#these are just the main but the whole cast

[gracefelldownaflightofstairs]

People will say doctor who started going down hill when they “went woke” or when Disney obtained the streaming rights or even just that the writing is bad.

But I think what is really happening is that going from have an average of 12-13 episodes plus specials a season to 10 or less episodes a season is really what is hurting the show 

I think that by reducing the number of episodes per season it drastically limits what writers can do. You can create a more complex story when you have more time to tell it.

Plus with more episodes you get time to step away from the main story to focus on flushing out characters more. I know some people are just like oh filler episodes are bad because they don’t do anything to move the overall story. However, well this can be true they also provide the audience with a way to get to know more about the characters whether it’s understanding their background, motives, morals, or just a overall just understanding them.

Also I think some people will just look a ratings a say it’s not doing as well as previous seasons but don’t understand that ratings for previous seasons were stretched out over more episodes.

This isn’t to say that I think every episode of doctor who is great and that other people’s opinions are wrong or invalid. I just want people to consider the whole picture when talking about a show like doctor who. It’s a show that is always in flux. It’s always changing cast, show runners, writers etc. it’s not always going to be to everyone’s liking all the time. Like yes the show has changed but that’s to be expected it’s not 1963 anymore and I think more people need to recognize that

[cherrycherryves]

MADNESS IN MANSION AU MAIN CHARACTERS !

DISCLAIMER: this is just my au to have fun with, so not everything is gonna be completely accurate or “canon!” A lot of these characters have different stories from their source materials! And also this au is mostly about friendship, love, and family! It’s just something I think is cute and fun to work on! :3 Also also! Since some of them don’t have catchphrases, I made up little quotes!

The main cast! The main line up! The main players!

More info is down below!! :D

Judge Angels — “I will sentence you!” — Dina Clark was brought in by Slenderman while on the run for killing their CEO father and most of their family’s staff. Traveling with them, their mother’s corpse neatly packed in a suitcase. They just wanted to find a safe place for their beloved mother to finally rest.

Bloody Painter — “Don’t be excited for tomorrow.” — Helen Otis sought out Slenderman after realizing the police were hot on his trail. The pressures of life had built up, and all he wanted to do was create a new world from scratch. One filled to the brim with beauty and art. The world will bend to his will.

Ticci Toby — “Follows…” — After moving from Wisconsin to Alabama, Toby Roger’s life spiraled out of control. He had endured countless hardships, and the death of his sister was more than he could take. After burning it all to the ground, Slenderman gave him a place to seek refuge.

Jeff the Killer — “Go to sleep.” — Some people are dealt a shitty hand. Jeffery Woods’ life was standard, but that didn’t make it easy. In high school, things only got worse. At the hands of his peers he was burned alive. He survived, but his mind had completely shattered. He wants to pick up the pieces.

Homicidal Liu — “Today’s a better day.” — Liu Woods had always done his best to be a proper older sibling. He wanted nothing more to protect his younger brother. Maybe that’s why he barely fought back when his brother attempted to kill him. There was a moment of hesitation, and in that moment he ran. Slenderman had found him bleeding out, he promised he could keep him alive.

Eyeless Jack — “Do no harm.” — Jack Nyras had his whole life ahead of him. He was at university studying to be a doctor. However, unexpected things can happen at any moment. What was supposed to be a college party had turned into nothing short of cult activity, Jack being their ultimate sacrifice. He doesn’t remember much after their torture, only that Slenderman had found him bloodied and fundamentally changed in the forest.

Kate the Chaser — “Don’t look…or it takes you.” — Sometimes Slenderman sees potential. Slenderman saw great potential in Kate Milens. But not just anyone can become a proxy. Kate had gone through multiple trials without even knowing, always coming out favorably in the Slenderman’s opinion. Being so close to Slenderman, however, comes with symptoms… consequences.

Nina the Killer — “Go to sleep, my prince!” — Childhood friends with Liu, Jeff, and their friend Jane, Nina Hopkins was always a bright and cheery force of nature. Despite her efforts to get along with her peers, rumors had a way of creeping up. It was a good thing she had her friends to lean on. She always had her friends. She’d always have her friends. Friends don’t give up on each other.

Eyeless Lulu — “Gimme your eyes.” — Lucille-Tiffany Greatfeild never had luck making friends. It seemed no matter what she did, her peers found her weird. Growing up, she was a lonely child, however, going to college filled her with determination to break out of her shell and at least make a few acquaintances. She was befriended by a group of peers who were seemingly kind and caring, but sometimes things are too good to be true. Having heard of an new internet legend, they pressured Lulu into playing a stupid game, performing a silly ritual. They all paid the price.

Clockwork — “Time’s up.” — Natalie Ouellette came from a broken home. Ever since she was young, she was starkly aware of how unfair life can be. She had poor health as a child, often in and out of doctor offices due to various reasons, a bad flu or broken bones. Every time she exited the hospital, she heard the tick in her head, like her time was running out, being wasted, rotting away. As she grew up, this tick only got louder. Time was against her, and the abuse was getting worse. She had to do something. And she did do something. And then she ran.

BEN Drowned — “You’ve met with a terrible fate!” — Benjamin Lawman was a very lively boy. He loved making friends, drinking soda, and of course, frequenting arcades and internet cafes! Life for him was simple, it was perfect! But there are things that are out of your control, circumstances one is born into. Divorce is hard for the whole family to go through, but Ben had hope, an optimistic outlook. The look in his father’s eyes was scary as they drove to the lake alone, but his father was a rational man. Surely there was a rational explanation for all of this.

Sally — “Wanna play?” — Sally Williams had just turned 12! Her birthday party was held in Loblolly’s very own, new and shiny park! The year was 1973 and the summer air was warm and inviting. Sally had just finished opening her gifts, her favorite being a new teddy bear from her mom and dad. A true friend, soft and kind. While many kids showed up to her party, they didn’t have good intentions. One girl suggested they play a game before Sally got to the piñata. They blindfolded her, giggling and exclaiming, “We’ll guide you!” Really, they just wanted to see if they could get her lost. What they didn’t account for was the truck barreling down the road as they told her to cross it.

Lazari Swann — “I can do this!” — Lazari Swann never knew her mother and father. Her mother had died during childbirth, leaving her to the care of foster homes. She did her best. She made the best of any situation, always selfless, always helpful. But as she grew up, it gnawed at the back of her mind. Her father… where had he gone? Who was he? What did he look like? She only had one clue, a picture from her mother’s photo album with a location marked: Loblolly, Alabama. She’d get her answers one way or another.

Masky — “Always watches, no eyes.” — Tim Wright is a man of few words now. Not many know of how he came to be so reliable in the Slenderman’s eye, why he’s so guarded and keeps to himself, why he’s so close with Brian. They just know that his word is to be trusted, he knows what he’s doing. He is regarded as the most capable human in the mansion, and despite his attempts to keep everyone at a distance, many of the mansion’s inhabitants look to him for guidance.

Hoodie — “Can’t run.” — Brian Thomas is just as reliable, but because of his elusive nature, many don’t know how to read him quite right. He is more personable than Tim, handling most of the talking when the two of them are together. Brian is easy going, despite his circumstances, and can even crack a few light hearted jokes. But no one really knows much about him. Still, people in the mansion recognize his survivability and will take his guidance if Tim isn’t around.

Nurse Ann — “It won’t hurt… much.” — In the 1800s, there was a hospital in the woods of Loblolly, and Ann Lusen Mia worked there. She was a dutiful nurse, very caring and dedicated to her job. She believed in the good of humanity, and cherished being able to care for the sick and injured. A doctor within the hospital, a colleague of hers, informed her that he was working on a new method of care and asked her to be a part of it. She agreed, enthusiastic for the progress of medicine. Little did she know she would be the experiment. As she felt herself dying, she pleaded with any entity she could to help her, save her, and that was enough for Zalgo to offer her a deal.

Laughing Jack — “Round and round the mulberry bush…!” — The Laughing Jack is a mystery to many. He is a demon, taking the form of a monochrome clown with many nonsensical traits. He speaks in riddles and rhymes for the most part, always eccentric and mind-bending. He thoroughly enjoys being a nuisance to humans, a pest, a bother, but when it comes to more sensitive people or children, he can actually be quite a sweetheart. His morals are unknown to anyone as he is not tied to Slenderman or Zalgo and acts on his own accord. He seems to favor Slenderman though, for whatever reason, and so he has become a trusted ally!

Slenderman — “…” — The Slenderman’s origins are unknown. He has existed for thousands of years. After a gruesome battle with the underworld’s ruler, Zalgo, Slenderman was severely weakened. The battle ended in a stalemate, though it was surely in Zalgo’s favor. Too close to a victory for Slenderman’s liking. At the end of their battle, Slenderman had used most of his energy to lock Zalgo in the underworld dimension for good, but his seal wasn’t perfect. Many zalgoid creatures can still access earth, but as long as it’s not Zalgo himself, he has time. He started taking in lost and weary souls in hopes of building an army. He feeds off negative energy, his mansion feeds off negative energy, the forest feeds off negative energy. But what he didn’t expect was that these beings, human and possessed and undead alike, have started making him feel. He cares for them. And this care might be just what he needs to get rid of Zalgo for good.

[taintedsoul-if]

I won't try to mince or sugarcoat my words; I'll just get to the point. Just know this is going to be a long one.

In the past, there was a lot of confusion about the world I am trying to shape in Tainted Souls. Honestly, from a reader's point of view, I found my writing lacking in a lot of areas, and because of that, I was between emotions about whether or not I should just delete my blog and my IF and just go back to lurking. Tainted Souls has been around for 3 years or less, I think. And even though it has been around so long, I am new to this whole choice concept.

Once upon a time, I had a Wattpad account where I would create stories. I lost motivation because my editing skills suck a lot, but there was this published author who would read my story and just, you know, she would push me, and sometimes she'd even tell me to send the chapters I would be putting out so she could edit them. Yes, I have a tendency to give up easily, and yes, my motivation isn't.... ugh.

In my last demo, I did a summarization of basically what happened to the original owner before you, the protagonist, transmigrated into the body. At that time, I just wanted to add a few choices even if those choices didn't do shit for the story. During my break, I got down to thinking a lot... I've always been a lover of Chinese novels' reincarnation, transmigration, plot holes, those things, and usually, I'd meet all these systems that were just so full of life, narcissistic, dense, downright evil you know and I always just had this plot in my head where I just started shaping my mini world. Nothingness is different it's not just a system. For every Chinese novel that I read, the backstory is usually something that is just dealt with immediately. Feeding bits and pieces as one goes along just breaks immersion as far as I'm concerned. And I know that it is hard to focus sometimes, especially when it comes to reading... but if one is going to be reading and cannot even remember basic things about the plot, is that book even worth one's time and energy?

Let me just be honest: I've read hundreds of books and best believe just by looking at the synopsis of book books that I've read in the past, I can remember every single important detail of that book that I read. Whether I enjoyed it or not. Books and I are tight... 😂😂

The back story is important even though it is a wall of text because I feel as though it would be weird to just give one line... example...

***

Before ${he} could act, ${he} was knocked unconscious and thrown into the gates of Ostror.

When ${he} woke, a Gorewing descended upon ${him}. No escape. No mercy. The Original Owner perished in agony, ${his} body left to rot. Three days later, the Prime Minister rushed the funeral, eager to bury his disgrace of a ${son} before rumors could spread.*

***

😤😤

What I do best is write. What I do best is to explain things even if it isn't important to the plot at the moment. Down below, I will add a few screenshots of the unedited backstory of the Original Owner's backstory, and you can all make your decision...

Yes, pronouns are incorrect and there are overused words like Original Owner.

Whatever your choices may be I am already prepared. So, please do not be afraid to give your honest vote opinion. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to vote, and please enjoy your day.

[umi-adxhira]

ᝰ.ᐟ SERENITY | 026

MANHWA: TWTPTFLOB

WARNINGS: Implied physical abuse, being locked up, drug use

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is the official start to the manhwa guys. This is Chapter 1 - the beginning of 3. Instead of using the novel for the dialogue, I used the manhwa. I'm aware each site has different translation but they're all saying the same thing ngl

Also it's easier for me to read just dialogue and some of Roxana's thoughts instead of reading a whole fucking chapter for like a quarter of a page worth of dialogue

TAGLIST: @evaxmisu, @00hellohello00, @welpthisisboring, @hsrvl264, @flyingpansaurus

◄ PREVIOUS CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER ►

It’s been a few days, and word of a certain ‘blue-haired bitch’ being seen in the mansion has spread like wildfire. You and Roxana exchange glances before heading toward the main hall, where Lante is presumed to be. Your stomach twists slightly at the thought of who you were about to meet. Not the man himself, but what his presence being in the Agriche mansion means.

It’s finally happening. It’s starting.

Your eyes briefly flicker to Roxana’s dress, a deep green, flowing and elegant. Wait… wasn’t it red in the manhwa? It was a small detail, but it stood out. The novel never explicitly describes the colours of her clothing, leaving it to the illustrator to interpret within the bounds of historical accuracy. It was a strange realization - how much influence different adaptations could have on the same source material.

You both descend the grand staircase, your steps echoing against the polished marble floor. The bright chandeliers overhead cast a golden glow over the pristine surfaces, illuminating Lante Agriche’s imposing figure at the bottom.

The moment you step into the hall, his cold, scrutinizing gaze sweeps over you, then to Roxana. A shiver runs down your spine, but you hold your ground. Your gaze shifts to the silver-haired boy on his knees, bloodied, bound, and gagged. Cassis Pedelian.

Lante's sharp gaze flickers between you and Roxana before settling on his daughter. "Remember him? He’s the son of an insolent bitch. I brought him here to teach him a lesson," he sneers, his grip tightening in Cassis' silver hair, yanking his head back.

Cassis groans, his breath ragged, his body twitching from evident pain. The chains binding him rattle as he tries to resist, but Lante yanks again, forcing him to stay still.

Roxana hums, stepping forward, her lips curling into a smirk. "Hmm… this toy’s gaze is quite rebellious, Father."

Cassis' violet eyes hold nothing but defiance, even in his weakened state. He meets Roxana’s amused gaze, then yours. A flicker of confusion, but no fear. Your hands curl into fists.

Lante scoffs, clearly entertained by the resistance. He yanks the chain behind Cassis' head, making him choke as the iron links dig into his throat. "Until he becomes compliant, keep him in the dungeons underground," he commands, gesturing for the guards to drag the battered boy away. Cassis doesn’t resist, his body too weak, but his gaze never wavers.

Your chest tightens slightly as you watch them disappear down the hallway. And so it begins.

⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

Later that night, long after the halls have emptied, you accompany Roxana down to the dungeons. The air is damp and thick with the scent of mildew and blood. The flickering flames of the wall-mounted lanterns cast eerie shadows along the brick walls, each step you take echoing ominously. The walls are rough, uneven stones, the ceiling low enough to make you feel caged, even when you aren’t the prisoner.

I’ve never been here before. The place looks quite bright considering it’s nighttime, but that could be due to the lamps. Damn, I miss bulbs. The lamp Roxana has is burning my retinas. How can she even see with that thing so close to her face?

Roxana walks ahead, holding a lamp in front of her. Her golden hair catches the dim light, almost glowing. She stops before a cell and clicks her tongue, unlocking the bars with the key she seduced the guard outside the dungeon to give her.

"This really is too much. If it’s already like this, it’ll be troublesome." She sighs, pressing a hand against the iron bars. "Since from now on, I’ll have to try and save our own lives."

You blink. Huh, our own lives. Last time, if I recall, she only talked about her life that needed saving. But now…? You glance at her. Roxana Agriche, known for her cunning and cruelty, was acknowledging you. She actually considered you in her survival plans. A small but significant difference.

This almost makes me want to laugh.

With practiced ease, Roxana reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small glass vial. She uncaps it and kneels beside the unconscious Cassis.

"Excuse me. Cassis Pedelian." Her voice is soft but firm.

Cassis stirs slightly but doesn’t wake. Without hesitation, Roxana cups his chin, tilting his head back, and pours the clear liquid between his lips. Some of it dribbles down his jaw, but enough gets into his mouth. His body tenses, a faint groan escaping him.

His violet eyes flutter open. "This… what?!" His voice is hoarse, barely above a whisper.

Before he can react further, Roxana grabs him roughly. "Shush. Be quiet. Don’t spit it out; it’s an antidote," a pause, then a smirk. "You might not believe me, but I don’t wish for your death. Do you understand me?"

Cassis' eyes narrow, filled with suspicion. He tries to move, but his weakened state betrays him. His jaw clenches as he glares at her, but Roxana only sighs.

Then, without warning, she sucker punches him in the stomach.

Cassis chokes, coughing violently. His head lolls forward, resting against Roxana’s shoulder. His breath is ragged, his body trembling from pain and exhaustion. His gaze flickers to you for a brief moment before his eyes slide shut again.

A sudden laugh escapes your lips. You try to stifle it, but the amusement bubbles up regardless.

Roxana turns her head toward you, raising an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, is so funny?"

You wipe at your eyes, still chuckling. "I just… I forgot you even did that in the manhwa. It caught me off guard." You shake your head, grinning. "I don’t know, I guess I just found it funny."

Roxana lets out an exasperated tut, rolling her eyes before gently pushing Cassis back against the wall. She stands, brushing dust from her dress. "You have a twisted sense of humour."

You smirk, following her as she turns toward the dungeon exit. "Says the one who just punched an almost dead man."

She huffs but doesn’t deny it, leading the way out of the dark corridor. The heavy dungeon door creaks open, and you both step into the dimly lit hallway beyond, leaving Cassis Pedelian behind - for now.

As you walk through the underground halls, the silence between you and Roxana is thick, but not uncomfortable. The stone walls seem to absorb all sound, your footsteps the only noise in the vast emptiness.

“He couldn’t see, correct?” Roxana asks, turning to you.

You’re aware Roxana knew about Cassis not being able to see at the time due to the drug. I think she’s asking for confirmation. “Who knows? Certainly not me,” you respond, in a mischievous tone that you do indeed, know.

“Hah…” she lets out, rubbing her temple. “These last few months have been… stressful, to say the least,”

“Yes, I know my presence is that powerful enough to remove the fatigue of any stressed individual,” you bellow in a low tone, arms raised in the air as if you are some divine being. Roxana rolls her eyes, walking faster to stay ahead of you. You let your arms fall down, staring at the back of her head. “Happy late birthday, Roxana,”

She pauses for a moment, before resuming to walk away, “Thank you,”

[herrscherofmagic]

I already reblogged an earlier version of this but I just *have* to jump in again because of all these other additions I hadn't seen yet!

I think it's the subtleties of worldbuilding in Part 1 that really made it feel different from Part 2, in a way such that even though Part 2 has a higher production quality, Part 1 felt more "genuine" in an odd way.

That's why even thought Part 2 still has some of the same cast in Part 1, it doesn't have the same *vibe*. Because the cast feel like they're there because "they're the main characters" (of Part 1) and "deserve" to be there, not because it feels natural for them to be there.

When I first started Honkai 3rd, I wasn't super into it because the beginning of the game was pretty confusing, and also had a very superhero-y vibe that I'm usually not a big fan of. I don't have anything against superhero stuff, but I don't really go out and actively consume content from Marvel or DC or anything like that.

Growing up, I was often a bigger fan of stories like Halo where you might've had a super "individual" like Master Chief, but they were always a part of a bigger thing, a complex world in which they were one of many moving parts.

However, I actually got back into Honkai 3rd because I was playing Genshin at the time and Dragonspine had just released. I enjoyed Dragonspine's lore and worldbuilding so much that I thought "wait a minute, if Mihoyo has this great worldbuilding in Genshin, then maybe Honkai 3rd had some stuff I missed?"

So that's when I got into reading the Honkai manga and stuff, and then caught up with the in-game story. THAT worldbuilding and backstory made all the difference to me. The actual dialogue and gameplay and story pacing of Chapters 1-6 in-game kinda sucked, the Valkyrie Chronicles weren't too interesting, etc.

BUT the manga hinted at a much bigger story and more complex world with a variety of actors and agents who were each shaping the story in their own way, and that's what compelled me to push on. And it was in the Battle of Schicksal in Chapters 7-9 that the story really started getting "good" in Part 1.

The thing is that for all the jank and poor writing and untapped potential in Part 1, even in the earliest days you can tell the writers had a LOT of cool ideas that they either didn't have the time or resources to execute on. And this is evidenced by how chock-full the game was of little details and lore tidibts.

Exhibit A: Battleship Hyperion

From the very beginning, the adventures of the main cast were set in the backdrop of Battleship Hyperion (and St. Freya). The story began with Kiana et al. being deployed from Hyperion, and a lot of the early story stuff we see had them traveling via Hyperion.

It was always implied that Himeko was the leader of this entire ship, and that it had a whole crew complement off-camera doing work in the background. We never really saw this crew in-game because the game had a very limited number of NPCs to begin with, but the manga showed it at times, and it's implied in the operations of Hyperion like when they use the main cannon to attack the Judgment-class Honkai beast Chiyou.

We even see bits of the crew, with the obvious example being the three crew members in the bridge screen, and my favorite example being the crew we see in the distance during the loading screen:

Exhibit B: Schicksal as an Organization

So, Hyperion is supposed to be a vessel all of its own, right? With a captain and crew? And Kiana and her friends are just a part of its crew complement, right? (Technically they just deploy from Hyperion, they don't make the ship run, but you get what I mean).

Well, if Battleship Hyperion has all these off-camera background characters making the ship work... then what about the other ships in the background of the Armada main menu?

It's a still image so obvi you can't see the motion, but in-game you can see those ship .jpgs moving across the screen.

IIRC this image is actually from a part of the map in the Schicksal HQ Open World, which is set when AE attacked Schicksal HQ, hence the AE mechs here. But the personnel you see are the same as the ones of Hyperion, and you see Hyperion docked in the background. So this image is just a re-use of assets to save resources, but the intention is for the Armada screen to convey the idea of Schicksal being this organization with a whole host of ships and their own crews doing their own missions.

Schicksal always felt like it fit the role of this big international organization because the game showed us Battleship Hyperion and the fact that it's the flagship of the Far East branch, then showed us smaller ships like Helios and then told us that there were dozens of other ships in the Schicksal Armada, too.

The very concept of "Armadas" as a gameplay thing for players to interact with, that functioned as an extension of this worldbuilding. Hyperion was the focus of the main story, but the gameplay of the Armada system always hinted that there could be entire other groups of Valkyries much like Kiana et al. that were also doing their own thing in fighting Honkai.

They wouldn't have had the specific unique circumstances like Kiana and Mei being Herrschers, for instance, but it still felt like we could believe that this special crew was just one of many groups of Valkyries fighting to protect the world.

Exhibit C: Weapon lore

Both AE and Schicksal have collections of weapons we can use in-game, but most of these were released very early on in the story. These weapons often have descriptions that weren't just flowery poetic language, but instead gave specific details about the worldbuilding.

These were subtle things that didn't make or break any big story plot points, but which again further reinforced the idea that there was more going on behind the scenes. Including referencing Dr. Nagamitsu before she appeared in-game (and I think even before she appeared in the VN?).

Here are a few of my favorite examples of the weapon lore:

ME Corp's Project: MEI and the X-10 experiment, Schicksal's St. 1504 and St. 7308 Labs, and World Serpent's Mikoyan Design Bureau. These were all frequently cited in the weapon descriptions and supported the notion that the Valkyrie weapons didn't just poof out of thin air with their battlesuits like the Herrscher weapons, but instead were a concentrated development effort made by these different factions.

A lot of that stuff might feel obvious, like "well, duh! of course someone made the weapons!", but the thing about worldbuilding is that it's always appreciated when you can actually see the hints of it in the story and gameplay.

I could cite more examples of this early worldbuilding; for instance, all the other Valkyrie squads we encounter in the game & manga, from the Immortal Blades to the Phosdjinns, from Squad Snowwolf to the Valkyrie Assault Squad, and so on.

But this is already getting pretty long and rant-y so I just want to sum up what I think the issue with Part 2 worldbuilding is.

The major problem that makes Part 2 so incongruent with Part 1 is that we have a clear disconnect between the entire setting of Part 2, and the worldbuilding we already had in Part 1. This is because we only have a very small number of characters from Part 1 that actively engage with Part 2's setting at any given moment, and the connection between the two wasn't so clearly established until several chapters in.

Here's the thing: before the reveal that Schicksal brought the Dreamseeker terminal back to the Moon base, for all we knew Helia & Coralie were still trapped on Mars. The game made it very clear at the beginning that Helia and Coralie were exploring ruins and got pulled into the weird "space" that ended up being the simulated Mars civilization.

But at some point, they escaped and they made contact with Schicksal again, and the Dreamseeker Terminal was brought back to the Moon. At that point, they began to treat this as more of an expedition, where they could "log out" and discuss matters with their superiors and get constant support. There were a few subtle hints of this, but nothing too overt until the "big reveal".

So what ended up happening was Part 2 started as this self-contained story with only a trace of Part 1 lore still affecting it. Part 1's story affected the backstory of Helia and Coralie, but ultimately how these two characters affected the story and setting of Part 2 was up to personal decisions based on their past. It wasn't the result of active interference by Schicksal, at least that's what we as the players thought.

So then the reveal happens and now we're regularly seeing Theresa and Mei and Bronya again. Great. There's still a gaping disconnect between all the lore and worldbuilding happening within the setting of Luoxing, vs. the worldbuilding we already had with Part 1.

It feels like they're operating on two different sets of rules, which we know must still be related to the Cocoon of Finality, but ultimately feel like two entirely different stories. And in the background, somehow all of this will end up leading to APHO?

Even if there proves to be lore justification for the differences we see in Earth vs. Luoxing, the problem doesn't change. It's that fundamentally different "vibe" that we can't easily put into words, because it's not just about what characters are on screen but WHY they're on screen and also what ISN'T on screen in the first place.

The early premise of Honkai 3rd is so different from what we have now. And a lot of what we learned about Honkai 3rd in the beginning doesn't help us understand what's going on with Luoxing anymore.

The fact that Schicksal was this big organization with tons of resources and a whole hierarchy and advanced support structure doesn't really mean shit anymore, because we can only see a handful of Valkyries entering the Luoxing simulation at any given moment. We can't even see Durandal leading the Immortal Blades anymore, she has to go in as a lone hero.

We don't get to see Alvitr and Susannah giving assistance from the side, we don't get to see Himeko or Theresa commanding Battleship Hyperion to provide fire support , we don't see AE deploying mechs to provide reinforcements.

So all the worldbuilding about Schicksal and AE as big factions ends up being sidelined because there's no way to make that work congruently with the entirely different set of worldbuilding rules that Part 2 is playing by.

Personally, this is why I felt that the snowy battlefield scenes in the most recent GLB release of the Part 2 story were some of the most "Honkai-like" scenes we had in YEARS. because for once, FINALLY, we had some big overarching "war" going on.

There wasn't just the Seven Shu Superhero Gang, there wasn't just Helia and Coralie and their super idols Bianka and Theresa. No, there was "Definitely Not Helia" and "Definitely Not Coralie" and the handful of normal "Valkyries", who were all said to be part of the same squad, deployed as part of a larger force, and sent to fight in one of many battles during an ongoing catastrophe.

That scene embodied everything that OG Honkai had. The Valkyries fighting together against a supernatural force, the battlefield ambience in the background, the command structure implied in the background, and so on.

This wouldn't be so sorely missed if Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 was spun off into its entirely own unique game.

If Part 2 was its own game, Mihoyo could've gone all-in with making Luoxing the new setting and ignored Earth entirely. Helia and Coralie could've been rewritten as Luoxing natives easily, and all the stuff with the Shus could've been the same. The "home base" setting, the St. Freya of Luoxing, would be the Oxia City Data Research Institute, just like we thought would be the home base before the stupid "Omg we're back on the moon! yay!!!" twist.

I'm still so pissed about that, by the way. Part 2 would've felt so much more natural if we kept the Oxia City home vibes instead of tossing it all away so that we could get more "OG crew fanservice" by putting us back on the Moon. I love the OG crew, I seriously do, I make plenty of fanart about them and have so many fic ideas for them, but Part 2 is being held back by this insistence on keeping these OG characters in the picture, imo.

A standalone-game version of Part 2 would've had its own unique vibes, and it wouldn't have encroached upon or discarded the original vibes that HI3rd had built with Schicksal and AE and Battleship Hyperion.

For instance, the Luoxing Zodiac could've been a perfect set-up for there to be 12-18 Astral Rings we discover and collect (like with Songque harnessing the power of a complete Astral Ring), much like the Elements in Genshin or the Paths of HSR.

"Maoyi Heaven" is the zodiac associated with the Pleiades star cluster, and that's what the Chapters 1-3 Astral Ring is related to. Basically, if we had to make an analogy to the Herrscher Authorities, Songque's Astral Ring would essentially be the "Authority of Maoyi" or "Authority of Pleiades". THAT'S COOL AS HELL, but the story doesn't really make that obvious connection. Because we can't dwell on Songque's power, noooo, we have to hurry up and go fuck around on the moon, guys! yay!

There's the other continents of Luoxing which are hinted at in a lot of texts, but which we hardly hear about in the main story because everything is centered on Ruimu right now. There was even an in-game text about the ancient history of the various continents, which was such an interesting set-up for more lore and worldbuilding there.

And there was also the entire setting of the Sea of Data, which again has been entirely sidelined right now in the story.

Ultimately, Honkai Impact 3rd wasn't a "military game" like Battlefield or Halo, but it still had that sort of back-drop. It was basically "magical girls in the military". That's why Kiana ran around with a pair of pistols, our starting weapons were literally IRL guns, and a lot of the early story featured mechs and battleships and things like that.

That contextualized our main characters as small pieces in a bigger plan, as seemingly ordinary people using powerful tools to fight against evil. What made these characters so amazing was how their unique circumstances let them grow from those seemingly ordinary Valkyries into legendary heroes in their own right.

The Elysian Realm lore managed to preserve some of that feeling with the Flame-chasers, too. Despite all the differences it brought, at the end of the day we still had the same structure of "massive complex organization with advanced research tirelessly works to save humanity" and many of the Flamechasers had humble beginnings.

Part 2 had none of that, and that would've been okay if the way Part 2 was written didn't insist on simultaneously sidelining Part 1 worldbuilding while also trying to desperately hold on to the Part 1 cast. It feels like the Part 1 cast is still here out of nostalgia's sake, even if there are supposed justifications for it in the story.

/end rant

My face when I do not want to play hi3 because it's fundamentally not the same game i fell in love with anymore but every time i see it on my dash I immediately want to reinstall it,, LET ME GET OVER IT AHHHH

[stuckasmain]

So I’m reading Jurassic Park for the first time and … the movie was perfectly casted oh my god. I can’t help but picture them all when I read because when I tell you they captured the energy so well, I mean it.

Also something about Alan and Ellie meeting Ian and “we’re a trio now. Besties forever” the second they meet is iconic. The squad ever actually.

[cowardlykrow]

Don't even look at each other before marriage

[turtleblogatlast]

No but like every time I think about Splinter and what he had to go through just to keep the boys alive, my heart hurts for him so badly. Is he perfect? No not at all, but none of them are and by god does he love his sons.

The fact that all of them are alive, and grew to thrive despite the circumstances surrounding them is a testament of how much Splinter loves his boys. He raised four babies following the most traumatic time of his life, all alone with nothing but the sewers to house them (to hide them.) I feel like he’s not given the credit he deserves for all he’s done.

And I get that it’s easy to hold up his flaws and faults when it comes to parenting, I myself like looking into them because flawed characters are super interesting and said flaws make them more realistic and engaging, but he tries, and again, so many others would have given up on the boys or failed along the way but Splinter didn’t.

He’s their father, for all his faults he did his damndest to make sure they survived.

[suplexenjoyer]

One of the interesting dynamics at play here is that the fans do still love him and would forgive him at the drop of a dime. But he wont accept our forgiveness and he wont forgive us. MJF gained two friends in 2023, Adam Cole and the fans. Adam Cole betrayed him. However because after MJF left and we embraced others in his absence he feels that we betrayed him too. That we moved on from him, that we didnt truly love him, because if we did, how could we rebound so quickly with new favourites. When Adam Cole turned on MJF it was the end of his world, what truly eats him up though is that when he left, it was not the end of ours. So much of his run since 2022 has been about him being the future of the company, someone that will come to define AEW for years, if not for the rest of the promotion's existence. But when he left, it kept going, it found new heroes and new futures, and he felt abandoned again. In his insecurity, Max thinks that we the fans and aew as a whole were using him and easily cast him aside once he had served his purpose. Just like Adam did and just like his insecurities told him we would.

This really goes along with Hangman here too as he has been the main character since day one and someone that people never really gave up on, even in his lowest moments. Hangman never really gave up on us either, other than when we all kept cheering Swerve on of course.

I hope that MJF realizes one day that we haven't gave up on him either.

You know what’s the saddest thing about MJF? The happiest he’s ever been was when he was loved by the fans. He loved being loved. And now, he has to pretend he doesn’t care what they think, even though that’s exactly why he hates people like Hangman, Ospreay, and Cole—people who have done “bad things” yet are still adored. He can’t figure out why everyone forgives them and loves them, but they can’t do the same for him. Auch.

[tackykachowch]

By the way, did we ever talk about how stupid it is that they made Silco the reason Felicia died? I don't mean that he killed her personally, but that he jumpstarted violence on a peaceful protest. Because that's sooo who Silco is, right? A character who makes impulsive and poorly thought out decisions, right? A character who goes into a fight headstrong without carefully planning his moves and strategy and just YOLO-ing it, right? Right?? ......sigh

And don't even THINK about giving me the whole "wElL hE cHaNgEd SiNcE tHeN dUh" crap. Even s2 is smart enough to show us him writing something in a notebook in a flashback, which implies that he was the brains behind the Lanes' creation/revolution as a whole. And if he was he would never sabotage his own plans with something so stupid as throwing a single molotov at enforcers. Literally who does that???? Silco we know would probably organize an attack under the guise of a peaceful protest, but not just. Straight-up ruining just a regular peaceful protest. That's stupid. And Silco is the last character in arcane that would do something stupid. Literally the whole plot of season 1 relies on him being intelligent and sneaky with his plans are you kidding me.

[celestriix]

thinking about klavier gavin again because i saw someone say that the fact that he's the only prosecutor in the series who wants to find the truth and isn't insanely obsessed with winning like the other prosecutors makes him really boring

and i understand it to some extent when comparing him to other prosecutors but... Klavier Gavin??? BORING????

after playing aa4 i was OBSESSED with klavier gavin and the untouched potential of this guy

he loses his best friend/bandmate, his brother AND his mentor in the span of like a year?? i think??? which is INSANE.

there's something very tragic about klavier, a person who values finding the truth above all else, finding out that two of the people closest to him betrayed his trust and lied to him and used him for their own means AND ARE MURDERERS.

and then his mentor, a person who taught that seeking the truth is what a lawyer should do, gets murdered by a person who believes that winning in trials is the most important thing above all else WHICH IS THE SAME EXACT THING THAT KRISTOPH VALUED AS WELL !!!

this core belief of finding out the truth that klavier has, leads him to finding out about the things that daryan and kristoph did, and even though they are important to him, people he CARES about, he continues to work with apollo to see that justice is served.

and the fact that we don't get to see anything of klavier getting any closure after the events of aa4 makes me insane

we never get to see much of klavier's feelings on what happened or him fully processing the events of aa4 and that one case in aa5 and it makes me soooo upset. i wish he got more than that little cameo in aa5 and that one tiny flashback appearance in aa6.

in an alternate universe, aa4 got a true sequel that fully explored klavier's character, as well as phoenix's, klavier's, AND apollo's relationship with kristoph, and klavier's relationship with phoenix post-aa4, and also a more thought out? (for the lack of a better word) backstory for apollo, and an exploration of the jury system, and a game that ACTUALLY built upon the foundation that aa4 laid out.

and i am forever upset that we are not in that alternate universe.

[runninguplenorahills]

Actually the moment Gaten Matarazzo confirmed that Mike is in love with Will

I will never get over this lmaoo

[slymanner]

Look all I'm saying is if that a shadow game can work THAT well and be so well designed story wise and gameplay wise

HE can work

[aroaceleovaldez]

full on feel like pjo tv s2 is not gonna hold up so they need to drag as much attention to the series as they can by using nico as a sock puppet w tsats2

im fully expecting the show to go the way of the movies. it doesnt help Sea of Monsters is almost unanimously the least favorite book of the first series. People frequently forget it even exists or what happens in it, especially more casual fans.

Heck, just look at how little fanfare the second season has gotten so far as compared to the build up to s1. I wouldn't be surprised if s2 totally flops. It would be a little funny.

[rwby-confess]

Confession #62

[lezstat]

surprised i haven’t seen anyone talking abt this parallel. jacob & delainey’s lil comforting shoulder touches🥺(no wonder everyone always gushes about those two in interviews, how could u not adore them? sweethearts. gaaah this whole cast is so solid <3)