come with him. But when they get there papyrus hates not having his friends or the magic and familiarity that he’s used to so he discovers how to create dark fountains as a way to bring control and fun back to his life. The first dark fountain he made was in his room and so I was coming up with dark world and darkner ideas for like the room.

I’m thinking the pirate flag is its own like pirate kingdom and there’s like a pirate skeleton king and a baby pirate skeleton that’s like the prince, and they have like their own cyber city sorta thing because of the computer- and the squiggly carpet is water, there’s some kind of fire land on the carpet, the bed is its own like city maybe? Stuff like that.

I was also thinking about how Ralsei serves as like a comfort to be like asriel to Kris. And stuff like that. So I was thinking about what the person Papyrus would miss would be, and I thought it’d be his relationship with Undyne. So I wanted to make a darkner in sort of Ralseis role but different. For papyrus. I’m thinking a Undyne-like darkner named Kamikaze. My inspiration for the name and character is that one httyd character from the books by the same name. I think that sort of personality would fit pretty well.

I was going to put a whole new au name to this and what not, but when I was brain storming all my ideas kinda fit with something I had already worked on in the past. And so I think I’m just going to combine it and workshop that.

so this is going to fall under DESPERATION!Tale

I think the core element of papyrus’s desperation will validate the au name choice pretty well.

I didn’t exactly have anything massive planned to showcase or whatever yet, I just had these ideas that I wanted to share since I’m probably not going to have anything come from it in a while.

I have changed a lot of the initial concept art and work for DesperationTale compared to my old art in the tag.

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

Weirwood bows (Arya's future weapon?)

First, I want to clarify that the theory I'm going to write about isn't one I consider very possible to happen. Still, since I'm tired talking over the same subjects on asoiaf, I decided to have some harmless fun by letting my imagination run wild with speculating about it.

On one of Bran chapters in AGOT, we find out that the children of the forest used bows made of weirwood in order to hunt. Back then, the children of the forest were part of the long past, only existing in Maester Luwin's history lessons.

Later on, we find that they still exist as Bran encounters them on his travel beyond the Wall. Also, on Jon's chapters we learn that free folk also uses weirwood bows (alongside with weirwood spears).

Here comes the wild speculation part.Arya has expressed more than one her desire to learn how to shoot arrows.

There were a dozen steps between the archer and the point of her sword. We have no chance, Arya realized, wishing she had a bow like his, and the skill to use it.

ASOS, ARYA II

Anguy smiled over his ale. "When I don't fancy a man's eyes, I put an arrow through one." Arya remembered the shaft that had brushed by her ear. She wished she knew how to shoot arrows.

ASOS, ARYA II

Anguy had arrows tipped with bodkins as well as broadheads. A bodkin could pierce even heavy plate. I'm going to learn to shoot a bow, Arya thought. She loved swordfighting, but she could see how arrows were good too.

ASOS, ARYA VII

So, what if one day - after she learned the essential arrow skills- she obtained a bow made of weirwood; the tree which plays a crucial role to Northern religion and it's linked with various magic elements.

During her time with the Brotherhood without Banners, Anguy tried to teach her how to shoot arrows but it wasn't successful. Still, instead of altogether dismissing the possibility she could learn that skill, he simply said she needed a different type of bow:

Anguy let Arya try his longbow, but no matter how hard she bit her lip she could not draw it. "You need a lighter bow, milady," the freckled bowman said. "If there's seasoned wood at Riverrun, might be I'll make you one."

ASOS, ARYA IV

When Arya returns to Westeros, I do believe that she will meet the BwB again so perhaps this time Anguy can properly teach her, and she could obtain a weirwood bow one day.

I'm not saying this is going to happen within the asoiaf series. Martin already gave her character a weapon (Needle) in case she needs to defend herself so he might not feel the need to show her obtaining another fighting skills & weapon. But since I believe that Arya will live a long life post the end of the series, she could find time to learn to shoot arrows later on. Maybe, she can ask her oldest brother, Jon, to teach her. He has the skill and I doubt he would deny Arya a skill that would increase her changes of survival.

Speaking of him, it's interesting that he compares Arya to Ygritte right after he mention that the latter uses a bow made out of weirwood:

Stonesnake had called her a "spearwife" when they'd captured her in the Skirling Pass. She wasn't wed and her weapon of choice was a short curved bow of horn and weirwood, but "spearwife" fit her all the same. She reminded him a little of his sister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier.

ASOS, JON II

Finally, I wanted to say that on one of Bran's visions we see one of the Stark ancestors using weirwood arrows:

A dark-eyed youth, pale and fierce, sliced three branches off the weirwood and shaped them into arrows

ADWD, BRAN III

I'd love to see Arya using a weapon her ancestors also used, one that it's connected to the magic of the North.

[mesmir-ized]

also apparently forgot to post p2ponies 😞… sorry !! orz

(cutie mark rambles below~)

i always think crazy hard about cutie marks they are like my #1 stressor when it comes to ponies……. so here’s why i chose certain cutie mark designs !!

also i tried really hard to make sure they all shared some colours , especially making sure to include each others’ colours !! i wanted to have the original masked circle all have a star somewhere (BC.astrology or something…) LOL , maya sort of stands out both in colours and cutie mark , but that was on purpose !!

tatsuya: his was 100% the easiest to come up with . it’s gotta be his lighter !!! not only is it like His Thing but also very much representative of the bonds with his friends , as well as everything that got them into the events of IS … both in the game and here , the lighter is a symbol of both destruction/power and connection/creation !! which really fits tatsuya :] you can also think of it being like he “lights the way” !! the little teal star is in lieu of the little prince quote , and it’s kinda clear who this star is meant to represent ;U

jun: THIS ONE TOOK FOREVER TO DRAW . my issue was i had an idea , but couldn’t figure out how to make it work !! i wanted to include both flowers and a shooting star and fought 1 million battles trying to figure it out….

i wanted to include a shooting star for many reasons !! stars obviously for jun’s love of stars , but also because the shooting star is a symbol of something to follow (like Jun making himself a leader/savior as joker) as well as being representative of wishes and dreams (which is joker’s whole thing !!) !!! i wanted to add 4 forget-me-nots for both the obvious meaning of memory and his love of flowers , but also to mimic other stars and represent both masked circles he was involved in ! i love jun if you can’t tell

lisa: though this one looks simple it actually was pretty thought-out !! i wanted to figure out a way to both have her love of kung fu and role as an idol represented , which led me to these sort of boom-flash symbols ! these symbols are meant to be representative of her personality (feisty and explosive, but also fascinating and even lovely !) as well as what i said earlier , both of her paths~ they can be read as punch SFX , as well as the flash of cameras/lights on stage !! they’re pretty simple , but i feel like they pack a lot of punch (LOL)~!!

maya: the standout girlie of the whole bunch !! i immediately had the sort of idea for an intersection of heart/moon , and came up with this ! the heart is for ahh.. reasons most people know , but also she’s just associated with hearts in general (think mr bunbun) !! they obviously are related to her compassion and big heart , and if we want to have a sort of more darker and serious inspection of it.. how she’s the heart of her friend group and the loss of that heart (literal and figurative , in many instances) makes everything fall apart .. i also wanted to include the moon for her association with the moon (and Artemis !) , which also serve to show her duality and antithesis to the heat and light of the tatsuyas ! i like to think the EP cast’s colours would be more based around her cutie mark colours , like how IS were all based around each others’ !!

eikichi: i struggled with this one the most & i think it’s obvious.. U~U; .. i wanted to , again , make a symbol that’s not too complex , but is able to encapsulate so many different elements of a character ?! i ended up coming up with this skull (for his association with death/self proclaimed title as the “death boss”) and rocker/vkei/darker alternative aesthetics in general~ the starry eyes are BC welll…! star ! and also because it’s like he’s “starry-eyed” and looking towards the future :] the little glowy shine thing is meant tp be a spotlight , like he’s in the spotlight ! maybe one day I’ll come up with soemthing better , sorry eikichi , i love you ! 😞💦

Okies that’s all !! hope you like my cutie mark rambles , i love explaining my thoughts !!! ^7^

[loz-furbies]

Ralph

Design

Usually it's the girls who get unique and memorable designs, and the boys have to settle for a much more boring isekai mc-kun style look, but not here! This is amazing, bright blue frilly bell bottoms with purple stripe decorations! And the little wizard hat! And the 00's deviantArt OC edgy hair over one eye! The badass cape! Oh he has nail polish too! He is just great. In general he looks a little dorky but that's okay, it's a very memorable design. The cape fits the hero image he's trying to maintain, even if he's not very good at it.

The eyebrows are also a striking design element and even has plot relevance, but more on that later. So, uh, spoilers for Oracle of Ages? Or in general all of these potentially have spoilers for their respective games, not that I've warned about that before...

The frills and triangle pattern are elements that also repeat in the Oracles' designs. I really like this, they're all different so it doesn't feel like they're wearing a uniform, but it also gives the sense that the world has its own distinct fashion style.

In the entire LoZ franchise there are remarkably few friendly older teen/young adult male important npcs, or at least in the "attractive anime twink" style Link inhabits, compared to the situation with the girls (when almost all games have at least Zelda in the main girl role). And Ralph is one of the few exceptions, which I welcome. Or like I said in Nayru's entry, he's actually a lot shorter than I thought and might even put him in the "kid" category, but I elect to ignore that.

Character

Ralph starts out reasonably enough saying how he counts on Link with Nayru's safety, but quickly changes to stating that he doesn't think Link's help is needed after all. After Nayru is kidnapped he pops up here and there through the story on his own quest to save her, repeats how he will be the one to save Nayru and usually has a pretty condescending attitude towards Link ("Well, if it isn't Link! Dawdling about, as usual.") But he does offer some useful advice during his appearances, so he's willing to help and share information at least.

Later Ralph expands his heroism to wanting to save the general population in addition to Nayru, and even gets a moment where he is ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good despite being scared ("Maybe it is terrifying… But if I must, I must. To do nothing and live just isn't me.") In general he feels like he's the typical hotheaded shounen hero of his own story.

Towards the end of the game Ralph has to eat some humble pie when Link saves the day. After this Ralph apologises for his behaviour, praises Link, admits that he was the one who didn't accomplish anything, and outright says that he now considers Link his friend.

In general Ralph gets surprisingly much character focus for a character in a GBC game, he gets to show a lot of different emotions in different situations and even gets noticeable character development.

Role in the story

I would say that Ralph has the most well developed role out of all the characters in both of the Oracle games, which is peculiar since he isn't even the poster girl. He's the only one to get a proper arc, and has a lot of presence since he shows up in OoA regularly. And most importantly after Nayru gets saved after dungeon 6 out of 8, he is actually the final damsel in distress for OoA. The execution is a little different since Nayru's predicament is the usual kidnapped girl fare, while Ralph has to be saved from himself since he rushes to fight the end boss on a suicide mission. You see, after Nayru is freed from the villain's possession, the villain possesses the queen (in the past) instead, and it is revealed that Ralph is her descendant. So he intends to kill queen even if it means that he won't be able to be born. The way this works is a little clunky here since he already knows Link is able to undo the possession, so his sacrifice feels kind of dumb and reckless. Also he only survives because of plot armour because the villain could have killed him before Link takes over the battle but just chose not to. But points for trying I guess, this is still way above the writing the other characters in either of the two games got.

Considering how much focus Ralph gets and how actively he tries to contribute, it's a little shame how his actions don't really amount to anything. The most you can say that he works as the game's hint system because sometimes he points where the player should go next, but it would be nice if he got to do something more notable too.

I feel that he is similar to the original Pokemon rival (Blue) in that he's this cocky rival that shows up to mock you through the game, and the in the end you get to feel vindicated when they're defeated. Both of them are even actually helpful by sharing information too! Though I do feel kind of bad for Ralph since he's just so crushed at the end and just lies on the floor lamenting how he looks like a fool now.

I like that the revelation that he is the queen's descendant is foreshadowed a little (with how he knows about a secret entrance to the palace) and isn't just dropped out of nowhere in the finale.

Relationships

Ralph is a childhood friend and self-proclaimed protector of Nayru, acts kind of jealous about the possibility of someone else doing the protecting, and spends most of the game running around trying to save her. I don't remember instances where his behaviour could only be interpreted as romantic so make of that what you will.

Surprisingly his most interesting relationship is with Link. Or he is the main character, but at this point of the franchise he usually doesn't get nearly as many character moments with even the main girl of each game so it's pretty big.

Ralph strikes a one sided rivalry with Link about the Nayru rescue, and then behaves in a condescending manner when they run into each other. However I find it interesting that he doesn't blame Link at all for Nayru getting captured in the first place, because it was Link who brought the disguised villain close to her in the first place. Or it wasn't Link's fault since nobody know about the disguise, but I would have imagined that Ralph would hold it against him.

Once Link is the one to save Nayru while Ralph did nothing he apologises properly, and starts preparing to take down the villain, even if it would cost him his own life. And then he starts throwing lines like "May fate bring us back together!", and later "Umm… Link… Don't forget me. I mean, I think of you…as a friend…" when preparing for his suicide mission. If this was a more popular and recent game people would ship these two way more but now they only have 5 results on ao3. Even the villain refers to him as Link's "dear friend".

Once the day is saved and everyone is hunky-dory Ralph comments how Link is amazing and apparently teases him for the embarrassing statue the queen put up for Link. Then they get a cute cutscene in the credits where Link tries to teach Ralph to do the spin attack with the sword, but he spins too much and gets dizzy. So we end on the note that they're friends now, with Link taking a mentor-like role.

He also gets a brief scene with the queen, with both being proud about the relationship, though the queen takes offense at being called grandmother. It's a shame they don't get to interact more, but it's nice that their relationship didn't go completely unaddressed.

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Sorry for the random asks, I just get random thoughts.

If the Wobbly Hearts AU Ninja were in a band AU who would be doing/playing what?

-froginninjago

bro ur asks are fun so this works out HGLKSJDF

Okay, i had to think a bit hard on this one but here we go

Jay - Lead Guitar: Bro has some wild speed which would be dope for shredding amazing for finger picking, this, ofc, is in reference to his elemental power of lightning. I'd think he can play several different types of guitars ranging from a standard electric to the banjo. He also likes to be front and centre a lot of the time and absolutely thrives off of attention so guitar solos would really give him a chance to shine. I imagine he'd play with a speed similar to this guy though likely not with that type of guitar

Kai - Bass guitar/backup vocalist: I'd actually give Kai the bass cause it's criminally underrated (like kai in the show it feels like sometimes) and it kinda lends itself to the fact his character ends up being more of a supporting role (specifically to Lloyd in the show) in the background rather than the main protagonist. He's extremely skilled in a way that not a lot of people notice, an avid bass defender and hype man and only slightly annoyed that Jay has more fans than him. He likely posts lots of bass shredding vids online

Cole - Drums: I mean come on you had to have seen this coming. I know it almost feels basic to put him but it fits so WELL. He's the one who keeps the team on track in the show and on beat in the band. He's so steady and consistent that it kinda blends together and you forget he's there sometimes. He's the one band member who can go out in public and not a single person will recognize him and he's cool with that. He has an amazing voice and could easily be a lead singer but he's content where he is. He's wildly skilled on the drums and I imagine people would start taking notice in him when he has like a drum solo that happens and its kinda like how Jay is crazy on the guitar he'd be outrageous like this dude

Lloyd - Lead Vocals/drums: Lloyd's currently learning drums from Cole and he's having a lot of fun with them. (a nod to my hc of Cole teaching Lloyd how to lead in the show.) He has the best voice out of the group with an INSANE range in his vocals. He can go from more like straight up angelic sounding to like hardcore screaming and so he's pretty versatile. (A nod to his oni/dragon sides.) He doesn't enjoy singing as much as he does drumming but he's good at it so he doesn't mind being the lead. Though he's not a huge fan of his fans. They're a little crazy. If you want to see him smile ask him to play the drums for you, he gets really winded and is always grinning with his hair a complete mess afterwards. He gets a lot of dopamine from da drums. He also enjoys helping Nya out with writing their lyrics

Nya - Stage Manager(previous)/Backup Guitarist/Second Lead Vocal/Songwriter: Nya is pretty versatile in what she can do. She knows the basics of base, is a pretty solid contender for lead guitar, she's also learning drums from Cole alongside Lloyd. She used to handle the behind the scenes stuff at some point before she actually joined the band. Her ability to both carve out her own place and easily fill in for the other's if they need to tap out lends itself to her element power of water something something. I kinda think of Walk Off the Earth with their two lead vocalists and how their voices blend together really well and the harmonies are really nice for how Nya and Lloyd would sound together. She also has a huge hand in writing the bands songs obviously. Kai did a lot of the lyrics for a while but he's not the most creative person. The whole band kinda has a hand in writing and its a group effort but Nya's usually the one leading it

Pixal - Stage Manager (current): I'm thinking Pixal used to be like, a solo act for a while or something? I dunno I actually couldn't get many ideas for her. But a soloist songwriter and maybe singer and she eventually retired from that and runs things behind the scenes for the band, booking stuff, getting transport, she's great at her job and the whole band loves and appreciates her, Kai regularly dramatically falls across her lap to ask "What would we do without you?" when she hands him a juice box after a set. She also handles the technology (with some assistance from Nya and sometimes Zane) and any more digital sounds they want added to their music

Zane - oh screw it, it's gotta be violin doesn't it??: come on just listen to his Falcon Chase song what else would he play??? All his songs in this show are literally strings!!! Cello, viola, violin, fiddle. i imagine he's classically trained in a lot of the bow + stringed instruments. I'm thinking Lindsey Stirling type playing probably or something. It lends itself to his controlled but emotional?? way of dealing with stuff? You can get a wide range of emotion from these types of instruments and he knows how to pull at your heartstrings (get it cause strings instrument--[gets hit with a chair])

Am i well versed enough in music to know if all these instruments would work well together? No, no i am not. But the concepts are cool and I guess i can be a lil silly goofy with it

[nights-nonsensical-ramblings]

Something i love to think about when doing things like reinterpreting characters into a different world and franchise is how different it can end up depending on what parts of a character and their lore you adapt.

Like mlp. Some characters are so obviously one type of pony no mater how you look at them or what angle you go from. Some dont have a super strong pull to any.

But then there's the characters who go by what I'm talking about. Like Knuckles. Who can fit just about anything depending on what parts are picked for his adapting (Under the cut cuz i got lots to say)

If you're adapting Knuckles as a character, no thoughts to translating his lore earth pony is PERFECT. He's got a focus on raw strength, he's often depicted as larger and bulkier than the rest of the cast, his most fitting element is earth. It fits so well.

Adding in some vague references to lore and he'd be good as a crystal pony. He'd be in a kingdom that was unknown to the world for thousands or years that has a super powerful crystal artefact. (Plus I will forever adore Knuckles with a crystal vibe)

But Knuckles can also work as a unicorn. One you can use it to reference his hand spikes, (Maybe even give him a horn that splits in two) and he's involved with mystical energy that you can translate to magic.

He could also work as a pegasus. He canonically can glide and he lives on an island in the sky. (plus he is so the type to shield someone with his wings) and the pegasi used to be war like and that would fit the past of the echidna

Playing into the last of his kind, "other" aspect could have him be fitting as a non pony species (maybe even one that doesn't appear in the show but would feel fitting) and some of these can kinda parallel the echidnas story. It's not perfect but they can work if you're just using it as a vague reference as to the echidna story and focusing more on the fact he's a different species to all those around him

Like the griffins were a culture that fell into ruin after an event involving someone attempting to steal a key artefact. He could fit the hippogriffs with their story of being forced below the waves and becoming a lost culture, he could fit the changlings with how they attacked ponies like how the echidna attacked other tribes, Knuckles is actively telling people not to be like his ancestors like how the changlings are trying to be different from their past.

or give him a few traits to make it so he can't really be called any of the main pony species, like he's an ancient and lost type of pony.

But now we get to what happens if you REALLY play into all the Master Emerald lore and i think making him an Alicorn has so much potential.

First of all, he has a direct connection to the thing that's described as the most powerful artefact/source of chaos in the world, (and in mlp we do see a character who's exposed to a immense amount of magic become an alicorn.) Plus his role as guardian would fit with the whole idea of alicorns filling a special role in the world. The m.e can do many things and translating that to magic and focusing more on what he'd be able to do with it REALLY sounds like alicorn stuff and the stuff for him being each pony type can still be brought in cuz alicorns are a mix of all three pony types.

And there's so much fun to be had playing into the idea of 'Is he a naturally born alicorn? did the m.e do this to him? Did the m.e bring him into existence like this?" He can't say, he's sure always been this way, being this way feels natural and there's no clear signs that he was changed into one but if he was born an alicorn, where did he come from? who were his parents? were they alicorns? and the idea that the m.e and create life out of nothing spooks anyone who thinks about it.

But he really doesn't get what all the fuss about him being an alicorn is about, why everyone always stares if he has both his wings and horn showing, even when they are covered ponies seem put off by his size. (This is the perfect place for the feelings of loneliness and otherness being the last echidna give him in the normal canon)

Also the good ol' immortal Knuckles vibe are strong. He doesn't know how long he's been up there, but he can remember places from the surface that he's so sure he shouldn't be able. Maybe he doesn't even know alicorns are immortal until someone tells him. He then spends ages trying to convince himself that he's a young immortal, because the thought of him having a life that he's somehow forgotten is immensely distressing.

Bring in the things from canon of Knuckles not feeling like its his place, or is perhaps even scared to use his power and you've got an alicorn, an immensely powerful being, who's barely tapping into his magic, only doing the basic spells that practically every unicorn uses in their day to day life. he could but he's so worried about what might happen if he does. So he goes for physical fighting moves instead. (And the idea of him tapping into that immense power to protect his friends works so good with him as an alicorn. You do not want an angry protective and powerful alicorn after you.)

And the storyline of finding a lost alicorn on a mysterious floating island has wonderous potential. Gives Eggman all the more reason to manipulate him on sight. Sonic's running along in superform, and then something knocks into him. His eyes focus and there's an alicorn in front of him. No wonder he was able to knock him out if his superform,

(I've also seen a take where Shadow is an alicorn cuz. "Why wouldn't they make the ultimate lifeform an alicorn" and i love that, but i got some extra thoughts. It being very clear he's an artificial alicorn and those working on project shadow not fully understanding that a alicorn is a mix of unicorn, Pegasus AND earth pony and just creating him with the first two. There so many delicious storylines that could come from shadows identity as an alicorn getting a shake up.)

The more i talk about it the more i adore alicorn Knuckles and all the story potential it has. Also, the thought of him looking all regal and mystical and then when you talk to him he's brash, rude, kinda feral, lives outside instead of in some castle and is a dorky sweetheart who pretends he totally doesn't care even though he's often instinctively using his big alicorn wings to shield his friends. (He also has many of his critter friends use his wings as shelter and if you look underneath you'll find a whole pile of the smols)

i am quite likely to talk about this again cuz its so fun

[hojiteaversion]

Why I Think RC Has Trouble Sticking Their Landings

(Or, a pantser talks about structure and DLS for like 8 paragraphs)

My short answer: Because these stories are first drafts

Longer answer: ⬇️

1) (Lack of) Developmental editing

RC's model has its authors write long stories 2-4 chapters at a time. As much as the authors might perfect these chapters, they have no way to change something later on if they realize a scene no longer matches the big picture. An author may revise and make a batch of 4 flawless chapters, but it still doesn't mean they will fit the story seamlessly.

Developmental editing, according to this article, "involves feedback on the big picture of a […] writing piece. A developmental editor will critique structural elements like the plot, characters, theme, and organization of ideas." They also say that this kind of editing is recommended after the first or second draft.

So this type of revision would help an author make sure every character has its place (too many LIs and uneven LI screentime could be fixed), that characterization is consistent, that the plot is clear and moving at a good pacing, etc.

In DLS, for example, things that might be revised after a developmental editing: Leo's introduction scenes not matching his characterization later on, the Leo/Vlad rivalry that seems a bit strange in hindsight, more prominent role and scenes for Sandra, a more consistent progression in Noe/Laia and Ezel/Laia routes, fairer distribution of LI scenes (🫠), Laia's character motivations, the plot mysteries might be revealed to the reader a bit earlier, etc.

But these stories are arguably first drafts that will never be revised holistically (like Choices stories are/used to be, as far as I'm aware), so problems that only become clear once you're further along might not be fixed satisfactorily (or at all).

What sort of problems? Well...

2) Structure, part I

So the visual novel medium is fairly recent, right? Choose Your Own Adventure stories have existed for a while, but, I'm pretty sure, not in the scale of RC stories. 3 seasons demand a lot of story. And the thing is, I'm not sure there is a lot of guidance out there regarding story structure for interactive stories? Not that I've found, at least.

This is a problem, I think, because even if these authors follow the existing material on story structure (Save the Cat, Hero's Journey, Classic 3 Act, Seven-Point Structure, etc.), they will have to do the work of adapting it for a visual novel that A) has 3 seasons as a default, and B) 3 seasons of more or less equal length.

Look, it absolutely can be done! But my point is, I think it's generally uncharted territory and requires a lot of problem-solving. It's not just figuring what must happen in this story for it to be satisfying, it's also deciding when each thing must happen in a way that fits the requirements of three seasons and their finales, which must all fit together, but also be individually exciting and balance setup and payoff. And there is no way to go back and fix it if you realize you messed up the pacing somewhere! Not to mention…

3) Structure, part II: Routes

Not only do they have to figure out plot and structure (without being able to revise the finished story as a whole), but they also need to figure out and balance at least 4 different dynamics. As in, when it gets established, how to keep those dynamics fresh even after they get together, and how to synchronize MC's development with that relationship and its milestones. And again, it's not like there is a manual or a right answer. You have to write and fix afterwards — except they can't 😀. So if an author realizes later on that x couple needed a scene earlier on, or that they rushed things, or any other problem, there is nothing to be done except maybe add more scenes that might stand out from whatever they're trying to correct.

A tiny example of this problem in DLS would be Leo and Laia telling Derya that they're dating, which is clearly a correction of the scene in 4x02 where Laia called him "a friend" because "[she] thought it went against local customs to make a show of pre-marital relationships". In 2019 Istanbul. It would just make more sense if she had just called him her boyfriend in the first place.

4) Authors

I'll admit I'm least informed about this one, but based on a few interviews I've read with the authors, it seems some of them have never written fiction or visual novels before…? I could be wrong! But! Imagine being new to this medium and having to figure all of that ⬆️ out, with the limitations that RC's model brings. I'm not sure how much training and/or assistance they get in this entire process. It just seems a lot for one person.

And I have no answers for any of this, by the way! I don't work there, I don't know how the company works or how it doesn't. This is just my tentative opinion based on my limited experience with writing. It's extremely hard, and I genuinely cannot imagine trying to do any of that ⬆️ in the first place, but especially if I had to get it right on the first try.

Every writing advice on Earth recommends multiple drafts on longform writing because it's impossible to make your story the best it can be on the first attempt. So I think the RC endings often being unsatisfying might be, mainly, a consequence of that.

[amtskind]

die herrlichkeit des lebens (2024)

with kafka's 100th death day approaching this year, 2024 is full of new media about our favourite author.

@sepulkralkreatur and i watched yet another take on kafka's life:

"die herrlichkeit des lebens" (the glory of life) is a movie about kafka's last year, beginning at the baltic-sea and ending by the death-bed. it centers around kafka's romantic relationship to dora dymant and his outbreak from family and prague as a whole - with him moving to berlin. unfortunately, his tuberculosis progresses and he has to move to a sanatorium, where he looses the ability to speak, eat and drink - until he finally dies, with dora being next to him in his last moments.

i got to say, i feared that this movie might be full of kitsch and focus on romance rather than franz kafka - and my initial thought wasn't far from reality in the end - unfortunately.

while the kafka series had this darker and yet funnily-absurd touch to it (which was very fitting for him - kafkaesque!) and strictly followed every aspect of his life, the kafka-feeling in the movie was reduced to fragments of his writing, other people from his life and sporadically added biographical elements - like his illness.

all of this sounds so negative - but let's view the movie from a different perspective: maybe i shouldn't compare the series with the movie in the first place; the series included more facets of biography and had a larger variety of characters and themes - because it was intended to be a biopic.

the movie on the other hand, was based on a novel of the same name by michael kumpfmüller - which dealt with kafka's last year with dora. although having many biographical references, the novel still remains a form of fiction - which makes the movie more distant to the state of a biopic. we shouldn't view the movie as a biography, but rather as a romanticized adaptation of kafka's last year.

the movie features max brod, ottla and elli (kafka's sisters), as well as elli's husband karl hermann. although the characters make phone-calls with kafka's father - he isn't seen anywhere. he remains an oppressing, invisible power towards kafka throughout the whole movie. despite this being a possible, well done metaphor - i would have wished to see more of other characters, with more insight into their feelings in these hard times. but yet again - the movie wasn't made for this intent.

and it is worth considering, that not much is known about his time with dora, since her belongings, including possible letters and memories to franz, were confiscated by the gestapo in 1933. similiar to the legend about kafka's doll (which funnily enough was also mentioned in the movie, that was wholesome), fiction is there to close those holes in his life - and we have to be aware of the fictional nature to the movie.

although i am not the biggest fan of romance-movies and this one didn't necessarily scream "kafka" in your face - i enjoyed it. the actors did a great job and brought some sort of lightness with them. the sets and scenes were full of details and beautifully arranged, making it very lifelike. the following may sound a bit grotesque, but even the medical treatmant and dying-scene was done very realistically, making his suffering even more gruesome. and of course - my favourite thing: the metaphors. the hospital-beds at the beach instead of loungers made dreaming of freedom during a serious illness very impactful.

thank you henriette confurius (dora) and sabin tambrea (franz) for the movie and paying tribute to wonderful people 100 years ago!

more posts:

comparison of the actors and their roles

[tunaafishyy]

The Nymph’s Dream Artifact Set & The Story Within (Part 1)

WARNING: This post contains spoilers for quests in the Genshin 3.6 update

Ok, with the spoiler disclaimer out of the way, it’s time to get started theorizing about the Nymph’s Dream artifact set and it’s rather abstract story!

The story within the artifact set can be broken up into 3 categories

The prophecy, recorded as a fairytale

The story of the children of the Narzissenkreuz Institute

The overviews of “story-telling devices/themes”

To try and cover all these different aspects in a coherent manner, the post is broken up into the following sections.

Section 1: The Story’s Identities — covers speculation on who the people in the story are, as well as the purpose of the institute. The most important part of this section are the names of the speculated children, but I included speculation for other roles as well for funsies

Section 2: The Story of the Hero and the Dragon — a re-telling of the story of the children using the identities defined in Section 1

While the next two sections won't be included in this post, they will be included in Part 2

The Prophecy — who’s involved, what it’s about, and how it connects Section 2 to Section 4 :)

The Story-Telling Devices — the importance of these sections, and what they mean when looking at the past, present, and potential future (based on existing lore).

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Section 1: The Story’s Identities

In this section, the most important characters for the speculated story are Alain and Rene. I’ll be covering other characters/roles in this section… but most of the artifact set (per my interpretation) is about them.

The Narzissenkreuz Institute

The purpose of the Institute, ran by the Director and Vice Director, isn't exactly clear, but let's go over what we know or can infer.

Based on the Heroes' Tea Party artifact, the Institute appears to be located underground, or at least in a place where that "would not see the light of either sun or moon".

It contains many children that often play out the roles of heroes and dragons in stories, but more importantly, these children seem to be elemental/seelie beings.

The first hint of this is also in the Heroes' Tea Party, when the Director hugs the little girl... resulting in her clothes getting soaked... which sounds a lot like what would happen if you hugged one of the lochfolk.

We also learn from Rene's notes that he and Jakob are of "a similar composition" to the "sacred lotus".

If we super summarize the origin of the sacred lotus as "from the Goddess of Flowers"... then Rene and Jakob having a similar composition means they're very similar to something that comes from a Seelie... which also lines up with the watery-hug in the previous example coming form the lochfolk.

We're also told that Oceanids come to the Vourukasha Oasis in search of their god, which could line up with Rene and Jakob's trip.

They aren’t a super great fit since previous Oceanids have names that align with Oceanids in mythology, and they're always female in myths... but since we don't know what creative liberties hoyo might take, I still think it's a possibility.

Ok, so the Instistute is hidden from the sun and moon, and holds at least a couple of children who may or may not be related to the Seelie's. But why?

Clarification: the next statement is pure speculation, and in no way related/important to understanding the artifact set…

...but I think it could have to do with statements made by the Goddess of Flowers about not being able to look upon the heavens and struggling to maintain her form. If those two ideas are connected (maintaining form by not looking upon the heavens) ... then maybe the Institute helps hide seelie-related-children who haven't lost their form from the "light of the heavens"... or something.

... Might also explain Rene and Jakob's very strange idea of growth (3 teeth... what...)

Definitely a stretch, and not super important to the story within the set... so lets get back on topic.

The Hydro Archon as the Director (or Vice Director)

From the Vourukasha Oasis artifact set, as well as multiple other references, we know the Hydro Archon was killed during the cataclysm, and her body became the Amrita.

Also during the cataclysm, the Director and her sisters journey to 'defeat the evil at its source'...

Considering the Vourukasha Oasis is located in the same area as a large door to Khaenri'ah, the Amrita is there, and a significant number of abyssal creatures flooded out from the area... I think its very likely the location the Director went to was the Vourukasha Oasis… and that she is the Hydro Archon who died there.

Now, one thing that threw me off a bit about the passage was the use of the term "Director and her sisters". The term 'sisters' immediately made me think Hexenzirkel, and a Hexenzirkel member being part of the Institute feels like it would go well with the "prophecy being turned into a story" part of the artifact set...

If the Director isn't the Hydro Archon, I think they’d still be a part of the story, just as the Vice Director instead. Support for the Hydro Archon in this role might be found on Rene’s notes:

In Rene's notes, he comments on how "seeing all this" (the Vourukasha Oasis), he believes the Vice Director will be "unable to return".

So, if they thought that the Vice Director was the one at the Vourukasha Oasis, and the Oceanids who journeyed their were in search of their dead god (per Zirvan), then maybe the Vice Director was the Hydro Archon instead.

Phew… so far we've speculated the identity of the Director and Vice Director, as well as the purpose of the institute. Now, it's time to talk about who actually matter for understanding the story...

The children of the Narzissenkreuz Institute.

Alain as "The Machine Lover" & "The Hero who slays the dragon"

Alain Guillotin is the founder of the Fontaine Research Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering, and was considered a genius inventor. In particular, he was renowned for his inventions related to clockwork mechanisms and kinetic energy.

From Rene's notes, we also learn that he was at the Narzissenkreuz Institute. It doesn't specifically state that he was one of the children there, but there's a couple of descriptions related to clockwork and energy that would line up with him well.

We're told one of the children loved machines, and made a pocket watch eventually gifted to a friend...

We're also told the story of the hero, after becoming victorious over the dragon, 'conceives a kingdom powered by machines and energies not derived from the elements'.

Considering that the research institute established by Alain is specifically for "Kinetic Energy"... this description lines up well with researching power sources not derived from the elements (if that wasn't obvious already).

The question is... is Fontaine's power source a result of "kinetic energy research", or did the push for "kinetic energy research" result from the 'special' power source Fontaine runs off of?

I believe it's the latter... which bring us to the next character

Rene as "The Fell Dragon"

We learn in the "Fell Dragon's Monocle" set that the dragon "thinks of the time he once spent with the hero" prior to being slain, implying that the hero and dragon spent time together at some point.

Additionally, the one who Alain gave the pocket watch to eventually "fell into the primordial liquid that dissolves all"... which sounds very similar to the description of the dragon falling into the "chasm that dissolves all things".

So, then why Rene for this role? Well, out of three names we're given... (Alain, Rene, Jakob)... Rene seems like the best fit to me. It's very possible the role belongs to someone we haven't been introduced to yet... but we'll stick with Rene for now.

While I don't want to go to far in depth on Rene's notes (since evaluating those really needs a thread of its own), there's a couple of important points that make him a good fit for the fell dragon role:

The fact that his notes are being used by the Abyss Order in the first place makes the content of his research pretty suspect.

He uses some 'taboo' energy to keep Jakob and himself from weakening... and based on the description of Rene's notebook... with the goal of "surpassing mortality."

He and Jakob are running calculations to prevent the "destruction" caused by a certain "impact"... and eventually they come up with a solution they want to bring back and share with Alain.

In summary, Rene and Jakob go to the Vourukasha Oasis, possibly in search of the Director / Vice-Director, discover a way to utilize a certain energy to prevent some type of destruction (possibly of Fontaine... maybe from something like a divine nail dropping?), and want to bring the info back to Alain.

Assuming they actually make it back to Fontaine... If we consider that Rene was utilizing power with potentially dark implications... then it seems very likely that he, like almost everyone else who messes with taboo power, could have ended up becoming "evil"... at least in the eyes of Alain.

Rhodeia as "The New Arrival at the Institute"

As mentioned in the Institute subsection, a little girl gave the Director a hug that ended up with the Director getting soaked.

While I think this role could probably belong to any of the lochfolk, I'm giving it to Rhodeia because of what we learned about her during the Wishful Drops event.

During that event, Endora tells us that Rhodeia "fled Fontaine, harboring a longing for the previous Hydro Archon."

Rhodeia only desired to "keep the dreams of yesteryear alive."

Her desire to keep the dreams of yesteryear alive reminded me a lot of one of the sections about the children in the Odyssean Flower:

Some still reminisce endlessly over the afternoon adventures that have yet to continue...

Jakob

I don't want to leave Jakob completely out since he was one of the children at the institute, but I don't have too much to say about him. As far as the story goes, I speculate that when the Vice Director asks [redacted] to watch over [redacted], she's asking Rene to watch over Jakob, and that's why they're traveling together.

EDIT (added 2023-08-08)

It was pointed out in the comments by opticor that Jakob would be a good fit for the evil mage:

“regarding the [redacted] names, the children who are urged not to fight (the "knight" and "dragon") both have 2-symbol names, matching how Alain and Rene are written in Chinese; the second pair of children have 3-symbol names, and so does the one who is given the Vice Director's feather. given Jakob's preoccupation with her, i would assume he is the "evil mage" of the group (Jakob is spelled with 3 symbols)”— opticor

I really like the idea of Jakob as the evil mage… both Rene and Jakob having “evil” roles aligns well with them both being involved in the questionable energy experiments.

And looking at the feather description:

But in the end, this feather would never become the mystical staff used by some evil mage.

It would instead follow its new owner and reach the source of that which caused the calamity of parting, before returning to from whence it came...

The part about going to the source of the “calamity of parting” could refer to Rene and Jakob’s trip to the oasis!

END OF EDIT

Section 2: The Story of the Hero and the Dragon

Reminder: this story (more like a small fanfic XD) is based on the speculations in Section 1

The Narzissenkreuz Institute, run by the Director and Vice Director in a location hidden from the light of the Sun and Moon, is the home of many children.

The children, when not taking snack breaks, spend most of their time playing out the stories of heroes and dragons. While their existence is rather stagnant when looked at over the course of time… they live happy, carefree lives...

Until one day, the Director and Vice Director tell the children they have to leave on important business.

“... don’t go running outside,” the Vice Director tells them.

Sound advice, considering the world is being ripped apart by a cataclysm.

After giving Rene Jakob her prized feather, and promising to return, the Vice Director heads off the Director.

… but they never come back.

Eventually, Rene and Jakob leave the Institute, making their way to the Vourukasha Oasis in search of the directors.

Slowly, as they continue their research and experiments in the area, it becomes more and more clear that the Director and Vice Director won't be coming back as promised.

Their state slowly begins to weaken due to the unfavorable conditions, and Rene begins to become concerned that their trip back to Fontaine will become impossible.

Utilizing a power considered 'wrong' by pedantic adults, he alters his and Jakob's compositions so that they're able to live without sustenance. Not wanting Mr. Karl to becomes suspicious of the power he used, Rene tells Jakob they must continue to pretend to require sustenance, and to continue eating even though they no longer need.

They continue their research. Running experiments to prevent a 'greater destruction' caused by an 'impact', eventually theorizing that combined with their power and the divine will extracted out of an energy source, they can reflect the imminent destruction.

They return back to Fontaine, sharing what they've learned with Alain.

They utilize the energy source in Fontaine, and all is well for awhile.

Until one day, Rene's corruption from continuing to use the taboo power finally reveals itself. Alain learns the truth of the 'not fully understood' power Rene uses, as well as of his increasingly radical mindset.

Having no other choice, Alain knows he must slay the dragon to stop him.

Thus, Alain and Rene, children who grew up acting out tales of heroes and dragons with each other, become the hero and dragon of our story.

“... but if you had seen what I had…”

Alain, bittered by how the unnatural power darkened his friend, vows to never again believe in anything that the sum of human knowledge cannot completely grasp and understand, and to the end of his days, strives to make Fontaine a country powered by machines and energies not derived from the elements.

He founds the Fontaine Research Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering, determined to free Fontaine from the unreliable and questionable power that Rene and he had put in place.

(Alternatively, Alain slays Rene as soon as he returns, and the unreliable energy source used by Fontaine is kinetic energy.)

The End

Ending Summary

So, there you have it! I know this theory makes a lot of assumptions, so it's certainly a super stretch, but I hope you enjoyed!

Part 2 will cover The Prophecy (why Narcissus is the Director, but not the dragon) and Story-Telling Devices that appear (taking a look at to Dehya's Story Quest, Rene Girard), so keep an eye out for it!!

... and maybe Part 3 to actually talk about the symbolism of the different names and such, but that seems a little overzealous, so going to try and finish up Part 2 first XD.

Thanks for reading!

Edited on 2023-08-08 to fix typos and add comment from opticor to Jakob’s section

[so-many-ocs]

slowburn romance let's do it

request from instagram that i'm uploading here <33

figure out your characters first

try and fully develop all characters involved. figure out their goals, motives, values, strengths, weaknesses, & at least a basic backstory.

then compare these elements to determine the dynamics between each character. how do their personalities contrast? where might they work well together?

take your time

remember that a slowburn isn't necessarily created with a higher word count, or with a longer period of in-universe time for your characters to get together, but how much time the reader spends getting to know their relationship.

your characters could take 10 years to get together, but, if you skip most of that time and condense the relationship into a few chapters, it may still feel rushed.

allow for growth

dedicate time to showing the development of the relationship.

how do the characters initially connect? when do they realize they like each other or get along? what do they like about one another? how do they spend their time together? when do they realize they love each other?

also consider why they don't or can't get together right away. try to make the obstacle(s) at least plausible, even if it isn't necessarily realistic.

implement conflict

i mentioned this in the previous section, but something is keeping your characters apart. maybe it's internal, and they don't realize they like one another yet, or they recognize their feelings but have other reservations (different priorities, different goals, fear of rejection...). or maybe it's external, and plot or other outside circumstances stand in the way of their budding relationship (a quest, disapproving parental figures, assassination plots...).

add chemistry (obvs)

how do these characters challenge each other? how do they balance each other out? figuring out where and how their arcs tie into one another will enable you to explore their relationship with more depth.

make them active agents in their own stories. ensuring they take an active rather than a passive role in the narrative makes their relationship more compelling.

figure out the push and pull of the dynamic. where does one character lean in while the other leans away, and vice versa?

put them on equal footing, somehow, to make their interactions more interesting. maybe one character's strengths fit perfectly with the other's weaknesses. maybe they have similar abilities, social standing, etc. and their differences lie elsewhere.

show the chemistry, through physical and verbal interactions, through internal monologues and reflections, through every avenue you can conceive of.

work out the story

figure out your storyline ahead of time. if you're not a plotter, that's fine, i vibe with that; i didn't start consistently outlining my stories until, like, a year ago, and i've been writing since i could pick up a pen.

but you need to know where the right moment in the story is for your characters to get together, and it helps to know what that moment may look like, so you can avoid a slowburn that drags on for too long or doesn't drag on long enough.

that's all!! best of luck, and happy writing!

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