#the trolling is her reason for existing at this point

[hallucinateonpaperspines]

What would have happened if Ashley had been transporter to the bayvers insted of prime?

...

You know Optimus's slow descent from hopeful leader, to violent road rager, to bitter mid-life divorcee? Yeah, Ashlyn went through that within the first half hour of realizing what universe she was in.

She's graduated into the wine aunt stage of giving a shit. Afternoons are dedicated to posting "visions" of the future and dragging every character she can still remember online. Girl is listening to a Beethoven remix as she graffiti's the world and Cybetronians that think they're subtle in their vehicle modes.

Both, Optimus and Megatron are a bit more clued into her importance, so the treasure hunt IS ON for the chaotic organic, poor Sam being taken along for the ride (or accidental hijacking- she's not sorry).

Ashlyn is Agent Simmons's nemesis. There is a wall covered in blurry photos, red string, and thumbtacks within Sector Seven and the man is even worse than JA332 with the conspiracy theories. He has no idea the human cryptid and online seer are the same people.

Soundwave knows and is in so much pain. He refuses to come down to earth on principle.

"There's gotta be a connection- there has to be one! Selling alien scrap to a wannabe inventor in Texas, spray painting an unregistered police car, and publically threatening the CEO of Hotchkiss Gould Investments in his own damn lobby! What's next? Knocking on the Hoover Dam?!?!?" "Sir your mother's calling. Apparently, someone put in a delivery order for you at her deli... it's for this address." "Dammit" "Also that blog you've been following updated again. They're saying there's an English Lord with an alien robot butler, and they're part of a secret society that has been observing these aliens for generations. And a bee fought the Nazis." "They're hiding their genius with insanity."

Thank you for reading!

[themostefficientwaywithwater]

I sincerely hope that Gamefreak didn't debunk the fandom's main two theories (possessed Kieran and the imagination one) just because of this trend that if your public manages to predict a plot point by following the clues you been throwing at them then it means it's a BAD story and the ending must be changed at the last second to keep the shock factor. Because everyone knows a good story must have a ~*plotwist*~ rather than a fullfilling, cohesive ending.

Like I don't mind that the imagination theory isn't canon, and I think that Kieran not being possessed makes him a more interesting character since his actions come from his own flaws rather than from a random third party. What annoys me, however, is that by debunking said theories, the many plotholes the story has have remained unanswered. And it's not like Gamefreak doesn't know about them - they literally pointed them out to make them obvious to the player (Arven mentions that it doesn't make sense that Heath found paradoxes in Area Zero before the time machine was built, Carmine points out that we still don't know how the loyal three revived after Kieran punched their shrine). You don't point out your own story's flaws unless you actually have a proper explanation for them and you're hinting your public "yeah, we know this doesn't make sense, but it will in the future ;)". This is why the Indigo Disk/Mochi Mayhem was a letdown for most of us: we expected answers, and instead we got... nothing. Maybe even more questions that probably will remain unanswered (unless we get some video like pecharunt, which is the laziest option. you need to explain your story during the story, not after!).

I'm not trying to throw shade at these games because I hated them - I liked them in fact! And I wouldn't be so annoyed if they were capital-s Shit tier games, because I would have expected nothing. But it hurts me that a pokémon game has the skeleton of a good story and completely wastes it, and I don't even know why would they do that. Maybe they want to exploit the ""hidden lore"" to promote later games, a future remake or legends-like game, attracting the fans who think it'll finally explain""the truth"" (spoiler: it won't, and if they do, it'll be a retcon).

I don't know if Gamefreak truly has some sort of explanation for the paradoxes, the loyal three revival or Kieran's dark hand aura. If they do, they'll probably save them for another game (remake or a legends-like game), the anime, or just release another video (unlikely if they haven't done it yet). But, in my opinion, the probably don't have any, and if they ever had one, it was one or both of the aforementioned theories and they decided to scrap them for some reason. If that's so, I don't think we're getting an explanation and they'll expect us to just forget about it.

I said it before and I'm going to said it again: I liked the game. I liked the DLCs. Hell I even liked the epilogue, even with it's flaws. But you can't argue me that it seems that, at some point during the development of the Indigo Disk, they decided to change the course of the story. The Area Zero-Terapagos quest was rushed, we get nothing explained about Pecharunt-the loyal three and their connection is only hinted by a few interactions, their resurrection it's not even explained in it's video. And I refuse to believe Kieran's aura was unintentional: you can see the purple glow both when he punches the shrine (with the camera focused on his fist) and in the ID promotional art, and the camera often focuses on his affected hand, specially when he feels frustration against the player. I don't know, maybe I'm grasping at straws, but to me it looks like they had something in mind that they dedided to scrap at the last moment, for whatever reason, and they didn't have the time to create a new ending that made sense.

I don't know what happened but I sincerelly hope they didn't truly "troll us" because if they made a plotwist specifically to "troll" us I'm going to be so mad at Gamefreak I'm exploding

[thankskenpenders]

The mystery of that random magenta-haired Sonic woman: solved?

For almost three years now, there's been a little mystery in the Sonic franchise: who the hell is this lady?

Well, it seems like fans have collectively pieced together the answer. And it's more interesting than I expected.

For those who don't keep up with Sonic lore minutia like I do, this is a screenshot from the very first episode of TailsTube, released on YouTube back in March 2022. When Sonic and Tails were explaining the basics of their Earth and the fact that humans and anthropomorphic animals coexist, Tails showed a slide of some human NPCs from Sonic Unleashed. But the slide also included this never-before-seen character design, drawn in a conspicuously different, more anime-influenced art style from the Pixar-esque Unleashed characters. So... where's she from?

At the time, it was assumed that she was probably from an upcoming project. She looks like she could be an explorer of some sort, so maybe she's just an NPC from Frontiers, I thought. And then she wasn't in Frontiers. Sonic Prime, maybe? Nope, no humans in Prime. Okay, well maybe the IDW comics are going to start incorporating humans, now that the "two worlds" thing has been undone and humans once again canonically exist on the same planet as Sonic and friends. Well, if she's gonna show up in the comics, it's been almost three years and we still haven't seen her. That'd be a hell of a lead time for comics, where production cycles are typically a matter of months, not years. Time continued to pass, and we still hadn't seen her. We just had Ian Flynn teasing us with a #KnowingSmile, assuring us that she existed for some reason, just one that he couldn't talk about yet.

Fast forward to late 2024, and she suddenly makes an appearance in the last place anyone would have expected: the third live action movie, via an electronic billboard in Shibuya.

At this point it almost felt like the lore team was trolling us. Is this just a scrapped character design that's become fodder for inside joke cameos or something? Surely all of this teasing couldn't have been for a throwaway character design on a billboard in the background of a movie.

But actually, this billboard gives us an important piece of information: her name! She's labeled here as "Professor Tori." This is important because it connects her to a previous release. In Shadow Generations, Gerald's journal is prefaced with a note from the person who recovered it, addressed to the GUN Commander. In the English version, it's simply signed "T," but in the Japanese version... it's signed "Tori"!

This gives us some actual info about Professor Tori. For one, she seems to work for GUN in their Archival and Requisitions Department. She's apparently also interested in learning about Gerald and Maria's lives, like their old friend Abe is.

Jump forward again to the New Year's episode of TailsTube, and this appears in the background.

Her full name is officially given as Professor Victoria, and she's a historian. So, that seems to confirm everything we've pieced together so far.

As far as things we can reasonably assume to be correct go, this is everything we know for certain about Victoria. She's a historian working for GUN. Cool! But that's not what really fascinates me about her. For that, we have to do a little more speculation based on conjecture.

See, Shadow Generations also establishes information about the Robotnik family tree. Gerald had two sons. One of them took after Gerald's love of technology and became an expert in the field of robotics, and would go on to be Eggman's father. The other son took after Gerald's love of archaeology. This man would go on to be Maria's father. But, as Maria mentions in Shadow Generations... she also happens to have a little sister we've never met before.

So now, the question is: is this Maria's sister, Victoria Robotnik?!

We can't be 100% certain right now, but honestly, until proven otherwise I'm assuming that Victoria is Maria's little sister, now all grown up and working for GUN. It all lines up too neatly. The conspicuous reveal that Maria has an unseen and unnamed little sister, in the same game that establishes her dad was a history guy and also that there's this new historian working for GUN who just so happens to be really interested in her life. And also their names both end in "-ria." Come on!! Putting her in the Robotnik family would also explain all these cryptic clues about her identity. If she was just some random GUN agent, why be so coy and make fans piece it together?

I guess the most odd part here would be, y'know, Victoria working for the organization that killed her sister and grandpa. But Sega's been pushing the idea that GUN is trying to do better for 20 years now, ever since they established that the GUN Commander was Maria's childhood friend on the ARK and had him make amends with Shadow. Hearing that Maria's sister had joined GUN to try and gain access to information about her family history and undo the elaborate coverup of the previous administration would make sense to me, personally. And lest we forget, this would also make Victoria Eggman's cousin, giving him a family member in GUN. And that's a pretty cool storytelling tool to have on hand!

So, that's where we're at now. We have no idea where Victoria will pop up next, whether it's a game or a comic or another TailsTube episode or something else entirely. But it seems like she's fairly important, even if this speculation about her being a Robotnik somehow ends up being wrong. (But I'm pretty damn sold on this theory, personally.) Either way, it's exciting to see the human cast get fleshed out in fun ways again. If we're gonna have humans in Sonic stories, I'd rather they have anime-style designs and interesting connections to the narrative, rather than just being generic humans for the sake of having humans. I'm looking forward to seeing whatever the lore team's been cooking up here.

[gendertrickster]

i realized recently that vriska's left eye looking the way it is was what felt like an intentionally hidden detail throughout act 5 act 1, like it was a secret she kept deliberately. every appearance of her sans two in hivebent has her left eye obscured, by lack or otherwise

aside from times shown after she loses her eye, where she wears an eyepatch lens, she is ALWAYS shown wearing the augmented lens — a tool that specifically grants her more agency through letting her forcibly access information otherwise kept from her — and part of me can't help but wonder if it was an intentional mystery kept on hussie's part as to what vriska's eye actually looked like under there. there was never any indication that her left eye actually looked like the shape shown on the augmented lens, and it could easily be assumed, based on every troll aside from sollux, that her left eye looked the same as her right. this feels like a very, very defining thing for vriska in particular to hide. and it absolutely bears mentioning that the first time we ever see what her left eye looks like (one of TWO times in hivebent) is the same beat where it's revealed she was a PROSPIT dreamer

(the other time is [s] make her pay, which is the same idea)

and i feel like there's a couple different directions that hussie could've been wanting to take with this. one of them would be insane, because while it's basically entirely improbable in practice it would extend its way into fucking beyond canon if it were true:

it could, at one point in development, have been the case that vriska manifested her eye looking like that, given that we only see her dream self with this left eye in hivebent. at this point it was already established that dream selves can shape their forms manually to a degree (a la jade), and otherwise draw from the subconscious ideal one holds themself to (a la terezi). and given vriska's reliance on her vision eightfold (which to this point had been suggested as being solely possible through the vector of technological augment8ion) and everything that reliance represents in terms of her personal agency (and lack thereof), it would make sense if this were the reason her eye looked like that as her dream self but not her real self until later when she ascended to the god tiers and those two selves became one

this whole idea is already kind of dubious though, because we do see how vriska (allegedly) looked as a child, and she does also have the seven pupils, since there's also no reason to assume her eye didn't always look like that

but if that were true, why would it be kept such a secret in hivebent, especially by vriska herself?

(i can think of a couple reasons, actually.)

as i mentioned before, even now this "manifested vision eightfold" direction would still hold narrative weight, considering developments around vriska in beyond canon:

in chapter 2 of homestuck^2, vriska's new design is cemented, adding an eyepatch with an infinity drawn on it in her own cerulean swill blood over the wound she sustained just past the edge of canon

she wears this eyepatch, with its unique iconography, for eight years in the plot point, with one very notable exception:

chapter 4, where she is belittled into an episode of age regression, sporting again her glasses (which she had long stopped needing), her redoubled total lack of mental agency (which she really hoped would have been easier to leave behind than this), and her augmented lens (which, as established, she used as a crutch).

the parallel drawn all across here, then, is that her augmented lens is to her "vision eightfold"/seven-pupiled eye as her infinity eyepatch would be to her left eye once she could leave the point behind. and depending on how you interpret the existence of vriska's left eye — whether it was always there and caused her active dysphoria (as a mark associated with cerulean bloods, a textually-stated male-dominated caste) and dysmorphia (it made her look too alien, unlike almost all of her co-players), or whether she manifested it as something she had to have to maintain personal agency despite further alienating her appearance from that of her peers and of her preferred ideal for herself (thus also causing her the same dysphoria/dysmorphia) — that can mean different things.

the point as to whether vriska manifested it into existence is only sort of moot, though — homestuck is a story completely steeped in retroactive continuity, where once it's made clear that something is true, it was always true, and things like that can be manifested into truth by its own characters (a la jake). the state of vriska's left eye was a mystery until it was shown how it actually looked, and from then on it was always true, and was thus also true for aranea. but whether it was always true for aranea first banked on it being true for vriska, due to the trickle-down characterization homestuck is built on. this choice was made before aranea even existed as a character, after all.

and because of the nature of these manifestations, that truth had to come from various parts of vriska's arc in hivebent, like what the vision eightfold meant to her as the one thing she could use to get an edge in a world completely stacked against her. and who else would ever be able to metanarratively manifest such a relevant and contentious part of her own appearance (let alone that of an eye, the vector by which light is received) than vriska serket?

sure enough, after years of painful, traumatic work, she manifests it a second time.

vision infinityfold. unbounded freedom.

[thewertsearch]

JOHN: are you sure you can't make it go any faster? JOHN: i mean, not to sound too demanding, but… JOHN: didn't you say you can teleport stuff? JOHN: why not teleport us there? JADE: i cant! JADE: not here, at least

I thought as much. Jade's powers probably don't work in the Furthest Ring, because if they did, she could have brought Rose, Dave and the trolls to this Prospitian ship during Cascade. Her teleportation is probably limited to contiguous areas of conventional space, and the Hussieverse is anything but conventional.

JADE: becs powers draw from the green sun JADE: and the green sun presides over our universe JADE: many universes actually! and the sessions that created them, as well as the sessions created within them JADE: including the trolls universe and their session JADE: think of it like a giant solar system, but instead of planets revolving around the sun, there are many universes

Back when Rose was outlining the Tumor plan to Dave, I referred to the Green Sun as a core of reality - and it seems that's even more true than I thought.

In addition to powering the First Guardians' magic, the Sun also serves as the metaphysical nexus point of all Sburb-generated universes, as well as their associated sessions. Since we've never been given any reason to believe that non-Sburb universes exist, the Sun appears to 'preside' over all possible universes.

It almost sounds like the Sun is reality - and its creation was masterminded by Doc Scratch. The more you think about it, the worse it gets.

JADE: so, bec was able to teleport anywhere in the universe he wanted in an instant, much faster than light JADE: jack was able to do this too, within our session, and then when i inherited those powers from jadesprite, so could i JADE: but we could only teleport locally JADE: which means, bec could jump to anywhere in our universe, but not to another universe, or into a session JADE: and jack could jump to anywhere in our session, but not outside it

In other words, First Guardians can only teleport to locations they could physically travel to, from their current position.

During Cascade, for example, Jade could teleport to anywhere in her session, but it was impossible for her to reach other sessions, because those sessions didn't have a consistent physical location relative to her own. Similarly, Bec could teleport from Earth to anywhere else in his universe, but not into sessionspace, for the same reason an observer on Earth couldn't point towards a Sburb session. They're on different planes entirely.

tl;dr: to reach a given location via Space, Jade needs a well-defined direction to move in...

...and since moving to another session involves Furthest Ring travel, no such direction exists.

JADE: we cant even jump to the green sun itself, even though we sort of serve as a gateway to it, and all its energy

This, I believe, is the one notable exception to the rule above.

No matter where they currently are, a First Guardian can always open a portal to the Green Sun.

It doesn't sound like they can enter this portal themselves, though. Well, I suppose that makes sense - after all, they are the portal, and you can't move through your own body.

Could Jade reach into that portal, and fetch someone from the Sun, though? I suppose if that was possible, Jack would've just pulled Aradia right back out again, so I think the portal is completely inaccessible to the Guardian who embodies it.

JADE: and once we leave the suns domain, our travel is limited by the speed of light, like everyone else! JADE: for example, the furthest ring is not in the suns domain JADE: it is more like the suns medium, allowing it to exist

The Sun's domain includes, at minimum, every Sburb session in existence, alongside every universe they've produced. The Ring, however, can't be a domain, because it's not really part of conventional reality.

Yes, it may be the scaffolding on which reality is built, but the scaffolding is not part of the building.

[threeacttragedy]

Entry 7: The One Where the Queen Asked, “Did That Go the Way You Thought It Was Gonna Go?”

I’m probably one of the few people in this fandom who find Antonia entertaining.

Goddammit – put down your fucking pitchforks!

I didn’t say I liked her – I simply said I found her entertaining.

If Antonia’s existence bothers the fuck out of you, you’ll likely enjoy my commentary here.

*And, right about here is when I’ll slip in my disclaimer: this is my opinion only; merely speculation based on information that is out there in the public realm.

Now, where was I?

Oh, yes, Antonia. I don’t find her entertaining because I think she’s a great dancer. Is she? You tell me. I mean, I have two left feet so just about anyone is better than me.

And, I have never seen a picture or video where she’s made me “like” her as a person. In fact, she comes off more like a villain, but not a brilliant villain (I might like her, then). She’s more like an Iago to, say, Deux Mois’ Jafar.

I just find her so fucking reckless, but in the most amusing way possible. If she were a movie, I’d give her 4/5 stars. The movie would be a low-budget comedy, of course.

In my opinion, she loves to troll the fandom and I’m convinced she must have notifications turned on for Nicola. The patterns started patterning early on during the World Tour (and probably before). The problem is, she’s just not great at trolling. Her attempts always fall flat, and she ends up making herself look like, well, a tryhard (hence why her movie only gets 4/5 stars).

I’m not sure what Antonia ever was to Luke but, at a minimum, I will (begrudgingly) say they dated. I know some people don’t want to hear that, but she was a player in this game for a reason. Rumor also suggests she, at the very least, squatted in Luke’s flat (and I don’t mean in THAT way).

That said, I believe she was officially taken out of the game at the end of July. However, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t still making noise from the sidelines.

One of the most humorous (in my opinion) “rah rahs” Antonia pulled was on September 28 when she posted some stories of herself at a theatre. I’m not sure if she could have been any more obvious when trying to show us her phone screen. The screen was lit up, her thumb pressed against it, and angled almost directly at the person taking the picture.  We get it, honey. You want us to see what’s on your screen. Not surprisingly, it appeared to be a blurry ass picture of Luke.

Big whoop, right? Well, actually it was because the Conscientiously Stupid took this as confirmation Luke and Antonia were together (again) and the Sincerely Ignorant swallowed their cyanide pills without water (again). And, the Fact Finders, while trying to resuscitate their dearly beloved Sincerely Ignorant friends foaming at their mouths, immediately called “bullshit” (again). The picture appeared to be old and, to be honest, it was too blurry to tell who was on the screen – although I will concede it could have been Luke. In fact, I tend to believe it was an old picture of Luke based on what happened next.

The problem with Antonia’s play style is that she doesn’t seem to catch on to the rules. She moves her pawn two spaces because she can, not because it advances her game. She has this nasty habit of ignoring, say, the opposing party’s pawn, which is in position to en passant her overly confident pawn.

Nicola had been living high on life throughout the month of September, which, in my opinion, is quite possibly the reason why Antonia seemed a bit unhinged by the end of the month (jealousy can make us do crazy shit). Among other things, Nicola had the Emmy’s (and the Wordle), the Gucci show, and, on October 1, she was presenting Simone with a Glamour Award. By this point, I believe Nicola had had enough of Antonia’s gameplay. The phone screen had struck a chord.

So, what does Nicola do?

She plays the game right back but not like she normally does with Scrabble boards, Dewy Skin Creams, and BTS wedding footage dropped at the perfect moment. This time, she does it with a power move that left her hands virtually spotless.

On October 3, Halley Brisker, Nicola’s frequent hairstylist, posted a set of four pictures to his Instagram grid, three of which showed Nicola casually posing for the camera and one showing Nicola in the process of having her hair done. It was the latter picture (#3/4 in the slide deck) that perked every Lukolas’ ears.

Low and behold sat a man, his face conveniently covered by a hairdresser’s arm, but his hands in full view. Hands that, at this point, we (embarrassingly) know too well. To date, no one has debunked the theory – more like, assertion – that the man in the picture is Luke.

Nicola liked this post by Halley, and even commented, “You legend [red heart emoji].” You’re welcome to read between the lines on that one.

I’ve always believed this Halley Brisker photo dump was Nicola’s very clever, albeit indirect, way of telling Antonia, “Checkmate, bitch.”

The point of this entry is not to convince you that Antonia is a red herring (she is), or that Luke is in the Halley Brisker photo dump (he is), or that Nicola plays the game better than most (she does). No, the point of this entry is to tell you Antonia’s game is over (because it is). Antonia lost.

So why does she remain on the roster?

Because, collectively, we as fans keep her there, sitting along the sidelines in her collapsable camp chair making noise with her cowbell. We pay attention to what she posts. We talk about what she posts. We argue over what she posts. We panic about what she posts. WE keep her in the game.

How about we don’t?

Why not start off this week with a positive change? And, not just for the USS Lukola, but for yourself as well.

If you’re following Antonia on social media (for sinister reasons) – stop. Meander over to Instagram, X, Tiktok, whatever, and unfollow her. Don’t look back. Stop checking her page. If you see or hear she has a new post, ignore it. Move on. The first day will be hard. But, the second day will be easier. You know where I’m going with this…

I mean, Luke can’t quietly unfollow her if we’re constantly looking in that direction, right?

P.S. If you need more convincing that Antonia’s shelf life has expired, I have a CliffsNotes response for that: https://www.tumblr.com/threeacttragedy/767137910999957504/great-blog-but-if-all-was-not-good-with-l-and-a?source=share.

P.P.S. Moving forward, I don’t give two boiled rabbits about what Antonia does. I will most certainly refer back to her in a historical sense (she does fill in bits and pieces of the Lukola timeline), but if she posts a crockpot tomorrow, don’t expect me to comment on what could be in it.

P.P.P.S. If you have any understanding of what the little chessboard I’ve dropped in to my picture means, I salute you.

[katyspersonal]

Heolstor might be a Carian in-law, or just a Carian + Ranni tried to prevent his raise too?

So, he has a Moonlight Sword! It is a staple in Fromsoft's games, but in Elden Ring setting, it is a customary gift by a Carian queen to her chosen one

+ not a ring finger, but it reminded me of a ring of purple gemstone that Rennala is depicted wearing (also not a ring finger, funny enough):

So, I wonder whether he also was engaged with a Carian at some point? He is apparently an AU version of The Revenger from Weeping Peninsula whose whole nation got wiped off by Godfrey ( x ), and sorcerers from Liurnia, Carians included, were also enemies of the Erdtree before Rennala's marriage!

I am actually questioning whether it might have been an existing character? 🤔

I was not sure what to make out of the fact that in Japanese original script, Ranni says that now "the night is infinitely far away" besides the fact that 'age of stars' is somehow a different type of the 'night' than whatever it was that she presumably prevented!

But now, seeing that Nightreign's whole poster is an Elden Ring that was altered into a blue version with crescent motives, that Heolstor has Elden Ring inside like Radagon once did, and that he has a sword gifted by a Carian princess to her consort (and maybe their customary ring), I feel like I know just the person that can offer some insight on this situation!

The thing is? The Carian princess in question here is not Ranni, but Renna herself! It is especially apparent by how Lazuli Conspectus sorcerers in Raya Lucaria were already a thing before Ranni was even born, and they wield this crest!

@val-of-the-north explained why the Snowy Crone is Renna in a way more detail in this ( x ) post, but all in all, Renna was long time ago dead and became the four-armed blue cursed ghost herself:

Ranni's motivation is to push the Elden Ring out of anyone's reach as it is the tool to hack laws of nature and people's fates according to your own vision, and allow a presumably more "objective" force (the stars) guide people instead!

But if Renna knew Heolstor, and already was dead from old age (?) by the time Ranni found her, she might have also added something like "Oh by the way there is another guy who will seek to nuke the Golden Order but not for a noble reason that you do, he will seek revenge upon all living after what happened to him, I don't know when or if he will raise but you might want to prevent him from taking the Elden Ring as well :/". So now, along with other things, the Night is also "infinitely far away", because Heolstor did as much as he did through taking the Elden Ring!

Now, I am not sure whether Renna herself was his bride! Could be that, could be someone else but she would still know about him through being family in law. Maybe Godfrey nuking his country even was the actual reason Liurnia became hostile to the Erdtree? The thing is, trolls, close allies of Carians, were traitors of the Fire Giants that sided with the Erdtree during that war instead! A Troll named Theodorix was even glorified as a hero by them. Raya Lucaria soldiers also seem to honor the Golden Order's ways, as they specifically loathe Albinaurics for their "impure blood" and went against Carians because Rennala "was no god, after all" (so, didn't like how divorce effected her). Original Raya Lucaria sorcerers also respect the golden amber along with the stars, as the source of ancient life, as said by Sellen, just that they aim higher for the cold stars!

I was confused, but with the new information, it started to feel like it were Carians specifically who went against the Golden Order! It just meant roping everyone in Liurnia with them too, since they are literally the rulers of the region! And maybe Heolstor's people being killed off and Castle Morne / Weeping Peninsula usurped became the trigger. Something more like 'well when we decided to not do anything about the usurpators we didn't expect they'd eventually usurp us :/'.

At the same time, there is also the whole fact that "night and flame" is exactly what Heolstor inflicts on the Lands Between x)

He must have been in a very close association. Alternatively, maybe he himself a Carian princess that went a very separate way to establish a different territory and country, but the Erdtree could not let someone thrive without their authorisation. -_-"

+ fun fact that might be a coincidence but maybe not: Weeping Peninsula and Liurnia are the two regions where whole settlements tormented by Frenzied Flame exist! A residence of Carians, and a residence of a Carian's consort......

UPDATE: @sahashbelvanie left a comment and:

Yes, seems like the Moonlight Sword restricts him, it isn't necessarily his.

sjhfshdsh Well, folks, perhaps like 70% of the post is cancelled, it is JUST about how Ranni intending to stop him along other things was foreshadowed XD

[tempesttz]

you are the tumblr user hussie was satirizing when he made kankri vantas.

im gonna fly off the handle

[kalaidope]

I have quickly found I don't know what to post exactly, so uh... here's a bit of info about my (current) headcanons for Poppy's fam, I guess.

I headcanon the Pop Trolls were stuck in the Troll Tree for generations. At that point, they'd all adjusted as much as one can adjust to a life like that. Digging escape tunnels through the roots of the tree was Vida's idea. She convinced an initially hesitant Peppy (because there was the risk of severe punishment if they were ever caught trying to escape) to take a chance on it. She essentially led that project, though it took many years to dig out to the ends of the roots far beyond the perimeter of Bergentown.

Viva's ten years older than Poppy. The year Poppy was "laid", Trollstice came along before she'd hatched. The immediate royal family was meant to be exempt from Trollstice, because they were meant to manage the Trolls on the royal chef's behalf, but the Chef from 2016 went against precedent. The queen of the Bergens had recently passed, and to cheer King Gristle Sr. up (and to get in his good graces) she broke the rules and served him the queen of the Trolls for Trollstice.

Two years later, at dawn on another Trollstice day, they finally dug out into the forest outside of Bergentown. That's my reason for the Trolls escaping at the very last minute before the Trollstice feast. Instead of allowing another Trollstice to come to pass, Peppy chose to evacuate the tree that very morning as fast as they could, choosing to have faith that no more lives would be lost on Trollstice and not a single Troll would be left behind.

The Bergens caught on before the Trolls were fully out of the tunnels, and so many Trolls were separated and presumed dead, Princess Viva included.

Peppy got a lot of his courage from Vida's support throughout the years. The girls get their determination from her (and their cheery peppy attitudes from dad). Vida convinced him to hope that the Trolls could be free one day when he'd grown up being taught that the best hope for a happy existence for his people would be to accept their fates and focus on the bright side of their lives in the Troll Tree. In a lot of ways, he was a coward before Vida encouraged him to strive for more. But even if most of the Trolls escaped and they all believed they would never have to worry about Trollstice again, the loss of Viva and all those other Trolls ruined his confidence. He'd failed. He was two steps forward and one step back in as far as overcoming his cowardice. That's why he's much more pragmatic in the present, "not the king he once was", and ends up clashing with Poppy's unrelenting optimism.

So uh... ye.

[agentnoun]

Expedition 33: So... Are They Real?

I've done it. I've cooked up the ultimate bad take. The one that will finally get me canceled. And the worst part is, I think I'm right, so I can't even pretend I'm trolling when I get yelled at.

Let's rock.

A question that pops up regularly in discussions of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is this: are painted beings real? Is the painted world real? People have also (correctly) noted that the story doesn't really reckon with this question. It throws out a few ideas around it, gestures towards it here and there, shows you the ways that Painters disagree on the topic, but it never really dives in.

Well, I have the answer, and nobody's going to like it. There's a reason it's not more of a central question in the story:

It doesn't matter.

Are they real? Are they fake? Are they half-real? Are they just as alive as people from the outside world, or not?

By the time Act III starts, it doesn't matter. They may have been real once, or not. But eventually, it stops mattering. It may have been even earlier than that by certain interpretations, but by Act III, I think, no matter what, the reality of the Canvas world is no longer relevant.

Okay, before you block me, let me try to justify this. Let's look at both endings and talk about this idea in the context of each.

A Life to Love (The "Verso" Ending)

The whole painted world stops existing so it's not real anymore. If it ever was, it isn't now. This one's pretty easy.

A Life to Paint (The "Maelle" Ending)

A question for my fellow writers: in the stories you write, how real are the characters to you? I don't mean "are you emotionally invested in them" or "do they seem to take on a life of their own when writing is going well." I mean: how real are they?

Follow-up question: when you're done with the story, when you step away and let it go out into the world on its own, does that change? When you're not holding the reins anymore, when you can no longer make changes to the characters or their world, how did your relationship to that work change?

This, I think, is the question that "A Life to Paint" is asking. Because the thing is, whether or not Maelle can "puppet" people (I don't think so), or whether she uses her Paintress powers to modify the world in ways that deny agency even without direct control (seems plausible), I don't think this world can be real--not just to her, but to anyone. A world being painted, actively being modified by a demiurge who didn't even create it in the first place, is sort of automatically "not real" in the same way that our world is "real."

In other words, a Painter living inside of a Canvas indefinitely, whether their own Canvas or someone else's, is basically this guy:

If you're unfamiliar, that's Dr. Manhattan, a character from Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen. He was once a mortal human, but a super-science accident essentially made him a god, capable of existing across time and space and able to manipulate matter at the atomic level with just a thought.

And it doesn't take long for the world to stop being real to him, no matter how much he tries to hang onto his mortal point of view. That's not him anymore. He's an immortal, timeless, near-omnipotent entity and, surely but not slowly, he loses touch with what it means to be mortal at all.

To him, people are barely more than characters in a story, and now he has the power to rewrite that story at will. This makes him detached, to say the least. That timeless way he sees everything means that humans are barely more "alive" to him than stars, planets, rocks, and space dust. They're just matter.

And what of the people who aren't Dr. Manhattan? How does this all look from their perspective? If Dr. Manhattan existed in our world and could rewrite your reality as he saw fit: how real would the world feel to you now? Even if this god is fully benevolent, if they only ever change anything to try to make people happier, what does that mean for your agency? Can you ever be sure if you achieved something or if a god handed it to you? Can you be sure your choices are your own, I mean really sure?

To me, at least, there's no way that life--that my whole world--wouldn't feel empty.

Now imagine that those "rewrites" are imperfect. Let's imagine that he could bring back the dead, recreate them out of atoms. Are those the same people? If it's your loved one, can you ever be sure it's really them? How would you ever even have a hope of knowing? Would this hypothetical god figure even know?

That's not exactly Maelle in "A Life to Paint," but I think it's a potentially fruitful comparison. She might not be able to literally puppet people around, but she can just repaint anyone who dies. She can just erase anything that might be unpleasant or painful. She can't ever be sure that her repaintings of Aline's creations, or of the descendants of Aline's creations, are even "the same," and nobody else can be sure, either. And for her own creations--her own repainted Verso--she can modify them just to see if maybe this change makes them happy.

How could that world ever be real again? If it was ever real to begin with, it isn't anymore, and whatever reality it used to hold is immaterial.

So, What I'm Trying to Say Is...

This isn't a story about genocide. It's not even really a story about the end of the world, except in the most metaphorical sense. (To quote user rozzingit in one of the best posts I've ever read about this game, "Verso's death destroys an entire world, because that's what death does.") It is about grief, certainly.

But it's also about art. It's about the relationship between creators and what they make. It's about art as a reflection, a clear one or a twisted one, and how it can be both at the same time. Art as comfort vs. art as expression/release vs. art as escape, and how it can be all three at the same time. It's about how art can take on a life of its own if it's allowed to but how creators can deny it the chance to do that in so many different ways. It's about changing art until it no longer resembles itself, until it is destroyed. It's about losing yourself in fantasy to the point that it no longer matters what's real and what isn't.

The game never gives you a clear answer to the question of this world and its people's reality--and never really even struggles with the question much--because it doesn't matter. Whatever you choose at the end, the world in Verso's Canvas is not real. Whether it ever was, well, that's unanswerable, because it isn't anymore.

A Palate Cleanser

If you'd like to read a much better take than mine, this excellent post by lyrebright looks at a similar question from a different angle, and I really like their entire analysis. Their concluding statement has stuck with me ever since I first read the post. To quote:

It's a game about ghosts. And the kindest thing you can do for a ghost is lay them to rest.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

I kinda wanna ask since reading you dancestor post on what we're the positives of each of the alpha trolls.

They can't have been completely terrible people, especially in the beginning.

Can do!

Damara: Used to be genuinely kind (and we still see her act sweet to the humans, with whom she has no beef). If her party had given literally a single solitary shit about her and tried to be nicer/more inclusive/didn't just stand by and let the bullying happen and stay friends with Meenah, she would've stayed that way.

Witches have great direct control and manipulative abilities over their aspect - it's implied the ultimate culmination of feferi's arc would've been equalizing the lifespans/psionics of all trolls, and jade is terrifyingly powerful even if she wasn't green sun-powered. It's implied that damara directly caused the ectobiology glitch in her session, directly changing Time (while dave and aradia appear to be beholden to its loops), so if she'd self actualized in a good way, there literally would not have been any "point of no return" for her party, and it's why her corruption IS her party's point of no return

Rufioh: He's a genuinely nice guy, he just lets his fear of responsibility fuck him (and everyone around him) way the hell over, and his terror of being the "bad guy" in a situation leads to him being a much much worse guy overall (he can't bring himself to break up with horuss because he reaallly doesn't want to hurt horuss's feelings, so we can assume him not telling damara about the affair is for similar reasons. but inaction is in itself a harmful choice, and to justify the harm he causes by his inaction, he has to dig himself deeper into a hole of shirking responsibility, until he literally starts going "idk why damara's upset" and "you know how she is, jealous and crazy").

Breath is an aspect of leadership, freedom, and independence, and rogues specialize not only in distributing their own aspect, but also in stealing their aspect from other entities in a way that buffs them in the opposite direction (for example, roxy can steal the void from something in order to make it exist). Thus, Rufioh at his best would not only be a leader in a breath-y way, but would be able to steal the breath from people in a way that boosts their unity and group cohesion - like he did as the Summoner. Unfortunately, that would be scary, and would require actually taking a stand on something.

Mituna: He was fucking correct about his team being assholes headed for disaster, and his team definitely should've listened to him! Ultimately, no matter how offensively he worded things, i believe that the fact that he WAS constantly trying to warn his team was done out of genuine concern and a place of care. Unfortunately, his team went "fuck you mituna" and now he has brain damage.

Not only were Mituna's Doom-inspired prophecies something his team definitely should've listened to, but Doom is an aspect associated with commiseration and empathy, in contrast to Life's oftentimes callous focus on solutions, moving forward, and trampling everything in its path. Had he tried to approach his team less from the lens of "you assholes are doing everything wrong, i'm going to call you slurs until you stop" and more from the angle of "hey, tell me about the bad shit that happened to you, let's feelings jam on that and come to a mutual realization that casteism dicks us all over," he probably would've seen more success.

Kankri: I do genuinely believe that there was a part of Kankri, deep down, that did actually care about equality and his friends. We see it peek out when he lists what he likes about Latula, this sincere appreciation for who she is as a person that mirrors Karkat at his best. Unfortunately, in his desire for control and blinded by his massive ego, he instead became a mouthpiece for the worst parts of his society, a binding force of status quo.

We know what Kankri at his best is: the Signless. If he were at all able to get over his Seer-associated massive ego, desire for attention, and self-inflicted blindness (his celibacy), he would be the ultimate guide to a genuinely equal society of kindness and compassion, not to mention healthy interpersonal relationships, as per Blood's provenance over bonds. Blood players possess a natural sense of responsibility, duty, and empathy, which, unfortunately for everyone, for Kankri flipped over into controlling behavior. It's sad, because he could've been good. They all could've been good.

Meulin: Meulin's not a bad person, genuinely; she's more on the side of being screwed over than doing the screwing over, though she does a fair bit of the latter as a result of the former. It's obvious that she came with a lot of Nepeta's better traits, initially - kindness, sweetness, sincerity - but that these have been stomped over, and her own inability to comprehend a healthy relationship has led to her inflicting shitty relationships on everyone else.

Heart governs feelings and the self, and mages can directly invoke a chosen future, although they can only invoke a future they believe in. Meulin as the Disciple is an example of what she could've been for her team - it was her records of the Signless that kept his legacy alive long enough to set Karkat up with a symbol and a lusus. Had she been treated with more kindness, and had people noticed her unhappiness, perhaps she would've been a matchmaker for good, instead of evil, leading her team to show each other more empathy, kindness, and forgiveness.

Porrim: I would call Porrim the most benign of the dancestors, primarily because she doesn't even really seem to know wtf is going on. Her views on feminism are correct, she's generally well-respected, and holds influence within the party. the problem is, she was so blinkered and tunnel-visioned that she mostly ended up being a super-bystander, like i don't even know if Porrim knows about the Damara situation? You'd think she'd say something if she did.

Space has associations with cycles, renewal, and interconnectivity, and Maids are great at managing and doling out their aspect - to the point where a common thread with the other two maids, Jane and Aradia, is this idea of them being "shadow leaders" (as opposed to knights, who take on more frontline/spotlighted roles). Had she been able to get her head in the actual game, instead of running wild on her tangent, she could've effected massive, actual change in her party, keeping them together and united, the center of their interconnected group. Alas.

Latula: Latula's become so entrenched in her shitty facade/quest for "identity" that she can't even acknowledge her own good points anymore. As Porrim points out, she's actually very intelligent and clever, and as Kankri points out, she's genuinely a hemoequalist and doesn't hold prejudices against peoples' blood colors. She's also an excellent judge of character, given her comments on Aranea; it's really too bad about the fact that she's dedicated so much of herself to her "gamer grl" "identity" that these traits have become deeply buried.

Knights struggle with deep insecurity, but are incomparable party leaders when they're able to get over it; Mind players are experts at understanding the chains of karma, cause and effect, cognition and behavior, and influencing outcomes by manipulating the people around them. A knight of mind at full capacity would be an incredible force of party leadership, able to easily mediate between conflicting parties and nudge teammates into working together and doing what the knight wants. Latula never exercises this power, however.

Aranea: A lot like Kankri, I do believe that there's a genuine kindness and compassion buried in Aranea... deep down. She does genuinely want to be helpful, and her exposition is usually factually correct, even if she can't keep her biases and poor judge of character out of them. I refer back to Aranea's explanations all the time, that's how much they actually do help in understanding the world. Unfortunately, those exact biases are the problem, and what a massive problem they turn out to be!

Sylphs are healers, nurturers, and protectors, but they have a massive empathy problem. Aranea's descriptions and showcases of her own abilities mean she 100% could've healed Mituna, Latula, Meulin, and/or Kurloz at any point, at least before they all died, and she chose not to, because she was too busy fawning over Meenah and not giving a shit about the "non-main characters" on her team. Given Light's associations with knowledge and comprehension, I wouldn't even be surprised if she could've endowed Damara with an auto-translator of some sort - if she, y'know, cared.

Horuss: There's... a lot about Horuss that's pretty odious, but at least you can say that he had a lot of genuine talents, and, as a Page, a lot of potential. Huge amount of potential. A lot like Equius, Horuss also does genuinely have a polite and helpful streak in him, though it's, unfortunately, massively tempered by his shitty beliefs - which, again like Equius, are mostly the result of mistaking fetishes for societal truth. If the people around him cared enough to take him to task for his shitty actions and shitty beliefs, he would probably fold like paper. Unfortunately, nobody bothered to do it.

That incomparable potential of a Page, and the simplicity associated with Void, could've made Horuss a deeply stabilizing force in the party, had they nurtured him to grow Void's uncomplicated nature, rather than allowed him to backslide into light-esque overcomplication. A page running at full tilt can overpower even lords - with the power to banish things directly into the void, horuss at full strength might have been capable of just soloing the bosses - especially since the dancestors had no LE to deal with. Alas.

Kurloz: Though they wind up perverted in pretty unforgivable ways, and even before that, were implied to be not particularly healthy relationships, the vibe is that Kurloz did have genuine care and affection for the people he was close to, Meulin and Mituna. This also implies that he was not actually casteist before his turn, especially seeing as he appears to be close enough with Damara that he was able to influence her religious views. He was likely, as with all Princes, a deeply troubled and complicated individual, but he was by no means unsalvageable.

And let's be so fucking for real, Princes kick ass and take names, that is what they are there to do. Rage is the power of literary criticism/impotence, the vital wellspring of revolutionary emotions and the ability to emphasize or deemphasize elements of the "narrative" to influence a desired outcome; honestly, it's probably one of the strongest possible Prince combinations, being capable of destroying not only unproductive ideas and party conflict, but of the concept of narrative impotence itself. literally what could've stopped him?

Cronus: Yeah I'll go to bat for Cronus. If you can look past his shittier actions, he's genuinely one of the most stable and level-headed members of the team. While he is utterly complicit in casteism, unlike the rest of his team, who turn a blind eye, he's willing to just say it as it is, and he's literally the only person on the entire team who's able to make Meenah have misgivings about the Condy's awesomeness/reflect on her own shitty actions. There's a refreshing sincerity to him that's sorely lacking from the rest of his poser-ass team, and it's a positive quality that I wish his team had nurtured, rather than Kankri grinding it into dust in the name of getting into Cronus's diamond.

Bards cause the first flap of a butterfly's wing that cascade into massive karmic victories or defeats, and Hope is a power that makes fake things real, turns impossible things possible, and outright defies the power scale. Had he manifested in a positive direction rather than a negative one, their team would've done some crazy shit. Alas, as-is, he's implied to be the origin of Kurloz's pivotal nightmare, and things only went downhill from there.

Meenah: Granted, I have few kind things to say about Meenah, but I guess objectively, she is "cool". People on her team do genuinely like and respect her, and she is an asskicker objectively, and I do think there are some positive motivations present in her story if you squint - like, I don't disbelieve Aranea when she says Meenah was trying to goad her shitty team into taking action, as this is consistent with what Meenah also says and thinks, but I'd call this motivation "overwhelmingly irrelevant" in light of the genuine cruelty she displayed.

Thieves are provacateurs, shakers of the status quo, and Life is a force of healing and forward motion. If anyone on Meenah's team (besides a Cronus being actively dampened by Kankri) had truly called her out and held her responsible for her bullshit and awfulness, and had she done any introspection and taken any accountability for her terrible actions at all, she may have seen some genuine success in her attempts to get her party to do something - especially given that Life is a healing force, like their Sylph, and if Meenah weren't so fucking selfish, she might've actually been able to do some good.

The thing is, the dancestors have some really solid fucking classpect pairings - while I don't believe there's any such thing as a "bad" classpect pairing, bard of hope, prince of rage, knight of mind, maid of space, rogue of breath, witch of time - these are honestly pretty cracked, and the others on the team are still pretty powerful. Moreover, their life on beforus left very few of them with the brain-breaking trauma that plagues the alternia team, so in a lot of ways, they were set up for success - and they squandered it.

By the time we meet them, they are all at their worst, and there's a tragedy in the fact that you can see the shadows of a really solid fucking team, had any of them chosen kindness and compassion before they reached their point of no return. but they didn't, in any timeline, and now here we are, with an evil time travelling wizard demon of fascism breathing down our necks.

[lawbreaker13]

Alright, I'm about to have a Trolls moment. Please ignore me if you will.

So I'm starting to have a meltdown over Branch's brothers' understanding of who he is as a person.

Like, they were fully absent during his entire childhood and young adulthood, of course. And we all keep making jokes about how they didn't tease him enough about his relationship because, duh, that's what brothers do. But what I have yet to see discussed is his confidence as an individual, how he interacts with the audience as a band member, and how his brothers are simply not interacting with a person they've ever met before.

Like, there's the whole "boy band members are so suave so as to properly appeal to their audience" thing, and Branch, post-World Tour, has gained a lot of confidence. Yes, most of his audience interaction is aimed at the band's biggest fan, his own girlfriend, but he does so very smoothly. The level of confidence that Branch has gained since the first movie is immense and it's actually so heartwarming to watch the two movies back-to-back to see, but beyond that, his interactions with Poppy, as her boyfriend and also as a band member, are very confident, flirtatious, and charming. He's playing up the persona when he's on stage of course, but they also flirt a lot on their own as seen in this movie. And while yes, his brothers being his brothers would probably off-screen tease him about flirting with his girlfriend, they also have no idea how he is as a band member. Because the last time they were in a band together, Branch was IN DIAPERS. Spruce was the Heartthrob, the flirt, the tease, and Branch was a BABY. But now Bruce is married, he's checked out of that life. And even if it's all directed at Poppy because Branch is a very loyal boy (clearly), he still has never exhibited those specific behaviors in front of his brothers. It's funny and easy to make fun of when it's with his girlfriend, but when he does it as a band member? Then it's a persona. And he's absolutely killing the game.

The boys have never met this suave, confident adult. They've never seen Band Member Branch with his own personality, with character traits, with the ability to make decisions for himself in any form. So his new band persona is, apparently, to some extent, the flirt. And his brothers must be reeling from that, because WHO is this guy??

I don't have a point. My point is just the idea that once upon a time, when Branch was in the band originally, he was just Some Kid™. And now he's not just some kid, he is A Boy Band Member™. And kind of the new leader, to boot. Beyond that, to Poppy, he was just Some Depressed Guy™ for so long. And once again, look at him now. The character development combined with character perception is just so absolutely fascinating to me and the lack of time to elaborate on it is very much the reason why fanfiction exists.

I don't know, man. Big Trolls fan over here. I love Branch so much.

[diana-bluewolf]

Why NPC’s lines outside quests don’t tell us anything about them

*with rare exceptions

Here we have Duncan saying he'd like to get rid of Muggle-borns like Garlick. And, surprise, then we have Hector Fawley (future Minister for Magic, btw) saying exactly the same line in the same voice.

The subtitles are hard to read, so I duplicated them with text under pictures.

Duncan and Hector: "If only Black had the power to choose the other professors too. Then we could get rid of Muggle-born like Garlick."

Or here Duncan rants about disgusting Mudbloods ruining the school. But look at this adorable Hufflepuff repeating the same word for word.

Duncan and a random Hufflepuff student: "It’s about time Hogwarts put someone like Black in charge. Perhaps now we can stop all these disgusting Mudbloods from ruining the school."

Suddenly, Duncan forgets his own words and says he will miss Professor Garlick or recommends that Garreth ask her for advice.

Duncan: "I can’t wait until I’m a sixth-year - then I won’t have to waste my time with Herbology anymore. I’ll miss Professor Garlick, mind." Duncan: "I wouldn’t bother yourself about that. If I were you, I’d be more inclined to acquire myself some Bubotuber pus. I’m sure Garlick could point you in the right direction."

Garreth seems to have difficulties with making up his mind, too.

Garreth: "Have you been in any other common rooms? I'd love to know what it's like to be in another house - just for a day." Also Garreth: "Even if I knew how to get into the other common rooms, I wouldn't bother. There's a reason I was sorted into my house."

This does sound like Garreth. Until you hear the same from half of Hogwarts lots.

Garreth and a random Gryffindor student: "Sometimes I wish someone would Transfigure me into a squirrel. Then I wouldn't have to worry about doing schoolwork anymore."

The same goes for Leander. Btw, hello Mousey @sparxyv!

Leander: "You think Garreth Weasley would be better at Transfiguration considering his aunt teaches the thing."

I see sometimes people think Leander is a bully because he says some mean lines like the one when he's bragging about a knee-reversal hex he tried on a small Hufflepuff. But it's NOT his lines. It's just the lines that belong to everyone, which means they belong to no one.

I even made a video based on Ominis's lines like this.

Ominis: "Well, my father naturally assumed I'd be a strong Seeker, just like him. I say, thank Merlin Quidditch was cancelled." Ominis: "I met some of my best friends in Flying. Nothing creates a bond like thinking you're all about to die." Ominis: "My friends and I like to spend our evenings watching the sunset from the Quidditch pitch."

Btw maybe Quidditch Champions devs took it too seriously 😂 I agree with the point that Ominis technically can play Quidditch: there are, without a doubt, disabled athletes in the world, and if there’s a wand, that helps him to see why not imagine a broom like this? Still, given his personality, I believe that Ominis appeared in that game just to gather more money from fans, and he's just as a quidditch player, as Seb's patronus is a cat. Because, seriously, Ominis? Saying that, "Nothing creates a bond like thinking you're all about to die." Haha!

From what I can see, random student dialogues exist only to fill the silence with background noise and create the illusion of life, but they can't tell us anything about the characters.

*HOWEVER, this does not apply to situations where NPCs say something to MC, rather than during dialogues with random students.

For example, Ominis’s lines like, “Heard you're defending Hogsmeade against trolls. You know there is such a thing as trying too hard." or “Heard you and Sebastian traversed a mountain in Loyalist territory. You know, that sort of thing could have gotten you both killed.” really belong to our gossip king Ominis.

Or when MC walks past Amit near Hogshead before talking to Lodgok for the first time, Amit shouts greetings to MC.  Those are the lines that really were intended for those NPCs.

[sapphire-weapon]

I see a lot of people freaking out in your asks about the possible family connection between Leon and Grace, but am I the only one wondering what the point would even be, story-wise? Grace is already an adult -- she probably doesn’t need or want another adult suddenly showing up to play daddy. I'm saying this as someone who was abandoned by her father at birth and had him show up once I was an adult: no, you don’t necessarily want to meet your father in that situation. It’s too late, and honestly, you just don’t care. You became who you are without him. So I really don’t see what it would add for Grace.

And I don’t see what it would add for Leon either. He’s got a savior or protector complex -- he doesn’t need to be someone’s "sperm donor" to feel involved. If there’s one person in the RE main cast who doesn’t need a reason to go save someone, it’s Leon. So I just don’t get why people are so worked up about it, especially when you already admitted it was a troll.

Well I'm bored and it's my night off, so let's do a fun thought experiment and see if we can make this theory seem narratively satisfying.

So DG has said pretty explicitly, and Andy has implied pretty heavily, that RE9 is actually Leon's story. Like, he's the main character, and the story is about him.

So, knowing what we know about storytelling (hopefully I've taught you guys something over the years), then what that means is that (regardless of how you feel about the gender dynamics at play here) any familial connection between Leon and Grace would exist to primarily serve his character. Not hers. So, throw your entire first paragraph out.

Sorry, Grace.

I think it's bad practice to think of this in terms of, like... giving Leon a reason to go save someone. Because I don't think that that's going to be the case, for a few reasons:

We don't know that Leon is going to save Grace. People are just assuming that because she's a blonde girl in distress.

We don't know that Grace is the reason that Leon ends up going back to Raccoon City in the first place. He could be going for a completely unrelated reason and just run into her there.

This line of thinking pre-supposes that the entire plot is going to turn around Grace's capture, similar to how RE4 turned around Ashley's capture... but seeing as how Grace is a major, playable character, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense for the story to be about her rescue. I don't really think she needs rescuing, personally.

You're right, and Leon would save her just to save her anyway.

So. With that in mind.

What do we know?

Well, we know:

The FBI is heavily involved in whatever's going on.

Capcom has said that RE9 is about answering the final questions left hanging from the Raccoon City outbreak.

Leon is the only member of the main cast who was actively lied to regarding/following the RC incident and still doesn't know the full truth of the why's and how's of everything that's happened to him in his life.

Leon has been heavily isolated from the other characters and had his growth stunted as a result.

Most of that isolation was done on purpose by the US government, specifically to rob him of as much of his autonomy and agency as possible -- probably to prevent him from ever turning against them and/or so that he'll follow orders without question.

Despite the government's best efforts, Leon has started to question things and think for himself -- but he lacks the motivation and self-determination to actually take action against them, because he just doesn't care about himself enough to stand up for himself.

So, if Grace turns out to be Leon's daughter -- and it also happens to be the case that the reason he didn't know about Grace's existence is because the government intervened and somehow kept Alyssa and/or her messages away from him...

That could be the motivation that Leon needs to finally rebel against the government.

Because it's not just about him, anymore. It's about his child. And it's about all the time that he lost with that child -- time that he'll never get back. It's about the psychological/emotional damage to her that came from growing up without knowing her father that he can never make up for.

He missed everything in his child's life. He missed her first birthday, her first steps, her first word, her first day at school, her first love, her first heartbreak, her graduation, her first day at college, her acceptance into the FBI... He never got to chaperone a field trip or a school dance, he never got to help her with her homework, he never got to teach her how to drive, he never got to teach her how to shoot a gun, he never got to threaten her first boyfriend, he never attended a single sports game or school play or science fair...

He wasn't able to be there for her when her fucking mother got murdered.

He missed everything.

And Leon has a very romantic, sentimental nature. He would've wanted all of that. He would've made the effort to be in her life -- if only he'd known she existed.

But he was robbed of the simple opportunity to try.

And to make things worse, he can't even apologize to Alyssa for not helping her with Grace... because she's dead. Because he couldn't protect her. Because he didn't know. Because the government kept all of that information from him.

And maybe they killed her, too.

Maybe Leon does save Grace... but not from chair guy. Maybe the story is about Leon saving Grace from the government. Maybe Grace didn't go into the FBI by choice. Maybe she was "recruited" the way that Leon was "recruited."

Maybe Grace is the way for Leon to redeem himself from the way that he utterly failed Sherry -- and the way that he utterly failed himself.

Maybe that's why she's named "Grace."

[mewguca]

luna, thanks for breaking down the character differences between vanilla and downpour because I'm too much of an illiterate gremlin to discern those nuances, it is much appreciated!

may I ask if there's anything from the officially published fanfiction that you did like on its own merits?

I'm assuming you're asking about characterization and narrative, instead of gameplay / world design, so I'll focus on that. on a meta level, I love the fact that downpour exists as officially published fanfiction / an official AU. It's really inspirational tbh, and it makes me feel better about making fanworks

for actual game stuff , I'll start with Spearmaster.

I like that SRS forms an attachment to their messenger, especially since they initially seemed repulsed by it. It's more interesting that they didn't immediately bond, as it creates some internal conflicts (guilt) within SRS. I also like that NSH warns them not to get too attached before it returns; it's a reasonable suggestion and may be influenced by their current loss. (of LTTM)

I could nitpick a lot here but I'm going to try and omit that for the sake of brevity and efficiency. (general statement about the ramble)

I like that NSH gets upset and stops talking to SRS for a little while, and that SRS becomes a bit desperate and anxious. It humanizes both of them. I also like that NSH says something irrational and emotional about suns sending their messenger to the wrong person, and that they immediately reflect and retract their statement. They seem emotionally mature here. I also like that SRS's question (would that have helped?) can be interpreted in multiple ways; perhaps it's a genuine inquiry out of desperation, or perhaps it's a more snide remark to ground their friend. Perhaps both. It's neat, I think.

I like NSH's broadcast to FP. I think the wording could be stronger, but it's still convincing to me. I can feel the emotion here. I can hear NSH's voice as he speaks these words in his mind. And I like that NSH asks FP to reflect upon his actions, rather than insulting him or threatening him. Again, you can interpret in multiple ways, and it serves multiple purposes. Self-reflection seems to be a weak point for DP Pebbles, especially with all of the shame. So, this remark serves as Genuine Advice, but it can also serve as... a Curse of sorts? Foreshadowing? That he must overcome this weakness of his, and that he cannot run from it forever. yay

I like Moon's final broadcast. I'm glad she got to have a moment like this, and it's fun to voice this one, too. It's sweet, and it says something about her that she wanted her final broadcast to be uplifting and warm. She wanted people to remember her and smile...

This broadcast between SI and WO may actually be my favorite, though. (of sm broadcasts I mean) I'm a huge bennie (ancient) fan, so hearing more about them is awesome. I like that different Cities had different cultures and politics, different rituals and behaviors, and (implied) different "eras" over time... I enjoy that this characterizes the bennies as diverse and fascinating, and that different Iterators had different relationships with their citizens. There's a lot to chew on here without too much to wade through, and I wish we had more broadcasts like these. I love it. <3

Other Spearmaster things I liked:

SOS lizard betting <3

SRS studying sign language to communicate with SM. i dont like the worldbuilding around the mark and the puppet faces here so I didnt include the full screenshot, but I like the idea of SRS trying to establish two-way communication.

NSH purposing a messenger to troll people is fun, even if I'm not fond of the details

TRANSCENDENTAL INVERSION! is a fun phrase; I really like it lol

Artificer:

this one white pearl

Rivulet:

I like the mass rarefaction cell. I like the heart symbolism around it a lot; as someone with heart issues, it makes me happy to relate to a fictional character with them, even abstractly.

I like how it ties things into a neat little ring; FP kills moon, but he also gives her life. It's very powerful, at least conceptually. I just wish that when he gave her his physical heart, he gave her his metaphorical heart alongside it. She just wanted to speak with him one last time, and it sucks that's unfulfilled. But I appreciate the potential, at least. And I do love a reconciliation. I'm glad they made up.

also mass rarefaction cells are fun and useful! gotten a lot out of them, I think! yay.

I also like some of moon's dialogue in riv campaign and that she checks her unread messages.

Saint:

There's not really much to talk about here, but I like some of the Echo dialogues quite a bit. I also like the dialogues in Rubicon but I don't feel like getting another screenshot

Two Sprouts, Twelve Brackets remains the goat forever.

I have a particular fondness for Eight Spots on a Blind Eye, as well. Probably because I voiced these lines, haha. But I think it's cute for someone to acknowledge your enthusiasm for exploration, and I like how sweet they are. yay

[thewertsearch]

TT: I should have gone looking for her. TT: Why didn't I? [...] GG: because you were busy trying to make the best of this situation? TT: John was too. But he went to look for his father. [...] GG: john was being john, and you were being you, which i guess meant taking our problems very seriously and putting all your attention on solving them! GG: and anyway, you and your mom had a much trickier relationship than john and his dad didnt you?

I'm with Jade on this. Presumably, Rose decided that analyzing the game was a more productive use of her time than searching for Mom - a lady who, let's not forget, deliberately abandoned her. Can you really blame her for avoiding the woman?

For a thirteen-year-old, Rose's tactical calls have actually been pretty good. The problem is that Scratch keeps redirecting her plans in directions that benefit him.

GG: now we have all lost guardians GG: dave lost his, and i lost mine in a weird way… uuum even though that was pretty much definitely my fault :\ GG: and even the trolls all lost their monster guardians GG: i think that maybe it is an inevitable part of a game that can be cruel sometimes

I didn’t want this to come to pass, but it always seemed somewhat inevitable.

After all, says Skaia, how are you going to focus on creating a new world, if we don't cut all ties to your old one?

TT: For some reason, despite all the danger, I never thought she was in any trouble. TT: I never believed she would actually die. […] TT: I didn't actually need the ectobiological verification that she was like a mother and a sister at the same time. I always understood that somehow. TT: And I felt she had knowledge and ability beyond what she let on. It was always intimidating, but nonetheless a source of respect which was childishly begrudging on my part.

She worked directly for Skaianet. I'm sure she knew exactly what was coming - and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if her foresight included her own fate. Prophecy is abundant in this world, and her boss was time-traveling through the session before it even existed.

But... think about this for a second, Rose. If your mother knew everything that awaited you, then it's actually a really good sign that she's been helping you from behind the scenes.

Because if things were truly hopeless, then why was she out there killing monsters for you?

What would be the point, if there was no light at the end of the tunnel?

I'm just saying - that's not the punch of a woman with no hope.

GG: i just hope you arent thinking of doing something rash TT: I already was. TT: I was going to go to sleep, fly to a sun bigger than our universe, drop a bomb in it, and kill myself. […] TT: So if my course of action is to change on account of my mood, it can only become less impetuous, don't you think?

...I’m willing to hear you out.

TT: You never liked my plan very much anyway. […] TT: I made it without a full understanding of the nature of the Scratch. […] TT: Maybe I will go kill Jack myself. TT: Right now.

Oh, man.

Ohhhh, man.

Look. Rose. I'm loving how proactive you're being here, but this plan will kill you instantly - and even if you're dream-revived, you'll die for good when you deliver the Tumor.

Is this what causes the Blackout, then? Is Rose about to power up for this fight, overwhelming the session with eldritch energy?

This fucking guy -_-