#temperance and salem: thread

[grapefruitey]

Temperance threw him an annoyed look. She didn't like jokes at the best of times since the good ones had the tendency to throw her off her indifferently cool game. Although it was working. Her fear was lessened just slightly by frustration that he wasn't taking things seriously. That felt like normal at least. She would do anything for normalcy right then. Even the smell was off. She remembered what the house smelled like when she first walked in. It was all new paint and stale air. Now it was almost humid. Thick. Temperance knew what normal new houses smelled like and this was not it.

"Either we waste our time remeasuring everything that I already know is off or I go straight to the one room that doesn't fit." Her confidence was entirely fake at that moment. Some primal part of her brain was screaming at that. She wouldn't be shocked if her legs refused to respond to the order to move. Yet she took two steps closer to that ordinary looking door. The power of stubbornness was not to be underestimated. "You keep the door propped open and I'll measure the inside. We'll have an answer in minutes" It was just a room. Likely a closet that was built but not identified on the plans. This could be just some special mental trick like that house in California. Her inexplicable fear shouldn't be a factor. Temperance forced herself farther, to just within arms reach of the doorknob.

"i know you're a skeptic and, for argument's sake, i kinda am too." it was something salem prided himself on and it brought a certain legitimacy to the podcast that people tended to appreciate. "but let's just not tempt anything with a 'cut once', right?" he joked. laser distance measurer? okay, that was tight. "you had me at lasers." only his jokes were doing very little to cut through the tension of the house. the air inside weighed on them with a density that surpassed fog. it was something profane and he felt sick and stupid and scared all at once. it was unlike any feeling he'd experience. he'd yawned his way through the queen mary. slept like a baby in room 545 of the grove park inn. this place made him feel something new. something wrong. and it was just a house.

"uh, i'm sorry, you want to what?" now she sounded like she was spooked. she was supposed to be the reasonable one. "okay, so we have the outer measurements. you want to measure inside too? no problem." he could stand in the doorway and point the laser easily to the back of any closet, but something still didn't feel right. he wanted to object, but for what reason? "i mean, it's just a stupid closet." he echoed her.

[multiimistakes]

okay im gonna be insANE and just do this @platiinums

Kerian - gonna be good for any muses that are either chill and tragic (Kell for example) or muses that are usually antagonistic and scare anyone else off. He's got that nice mellow and chill but firm vibe but also has the muscle for anyone that tries to step on him for being a lil' nice dude. i dont think i have him with any AUs yet outside his supernatural hunter main plot. Lauden might be a good fit. I could see Bas being some sort of professional connection. Obviously Kennedy since they're both friendly monster hunters it seems. Uhh Buffy too maybe. I see them more as a good sturdy but comical buddy duo.

Liluthe - good for any girliepops, frankly. she's mean and has a temper but isn't impossible to thread with. prob' also good for any supernatural or supernatural adjacent since i dont see her as very AU-able.

Emerick - if you have any DBD aus or characters gimme

Gavin - I got zilch for him aside from messy drama plots involving Gavin running into Kell before he met Bubbles and obviously Kellam finding out Gavin is Bubbles' mainly fucking antagonist kjfnbdfg

Peter - I see chill things with tb!Kell. Any sort of muse that isn't gonna super push him out of his comfort zone. general werewolf stuff would be fun. he's a good muse to just be chill and platonic with otherwise. i can see him a tobin having a mini fucking book club. peter doesn't really TV or anything so he reads a lot. i can see him venturing out to be a regular.

Kaden - idk much but my brain immediately sees him and Owen. Kaden is a spoiled brat with lots of daddy issues so fdkjbgdg he's a harder muse to interact with because he's so insufferable. he's like Clark's foil so maybe anyone that wouldn't get along well with Clark??? jhfdbgfg

Meya - Kinda same with Liluthe. She's pretty solitary and hard to get along with but def' more lenient with girliepops. I like the thought of her and Salem interacting if only cuz sister vibes dfhgdfg. anyone that's shacked up with clark gets an automatic shot at family/platonic stuff. even if it's the....awkward stepfamily vibes with her kbdkjg. Anyone higher class or up in the business world would be a good fit. anyone super high intellect.

Lance - vampire rich boy so any anything that vibes with that is automatically on the table. in terms of shipping, their poly potential is super specific. him and destrian are sort of that immortal couple that is just off and vibing with their own plots most of the time. so the third or fourth or whatever would have to also be sort of chill like that kdfgbdg. if that makes sense. anything sexual or romantic on lance's side would need to be masc but des swings whatever way so it could totally be a femme in a lil. ykno queer platonic but also more than platonic poly situation.

at a first glance for interactions in general, immed go to Eric. any other vampires could be good fits for antagonistic or friendly dynamics. again, anyone higher-class and up there in status could be coming across him.

Destrian - See above. I like to describe Des as a dryer, more sarcastic version of Clark so anyone that might fit that fdkjgnbdg. lotta trauma tho. also the curse thing so like. their poly ship or even anyone platonic would need to like...be able to stomach him just being dead pretty often.

Lucifer - Eric so far kdfjgbdfg. Anyone that's a girlboss type character or ig any character up there that needs to be gently humbled oop. She's super put together and big time healed from their own trauma so any muse that might need that sort of rock, ig.

Michael - The opposite. she's messy and angry and like actively trying to work through her shit. any artists or writers or related to books would be good for her. anyone that can stomach her personality. she's essentially the second favorite child going through burnout so i can see characters that might be the foil to her sort of messy and chaotic state working.

Olethe - Kenny seems like a good fit either way. otherwise she's def' a girl's girl. i can see her and salem matching well. Speaking of your lovers on the run, Dallas or Mayhew might be fun with either of the cursed siblings. Bas maybe

Mi-cha - sapphic older hitman/assassin? cmon my brain immed goes to Beatrix or any of the KB babes. or even Kell might be a good muse to thread with.

Kyle - Brain says Lauden because both old dumb men. otherwise Kyle is this older hunter with a reputation from when he was young. he's 'retired' but is always itching to get back in. Would be fun to have him matched with a character that can immediately see past that cute dorky single guy energy and see him for the trained killer he actually is fdkjgbdfg

Cassius - I dont have him on here yet but he was a Payday oc i made general crime. If you've got any grungy rat people, he's your dude. So any tattoo artists or criminals or Dacre with the street racing and forging, Jessen might work. He's totally primed for any sort of supernatural au so that's an option too. (the obvious route is to make him a werewolf but iDK lmaoooo)

Cache - She's a bit harder since she really doesn't do in person communication. she's essentially this information hub and hotline for hunters. honestly i love her to death but she makes for a better BG character or npc than anything kdjfgbg. but im always open to ideas with her. but obviously she's gonna be good for any monster hunter or even just supernatural creature in general. she is very anti-vampire though so there's that.

Elliot - Anyone crime, tbh. Again, he's more of a good connection and character to mention in the background. i haven't really put my thought into him so far kfdnbggf.

And then I just have faces I wanna do stuff with but no real concrete places for them yet. dkjfgbdg

also kinda wanna reboot an old ass and chaotic oc who i made a joke to be the complete opposite of Clark and he gained sentience lmao. He started purely crime as this comical henchman character but i developed him into supernatural by making him such a lucky and chaotic motherfucker he pulled a Devil Went Down to Georgia and walked away being unable to die. just like idk if you smushed loki and dionysus and every fun loving chaos entity together and made him a douchebag looking dude except he's actually super chill but like in a i think we should beat sex offenders to death with bricks type chill jdfbgdfg. no fc ive settled on but honestly i just picture that tall cringe white boy wearing crazy shit vibes yung gravy brings to the table.

[artmunstudios]

What's 2 similarities & 2 differences U have noticed between Ozpin & Oscar?

Aaahh I was wondering if you were going to ask me! I’ve been seeing you around asking this question and the answers have all been interesting! So I’ll take on a response that people aren’t taking on then, yes? This will be a long post, so if anyone is interested in reading past the first analysis just click the ‘read more’!

Their Origins

Ozpin is at the core based off of two characters. One of those characters, Oscar is also connected to. There are obviously more characters and whatnot they reference, but for the sake of simplicity, I will only be addressing their clear initial inspiration. Ozpin is based off of The Wizard of Oz, also known as Professor Oz primarily in the Oz Book Series; but his full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, which he abbreviated to Ozpin Head. (Thank you @immortal-green-snom for this tidbit!!!) In the book series, after he had left in the air balloon in an attempt to help Dorothy get home, Professor Oz was revealed to have done a lot of slimy and heinous things to keep the throne of the Emerald City, and by extension, the Land of Oz itself. While he does get better in the latter books he reappears in, he was portrayed as being manipulative, a bit pathetic, but extremely intelligent and a master of illusions. I wouldn't be surprised if the writers of RWBY were trying to get that across in Ozpin's traits, but to be quite honest, they kinda failed at making him even a morally grey character, as a lot (not all, he isn't guitless, but again, a lot) of the arguments used in-show, and the FNDM itself, are all about things that were either not in his control, or something that was painted as being his fault/harmful, but was actually the opposite of the situation. The biggest example of this is Raven trying to trick Yang and Weiss into believing Ozpin had forced her and Qrow to become birds/have the ability to do so. In a lot of ways, Ozpin and Professor Oz are actually opposites of one another in terms of personalities, which may have in actuality been the overall intention CRWBY had, but we can only speculate. Professor Oz is extremely selfish, while Ozpin is selfless, even to a point where it actually becomes harmful to others. Professor Oz would have done anything to be in power, while Ozpin has done everything to relinquish himself of a position of power, which I find very interesting. This may be due to him even trying to somehow relinquish the burden the God of Light has placed on Oz as a whole, but is ultimately unable to give up that specific task. Even though, truthfully, he needed to relinquish that particular stronghold all along. Professor Oz is clearly a leader, and despite his negative traits, is actually a very good one. Ozpin...as much as I love him as a character, is not the greatest leader. He is, however, an excellent advisor/second-in-command. Professor Oz is only a mere mortal man pretending to be something more, while Ozpin is something bigger than a mortal man, but is pretending to be nothing but a man. Expanding upon this, they also are desperate to be the opposite of what they are. Professor Oz wants to be what he portrayed himself as, and for Ozpin, it's very much the same situation. There is a lot more I could say, but let's move on to Oscar!

Oscar Pine, like Ozpin, is based off of two characters at the core. Again, it is likely that he represents more than two, but for the sake of simplicity, let's discuss only the two. From the moment I saw Oscar, I knew right away that he was based off of my favorite character from the Oz Book Series...Tip. Tip, short for Tippetarius, was too a farmboy who longed for much more, who knew that there was more out there, despite being notably content in their lifestyle. The only difference was that Tip was a slave to an evil witch, but he escapes her in the second chapter with a companion. He is described as being just like any boy; rugged, mischievous, playful, and a lover of all things fun while still being quite shrewd. Unlike Ozpin and Professor Oz, Tip and Oscar are, in fact, extremely alike. Even down to their colors and appearance. Despite how Tip is colored, he actually has light brown skin (though considering the time period, we all know why this fact was dismissed), and black hair. And his treasured beanie cap was green and orange. His clothes also had a primary color scheme of brown, and were dirty due to the work he had done on the farm. Oscar and Tip have the exact same personalities, which was what affirmed to me that Oscar was meant to be his primary parallel. What got me the most was their sarcasm. Tip is still the most sarcastic and genuinely street-smart protagonists in the Oz Books. Not to say there were no other protags like that, but there was something to be said about how Tip was one of the few protagonists to actually act as a leader in the traveling group. Just like Oscar, Tip is also quite emotional, and they both have a sharp temper that they express not in loud outbursts, but by quips that you know could be quite hurtful if they wanted them to be. However, between the two, Tip is the loudest, should you put them in the same room. However, I suspect that as time goes on, Oscar might start becoming quite vocal when he doesn't like something, as I've noticed that the more he develops, the more he acts like Tip. Their behaviors are similar as well; when something personal is going on between two parties who clearly knew each other before him, both Oscar and Tip have a tendency to hang back and simply let the moment play out. They both start out as being sort of bystanders, just going with the flow while occassionally giving very good advice/strategies, but they start to become more of a leader as time goes on. In fact, leadership seems to be in their blood. There is actually a reason for this.

Ozma of Oz

There is a single thread that connects both Oscar and Ozpin, and that is the second primary character they represent. That character is the infamous Princess/Queen Ozma of Oz. Ozma, in many ways, is a lot like both Ozpin and Oscar; and may be the kind of person they become once the merging is complete. She is shrewd, but gentle. Sarcastic and blunt, but very elegant and fun-loving. They have a particular grace in how they handle their politics, but she admittedly gets into more trouble than rulers of kingdoms should. She is, ultimately, the perfect archetype of a ruler. And had completely reformed The Emerald City to be an environment that is very much like Vale's open-mindedness, with the advanced technology and efficiency of Atlas. Ozma, in the books, was actually revealed to be Tip; or rather, Tip was Ozma. After being transformed into a boy as a baby by a witch under Professor Oz's command, they were whisked away by said witch, and had been working under that witch until they had escaped as a young boy. Many speculate that Ozma was meant to represent the transgender community, and I know many transgenders see Ozma as an icon. Frank Baum was the type of guy that wrote things that were ahead of his time, and seen as very controversial by the few who could actually read the metaphors planned out. It was even implied in the later books that Ozma and Dorothy get married, and there were many illustrations made from the original novel illustrators of Ozma and Dorothy looking like a couple. What's even greater is that despite the change of gender from Tip to Ozma, she still very much contains her boyish traits despite the frills and queenly garb. As stated in one of the last lines in the second Oz Book;

"I hope none of you will care for me less than you did before. I am still the same Tip you know..."

When I realized Oscar was Tip, I knew Ozma was going to be put into the equation. I just,,,, wasn't expecting..... t h a t.

Oscar and Ozpin

Time to actually answer the question I was asked JSDJFDKDFKFK--

Oscar and Ozpin are different in one particular way: Trust. Ozpin trusts nobody. Truthfully, he doesn't even trust himself, I don't think, and that is likely why he didn't have much of a plan these days. He doesn't trust himself to be competent enough to complete the task assigned to him, he doesn't trust humanity to pass, hell, I don't think he even trusts the Gods to be capable of taking care of humanity considering the shit job they did in the past, and how poorly they have handled Ozma and Salem. In simple terms, Ozpin trusts too little. Oscar, on the other hand, trusts...a little too much. There, I said it. And I'm willing to say it again. Oscar trusts too much. Whether or not that will change after the end of V7 and what happened in V8 is left for debate. Oscar seems almost incapable of seeing the downside in some situations, like, for example, confronting a General who has completely gone off the deep end, unarmed and alone. And he trusted a man who needlessly beat the shit out of him for something that nobody, not even Salem, were truly at fault for. And while that trust paid off, unlike how it did in the past, it is a bit of an alarming trait that I genuinely think will simmer down either after all that happened in V8, or it will eventually when that trust truly bites him in the ass.

Another polarization between Oscar and Ozpin: faith. This ties in a little bit with the trust theme, but there is enough to talk about on its own. While Ozpin does believe that humanity is overall good, I think he has lost faith in their capability to work together long enough for there to be any sort of permanent peace. And, admittedly, he isn't wrong to think that. I think you would have to be very foolish if you genuinely think there will ever be a point where humanity will stop fighting amongst themselves; in other words, Ozpin is fully aware that the God of Light's task is genuinely impossible. And honestly? I think the GoL knows it is, too. Oscar has faith as well, but he views the dire circumstance in a different way that may be the key to solve the seemingly unending puzzle of Salem and their task. He gets faith in humanity not through the overall picture, but in the smallest things. Oscar likely believes that it doesn't matter if all of humanity is united, because he too knows that will never happen. But, he is certain that there is a lot more power in the smallest of unions and actions; a racist woman reforming and helping to comfort a faunaus child. A woman who helped a group of people tear down a kingdom realize the fault of their actions, and try to save another kingdom's people. A man who, while being genuinely wise, was so blinded by rage that he could not see past his own nose, change in order to save what little good has sprouted from something so terrible that he helped sow. The little things matter so much more, and unlike Ozpin, he doesn't think that they need to grow any further than that.

So, what makes them similar? Two distinct things. They both are very personal. Even if it is in different forms of expressing, Oscar and Ozpin are quite personal, especially when it comes to their advice. But they also really feel for the person they are talking to. And while Ozpin felt Hazel was too far gone, he felt for him and understood and even agreed with his anger. Their empathy is truly something else; and it is also their weakest point. Not to say that having empathy is bad, but their empathy leads into another trait that they have in common... They let people walk all over them. All. The. Time. To a point where it is actually very frustrating, and it even hinders their development as characters. Ozpin let Ironwood walk all over him, and never spoke in defense for himself. Ozpin let the council walk all over him, and never defended himself. Ozpin allowed for so much of the blame to be placed on his own shoulders, that it is extremely unhealthy, and something I wish the show would address, but have come to accept that it won't. Especially when this trait is reflected in Oscar as well. He blamed himself for failing to convince Ironwood, he allowed for Jaune to verbally and physically attack him, and outright refused to let Jaune apologize. They both brush off their wellbeing so often, that watching Oscar do the same only confirms to me the suspicions I had as to why everyone was genuinely so blind to figure out what was going on in their heads and when they were struggling. Because both Oscar and Ozpin refuse to acknowledge their own struggles and shortcomings.

But, to be frank, that is more of a writing issue than a character reflection, in my personal opinion. And I'll continue to see it that way until the show actively acknowledges that unhealthy behavior.

There ya go! My very very long analysis of Oscar and Ozpin; I hope I brought something unique among the batch of this question!

[etruatcaelum]

Cinder would undoubtedly be displeased with Salem’s decision. The scathing way she had spoken of Kiara, if nothing else, promised outrage once she returned, even if being well-fed did soften the bladed edges of her temper. Thinking about it now only stirred the impassable mire of guilt and regret and—other feelings—enough to surface a paralyzing sensation of dread, so overwhelming that for an instant she lost the thread of what Kiara was saying.

If Cinder left again—

–what else could Salem do but let her go, no matter how heavy the weight of despair crushing down upon her at the thought? In hindsight it seemed painfully clear that Cinder had never wanted anything more than she wanted to be free.

…the God of Light.

His name scratched over her thoughts, snapping her gaze back to Kiara. Salem blinked slowly, grasping for the shape of the words she had missed. A question. Fear rising from the surface of Kiara’s soul like a heat shimmer; the violent backdraft of the woman’s emotions after the revelation that the Brothers were real. Faith.

Of course.

“I know him,” Salem murmured, “and I knew his brother. I–”

For a moment she broke off, staring blankly into the flat black panels of the curtains. Then, shaking her head, she prowled to the sink to fill the kettle.

“I am older than Remnant,” she said. “Before this world came to be, the Brothers ruled from their sacred mountains as our divine creators. I was human, then.” The kettle clattered against the stovetop; Salem stood motionless for a few seconds longer, grip locked around its handle. “There is a story–”

Tension coiled up through her body. She had always hated the fairytales Ozma made of her life, and none more so than the girl in the tower—but it was well-known, and it provided a foundation upon which to build the truth, and so she could never quite free herself from its grasp. The irony was not lost on her.

“—it is not true,” she muttered through clenched teeth, “but the ‘Girl in the Tower’ is a… fictional account of what… happened to me. Ozma—my– the one who rescued me—”

Salem floundered, caught in an unexpected current of anguish. It had been worse than she anticipated, seeing them again after so very long. How many years—

And they hadn’t changed.

She had not believed herself still capable of hope until she heard the same lies that Ozma would tell falling so easily out of Oscar’s mouth and felt something in her heart crack like a rotten twig; a withering kind of heartbreak. They were never going to stop.

“They died.” Salem shut her eyes, breathing in deeply, and sighed out the rest: “I prayed to the gods to bring them back. The Brothers made me immortal, as punishment, and when I told the world what they had done to me and tried to bring them to account, they slew everyone—every– I was the only one left.”

Deathless in the ashes, with the blood of millions smeared on her hands. Salem folded her arms behind her back as she opened her eyes. “They shattered the moon and—left me alone. I will die before I allow the God of Light to force his judgment upon Remnant. This world is mine.”

The words washed over Kiara, giving her enough strength to hold herself together. Salem’s mention of Kiara’s service felt open ended. Her word choice almost made it seem like an invitation more than anything. Kiara had no real idea of just how changed she might be at the end of the process, should she undergo it. But it was quite possible that she would become unfit for her old life. What would she do then? Where would she go? Perhaps even if Salem did not require her service, she left that door open because she knew Kiara may have need to enter it in the end. The thought was cold comfort indeed. And this seeming generosity of spirit Salem had presented since their talk began was disconcerting.    “Cinder . . . she implied on several occasions that you would . . . not want to help someone like me. I didn’t doubt her, it made sense to me.”  Why would a grimm want to help it’s enemy? But Salem was not simply a grimm.  She wondered briefly at the nature of Salem and Cinder’s relationship. She couldn’t parse it. Salem did not seem to expect much subordination out of the girl, nor did Cinder offer much, at least from what Kiara could see. Surely Salem did not allow all her followers to run so amok? She was a war general, it seemed unlikely that she could afford to do so  And on the matter of the war; the things Salem said of it . . . they also painted a different picture than the one Kiara had been given previously.  Salem did not speak of herself as an enemy they had been fighting all along, but as someone who took up arms recently  If everyone on the opposing side held a similar image of her as Kiara had, it wasn’t so hard to see why they might think that she had always been set against them, but be mistaken.  They believed she controlled grimm. Cinder said she did not. Grimm had been humanities' problem since the dawn of time; if one believed that Salem commanded them, then that could easily lead to the assumption that she had been at war with humanity – through the grimm – since time immemorial. 

Kiara wanted to ask her questions about the war; why she was targeting the academies at least. The first thought that came to mind was that perhaps Salem was simply trying to eliminate the greatest source of trained huntsmen, in order to defend her kin. Kiara could respect that.    Regardless, she didn’t feel it was her place to ask such questions, they had nothing to do with her request.   What perhaps was more relevant was Salem’s mention of the gods. She did not sound fond of either of them. 

“I don’t understand why you would be willing to help me for nothing. You are grimm and I . . . I hold no love for your kind. Cinder, at least, is expecting to get something out of this, I think. Although I have offered her nothing of value for her assistance, so perhaps . . . she expects something from you? She is very cagey about you, I can’t really discern-”  She broke off, shaking her head. That was Salem’s problem to deal with, she didn’t need to be sticking her nose in it. 

Kiara uncrossed her arms and placed her cane firmly on the ground again, lifting her weight off the table and standing straight. She forced herself to meet Salem’s eyes properly. 

“If you are really willing to try and help me, then, with an understanding of the risks and the . . . unpleasant adjustment period, I would like to proceed. But . . .”  She let herself break eye contact. 

It seemed highly unlikely now that Salem was a follower of Dark. But that didn’t mean she would take any kindlier to knowing Kiara’s . . . affiliations.  She did not fear retaliation now, Salem seemed disinclined to it, she herself had said she didn’t like violence; an odd thing for a grimm to say.  But Kiara did still fear.  A rescinding of the offered help at the very least, and what else she didn’t know. 

“Before you commit to do this, there is something I . . .”  She had to do this. She had promised herself she would be honest in this ordeal; it was the only way.  “Given what you are, and even how you spoke, I think . . . you do not like the God of Judge- th- the God of Light. Would that be . . . correct?”  She laid her hooks over the hand holding her cane and tensed. 

[extenebris]

snapdragon :   is your muse merciful ?  why or why not ?

This is an interesting question! And a topic I’ve been wanting to talk about formally for some time, actually.

The answer is: no, not really. This is tempered by the fact that Salem doesn’t consider himself to be any sort of authority and isn’t sure of any sort of Truth in the world at the moment, but this is actually a trait that I’ve been quietly weaving into some of his threads for the past several months. Since Salem doesn’t have many canon lines though, this trait is purely headcanon to add some depth to his personality.

Salem is a practical, no-nonsense sort. He’s kind, but he isn’t wasteful or self-sacrificing. If circumstances would be better if an individual was killed, Salem can be counted on as someone to handle it. He’s not easily swayed by pleas or begging, and this makes him come across as ice cold. This extends to all jobs, and is a product of his upbringing: if something needs to be done, Salem can be relied on to carry it out, no matter how gruesome. Learning to shut down empathy for one’s fellow man was necessary for surviving in the church with one’s mind in tact, and sometimes Salem startles himself with how quickly he still does it. Order, law, and tradition sit higher on his hierarchy of ideals than compassion, so it would be an unfortunate fate to find him as one’s executioner. Fortunately though, Salem doesn’t make these decisions himself.

This extends to animals as well, toward which Salem is even colder. It’s not that he dislikes animals, but he does view them as expendable resources. He would sooner put one down than spend the time and resources to heal its injuries. To some, this is horrific. Again though, Salem doesn’t make these decisions on his own and can be persuaded by others. While he might be the first person to advocate killing another person or animal out of logical necessity, he won’t remain committed to the idea if he’s outvoted. In the wrong hands though, Salem can be - and in fact was a merciless killer.

[salems-hq]

in-game dates included in this drop: july 23rd-july 25th  town hall meeting: morning of 23rd, 12pm-?? ongoing thread on dash moon effects active: evening of 23rd-night of july 25th ooc dates effective: july 24th-july 31st trigger warnings: blood, death, gore

setting: the council conference chambers, july 23rd. a meeting has just ended.

mayor austere has called for a city hall meeting, allowing the local public an explanation, and a forum for their thoughts. non-residents and other suspected individuals are kept away from the meeting by magical warding and the illusions of the council’s cambion. to them, there is no meeting in salem. the mayor has explained the most recent happenings to the town, which can be found in THIS self-para written by his mun. 

setting: across state borders in connecticut woods, the night of july 23rd.

god bless these united states for having at least been conscientious enough to preserve expanses of earth’s natural beauty. it’s a large reason azrael has chosen salem as his destination. of fall the creations humans have put forth, their respect for pointless establishments has to be, by far, his favorite one. the woods and mountain regions of the country provide the perfect location to have a meeting with all of his...disciples. creatures from all over the globe stand in union around a single figure: a concoction of the most morally corrupt individuals his soldiers could find. outsiders are warded away by hexes, but one might stumble upon the scene if they were to follow someone directly there. 

azrael himself is not present, but in his stead stands a crown of hell many might know as abel. this meeting will be written in one of two group threads in the player discord, and will be posted on the dash as soon as it is complete. 

setting: salem, the night of july 23rd to the night of july 25th.

unknown to the residents of salem, the arrival of azrael has affected the month’s full moon. the former buck moon, expected to range in color across the united states, now shines a bright red in the sky. the color emits the same feverish aura of starvation that a vampire’s eyes of the same color would. werewolves all across salem, many already struggling with the monthly change without the addition of the super moon, have lost control of their shift. the earlier cases are easiest to control thanks to the aid of pack mates, but all wolves will have lost control by the morning of the 24th, forcing city security measures to be enforced. 

vampires, celestials, sirens, and all other species that are in control of themselves are sent out on the afternoon of the 24th by city hall, stationed all over the city as damage control. these agents also patrol the city borders to ensure no wolves escape salem borders, and no dangers get too close. 

setting: salem and the surrounding areas within 30 miles, twilight on the 25th. 

the wolves have now regained control of their powers, though rumors spread that many were lost to their stasis forms due to the super moon. salem is reeling in the aftermath, bathed in destruction. many visiting vampires have been forced to leave in order to retain some sense of peace: they were too much of a threat around so much blood. they were asked by the mayor to return to the city in a few days time, when things could be better discussed. many of them agreed. 

as the vampires make their leave, already at the edge of the town’s borders, the static tension in the city’s aura is sliced through like a knife through paper: the scream of countless banshees carries over the entirety of the city and it’s surrounding mountains and valleys. it lasts longer than the average banshee scream should, and various fragile objects near the banshees shatter. nearly all the non-reinforced windows in salem have blown to pieces. all supernaturals and hunters that hear the cries can sense that something is more dangerous in these screams. 

at the edge of eastrath woods stands a hooded figure, towering over a fallen person. the angel smiles, taking a deep inhale of the crisp, unnaturally frigid air. the stranger before him reeks of FEAR. “oh, don’t you smell absolutely divine?” his voice melts into a growl, and a scream fills the night air, heard by none.

PLAYER NOTES: players may now write interactions based between the dates included in this drop. our in-game event will last from today, saturday july 24th, to saturday july 31st. if need be, we will extend it further for players to fully experience the story. event threads may be continued to their conclusion after the end of the event, but they must be complete by the beginning of the next event. (this will be a good amount of time, i promise. if you still can’t finish before the next event, just POSTDATE each reply in the thread.) players may now write interactions based between the dates included in this drop.

*all players are welcome to join either of the two GROUP THREADS, which will be written in our discord group for the sake of organization and time. the threads will focus on the responses immediately following the mayor’s speech, and azrael’s meeting. details on how to participate in these will be available in the discord. 

**the weather in salem is no longer representative of the typical summer climate. storms are expected but these are much stronger than the city has ever experienced. 

all posts may be tagged as salem.event001

contrasting the loss of magic in town on the first week of july, the banshees are now overwhelmed by the amount of spirits appearing in town. due to the veil being closed by azrael, spirits are no longer able to cross between the living and void planes. many of them are not benevolent. every single banshee within a thirty mile radius of salem’s borders heard and felt the scream. 

due to the magical barrier around salem still being down, salem is now visible to the outside world for the first time in it’s existence. mortals and dangerous strangers alike are being drawn to the town by azrael’s doing, a spell of attraction on the entire area. in order to keep residents and the supernatural world safe, the council has mandated a new marshal law on the 23rd: supernatural beings are NOT to reveal themselves in public for the duration of the event, or they risk incarceration. this is quickly proven ineffective due to the werewolf situation.

ALL werewolves in salem are affected by the moon, though the effects may start earlier for some and may delay for others. all wolves will have transformed by 10:30pm on the night of the 23rd. their tempers are exacerbated and many of the younger wolves have lost control of their bloodlust. 

there are many new individuals in town, including old and powerful lich covens that have just reemerged out of hiding. 

[itsclydebitches]

There's something disturbing about how the main characters immediately jump to violent ideas such as killing Salem to save the world or stealing an aircraft to get to Atlas without a second to think of peaceful routes.

I certainly think there is! 

I can’t remember what the thread was about anymore, but I pointed out at one point that it’s strange how the characters haven’t been allowed to grapple with fighting/killing people instead of Grimm. Both the emotional implications and the fighting style. Someone else pointed out that they already know how to fight people because they have the tournament, but that’s just a totally different thing to my mind. Casual sparing for entertainment purposes in a space with numerous safety measures is inherently distinct from fighting people in the real world. All of which is to say, they’re trained to be violent against Grimm and Grimm only. They are trained to go in for the kill when it’s a literal monster with no thoughts or feelings; try to communicate when it’s another human or faunus. We’ve watched Ruby in particular ask Roman about his motives, invite Raven over to their side, tell Tyrian they don’t want to fight, etc. The concept of hearing that a person is their enemy---even a racist like Cordovin or a Big Bad like Salem---and immediately going, “Yeah the only option here is to kill them/beat them up” goes against everything else that has been established about huntsmen in this world. 

Think of it this way. How did everyone react when Yang supposedly attacked Mercury? There’s immediate horror from the crowd, Oobleck exclaims, Port yells for them to cut the cameras. In a world based on the logic we saw in Volume 6, people should not be this upset. Sure Yang didn’t need to hit him while he was down and she’d technically won... but does it matter if she did? It was a fight. She’s just finishing it. So what if his aura is low? Mercury knew the risks when he entered the ring. Besides, she only aimed for his leg. It wasn’t like it was a killing blow. 

Obviously all these justifications are nonsense because back then we were working under the knowledge that huntsmen are good, fair, kind people who are taught not to use their power recklessly. There’s a reason that literally everyone is horrified at this action, a reason Yang is devastated and why her team needs an explanation from her. Because that behavior is framed as completely innapropriate, yet that is precisely the sort of behavior lauded in Volume 6: violence used as a tool towards others to get what you want, be it information from Ozpin, revenge from Oscar, a free pass from Cordovin, or a peaceful world from Salem. After the entirety of 6 as context, I honestly don’t care that tempers were high out in the snow. To my mind a fake Yang hitting Mercury while he’s defenseless on his knees is no different from Qrow punching Ozpin-Oscar while he’s defenseless on his knees. Yet only one of these moments is framed as something to criticize. 

[nightmarebcrn-archives]

Considering Mercury lives in Remnant’s very own incarnation of Hell, it’s important to me that the Evernight is fleshed out. All of the following will be treated as canon in threads set in the Evernight unless my partner has headcanons of their own or we pre-discuss the setting.

The air is mildly toxic. Breathing the outside air causes adverse effects like cough and chest congestion over the course of several hours. Generally it’s more irritating than it is lethal, except for in the case of pre-existing lung diseases.

Negativity in the atmosphere makes it difficult for Grimm to track humans and Faunus. Though they’re able to follow a scent trail of distinct emotions, overall negativity is unlikely to draw their attention. Humans and Faunus may find that their mood drops and temper sharpens after prolonged exposure.

Salem’s castle provides protection against both the caustic air and the creeping negativity. However, susceptible individuals may still find their negative thoughts and emotions magnified.

A sick odor like decay and dark, musty places rises from the Grimm pools. Freshly birthed Grimm reek of it, and Grimm of any duration will smell of it up close.

Stale air seems always to cling to the skin, searching for thin and broken places through which to seep. It isn’t uncommon to feel a sudden chill that clothing can’t seem to keep out.

Contrary to the name, the sun does rise and set, though its rays do little to illuminate the harsh landscape of jutting stone and red dirt. Though it may give little light it inarguably does provide meager warmth. At night the temperature plummets, and that same cloying, insidious air knows just how to creep into the bones.

[maddhatterreviews]

Volume 7 and the role of the Schnees

I’m sure most everyone has noticed that Weiss hasn’t gotten much development since she reunited with her team in season five. In season six, especially, she didn’t have much to do; with most of the story centering around Ruby taking up a more prominent leadership position, and the further development of Yang and Blake’s relationship. But I feel like that was planned, cause season seven is gonna be all about Weiss and her family. 

I mean, Ironwood is going to be a major factor in the story, Salem attacking Atlas at some point, possibly dealing with the faunus of Mantle, and I will be legit pissed if something isn’t done with Penny and her father at some point. But the Schnees are going to play a big part in things. 

The first obvious issue is Weiss losing her birthright and reuniting with Winter. So most of the volume will probably follow Weiss as she deals with all the shit related to her family with Ruby acting as moral support. This season will also be the best time time fully introduce Weiss’s mom; a character we’ve heard a lot about, but still haven’t seen yet. 

But this doesn’t mean all the Schnee drama will be isolated from the main plot. If Watts and Tyrian are going after Ironwood, Winter is going to be involved in some way. And if Salem does unleash a full scale assault onto Atlas, it might start problems between Weiss, Winter, and maybe even their father when Weiss wants to join the fight against Salem’s forces. 

And then, of course, there’s Papa Schnee himself. There’s been a lot of talk about redemption arcs in this series for a good while now. Whose going to be redeemed? Should they be redeemed? How do the writers go about it? What happens after? None of these questions have been aimed at Jacque Schnee.

He is a character damn near universally hated in the fandom, and the writers have done nothing to make him even a little sympathetic. But this season will be the perfect time to give Jacque a choice. To show just what kind of man he really is. So far we’ve seen that everyone who works for Salem has some reason to do so. Cinder wanted power, Emerald wanted to help Cinder, Hazel wants revenge on Ozpin, Lionheart didn’t see the point in trying to fight anymore, and Tyrian sees Salem as a literal goddess. Salem’s power gives those around her the idea that she can do just about anything for them, and she can manipulate, or just intimidate, others to do whatever she wants. So what would happen if she and Jacque met?

Would she try to get him on her side? Betray Atlas for the promise of more power and wealth? Maybe make it so the Schnee Dust Company control all of Atlas? Sure, Jacque would just be a figure head with Salem actually in control. But he’d still be alive, rich, and his family would be safe. This would cement Jacque a truly vile human being. Fully willing to let thousands, if not millions of people die just to save himself and his investment. Even Lionheart, an academy headmaster and one of Ozpin’s most trusted lieutenants took a deal like this. And we already know Jacque is a massive piece of shit. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if he did the same.

But you know what would be surprising? If Jacque actually turns her down. I kinda doubt he’d do it right away. But if there’s some confrontation with Weiss, and maybe Winter, Jacque is actually convinced do the right thing for the first in his miserable life. Maybe even dying to save his daughters. How about that? Jacque fucking Schnee sacrificing himself to give our girls their victory.

But there is one other issue. Kind of a wild card in the whole Schnee family: Whitley. 

We already know Whitley idolizes his father and thinks he right about just about everything. He’s just as much of an asshole as Jacque...but we haven’t really seen enough of him to have a solid idea of how his mind works. He’s calculating and patient, like Weiss, but doesn’t seem to have her temper or exuberant personality. He can be genuinely malicious, but only when he’s sure he’s got the upper hand. But we still haven’t seen him in a situation where he has to make a decision for himself. 

And just like Jacque could be given the choice to side with Salem against the rest of humanity; Whitley will have the choice of weather or not to side with his father. And it could be just as interesting to see if Whitley is better, or worse than his father. Imagine if Jacque actually does side with Salem; and as the season goes on, Whitley slowly starts to realize that being an asshole isn’t that great and decides to help his sisters. 

Or say Jacque decides to help the good guys, but Whitley does something to screw everyone over (Like turning off a vital piece of equipment, providing important information to Salem’s forces, or handing the Winter Maiden over to Salem) and earns a place in Salem’s inner circle. He could even be forced to kill his own father as some kind of loyalty test, and he does it with little hesitation. 

Then there’s the Winter Maiden. Who and where she is still a mystery, but there is the theory that either Winter or Weiss’s mom is the next Maiden. That would add a new dimension to this conflict, both from Jacque and Whitley’s perspective (Provided what I suggests actually happens) but also giving far more personal stakes for Weiss and the rest of our girls. 

The next season could irreversibly alter the lives of the entire Schnee family and possibly all of Atlas. Weiss has never been my favorite character in the series, so the fact she’s been out of the spotlight for so long hasn’t really concerned me. But considering all the possible story threads leading into the girls’ arrival at Atlas, I’m looking forward to seeing Weiss really shine this year. 

[hemo--goblins]

So... this post got more attention than I expected it to. I'm going to take this opportunity to address some of the less visual parallels between these two that I find interesting, as well as smear some of my Tyrian headcanons onto this pose to shed some light on why I think he would have an interest in Jaune.

Firstly, both of these characters are known to be extremely loyal, to the point of self sacrifice.

Tyrian is willing to put himself at great physical risk, going so far as to crash a plane that he was inside, anything to assist Salem in her goals. Jaune has shown a disregard for his own life multiple times, valuing the lives of his friends over his own and seeing himself as only valuable in his ability to serve as a meat shield or healer for the more "important" fighters. Him "buying time" for everyone during the battle at Haven is the best example of this, and while he is growing and developing a better sense of worth, this trait is still innate in him.

The difference lies in their approach, which in turn is influenced by the tools they have at their disposal, and the methods in which they have learned to deal with problems.

Tyrian is direct and aggressive. His semblance causes harm. His avenue of service involves destroying anyone who threatens Salem's goals. This is also in part due to his violent nature, he has learned to approach problems by finding a way to eradicate them. Basically, he opens pickle jars by smashing them on the floor.

Jaune, in contrast, is generally non-confrontational. He can get overwhelmed and have a temper, in this aspect he is not unlike Tyrian, but he prefers to find a gentler solution. He has solidified is role as his team's strategist from his knack for finding creative solutions to problems that minimize casualties. His semblance heals, landing him in more of a supportive role, influenced by his kind nature as well as necessity, as in the past he hasn't had the physical strength to employ more heavy-handed solutions.

Both of them tie their sense of worth to their ability to provide these services. Above all else, they want to lend their skills to aid their respective causes. Jaune struggles with anxieties of being an inadequate leader, and often blames himself for being unable to save people. As a parallel, Tyrian absolutely breaks when he can't fulfill his duties. If they can't perform the one asset they specialize in, the only thing they can offer to the people that matter more to them than their own lives, then they feel worthless.

Obviously, the mirror opposite nature of their semblances is evident, and I don't need to address it in detail. But I would like to propose a little explanation for Tyrian's professed "interest" in Jaune, and to do so, I'm going to have to delve a little into a few headcanons I have regarding his semblance.

I believe that, not unlike Ren's semblance, Tyrian's has a secondary, subtler application. As his semblance closely involves aura, I think he has the ability to see aura more clearly. To most people, aura is only visible when first activated, when struck, when broken or in some cases, when a semblance is used. I think Tyrian can see it all the time. You can check out the post I've made about why I reached this conclusion here for more (although the most up to date version is a twitter thread, but if i were to link that, this post would not show up in tags. Semblance-specific commentary is at the end of the post).

Basically, with this theory, Tyrian would be able to see that Jaune has an abnormally large reserve of aura, and would likely glow like a sun in Tyrian's vision, instantly drawing his attention and piquing his interest. Whether that interest is rooted in if his semblance can tear through aura so thick, or how Jaune would be less vulnerable to it due to his armor, or even just the idea of someone being able to withstand more torture due to rapid healing, is anyone's guess.

It's an interesting dichotomy these two have, in that they represent the antithesis of each other and yet share a few key traits. It's very similar to the concept of the yin/yang, actually; aspects which seem to be polar opposites contain a piece of each other within themselves, and one cannot define itself without the presence of the other.

You cannot heal if there is no injury, and you cannot harm if there is no health to deplete. Something that cannot die does not live, and everything that lives will inevitably die. Without darkness to vanquish, huntsmen would have no purpose, and without light, there would be nothing to destroy.

For your consideration

[hope-for-olicity]

There is a photo that haunts me. Taken by photojournalist Allen McInnis on December 6, 1989, it shows a man taking down Christmas decorations. Out of focus in the foreground is a woman slumped over in a chair. The woman is dead; shot by a misogynist earlier that night in a targeted attack that took 14 women’s lives at Montreal’s École Polytechnique. The contrast of a plainclothes police officer taking down holiday decor with a woman’s dead body beside him is the most haunting metaphor for the mundane reality of misogyny.

Every year on December 6, we read out the names of the 14 women at vigils across the country and we add in the names of women killed by men that year. (There are always new names. So many new names.)

We now recognize what happened that day as misogyny in its rawest form. But it took years and countless debates for us to get there. People were deeply invested in writing it off as the actions of a lone wolf; a loser; a nut.

Canada had collective déja vu this past week.

He told us why he rammed a van down Yonge St. and still, we question.

Killers write manifestos, Facebook posts and lengthy blogs detailing their misogynist motivations and we still print headlines asking, “Is hatred of women to blame?”

Pundits twist themselves into pretzels trying to explain away what women have been screaming since the burning of witches in Salem: They hate us and it’s killing us.

I, like every other Canadian girl I know, was raised on a steady diet of violence prevention tips and it seems that every year, the list grows. With advances in technology, we’re told to never share nudes, to download personal safety apps and hey, maybe try this new nail polish that can detect if there’s a roofie in your drink.

In response to the horrifying attack in Toronto on April 23, internet assholes and armchair experts have flooded the social media feeds of feminists, telling us that women need to consider sleeping with loners and losers so that we can avoid another massacre. “These poor men are sad and lonely because no one will date them. Maybe women should throw them a bone!”

I want to laugh at the absurdity of a “Fuck one, save us all” mentality, but I can’t even muster the energy to mock it. I’m too tired.

A myth that has existed for a long time and that flourishes in the dark corners of the internet is that women have the privilege of getting sex whenever and however we want. On Reddit threads, 4Chan and misogynist Facebook groups, we’re told that women need to be more empathetic because we will never understand the loneliness of men, and in particular, the isolation of unattractive loner men. “Alpha” males are getting all the dates and these poor, nice gentlemen who are only guilty of being kind and unattractive are relegated to being the beta fish in an alpha world.

Look, I’ve never met a woman who hasn’t been rejected by a man at least once. Yes, gentlemen. Even hot women get rejected, too. And we’re not just getting rejected on individual levels. On a macro scale, we’re told to lower our expectations all the damn time. Just ask any single women who is currently dating. We’re told to be grateful for men who care about consent, call themselves feminists or raise their own kids and don’t call it babysitting. What a catch, am I right ladies?!

So to say that men are killing women because they are rejected doesn’t fly because women are lonely all the time and yet we’re not murderers on remotely the same scale as men. Women have a laundry list of grievances against men from catcalls to pay inequity to rape. But we don’t take it out on men as a whole. We internalize it instead. It’s my fault. If only I was prettier, thinner or less demanding. If only I was chill and had my shit together.

They say “Hurt people hurt people” but really, hurt MEN hurt people. Hurt women most often hurt themselves. As women, we’re raised to believe our voices don’t matter, so it obviously, our pain doesn’t matter either.

We, as women, are truly incapable of preventing the violence inflicted on us. But trust me, we’ve tried. We’ve spent lifetimes trying to stop it. Suffragettes in the Temperance movement fought to ban alcohol so that women would be saved from beatings from their drunk husbands. Feminists in the ’70s handed out whistles hoping to ward off would-be rapists. We’ve taught self-defense on campuses and consent in schools and still, we die. As a public educator whose job it is to prevent violence against women, progress is slow. I’ll give a presentation to students that goes really well, only to wake up the next day to a complaint from a teacher who was offended that I didn’t talk about women raping men. My statistics are constantly challenged, as are my motives and even my appearance. Who knew that wearing lipstick and heels invalidates my ability to talk about violence? I didn’t. But people are more than happy to remind me.

I’m tired of reading the news every day and seeing another headline about another dead woman. In Ontario alone, we’ve had over a dozen women and girls killed by men as a result of intimate partner violence this year and it’s barely spring.

We live in a contradiction. We are both our feminist Prime Minister and our missing and murdered Indigenous women. We are our gender-balanced budget and a woman murdered by her intimate partner every six days. Women are the most active in the movement to end violence against women and yet Canada’s two deadliest massacres in the past century were caused by men who hated women.

It’s not up to women to end the violence we experience. It’s not up to women to convince men of our humanity. We’ve tried that and it hasn’t worked.

It’s up to men who are reading this with their back up to question why.

If you don’t hate us and don’t want us to die, prove it.

[salemroleplayhq]

❝One need not be a chamber to be haunted, one need not be a house; the brain has corridors surpassing material place.❞

MEET…

Sunil Kumar

Age: 35

Birthday: October 7th, 1986

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Man, He/They

Hometown: Gravesend, England

Length of time in Salem: 1 year 

Occupation: Parapsychologist

Faceclaim: Rahul Kohli

THEIR STORY

tw: mentions of death

Renowned Parapsychologist and denouncer of fraudulent spiritualist mediums, Sunil Kumar has carved a reputation for himself in the world of hauntology as a tenacious investigator of psychical phenomena. He’s best-known for his work exposing fake, money-grabbing ‘mediums’, as well as being an active member of London’s Society for Psychical Research, an organisation set up in 1882 to examine purported paranormal activity. Initially sent to Salem for research purposes on behalf of the SPR, a year has passed and Sunil is no closer to finishing his job. It’s the longest stint of fieldwork he’s ever known and, since arriving, he’s branched out and helps residents with domestic poltergeist problems to keep himself occupied. He’s made a temporary home in Salem, having fallen in love with the ambience of the city -- spooky, perfect for a parapsychologist -- and the ghosts have always felt remarkably loud here.

Despite building a career on exposing the living pretending they can communicate with the dead, he simultaneously believes the thread between the two is gossamer-thin. It’s always been about ghosts for Sunil. He was an honorary ghost himself, long before he took up investigating them. His father -- a sweet-tempered man with dirt perpetually beneath his nails -- was the local gravedigger in their small English town, and his mother, the taller and by far bolder of the two, worked in a funeral parlour, having emigrated to England before Sunil was born. Sunil’s earliest memories were of traipsing between moss-ridden headstones and overgrown bramble after his father, or else tucked away in the corner of his mother’s parlour while she worked. The dead were his babysitters, his confidants -- friends to an otherwise friendless child. Macabre, perhaps, but he never once felt frightened in their presence. (The living, on the other hand, terrified him.)

In a small town where nothing happened, the inhabitants had to find things to occupy themselves. Hauntings were a popular invention back in the day, and the locals would all try and outdo one another in an attempt to see who could spin the tallest tale. If one person had witnessed a teacup soaring across their living room, someone else would’ve seen an entire tea set be propelled by their far more superior poltergeist. The stories would snowball, escalate, become increasingly stranger. This always fascinated Sunil; not the validity of these hauntings, which lacked a good deal of credibility, but the reason behind them. Were hauntings always the product of small-town boredom? Did they always have a gossipy mayfly lifespan, or could ghosts actually exist?

His childhood heroes were never the same actors and footballers as his peers, but parapsychologists such as Nandor Fodor and Harry Price. Sunil shared Fodor’s pioneering theory that ‘poltergeists were external manifestations of conflicts within the subconscious mind, rather than autonomous entities with minds of their own.’ Fodor suggested poltergeist disturbances were caused by humans suffering from some form of emotional stress; the ghosts came from within them. They were somehow both the haunted and the one orchestrating the haunting, truthful and fraudulent all at once.

He built upon this theory, studied Psychology at a London university, and ultimately joined the SPR at twenty-four as an investigator, where he’s worked ever since. When people encounter unexplained phenomena, they contact the SPR, and investigators like Sunil are sent out to do exactly that: investigate. Shed some light. It’s an unusual career, he’d be the first to admit it, but it’s all he knows how to do. Even now, the dead remain his closest friends and, despite coming face-to-face with more hoaxes than seemingly real hauntings, he still firmly believes in their existence.

PERSONALITY

+  Observant, tenacious, well-intentioned

-  Impulsive, moralistic, secretive

Sunil is played by MARGO.

[withoutbounds-fr]

A creature of action rather than thought, the Guardian’s first impulse upon discovering the affair was to rip the door off its hinges and storm the coupled dragons with a hellish screech. 

In a flurry of wings, noise shattered against her ears, and the world shook. Violence called after Devi’s paws as they thundered against the dirt floor like cannon fire. Transmutation, ever the quick thinker, leapt for the window. Scrambling out of it, the flurried sound of flapping wings filled the room. And Beachcomber attempted to follow it. A fast placed paw on his tail put a halt to that delusion. He hit the floor and lunged at the door - a desperate animal. But in the small space, Devi was able to block him with her size. Snarling, she reared and roared something wild, fury blinding rational thought. Trapped, the smaller dragon scampered to a breathless stop and gazed in shocked horror at the beast above him. The Skydancer panted, winded. Devi held his gaze, still raised above the ground, heaving herself. Beachcomber pawed the ground under him where he crouched in the dirt, feet dusty and darkened. For a moment, the world paused, and nothing existed but this damp room and their dust-soaked breathing and the air hanging heavy around their heads. Then, gently, Devi eased her front legs to the ground. Puffs of dust greeted her feet as they came to rest on the ground. “Just who the hell do you think you are,” she hissed, stopping for a moment to let a ragged breath pass through her teeth. Sliding up to the mage, she began again, “You have a husband at home who loves you more than the air he breathes, who would die for you and puts up with your arrogance and raised two children for you! You didn’t help. He- I’d know! You were in your precious coliseum all day. Too damn busy to care what your kids were doing -” “Like you have ground to stand on! Like you wouldn’t jump straight back into the thick of the coli if given half a chance!” leaping up to look Devi properly in the eyes, bringing to light the vindictive rage flashing in them. He was so upset. She wanted to laugh. The Skydancer thought he was the victim here. Not his husband, who was blissfully unaware of the whole affair. Not Transmutation, whom Beachcomber clearly didn’t love enough to commit to. Not Devi, now tasked with telling her friend the truth. But the fury in the Guardian had passed, the enemy had blinked first, and her charge’s need for battle had been appeased. Only a pitiful sorrow remained. And she was so exhausted from previous paranoia, and from the hunt here, and from her charge which had sapped her strength to pull this stunt. She wanted to cry. Her closest friend - who had raised two children for this dog - was married to this pathetic excuse for a dragon. The betrayal ran deep in her bones and she felt it as sharply as if it had been her own mate. Now fighting off tears, she half begged “Alphonse is the best thing to happen to me in years. To either of us. Why would you...” “Why? That’s what you want to know? Why do you think!?” something almost like pity passed over the drake’s features, “Alphonse... is a ball and chain to himself. I’d die before he takes me down with him. He’s stuck down there in those - in those rat tunnels. Judge all you like, I see it in your eyes - you’re disgusted with me. Ha! I don’t blame you. But I’m not sharing his fate. It’s claustrophobic. The same house. The same rooms. The same yard. The same view. There’s nothing different! Nothing to do! It’s solitary confinement. There’s a whole world up here - people up here. I need people and air. I need a life” the drake ran shaking claws through his crest, “I’d go crazy down there, trust me! I did try. I loved him, once. I swear I did...” it was Devi’s turn to feel pity. Of course she pitied this weak creature. A sneer crossed her features, “I’m sure you did.” She laughed. It was a humourless, quiet thing, pressed close to her chest where she hung her head, eyes drifting away. “Just like you love Zip, hmm?” Uncharacteristically, the mage growled in response. “Come on. Come on! You - you don’t get to act all high and mighty! You know what it’s like, don’t you? To feel trapped? And you. You were a pet to that mongrel, same as Platinum-Barachiel!” “This isn’t about me or BloodMagic, and definitely not that two-faced son of a-” the Guardian was quick to defend her former leader, and Beachcomber had some nerve in mentioning the Imperial. “Isn’t it!?” a wide, sweeping gesture followed the expression. “Look me dead in my eyes and tell me you were happy working under the necromancer. Tell me you didn’t want more! I’m not spending my life moping around in those tunnels with that Spiral,” he snarled, “Just like Barachiel couldn’t spend his acting as an attack dog!” Her temper snapped. A claw came down hard on Beachcomber’s pretty little face, “YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BARACHIEL AND NOTHING ABOUT BLOODMAGIC!” Clutching his bleeding head the smaller dragon shot back, “I know enough! How good could he have been if the Platinum was willing to kill him!” “Barachiel and I loved him.” “Oh, yes, that’s why BloodMagic’s dead. Our patriarch ‘loved’ him so much he killed him.” “You don’t know anything.” She refused to meet his eye. “Barachiel was seduced by that beast - by Salem - she promised him every dream he’d never dared to hope for. He scoffed, “And why was that? Why couldn’t he hope to rule alongside the great and powerful BloodMagic?” A low growl rumbled out of Devi’s chest, “Oh don’t start that! The history books -” “Propaganda.” “The history books tell all. He was a ruler with an iron fist. He didn’t share and you know it. You and the Platinum were nothing but conveniences to him; things he could use. It’s hilarious, really, that you’re in the slums while he’s living it up in the palace. Poetic justice, I guess. Don’t get me wrong I hate Salem as much as the next guy, but you gotta admit, he was the only one smart enough to realize what a scam the pre-Salem era was.” Her posture wavered, but Devi clung to the door nonetheless, refusing to let the mage pass, “You never loved Al, did you. That’s why you dumped Gemini and Satyr on him. You were too busy slipping between Transmutation’s thighs. They’re her kids, aren’t they? I wouldn’t be surprised” “I’m going to pretend you’re not trying to change the subject and invite you to mull over something for me. I just want you - and this is just a,” he paused, leaning into the Guardian’s space, “personal little favour. Ask yourself this, why is it that it was only after he died that you thought of BloodMagic as a friend? I’ve heard you tell Alphonse about him. But did you ever bother to question it? It’s not like you didn’t know what a friend was,” his smile was a jagged thing sitting high on his face. “So,” he put a hand on her shoulder, “I’m going to leave you with that and you,” he hissed, “are going to move.” And she did.

7/?

FR Thread

The Lore That Inspired This

Devi | Beachcomber

Ask to be added to the pinglist!

[dramarising-replacement]

Scammer Alert 101: BEWARE MS

(Attempt #2. My bad for not editing Usernames first time)  Anyway! Browsing the Forum before bed, you know?, the nightly ritual/routine. I’m sure many of us do it. However I come across this one thread that particularly catches my eye: “Selling Eliminate"  *Hmm, I could use one of those!* I think to myself so I go right ahead and click. This is what I find: 

Excited shock hit me. 200gems for a level 7 WITH Eliminate?! WOW!  I read a Little further and "OH MY GOSH! ITS NOW 175GEMS! I simply MUST Have it!” anyone in my position would have been the same, ya know, given elims are like 400+ on their own!  So, I click a little further to check out the dragon in questions and this is what I find: 

At a glance.. All seems legit… Especially at around 4am when one is getting Tired anyway! (again yeah most probably my fault for not having my wits about me!)  So i perssue to Private Mail MS  to ask if they are still selling. I ended up nodding off for a little bit but i woke up to fond a Crossroads Trade waiting for me with the Tundra inserted and a Private Mail saying that yep! he was indeed for sale and they would send him over.  Now, I pay my 175 gems and get all excited to have a new (And rather cute) Elim wearing Level 7. I mean.. This IS amazing right??…… WRONG!!!!!!!!!!  SO GOD DAMNED WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shove the Tundra into the Coli team instantly to check him out and add a couple levels…… But Yep! you guessed it!…. I found this….. 

Not a Single Eliminate to be found!!!!  As you can imagine.. I flipped my lid! I instantly set up a Return 2-way-CR with MS with a note saying I’d like a refund since this dragon does NOT have an Elim as first stated!  As you can probably guess, I received NO response from MS until eventually, I received the following Private Messages! 

What the hell their “Leaving” has to do with Returning my gems, I have no clue!  MS was then asked once again to Return the Gems and that i did not give 2 flying Foxrats what they were doing with their account!  Response: 

Again?… I could not care Less, MS once more was told to return the Gems (by this point im flipping and have told them i will take it further to FR mods to have the account shut down and it would then be null and void!)  Response: 

(Currently now cussing in a newly discovered language…. at least i think it was)  But again, told to return the gems, if they had the time to reply they had the time to add gems and to do it!! Response: 

This almost made me smash the screen lol! They were told the dragon is NOT worth 175gems! Fuck all special about it (except for it being XXY)  It is not Worth that amount! Its scam! Response: (and probably the more temper inducing one yet)

…………………………………………………….. (-_-) … Fucking Seriously?!!! While i was having my newly discovered Language bitch fit………. I received this next and Final Message….

….. Shove your Green Crap up your Arse!!! Salem Witch Trials is what needed for you buddy! A bit of Rope and Burned at the Stake imo!  Not much else to report after this other than this user continued to to delet EVERY Forum post they had made or commented on, Delete every dragon aside from Progens and remove Every Comment i left on their Clan profile……  I hold no hope of getting my funds returned the main thing that pisses me off is not only was i scammed but this was by a Multi-Accounter!  NOT a newbie! there was just too much thought put into this scam for someone who had just joined!…. So the Scammer is still out there somewhere… and if your reading this… Well i hope your proud! Low Life Scum!!!!  They also Claim’ to be completely Inactive!  However i don’t think it will be too long before they come back on the scene again. Cowardly Worms like that never hide for long!  (On a positive note: to the user in Nature Flight who was told about this and then proceeded to PM me a lovely message, you are an absolute gift <3 and it is reassuring in a sense to know there are still kind people like you out there! Bless you! xxx) 

[yangingaround]

As someoe who has kind of drafted the idea that Yang's fire is, rather than a by-product ofher Semblance, instead magic. What do you say to ideas like "Ruby's rose petals is like Yang's fire and Neon's rainbow trail are side effect of their Semblance, not the main point of it."?

i’m not quite sure what you’re saying at the end there but

i’m kinda of the opinion that because Ruby’s primary thing is speed (via that cloak wreathing thing), the rose petals don’t really make sense with that - like they’re an aesthetic addition that kinda comes from nowhere, fitting Ruby’s name rather than her semblance, and a semblance that burns energy producing something for no reason with no practical use is kind of wasteful

in addition, we really don’t see anything like it from anyone else (Yang’s fire comes off as a wholly separate thing from her semblance when you actually look at it, it’s a similarly useful ability that can be passed off as her semblance. Ruby’s petals are just matter that comes from nowhere. and people like to cite Neon’s rainbow trail as something similar but the thing is, Neon’s rainbow trail seems to be like a jet trail - it’s what’s actually propelling her forward. she’s not producing it in addition to moving at high speeds, and it vanishes after her. as evidenced by the fact that when we first see her use it, she has to take a second to build it up) - it’s an aesthetic addition that comes from nowhere. the reason it’s not paid much attention to is that Ruby was shown off first. demonstrating the outlier before the regular stock is a directorial decision, to make it harder for an audience to notice something off right away

now, the important thing is that unlike most characters, Ruby has something unique - her silver eyes, which are a seemingly magical, non-aura based ability that according to legend is specifically crafted to kill the Creatures of Grimm (also interesting to note, in the Red trailer - which served little story purposes but was more in the realm of a skills and weapon resumé - when Ruby kills Grimm, rose petals burst out of every one she cuts open - which could serve as foreshadowing if the two are connected). now what is interesting is that the only other character we know had this power, is her mother, Summer. and Summer is depicted in a few of the openings with the same petal scattering effect Ruby has (but with white petals)

now if Summer actually did have this rose petal aesthetic addition, that strengthens the possibility that it’s connected to the silver eyes. so then, that the two have the same aesthetic but tied to their respective colour schemes suggests this thing connected to their magical abilities are affected by Aura somewhat (so Ruby’s aura is red, and her petals are red, Summer’s aura we can reasonably assume to be white, her petals are white) - so this is a case of aura having a (minor) affect on the magical ability

getting into definite theory/speculation territory now

now we know magic is connected to the soul - the effort to keep the remaining part of the Fall Maiden powers out of Cinder’s hands by removing Amber’s soul and transferring it into Pyrrha is proof of that - but that it does not require Aura to be used. however, that doesn’t mean the two don’t affect each other. before acquiring part of the Fall Maidens power, Cinder’s semblance appeared to be the creation and manipulation of glass - the most she seemed to be able to do was superheat the ground to create fist-sized chunks of glass which she could manipulate telekinetically. compare that to how she fights come the series proper, where she fuses together the debris from a superheated ground attack to create an enormous spear to throw at Glynda and Ruby. additionally, she’s also able to craft her weapons and ammunition from glass now, when previously she needed to carry her own weapons and ammunition - it’s an enormous jump within the time span of the Black trailer to the start of the series. this suggests that acquiring even a portion of magical abilities strengthened Cinder’s semblance significantly

in fact, compare Ruby pre-silver eyes activating and post. she goes from being able to maintain her full cloak speed boost for a few seconds in a straight line to pinballing in the air, rapidly changing direction, for a far longer period without a problem. now yes, a lot of that could be due to gained experience, but it’s still a significant jump and following the activation of her silver eyes, there is a case to be made for a connection there

a big thing is that magic doesn’t have the same rules case to case - we see this in that the Maiden powers (and Ozpin, from whom they originate) are specific powers and have a specific transference rule (in fact that’s another point to souls and magic being connected, because Ozpin’s soul makes the jump too), but silver eyes are specific powers and are hereditary, there’s no transference involved. and then the Branwens don’t seem to have specific powers - though their abilities seem to have a connecting thread in being associated with darkness/negativity/Salem/the Grimm/etc. - but also hereditary

and the Branwens you can even make an argument that this is the biggest case for the soul affecting magic (as opposed to in the other direction that we see with the Maidens and possibly Silver Eyes once active, magic affecting the manifestation of the soul), as of the two Branwens whose semblances we do know about, their magic also fits their personalities/histories, but in different ways. Yang’s semblance is reflective of her childhood, how she had to take emotional blows and be strong in spite of that, manifesting as taking hits and building up a strength enhancement. her magic, on the other hand, as demonstrated when her Branwen heritage manifests with her eyes turning red, is fire - reflecting her fiery personality and temper (evidence indicating she’s got an impressive degree of control over it and using it actually helps her stay focused - unlike how a cursory, shallow glance makes her come off as a wild, angry brute). and then there’s Qrow where it’s even more interconnected - his semblance is an air of misfortune and his magic is him shapeshifting into a symbol of misfortune (one that he’s named for). we don’t know much about Raven beyond that she’s aloof and a jerk, and her magic manifests as portals, but we know nothing major about her semblance or her personality to really be able to confirm the pattern as of yet

[nancydrew428]

Midnight in Salem

I decided to make this post about Midnight in Salem to compile the facts and help myself, and hopefully others, understand what’s taking so long (maybe) and just to see what we know right now. If anyone has any other information that they’d like to add, feel free to submit it/message it to me and I can put it in this post (and give you credit) or you can reblog this post and add your info. ☺

So what do we know so far?

We know the game is titled Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem (MID for short).

Her Interactive posted an update on Facebook on May 11th, 2017, that I found through this Youtube video.

The update reads:

“Despite our best attempts to answer everyone's emails, posts, tweets, blog posts, etc. about Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem...we admittedly do miss some. And hey, we’re only human, so sometimes we inadvertently miss responding to a post. Hence, we felt it would be appropriate to post the attached message. Our goal is to have a more substantial update for you very shortly. We appreciate your patience during this unprecedented shift at HeR Interactive. Please know that we are not ignoring you but we are a very lean team and simply can't respond to everything. We are doing the very best we can. Also, please know that just because we offer a new Nancy Drew puzzle or start a new Nancy Drew contest, that it has no impact on the development and progress of our next title. Our fans mean the world to us and we appreciate you sticking by us during this longer than usual wait time between titles. As always, we thank you for your support and stay sleuthy!”

And there was also this picture with it.

It may not be (in fact, it isn’t) the response that many of us wanted. but at least it’s some sort of a response.

The game has not been cancelled and they are still working on it.

They answered a couple of tweets saying:

Still working on it! #NancyDrew (June 12th, 2017)

MID has not been canceled, and we are still working on it. At this time we do not have any updates to share, sorry! (June 14th, 2017)

The release date is still TBD.

On Twitter, they’ve posted that they don’t have a release date.

Hello S, we can't say for sure [when the game will come out, or even if it’ll come out this year]. When we have an update, we wil share it on our site as well as on social media. (June 5th, 2017)

Hi! We don't have an estimated date set for MID just yet. When we do, we will be sure to announce it! (June 14th, 2017)

We don't have a release date set for MID yet. When we do, we will announce it! (June 16th, 2017)

MID is going to be Her Interactive’s 33rd (desktop) game.

You can watch the preview for it here.

It is not yet rated by the ESRB.

It is for ages 10 and up.

The operating system:

Windows® XP/Vista/7/8/10

OS X: OS X: 10.6.8 Snow Leopard/10.7 Lion/10.8 Mountain Lion/10.9 Mavericks/10.10 Yosemite or higher

The description/story of the game is:

“The Hathorne House was the former home of Judge John Hathorne, inquisitor of the infamous Salem witch trials and the final home to 102-year-old Frances Tuttle, his last direct descendant. When Tuttle passed away, the manor became city property and the mayor must find a manager to oversee the planned tourist attraction. Judge Steven Danforth is assigned to oversee the proceedings, but on the night of October 21st local police rescue his son Jason from the burning confines of the estate’s upstairs library. Investigators discover that the library was locked from the inside, but the young child remembers nothing about entering the room. The only thing he can recall was the frightening expressions from a ‘vile ghostly woman’ who watched him with burning eyes as she spoke from the fireplace flames. The police were quick to respond to the fire because neighbors already called them about the boy dancing in the dark street. Was the child bewitched? Acting on tips from concerned citizens, police arrest the eccentric Mei Parris and accuse her of witchcraft.  Is Mei Parris truly a witch? Or is she the victim of townsfolk who are unsettled by her unique appearance?”

The game features listed are:

“Learn about the historical Salem Witch Trials

Explore an ancient crypt

Solve historical figure Ruth Hathorne’s puzzles

Take a tour of Salem and discern fiction from truth

Sleuth at Amateur or Master level and erase any mistakes without starting over”

According to the MID Wiki page, “The game will be the first in the series to allow full movement, but will still be point and click.”

So far there are 5 characters listed (there might be more characters in the game, but this might also be it).

All of these 5 characters are women.

The characters are named:

Mei Parris

Lauren Corey

Deirdre Shannon (a recurring character in the games)

Teegan Parris

Jenna Ravencraft.

“Mei Parris has spent her life pulled between two extremes due to her physical appearance: the near-crushing protective attention “lavished on her by her parents, and the unjustified fear of the local townsfolk.”

“Lauren Corey is a calm and slightly grouchy introvert with a bookworm streak. She loves to bake, and is beloved in the local community for her winning entries into cooking contests.”

“High-maintenance Deirdre Shannon has spent her life hovering in Nancy’s shadow, and lives with the knowledge that she is the “girl who would have become Nancy Drew” had circumstances turned out better for her.”

“Teegan Parris is easy to like: outgoing, cheerful, extremely fashionable and professional. But when Teegan’s stressed out, she has an incredibly short fuse before her temper ignites.”

“Constantly commanding the spotlight, Jenna Ravencraft runs a local paranormal tour company. It’s well-known locally that her tours are faked (or are they?) — full of rigged special effects designed to showcase spells and ghosts.”

What I found from the MID Wiki page, Jenna Ravencraft might be voiced by Kiki Penoyer. However, this may be false, because the website that says this also says that MID was going to come out in the fall of 2015. (That was supposed to be true, I believe, but then—obviously—it wasn’t, and that website hasn’t been updated, so I don’t know if the voice actress information is incorrect too.)

By looking at the MID Wiki page, I found a link to this video on the Her Interactive Youtube account where Ellie (it looks like she is someone who used to work for Her Interactive) answered questions that people sent in (back in July 2015). She said that she couldn’t really answer any questions about MID, however, she said that “I can mention that there may or may not be a certain dynamic, sleuthy [or sleuthing] duo, helping you out in this one.”

There’s a speculation that this means that the Hardy Boys might be featured in the game.

We have these 2 pictures (they’re essentially the same, though).

They fired the voice actress of Nancy Drew, Lani Minella, back in 2014.

Just look at this Twitter “thread” with Lani’s answers:

#NancyDrew fans.  Sea of Darkness = my last game voicing Nancy.  Luv u fans dearly.  15 yrs, 32 games. Hugs and thanks so much. Will miss u!

Well I am so fond of people like you, that's why I had to let peeps know I wasn't leaving on my own accord. Thanks hugely!

They won't [ask me to come back].

[It] was not my decision, but they're trying new things to gain a larger audience. Thanks for hanging in there and being so great

Lani Minella also admitted that Her Interactive fired a lot of their crew in that same Twitter “thread” .

I know, I used to read Nancy Drew books when I was a kid.  I don't expect Her to last. Fired most of the crew

Hello Mary & thank you for your kindness.  I'm not  employee of Her, but they let go of many others as well. Happening a lot. Hugs!

Not only did she talk about Her Interactive firing a lot of their crew, but there was a post in the Her Interactive community that said there were 25 Her Interactive employees but then in April 2017, only 14 employees were listed.

Through Glassdoor, there was a review of Her Interactive that you can see without having an account on the Glassdoor website. This review was from a former employee, a 3D digital artist, who said that “It [Her Interactive] was a great company to work for,” they worked there for more than 3 years, and the people were fun and great to work with. HOWEVER, “Once [the] former CEO left, [the] company has changed.” Which yes, that’s often times what happens. When a CEO leaves, the company changes, however that ex-employee considered that to be a con and the person, who had worked there for over 3 years and obviously enjoyed their work, was fired. So maybe it wasn’t a good one? (at least not for the people who were fired.)

BizJournals had an article talking about some people who were fired from the Her Interactive community.

Geekwire did too. At least in May 2015, Jared Nieuwenhuis was the HeR marketing director and he said that the reason behind this cutback in staff was  “changing market conditions in the game industry and shifting priorities at Her Interactive.”

Penny Millikin is the new CEO of Her Interactive. She was hired back in September of 2014 and has served on the Board of Directors since 2003. According to a Her Interactive newsletter, “Ms. Milliken has worked in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years with over 10 years of brand management and family marketing experience at The Walt Disney Company in the U.S. and Europe. … Her broad entertainment background includes theme parks, motion pictures, feature animation, television animation, home entertainment, new media and e-commerce. Penny has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.”

She believes that outsourcing is important (I found this link from here, and she starts speaking at around 45:45). (This might sound mean, idk, but I swear I’m not trying to be rude. I don’t know enough about her, about outsourcing, or about Her Interactive to be able to say whether Ms. Millikin is right or wrong or whatever else.)

So the new CEO, Ms. Millikin, thinks outsourcing is a good idea (idk how to word that without sounding disapproving—I mean, I guess I don’t approve of it, but I’m also not against it, because idk enough about it, if I’m being honest). So I’ve found whether MID is being outsourced and I also have done a little digging to get to know more about it (I still don’t really understand it, but at least I have a better idea than before!).

So first of all, according to Little Jackalope on the Her Interactive blog:

“Nearly ALL of our Nancy Drew games have had parts that had been outsourced. All games up until #16 ICE all the character designs and animation came from outside of our office and by another company (then we brought on our own character designer and animators). All of our games’ music has been outsourced as well, with our current composer working from Europe. Many voice actors and actresses have recorded characters for us, even some located in England! Outsourcing is very common in the game industry. Sounds, designs, animations, modeling, marketing content and more are sourced from multiple companies who specialize in what they do. Our game company is no different, and we are a small one! Rumors have spread about Midnight in Salem being outsourced, so to confirm a fact: yes, MID has elements outsourced, just like our past games. 🙂 That is all I can share on the story, for now. When I have news or details to share, I will!”

So Nancy Drew games in the past have had parts that have been outsourced and MID is no different. “MID has elements outsourced.”

Also, through this vlog on Youtube, I found these responses on the Her Interactive blog.

MESSAGE:

“Hi, I am a new software engineer and long time fan! I was curious to find out, do you guys have any woman programmers on your in-house programming team? And how big is your programming team overall? HER seems like such a small family company, but at the same time making a game probably requires lots of hands and a lot of work! Thanks!”

ANSWER:

“Hi Annalyn, we’ve had female programmers in the past and will continue to emphasize the importance of female programmers in the future as well.”

MESSAGE:

“Do you currently have any female in-house programmers? And what exactly do you mean by ‘emphasize the importance of female programmers in the future’?” 

ANSWER:

“Our current programmers are outsourced with our art team at this time.”

The vlogger, Nancy Drew Walkthroughs, says that HeR is outsourcing both the art team and the programmers (that doesn’t mean music, writing, or voice acting, though). Basically, that means that the game is not actually being worked on at Her Interactive. which is kind of an update in and of itself. If they made a bigger post about how they’re outsourcing, and what outsourcing is, maybe people would be more understanding and patient of everything that’s been going on, because we might understand it more and we would actually be getting information from HeR.

Second of all, what even is outsourcing?

Outsourcing: The practice of having certain job functions done outside a company instead of having an in-house department or employee handle them; functions can be outsourced to either a company or an individual .

In-house: In-house refers to conducting an activity or operation within a company, instead of relying on outsourcing. A firm uses its own employees and time to keep a division or business activity, such as financing or brokering, in-house.

Third of all, what are the pros to outsourcing/reasons to outsource?

PracticalEcommerce says:

“Specialized skills. The task is highly specialized and requires expert skills or systems, such as graphic design, website development, payroll, PPC campaigns, human resource compliance.

Specialized equipment. The task requires a large facility, specialized equipment, or operational efficiencies. Fulfillment operations are frequently outsourced because of the need to stock large amounts inventory and manage it efficiently.”

And:

“For longer-term needs ... the benefit is that you gain operational efficiencies and skills that you would have a difficult time replicating in-house.”

The Journal of Accountancy says,

“Cost savings and quality. Fierce competition has led many businesses to restructure and downsize staffs in an effort to save money. As in the case of General Electric, even thriving companies do whatever possible to reduce staff and costs.”

And fourth of all, where are the cons to outsourcing?

Also through The Journal of Accountancy, I found this picture, which may explain why Her Interactive is outsourcing as much as they are (this is assuming that a major part of the delay is the actual outsourcing itself).

According to Flatworld Solutions, some cons are:

“- Possible loss of control over a company's business processes

- Problems related to quality and turnaround time

 - Sluggish response times coupled with slow issue resolutions

- Lower than expected realization of benefits and results”

And according to The Balance, there are issues with:

“- Hidden Costs

- Threat to Security and Confidentiality

- Quality Problems

- Tied to the Financial Well-Being of Another Company

- Bad Publicity and Ill-Will”

And one thing that pops up in soooo many places is: communication issues.

Chron talks about communication issues here, and mentions:

“- Language or Dialect

- Cultural Nuances

- Communication Technology”

As well as timezone issues.

@katmurph31 posted this post, with these screenshots:

So it looks as though at least starting on May 3rd, 2017 (if not before), the art and development teams have been working on the game.

@jayne-penvellyn on Tumblr posted this with these screenshots to an email she got from Her Interactive which isn’t really an update (it’s the same kind of thing they keep saying, but still).

On top of that, @yancydrew posted this with this screenshot:

Which makes me wonder if HeR has barely done any work on this game, if they haven’t finished the voice overs, if they’ve even found all of the voice actors/actresses, if they’re just waiting on the voice acting before releasing the games, if they need to do the voice overs before they can even truly start on the game, if they are trying to tell us as little as possible so that they can surprise us soon (*crosses fingers*), or if it’s a mixture or any of those or something else completely.