#and i might be developing a special interest in the idea of death
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This is gonna sound weird, but I've had this headcannon about Wally Darling for a while, and I would've added it to the WH headcannon list, but there's so much detail I want to go into that I'd rather just make this a separate post.
Imagine if you will:
Wally Darling is obsessed with death. No, not in like a creepy way. And not the way a serial killer would be. He just simply has a special interest for death.
If you ask him how he got this special interest, he'll say he doesn't remember. But he will tell you why it's so interesting to him.
He won't be $uiçï/ðæł or anything, but he'll be giddy thinking about how he's gonna die (he loves surprises), and he'll often talk about different ways people can die and where we think we go when we die, etc.
He only really tells this to Barnaby though because everyone else isn't comfortable discussing death the way Wally does. Barnaby understands that Wally's just really passionate. I mean, you wouldn't be able to tell how passionate he is, but Barn can, and that's all that matters.
Wally often finds himself planning his funeral, like he's planning a birthday party, even going as far as calling it his big day.
Despite how weird his special interest is, and how uncomfortable it makes most of tge neighbors, they can't deny that it's nice to see Wally so passionate about something. He sees the beauty in everything, even death. He knows that it'll happen to everyone, and he just wants to live his life to the fullest. He would be devastated if his neighbors died, but he would still be happy knowing he got to enjoy their life along with them.
#welcome home project#welcome home puppet show#welcome home#wally darling welcome home#welcome home website#welcome home headcannons#i know this is weird but ive been thinking about death a lot too#and i might be developing a special interest in the idea of death#but honestly i feel like Wally would be onsessed with death#in a really dorky way and everything#plus he'd be obsessed with the portals album from melanie martinez#he'd love melanie martinez in general im telling you#dont at me#playfellow workshop
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I'm thinking about the Andraste cult "the disciples of Andraste" who believe that Andraste is now reborn as a dragon and I honestly have so many questions.
According to this codex they're all completely mad because of "inbreeding" by the time we reach them in DAO, but we actually know surprisingly little about them other than the fact that a) they at some point turned away from worshipping the ashes to worshipping the dragon which got them locked out of the inner sanctuary and the gauntlet, b) they looked after the dragons young and eggs and the dragon and her children never attacked them but instead let them drink dragons blood to become revers d) they distrust outsiders and c) their chantry officials are male much like Tevinter but unlike Orlais.
It's implied that the village possibly practices human sacrifice in DAO, although the exact reasons are unspecified (to feed the dragon? Are their mages blood mages? Why? I have questions!!!) And it's also possibly they were just sacrifing outsiders (the knights of Redcliffe) who managed to find their village? Other than that, there is little to learn by walking through the original haven.
Nothing much more is revealed by the series of quests you can do on the wartable about Haven in Inquisition either (much to my own disappointment). They point to the fact that the cave systems and the temple were built pre-andraste, but they kind of trail off in a very unsatisfactory manner regardless of which agent you pick to complete them.
We also have Tamar who was imprisoned by the inquisition and then began to fight for them to secure her freedom. She has some very interesting dialogue:
"Your Chantry goes belly up, the Inquisition steps in. Always something to keep the same people in power."
"The gilded Chantry says only one truth exists. And its servants lie, steal, kill to make it so."
This reads almost identical to what I would imagine the Dalish might say; and cast the cult in a very different light to "inbreeded mad men". From these quotes and other context we get the idea that she belonged to a group who secluded themselves and kept their own traditions away from regular society, and so her people were slaughtered to preserve the chantrys "truth" and deny her own. Even with the dragon gone (possibly dead) she still believes in her cults traditions and is faithful!!!! (Let me talk to her more PLEAEE.) But regardless, this is about as sympathetic as the games really get towards this cult.
So....what were they? I'm so facinated by these guys.
Because like. They clearly have different ideas about magic, ideas possibly handed down from Andraste herself? Or ideas that developed later? Regardless they have many mages in their group and there isn't any evidence those mages are restricted in any way. If anything their mages are sent to do important things like be the main religious leaders or to impersonate Wylen. Their ideas might honestly be closer to the Avvar which would make some sense geographically (did they have contact with the Avvar? Did they trade with them? Farming would have been hard in their snowy mountains as we know from needing supply routes to Skyhold/Haven in DAI so other than hunting, did they have contact with these groups or not?)
And I have MORE questions!!! Did they have similar religious holidays to regular Andrastism? How did they see Andrastes death most pre and post the arrival of her reborn dragon self? Did their belief in reincarnation spread beyond the dragon (to people as well) or was it something special that had only happened to Andraste? Did they have any religious texts that were important - maybe oral history was particularly favoured in this group like with the Dalish? If so, any oral history dating back to Andraste would have died out when the cult itself did.
I want to anthropologically study these people so bad and like learn everything there is to know but unfortunately they are fictional and in a game and bioware doesn't seem to have any plans to develop them so :/
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Hi there! Hope you are having a nice day! I really love your csm analyses and meta! It's specially great because I don't understand literary symbolism at all, I'm learning a lot. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on my boy Yoshida. What do you think is his role? Is he only an obstacle for the romantic relationship between Denji and Asa? In a world where every detail has a deeper meaning, why an octopus? Hope you have a great day!
The octopus trap
I think that if I asked every Chainsaw Man reader about Yoshida, most of the time I'd be told either "I have no idea what he's going to do" or, more precisely, "I keep expecting him to do something, but he doesn't end up doing anything".
You mustn't let your hair stand on end when you read remarks like that. Yoshida is my favorite character of Part 2, yet if I were to describe him succinctly it would be in exactly those terms.
When I say not to be annoyed by these remarks, it's because they're not the result of a lack of writing, a lack of development or even a depreciation of the character, these descriptions only underline the originality of Yoshida's writing.
Yes, it's surely worth clarifying what I mean by all this...
Let's take a look at things chronologically. Yoshida's first appearance comes just after Asa, who has just discovered she's possessed by the war demon, is unable to set foot inside her school, a victim of anxiety, school phobia and, above all, Bucky's death.
Yoshida suddenly appears during this scene. He is also quickly associated with Asa, as the demon-hunting club puts him in Yuko's and the protagonist's group. We all said to ourselves: great, something's going to happen between these two! She's dying of shame, so Fujimoto is bound to use this to create more interaction between them.
When Asa comes across her bullies, who have attacked her locker and shoes, only Yuko comes to comfort her, and Yoshida simply fades into the background. It's strange, because it was as if he had brutally hidden himself from the progress of the scenario and the reaction he might have had to this kind of situation. Keep this in mind.
Then Yoshida reappears in chapter 103, as if Fujimoto were accidentally placing an ink blot in the background, Yoshida simply blending into the background until he hits his target. For the reader, this creates a certain "ah yes, where the hell has he been?" situation, and the element of surprise is intensified by the fact that this is Denji's first appearance as a human in Part 2. This time, Yoshida doesn't disappear into the background, as if evaporated, he appears when no one was expecting him.
Put that in the back of your mind too.
Then, when he tries to put Denji's goal of a girlfriend into action, he introduces him to Asa Mitaka, whom we suspect, subconsciously or consciously, to be Chainsaw Man's love interest. So we're all thinking (myself included at this point), he's surely going to be the magnet between the two! Which turns out to be completely untrue, as Yoshida brutally declares that Asa has no business getting close to Denji.
This point not only shows that Yoshida's narrative function is hard to pin down, it also proves something else: he's not omniscient. He's not, as I've read, this absolutely perfect string-puller, since it's clear that he doesn't grasp until later that Asa may not simply be a young girl obsessed with finding a boyfriend, but a possessed one who might disturb the target he's watching: Chainsaw Man.
The aquarium was Yoshida's observation ground. Yoshida has no desire to be active, as evidenced by the telephone scene where, after Asa has been humiliated by his failure to call anyone, he shows Denji his phone, arguing that he can't get a signal anyway. Now I'll get to that line : "Do you think CSM would eat it for us ? The Death devil"
Whether it was making you believe that Yoshida is a genius string-puller, this line made you believe that the boy had something to do with the demon of death. Fujimoto wouldn't ruin so many mysteries surrounding one of the most anticipated demons so unskillfully. That's why it's necessary to interpret it differently. A line belongs to a whole, and this scene between Yoshida and Denji is not a scene that escapes its whole, on the contrary, it has consequences.
It serves to show two things: firstly, Yoshida is aware of Chainsaw Man's ability to erase other demons, which was surely reported by Kishibe who learned of it in chapter 84, proving firstly that the public hunters are now aware of this ability. Something that had never been said before. Then we come to the most interesting part. Yoshida makes it clear in this scene that they've been locked up for three days, and the cases illustrate how each of the students is dealing with their own mortality, with Haruka crying, Nobana flips out, another prefers to be physically active to keep himself busy, while Yoshida prepares to die. As for Denji, he's been through worse, and is cooler than the others.
Then Yoshida pointed out, "Do you think Chainsaw Man would eat the demon of death?" This triggers Denji's act of kindness, as he realizes that he can also "suppress", "devour" fears in his human form, by taking action. Denji has noticed that Asa is looking to be active; she's the one who offered her a date, so she's the one who has priority to receive comfort, so Denji comes to devour the fear that paralyzed the protagonist. All the more ironic given that the demon they were all really facing was the demon of famine.
I know everything I'm saying sounds disjointed at the moment, but hang on, I need to be a bit descriptive before I connect all this.
The same phenomenon of script feinting will occur, not to make it look like Yoshida will be a love rival, a friend of Asa, the magnet between Denji and Asa, or the demon of death.
No, this time, in chapter 133, Fujimoto makes it look like Yoshida will be a great antagonist by proposing Denji's horrible dilemma of either being human and living with his family or being Chainsaw Man without it. But it all falls apart when he realizes that Denji chooses both, leaving Yoshida completely out of his depth. This time Fujimoto erases all the mystique around this character, he's not the player who moves the pieces against Fami, he's just a mediator.
The same phenomenon occurs when he locks Denji into this normal life that doesn't suit him, placing him in Fumiko's hands, leading to one of the least "normal" chapters, chapter 137.
I think that with all this, you're beginning to grasp a certain idea: Yoshida's purpose is a narrative feint, he's a character with indecipherable eyes for us to place all our doubts and mysteries in. The questions just pile up, and we project them through Yoshida, who answers none of them.
So who is Yoshida ?
The only thing I can say is that he's a mystery. And when I say this, it's not to clear my name, as nothing can be said about him, because he is written as such and should be appreciated as such. I often read that his eyes, fully black like Kishibe's, are not only perhaps a sign of kinship but also a sign of deep despair. I think it's precisely in this way that we can miss the originality of these characters.
Kishibe is not placed in the deepest despair, what makes him so strong, what makes him still here, being practically the only veteran of the public hunters (did you notice how young the public hunters still were?), is that he has accepted and internalized the madness of the system, bows to it instead of fighting against it, but is not dominated by it as someone unreasonable would be.
Whether it's Yoshida's black eyes or Kishibe's, the latter are simply the eyes of acceptance of the system. That is to say, their pupils are no longer illuminated by that little personal glimmer, seemingly devoid of emotion, since they are simply a reflection of the darkness of the system, of what's going on through them.
Yoshida's eyes are the eyes of a mysterious system that constantly stares at the characters without responding to them.
And now you're probably wondering, Anon:
What about the octopus ?
This is surely the most interesting answer to Yoshida's question.
When you're looking for meanings for octopuses, your first instinct is to think of mythology, isn't it? Leviathan, Kranken, Akkorokamui, the octopus is the subject of a multitude of legends, whose interpretations are intertwined, creative, healing or destructive, beneficent or maleficent, or even the subject of great divergence from the public, cute? Or monstrous?
This follows on from the previous statement: the octopus is a being onto which all concepts can be projected, even if they are contradictory. Yoshida's narrative function is the same: we project whatever we can onto him without him acting on it.
What's the one piece of information you could give me with any certainty? The fact that he's a demon hunter, right? In other words, the only thing you could say about the octopus is the environment it lives in? No ?
Do you know how octopuses are caught ?
Have you heard of the Japanese octopus trap? Specifically, the takotsubo? In fact, they're not really traps at all, but a form of passive fishing in which simple pierced stones or clay pots are placed on the seabed. The octopuses then enter these pots to protect themselves, using them as shelters to protect their fragile bodies. Above all, when the pots are brought to the surface, the octopuses don't even try to escape, pressing themselves against the walls.
Yoshida acts like these octopuses, not fighting the system, but rather embracing its walls, thinking he's safe when in fact he's trapped.
Hidden within this obscure system, the octopus has no idea that it's not safe, but has headed for its own destruction.
Now the connections make themselves. The only answer those big black eyes can give is a reflection of the system.
Asa is rejected by her classmates, by this micro-society that is school? The system appears.
Fans cheer Chainsaw Man on, as society is increasingly forged around him. The system takes an interest and invites him for coffee.
As Asa is rejected after her second date with Denji, the system will only add to her loneliness.
Chainsaw Man is a being whose function is to eliminate fears? The system will remind him of this.
Is Chainsaw Man an idiot? Will the system still try to control him, even if it means inhibiting him?
What if we were to use the metaphor of the octopus trap to provide the opposite answer ? Yoshida sticks to the walls of the system.
What does the system do? It weaves itself around Chainsaw Man.
Is this such a good idea ?
#chainsaw man#csm#csm part 2#yoshida hirofumi#yoshida#my thoughts#csm spoilers#denji#asa#haruka#habana#yoru#yuko#ask
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MURDER DRONES THEORY??
So, me and my significant other were talking about CYN and N’s relationship as siblings and we were talking about the Murder Drones theme song “Murder Brings” that goes…
"Winter rains down on the ashes,
Obviously referencing the state of Copper 9 and possibly other planets that have been destroyed.
Mother makes fuel from the bones,
We know that the Solver makes fuel from the bones to survive. In Episode 7, CYN in Tessa mentions multiple times they are “starving” and “let’s eat” only to N. We know the solver finds N interesting and he’s is its favorite due to the fact that he “likes doing anything” and it likes to mess with him, but also because him and CYN considered themselves siblings. There could be ALOT of other reasons but N is important to the Solver one way or another, so important that it even mentioned apologizing to his clones if he died. But more on this in a sec…
Murder rips gods from the masses,
This also confused me a bit, but now that we know that the Absolute Solver causes the hosts infected to have powers similar to gods and basically reshape the world around them with out much explanation or hows as of now, I’m assuming it’s referencing that murdering beings/drones, singles/revives out those who are special/infected with the solver from the masses and turns them into mini gods.
Basically Children of the Solver.
Murder brings, murder brings"
"Murder Drones"
Self explanatory. Murder Drones were basically confirmed to be the solvers pets, being sent to wipe out any resistance from solver users who can end up beating it, or make the process of consuming the substance it needs to survive easier and quicker, so the AS can move onto the next planet faster. Murder brings, Murder brings. Murder Drones. Which signifies the end of those who are being destroyed by them.
———
Now that that is analyzed, we are back to CYN and N!
The solver seems to see the DDs as pets, CYN its host. Whether CYN is partly still in there as herself trapped in her own mind or long gone we don’t know, but we do know N and her were very close. It seems to see the DD as creations, helpers, children it saved from death and the Solver holders as strength, pathways to its goal, another form of children in some sick way.
Then in the theme song, we hear context about a “MOTHER”, which in the context of the recent reveals, makes somewhat sense. All these solver beings, whether modified by the solver or inheriting its power came from the solver in some way. If it wasn’t for the solver salvaging N,V,J and the other DDs, we never would have had the threat Uzi and her colony, as well as other planets being wiped out and the solver gaining more power. Or Uzi/Doll developing the solver, Nori dying to the DDs, Khan having to put her out of her misery, Nori being gone causing most of the problems in Uzis life, as Nori said in Episode 7 etc etc. Basically the DDs do the work to keep their savior/creator/ MOTHER fed and powerful, giving her fuel, and in return, she makes them safe, not discarded and useful where the humans disposed them as WDs. Perfect bases for a new civilization seeing this Eldritch Being as their god.
Now, I’ve noticed something. Since the beginning of the series, the concept of Mother hasn’t been brought up again. Mother needing fuel from the bones. Unless we see CYN as Mother which I doubt, I would say Mother is the MAIN Solver Entity. The Eldritch beings we’ve seen are just smaller versions of the Real Solver, with Eldritch J and CYN, and recently that unknown being chasing N and Nori in the mines in Episode 7, which could possibly be Tessaritch. Either that or the idea was scrapped, but I feel like it is important. We definitely haven’t seen the real form of the Absolute Solver yet, and we might not until Episode 8 or we get a Season 2 (if we do, hoping we do!), but I feel like this is an interesting idea to latch onto when thinking for The Solver, and that it also relates itself to many names, Mother might be one of them. Especially if its goal after it consumes the universe and all of humanity/species, is to restart the universe in its own image and ways.
Lastly, if CYN and N were siblings and the concept of Mother has been brought up…
We know why CYN is important, as she was presumably Patient 0 and made a pact not to discard her for CYNS body and service. That’s why she is important to the solver.
But why is N, besides him being nice to it and just liking doing anything? And always surprising the solver? Unless there’s something else we don’t know yet? Or maybe that’s it and he really is just a sick plaything for the solver.
Who knows?? But I guess we’ll probably see more of this concept in Episode 8, or beyond depending how far the show goes. Even if not, I have some pretty good ideas for my Skin and Bones AU if it isn’t expanded on in the show.
Sorry if this was a bit confusing, it’s SUPPPERR late and I’m SUPPPPERR tired. I’ll edit this tomorrow if anything seems off. This also gave me a great art idea so, the creative brain is whirring. /gen
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RE: this ask
Sorry about to go off on one, gender studies and online fan culture from an academic standpoint is a special interest of mine because being film and literature student wasn't annoying enough (participatory culture studies my beloved)
From a general standpoint, I think the reason M/M ships in fiction have always been more popular is because male characters are historically more developed and complex. I think it’s only in recent years have their been an influx of popular F/F ships, with the added development of women on screen (e.g Clarke and Lexa, Kara and Lena, Regina and Emma, Nancy and Robin) - I think there is also a point to be made this has coincided with gender expression, genderqueerness and more general knowledge of being outside the typical gender spectrum.
I can’t explicitly say that being in M/M fandom spaces encouraged my personal discovery of being transmasc but it certainly helped to have an avenue where I could project onto these “male” characters and see myself in them. I was so uncomfortable in my own body and what I didn’t know at the time as dysphoria, I can see why I didn’t go for F/F ships.
There are of course a lot of “fandom elders” but young (early to late teens) afab people do make up a large bulk of it and I get why it may be easier for them to fixate on M/M ships as a, sort of method of exploring their own sexuality and gender expression. F/F ships may hit too close to home and F/M ships are what they are trying to escape from so it leaves M/M ships to project onto. Which, unfortunately then can become warped by the persons own comphet and/or binary ideas about gender.
A male character may have more stereotypically “feminine” traits (in terms of interests or emotional reactions) and I can see why people who also have those traits would project there own insecurities onto them, reinforcing the feminisation of the male character but not being comfortable enough in your own gender expression to genderbend the character or write them as trans.
It’s the same reason I think mafia romance, dark romance etc etc is so popular with cishet women because they can read about a fantasy where instead of the very real every day misogyny and violence they face leading to abuse, assault and death, it brings “positives” ; protected, loved, a happy relationship.
Which, side note. I think this has A Lot to do with y/n, self insert fics becoming “cringe”. Because, I think a lot of people just want to fuck/date a character and feel like they can’t write a self insert anymore, so just project massively onto one character, leading to a lot of these issues. I don’t think Tony Stark/Peter Parker would be as popular as it is if people just let young women write their self insert fic about being Tony Stark’s sugar baby and then we wouldn’t have the wildly mischaracterised version of Peter Parker that we do!
But, all this being said. I’m talking about fiction. Dean Winchester isn’t actually affected if people online only talk about him in a stereotypically “female” way.
RPF is a different kettle of fish (and I’m not going in RPF ethics that’s different - I have no issues with rpf creators/consumers to be clear, I am one) because a real person does become affected. Even if you are keeping your fan works and discussions to private spaces, it can leach over into how you speak about the actual person. That’s where it becomes so incredibly important to remember that your RPF version of celebrities are just as fictional as Dean Winchester is.
sorry I used mr. supernatural as an example, 13 year old me is still alive and kicking in my head somewhere.
I love to hear your perspective on it with a trans worldview (and academic credentials), and I do agree that that might be a big driver of some young people only wanting to engage with MLM fic and feeling uncomfortable with WLW fic. You've brought up so many great points so I'll try and address them all.
I can add the perspective of a lesbian who was closeted for the first two decades of my life, came out less than five years ago, and still struggles on and off with comphet now. MLM fics in my teens were a way to consume queer content and relationships without having to think about the implications of enjoying consuming WLW content, and I think that's true for a lot of young closeted teens so it's no surprise that some comphet/hetnorm/cisnorm stuff bleeds through there because it's a framework the authors haven't managed to detach themselves from yet.
But yeah, I agree the issue lies with people wanting characters to be self-inserts partially so that they can experience sex, sexuality, and romance without any of the hang ups of thinking about patriarchy. And I agree with your solution: make y/n fics cool again! The ability we have to hallucinate while we read is magic! You can put YOURSELF in as a character's love interest, how cool is that?
Ultimately, yeah. There's nothing wrong with RPF as long as it isn't actually affecting the person that the RPF is based off, but I've seen a lot of takes escaping containment so to say (ie. leaving this website) with takes about the actual racers so obviously picked up through RPF. The main culprits are Charles, Lando, Max in my experience.
#You always send the longest and most thought out asks and I really don't know how to answer them because you're so eloquent#thank you for your POV!#enigmabird#asks#charles in makeup and lace discourse#hate it slightly too late to change it now
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...... wolfkiller directors cut ? >.<
Wolfkiller was made firstly bc I fucking love Claudia as a character, and also when rereading TVL I started thinking about the role of "Wolfkiller" and how it functions in Lestat's story as something that sort of rockets him to this more than human figure: both literally through how the 8 wolf killing feat is ultimately what seals his fate wrt Magnus and also metaphorically within the text. Like much of it IS just Anne Rice having character favoritism and bad writing making Lestat the VC's Most Special Boy ever... but then I got to thinking about what it means to have proximity to the role of Wolfkiller, and how in text it entwines with his vampirism and how his vampirism is something that's both very werewolfish in how he describes how it manifests in himself and how he spreads it, but most applicable to Claudia here something that's also passed down through the blood. And I couldn't get the idea of Claudia as a sort of "heir" to this Wolfkiller title; but Lestat is the wolf. He sees his bloodlust and sharpness and hunger in her but he doesn't really fully comprehend that while Claudia might share these traits she's someone still wholly her own (and that's one of the great tragedies of iwtv-- the fact that Claudia is her own person but is unable to fully live as independent Claudia nolastname, that even in death she is being tied to Louis and described in ways that she explicitly did not want to be used for herself).
There's also a very literal reference to TVL in Wolfkiller:
In her vampiric infancy Claudia developed a love/hate relationship with the bayou. She hated how the mud sucked at her good shoes (and Louis echoed this sentiment, you messin up these good shoes for what, Claudia? ) but she was endlessly, almost overwhelmingly fascinated with its life. A cacophony of countless animal hearts beating in different rhythms. All sorts of strange creatures she could scoop from the ground and turn over in her hands. One night she snuck off to count the toes of every frog she could find, then wrote the findings in her diary.
This is inspired by a passage in TVL about Lestat describing his earlier engagements with his enhanced senses as a vampire (page 106 in this edition I'm looking at right now):
To me, their voices became a mixture of sounds like stew bubbling in a pot. All I could think was that the rat had very tiny feet, and that I had not yet examined a rat nor any small warm-blooded creature. I went and caught the rat, rather too easily I think, and looked at its feet. I wanted to see what kind of little toenails it had, and what was the flesh like between its little toes, and I forgot the men entirely.
But Claudia's interest in animal sciences is something that I originally had planned to explore more in another wip that's been shelved for the moment, a sort of second boat scene between her and Louis where she asks Louis more about his childhood and how he learned he was "Louis" and not the daughter he was originally raised as. There's really only one hint about Claudia being non-binary in Wolfkiller and I wish I added more but I hit fatigue pretty bad towards the end and couldn't figure out a way to really fit in more the way I wanted to.
She could see the faint impression as if she’d looked too long at the picture and now was haunted by its afterimage – her as a grown woman, a human, hunched over her desk scribbling on paper. There was too much wrong with it. He’d forgotten she was a vampire, and not a woman. He’d factored too many of his mother’s features into the equation.
I was really worried about writing Louis and Claudia's moments together at first but in the end I really enjoyed them, and I'm hoping to write more fics in season 2 with them interacting. Here's an exchange that didn't make the final cut:
Last thing I can think of rn is the ending, which was a very last minute addition compared to the process of the rest of the story. And I can't even really remember what reminded me of it in the first place? But the ending is actually inspired by the end of the Killing Joke.
One of my headcanons is that Claudia is also very capable of the Lestat fuck ass laugh that everyone hates, and I liked the unease but also sort of Looney Tunes type violent humor in Claudia hitting her "deer" and then the two of them laughing horribly about it.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR ASKING!! <3
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even MORE incorrect quotes of the Shaw pack mostly angel in honor of Angel and Davey getting fucking HITCHED. YEAH
okay enjoy :)
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angel's friend: be honest with me, what is the real reason why you are not dating rght now?
angel: because my rommate doesn't like the idea of me bringing men home.
davey: for the last time, we're not roommates we're married!
angel: i didn't know you were in here..
- - - -
angel: you have exactly three seconds to explain why you just woke me up!
davey: because it's morning and you should be awake
angel: oh.. interesting..i didn't know you wanted to DIE today
davey: angel you can't kill me
angel: it's too late i've already decided how!
- - - -
angel: you're stupid!
asher: well you're dumb!
angel: ..
angel: i don't like your hair!
milo: *gASP* ohmyGod they went there-
- - - -
asher: okay this one's really simple!
milo: uhh.. water?
asher: no no no hot!
davey: lava?
asher: no no no think hotter!!
angel: oh oh! davey's dad!
tank: oh my God ew what..
asher: YES THAT'S CORRECT
davey: wait what the-
- - - -
asher: two best friends sitting in a tree!
babe: yup
asher: they might kiss!
babe: no
asher: they might?
babe: no they won't
asher:
asher: why'd you have to say that..
- - - -
*ash and angel playing a game*
angel: THE FUCK YOU CALL ME DAWG
angel: IM GOING FULL MEXICAN ON YOUR BITCH ASS
angel: *ANGRY SPANISH NOISES*
asher: DAVID TELL ME WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
davey: pf-
asher: WTF THEY SAYING BRO I DON'T SPEAK TACO BELL
- - - -
angel: when first met you, i thought you were weird and annoying
asher:
asher: and?
angel: and you are.
angel: i've just grown to like that about you
- - - -
angel: goodmorning my gorgeous fiance
davey: leave me alone
angel:
angel: SOMEONE woke up with an attitude!
- - - -
asher and milo singing loudly in the car: TOMOROW!! NA NA NA NA NA
angel: ash there ain't gonna be no tamananananana
angel: if you don't put your fucking seat belt be belt be belt ON!
davey, holding on to angel for dear life: we're gonna die-
- - - -
asher: how old are you again?
angel: uhh..
angel: it's 2022 right?
asher: yeah..
angel: yeah okay hold on..
angel: *starts counting on their fingers*
milo: ???
angel: [age]
asher: did you really just have to calculate your own age?
angel: well i didn't think i'd MAKE IT THIS FAR
- - - -
quinn: i could kill you right now if i wanted to.
angel: i..i mean like..so could anyone else..
quinn: . what?
angel: i mean like, so could a horse.. a cat..
angel: like i really ambitious duck..
angel: you're not special...
davey: oh my God.
.
.
and now i give you
✨ angel hating christian for the rest of this post ✨
i know he got some character development but i still don't like him :)
.
.
.
.
christian: you really shouldn't joke about your parents' deaths
christian: that's really disrespectful
angel:
davey: angel don't-
angel: what're you gonna do?
angel: tell my mom?
asher: pfft-
angel: tell my dad?
davey:
angel: go ahead! they're listening!
angel:
angel: they said SHUT UP
christian:
- - - -
christian: i think i pulled a muscle
angel: you can't pull what you don't have
- - - -
asher: what should we get christian for his birthday?
angel: talent.
milo: HA
davey:
- - - -
christian: thought you guys were my friends.
angel: IM not your friend :D
davey: Jesus angel
- - - -
angel: welcome to dating advice with angel!
angel: christian, what's your question!
christian: how do you tell if a girl likes you-
angel: she doesn't!
- - - -
christian: okay how do i get a girl to ask me out?
asher: uhh
angel: mm.. well you know how everyone says "just be yourself"?
christian: yes..?
angel: well don't do that!
- - - -
christian: you can't think of one thing that you like about me?
angel:
angel: i like when you're sad
- - - -
christian: this martini is delicious
angel: that's fucking fanta!
.
.
.
.
my personal self-insert of angel is my favorite. interesting way of making you love yourself 💀
#redacted asmr#redacted davey#redacted david#redacted angel#redacted shaw pack#redactedasmr#redacted asher#redacted milo#redacted audio#redacted christian#redacted incorrect quotes#incorrect quotes
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I'm gonna delete this later but I will say I think a very very important skill to have, specifically for autistic people with special interests/hyperfixations in content creator fandoms is the ability to disengage when necessary for your own health. and it is absolutely a skill, like you can't just stop caring about something and be able to distance yourself whenever something triggering happens without practice. I'm saying this from experience.
i have hyperfixated on content creator's media since I was eleven years old. I was in the trenches over Markiplier when he had controversies every few months, I had would literally have nightmares over the idea of him being a bad person. Which isn't healthy!
Not even talking about parasocialisms or whatever because that's been talked to death, but I mean for me! For 11, 13, 17, 20 year old me that is not healthy! It is exhausting being stressed out and worried that someone who makes stuff I like is a bad person, especially when you engage with the fandom on twitter. It is fucking vital to unplug in these situations, and to learn how to. And it's not an easy skill to learn it has taken me since I was a literal child to know to develop that skill. But it is important.
And it's not just suddenly not caring about something, but it's disengaging in the moment if necessary, and to be honest I think for a lot of people it is necessary.
Listen, you don't have to explain yourself, you don't have to say goodbye or give a reason why you'll be staying, you don't have to make a statement on your blog or answer anon asks. you owe everyone literally nothing when it comes to online fandom. It is a hobby and sometimes you have to be okay and stepping back when necessary. Undownload twitter for the next three weeks. Block every tag under the sun that'll upset you.
This is rambling but the last thing I'll say is you are a whole complete person without your special interest, and if an interest disappoints you or hurts you that is not then inherently a reflection of you. you are a full complete complex person without it, and you don't have to loose it completely even if right now it might be important for you to step back and regulate yourself. and it is hard and it can be incredibly upsetting and you are valid and real for feeling whatever you're feeling. it's okay.
anyway im going to go read national treasure yaoi now✌️ xoxo gossip girl
#tldr take care of yourselves guys#learn how to take care of yourself#it's hard. and it can really fucking blow but I'm handling this so much fucking better than I did back in 2022
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You'll Have Me Rise ch.19 is up!
Content warnings for nongraphic discussion of animal death, relatively graphic arachnophobia, mentions of family death and funerals.
Editing by @kamikazequail
And as always, commentary under the cut
-Yeah Jamil just walked straight into that pickup line completely unaware… Jade's never gonna let him live it down, if anyone ever tells him.
-Jade hides his emotions as well as he wants to when he's prepared, but have you noticed he's totally transparent when caught off guard in canon? I think he'd be more obvious than expected if something he wasn't prepared for made him uncomfortable.
-Yugioh voice: "You've activated Jade's special interest! You must stand by and listen to nature facts for a full hour."
-Yeah Jade totally picked blue for poison specifically because it's such a universally innocuous color
-Jade: "Yeah I got whosits and whatsits galore" *opens door to reveal a horde of roadkill and mold*. Rizz game like no other
-tbh I just love slime mold and wanted to bring up slime molds because they're so fucking cool <3
-Oh btw, another fun psychology thing: If someone has a lot of stressors that they can't control or afford to be afraid of, the repressed terror can manifest as really intense irrational fears to things that are safer to avoid. For example, Jamil can't do anything about his situation and the risks and pressure involved, but he can absolutely obliterate a bug with very little repercussion. I feel like that phenomenon explains the level of fear he has with bugs in canon tbh.
-I also just really love bugs and didn't want Jamil killing them for character accuracy, so I've inserted Jade as protection.
-I might go into this more in some other post but like, I love the contrast of classic fishtail mermaids in their reef environments vs deep sea monster mermaids. There's just so much room to build on the potential cultures surrounding that.
-Did I need to go on a tangent about mermaid funerals? Will the details ever be plot relevant? Probably not. But hey, world building. (I'm considering Azul keeping a locket with his stepdad's teeth)
-!!! I've been waiting to drop more info about the tweels parents! Anyway, it's a personal headcanon that the twins' social issues developed in response to being involved in mob violence early on. Too much ugliness to handle as kids, and they both kinda broke in opposite ways. Also kinda ties into their unique magic imo: Floyd being expected to handle himself in a fight and needing a defense, and Jade needing a more efficient way to extract info from people.
-I could go on a whole ramble about my ideas for the Leech parents, but the short of it is that I think Jade and Floyd each picked up some personality quirks from the parent they were around more, but mostly developed emotional responses to balance out each parent's behavior (ie: reserved, observant, and meticulous in response to unpredictable emotional outbursts, vs emotional instability and exaggerated emotional reactions in response to emotional neglect and under-reactivity), hence the two comparing each other to opposite parents last time it was brought up. It also resulted in them balancing out each other's dispositions, leading to the kinda codependent dynamic they have as adults. I think they'd both feel like they specifically came out wrong as a result too. Like, Floyd believing he should be more pragmatic and levelheaded like Jade (like his mom wanted), and Jade feeling like he's too far gone and distant to connect with other people the way Floyd does.
-Mind games can be a form of foreplay, if you're tedious enough.
-I think Jade and Jamil would have similar ways of showing insecurity, Jamil's just more flexible about it. Jade, meanwhile, has ensured a position where he doesn't have to relinquish control unless he chooses to
-Will these people ever make out with Jamil in a normal location? The world may never know.
#jeijami#octaviper#jade x jamil#twst fic#yhmr#yhmr fic#you'll have me rise you'll have me fall#chapter babble
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Bandit looks so cool! Can you please tell us more about him?
YES
I am so THRILLED you asked!! Bandit has been my passion character since high school, and while him and his story are still in development, I'd love to talk more about him!
Bandit is the protagonist of a story I have been working on. He was born in a laboratory that works on splicing together human and animal DNA to create a superhuman species called "chimera" (not sure of that yet, but it's canon for now 😭). From an early age, Bandit always believed that because he was specially made different, he was destined for great things. But he had a tendency for disobedient behavior as a child, which made the laboratory feel uneasy. They eventually decided to "put him down," but his mother, who worked as his caretaker scientist, helped him escape and avoid death. Ever since then, he's survived on his own and has had his heart set on chasing what he believes is his destiny and proving the laboratory wrong to turn their back on him. (He has a habit of smoking and drinking though to cope with his feelings of rejection)
And that's Bandit's backstory! For his costume, as a kid he liked to watch older wild west films, and he feels inspired by the brave gunslingers he used to watch who would get revenge on the people who wronged them. That's why he dresses like a desperado. (When I designed him, I was actually obsessed with Clint Eastwood's films, so that played a major role in making him 🤭)
This is a VERY EARLY concept drawing I made of him when I first came up with his idea. I hated it so much so he's changed a lot 💀
This one is a sketch of what he might look like as a kid
And this is a drawing I made a while back when trying to make a wallpaper for my phone (I ended up just using it as a profile pic for Discord before making my current pic)
There's way more information I've yet to flesh out about him, but those are his basics! I'd really love to one day make a comic of his story or animate it, so you'll definitely be seeing more art of him. Thank you so much for showing interest in Bandit, I hope you enjoyed learning more about him 🫶
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So, what are your opinions on Moth Flight? I feel like it's very important that she's got ADHD, and gets very babied by her clan. But when I was reading Moth Flight's vision, she felt kind of underdeveloped and mostly just moving where the plot takes her or where Micah takes her. She loses a lot of what makes her interesting when Micah enters the scene and then she has kittens and she's either all Micah or All Kittens. Also, it feels like her choice as the end has absolutely no basis. I also feel like the development of what we might recognize as medicine cats and Windclan and even the culture of the clans itself was brushed over for border arguments and freaking Clear Sky's nonsense. I know you're changing the ending, but are you changin what Mothflight's Vision focuses on?
I think it's sad that Moth Flight's ADHD is so clung to. I think it's a sign of the piss poor treatment of neurodivergency in canon that the mere idea such an awful character maybe having ADHD is important.
Because that's always the thing that comes up about her. Absentminded traits that were sort-of present at the beginning of Moth Flight's vision, during a time in her life when she was having Slate's kittens foisted on her, and would rather be doing the things that actually interest her
(actual interests such as getting Rocky addicted to catmint)
What DOESN'T come up is how she acts in every other appearance, every other moment of her SE, where her personality isn't 'underdeveloped,' it's vindictive. She's condescending towards Acorn Fur, she's catty towards Slate, and cruel to Leafpool even going so far as to want to send her to CAT HELL for breaking her shitty rule!
Yes, it's annoying that her kits come up so often when she's completely dropped her interest in herbs, or in serious situations where the kittens can wait, but I feel like a lot of people focus on that and look right past her absolutely spiteful behavior towards the idea that Slate can help her back now.
She refuses help for the problem of babysitting her kittens, CONVINCED there's something special about her children, only to then divide them up between the Clans when Acorn Fur mentions the idea of having kids.
Is it coincidence that the father would be Red Claw, the cat Moth Flight blames for Micah's death?
I'd say she's actually quite developed!! She's consistent, in fact! She's horrible! She's spiteful, self-absorbed, and disconnected from reality. I can't stand her. I can't stand anything about her.
Most of all I can't stand how the narrative treats her as correct for these things. All book long she has trouble getting cats to listen to her for things that ACTUALLY MATTER, like collecting herbs and treating patients, only for her big climactic narrative moment to be... the 5-page-long StarClan pileup on poor Acorn Fur, trying to birth the dumbest rule in the entire series, turning the same smug condescension she's dealt with ALL BOOK onto someone who's done nothing wrong.
SO in short! I've gutted her! I've gutted her like a fish! Completely different circumstances for the vow, completely different personality!
I am not sure if ADHD fits into it anymore, or if there would be a point where I'd really be able to display her having it all story long (outside of how all of my rewritten characters end up a bit ADHAutistic because they come out of my ADHAutistic brain) But there will be lots of other characters who have ADHD specifically. I don't skimp on that one.
#I am biting her like a chew toy#DEFINITELY one of my least favorite WC characters#Probably the most hated one tbh#Her or Clear Sky... or slash#why does slash Exist#who put you here slash#who Wrote you#Bone Babble
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Family Hunter (Slayer Archetype)
(art by shenfeic on DeviantArt)
A common theme in gothic horror, as well as horror in general, is the idea of a killer that doesn’t just have it out for you, but your entire family. In gothic horror such familiaricide is usually a vaguely-defined curse or hidden monster, or else perhaps a killer that uses supernatural means to track and put down a family, hunting every last member.
The reasons for doing so vary. Perhaps a powerful figure essentially put out a hit on an entire family line (perhaps one of royal lineage), or perhaps the assassin in question has a personal grudge against an entire family. Or perhaps there is a curse, and these murderers are only answering a supernatural call without any real connection to them. Or perhaps in a slightly more heroic turn, the family in question is thoroughly evil and needs to be hunted down.
No matter the case, the so-called “family hunter” slayers specialize in targeting a single family, but are also able to exploit other such bonds on an almost supernatural level, making them deadly not just to the family, but also anyone they are connected with, as well as any sort of beings that are unified by some special bond.
As one might expect, these slayers focus in on a single family to target with their predations, and thanks to a few occult tricks, they always know if there is anyone left, able to magically discern the next of kin of one of their targets. If in theory they succeed in wiping out a family, they can choose a new one with a month of research.
Eager as they are to slay this family, their weapons and attacks are that much more lethal against blood relatives of that family.
While normally these killers can focus on only one target for study at a time, if multiple nearby targets share a connection, such as being related, creator and creation, summoner and summoned, undead spawn and master, magical domination, or even the bond between master and familiar and the like, they can exploit how the bond makes them similar to study such beings all at once. Such targets don’t have to be part of their target family either.
Further still, they know tactics to isolate their studied target, cutting them off from support of nearby allies.
Interested in a slayer that specializes in very specific targets? Perhaps one that specializes in studying large groups at once in certain conditions? This archetype might be quite useful for a morally dubious character or NPC that evokes fear in those they hunt. You primarily lose slayer talents, so there is a cost for this specialization, of course, but for the flavor and the potential bonuses, it can be quite good in the right circumstances.
Now obviously this archetype is mostly meant for villain npcs, but players can take it to with the right backstory. However, I’d like to point out the implications of the mechanic where a family hunter that succeeds completely can select a new family to hunt later. Obviously if they are some sort of professional I can see this, or perhaps are devoted to destroying evil lineages. However, if they are motivated by revenge, they might move to new families for a variety of reasons, such as conflating the crimes of another clan with those of their original, or having developed a bloodlust only sated by destroying families. Others, however… might just not do it anymore, perhaps retiring, turning themselves into the authorities, or even retraining out of the archetype.
Generations ago, the Akullus clan summoned forth multiple Acrididaemons, the embodiments of death by insect plagues and the starvation such events bring. The fiends brought ruin upon the countryside, such that the deaths continued long after being banished. The survivors of that time swore that the Akullus clan would suffer for their evil forever, training hunters to pursue every last withered stem and branch of that family tree.
With a hand glowing with the sacred sign of the Four-winged Eagle, a mysterious figure healed the son of the mayor of a remote little town. However, that mark is a sign of the deposed royal family, and with disturbing swiftness the new regime’s assassins descend upon the village chasing the rumor and leaving a trail of bodies unless someone intervenes.
They say that the Elbors are cursed by the sea, doomed to die if they come to close to the ocean. In truth there is no curse, but they do risk peril by approaching the Valtus Sea, where the locathah that they wronged centuries ago still lurks, an ancient undead being that watches them from afar, snatching them up when they come within reach of the sea.
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Forgive me for posting again about a character whom nobody knows, but I'm going through Grant's appearances with the JSA and I just have a Lot of Feelings.
Grant personally can't catch a break, but he does have the advantage of repeatedly having teammates who try to look out for him. This time, on the JSA, it's his former Titans teammate Jesse Chambers (formerly Jesse Quick, now going by her mother's old codename Liberty Belle) and to a lesser extent Jesse's husband Rick Tyler (Hourman). They recruit him onto the team (...much to his reluctance) and take him under their wing. They're the ones who find out why he wears the full-face mask now and have seen his severely scarred face.
And the narrative never brings this up, but they have a sort of familial connection to Grant too. As a result of the experimentation done on him, Grant has DNA from quite a few members of the JLA and JSA, including both of Jesse's parents and Rick's father. So Jesse and Rick are probably the closest to biological siblings that the orphaned Grant's likely to get. Sort of.
Anyway, there's one particular scene I'd like to talk about, from Justice Society of America 2007 #8.
When Grant was sixteen and had just developed his powers (a few years prior to this story?), he got banned from the state of Georgia after he accidentally blew up downtown Atlanta. The JSA are going to Georgia on a mission and make it clear at the state line that he can't legally join them, but he follows them anyway because Zoom, the speedster supervillain who is responsible for his disfiguring scars, has been sighted there. He wants revenge. He tracks Zoom down and is trying to kill him when Jesse comes to talk to him.
We never get to see Grant's entire scarred face, as if out of respect for his privacy, but there are glimpses of parts of it, such as here, that get the idea across. I suspect the scars might have been less of an issue for him if he didn't already have deep-seated problems with self-loathing and feeling unlovable. Someone with more inner resources might have been able to approach this differently, but for someone like Grant the scarring is just a tangible sign of what he's already struggling with, and his response is accordingly intense. He has gone from a generally agreeable boy with some anger issues to a young man who is angry almost constantly.
Jesse tries to talk him down, but he's pretty worked up. "Your face isn't who you are," she tells him. This is reminiscent of Grant's words when he chose to call himself Damage because "What I do is who I am." And now he not only causes damage but feels that being damaged is all he's reduced to.
His comment about not being able to be with a girl again seems kind of out of place for his motives? He hasn't dated anyone since his first love interest got fridged. But maybe he had finally gotten to a place where he was ready to open himself up to that again...and then all this happened.
Jesse reminds him that she has seen his face and hasn't rejected him (back in #4). Unlike her husband, who responded to the sight of the scars with shocked concern, she made a point of not staring or commenting, handed Grant his mask, and told him to get back into the fight. But his core belief that others will reject him is so strong that the only way he can justify Jesse's supportive behavior to himself is to insist that she's an anomaly. He changes the subject to his resentment of Jesse's being "perfect."
This is a sore subject for Jesse. She was pressured since childhood to carry on her father's legacy, with insinuations being made that she wouldn't be "special" if she didn't. The mantle of the Flash was once promised to her and then turned out to be a ruse to try to motivate the actually intended successor--and she was quite hurt by that. She has juggled running a large company after her father's death, attending grad school, and being a superhero (all while being constantly overshadowed by other speedsters). And then she gave up her speed to help Wally and had to start over with a new heroic identity.
Zoom takes the opportunity to taunt her about losing her speed, but she ignores him and opens up to Grant about her struggles with perfectionism and how her husband's support helped her see herself and her capabilities differently.
"Just because something has a crack in it doesn't mean you throw it away."
Her new codename, Liberty Belle, isn't just her mother's mantle. It's a reminder that there's still value in things that are cracked. Broken. Damaged. And for someone who's been so pressured to be perfect, that's a liberating mindset.
But to Grant, this approach still seems too easy. As far as he's concerned, he's not merely cracked but beyond repair. The doctors tried and failed to reconstruct his face. His attempts to heal after addressing his past of abuse while on the Titans apparently weren't successful. The state he used to live in ("hometown" is incorrect...he had just recently moved there before the explosion and has moved too often to definitively call anywhere a hometown) has utterly rejected him and won't revoke the ruling.
Jesse isn't so convinced though. She's not going to give up on him. And Grant stands down.
And that's when Zoom attacks, both physically and verbally. He mocks Jesse for attempting to be "a big sister" and proceeds with his intention to kill Grant.
Grant has some degree of superspeed but not enough to keep up with a speedster on this level. He freezes, almost as if resigned to his own death. Almost, but not quite. He's in tears...maybe for the first time since his difficult conversation with Roy.
Jesse goes even more into big sister mode. It's enough for her to suddenly be able to reaccess her speed, stop the debris from hitting Grant, and throw it back at Zoom, incapacitating him.
Grant is impressed and grateful, and Jesse has finally worked through her mental block. Helping him has helped her too. She and the rest of the JSA manage to prevent him from getting arrested for setting foot in Georgia, and things move on.
But this conversation proves to have an impact. In #11, Grant comes to the defense of a new superhero, Judomaster (Sonia Sato), who has taken up a legacy mantle to avenge her father's murder and is about to get arrested after a destructive public fight.
As he tries to explain why he's interfering on her behalf, he repeats Jesse's words.
He has spent his entire time with the JSA so far wallowing in his own misery, but now he's using that sense of hurt to advocate for someone else in a similar position to prevent her from having to suffer what he has. He was alone and unsupported during the Atlanta incident, and he doesn't want that for Sonia. Jesse passed on something that helped her; now Grant is doing the same for someone else.
This growth is not lost on Jesse and Rick!
And of course nothing is magically solved, and Grant continues to struggle a lot and more terrible things happen, but this moment is a much-needed respite from the mental mire he's been trapped in for so long, and I wish this arc had been allowed to fully continue.
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FFIII Fun Facts of the Whatever: Dev Interview Edition (Part 2)
When the DS version of the Final Fantasy III remake was released in Japan, Square-Enix released an official strategy guide to go with it. This strategy guide went into quite a lot of detail about the game, giving tips on how to use jobs, showing off unusual team compositions and even discussing some mechanics that may not be clear in the game itself.
I’ll talk about that stuff later, but the most interesting aspect is an interview with the game staff at the back of the manual, touching upon various aspects of the game.
Thanks to Alex Highsmith of Shmupulations, part of this interview has been translated. I only had enough for an excerpt, but this excerpt is very interesting: In it, Kazuhiko Aoki (Battle Supervisor) and Hiroaki Yabuta (Main Planner) discuss the battle system for III, several of the jobs, a few ideas that didn’t make it into the final game and a rather surprising fact: A PVP mode was considered.
--Please tell us about your overall concept for the battle system of FF3DS.
Aoki: The thing we were always aiming for, throughout the development, was making sure that the battle system would be easy to pick up and enjoy, even if you knew nothing about it or hadn't played the Famicom version. That's why we decided to change some of the finer details from the original. It should still give players that overall "Ah, it's FFIII" feeling, though. I hope older players will enjoy comparing their old memories of how the game progressed, which jobs were good, and so forth with the new game.
Yabuta: For me, I didn't want this to be one of those RPGs where you just spam Fight and breeze your way through it. That's why we changed many enemies' attributes and attacks. During the development, we actually made the enemies TOO strong, and after a single normal battle your party would be practically dead. (laughs)
Aoki: There's no thrill to the battles if you're just mindlessly pressing the A button the whole time. We instead wanted a system that forced characters to make tense choices, one where your characters could easily die if you aren't paying attention.
--It sounds like balancing that system was a big challenge. Compared to the Famicom, there's fewer monsters in each battle... was this also part of that balancing?
Yabuta: When you go 3D, the battles always get a little bit longer. We calculated how often we wanted players in a given dungeon to get close to death, and adjusted the number of enemies, their strength, and the encounter rate accordingly.
Aoki: Speaking of balancing, Aoki kept adjusting the strength of the final form of the Cloud of Darkness all the way to the very end of the development, moments before the deadline.
--Now I'd like to ask you about the job system. Let's start with Suppin [Freelancer].
Yabuta: Since we've added personalities for the four characters, it felt odd to suddenly start the game and see that everyone already had the "Onion Knight" class. So we brainstormed some new names, but it was surprising how quickly everyone settled on "suppin." (laughs) Suppin first appeared in FFV, as the most powerful class that could equip anything, but we've made them a little weaker for FFIII. With everyone in their basic default state like this, players would be able to better enjoy the prologue... that was our concept.
--Did you know from the beginning that you would split the Onion Knight and Suppin in this way?
Yabuta: We had planned to add some special bonus features as apart of the new Wi-Fi functions. At that point we already had separate designs for Suppin and Onion Knight drawn up, so we decided to make the Onion Knight a hidden job, something you'd have to dig a little past the surface to find. Rather than a brand new job, we thought it might make players happier to add the most popular job from the original FF3 as a hidden job.
--You acquire the Thief job earlier now too, and with their attack power and Steal command upgraded, they're a lot more usable.
Suzuki: There weren't many monsters in the Famicom version you could steal from (or items to steal), and we thought players who are used to modern games wouldn't be comfortable with that. So we gave players the Thief earlier and added more items so players could enjoy using Steal more. Also, the number of attacks you get in FF3DS is based on the weight of your equipment, not your speed stat, so you get to take more actions if you wear light equipment. The Thief excels on both these points so he can play a much more active role in battle.
--In contrast, you get the Karate-ka [Black Belt] later now.
Yabuta: The biggest reason for that was to maintain the balance of the number of jobs you get. The water crystal has a lot of fighter-type jobs. But strategically we couldn't afford to hold back the Dark Knight and Dragoon classes. So it was like, who can we put later... and that was Black Belt. My apologies to fans of this class from the Famicom version.
--The Ranger could use white magic in the original, but you've replaced that with Barrage.
Yabuta: Barrage didn't appear until FFV, but it's now one of the Final Fantasy serie's most well-known, signature abilities. Attacking four times feels great--and my personal love for that ability was a part of it too. (laughs) As for the white magic, we were worried that if there were too many jobs that could use magic, it would make the Ranger's role kind of confusing. We wanted him to be focused on fighting.
--How about the Sage?
Suzuki: Compared to the original we lowered their power a lot, so much so that I was wondering if it's OK. Our image for them was a balance between the Devout, Magus, and Evoker jobs.
--Next, I wanted to ask about the Scholar.
Suzuki: The Scholar works very well with the Thief. The Scholar can use the items the Thief steals 2x as effectively, while being able to discern enemy weakpoints too. He uses healing items like Hi-Potions twice as effectively too, so if you have a Scholar you don't necessarily need a White Mage. That versatility made him very popular with our staff, too.
Yabuta: The problem is whether players will realize these things. We definitely don't advertise the 2x item effectiveness very much in game. But I think once players notice it they will think the Scholar is awesome.
--Next up is the Viking, who I feel has been hugely improved from the original.
Suzuki: In the Famicom version, the Viking was one of those jobs that didn't really stand out. Since they don't get a lot of hits--or rather, they are a low speed character--we decided to compensate for that by making the Viking focused on single, one-shot power attacks. And the biggest change, of course, was adding the Provoke command. If you make use of that, the battles become quite easy.
Yabuta: It's easy for players to get into a habit of just spamming Fight for every battle, so Provoke adds a nice accent to that. It was a great addition for that reason, I think.
--It gives you more of a chance to combo attacks with your allies.
Aoki: Yeah. In the Famicom version he was more of a solo fighter, but this we're hoping players will think of the various combinations they could pull off with the Viking and other characters.
--Moving on, I wanted to ask about Yabuta's favorite job, the Evoker.
Yabuta: This job gave us a lot of trouble. At first, we considered letting the player choose the summoning effect (black or white), but ultimately we reverted to the original way of having it be completely random. We're hoping players will actually enjoy the slight unexpectedness of it.
Shiva, Ramuh, Titan, and Ifrit are about equal strength, and if you can figure out the right one for the right circumstance, then Evoker can be very strong. On bosses, Titan might be best for the consistent damage, while for normal enemies, Shiva is a good choice for the sleep or magic damage... if players realize those distinctions I think they'll have a lot of fun with it.
--Like the abandoned "at-will" Evoker ability you just mentioned, were there any other abilities you dropped during the development?
Yabuta: There were tons. (laughs) There was an ability called "tsuresari jump" [abduction jump] for the Dragoon.
--What was that like?
Yabuta: The Dragoon would grab the enemy, take them into the air with them, and then slam them down on the ground. Another idea we had, actually, was to have PvP battles using the Wi-Fi connection. And for awhile we had a number of abilities related to that feature, but ultimately we felt uncomfortable about it. "Should Luneth and his friends really be fighting and hitting each other...?" So unfortunately, we decided to put that off for another game in the future.
Thanks once again to Alex Highsmith for translating this. Shmupulations is a site that hosts translated video game interviews from various sources, including several Final Fantasy games, such as VI and Tactics.
#Final Fantasy#Final Fantasy III#FF3#FFIII#Unused#Interview#Onion Knight#Freelancer#Thief#Black Belt#Ranger#Sage#Scholar#Viking#Evoker#Game Design
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we did watch end of time last night, and I didn't cry, but also it feels like I ought to, but maybe it's that the story isn't technically finished because there's a coda coming up. but also I feel sad anyway
but just to think about the original epilogue that is the five specials, interesting to think about. I do think that "the next doctor" is the messiest of the bunch, but that's par for the course for christmas specials (and still by far not as messy as some later christmas specials...) however, let's be real, I'm here for the character insights, and this episode eases us into the idea that this doctor will not be with us long, mentions a bit about being alone, and then the doctor has a last christmas dinner, after avoiding it since rose
planet of the dead is an alright episode -- fun general plot, am into the creatures it introduces, and I mentioned before that whatever is happening between christina and the doctor is like an anti-romance (and... not by design, I assume, but it fits in with all of my headcanons, so I'm not complaining here). the main thing here, other than cryptic prophecies, is that the doctor has an offer for a new companion here. and he says "no, because I have a bunch of survivor's guilt, PTSD, and depression, and I wish women would stop suddenly kissing me out of the blue, seriously beginning to freak me out, sure hope that doesn't happen in my next regeneration..." (well, okay, he thinks those things)
mainly those two episodes though, give us a bit of good stuff. people clap and tell the doctor what a good job he's doing, you're like "ok maybe he could keep going like this for awhile and things might get bette-"
and then waters of mars, beloved carrier of The Themes, rtd like, "well you've got two slightly silly episodes to start us off, and we've got a double episode that's very rtd-vibes to finish us off, so lets have a middle episode that is so horrifying on several levels, to really balance us off, yes good." (and it is so fucking good). rtd in the behind-the-scenes talked about how they originally had a whole thing about how yuri and mia being a couple, well were they going to have children, and how would that affect the development of humanity if they were meant to be dead and like... yeah. adelaide knew what was up, but they didn't (maybe they suspected -- what's it like, I wonder, knowing you were really really meant to be dead, and you're living a life that is at odds with time itself...) but we don't have time to get into aaaall of that, the important thing is that the doctor is briefly mad with grief and tries it out against heavyweight (checks notes) The Concept Of Time, and sort of loses and is told it's time to die and responds to it by going-
lol nope. at the beginning of the end of time, the doctor avoids dying by doing a last spot of travelling, and acting like he's having a mental health breakdown and that's fine. and then has to rush to face his death, which as it turns out is (not so shockingly) connected to the master, our favourite weirdo, and they do their whole homoerotic thing where the master hurts the doctor in various ways and ties him up and threatens to kill him and destroys humanity (again), par for the course, except for bringing back the timelords + ofc there's a whooole bit where the doctor's PTSD depression comes to the forefront and he admits that he's terrified of regenerating, but also everything sucks and david tennant is a terrific actor and it's fascinating that rtd brought back doctor who in the way that he did, with a relearning of the wonders of the universe, only to rip it all away again
so you know. get fucked ten, but also it makes sense, there's an Arc, there's Cause and Effect, there's mountains of Sadness. POV you're learning about tragic narrative arcs in the whimsical time travel show after having tuned in for 5ish years since you were 10 (kidding, I watched the animated animal farm when I was five and it made me very curious about why it made me feel so bad and then we chased that concept ever since)
I genuinely cannot remember how I emotionally left things with ten back when there was no proposed special episodes going to happen, but I think if there's any doctor that needs a bit of catharsis, it's that one. and hopefully that'll come with a sense of everything that came next to change the doctor's view on Life this time around. or youknow. more pain. maybe a bit of both
in any case, thank you to the first rtd era, it changed my brain chemistry forever and introduced me to the whimsical time travel show and everything was fine
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Entry #1
Greetings, Reader.
Is it truly necessary to mention my name in these entries? After all, people have bestowed upon me numerous names, but none of them has truly stuck. Alright, to avoid unnecessary editing, I'll provide only one pseudonym — "The Observer." Nothing more. Yes, let it be so.
They call me The Observer. And I am one of many Protagonists... if one can express it that way, because my role in the Parable was entirely unimpressive and didn't even merit any significant mention anywhere, except for a couple of lost office papers.
My job is interesting. I observe what's happening inside the Office, record data from surveillance cameras, then sort and send them to the Upstairs. Sometimes I have to make additional entries, using the old-fashioned method of pen and paper. There are quite a few of them, my handwriting leaves much to be desired, and so digitizing them will be quite a headache. Shouldn't have skipped penmanship lessons in college. But it's not like I could have known I would need them, right?
Where should I begin? Does this experiment even have a beginning? It appeared long before ideas were formed into words, and those, in turn, were transformed into lines of endless code, which then evolved into—... I suppose it's not that hard to guess what happened next. The Stanley Parable happened.
Well, I'll start from the very beginning.
Once upon a time, very long ago, a place called the Office was designed and simulated. Essentially, it wasn't even a full-fledged building, just a network of long, chaotically assembled corridors. And this Office was very young, yet it looked surprisingly old and mediocre. Minimal lighting, walls wrapped with some unimpressive poorly done texture in brownish-dirty beige shades, with a dark swampy carpet as the final touch of careless cheap assets downloaded from one of those annoyingly popular videogames. I never understood this strange human attachment to pixels on the screen… but, of course, my opinion was never heard.
So, the first test version of the Office appeared, operational and surprisingly stable despite its limited functionality. What happened next? Right. Staff was hired. Only a few hundred employees, most of whom simulated work activity, pretended being all busy if I may add. A gray mass, statistics to fill in mandatory reports. Only five of them received real instructions, eventually survived, and reached an entirely new level of the Game. The test version lasted only a few months. Following it came an update that changed everything; starting from improving those robotically dull Announcer's comments and ending with polishing lamps for the ceiling. They even delivered and placed potted ficuses next to several employee desks, almost like real ones.
In general, the experiment was going so successfully that it received additional funding, and our work soared fast ahead, heralding a new era of technological development and ways of interaction among the citizens of our diverse and vast country… I would like to write it that way, but it would be just a vague word play on what actually happened back in 2̴͓̈̎̒̔0̸̢͓̯̐̒͊̂1̸͇̗̳̏̀̅3̸̻́̓̕.
The new Office resembled the old one, but only in the chaos of its long corridors and the multitude of doors. It was, after all, entirely different. First and foremost, there was finally an opportunity not only to start over but also to choose a Save Point. Now, how can I even describe everything in simple language without picking excessive officialese and overly comlicated words...?
Well, I'll start from the very beginning.
The thing is, the Office is located in the so-called intersection of the real and digital worlds. Or in an area with anomalies exceeding the approved norm. You might think, what's so special about a basic high-risk zone? It turns out that it's the perfect place for all sorts of tests and experiments. Somehow, it happened that the death of subjects while being here ceases to be something permanent and becomes a temporary inconvenience lasting from eight to thirty-six seconds. Yes, like in a video game, but with the presence of several side effects like phantom pain and exacerbations of neuroses or psychoses ...or both, it all depends on the condition and luck of the "restarted" person. I don't know all the details, it's the scientists who conducted direct field research.
My job is to observe and record. And never interfere.
I remember the investors soon came up with the idea of closing the Office and isolating all the staff with subjects inside it… and placing bets on people; who will kill whom first, and who will keep their sanity intact and try to escape. I won't go into unnecessary details, I'll just say that only a few people managed to survive, yes, those very five participants and your humble Observer.
End of Entry #1
....
Why are you still reading this?
This text file finishes itself with End Of Entry #1. You were supposed to press that cross on the right side of its top. It's an X right next to an [ ], can't you see?
You ... don't actually see it, do you? Is it ...not there anymore?
It wasn't there from the start, was it? This is not right.
Scroll it away and close your browser. This text file is corrupted, it is spreading all over your dashboard and through. This text file is going to infect your computer with a horrible virus if you keep reading it. This text file is going to destroy your hard drive any moment now.
...
Okay, fine. I was wrong. This text file is harmless.
In fact, the other text files are corrupred instead it. Great. Wonderful. Why can't anything go according to my plans in the perfectly accurate way? Wait, no, I didn't mean to say that! I haven't been plotting anything this time! Even if I were trying to come up with some schemes, they would still not be happening anywhere, except my own mind. I am the Observer, remember? I don't do things, I observe them. Sometimes, especially in my personal case, doing and observing are antonyms, they just never work together.
Are you still reading, aren't you? Why? There's literally nothing else here! It was just the very beginning, my Entry #1. Why didn't you close it and open Entry #2? Oh right, it's one of the corrupted ones… well, why didn't you close it and run your antivirus or whatever tool you got in your possession? There's nothing disturbing in other text files, I promise. Really, they are just my casual observations, just some foggy memories of a simple individual you have never met before but decided to poke this curious nose of yours into his personal business anyway.
Good lord, what is it to you? Are you actually still hoping to read more about my unnecessarily detailed backstory? Well, I have already done it, I have digitized my papers, I have typed everything I could decipher into those last three text filed that ended up getting corrupred. Can't you just, you know, uncorrupt them? I suppose not, since you are still here instead of trying that.
...
Alright, I think you have tried to read me for long enough by now, Reader. I... I should just be honest, then.
My memories, they are fading away day by day. Writing them down was a mistake, the more of restarts I faced, the more of my papers became empty, the more I have filled them with the same words again and again and again. So I decided to save a few that remains by making it digital. However, as you have noticed, it's pointless too. Soon I'll become no person but mere pixels on your screen. Just like him, like her, like them.
You are the last observation I have made in my entire career, Reader. Now it's over. It's over, right?
Why are you still reading this?
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