#such interesting implications from a lore angle

[ieiwi]

So for the fucking life of me I cannot find the original post detailing the couple of times it happened because it was from EA and I saw it forever ago - but I remembered not too long ago about the whole "Gale interacting with magic through smell" thing.

This is if Gale interacts with the magic mirror in the Necromancy of Thay basement, and if I recall correctly it comes up a few times in a PC!Gale run with Arcana checks? This detail just really interests me because its clearly unique if even Wizard!Tav doesn't get it, and makes me wonder if its almost like a type of magical synesthesia? One of my friends mentioned that could be just what that sort of hyper magical talent that he has *is*, that people who have that extrasensory input on magic like that allows them to interact with magic on a different level because they interact with it from another angle. I really wish we had gotten a little more interaction with this detail on him because it really does fascinate me that they would take the time to add that in. Like, does this just happen sometimes with casters? Do people leave an imprint on their spells that he can tell? Do schools of magic affect this??

Either way it def lends itself to my HC that bards can hear magic and that's how they weave it into song/performance

All this said, I haven't finished a PC!Gale run before so this all could be addressed there and I simply haven't seen it

[thewalrusespublicist]

Two of Us Play: Thoughts or 'This Could Mean Nothing: The Play'

I saw Two of Us and I have thoughts. and feelings. Frustrated feelings.

What I liked: the mental health angle, the details, the research, the bones of the story and the acting for the most part (good actors, poor direction basically).

What I didn't like: First off the script needs work. At the minute it plays more as a spot the reference rather than one coherent story. This doesen't feel like convo between friends but a recap of Beatles lore with no train of thought that gets satisfyingly resolved and whilst hitting off the movie beats rather than building to them. The pay off feels less like a cathartic journey and more 'cool it's Mclennon I guess..'. Next the chemistry is off, the two leads don't feel like platonic soulmates/best frenemies and they don't fly off of each other as John and Paul did. Instead the energy is super low, even in their heightened fight scenes it doesn't feel like two people duking it out. There's no screaming and shouting, it's like two old but never that close friends going from awkward to semi awkward and back again repeatedly without ever hitting any moments of sizzling connection. This I think is partially to do with the 'nice Paul' characterization, which please lord can it end! Let our beloved alpha bitch be beloved and alpha bitchy, it's good for his skin AND MORE REAL.

I think the chemistry/energy problem is linked though to the main problem and the elephant in the room: the 'latent' homosexuality. Latent is probably the best word for it, but that's only because of the play's fear of its own implications. To be clear, with a slightly more daring director unafraid of the material, the latent would be BLATANT. The dialogue is BLATANT. John's wordplay is loaded with suggestion: 'best fuck you've ever had', 'you should have married me' and there's a closeness when they are singing on the piano which was 👀👀. The 'I love Paul' badge is also there with a 'lucky Paul' comment that COULD have built to a potentially interesting character moment. But they just fly over these bits like they haven't been said. The candlelight dinner as well that John puts on for Paul is by its nature loaded, as is John offhandedly calling him 'my love' when fiddling with the stereo during that scene.It's so casual that it feels like an accidental slip on John's part. But nothing is made of this, no pause, shift in the air, comments, nothing. This was the worst with the KISS which was initiated by John and yes, way way way too long for it to mean nothing and the Epstein jokes are completely omitted. Its a wild moment, but the play can't seem to handle what they've just laid down so just ... skates past it. Its like HAHA WEIRD RIGHT THEY JUST KISSED ANYWAY ROOF SCENE.

But the implications also aren't consistent as the whole thing is too attached to the 'Paul is a jilted victim' angle. It's Paul who is jealous of Yoko, but save a line about being surprised about Linda, John seems neutral (weird considering its JOHN making the overtures and was IRL not Linda's biggest fan). The ending is the strangest for this. They have the SNL thing like in the movie but it's weirder as Paul is CRYING. OBVIOUSLY CRYING. CAN HEAR AUDIBLY FROM A DISTANCE CRYING. The whiplash of John throwing down these implications and suggestions to just ... nonchalantly giving a hand grip goodbye and ignoring Paul's tears after going on this whole journey together is WEIRD and makes him look like a user and a selfish, insensitive prick. Like bestie your bestie is crying you can call Yoko back??? Also the end is meant to be a love you to both each other and their wives but Paul's is clearly to mostly John and John's feels mostly to Yoko. It's not a good look on John and its not a good look on his relationship with Yoko (yh John could free himself from the prison he's made for himself and was about to but the darn Yoko pull is just too strong guys). Again this would be sort of sad but fine if it was Paul making the overtures or there were no overtures but it isn't and there are! John is both the mooning would be romancer and the unavailable ex. Once again nuance and coherency (as well as Paul and Linda!) are sacrificed for the traditional John and Yoko angle. Wholeheartedly, it feels like there has been a layer of implication added onto the script, a layer which means that the original elements of the script would need to change to work but they haven't done it so you have this Frankenstein's monster of a traditionalist narrative fused with loaded suggestion.

So yeah, I think the whole thing had a lot of potential as a play but the script needs an overhaul, the actors need better chemistry and if you are going to go there, for gods sake GO THERE.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Motherlode

And here I find myself again, circling back to the same basic thoughts about this arc that really only stretched itself out to about double what I and most others predicted. You get my angle right? While the world's watching, while the fandom's watching someone not named Nico Robin give a little nuggie of Void Century lore...200 chapters after Bakura Town, 100 after Kiku's fall, in a chapter after one with a folk lore allusion title. Stussy breaks the seal. Speaking more or less the same trauma. It's even the same central idea of Wano; ensuring the Straw Hat's escape was Stella's final command. It all runs on that old school Japanese take on ideal feminity; "A woman's happiness is taking care of those she loves." Self-sacrifice to repay kindness towards you.

Bonney has so much to compare and contrast, you're a solid candidate for someone who could kinda fuse Kiku & Yamato, but Stussy? You're our Tamataebako buddy with the same eyes. A trans woman and a clone, can't say it isn't relatable and they both have a demonic facade without an ounce of action girl tomboy tropes. Stussy can nab that torch now just like Bonney could have. But you still exist in that space. Why are we doing you now, after the others? We still have cards unplayed from Wano. When their theme is subtlety one should expect waiting until the final phase.

This chapter gives me a lot that has me excited.

We have a whole theme this chapter of people responding again and doubling down on the idea these different faces we know are reacting differently to Vegapunk's speech. Things different fans are reacting to. Wano the Joyboy lore, Carrot the weaponry, but it's one of those simple tricks that fuel a big deception. None of it is really that much deeper than clarifying what we as readers sorta knew. Of course, for Wano...it isn't the full group but we see a group. It'd make perfect sense for Kiku to be smiling and holding a tray with the implication she brought the dango, she could appear any example of this cover serial...but this is how you have to look at things when strategic absence is an established motif. Oh, and I guess Shino just got to stay youthful. Rock on mature woman, enjoy it.

The world is merely learning more or less what we know. The real story is still playing out. Stussy, the escape, this time we aren't breaking away. It's almost like a good rap track where the first two verses are smooth and melodic leading into a rapid-fire third verse to really hammer the message. I think we'll stick with that as the message unfolds. But this arc has just enough gas it's the opening act not the final point in and of itself. What makes me feel confident this time? Glad you asked:

Nojiko caring more about the farm bolsters this and her alone would have me freaking the fuck out but...bruh. Miss Goldenweek? Goldie!? Marianne and her hilarious in hindsight apple hat? Peep the suitcase, they're leaving to find Cross Guild. But yeah! Miss Friggin Goldenweek and Nojiko have an interesting response to this worldwide message. I love it too. They don't really seem to care much. Nami's big sister and a mellow girl that was one of Luffy's most vexing opponents. She got a cover serial, this little lady was always an oddball waiting to surprise us. For now though this is dope. Don't let her demeanor fool you, she was clearly a top agent for a reason and the reasons really aren't that different than the archetype I see out of Kiku.

What specifically does it though is how she's paired with the reaction focusing on the common people killed as collateral damage. Now let's take it altogether. Because something else going on under the message brings us back to where this felt most powerful:

Uh-oh. The big cloud layer is under attack. The Elbaf ship is getting surrounded. What if they weren't enough? For all the talk about other stuff that could happen if the Giants are the penultimate surprise addition...is it just gonna be the Grand Fleet after all? They make so much sense big picture. Robonosuke is still hanging around at the edge of all this too. Because things are getting dire on Egghead underneath the lore dump.

All in all...I love this shit right now because it's exactly what I've been on about since Wano ended. Wall to wall this chapter. 1115 is a straight banger.

[merakiui]

mera mera did u read the platinum jacket vignettes for jade and floyd??? there’s some new tweel lore that would make good character analysis 👀 👀 👀 👀

>:) my writer brain is bouncing around the confines of my skull!!!!! It's too good. I rambled a lot, but I hope it makes sense. Forgive me. orz I wanted to share my thoughts and write something of an analysis/characterization. >_<

Floyd who plays with things until it's broken and thoroughly in disrepair, whereas Jade prefers to dissect said interesting thing until there's nothing left to glean. The both of them tossing aside these interesting things after they've "broken" them because it's no longer fun or entertaining. The implications of the physical and the mental, which is how I often characterize them: Floyd is more physical in everything he does. Jade is more about the mind. I think this is rather obvious, though. Floyd is very physical, both in affection and in intimidation, within the game. Jade is always so meticulous and calculating. Whereas Floyd would rather execute vengeance right away with his fists, Jade prefers to stall the suffering so that it truly cuts deep (mentally).

To illustrate the hurt: Floyd will break bones, spatter organs, leave you completely, horrifically, bodily devastated. Jade will dig into you with metaphorical scalpel, stir your brain around within your head, and watch you squirm, all with the sweetest smile. The difference is that Floyd is swift, like a hatchet splitting wood, and perhaps there is some level of mercy in the quickness. Jade is not. He's the type who tilts his head at a cute angle and asks, "Does it hurt? I should hope so," all while you're (very obviously) hurting. Jade thrives off of the build-up and the consequent break-down.

Floyd likes the chase, the euphoria of a quick capture. He plays with you, breaks you, and skips off to find something else that'll grab his attention; he doesn't linger or loiter or spend time considering the other ways in which he could have fun with you because he's already lost interest. Jade becomes your second shadow; he dwells in the corners of your mind, the little paranoid parts that spur you to think, "Am I truly alone?" And you're not. He puts you under his microscope and he studies you; turn the scope or spotlight on him, however, and he hates it because there are no shadows to hide within.

These "interesting things," which we can classify as hobbies or fleeting/temporary interests, hyperfixations, or even obsessions, mean that the twins require stimulation from such obsessions (naturally, as most of us don't like feeling bored). When the obsession no longer serves its purpose, it's useless, meaningless, and boring. It makes sense for Jade to have such an attachment to terrariums and cultivating mushrooms because the unexpected almost always happens with plants (which keeps him properly invested) and, as he's mentioned in the game, he enjoys "controlling what lives and dies." Again, the mental implications of control, of getting to pick and choose and be particularly selective when playing with the thing. If Jade likes you enough, you should hope he never tires of you because once he's finished playing with his obsession it's soon discarded. He has no feelings for it anymore. It's nothing to him.

In that regard, Floyd's interests may be slightly more fleeting than Jade's because of how mercurial he is. That, and Floyd doesn't look towards the future as much as Jade does when it comes to hobbies. For Jade, it's a matter of how long will the hobby sustain him, keep his interest, provide entertainment and stimulation? For Floyd, it's a matter of how will this entertain him in the here and now? The present. In his basketball club wear, Floyd remarks how he and Jade once found a ball floating on the surface and they spent time throwing it around. But it was short-lived fun because it soon deflated, which essentially means they were likely whipping it at one another. Both twins play rough and are only gentle when they want to be or when (or if) certain situations call for it. But playing rough is the most fun because that's how they get the most use out of the fun things.

At the core of it, though, they both want to obtain things that are difficult to get or things they can't have. No matter what, at any cost. And when they have it, it's not enough to derive satisfaction from simply celebrating such a success. They have to truly appreciate it until it's breaking, which makes me happy because I love to imagine both of them (especially Jade) loving until breaking. They love their thrills. Life wouldn't be any fun if it was predictable and mundane. They need their thrills. And sometimes it's thrilling to break something. To enjoy something until it's no longer usable or enjoyable must be quite cathartic; there's a level of ownership to that, too. No one else can play with it because it's broken (physically or mentally). Or: no one else will want to play with it because it's broken (physically or mentally). By that logic, it belongs solely to the twins. No one else will ever be able to experience or play with that thing in the way the twins did.

There's so much more I could say, but I fear if I continue anymore it will start to sound like an analysis paper. ^^;;; I'm grateful if anyone read up to this point!!!

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

OW2 Junkrat & Roadhog Relationship (part 5)

Part 1: [click]

Part 2: [click]

Part 3: [click]

Part 4: [click]

5th post in this series of looking at Junkrat and Roadhog's relationship in OW2 stuff... For this one I'm looking at Roadhog's OW2 profile! Like with my Junkrat one, I got kind of distracted with my goal because I also wanted to compare the current profile to his old OW1 profile, so the goals of this post are:

to point out any changes made to Roadhog's OW2 profile compared to his OW1 profile, and the implications of those changes

to summarize how Junkrat and Roadhog’s relationship is characterized in Roadhog's current OW2 profile (including any information carried over from his OW1 profile)

Again, apologies for the somewhat unfocused organization of this and the previous post lol;; like last time, I also put links to both the OW1 and the OW2 profile under the cut. Feel free to read if you're interested!

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OW1 profile: archived here, sourced from 9/17/2022 (soon before OW2 was released; though I also checked the 2016 profile and it was exactly the same)

OW2 profile: version referenced on 7/4/2024 is available here

OW1: “Roadhog is a ruthless killer with a well-earned reputation for cruelty and wanton destruction.”

OW2: “Roadhog is a powerful enforcer with a well-earned reputation for random and wanton destruction. […] Roadhog is a ruthless masked killer with a reputation for destruction.”

The “cruelty” angle has been dropped from these opening sentences, possibly suggesting he’s not intended as cruel in OW2.

OW2 profile refers to him as a “powerful enforcer,” making his status as a killer more like an occupation rather than something he does for no reason. (may just be my misreading of the word “enforcer,” though… I see on google that there’s an informal reading of this word that I don’t really use so I’m unfamiliar with it)

I also see on his OW1 profile that “enforcer (former)” is listed under “occupation” (missed this on my first readthrough)… could again suggest the occupation reading of “enforcer” in the OW2 profile.

Roadhog currently being considered an enforcer in OW2 is a little strange to me personally, since enforcer kind of has this implied meaning of “enforcer of law” which goes directly against his status as a criminal.

OW2 profile introduces the idea that he has a reputation for “random […] destruction” (instead of cruelty); the keyword “random” may be intended to give him an affinity for Junkrat’s style of destruction.

Idk why the fact his mask is specified in the OW2 version. Maybe to imply that under the mask he’s not as ruthless as he seems, maybe for no reason at all lol

OW2: “Roaming the irradiated, wreckage-littered Australian outback, his only known associate (and many wonder why) is the manic young Junker criminal known as Junkrat.” (No parallel in OW1 profile)

Refers to Junkrat as Roadhog’s associate, suggesting that that’s how onlookers perceive their relationship.

Many people think it’s bizarre that Roadhog associates with Junkrat (possibly indicating that people are not aware that Junkrat hired Roadhog as his bodyguard)

This is a stretch but this could suggest that Junkrat deliberately keeps the fact that Roadhog is his bodyguard a secret; there could be a bunch of different motivations for why Junkrat would do this, but none are given here.

Junkrat and Roadhog’s age difference is somewhat addressed here (in that they specify that Junkrat is young), meaning their difference in age may impact how they interact with each other.

Junkrat is the only person that Roadhog seems to hang out with.

OW2: “Mako Rutledge was one of the many inhabitants of the Australian Outback whose land was seized and used for the construction of an omnium.” (no parallel in OW1 profile)

Suggests that the construction of an omnium was against the wishes of those living in the Australian Outback, meaning Roadhog and others were oppressed (?) by authorities even before the Omnic Crisis. (tbh I’m not too clear on OW lore, I still don’t totally know what the Omnic Crisis is).

Establishes Roadhog’s backstory as someone oppressed by external forces that have more political power than him.

OW1: “After the Omnic Crisis, government officials gifted the Australian omnium and the surrounding area to the omnics that had nearly destroyed their country, hoping to establish a long-term peace accord.”

OW2: “But in the wake of the Omnic Crisis, the government made a controversial move, gifting the land to the omnics who had nearly destroyed their country, in hopes of establishing a long-term peace accord.”

The OW2 description is more sympathetic to people living on the land (like Roadhog), acknowledging that the government’s choice here was controversial (rather than the description in OW1 that made the decision seem passive or neutral).

Reinforces Roadhog’s backstory as someone oppressed by external forces with more political power than him.

OW1: “This arrangement permanently displaced Mako Rutledge and a large number of the Outback's residents[…]”

OW2: “This agreement permanently displaced Mako and a large number of the area's residents[…]”

Very minor changes here:

OW1 “arrangement” to OW2 “agreement”: new version gives slightly more agency to the government in the decision, implicating the government instead of treating it as passive.

OW1: “Furious over the loss of their homes, Mako and others turned to violent rebellion.”

OW2: “Furious over the loss of their homes, Mako and the residents turned to violent rebellion.”

Refers to the people affected by the government decision as “residents” instead of “others”; humanizes the people affected by the government decision.

Reinforces Roadhog’s backstory as someone oppressed by external forces with more political power than him.

OW1: “They formed the Australian Liberation Front and struck against the omnium and its robot population to take back the lands that had been stolen.”

OW2: “They formed the Australian Liberation Front and struck against the omnium and its robot population to take back the lands that had been stolen from them.”

Addition of “from them” to the end of the sentence; again humanizes the people involved.

emphasizes the gravity of the decision made by the government and the consequences of that decision.

OW1: “Events continued to escalate until the rebels sabotaged the omnium's fusion core, resulting in an explosion that destroyed the facility, irradiated the region, and littered the Outback with twisted metal and wreckage for kilometers around.”

OW2: “Events continued to escalate until the ALF sabotaged the omnium's fusion core, which resulted in an explosion that destroyed the omnium, irradiated the surrounding area, and littered the Outback with twisted metal and wreckage for miles around.”

OW2 humanizes the people involved slightly, referring to them as “the ALF” (official name) instead of “the rebels” (negative connotation).

Omnium now referred to as “omnium” instead of “facility”; may slightly suggest more sympathy for the ALF’s goals (they didn’t want to destroy just any facility, they specifically wanted to destroy the omnium and what it stands for).

There’s other minor changes but I don’t think they change the implications much.

Idk why they changed it from kilometers to miles here. OW’s primary demographic is USAmericans so. Ig that’s why. Still random though.

The rest of these notes are specific to the OW2 profile. (The OW1 profile ends before the OW2 profile.) I’ll only be looking at elements relating to Junkrat and Roadhog’s relationship from here on out rather than analyzing Roadhog’s character or story specifically.

“[Roadhog lived in Junkertown] for his gas and everyone else could rot. That held true until a chance encounter with Junkrat forged a lasting partnership, based in part on a 50% cut of a legendary lost treasure.”

Junkrat and Roadhog’s relationship is considered a “lasting partnership,” meaning they have stuck together for presumably a decent amount of time and possibly in the future as well

Notably, the partnership is only described as “in part” based on treasure—this could indicate that from Roadhog’s perspective, Junkrat’s treasure is not his sole motivator for him partnering with Junkrat.

Establishes Roadhog’s worldview on people as “everyone in the world can rot. Except Junkrat, because he owes me treasure.”

If taken as a softer interpretation, this could mean that Junkrat is the one who compelled (?) Roadhog out of total apathy; and likewise is the only person in the world that matters to Roadhog.

I think this softer interpretation could somewhat make sense here considering Roadhog’s ending lines in Wasted Land, and with this profile leaning somewhat to Roadhog’s perspective.

Unlike on Junkrat’s profile, Roadhog is not explicitly suggested to be Junkrat’s bodyguard here (partnership = somewhat vague way of describing their agreement). Could suggest that while Junkrat believes he hired Roadhog as his bodyguard, Roadhog doesn’t hold that title for himself.

Even though this part of his profile is an OW2-specific blurb, I feel like none of this is really indicated anywhere else in OW2-specific content LOL (especially OW2 voice lines and A Friendly Rivalry).

Junkrat and Roadhog are referred to collectively in the events described in the “Wanted Criminal” section, emphasizing their status as partners in crime and having similar goals.

“Though the job was a bust, it gave them the kick they needed to launch an international crime spree.”

This is about the events in the comic Going Legit.

Suggests that the international crime spree was something they both chose to do (rather than just being Junkrat’s idea with Roadhog following out of obligation or sth idk).

Interesting that this blurb suggests that the events in Going Legit were kind of what motivated Junkrat and Roadhog to go on their crime spree. I guess they never really gave us an explicit motivation for their crime spree outside of that, but I always interpreted that comic as like a short aside in their crime spree (to try, as the title says, “going legit”) before going back to doing their crime thing afterword.  

“Now, the duo has nothing left but money, useless disguises, and soon-to-detonate explosives.”

Kinda suggests that Junkrat and Roadhog’s current status in the plot is that they’ve got a lot of money and are still out causing trouble together.

Junkrat and Roadhog often use disguises for their schemes.

This line is really just a summary of the end of The Plan so idk if it’s really intended to mean anything bigger than that lmao;;

Summary

Roadhog's characterization in the opening lines differs slightly in his new OW2 profile, where he is no longer described as cruel and slightly less emphasis is put on his status as a killer. The addition of the word "random" may suggest an affinity for people like Junkrat. The new profile has some word choice changes and additional information added to make his backstory more sympathetic; more blame is placed on the Australian government as increasing tensions between omnics and Australian residents, while Roadhog/others living near the omnium are framed as victims of the omnium/omnic situation.

Roadhog’s OW2 profile also contains new sections describing his partnership with Junkrat as well as the events in Going Legit and The Plan. Junkrat and Roadhog are said to be together so often that onlookers know Junkrat as "Roadhog's associate." Onlookers may not be aware that Roadhog is Junkrat's bodyguard, and often wonder why Junkrat is the only person Roadhog hangs out with. Their age difference is slightly implied in the profile, but it is unclear how their respective ages affect their relationship. It is somewhat suggested that Junkrat's treasure is not the sole reason for why Roadhog partners with Junkat. It may be the case that Roadhog considers Junkrat someone special compared to everyone else in the world, but in what way Junkrat is special outside of his treasure is not fully specified. It is not clear if Roadhog sees himself as Junkrat's bodyguard or as something else.

The events in Going Legit are indicated to be the launching pad for their crime spree--it is also implied that the crime spree is something they both chose to do together willingly. Their current status in the plot is from the end of The Plan, where the two of them are described as currently having a lot of money, disguises, and explosives.

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Honestly some parts of this profile were more positive about their relationship dynamic than I expected…. The slight difference in tone for Roadhog’s backstory was also really surprising to me, too. No idea why some of the stuff in this profile is like not reflected at all in actual game content or the short story from this year. This kinda just reinforces to me that Blizzard has no particular direction that they’re trying to go for for Roadhog’s characterization or his relationship w Junkrat in OW2;;

Anyway!!!!! I’ll prob make one more post after this looking at other random details in skins/events/etc. Thanks again for reading!

Part 1: [click]

Part 2: [click]

Part 3: [click]

Part 4: [click]

[pen-and-umbra]

SE appears to be intent on slightly expanding Jenova lore, which was not present in previous installments. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the remake, particularly in the Nibelheim flashback. 

The remake portrays Jenova as a master of illusions, citing her abilities to create visions during the Jenova Dreamweaver battle. The enemy's description posits the entity induces hallucinations, while FF7R Ultimania suggests that it messes with the minds of those who come into close proximity to it. Sephiroth elaborates on this in the first Rebirth trailer:

They say she's a monster. That she can peer inside you into the very depths of your soul. That she can become those you hate, those you fear, those you love.

The implication is clear: Jenova somehow probes an individual's mind, scans memories, and chooses an appropriate illusion to weave. Given that this predatory behavior was used on the Cetra, I assume that being injected by Jenova cells is not a prerequisite in and of itself, but it may serve as an amplifier, making an individual more susceptible to mind-reading and later indoctrination.

In light of this and the released Ever Crisis information, does this imply that Sephiroth experienced the same pattern when he came into contact with the Jenova vault in Nibelheim? With all the turmoil of looking for his mother/origins brought to the surface by Genesis' intervention, his mind may have presented an easy target to hijack. Could Jenova have created the illusion of Lucrecia in a tube — „become…those you love“? Sephiroth's onset of insanity aside, a woven illusion and mind manipulation could explain a seemingly absurd course of action, such as cutting off your supposed beloved mother's head and dragging it with you: he could have been seeing something else that a player — via Zack or Cloud POV — could not. Something woven by Jenova's hallucinogenic effects. Furthermore, his body language during the breakdown is not too dissimilar to that of Cloud in the Remake, when the latter experiences hallucinations. Gripping head, shaking, nearly doubling over, etc.

If Jenova remained in a vegetative state — bodily faculties disabled but brain/mind function intact, in whatever measure it applies to the entity — then coming into contact with a perfect live host, essentially a hybrid, such as Sephiroth, could have triggered a sort of awakening (in which case, a dormant state is a better description). Its next logical step would be to break free from confinement. Given Jenova cells' longevity and corruption abilities, it stands to reason that the entity could regenerate/reassemble its body if the "brain" remained intact. From that perspective, it makes sense that the only thing that truly needed escaping was her head. And sure enough, the deed was carried out.

If SE chooses to emphasize Jenova's importance as this lurking eldritch horror in Rebirth, the scenes provided by Ever Crisis could add a new and interesting angle to Nibelheim events. If her meddling with Sephiroth's head is brought into light, the Nibelheim slaughter may be mixed with Rhadoran or Wutai war scenes, with Sephiroth hallucinating himself back on the war-torn battlefield among enemies and "traitors". Could be a nice touch to show his mind slipping completely. In fact, it could fit in with the glitched fire sequence from Sephiroth's story announcement teaser, where his adult and teen selves intermixed and overlapped each other.

[silence-of-autumn42]

Been thinking about how the elements work in Dragonfable, and what technically...counts as one. Be warned, this is long and rambly.

The eight basic elements, the ones represented by an Avatar, make perfect sense. They exist in nature, they make up the planet of Lore. Disease, Poison, Metal and Silver are what I'm calling "special" elements, in that they're natural things, but not naturally magical - their power comes from human, or humanoid perspectives. Good and Evil, based on what I've seen from the Engineer and the Exaltia Tower, are the elements used by the Celestials and Infernals, and seem to be combinations of the eight basic elements, just polarised. Void is the absence of elements, present in and from the Void. Fear, however, is the really interesting one. Fear is the element most commonly associated with Mana damage, and seems to represent the relationship between the mind and the ability to channel mana. However, we also know Mana is an actual substance, and both Mama Elementals and the Avatar of Order do Fear damage. This, to me, suggests that Fear is the closest thing we have to raw mana damage, which has some interesting implications when we look at it from the angle of Mana being vital to life. It's pure magical force, which connects us to reality. And it manifests as fear when we interact with it. Interacting with the natural source of energy in the world causes us to be afraid. Is it because we can subconsciously feel the animosity that Aequilibria has for life? Or is it just that the power of mana is so overwhelming that we can't comprehend it, as some eldritch force?

[squidslugs-art]

anybody else up completely redesigning the cast of one of their stories to make it original and not a pokemon universe based one

no? just me? shame

(tawny | nutmeg | hibiscus sarsaparilla | firecracker | stripes clawin | glare | arkea)

thoughts and philosphys behind their design changes and such below the cut!

tawny: borderline unchanged! besides a little bit of change to his ear markings and removal of all plusle association. and thank god because fuck those plus tails man. but his design is so strong i couldnt really change a whole lot - thank you 2020 wheat for making such a good design!

tawnys scars however got a HEAVY redesign them make them look more intense. those lame scratches from before did not come from a dragon. added a bit more spread out to his neck too for a big bite mark across the back of his neck. i kept his usual trouble with opening that eye over because i think its iconic and much more interesting than just keeping it closed or removing it

also he limps now. he broke his leg in the attack too and didnt rest it properly so it didnt heal properly. i decided against giving that a visual indicator because i dont think it would really have one logically - this isnt a cinderpelt situation, he broke it by landing at a poor angle and then didnt let it heal properly, so it wouldnt really be scratched up or be twisted in any way.

nutmeg/lewis: a name change to match some new lore about rabbits (naming them after stuff they'd know about instead of human names) and also because as much as i liked the name lewis, it felt very strange having it stand out as the super different name in the family

otherwise? also borderline unchanged besides a few new and recoloured markings to make them a little more unique from his brother. they arent twins or anything man. nothing else to say about it really, hes literally the same guy as before basically.

hibiscus: a complete design overhaul, although using the philosphy of her old design; she still looks like shes related to her kids without looking like a carbon copy like the old design. i wanted her to appear as Parent with only a few shared traits with her kids instead of all of them. you can see what they inherited from her and what they didnt instead of them being borderline clones of hibiscus

i leaned heavier into the pinks and making her lighter than her children (sunnyside warren is mostly dark coated rabbits, so shes on the lighter side for them) and i tried to inspire a bit of a flower motif with her face marking, relating back to her name. i wanted to actually make her look a bit like the flower in general

continues to be the only character in shattered glass with an accessory! i couldnt remove it. its iconic. and i made her future scars a little more obvious on her, although the design pictured is where she is early-story

sarsaparilla/elsa: a name change again for the reasons spoken of in nutmegs section, and also because of the unfortunate frozen association. i did not name them (they are from a very old rp and was the child of a character who was not mine)

a COMPLETE overhaul pretty much, going from poochyena to a jackalope of all things, making them the only fantasy animal in the story, although jackalopes are not regarded as such in universe (instead being considered a rare mutation of normal rabbits and are treated like and called rabbits). i thought it was fun as it makes their role as the soothsayer of the warren more standout in their design by giving them a very unique trait. im sure this special treatment given to them because of it implies nothing.

this was because becoming a xenofiction story, the implication of going 1-1 with their pokemon species and making them a wolf of some sort felt... contridictary with their role, so i completely overhauled them from a young-ish wolf to a elderly jackalope, old and wise and full of wisdom and future visions, for sure. i managed to keep a little bit of that old design intact with their markings and colours though, as a little nod to poochyena my friend poochyena

firecracker/jenga: so the backstory around sunnyside warren, the home of all of the rabbits we've seen so far, is that they struck a deal with stoats that moved into the area to stop them from hunting them. these stoats are firecrackers parents.

previously a mightyena/braxian hybrid, i wanted to go a completely different route for jenga. i dont know why i gravitated to the stoat family, it just slotted in... perfectly. they had been slated to have been a childhood friend of tawny and nutmeg before drawing away after nutmegs death and ultimately going missing entirely, i felt like slotting them into the role of the future guardian of the warren kept the reason for them to interact with the siblings since theyre of similar age while providing inheritant conflict that would keep them further apart when they get a bit older despite their shared experiences.

so! a changed name for a new stoat name custom (named after more human concepts) and basically the exact same colours with a different set of markings to give that firecracker name good reason. i think they came out SUPER solid and cute i love it sooo much

fun fact: i initially planned for it to have the black as a base with white and orange markings, but after colouring the rabbits first i realized that white would look nice as a contrast against the darker coats of the warren, and i think that was a good call.

stripes: OH BOY. the hardest of all the designs in here to figure out. ve was the only one i hadnt settled on a species on when i started sketching these about a month ago and i still didnt until about a week ago - i initially planned on vem being a pegasus, and playing around with the exact design of pegasi in the universe (they were going to be quite bulky and designed for mountain environments, and their wings were going to be more for gliding than flying), but in the end i felt this didnt suit xem, even if this meant ditching the wings from their design for reasons ill get into in arkeas section

i knew i wanted her to be big, and i didnt want to make xem a predator of some sort, so i was kind of stuck with either monkey, marsupial or large herbivore. i am NOT drawing a monkey and i couldnt think of a marsupial that really fit vem, so after much messing around i settled on mountain goat.

xer colours stayed effectly the same, but i converted their "stripes" into sort of a patched classic tabby cat appearance. im not really sure why i did that, honestly i just thought of it randomly and thought it looked good. ve didnt have many markings before so i just started throwing stuff around until something stuck. some early concepts leaned more pink and orange calico markings or doing a cloud theme.

also, a missing leg, because i realized lately that i have a habit of making all my disabled characters anthro animals that fly who have a flight-related disability. while a fun idea to play with (coming up with the way flight aids would work, the ways a flight disability would effect someone in a flight-based society, etc), pegasus!stripes had this instead of the leg at the time, and then i realized my trend and wanted to make it something that was more grounded in real disabilities instead of making them all based in traits we, as humans, dont have.

CLAWIN: ohh. clawin clawin clawin. im so glad i went for a redesign angle on this story purely for him - i love minun, its one of my favourite pokemon, but that yellow looked so FUCK UGLY on him man. this design i did in one take, and i nailed it i think. its such a huge glow up im so proud of how it came out

first, his eyes, which i consider one of his most important traits - i kept over his weird heterochromia, although instead of giving him an unexplained blank red eye (leftover from when clawin was evil and the reincarnation of a dead character), i gave him a broken iris. coming from a concussion he had earlier in life, his vision is blurry in that eye as a result. its a fun way to keep his "strange looking" red eye while it having a reason to exist. not that i minded him having a random evil looking red eye, but i think its more fun to base it in realism.

i especially am fond of making him a hare instead of a rabbit, making him tower above most of the rest of the cast and giving me the option of making the guy ive always written as being very limited in his expressions (its probably autism now instead of being emotionally repressed) a little more creepy factor by leaning into hares really freaky eyes. not seriously or wahtever, but i think it gets weird when he stares at you for too long.

in general tawny and clawin are meant to contrast eachother as characters, and i wanted to match that design-wise too, which i think i finally succeeded with here. tawny being soft, round and sweet looking and clawin being long, lanky and a little scary looking, despite tawny being full of hate and clawin being nice to a fault.

GLARE: just like stripes, just a complete overhaul for them. again, 1-1-ing an umbreon, especially for the character who is romantically involved with clawin, felt strange for their dynamic. i ended up landing on a flying fox for him instead, since it still kept the 1-1 in concept (being a flying fox instead of just a fox) and its a lot more fun to get a little more out there with the species, especially in a story of mostly rabbits. i can see them being awkward going forward in terms of anatomy and interacting with other characters as a result, but i think it was a good choice and made glare, one of the less inspired designs in the cast before, far more visually interesting

i ended up keeping the umbreon yellow around though, although with a leaning into a heavier purple for the base and some new markings. i think it came out really nice in the end, although i did basically make up the markings on the fly instead of keeping any of their old ones (but they were just a normal umbreon, so...)

i did, for some reason, go the lineless fur effect, especially around the mane, something that i spring for occassionally to give "puffball fuzzy" as the texture im going for. i basically did this on vibes too. this whole design was just kind of winging it to completely remake glare from the ground up with little to no reference to their old design really.

ARKEA: ohhh boy. arkeas previous design was as equally as uninspired as glares and i think got thrown out EVEN MORE than glares too. at least glare shares yellow in common in umbreon. you wouldnt guess what pokemon arkea was before if you didnt know already (its an eevee)

i threw everything out but the kitchen sink and decided to add the only BIG carnivore of the series - a komodo dragon! a total overhaul from the previous design, which is what i wanted, with colours and markings inspired by chinese water dragons to finally give them the unique look theyve deserved for YEARS. being the """villain""" figure (not really but thats spoilers), i wanted to make them all big and imposing to contrast on them kind of being a bit pathetic, as the guy whos going around kidnapping and abusing people because they want the rabbit to kill a guy for them and/or teach them how to kill that guy.

being rebuilt from the ground up meant that theres no major philosphy behind their redesign to the new one though - i literally just made a whole new character with 0 relation outside of name really. i picked green because they were the last one i coloured and green was the colour i didnt use at all for the rest of the cast, so i just rolled with it, and thats pretty much it.

anyway if you read this far: thank you for listening to my horrible ramblings, feel free to send any questions you might have about my freaks to my main blog @squidslugs, and let it be known that the flower images i used as background are selected for a reason and if you can figure out what they are they might tell you a little bit about said character. WINK.

[1425fivefive]

DIRECTOR’S CUT ON EVERYBODY WANTS TO LOVE YOU PRETTY PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEE

A director's cut of the whole fic? You spoil me. This is a lot of info about the behind the scenes lore and characterization I had in my head while writing. This is for the director's cut prompt for Everybody Wants to Love You.

Fic Idea

I knew I'd wanted to write Choscar for ages, but couldn't figure out an angle for it. Then, at like 2 pm last Thursday, I was joking about how Charles is probably terrible in bed and how I thought it'd be funny to write a fic with that premise.

Separately, I'd been chatting about how I find it annoying when fics depict characters with vaginas coming from having their holes licked or having a character's nose bump their clit. Like ... godspeed to people who can come like that, but it is not believable to me, personally. So I've been wanting to write a fic about cunnilingus for ages just to, like, correct the record.

These two ideas combined to create the idea for Everybody Wants to Love You, and I thought Oscar would be perfect because him as a service top felt believable to me.

Charles's Characterization

I think Charles often gets written as quite sensitive and smart in F1 fics, when my understanding of Charles is "beautiful, overconfident man who has never been told no in his life." Like, these passages are just how Charles thinks™️ to me:

Charles didn’t understand why Pierre was making such a big deal out of this. It wasn’t like Charles was asking Pierre out. He just needed Pierre to help him, something Charles thought friends, especially lifelong friends, were supposed to do for each other.

Key point here: PIerre is with Kika in this fic. Charles literally knows this and does not care, doesn't even check with Pierre about whether Kika's okay with it. Just assumes everyone will be Happy to Help.

“I was thinking maybe you would like to fuck me,” Charles said. 

The way Charles phrases this sentence is sew important. He doesn't ask, doesn't say he needs it, instead focuses on Oscar and says that Oscar would "like" it.

Charles took a gamble. “And you find me attractive, no?”

Again, Charles just assuming everyone wants him/finds him attractive until proven otherwise.

I also wanted to confirm that Charles has been Bad in Bed without explicitly saying "Charles is Bad in Bed," because this is from Charles's POV and he has no clue how terrible he is. Some examples:

So why did it hurt when he touched himself the same way he touched them? He decided it must be some strange quirk of his vagina.

Charles just absolutely refusing to acknowledge that he's doing anything wrong, must be his new pussy. The implication here is that Charles has, potentially, never made a woman come before.

Charles knew he’d never looked like that between someone’s legs.

Charles bad at eating out confirmed.

Charles thought about telling Oscar to switch it up, keep things interesting the way Charles normally did when he was eating girls out.

Again, Charles being terrible at eating out lmao.

Like I adore Charles in this fic, because while I think he's an extreme version of real-world Charles, I do think they share the total confidence in doing things they are actually bad at. I always think about that "Everything But F1" video where Charles knows absolutely nothing about music, even though he plays piano.

Oscar's Characterization

Ok SO the most important thing that I didn't put in this fic, is that Oscar has had a crush on Charles since at least the Monaco GP. He mentions in the fic that he ended his relationship right after Monaco, and that is very much because of Charles. So when Charles approaches him and is like "Want to fuck the Chussy?" Oscar is very much onboard even though he's taken aback by Charles's bluntness. Oscar's crush is also why he's so worried about confirming that Charles wants him specifically.

Oscar also just is a service top in this fic, and has been long before Charles.

The Ending

I debated including the last line:

“Why would I?” Oscar asked. He flashed his eyes down to where his fingers were sliding into Charles, lips parting at the sight. “You’ve got such a pretty one right here.”

I didn't want this to be a feminization fic, and I don't think either of them really have a fetish for that, but, in my head, they definitely have a thing for Charles having a pussy. So the last line is just Oscar playing with that and also confirming that he likes Charles the way he is at the end of the fic, with his dick back. I didn't want there to be any implication that Oscar was "disappointed" about Charles going back to his normal body.

In my original draft, Charles comes immediately when Oscar says that last line, but I thought it'd be punchier to just end with the line.

That's all!!! I loved writing this!!!!!

[kaaragen]

Rise of the Red Blade thoughts

One of the things I’ve long been asking for is for canon to do something to address the Inquisitors. We partially got that with Kenobi, but Reva is more of a special case. But with Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade we do finally have something that does, so it behooves me to add my thoughts. We do get a lot of interesting bits from this book - including, at last!, some canon Seventh Sister backstory!

(Minor spoilers ahead - though if you’ve read the Darth Vader comics you know how this story ends)

First of all, on a story level, it’s entertaining and I think does a good character dive on why Jedi fell and became Inquisitors. Ishkat Akaris is the POV character and she provides an interesting angle on struggles with the Jedi Order. She’s neurodivergent, and while not specified I’m picking up ADHD. She struggles and never quite gets the support she needs. But she is an unreliable narrator, and there is a particular Roshomon incident from when she was young that we return to again and again, getting some different perspectives. Though the narrative (in true Roshomon fashion) never says which was the ‘true’ version so you’re just left with the various ‘certain points of view’. But as a look at someone’s personal journey to the Dark Side, where at of the steps seem plausible and fair from their perspective, it works really well.

But what the book is great for is showing, better than other canon material I’ve come across, what the war does to the Jedi. Communications are poor. Information is sketchy. And young, inexperienced and over promoted Jedi are being sent out as commanders into highly stressful situations. And it really shows how the sheer stress of the war, and how this starts corrupting the more inexperienced Jedi, as the pressure to achieve results in impossible circumstances starts leading them toward ‘quicker and easier’ answers, with even the brighter and more devoted Jedi starting to fray by the wars end.

It maybe doesn’t deep dive as much as I would like; and the timeline is a bit wonky in places (according to this the Jedi had the clone army before they went into the arena on Geonosis which ??), but as far as canon goes I think it’s one of the best explorations on offer.

There’s some other tidbits as well:

Confirmation that if you don’t connect with the Force regularly you will lose sensitivity to it and have to ‘relearn’ as per Kenobi.

We get a bit more in how the Inquisitorious works. Basically a perverse form of the Jedi Order. There are candidate Inquisitors, and when you ‘prove’ yourself worthy you get a Name (eg X Sister). Which was hinted at in Kenobi (the use of ‘Reva’ over Third Sister to emphasise her outsider status)

That said, numbering system still doesn’t make sense to me. I think the implication is supposed to be the number is the order in which a candidate ‘proved’ themselves, but I find it hard to believe that Trilla was the first one to do so. Particularly not as it says Fifth Brother joined willingly and Tenth Brother was already half-way there at the start of the war.

The Agricorps are back baby!

And some canon Seventh Sister backstory! To which:

She’s a little older than Ishkat, whose about 19/20 when the Clone War kicks off. So my rough guess would be that she’s about 25ish when Order 66 happens. So Seventh is definitely a Jedi Knight - which does tie with her line of dialogue to Ezra mocking Kanan for not achieving the rank.

She was Aayla Secura’s Padawan (asterisk on this one - the exact line is ‘trained by’ which is a little vaguer, but Padawan reads to me as the intent.) This would constitute a lore revision that Mirialans are only Padawan’s to Mirialans.

Something absolutely horrific happened to her to make her an Inquisitor. Which you might think ‘of course it did’; but Ishkat meets Second Sister and hangs out with Ninth Sister and specifically mentions sensing something appalling happening to Seventh. So yeah, we’re talking orders of magnitude bad in comparison.

(For those wondering who read A New Dawn Breaks: none of this will affect Sorfelia; I already had something terrible planned 😈)

So overall, I’d say it’s worth a read. And if you’ve read the comics there’s some fun Easter eggs here and there as well!

[antirepurp]

sculpting the model into a super form now, i didn't have many cool ideas so rn it's just an adventure-era shadow-styled thing

i can't lie i like the silhouette from most angles, the side-view is a bit mid but you could say the same about base-game super sonic so maybe that's fine. idk if i should turn up the middle quills too to set him more apart from shadow or if the parallel and lore-implications are fun and cool and i should keep them, i mean there's not a lot of other interesting stuff i could do with them when im limited by the super rig and effects that were designed with particular things in mind

im definitely doing something fun with the tipped colors though i could still mess around with them today actually

[alltimefail-sims]

LORE TIDBIT TIME WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Did you know Vlad was apart of the settler colony who mysterious disappeared? This is obviously a nod to the Roanoke colony which I think is sooo cool. What do you think happened to Vlad's colony? I like to think Vlad was turned or became a vampire and whipped them out.

HELL YEAH LORE TIDBIT ABOUT VLADDY DADDY!!! 😏

I'm going to treat this as a "deep dive" into Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, so I'll be adding it to my Deep Dive Series tag. Unsurprising to literally everyone, but this is gonna be a long one.

So… let’s get into it! ↓

Going into this I will admit that I actually did know this about Vlad!! I've been wanting to talk about it for forever but have never gotten around to it haha. 🤭 I'm a bit of a history nerd and I love a good spooky story/conspiracy, so naturally the Roanoke Colony was one of my obsessions when I was around 11 or 12 years old.

I think it's an interesting tie in from the sims team, I'd even say it's a bit meta because I feel like the game normally sticks to making references toward itself and its own canon characters/events while generally staying away from anything that would be too direct of a reference to "our world." Personally though I wish they broke the fourth wall more! I like easter eggs or hidden details that make it easier to imagine the characters existing not in their isolated, imaginary worlds, but in ours instead.

It's interesting to think about why the sims team might have made this connection - was it just a cheeky, unserious little wink to a well-known unsolved mystery, or was it done for the purposes of creating implications and expanded lore regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow (a case of them showing us instead of telling us). There are so many theories archaeologists and historians alike have had about the lost colony of Roanoke over the years: some believe the Roanoke colonists could have all died by disease or famine, some believe they could have been victims of a deadly storm, some believe they were attacked by neighboring tribes or by Spanish soldiers. Nowadays there are scholars who will argue that no tragedy befell the settlers at all and that they simply relocated (that would be why they left "Croatoan" behind - there was a nearby location referred to as Croatoan Island, now modern-day Hatters Island).

With that in mind, along with Vlad's own refusal to recall the details of this event, it's safe to assume that the sims team isn't referring to the happier Roanoke theories...the 25 colonists of Forgotten Hollow likely faced an unfortunate end.

Your theory of Vlad being turned and thus wiping out the colony (I'm guessing due to new-turn bloodlust) is sooooo compelling, the implications of that scenario are delicious and I personally never thought of it from that angle! My theory is only a little different: I agree that Vlad was turned on the day that the colonists "disappeared" (whatever that implies), but I have always played Vlad's story not as if he was turned and then killed everyone after, but rather that the thing that turned him successfully killed the other colonists but accidentally turned Vlad. It's a really long story that I play around with for fun in my brain but the short-ish version is: Vlad awoke outside - cold, alert, sweaty, dirty and covered in his own blood - but somehow alive, which he was thankful for. His new immortal condition is still unbeknownst to him at this point, but he felt an ache like never before, so deep in his bones it was excruciatingly painful, but his senses were heightened tenfold. He didn't remember much, just that the colony had been under attack the night before. His relief to be alive rapidly melted into abject horror as he found everyone else (friends, neighbors, family, children) dead. He realized soon enough what had happened to him and stayed in Forgotten Hollow where he would be memorialized as its "founder." He spent his days hellbent on retaliation and retribution, but was also steadfast in continuing the work that was began there before the attack. Eventually he does get to face off with the vampire who attacked him and his people, killing it and rising to power in the vampire world. He keeps the events close to his chest because they were traumatizing and cause him sadness, and he's worked diligently to remove himself from his humanity/human memories and from emotions in general (thus how he has become the person we see today). I always thought if he killed the colonists himself the other vampires in his circle - at least his closest confidantes - would know (as he's got quite the massive ego), but they don't seem to have knowledge of this event and they never mention it. I've thought that it could be possible that sharing the memories of this event would make Vlad feel weak, and he's not one to boast in his weakness. He'd much rather rewrite history in a way that is beneficial to his image; dragging up emotions about dead people would not bring them back to life, and by burying this history of a massacre in Forgotten Hollow he is also creating some mystery around himself and making it easier to play the role of a great-great-great-great grandson (or whatever he's pretending to be, relationship-wise) to the original founder.

But that's just how I play with Vlad! 🤷 I could be way off-base lmao!

Regardless of what happened, we know Vlad is the sole survivor of this event and he is scarred by it, impacted so deeply that he only ever vaguely alludes to it with no clear explanation. Whether he killed the colonists himself or just witnessed their death, the sims team will probably never give us concrete answers (and frankly, that's probably for the best considering their track record). But the clever connection of the LOST colony and FORGOTTEN Hollow are clear as day and I just think that is freaking cool! The occult lore in TS4, especially regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, make interesting framework for storytellers and lore-lovers alike! Vlad is one of those characters who has sooooo many interpretations, and I eat up each and every one!

Okay, I think that's all I've got for now! Sorry about my word vomit! Somewhat related: here's an article I recently read on Roanoke that talks about the archaeological finds which have changed some of the discussions surrounding whether the colonists survived or not! I found it pretty interesting and you might as well!

[recitedemise]

So, to experiment, I did the sacrifice ending for my origin!Gale run, and I never saw the scene explored or, well, even posted before. It offered quite a few things to think about, namely Gale's place in the afterlife and what path should lay before him.

I have so many thoughts surrounding this. Canonically, by being shown love, being shown that people care for him, that this friends hold him in high esteem simply for being the man he is, Gale would never sacrifice himself simply for Mystra's forgiveness. In fact, as I mentioned earlier on this blog and as reflected through my canon interpretation, Gale comes to battle this war within himself, for SELF forgiveness, for redemption, for understanding his value as a person, and makes it out all the better. He DOES not choose the sacrifice ending. He chooses to fight and live.

But in this angle, I like to believe, perhaps at first he might have considered sacrifice for Mystra, but in time, he realized very much what she asked of him was simply too much, too unfair, too cruel. Moreover, that choice of self-sacrifice was made as Gale thought it most logical. He looked upon the Netherbrain, saw his friends so weary, the city and the world so under duress, so battered, and thought, what is my life in exchange for everyone else's? Gale battles a lot with self worth issues, and he hides this behind a wall where he rationalizes his death in the context of sparing the heartache of those he cares for most.

This line is an interesting line. Mystra having already plucked Gale's thread from the tapestry of fate... as in, remove his essence altogether? I recall a line where Gale, if romanced and sacrificed, would say something along the lines of lingering there, there in the Weave to watch over them until the last sundering of the stars--or something to that effect. This line from Withers could be literal in that Mystra's ultimatum ultimately led to Gale removing himself from the physical world, but I can't help but to wonder if she, too, would have 'plucked his thread' from the Weave itself as well, ergo erasing the very last parts of him. Mystra doesn't strike me as particularly malicious. Absolutely cold, absolutely toxic, and absolutely callous, yes, but after promising him redemption, to but erase the lest vestiges of his Weave would seem quite the insult to injury. So, I don't believe that's the implication, BUT. It is a thought.

Another interesting line. Gale's life in his death has only just begun. I haven't yet looked into much of the afterlife in Forgotten Realms lore, but this could be something to look into. What could Gale achieve in death?

If anyone could achieve anything, even here, I wager it'd be Gale.

But what could the implication be? While Withers says this, however... the pain on Gale's face. The way he lost everything. Be that as it may, this potential for a different role or not, the idea that death is not the end is one he finds extraordinarily difficult to accept quite yet. Regardless, Gale remains very much like ambition itself, still a man with drive, dreams, desires, even there as he wades in the cold chasm of the afterlife. If there is something to be done, to achieve, to twist and make malleable in his hands, he will find a way. He cares so much for his friends, those he has left behind, those he couldn't properly say goodbye to--Gale, even here, would not content himself to simply lay and have his memory waste to the passing of the seasons. He will ease their path. He will do as best he can to protect them even with this infinite veil between them. He will long to touch them, hear them, laugh with then, but he will have to make peace that that is simply not his domain anymore. Perhaps, if yet intermingled with the Weave, he can feel the pulls of those spellcasters in the party, feel them like song, even all the way beyond. Or, perhaps, as my head likes to twist around, he does dabble more seriously in those pulls of necromancy, some sort of vessel of death, though perhaps a white one, not bitter, not angry, simply the cold touch of it, present and constant and there to lend aid when possible.

Gosh, Gale........... This was painful.

[seethestarlights]

just got back from the eras tour movie!! here are some thoughts/notes/things/idk etc:

before seeing the movie, i saw someone post that the movie didn't show the screen visuals enough and i absolutely agree

the stage was the real mvp of the movie!!! (as stated by my brother but i also agree)

i grinned so hard seeing paul and amos :')

there were two kids in the screening who were dancing at the front. at one point, one kid was doing cartwheels during tolerate it (???) and fell down making a very loud audible noise (dw the kid is fine) it totally ruined the mood though lmao

the stage visual for delicate was interesting and had a lot of implications that reaalllly had me thinking but that's a post for another time

one of the main things i was looking forward to was the transition from don't blame me to lwymmd and boy did it deliver

people left during the speak now era to go to the bathroom??? please show some respect to enchanted!!!

after the speak now era ended, my brother leaned over asked "is that all?" and was very disappointed we only had one song from speak now (he's a sparks fly stan)

my brother also kept giving me looks every time a song was shortened (he was also very disappointed about this)

also during blank space, my brother asked "what the deal with the bikes" and i did not have the energy to explain the joseph kahn lore about bikes (also wow i've been in this fandom for a while)

the dive was so lame and funny asdjhals taylor you're such a dork

so we saw the movie at gold class, which is where you can order food throughout the movie and staff bring it to you. during vigilante shit, the beats of the song were so loud that the vibrations knocked my plate off the table. sure, the plate was balancing on other plates and the table was leaning at an angle, but that plate had stayed there perfectly still since the reputation era!!! tldr: vigilante shit is so loud it causes property damage

literally everyone stayed for the credits. that doesn't even happen for a marvel movie

my favourite performances (as someone who hasn't seen the tour live yet) were definitely willow, tolerate it, ready for it, lwymmd, tlgad, and anti-hero (although anti-hero was more for the visuals)

the best era was absolutely reputation. the energy was unmatched. taylor went all out and the way she screeched "CAUSE SHE'S DEAD" will stay with me forever

anyway can't wait to see this live in sydney next year!!

[dinoburger]

"(also Orange anon if you're out there, I think we did cover a lot of this before, yes, yes yes yes)" aye yeah, I'm still out here 👋 -- I've been neck-deep in a different fandom these past few months, so it was a neat surprise to pop in here and see that mention, ahaha. Very opportune timing!

Boy howdy, that leaked seventh chapter... I'd written it off as a bunch of bunk, in light of @/wachtelspinat mentioning that the comic's script isn't done yet. But even without that consideration in mind -- the leak's contents seemed nihilistically final, to me? I had a hard time all those months ago (while the leak was making rounds on social media) picturing it as the comics' legit end destination -- but that may just speak to my lingering (if frayed) sense of hope, lol.

... At the end of the day, though... yeah. I do think that several of the comics' plot beats don't hit as hard as they could; whether that's down to the tone, chosen medium, or pacing (or all three?) in any given instance is a toss-up (for me; I'd have to sit down and seriously think about the writing more) -- but I agree that there's very little time allotted to exploring what happens. And regardless of whether that comic 7 leak was pure baloney or something that the writers were actually workshopping... eh. If it feels like closure, then it can be closure. Perpetual plot-limbo's never stopped other fandoms I've been in from creating whatever they want, at any rate.

"It makes is clearer to me that the way I want to approach this isn't "fixing the comics" but a "what if" from the perspective of someone not beholden to corporate quota and having to match or escalate the tone of the last entry in the series…" and I heartily approve of this, if it's something you wanna do 👍 I'm fond of your work (in general; including stuff outside of TF2), so I'll merrily follow along either way.

Wish I could talk more, at this particular moment in time, but my deadlines are approaching and so I must go tend to them. Take care. -🍊

glad to see you're still around - no worries, I think I've already covered quite a bit of ground. tbh I don't think it is quite nihilistic because of that structure less focussed on cohesion and more on how hard it can throw the next curveball - it's essentially asking you *not* to think too hard about the implications but to feel sort of stunned by the sharp change in direction.

Even if it isn't a play-by-play, the way it tapped into the pattern, on reflection, exposes the forest instead of the trees, know what I mean? Like there is a structural funnel there that looks much clearer to me.

They can't ever go back to having a serious story with absurd humor because it has fundamentally become a nonsensical story loosely supported by interesting characters, the logical trajectory is to keep upping the ante. Anything they do now that might be serious or hold weight will be undercut by everything that has led up to it, insisting not to think too hard. I can't be mad about that.

I think coming at it from this angle makes it easier for me to pinpoint and delineate what didn't work for me, as opposed to retreading the cosmos of smaller decisions made in line with this pattern. I think it also makes theorising about what could've been all the more interesting, because in recognising those decisions, you start to consider how a different writing philosophy would've effected the story overall.

Well. I think a lot of this is mostly to say "I'm going to think way too hard about tf2 lore, but on purpose now"

[nohaijiachi]

Man, I think another thing that buggers me is that, Mohg gets all this flak for his actions, which... Alright. I DO understand why people would be uncomfortable with his character due to implications which COULD lead that route.

And yet Seluvis doesn't nearly get quite as much hate, even though he's VERY blatant about what he's up to with his puppets.

Crap, Gehrman from Bloodborne seems to get more hate than Seluvis all for his doll comment...

To be entirely fair Mohg is very much a more 'important' and prominent character than Seluvis, being one of the shard-bearers and a boss we get to fight, so on the one hand yes, of course more people will have stronger negative feelings about him than Seluvis, a character than depending on the way one is to play the game they might only meet once, if at all--

On the other hand I have very little doubt the amount of vitriol directed at Mohg VS. Seluvis is very much also a gut reaction to the icky feelings caused by the idea of something sexual being done to a child-like character.

(Even though again, there is no canon basis to make the assumption anything sexual does happen, and not only me, but a lot of other people I've spoken with have also reported not even considering the sexual angle at all... Which tbh is kinda funny because kidnapping Miquella and subjecting him to blood rituals being carried very likely without Miquella's consent is still very much very fucked up? But I'm ready to bet that if this interpretation of the text was outright spelled by the canon we'd have a lot fewer people hating so fervently on Mohg lol)

So yes, I also perfectly understand people's discomfort with the character, but the blatant double standards still very much grind my gears, because as I wrote in the post, all the demigods have done/are doing fucked-up shit. That's just Fromsoft writing in a nutshell; you never get perfectly clear cut bad/good characters, but rather complex individuals with their own motivations and reasons of acting in a certain way. Moral grayness is very much the name of the game.

I'd be much less irritated if people were honest and simply admitted that their own interpretation of the lore makes them dislike Mohg and leave it at that, instead of consistently acting like Mohg being a rapist is a 100% canon and thus he deserves all of the bad things that have been done to him, which, sorry I'm repeating myself here--- BUT the entire concept is bullshit and very much erases what makes Mohg interesting: the way his actions are so very clearly shaped by his past and what has been done to him, just as much as the other Demigods' past shape their characters as we meet them in the game. Not a justification, but an explanation... And yet Mohg gets uniquely singled out, his character flattened down to a boring, no-shades-of-gray villain, when he is -at least for me- one of the most fascinating characters in the entire game.

I don't care if people consider him a 'villain', what he's doing ain't a nice thing by any stretch of the imagination, but to erase the complexity of his character is just so, so, so endlessly irritating to me >:V