#who was probably a child based on what I could understand of what their goal was | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

diminuel · 13 days ago

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Headcannon Scenario: How would the alabaster arc have played out if Crocodile had found out Luffy was his son during the arc? Would he be forced to change his 10-year plan? Would he have avoided fighting Luffy and the straw hats altogether, or would he not have given an F and continued the takeover as planned? You seem to understand crocodiles character pretty well.

I wouldn't say that I understand his character all that well, I'm just speculating based on what we saw of him and others probably do it better! But I'm happy to take your confidence in my Croc-analysis skills *lol*

But the outcome of your scenario depends on one main question: how did the separation from Luffy happen - does he know Luffy's name, Dragon's full name, where Luffy grew up? Also, connected to that: is his wish to have enough power to oppose the World Government in any way tied to Luffy (and/or Dragon)?

So it's really difficult to give scenarios with so many variables...!

Some options under the cut. I can expand on things if you let me know what you want me to imagine ;3

Scenario 1: he gave up Luffy because he didn't want to have a child and knows nothing about him. His ambition was too strong, the need for power too great to be held back by something like a child or ineffective dreamers like Dragon. If there's any anger and resentment in him regarding his pregnancy and the child (or its father) then I'm not sure he would have cared. Because this child was nothing to him. An obstacle he had overcome 17 years ago. An obstacle he would overcome again now. Just another hopeless dreamer who was too weak for the Grandline. Just like he had been, before he had turned his eye to real power. Effective power. But I think he would have been disappointed if his own flesh and blood would amount to so little, die too quickly. I think once Luffy has escaped death twice, Crocodile would start being intrigued and he might have recognized himself or Dragon in him during one of the fights. By the time they're in he mausoleum for their last battle, when Crocodile's plans were already starting to crack and fall apart (but not fully, he could still get the throne and figure it out from there), he did acknowledge him and maybe he think it'd be a bit of a shame to put an end to the kid's life here. A shame, but Crocodile's never been the sentimental type. He says but he didn't deal Robin or Luffy a decisive killing blow, missed vital organs, didn't drain him of all life, used poison with a known antidote. (Though maybe he's a bit sentimental because when they meet again he protects him. Might snark to him about the truth which Iva would understand, Luffy probably not. To Luffy it might sound like something along the lines of "you beat me, now I'm yours" as if Crocodile was just another wild animal to tame. *lol* He probably wouldn't get it until quite a bit later.

Scenario 2: he gave up Luffy because he had plans that he couldn't see through if he had to worry about the child. Additionally we might imagine that his plans are in alignment with Dragon's goal but they fundamentally disagree about what they're willing to sacrifice for it and therefore broke off contact. Crocodile didn't look into Dragon's business, Dragon kept his nose out of Alabasta even though - technically - Dragon should have sent people to investigate this kind of rebellion. That's what the RA is there for after all.

So Crocodile doesn't know anything beyond the things he would have known because he was there (day of birth, where he had been born) but due to Dragon's worry about the child being discovered Crocodile expected him to be moved around, hidden better. I'm not entirely sure what information Crocodile gets about Luffy (I vaguely recall him looking at his wanted poster with a "never heard of him" reaction but I can't find it. Must have either been in the anime or a flash back I can't place). But since Luffy appears in Vivi's orbit so close to Crocodile's plans, he might look into him a bit more. And if he gets East Blue, Goa Kingdom, birthday and maybe even just the last name, he'd know who that kid it.

I don't know when he would do that additional research, but even if he does it only once Luffy's in Alabasta I can't really see him stopping what he's doing, but I don't think he'd want to kill Luffy. Even if he personally has no feelings towards this child, this is Dragon's son. I don't think he'd be so at odds with Dragon that he'd want to punish Luffy for it. So he would probably just lock him up and continue his plans (no flooded secret base, just everyone locked up, including Vivi). But Luffy keeps getting out of any time out he puts Luffy in, burning with the desire to kick Crocodile's ass. Clearly, this guy has Dragon's frustrating idealism, and paired with Crocodile's stubbornness and selfishness, he knows Luffy's not going to stay down. The final battle in the mausoleum still happens and Crocodile loses (partially because Luffy was never severely wounded, while Crocodile's abilities to fight him were limited to non lethal attacks. And Crocodile most likely didn't use poison on him, might also just have knocked out Robin instead of hurting her severely).

So I think the only difference would be that Crocodile wouldn't try to kill the kid, but he wouldn't tell him anything and he would still continue his plan because he got so far he's not going to stop now.

Maybe Luffy would have wondered just why Crocodile never fought him with the intention to kill and Crocodile might have also refrained from villain speeches in Luffy's presence. He would probably have been cold and rational in the things he would have said, making him and his motives very hard to grasp. Robin would definitely have recognized a change in demeanor. She had never been upset about his casual cruelty, nor had she opposed to anything because the ends (getting to read the Poneglyph) justified the means, so why was he changing track, so close to the finish line?

I don't know if Crocodile would tell her anything, I doubt it, because he doesn't trust her after all. But Robin might figure out that there's a connection to Luffy based on him gathering more info on Luffy, the uncharacteristically tense reaction he might have had to him as well as the change in demeanor around Luffy. Luffy is somehow a weakness and maybe Robin would see to it that Luffy got out of his prisons because if Crocodile was distracted that gave her a better chance to escape once she saw the Poneglyph.

Luffy would probably be less antagonistic towards Crocodile when he saw him again in Marineford, still puzzled by him and his instant offer to help him escape. Maybe on the way to the battle they'd talk a bit but maybe all Crocodile would say is that he recognized him as Dragon's son and that they were... "friends" once. "No longer" he'd probably hurry to add when Luffy looked like he assumed that meant Dragon was also in the kingdom stealing, making princesses unhappy business. And meanwhile Iva's in the background doing maths and sweating X3

Scenario 3: Crocodile didn't raise Luffy to keep him safe and he's looking for Pluton because he thinks that this is what they need to free the world of the WG's control. He wants his kid to be free, he wants his family back and he's willing to do what it takes.

In this setting it's possible that Dragon and Crocodile have stayed with Luffy for a bit (just not long enough for Luffy to actually remember them) so Crocodile would know his name and what he looked like, at least as a toddler, but he would have said good-bye to him by the time he moved to Alabasta (when Luffy was around 3).

Would Crocodile still have made the same plan? Take over a country to potentially get the location of a weapon? Or would his plan have been different, merely exploiting and exacerbating a problem that already existed (droughts, Cobra's maybe well-meaning but short-sighted dealing with it, tension and frustration turning into rebellions)?

Whatever the case, the moment Crocodile hears that Luffy is not only on the Grandline, but has also met Vivi, knows he's behind BW AND is apparently wanting to help the princess save the kingdom, he's alarmed. He's not sure if he should be relieved or anxious when Robin tells him that they're on route to Little Garden. He doesn't want Vivi anywhere near Alabasta, he also doesn't want his kid there, not now. So he's torn between sending people to distract them and sending them to capture them. And things fail and Luffy suddenly is in the same place as him, for the first time in over 10 years.

And if a part of the reason why Crocodile's trying to get Pluton is to protect his kid, he can't just forge on with his plans if Luffy does actually stand in his way. What's the point of hurting his kid to get a weapon so his kid doesn't get hurt?

If he still has Dragon's number, he might call him. This might be the one scenario where things turn out differently, with Crocodile actually changing his plans. But it won't be easy. These are plans 14 years in the making. He's prepared every little detail, it would have been perfect. Using the distraction of a revolution to grab the king, find the Poneglyph, be the hero of Alabasta one more time by stopping the fighting, bringing back the rain, then find Pluton. (No dance powder, no bomb, no regicide - Dragon might not want him back if he sacrificed too much for his goals.)

But I think Luffy might mess up even Utopia Lite. The kid doesn't stay trapped (as in the scenario above) which means that he might have to fight and throw him into a time out again at least once. Though if Luffy did spend his early childhood with his parents, he might recognize him too once he gets close enough to grab him, to throw a punch through his sands. Maybe not his face or his voice but the warmth, the smell, the feeling of sand trickling through his fingers, the cadence of Crocodile's laugh. It might give him pause too, long enough to be put into another trap to keep him from interfering. Suddenly, kicking Crocodile's ass has become... difficult. In ways a battle hasn't been difficult before. He can't even fully explain why. Nothing's changed, has it? He's still the evil warlord who's going to steal Vivi's country.

I don't think there's any way out of it that doesn't involve Crocodile having to take the fall and getting arrested, losing his Warlord status. Because even if he withdraws his powers and lets it rain, thus stopping the rage of the rebels for long enough for the king or Vivi to give a passionate kingdom unifying speech, he still built up this drama for his own gains. And he won't even have gained anything because Robin won't tell him what's really on the Poneyglyph even though he knows for sure that it contains the directions to Pluton.

They'd make it out without the big fight, with considerably less heartache. Maybe Vivi herself would be surprised that this was not the high stakes take down of an evil monster that has poisoned her kingdom from the inside out for years and years that she had expected. Crocodile was not the kind of evil villain that she had imagined him to be the last two years.

I think this scenario would make it possible for Luffy to be glad to see Crocodile again in Impel Down. Because by then he would have known what the warmth and longing he felt was. Maybe Robin even found an old picture that Crocodile had kept when she raided his base before making her escape and deciding that she should better follow Luffy and see where it takes her.

So yes, those are some options. As mentioned above, I think the reason why he would have left Luffy would change how he would behave and how he would have schemed in the first place.

#adeliciouscollectionqueen-blog #Diminuel replies #Crocodad #Dragodile #sort of

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many-but-one · 6 months ago

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i believe survivors of RAMCOA when they talk about the abuse they suffered, but the one thing i cannot wrap my head around is how abusers purposefully program alters? and this makes the moral ocd worms in my brain go NUTS.

i think i dont understand bc not every child who goes through severe torture/abuse will develop DID/OSDD and it feels way more probable that abusers arent attempting to make alters so much as theyre conditioning certain responses (and if a childs brain happens to split these experiences into alters then thats a byproduct that benefits the abuser).

all of this makes me feel like a bad ally to RAMCOA survivors, and while its not your job to educate me would you mind explaining how the programming alters aspect works?

[Trigger warning: talking about how programming works and why not all children who experience RAMCOA develop DID or may not end up becoming fully programmed. Brief mentions of child death. Mentions of child torture. Nothing in detail, obviously. Also talking a lot about how the deprogramming process works. If you are a programmed system yourself and you worry this could be triggering, have grounding items nearby just in case.]

Note: when I say “successfully” or “properly” programmed system, I’m talking about in the eyes of the abusers. Also, this is talking about TBMC (torture based mind control) programmers. I have to put that disclaimer because you wouldn’t believe how many confused computer programmers I’ve gotten in comment sections on other socials.

So, the reason not every child who goes through RAMCOA develops DID is because developing DID requires some pre-requisites. Things like genetic predisposition to dissociate actually do make a big difference. Also, how early the abuse started. If someone goes through RAMCOA trauma, but not until they’re older and their personality has already begun integrating (which can happen younger in some children, even as young as around age 5-7, though some researchers have said personality integration can happen as late as the teen years) it will be significantly harder to develop DID and therefore properly program the child. In addition, how much access programmers have to the child, how long they had access to the child, and how much support the child has outside of the abuse are also contributing factors.

If programmers see this kid one week out of the month, the parents don’t know about it and therefore the kid has a relatively okay home life with love and support, and they only have access to the kid for a couple years, that’s not going to be good grounds for programmers being able to properly do what they want to do. Some may still try if they don’t have access to anyone else, but this rarely creates a “successful” programmed system. Conversely, if they see the kid every day or multiple days a week, a parent is in on it/they have a bad home life where abuse (of possibly a lesser magnitude but not always) occurs, the parents are neglectful or very busy and likely to not notice things, and they have access to this kid for several years, that makes for a better chance that this kid will be properly programmed.

Because of all of these factors, programmers will often pick children who they know have parents with PTSD or CPTSD (or a dissociative disorder, if the parent has disclosed that to them), who they can access early in their life or have prior history of abuse (so are more likely to already have begun developing a dissociative disorder), and whom they have access to frequently. Sometimes, the child’s parent will be programmed by the group themselves and be born quite literally just to be programmed by the group. Some groups take great care in keeping family groups within the group because that creates stronger loyalty bonds and gives them easy access to children to program. It’s not uncommon for a group goal to be for their grown programmed systems to have kids to eventually give to the group, which is why apprehending a programmed system and having them work on deprogramming before this can happen is essential.

A lot of kids that programmers desire to program actually end up “failing out” because they aren’t able to take to the programming. Depending on the group, this could mean they will end the kid’s life or they will just stop the programming-related abuse altogether. And contrary to what most people know, even successfully programmed children have loads of failed programs, or parts that didn’t take well to programming. Most of the time these parts who have failed programming will be put in “discard areas” in the system’s inner world, and they will be either forced into dormancy or they will be stuck there until amnesia barriers eventually break down as the grown person starts to work on deprogramming (if they ever do.) A successfully programmed system’s most active parts are parts who did not fail their programming, and these are often the most well-rounded parts retrofitted with a personality that would have likely been created by the abusers.

To add: there is often layers upon layers of amnesia even in these single well-rounded parts (that often end up having an alters-in-alters subsystem, and said part might not even be aware they have one) and the “top part” or most front-facing part of that subsystem may not even be aware they are programmed. At least, until a cue happens and their program starts running and they start doing things they wouldn’t normally be doing. A lot of programmed parts don’t even know their own cues or even what traumas they have that would have created their programming. They might know they have trauma, but the memories of the programming might be missing, or the context surrounding the programming traumas might be missing. Usually these cues and context behind the traumas are hidden in EPs or fragments that are buried pretty deep within their subsystems. Accessing these EPs in therapy is integral to the deprogramming process, as learning what manipulations were done to make a programmed part believe what they do is essential in undoing it. All deprogramming really is, is showing programmed parts that what their abusers made them believe was true is a lie and that they are not at risk to be harmed anymore if they no longer have contact with the group. (Cutting off a system’s communication with the group is first and foremost what they should do when deprogramming)

As for your assumption, that abusers are trying to condition children and these experiences happen to split an alter to hold the conditioned response, you are partially right. In some cases, especially in cases where it’s a single parent or a family unit doing this to their own kids, it’s often more likely that the parent is not fully aware that they are creating a DID system. This is where the difference between programming and conditioning is important to note. We made a video about this here: link to TikTok video.

However, in larger groups, programmers do know they are creating a system. DID is not some unknown secret to much of the world, and research about it is easy to find. Even inexperienced groups can find research on DID and how alters form very easily and use that to try and create a system in a child. Whether or not they will be successful with that info alone is hard to say. I was abused by two different groups, one of them inexperienced and one of them very experienced. The initial attempts at programming were often unsuccessful, and we assume they got in contact with the experienced group to learn more and they essentially showed our main handler/programmer how it was done. (We have memories of him being taught and observing/taking part as necessary to the teachings, so this is not speculation, we know this was the case.) Once we were in the hands of the experienced group, we became very well programmed and our system’s organization changed massively. On top of that, the inexperienced group was now experienced, so we actually have alters who are programmed by two separate groups, each loyal to their own group. Some of our parts were loyal to both because they were programmed by both. (“Were” loyal because we’ve deprogrammed significantly and they no longer feel loyal to the groups anymore.)

Like I said in my initial post, programming alters is actually not that complicated on the surface, though in practice it is difficult, and to create a well programmed system takes a lot of skill and intelligence. Skilled programmers are unfortunately often incredibly smart individuals. Anyone who’s been willing to speak with me about their programmers often cite them as being people with high level college degrees. Doctors, engineers, mathematicians, scientists, psychologists. If not a college degree, they often work in areas like police work, political work, religious ministry, or other city/county/state positions. If none of these, they (horrifyingly) tend to work in areas where children are often present. Pediatric doctors/nurses, summer camp counselors, Sunday school teachers, daycare attendants, nannying jobs, teaching, etc. While not all programmers will fit this bill, a lot of them do. In the world outside of their programming job, they are often well-liked by their community. This is not to say everyone in these positions is a programmer, also. Want to make that REALLY clear. Not every person with this job has a secret side job of torturing kids, these just happen to be common areas they tend to gravitate toward. They are often thrill-seeking sadists and egocentric. Having a position in their community in which they are consistently recognized for their accomplishments or adored is often important to them. Sometimes, programmers are also programmed themselves, especially in large groups with generational aspects involved.

Now that that’s out of the way, I’m not going to explain in explicit detail how programming works because that doesn’t make me comfortable to share, but a very dumbed down version of it is pretty simple:

1) torture child to create alter splits

2) get one of these splits to front via triggers related to the torture that caused them to split

3) indoctrinate them with a behavior or action that, if they do not do that action, means they will be punished further. While they are doing said action/being indoctrinated with certain beliefs, have a specific trigger or cue present so that when they see that trigger/cue in the future, they will immediately do the action/enforce the beliefs they have been taught.

4) repeat steps 1-3, basically.

This is why I explained that programming is kind of like conditioning on steroids. Except the child is severely manipulated, tortured, and has extreme threats of harm to self or others to reinforce it, and this is done repeatedly, to the point where it causes the alter extreme duress if they do not do their assigned task because if they didn’t do their task in the past (in childhood) they would be tortured or would have to witness other children be tortured. They will fully believe if they do not do the thing, they or others WILL be hurt, and they believe the programmers WILL know if they don’t, so they often just do it automatically in efforts to avoid the punishment they believe is coming. It is extremely hard for them to override the emotional flashbacks, somatic flashbacks, etc, if they try to resist doing the task. Adding onto that, programmers will often create alters who will punish parts in the inner world the same way the abusers would if they do not do their task, so that is another layer of fear on top of that. These programmed parts often cannot distinguish the difference between outer world torture and inner world torture, as they rarely get contact with the outside world except to do their tasks. So if they don’t do their task, they will be punished by alters in the inner world space and they may fully believe they are being punished in real life. Creating safe spaces for alters to go in the inner world if they don’t do their assigned task is an important part of deprogramming. Because once an alter realizes they will not be punished both externally and internally by not doing a certain action, they will be much less inclined to do said action.

If all of that sounds extremely messed up and fucks with your moral OCD, you’re right to feel that way. It is messed up. These people are vile, fucked up, and cruel. They often do not see the children as human beings and care not of how much this damages the child physically, psychologically, and emotionally. These children are dehumanized beyond belief. Many programmed parts of a system do not see themselves as human unless they were specifically meant to be human. Commonly created alters are things with no free will or no ability to think for themselves, such as angels, robots, and inanimate objects. If a child truly believes they cannot think for themselves, it will be harder to deprogram them. Which is why deprogramming often involves teaching the grown system that they are allowed to make choices outside of their group’s desires and control. It is not easy.

For those that read this and are feeling dissociated and/or anxious, remember your grounding techniques. Get some mints, cinnamon candies, or sour candies and munch. Smell a strong scented candle. Hold some ice or hand warmers in your hands. Look around the room and pick out items that you recognize to be from the present. Pet a cat/dog/[insert animal here] or hug a stuffed animal. Remember, it is currently 2024 and you are safe. Your abusers will not know you read this unless you tell them yourself. You are brave, capable, and safe. I believe in you and your healing journey.

Take care, everyone.

#tbmc tw #mind control programming tw #torture tw #death tw #child death tw #ramcoa tw #cult tw #trafficking tw #ramcoa #ramcoa survivor #tbmc survivor #dissociative identity disorder #manybutone #anon ask #answered asks

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sylvia-forest · 5 months ago

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[CN] Shaw's 2024 Birthday Event - Video Call

Today, on my birthday, I have fulfilled many dreams.

When I was a kid, I really liked Sun Wukong. The feeling of being unrestrained and being able to go wherever you wanted was cool.

I used to dream that I could also transform in 72 ways, not be bound by any rules, and do anything I wanted, solely based on my will.

So you can probably guess that when I was a child, I hated Wukong who was disciplined by Tang Monk. I always felt that it was not like him and not the "Monkey King" in my heart.

Whenever I see him being controlled by a tight spell, I feel... very unhappy.

But as I grew up, I had a different understanding of freedom.

I discovered that true freedom is not about ignoring the rules, but about knowing which way you want to go and keeping going.

Have your own world in your heart, know what you are doing, know what you really want————

There is no need to undergo seventy-two changes. No matter where you are, you can still be the Monkey King.

This perception may also be influenced by you

It is from you that I see another kind of freedom, the kind of persistence and determination that comes from the heart.

No matter how annoying things are, you never stop or lose your enthusiasm for the world.

So I thought, its not just in myths that one can freely roam the heavenly palace, but also in this mortal world, one can live out their own life, isn't that also a form of freedom?

Let’s continue to pursue this freedom together.

Whether its a narrow path or a broad road, the 99 bends and 81 barriers will all be trampled in our feet.

As for the so called “hero who surpasses the world ” in your eyes, one person is enough.

—

The phrase "七十二变" (72 transformations) is a reference to the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West", where the Monkey King can transform into 72 different forms.

The "99 bends" (九九) and "81 barriers" (八十一关) are metaphors used in Chinese literature and poetry to describe the challenges and obstacles one faces in life.

The "99 bends" typically represent the twists and turns of life's journey, symbolizing the ups and downs, struggles, and difficulties that one encounters.

The "81 barriers" typically represent the various obstacles, hurdles, and challenges that one must overcome to achieve their goals or reach their destination. Together, they paint a picture of a long and arduous journey, filled with challenges and obstacles that must be overcome. By saying "我们都会踩在我们的脚下" (they will all be trampled under our feet),

#who's cutting onions 😭#mlqc spoilers #mlqc cn #mlqc shaw #mlqc ling xiao #mr love queen's choice #mlqc translations #mlqc #love and producer

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fitzrove · 2 years ago

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What kind of professor is Abronsius anyway?

Without calling out any writing in particular, I must say that it always makes me feel a bit weird when fics have prof. Abronsius be something like an anthropologist, linguist, cultural studies researcher, historian or even theologist. His approach is so deeply biological and physical that I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. At the same time, though, I get the urge to put him in those other categories - after all, that's the type of researchers that would study vampires (or vampire-related beliefs) IRL. But still...

My thoughts are based on following things in the show:

Abronsius' colleagues not understanding him and thinking he's a bit of a lunatic. If he was studying vampire-related beliefs in Transylvania, there would be little reason for a fellow cultural studies scholar etc to be disappointed or bewildered! Although I guess there could be church interference? But based on my historical and cultural knowledge, the Lutheran church of the 19th and 20th centuries (the now defunct Königsberg uni was protestant and more specifically Lutheran) wasn't that strict about "heresy" (even though they were quite strict about morality).

Him wanting to pickle Krolock in formaldehyde XD

A lot of focus on physical observations, practical vampire-slaying and hands-on stuff; a mechanical, "cold and hard" worldview, even. And him saying he took apart a cuckoo clock as a small child - very practical, empirical knowledge. His goal is to prove vampires exist concretely, not to examine why they have such cultural influence and power in the region.

His most famous (?) book is about bats!

Things that contradict this:

Aristoteles, Empedokles, Aeneas, Parmenides... Most of the ppl he lists enthusiastically in Bücher were political scientists or philosophers, with some mathematicians and doctors thrown in. Though this could be explained away with Abronsius being well-read, fancying himself a polymath of sorts and admiring the "great men of science" of the past. And like I said, a bunch of premodern scientists were kinda "jack of all trades" about it.

So tl;dr, I think Abronsius is a rogue biologist who got a little too invested after studying vampire bats for many years.

As for Alfred, I guess that makes him a biology student (could also be a medical student? Maybe that's me projecting what I know of 19th century Finnish scientists: a lot of them were folklorists and linguists in addition to their "primary" position as doctors), although that's left a lot more ambiguous. I think he probably isn't very passionate about his field anyway.

#tanz der vampire #analysis #meta #kinda #i was gonna make a shitpost but made this instead xD

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landofzero-archive · 7 months ago

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Absolute - The Pure Land 13

(Location: Absolute Stage)

Shaka: What—W-What is the meaning of this?

Ibara: “~……♪”

The plot is simple. Today, the world’s number one idol, Shaka-shi, shall mysteriously disappear.

Shaka: I- are you planning to kill me here……?

Ibara: Why? There’s no need to do that, since destroying evidence is troublesome.

Of course, you still have to put in the effort in order to succeed.

If you’re going to keep taking unnecessary actions, you’ll wind up overworking yourself without any benefits.

Shaka: ………

If I— if Shaka disappears, there’ll be a big uproar, won’t there?

Ibara: Is that what you think? Actually, there was an uproar this time, and we were all swung around quite a bit, weren’t we?

Please rest assured, no one is that interested in others.

Shaka: ………

Ibara: No, you are in the spotlight since you’re a huge star who’s won Absolute six times in a row.

If a replacement star were to shine in the night sky, you will eventually be forgotten as a person of the past.

Shaka: You all, will become “that”?

Ibara: How does that sound? We’ll work hard to achieve that goal, but we may not be able to reach it yet.

But. Even if it isn’t us, someone will always win. Someone will conquer this Absolute and become a new shining star.

You will become a legendary deity as the world’s number one idol who mysteriously disappeared, all while remaining undefeated—

The idols you worship are now a separate existence from you.

You should leave everything to those idols and fictional deities, and live freely as an unknown person.

Shaka: Th-That sort of thing—

That kind of thing, is fine? So, I can live the life I want?

Ibara: That’s right. It truly is simple. Later on, the Priest faction will also use Uncle Gatekeeper as a shield to threaten, no, negotiate—

Today, let's take the steps to make the new shining star, the winner of Absolute, their next “money tree.”

And with that, the story ends with everyone smiling and feeling very satisfied.

Shaka: ………

Ibara: In fact, it would have been better if you had asked this talented producer to fix the problem from the beginning.

Because you did unnecessary actions, there was a strange uproar.

Ibara: If we had met as planned from the beginning and you asked us honestly then and there, we could have easily resolved this matter without making it such a big deal.

If you had done that, I would have had to pay the price for it, but I would have done my job properly.

No. That’s what a fair and legitimate deal is, amateur-san♪

Shaka: ………

Nagisa: …… Fufu. Ibara has a cute smug look on his face for the first time in a while.

Hiyori: Cute, huuh? Looking at it makes me feel annoyed, though? What foul weather!

Nagisa: …… For the longest time, Hiyori-kun and I haven’t shared those kinds of tastes.

…… Hiyori-kun prefers obedient children like Jun, right?

Jun: “~……♪”

Haha. You usually get mad when I don’t listen to you, ri~ght, Ohiisan?

Hiyori: Rather, I don’t understand how it feels to be happy when I’m being snapped at, you know?

Shaka: ………

Jun: Hey. Ohiisan told you to “move away”, you’re not needed so you should probably get outta here, alright?

Go anywhere, wherever you like?

Ibara: Oya, is it really fine to let him go? That person is a criminal who kidnapped our own His Excellency.

Our subordinates are stationed at the wings of the stage, so if we wish to secure him at any time, we can do so, can’t we?

Hiyori: It would be a bother if he got away with it and became resentful. I don’t want to have to worry about him like this again.

Shaka: ………

Hiyori: Look, we said we would forgive you, so why don’t you run off somewhere before we change our minds?

Shaka: B-But…… Even though Priest has died, there’s no way his subordinates would overlook me.

Hiyori: You poor thing. I suppose you’ve been brainwashed into thinking that way based on years of experience. Like an abused child.

Ibara: This is just a fact. The forces on the Priest side have thrown their hands into the fire called Uncle Gatekeeper and have been mostly annihilated.

I just checked with Uncle about that.

Nagisa: …… Fufu. This time, did Ibara use Monban(1)— Gatekeeper for that purpose?

…… For that reason, you stuck close to him, holding the reins and controlling him from beginning to end?

Ibara: It would have been cool to say something like “That’s right.” However, as expected, I’m not that well prepared either.

Hiyori: Ibara was so worried about Nagisa-kun that he couldn’t stay calm♪

Ibara: You’re saying that as the person who was the least calm.

In any case, the surviving members of the Priest faction are also paying attention to the Absolute stage.

This event is their lifeline in this region. In order to keep living, they have no choice but to stay here and watch over it.

In other words, there may not be any oversight now, so it will be as lenient as possible.

My subordinates will give them instructions so they can quickly follow them and defect abroad.

Shaka: ………

Ibara: That’s all. Your crime, no, all the strange things that have happened here will be settled.

What happens after that is our story, and has nothing to do with you.

Here, please take your things and leave.

I’m satisfied with the fine transaction this time.

It was a pleasure doing business with you, former world’s number one idol♪

Shaka: ………

TL Notes:

“門番” (monban), literally “gatekeeper,” is Nagisa’s unique way of referring to Gatekeeper. He uses this name throughout the SS Finals arc to refer to him.

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#ensemble stars #enstars #enstars translation #ibara saegusa #nagisa ran #jun sazanami #hiyori tomoe #shaka enstars #era: !!#type: event

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reunionatdawn · 10 months ago

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My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 18: AM Ingrid/Ashe)

Ingrid: …My father, too, brought up marriage proposals to ensure the family's survival numerous times. I had a fiancé when I was a child… But he passed away at a young age… Mercedes: If that fiancé were still alive… Would you have married him? Ingrid: Well… who knows? I can't even imagine it myself. But I do know that I admired him. A proud way of life as a knight serving the king. Even now, I've always wanted to be a knight like him. I want to live as a knight, not as a tool for the family's survival. Regardless of what my father says.

Ingrid was also a victim of Faerghus's patriarchal culture. She was sold by her father and engaged to Glenn the same year she was born in order to pass on her Crest. There's no question that she loved her fiancé dearly, but I suspect that her love was more like that of a sister toward a brother rather than actual romantic love. She wasn't sure if she would have married him if he had survived.

The Crest of Daphnel is associated with The Chariot arcana. The message is one of maintaining focus and confidence in the pursuit of your goals. It suggests that your strength and commitment is being tested by the universe, so don't give up or look for shortcuts. It also signifies the need to take action and move forward. Finally, it can represent a need to control your own destiny.

Dorothea: I could never hand over my lovely Ingrid to some jerk who only wants her for her Crest. Ingrid: Oh? Do I belong to you now, rather than to myself?

Ingrid's paralogue was about her and Dorothea's contrasting views of marriage. Ingrid was not looking for a provider. Even though she needed the funds, she wanted to belong to herself. Not her father, not her brothers, not a husband. She didn't want to marry a man she wasn't in love with for a dowry. Knighthood was the only way she could pledge her life to a man she chose for herself.

Ingrid: [W]e hardly ever played together. The age gap was just too great. My eldest brother in particular was incredibly strict with me. Whenever I would try to go horseback riding through the hills, he would say… "How dare you do something so dangerous! What if something happened to you?!" What's worse, my father agreed with him. It kept me from getting out on too many adventures as a child. Thinking back on it, I understand their concern. I was the only one in the family to bear a Crest, after all.

Ingrid was also not looking for a protector. She wanted to live an active adventurous lifestyle protecting those she cared for. Knighthood was also a way for her to hold onto her childhood happiness. A time where she was truly free.

Felix: House Fraldarius has been the king's lance and shield for generations. Ever since the time of Kyphon, sworn friend of the great King Loog. At times we've been sent to defeat the crown's enemies. At others, we've held back to defend the throne. I admit the style has its uses, idiotic history of blind faith aside.

Ingrid dreamt of obtaining knighthood and defending the king ever since she was a little girl. Growing up, she was obsessed with the book Sword of Kyphon which was about Loog's "sworn friend". The Aegis Shield is based on Greek Mythology. Rodrigue's middle name is "Achille". The writers were probably inspired by Achilles from the Iliad.

Ingrid: [Kyphon] was the very picture of the perfect knight. In my opinion, the best chapter is right around the middle of the book… Ashe: Ah, the part about the War of the Eagle and Lion? That's my favorite part! "In a flash, Kyphon's sword flew from its scabbard. The knight parried the assassin's blade mere inches from the spine of his king."

If so, Kyphon probably had feelings for Loog beyond just friendship. That may be why Ingrid identified with him. And it's also why she and Rodrigue (though he is the topic for a different post) idealized a knight's death so much. Ingrid didn't just want to serve her country. She wanted to serve as the lance and shield to a man she was in love with. And she was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for him.

Ingrid: I want to serve as a knight and protect my homeland. I know this, through and through. It has been my truth for as long as I can remember. However, I feel that I should choose a path that would benefit my father. I was raised by him in a happy home, never wanting for anything, despite my family's meager finances. I owe it to him to choose a path he'd approve of.

AM!Ingrid was willing to completely give up on her dream and choose a path that would make her father happy. But she has an A+ Support conversation with Seteth that is exclusive to AM. He encourages her to talk with her father and he will respect her wishes.

Ingrid: But even if I do become a knight, I feel an unease deep within me. I fear I will never escape this guilt I carry. That I have shunned my duty as a noble. Byleth: Could you not find a way to do both? Ingrid: To follow both my dream and my duty? I…I had never considered that as an option. Perhaps there is a way.

The idea that she could be a wife and a knight never seemed to occur to her until Byleth suggested it. But that did seem to be the solution to her problems. She becomes a knight in every one of her AM endings, except when paired with Felix or Sylvain.

Ingrid: Oh, you mean the makeup? That's exaggerated. I just learned a bit from Annette. It's still trial and error… Hey Sylvain, do you think I've changed somehow?

In Ingrid's A+ Support with Sylvain, she was wearing makeup before heading to the training grounds. She didn't necessarily dislike looking her best, but she resented the social pressure to pretty herself up for men to "pounce" on. So, the fact that she was dolled up was uncharacteristic for her.

Sylvain: No, I'm not really flustered… I just got a little curious about the reason, is all. Ingrid: …The reason for the makeup, huh. What do you think it is? Sylvain: Well… Is it because of a guy? If we're talking about someone you might like, going by your past tendencies… Felix… No, His Highness also has a chance.

Sylvain was very flustered, suspecting it must be for a guy. His first assumption is Felix, due to her past history with Glenn. But Dimitri was another possibility.

Sylvain: It might also be because of the knights… Oh, wait, me!? Ingrid: I'll hit you. Sylvain: W-wait, I was just kidding! I'm against violence! Being too rough ruins a beauty, you know! ………… Uh, well. I-I mean, when I say "beauty," I'm not talking about flirting or anything, yeah! Ingrid: …Beauty, huh. Hehe.

He also suspected it might be for him, but Ingrid shut that down pretty fast. She was flattered by his compliment, but it was left very ambiguous whether she was wearing the makeup for him or not.

Ingrid: Usually, I wore men's clothing, ran around in the mountains with male friends, and played around. And then… After my fiancé's death, I definitely wanted to avoid anything feminine. Thinking, "There's no need to show it to him," and… I've been bound by something like guilt for a long time.

In the Japanese version of the Ingrid/Sylvain A+ Support, Ingrid mentioned that Annette had been helping her practice her makeup. Her Support with Annette was about how she felt guilty for looking feminine. The fact that she had finally changed her appearance implied that she was ready to move on from Glenn. So, I do believe that Sylvain was right, and she was wearing the makeup for a guy.

Dimitri: You displayed unwavering, excellent spear skills. Was there indeed some change in your state of mind? Ingrid: ...As I mentioned before, thanks to Your Highness, I can move forward.

In her A-Support with Dimitri, she said that she could finally move on from Glenn's death because of him. It even took place at the training grounds, the place she was headed to in her A+ Support with Sylvain.

Dimitri: Ah, yes, that's right. …What did that mean exactly? Ingrid: …I finally managed to accept the truth I've been avoiding for so long. Glenn must have felt deep regret. Yet, I myself didn't want to acknowledge it. I've been twisting his true nature, imposing my ideals, and averting my gaze… Dimitri: …I see.

The tagline for the game was, "Sweet memories twisted by time's cruel hand". Ingrid coped with grief by romanticizing the truth. She had to believe that Glenn died a picture-perfect death like the ones in her childhood storybooks, because the truth was just too horrible. Her Support chain with Dimitri was about realizing that she was projecting her own feelings onto Glenn.

Ingrid: …Your Highness. I won't sacrifice my life for anyone else. But, would you allow me to live for someone else, Your Highness? Not in the sense of throwing away my life—I want to dedicate my life to you. Dimitri: ...Hold on. How should I interpret that? Ingrid: …? However you please, Your Highness. Dimitri: Haha… "However I please," huh. …You win. Ingrid. Once this battle is over, I want you to… As a knight, I want you to support me. …I've been meaning to say that for a while now. We seem to get along well. Ingrid: …As a knight? Uh, um, no! It's nothing! Of course, even without being told, I was planning to fight for you… and, um, for my country.

Ingrid's offer to pledge her life to Dimitri as a knight was essentially a marriage proposal as well. She won't even make a wish with Byleth at the Goddess Tower. And this is actually the ONLY A-Support where her feelings are unambiguously romantic. She dreamt of being a knight to be close to him. If she married Dimitri, she knew she could fulfill both her dream and her duty to her father. Therefore, if you're playing AM, I believe that Ingrid was wearing the makeup for Dimitri.

While Ingrid's feelings were very clear, Dimitri's response to her "proposal" is a lot more ambiguous. He did not ask her to be his wife like she was hoping, only to become his knight. It could be interpreted as him just being shy. Or it could be interpreted as an awkward rejection. Based on Ingrid's sad expression, it did seem like she interpreted his response as him letting her down gently.

Felix: So… He's finally shown his true face. The same Dimitri I've seen once before—a beast who loves spilling blood. Ingrid: You're wrong! I'm sure of it. There has to be an explanation…

Ingrid probably did the same to Dimitri as she did to Glenn. She was holding onto an idealistic childhood fantasy and could only see him as he was when they were kids, even though he had changed. She was in complete denial of his boar side. Dimitri was willing to throw away his childhood friends' lives at Gronder Field, including hers. He did turn his life around thanks to Byleth, but it wasn't surprising to me that he didn't feel comfortable accepting her marriage proposal.

Dimitri: If you're willing, would you like to go together? Of course, if you still feel hesitant, I won't force you… Ingrid: …No! Please, let me accompany you. It's embarrassing, but I probably would have hesitated to go alone. But with you… I feel like I can take a step forward without fear. Dimitri: I see. Alright, let's not waste any time. Allow me to treat you today, Ingrid.

In Hopes, Dimitri was able to help Ingrid face the reality of Glenn's death sooner and move forward. We even learn that she wanted to go to the castle to support him after the Tragedy of Duscur, but her father wouldn't let her. Dimitri always did want a girlfriend and he actually seemed very interested in Ingrid in Hopes. She gladly accepted when he offered to treat her to a meal.

Sylvain: Alright, then. Let me help you out… let's have a meal. My treat, miss. Ingrid: Wait a minute. Are you trying to flirt with me? I thought you'd matured. Sylvain: Oh, come on… I'm just trying to be thoughtful. Don't turn down a kind gesture, or you'll regret it. Ingrid: …I suppose you're right. Thank you for your consideration, Sylvain.

It's worth noting that in their Hopes A-Support, Sylvain also offered to treat her to a meal. She was more than happy to eat on his coin, but only if it's not a date. While Sylvain is often viewed as the "canon" love interest for Ingrid, I didn't really see any evidence that her love for him was anything other than sisterly. She was so fed up with his sexism that she took her annoyance with him out on Claude.

They made the Ingrid/Sylvain A+ ambiguous enough for you to view Sylvain as her love interest if you want. But they also left it open for Dimitri and there's more evidence that he was the one Ingrid had romantic feelings for, even if she never thought marrying the king was possible. I think that in the Hopes timeline, they probably would have ended up together. But in Houses, Dimitri was just too different.

Ingrid: As you said, situations change whether we like it or not… Nobody can stay the same. Of course, neither you nor I are exceptions… It's just that, I feel a little lonely because of it.

In VW, Dimitri is assumed to be dead. However, a recruited Ingrid still runs away from home in order to become a knight. So, her childhood dream was not solely related to her feelings for Dimitri. She wanted to go back to the past.

Ingrid: My friends and I used to explore the countryside together when we were young. I dearly miss those days.

Ingrid was a tomboy who loved playing outside, getting dirty, and going on adventures. In Hopes, her central conflict was not just about marriage but also about the fact that she was inevitably going to lead House Galatea. She hated desk work and was dreading the changes that would inevitably come along with adulthood and becoming a count, doing mountains of paperwork.

Ingrid: Knights, I suppose. I do what I can to live like one. And I hope to die like one too…when the time comes.

If Shez takes Ingrid out on an expedition and asks her what she likes, her response is quite disturbing. Even though she had given up on her dream, she said that she was still planning to die like a knight, implying that she was hoping to die during the war. And in SB, she dies like a true knight, just as she hoped.

Dimitri: At the Tragedy of Duscur, I saw countless corpses. Of course, I saw his too…Glenn's. Ingrid, I doubt you would have been able to see him. They were unable to bring his body back, after all. He must have died an agonizing death, full of pain and regret. That is what I saw in his face. Ingrid: … Dimitri: In that wasteland, there were no beautiful, proud deaths that could have been written about in heroic tales. Not one. I do not want you to die a death like that. Not even for the sake of loyalty or duty.

Glenn was Dimitri's best friend and even he died with a heavy heart. But Ingrid actually was content to die protecting Dimitri. And I'm sure her romantic feelings for her king played a role. Symbolically, she dies at the Silver Maiden (named after a pure maiden that is hard to penetrate). But I cannot help but suspect that her romanticization of a knight's death was also influenced by the fact that she was not looking forward to her future as a tradwife and Count Galatea.

Gilbert: Once you don the armor, raise your shield, and level your lance… Why? What is it you wish to protect? Ashe: Protect? I, um… Well, whatever needs protecting, right? Gilbert: You must know exactly what you protect before you become a knight.

Like Ingrid, it was Ashe's dream to become a knight. He wanted to be like his adoptive father Lonato, who he thought was the very model of chivalry. And his character arc was about how to come to terms with Lonato's death.

Ashe: I don't think that friend who protected you threw his life away because he was a knight. He just wanted to save his best friend. Dimitri: Even if it meant destroying futures that might have come to pass had he but lived? Ashe: Look, I don't know if what he did was right. So if you're asking me not to throw my life away, I promise that I won't. But I don't think it's wrong to fight to the end for someone that you love.

Ashe gets some pretty interesting development in Hopes. He becomes a knight to House Blaiddyd, just like in his AM paired ending with Ingrid (it's actually the only ending where he becomes a royal knight). He has a rather naive and rosy view of chivalry, while Dimitri has a more cynical view. Ashe agrees with him, but he does respect the idea of fighting to the end for someone he loves.

Ashe: I'm glad Lonato made it out safely, but… But we killed Ingrid. I can't ever go back, can I? There's no place left for me in Faerghus. Whatever part of me that was a knight is dead.

And he clearly needs that kind of personal motivation. Outside of AG, Ashe is one of the only Lions who has the option to defect from Faerghus. In SB, he wanted to protect Lonato. But his primary motivation in GW was to save his own life. Becoming a knight was one thing, but it turns out living up the ideal was a lot harder. Ingrid is the one who takes his betrayal the most personally. And when she is killed, the part of Ashe that was a knight dies along with her.

Gilbert: Lord Lonato took up his sword for his son. Even if that meant turning his back on the goddess… As a father, I cannot condemn Lord Lonato for raising an army. Yet, perhaps he too lost sight of what should be protected. Just as I did. Ashe: I don't understand what you mean. What should Lonato have protected? Gilbert: You, Ashe. Because you are also his son. Ashe: You're right… I think I know what I need to protect now.

Ingrid didn't just want to follow orders. She wanted to protect those she loved. And Gilbert told Ashe that to he needed to know exactly what he was protecting when he became a knight. He needed something personal; the way Gilbert had his family. Ashe wanted Lonato to live on through him.

Ashe: Um, anyway, I just… wanted you to smile. Ingrid: …Thank you, Ashe. You're encouraging me. Certainly, living as a knight may not be an easy path. .…We may be forced to live while bearing great pain and regret. But… I want to continue pursuing that dream. Talking with you makes me feel that way. Besides, giving up easily isn't like me at all.

And that's what A-Support with Ingrid was about. Lonato changed Ashe's life with a book. And Ingrid was encouraged to carry on her dream and Glenn's legacy thanks to the book Ashe gifted her. I also think he'd be able to help her move on from Dimitri, too. That's why I think these two characters complement each other's character arcs the best and are indispensable to each other as knights.

Ingrid & Ashe After the war, with a new king ascending the throne of Faerghus, Ingrid left House Galatea and joined the royal capital, Fhirdiad, to serve the royal family as a knight. Likewise, Ashe departed from his homeland of Gaspard and chose the path to become a knight of the royal family. Devoted to the future of the Kingdom, they took on any duty to protect the king. Eventually, they were praised as the "Twin Pillars of Knights" and left their mark in many tales of chivalry. In some stories, they are depicted as a loving couple. While the truth remains unknown, it is certain that they fought together until the end of their lives and were each other's inseparable companions.

In Ingrid's ending with Ashe, she lives out her childhood dream. She and Ashe even get a cool nickname similar to the Ferdibert ending. Ashe is known for his boundless courage and devotion. He is the picture-perfect knight from the story books, completely different from the cowardice he displayed in Hopes.

While the Japanese version does not mention marriage, it is implied that Ingrid and Ashe spent their loves together as lovers. Still, it is left up to interpretation. Outside AM, they explicitly fall in love and get married, so I have no reason to believe they weren't lovers in AM as well. But the point is that Ingrid went down in history for her own accomplishments, not just as someone's wife.

#fe3h #fe3h meta #ingrid brandl galatea #ashe duran #ashegrid

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overthinkingtaleblr · 1 year ago

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This is the guy who runs Poltertoast, you had a tma taleblr au?! Pls pls tell more

I had a TMA Taleblr AU! I developed a lot of it with a close friend who had recently gotten into TMA at the time, and I still think about it a lot tbh. Basically the idea was ‘Taleblr, but the characters bend to the whim of TMA rules’ and was sometimes an exploration of how far things could go. We had a lot of antagonists as Avatars. And a lot of tragic ends…

Here’s some highlights so I don’t just throw the whole plot into your face all at once—

To begin: a part of TMA includes Jon dropping by the states, so if we want them to interact, it happens here. Maybe if he does his world tour earlier in the story, PIE can come back and get involved with the evolving situation right at the end of season 4.

Since the Avatars and other things done by the Fears are basically paranormal, PIE would start their exploration thinking it’s ghosts and stuff and come into a horrific realization as time goes on. By which I mean, similar to Jon, their search for answers has been turning them into the things they’ve been seeking to understand and maybe destroy.

CBF is a creature of the web, one who left a severe impact on Ghost after he survived it as a child. Probably based on the growing anxiety of how a child sees the world and how they may be tricked into allowing bad things to happen thinking it’s friendly.

Similar to Ghost, Spooker is also touched by the Fears before joining PIE. His dad ran a Desolation-based cult that’s boiled over and led to most of the members and some innocent people dying in a fire. One of the members ascended to being an avatar from it, but it still cut their member count down to two. While being touched by the Desolation, Spooker is eventually consumed by the Spiral, becoming an avatar similar to the Distortion.

The Toasts are a bit depressing. Johnny isn’t introduced to the fears until after joining PIE and even then he doesn’t fully understand what they’re chasing. At one point, he encounters a monster that seems to target twins and assumes that means it would be coming for him next, but the Stranger entity takes Gavin instead and the worst part to Johnny is that he didn’t notice the difference. Toast also starts leaning down a Hunt path that he either gets pulled out of or we get a free werewolf.

Entering this world with the least amount of context for anything, Chris’s reaction is to research as much as possible. Seeing as most of the people on the team are avatar-touched or aware that the avatars are willing to talk to them, Chris struggles not to see them as extensions of humans and can’t bring himself to the hunt-y mindset. He likely goes down the path of the Eye instead, learning and learning until that knowledge eats him. It would be funny if he and Jon met early on, agreed on the safety of their shared methods, and then reconnected after said method ate their humanity.

The Unicorns are inside of a Lightner— A ‘the last unicorn’ paperback that makes the reader consider themself.. One of the unicorns. I’m guessing it’s just Stardust in this situation (the book IS titled the LAST unicorn) but part of his goal would likely be making more. In a destructive manner— the book and the unicorn who possesses it are both aligned with the slaughter. in order for Stardust to stay around, the book has to stay open.

Spooker’s niece, Poppy, lives with her desolation-cult grandpa, friends with several young avatars, and a borderline caretaker of the Last Unicorn Lightner. Her alignment is to the fears themselves, and she thinks it’s funny to mess with PIE’s head. (She does not respect them, and kind of sees other humans as food for entities.) She may not be an active threat, but she is dangerous.

Light Zeron and James Maloney have similar stories, being so afraid of something that when they eventually managed to co-exist with their own fear, it made avatars out of them. Light is aligned with the Dark and Maloney to the Vast (bird-themed!), and they’ve both come to enjoy their new jobs, even as they still harbor the fear that fed their entity.

Maloney used to work with Princeton Quagmire, who (if I remember right) was centered around trying to find a way to destroy the entities. They haven’t consumed or taken to him just yet, but Maloney isn’t the first time he lost an employee. His other accomplices at the moment are Jenny Toast and ‘Officer Starbucks’.

Though it freaks her out a bit, Jenny and Maloney stay friends through his transformation. This likely does not bode well for her own fate…

Maxwell is an avatar of the Hunt, Aimee is aligned with the Lonely, and neither of them realize how deep down the rabbit hole they’ve dug themselves. Maxwell just constantly wants revenge, but his definition keeps changing, and Aimee doesn’t understand why she seems to be on a different path to the rest of the world. They’re friends with Poppy— even if they don’t understand what they’ve become, she supports the change.

I don’t remember considering the Acachallas, but Sally could easily embody the End and Spencer could be an incredibly powerful Buried avatar.

To anyone asking “Why were most of them avatars? Why not just kill them?” I like the trope of someone coming back Wrong, and that happens multiple times if the character is basically hollowed out and replaced by an entity of fear.

I might be missing or misremembering some things ^^; but YEAH— that’s the general vibe of the tma AU. I had a story in my head where Jon’s visit to the states was extended by encountering these mfers— including meeting Poppy Soup herself at one point, her being very coy about knowing something that Jon doesn’t, and him being confused about how someone who feels so human knows so much about what’s going on. His interaction with PIE probably devolves into an argument.

+ my old doodle from when i first announced this au

#taleblr #taleblr headcanons #taleblr Au #taleblr TMA Au #johnny ghost #johnny toast #taleblr pie #fred spooker soup #gavin toast #chris colon ghostie

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pricklypear1997 · 2 years ago

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Drunk FMAB ramblings

Edward: omg he’s short and full of anger and depression. So relatable. Favorite color is red, same. “You mean this shrimp fried some rice?!?!?” Adorable. Will literally fight god if he has too lmao. Isn’t atheist as most would believe…. Doesn’t give up. Loves his little bro.

Al: loves cats uwu same, my brother, but my bff is definitely him and she’s like a sister to me lol, plus taller than me :((((. Al is a cinnamon roll. So adorably sweet. Who could hate him??? Seriously??? Will brighten anyone’s day! Such a book nerd 📚. Idk. I think he really likes reading. :) ngl my little bro is like him too. Tall as hell wtf… I feel so protective of my little bro but honestly he doesn’t need me 😹😹😹

Winry, the perfect girl, she’s wonderful and great at making things. So patient with Ed :3 I love her piercings. She’s probably really good at math xD so smart and self reliant too! Loves Edward so much. So sweet :))))

Riza; so strong and cool. Damn sharpshooter. Wish I could be as good with a gun as her. I’ve never held a gun before lmaooo. She’s so cool. She’s definitely a bit sad tho. I get that.

Roy; omg he’s funny but dumb 😂 idk why he’s dumb but he is. ._. He’s so different from me but I completely understand his end goal. That patriotism and love for his country 🤩, I 100% get that and I feel like I kinda have the same end goal as he does, even tho… personality wise, I don’t relate to him at all. He’s such a fucking manwhore lmao.

Ling Yao; funny funny guy, so similar to the mustang tbh (I wonder if Roy is part Xingese too), so funny and chipper. Loves food. Loves his country too, again so fucking based. Imagine being emperor of your country, hell yeah! I love his smile lmao 🤣

Mei Chang; really cute, her braids remind me of central Asian hairstyles :) Central Asia is so cool man… I’m 1/4th central Asian (and North Indian) ok?!? I like her little panda/cat too. She’s so sweet :3 a little red bean dumpling 🥟.

Lan Fan, mysterious cool girl. She literally cut off her arm to throw Wrath off DAMN girl. Her loyalty to Ling is WOW. I’d like to learn more about her. We didn’t get enough of Lan Fan.

Olivier Mira Armstrong; oh my god she’s so cool (and hot!). Sword fighting badass chick. Fur coats and all… damn. So cool and scary. She’s so honest, I love that about her. Very Balkan of her to NOT beat around the bush!!!

Alex Louis Armstrong; mustached muscly freak who’s actually really nice, but kinda scary. I actually appreciate him much more now than I used too. A heroic good guy 👍🏻. A gentle Giant. Probably really good at cooking too?

Izumi Curtis; I love her. Strong independent woman who’s also a house wife and loves her husband. Is a house wife who subverts every sexist stereotype of house wives. So damn cool. She lost a child through miscarriage. :( loves kids but is a “tough love” kinda gal. Doesn’t mess around. She’s really great. I love her relationship with Sig.

Sig Curtis; a gentle giant. Loving and understanding husband. Loves Izumi so much 😭 so patient with his crazy wife! That’s dedication right there! Probably really good at cooking 😀

Ok now the humonculi;

Wrath; a cautionary tale. I actually really like King Bradley. I get him. Really angry lol. Bad ass. So good at sword fighting 🤩🤩🤩. Actually loves his wife… his story is actually sad. Who were his parents??? Orphan…

Envy: ; wtf a palm tree??? I hate this character but idk why. He/she/they irritates me. I like the cute tiny lizard form though. I really adore lizards :3. Kinda angry and angsty. I don’t get this character lol.

Lust; sexy lady roflmao. She’s really pretty, it’s true. Her nails on fleek 10/10. She’s an interesting character and I would’ve loved to see more of her. She died too soon.

Sloth; “what a pain ______ is”. I feel ya bro. He’s scary and muscly, but sleepy af. He does not give a single fuck 😹😹😹

Pride; snot nosed brat! I can’t stand this kid. 🤠 I think pride is my third biggest sin after Wrath and Sloth tho… but this kid was so annoying loooool. Spoiled little rich bitch 🤣

Gluttony; fatass. He’s kinda gross. Resembles a big fat drooling hungry baby lmaoooo.

Greed; we ALL have greed to some extent. He’s such a player. Goofy ass. Funny. Gets all the ladddiiiieeeessss. He wants to rule the world? Or he really just wants good friends who appreciate him???? A chill guy. Slightly annoying but tolerable xD

Father; what the fuck is that thing??? Dwarf in the flask LMAO. Shadowy figure. A weirdo.

Ok back to humans;

Maes Hughes; the best dad ever! Spoils his daughter rotten! A great guy. Everyone is sad he died. I can see why Mustang really appreciated Hughes. He was such a great and kind hearted friend 😄. Made everyone feel better.

Miles; ok actually really cool. I get that 1/4th “other” feeling. Idk why but he’s really interesting. Looks cool :) he’s gonna help save Amestris AND the Ishvalans.

Scar; I I understand his anger. He’s very human and I appreciate that Hiromu Arakawa highlights his humanity despite his wrathfulness. He made a lot of horrible mistakes but we all know he’s on a path of redemption. He really likes cute things :3

Buccaneer; loyal as hell tough guy 🤣 acts so mean on the surface; but is actually nice and just wants SOMEONE to notice how much he cares lmao.

Kimblee; what the fuck? Kinda reminds me of the Boltons from ASOIAF. Long black straight hair pale faced and creepy as hell. Complete psycho and bloodthirsty as hell lmaoooo.

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lightlycareless · 1 year ago

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Hi! I’m a big fan of works and they’ve inspired me a lot to start writing fanfiction again(specifically Naoya lol). It’s been probably over 10 years since I’ve written fanfiction(Although I do write my own original works) and I’ve been horrified to write fanfiction again after how my first fanfic was treated when I wrote it as a kid(the criticism was valid but they were mean af about it). So I was wondering if you have any tips you could share about writing fanfiction and how you balance characterization as well as character growth for a character like Naoya who in canon does not really have any? I hope this makes sense. I’m willing to elaborate further if it doesn’t but if you don’t wanna answer this, it’s totally fine too-💚

Hi!!! Omg thank you so so much!! I'm so flattered :')))) akgakjgjakjgujka I never thought i'd be in this position, idk, like, I was the one that looked up to others you know?

but aaaaah thank you so much for your lovely words 🥺❤️

Now onto the good stuff hehehe.

So, I guess the best way about characterization, at least what I think has helped me (and how I handle it? excuse me if it doesn't make sense hahah) is trying to first analyze the environment in which said character grew in, how it affects him, and how it has affected people in real life. (cause at the end of the day, reality surpasses fiction)

For example: with what little we got from Naoya in the manga (extras included) I can easily say Naoya is not liked, thus, he’s very lonely. The type of person that surrounds himself with “yes-people” because of what they represent, not because of who they really are. Of course, the older he got the more cold/resentful he became, but even then, I was sure that he always craved what he never had in his life, a family. Love. Appreciation for who he is. All humans want that, we’re social people, we live in societies for a reason. We need to have companionship, either through partners, or friendships.

I also get the idea that, even when he was supposed to be the next heir, no one really wanted him. Like, he got the job because “There was no one else” to do it, not because he was the best candidate. I have no doubt that if Naoya failed his weird plan of getting rid of Megumi, or whatever he did he didn’t become heir anyways, he wouldn’t know what the hell to do with his life, an identity crisis would certainly be on his way.

Anyways, in order to get inspiration I tend to hear lots of podcasts about people and their peculiar stories, true crime even, it’s how I concluded that Naoya is definitely a womanizer not because he likes the act (I’m sure he does) but because he craves attention, and he needs it whenever he can. That kind of stuff, you know? A lot of psychology stuff too, it helps you understand what traits a lonely person can inhibit, their actions, what different environments do to different people, so on and so forth.

Also, reading other stories is certainly very inspiring/productive too :> I can easily say that Naoya and his family is based on the Todoroki’s from bnha: prodigy child, rest of the children are neglected, some of then even jealous… it just made sense. And I’m sure there’s more examples like that. There’s no shame in getting inspired by other works, as long as it’s not a carbon copy, you know?

In the end, I guess the best way to do characterization/character growth is to do lots of brainstorming, in the sense of: what is the environment that this character grew in? the problems he can face in such place, the reaction, his main goal, what he’s doing to obtain it, and so on. Developing these things will make the pieces slowly fall into place when it comes to making a character’s background/growth/personality 🤭it’s really fun, more so when you have a blank canvas to work on 😏

Well, I hope it was of any help!! I really don’t know how else to describe how I do these things, I just spend most of my time daydreaming and such. But still, if there’s anything else you’d like for me to further explain, just let me know and I’ll do my best ❤️

Take care, and hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

P.S. Don’t let reviews discourage you from writing fanfiction!! I know everyone has their opinion, but at the end of the day it’s your work, and if they don’t like it, they can write their own!! 🥺 so cheer up!

#ask

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splashink-games · 1 year ago

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Using Poppets to Explore the World(s)

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a first-person dungeon crawling JRPG. Using puppets created by her apprentice Luca, the Dusk Witch Dronya explores the Labyrinth under the town of Refrain.

What awaits in the labyrinth is a plethora of worlds, monsters, and levelling up!

Spoiler warning for the story and postgame below the cut!

So I've been wanting to play Labyrinth of Refrain for a long while now. Probably about as long as I've waited for the N1RV Ann-A release, but this one's actually released so- Here we are, I guess.

To clarify, unlike all the bad reviews, I only had one crash and it was cause the game was trying to use my stupid integrated graphics instead of my actual gpu so there's that. Never had an issue with stability.

To start with gameplay, it's what you'd expect from a game of the genre. There's a lot to take in heading into it: puppets, pacts, covens, the dungeon exploration. As someone who's played Mary Skelter and Etrian Odyssey, I thoroughly enjoyed the mechanics.

I think the classes felt a little shallow, with some being obviously better than others. By the end of the game, I was thinking of ditching Marginal Maze (the mage class) altogether while having a team of Gothic Coppelias (crit-focused class) and Aster Knights (the all-arounder) instead because their skills are immensely useful for long fights. Or choosing Aster Knights over Shinobushi (DEX-based class) because the Knights can tank better. As an aside, the resistance skills in the classes felt like filler, simply because I could just have equipment to increase them and I could have much better skills instead.

The most interesting mechanic to me was the Pacts and Covens. I didn't think it'd be so satisfying to have that many units attacking. Plus the different effects of each pact and formation are interesting, though the formations are also a little lacking since there's only so many ways to form your brigade. The pacts having the magic was also nice, since I could mix and match the skills with the puppets.

I had an issue with the magic/Donum not being all too useful until late in the game. And even then, I wouldn't use it unless I had a particularly difficult or a boss fight ahead of me. Two things stood out to me for this, one being that I couldn't restore Donum in the labyrinth and two being my attacks were just stronger than the skills most of the time.

The dungeon exploration was fun too! Albeit the red damaging spots were annoying. The breakable walls added a cool thing to look out for in each floor. Mud exits were extremely useful, despite it being kinda bad for farming mana.

The game itself wasn't so hard, but I don't think that's a huge problem. On normal, the fights and dungeon crawling offered an adequate amount of challenge while still letting me breeze through. I think my fun focused on optimizing my puppets and enjoying the story.

Speaking of story, it was wonderful and I'm glad it didn't flop for me since I poured over 70 hours into it. Well, I guess I wouldn't have poured time into it if the story flopped. And for all its missteps, the story does a fantastic job of developing its characters including all their flaws and relationships.

The Dusk Witch Dronya is a great look at a character who gives no shits to get what she wants, but despite being a ruthless person, she still has a soft side for Luca. We get to gradually understand her goals and uncover her history with various characters. Her relationship with Luca and Isara are especially well-written, I think. With Luca, Dronya's both a guardian and mentor despite her actions towards the child. And with Isara, an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers? An unrequited love, enough to care for her orphaned child.

The narrative twists itself at the end, revealing an array of information that changes how you look at things. Luca is a soul witch. Dronya is a puppet. The Funas are also puppets. Furia, who you hear from some characters earlier in the game, is Baba Yaga and rightfully assumes her role as the main villain again.

The game, while it hides a lot from the players, is still able to tell a cohesive story while developing characters.

As for the art and music- well I kind of drowned out the music in all honesty. It happens when most of the battle music is the same and you're focused on getting through to the next story point.

The (Japanese) voice acting, however, was very nice. At times a little overacted but I thought the voice cast matched their characters.

The art is in the usual anime-style and its quality is top-notch. I liked seeing the motifs between the characters shown in different ages (Luca, Dronya, Marietta).

The 100% wasn't too hard to do and it was all new content! The hidden bosses had some annoying quirks, like needing a specific pact to make the fight easier, but overall offered a level of difficulty that was nice! I didn't even need to fully optimize my puppets for it.

The post-game story was also refreshing. I'm a pushover for good(?) endings. It lets you tie up some loose ends in the alternate timeline and find out a little more about Mezzaluca.

For those looking for a good story and a lot of unit optimizing, this is a game for you!

As always,

Enjoy gaming!

#ink reviews #game review #Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk #Labyrinth of Refrain #video games

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dillweedshole · 1 year ago

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I give up. Fuck the Frontiers DLC. I quit.

Final Horizon, the Frontiers DLC, started super nicely, I liked everything about it right up until trial 2. trial 3 was fine, 4 was fine too so my hopes were back up. then the master trial hit, and now i'm at the boss, and now it's just bad to me.

here's the thing: I would love if the mechanics were refined and fixed up, the difficulty would 100% be tolerable. I did Doom Eternal's Ultra Nightmare mode, I did Dead Space 2's Hardcore mode, I GOT 106% IN CRASH FUCKING 4. I am TOTALLY FINE with difficulty (especially when it gives you something for doing it (fuck you crash 4 lmfao))

but the game is about as nutritionally balanced as a fast food meal. It's just not bro.

the perfect parry requires near FRAME PERFECT inputs, but you can spam the stomp until the sun collapses. the titan animations look like they SHOULD be telegraphed correctly but they're off. Sometimes the attack hit is late, sometimes it's early.

Y'know what, I also hate these fucking babymen who can't handle that their precious little blue rat game is getting criticized so they hide behind their meaningless skill in a single player video game for children. I can understand wanting difficulty, the rest of Frontiers is a cakewalk, and at the end of the day it's a totally free content update that doesn't change fuck about the main game, but this is not real difficulty. It's bad jank. I love Sonic to the end of the fucking earth but this is literally just annoying content. the last of any big spectacle at the final boss was completely ruined by the terrible gameplay that lead up to it. I am in absolutely no fucking rush to play it, in fact I'll probably just watch it online and uninstall the game to make space for something else. (steam deck storage issues)

I feel like I need to bring something up, relevant to all this: Doom Eternal also got DLC, The Ancient Gods, and it was ALSO fucking NUTS HARD. (talking more about Pt 1 here lmao)

HOWEVER. Once you learned how to play through TAG 1 at a high enough level, the REST OF THE GAME opened WIDE UP. It's a hurdle, but once you do it you feel like a fucking CHAMPION. You genuinely feel like you become a master of the art of "Fucking Shit Up".

Final Horizon makes me feel like a child who just got beat up by the school bullies. I don't feel any cooler or better at the game, I just feel like walking back home and maybe crying and pissing myself a bit.

How cool a comparison, DOOM's TAG 1 is a martial arts master where Final Horizon is a group of school bullies lmfao

It's not rewarding skill at all, it's just needless skill. Skill that will never apply to anywhere else in the main game. Because the game was never built for this type of difficulty. (the pre-trial tower climbs were all perfect though) Combat in Frontiers was almost entirely spectacle. It was fucking cool spectacle but at the end of the day you could totally get through the entire game mashing X and you could get away scot-free.

Now, I think the Cyberspace stages are about where the difficulty is present AND correct. It makes sense HOW they're hard, and they don't break any rules just to make the game harder. You can still do absolutely everything you could do in the base game's Cyberspace levels with zero changes to your moveset, the goal posts are now basically expecting you to use your skills. THAT is good skill usage. Not "Let's make your parry window fuckin 8 frames long, go fuck yourself" like what???

I had an idea for how the combat could be just a bit tougher (i'm no game designer yet so this could be ass): Make the boost gauge affect what attack moves you can make and how many times you can make them, and while in combat it recovers a little slower but speeds up by attacking normally. Spamming stomp would basically be impossible, now you have to time it out. i don't fuckin know i just want frontiers's difficulty to make sense.

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scalamore · 2 years ago

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(Major Spoiler/Speculation) - Tory's age, when she became an alchemic doll

Novel doesn't explicitly say it, but:

We have enough objective hints to try to figure it out

Tory appeared to be a young girl around 8-9 years old (Vol 1) When Eva came to Vellnelni, she came with a "young maid" (Vol 5)

The painting of the young child with Eva, did not look too different than her current self, who is forever around 9 years old (vol 6). She comments, that it's been "over 10 years" since she's heard her original true name.

Rupert was a bright child, able to learn Alchemy at age 3 (SS1). He was young, but he still remembered clearly Tory's screams of pain when she died and immediately became an alchemic doll (Vol 4? or 5?)

Eva died several years before the start of the story

Tory starts acting "different" in Vol 3 (starting with drowning the raccoon, bullying Lari)

Alchemic dolls with their own "will" tend to resent their masters (Vol 5? or 4)

Both Rupert and Louis comment that she's breaking down and dying (separately, in Vol 5 and 6)

Tory saying that she can't remember how she felt about Rupe/lali (vol 6)

With that said, I have composed the chart below:

Based on this, it appears that Rupert is about 5 years younger than Tory.

Tory was a "young maid" that came over with Eva, so I estimate she's young, probably around 5 years old. It wouldn't surprise me that Eva, at her wit's end and not knowing how long she'll last in Vellnelny, created Tory within a few years to ensure Rupert had some sort of guardian with him at all times. Seems reasonable that a 10 year old Rupert, when creating al alchemic doll out of his already dead mother, would not have the same skill/technique as her when she created Tory. The alchemic doll Eva lasted around 6 years, before breaking down for good. Alchemic dolls are said to be strong, and resistant to alchemy and damage, but maybe the issue with her was that she was already dead, and Rupert was not yet a master of alchemy? thus she was breaking down already by the 4 year mark. Meanwhile, when Eva created Tory, she was alive, killed, and immediately transmuted to become an alchemic doll using Wiletan-style techniques and catalysts (the blue eagle). That moment in Vol 6 when Tory mentions it's been over 10 years since she became an alchemic doll - meaning that Rupert was younger than 8 years old at the time. Considering she's forever with the appearance of a 8-9 year old, it's reasonable to assume Rupert was around 4-5 at this time, as he could remember that moment and understand that Tory was created as a tool for him. This means that two years into the main story, she had already been an alchemic doll for 12 years - and thus her mentation is starting to be distorted. It's probably a combination of multiple things: the natural resentment of those who became alchemic dolls (particularly the black hands) toward their masters over time; but this could potentially apply to blue eagles, those who have their minds manipulated for their goal. In any case, whether its the vellnelni empire's black hand, or Wiletan's blue eagle, both involve turning people into puppets through alchemy, stealing from them their own autonomy and forcing them to follow orders.

It's particularly hurtful to Tory, as her life was essentially stolen from her: she never had a chance to mature. She's forever 10, and her thinking stays that way. In addition to getting jealous and resentful of those around her, she's naturally breaking down as an alchemic doll, and those with intact wills have their wills distorted for the sake of the mission. In Vol 5-6, Tory literally can't remember what she thinks of RupeLali, whether or not she loves or hates them, but all she knows is that SHE MUST FULFILL EVAS MISSION, and if Rupert doesn't want to finish it because he prioritizes Lari, then she has to take matters in her own hands and do it herself.

Also, this is my way of letting go/moving on from being upset when someone called me "making stuff up about Tory" and "making up things about her breaking down" when it's literally in the source.

#your majesty please spare me this time #manhwa #rofan #otome isekai

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flock-of-cassowaries · 1 year ago

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I’m having a deep think right now about the overlaps and the differences between the appeal of fascism, and that of libertarianism.

On one level, this is because I am writing a Sucession fanfic, and trying to get into Roman’s head.

But on another level only reason I’m even writing Succession fanfiction is that I identify with Roman, and that is in large part because he is a queer person who is philosophically in the thrall of his terrifying conservative father, whose love he desperately craves.

And once upon a time, that used to be me. And I feel deep and abiding shame about that.

(Not the sexy kind of shame. The devastating kind.)

But as I delve into philosophical discussions of fascism and conservatism (and honestly, I have not yet delved the deeply), I’m starting to realize that maybe I have less in common with Roman, and more with Connor (if we leave out his weird S3 white-nationalism dog whistles about the evils of onanism).

I’m basing a lot of this on the first chapter – which is all I have read so far - of “The Reactionary Mind” by Corey Robin; which I came upon via the source list for the linked YouTube video.

youtube

[link to “Endnote 2: White Fascism” by Innuendo Studios, on YouTube.]

Robin (if I’m understanding him correctly) posits that the end goal of conservatism is fundamentally Fishstick fascistic, and that the real animus driving political conservative movements is always the desire of the privileged to remain above those the existing social order oppresses.

I have certainly voted for, and carried water for, conservatives (a fact of which I am, again, deeply ashamed), but I don’t think that was ever the real appeal for me.

I’m not saying I didn’t internalize beliefs that were (I now realize) racist, classist, ableist, and elitist; but I don’t think that was ever the main draw, so much as a side effect of reading the goddamn National Post every fucking day

But for me, I think the main appeal of conservatism was the illusory promise of total self-sufficiency, and of being impossible to further hurt. It was the libertarian lie, bound up in the same nihilistic appeal as the Nine Inch Nails song whose hook is “Nothing can stop me now, cause I don’t care anymore.” (‘Piggy’ is the song.)

In this respect, I think I had more in common with Connor; I was also the discarded child who grew up to think of themself as “a flower that grows on rocks and feeds on the insect that land inside of it.”

Honestly, that soliloquy (from S4E2) could’ve been me at thirteen.

I felt rejected and shunned by the world, but I was also rapidly becoming aware that I could use my looks and intelligence as currency (just a Connor uses his literal currency as currency).

It was only when I was 21, and ended a long relationship, and found myself with no one to turn to, and no idea who I was, that my father swooped in to be my new best friend; and that’s when I became more Roman-like in my fawning attempts to appeal to him.

But I think Roman truly believes that his father is better than him, whereas a much more significant part of me always knew my own dad was a false prophet.

I think the world reaffirmed this belief in Roman, because his father has been so successful, and I think his father, concerned with legacy, has been much more active in fostering this mythology than my own father was.

(My dad would tend to just willfully ignore that l existed for several years at a stretch, if I was acting too cringe [i.e. not stereotypically conservative-lady feminine enough] for his conservative sensibilities; something I am assuming that Shiv could probably relate to.

The scene where Logan tells her he wants her back in the fold was very similar to what my father did with me when I was 21, and I glowed just the same way she did.)

But yeah, I think an internalized belief on Roman’s part that his father truly is better than him, and a desire to “be as good” as his father in order to redeem himself and overcome this inadequacy in his person, really feeds into Roman’s affinity for fascism / conservatism.

And I think that belief structure is with him in that bathroom with Mencken, unacknowledged and subconscious, and even more insidious than his conscious priorities of wanting to win points with Logan, and maaaaaybe wanting to be pushed to his knees and have a fascist phallus (a fascllus? I’m going to hell) thrust upon him.

Anyway, if anyone ever reads this, feel free to suggest some books / essays / videos to my reading list.

So far, in addition to the above-mentioned Cory Robbins tome, I am planning to actually finish “The Ur-Fascist” by Umberto Ecco, and to at least dip into “The Dialectic of Enlightenment” by Horkheimer and Adorno, and “The Authoritarian Personality” by Adorno.

#succession #succession fanfic #succession fanfiction #roman roy #connor roy #roman roy character analysis #connor roy character analysis #succession themes #politics in succession #libertarianism in succession #fascism in succession #libertarianism vs fascism #the reactionary mind #corey robin #overthinking succession #long rambling essay #jeryd mencken #logan roy #Youtube

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enbyleighlines · 1 year ago

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Leigh plays Tellius prt 12

I forgot how dramatic Geoffrey can be. But I guess with a best friend like Bastian, he would have to be a little dramatic.

I love how Ike continues to value his work as a mercenary above everything else. Of course, I don't think this high level of integrity is common amongst mercenary groups, but the Greil Mercs have always been different. Like how Greil himself would take work without pay, if it meant helping out someone in need. They fight for people, not for ideals such as honor or glory.

Now, I remember this map giving me so much trouble when I was a kid. This was the map that had me give up on not losing any units. I remember sacrificing Calill here, back in 2007, just so I could finally advance to the next chapter.

So when it came time to face this map again, 16 years later, I was feeling rather nervous.

Turns out I had no reason to be nervous, because I wiped the floor with all the enemies without issue. The boss gave me a scare at first, when I realized he was activating a skill in battle. I was afraid it was Resolve, but it turned out to be Parity, which was far less intimidating.

What a gorgeous scene! I love this moment between Elincia and her retainers. Their friendship is so great, and I'm glad that they got to be reunited.

This may be my shipper goggles blinding me again, but... was there something in that letter you don't want others seeing, Tibarn?

I understand where he's coming from, but it is jarring to be see a young boy say "Kill 'em all!"

Love this base conversation. Ike cannot be bothered to figure out what the hell Bastian is talking about half the time. And we learn that, though Ike's not a fan of desserts, he does drink tea! Unsweetened, I imagine, but still. Idk why, but I really love the idea of manly man Ike sitting down and having a cup of tea. Maybe he even used to have tea parties with Mist as a child. Too cute!

Here comes Largo. I do think this entire conversation is hilarious enough to justify Largo's existence as a playable unit, but otherwise I have never used him and probably never will. That being said, I love his character development in Radiant Dawn, where he goes from a fame-seeking beserker for hire to a humble restaurant owner and doting father.

I made Jill another custom javelin, and I named it Diablo because of how much it cost. Plus it's red, to match her armor!

Funniest NPC? Funniest NPC.

They don't go into it, but I can imagine that Soren must be really nervous at this moment. He's about to lead a discussion in front of an army that includes judgemental Begnion knights, beast laguz, and hawk laguz, including the king of the hawk laguz. That's a lot of pressure, especially for a character who doesn't feel comfortable talking to anyone that isn't Ike. He did a brilliant job, though! It probably helps that he has an A rank with Ike now, so his biggest insecurity has been put to rest.

Kudos, Soren! You're going to need that growing confidence when you're promoted to chief strategist of the Laguz Alliance.

I love how Ike is just so taken off guard here. This conversation also raises some questions for me. Namely, how long do pegasi live? Didn't Elincia say that this one belonged to her great-grandmother? Are they just like... immortal?

Time to seize Fort Pinell! This map is a little intimidating due to its sheer size, especially it doesn't have many choke points. However, I managed to beat this map on my first try. Luckily, they let you take a ridiculous amount of units, so I managed to just cross the field by lining up my defensive fighters in a long vertical wall to keep my squishies protected. Meanwhile, Ike, Soren, and Ranulf destroyed the entire upper right section of the map all by themselves.

The Black Knight fight is coming!! I'm so nervous ahhhhhh

It was also around this point that I realized that it would be nearly impossible to achieve one of my goals. I intended to get Ranulf to level 20 with as many capped stats as possible. Unfortunately, after doing the math, it looks like the only stats it's possible to cap are strength and defense, because you get him so late in the game, and his stat caps are so ridiculously high.

For example, you get him at level 9, which means he will only level up 11 times. In order to cap his strength, he has to level up strength 10 times, which is possible, but not without a lot of resetting. Meanwhile, in order to cap his defense, he has to level up his defense 13 times, which is only possible if you get him to level up defense Every Single Level, plus give him a Draco Shield for that +2 defense.

As much as I love Ranulf, I want to use that Draco Shield for someone else if I can. So in the end, I only capped his strength. And I was only able to do so by burning through the rest of my bexp. Ugh!

Was this worth it, or a massive waste of resources?

Probably the latter, but what's done is done.

Either way, Ike's 1v1 match with the Black Knight is imminent. I would like to save Nasir if I can, so I'm hoping that I get lucky with triggering Aether.

#leigh plays tellius #path of radiance #fire emblem path of radiance #fe9 #tellius

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