#we aim to provide a plot in

[schoolhater]

answering a couple questions i got on this post since i realized ppl genuinely wanna know:

tl;dr:

israel lets very, very little aid get into gaza. even the UN can't get in as much as they want to. funding individual families, gazan led initiatives, and mutual aid collectives operating out of gaza ensures gazans can provide for themselves and pay for the extremely expensive aid that is available.

with all the civil infrastructure destroyed by israel, the situation on the ground has devolved into unrestricted capitalism, driving up the price of aid (that should be free!). this makes it more urgent for people to have funding for daily survival.

the post linked above has examples of how donating to individual families can help a lot. if you want to help more than one family at a time, there are many gazan-led initiatives focusing on rebuilding their infrastructure and distributing aid fairly that are worth donating to instead of large charities that already get the majority of donations.

as i mentioned in the last post: @/careforgaza on twitter is a nonprofit started by gazans, it's been endorsed by multiple palestinian journalists.

the sameer project is a collective organized by diaspora palestinians offering emergency shelter to gazans.

ele elna elak is a project aiming to bring water, food, shelter, etc. to gazans and has been promoted by bisan owda.

and the municipality of gaza itself is fundraising to rebuild water infrastructure.

all of these organizations are active inside gaza right now and are being run by gazans. if anyone knows of other gazan-led mutual aid projects, nonprofits or charities feel free to link them in the notes! hope this helped!

long answers under the cut!

if you wanna donate to a charity that's absolutely fine, but the thing is most charities (and even the UN!) are unable to make it into gaza in the first place, leaving aid rotting at the egyptian side of the border or subject to israeli settler attacks

not to mention, charities and nonprofits also maintain a paternalistic colonial relationship with the indigenous people they are trying to help, determining what aid they need for them instead of returning power to them and letting them make their own choices

i'm not here to say that one option is better than the other, just that they achieve different things and are equally legitimate. there's an attitude among people who question the legitimacy of these gofundme campaigns that somehow the people promoting them are telling them not to donate to charities. nobody is stopping you from donating to charities. we are just asking that you do not dehumanize the very real gazans in your inbox just because their method of asking for aid is more direct and risky.

unfortunately that's exactly what has happened. because israel destroyed all of gaza's more formalized infrastructure, it seems that organized crime and rampant inflation has taken its place. aid is supposed to be free, but in order to save for evacuation or the cost of living, people have started selling them at an inflated price. and aid that is truly free attracts intense, large crowds that are dangerous to navigate.

this was posted on abc a few days ago

it's pure, unrestrained capitalism. i've had multiple palestinians describe this situation to me confidence. that's why everything's so expensive now. why people have to rent out tiny plots of land for their tents to sit on, why my friend @siraj2024 still has to buy tarps to cover the broken windows of the overpriced bombed out apartment he rented, and why a bag of flour can cost a thousand bucks in the north.

even before israel closed and then bombed the rafah crossing, the egyptian hala travel agency was only allowing people to cross the border if they paid a hefty $5000 USD per adult / $2500 USD per child bribe. it denies doing this, but the hundreds of stories from palestinians say otherwise.

with regard to the economy, here in america we saw something similar happen in the wake of hurricane helene and milton. the podcaster margaret killjoy describes how she saw dual economies rise after asheville was fully cut off from the rest of the country - some people offered each other supplies for free in a sort of mutual aid honor system, and some people required payment when they lent supplies because they themselves needed to buy stuff for their families. these dual economies exist in gaza too. and this means they all still need money to survive.

[permanentmess]

may i request a cherik x mutant! reader? idk abt plot but i really need some fluff

a/n: i wasn’t sure whether to make this platonic or romantic, so i made it ambiguous! I also based this on the premise of brooklyn nine nine season 1, episode 3. reader has powers involving electricity and the year is after 1981

also sorry this took so long, i finished up my last week of work, went to disneyland, and then moved in for my senior year of college! and i apologize for this being short, i wasn't sure what to write :)

title: slump

word count: 424

summary: you're struggling with your powers, so charles and erik provide the comfort you need

warnings: none! just fluff. mild angst for plot reasons but is resolved

GIF NOT MINE

~~~

“Darling, I think you’re in a slump,” Charles says as he watches you fail to produce even a spark.

Erik nods in agreement, watching you sit down against the wall, taking a drink of water. “Take the week off and relax.” 

You vigorously shake your head. “I’m not in a slump, I swear. I just didn’t sleep well last night.” You’re lying through your teeth, causing both of them to give you a look. 

You decide to stand up again, focusing on producing sparks from your fingers and aiming them at the wall. A few shoot out, but stop just as soon. “Ugh, what is happening?” 

“Darling, I want you to take the week off, please,” Charles insists, and you begin to profusely refuse when the light above you breaks. 

“Alright fine, I’m in a slump.” 

~~ 

You’re resting on the couch in the lounge, a cup of peppermint tea in your hand. The TV is playing some old movie that you’re half paying attention to, so when Charles and Erik come in, you immediately turn your head to the sound. 

They come to sit on either side of you, and you decide to take the comfort they provide. You rest your head on Erik’s shoulder, reaching for Charles’ hand. ‘Thank you,’ you tell Charles in your head and he responds back with a gentle ‘Of course.’ 

“What are we watching?” Erik asks, finally resting his head on top of yours. 

“I don’t know, it was on. I was just relaxing.” Him and Charles hum in unison at the answer. “You can switch it to whatever you want.” 

Charles switches the stations with his powers until he lands on a channel playing Indiana Jones. You squeeze his hand as a gesture of thanks. 

It’s silent for a while, casually enjoying the movie. Occasionally other teachers will come on through the lounge, but for the most part it is peaceful. 

“I think you should try to use your powers again,” Charles says, and you’re confused. It has only been 5 days since you started your break. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Positive, darling,” he insists, letting go of your hand. You sit up and see Erik nodding in agreement. “Just do something small.” 

You’re nervous but you decide to try and turn off the TV. You focus on the energy inside the TV and see it click off immediately. Your mouth slightly opens in shock before a wide grin spreads across your face. “Holy shit, I did it!” 

You pull each of the men into a hug and turn the TV back off, messing with the lights in the room. 

In amongst your joy and trials, the men share a look, smiling just as wide at your enthusiasm. 

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

Kaveh is like this close to committing a sin with Mehrak, like he's playing a really dangerous game. It's just a matter of time Mehrak gets even more sentient when it's already this far. I know Kaveh keeps it in check, but man... I hope they'll talk about this one day. Either that or Kaveh will always brush it off, as if he didn't get some ancient core to build it??? Also, I always love your thoughts, thanks for loving these two so much!

hiya! thank you for your ask! i'm so glad you enjoy my posts :") <3 Mehrak’s existence is so ??? funny to me. we have tighnari’s story quest detailing the akademiya’s ban on research into mechanical lifeforms, directly alongside kaveh building his own mechanical lifeform and parading it around, sending it on solo coffee retrieving missions whilst everyone in sumeru looks on smiling <3

Mehrak’s legality hasn’t been mentioned at all in-game as of now, and as it’s been used consistently, both in kaveh’s hangout, a parade of providence, and now nahida’s birthday event, with not one mention of legality or potential trespasses, makes it seem that that’s how things will stay - especially since Cyno has met/is aware of mehrak’s existence during the battle scene during a parade of providence (then again, cyno did meet the wanderer during this event, and yet in nahida’s birthday event it seems he’s only HEARD of the wanderer through sethos??) but even then, since Cyno trusts Tighnari with karkata’s continued existence, it’s likely not a stretch to say that to Cyno, Kaveh can be trusted with Mehrak’s existence (it’s all very iffy)

Mehrak’s existence, overall, has had little focus other than its usage in battle, its official introduction in a parade of providence, where kaveh stipulates it has low intelligence, and was built to assist him, as well as being incapable of talking back and giving him ��attitude’ (implicitly comparing mehrak to alhaitham), and in kaveh’s hangout when he works on designing a building. It’s only in recent events, such as cyno’s second story quest, and now in nahida’s birthday event, that mehrak has gotten more mentions, and now a spotlight, which is all in relation to coffee, tying back to alhaitham and kaveh’s improved relationship (the coffee analysis will be in the updated essay finally!!). as of right now, overall, mehrak doesn’t appear to be a major focus

It might be strange for the game to mention now that mehrak has been an illegal creation all this time, unless it’s a significant plot point that has to be resolved, but if mehrak is further explored, like in the temple of silence for example (hoyoverse I am once again asking), then perhaps this collective ignoring of a crime occurring will be explained away, if mentioned at all? It’s interesting that tighnari says it might be possible that this ban is reversed in the future, but as for whether that will actually happen, and the implications of this, aren’t clear

Mehrak’s accepted existence in general poses so many questions. I’m interested in the specifics of the ban, like does it depend on the autonomy of the machine in question? Abattouy aimed to make Karkata essentially human, capable of individual thought, processing, emotion, and conversation, which definitively broaches on the intersection of mechanical and biological life which caused the Akademiya to ban this type of research in the first place. So if a machine is able to act on its own, irrespective of human interference, then this is what the akademiya would want to prevent

In mehrak’s case, it’s unclear as to what its limits are, but from what has been shown so far, it seems that mehrak can only act on kaveh’s commands and when held in battle – it’s uncertain rn whether mehrak can act independently of this, but as kaveh invented it to only assist in certain matters, it’s doubtful. But then again, we don’t have a great scope of whether it can experience emotions, as it has shown signs of being distressed in a parade of providence when kaveh states that it can’t talk back, and when being scolded by kaveh in nahida’s birthday event

if mehrak has limited intelligence, it's interesting to compare mehrak with karkata. abattouy was attempting to make karkata understand human language, and be able to respond in order to have conversation, which was proved impossible, whereas although mehrak only speaks in beeps, kaveh is shown to have a thorough understanding of what it’s saying? Mehrak can be programmed to recognise people’s voices, but seemingly also language, as mehrak can obey spoken command, which is what abattouy tried to accomplish but was unable to with modern technology.

Mehrak, on the other hand, understands kaveh’s basic requests – which is made even funnier in kaveh’s old sketchbook, where he says that more than anything he really wants mehrak to understand what he’s saying. he got his wish but at what cost???

Mehrak being made from ancient technology, belonging to that of king deshret’s civilisation, offers many interesting paths that could be explored in future events, as besides the primal constructs roaming around, the puzzles in the desert, and now the temple of silence, no technology really exists from that time. Someone commented that mehrak’s presence in nahida’s birthday event, in conjunction with the event being based around ancient technology with the wedjat eye, could be highlighting mehrak’s irregularity in modern day sumeru – potentially foreshadowing for a future event that could further expand upon mehrak? If this is the case, I am all for it, there are so many questions concerning kaveh’s little light <3

[3hks]

How to Write a Truly Terrifying Villain

Have you ever wanted to create a villain that's actually evil? One that can scare your readers yet also leave them with an everlasting impression? An antagonist is so much more than just a "bad guy", and in this guide, we'll explore how to write an evil character effectively!

*GOALS/MOTIVATIONS*

No matter what kind of character someone is, their objectives alone speak volumes about who they are as a person. Therefore, with this villain, I suggest forming a goal that stems from their selfishness.

Although, what does that really look like? Selfishness is actually quite subjective. From what I have seen, a self-serving goal tends to be quite specific since it's a personalized aim. Don't give them a target that's too broad or too generic because chances are, it won't really benefit them. (Ex: World domination)

Am I saying that you absolutely need a greedy antagonist to highlight their malice? No, but it truly is a great place to begin at.

*EMPATHY*

Next, let's talk about empathy. How well do they understand those around them? Do they care?

Many villains we see lack empathy; they aren't concerned about their victims, and sometimes, even their own followers.

However, there's also the opposite case, where the antagonist does have empathy and fully understands what others may feel, but still doesn't care. This dark empathy is truly a testament of their malevolence because they're aware of the physical and mental consequences of their actions, yet they do it anyway. That, in itself, is rather terrifying.

*NEUTRALITY*

If your villain isn't the main antagonist, this might be something you want to consider.

As I mentioned before, this type of character prioritizes themselves over anything and everything. If helping the hero will benefit them, then why not? If assisting another antagonist will be rewarding, then it's worth it. While your character is a villain, their alignment itself might be a bit blurred.

Although it could seem counterproductive to have an "evil character" who occasionally aids the protagonist, the switching of sides actually maintains a sense of unpredictability for your character.

*INTELLIGENCE*

If anything, I highly suggest not making your villain stupid. While I'm sure there are intimidating dim-witted antagonists out there, the truth is, if your character understands themselves, their limits, their abilities, and the events taking place, your readers will automatically see them as competent and intelligent, which is critical to their credibility.

Have them think things through, plan carefully, and act responsibly. They know what they're doing, you just have to prove it.

*ISOLATION*

Another thing that helps is to keep your villain isolated. You don't need to physically keep them away from everyone, but they might be figuratively, emotionally distanced from others. Sometimes this is on purpose, and sometimes it's not.

*LASTING IMPACT*

This may seem obvious to some people, but there's got to be some key event regarding your villain that has lasting impact on the plot, characters, setting, and/or protagonist. It doesn't need to occur during your story, it could have occurred beforehand, but it still must affect the current time period.

Show why they're the villain.

*REASON, DON'T JUSTIFY*

A lot of people (primarily readers) nowadays are obsessed with the idea of justifying a character's poor actions. But the truth is, you can't justify everything, not to mention that it's just unnecessary. It's unrealistic. Instead, provide a reason as to why they chose to do something. What instigated their actions? What goes through their heads? Did their past influence their current motives and character?

Don't try to balance everything out! In the end, a wrong is still a wrong, and it's okay to let it remain as such.

*CONCLUSION*

With all of these ideas taken into consideration, you have to remember that an evil character doesn't exactly correlate to a hateable character. Are there hated villains? Yes! But don't go out of your way to make them loathsome in order to establish their "evil-ness".

At the end of the day, they're still people too, so give them dimension, complexities, and weaknesses to prove it.

Happy writing (and New Year)~

3hks <3

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Do you think an Owl House book (not necessarily a Belos one since we all know how Dana feels about the character) could popularize the Owl House fandom again like the book of Bill is doing for the Gravity Falls fandom? The show has been trending on Tumblr for quite a while now.

Well, before we answer that, I think it's important to examine why Gravity Falls is "making a comeback." It ended nearly 10 years ago, and since then, it has a reputation of being a groundbreaking tv show that has influenced Disney TVA shows since then. Artists and writers who worked on GF then proceeded to make their own popular and well-regard shows (The Owl House and Amphibia). Even during the near-decade since it ended, its fandom has been chugging along nicely, making art, fics, and meme templates. To put it simply, GF has a larger fandom that is still interested in its world and characters.

In contrast, The Owl House ended just last year and while the show does trend on here occasionally, it's usually because of MoringMark (and even just looking at his recent comics, they're mostly rehashing plots and character arcs from the original). The wider fandom has mostly moved on to other media (except for the usual die-hards).

I think The Book of Bill is so successful because it provides so much: it is an interactive text, it has a website that is an extension of the book itself, allowing readers to decode riddles and learn more about GF's lore and characters. It's about a character people love and want to engage with. That interactivity has always existed on the show and now Disney can capitalize on audience nostalgia and provide a book aimed at an older audience.

Can the same be done with toh?

I'd argue no. The world building and characterization are far more limited in toh but besides that, I don't think it's likely we will see official toh content ever again. Alex Hirsch has an amicable relationship with Disney but the same does not seem to be the case for Dana Terrace. She left with her show cancelled and has even stated that the characters aren't hers anymore but Disney's.

Gravity Falls is founded on mysteries and ended with some to speculate on. Toh pretty much explained everything except for the Wittebanes and the Titan-Archivists War. Of those two, perhaps a Philip Wittebane journal would be the most lucrative since it's connected to the main plot and you can make it fun and creative. A book explaining the Titans would just be more lore. So when you have a world that's rather flimsy and characters who are more like archetypes, then it's no wonder that people have largely moved on.

[alienssstufff]

JUANAFLIPPA CASE COURT HEARING (A very thorough) RECAP

APRIL 12, 4:00PM PST (2023) FAMILY COURT COURTROOM NO.2

JUDGE: Maximus (SapoPeta) PROSECUTION: SLIMECICLE (Charlie el Backflipo), Quackity (esp), Jaiden, Fit, BBH, Foolish DEFENSE: MARIANA, Roier JURY: Dapper, Leonardo777, Tilin, Trump, Bobby, Ramon

OBJECTIVE – To determine whether a crime was committed by the Defense, finalise Flippa’s custody amongst parties (divorce)  

Link to the full update timeline of the JuanaFlippa case can be found HERE

A/N: The following was recap was taken from Slimecicle’s (and a bit of Quackity and Philza’s) POV. This is 4 fucking pages long.  

PRE-TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS:

A small courthouse was built for the event - presumably during server maintenance.  

Mariana, Charlie and Quackity dressed up irl in suits for the stream! The couple + Jaiden’s minecraft skins appear in suits too! This isn’t relevant to the case but I respect the dedication :]  

Private conversation where Mariana asks Foolish to represent him in court. Foolish rejects :[

Initially Charlie had hired Roier to be one of the Prosecution’s representatives but had backed out last minute - choosing to instead take Mariana’s side on the Defense.  

Charlie had also requested to hire Philza to be one of the Prosecution’s representatives, to which Philza rejected the offer because of Charlie’s murder attempts on his son Chayanne.  

Individually, Charlie speaks to each of his lawyers in private. As of prior to the hearing, none of them are aware they are not the only lawyers representing the Prosecution.  

A few emotional words were held between Mariana and Charlie. Mariana via Twitter DMs sends Charlie a photo edit of them and JuanaFlippa together as a happy family. They cry together – it’s snotty and kinda gross ://

THE TRIAL:

SapoPeta opens the trial under court of law and representatives of both the Prosecution and Defense introduce themselves to the stand. It is here where all five of Charlie’s lawyers discover there is more than one representative (but it’s cool they play it off and agree to work together).

In defense of himself, Charlie argues that by everyone’s willingness alone to defend him should more than prove the strength of the Prosecution’s case. Quackity (esp) further reinforces Charlie’s first point and brings forth the opening statement outlining three objectives the Prosecution aims to achieve in the following hearing: 1 -To revive JuanaFlippa 2 -For Charlie to have complete custody over JuanaFlippa in the divorce 3 -To sacrifice Mariana to Satan  

As Charlie’s second lawyer, Jaiden drops probably one of the hardest statements in today’s hearing. It’s so sick I’m including the full transcription: “This case isn’t about winning custody. It isn’t about divorce, or even bringing back the life of a child. It is about Justice. Justice that was taken away from an innocent egg JuanaFlippa. JuanaFlippa’s childhood was born into a broken home, but that doesn’t mean she’s any less deserving of life.” “We’re here today standing before you Your Honour to write the Wrong that happened to a defenseless egg that simply wanted love. My client el Backflipo is a good parent. He cared and provided for JuanaFlippa, was always there for her, and at the end of the day Showed Up. All things the Defendant did not do. He knows the family isn’t in the best of situations, but he still did everything within his power to give JuanaFlippa what he could.” “In this case we will be revealing how the Defendant, el Mariana, was not present as a parent, not a good partner, was a bad influence on JuanaFlippa, consistently showed zero care for anything he subjected to her – and now is the ultimate cause for her untimely death.” “The facts in this case are straightforward and we are able to supply evidence and witnesses to stand to prove this point. I believe the Defendant, in a rage of not being able to escap el Backflipo’s custody papers, plotted to gain just enough of el Backflipo’s trust to be left alone with JuanaFlippa where he could then take her life.” “All el Backflipo wanted was to give JuanaFlippa the best childhood he could. He wants to right the wrong that was made in the hands of Mariana. For all those reasons and after you’ve heard all the evidence, at the end of this trial we ask you to return a verdict in favour of el Backflipo. That you find the defendant GUILTY of murder and to have his soul SACRIFICED in the resurrection of JuanaFlippa. Thank you.” (holy hell.)

Roier argues in good faith that Mariana is a good person (by shared history) and father who would never intentionally hit his daughter. The Defense pleads instead for manslaughter and that JuanaFlippa’s death was by a misclick.

Jaiden (sent by Charlie) brings new photo evidence to the stand in harm of Mariana’s image, bringing light to an affair between him and Foolish. Foolish is thrown under the fucking bus and is actively against the Prosecution (he is fired during recess). Principle of the item countering the Defense’s claims of Mariana being a good partner.  

Roier brings new photo evidence in harm of one of Charlie’s lawyer’s image of Tilin saying Quackity was also in an affair (???). Jaiden objects as the item is not relevant to the JuanaFlippa case. Objection accepted.  

Roier demonstrates the fragility of the egg beds - easily destroyable by a single click. He challenges the court to review the quality of egg beds in precedent of the murder. This statement is overruled by the Judge for irrelevance to the JuanaFlippa case, saying that such issue must be brought up in a different trial against the company providing the egg beds. The Judge however agrees that Mariana’s kill was an accident.

BBH from the Prosecution argues for the fragility of egg-kind, showing a reckless disregard from Mariana. Video evidence showing the night of the murder (footage wire-tapped by Charlie) is presented.

Roier argues against BBH bringing awareness to the species of the eggs being birthed from a power dragon (dragons are tough).

The Judge presents an audio file, a conversation between Mariana and JuanaFlippa. Due to technical difficulties in the Global Transcription, Quackity ‘translates’ saying “Daughter, I’m gonna be absent for a very long time therefore you need to start eating dirt so your defenses rise up and you don’t die as quick. Motherfucker.” Roier objects in defense that Mariana is a cc and was being a lil silly slash /j.

The Judge declares Recess as he comes up with a verdict.

Nothing much happens during recess other than a failed assassination on Charlie but it’s whatever ^_^!

Fucking Tik Tok edits were submitted as evidence as leverage to Mariana’s image in proof he is a good father to JuanaFlippa.

More photo evidence of Mariana’s and Foolish’s affair are brought to the court to counter this presented by the Judge. He objects himself for this has nothing to do with the murder, he just put it up there cuz it was funny.

Video evidence of the murder was brought up again. The Defense argues Mariana in fact destroyed a JuanaFlippa decoy - not the real JuanaFlippa. Theory debunked due to the current absence of JuanaFlippa today.

Charlie argues, on which will always transcribe (also hard as hell) the following: “And he (lil Satan) told me that he would burn my family to the ground if I told you this, but I don’t have a family left to burn. SATAN TOLD ME THAT IF I KILLED PHIL’S EGG, HE’D GIVE FLIPPA A GUN TO PROTECT HERSELF AND THIS IS THAT PHOTO RIGHT THERE OF BABY’S FIRST TOY, IN A CIRCLE OF FIRE AS WE MADE AN ACCIDENTAL PACT WITH THE DEVIL. AND HE SAID HE WOULD KILL MY DAUGHTER IF I DIDN’T DO AS HE SAYS. I’M SORRY BUT I WAS DOING WHAT A GOOD PARENT WOULD DO!” The Judge disregards the evidence as it is not relevant to JuanaFlippa’s murder. The murder of Chayanne (and Charlie’s homicidal tendencies) would be left for a different trial.

Fit in representation of the Prosecution brings four netherite ingots to the court as a bribe. It is revealed that the ‘netherite’ was forged.

FINAL VERDICT of today’s trial, in case of JuanaFlippa’s death, that she would be given another life. Both Mariana and Charlie would be sentenced to the QSMP Federal Prison for ~10 minutes. Request for divorce has been denied and parents of the Flippa family must work together in couples therapy.

POST TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS:

Mariana and Charlie are thrown in cages as people throw tomatoes at them. They sing together and do a duet of Careless Whisper on the harmonica/kazoo. Cute!

They escape underground just in time to see Flippa get resurrected. The family are reunited. Aww :,]!

Both Mariana and Charlie (WITHOUT KILLING her this time) tuck JuanaFlippa to bed and promise to work together on their relationship from now on. Yipee ^_^!

Both streams finish with Mariana and Charlie having minecraft sex. The end!

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

8 Things to Know About NASA’s Mission to an Ocean Moon of Jupiter

The first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth, Europa Clipper aims to find out if the ice-encased moon Europa could be habitable.

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, the largest the agency has ever built for a planetary mission, will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Europa, an intriguing icy moon of Jupiter. The spacecraft’s launch period opens Thursday, Oct. 10.

Data from previous NASA missions has provided scientists with strong evidence that an enormous salty ocean lies underneath the frozen surface of the moon. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter and conduct 49 close flybys of the moon to gather data needed to determine whether there are places below its thick frozen crust that could support life.

Here are eight things to know about the mission:

1. Europa is one of the most promising places to look for currently habitable conditions beyond Earth.

There’s scientific evidence that the ingredients for life — water, the right chemistry, and energy — may exist at Europa right now. This mission will gather the information scientists need to find out for sure. The moon may hold an internal ocean with twice the water of Earth’s oceans combined, and it may also host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface. If the mission determines that Europa is habitable, it would mean there may be more habitable worlds in our solar system and beyond than we have imagined.

2. The spacecraft will fly through one of the most punishing radiation environments in our solar system — second only to the Sun’s.

Jupiter is surrounded by a gigantic magnetic field 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s. As the field spins, it captures and accelerates charged particles, creating radiation that can damage spacecraft. Mission engineers designed a spacecraft vault to shield sensitive electronics from radiation, and they plotted orbits that will limit the time Europa Clipper spends in most radiation-heavy areas around Jupiter.

3. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter, studying Europa while flying by the moon dozens of times.

The spacecraft will make looping orbits around Jupiter that bring it close to Europa for 49 science-dedicated flybys. On each orbit, the spacecraft will spend less than a day in Jupiter’s dangerous radiation zone near Europa before zipping back out. Two to three weeks later, it will repeat the process, making another flyby.

4. Europa Clipper features NASA’s most sophisticated suite of science instruments yet.

To determine if Europa is habitable, Europa Clipper must assess the moon’s interior, composition, and geology. The spacecraft carries nine science instruments and a gravity experiment that uses the telecommunications system. In order to obtain the best science during each flyby, all the science instruments will operate simultaneously on every pass. Scientists will then layer the data together to paint a full picture of the moon.

5. With antennas and solar arrays fully deployed, Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission.

The spacecraft extends 100 feet (30.5 meters) from one end to the other and about 58 feet (17.6 meters) across. That’s bigger than a basketball court, thanks in large part to the solar arrays, which need to be huge so they can collect enough sunlight while near Jupiter to power the instruments, electronics, and other subsystems.

6. It’s a long journey to Jupiter.

Jupiter is on average some 480 million miles (about 770 million kilometers) from Earth; both planets are in motion, and a spacecraft can carry only a limited amount of fuel. Mission planners are sending Europa Clipper past Mars and then Earth, using the planets’ gravity as a slingshot to add speed to the spacecraft’s trek. After journeying about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) over 5½ years, the spacecraft will fire its engines to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030.

7. Institutions across the U.S. and Europe have contributed to Europa Clipper.

Currently, about a thousand people work on the mission, including more than 220 scientists from both the U.S. and Europe. Since the mission was officially approved in 2015, more than 4,000 people have contributed to Europa Clipper, including teams who work for contractors and subcontractors.

8. More than 2.6 million of us are riding along with the spacecraft, bringing greetings from one water world to another.

As part of a mission campaign called “Message in a Bottle,” the spacecraft is carrying a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, cosigned by millions of people from nearly every country in the world. Their names have been stenciled onto a microchip attached to a tantalum metal plate that seals the spacecraft’s electronics vault. The plate also features waveforms of people saying the word “water” in over 100 spoken languages.

More About Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

So far, Kidnap the series, is BL-ing in all the right ways. It's light fare, but that's exactly what it aims for, and its hitting near the bullseye every episode. Just because its light doesn't mean its bad. Consider this my plea to everyone--for the sake of romance, BLs, and Thai BLs in particular--to stop equating dramatic naturalism with 'good' art. Kidnap is silly, sweet, and such a throwback to classic BLs--it's already hit most of the BL tropes. More importantly, Kidnap understands a major 'why' of BLs and light fare, and the series, itself, is depicting that 'why': they can give an overwhelming sense of reparation for queer people's buried traumas.

On the podcast Boys Love Boys Love, hosts and gay married couple Adam and RJ have been recapping their first watch of ITSAY (which very much broke open many traditions of the BL genre) with guests. In all three recaps so far, the guests and hosts have detailed vividly how, despite feeling 'proud' of their sexuality, BL shows allowed them to revisit painful experiences of isolation and abandonment in adolescence that occurred because of homophobia and then re-imagine an adolescence in which they weren't constantly on guard but instead experienced genuine adult care, friendship, and uninhibited explorations of first love. BL shows and their happy endings help queer people process griefs we don't realize we've suppressed.

I see a parallel to this experience in Kidnap as Min aids Q in coping with his acute PTSD, especially in the play acting scenes. Q can safely engage with his past experience and gain a sense of control and compassion over what he couldn't manage originally. Because I'm a performance dork at heart, the context of Ohm, the 'king of BLs,' leading Leng, an entirely green actor, within the show and through the actual process of acting in BLs doubles down on the theme. With each clear-from-outer-space romance beat, the show promises that this is a safe place to be vulnerable.

In the latest episode (episode 5), the series even began to reveal plot-relevance to its BL levity. We've all joked about Min's incompetency with all the crime he's been drawn into. After the first episode, the people on the internet chucked it up to a cheesy show disinterested in researching and committing to the realities of crime, but then James walked in the next week and called him out on it all. It was just Min, not the show. His exuberant care and desperation to please has led him, unsurprisingly, into a web of deception with no way out.

Brother Mhen laid it flat out this week: just because Min takes care of him doesn't mean he doesn't also provide kinds of care for his brother. Min, like any human-being, has his own weaknesses and issues of self-worth, and Q, with his savvy and prerogative of self-preservation learned from his upbringing, is positioned perfectly to provide the care and encouragement Min needs. I don't think the show has invited this comparison as directly, but it does make me think about how we figure the lighter BL shows and people like Ohm, a particularly evocative representative for creators in the industry, who endure controversies and vitriol to bring their best attempts to lighten the burdens of audiences.

For all the intense feelings ITSAY or The Eight Sense or The On1y One produced in me, I can recognize that their 'cinematic' style, with its naturalistic performances and precise camera work, is still just a style. It's not inherently better than shows recorded on sound-stages with more theatrical performance styles, though many critics and scholars have trained us to think that way. I Love Lucy, The Golden Girls, and shows like them are undeniably celebrated series that have no interest in approaching cinematic style.

Stable cameras, broader characters, and more absurd situations allow for subversive problems to be broached and tackled (and laughed at) while maintaining audience comfort. The slapstick and screwball comedy is one of the things I've adored about Thai BLs, in particular. The audience can feel for but not with the characters. And, that healthy distance is not to be diminished. Comfort can be a vitally important aesthetic experience, and the rules for judging genres that prioritize it are very different than those used for judging prestige tv and *poetic cinema.*

Too much realism would be detrimental to an action rom-com like Kidnap because the audience would no longer feel safe to laugh and coo about these characters in their situation. Although GMMTV is leaning more into its cinematography for BLs recently with this series and The Trainee (maybe toss Moonlight Chicken in there), I personally appreciate how they've maintained the genre's unpretentious sentimental tone, even as they've allowed creators to expand the breadth of the genre and address its problems. That tonal lightness allows us, in Kidnap, to safely dive into PTSD and perhaps our own experiences as queer adolescents with parents who left us unseen as we suffered alone; we trust the show will leave us and the characters resolved in the end.

But I don't want to mistake that kind of depth as the main point of BLs. Those are the undercurrents but we're meant to have fun here. You don't pull-up Miss Congeniality on your TV to understand the human condition. We like these characters, feel safe to open up our hearts, and trust, even as threats of death loom, queer love will conquer all.

[sanjoongie]

𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚏 & 𝙽𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚣

🐍Pairing: Snake Familiar! Seonghwa x Witch! Reader (f) x Cat Familiar! San

🐈‍⬛️Genre: Fluff, angst, adventure

💧Au: witch au, supernatural au, fantasy au, familiars au, shapeshifter au, magical au

🐍Trope: savior love

🐈‍⬛️Rating: PG-13, MDNI

💧Warnings: mentions of familiars bonded against their will, escaping from an oppressed warlock, magical abuse

🐍Word Count: 2,147

🐈‍⬛️Summary: when a seemingly random cat and snake show up at your front door, you're pulled into a whirlwind story that poses you as the hero for the two

💧A/N: to my dearest Haru @stardragongalaxy. I hope your birthday can be a good one. You are my strength when I am feeling down. That's apparent with this tiny plot bunny that's been alive between us for almost a year now. Floof and Noodz have always been there to comfort me and that's because of you. I'm finally breathing some life into that story so that we can both share in the comfort of them. Happy Birthday!

You stepped out of your humble cottage by the sea and breathed in deeply of the salty air. You stretched for a moment, enjoying the tranquil morning before heading towards your tide pool. Inside was coral, kelp and mini sea creatures. You frowned when you saw your seahorse in the top right quadrant. Why did your tidepool project that you were going on an adventure when the most you planned to do was shuck some mollusks?

Then you saw the most peculiar thing while peering over the stone wall of your land. A very black cat was making its way over the black sand dunes surrounding your home. You thought perhaps he was lost but his path appeared very determined. Must be someone’s familiar out and about. You confirmed such when you spotted a pink collar around its neck. 

Satisfied that there was nothing wrong with the world, you went to your shed to acquire your sturdy boots and some strips of cloth to tie back your sleeves and skirts, and grabbed a basket you had weaved of dry grass. 

You made your way to the cliffs that always had a good amount of mussels clinging to the rock, swinging your basket and humming a pirate’s ditty under your breath. Thinking of how you also needed to resupply your storage cupboard of the pretty black mussel shells, you aimed to pick big ones, hoping that the insides provided for a good supper later as well. 

Oddly enough, the black cat you had spotted early chose a spot high above you on the rocks, watching you with dark eyes. You tipped your floppy hat in greeting and went back to your work. You found an awful lot of mussels, huge ones, a better haul than you had ever acquired and started to get suspicious. 

You stared at the black cat, unblinking and licking its paw, a little too casually. Every witch knew black cats were bad luck. You froze in alarm when the pink collar around the cat’s neck began to move but that’s when you realized that it wasn’t a collar. In fact, it was a tiny pink snake that had wound itself safely and securely around the cat’s neck. It slithered until its small head was on top of the black cat’s, tongue slithering out, scenting the air around it.

Curious but well aware the pair were none of your business, you made your way back to your cottage. You worked on the outside water pump, luring fresh water to wash most of the salt water from the mussels you had gathered. You shrieked and fell on your ass when the same black cat from the rock’s was suddenly on top of your pump.

The black cat raised its hair and hissed back at you. “Well, that’s not a very nice hello,” You muttered under your breath. 

The snake and cat exchanged a look. Suddenly, with a poof of golden starred smoke, the black cat changed into a human. “You’re the one that screamed because of me,” the man pouted when he spoke.

The snake was still in snake form, around the black-cat-now-man’s neck still. He was dressed in a flowing white shirt and tight black pants but he didn’t like he was in the best of shape, the clothes quite shabby and bags under his eyes. His dark hair was long and he shook it out of his face. He sported a chain that connected from his ear to his lip, piercings in both parts there. He was quite handsome. You shook your head. That was besides the point. 

You brushed yourself off of sand as you stood up. “And you, sir, are on my land, without permission.”

The man stood a bit straighter at the formality. “Mistress Witch, with your permission, my companion and I are seeking refuge. Would you allow us a day and a night on your land and in your cottage? Allow us to break bread and drink merrily at your table?”

You sighed. It was a harmless but formal request. The fact that he had responded in kind to your language meant that he was definitely a familiar and knew of the laws that governed all the witches and warlocks. 

“A day and a night is granted,” You agreed. You sent a dirty look at your tide pool and you could have sworn your mini dolphin sassily flipped in the water in response. 

The black cat introduced himself as San and the snake was Seonghwa. San immediately hauled the collection of mussels inside, aiding in shucking them while you chattered about a few recipes you contemplated cooking them into. 

The silence lulled and your eyes were drawn to the sparkly eyes of the snake around San’s neck. “Will your companion be joining us?” You wondered.

San ran a fond finger over Seonghwa’s scales. “He’s…shy. He’ll probably stay in his snake form for our visit.”

Seonghwa raised his head off of San’s collarbone and flickered his tongue at you. Then he slithered down San’s shirt, into his sleeve, and stuck his head out from the cuff of San’s sleeve. His tongue flickered again and then he looked back at San.

“Seonghwa says you taste like good magic,” San supplied. 

You laughed abruptly. “Do I?”

San frowned, unsure if you were mocking him or not. “You could say we’re not used to that.”

You tilted your head. “Wait. You’re truly seeking safety? You weren’t just offering a formality?”

San scratched the back of his head, avoiding your gaze. “It’s just for a bit. We won’t inconvenience you longer than we agreed on.”

If San wasn’t going to supply the reason for needing safety, you weren’t going to pry. You’d had your fair share of people passing through. So you cooked up the mussels in a wonderful white wine and ate in companionable silence with San. You were about to wash up the dishes but San insisted on doing that too. He was quite polite for a guest. 

Then as day turned into evening, and there was only the snap and pop of the fire while you sat in front of it, you found yourself lulled into a sense of warmth by the fire and fell asleep. You woke up to shouting from San and it was not a nice way to wake up.

“Seonghwa! Stop eating that right now!” San protested.

You blinked your eyes clearly and found that Seonghwa was three quarters of the way through chomping down on your imbued narwhal horn that acted as your staff. You stood up quickly, magic sparkling from your fingertips. 

San stood in front of Seonghwa immediately to stop you. “Wait, I know how this looks!”

“Like I offered you safety stupidly and now you’re stealing my staff!” You growled.

At this point, there was simply the tip left to consume and you took a step forward. “Either he stops or I’m about to suck you both into such a strong, magical maelstrom you won’t know up from down.”

“He can’t stop once he’s started, I’m sorry,” San apologized, “We’ll help you replace your staff.”

You watched with a heavy heart as the pink snake finished consuming your staff and shrunk back to his teeny tiny size. Then he slithered up San’s leg and found his place back around San’s neck. You narrowed your eyes at the offending creature. 

“That staff has been passed down from generation to generation. I use it to push away big storms or to help wrecked ships! There’s no way--”

“There’s a warlock after us who is looking to suck away all our power for himself!” San shouted suddenly.

It took you a moment to process this information and still it didn’t quite hit home. “What?”

San sighed heavily and took a seat in one of your wonderfully constructed, ‘filled with sea-foam’ chairs. He wiggled until he was comfortable and then began. He spun a tale of how Seonghwa and he were powerful familiars. They had not bonded with any witch or warlock. Then one day they met a warlock with a charming grin. He introduced himself as Hongjoong. The warlock was indeed powerful, but with a familiar already. The hawk Hongjoong held on his arm was Yunho but he didn’t look good; his feathers weren’t healthy and Seonghwa sensed something wrong with the hawk. San and Seonghwa both declined to agree to a bond with Hongjoong but as it turned out, Hongjoong didn’t need them to agree. He was capable of twisting familiars to be his without an agreement. The two had been fleeing from Hongjoong since they fought with the warlock. 

“Is that why Seonghwa ate my staff?” You demanded tiredly.

San nodded. “I’m sorry. It was like an instinct for him. I had fallen asleep too after the yummy meal you made us.” He sent you an apologetic smile. 

You stood up, unable to sit down any longer with the energy inside of you. “I’ll have to cast a spell. Perhaps a magical fog to suppress your auras. That will keep you hidden for a bit, at least. But you’ll have to stay here.”

San frowned at you in confusion. “Why would you help us? Especially when Seonghwa just ate your staff?”

“I… I will not stand for anyone to be bullied,” You said adamantly, “This Hongjoong must be stopped.”

San raised his hand to run a reassuring finger down Seonghwa’s head but found that there was no snake around his neck. You both looked around in alarm but as it turned out, Seonghwa had slithered to your chair and was hovering on the arm of it. You inched your hand forward, pulling back when Seonghwa’s head reared back, but when you offered your hand palm up, Seonghwa slithered until he was coiled up in the palm of your hand. 

You brought him up to your face, still not pleased with your staff being eaten. “You, sir, are going to have to do a lot of apologizing.”

Seonghwa, whether in response or simply to taste if your magic was still good, flickered his tongue out at your nose, almost kissing it. “Seonghwa!” San scolded him.

You glanced towards San. “Did he… say anything?”

“He says the narwhal horn tasted yummy and he was wondering if you had more for him to eat,” San admitted.

You couldn't help but laugh despite the situation. You shook your finger at Seonghwa. “No more magical item consuming, please. If you want me to help you with Hongjoong, I’m going to need all the help I can get!”

You went outside, about to pass Seonghwa back to San but instead, the snake wound himself around your wrist instead. You lifted your eyebrows up at San but he shrugged, not sure what Seonghwa was intending. 

You raised your arms and called upon your powers to summon a fog that could cloak everything it touched. The fog appeared along your ankles and swirled around the sand until finally you couldn't see the sea or anything outside of the limits of your land. When you were done, you looked down to see Seonghwa was shining, iridescent and neon pink. You looked over to San, whose eyes were now shining a bright purple. You checked your inner well of magic and it was like you hadn't cast a very large spell at all.

“Did you help me?” You took a shot in the dark.

“It’s the least we could do,” San smiled, showing some dimpled cheeks. 

That night you slept in your hammock, hanging up a spare for San in the sunroom of your cottage. But when you woke up the next morning, from a tickle on your arm, you found that San had turned back into a cat and had curled up on your chest. You stretched for a yawn, holding San very carefully and depositing him into the hammock where he remained slumbering as a cat.

You moved into the kitchen and found a very tall, pink-haired man standing there. He turned around and shot a pink beam of magic at you, which you very quickly ducked out of the way. 

“Oh--no! I’m so sorry! That was instinct! I didn’t mean to harm you!” The large man’s eyes began to shake in worry. 

“At least I didn’t--” Your mouth shut when you saw the hole that was now in your fireplace. “Oh, Seonghwa.”

The black cat bound into the kitchen, meowing loudly and entwining around your ankles in comfort. Seonghwa smiled painfully, “We’ll help you with that too.”

You rubbed your temples in worry and tried to smile back. It was going to be a bit before the two of them trusted you but perhaps a few fumbles on the way would build a rapport between the three of you. Only time would tell and you hoped you had plenty of that before Hongjoong descended on you all.

[tmnt-tychou]

What is Ninja Turtles: Brotherhood?

Brotherhood came into conception February 2023 when we started to see more of the Mutant Mayhem movie set to release later in August. While I don't mind the franchise skewing young--I myself first saw Ninja Turtles as a child-- I found myself wishing there was also some TMNT animated content for older fans. At the time I was watching DC animated series like Young Justice and Harley Quinn. It was nice they recognized that there were fans of all ages and they were putting out animated content for older audiences while also making content for kids. I found myself wishing that TMNT would follow that example. And then I asked myself, if I had the opportunity to make a TMNT animated series for older fans, what would it be about? At first, I had nothing and wasn't intending to explore the idea further. Then, one day, I was driving home from work and I suddenly had an idea.

For most of 2023 I explored the concept. Since animation is my background, that was the medium I had in mind when putting it together. Of course, there's no way I could animate a whole series by myself as a fan project. I first thought about maybe trying animatics, but that also seemed a bit overwhelming. For a time, I thought maybe I would let it go as it seemed too big of a project for one person. But then the 40th anniversary came around and I decided I wanted to do it for them. For a lifetime of turtles. So I decided on a web toons type format. It seemed easier as a one-person project than the typical comic book format. So here I am after a year of development, attempting my best at putting out a TMNT fan comic for the anniversary. It's meant as a love letter to both the franchise as a whole and the fans. It pulls from many different iterations while also telling its own story. As such, it's meant for not just fans of one iteration, but for fans of any of the iterations. Just Ninja Turtle fans in general. And I'm aiming to provide a full character arc for each turtle so, no matter who's your favorite, you'll get some good content.

Plot: The series takes place five years after the defeat of the Shredder. In a story meant for older fans, I decided the turtles should be older, too. No longer teenagers, they are now 25. The idea is that everything that you expect to see in a typical TMNT series has already happened to them, and now they are navigating their world and experiencing new adventures as adults, trying to find meaning after their main adversary is gone.

You can find development art I've done over the year by checking out the #ntbrotherhood tag. I post new parts every Monday. And I usually post here on Tumblr unless I feel they are too big. You can find the full comic collected on Webtoons (for as long as they'll put up with hosting a fan comic.)

The Boys:

[dead-dolphins]

We need to talk about the changes on Mr. Senator.

Friends, you know how much I cherish this AU to the point of being meticulous with the plot (as I am with any fic, really). However, I need to discuss the changes I intend to make to Mr. Senator from the “Things You Need to Know About Mr. Senator AU” that I wrote previously.

But before I begin, let me share what I aim to capture with this fic. Ideally, I should demonstrate things by actually writing rather than explain my reasons, but I feel it’s necessary to clarify so you can grasp the essence of what this fic is about.

Mr. Senator is a fic where I want to portray a Mikasa who is deeply in love with a man she has admired from afar. This man, however, is significantly older and a politician, making her feel insignificant and afraid to approach him for fear of appearing foolish. This changes when she hears a rumour that he plans to marry for electoral gain, needing a wife to secure more votes. Mikasa can not bear the idea of him belonging to anyone else. The pain of seeing him with another would be unbearable, a wound too deep to heal. Driven by this fear and her overwhelming love, she resolves to do whatever it takes to make him notice her, even if it means trapping him. What I essentially envision is a shy yet determined Mikasa. Though she may seem naïve, she is ready to step into the light, determined to make Eren see her as a brave woman and a potential wife. Her complex feelings of love, admiration, fear, and determination intertwine with the recklessness of youth and passionate infatuation. Her youthful impulsiveness propels her forward, making her bold in ways she never imagined. I dare to say that it's a lot of passion for someone so young YET this passion is not just a fleeting crush but a deep-seated need to be seen, to be valued by the man she loves.

So, with that being said, here are some changes (I will not say them all, lol).

First and foremost, to dispel any doubt, I’ve decided that this fic will be told solely from one point of view, and that will, of course, be Mikasa’s. She is the heart of this story, and although you might be interested in Eren’s perspective, I believe Mikasa’s lens will provide the clearest understanding.

With Mikasa’s point of view as the central focus, certain elements, such as Eren being of low-born status, will be adjusted. Instead, I’ll portray him as a wealthy man. This change facilitates their interactions mean to their social class. However, he will remain an Ackerman protégé, and his wealth will not alter this aspect. How he will do that? Keep reading.

Previously, I mentioned that Mikasa has younger brothers, but now they will be younger sisters. So, Mikasa is an older sister of a family full of girls. This shift will impact her psyche, offering rich narrative potential that I can't fully detail at this moment (but the keyword for this is: daddy's issues or something of the sort).

Eren has an ex-girlfriend from their social circle who will be displeased to see the senator she once knew taking an interest in a little girl. Her resentment will play a role in the unfolding drama.

And yes, you read that correctly—senator! In the earlier sneak peek, Eren was merely a candidate, but now he is firmly established as a senator seeking re-election. His ambition stretches further, for he harbours aspirations of one day becoming PRESIDENT.

In this iteration, Mikasa's father is absent, and instead, the family is under the care of her uncle, none other than Kenny Ackerman. This dynamic is one I haven’t fully explored in my previous writings, so I felt it was time to delve into it. Consequently, Uncle Kenny will be a prominent figure in Mikasa’s life, leading to numerous clashes with Mikasa’s mother.

Speaking of Mikasa’s mother, she is a formidable woman, ahead of her time. However, Kenny often outmanoeuvres her at every turn. To survive in this challenging environment, Mikasa’s mother focuses on empowering her daughter, making Mikasa a key player in their family’s struggles (you shall see it later!)

Lastly, Mikasa will be twenty years old in this story, rather than eighteen. This decision ties directly into the dynamic I want to explore between Kenny, Mikasa and Mikasa's mother. In their society, women were expected to marry quickly, but Mikasa defied this norm, which will be a significant element in the narrative. The full implications of this choice will unfold as the story progresses.

Additionally, Eren will be 32 years old!

That’s all for now, folks! I’m thrilled to bring this fic to life, like, for real! It’s shaping up to be a long, single shot (unless I separate it) and I’m diving deep into research to make it unlike anything I’ve written before.

¡Estén atentos para algo realmente INCREÍBLE!! ! :D

[intogenshin]

Sumeru's war on Nietzsche (part 1)

One of the main themes of the Sumeru chapter is the victory of altruistic values over egoism, specifically the egoism in Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. 

I want to point out these connections so we can agree from the getgo on Nietzsche’s presence in the chapter:

Kaveh defeats nihilism in Parade of Providence, and the defeat of nihilism is one of the main goals of Nietzsche's philosophy

Achievements in the Khvaena of Good and Evil quest are named after Nietzsche quotes

Sumeru is mostly inspired by India, Iran and Egypt, and Nietzsche had a bone to pick with the philosophical influence of all three in the west

The themes of egoism and altruism are explored through the work of western philosophers and the philosophy of eastern religions, following the real life historical interrelation of both. And because the outcome of this confrontation favors altruism more, I also think it can be interpreted as a rejection of western values of individualism as a whole. 

Nietzsche has the leading role for this analysis for clarity's sake (or else it'd end up in 15k words) but the philosophical material used in the region is vast and varied. 

Egyptian influence

Nietzsche blamed Egypt for influencing Greek philosophers like Plato (public enemy #1 of Nietzsche) in his conception of goodness. Philosophers of ancient Greece would go on to influence western philosophy and institutions. 

Nietzsche thought that developing the idea of objective goodness which one should aspire to and be governed by is where the ancient Greeks went wrong as a society, disrupting the balance between the rational values of the god Apollo and the frenzy of the god Dionysus that made ancient Greece an ideal society in Nietzsche's eyes. The clash of order and chaos is what made Greek culture rich in his opinion, so introducing a code of ethics ruined the dichotomy. 

This concern with goodness was of course Plato's fault, who most likely was influenced by the Egyptian concept of Ma'at. Ma'at can basically be understood as a moral principle that guided both Egyptian society in its religious beliefs and its institutions. 

In Genshin Cyno’s character is inspired by the god Anubis and one of his main motifs is the scales, his personal drive is also the pursuit of justice and order. This is likely because in Egyptian mythology Anubis weighs the hearts of the deceased against the feather of Ma'at. 

So here we have the character inspired by Egyptian culture who personifies the ancient concept of morality that Nietzsche blamed for ruining a society he considered advanced. 

Indian influence

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was initially Nietzsche's role model, but he'd later become his biggest critic due to the ideas promoted by his philosophical system. 

Schopenhauer borrowed elements from dharmic religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) to construct his ideas, mainly the concept of Brahma (a universal consciousness which originated all creation and it therefore presents the world as a unity) and the concept of desires as the basis of suffering (therefore desires have to be suppressed).

Nietzsche considered this philosophical approach to be pessimistic, arguing that it easily led into nihilism. He thought similarly about Buddhism (although he held it in higher regard than Christianity) for being a religion that denies the self and devalues the world, only considering it a transitory illusion that had to be escaped. Nietzsche aimed for the complete opposite: giving value to the world as it was and indulging in one's own individuality, independent from collective constraints. 

In Genshin I think the concept of Brahma is close to the plot of the sovereign dragon Apep, who creates life that later goes back to it in Nahida's second story quest. Buddhist philosophy is covered in Wanderer's arc, which I analysed here. 

Iranian influence 

Iran and India share common ancestors, so their religious practices also have common traditions (such as the worship of nature), hence why they largely make up most of Sumeru’s inspiration. The ancient religion of Iran is called Zoroastrianism, things like the Akademiya darshans and the House of Daena are named after its religious principles, as well as the overall region where the quest Khvaena of Good and Evil takes place. 

Zoroastrianism was founded by Zoroaster, who conceptualized the world as a conflict between good (originated by the creator god Ahura Mazda) and evil (influenced by the entity Ahriman) where humans have free will to choose between the two. 

This cosmology would later influence the abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and, in Nietzsche's view, originate the western perception of morality he was critical of. 

He used the prophet Zoroaster (known in Germany as Zarathustra) as his own character in the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra to voice his ideas of a new kind of man that could overcome this morality that Europe had submitted to under the authority of Christianity. This way, since Zoroaster was the one to introduce morality to the western world, so would he be the one to denounce it. 

Historical context

The philosophical confrontation between egoism and altruism began in the aftermath of the French revolution, when European countries formed into republics. The threats of democracy, liberalism and socialism loomed over the aristocratic class and the societal status quo, which produced reactionary responses in the shape of individualism and egoism: the exaltation of the individual over the collective majority. 

Nietzsche himself took part in (and built his ideas around) this reactionary response, he argued that the purpose of society was producing culture, which could only be achieved by the subjugation of one class to support the elites who could produce the art that the inferior class was supposedly incapable of producing. He denounced democracy, the egalitarian cause of liberalism and the class equality of socialism of attempting against this purpose, and he used the altruistic values of religion as a scapegoat that collectively addressed the three.

Nietzsche's philosophy 

In this sense, Christianity was a method of control to suppress the individual from the basis of resentment —here's where the master and slave morality dichotomy he authored comes from: the subjugated class, in his theory, motivated by feelings of resentment and powerlessness against the elites, would develop values of humility, altruism and collectivism in order to morally place themselves above the “masters”. 

For Nietzsche, this dominating morality was limiting and produced no worthy culture or arts, and without a purpose society was doomed to fall into nihilism (a state of being devoid of meaning). He identified the pessimistic approach of eastern religion (like the influence they had on Schopenhauer) and the slave morality of western religion as the culprits of nihilism, as well as the conformity of the “last man” (as he called it) who didn't aspire to anything beyond what was imposed on him. 

Nietzsche's main existential problem with religion was the devaluation of the world and the individual, treating both as transitory towards a “beyond” where value was placed instead (Nirvana in Buddhism, Heaven in Christianity, etc), and he sought to return this value to life through the concept of the ubermensch (“overman” or “superman”): a man who would embrace existence as it is and redefine the values of society beyond morality with his own independent and individual values. 

So, to summarize, Nietzsche “blamed” Greek philosophy (which was influenced by Egyptian morality) and Zoroastrianism (the ancient religion of Iran) for the Christian dominating morality of Europe, as well as eastern dharmic religion for influencing western philosophy and leading society into nihilism. In his view, religion (and its morality) was a method of control that had to be overcome to return value to the individual. 

The setting of the Akademiya

The Akademiya's original Chinese name is Sumeru Institute of Religious Decree, which means it acts as a religious institution that treats religion and education as one and the same. This church of knowledge also grants power to its elite class (formed on the basis of academic merit) who rules the nation as an extension of the god of wisdom. 

The Akademiya plays three roles of authority at the same time: spiritual, educational and political, all three which serve as a means to control and shape the values of the population. The Akademiya decides which knowledge has worth and which material is allowed to be learned, it decides which faith in which god has value or is allowed to be practiced, and it decides who occupies positions of political authority and who can access the education necessary for class mobility. 

In short, the Akademiya is a form of governance that has the power to define and limit the values of society: its rules, beliefs, morals, ethics, hopes and even its dreams.

However, unlike Nietzsche's assessment, it's egoist values that dominate Sumeru under the Akademiya's guidance. 

The culture of the Akademiya separates people into the ordinary and the extraordinary, those who live in submission and those who stand out. There is no community between scholars, only associations where each party must benefit for the duration of the projects they collaborate in, then they are terminated. 

"Relationships are merely a byproduct in this exchange of interests. They may be pleasant and captivating, but they can only ever be secondary. When scholars collaborate to solve difficult problems, we freely share our knowledge and resources with one another, as if we were all kin. However, this collaboration ends after the results of our work are published. The reason is simple: We are scholars, and there are new projects that await our attention."

This type of association described in Nilou's story quest seems very similar to Max Stirner’s Union of Egoists, an idea he proposed as an antithesis to communal society where individuals conceptualized each other as “property” that either has or doesn't have use in one's life.

As Paul Thomas summarized, Stirner believed that “we should aspire not to the chimera of community but to our own “one-sidedness” and combine with others simply in order to multiply our own powers and only for the duration of a given task.”

Egoism and God

Max Stirner was the first philosopher to publish work on egoism with The Ego and Its Own in 1844, his influence on Nietzsche is contended due to the similarities in the foundation of their ideas. 

It was Stirner who first presented the concept of the death of god, meaning that society could no longer hold on to religious beliefs disproved by the scientific advancements of the Enlightenment. Nietzsche would later coin the phrase “god is dead”, and both identify man as the killer, although Stirner argued that the god of religion had been replaced by the god of humanistic values and Nietzsche proposed for man to become god himself.

Here's Stirner's quote (The Ego and Its Own, 1844):

At the entrance of the modern time stands the "God-man." At its exit will only the God in the God-man evaporate? And can the God-man really die if only the God in him dies? They did not think of this question, and thought they were through when in our days they brought to a victorious end the work of the Illumination, the vanquishing of God: they did not notice that Man has killed God in order to become now—”sole God on high." The other world outside us is indeed brushed away, and the great undertaking of the Illuminators completed; but the other world in us has become a new heaven and calls us forth to renewed heaven-storming: God has had to give place, yet not to us, but to—Man. How can you believe that the God-man is dead before the Man in him, besides the God, is dead?

Here's Nietzsche's quote (The Gay Science, 1882):

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

Both likely drew from the work of Ludwig Feuerbach on religion as a projection of human ideals into divine attributes. For example, omnipotence reflects human desire for control and power, while omniscience reflects human thirst for knowledge and aspiration to overcome ignorance. 

Sumeru’s ubermensch 

The plot of the Sumeru chapter presents a nation in the aftermath of the death of their god, Lord Rukkhadevata. The political class struggles to accept the new god left in her place, as she's far from representing the ideals of wisdom they aspire to project on their archon, and thus fails to provide meaning for scholars’ quest for knowledge. 

The sages then set out to manufacture an artificial god with their collective human wisdom, a projection of themselves in the vessel of a god, transcending all established ethical (and moral) boundaries. 

The vessel for this artificial god has his own motivations, which in the fairy tale that stores his memories it's depicted as such:

They essentially create an artificial ubermensch capable of redefining values, but the real ubermensch is found behind the artificial god itself.

Crime and punishment

Nietzsche called Fyodor Dostoevsky the only psychologist he had anything to learn from, as he was deeply influenced by the psychology of his novels —of which he read botched translations that didn't quite transmit the author's philosophy, but still. 

The novel Crime and Punishment has a protagonist that represents the opposite of the author's beliefs, who happens to be quite similar to Nietzsche's idea of the ubermensch or the higher man. This character justifies his crime (a murder) to himself arguing that people are divided into the ordinary and the extraordinary, and the extraordinary have the right to commit crimes if it allows them to put forward their extraordinary contributions to the world. 

From Crime and Punishment:

“Ordinary men have to live in submission and have no right to transgress the law, because, don't you see, they are ordinary. But extraordinary men have a right to commit any crime and transgress the law in any way, just because they are extraordinary.”

“...if the discoveries of Kepler and Newton could not have been made known except by sacrificing the lives of one, a dozen, a hundred, or more men, Newton would have had the right, would indeed have been in duty bound…to eliminate the dozen or the hundred men for the sake of making his discoveries known to the whole of humanity. But it does not follow from that that Newton had a right to murder people left and right to steal every day in the market.”

The protagonist sees himself as an extraordinary man, therefore, his murder is justified in contribution made to the world in exchange. 

For Nietzsche, who sees life conditioned on the dominance over the life of others, a criminal is a man whose primordial human impulses to exercise power, which in the ordinary men have been suppressed by the dominating morality, have found an unconventional outlet through crime. Thus, a criminal is a symptom of a sick society that has domesticated itself out of its own nature.

The criminal as a glorified outcast, a rebel against modern society whose abhorrent behavior is a healthy instinct that denotes potential —at least symbolically, he wasn't calling out to people to commit crimes per se. 

While Dostoevsky wrote the protagonist of his novel to struggle with guilt in the form of an illness and allowed him to find salvation in facing punishment for his crime, Nietzsche holds the criminal in high regard, seeing guilt as something beneath him. 

This archetype is popular in media with characters like Hannibal Lecter, and indeed, many fans of the game expected Alhaitham or Scaramouche to fulfill it, but the character that truly embodies the outcast genius is The Doctor.

Dottore commits crimes against others to carry out his plans, never feeling guilt or shame. He was expelled from the Akademiya precisely for violating the ethical code all scholars are governed by and, as Nietzsche's ubermensch, aims to redefine the values of the world by collaborating with the Tsaritsa to “burn the old world.” 

However, Dottore is the antagonist of the chapter, and the attempt at manufacturing the artificial god is depicted as an act of hubris, not a brave crusade against the restraining morality of religion. Furthermore, both the sages and Scaramouche face punishment (in their own way), something Nietzsche would disapprove of in an appropriate higher man. 

Looking back on the Akademiya, the scholars seem to suffer under the culture of egoism and competition so well established in the institution. 

They're often disoriented in their life, contrasting with the villagers who know themselves and their place in the world. 

And the god the sages had dismissed as unworthy is reinstalled as the archon, maintaining the institution as it was while taking down the Akasha, the method of control of the sages. 

Nietzsche’s egoism is rejected by the narrative, it raises and it falls in the course of the chapter, but what does this mean for the region?

Part 2 will examine how the narrative engages with the philosophies of altruism and how both egoism and altruism converge in the characters of Alhaitham and Kaveh

[writers-potion]

Writing the "Mean Girl" Character

How do we write the "mean girl" without making her another shallow copy of the brainless, pink-clad, cheerleader we see in high teen dramas?

Of course, there's nothing wrong with such a character if you want them to be funny/light in the first place.

However, I can hear myself slowly losing my last two brain cells when I keep reading about such papercut characters for more than an hour - reading clearly requires more effort than watching a class B movie, so I always appreciate when authors put more effort to make the characters dynamic.

No "Mean for the Sake of Being Mean

The classic way to avoid this is to give them a sad backstory. They used to be overweight/ugly and were bullied, or their parents don't care about them enough, or they are too insecure. Obviously these plot points are quiet stale now, but the basic principle still stands - if your charcter is mean, she needs A REASON.

I love reading about a mean character's backstory then feeling, "actually, I would have felt like doing that, too."

Whatever their motivations may be, remember that bullies pick on the weak, not the successful/powerful. While the Mean Girl might feel jealous/inferior towards the protagonist, I hardly think that should be the sole reason why they picked their victim. There must be a flaw in your protagonist that happened to be something that the Mean Girl knows how to exploit, which makes them a target above others.

Give Them A Twist

There are two ways that I can think of: (1) A seemingly nice character is in fact a mean girlie, or (2) A mean character turns out to be kind and well-intended.

Personally, I love Mean Girls who are intelligent/ know what they are doing. They are purposely manipulative:"are you okay?" as if the victim has something wrong with them or providing "constructive" criticism. Or kindly inviting them to a party that she knows they wouldn't fit in.

The conflict deepens when everyone else likes the Mean Girl due to her manipulative nature, making the protagonist doubt themselves.

A Purpose beyond Providing Conflict

Think about what the mean girl aims to gain from bullying your protagonist.

Is she continuously trying to prove herself "superior" so that she can feel better inside? Is she an academic rival who just needs to be the first in everything, even is that means reverting to questionable behavior?

Overly ambitious/perfectionist characters can come off as mean when they feel like others fail to live up to their standards (which only they know about, and are usually up in the sky)

Give Them A Proper Redemption

If you plan on giving her a redemption arc, make sure that she has earned it! The worst thing you can do is make it sound like you approve of the horrible things she has done.

this transition doesn’t mean the character does a complete 180 and is suddenly all smiles and good favors. They can fall back on their old ways of thinking, but is trying to make an effort to step out of their old clothes.

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References:

https://writingquestionsanswered.tumblr.com/post/668302340882857984/how-would-you-write-a-mean-girl-character-without

https://www.writingforums.org/threads/how-to-write-the-mean-girl-character.160729/

[forestfiresandfics]

Dual Protagonists vs Deuteragonist

This is the first in the series because in order to discuss any of the literary techniques or structure present in third life, I have to establish the main characters. It’s going to help me further along. I want to do two things here, establish my protagonists, antagonists, and determine between the two obvious answers, in what way our two main characters are split along a literary line—are they equal or is one more important?

When it comes to the question of ‘who’s the main character of 3rd life’ I think it’s not a stretch to say Grian and Scar. And that is the answer I’m ultimately aiming for. But I want to explain why, and basically justify the fact that well, these are all real people, and they all have interesting POVs, so why am I ignoring everyone else? Because they are all worth watching! No POV is more important than the others! However, again, I am establishing narrative structure, and the narrative is only structured if you view it from a certain POV. 

The reason Grian and Scar are the obvious main characters is because they last the longest. The final two, the final battle, if you want to see the actual end of the series, they are the only ones who have it. And that is also about 60% of the reason I agree. Their POVs are the only ones that have the whole story. But the other reason is because, as I alluded to before, theirs are the only ones that structure the narrative properly. For example, where is the climax of 3rd life? Is it the battle of dogwarts? Or is it the betrayal and the fight in the pond? Is it the cactus ring? Does the story end with the death of the king, or does it end with the resolution to the death game? While its possible to end it at the battle of dogwarts, it is a better rounded story if the rest is also included. 

Scar and Grian are our main characters, but who’s the protagonist? Are they both dual protagonists, equal in the story? Or is one of the protagonist and the other a deuteragonist? Before I get into that, let me first preface. A protagonist is the main character, where the bulk of the story comes from. This is not the same as a hero—a morally good character. Similarly, an antagonist is someone who works against the protagonist, and is different from a villain. So when I say that Scar and Grian are the protagonists, the main characters, I don’t necessarily mean they are the good guys. By this definition, it’s safe to call renchanting the antagonists, they are the ones in direct opposition to the desert duo, and the war on the server is about the conflict between these two groups. That does not mean that renchanting are the bad guys. Personally, I see the conflict as grey vs grey—Scar does steal and threaten a lot, and Ren does bully and threaten during the expanding of the empire. But the great thing about 3rd life is that it can be seen either way, either group could be the heroes, or neither.

A deuteragonist is the second most important character in the story. They drive the plot just as much as the protagonist, but they get a touch less screentime. Where the protag is the most important, and the antag acts against that important person, the deuterag is the next most important, either on the same level as the antag or slightly lower. If we think about the understanding of a deuteragonist based on the protag’s relationship to the antag, then it’s logical to suggest that Scar is the protagonist, and Grian the deuteragonist. Because the war is between Scar and Ren, with Grian in a role of helping. 

However, that presupposes that the way between the factions is the main plot, which it is not. The death game is. And within that framework, Grian is the logical protagonist, since he was the winner. His is the only POV that includes the true ending of third life, the suicide. Scar is simply the deuteragonist, leading the plot when they were dealing with the war, and providing an equal in the final fight. It kinda comes down to vibes at a certain point. Scar is the leader, but Grian is the winner. Scar’s storyline involves him becoming worse, burning more things, going from scams to outright threats, then turning on his closest ally and realizing how far he’d fallen. Grian’s involves him making a mistake and dedicating his series to redeeming that mistake, and finding true companionship even after his redemption was complete, only for that companion to betray him and then be forced to kill that companion himself. It’s an opinion, but I think Grian is the protagonist there. (And it’s Martyn, not Ren that is his primary antagonist—but that’s a discussion for another day).

This is all hypothetical though, because I haven’t eliminated the possibility of dual protagonists. One of the big draws of third life is the doubling and the character foils. Two green lives end up in debt to two red lives, three red-green partnerships dominate the server, two businessmen end up at the centre of server-wide alliances, in opposition. With all the doubling present in the story, it may be thematically appropriate that there is a doubling of the protagonists, too. They do both work towards the same goal, and when they split, both sides are compelling for the tragedy of their situation. 

In conclusion, I don’t know! It’s hard to decide between dual protagonists or deuteragonist which is a more compelling reading of third life. If this were a proper essay, I’d pick one at random and stick to it, but ultimately, I think it works both ways. If you only watched Grian’s POV, you would understand the story. If you watched both Grian and Scar’s POV, you would understand the story about the same, but understand Scar more. So I think it may be unfair to decide between two protagonists or one and a very important second. 

*****

Masterpost

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

Why Tears of the Kingdom's Story Doesn't Work

While I will defend the lack of nuance in the text of Tears of the Kingdom, what I will criticize is how the story was executed. TL;DR: The writers tried to tell a story like Skyward Sword, but were limited by Breath of the Wild's nonlinear gameplay formula. Read on below the cut. Spoilers, obviously.

Let's start with Skyward Sword's story and how it was executed so well. There are three arcs: Find Zelda, find the sacred flames to purify the Goddess Sword, and seek out the dragons to find the Triforce. The first arc is notable here, because it's a suspenseful mystery. Link is constantly a step behind Zelda. He's chasing after her with no goal other than to just reunite with her.

The story is able to move from arc to arc and tell a story that evolves over the course of the game because of how rigidly structured the progression is. You will go from point A to point B, whether you want to or not. That way, the writers could drop the right story beats at the right time. It's traditional storytelling, because no other medium has the same level of interactivity as a video game, and it works. Regardless of how it feels to play, you can't deny that the story was executed very, very well.

Breath of the Wild, by contrast, is nonlinear to a fault. You can go anywhere, anytime. The writers were cognizant of this, so they wrote a one-arc story that was compartmentalized into four entirely separate plot lines. Link has one goal that never changes across the game: free the divine beasts to defeat Calamity Ganon. You go to one region, free that divine beast, then go to another at your pace and discretion.

Nothing carries over between plot lines. Nothing you did for the Rito has any impact on what is happening to the Gorons, because every plot line had be to designed so it could the first or last one you tackle. This approach deprived the story of depth or any sense of momentum. They aimed to make up for this with the memories: cutscenes that tell a linear story with more depth, but can be discovered in any order then rewatched in the proper order for the "complete" picture. Critically, though, the memories only provide context to the current events. Knowing what happened in the past has no bearing on the present.

Now we come to Tears of the Kingdom. They went the same gameplay approach as BotW: complete non-linearity. But they tried to tell a mystery story. This fundamentally fails because, like BotW, nothing carries over between the regional plot lines, and they should be impacted by the dragon tears (TotK's memories) but aren't. There are so many ways this falls apart. I'll talk about it through the order I played the game in: Zora, Rito, Gerudo, Goron.

Once Link returns to the Surface, witnesses Zelda appear and disappear at Hyrule Castle, and tells Purah what happened, she instructs him to investigate the odd regional phenomena. So he goes to Zora's Domain and starts working with Sidon. Zelda appears to them, and at this point, Link--and the player--has no idea what's going on. After that, Link goes to Rito Village, finds Tulin near the huge blizzard, and they see Zelda. Alright, something isn't adding up. By the time Link gets to the Gerudo Desert and sees Zelda there, he must know something is wrong. That is not Zelda, and it's pretty obvious at this point. But he still acts as if he knows nothing.

Finally, when he and Yunobo are chasing after her on Death Mountain, there is no fucking way he doesn't know it's not her. Yunobo is all like "oh no, we have to find Zelda! We have to go after her! Is she okay after going into the ceiling like that?" At this point I am screaming in my head, "Link! Tell Yunobo it's not her! You know it's not her!" Because Link is clever. He can put two and two together, so why the hell isn't he? Well, it's because he's doomed by the format of the narrative.

This is made doubly nonfunctional once you find all the dragon tears. Once Links knows that Zelda is the Light dragon, there is no way on God's green earth that he is fooled by the Zelda that he sees with any sage afterward. But he acts like he is. Brother, Link talks so much in this game. He's constantly explaining shit to people. They really got their mileage out of his "moving hands as if explaining something" animation. But when it matters most, he is fucking silent. It's disrespectful to the player's intelligence and Link's character.

Look. When you're trying to tell a mystery, as your audience's knowledge of the situation increases, your main character's knowledge needs to as well. If the character witnesses a major clue, they can't just forget that clue so they can discover it again but in a different place. It just doesn't work like that. There need to be bread crumbs. There needs to be momentum. There needs to consequence, cause and effect. Mysteries are linear stories. But when you try to tell this kind of story in the nonlinear way that this gameplay formula demanded, it does not work.

What kills me is that each of the four plot lines in TotK are well-written and fun (quick ranking: Rito, Gerudo, Zora, Goron). But through no fault of their own, they decline in coherence and satisfaction as you progress through the game. I can imagine that someone who played the order opposite I did was as mystified as Yunobo, but screaming at Link to just tell Sidon that's not Zelda.

The nail in the coffin of this story's nonfunctionality is that the longest side quest has Link going around Hyrule's stables, trying to find clues to Zelda's whereabouts. He works with Penn to investigate and set these stories straight. But once Link discovers that Zelda is the Light Dragon (or at least, that the Zelda who keeps appearing isn't really her), he should be able to tell Penn the truth. But he doesn't, because he can't for the side quest to function.

I managed to put aside how frustrating all of that is by rationalizing "well it has to be this way for the gameplay to work the way it does", and that's fine, but they didn't have to write the story they did. BotW's story worked because they wrote it in a way that it can be thoroughly enjoyed in any order. TotK's doesn't because they tried to have their cake and eat it too: tell a story with depth, but tell it in any order. They could have written a story that worked with the gameplay, but they didn't.

TotK did a lot of things right. On their own, I think the regional plot lines are more compelling than BotW's (especially the Rito one, and maybe except the Goron one). Having the soon-to-be-sages follow Link through the dungeons was a good choice. The search for a fifth sage provided a feeling of momentum that BotW was sorely lacking. And from the moment the search for the fifth sage starts, the story works just fine because it becomes linear. I had a fantastic time playing this game. I wouldn't have played it for over a hundred hours if I wasn't enjoying myself. It's just a shame it didn't turn out better.

[anthurak]

So Xenosaga III has one of the greatest (read: gloriously unhinged) villainous plot reveals I’ve ever seen.

To set the stage: Throughout the story up to now, we’ve been aware that series heroine Shion Uzuki lost her parents and home as a child fifteen years ago. When her homeworld of Miltia was caught up in a war between the amoral corporation/fanatical religious cult obsessed with macguffins of ultimate power, and the sketchy galactic government who really wanted all those macguffins for themselves. A conflict that went from ‘bombed out cities in flames’ and ‘berserk super-soldiers slaughtering everyone’ bad to full-blown apocalyptic when the series’ resident eldritch space monsters, the Gnosis, showed up to join the party. And who then decided to stick around afterwards and be a general nuisance/existential threat to humanity across the galaxy ever since.

Now about midway through the game, it is revealed that during the battle Shion actually witnessed her parents being brutally slaughtered by the aforementioned berserk super soldiers. And that the overwhelming grief/trauma/despair she felt in that moment wound up resonating with the artifact/macguffin of ultimate power/doom stored a few floors below and summoned the Gnosis. Making Shion herself inadvertently responsible for horde of eldritch space monsters that threaten humanity. A memory of which Shion quite understandably repressed the everliving hell out of.

So now we come to where the bad guys factor into all this and things get wacky.

First we have to talk about the context for the aforementioned reveal: At this point in the story, Shion and her friends, coworkers, deadbeat brother and sexy robot girlfriend have been mysteriously sent back in time to just before the battle that destroyed Miltia. And have spent the last several days/levels tooling around doing such things as trying to figure out why they’re here, how to get back to the present and resurrecting Shion’s robo-GF after she received a brutal pounding by her sexy evil doppelganger (long story), all while displaying a truly HILARIOUS disregard for causality and potential time paradoxes.

All of which culminates in Shion being present to witness not only the true fate of her parents, but also witness her younger self unwittingly summon the Gnosis.

Which it turns out is exactly what the bad guys wanted.

For you see, for as bad as an eight-year old girl’s overwhelming grief and trauma summoning a horde of eldritch space monsters is, it turns out that this wasn’t bad ENOUGH for what the bad guys were aiming for. With a couple of the bad guys discussing earlier in the game how ‘the incident fifteen years ago happened in an incomplete state’.

So what was their solution to this?

Send present-day Shion BACK IN TIME so that she can witness not only her parents’ true fate but also her younger self summoning the Gnosis and have her OWN overwhelming traumatic breakdown.

Thus using the grief and despair of BOTH Shion’s past and present selves to provide enough combined trauma-power to facilitate the summoning of not just the horde of eldritch space monsters, but also the summoning of the ULTIMATE eldritch space monster. Which is sort of a biblically accurate angel the size of Jupiter.

Also, this was all orchestrated by Shion’s not-actually-dead and also actually-super-evil/manipulative/shitty boyfriend. But that’s a story for another time.