#the storylines i have developed—

[chvnnie]

this is the bet hyunsung if u were wondering

[usercelestial]

to be honest, the ending wasn't my problem. it's not a horrible way to end a show that has primarily been about a dysfunctional but loving family trying and failing to stop the apocalypse. having that family die to save the world but die together and willingly and in the end be reincarnated (ish?) as flowers under the same tree, i think that's really beautiful in a way. it's the details that fuck with me. five and lila are an insane choice, no resolution for sloane, everyone kind of just fucking off and having stories with no payoff that don't actually build to anything, ray just walking out, etc. like the last few minutes weren't the worst, it's really just everything leading up to those moments that were at best highly questionable

[fiona-fififi]

Call me homophobic, but I don't actually think it's great representation to stick a complex, dynamic, newly-realized bisexual character permanently with a flat, boring, underdeveloped love interest just because that was the first guy who showed interest.

[apollos-boyfriend]

this is like. all fully speculation. but i was rewatching some of jaiden’s nuzlocke videos, and them combined with a recent clip of hers i saw talking about how she’s not even sure why quackity chose her for the qsmp made me connect why he might’ve picked her. because like. i think nearly everyone was a bit shocked, if not confused, to see her on the lineup. despite having been in the scene for a while—her first public animations were for ihascupquake, after all—jaiden isn’t your first thought when you think of minecraft youtubers. as far as i’m aware, she was on one smp before the qsmp—epicsmp, and we all know how that ended.

no, jaiden isn’t who you’d think of when you think minecraft youtuber. but she is who you’d think of when you think storyteller. which, yeah, is kind of obvious. there’s a whole subcategory of youtube for animated storytellers, and jaiden’s been one of the front runners for years now. but the thing about jaiden specifically is that she doesn’t just tell stories. she shapes them. you can really see that the most with her animated nuzlockes. she’s given scenarios and events that are largely random and arbitrary, fully just game coding and out of her control, and she turns them into her story. her platinum nuzlocke specifically highlights this with the giratina, two jaidens storyline she creates to explain her resetting the run and attempting the elite four again.

live mcrp HEAVILY relies on having to go with the flow of the game, and learning to work around in-game mechanics and limitations to create a storyline out of. things that are story-important, like pets or npcs, are fragile and can be taken away at any moment, be it by a mob, glitch, or player error. you have to be able to think on your feet to not only work around it, but create a narrative to explain that decision fitting into the canon and story instead of just taking it at face-value. and that’s exactly what jaiden’s been doing for years now with a lot of her gaming-based content. quackity would need people accustomed versatile storytelling as much as he’d need people accustomed to survival minecraft itself, and jaiden is nothing short of an expert at her craft

[tatiejosie]

I can only babiefy two pathetic old men if I can traumatise them in their babie!AU. Those are the rules

careful with that M16 Don you're gonna get in trouble

[mae-i-scribble]

So I'm not really that into Arcane fandom or anything like that but is anyone else a little worried for how season 2 is progressing thus far? I'm not talking about the apparent Caitlyn vitriol that some people are falling into- god forbid you have complex characters am I right. But watching the first act of season 2 it's all so terribly rushed and not in the same way season 1 had fast pacing but with tight writing to make up for it.

Spoilers for the first 3 episodes ahead but the fact that we barely even get to know the new enforcer characters that come to Zaun annoys me. The most we have is the girl introducing herself to Vi. The other two aren't even named in the show let alone have any sort of personality. For the big shield guy why is he even allowed to be an enforcer???? Sir you were seemingly living on the streets drinking away your problems last I checked with no indication you were or wanted to be an enforcer. The kid that follows Jinx around doesn't even have any sort of lines until episode 3- which would be fine if it was clearly a deliberate choice for her character but considering that the show is trying to juggle so much it just feels like she fell to the wayside.

I'm also very much not a fan of how the 2nd season is structuring its storylines thus far- certain scenes loose their tension because they're so intercut with other scenes happening simultaneously- take the vi and jinx fight for example. Like I get it you wanted to show how them interacting with the run was actively interfering with the fight but the constant cuts back and forth leave a bad taste in my mouth. The structure they use for the various sections with music overplaying them are hit or miss to me- some I love, some I think should have been actual scenes with dialogue.

I'm also really sad to see them seemingly rush over bits of character development we really need to see. Like take Vi- her not wanting to be an enforcer is 200% justifiable and believable, we haven't been shown anything about how the enforcers work that would give Vi a reason to want to join. And then after the attack in episode 1 she silently comes to a decision to join which fine, I can buy her wanting to help now that Zaun is conducting terrorist attacks. But she just agreed to the plan to use the gray against the people of Zaun???? Really???? Vi did??? Shouldn't Vi, someone who is only joining the enforcers out of desperate necessity, be way more critical of any use of force in the undercity? There's even little things like when Caitlyn arrests the henchman I was expecting Vi to stand up for him because almost *everyone* in the undercity is some sort of criminal so that they can survive. But no it just turns into Vi asking them to ditch the side characters we know absolutely nothing about.

Speaking of Vi- for the record the cait/vi kiss in my opinion was stupidly forced in. I would have liked to see their relationship develop this season because in season 1 I could see the beginning of something there. I really loved the moment in the first episode where it's only when seeing Vi that Caitlyn breaks down a little because Vi is someone she can trust to be open with. Great stuff to further develop- oh no they're kissing after no development just to make the immediately following break up more dramatic? Great yay yippee representation -_- Don't get me wrong I would have loved to see it develop into a romance but not in episode 3 with no buildup (1st season does not count as buildup to me for an actual romantic relationship).

This is also somewhat petty but I do hate the fact that Ambessa is revealed to be behind the memorial attack in episode 3- I much would have preferred for that information to be revealed to the audience alongside whatever character discovers it. Revealing it like that is dramatic, sure, but I feel like it ruins the mystery of Ambessa's morality in a way that is not satisfying.

All in all I'm not the happiest with these first 3 episodes but we'll have to see how the other 2 arcs go before making any judgement calls overall.

[lord-squiggletits]

I think the reason that MTMTE remains the most defining, influential, and loved series in the IDW1 run is fundamentally because, despite its many flaws, MTMTE has the power to make you think and wonder about the world beyond what's shown on the page. The character relationships are so strongly developed that it's easy to care about the characters and easy to imagine further adventures they could go on. While the myriad dropped plotlines, underwritten/underutilized characters, and worldbuilding with weird implications are all fucking maddening at times... even if it makes you mad, MTMTE makes you mad because you care and it makes you want to immerse yourself into a world that feels like it's real beyond what's explicitly shown to you on the page. It's a sandbox of a story where there's so much fertile ground for pretty much anyone with any preferred character archetype, storyline, etc to dig in.

It's just... immersive. That's the best way I can put it. It feels like it could be real and it makes you want to spend more time in it than the constraints JRO had. It makes you want to know more about it and come up with theories on how/why things function or happen the way they do. That's why it's loved and that's why it's the best series in IDW1.

[crimeronan]

"oh shit, i was just hit with the full plot of a short lumity fic i can set right before the human world arc -- let's jot down the important beats so we have a quick little reference outline :)"

".....maybe it'll be two chapters instead of a oneshot."

[cupcakeatsea]

Does anyone else miss Carla? I do, so much. She was such a good character. I wish she’d had a storyline with her as the focus. Caught in her own emergency or something. She was quite deeply entwined in Chris and Eddie’s lives (and Buck’s by extension) so I’m sad she just sort of faded out.

I don’t think she’s coming back (could be wrong but based on Cocoa Brown’s IMDB she’s busy elsewhere) and that makes me sad, would have been nice to do a goodbye for her somehow.

[liameowlia]

the lila x five storyline has only two services; as inspiration for fix-it fanfictions and reference material for five x reader content.

[jonathanbyersphd]

*laughs nervously*

[willyhoos]

final totk verdict.

[stardustdiiving]

How evil is arlecchino and what is she cooking

As of 4.2, I’m really curious what they’re planning with Arlecchino as a character, especially as a villain/antagonist/morally dubious character, and how far/which direction they may go with that

Intuitively my impression is we’ll see her do something way more “villainous” than she presents herself as being for majority of Fontaine’s AQ in front of us right—(which isn’t a surprise given that, you know, Arlecchino nor the House of Hearth have never been presented as 110% ethical LOL) but I find myself not being in complete agreement with most analysis or speculation threads I see about Arlecchino’s morality and the like, level of sinister people seem to ascribe to her.

Idk how to put it, especially in regards to her children I do agree they are not a wholesome found family, that Arlecchino is not above pulling strings or using them for her own ulterior motives, but I kind of hesitate on the idea she only cares about the Hearth children as a means to the end/things she can control and there’s nothing else going on with her characterization wise there. I’m not saying that impression seems remotely unreasonable or unfounded, but just that it feels there’s something intentionally missing in how we are supposed to conceptualize her as a person

My main reasoning for this hunch is the fact they have not elaborated on Arlecchino and the previous Knave—who Arlecchino is stated to have taken over the position from by force. The extra tidbits I think about are that 1) Arlecchino was previously an orphan in the Hearth 2) the previous Knave is described as way, way crueler to the children of than Heart than Arlecchino was from when she took control of the House

Often, people’s major indicators that the House of the Hearth is kind of super fucked up are the NPCs we meet in world quests who are part of it and clearly suffering. But one thing I haven’t ever seen people mention w this that i think is a very interesting detail is, in The Very Special Fortune Slip Inazuma worldquest, where we stop this House of Hearth guy (Efim Snezhevich) from manufacturing tension between Watasumi/the Shogunate to restart the war with his other Hearth subordinates, at the end of the quest we get this dialogue that reveals he had been acting under the previous Knave’s directives:

It’s also mentioned he’s employing this plan in an attempt to “rebuild the prestige of the Knave” following Signora’s death, iirc? Now, see, the dialogue itself says that this is “assuming our captive is telling the truth” so who knows what’s really going on, but I find this a really odd/interesting thing to highlight. I’m a bit fuzzy on other world quests with Hearth members, and am not saying none of them were acting and subsequently being treated poorly by our Arlecchino, but like, this gives me a lot of questions especially when paired with implications this previous Knave seemed to be way worse

Like, what drove Arlecchino to take over? How unexpected and controversial was this within the House? Assuming the above information is all true it definitely says something this guy went rogue and acted on what the previous Knave would want and didn’t think our Arlecchino would greenlight it, which does feel consistent with the previous Knave being described as basically worse & crueler than our Arlecchino. It also makes me question how much house of hearth things we’ve seen outside the main story are the work of our Arlecchino or if there’s a bigger divide of loyalty. Heck, I could be wrong but it doesn’t even seem like we know if the previous Knave is dead or not

This isn’t me saying Arlecchino couldn’t possibly be treating hearth children worse than she wants us to know, especially ones who aren’t her “favorites” the way the fontaine trio seem to be, but I really don’t feel sure about making a solid conclusion of her exact level of malice the way ppl r generally understanding it rn when it feels there’s going to be more about her. Just the idea of she, as a Hearth child, clashed with the previous leader who was known for being cruel, overtook their position and took on less harsh methods of leading that made at least some members with more power/possible closer proximity to the previous Knave go rogue and try to commit atrocities in the previous Knave’s name…I feel this leaves a lot of room to suggest there’s more going on with how Arlecchino is as a person

I don’t mind if she’s just very evil and deceptive bc if she totally had me fall for thinking she was less evil than she actually was that’s fun tbh. But I feel people suggest that’s all her character could be with no degree of like, “sympatheticness” or deep grey morality and that if her character did go there it would be automatically poor writing and genshin walking back on making a truly evil woman when IDK. I feel you can claim at this point they have left it open ended and it’s never been completely confirmed she’s pure evil. Also sometimes I just get a hunch and feel cautiously confident in Genshin executing certain characters well. Not all characters, just certain ones. Especially given Fontaine’s character writing being very good and a character like Lyney feeling very solid to me when any development with Arlecchino would likely involve him and his siblings as well, I honestly feel open to the idea of Arlecchino being satisfyingly written to be both villainous/morally dubious but “sympathetic/likable as a person” in ways outside of just her ruthlessness if that makes sense

If I’m wrong/they drop the ball with it more than I anticipate I’ll eat my hat but I am pretty excited about her character and which way they decide to go with it. I will say the only potential impression I have of where they’ll go with her has been wondering if it will go in a “cycles of abuse” direction—I’d be surprised if they ever elaborated on Arlecchino’s character especially in how she feels about things and her also growing up as an exploited child of the hearth wasn’t relevant

[alectoperdita]

Hey brain, you know what would be awesome? If you'd work on other ideas besides more Duelist's Pride filth.

[headfullof-ideas]

All right this took me. ALL DAY. To color. And it’s not even that impressive (to me anyways) BUT, at long last- the Dark Orca Pirates in my crossover AU.

The Dark Orca is a mighty pirate ship, heralded from generation after generation of pirates roaming the seas. The ships current owners are the family of Captain Hammerhead, and his children. The Dark Orca and her crew spend most of their time at sea, searching for unsuspecting traders or fishermen out at sea, plundering them of their goods, or raiding the various sunken ships or forgotten temples that they find of their treasures. Sometimes, they even tackle the various tidal class dragons that emerge from the depths to poke around the ship. The Dark Orca was once an old armada ship, its size and military might on par with that of the Grimborn brother’s strongest ships. The crew that handles the Dark Orca, it’s sheer size and militia prospect, and the foreboding ‘ghost ship’ feel that the Dark Orca has means that most other people tend to leave her and her crew alone. However, the Nekton family with their own similar in scale ship, the Aronnax, aren’t above tussling with the Dark Orca’s pirates, especially if there’s a dragon or treasure of their ancestry home Lemuria involved. When the Dark Orca isn’t at sea, plundering it and its travelers for their treasures, she can be found at many different markets, from the markets filled with clothing stalls and food markets, to the seedier markets where underhand deals and questionable trades occur, and sometimes even at the markets frequented and run by Dragon Trappers, meant for their business. The Dark Orca’s crew have heard rumors of people riding dragons, though with the cesspool of rumors and gossip that the pirate community is, they’re not sure how genuine these rumors are. Though, with Dragon Trappers being the ones to spread most of the tales, they’re wondering if there’s any merit to the stories.

Captain Hammerhead is the head of the Dark Orca, steering it and his crew in every direction that they go. Every wreck they visit, every ship they plunder, it is all done when Hammerhead says it will be. Hammerhead is the Captain, and everything is done as he says it will be. Hammerhead is like any other pirate, obsessed with all the gold and jewels and treasure that he can get his hands on. Hammerhead however is also determined to live up to the legacy of the ship that he inherited through his father, and his father before him, and as far back as five generations before his grandfather from the Dark Orca’s original captain, Grimbeard the Ghastly himself. The Dark Orca has a fearsome and impressive reputation, and Hammerhead is determined to ensure that legacy lives on. Gold and jewels, artifacts the likes of which no one has seen, maps that entail the most exotic of lands and treasures that not just anyone can get, power and adventures that make an even bigger name of the already legendary ship that he commands. Hammerhead is determined to make sure the Dark Orca’s legend lives on, hoping that his name and that of his children will live on in the Captain’s log and diary that lives in their ships helm, and amongst the tales and legends that circulate the widespread community that the pirate trade is. Recently, Hammerhead has found a rather inconvenient annoyance in the shape of a group of children that have started making their rounds around the markets that he takes their ship to sell goods and plant stories. A group of children seemingly bearing no knowledge of the way things are run in this corner of the world, who buy supplies and other odds and ends through means of trade, using dragon scales from more than one species and more gold and jewels than children seemingly on their own should have as currency. Hammerhead is determined to figure out where these children are getting their dragon scales and jewels, though he is unaware of what exactly he may be getting himself into.

Smiling Finn is Captain Hammerhead’s eldest child. He’s not as interested in the pirate business as the rest of the Dark Orca’s crew, his dad, and his little sister. Finn wants to travel the world, and living on a pirate ship does help ease that passion. All Finn wants to do is snag a ship for himself, even if it’s a small one, and go see the world for himself, no piracy attached. Finn’s dad has named him first mate of the Dark Orca, something that Finn knows is rankling to some of the older crew members. It only makes Finn’s resolve to leave his life of piracy behind even harder, because his dad isn’t super sentimental or anything of the likes, yet he refers to Finn as his first mate with pride and boisterous passion. However, the life of a pirate isn’t all bad. Finn’s desire to see the world is satiated by seeing all the places that the Dark Orca goes, the numerous variety of dragons and the scenery of all the locations they go to incredible. Sure, the dragons they come across are usually attacking the Dark Orca, or his dad is having the crew attack them, and they’re usually stealing treasure from all the crazy places that they go to, but Finn gets to see it all! And he’s usually allowed to roam around the places they go and look at everything, so long as he brings something interesting back with him. And then there’s the Nektons, specifically their only child, a girl named Fontaine. Fontaine is sarcastic and sharp-tongued, always ready with a witty comment. She’s practically at home at the sea, and while Finn is definitely developing a bit of a crush on her that his sister Maddie canNOT know about, Finn’s also finding a friend with common ground and interests with her. Finn tells her all about their adventures, especially about how there’s this group of kids his dad is starting to try and track down, though why, Finn doesn’t know.

Mad Madeline is the youngest pirate on board the Dark Orca, and quite possibly the youngest pirate on board a large-scale pirate ship in pirate history. Madeline lives for being a pirate, she loves plundering for treasure, and testing her skills and their limits at pick-pocketing and stealing things right from under people’s noses. Madeline lives for exploring the seven seas, for braving the watery channels and the raging storms and the fierce dragons that erupt from the depths. She knows Finn’s heart isn’t with piracy and their ship and families legacy, and while she doesn’t understand it she hopes that she herself might one day get to stand at the Dark Orca’s helm and create her own legacy. Madeline listens to her dad and all the other old pirate captains and all their tales of great pirates that ruled the seas. Her favorite is of Grimbeard the Ghastly, who once steered the Dark Orca herself. But Madeline is also interested in more than old pirate stories. She loves to collect stories of ghosts and various legends, mythical creatures and sea monsters from the deepest parts of the oceans. Madeline is obsessed with dragons, specifically the Tidal Class dragons, who are like the sea beasts from the book her mother gave her as a birthday present come to life. She’ll even pretend not to be eavesdropping when the matriarch of the Nekton family tells her daughter something interesting about the dragons that come from the sea. The Nektons are infuriating, but things are always even more exciting when they’re around, and Madeline loves sneaking onto their ship to look at all the cool stuff they’ve found, and then try stealing it. Madeline was the one who first saw the kids trading dragon scales and jewels for expensive leather and clothing and tools, and she’s baffled on why they settled for mundane items such as the things they buy and trade for. She hasn’t told her dad, but she saw them trading jars of green gel, chicken eggs, exotic flowers, and even fish as well to get the items they leave the markets with, though the dragon scales and jewels and gold seemed more important to tell Hammerhead. Madeline can just tell that these kids are hiding something, because why would they be at the markets buying such weird things with such hard-to-find items? She’s determined to be the one to crack the mystery about them, looting them for all they’re worth.

The Dark Orca and the Pirates were fun to figure out and plant within the rest of the story. All the lore of the Dark Orca, and the rest of the pirate community and the Floating Market is gonna be so much fun to flesh. Does anyone else remember how the Dark Orca was made out as some terrifying myth or legend in the first episode they showed up in? And then how they just…weren’t really like that through the rest of the show? It makes sense with the way Hammerhead is in the show, but in my crossover AU? Not happening. The Dark Orca will be the terrifying legend that people who venture out into the open ocean fear and try to prepare against. People steer clear of the Dark Orca when they see her. And the realization some character, important or not, will have that they’re talking to someone that works on that ship? The pirates will be pirates and they will be competent. Though, six kids riding freaking dragons and a family of do-gooder aquanauts will still be an issue for them. But it won’t be so butt-end-of-the-joke with the pirates of the Dark Orca

[sweetlullabyebye]

Every day I wake up and remember Liam Dunbar was underdevelopped by the showrunners