#wonder if anyone else has tried to map etheria

[artificer-real]

Trick or Treat!

You get a map too cause thats the first thing i found in my folder!

This is the last draft of an old project I started with @katra-applesauce, an attempt to draw a comprehensive digital map of Etheria (From She-Ra) about... 4 ish years ago?? Of course, the project was abandonded, but it was still an informative experience!

The biggest problem we faced was that we got very few views of Etheria, and the ones we did get were covered in clouds. Another problem that Katra pointed out, is that Etheria is a broken planet. Its not like earth, it was turned into a giant superweapon!

You might notice that theres a LOT of land in this map, a solid 70-80% of the planet. My theory is that Etheria's entire ecosystem, by the time of the show, had been slowly dying as a result of what was done to it by the first ones. For example, more than half of the land visible on the right view seemed to be desert! Thats a lot of desert!

However, like I said, this was only meant to be a draft. Etheria's climate is Out Of Wack, and I was hoping to do much more research to get specifics about what was going on. Buuuut you know how ADHD gets ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S01E13 - The Battle of Bright Moon

The finale is here~

With that title, I assume Catra and company are going to invade Bright Moon and Entrapta is at some point going to figure out that hacking the planet is not that good of an idea. It could also have a tie to the battle where Micah died since we don't know where that happened yet. I think that's all so let's do this!

I'd joke about climate change but it's no joking matter.

Does Swift Wind's horn conduct electricity? Because flying during a magic thunderstorm sounds like a pretty bad idea.

Technically She-Ra wouldn't be affected, right? Since her Rune Stone is not connected to everyone else's. Or maybe since she's She-Ra she's connected to _all_ Rune Stones, making it worse for her? It does sound like a chance for all the princesses to join up again to fight since they'll be weaker.

Huh, so she really doesn't have a Runestone. What makes a princess a princess then? Is it just a political title or did she have a rune stone at some point?

She may have given up on the horde but she still knows how they think.

I can't tell if this is the explanation for why they won't appear this episode or a set up for the princesses to arrive later as reinforcements.

I'm glad it didn't take me 13 episodes to figure it out. Also, for some reason, I didn't expect that to be her voice.

Awwwwww, cute.

Welp, it seems like she's still dealing with everything that happened last episode.

Horse voice: "well, that's stupid". Oh, horse, wise way beyond your week of sentience, where are you.

Aaaaa, they are so supportive.

...how did she drag that giant flail?

Can't believe the horse has good taste.

My heart. She started tearing up just by seeing the staff, she already knew what it was. How old was she when Micah died?

This episode is going to make me cry with all this wholesomeness and feels.

Wait what, when did she get that upgrade? Did she complete a quest by visiting the beacon?

So... where are all the other soldiers and guards?

Knowing that your opponent does mostly melee attacks is a pretty good advantage.

Did she lose her armor?

Nope, just an animation error.

It really bothers me that there aren't more Bright Moon soldiers around, even Perfuma's episode had more people on her side.

The hope and surprise in her eyes are killing me because there's no way Catra is going to continue that sentence with anything good.

yup.

I mean, she does look really cool.

Well, that was easy. I'm glad to finally see Netossa and Spinnerella in action though.

Catra's characterization is on point. She gained a point in evil and she immediately invested it in mind games, Shadow Weaver style.

Second time Catra distracts her to achieve something! In the same season!

It's interesting that all of Adora's enemies mess with her head. It's a nice way to balance the power of She-Ra: it doesn't matter how powerful you are if you can be easily manipulated.

Is Angella really going to die? I mean... she _did_ reconcile with Glimmer, that could be a death flag, but I didn't even think about the possibility. It'd burden Glimmer with the weight of her entire kingdom, giving her another reason to form the Princess Alliance but it could also go the other way, making her more reluctant to do it because of the responsibility to her subjects.

Even if Angella doesn't die, what happens when your rune stone is destroyed? I'm not seeing a way out unless they get reinforcements soon.

rip Netossa and Spinerella

I keep expecting She-Ra to be able to magically summon her sword but nope.

The music is really nailing the "we did everything we could but we lost" feel

I think I haven't mentioned it before but I really like She-Ra's theme that appears in moments like this.

I'm not commenting on She-Ra giving up because it feels like they are _too_ trapped to end like this. They need at least a way to escape if the season is going to end in defeat.

Aw. No recriminations, no yelling, just understanding.

Woooo, the princesses are back!

Not even a second in and Sea Hawk is already planning to burn the ship down.

And _this_ is a weaker princess? Damn, they were holding back.

Of course Catra would be able to pinpoint the best way to cause the most emotional damage in one shot.

Well, that's a way to stop Entrapta without having to go invade the Fright Zone. I was still hoping Entrapta would realize ending the world wasn't such a great idea but I guess that wasn't to be.

I hope Adora remembers this when Light Hope tries again to get her to let go of her attachments.

...of course Sea Hawk wasn't going to miss the chance.

Interesting that Bow's "heart" lighted up along with all the princesses but Sea Hawk didn't. Is Bow also connected somehow to a rune stone?

I'm really confused by their ranks. I thought Angella was the Queen of Bright Moon but everyone is showing a lot more respect than to any other princess we've met. I guess she _is_ the "Queen of the Princesses" but still, how does all that work?

My heart. Adora is finally getting a positive relationship with an adult.

And Catra achieved what she originally said she wanted, she replaced Shadow Weaver. Yay?

---

That was a fun finale. It had a lot of fighting which is not one of She-Ra’s strengths but it worked as a backdrop for a lot of character moments which were great.

Everyone got what they wanted. She-Ra healed Glimmer and the Rune Stones, Glimmer got the Princess Alliance back in track, Sea Hawk burned down his ship, Entrapta got to learn more about the First Ones and Catra got to be the next Shadow Weaver.

My only problem with this episode is that the fight made Bright Moon feel tiny. It’s hard to convey they are fighting for a whole kingdom when only the people we know are fighting. Where were all the guards? Angella’s subjects? That cool general that appears for the map scenes? Why does only the Horde get an army? I wasn’t joking when I mentioned that Perfuma’s episode was more like a real battle than this.

Another very minor nitpick is that I wish they had explained or at least acknowledged She-Ra’s new armor. Everything else she did during the episode makes sense or can be explained away with the fact she’s Etheria’s champion and can work with the power of the other runestones but the armor was just a random upgrade.

I think that’s all the negative stuff so let’s talk about everything else in list format because I’m too tired to write a coherent review that includes everything:

* I really started thinking Angella would die, and that I had just missed her death flag. I don’t know how dark this show will get but it could still happen. It’d mark the definite end of the previous generation of Princesses, leaving Glimmer and the new Princess Alliance to take up the torch. Why is Angella the only “older” character around? How did everyone else’s parents die?

* She-Ra’s being just as vulnerable as anyone else to mind games could become a plot point later on. Adora could try and shed off her “attachments” on purpose to become a “better” She-Ra. It’d go against what this show and even this episode seems to be about but the writers appear to be taking a more realistic approach to healing from trauma and that involves relapses.

* The entire fight with Catra was great.

* Is the Princess Alliance going to be back together next season? There’s a chance the princesses were responding to Bright Moon’s distress beacon and nothing else. It’d mean a retread of a lot of this season though so I doubt they’ll go that way. And there _are_ more princesses, even if they don’t appear in the opening (does it change each season?)

* This season had a big focus on building up the Princess Alliance, using it as background for everyone’s character arcs. I wonder what’s going to happen next season. Bright Moon still being vulnerable seems to be important but not all-season important. Adora still needs to learn more about her powers and her destiny but that will happen no matter what else is going on. Maybe they’ll be taking a more active place in the war, attacking the Horde instead of just defending themselves?

I didn’t expect to like this show _so_ much so I can‘t wait to keep watching it. Until next time!

[pointy-eared-muse]

Graham... what have you done?

Quick poll, show of hands.  How many of my fellow King’s Questers were emotional wrecks by the end of Chapter 5 of King’s Quest 2015, thinking about how sad and beautiful and right-in-the-feels it was?  Most of you?  OK, that’s totally fair and reasonable.  You can put your hands down.  Now, how many of you, at the end of Chapter 5, were staring at your screen in dawning abject horror because you realized that Graham’s final act may have destabilized the political futures of multiple countries?  ...is it just me?  Maybe one person there in the back?  Anyone else?  OK, let me explain.  Spoilers ahead.

Now, I’m going to preface all this by saying I genuinely believe that Graham’s final decision was well-intentioned and motivated by love.  I think he saw a great deal of himself in Gwendolyn and honestly thought that she would make an excellent queen.  And, I do agree.  I think Gwendolyn has the potential to be a great ruler one day.

Key phrase there:  one day.

Because Graham literally just left his entire kingdom in the hands of a ten-year-old. (OK, I don’t actually know how old Gwendolyn is, but ten seems like a reasonable estimate.)

Now, I don’t doubt that Gwendolyn would be as well-supported as possible in her new role as queen.  I don’t doubt that Valanice, Rosella, her parents, and pretty much everyone in the Daventry castle would be right there to help her.  But still.  She is a young girl.  She has not yet developed the experience and maturity to be in that position.  Both her father and grandfather were pretty young when they each became kings, and she is roughly half the age they were at the time.  Look, I have a child about Gwendolyn’s age and I wouldn’t leave him in charge of breakfast, let alone a kingdom, and that’s under the best of circumstances.  Well-intentioned as it may be, the chances of this ending well for Daventry aren’t very good, even with help.  Somebody somewhere is bound to try and take advantage of her.  But it’s more complicated than that.

See, the game strongly implies that both Gart and Gwendolyn are only children and don’t have any siblings.  And if that is true, well, now, we have a problem.  Because, with Gwendolyn becoming queen of Daventry... the Land of the Green Isles no longer has an heir-apparent.  Whoops.

OK, I know what you’re thinking.  Why not just have Gart and Gwendolyn swap places?  She becomes queen of Daventry, and he becomes the future King of the Green Isles.  Problem solved, right?  Eh... maybe.  Because that’s definitely going to make an uphill fight for the both of them.  It’s unclear how much Gwendolyn has been coached at this point to lead a kingdom, but Gart has been being trained practically since birth to lead Daventry as the clear heir-apparent.  He knows Daventry well, can easily identify addendums by number, understands the people, history, geography, dangers, and culture of Daventry.  It’s his home.  But chances are, he doesn’t know all that much about the Green Isles---it’s unfamiliar territory at best and bound to be a culture shock.  And, to be honest, Gwendolyn will probably face similar struggles adapting to the Daventry way of life.  But, here is a key difference between the two realms:  on the whole, Daventry has been pretty chill about welcoming outsiders (goblins and evil wizards not withstanding).  Land of the Green Isles, though?  Land that is xenophobic enough that, by the request of its prior leaders, many maps either actively deny its existence or else deliberately misplace it so it is nearly impossible to find?  Land where almost any ship that attempts to sail there and actually finds it ends up wrecked?  Land of every island prepared to inventively kill any stranger who attempts to walk more than 5 feet inland from the shore? (If you’re wondering if I died a lot playing KQ6 as a kid, the answer is yes.  Yes, I did.)  Yeah...  Even in the best possible circumstances, Gart’s going to need a lot of luck if he’s going have any hope of succeeding as the next heir to the Green Isles, assuming he even gets the position.

But wait, you say, during KQ6 wasn’t there a lot of instability and turmoil going on because of Alhazred’s meddling?  And hasn’t he been gone for 30-ish years?  You are correct, but that still doesn’t change the fact that the Green Isles is pretty inherently hostile to outsiders.  Maybe some of that has changed under Alexander-Gwydion’s reign, but that kind of widespread cultural change is difficult to accomplish in one generation.  Xenophobia and mistrust rarely ever truly go away---they’re more likely to just go underground for a while and then pop back up at the first favorable opportunity.  And we actually don’t know how effective a ruler Alexander-Gwydion is.  Yes, he earned the respect of the various island leaders during his adventuring there, but he wasn’t brought up being taught how to govern.  It’s far more likely that Cassima is the true power on the throne of the Green Isles with Alexander-Gwydion being more of a figurehead.  We like to assume that the two of them ushered in a new era of peace and prosperity for the Green Isles... but what if they didn’t? What if the situation there is still politically precarious?

Because, see, as previously noted, there are some conspicuous and unexplained absences in the newest King’s Quest game.  One of them is Queen Cassima herself, and while we don’t actually know where she is or why,  my guess is that she stayed behind in the Green Isles instead of following her family to Daventry because things may well fall apart without her maintaining a presence.  And now, thanks to Graham, it’s just her there.  With Gwendolyn being queen of Daventry, we don’t know when or if Alexander-Gwydion will return to the Green Isles (I’m thinking more likely “when,” but it could take a while, be it weeks, months or even years).  And if the other islands perceive weakness or instability in the leadership of the Isle of the Crown, I’m pretty sure peaceful co-existence is not going to be the order of the day.  Whether this means each island becomes more insular, or the bickering and in-fighting between them flares up and intensifies, or there are threats of an all-out coup, I don’t know, but all in all, more than likely, things aren’t going to be smooth and peaceful.

And then there’s Edgar, also conspicuously missing with no explanation as to where he is or why, or even a definitive canon answer as to whether or not he’s a part of the Cracker family tree.  But for argument’s sake, let’s go with the generally-assumed belief that he is Gart’s father.  That would mean Gart would have as much (and probably more, actually) claim to being part of the Etherian court as he would that of the Green Isles, since there he’s a direct descendant of the ruling family, rather than just the king’s nephew.  And if you thought Green Isles politics and culture shock were hard... welcome to Faerie.

Now, the good news is that Oberon and Titania are effectively immortal, so the chances of Gart ever actually inheriting the throne and/or needing to lead are pretty small.  If he did find his place in the Etherian court, it’d most likely be as a courtier, a liaison, an ambassador or something like that.  At least, once he’s an adult.  As a kid, especially, though, probably every fairy and their dragonet is going to want to get their grabby little hands on Gart, especially the dark ones.  Because fairies are just weirdly obsessed with children in general, it’s far from the first time that wicked Etherians have tried to strike at Oberon and Titania through a child of their bloodline, and I still think it would be incredibly naive to assume that Lolotte and Malicia are the only threats to ever come out of Etherian society.

Again, we don’t actually know what happened to Edgar, but of the various theories I came up with, the one I like best is that Edgar has voluntarily (and heart-wrenchingly) separated from Rosella and Gart in an effort to keep them safe from the more dangerous factions of Etherian society.  I firmly believe that Edgar is motivated by the desire to Do The Right Thing, but growing up under Lolotte and being brainwashed by Malicia have left their mark on him.  He’s learned that the ends justify the means, he’s learned how to manipulate and deceive, how to plot and carry out plans in secret, how to literally get away with murder, and, most importantly, he’s learned how dark fairies generally think and behave. It’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do, and he hates it, but he can’t think of a better solution to protect the people he loves most, so, while they stay in Daventry, he returns to Eldritch and Etheria, and at first, he tries lying.  He denies he still has feelings for Rosella, denies that they have a child together.  They can’t hurt his son if they don’t know he exists, after all.  But Edgar’s more the type to deceive through misdirection and omission, and outright lies don’t spin easily off his tongue; he stammers and falters when he tries.  Not to mention that any fairy with sufficient means, skill and determination can use Daventry’s cherished Magic Mirror as a window into the kingdom (if Genesta could, surely there are others, after all).  Rumors spread quickly among fairies, and the idea of a precious half-human prince who doesn’t realize what he’s capable of and being poised to lead a kingdom one day is a terribly tempting target.  Imagine what they could do with that impressionable mind, that untapped power...  And if this sweet little prince could be taken...  Etheria remembers the chaos that followed in the wake of losing their own Prince Edgar---how would Daventry handle the disappearance of its own heir?  King Graham is growing older and fears dark magic...  Goblins have been able to throw Daventry into disarray, and, overall, they’re downright primitive compared to the dark fairies of Etheria.  If the forces of dark magic took their prince, there would be war, surely.  And the humans would be no match against the fairies.  Daventry would become theirs.

So, now Edgar has to switch tactics, because simple denial is pointless.  It becomes a cat-and-mouse game, where the best defense is a good offense. It’s his fault that Daventry is at risk, so it’s his duty to prevent both personal tragedy and war between the realms.  He’s on the proverbial front lines, rooting out the places where evil flourishes, doing all he can to quash the ambitions of those who would hurt Gart or Rosella and/or cause a war.  Once in a while, maybe, he slips away to visit Daventry, to catch a glimpse of his son and his beloved Rosella.  Quietly, he encourages sending Gart on adventures, to keep him away from the Magic Mirror where he might be spied upon, to hone the skills of survival, resourcefulness and handling adversity, because he will need them one day.  Maybe out in the wilds, the magic in him will awaken, and he can practice it away from Graham’s potential worry and disapproval.  Perhaps, just perhaps, it is Edgar who fervently pleads with Graham in hushed corners to not let Gart grow up too soon, to let him be a boy, to keep him sheltered from too much public attention.  Don’t let him become king until he is too old to tempt those who would corrupt him.  And Graham doesn’t---he ends up choosing his other grandchild to succeed him.

Meanwhile, Gart is being raised human.  It’s a bittersweet prospect in Edgar’s eyes, having known what it’s like to grow up not knowing the truth of what you are, but, for now, it’s for the best.  Gart doesn’t yet understand the sacrifices his father is making on his behalf, or the power that lies sleeping in his veins.  He grows to believe that Daventry is his birthright, not realizing that someday his father’s battles may become his own.  One day, he will understand, but that day may come sooner than expected with his younger cousin now the acting queen.  There’s a chance the dark fairies may try to use her to get to Gart, appealing to her youth, her innocence, her own fascination with magic. 

Daventry has never been more vulnerable in living human memory.  And two other nations may be on the brink of open conflict because of it.

...long story short, if there’s a follow-up game to this, I really hope it’s about Gwendolyn and Gart trying to navigate the political hellscape they’ve just inherited.