#to provide so much backstory so minimally???????

[monsterblogging]

"I know JK Rowing is a terrible person but her books are so good-"

You sure about that?

I mean, just for a start, have you taken a good look at her fantasy creatures lately? A whole bunch of them are straight-up based on malicious and dehumanizing stereotypes about actual people.

Remember the werewolves? And being a werewolf was made into a kind of metaphor for having AIDS?

And you know how AIDS was first associated with gay men? And how conservatives back in the day were claiming gay men were preying on children in order to convert them to gayness?

Remember how Fenrir Greyback preyed on children in particular? Yeah, she put that subtext in there. She was an adult in the 90's. She knew damn well what she was doing.

Remember the house elves? Remember how most of them loved to serve and needed to have a home and a master or else they just wouldn't know what to do with themselves?

Did you know that's literally what slavers in the American South said about the Black people they kept enslaved? Go look up the happy slave myth.

Do I even need to get into the goblins and the antisemitic tropes they're based on? No, folkloric goblins were not gold-hoarding bankers waiting for their chance to stab humanity in the back.

"But the characters are so good!"

Are you kidding me?

Most of her characters are pretty one-dimensional, including Harry. Her idea of making a morally complicated character is giving a tragic past to a bully. Numerous characters are little more than stereotypes. (Looking at Fleur right now.) Literally anybody, including you, can easily make dozens of characters just as good, if not better. (It doesn't exactly take a lot of character designing skill to go, "hey, actually, having a sad backstory doesn't make it okay to bully children" or "hey, maybe I should not base a character on the first stereotype that pops into my head.")

"But the rest of the worldbuilding!"

Sorry, but her worldbuilding is just as basic as her characters. Magical castles and secret passages are stock tropes. Magical people who keep their true nature secret from humanity is the premise of pretty much every White Wolf TTRPG. Most of her fantasy creatures are just common European fairy tale and folklore creatures with shitty stereotypes projected onto them.

I'm not saying "basic worldbuilding bad." I'm saying, you could do just as good, if not better, with minimal effort.

Also there's her magical bioessentialism, where only Harry's abusive blood relatives could provide him with supernatural protection from Voldemort. Rowling thus effectively declared that non-biological family isn't quite real family, and that abusive biofamily can give you some essential thing that a loving, supportive family that isn't related to you just can't.

The Hogwarts houses are one of the most insidious elements of her worldbuilding. The idea of being sorted gives you a little dopamine hit because wow now you have a li'l niche where you belong!

But the actual function of the houses and sorting system and the House Cup is teaching children to see each other as rivals, and ensure that the most toxic views of the upper class get passed on to every new batch of kids sorted into Slytherin.

Hogwarts effectively prepares children for a dystopia where magic serves to distract its citizens from how nightmarishly awful it is. Economic inequality is so bad that people like Arthur and Molly Weasley can barely afford to put their kids through school, casual sadism is just an accepted norm in everyday society, and non-humans are second class citizens. Rowling sorta acts like she thinks this is a bad thing with certain lines she gave to Dumbledore, but in the end, her special boy protagonist becomes an auror; IE, a defender of the status quo. So.

If you've never seen it, Lily Simpson's video goes into even more detail on how the worldbuilding of Harry Potter is actually incredibly fucked up, and how it betrays small-minded attitudes on Rowling's part. There's no separating the art from this artist, because Rowling's rotten values pour out of nearly every page.

Yes, there are many things in Harry Potter that evoke feelings and inspire people, but there's absolutely nothing in it that this series has a monopoly on. You can find those same experiences in much, much better media.

[dragonagitator]

So I was going through the datamined BG3 dialogue transcripts and I found this description at the top of the CAMP_Jergal.html file:

"Jergal, a god of the dead, awaits the player in camp. He is bound by the judgment of another god - Helm - to assist the players as penance for past crimes. He provides resurrection services to the players."

I think pretty much everyone already figured out that Withers=Jergal, but that bit about Helm making him assist us as penance for something was news to me!

Edit: I found the backstory in CHA_Crypt_Jergal.html file:

"After the party has slain a group of undead scholars, the judge of death--Jergal--climbs out of his sarcophagus to greet them. He has been locked inside for years by the god Helm to atone for his part in raising the Dead Three, wicked gods who are now plotting to conquer the realms. Jergal is emotionless and excessively formal, both resigned to his fate and that of others. He is here to assist the party because that is his divine oath, not out of any true desire to act. Players can attempt to goad or attack him, but to minimal effect, as he is functionally immortal. His only goal was to see their faces, so he can find them at camp later to offer further assistance."

So it's basically a "get your fucking kids in line" situation.

[akilahia]

Thinking about IHNMAIMS in pretty much all of its forms.

Specifically Ted and Ellen. Obviously in the Game their relationship is very different from the short story/comic/radio drama, with Ted being in love with Ellen(although it’s evident it’s because she is the only woman left alive). In the game he shows devotion to her, he is willing to push past his usual methods of flirtation and find other ways to get what he needs.

But in the other adaptions his feelings towards Ellen are mixed. I think his unique backstory with being so dependent on women to live a happier and more lavish life style, significantly effect how he views Ellen beyond AM’s tampering

Throughout the short story Ted constantly thinks ill of Ellen. Even though prior to being placed in this hell, she had only had sex twice before. But she is the last woman alive on earth. The video game(while following a different plot line(still one that is extremely tragic and literally made me cry)) expresses that even before Ellen’s assualr she had little to no interest in sex. She would never have had sex with the four men if it weren’t for

1. AM

2. Being the Last women alive

3. AM’s deliberate tampering

In a world where characters like Benny have been so permanently physically marked as a form of torture by AM, something like sex, is not as extreme in comparison(at least from Ted’s perspective). However to be the last woman alive, with minimal interest in sex, to be tampered with in such a way, is such a horrific form of torture.

I’m going to shift a way from this for a second to talk about Ted’s backstory for the video game. I understand that the videogame makes changes in terms of backstory for some of the characters(like Benny), so we can’t claim Ted’s backstory for the game is even remotely close to whatever it might have been for the short story. However, I still think can provide interesting context to his behavior towards Ellen.

Starting off, he really isn’t the cool rich guy that he played himself off to be when life was still normal. He never came from money, he was poor and he was forced to work and couldn’t go to school. However he was good looking which is resulted in older woman being attracted to him. And when he was NINETEEN, one older woman gave him her husband’s money and offered him the chance to travel and live in luxury.

Now this probably isn’t important, or was even taken into consideration by the game makers, but I was curious as to what the possible age gap between this older woman and Ted could be. The were together for 5 years, then she died

She died specifically of an aneurysm, which according to Google typically happens between the ages of 30 to 60. There is all this stuff with the Cold War and ww3 and I was going to try to do all this math with it but it’s too late for that and not relevant to the point I’m trying to make. But I’m just going to do some simple mental math and estimate that it might have been late 60’s or early 70’s when the older woman and Ted first got into a relationship. As I’m assuming everything went to shit in 1995 since that’s when the game came out, and 25 years had passed after he met the woman. Also this makes sense as Ted’s grandfather sold the farm due to the Great Depression, since most people married and had kids young, I’m going to be generous and say grandpa was 30 in 1929, and Ted’s mother or father was 9, then 10-12 years later Ted was born. Then 19 years later it would be about the 60’s or 70’s.

I am going to presume that the older woman had been married to her husband for at least 15 years. So it might have been 50’s at the earliest possibility. And the average age people married at then was when they were in their 20’s. So when she met Ted she was AT THE EARLIEST 35. Making her at least 16 years older than Ted when the first got together. But also worth noting that they do specifically mention older. So if we look on the higher side of the typical ages for aneurisms she could have been 55 when they first met(as the 5 years would pass making her 60) so she could have been 36 years older than him.

This seriously isn’t relevant to the actual point I’m trying to make with Ellen and Ted but I got sucked in. I guess I just wanted to highlight that Ted did not have the power in this relationship, he was young and poor, while she was old and rich, and I can imagine how that kind of relationship would impact him.

The next thing I want to note is the use of the word ‘lover’.

Though it can be used in a strictly romantic non intimate sense, I think it is used in the sexual way here.

Especially with the provided context of two different definitions of the word ‘lover’ both highlighting it’s connotations with sexual relationships

Furthermore, Ted’s relationship with the older woman is essentially just a sugar baby relationship. She is letting him experience things he never could have without her money. She teaches him how to act as a socialite and gets him used to the high life.

In connection to the sexual elements above, there was a video I wanted to link here but I can’t find it anywhere anymore. It was a YouTube video with a bunch of sugar babies discussing their experiences. And one woman confides that you really won’t make much money if you are in a platonic or non intimate romantic relationship with your sugar parent. If you want to make money and live richly, you have to preform sexual favors.

Now it’s hard to say if this was the only relationship with an older woman that Ted had been in. But regardless of whether it was one woman or a billion, using his body in order to get something that he wants has become an important asset to Ted; As seen in the castle with the maid and the witch. His love for Ellen(in the video game) helps him break past this fatal flaw of his, despite AM’s obvious temptations to make him fail.

Even if this stuff was in anyone’s minds when they wrote Ted’s backstory but I think it’s extremely important to note, especially as we return to my main point.

As stated before, Ted views Ellen negatively due to her promiscuity, despite the desire(felt really gross typing this word in this context) being placed in her as a form of torture by AM. She also is a woman, and Ted’s life has been spent around using and being used by women, so definitely lots of conflicting stuff there. Additionally Ted’s experiences with sexual relations are shown to be based in being transactional.

When he agrees with Ellen to go to the caves to get the food, she rewards him by being intimate with him to show her gratitude. Ted sees it as her ‘using him.’ (From the Radio Drama, I was going to post the clip but I could only post one video in a tumblr post apparently)

In the comic, after this encounter he questions her motivations. What she got out of it, once again thinking transactionally. But her response

“Does there have to be a reason”

Really gets to me. Especially after looking at all this intertextual context. Thinking about video game Ted’s backstory with book Ted’s thoughts and behaviors, he is shown to always think there is some kind of catch. No one is doing something without getting something in return, especially if that thing is kindness.

Ted is so intensely paranoid(as seen in all versions). I think by pairing up the backstory for the game with the short story/comic/radio drama it’s evident to see how heavily affected he is by it.

He thinks he has been tormented less by AM, making him paranoid of the others, contributing towards his behavior towards Ellen. Yet despite everything from the past and all of AM’s tampering, he still finds comfort with Ellen. Her unfaltering kindness manages to reach him even when he dismisses it as a farce. She doesn’t hate him or the others for how they’ve treated her, she still wants to help them. He still cares for her and the others. But he is filled with so much fear. He even apologizes to her.

I feel like at that point in the Radio drama marks a shift. Ted has made a realization about AM and it’s a lot for him, but Ellen is there for him. It’s a genuinely sincere act of kindness from her where she doesn’t ask or expect anything in return. They have some kind of connection. Once again blending the different versions, I think that this moment between them comes together in the end when they kill the other victims together. They don’t speak to each other, they just do it quickly and he kills her. And here he doesn’t refer to her by any degrading names. In the comic he holds her. Like how in the radio drama she held him.

Overall I just wanted to point out how well all these versions really mix to provide so much more behind each character. The backstories for the video game allow the reader to understand book Ted’s actions and relationships from a new angle.

The is was super duper major mess of a ramble. It’s now 3 am and I have a migraine, so I’m done for tonight. I might clean this up another time or make another post about Video game Ted with context to his backstory since I didn’t include the events from the video game in here.

Once again these are just my thoughts and beliefs on how I think the video game backstory for Ted provides interesting context for Book Ted. I know that both stories play out differently and both Ted’s act differently so please don’t get angry if you disagree with the message of stuff I said

mini sequel post about video game Ted

[autumnmobile12]

You know, when you get right down to it, I think the biggest reason fans were unsatisfied with My Hero's finale was the fact Horikoshi just completely blindsided everyone with a sad ending.

The series had its sad moments, sure, but the overall atmosphere was upbeat and hopeful. Classic 'we can do this' shonen, you know? But he didn't build up to the sad ending, mainly because, and to put it bluntly, he didn't kill off enough relevant characters.

Overall, the deaths that do occur in the series are minimal (not counting flashback deaths like Nana Shimura and the Shimura family as those are backstories to the main plot) and most of them don't leave a huge impact. Character deaths sadden me as much as the next person, but there's a reason they happen in fiction.

My Hero Academia had a conflict that ultimately evolved from a small disgruntled faction challenging hero society to an entire army challenging hero society. It was a war. Wars are messy and difficult and traumatic. You expect to lose people in a war.

So to analyze the few deaths that happen through the series...

Magne: I've said in a previous post her death was basically there to show Overhaul's abilities and willingness to kill, and sadly, I think that's the only reason Horikoshi didn't include her among the arrested villains of the Summer Camp Arc. All the other LoV members had an establishing moment when they first appeared, something that made them memorable. Magne did not get that kind of impact and sadly remains to be the least memorable character in the LoV. How many LoV related posts/fanarts have you seen that leave her out?

Snatch: Horikoshi created this guy for the sole purpose of killing him off. He had no further purpose and even Dabi forgot who he was immediately after the fact.

Sir Nighteye: A sad death because we did get a whole arc where he was adjacent enough to Deku to have development, but was Nighteye's death necessary or there for shock value? I say shock value because outside of Mirio bringing him up now and then, he's barely mentioned after his death. His Quirk wasn't regarded as a huge loss and his death didn't effect the outcome of the war all that much.

Midnight: A little closer to home since she was a teacher to the main cast, but she didn't have many interactions with the students that wasn't purely a student-teacher dynamic. She was more than the 'sex appeal comedy' character in that she's shown to be legitimately intelligent and levelheaded, but there are no scenes where she talks one on one with Deku or his classmates and provide a more meaningful dynamic. If Horikoshi was going for something that would really hurt the fanbase, he'd have killed off Aizawa in the Jaku City battle. Aizawa was the only one of the UA teachers who had the screen time and character development to be the 'surrogate parent' character supporting the main cast, so his death in the series would have been devastating, especially since his Quirk plays a key role in all the major fights. No hate to Midnight, but the little amount of screen time she had and the lack of relationships she formed with the main cast did not trigger much of an emotional response for me.

Twice: Twice is the only character death I can think of that really meant something to the series. He had impact, he was memorable, the fans got attached to him, and the reason he died was valid. Hawks kills him to prevent him from overwhelming the hero's side with a one man army. That threw a major wrench in the LoV's plans. Not a debilitating one, but it was a hit to the team and to a small degree, even Hawks regretted having to kill him. This is how you do a meaningful character death.

So compare that with other series.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Shit, a lot of characters die in FMA, major and minor. Nobody is over Nina and Alexander. Nobody is over Hughes. Nina was a little girl with her life ahead of her, and Alexander was her beloved dog. Hughes had a family. They both had things to live for.

D. Gray Man: Not as many core cast members, but the side characters that do die are memorable and it's heartbreaking. Even if they're only there for a brief time, the impact is there. All Suman wanted was to see his daughter again, even if it meant becoming a traitor. Chronically overworked Tapp's dying words are to say he would take on all the overtime in the world if he could keep living. Alma finally got to rest in peace after being non-consensually resurrected in a cruel science experiment.

Black Butler: Not very many character deaths, but the few that have happened hit hard. Not naming any names because I know there are anime-only peeps out there, but to my fellow manga-readers, you know who i'm talking about.

With My Hero Academia, Twice died for his friends. We see how much he cared about them. What did Magne die for? Her cause, sure, but she's not in the series long enough to leave that lasting impression. What did Snatch, Sir Nighteye, and Midnight have to live for? They didn't talk about their ambitions, their dreams, their families, their plans for retirement, none of that came up, and so we as the audience don't get that heartbreaking moment of, "No, they didn't get to _____!" Sure, I guess we can say Nighteye doesn't get to see Mirio become the greatest hero, but that's a pretty standard dream across all the teacher/mentor dynamics with their protégés, so it's not unique. Fuck, even Endeavor has that ambition for Shouto. AFO has that ambition for Shigaraki. So Nighteye’s dream is not unique enough to be its own matter of significance.

...

I saw someone's assessment on how the finale was realistic, that a social change wasn't going to happen overnight. And that's true, we couldn't realistically expect a social change happening overnight, but when you pair that against the unrealistic outcome where no major character deaths happened on the protagonists' side of things, it's off-putting and it actually made the fate of the main villains unbalanced.

Realistically, yes, with what the LoV did (mass murder, inciting violent radicals, terrorism), that would warrant life in prison, a death sentence, etc. But in a fictional sense, since they didn't do anything extreme to the main cast, thus eliciting an emotional response from the audience, we don't really have the satisfaction of justice served in this circumstance.

Dabi's crimes are background information. He says himself in his broadcast that he's killed 'up to thirty innocent people.' That's not insignificant, but from an audience's perspective...who were those thirty and why do we care? There were those protesters publicly shaming Endeavor by asking if he'd seen the families of Dabi's victims on the news. That's fine and well, but we as the audience didn't see that. We do see him kill Snatch, but no one cares because of the above reasons. Everyone else Dabi kills onscreen are either the PLF or those anti-heteromorph cult guys, both of whom were people the audience weren't going to miss because they were fellow antagonists and bigots.

The problem with all of this is we were told about Dabi's crimes, not shown.

Personally, I'd have been more comfortable with Dabi's fate had he actually made good on his threats to throw his family's charred remains at Endeavor's feet or if he'd managed to kill some of Shouto's friends and mocked their deaths to his face. That is horrific and would have more closely warranted what he was dealt in the end. There's being furious and in pain over a traumatic childhood, and then there's committing atrocities against people who weren't the sole cause of that trauma. Which is what the 'thirty innocent people' were supposed to represent, but again, who were they and why do we care? Instead, what we're left with is 'Dabi is an angry, traumatized child trying to enact a social change.' Not for the noble reason of preventing his fate from happening to another child but out of hatred for his abuser, but a valid cause all the same, and he was disproportionately punished for it. (From a reader's perspective.)

...

It's the same with Toga. We're told right away at her first appearance she's a serial murderer, but again, she doesn't kill any of the main cast. She killed Curious, but no one really cared. I don't even think Curious' allies cared.

Look at it this way: Imagine if Rock Lock's character had been given more screen time, had been part of the series longer, and he was built up as the new father and family man and he's genuinely looking out for younger heroes instead of being a roundabout asshole about it, and then Toga kills him the Shie Hassaikai raid. That could have invoked Maes Hughes levels of outrage in the fanbase.

Or a bit closer to home , she could have killed Aizawa in the Shie Hassaikai raid right in front of sweet, little Deku’s innocent eyes. If she, like Dabi, actually took out main cast members, characters the audience were emotionally invested in, then her ending might have been more appropriate.

We loved Envy as a villain, but he also killed Hughes, another beloved character, so damn were we satisfied to see him go out the way he did.

Toga didn't do anything onscreen that was half as bad as what Envy did and yet she died for it. Offscreen technically.

...

Spinner might be the only one of the group whose fate fit the crime. His reasons were an echo of Stain, but advocating for a change to a flawed government system is a worthy cause.

Where he went wrong is it wasn't a cause worth killing for. The Commission and hero society would have to be much worse canonically for that to happen. Like blatantly totalitarian policies. The PLF was put down because they were enacting a violent uprising, not necessarily because of their views.

Example: Destro's book wasn't a banned text and people were free to read it. When Hawks gave it to Endeavor, he wasn't scolded for carrying a banned book around. If the government placed those kinds of restrictions (imprisoning anyone who published it, owned a copy, quoted its teachings, etc.), that would be the worrying signs of censorship.

News stations throughout the series freely criticize hero society. In a true fascist government, that wouldn't happen.

The video of Stain's last stand being deleted over and over could be considered censorship, but one could also argue it was deleted in the interest of not causing a panic rather than blocking his message from reaching the public.

Now I'm not ignoring Nagant's story where corrupt heroes were being quietly dealt with because that is some shady cover-up bs, but it's also a brief blip in the series and not explored all that much, which really more so highlights Horikoshi's inconsistencies in just how corrupt the Commission actually was. (I mean, maybe they really were chewing their nails nervously when they found out what Hawks was doing with the Destro books. "We can't kill him! You have any idea how expensive training another one would be?")

So no, while Spinner's cause was right, the way he tried to achieve it wasn't the answer. Nothing of what the Commission was canonically doing was worth the level of violence reached. If he was writing articles that outed problematic heroes and flaws in the system and then was shut down/imprisoned for that, then we can revisit the violent uprising because if you can't solve a solution with words because those words are being forcefully silenced, then you have no choice but to either accept it or resort to other methods.

And Spinner lives in the end. Probably in prison for the rest of his life, but he lives and his closing message to the series is, "We lost our war, but I will tell our story. We won't be forgotten."

Notice I said at the beginning of his how his 'fate' fit the crime. Imprisoned, he can no longer fight his war with violence. But he can still fight his war, and possibly still win, with words. Since we can see it available for purchase, his book is not a banned text even though he is a convicted criminal.

...

As much as I loved the character, I think Shigaraki dying was the only way his story could definitively end given the parameters set down by the canon finale. His life wasn't saved, but what kind of life could he realistically hope to have after everything he did? Would a life in prison be better than what he got?

We could go into the fact he could have been rehabilitated, but given how the world barely changes after the fact...rehabilitated to suit the flawed system still doesn't seem like a great outcome for him either.

...

Then we have the main cast just...carrying on? A bunch of people Quirkless, scarred, crippled, unable to use their Quirks the way they had before, and essentially gave everything they had for a world that...ultimately changed very little?

Was this really where it was all going?

So yeah, for all the hope and upbeat attitudes that prevailed through the bulk of the series, I don't think any of that correlates particularly well with the ending. We went from 'we can do this' and slammed into 'we are physically and psychologically scarred for the rest of our lives' brutally fast.

And then we're just hit with, "And that's how we became the world's greatest heroes." Against the overall sadness of the finale, that hopeful line is a tasteless cop-out.

[cerastes]

I haven't played the game, can you tell us what Mudrock is like, like her personality and backstory?

The first impression you'll get from Mudrock based on her fanart, is that she's cute or attractive, and probably nothing else. I do enjoy Mudrock art a lot, but part of me feels like there's definitely a lot of potential for more serious art involving her (which exists, in minimal quantities). That's because she's a very solemn character. Mind you, she does have a silly side to her, but it lives alongside this solemn side I speak of. Let's talk about Mudrock.

Mudrock is a Sarkazian warrior that possesses great might and magic both, being a highly skilled spellblade, or, well, spellhammer, owing to her own expertise of Originium Arts (particularly those that manipulate ground and rock) as well as her time in the battlefield. She made her debut on the event Grani And The Knights' Treasure, the game's very first sidestory event, on a cutscene after the very last optional map, where she receives a letter from that story's main antagonist, Big Bob, her sworn brother, who informs her that he's doing alright after getting part of the treasure. It wouldn't be until Twilight of Wolumonde that she'd take to the stage again, where she is not playable and is, in fact, the main antagonist (though not the villain) of the story. Just like Big Bob, Mudrock is ex-Reunion (Reunion being the first part of the game's main antagonist), and she, alongside Big Bob and their respective squadrons, of which they were leaders, deserted Reunion after it rotted from the inside and strayed from its supposed objective to protect and fight for the Infected: They both realized that Reunion had become yet another pawn in the international war games between the bigger countries, and the Infected had become little more than cannon fodder and easily swayed soldiers to Reunion more than the people they sought to protect. Big Bob and Mudrock both are characterized by having a well-attuned moral compass, and this wasn't what they signed up for. They weren't simply lashing out at an uncaring world and letting their rage loose, they seriously were fighting for the freedom and well-being of the Infected. So they deserted... But they couldn't leave together.

Here's the first big important aspect of Mudrock: Big Bob invited her and her Mudrock Squad to come with him, since they were sworn siblings and their squads also got along really well. It seemed natural to walk the walk together, right? Big Bob's plans were to find the Knights' Treasure in the outskirts of Kazimierz, and use those riches to buy land in Columbia, where oppression against the Infected isn't as prevalent as in most other places, and money speaks louder (for context, the Infected are usually secluded into special Infected neighborhoods in other countries, or even executed outright, so while Columbia still oppresses them to some degree, it is leagues better than other places) and the Infected are allowed to own land and businesses, so long as they have the capital. Big Bob then intended to make a business with this money, and then be able to provide housing, employment and profits for his "family" (what he calls his squadmates and close friends), and for any other Infected that needed help.

However, Mudrock politely declined, because the Sarkaz in her squad simply couldn't live a life that wasn't one of blood and steel: Sarkaz from Kazdel are known to live short, fast mercenary lives, and those who see a longer life, can only live in the battlefield. It's all they know. Mudrock knew this, more so the older Sarkaz in her Mudrock Squad. To subject them to a civilian life would be to simply put them in a pressure cooker until they snapped, until PTSD or incompatibility with the lifestyle became too much, until their grave Oripathy claimed them anyway, and Kazdel Sarkaz tend to prefer a end in the field of battle. They needed a leader, and Mudrock was that leader. Not only that, Mudrock didn't want to leave any other Infected dry out there, a sentiment shared by her Sarkaz, who figured, hey, if we're going to keep fighting, we should do it to rescue as many Infected as we can.

So she traveled. Even though Reunion might as well be dead, rotten from the inside, Mudrock took matters into her hands. She knew her scope would never compare to that of an organized movement... But she had to do whatever she could, even if it was minimal in scale.

Twilight of Wolumonde is a whole can of worms and a half, so let me summarize it by saying this: Mudrock fought Rhodes Island entirely because she demanded there be justice for the Infected that were unjustly killed in Leithanien (or, well, that small corner of) in what basically was a mystery novel plot of whodunit. Once justice had been doled out and responsibility was taken, she took what oppressed Infected would be fine with leaving with her, and quietly left. Her stay was anything but quiet, however, as she summoned several Colossi of stone and soil in order to fight. At one point, she even summoned a particularly gigantic one, akin to a mountain, which she proceeded to transplant her consciousness into to 'pilot' it herself.

Afterwards, however, they were hounded by several Infected Hunters from Leithanien, who had the complete advantage in terms of terrain, who kept picking them off one by one, survivors and fighters both. As Mudrock and company finally arrived at the frontier with Kazdel, just one bridge away, she ordered all stragglers and survivors to cross the bridge, telling them that they could eke out a free, if hard-earned and arduous, living in the Kazdel outskirt towns. Mudrock and her Sarkaz warriors, however, would not accompany them, they would stand their ground by the bridge, to stop their pursuers. Mudrock was ready to die. She put it in no uncertain terms, if anyone wanted to leave with the survivors, they could, and those who stayed with her would die alongside her defending the survivors. Her men and women stayed with her. If it meant saving those, even though they weren't many, that was what counted, she'd seen her personal duty to the best of her abilities. She was fine dying in these terms.

Of course, she didn't die: Elite Rhodes Island Operator Logos had come across this little kerfuffle recently and tailed both groups, and then took action to support and rescue Mudrock and what remained of her squad. They fought. They won.

Mudrock and her crew went to Rhodes Island afterwards, where Human Resources struck a deal with her: If she worked as an Operator for them, they'd provide for her and her Squad, giving them jobs in the field as well as Oripathy treatment. Mudrock wasn't initially sure, but a chance encounter with Grani led to both of them conversing initially about Big Bob and then about other stories, and, plus encouragement and endorsement from Folinic and Suzuran (who knew Mudrock from the Wolumonde incident), Mudrock ended up accepting the deal.

Besides her very full, sincere intention to do anything she can for the Infected and her Sarkaz brethren, Mudrock is a bit... Weird. She'll usually go on bizarre tangents about the weirdest things, or simply say strange things with the utmost serious expression. Not random stuff, just actually letting her thoughts drift along with whatever thought comes to mind, in a contemplative manner. She also likes making little clay dolls of people and talking to them, but feels very embarrassed when seen doing this (though it is implied she actually can just talk to the earth). Mudrock is also popular among Rhodes Island logistics personnel (which includes plenty of Sarkaz from the Babel days, the precursor to Rhodes Island) because she'll offer to help them move heavy things whenever she sees them, given that she's both immensely strong physically as well as a powerful caster whose earth Arts make moving things around easy. She also very rarely isn't wearing full armor, meaning that while you likely usually see her like this in fanart:

She actually looks like this most of the time:

In fact, a lot of people in her very own squad didn't know what she looked like. There were rumors about an unknown Sarkaz girl that would wander around Mudrock's camp now and then. That was actually Mudrock in the rare occasions where she didn't wear her armor.

Two fun facts about Mudrock!

The first one is that her birthday is on the 21st of September, which is the International Day of Peace. It serves to reflect that ultimately, what she wants is peace for the Infected and Sarkaz, even if she has to fight for it.

The second one is that her hammer has an inscription if you look closely:

In the trailer for Roaring Flare, we get a good look at it:

"For evil men will be cut off". This is a short form of Psalm 37:9 from the Bible (King James edition): "For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth."

All in all, Mudrock is bundle of love and kindess in an awkward package (awkward in terms of how she socializes, not in that she's shy or anything), but when an injustice is present, she will fight tooth and nail until justice is meted out (as she did in Wolumonde) and is willing to die for her ideals, if it'll save just a few people.

[poppletonink]

The Marauders Fandom and How It Has Changed The State of Fandom Culture

The Marauders Fandom defies the natural state of fandom culture. Within the realm of the spiderweb of links, clicks and likes, fandoms have been born, have been nurtured and have been destroyed. Typically these fandoms follow a particular mould: by focusing on canon events, characters, and relationships between said characters, more art, writing and wonder is born. However, the Marauders fandom is unlike any of its predecessors or any fandoms being born today. Though its characters were once residents of the world of Harry Potter, in the eyes of the fans they are no longer bound to the confines of their original character archetypes (and their minimal development) as provided by writer J.K. Rowling. The internet has created a fandom renaissance - a rebirth of the characters who were originally solely there as ancestors and side characters to the so-called Golden Trio.

With this rebirth comes a subversion of what people think they know. James Potter (the father of Harry Potter) and his friends are no longer the distant memories of a forlorn, mistreated young boy. Through headcanons, fanfiction, edits, and fanart, and the "fanon" versions of these characters, they are given substance, personalities and backstories much richer than those that were scrawled into the pages of the Harry Potter series. From All The Young Dudes by MsKingBean89 (the most-read fanfiction on Archive Of Our Own) to Crimson Rivers by bizarrestars, formerly known as zeppazariel, these characters are given new life.

A queer utopia - perhaps that is the best way to describe and define this fandom. As it has settled into its cozy corner of the web, the fandom has become more bold and outlandish in their ideas. Debates have run riot over romantic pairings and sexual orientations projected onto any and all characters clawed into the cast that is beloved by this ever-growing group of people. Is Remus Lupin "as gay as the day is long" (as he was described in the original print of Casey McQuiston's Red White and Royal Blue) or is he a bisexual man (as unfortunately rare as they are in the literary world)? That is just one of the many questions thrown around from tongue to tongue, from text to text, in this fandom. The importance of queer representation has been established again and again in our modern world, but it has existed and prevailed within the world of the Marauders Fandom.

The pairings in this fandom range from canon, sensible and strongly backed up with evidence from the original books (like James Potter and Lily Evans), to wild, wacky and completely obscure (like James Potter and Regulus Black). However, the fandom has decided to take their own route, no longer caring what words the creator Rowling has to say about her characters. On numerous occasions, J.K. Rowling has stated that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin do not have romantic feelings for each other, and yet 'Wolfstar', as they are so-lovingly nicknamed, is one of the biggest ships in fandom history. Alongside this, after the proclamations of Rowling's transphobic views mid-2020, the fandom took a stand declaring many of the characters (especially Regulus Black) to be transgender in their eyes. Through this, the Marauders Fandom has made these characters even more relatable for those who read about them. Even more notably, they have used these characters to take a political stand - to make it clear that we must stand up for those in our society who are shoved aside and discriminated against.

Fandom culture is taking art and making it into something even more beautiful, making it something that people relate to and adore even more than they did before. While the art originally belongs to the person who creates it, once it is put out into the world it becomes open to interpretation. People project onto songs, onto books, onto art and it helps them to escape the trials and tribulations they face within their realities. After all, isn't that what entertainment is truly made as - an escape? As a result of the Marauders Fandom, we can look towards a future where fandom is no longer defined by its canon, where it becomes a group of people who love something and share creative ideas together. As a result of the Marauders Fandom, fans have the ability and the opportunity to have a sense of more artistic expression, which ultimately leads to more media and literature for us to enjoy. The Marauders Fandom is a fundamental and quintessential part of fandom history - it is a story of its own, born and bred of minuscule threads and mere sentences about interweaving characters. It shows just how we as people are powerhouses of creativity and that, as is said in Dead Poet's Society (1989): "poetry, beauty, romance, love - these are what we stay alive for".

[prozac-shaped-urn]

Deborah Vance meta analysis (again)

Alright, it's time to read too much into shit but considering that JPL straight up said the whole opening sequence of season 3 with the Ceasar statue was foreshadowing... I feel like I can be forgiven for what's about to come out of my fingertips.

Anyway. I am once again putting my psych degree to use in dissecting fictional characters and story arcs. Enjoy x

So! We have the Margesson family with Fred, Martha, Deborah and Kathy. Fred and Martha were five years apart in age, as are Deborah and Kathy (considering there's a reference to Deb's age in 301 as being 70 – which was Jean's age at the time of filming – I can safely assume JPL are using J and Jean's real ages here). That's just enough of an age difference in siblings for there to be a firm power imbalance and hooboy. Hooooooo boyyyyyyyy that's an entirely different can of worms I analyzed a few years ago and turned into 98k... But before I get too into the weeds here, I should introduce my thesis:

Deborah Vance is a survivor, a provider, a mother, and an icon. She was forced to be the first three thanks to her childhood family dynamic and built an empire as a result.

What we've been given in terms of parental backstory is minimal. Deborah mentions her dad being a drinker (304). Based on DJ's addiction storyline, I can reasonably assume JPL are educated on addiction patterns and family trauma cycles. Kathy says their mom wouldn't have wanted there to be animosity between her and Deborah (307), and based on Deborah's isolation and decision to go no-contact with Kathy, I think JPL are leaning towards Deborah needing to distance herself in order to make sure she doesn't explode and cause bodily harm... more than she ends up inflicting.

There are elements of classical narcissism in Deborah's behavior – mainly the need to have zero contact with the narcissist in order to heal. While I don't think Kathy is a narcissist, I firmly believe Frank was. He was jealous, histrionic, selfish, and cunningly manipulative. These are all traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and yeah, Deborah possesses these qualities too. The difference between her and Frank, though, is that Deborah is using these tools to ensure she succeeds. She doesn't use them to take someone else down. She lets Ava go so she won't get in the way of Ava's success. She doesn't want to take up all the space in the room. She wants Ava to learn from her and apply the lessons so she can also succeed. It would be very easy for someone to take a single look at Deborah and assume she's hollow – and I think the pilot did a very good job of showing just that! The only glimpse we get behind the curtain is when Deborah sees that Frank died. She doesn't react except to say, “I can't believe they used that photo,” which is classic avoidance and emotional detachment. It's a coping mechanism she developed in her childhood.

I have to interject here and mention Deborah's desire to keep DJ close when she was a child. When a narcissist has their hooks into someone, they don't let go. They will use every tactic known to mankind to ensure the safety blanket they have chosen doesn't leave. So when Frank blew everything up, Deborah left, and Frank went after Kathy because she was 19 and easily manipulated. I think Deborah witnessed what Frank was doing to her and Kathy and decided to protect DJ by pulling her onto the road in a tour bus so Frank couldn't get to her. Obviously this backfired and resulted in DJ having a healthy(ish) relationship with Kathy because Frank was a master manipulator. Deborah saw that toxic father/daughter bond and went, Nope, not trying to fix this one – I'll only make it worse. Not to mention Frank's smear campaign! I mean Jesus Christ, the guy just couldn't wait to sign divorce papers. He had to destroy everything so Deborah wouldn't get somewhere without his help. So she wouldn't succeed on her own. So he would get all the credit, much like Ira did (“He gets to take credit for me? Put my photo up on his fucking wall?” 108).

In terms of why Deborah is the way she is, that's layered and difficult to summarize. A lot of her behavior stems from childhood trauma and her early adulthood. I think if Deborah had never met Frank, things would have been very, very different between her and Kathy. I think they would have continued to support each other and openly communicate, and despite there being a power imbalance between them, as Kathy matured and Deborah witnessed her growth, I think that Deborah would have been proud of the woman Kathy turned out to be. I think she's still proud of the woman Kathy turned out to be, even if she “hates” her or whatever. The dynamic of older sister/younger sister is very fraught with a mix of caretaking and jealousy. It's a super complex relationship, which is only usurped by the mother/daughter dynamic. Judging by how deeply bonded Deborah and Kathy were before 1976, it's very clear why Deborah feels so extremely betrayed by Kathy for what Frank did to them both. And it's also very clear why Kathy's appearance triggers Deborah so harshly she vomits.

Kathy embodies all the trauma from Frank, and keeping her distanced for so long let Deborah fall into a false sense of security and assumption that she had healed from all the shit that happened (which is debunked in 206 – “I got over my husband, but I never got over [losing a late night show].”) She never did. And knowing how Deborah reacts to the possibility of failing, which is to say that she doesn't react well – insomnia, anxiety, obsessive behaviors, defensiveness, blackmail – for her to not only not be healed after 50 years but to also be so overcome by emotion that she has a physical reaction? That's unconscionable. Unacceptable. A weakness. A secret shame. She's failed and it's the end of the world. And in most cases in her childhood and marriage to Frank, it kinda was...

*big deep exhale*

Here's where the rubber meets the road when it comes to Deborah Vance's relationships. Any kind, any shape, any depth, anything. She's afraid to let someone down. She's afraid that she won't be good enough. She's afraid that she won't be strong enough. She's afraid that she won't have all the answers. She's afraid to not be able to provide the way she wants to and has been able to in the past. And it's all due to a number of factors:

Her mother died first

Her mother died when Deborah was 15 and Kathy was 10

Her father died when Deborah was 17 and Kathy was 12

Her father was an alcoholic

Her household wasn't big on rules

As I mentioned, the mother/daughter relationship is the most complicated relationship dynamic. Regardless of what gendered roles are, biologically speaking, the mother/child bond is unique in that the mother's womb is where the child literally grows. Mother and child are connected by blood and tissue for almost a whole year. There are certain things that are established at the time of conception which can never be established by the father and child. It's just that simple. Mother/child bonds are more intense as a result. Being the eldest daughter meant Deborah and Martha had that bond and it was uninterrupted for five years. As childhood psychology analysis can and will predict, having an only child status for any length of time will make the bond between mother and child more intense than that of succeeding siblings. Having multiple siblings doesn't detract from the mother/child bond, but the eldest will always have a little extra special bond with the mother. So Deborah losing that bond first was the biggest blow to her developing psyche. That was a loss she felt more acutely than Kathy.

Deborah became a mother at 15. When a parent dies, it's the eldest siblings – but specifically the eldest sisters – who immediately start parenting whoever is left, including anyone in the family unit – parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, whoever. From what we know of Boomer culture and Greatest Generation morals, there's a very good chance Fred just delegated his parental duties to Deborah and checked the fuck out entirely after Martha died. From what I see Deborah doing when it comes to parenting, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a family pattern and learned behavior based in the fear of not measuring up.

Losing both parents before the age of 18 steals away any remaining childhood. Orphaned children are immediately thrust into survival mode and will stoop to what seem like unwarranted extremes like manipulation, blackmail, histrionic behavior, and bullying simply because they have to survive. There is no real way for orphaned children to support and protect themselves unless there's also a built-in safety net of siblings. Eldest siblings obviously support and protect more than the younger siblings, but the reward of there being kind of a quid-pro-quo or IOU or something along those lines is usually enough motivation to take on the responsibility of caretaking. As supported by the text, Deborah did her job as big sister. She protected Kathy from bullies (206) and she kept Kathy close until Frank got in the way (104). She continued these patterns in other areas of her life: “I would love nothing more than to bury you in more debt than medical school ever could” (106), “I helped a lot of people. I wasn't perfect but I did what I could” (108), “You have no fucking idea how much I do for you” (104). The behavior orphaned children usually develop as a result of being thrust into survival mode looks exactly like narcissistic traits. But as is seen throughout the series, Deborah doesn't use these tactics to tear someone else down. She uses them to survive.

Having an alcoholic parent (and therefore an unreliable parent) leaves the job of parenting to the eldest children, and in Deborah's case, this most likely had the biggest effect on her choice not to parent DJ. (Yes, there could be family pattern/learned behaviors at play here, too, and it might be a mix of both.) Not only does Deborah hesitate to develop a relationship with DJ, she flat out runs away from the responsibilities on more than one occasion. She avoids supporting DJ at the trade show, she offers small comforts of hand-me-down clothes rather than healthy communication, she chides DJ for going to therapy, and she jokes about DJ's sobriety. DJ confronts her numerous times and asks for a relationship but it's all in vain. There will never be a healthy, communicative, supportive, guilt-free relationship there unless Deborah has extensive therapy. Addressing the alcoholism and addiction that runs in her family might be too painful, so she may never do it. I would like to think JPL will at least have Deborah try, because they're crafting a redemption arc with her. This is one area I would like to see developed and explored more.

Having no structure during childhood and adolescent years is very detrimental to the developing psyches of children. There is definitely a thing as too much regimen, but having no structure at all is like giving a child the keys to a car and saying, “Good fucking luck!” It's beyond the realm of unhealthy; it's destructive. The child will learn to adapt, though. Some resulting adaptive behaviors are adrenaline seeking, dangerous hobbies like extreme sports, attachment issues, Borderline Personality Disorder, and attention seeking behaviors. It seems counter-intuitive to develop traits that fit into a structure-free home, but the child is using these adaptations as a way to normalize a very destructive environment. They aren't running hog wild because they want to. They're running hog wild because there is no other way for them to get the attention and care they need. These learned behaviors continue into adulthood in the form of attachment issues, cluster B personality disorders (Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, and Anti-social Personality Disorder), commitment issues, detachment, emotional abuse and neglect.

Based on these five factors, if Deborah didn't take care of herself and Kathy when Martha died, if she didn't take care of her dad when he was drunk, if she didn't coddle to the needs of Frank's narcissism, if she didn't get a perfect score on being the strongest person in the room, then she was a failure and there were extensive repercussions resulting in her, DJ's and Kathy's safety and survival being threatened. The result of this constant need to always be right so she will survive extends into her adulthood, resulting in perfectionism, obsession, tunnel vision, stringent morals, and a lack of flexibility.

Again, I have to stress, the traits of classical narcissism that Deborah exhibits are a result of her need to survive as: the only child of an alcoholic, then the eldest daughter, then the mother figure to Kathy, then the caretaker of her father, then the sole supporter of Kathy, then the wife of a narcissist, then the rejected wife, then the emotionally wounded woman she is known as today. She's exhausted, and it's no wonder why. She's been the strongest person in the room since she was 15. She's had to be. There was no choice. She either stepped up and took initiative or she died. There was no in-between.

For Deborah, the holy grail of success is getting a late night show. It not only symbolizes an happy, intact family unit (because her dad only laughed during Johnny Carson – 304), but it also realistically equips Deborah to be able to provide for herself and her family. It gives her a tangible reward for surviving all the shit that's been thrown her way. It's a tenured career, it's status, it's reliable, it's sustainable (inasmuch as anything in the entertainment industry is). It's all the things her childhood never was. She's worked her whole life to keep her head above water, and even when she could take a day off she doesn't because she's afraid someone else will come along and take her spot – “You have to scratch and claw and it never fucking ends, and it doesn't get better; it just gets harder.” (102)

So... This is why Deborah is the way she is, and this is why I love her. I see myself in her and knowing that she and I share so many things in common is part of the reason why this show means so much to me. Yeah, it's just a fucking TV show. It's fake and all that junk, but to me it's representation. And that means the world.

I can't thank JPL enough for giving me the gift of Deborah Margesson Vance. I also wanna know when they snuck into my childhood bedroom because holy shit...

[roguesscribbles]

Sorry I've been so dead recently! I've got a little project going on that's taking up my art time. Hoping to unveil it soon!

In the meantime, here's my new OC! I made her for a Mass Effect DnD group I'm joining! Her name is Raina Akiyama, she's a human engineer that abandoned her smothering military life to explore the galaxy, settling on Illium following the Reaper invasion.

You can read the full backstory under the cut:

Raina Akiyama was always destined to join the Alliance Military. From the day she was born on an Alliance ship to two parents with a decent military ranking, she spent the majority of her formative years on various Alliance ships or bases following wherever her parents were stationed.

At the time, she could count how many times she has been to Earth on one hand. Her father was from Japan and her mother was from Britain, so she had been to visit family members that she doesn’t remember the faces of. Her upbringing was lonely at times, her parents were busy working and other children were not that common. However, with the absence of people, she found her love in the mechanical instead.

She could always be found tinkering away at some piece of tech she found, sneaking into the engine room to look at the inner workings or pelting the engineers with all sorts of questions. And the Alliance were happy to support these dreams of hers, educating and pushing her towards a career as an Engineer.

There was just one problem, Raina didn’t like the way the Alliance ran things. She was never a fan of the authority, of the training exercises and the expectation to give it everything she had, with instructors and crew members who were always a bit too strict with a child, most likely already seeing the soldier she would become. She always felt trapped, forced into enlisting, because where else would she go? She was raised here, with a line of family all expecting her to join as the next generation as they once did, and she knew very little of the habited planets that dotted the galaxy.

Eventually, when she turned 18, she enlisted officially as an Engineer, continuing her training and enhancing her skills. If there’s one good thing she can say, it’s that the Alliance provided her with almost unlimited funding to tinker with whatever gadgets were put in front of her. She became intimately familiar with both the massive hardware of the Alliance vessels to the weapons and armour the troops relied on. She never fully felt like she belonged, but she could at least surround herself with the things she loved.

Things changed about 2 years later. She was stationed on a small base with an equally small squadron. Something that was meant to be safe, somewhere to train her and other recruits. For the first time in her life she felt like she had friends, people she could rely on and actually talk to, who had her back. Things finally started to fall into place, and she started to feel that yearned-for feeling of belonging.

Then, the raid happened.

A group of bandits attacked the base in the night, where there was minimal activity. They wanted the equipment that they had in storage. It wasn’t even very much, they most likely saw them as easy pickings, and they weren’t entirely wrong. Almost all of her squad was killed in the incident, though in the end Raina’s squad managed to barely win. During the scuffle, a confrontation with one of the assailants left her scarred after they slashed her face with an omni-blade. When she came to in the medical wing of an Alliance vessel, she found herself blind in her left eye.

Her entire world came crashing down. Almost all her friends were dead, that belonging ripped away from her in an instant. She was back to the cold, sterile vessels with people who saw her as little more than an asset, who wanted her back up and running as soon as possible as if a great tragedy hadn’t just occurred. As soon as they were able, they installed a cybernetic eye in the one she lost, patching her up like a broken piece of machinery.

Not even her parents were here. They contacted her as soon as they knew she was awake, but neither of them could leave their post to see her. Something in Raina just snapped. She needed away from this place, away from the military. She expressed her concerns to her parents, but they disapproved, encouraging her to just get better and push on. This was the family way. That just made the need to leave even more prevalent.

She was able to push for her to be medically discharged, quoting physical trauma and PTSD. She sent one final message to her parents telling them she was leaving and not to contact her. She grabbed all her belongings and money that she saved, grabbed the first civilian shuttle she could and started exploring the galaxy.

Over the next few years, she moved from planet to planet, exploring and experiencing and just living. She met so many new people, made new friends and went on her own adventures. She used her skills for work, either taking on odd jobs or temporarily joining a crew, which improved her abilities even further. She began to discover herself more as a person, get better at social interaction and just breathe for the first time. Life was good.

Then, the Reapers arrived.

Once more her world came crashing down, but this time it was different. She wasn’t alone. She had been staying on Illium when the news spread, and it wasn’t long before the Reapers made their way to them. Raina sprang into action, helping wherever she could to help the planets militia fend off the invasion, as well as help the people who had been displaced and evacuated to the planet. It kept her busy, and when the Reapers eventually fell, her positive presence put her on a lot of people’s radars as someone who was reliable.

Following this, she decided to take up a more permanent residence on Illium. They may have fended off the attack, but there was always work to be done. Plus, as a mercantile hub, other planets more affected turned to them for aid. She never found herself short for work, and she was keen to continue to improve her skills with the variety of machinery and tech that passed through. She dreams that one day, she can open her own mechanics shop, and make her role on Illium that much more permanent. Because she belongs.

[phantomyre]

FF7 Rebirth - Critics Review Summary and what to expect with Cid and Vincent

FYI: This screenshot is taken from a Spanish critic site, so I apologize for the weird translation. The embargo for FF7 Rebirth has lifted, and the metacritic is out: 93. I browsed through the reviews and have condensed a summary based on what the critics have provided. There aren't any spoilers, but for those who want to go in completely blind, you may want to avoid reading. This summary goes into what we can expect out of Vincent and Cid in a general sense. The purpose of this is to temper certain expectations. Note that some of this may not be a surprise, but for some it might be. As it is, some people are still just finding out Vincent and Cid are not playable. Proceed at your own risk.

Example taken from French GameBlog:

Example from ShackNews:

Based on the reviews I've see thus far, the general consensus is that even though Cid and Vincent join Cloud and Co to complete the entire party (and as we know are not playable), screentime for both characters are minimal. Case of Cid I'm very sorry Cid-fans, but it looks like Cid has been reduced to a chauffeur/pilot and barely does much with the main party. This had previously been a speculation based on interviews. However, based on what I've seen in the critic reviews, this has been confirmed to be the case.

In terms of Cid's personality, there was a lot of talk about Cid being 'too nice'. And based on the reviews, this also seems to hold true for the duration of Rebirth, albeit we don't know the reason. Cid is stated to be very upbeat in Rebirth, unlike the cranky foul-mouthed guy we know from OG. But I wouldn't despair on this just yet... Cid Speculation While it is unfortunate we don't see the usual Cid, consider the fact that we've heard nothing about Rocket Town, Shera, or if we'll even get Cid's story on how Shinra has treated him. It stands to reason that this view of Cid could be meant to shed light on why he becomes harsh and abusive to Shera (part 3). We may better side with Shera and why she is willing to take the abuse, knowing what he used to be and what he (presumably) becomes in part 3.

Case of Vincent There were a fair amount of positive comments on Vincent's reveal and his characterization, particularly his voice and moodiness which is a comparatively stark contrast to Cid's personality. So good news is, Vincent is as broody as ever. However, just like Cid, Vincent has little time to shine and keeps himself in the shadows, both visually and verbally. Vincent has some side quests that still give his personality time to show, but it would be prudent to not expect much screen time from Vincent in Rebirth. In spite of his lack of presence, however, consider that this still falls in line with how he is in OG. Vincent Speculation "Don't expect anything else from me except fighting beside you." If any of you recall, Vincent in OG made it very clear that he was going to do as little as possible when it came to getting close with the group. It isn't until after Aerith's death and defeating Hojo that Vincent finally comes out of his shell. Even then, by the time Meteor falls, he actively avoids getting close to the group (noted in On the Way to a Smile and Dirge of Cerberus). I think Rebirth is going to establish the vivid contrast between Cid and Vincent, and will then delve heavily into their characters in part 3. While it is upsetting we get so little screentime with Cid and Vincent on top of them being non-playable, consider where we are in the story. Critics have also confirmed that Cid and Vincent arrive fairly late into the game, so on top of story reasons, it makes practical reasons, as well. Given how ambitious Rebirth is, it only stands to reason that part 3 will have a ton more pressure to surpass Rebirth's expectations, and that includes delving deeper into Cid and Vincent via their personalities, gameplay, and backstory. Fans will rightly expect Square Enix to make up for the lack of Cid and Vincent's time in the spotlight. And I'm sure SE knows this.

Other Speculations Given the many hints about Dirge of Cerberus becoming more important to the story, and how strongly they are leaning into Vincent's Chaos, many fans are beginning to speculate that part 3 will draw a lot of elements from DoC, and rightfully so. We know we won't get any Deepground in Rebirth. So likely we will see them in part 3 to wrap up the whole story--- which if you know DoC's story, you know why Vincent will be very important to the ending. And then of course there's the issue with the secret ending aka Genesis, who we also know is connected to Vincent aka Weiss. On top of OG's latter end story and including compilation elements, I think we can safely assume we will get our Vincent/Cid appetites whet in part 3. Yes, it's unfortunate we have to wait another 3-4 years. But I'm thankful we do get some time with both Vincent and Cid in Rebirth, regardless.

[raeazure]

The entire context around Jason Todd is more interesting that any stories with him, and it's because it's such a fascinating mixture of fan interests, writer plans, and editorial interference. No one was really calling for a new Robin or for Dick to become his own hero, but DC editorial thought it would be good for branding to have Robin be a kid again and wanted him aged down. Marv Wolfman, who was writing for Teen Titans at the time, was the one who pitched the idea of letting Dick grow into his own and to introduce a new, younger Robin in his place.

The initial backstory for Jason Todd is just a repeat of Dick's, and the personality isn't all that different either. So while Dick's new identity as Nightwing is a huge hit, the reception for this new Robin doesn't go over as well. About two years after Jason is introduced, DC releases Crisis on Infinite Earths, which restructures the entire DC Universe to make the overall cosmology more coherent.

Now, during Crisis, DC has two options for dealing with the Robin issue: Keep Jason around, or bring Dick back as Robin. But Nightwing was incredibly popular, and hey, it's a new universe! They can change things.

So Batman begins its post-Crisis run by retelling Bruce's origin, and then revises Jason's origin so it's not identical to Dick's, and his new personality makes him brash and angrier. So he's distinct, but do people like him? Well, no. The negative reaction to pre-Crisis Jason still carries over, and post-Crisis Jason has some new issues. One is that he's just hardly in Detective Comics, which is basically half the Batman series. And people start to like this Robin-less Batman. The other problem is in the main Batman series, Jason's presence is either minimal or a point of frustration. When he is present, like in Second Chances and the Diplomat's Son, he's angry, violent, he isn't quite a partner to Batman so much as he is an obstacle. Hell, he actually kills someone in the Diplomat's Son (in fact, he kills the diplomat's son). But more often, his presence is reduced, he doesn't add much to Ten Nights of the Beast or The Cult, he doesn't even appear in the Killing Joke.

It's pretty clear Jason isn't working out, even if he has earned some fans. So DC decides to kill Jason. Or well, to hold a vote to kill Jason. Which may or may not have been rigged. Either way, the writers and artists didn't know it was rigged because they made Jim Aparo do pencils for both outcomes ahead of time.

Jason's death is huge. Even having killed Flash and Supergirl in Crisis on Infinite Earths, they hadn't killed off a character as big as Robin of Batman and Robin fame. The Batman comics really delve into Bruce's guilt over letting Jason die, and even though Jason's presence was never a big deal, his absence adds a lot. Even when they do bring in a new Robin, his introduction both in and out of fiction is a reaction to everything that went wrong with Jason.

Jason's specter continues to haunt Batman but gradually becomes less relevant. Until Hush, when Clayface briefly transforms into Jason to taunt Batman, and to make Batman think Jason is Hush. It's great! It's dramatic! It's more interesting then Hush's actual identity! And Judd Winnick reads this and thinks "wow Jeph Loeb has to be a fucking idiot, both for not making Jason Hush and spelling his name like that". So Winnick writes Under the Hood (which is what the storyline is actually called, the name Under the Red Hood came later), and brings back Jason as a villain! And it is once again great! There's a satisfying resolution, and it really is Jason this time! It's so much fucking better than Hush!

So now Jason is alive and a villain... what do you do with him? Well, he mostly harasses Dick and Tim for a bit. And then he realizes he can't be rehabilitated, and kind of accepts that he can never be a hero again, even if he stops being a villain. Which is an interesting resolution that provides actual closure to his arc. A well-done ending to Jason's career.

Except it's not the end! Because Flashpoint happens and the universe is kind of reset again! But I haven't read anything with Jason involve in New 52, so I can't comment on his presence, other than I get the impression that Jason and Tim both seem to suffer from DC not knowing what to do with them.

[cerisetial]

a field of flowers for the vigilant yaksha ft. xiao x gn! reader (they/them pronouns used)

synopsis: after so much time spent pursuing his duties and responsibilities, even he needs his rest and a field of multicoloured beauties just so happens to be the perfect form of it

quick note — more of a xiao centered piece so it's hardly considered an x reader :) it's implied in the end however so i'll still tag it as such!

WARNINGS: includes spoilers for xiao's backstory, very minimal mentions of blood (?) i think this is all that needs to be tagged but feel free to mention if ever i missed anything :)

eons and eons of suffering there he stands, once so pure and so clean but now blood is smeared on his hands. foes lay on the ground no longer breathing and moving, for the wrath brought down by this yaksha, it's enough to have someone beg endlessly for mercy.

for hundreds of years he has roamed to take life and bring forth death, and for the remaining there he is guarding his beautiful land.

no rest for the wicked, for they should all suffer. those who committ grave sins must be left alone just to wallow and wither.

in his most vulnerable moments where he can't help but scream at the pain. in the moments where his karma slowly makes him break. his strong and lean body seemingly fragile, littered with scars and bloodied. at his state, could someone really see him as the conqueror of demons, or just a poor little soul wishing to dance with the stars and sing tunes to a land afar?

he was once a weak little thing, forced to do things against his will by evil doers who wished for nothing more than damnation and greed. rex lapis had saved him, and he had become free. indebted, a contract had been made. to defend the lands of liyue till his last breath, to slice through opposers with polearm in tow till the very moment he no longer can.

in the present, yakshas and adepti can now be spotted among the common folk. liyue has changed over the many, many years. it is also to note that adepti are no longer tied to have to defend those unlike them, in the new age where humans are able to rule with no lord.

so now here he is, in a glorious space full of colorful and vibrant flowers. by then, he had started to think back to when he had last taken a moment to just breathe. the geo crystalflies flap their wings and illuminate the slowly darkening sky, their beautiful golden glow shining and showing the gleam of his similar colored eyes.

in a field of flowers, the lone yaksha finds rest. well deserved for a warrior who had fought thousands of battles.

for years he was bound by contract and a feeling of obligation to repay his lord. he had served non-stop, fighting and destroying evil almost every minute and dispersing it the next. how could one not get tired of doing the same thing every single day?

in this field he is not alone, a loving companion sitting with him to keep him company. he gets up on his feet and so do they- the companion, slowly moving around together with the gentle glow of golden crystalflies lighting up the space where they move in sync.

the night sky hangs high, the stars glimmer and shine up above. hearing the songs of the wind, they dance together and sing. with every step the binds that have shackled his poor heart slowly melt away, leaving nothing but molten iron in their wake

xiao- once a weak little soul, longing for nothing but freedom from pain and a life of peace. this field of flowers made just for him and the dance given to him by the one who cares for him most provides a sense of internal comfort that he knows he can only dream.

star notes ☆ —;

omg first actual genshin writing after i've announced writing for it and it's not even a request i'm gonna cry i know it's not that much of a reader insert but i hope it's still satisfactory!! stay safe and healthy everyone :)!

— cerise

[loosesodamarble]

Hiya Erika! Can I get salt types labelled as 9,15 & 16 pls 🧂

Oooohhhh! You can certainly have my salty takes on these, Laura dearest~!

AND OOOOHHHHHH! 15 is gonna have an interesting answer~!

9) Most disliked character(s)? Why?

The Zogratis family is an easy target for this question so I'm gonna extend my reach just a bit more and say...

Alecdora Sandler.

Genuinely, fuck that guy. I know another character that's pretty easy to hate but let me give my why.

He's a character to made to hate on Yuno and everything he does. I hate Alecdora not because he's hating on Yuno. But because he doesn't seem to have an effect on Yuno. Like, Yuno couldn't give an iota of a shit about Alecdora's opinions and just outdoes him because he just happens to be there (yes I know Alecdora intentionally went after Yuno but the Noelle vs Solid confrontation had much more of my attention). I don't need Yuno to internalize Alecdora's hater comments the way Noelle internalizes her siblings' remarks but can I get SOMETHING out of Yuno for having to deal with Alecdora being on his ass all the time? If Yuno showed more annoyance or even vocalized "I don't give a shit about you, my eyes are on the title of Wizard King," I wouldn't be so irritated with Alecdora. He's bothering me more than the in-universe character he's giving grief!

So glad Alecdora's character was quietly put in a corner because we didn't need him to begin with. We already knew through Klaus that the Golden Dawn loved Captain William. And we knew from just... the whole manga, that nobility looked down on peasants. So Alecdora was redundant on top of being annoying. Which is definitely a losing combo.

So again. Genuinely, fuck that guy.

15) Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

(deep breath) There should've been more anime filler.

I KNOW I KNOW! CRIMINAL THOUGHT TO HAVE! BUT HEAR ME OUT!

The expansion of some scenes and details would've helped slow the anime when it came to creeping up on manga events. I know that early episodes of the anime dragged things out but they also provided extra scenes for some characters like Magna. His backstory as presented in the manga was as minimal as one could get. But it got a lot more elaboration in the anime.

There are other things too that we could've seen more of in the anime adaptation of Black Clover. I mean, how cool would it have been to get half an episode dedicated to each of the BB groups who set out to find a cure for Asta's broken and cursed arms? Maybe even a full episode for Magna and Luck's adventure? And I mean, Fanzell's backstory from the first light novel got adapted for the anime so...

Look, Tabata is a co-writer of the light novels. Perhaps Onda (the other credited writer) takes the lead but Tabata is likely credited for some kind of input on what the light novels. And the anime creators are aware of the light novels since they adapted the Fanzell story from the first book for the sake of anime viewers' understanding.

In my opinion, it wouldn't be too big of a stretch for the anime writers and directors to have looked to the light novels for series content to adapt into the anime when catching up to the main manga storyline was something they had to worry about.

But the anime is already aired as is. Can't change it now.

So when I say that the anime should've had more filler, what I really mean is that there was a lot of missed opportunities in terms of content that could've been expanded upon or adapted. Anime viewers would get more out of it. The anime would've had less need for the anime filler that we did end up getting. And heck maybe it even would've set a precedent for adapting the light novel content of manga series in addition to the original source material.

16) If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

For one, our ocs become canon. Yes, I said that last time but it's still a deep, selfish wish of mine.

Another option for change I have is reworking a lot of the fashion choices for the characters...

But for a story change... Yami could've offered the elves a place in the Black Bulls. Which they would've rejected in order to be in Elysia. Cause, hey, Yami recruited a criminal like Gauche. And theft isn't as serious as terrorism but Yami is displaced from his home physically and the elves as displaced from their homes temporally. He could see a bit of himself in them. Again, I'd have the elves turn down the offer but it just means that they have even more reason to be there to help the Heart Kingdom crew. After someone reached out a hand to them, it'd be their turn to reach their hands out.

[simsreaper]

hiii simblr, does anyone wanna make some sims for me. I need like 20(I know big number). Doing a survivor challenge inspired by the show The Traitors(Australia version fr gotta be my favorite).

If you'd like to make a sim for me I don't have much requirements honestly!

They can be young adult or adult! No elders or anything younger!

Minimal Cc is fine as long as it's attached or you provide links but I'd much prefer clothing from any of the expansion packs as it'd make it easier. I do have my own default skins and eyes so keep that in mind! Everyday, formal, and sleepwear are the main outfit categories to pay attention to.

Give these sims an intricate backstory! Something good for storytelling or make them as boring as you please! Any basic info like full name and careers are much appreciated too! And feel free to give them any relationships too that could be written in somehow.

There's not a limit of sims you can make if you want to make more, 3 max at least!

Thats pretty much it, I think! Reblogs are definitely appreciated, if anyone wants more info let me know! ☺️ I'll reblog this with the challenge rules once I finish getting it set up! Thank you!! <3

[mamamittens]

I'm finally making progress on my event so hopefully tomorrow I'll have results but no promises because I get home an hour later and have to vote at an HOA right after so I'll be even later than usual getting home (for context, normally, when I get home and start writing immediately I can finish a chapter/one shot just before I need to shower and go to bed IMMEDIATELY with minimal distractions. Same for art pieces actually. It's unfortunate but it is what it is).

The rest is me rambling about an OC story ideas

In the meantime, while I've been at work, I've been trying to decide what I like better for Nikia's story. Mostly because I'm bored to tears and there's only so many reddit stories you can listen to before your brain melts. Specifically the growing up and how/why she runs into WBP.

At first I wanted it to be on her first mission that would start her career as an Elite Ranger, which has a slew of requirements above just being a regular ranger. It would also net her her own cabin and the most freedom of schedule and movement. Elite Rangers don't usually manage your groups or host outside of emergencies because they need to leave at a moments notice to take care of disturbances. But that didn't give her much time to be good at what she does enough to be an unknown at Marineford, though I teased the idea of her low-key revealing herself before ultimately deciding she'd never land at Marineford cause she wouldn't touch that shit with a 10 foot pole.

So I thought a decent way to bring WBP to her is them taking the island under their control by absorbing the pirates that previously claimed the island under their protection. It wasn't long before I decided it would be a nice, cute backstory if her mother was rescued by said pirates when Nikia was young so the captain ended up being her father figure. And it would be nice is he was old friend with Whitebeard though they don't talk much since he settled down a little to keep near his new favorite island.

I was thinking the "Many Hands Pirates" or "Clover Pirates" as their specialty is knowing someone for any job. Really low-key and social. They're the ones that organized the personal security force on the islands into what it is today--which is terrifyingly efficient and low-key, as well as the concept of Elite Rangers.

Anyway, they're the ones who deliver the bad news to Nikia about Teach and whatnot and are shocked at her reaction. As well as the ones that take her to Marineford knowing damn well she'll be about cloud height and ready to take whatever shot she needs to while everyone else catches up.

Prefers that, actually, because while he doesn't have those old fashioned "keep women out of the fight" ideas, he doesn't want his adopted daughter to be fighting Marines either. He taught her to fight dirty and hit hard for a reason damnit!

That and I wanted a really sweet moment where Thatch gets a little shovel talk and Whitebeard gets tetchy so he looks at him and says "You look after your kids, let me look after mine... By the way, I don't give a shit who your father is, make her cry like that again or string her along and I'll wear your balls for a coin purse."

Or maybe I just grew up around too many people with pig farms so my idea of protective is a tad intense. Idk.

Anyway, the idea of her growing up with an off and on again pirate father seemed fun. There to look into her milestones and provide a unique perspective.

Also I get to have a weird fertility/sexual health festival where someone (maybe Thatch) commits a faux pa of asking for the berries specifically harvested at the very start (which is only picked by of age/began puberty girls/women). It's a faux pa because they're very obvious symbolism and meant only to be eaten by the one that picks them or the one that they intent to have "fruitful relations" with. Given freely, of course. So asking is INCREDIBLY BOLD and depending on how old the girl is, INSANELY CREEPY AND INAPPROPRIATE as the berries have sexual health benefits as well as (believed) aphrodisiac qualities, but like... Chocolate does. Unless you're already DTF odds are you won't feel anything.

Anyway, Nikia gets very flustered and horrified and it's up to her father to explain why that was a terrible thing to ask outright. Let alone in public and they're lucky everyone knows they're strangers to the festival and asked someone at least of appropriate age.

There's a special part of the festival before dawn where the berries still attached to flowers are picked by those mourning mothers passed in childbirth who carry them from the hill all the way to the water (beach or cliff, haven't decided) to give the unripe fruit to the sea, picked before their time. Mostly because I wanted Ace to get to have a moment where he properly, openly honors his mother and it makes sense to have a moment of memoriam for women who passed like that in a festival meant to encourage sexual health and well-being in primarily women.

This festival takes place in the first part of January to open a new year and prepare the land/people for spring. Specifically when a large part of the snow melts on Winter Island and over waters the Snowmelt Berries, making the usually spicy berries very ripe, juicy, and sweet. Prone to popping in your hand so it's quite messy but also the reason there are so many damn bushes on Winter Island. It's impossible to overforage these berries, they grow to fast and so many. The snow quickly returns at the end of the month, halting the rapid growth the island had previously been enjoying.

Summer Island feels like fall/winter during this time and usually gets a bit of snow lol

[laskume-dragon]

After going through all my Dragon AU posts to make my masterpost i noticed that I've never actually talked about any specific characters. I dropped some tiny bit of general lore once....but that was about it.

So now that I've doodled Alucard, i decided to drop some general AU lore about him!

Species:

Alucard is a so-called Iceling and would be classified as western dragon.

Icelings are quadruped, two winged, of a very lean build and tend to show a lot of resemblance to wolves. They're generally covered in white fur and have feathered wings. Their paw pads, skin and nose are black while their eyes and tailfeathers tend to have bluish tones.

They're native to high mountain ranges and very cold regions.

Their fur then helps them to stay undetected in snowy areas, while the black skin has the same use as for polar bears, to stay warm.

Even though they're dragons, Icelings aren't reptiles. They're warmblooded mammals and their evolution is thus analogous to reptilian dragons, sharing a lot of the classic characteristics of a dragon, without sharing the same ancestor. Though birthing living young has a lot more advantages in cold areas then it is to lay eggs. At least for dragons that spit ice instead of fire and don't have as specialized breeding techniques like penguins. Though in general they're quite immune to freezing. A layer of natural antifreeze (i think glucose had that ability??) right under their skin, shields them from frost. A minimized bloodflow to the extremities and the skin also keeps them from loosing too much heat, making them probably very cold to the touch, while in their core they're warm.

Character appearence:

I said Icelings are usually white but Alucard isn't. What's up with that?

Long story short: gene variation and mutation still exists in this AU. So the magic term is ✨Melanism✨

Or more like pseudomelanism, cus Alucard is not entirely black. The degree of this varies with each form.

Vladcard: probably most black form of all with a few lighter patches of fur on his chest and belly.

Usual Alucard: left frontpaw and two primary feathers on each wing white, rest black

Lady-/Girlycard: mostly white with black patches scattered across her body. Ladycard & Girlycard are basically the same form, only differentiate in the age of appearance (if you know what i mean. Language is hard), depends on what Alu is in the mood for lmao

Backstory:

Has vague similarities to canon but at the same time its very different. Its kinda of patchy and probably things will change in the future but here's a summary of what i have so far:

Alucard was born into the leader family of a pretty big Icelingpack, which was having quite a lot of problems with neighboring packs and defending their territory and shite. So... environment was tense when he grew up and finally took over the pack. At some point there was a big attack on the pack and their territory, catching Alucard by surprise. The attackers, partially Tainteds, were ruthless and killed who they could, including Alucards mate and cubs at the time. He too then fell as he got attacked by another rogue Tainted. But bc they didn't really care what they were doing, they didn't notice that they hadn't killed him completely. Instead the tainting curse befell Alucard. His turn was rough, only driven to success by his own desperate want to stay conscious and alive.

So now he was an accidental tainted, with no master or guidance, no pack and unsure what the hell he even was. For a long time he stayed on his own as he struggled with bloodlust and powers he did not understand.

At some point he stumbled upon a demon (Baskerville) who was for some reason locked out of and unable to return to hell. On his own the demon wouldn't have survived on the mortal plain, but since both had something the other needed at the time, they formed a bond. Alucard needed guidance and company, which Baskerville could provide. In turn he received protection from Alucard and a body he could possess and reside in.

After gaining control over his tainted aspects, Alucard traveled north in search of new territory. He came across a piece of land that was under the rule of the Hellsing pack, lead by a strong goldheavic with the name Abraham (wink wink nudge nudge). Ofc as a stranger hanging around in some other packs territory and also injuring some residents there, when he needed to feed, (in opposite to canon he did not kill all kinds of random people just bc he needed a nibble lmao) Alucard quickly pulled the Alphas attention to himself. Since Alucard wasn't very keen on wrecking the same kind of havoc he had pretty much just survived, he formally challenged Abraham to a duel. This served as a matter of damage control, cus it would keep uninvolved dragons out of the fight and would still provide him with a pack and territory should he win.

Turns out he severely underestimated Abrahams strength and firepower, cus he got his ass KICKED. Still, Abraham was very impressed by Alucards strength and willpower and instead of killing him or driving him out of his territory, he took him in and let him join the pack, providing him with a new home.

And thats pretty much it.

Ofc i could keep going with Alucards life in his new pack but i kinda wanna make it a post of its own, so I'll stop right here.

If you actually took the time to read this absolute rollercoaster. Thank you! Have a cookie and, if you want, a hug!! I appreciate it very much. And if there are questions...pls ask.

I'd love to rant more about my AU lmao!!

[Masterpost]

[mekatrio]

phoenix wright pondering ho hum ho hum ho hum

ok im awake still sleepy but awake but yes after thinking it over, what makes phoenix particularly interesting to me are 2 things: hes a spriteless VN character + me and him arent on the same page when it comes to plot info.

so firstly visual novels arent a genre i engage with often, really my only other frame of reference is a sdr2 walkthrough i watched like 9 years ago (and ddlc but ddlc is a blank slate protag so im not counting that) but yeah VN player characters is smth thats very unfamiliar to me, its very interesting to not have a sprite of my character that will give me extra information abt their emotional state, instead the only thing i really have to go off of is the text the game provides me. its also interesting how VNs challenges the notion of what a video game is, bc the gap between player and character in a VN's player character feels very stark as my protag is very much their own character outside of my influence, and although my control over them is minimal compared to other vg genres, this is still undoubtedly a video game. ive taken to thinking of me and wright as me being remy ratatouille and wright being a piece of shit chef who keeps trying to do his own thing. so yeah interesting stuff, but yet i still feel like theres a pretty big difference between sdr2's hinata and aa's wright, in regards to their characterization. and i think this difference is borne from the fact that unlike hinata and most other video games ive played, im not actually on the same page as wright when it comes to plot info.

what that means is that like, usually in video games, developers will want the player and their player characters to have the same amount of knowledge, which is why foreign/amnesic protags are so common. this way world-building exposition can be more natural, as there'll be a reason now for characters to divulge in the history of their world (to let our clueless little protag to know whats up), and players will feel more in sync with the character theyre playing as, overall everything will feel more immersive.

but ace attorney doesnt do this.. also omg im way too sleepy to word this properly so its bullet point time

- in aa1 phoenix knew abt his history with edgeworth (duh) yet despite playing as phoenix we the player are kept in the dark about it until the fourth case

- (which honestly makes case 2 pretty fucking crazy like 1st time meeting maya + mia's death + phoenix's reunion with edgeworth but players wont understand the significance of any of this until way later)

- likewise in aa2 phoenix knows the context of edgeworth's disappearance (that damn note) but we the players are kept in the dark abt it until the third case and we're only given small hints towards his fate + phoenix's abysmal grieving process

- interestingly enough, the players are represented by maya in both instances. meaning maya is like us, in that we both arent aware of phoenix's backstory + that damn note, and when we do learn abt these two pieces of info, its bc phoenix is telling this to maya. and so in a way we are learning all this thru her. very very interesting considering we do not control maya

- and i mentioned this in my big post gushing abt 2-4 but not only is this an interesting writing method, but it also helps to illustrate how phoenix is a character who deeply represses various emotions. he is fucked!

- but yeah its super interesting. and also like ill need to finish aa3 to properly look at this trilogy but i really wonder how like the "overarching narratives" of these games are designed and what phoenix's function in each of them are like this is my first time i think ever experiencing this style of writing in a video game, where a protagonist knows more than i do.

- cuz like yes ive played games where protags have a backstory thats only shown much later but like.. say with like portal, chell's backstory is there to just basically explain her motives. basically theres a difference between "a protag's backstory serves to recontextualize their behavior" vs "uncovering a protag's backstory Is the plot", and phoenix falls under the latter. all while me the player am not on the same page as him the character like ITS ALL VERY INTERESTINGGGGGG.... after i finish aa3 or maybe even more aa games id like to compare aa's style of writing to ghost trick