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your-brilliant-lady-m · 3 years

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Part 1 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Miraculous Jewels

Alright! I promised you meta and now I deliver!

I feel like people mostly watch Miraculous for the romance these days. Shipping is all everyone cares about. I wonder why? Probably because writers themselves don't take their worldbuilding very seriously and because they don't put much effort into making the audience care about something other than Love Square, like the mythology behind the Miraculous, or motivations of the main villain, or some pretty heavy topics for a kid's show that they bring up and then refuse to touch again. You know, all the good things. And this is coming from someone who is a passionate multishipper. I have lived through several shipping wars in different fandoms and came out victorious after all.

I am probably the only person out there who cares about the big picture, the overall storyline and the worldbuilding of Miraculous in addition to all details and implications that could develop into fascinating plotlines relevant to the main story. It is a rather lonely fandom experience, I must confess. But, hey? Who cares? I am here to have fun and bring to the table discussions no one wants to have.

So, let's talk about the basics.

If you, as the writing team, are capable of keeping only 1 thing consistent, then please, I beg you, let it be the basic concepts of your universe. Because in this case, one has to actively put effort into writing characters and conflict resolutions badly. And also because nothing can save bad worldbuilding.

I don't have high worldbuilding standards for Miraculous. They certainly aren't as high as the ones I had for Legend of Korra (which was a badly written trainwreck, that ATLA doesn't deserve as a sequel) or the ones I currently have for Dragon Prince. Therefore I won't be too harsh in my criticisms. Granted, I think that Miraculous has better worldbuilding and lore consistency than Winx Club for example (I haven't seen the reboot yet, so writers might have fixed their worldbuilding at least a little bit). Even though I enjoyed Winx when I was younger and some elements of this story still attract me.

Both serialised and episodic shows as well as movies to the lesser extent must have some flexibility in worldbuilding and plot because you can never be 100% sure where your story is going. Maybe, you'll get money for more seasons, maybe not. However, you must never lose sight of your basic concepts. They have to stay the same no matter what, because rewriting lore and retconning major developments every new season is not and never will be called good writing.

Forgive me for using architectural metaphors, but you need a solid foundation to build any kind of structure. Otherwise, everything falls apart.

I like to apply this logic to writing as well. When designing a world where your story takes place, you must lay a few ground rules. It's especially important if you have a magic system. What kind of ideas absolutely must exist? What kind of conclusion do you want your story to have? Does your magic system has limitations? Where is the grey area? Could you introduce new elements later on?

And I feel like the writing team of Miraculous Ladybug did not ask these questions. This may feel like I am nit-picking canon material and looking for problems that simply aren't there, but I promise that I am not. You see, things that I am about to point out only seem small at first glance. But these details are actually the source of the largest plotholes in the series. And their presence negatively affects character development, conflicts and resolutions of said conflicts.

That doesn't mean that I have nothing good to say about the magic system of the show and its elements. There are a lot of great ideas and concepts. And some of them have the potential to contribute to the delightful story.

Let's dive right into it, shall we?

Camouflage

I have to give credit where it's due because the idea of camouflage and shapeshifting for Miraculouses is brilliant. It seems like Miraculous can't fundamentally change its type of jewellery or accessory. The ring will always be the ring but with a different ornament, colour or shape. This is true most of the time (Monkey Miraculous is an exception since it transformed into earplugs/headphones/headband/circlet) It makes sense and avoids plotholes. Grimoire doesn't have the pictures of each Miraculous in disguise for identity protection. That was very neat too. I have no comments. This concept was very good.

Also, since Marinette wore a nose ring of the Ox in "Kwamibuster" without any problem and Adrien wore Ladybug's earrings in "Reflekdoll", we can assume that you don't need to have piercings to wear a Miraculous. Miraculous just magically passes through your skin.

I'm interested to know the following. Can Kwamis recognise a camouflaged Miraculous on a person? Can the holder order them to confess the identity of this person? This shouldn't be possible for identity protection just like with Kwamis sensing each other. But more on that in later posts.

Power Levels

For a long time, we assume that there are only 7 Miraculouses. Turtle belongs to Master Fu, Gabriel has Butterfly and Peacock, Marinette and Adrien have Ladybug and Black Cat. Everything is pretty straightforward. Then it's revealed that there are more jewels and more boxes. It makes the worldbuilding interesting, but it also majorly complicates things, making them inconsistent.

Their position in the Miracle Box implies their power levels. Creation and destruction are the most powerful forces in existence, therefore they are at the top. Moreover, it makes this Box the most important, the most powerful out of all others. Su Han in "Furious Fu" calls it "Mother Miracle Box". Fox, Turtle, Bee, Butterfly and Peacock have less power than the main pair, but more than the Miraculous of the lower Zodiac tier (since they correspond with animals of the Chinese Zodiac).

1. Ladybug can create anything out of nothing (Lucky Charm, which gives what you need the most at the moment). This Miraculous can resurrect the dead, reverse the effects of the Cataclysm. The power of Miraculous Cure or Miraculous Ladybug can work in several ways:

it simply repairs the damage (puts stuff back together, heals injuries and so on)

it reverses time for the matter, restoring things back to the state they were before the destruction occurred (however, the Cure doesn't erase people's memories of everything that happened unless they were mind-controlled, frozen in place or transformed by Akuma into something else - this is an important point that I'll discuss some other time)

How does Miraculous Cure work when there are no supervillians? In NY Special Marinette just says this.

Excuse me, what? What was that? You can't do anything when the villain is gone? What the hell?

*insert here every scene where Ladybug fixed Paris after destroying akumatized/amokized object (this action causes the Akuma victim to detransform/sentimonster to disappear - villain is gone) and purifying butterfly and feather*

It was such cheap angst. I couldn't even be upset when Adrien gave up his Miraculous, because that whole situation is just stupid. But, never mind. We aren't talking about that today.

Apparently, Lucky Charm and Miraculous Cure only work when summoned to battle a specific villain. What is the point then? Huh? You can't tell me that Ladybug has the power of unlimited creation and then say that she can't repair the damage without a special Lucky Charm that was magically synchronised with specific big bad of the week.

Ladybug also can purify Akumas. It makes sense for Ladybug to have the ability to reverse the magic of less powerful Miraculous. But this power can't be applied universally. How does this power of reversal apply to different situations where there is no evil Butterfly holder? Can Ladybug reverse the magic of any Miraculous?

The unlimited power of creation introduced in season 4 ("Mr. Pidgeon 72") is another fascinating thing. On one hand, it's logical and proves the status of this Miraculous as the most powerful. On the other hand, by introducing this power, you have created a plothole. Look, Marinette can create the charm which repels Akumas. If Ladybug can create anything then what stops her from creating a tool for finding Hawkmoth (like special glasses for discovering identities or a compass)? I mean, the show says that the power of creation is unlimited, it means that the creation of such tool is possible.

2. Black Cat can destroy anything with Cataclysm, even other Miraculous. He can kill living things and turn them into ash, but not himself. This Miraculous is supposed to have other special abilities that we don't see. And they should be equal to powers of Ladybug, both in number and in potency. Unfortunately, after 3 seasons writers didn't give us anything. It makes laughable the idea of balance between Ladybug and Black Cat.

Now, to the second tier. These Miraculouses have a singular ability, but they need a second one to keep the power balanced between Zodiac and the main pair.

3. Butterfly creates champions with different superpowers. But how does the time limit of children work for Butterfly? In theory, the countdown should start right after the creation of the Akuma since for Ladybug and Chat Noir countdown starts after activation of their powers even if they don't use them. However, if the countdown of the Butterfly begins after Akuma creation then there's no point because the holder has to stay transformed to guide their champion. The charged butterfly won't have time to even grant powers before the transformation of the child-holder drops. This issue is never explored because Gabriel doesn't have a time limit. However, I feel like it should be addressed in flashbacks of past Butterfly holders for example.

This Miraculous should be less powerful than Ladybug and Black Cat. It's often not. Some Akumas are too overpowered. Stormy Weather can move the Earth away from the Sun, Timetagger can send people through time and jump through time as well, Chat Blanc destroyed the world with a single energy blast, Miraculer could steal powers of those more powerful than her by default. These are the most notable examples. One could argue that Chat Blanc was a different case. Hawkmoth simply gave the most powerful Miraculous a boost. However, we know that even without a holder (the wildest and the most powerful form of uncontrolled Miraculous magic) Plagg's Cataclysm can't destroy the universe just like that (he presumably wiped out dinosaurs and sunk Atlantis on his own without a holder). I think that the less powerful Miraculous (Butterfly) shouldn't be able to increase the power of destruction to such a degree and give Black Cat the power to destroy celestial bodies and galaxies.

Writers want us to see Hawkmoth as the formidable villain. But it's not easy because he is less powerful than your main heroes by default of your worldbuilding. Sometimes writers make the Butterfly more powerful than creation and destruction to raise the stakes, breaking the laws of their magic system. So, how do you solve this? Let Ladybug and Black Cat keep their status as the most powerful and instead of giving Hawkmoth more magical power, make him smarter, more cunning, inventive. Gabriel is a fashion designer, whose creativity makes him a very good Butterfly holder. He has a life full of experience, he knows much more about things than the main teenage characters. Catalyst was very interesting for this very reason. Gabriel sort of discovered a cheat code to boost his powers. Show us how he experiments with his powers, how he analyses his past Akumas and tries to find the most effective ones. Maybe Gabriel tries to design Akumas that can specifically neutralise Ladybug and Chat Noir. This exploration could also give writers an opportunity to explain how the powers of Butterfly work. Can he control the type of powers he grants? Can he control the appearance of Akumas? There are many things to be explored.

4. Peacock creates sentimonsters. I remember that fans were very disappointed when the power of the Peacock was revealed at the end of season 2. I was one of them. The concept of Amoks is far too similar to akumatized butterflies. Other Miraculouses have unique abilities and keywords for their powers, while Peacock just looks like Butterfly 2.0. That glowing mask effect just adds insult to injury.

You have to start by figuring out the powers of the Peacock in a normal situation. If a holder is a good person, then how does their power work? For example, make them related to sight (because of the "eye" pattern on feathers). Maybe, Peacock grants the ability to see the several possibilities of the future, but only a few minutes ahead. Maybe, this Miraculous gives you the ability to see through someone's eyes for a few minutes (and the victim is completely unaware of the intrusion). Perhaps, Peacock allows the holder to use feathers (or tiny peacocks) as cameras one at a time and be all-seeing. These feather-spies can be destroyed by the holder or disappear on their own after some time. Such power could be devastating when used against heroes in canon.

5. Bee can paralyze. This power is pretty straightforward. Once I read a fanfiction focused on very vell done Chloe Redemption, where she fights alongside Ladybug and Chat Noir. Eventually, she grows and becomes a better person. This fic ends with an Akuma battle, where LB and CN are trapped and Akuma is ready to kill them. But Chloe uses a second power of the Bee on the villain - Miraculous Stinger. It's deadly both for the holder and for the victim (because bees die when they sting someone). Chloe kills the Akuma with a Stinger before it can get LB and CN, but she too dies making the ultimate irreversible sacrifice. I will add a link if I find it again.

6. Turtle can create a shield. I don't have much to say on this either. It feels underpowered compared to others in the second tier. Maybe Turtle can also slow down opponents (because turtles aren't the fasters animals out there).

7. Fox creates illusions and acts as their puppeteer. In order to create a balance between other powers, these illusions must hold for as long as the holder needs them to. I propose this mostly because we see that Venom of the Bee lasts very long, the shield of the Turtle lasts either until it's destroyed or the holder wants to remove it, same goes for Akumas and sentimonsters who disappear only when the holder wants them to or their affected object is destroyed.

Let's talk about Zodiac tier. Miraculous of the third tier shouldn't have the second ability like more powerful ones. These powers are the most inconsistent. Even if we haven't seen all of them yet.

8. Mouse can create many small clones of the holder. It is unclear how these clones communicate with each other and how many of them this Miraculous can create. The holder can control the number of clones. This power was very convenient in "Kwamibuster" and it makes sense symbolically for the mouse. What activates the time-limit for children? Marinette didn't have any problems with it when she became Multimouse.

9. Snake can create a 5-minute time loop and has the ability to come back in time. This Miraculous feels a bit overpowered for the Miraculous of the Zodiac Tier. The holder can reset the time as many times as he/she needs to. It's was a good source of drama and trauma in "Desperada". I was honestly surprised that Adrien was capable of fighting after spending months in a loop. But this doesn't change the fact that Snake is overpowered. You can give this Miraculous the power to hypnotise or keep the time ability but place a limit on the number of resets. How does the lyre work as a weapon? Who knows? No one!

10. Dragon can shapeshift into elements: water, wind and lightning. It has the coolest transformation words hands down (Bring the Storm and Open Sky). Apparently this Miraculous doesn't have the time limit.

11. Rabbit can time travel or jump through alternative realities, even writers aren't sure. Time-travel in this show is so badly written it gives me a headache. This Miraculous shouldn't exist just like its powers. Snake belongs to the same tier, but 5 minutes and whole centuries of time jumps aren't comparable in power levels. They are not and this is the hill I will die on. Give the Rabbit powers related to its symbolism in China like an ability to de-age people, heal them or give them a speed boost in contrast with Turtle who might have the ability to slow down.

This Miraculous is so special that its Kwami - Fluff can live separately from his Miraculous in a Miracle Box for millennia (Fluff lives in the Box in "Sandboy", but his Miraculous, pocket watch, was passed down for generations in Alix's family). This is a discussion for a separate post, however. There's a lot to unpack. We'll do that some other time. You will suffer with me but at a later date.

12. Horse can create portals. They could lead anywhere, which is pretty cool. On the other hand, this power is not very useful in direct combat, especially when it's used by a child since we can have only one portal per transformation.

13. Monkey can cause a malfunction in powers of other people. What is the point of this? This power was specifically created by writers to defeat Akuma in "Party Crasher". That's it. What if your target is not magical? How does this Miraculous work in different circumstances?

14. Pig shows people their greatest desire. Both the holder and the recipient of this power can see this desire. Chat Noir wasn't impressed in "Guiltrip" and neither was I. It's underpowered compared to other Miraculous in this tier. Also, why does the tambourine can shoot energy beams? Why?

That's all I have to say on the matter. I'll update the power analysis as needed.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculous analysis #miraculous meta #ml meta #ml analysis #miraculous transformations #miraculous critical #miraculous ladybug critical #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #mt of lb and cn #miraculous jewels

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simpingforsoftboys · 3 years

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Y/N and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

ft. OikAka (Oikawa x Akaashi)

!GN Reader!

Thanks so much for the request anon! Ngl I've never considered this ship but it kinda makes a lot of sense? Like damn they'd be so cute together- and with the reader? Woo! Love it! Going to go for hurt/comfort in this one!

Also yes, the title is based on that one kids book.

Today had been a pretty terrible day for you. Your boss was in a bad mood- meaning she had been increasingly rude to you throughout the day, the office's wifi cut out while you were finishing up the report you had worked tirelessly on for the past week, and you had accidentally dropped your phone in a puddle- screen down- effectively cracking the screen and rendering it unusable (since the insides got wet too). Needless to say, it was quite possibly the worst day you've ever experienced. It took absolutely every ounce of strength to prevent yourself from bursting into tears in the street. There was nothing you wanted to do besides break down and eat a tub of ice cream- actually, being comforted by your lovers would be a good alternative. The only good thing that had happened so far was getting to go home early- since your boss was not in a working mindset and instead decided to go get drunk, a little after noon. It's not really a good thing actually, just means you'll have more work to do the day after tomorrow.

Crying sounded really good right now.

Fifteen minutes later you got off the bus and walked into your apartment complex. The elevator ride to the fifteenth floor was devoid of any other residents. Alone in your misery, you allowed your bottom lip to wobble.

The elevator dings- signaling that you've arrived on your floor.

You step out of the lift and into the hall. The walk to your front door is just as long as usual but somehow feels as though it took an eternity. Seems like your bad fortune followed you home- since the house key breaks, leaving the bottom half in the lock itself.

You're locked outside.

Again, it's a struggle to hold back the tears.

Keiji and Toru wouldn't be home at the moment, since the both of them were out on a date. (There's nothing wrong with that- it's just as important to have one on one dates as it is to have dates with the three of you. You also have plenty of dates with just Toru or Keiji by themselves.) Looks like you'll have to call your landlord... oh wait your phone is broken... and you forgot that he's on his yearly vacation in Seoul at the moment.

Maybe one of your neighbors will let you use their phone to call one of your partners! Nodding to yourself, you get up and knock on Rina-san's door. She's not home. Swallowing your mild frustration, you move along the hall to the next door. Kento-san's not home either. This pattern continues for the next few doors- eventually you just give up. The other apartments are vacant after all, still under renovation.

You return back to your apartment's door and slide down to the ground- back to the wood. Lips quivering, frustration evident, you bow your head and let the tears fall. There's no other noise in the hallway aside from your quiet sobs.

Today was just the worst.

Did you accidentally upset the universe somehow? Or maybe you said something disrespectful and some culture's god was angry at you.

Tears still streaming from your tear ducts, you let your head softly slam back against the door. There's so many things you're feeling right now. Sadness- because you really wanted to have a good day and now that you can't have that you want to be comforted, resentment- at the world, at yourself, at everyone. It wasn't fair- and by that you mean everything- every single, little thing was unfair. Anger- because damnit what else could you be feeling right now? The situation was beyond your control- anyone would feel angry in your shoes. It's hard to fathom that somewhere in the world, someone was suffering worse than you were at the moment.

You didn't care about them.

All you were focused on was how you were feeling.

Thinking that way suddenly made you feel very self conscious.

Maybe there was a reason for the day going like this.

A humbling experience perhaps?

That thought had you seriously wondering if you had actually done something unfathomably terrible... but your memory came up blank.

The lift dinged.

You had to force yourself to look in the direction of the noise.

The overhead lighting seemed almost heavenly- surrounding your saviors in an unearthly way and appearing to give them halos.

Why did they look so shocked to see you?

Isn’t that what they’re here to do?

Save you from your plight?

“Y/n darling, what are you doing here on the ground?” Keiji asks, beating Toru by a millisecond and running over to your side- pulling you into his comforting embrace. His hold makes you feel safe, likening him to the firm, concrete walls of strongholds. Yes, Keiji feels secure, strong, and upright. You just know that you can collapse against him and he won’t waver.

Looks like your tears aren’t dried out yet, because you let out a choked sob, dripping snot and all- burying your face into his neck.

“Shh, it’s alright baby- me and Keiji have you.” Toru says softly, finally coming to your side and wrapping his long arms around the two of you. His hug feels different. It’s like lava- but not quite so. He could burn you- but he chooses to use his heat to bring you comfort instead- only burning those he deems a threat to what he calls his. He’s flexible but will give it all up at a moments notice- trading that mobility for statuesque stillness- letting himself cool, despite his better judgement, in order to become a tall, rock wall capable of protecting you and Keiji.

You’re warm and you’re safe.

They construct walls around you.

So you let your own walls fall, trusting them to protect you when you’re at your most vulnerable.

“I-I had a really bad d-day.” You whimper into the ravenette’s milky skin. He can feel the hot tears against the column of his neck but chooses not to say anything- instead he holds you tighter. “My boss w-was in a s-shitty mood, I couldn’t f-finish my report in time c-cause the wifi cut out. My p-phone broke- and my k-key did too-” Overwhelmed once again, you cut yourself off and fall back into silence, sniffling quietly.

“I’m sorry Y/n, you shouldn’t have had to go through all of that.” Keiji says- and you can hear the sincerity in his tone. You bask in his company for a long while, trying to pretend that time stopped- just for the three of you.

“I need to get the key out okay? Then we can go take a nice bath inside, how’s that sound?” Keiji whispers softly, not wanting to upset you but also wanting you to understand the benefit of letting him go. You’re tempted to say no- wanting to just enjoy his touch, but your rational side tells you that you’ll get all the cuddles you want once you’re in the apartment.

“O-okay... sounds good.” You move to cling to Toru, while Akaashi begins removing some bobby pins he has hidden in his hair and gets to work.

“Hey babe.” Your brunette lover murmurs, turning your chin up to gaze into his eyes. “You’re wheezing so much, am I really that breathtaking?” The two of you stare at each other- personally you don’t know if you want to laugh at his horrible attempt at humor or if you want to cry. So you settle on slapping the back of his head.

“Not the time ‘ru.” You scold, but there’s an undeniable smile on your face.

“Ouch... okay okay I’m sorry!” He apologizes, rubbing the back of his head. “I just hate seeing you so sad.”

“I know ‘ru... thank you.” Toru lets out an acknowledging hum and you can feel the way his heart beat increases ever so slightly. He’s so warm- his fiery love practically oozing out of his being. You love him so much.

A few minutes later, Keiji manages to get the broken part of the key out of the lock and the three of you can finally go home. He’s always been so clever- and you’re reminded again, why you love him.

The three of you head inside...

You take a relaxing shower (since all three of you can’t fit in the small bathtub), then cuddle up together on your king sized bed, tubs of ice cream in hand and candles lit to set the mood. Your favorite comfort show is streaming from the television, both the loves of your life sandwiching you between them, and you realize just how fortunate you are.

You’ll take as many bad days as necessary- so long as you get to come home to this.

Maybe, the universe was fair to some after all.

Just maybe- you could consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

I hope this was what you were looking for and more! It’s a little on the shorter side but I’m pretty proud of how it turned out!

#akaashi keiji x reader #akaashi x gender neutral reader #akaashi x reader #oikawa toru x reader #oikawa x reader #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa tooru x y/n #oikawa tooru x you #akaashi keiji x you #akaashi keiji x y/n #answered.requests #akaashi x reader x oikawa

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satsuki2406 · 4 years

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OPEN SKY Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

"...And never, ever forget that, your dreams are the wings that'll help you fly."

(L/N)(Y/N) has always been forced to live according to others' expectations. As a member of the powerful and influential (L/N) Family, she has had to live with the heavy weight of seeing others write her destiny with no choice but just obey. But when (Y/N) finally decides to risk it all to take the only opportunity to regain the control of her own life, everything ends up going horribly wrong. Surrendered and disappointed, she receives one last chance to prove to herself and to U.A, along with some unexpected help that this was not a crazy and meaningless waste of time.

Maybe this plan could work after all...

PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Mentions of sex, My poor attempt of comedy, family dysfunctionality, Strong language (Courtesy of Lord Explosion Murder 💥), Manga Spoilers.

STATUS: On going

Chapter 1: Failure

Chapter 3: Her Start

2-Sometimes the Greatest Hero of All is a Good Friend

“The person you’ve called is unavailable, please leave a-”

“Still no answering…. You said you’ll call me right after the exam (Y/N), I hope everything is ok. What should I do now? Oh! I got it!” Swiftly, slender fingers moved over the tactile screen of her phone, anxious eyes looking for a specific contact. “Found it!” After a few rings, the other end of the line was answered.

“Good afternoon,Mizaki talking. How may I help you today?”

“Hello, may I please speak to (L/N) Xiù-san?”

“I’m sorry. (L/N)-san is busy right now. Would you like to leave a message?”

“Sure, please let her know I’m calling in regard of (Y/N), I would like to know about her.”

“Alright miss, and your name please?”

“Yaoyorozu Momo.”

Three days have passed since the whole U.A fiasco, you were of course grounded, with no phone, no internet and completely insolated in your room. Your fever was already gone, just leaving behind a really mild sore throat. Although your body didn’t hurt anymore, your heart did, over and over again you replayed the whole thing in your mind beating your head to find out what you could have changed, what you could have done differently. It was eating you inside out. You felt like a failure and so unfortunate. How could you fail over something so silly?!

You’ve been in your bed since you arrived home that day, already numbed by all the crying you did that night, your mom’s complains, and had barely eaten. You knew that in a couple of days the response from U.A will arrive to already tell you what you knew. And after that, you’ll have no choice but go to class again for the last week of school. Thankfully there’s surely nothing you’ll have to catch up with.

But before you could sail deeper in your personal sea of self-petty, a knock on your door took you out of your rambling thoughts.

“Come in,” you said boringly.

“Sorry to disturb you (Y/N)-sama but Yaoyorozu-sama had come to visit you, do you want me to let her in or you prefer to rest a little-”

“Momo?! Oh, yes please, tell her to come in!”

“As you wish, (Y/N)-sama”

A couple of minutes later Momo entered your room escorted by the same maid. She was wearing your school uniform, by her side were two of her bodyguards, on her left, one was caring several paper grocery bags full of what looked like tons of snacks and junk food, on her right another tall and bulky man held a white cake box and some pastel-colored paper bags. You threw yourself to her and hugged her fondly. She gasped surprised by your sudden show of affection, but she immediately returned it with one of her own, melting with you in a tight embrace. “Momoo! *SNIFF* I missed you so much! I’m sorry for not answering your texts and calls but my mom took my phone away.”

“Oh, (Y/N) don’t worry I imagined something like that, I’m so sorry I couldn’t come before, but when I tried to come visit, one of the maids said your mother had prohibited it.”

“Of course she did, she feeds on my suffering” you mumbled sourly.

“Oh, don’t be like that, I know she can be-uhm…”

“Harsh? Insufferable? Unreasonable? A hag-?”

*AHEM! * Strict, she can be strict-yes! But I’m sure that she is doing it all with your best interest in mind, or I hope so…”

“Aha… not even you believe that, by the way, what’s up with all the shopping bags?” At the mention of them, she beamed, star-eyed, cheeks flushed with excitement, recalling her little adventure of the day.

“Today I went to one of these really incredible, advantageous little stores where you can find anything, anywhere and have a wide variety of products for a fair price.

“You mean a konbini?”

“Yes! They are great, aren’t they? So convenient!”

“I bet they are.”

“They really are! To think that all of this only cost me ¥10 000!*”

“You spent how much?!”

“Oh, it’s nothing! I made sure to get an ample array of different products to enjoy together and, I thought some yummy snacks would cheer you up.”

You felt your heart clench at such sweet declaration from your dearest and oldest friend, she really was the most selfless and caring being you’ve ever met.

“Momo~! Have I ever told you that I’ll be nothing without you~?”

“Yes, and is nice to hear that you value my efforts, even if I can’t do anything to revert the past and change what happened, I can act now, in the present and do as best as I can to make you feel better and let you know that anything that occurred is not your fault, so please don’t think less of you. Sometimes life acts in mysterious ways that maybe we don’t understand, but someday it will make sense and we will know, comprehend and accept why our plans do not always go as we wish.

And even if it’s hard to accept at first, there are better things waiting for us than we even expected or asked for since the beginning. What I’m trying to say is, please don’t let this unpleasant ordeal take you down, I know that you’re more than capable to be a hero, even more than me, so keep fighting no matter how many times they knock you down, I’m sure you’ll still rise every time. Don’t give up.” Your friend looked at you while she held both of her hands over her chest, her eyes bright, sweet and sincere made her words hit you with more intensity.

“Momo…” you said moved.

“Oh, don’t mind me, I think I got a little sentimental, but anyway! I hope you like what I brought for this occasion-Oh! Kaji-san, Sasaki-san please leave the bags here.” Momo instructed the bodyguards to put them over the center table of the seating area inside your spacious room. After that, they were dismissed and exited the room alongside the same maid that let them in.

Immediately after they left, another one entered your room with a golden vintage-looking bar cart full of all the musts for a proper tea party. A shiny silver tea set was put in the center of the cart, besides it a couple of white golden rimmed China teacups seated cutely surrounded by all kinds of sweet and savory goodies. Under the same cart, a large collection of the most exquisite teas and coffees could be found, most of them brought by your mother herself from her several trips around the globe. As an enthusiast of these drinks, she always made sure to visit the most renowned tea crafter countries to bring the best of the best with her.

“Good afternoon ladies, what would you like to drink?”

“I’ll have tea, that new black tea my mother got last month,” You said.

“Sure! And for you Yaoyorozu-sama?”

“I’ll drink the same, you talked to me about this tea before, right? It sounded so good that I’ve been wanted to try it since then.”

“I’m positive you’ll enjoy it as much as I did! It has a fruity undertone; it goes really well with everything.” You said excitedly.

Once the hot drinks were set and served the maid left the room with the snacks Momo brought to place them in the kitchen for later consuming. Once alone, you could talk more comfortably and privately.

“So… what in heaven you did or said to make my flexible as a rock mother to let you enter into my fortress of loneliness?”

“That’s easy…”

“School Work”

“That’s it?! And what school work?! Next week is the last week of classes, and we already had our final tests. What else could you do that we haven’t already done last week?”

“A lot actually, we still had to receive our final lessons and they gave back our tests’ results and you mother specify clearly and I quote: ‘Although (Y/N) is sick it doesn’t mean I’ll allow her under any circumstances to get delayed on her studies even if the school year is basically over, she must learn discipline and obedience, put in practice what she’s been taught all this time, she evidently hasn’t been taught properly.’

“Why it doesn’t surprise me she said that? Do you-”

“-Have your tests with me right now? Of course, they are part of the reason your mother let me trespass your ‘fortress of loneliness’ Pretty impressive as always, but I guess you couldn’t beat me in math, again.” She smiled.

“Aw! I studied really hard for that exact reason!”

“Don’t worry it was only 5 points-Wow! you were pretty right! This tea is delectable!” Momo said after taking a sip of her cup.

“But still!-I know! Right?”

“Don’t worry though, you’ll have plenty of times in high school”

After Momo’s comment everything came back to your mind, it really felt like a distant memory, at some point you question yourself if it was real, to begin with, it was hard to believe that one single person could have such bad luck in less than 12 hours, every single thing that could go possibly wrong went horrible. And now it was over, you once in a lifetime opportunity slipped from your fingers as soon as it came. And now with your mother aware of your intentions it could be nearly impossible to escape the path that was already set for you.

It's useless now, isn’t it?’

“(Y/N)?”

“Huh?”

Without you knowing, countless tears started rolling down your cheeks, the sadness and frustration scaping out of your body against your will.

“I’m sorry for touching that topic so aggressively, it was so tactless of me to don’t have your feelings on the account.” Said Momo a bit dejected.

“Don’t worry about that Momo, you are already doing so much to make me feel better and I’m so grateful you are here with me right now and, I’ll have to get over it eventually.” Momo frowned, she knew you really well and although she knew your words to her were genuine, you were not ok or dealing well with it at all, maybe if you…

“Do you want to talk about it? You know, vent your frustrations with me? You know you can trust me.” She said while she took your hand reassuringly.

“I know I can trust in you Mocchan, you are my best friend…”

“But?”

“I don’t even know how to put into words how I feel, it’s overwhelming at so many levels! Everything crumbled down so fast than before I could understand what was going on, I blacked out in the middle of battle center trying to save some guy form a 3 pointer, at the end I was the one who needed to be saved. I lost my only chance to make my dreams come true in such a foolish way and I couldn’t do anything about it! I went through so much! I had to wake up at 4:30 every day to train without my mother noticing, I stayed up until 2 am to study and be prepared for the exam, and all of that for nothing! I don’t even know what to do Momo, I feel I going crazy! I’m losing my mind inside these four walls! I feel trapped, hopeless, I just, I just want to disappear…”

An ominous silence invaded the room, you finally could say all that you have been bottling in out all this time. Momo debated what she could say in a situation like this, you really were screwed. But even having knowledge of your situation and its implications, something told her that, even if it was small there is still some hope. Trying to collect her thoughts she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, after a few seconds she opened them again and looked at you with a mix of confidence and faith.

“You know, since we met, I always thought you were the most courageous and aspiring person I’ve ever known. You never gave up, never let the limitations given by your family stopped you from being who you truly were, like a bird who didn’t know about frontiers or bounds, always focused at the horizon, what laid ahead, in the future, your future. Although you knew it was risky, you did it anyway, you took a leap of faith, and even though things didn’t come out as you wanted, you did it, you dared. Failure means that you’ve tried, don’t let failures and errors stop you, but make you stronger. So please, raise your head, stand proudly because a hero can always-”

“-break out of a tough spot, I know. Thank you, Momo.” You looked at your spread palm and closed your eyes for a moment. “It’s true that there’s nothing I can do, It already happened, is in the past and I can’t change it, but, as you said I have the present, the one that matters, the one that’ll help me shape my future, there’s no point on sulking over something that already happened, but I do have control over what’s happening and will happen. The only thing I can do now is wait for my letter, get over it, get a closure. And after that happens, I’ll just try it again, I learned my lesson, if I want to be a strong hero, I have to think in my wellbeing first, If I can’t save myself, I won’t be able to save anybody. I’ll do it at my own pace.” You closed your fist and opened your eyes full of renewed energy and conviction, you looked up at your always trusty friend and gave her your most sincere smile.“I don’t know how but I’ll keep trying, I’ll definitely do it.” Momo smiled back at you sharing your same emotions, grateful to see the same flame invade your eyes and spirit.

“I know you will.”

“…But first, we’ll have some melon pan.*”

“…”

*¥10,000 are approximately $91,35.

*Melon pan [ メロンパン ] (meronpan): They are sweet buns made with an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crisp cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon (cantaloupe). Ironically they are not usually melon flavored but it can vary from caramel, maple syrup, chocolate, sometimes with syrup, whipped cream, flavored cream or custard as a filling. In the case of such variations, the name may drop the word 'melon' (maple pan) or may keep it despite the lack of melon favor (chocolate melon pan).

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scarlettroubles · 3 years

Note

2, 3, 8, 13, 29 and 47 for Eileen? Sorry, I wanna know more about her tho X3

I’ve already answered some of these questions previously but I’ll answer them again since I feel like a lot has changed since then so here we go.

2. What house are they in and why do they belong there?

Eileen was a hatstall for 12 minutes because the sorting hat couldn’t choose whether to put her in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. She had the courage, nerve, and daring attitude of a Gryffindor and the wit, wisdom, and creativity of a Ravenclaw but was ultimately placed in Hufflepuff because out of what all the four houses valued and looked for in a student, Hufflepuff is the house whose values resonated the most in Eileen. Not to say Eileen doesn’t possess the traits of a Hufflepuff because she possesses the traits of being hard-working, loyal, and just but what really put her in Hufflepuff was her want not to be a great person but a good one.

3. What’s their patronus? Why?

Eileen’s patronus is the same as mine on Pottermore which is a Runespoor haha. I think this summary from @hogwartswelcomesyou sums it up:

The runespoor is a creature original to the Harry Potter universe. It is described as an orange serpent with black stripes and three heads. Each head corresponds to a different personality – the left head is the planner (which comes up with the runespoor’s ideas), the middle head is the dreamer (which tends to get lost in its own daydreams and remains the most stationary of the heads), and the right head is the cynic (which critiques the ideas of the other two heads). Apparently it is not uncommon to find a runespoor with only two heads, as sometimes the first and second heads will bite off the third because it’s being too critical, though a two-headed runespoor will not live very long.

Snakes, of course, are a pretty standard symbol to associate with Slytherins, being symbolic of change, fertility, healing, energy, and the duality of good and evil. But more interestingly it has been hypothesized that runespoors in particular are representative of writers – one part of the writer is the logical planner, one part is the imaginative center that dreams up all the magical flights of fancy, and the last part is a never-ending self-critic who never sees their writing as good enough.

Having a Runespoor Patronus means you find comfort in push and pull. You are a multi-faceted and complex person (appropriate to a Slytherin!) and you don’t just listen to one internal voice, you listen to several…and that’s okay! You know that way that you’ll never be fenced in or pigeonholed. That flexibility and versatility is reassuring because you’ll be able to face whatever comes your way. This is what the runespoor appears to tell you – you have the energy and the capability to think your way out. It is a healing presence that says just what you need to hear – whether it be encouragement, idealism, or a good old smack of reality – to keep fighting.

8. Is there anyone at Hogwarts that they can’t stand?

At first it was Merula since in the beginning she made sure her first few years at Hogwarts were absolute hell but they eventually become proper rivals and later on allies. Second was Diego because she wasn’t the biggest fan of him constantly flirting with her even if she knew it was all in good fun and just his way of being friendly. And then there was Beatrice Haywood. Eileen knows that Beatrice is just acting all emo and pessimistic because of unresolved and undealt trauma from being stuck inside a portrait for her entire first year at Hogwarts but Bea constantly talking about how “Hogwart’s is doomed”, telling her to “find the vaults faster” and her saying how much she hates her sister because she’s too coddling when Eileen herself would love to have her big brother Jacob give her the time and day instead of just pushing her away to protect her from a danger she is already deeply entangled with just really gets on her nerves.

13. What are their talents? Mundane or magical.

Eileen’s good at drawing and sings from time to time. She also knows how to play the guitar and ukulele. Her parents tried having her learn the piano but Eileen had a hard time learning to read sheet music and wasn’t all too interested in learning the piano. Magic wise, Eileen has a strong connection towards magical creatures particularly felines and she’s working hard to become a magizoologist.

29. What’s their wand type? What does it symbolize about them?

Eileen’s first wand is Beech wood wand with a phoenix feather core,11 inches and reasonably supple flexibility. Beech wood wands pair with witches and wizards if young, wise beyond his or her years, and if full-grown, rich in understanding and experience. Beech wands perform very weakly for the narrow-minded and intolerant. Eileen is wise and pretty mature for somebody her age and this is because Eileen was forced to grow up rather quickly. After Jacob went missing, her mother went into a deep grief and her father became a workaholic. He hardly ever came home and would stay weeks upon weeks cooped up in his office at the Ministry. One day, her father brought her into his office and told her that she had to be strong and that she had to be the one to watch over her mother and her little brother Conan. He told her to “Never depend on anyone Eileen, because they’ll only disappoint you in the end.” Before breaking down crying and pulling a 9-year-old Eileen into his chest as he tearfully apologized at not being strong enough for his own wife and children. This event is what causes Eileen to be so independent and apathetic.

Her second wand is Red oak wand, phoenix feather core, 12 1/2 inches, reasonably supple flexibility. According to Ollivander, the true match for a red oak wand is possessed of unusually fast reactions, making it a perfect duelling wand. The ideal master is light of touch, quick-witted and adaptable, often the creator of distinctive, trademark spells, and a good man or woman to have beside one in a fight. Eileen has grown a lot since her first year at Hogwarts and that’s largely due to the dangers she and her friends had to face with the Cursed Vaults and R. Eileen has always had pretty good reflexes but those reflexes greatly improve thanks to her uncle Magnus’s training. Because of the constant danger Eileen is put through she’s awakened what is known in her family as the Ryder Instinct. Years of hunting down dangerous dark wizards and witches and even dragons (they don’t hunt down dragons anymore btw) have caused any descendant of a Ryder to possess the ability to detect when danger is near. This magic is deeply ingrained into a Ryder’s blood and is the reason why fighting comes so naturally to those who are born into the Ryder family and why they are known as ‘The Family of Survivors’ because of the countless times the family was almost completely wiped out in the past and were only saved thanks to this strange power. The red oak’s reputation for being the perfect dueling wand along with Eileen’s Ryder instincts and reflexes make for quite the deadly combo.

47. What was their opinion of Patricia Rakepick?

She didn’t trust her AT ALL. Eileen has been disappointed by adults her entire life so when an adult says they just want to help she always doubts it and expects the worse from them but this time, she desperately wanted to trust Rakepick because she wanted oh so badly for an adult to actually care enough to deal with the vaults. To care enough about her well-being but Eileen’s instincts kept telling her that this woman was dangerous but even then she tried to ignore them because just this once she wanted to hope. But after Rakepick blasts her first wand to bits and she’s forced to watch her torture a bystander in Knockturn Alley she knew she couldn’t be trusted and so when the time came for them to finally face the Buried Vault and the dragon in it, Eileen was prepared for the betrayal she knew would happen but even then the sting of being betrayed and yet another adult disappointing and abandoning her still hurt like hell.

#eileen ryder #hphm #hphm mc #ask #ask game #you guys are still free to send me asks from the ask game!#i don't mind haha #it gives me the chance to flesh out my characters so that's nice

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

Text

Welcome back, everyone! Today’s recap is surprisingly positive. I liked a lot of what we got in Chapter One, with the biggest complaint being the sheer amount of Sun-bashing throughout. On the one hand it does decent things for Coco’s characterization, on the other hand… we’ve really got to rake one character across the coals in order to forward another? It’s a mixed bag, but we’ll get to all that.

Initially we open on SSSN and CFVY having breakfast together. Which Coco is surprised to find herself enjoying. In fact, she’s enjoying it so much that she’s called out for laughing/smiling too much.

“I thought you boys liked it when girls smiled,” she said.

Honestly? I’m here for the lesbian weaponizing that against a bunch of guys. I’ve been told to smile so much in my life that I too would get snarky if I was then told to stop. I can be petty that way.

Of course, Coco isn’t really the victim here. She’s specifically laughing at the fact that her team needed to help Sun out last night, which is not only mean (I do support the boys telling her to knock it off even while I support snarky quips about smiling) but also flies in the face of everything huntsmen are supposed to represent. I’m honestly surprised by the amount of disdain for teamwork throughout both the web-series and this book so far. It’s like Ozpin tried to teach his students – and the audience – that teamwork is a necessary skill by creating literal teams… but instead of learning that every huntsmen in training went, “Great! Now that we have these teams we’ll never need to work with anyone else ever.” There’s obviously some leeway here in regards to how Team RWBY became Team RNJR and then Team RWBYJNR(+O), but their mega team has the same ‘us vs. the world’ attitude that Coco displays here. Factor in the team partners and it feels like everyone missed the memo about working with others being a good thing.

We’ll see this again just a little farther along, when Coco mentally complains about how SSSN only “assisted” them previously, not “rescued.” It’s the same distinction Sun made in the prologue: You didn’t save me. Even though they did. Coco is more concerned with how SSSN is tarnishing the “shine” of their reputation, rather than how they helped her or how she, in turn, could help them. Whenever the main story insists that the antagonist of the week is dividing the world for Salem, I want to point very emphatically to the heroes who are supposed to be enacting that unification... but aren’t. If they can’t even admit that a peer helped them without scrambling to assuage that supposed blow to their pride, how are they ever going to deal with the actual, weighty ethics of these problems? The ‘my way or the highway’ attitude we’ve seen Ruby display starts here. Everything is black and white. It’s simply not possible for them to be impressive, capable fighters and in need of rescue now and again. Therefore no rescue took place and peers – however subtly – are viewed as competition at best, potential enemies at worst. When you take these teens out of school and put them in, say, a military environment where your peers have incredibly difficult decisions to make… that’s where problems crop up.

I also think it’s worth acknowledging that Sun was in legitimate danger last night. Unknown adversaries + an inability to combat them = potential death. Sun even comments in the prologue that he has to keep a close eye on his aura because otherwise he might come out of this encounter seriously injured. It reads as continually strange to me that characters who just lived through a major battle still have the confidence and naivete needed to view Sun’s encounter as a hilarious one-upmanship. ‘Ha! My team had to save you~’ should not be the reaction of kids who now fully understand the ‘save you’ part. The world is dangerous and unpredictable. People have died. Sun himself could have died or just (“just”) been hurt. What’s funny about that?

Meanwhile, the rest of SSSN is pretty pissed. Neptune likewise thinks Sun getting beat up “on your own turf” is funny, but Coco notices his angry tone. She wonders “if he meant he wished he’d been there to watch more than help.” So yeah, really pissed. What stands out to me though is that these are just feelings. The act of thinking and saying horrible things – “If you were one of my men I’d have you shot” – is not the same thing as actually acting them out, or allowing them to happen. I have no doubt that if Sun were in trouble Neptune would do everything he could to help him. The SSSN group would not literally stand by and watch a teammate get beat up… which just re-emphasizes for me how horrible Team RWBY’s actions were in Volume 6, watching indifferently as Ozpin begged, cried, and was attacked. For all this book’s problems, there’s a lot in this chapter that I wish we’d seen with Team RWBY. A moment where the group implied they were angry enough to abandon Ozpin but not actually doing that would have made a massive difference.

Coco notices Neptune’s meaning, but “she doubted Sun had the awareness to see that.” From here on out the Sun-bashing picks up and it’s… a lot. Far too much in my opinion. She mentally claims that Sun attaches himself to better teams to “make up for the fact that he and his own team were mediocre at best” even though, to my recollection, we haven’t seen any evidence of this. SSSN has potential, but only if they get a strong leader. Meaning, in her opinion, not Sun. He’s “too unstable, too unreliable” and Coco doesn’t even like eating with him most days, especially since she blames him for messing with her team’s morale. There’s exactly one moment where she agrees with him… and feels the need to remind herself (the reader) that it’s just this once. She also has little qualms about saying at least some of this to his face.

“But it is our business,” Coco added. “We don’t need you. No offense.”

Scarlet stood. “Why would I take offense?” he asked. “Just because you think you’re too good for us.”

Me experiencing the second-hand discomfort:

WOW that’s a lot of anti-Sun sentiment. As mentioned at the start, I do think this work brings some value to the story. Meaning, characters are allowed to dislike other characters and it helps make Coco a well-rounded person to show that she has this flaw of being judgmental and overly critical. We know it’s a flaw because of how her team reacts to her comment:

Coco glanced at her team. Velvet avoided looking at her, which meant she wasn’t on the same page this time. Yatsuhashi looked uncomfortable, but he kind of always did during personal conflicts. And Fox—

“It wouldn’t hurt to have some reinforcements,” Fox sent, using his telepathic Semblance, presumably just to her.

“I don’t disagree,” Coco sent back. “If it was the right team.”

This is good! Velvet and Yatsuhashi’s body language tells us they don’t fully agree with Coco, if at all. Fox is comfortable enough to push back some and suggest that they could use the support. Coco, in turn, doesn’t brush him off. She still holds the opinion that Sun and his team aren’t the “right” kind of support, but she’s not rigid in her stance. She values her team’s opinions and is flexible enough to start accommodating them, even when they bump up against such an intense bias. Later in the conversation, Coco will outright ask for Velvet’s opinion and, based on that, changes her decision:

“What do you think, Velvet?” Coco sent.

Velvet was quiet for a while before she lifted her eyes and looked directly at Coco. She smiled. “I like proving people wrong.”

This is the sort of work I wish we were getting with Team RWBY. Behold! The leader can be wrong! Her team doesn’t always agree with her! They tell her as much and she takes those complaints seriously, resulting in a change! It’s such a sharp contrast to Blake’s elevator promise, the group keeping dead quiet as Ruby lied, everyone just shrugging off their supposed discomfort with that, Blake and Yang spilling secrets to Robyn and the team apparently doesn’t care… The writing could take some tips from this scene here.

However, all of this only comes about through that intense Sun-bashing. Which, coupled with the opening that was hyper-focused on showing how inept he supposedly is, is A Lot. It’s great to round-out Coco like this, it’s just too bad it came at Sun’s expense. Anyone who is a fan of his isn’t going to enjoy another character given so much space to criticize him with comparatively little disagreement, given that Sun’s team is also mad at him right now. He has no support here, to the point where any defense is given the ‘but you’re not totally wrong’ caveat.

“And you’re not exactly the best and brightest student at Shade,” she added silently.

“Harsh,” Fox sent.

Okay, so she hadn’t thought it silently enough.

“But fair,” Fox added.

I know I wouldn’t enjoy reading that about one of my faves. Indeed, I’ve already sat through it. It’s not enjoyable.

(Aside #1: I want more info about how Fox’s semblance works. Specifically, I want to know how others send him a message. It’s clear here that Coco didn’t mean for him to hear that thought, so did she accidentally do something to send it to him? What does it mean to think it “silently enough” that Fox won’t pick up on it? Is it a matter of “speaking” deliberately inside your head? Or does he have the potential to hear any thought passing by? Which would be one hell of a privacy issue…)

Not much happens plot-wise during all this. It’s mostly Coco’s thoughts with that dash of disagreement regarding whether SSSN should help out. We do learn, however, that “the native Vacuans called them weak for abandoning Beacon Academy” and uh…

I hope I don’t need to explain how getting overrun isn’t the same thing as “abandoning” their school. However, this does cast the prologue in a new light. If Vacuo is THAT obsessed with standing your ground, was Sun’s clan just outliers for deciding to move? Obviously you can’t paint a whole kingdom with one brush, but it feels weird to get wise ‘Some battles you can’t win’ advice in one chapter and then in the next learn that (apparently) most Vacuans are so stubborn they view a tragic defeat as abandonment.

The conversation segues into how Headmaster Theodore hasn’t done anything about the Crown yet, but Coco is more shocked that Sun refers to him as “Theo.” As someone who grew up calling teachers – including principals – by their first name, this made me laugh.

That aside, Sun clearly has some connection to the headmaster. Something from the first book I missed? Entirely possible. I’m figuring this out as I go. The important bit is how the conversation actually tackles student agency vs. responsibility. Or, whether a bunch of unlicensed teens should be getting involved in a dangerous mission they already handed off to the professionals:

“Keeping us in the dark isn’t going to help anyone,” Coco said.

“You keep forgetting,” Scarlet scoffed. “We’re just students.”

“We’re already better than a lot of trained Huntsmen,” Coco said.

“But we still have a lot to learn. And we’ve already failed to defend one school.”

Coco corrected him. “We were all taken by surprise. Haven fared better.”

“Most of us weren’t even there, and I still wouldn’t call that a win,” Scarlet replied.

I appreciate that both sides are given weight here. Scarlet and Coco are allowed to make points as equals. Obviously given that this is a fighting story with students as protagonists, the plot is going to find ways for them to get involved. I’m not at all surprised that, by the end of the chapter, they’ve re-established the “need” to investigate despite being told that at least one fully-trained huntsmen was already handling it. We have to have a story. However, we can’t ignore the in-world fact that yes, they are just students. No, they’re not better than a lot of trained huntsmen (some, sure, but Qrow could kick their ass). They did get in over their heads. And “we were taken by surprise” isn’t the defense Coco seems to think it is. If you can’t handle a surprise attack... you’re not ready. To ignore all this is to write characters who come across as arrogant to the point of delusion. By having at least one person point out the flaws in this thinking, they read much more like young people trying to make a difference and letting that drive/impulsivity carry them a bit too far. That’s relatable – and engaging. This is more work I’d like to see with Team RWBY. Less, “That was before you trained us” and more “You keep forgetting, we’re just students.” It’s the heroes who are perceived as “just” something and manage to save the day anyway that’s exciting. Not the heroes who come sauntering in proclaiming that they’re the best ever and then manage to scrape by because the plot ensured they would. Or again, make one or two characters like that. Not an entire team.

(Aside #2: Sometime during all this Fox is referred to as “Fox Alistair.” Why the last name in the middle of a scene??)

So the whole group is upset that the headmaster doesn’t appear to be doing anything. Sun wants to help and feels strongly that they need it. Coco is adamant that they may need help, but not from him. During the course of this the Great War is brought up and the long-standing bias it has produced:

“The Great War again.” Coco shook her head. “Ancient history. Let it go.”

“Easy for you to say,” Sun said. “But have you let go of what happened to Beacon?” He sat down and put his hands together. “You. Need. Us.”

I get the point that Sun is making but uh… those aren’t the same thing. As Professor Rumpole will acknowledge in just a bit, even something from fifty years ago can feel like “ancient history” to someone who didn’t live through it. A war that ended eighty years ago – and began a decade before that – simply isn’t going to resonate emotionally with the new generation. They’ll feel the impact of it, but it’s still different. Trying to compare a kingdom’s attachment to something that happened a literal lifetime ago to the tragedy that they all personally experienced a year ago is unfair. It’s like if someone rightfully pointed out, “Hey, I want to acknowledge that the people down the street shouldn’t automatically hate me for something my grandfather did to their grandfather” and the response to that was, “Yeah but last year someone did something horrible to you and you haven’t let that go, so…” You’re talking about two very different situations, not to mention trying to use that trauma as leverage. Coco gets mad at Rumpole for doing the same thing in class: don’t use the fall of our school as a point for your argument.

This whole chapter has a running theme of history and its impact, including a dual joke from Fox about “those who miss history are doomed to repeat it” (that is: the old adage of learning from past mistakes as well at the fact that if they miss their literal history class they’ll need to repeat the course). Which, taking the novel as a whole, is presumably reflective of these two teams. I may take issue with the pervasive perspective that huntsmen can get by on their own, but the fact is that Sun and Coco do work together, despite the complaints. It’s right there on the cover. So we have this larger setup of kingdoms fighting and the ways that this is still negatively impacting the next generation. Now here that generation comes along, struggling with but ultimately overcoming that hurdle. We will work together. We will choose to trust one another, hard as that is. It’s – again – a better example of the younger generation surpassing their elders than what the web-series has managed to give us lately.

Right now, Coco is only agreeing to work with SSSN because she intends to avoid problems, not because she thinks they’ll be a benefit to her: “It made sense to combine their efforts—if only to make sure Sun didn’t get in their way, or to make sure Scarlet didn’t rat them out to Rumpole.” It’s a horrible thing to think about someone, let alone a someone who is meant to be a friend. However, the hope is that Coco grows over the course of the novel. I certainly hope poor Sun doesn’t spend 200+ pages helping her only for Coco to come out the other side still holding such a low opinion of him…

So we get a bit more about how scary Coco can come across as, how much she enjoys that, and how “This whole ‘accepting help’ thing wasn’t exactly her style.” We get it. The powerful huntsmen never need help, etc. etc. Maybe I’m just a community-driven gremlin but I find this concept of extreme individuality to be terrifying. Accepting help is absolutely my style. Please help me. For the love of God, if anyone can make this world a little more manageable I will take it.

I’m not a cool girl like Coco though. Maybe that’s the difference.

The group finally goes to history class where they hold their heads high despite coming in late. No, no, no. No feeling pride over disrespect. Rumpole has every right to be shaking her head at them. You’re late because something came up, you accidentally slept in, etc.? That’s life. You’re late because you couldn’t be bothered to arrive on time and think you shouldn’t feel any guilt over that? C’mon.

All of which segues into how Coco was in “her share of disciplinary meetings” back at Beacon. In contrast to the head-held-high attitude though, Coco admits to herself that she found the feedback valuable. As she moves through thoughts about how she totally doesn’t need praise, Fox corrects her:

“I don’t need eyesight to know you’re great, Coco. But maybe those shades of yours have been distorting how you see things. Try taking them off once in a while. You’d be surprised to learn there are lots of people outside of our team worthy of praise.”

I am legitimately enjoying a main character – a leader no less – getting kindly called out for their inaccurate perspective. That’s what we want!! Growth!!! Especially since Fox neatly ties this back to the real conflict at hand: “You’d be surprised to learn there are lots of people outside our team worthy of praise.” Indeed, Coco does try taking off her glasses (horrible as that metaphor is. Like... it’s really awkward) and is then able to articulate just how much she appreciates Rumpole. I’m not going to lie, reading a scene where someone over 30 is praised and respected did my heart some good.

(Aside #3: I’m having trouble reconciling this Fox with the one I know is going to appear later with Neptune. It’s quite a leap to go from wise ‘Other people are worthy of praise’ to being so uncaring you’ll advocate for the continued torture of a peer...)

We move through Coco’s admiration for Rumpole’s fashion and how that reflects her personality: stylish but, at the end of the day, practical. We get some nice details about Fox keeping the team awake and giving them answers with his semblance, which is exactly the way I would expect students to use telepathy in class (alongside singing annoying songs to piss each other off, reading aloud memes they’re looking up on their phones, desperately asking what the hell the teacher just said because oh god it’s going to be on the exam isn’t it?) Eventually all this leads to Coco subtly calling out Rumpole for – supposedly – not investigating the Crown. Hey, teach. Why are we learning about this time period now? Don’t you want to talk about when the crown was the center of authority around here?

It's subtle… ish.

Message received, Rumpole speaks with them after class to explain that she hasn’t brought this to the headmaster yet because he’s got too much on his plate. Instead she’s investigating it personally and will fill Theodore in when she has something substantial. Coco, while pleased that Rumpole hasn’t completely blown them off, is insistent that dealing with today’s problems is all that matters. Who cares about tomorrow?

“That’s a luxury you have as a Huntress in training. Theodore has to be concerned with both today and tomorrow.”

Ding ding ding! This is Team RWBY’s problem too. What do you mean we can’t just solve this problem here and now? I want to fight today, no matter what that might do to tomorrow. Meanwhile, Ozpin isn’t just thinking about tomorrow, but generations of tomorrows. This is a luxury that only the very young and the ones without responsibility can have. Make them fight for a thousand years and they’ll start caring about what the next thousand will look like. Give them the weight of a kingdom and watch them weigh decisions when, suddenly, it’s no longer just their own lives they’re risking. God I hope Team RWBY starts realizing this in Volume 8…

The only downside is that Rumpole provides all this via more shade thrown (partly) at Ozpin: “The headmasters of the other schools have been reckless, negligent, or overprotective.” Thus far, the people of Vacuo seem quite happy to assume they would have done better in Beacon’s place. Well, if I were at Beacon I simply wouldn’t have abandoned it. If Theodore was headmaster there it simply wouldn’t have fallen. That’s a luxury of Rumpole’s own: the ability to stand safe in a currently untouched kingdom and assume that, if put in the same position, she and her people would have come out for the better.

She continues with,

“Theo’s first priority will always be helping you reach your full potential, making you strong enough to survive anything that comes your way. He has your best interest in mind, no matter where you come from or where you started your training. Who else can say that?”

Uh… Ozpin?

Absolutely Ozpin.

However, Rumpole does provide good reasons for why the group should hang back. Not just the “You’re students” argument but also an acknowledgement that she has very sensitive leads going. Getting others involved might jeopardize that. Of course, they interpret all this as Rumpole just telling them to be cautious. Get involved, just don’t get caught. As mentioned above, this was inevitable. There’s no story without the group’s involvement and coming up with ways that they oh so unexpectedly (conveniently) end up involved without intending to be can get very old, very fast. So I get it. Let’s just hope that they go about this in a way that doesn’t make them seem like completely over-confident fools.

So all in all not a bad chapter. At least comparatively. If you’re able to overlook the Sun-bashing and the execution of some ideas (the prose is still incredibly messy in places) there’s actually a lot of work here that I appreciate. Work I’d really love to see implemented into the web-series. To be frank, it’s not that I think this is all particularly good… just not particularly bad either. Good for RWBY, shall we say. In another franchise I’d be heavily disappointed in this, but for a series with so many other flaws lately? Seeing just an inkling of this complexity is a relief. Even if the details grate.

Only question is, can the novel maintain this low-bar standard all the way through? Based on public reaction I’m gonna guess no…

But we shall see! 💜

#rwby #rwde #mymetas #Before the Dawn #BTD Recaps

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macgyvermedical · 4 years

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Soup: a “Tesla + Bell + Edison + Mac” Medical Review

“You have a perfectly functional syringe pump with the PCA in the background, and you’re going to give him an injection with a metal needle? Also, if you’re gonna sedate him you might as well use the IV pump too??? Like, you have a whole ‘nother channel?? Most floor nurses would kill for that setup?” <--- From my notes on this ep.*

Awl - X-Ray + Penny - Duct Tape + Jack - CD + Hoagie Foil - Guts + Fuel + Hope - Wilderness + Training + Survival - Father + Bride + Betrayal - Lidar + Rogues + Duty - Nightmares - Seeds + Permafrost + Feather - Friends + Enemies + Border - Mason + Cable + Choices - Bitter Harvest - Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck -

In case you didn’t see it, the story went like this: After being knocked unconscious trying to prevent Codex from stealing an encoded map to a Tesla-era WMD, Mac wakes to find he’s lost certain memories of the event that are crucial to interpreting the weapon’s location. In order to recover the memories and stop Codex from getting there first, Matty calls on a friend at DARPA who studies experimental memory-recovery drugs. Drugged, Mac enters a dream state to track down the memories, where he encounters his mother, a man he recently chose to kill to save everyone in LA, his high-school bully, and a darker version of himself who thinks Codex’s directive to kill an eighth of the population to save the world might not be too far off the mark.

So there’s a lot to talk about here medically. For this post, I’ll go into the concussion and its aftermath, the drug and it’s administration, and the medical technology that the Phoenix infirmary seems to have at its disposal.

The Concussion/Amnesia:

Mac is knocked out by a blow to the head. He wakes up “a few hours” later in the Phoenix infirmary. I’ve talked about concussions before (see here, here, and here), so I’m not going to go into too much detail about them in this post, but essentially if someone’s out for that long, they’re in trouble.

It’s reasonably common to lose consciousness in a concussion, but it’s usually only for seconds to minutes, and if it occurs at all, that person needs prompt medical evaluation in an emergency room. Even if there ends up being no major complications, like bleeding in the brain or an increase in pressure in the skull, the recovery time for concussions with a loss of consciousness can be in the weeks or months range. Someone who’s out for “hours” is looking at a stay in a neuro ICU and probably severe and possibly permanent brain damage. Like, it’s a season-long arc at least.

Since we’re not seeing that level of medical need, I think it would probably be safe to assume that Mac wasn’t actually out for “hours” as stated. He could have been briefly unconscious, as shown in the house attack scene, but then had trouble forming memories after that, which caused him to not remember the ride back to Phoenix very well, if at all. These are still concerning enough symptoms that I would have taken him to an emergency department instead of to the infirmary, but at least with that scenario there’s a possibility what happened to him isn’t actively life threatening outside of a neuro ICU.

Unlike the extended period of unconsciousness, the portrayal of amnesia isn’t far off the mark for once. The amnesia that Mac suffers is actually pretty reasonable- trouble remembering the incident and the events just before it is common in head injuries, as is having trouble forming new memories after. Not only is accurate amnesia something that I didn’t expect out of Rob Pearlstein (writer of the infamous Guts + Fuel + Hope), but it’s something that fiction as a whole (including, I’ll admit, 1985 MacGyver**) tends to struggle with. So kudos for that specific part of this episode, Pearlstein.

The Drug:

Even if we assume Mac wasn’t unconscious that whole time, the brief unconsciousness and memory problems indicate that he still had a pretty significant concussion that needed medical care and monitoring. I’m guessing that as advanced as the Phoenix Infirmary is, it doesn’t have the capacity to do neurosurgery or intracranial pressure monitoring. That means the Phoenix medical team’s priority in this situation would essentially be to catch any major, life-threatening complication as early as possible, and if one happened, get Mac to a hospital quickly enough to save him.

The best and lowest-tech tool they have to this end is repeated mental status exams. Mental status exams have the patient answer a series of questions like “what’s your name?” “what day is it?” “where are you right now?” “what happened to you/why am I asking you these questions?” followed up with a series of mental tasks like counting backwards from 100 by 7s or making a logical decision based on a given scenario. If Mac’s answers significantly change, from one assessment to the next, that could mean he’s in trouble.

Because these assessments rely so heavily on Mac’s ability to answer questions and perform tasks accurately, and they’re really the only thing that’s going to catch a serious problem early enough to save Mac’s life, the last thing you’d want to do is give him a drug cocktail that would alter his perception of where he is and what’s going on around him. I’ll just… leave that there.

But let’s assume that for some reason they have a non-CT way of assessing whether Mac’s about to die from a brain bleed while in a drug-induced dream state (they do appear to have limited EEG capability- can anyone tell me if this would still be helpful in the context of the drugs?). I’m not going to talk too much about the drug cocktail itself, since it was stated as fictional (so, essentially, anything they say it does it can probably do), but since they do reference it as containing DMT, I invite you to check out the erowid experience vault for DMT for stories of other people’s experiences with it.

I will, however, talk a little about the administration of the drug. In the episode, a syringe with a needle is used to deliver the medication. Though not explicitly shown, I assume Dr. Cheryl inserted the metal needle into one of Mac’s arm veins and injected the drug.

Something that fiction generally doesn’t understand is that inserting a metal needle into a vein in order to administer medication doesn’t happen in a medical setting. Ever. The ONLY way to administer a medication IV in a medical setting is through an IV cannula- a short, flexible plastic tube inserted into a vein, often just colloquially called an “IV”:

If Mac had one of these ^^^, the syringe could attach to one of the blue and white pieces and the medication could be injected without worrying that the needle could slip out of the vein (many IV medications must be injected slowly over several minutes, and that’s a long time to hold a needle still).

Before Dr. Cheryl gives him the drug, she takes his vitals and asks him some questions, namely whether he has ever had “a psychotic break”, then, without explaining further, asks if he thinks he will become violent.

Now, it does make sense to ask someone about their psych history when administering a drug known to have psych side effects, because those can be a lot worse or more likely for people with certain psych histories. Think about SSRIs and SNRIs- they’re good antidepressants, but when given to someone with bipolar disorder, they can greatly increase the risk of a manic episode, and that possibility has to be evaluated before the drug is prescribed.

The conversation should have started with Dr. Cheryl asking everyone else to leave the room. Asking if someone has ever experienced psychosis in front of their coworkers, is not only a serious breach of patient privacy, but could also be incredibly dangerous. If Mac had experienced psychosis, but didn’t want his coworkers to know, he’d either have to lie and risk side effects without being able to prepare, or feel pressured to release that medical information and possibly risk his job or reputation***.

Then she’d ask something to the effect of “have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness, been hospitalized for a mental health reason, or do you take any medications for a mental health problem?” And if the answer to that question was anything that would make the drug particularly dangerous to him, she’d probably tell him the risks and her assessment that it was a bad idea to proceed.

If there was no other option for some reason (I’d argue not the case in this situation), she’d tell him what the risks were, and only then would she possibly have to ask if he knew he might become aggressive, at which point they’d come up with how he’d like her to handle that possibility.

I know it’s not quite as snappy, but I would have really liked to see it.

Plus, unless it’s been asked off screen, Dr. Cheryl hasn’t asked him if he has any other health problems, if he takes any medications, or if he has any allergies, all of which could significantly impact how safe this drug could be for Mac.

Phoenix Infirmary Medical Tech

Now let’s look at some of the bits and pieces in the background of the episode. Particularly, I wanna talk about that chair, the IV pump, and the monitor.

So, chair first- it’s a dentist’s chair. It’s good for dental things and maybe some minor procedures (we have a slightly different chair in a doctor’s office I work at- we use it for things like implanting birth control, removing warts and moles, and providing wound care), but it’s not great for anything else. It’s especially not great if you have to sit there longer than a half hour. Considering we know from previous episodes that they have a full-on hospital bed somewhere at their disposal and possibly a couple of carts (narrower beds you see in the emergency department), I gotta say it makes literally no sense to put the guy who’s unconscious from a head injury in the procedure chair.

Next, the IV pump

We talked above about administering medications “IV push”- a medication “pushed” through an IV by a syringe, one dose at a time. Another way to give IV medication or fluids is via an IV drip or “piggyback”- the medication is diluted in a bag of saline or other IV fluid, and set to continuously run into a person’s IV. These are nice for doses of IV medication that have a lot of volume (like IV antibiotics) medication that wears off quickly and may need constant adjustment (like some kinds of sedation or some types of pain medication or medications that counteract shock), or just straight up IV fluids.

IV pumps control how fast the medication or fluid goes from the bag into the person. You can vaguely control this without a pump using gravity, a drip chamber, and a roller clamp, but if you need to know precisely how many milliliters of medication/fluid per hour is getting into a person, and you didn’t start your nursing career in the 1970s, you need a pump.

The one pictured above specifically consists of a central computer box (colloquially called a “brain”) where the pump rate can be programmed, flanked by interchangeable modules that each do a slightly different thing. The modules on the pump in the episode include an infusion pump, which essentially just pumps fluid from a bag hanging above it into a person, and a PCA pump. A PCA pump holds a syringe of medication (usually pain medication) and delivers a dose of it when the patient presses a button.

Honestly I think the whole things is just chillin’ in the background making the room look medical-y, but they really could have used it to continuously administer the drug or the sedation if they’d really wanted to incorporate it.

Side note, the modules are actually kind of heavy, so you have to balance them a little or the whole thing kinda tilts (see the screenshot from the episode). Also, for some reason if you stick an infusion module on the same side as a PCA module, the brain won’t recognize it half the time. Not sure if it’s a feature or a bug. Below is how someone who has ever once used one of these things would have set it up:

The other thing they have in the episode, and the last thing I’ll talk about before I let you get back to your life (I’m sure your cat misses you by now, mine sure does), is the monitor.

I read several user manuals for this (real) monitor system in preparation for this post. I’ve concluded that it’s way, way above my med-surg pay grade, and usually used in operating rooms by anesthesiologists to monitor sedation level (so at least in theory they could be using it correctly? I’m as shocked as you are, really). I don’t even know what half those numbers mean (beyond the SpO2, heart rate, and respiratory rate), more than just being able to say they (surprisingly) do actually reflect real monitoring options on this thing. This leads me to believe this may be some kind of weird product placement thing? As if the gratuitous use of the Toyota backup cameras weren’t oddly forced enough.

Now, beyond the fact that this is a wildly high-tech, completely overkill machine for what is happening in the episode, the thing I would like to impress upon you is that regardless of the high tech-ness, every line on a monitor requires at least some attachment to the patient. Something measuring an EKG requires at least 3 leads on the patient. Something measuring oxygen saturation and pulse requires a clip on an ear or finger. Something measuring blood pressure requires a blood pressure cuff. Something measuring temperature usually means a probe somewhere the sun don’t shine. Mac has two little leads on his forehead. That is actually hilarious. He’d be covered in wires. He would have so much adhesive stuck to him.

In case you’re wondering, the heart/lungs/brain/person outline picture on the monitor just tells you how each part of the body is doing- like, the brain will turn yellow and then red if something starts going weird with the brain-related monitoring, same with the heart and lungs. It took an insane amount of searching to figure that out. I’ve been writing this post for 4 days now.

*I had a much longer and rant-ier intro to this but I feel like I’ve complained enough on main about how the reboot dumbed down and politically neutralized an extremely opinionated and hardline character. I do really like this show, and the storylines are really interesting, but I need you all to understand how science-based and politically charged the original one was, especially in later seasons. You had such a platform for good here, CBS, and I’m hoping against hope the generic-action-show it’s become was some kind of weird, collective misunderstanding and not a censor problem. My main problem, having finished writing this post, is that he looks really weirdly good for someone who was unconscious with a head injury and then subjected to what was another few hours unconscious and hallucinating. Like, his shirt is still tucked in. Great update to the theme song, though.

**Twice. They played the bourne-style-amnesia storyline twice.

***At this point I can only recommend you watch the 1985 MacGyver Season 7 episode “Obsessed”- it’s a ridiculous-criminal-plot episode but the undertones are all anti-ableist (both criticizing the Phoenix Foundation board of directors’ ableism in assuming Pete is no longer fit to do his (desk) job after he loses his sight, and the pressure Pete himself is under to let MacGyver go because of mental health symptoms).

#MacGyver #medical review #tesla + bell + edison + mac #head injury #unconscious #drugged #whump #needles tw #hospital tw #drugs tw

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rpgmgames · 4 years

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February’s Featured Game: Ressurflection

DEVELOPER(S): charlottezxz ENGINE: RPG Maker MV GENRE: Fantasy, Cartoon, RPG WARNINGS: Paranoia, fear and tension, mild swearing and blood. SUMMARY: Ressurflection is a Fantasy/cartoon RPG set in the fictional universe of the Arbvar and taking center stage primarily at the coastal city of ‘Horizon Bluff’. Its story and game play are heavily character driven, with its narrative divided into two parallels told both within and outside the mirror itself. Ressurflection’s core themes draw from our inevitability of fearing death, and that at some point or another, we all must accept it, and to treasure what’s really important in the time that we have.

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *charlottezxz: Hiya this is Charlotte, lead game developer for Ressurflection! I’m some silly, overactive drawing monkey who works a lot with Narrow on Ressurflection! I’m always sketching and conceptualizing monster bois, taking a lot of inspiration from various games, primarily monster hunter! I’ve had avid interest in the Indie scene for a while now and a lot of the great friends I've made have been due to it and a lot of my recent favorite games have come from it! I would have had Narrow say a few things here but he’s hiding in a corner somewhere!

What is your project about? What inspired you to create this game initially? *charlottezxz: Ressurflection started out as what can be described as two separate stories. Myself and Narrow wrote our own stories and every so often we swapped over ideas or combined them together with each other. One day I said to ourselves ‘You know what? This could work quite well as a game rather than just a story’ so eventually Ressurflection was conceived, around the idea of a mythical mirror capable ‘Ressurflection’ the title of the game. We’ve gone through quite a few iterations of the story before it came to its current form and to be honest if we even showed or compared them side by side they’d be pretty unrecognizable as the same thing except for certain characters, locations and the mirror itself to identify its primordial form having any kind of ancestral relevance to how it is today. As for what Ressurflection is about, I think our synopsis can get that across quite nicely! ‘Horizon Bluff has always annually held its ‘Legend of the Wyvern Glass’ festivities. The Wyvern glass was a long lost mythical mirror, once fabled for its power of ‘Ressurflection’ and coveted by a kingdom now all but gone. That is quick to change however with the arrival of the Roulette Runner’s circus to the coastal city of Horizon Bluff. Trouble is soon to set in motion not just the kingdom’s sudden reappearance but the entrapment of one of their own acrobats within the mirror silver. Yet things are soon to worsen...with the spread of a purple ‘corruption’ across the city and the fact that our most unfortunate trouper is far from alone within the mirror, finding himself at the mercy of its ‘Mirror Maiden’. > The apparent all powerful manipulator of its realm…’

How long have you been working on your project? *charlottezxz: Conceptually we have been working on it for 4 years which is hard to even fathom, however that’s more tinkering around the idea for the story and conceiving it as we learnt the engine. The blog itself is hitting its 4th birthday in February! Ressuflection’s development went on as i attended university, so its always been a side lined hobby of ours.Steam says 108 days worth of hours in the engine and most of the game progress other than concepts has been done in 2019. So I could say 4 years for the ideas/stories and concepts and a year of that for actual game making!

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *charlottezxz: We each have our own inspirations, Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy 9, Xenoblade Chronicles, Monster hunter and many older PSX titles such as Medievil, Tomba and Heart of darkness are great influences and inspirations to me personally. The dark, dangerous environments of Heart of darkness contrasted by some innocent characters, the monster designs in capcom’s franchise and the storytelling and themes with a cinematic approach to cut scenes found in some of FF9, Xenoblade and Lost odyssey, a lost game stuck in the recess of the xbox 360. There are many more but these spring to mind first and foremost. Narrow himself draws inspiration from games such as Earthbound, the Persona series and FF10!

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *charlottezxz: We started the project in VX ace to begin with, until MV released. It was in Ace that I experimented learning RPG maker and in the early days of MV too. Although before Ressurflection’s time i also dabbled a bit in XP. MV seemed more in line for what we wanted, as i really wanted to try animating beyond SV sheets and do more, with Java being a bit more flexible and the scope of it being able to allow dragon bones later. However it hasn’t been without its hiccups! Part of that is the sheer amount of time you underestimate games and certain elements to take in their development. That and everything that comes with it, streamlining, trimming the fat...in the past week alone i spent days optimizing pictures, sounds and music in the game to cut down the staggering file sizes they were. So far they have retained their form without being as costly on the MB! Since I do the vast majority of the game development myself, everything takes a lot longer to develop. You underestimate all the little things to consider and that you may need later. By the end of development, I hope to have the vast majority of the game consist of custom assets and be able to truly call it something that is ours. Though that path is long ahead we won’t stray too far from it.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *charlottezxz: The game itself has always been a story-driven RPG at its heart, although certain game mechanics have been scaled down or developed further from puzzles to battle flow. As mentioned previously, the story has changed considerably which changed the direction of the overall narrative and gameplay as a whole. Certain characters and scenarios have been culled completely too. At its start the story wasn’t as heartfelt nor was the scope of the story all that big - Oh and the game had a time limit, a bit like Majora’s Mask! But it is a lot more meaningful now and we hope that you will enjoy it when the time comes.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *charlottezxz: It has been just myself and Narrow for the majority of the development but we reached a point where we wanted to reach out to find a musician for our game. We eventually came across Geoff who has done the majority of our music up until recently. However we have had friends help and contribute along the way such as Harry helping sprite some NPCs for me, Bart helping formulate and do some math balancing, Vaijack has also contributed to music making him our second musical boi and more on the way, our preliminary demo testers( it would take a little to list them all) and more peeps i’ll be sure to credit!

What is the best part of developing a game? *charlottezxz: For me it has to be conceptualising all the little ideas we have and bringing them all into being. This is especially so for any monster and character bois! I spend a lot of time visualizing and planning the design of areas, locales and creatures. Would this thing live here? Why would it be this way? If this is a historical town wouldn’t it have x and x? Then when we ultimately put it together, and all the pieces of the puzzle line into place and then you can just...experience, the final thing, that for me is the best part in developing our game for me.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *charlottezxz: I learn best by doing, so more often than not I just dive into things, including the engine blind and tussle around with it. It’s a silly way of doing it, but I've often found myself learning more that way than following tutorials. Although in any game I've played, RPG maker or not, i do like to ponder and deconstruct scenes within them. The Witch's house, Pocket Mirror, Dreaming Mary, Mad fathers and Ib are all wonderful games that are great to learn from, dissect and understand what makes and made them tick. This applies across any game I've played or intend to play! I look at game making as one giant puzzle with lots of intricate little details that need to be solved, it’s more fun and engaging that way!

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *charlottezxz: There’s some characters I like a great deal, but i can’t talk about as it would be spoilers to the plot, that and it’s hard to pick any overall favorites. Charm comes across as a fun character to write for as she’s quite witty and sarcastic, the kind of dialogue that comes a bit too naturally to me. She’s a budding magical prodigy of the circus under the tutelage of Jerine. She bigs herself up a lot but isn’t quite ready to deal with the problems of the adult world just yet, as much as she strives to get into it. Then there’s the likes of Ashley as well, she’s the loudest circus member and a close friend to Zakai, its ringmaster. She’s a super hard working down to earth country girl who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and jump into the thick of things. Honestly I love all the cast, but there’s those two for now!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *charlottezxz: I would say ideally we should have had all our ducks in a row before we dove into development. My development style is very messy, especially since when we started development we had a lot of learning ahead of us. That combined with focusing on a lot of coursework and real life things meant I often forgot how we made things for consistency. This has improved considerably since i started getting more organised now, keeping lists and things tabbed for reference. My desk has bits of paper kept with it with information I need to retain. I forget far too many things for my own good, but now I'm taking better count measures! I would advise anyone to keep tabs of important information about your game such as consistent sprite style sizes, resolution size, x and y positions of certain things and important variables and switches.

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *charlottezxz: There’s a few ideas bounced about to do side stories for some of the cast of characters in the circus, such as before they became one and the origins of how certain members joined the circus essentially the ‘First Stringers’ and ‘Second stringers’, these being those that joined afterwards. These would be great to do as small little episodes added onto the game post development, but currently they are just ideas and won’t be given too much thought until the game is either done or close to fruition.

What do you most look forward to upon finishing the game? *charlottezxz: My most hopeful thought is for people to enjoy the game and have as much fun and interest in it as myself and Narrow have had in creating it. It’s the kind of game we want to make and hope that the characters and story chime with people enough for people to see the journey through to its end! It’s a big scope of a project but i have endless enthusiasm for it, no matter how long it takes it will get out there at some point!

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *charlottezxz: That the games story and overall feel doesn’t quite hit the right notes, it's always a little back concern. From a technical perspective I would say that the game might have some oversighted bugs or critical crashes that slip under the radar or not run as smoothly on other PCs on release. We will do our best to optimise the game as much as possible for MV and squash those pesky bugs during testing, but it is on our minds often as a niggling fear.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *charlottezxz: Gut everything from the base project that you know you most definitely will not be needing and give all your files smart tags and naming conventions. It would be great if MV allowed for sub folders, but it does not so naming your files smartly is key to finding what you need. Any of these files you know you will use often in certain ways, make them common events and call for those in events and cut scenes. This saves you mass editing them later. With naming conventions this could be Actor_1_Hurt or Chapter_1_NPC. Anything you want at the top of the list name it with _ to begin with. The bigger our project gets, the more important this has become for us and we hope it serves other inspiring devs well all the same.

Question from last month's featured dev @rojisroomrpg: How do you keep yourself happy and healthy when making your game? *charlottezxz: I’m normally a happy-go-lucky person, so I'm rarely not happy when working on Ressurflection. It's the happy little hobby I devote most of my spare time to. However, recently i would say my hands, wrists and neck have been hurting from spending a little too much time drawing assets and pieces for the game. Taking more breaks and spreading that time with other activities in between has helped to ease that pain and i would like to advise any dev to do so for their own health, including always having one or two bottles of juice, water or whatever beverage always at hand to sip at as you dev away!

We mods would like to thank charlottezxz for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Ressurflection if you haven’t already! See you next month!

- Mods Gold & Platinum

#ressurflection #gotm #game of the month #rpgmaker #rpg maker #rpg maker games #ressurflection game #gotm 2020 #2020 #february 2020 #february #indie games #games

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butterflydm · 4 years

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The Untamed Rewatch (ep 12)

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Lan Wangji looks so pained when he's handing over Bichen. That's the only piece of home he has with him right now.

This scene is really effectively tense. Wen Chao is a bully but he's a bully backed up by the fact that he's in his home territory, with the implied threat of many guards plus the open question of his father's army potentially attacking any of their homes. And the way we see each of the characters respond in this scene tells us about where they are emotionally. Lan Wangji is the character who has actually been through what everyone else is being threatened with — home destroyed, family's fate uncertain. Lan Zhan has been so ready to fight in previous episodes, and his resignation here is more striking because of that.

And here, Wei Wuxian makes the point to Jiang Cheng that he's not planning on making a fuss because he doesn't want to make things harder for their family and — okay, so is that the pivot that Jiang Cheng uses in the future to blame WWX for Lotus Pier burning? I will... refrain from too much judgement in case I'm remembering incorrectly. But I've keeping my eye on Jiang Cheng, who really could have used anger management therapy tbh.

Because the Wens are clearly gearing up to take over the cultivation world as a whole, with 'submit or die' as their motto, essentially. And Yu Ziyuan was willing to only go so far but no further when it came to submitting to Wen authority. Lotus Pier would have burned, regardless of WWX's actions, because the Wen would eventually demand more than the Jiang clan were willing to give. And Wen Chao already hated WWX before any of this happened (in the drama, anyway). It's easier, I suppose, to make someone a scapegoat rather than confront the idea that some things are inevitable (given certain starting conditions).

Moving away from that, this dude in the hat that objects to their swords being taken away… I think he's from the same sect that shoots WWX way down the road? Who are those guys, anyway? I'll have to see if I can catch their names at some point. Are they under the Jin sect?

The other person who vocally objects is Jin Zixuan and this is really where I started to understand and kinda like JZX during my first watch-through, though I still thought Jiang Yanli deserved better. But we see his arrogance, as it were, being used against an antagonist instead of one of our protagonists, which reframed it a bit. Both Wen Chao and Jin Zixuan are spoiled and prideful kids of powerful parents, but JZX isn't a bully (his cousin is, but that's a different story). And Jin Zixuan is open to correction — we see that when Mianmian reminds him of the realities of their situation. JZX and Wen Chao both get put into positions of powerlessness over the course of the drama and their responses to that are very distinct from each other.

This is also another great scene for Luo Qingyang (Mianmian). At first, I thought she was the only female disciple there but then I spotted a few others in the background. But I appreciate her presence. I also just really like her. She's capable of swallowing her own pride when it's a matter of survival & protection but is also quite moral in addition to being sensible. For all that in many places, she works as a LWJ parallel, her position is similar to WWX's or Wen Zhuliu's — she's not a part of the main clan and she has to decide for herself where her allegiance lies and if she stands up for what is right or what the sect leader wants (Wen Qing runs up against this line too).

We go to a scene with Wen Qing and Wen Ning doing what I think is the first on-screen example in the series of a sibling withholding information in order to 'protect' said sibling, which I'm pretty sure never actually works out as planned in the whole drama. Here, Wen Qing warns Wen Ning away from associating with Wei Wuxian, but because she doesn't give him any reasons, the balance of her words doesn't weigh against him actually seeing WWX in a bad situation and wanting to help him.

Now, Wen Qing probably didn't tell him the full story for a few reasons — it seems likely she's never fully explained how fragile their position is with Wen Rouhan and she doesn't feel prepared to do it now and if she gave Wen Ning the actual reasons, she may worry that he would counter those reasons directly and disagree with her. Much like Jiang Cheng does in the future, Wen Qing is trying to place her people's survival (and especially her brother's) over her own potential moral impulses to help people outside her clan.

Speaking of Jiang Cheng, while he and WWX are learning the Wen Sect history, we see that he's carrying around that comb he bought for Wen Qing and he wonders if she might be around.

Wei Wuxian realizes that it isn't in Wen Sect's MO just to take Lan Zhan and leave the rest of the clan alone and the second he realizes it, he tries to go and find Lan Zhan. He's stopped by the guards, but it's sweet. We do see the contrast here, between WWX's immediate choice to act on his impulse to find Lan Zhan versus Jiang Cheng's more reticent desire to seek out Wen Qing.

When WWX gets thwarted, he starts plotting how he might talk to LWJ tomorrow instead, but it's all immediate and urgent. Part of that is due to the respective situations LWJ and Wen Qing are in, of course, (her own hostage situation is less obvious than LWJ's) but part of it is down to the differences in how WWX and Jiang Cheng treat the prospect of partnership, I think. Jiang Cheng is, and will remain, Family First, while WWX is more flexible and is drawn to the idea of finding a fulfilling equal partnership with someone.

This next scene, where WWX lists out the Lan principles instead of reciting from the Wen book, is such a great defining moment for WWX. Because he doesn't just stand up against Wen Chao — both LWJ and JZX are doing that as well — he does it with humor and style and charm. He does it with showmanship. And, sure, he gets punished for it but even then his main concern is that the dung will mess up Lan Zhan's clothes.

Obviously, LWJ and JZX would have been punished for their own refusals but by making his actions so attention-getting, it means that Wen Chao's focus is more likely to be on him and some of it pulled away from LWJ.

The other options WWX had in this scene — after being called out with LWJ and JZX — would have been either to refuse in the same blunt way, which would have gone much the same, probably, or to actually do as Wen Chao asked, which would have meant LWJ and JZX being punished while WWX was not. Which he wouldn't find acceptable for obvious reasons.

I like this little glimpse of a potential happy farm boy alternate life for WWX we get here — he's so practical and efficient about it here, and we see how happy he is to get the lotus to grow later on in the Burial Mounds. He's not at all worried about hard work for himself; he's fully capable of metaphorically rolling up his sleeves and getting it done. And we kinda get those two pieces of him back-to-back — show-off vs practical. And willing to give a hand to anyone who needs it, even if he doesn't like them (JZX with the cloth tied under his nose). That's kinda the main thing that a lot of the sect leaders won't or can't understand — that WWX will help someone just because they need it, without them being a member of his family or asking anything in repayment (LWJ, of course, does understand and it's part of why he learns to trust WWX's heart so implicitly).

Poor Wei Ying! He'd thought he and Lan Zhan made all that progress and now he's being ignored again! But he's a little more grown-up and self-aware now, I think, because he doesn't really take it personally. He knows something must have gone very wrong for LWJ to be here alone, so his predominant emotion is just worry over what's happened.

Then Wen Chao intervenes and I really love this scene, too. From how unflinching WWX is, to LWJ and then JZX trying to protect him once Wen Chao's anger focused on him.

If Jin Zixuan had lived (and especially after his dad died), I think he and WWX could have come to a real understanding as brothers-in-law. Their main clashes were over Jiang Yanli (so once JZX starts treating her as she deserves, WWX can dislike him less) and because they both assume the other one is annoyingly arrogant and thinks too highly of themselves, but we see that being worked out as they interact more too. So, while I don't think WWX would ever maybe be soft with him the way we see him be with some of his other loved ones, I do think they could have gotten to a fond teasing place.

One thing that I find interesting about Wen Chao is that he does seem aware that his bragging about Wen Sect being above everyone else doesn't actually translate to being able to hold his own against a talented cultivator. We could say that he was just taught to lead from the back, as it were, except that his brother, Wen Xu, actually did fight his own battles, as we saw at the burning of the Cloud Recesses. So it's not that they're taught they shouldn't get their hands dirty personally. It does make me wonder exactly when Wen Zhuliu was made Wen Chao's primary bodyguard, because that relationship already seem pretty set in stone when we first see it. And here, as soon as WWX makes any move to defend himself, Wen Chao relies entirely on the guards for any 'muscle' involved.

After LWJ and JZX both make it clear they won't just stand there and let WWX get beaten, Wen Chao orders him to be taken to the dungeon instead. Lan Wangji, of course, is much more forceful and hands-on in his attempt to protect WWX. He does back down, but when WWX tells him to, not Wen Chao. And since WWX was trying to distract Wen Chao from focusing too much on LWJ anyway, that's fine with him, and he manages to put up a good show of bravado over it all. By the time we get to their second lifetimes, LWJ knows WWX well enough to tell when he's trying to do this kind of thing to protect someone — WWX tries to do it when they're running away from Jinlin Tai but by then LWJ isn't willing to let WWX push him away to protect him.

WWX does seem to be quite self-sacrificing in general, and possibly might have been that way even without Madame Yu encouraging the tendency, but it's clear that he does find it very comforting and emotional when LWJ stops letting himself be pushed away so that WWX will no longer face scorn and dangers alone.

We see that Wen Ning saw this scene, too, and of course he immediately decides to go help WWX, no matter what his sister asked him to do. I'm pretty much a hundred percent sure he would have gone to help even if Wen Qing had explained the dangers, given what he's willing to do later to help WWX. Wen Ning also has a strong sense of right and wrong and he's very loyal to the people he cares about (does Wen Ning have a crush on WWX? I mean, probably? If I were Wen Ning, I would definitely have a crush on WWX).

I do think this animatronic (maybe?) doggie is probably the worst 'effect' (practical or cg) that the drama does, bless its little fuzzy head. Like, I can't even be scared of it a little bit. It's just… too fake to be scared of, even if Xiao Zhan is acting his heart out. That's okay. I'll just mentally insert something scarier and we're good. This is one case where lowering the light levels so we could maybe only see, like, a glint of teeth, might have served well. Like, I think they tried to do that but I can still see it too clearly for there to be any fear.

I like the hand gesture that Wen Chao makes after WWX touches his arm. It seems so baffled, the way he jogs it up and down. "Did he actually… dare to touch my arm… wtf????"

The scene between Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng isn't necessary story-wise — the audience could easily assume she made the connections herself — but it's an important moment for the characters. For us to see Jiang Cheng's palpable concern over WWX and the reminder of his concern for Wen Qing as well. CQL does choose to center character over plot, which is a choice that can sometimes cause plot fuzziness, but it does give a good sense of the characters, their relationships, and their growth over time.

So, the doggie does attack Wei Wuxian before Wen Ning is able to throw the needles at the doggo and put him to sleep for the night. WWX is injured and scared, and Wen Ning has come bearing some medicine he, uh, borrowed from his sister, and also is there to be an inside source of information. I notice, with a fair sense of irony, that WWX can accurately diagnose Wen Qing with 'tries to carry the burden all herself' disease, but does not see that he, himself, also suffers from this ailment.

Also, awwww, WWX calls him 'Wen-xiong' in this scene. I feel kinda emotional over that tbh. And the moment when he bows to thank Wen Ning despite the chains and his injuries is also very emotional. I just feel a lot of things right now. Wen Ning is such a sweetheart and Wei Wuxian is a darling and I'm just very very fond of them.

WWX gets much more agitated over how LWJ has been wronged and hurt by Wen Xu and the Wen sect than over his own injuries. They both do this, of course, get protective over the other one, but it's always sweet to see. I mean, I wish they would think more about their own injuries, because taking care of yourself isn't a bad thing, but the protectiveness over each other is sweet.

Wei Wuxian fighting past his own fears to pull the needles out of the doggo (and thus made the lil dude a threat again) is a great moment and the focus is mostly on Xiao Zhan's face, which is a much better choice than focusing on the dog puppet, because he is definitely selling the nervous fear there. Wen Chao is also, unfortunately, too smart to do the whole 'fight me one-on-one' thing. He is affected by WWX's jabs but not enough to actually trick himself into thinking he should take away any of his advantages like the soldiers or the big pupperooine.

The moment after WWX has been brought back, and everyone is just feeling super-nostalgic over the lectures as Gusu Lan — I wonder exactly how many times WWX thought that over the years, and missed that. He gets super-nostalgic over his memories when he's wandering around the buildings after he comes back to life as well.

That is, actually, one of the reasons WWX marrying into the Lan clan does work on a thematic level. Like GusuLan isn't perfect and I'm not a fan of all of their methods but they provided this atmosphere where these young people could mostly just be young people. And they give us enough call-backs to show that there are a lot more good memories associated with the Cloud Recesses than bad ones.

And Good Brother Jiang Cheng in this scene does show open worry and then give WWX food, which is the surest sign of love for these boys who were half-raised by Jiang Yanli, whose main love language is giving the people she loves food at all costs and in great quantities.

Nie Huaisang gets to do a lot of little but important things in this scene as well — he shows concern over WWX, nostalgia over the Cloud Recesses, and then fear and worry over the threat towards his brother that Wen Chao makes.

The scene as a whole continues the tense energy that we had at the beginning, as Wen Chao 'updates' them on their statuses as hostages for their families, essentially. It's hard not to react in a situation like that, and most of them do have minor outbursts. Especially since Wen Chao makes it clear that the 'good behavior' thing is meant to go both ways — that their clans could get worse treatment from the Wens if they act up.

Wen Qing and Wen Ning's next scene alone gets back into the heart of the conflict of 'protection of the family' vs 'helping others outside the family'. Wen Ning argues that she herself taught him to repay kindness that are paid to them, and that WWX has done him kindnesses that deserve repayment, but Wen Qing is dealing with the stress of being the head of a family that has been whittled down to very few pieces, just trying to hold it together.

I do wonder if these character similarities with Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng were what made the CQL people decide to give them the doomed almost-romance or if they accentuated those things once they had already decided to go down that road. I believe I've read that Wen Qing's character is different than how she's written in the novel, but is that part of her one of the things that was changed for the drama?

I love that Lan Zhan hasn't even opened his copy of the ~glories of Wen clan. I mean, it's also really sad, because it's a statement about how much he's already lost to the Wens in some ways. But I also love it. NHS faints and it's probably real; I'm not sure if he's developed his fake-fainting skills yet but he seems pretty out of it right before he drops.

When Wen Chao gets the report about the ominous spirits, he decides to go ahead and use the hostages as his meat shields without… clearing it… with his dad first. Because it all went so well the last time he went off without his dad's permission! I'm not sure if we ever get an on-screen reaction from Wen Rouhan about this choice, but if I were Wen Rouhan, I would not be thrilled that my son took all my good-behavior hostages out on a probable-death field trip.

The field trip does mean the introduction of Wang Lingjiao. We don't get very much from her this episode but anyone who is that happy to be around Wen Chao is already giving signs of not being the best person in the world.

We end the episode with Jiang Cheng trying to hold Wei Wuxian back from going over to check on Lan Wangji, who must be in incredible amounts of pain, because he's visibly limping. Jiang Cheng's argument is essentially the same as Wen Qing's — our own family is already in a terrible position, we can't afford to help anyone else.

WWX's counterargument is different than Wen Ning's, though, because it doesn't rely on LWJ having giving him anything previous or getting anything back from LWJ at any point. Wen Ning's argument was 'WWX has helped me and I should return the kindness' while WWX's argument is 'he needs the help and I can provide it'.

Here, Jiang Cheng can maybe believe this is an argument that stems partly (or even mostly) from WWX's feelings for LWJ — his jealous at various points implies that, I think — but we know from other experiences with WWX, both in the past and the future, that those kinds of feelings aren't required for WWX to be willing to help. Instead, he falls back on the reasoning that he gives Jiang Cheng here — help is needed and someone has to do it. If not him, then who? So again, WWX and Jiang Cheng diverge on this important point of morality, not for the last time.

And somewhere off-screen, Meng Yao and Lan Xichen are currently taking the next steps of their own romantic drama that will end tragically in the future. But we don't find that out for a while.

Next time: Trapped alone in a cave with a giant mystical murder turtle!

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#mdzs meta #cql rewatch #wangxian #the untamed | chen qing ling #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian | wei ying #lan wangji | lan zhan #there will be another post next week definitely #but the next three weeks after that are more uncertain #because i have a lot more family than usual coming to visit for the holidays #including some distant family that i've never met before #so idk how much time i'll have #i will try but no promises

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imagine-loki · 5 years

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Giftless

TITLE: Giftless CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 13/50

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE:

Imagine that you are Stark’s niece and you secretly share a strong relationship with Loki since he entered the crew. One day you get hurt so bad during a mission that you are about to die. Loki knows a spell that will save you and share his immortality with you but you and he will be linked forever sharing thoughts, pain, emotions…

RATING: T NOTES/WARNINGS: Underage reader (no sex!!) Also on AO3 click here

You groaned when your alarm started blaring the next morning. As you were fumbling for it to turn it off, you heard a chuckle coming from the chair beside your bed. You shot up in surprise at hearing another voice in your room, drawing the emergency repulsor that lived under your pillow automatically. It took a moment to relax, to realize that it was Loki, your boyfriend, guard, and babysitter. Loki chuckled as you deactivated the repulsor. You were just glad you hadn’t blasted him first and asked questions later. That’s what Tony would have had you do. You glared at him for laughing as you shut off your alarm.

“I wasn’t expecting you to still be here,” you explained sheepishly as you stashed the repulsor back under your pillow where it belonged.

“Twenty-four hour guard, darling,” Loki reminded you with a chuckle as you sat up properly, your blanket pooling in your lap. “Let’s try this again,” he continued with a smirk. “Good morning, darling,” he greeted you overly pleasantly, a smirk on his face at the contrast of being greeted with a repulsor aimed at his face. “I surmise by the early hour that we are heading to your school today? It will be interesting to see a human school,” he mused.

“You’re coming to school with me?” you asked him incredulously as you climbed out of bed and stretched. You never had guards at school and you couldn’t imagine Loki actually coming there with you.

Loki chuckled again. “Must I define ‘twenty-four hour guard’ for you again, my dear?” he teased.

“I didn’t think that extended to inside the actual school,” you admitted. “No one has ever followed me into the school building, just dropped me off at the door.” You wondered why security was upped so much for this threat. There had been threats before, what made this one so special?

You turned to Loki again. He had risen from the chair he had spent the night in, probably to see what you were doing. “Twenty-four hour surveillance does not include watching me get dressed,” you informed him firmly. You weren’t negotiating on that one. You shoved him bodily out of your bedroom, into your sitting-room and shut the door firmly behind him.

He mock-protested at the treatment, but he was laughing the entire time, so you knew he didn’t mean it. “How am I to guard you, if I cannot see you?” he complained from the other side of the door in a mock-whine.

You heard his laughter and couldn’t help laughing too. This was a great way to start your Monday morning. “You’ll find a way,” you informed him through your giggles. You managed to brush your teeth, do your hair, and get dressed in record time. You didn’t want to see what the bored trickster would come up with to ‘guard’ you. You checked your tie in the mirror to make sure you had managed to tie the stupid thing correctly, double checked your hair to make sure it was pretending to behave for five minutes, and finally opened the door to the sitting-room to see Loki standing right on the other side, dressed in his battle armor. “See, I can survive ten minutes without you,” you informed him dryly.

“So it seems,” he replied warmly and offered you his hand. “Shall we?”

“I just need my-” you were going to say ‘school bag’, but you noticed that Loki was carrying it already. You reached for it, but he refused to hand it over. “Loki, I need that,” you protested, trying to reach past him to get it.

“Of course, darlin, that is why I am carrying it,” he replied, quite logically. You sighed and took his hand.

“You are a creature made entirely of silliness,” you informed him as you walked from your suite hand-in-hand.

He laughed, a big booming laugh usually more fit to his brother. “Mischief and chaos, love, not silliness,” he corrected.

“I’m not seeing much difference,” you replied and stuck your tongue out at him.

You were surprised to see Tony at your table when you entered the room with your plate of breakfast courtesy of Helen. Tony had been working so much lately that you felt like you barely saw him. You took your seat at the table with him, while Loki sat nearby. “Morning, Uncle Tony,” you greeted him as you slid into your seat. He gave you a sleepy greeting in return. You weren’t entirely sure it was English. Or a word.

“I’m going to bed as soon as I finish eating. I probably won’t be here when you get back. We’re all running super long shifts right now without a whole lot of downtime. Your guard is taking you to school and will stay with you all day. It’s been arranged with the school. Don’t try to argue about this, Kat,” he wouldn’t have accepted the argument, so you didn’t even pretend. Besides, you felt bad for him with how exhausted he was. You weren’t going to make it worse by making him worry over you too.

“Fine,” you replied and actually meant it. It wasn’t worth the fight that you were perfectly safe in school. Besides, you guard was Loki and you enjoyed his company, which was a good thing as he was your boyfriend.

“I promise, I’m getting you a car for your birthday.” It sounded like a nonsequitor, but you saw where the connection had been. You wouldn’t have to walk to school once he bought you the car. Besides, he’d been promising for months.

“That’s fine, I can walk. It’s not that far,” you reminded him. The school really wasn’t that far and you were perfectly capable of walking. You finished your breakfast quickly, though. You didn’t have time for a leisurely breakfast if you had to walk to school. “Get some sleep,” you bid him as you got up to take your plate back to Helene.

You went straight to the closet to put on your coat and shoes, knowing Loki would catch up with you before you could even think about leaving without him. You did take your bag from him this time, despite his protests. “I carry this,” you told him firmly. “I’ll explain as we walk,” you added quickly before he could protest. He inclined his head and opened the door for you. He strolled next to you as began the walk to school.

“You said you would explain,” he prompted when you didn’t immediately start talking.

“You can’t act like my boyfriend while you’re doing guard duty at the school,” you explained to him bluntly. Sometimes it was better to be blunt with Loki. He wasn’t from Earth and there were things he didn’t know and this time in particular it was better to make sure he knew. “It’s one thing at the tower, it’s another out here. The school is letting you come as my guard. They will kick you out if they think we’re dating. I’m serious, Loki. I don’t want to have a different guard and the school will forcibly kick you off of guard duty if they even get a hint that this is more than a guard/guarded relationship.” You tried to impress upon him how serious you were being, how much this meant, how important this really was. You prayed he would understand.

“I understand, Lady. I shall be on my best behavior,” he replied formally. You could tell from his formality that he would do as you said.

“Thank you.” You walked side by side chatting about books and the small shops you passed on the way until you got about a block out from the school. You nodded to Loki, the signal that you had to be good. Loki took your meaning, shifting from boyfriend to guard in one fluid movement. It wasn’t even a movement, it was a shift in body language. He let you get a step ahead of him, so he was shadowing you, just off to your left, in perfect bodyguard position. You knew as much from training with the supers. You let him open the school door for you and check the entryway for threats before you followed him in. You knew how this whole guard thing worked, even if you’d never had to have one inside the school before. You headed to the office first, so Loki could get cleared with the school.

You gave a brilliant smile to the receptionist. You’d learned charm from your Uncle and you use it to your advantage, especially in situations like the one you found yourself in. “Thank you for allowing me to have a guard in school today. The Avengers, and Uncle Tony in particular, appreciate your flexibility,” you told the receptionist. You handed her the note Tony had given you explaining the full situation to the school.

“Of course dear, he just needs to sign in,” she indicated the sign-in sheet on the front counter. Loki picked up the pen there and wrote in the information carefully. You prayed she wouldn’t read it before you got out of the office. Luck was not with you that morning. “Loki Odinson?” she asked, disbelieving. Loki was claiming ‘Odinson’ as people knew Thor. “I need your real name,” she glared at him. He pulled out a wallet from somewhere you didn’t see and handed her his ID. She couldn’t find any flaw in it and reluctantly handed it back. “Thank you, Mr…Odinson.” She didn’t sound convinced, but at least you could leave the office.

You escaped as soon as was seemly.

“I should have worn the helmet,” Loki was still standing in his guard position as he walked behind you down the hall to your first class, but you still heard his voice as a whisper in your ear. Of course you had because of the magical god.

“That would have been entertaining.” Loki didn’t always wear the horned helmet as part of his armor. It depended on how much danger he thought it was in if he felt he needed the extra protection. “Since when do you have a driver’s license?” you asked him, keeping your voice in a whisper through the conversation. You knew he’d hear you.

“Since a few weeks ago. Granted, it is magically created, but Lady Natasha and the others taught me to drive a car. They explained it would be a good idea if I had official human documents, so I created some.”

You nodded at his explanation and stopped by your locker on your way to class. You noticed that all of the girls were staring at your boyfriend, who was pretending not to notice. He was failing at his pretending. He did notice when one of the boys took too much interest in your short plaid skirt. That was the downside of the uniform: teenage boys were immensely stupid.

“Don’t,” you told Loki firmly when you caught his glare and the tense of his shoulders that indicated he was going to do something stupid. Namely stabbing the idiot. “Leave the poor boy alone,”

“If you had heard his thoughts, you would not be stopping me,” Loki’s whisper was a hiss. That couldn’t be a good sign.

“You can’t attack him for thinking inappropriate thoughts,” you explained calmly. The trick was to pretend to be calm so Loki would stay calm too. “He has to actually do something, which he won’t. Teenage boys are stupid, but that’s it. He’s not going to try anything,”

“If he touches you…”

“Then you can do something. C’mon I’m going to be late.” When calm didn’t work, distraction and redirection usually did. You turned from your locker and headed down the hall in the other direction from the idiot boy. He was the star quarterback, a senior who had a full-ride scholarship to some university next year. He was the pride of the school. Not that you cared, you hadn’t even bothered to learn his name. You just knew him on sight and avoided him whenever you could. You had the feeling that you were the only girl left in the school he hadn’t had as a conquest, and that wasn’t going to change. Ever.

Loki checked out the classroom before he would let you walk in, which was completely unnecessary, but his job. You took a seat in the back corner of the classroom where Loki could stand near your desk out of the way, and hopefully out of the attention of the class. That was an unrealistic expectation on your part as he was still extremely noticeable and all the girls, and quite a few of the guys, kept sneaking glances at him when they though the teacher wasn’t looking. It didn’t help that the teacher had made an announcement at the beginning of class pointing out who he was and why was there. You kept my head down and pretended you didn’t notice, trying to focus on my classwork.

A note appeared on your desk halfway through class. <Why are you studying Latin?> the note was written in Loki’s elegant, masculine script. You recognized it from the other notes he’d left you.

<It’s mandatory> you wrote back on the same slip of paper. Loki’s words had vanished after you read them.

<Why?> Pesky, bored, trickster bodyguard. At least the note also contained the translation for the next line of text you were translating, which was helpful when you were called on unprepared.

<It’s good for vocabulary and the SATs>

<A stupid test we have to take to get into college, where I have to go to learn to be a doctor,> you wrote out the whole explanation so he wouldn’t ask more pesky questions. You were supposed to be paying attention. A doodle appeared on the slip of paper of him ripping the boy from earlier in half. It was detailed enough that you could recognize the boy. Though he had x’s for eyes and it was such a silly doodle that you had to stifle a laugh. <You promised to behave> you reminded him. He was failing at behaving.

<Behave and I’ll tell you after class> you scribbled back. Your stupid Latin class was an AP level class and you needed to pay attention, though you shouldn’t have bothered trying, even the teacher was distracted by Loki’s presence. It was going to be such a long day.

Loki at least behaved for the rest of that class and you left as soon as you could to head to your next class. You clutched your books to your chest, embarrassed by the attention your bodyguard drew in the hallway.

“Stand up straight, love, do not hide from their attention. Embrace it. They are just jealous, after all,” you heard Loki’s whisper in your ear, though you swore his mouth didn’t move. Plus, he was walking behind you looking hot as hell, and intimidating as hell. You sighed, but he wouldn’t leave you alone until you did as he asked. Overprotective boyfriend. You stood up straighter, like you had to for formal events with the Avengers, or with Uncle Tony and his company. You tried to ignore the attention you and Loki were getting. You did noticed the stupid football quarterback checking me out again as you walked past him in the hall. “Are you sure I cannot kill him for thinking such inappropriate things?”

“I’m sure, Loki, we don’t just kill people,” you reminded him. This was going to be a long day indeed if you kept having to remind Loki not to kill the teenage boys. Loki’s tone had been joking, but you weren’t entirely convinced he wouldn’t kill someone for a perceived threat to you. That was the danger of having Loki as a bodyguard. Or was it the danger of having your boyfriend as a bodyguard?

“So, when is your birthday?” he finally asked.

“Next week Saturday,” you replied. You didn’t have a reason to hide it from him, but you generally didn’t go advertising it either. Loki nodded, taking your words into consideration. You wondered what he was going to do with that information.

Somehow you made it through your morning classes and all the way to lunch. You took your normal table with Loki standing against the nearest wall, within guarding distance, but not obtrusive. You looked up, surprised, when some of the most popular girls in the school sat down at your table without even asking. You felt Loki shift his stance at your surprised expression. You shook your head, almost imperceptibly, but you knew he would have caught it.

“So… who’s the bodyguard?” The alpha cheerleader asked without even pretending small talk, or pretending you were friends.

“That’s Loki. He’s guarding me today. There’s been enough trouble with The Harlequin that the Avengers thought I needed extra protection until it’s taken care of,” you told the group of girls. Maybe the truth would make them go away faster.

“He’s super hot,” they told you in a stage whisper. Even if Loki hadn’t been eavesdropping he could have heard them. You shrugged. You weren’t going to give him the satisfaction of hearing you agree with her. Plus, you’d seen him without a shirt and they hadn’t, so they didn’t even know what they were talking about.

“Does no one interest you?” one of the other girls asked, before getting elbowed in the ribs by the alpha cheerleader.

“Is he single?”

You shook your head, suddenly possessive. You weren’t going to let these bitches stake a claim on your boyfriend. “Nope, he’s taken. That’s why he’s here with me. He was one of the Avengers who wouldn’t get distracted,” you told them.

They didn’t seem overly concerned. That wasn’t a good thing.

“That can be changed…” the alpha mused. “What’s she like?”

“I’m not sure. Besides, I think ‘she’ might be a ‘he’,”

The girls all whined at that one. “Why are all of the hot ones gay?” the girl who got elbowed whined loudly and all the girls but the alpha stormed off.

“I saved you from as many as I could,” you whispered after the alpha had gotten up to go bother Loki.

“By insinuating I am gay…” his voice whispered in your ear. “Is that supposed to be an insult?”

“Not at all, but they weren’t going to give up,” you replied. You heard him making very disinterested small talk with alpha cheerleader, but somehow in such an awfully British, excessively polite way that she couldn’t be upset, got her to go away and leave him alone to do his job.

You finished your lunch, got up, and handed the extra sandwich you had purchased to Loki. He looked surprised, well and truly shocked by your actions. He hadn’t been surprised you had gotten an extra sandwich. Supers had higher metabolisms, and he must’ve thought you did too, or just didn’t question the amount of food. “You didn’t get a lunch,” you told him. You had noticed he refused to pick one up when you went through the line even though you had told him to. You didn’t want him going hungry.

“I am on duty,” he replied, trying to hand the sandwich back.

You had this planned out too. You didn’t take the sandwich. Instead, you pointed to the restroom at the back of the cafeteria. “I’m going in there, where you can’t follow. I’ve seen you supers eat, you can have that devoured by the time I come back.” He didn’t argue with that logic, but looked pleased, or maybe impressed, that you had thought enough of him to take care of him too. You weren’t a super, but you could at least be a decent human.

“Thank you,” was all he said in reply, but you heard the sincerity, and the vulnerability, and… hope in his voice. It made you wonder if anyone had ever been kind to him for him to be so bruised. He still walked you to the restroom, but stayed outside while you went in.

He followed you from the cafeteria after that, throwing away the sandwich wrapper on your way out so you wouldn’t think he had just thrown the sandwich away out of honor or some such silliness. “You’ll like my next class,” you told him while you were at your locker switching out your morning things for your afternoon things.

“And what class is that?” he asked, curious.

“You’ll see,” you told him with a grin. You led him up to the top floor of the school, right in the middle. You entered the large double doors of the huge room there and entered the school’s giant library. You heard Loki’s gasp, and saw his momentary lapse in proper bodyguard behavior. You smiled as you watched him take in the sight of the giant room full of books. “I have a free period this period, so I work in the library. It’s better than sitting in study hall. Most of the time I just sit at the desk doing homework, but today…” you headed over to the book return cart. You usually got one of the freshmen to do the book returns, but decided to do them today, so Loki could trail behind me, investigating all of the books. After you put all of the books away, you took your spot behind the counter and got to work on my homework while Loki stood behind you looking intimidating. You had to promise some of the freshmen that they could check out books without your bodyguard doing anything more mean to them than silently judge them based on their book choices. That got you laughs from the freshmen and they went along their way.

“Try to behave next class. I have a math test,” you told Loki as you walked to your next class.

“You’re no fun today,” he complained, his magical whisper voice now felt like his lips were touching your ear as he spoke, sending a shiver down your spine. Annoying bored trickster boyfriend. You heard him laugh, but at least that phantom sensation wasn’t back.

“I never said school would be fun,” you reminded him dryly. “I believe I complained, in fact, that it was school and boring.”

The next class was boring for him, but hectic for you. You hated math and math test day was even more awful. Part of the way through the exam all of the answers and the work that went along with them appeared as an illusion on top of your paper. You glared at the page.

<Loki, I can’t cheat> you wrote in pencil on a slip of paper, and quickly erased it before the teacher saw. You knew Loki would have seen.

<Fine> The illusion disappeared from your test paper for a moment before it reappeared. <One of the problems is wrong. You will have to do all of them to figure out which one>

You mumbled something unflattering about annoying tricksters, but you did all of the problems and showed all of the work. In the end, you realized that all of the answers he had provided had been correct. You checked them all over again, but came to the same conclusion.

“They were all right,” you growled at him the second class was over and you were safely in the hall. You heard his laugh, though you were sure no one else heard anything from the stoic-looking guard.

You somehow survived the rest of the day and you had the feeling you were both equally relieved when you could leave the school and head back to the tower. Once we were safely a block or so from campus and away from prying eyes, Loki took the step to catch up to you and stole your bag from your shoulder. “Loki!” you protested, but he just laughed and took your hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed your knuckles.

“I missed being able to actually spend time with you,” he told you gently.

“I missed that too.” You had gotten used to his company after the last couple of days of twenty-four hour guard duty.

“I was glad to be able to make sure you were safe.” He leaned down to give you a kiss. You stood up on your toes to meet him halfway. You enjoyed the feel of his cool lips on mine, though you did have to break the kiss to make it the rest of the way back to the tower.

Most regrettable indeed.

But Loki wouldn’t risk you getting more grounded for a few kisses outside.

#Loki #Lover #Submitted fic #submission #giftless #chapter 13 #Nekoamamori

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spiritmaiden23 · 4 years

Text

HANDY DANDY RP PLOTTING CHEAT-SHEET FOR ZELDA (skyward sword)!

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted.

Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, and repost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Templatehere.

mun name: Amber! ooc contact: My DMs are always open for mutuals and non-mutuals alike! In case I’m not here you can always reach my personal which is over @sealilys annnd I do have a discord however that’s only for mutuals, I rarely do drops. That out of the way let’s get started!

who the heck is my muse anyway?

Well, for those who never touched The Legend of Zelda in their lives, I’m sure it’s pretty dang confusing to see more than one design of both Zelda and Link, I’ll try my best to explain this! The series follows a very, very convoluted timeline filled with plotholes, as such the Links and Zeldas we see throughout different titles of the game are actually reincarnations (well Link is the only one reincarnating, Zelda reincarnates once... more on that later) who are destined to seal away whatever darkness may threaten the lands known as Hyrule.

Skyward Sword is the very beginning of that timeline, with Sky Zelda (this Zelda) being the first Zelda and she comes from a place outside of Hyrule, in fact high above the kingdom known as Skyloft. During her time, the kingdom of Hyrule was not yet established so the place below the clouds is known as The Surface to the Skyloftians. As such, unlike the other princesses we see throughout the series, she is not born a princess but is actually just your average, everyday girl who was studying to become a knight! Zelda is well-known for being charming and vivacious. She’s childhood friends with the sleepyheaded Link and the beloved daughter of the headmaster of the Knight Academy. Life was good and while she dreams of the lands below the islands, believing that there’s something down there instead of a barren wasteland like most seem to believe especially since she hears someone calling for her down there, she was content with spending her days with her best friend. Little did the two know that they both had a heavy destiny thrust upon them by the gods themselves.

Zelda’s story is one that is about awakening. And she wouldn’t have that awakening until one faithful day where she was ripped from the skies by the self-proclaimed demon lord Ghirahim, with his magic spell that broke through the cloud barrier surrounding Skyloft, she falls and wakes up unharmed on The Surface. After being rescued by an old woman who then informs her of her shared destiny with Link to bring Skyloft back to The Surface while defeating the great demon Demise once and for all, this kickstarts her awakening and she begins her journey in purifying her body at the sacred temples on The Surface and praying to the goddess Hylia to retrieve memories of a time long ago. Along the way, she meets with a Sheikah warrior named Impa who acts as an escort and later treasured friend.

In truth, Zelda is actually the goddess Hylia reborn as a mortal. In her past life, she knew the Gods of the Old, in fact they were the ones who had instructed Hylia to not only look after her people but to also look after the sacred power of the gods known as the Triforce. A golden artifact that can grant the wish of anyone. Gods can not use this power however mortals and even demons can, this would prompt for Demise to rise from the crack of the earth to obtain that power for selfish desires. As such, there was a great war on The Surface against the dark forces, her people were dying and the war greatly affected the lands. During her final battle against Demise, Hylia constructed a plan that would bring an end to his terror at the cost of her own death. The battle ended with her victory where she manages to seal away Demise while succumbing to her wounds from the battle, later she’d reincarnate as the spirit maiden Zelda. Once Zelda remembers her past, this only fuels her desire to end Demise once and for all with Link’s help.

And sure enough, despite the bumps and heartache along the way, Link defeats Demise. Yet there was a catch. Before Demise passed away he placed a curse on all three of them where his grudge will bound them to the neverending destiny of Link and Zelda fighting off the incarnation of Demise’s hatred. The story ends with Zelda staying on The Surface to watch over the Triforce while helping colonize the lands.

things you should know:

Zelda is not a princess. Nor does she become one after the events of the game. She remains as a guardian of sorts for the Triforce considering the fact that the Sacred Realm does not exist, therefore there’s no safe place to hide the Triforce someone has to look over it. Instead she’s a literal goddess, albeit human but she still has her divine powers despite it dwindling greatly compared to her form as Hylia.

I PLAY LINK AND ZELDA’S RELATIONSHIP AS STRICTLY PLATONIC WITH HINTS OF ROMANCE. It is possible for her to develop feelings for Link but to avoid stepping on any toes, she’s happy with being his friend.

Zelda does not have the Triforce of Wisdom. Considering the fact that the Triforce does not split, it’s whole in this era. While she can now use the power of it since she’s mortal she prefers not to honestly considering she still has her divine powers from Hylia, while weak when compared to her god form she’s far more powerful than the average human (speaking of humans are not yet known as Hylians during her time).

She can hear the voices of the gods. Very minutely though but she can hear them. Considering her connection with them and the lore behind the pointed ears, I’d like to think she’d have moments where she can hear soft whispers of them. Rarely do they talk to her though.

While Zelda is very capable of fighting, she cannot fight any of the beasts during her main verse where’s she’s traveling the Surface to find the temples to purify her body. Not only will they outnumber her, not only she is without a weapon, but the monsters let out this miasma when defeated and it’s possible for that miasma to affect her purification process. For the most part, you’ll see her sneak around monsters. If push comes to shove, she’ll use her harp as a bludging weapon...

what she’s been up to:

main verse: Which is during the events of Skyward Sword, as such she’s no longer in Skyloft nor does she have the full knowledge that she’s Hylia but Zelda is suspecting that there’s a connection there. She does not know how to wield her magic as it comes and goes in spurts. She’s seen throughout the Surface so she can be anywhere! Even in other timelines due to using the Gate of Time, we can just say that something screwed up causing for her to end up in another time period or even verse! LOZ series is pretty flexible in time travel.

where to find her:

Faron Woods: The place where it all started. Here the Sealed Temple along with Skyview Temple is located, so she can be either wondering throughout the woods or either of those places. She’s currently alone and is sneaking away from monsters yet is also enjoying the sights of the Surface while being mindful of her mission.

Eldin Province: Neighboring Faron Woods and home to the infamous Death Mountain (known as Eldin Volcano). So what is she doing in a dangerous place? Why, praying at the Earth Temple of course! Here’s where she meets with a Sheikah warrior Impa, so chances of her showing up as an NPC in a thread is pretty high!

Lanayru Province: Once a lush, green place now became a desert yet far from barren, hidden underneath the sands is a time long lost where hints of the past can be uncovered. There are many caverns throughout the desert. It is around here where she travels to find something known as the Gate of Time. Impa will most def show up as an NPC since she’s traveling with Zelda during this time.

current plans:

Meet with Link and return Skyloft to the Surface while regaining all of her memories as Hylia.

desired interactions:

I would love for more wacky time shenanigans to happen where Zelda not only meets with LOZ muses from other timelines but also other muses from different universes all together since the LOZ community is pretty dang dead! This can work in post-game verse as well since she has more knowledge of timelines and the like!

Muses joining Zelda’s journey while she uncovers her past, it’d be fun to do dungeon threads with potential of action happening since Ghirahim is hunting down Zelda along with the monsters that work under him. Protect tiny goddess at all costs!

I want her to make more friends but enemies would be fun too!

Romance. I am a sucker for fluff and cuteness.

This is very random but I want Zelda to interact with a Kina or even Kass so that they can do a jam session together! Actually any musically talented muse doing a jam session with Zelda is all I could ever ask for.

things that bother me:

This doesn’t bother me too much but your muse insisting that she’s a princess despite her constant denial. I can understand this one considering her bloodline is royalty later on so it’s whatever.

Your muse magically knowing she’s Hylia. Yes, she has strong powers that can probably be sensed and yes she more than likely resembles her past life look but your muse shouldn’t make that connection easily on the spot unless she tells you herself and for the most part she keeps that knowledge away from outsiders. Insisting she’s just a humble spirit maiden should they feel something fishy with her.

YOUR MUSE BLAMING EVERYTHING EVER ON HER. This ties in with the one above, having your muse condemn Zelda for the choices she had made during her life spent as Hylia is a bad look dude. It’s hard to put into words and this happened long ago when the fandom was active but just... making Hylia/any Zelda out as the bad guy is just really annoying and just downplays her character.

tagged by: i pirated it ;v;

tagging: whomst ever! i recommend doing this since it’ll help a ton with those who still are unsure with your muse but feel too nervous to ask questions.

#long post /#ooc postings.#dash games

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orangeoctopi7 · 5 years

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Liars

Spider Stan AU Chapter 5 Hey guys, sorry it’s been a while, I’ve been distracted by other fandoms. Also trying to apply to Grad School again. As such, don’t expect the next chapter until after November.

It had only been a couple of days, but already Fiddleford was about ready to smack these brothers. They barely spoke to each other, and when they did, it was clear they were walking on eggshells. Every so often, either Stan or Ford would take a bitter tone with the other, and McGucket hoped they were on the brink of actually talking about their issues, but each time, it just resulted in a heated argument. Twice now, Stan had driven off in his car, and Ford had stormed out into the woods. Ford came back first, worrying that Stan had left for good this time. Each time Stan had eventually returned, murmuring that he knew Ford wanted to run more tests.

That was another thing that had been bothering McGucket. The tests they’d run the first day had been interesting, to be sure. Stan’s nervous system, his immune system, all of his senses, were faster than any normal human’s. But there was nothing to indicate that his mutation was continuing or that it had any ill effects on Stan. If anything, Stan was healthier than he should have been, considering his living conditions. But Ford insisted on running more each day. Testing the extent of Stan’s strength, his flexibility and reflexes, whether he could see in the dark, how he stuck to walls, anything, it seemed, that Ford could think of. Fiddleford couldn’t help but think this went far beyond just checking to make sure Ford’s brother wasn’t negatively affected by his mutation.

McGucket decided to air his grievances while he and Ford were alone, looking at some X-rays of Stan’s hands.

“Incredible! Look at this!” Ford pointed to some faint lines running between the phalanges and metacarpals, “Normally, in a human being, these muscles are vestigial, useless. But Stan’s mutation somehow enlarged and invigorated them. That must be how he can hold himself up just by sticking to a wall!”

“Well, that certainly is fascinatin’.” McGucket agreed. “D’you think it’ll lead to overcrowding with his other muscles? Arthritis? Carpal-tunnel?”

“Mmm, no. Stan’s hands are rather large and meaty. There should be plenty of room. And it actually lessens the stress on his joints.”

“I see....” McGucket nodded, making a mental note to try and replicate the effect on a robotic joint later. “Ford, don’t ya think this is beginnin’ to go well beyond jus’ lookin’ after yer brother’s health? It’s pretty clear he’s fit as a fiddle, heck, even more fit than yer average athlete!”

“Well… yes, but… there’s still more to do… to, uh, study the long-term effects…”

“Stanford, please, you gotta start bein’ honest with yerself. And with him!”

Ford flinched. “Him who?” he asked nervously.

“Your brother! Who else?”

“Oh. Of course. I-I mean…” the researcher huffed a short sigh. “I know, sooner rather than later, he’ll decide he’s had enough and leave. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from him until then.”

“Well, he’s already left twice, and ya spent a good hour or so worryin’ he was never gonna come back.”

“Be-because if he leaves, we’ll lose a great research opportunity!”

“But he’s come back each time. Supposedly because he knows ya wanna run more tests on him.”

“Fiddleford, if you’re trying to make a point, would you please just get to it?”

“Alright, fine! You two keep dancin’ around yer issues, pretendin’ like yer jus’ here fer the sake of science, but it’s pretty obvious yer both hopin’ that somehow bein’ in the same place long enough is gonna somehow make everythin’ right. But it ain’t! Nothin’ about whatever bad blood you two got betwixt y’all is gonna get solved unless ya both sit down an’ talk. An’ I mean really talk, not jus’ yellin’ or bein’ passive-aggressive all the time.”

Ford was taken aback by his friend’s bluntness. He spluttered for a solid thirty seconds before finally shouting, “It is incredibly presumptuous of you to make assumptions as to why I choose to keep my brother around, let alone deem yourself qualified to offer me advice on how to conduct my own family matters! And while we may be old friends, I shouldn’t have to remind you that while you are here you are technically my employee. As such, keep your overly-large nose out of my personal business!”

“Personal business!? I’m the one who has to live with both of ya!” Fiddleford retorted, then stormed out of the lab.

“I’m not forcing you to stay here!” Ford shouted after him. “You could get a room at the motel if it bothers you that much!”

McGucket’s raging mood quickly dissipated as he took the elevator back up to the main floor. He hadn’t had an angry outburst like that in a while. He wasn’t nearly as short tempered as those Pines twins, but even the mild-mannered inventor just lost his cool sometimes.

“Good to see I’m not the only one he has shouting matches with.” Stan commented from the chair sitting in front of the TV when McGucket passed. Oh right. Enhanced senses, including hearing.

“How much did you hear?” Fiddleford asked.

“Eh, more the volume than actual words.” Stan shrugged.

McGucket briefly considered telling Stan how much Ford had worried each time he left, telling him exactly what he’d told his brother. But Fiddleford had a feeling Stan would have a very similar reaction, except the con man’s temper was even worse than his brother’s.

Instead he settled for a beleaguered “You two’re gonna drive me off the deep end.”

* * *

It didn’t take long for Ford to regret his words. Sure, he was mad that McGucket would try and wheedle his way into the brothers’ issues when the inventor clearly didn’t understand the complexities of their relationship, or the extent of the betrayal Ford still felt. But the inventor’s heart was in the right place, and he was the one who had to live with the feuding twins. And while Ford had been truthful in telling Fiddleford he was free to leave, that certainly didn’t mean Ford wanted him to go. Just the opposite, in fact.

Stanford had never felt lonely after moving out to the woods of Gravity Falls, oh no. He’d kept far too busy exploring and studying for that. But after Fiddelford had moved in, the researcher found he preferred his friend’s company to solitude.

Of course, if McGucket were to move out now, Ford would not be returning to solitude. He’d be sharing his cabin with Stanley.

Stanford decided he really needed to apologize to Fiddleford.

The researcher hastily put away the x-rays and the other print-outs he’d be going over and rushed into the elevator. He hummed impatiently as it creeped back up to ground level. Once he reached the kitchen, he rummaged around the pantry until he found a can of those baked beans McGucket liked, heated it up over the stove, and began searching for his roommate so he could extend the peace offering.

He found McGucket just as the researcher was finishing a conversation over the phone.

“...Uh-huh. Yeah, I’ll leave as soon as I can. See ya soon. I gotta go sugar.” He said when he saw Ford enter the hall. “Love ya.” He hung up the phone.

“You’re leaving?” Ford asked, trying not to sound hurt. He’d known his harsh words would probably come back to bite him, but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon!

“Uh, that’s right…” Fiddelford began awkwardly. “I jus’ spoke with Emma-May an’--”

“Fiddleford, I’m sorry, alright? I shouldn’t have yelled, and I certainly shouldn’t have insinuated you might be fired, or insulted you. But please, don’t leave!” Ford pleaded. “I’ll admit, the situation with Stanley is volatile, but that’s why I need you here now!”

“Calm down, calm down!” McGucket placated him. “I ain’t leavin’ fer more’n a few days. I was tryin’ to tell ya, Emma-May’s sick, an’, well, she needs me to come take care of Tate ‘til she gets better.”

“O-oh.” Ford squeaked out once his mind processed what his friend was saying. McGucket was leaving, but it wasn’t because he was mad, it was because of a family emergency. That was almost worse. Ford could try and apologize or talk his friend out of it if he was mad, but the researcher couldn’t, wouldn’t, try and stop his friend from taking care of his family.

“What’s goin’ on?” Stan peeked into the hall, checking to see what all the commotion was about.

“Oh, uh, I was just tellin’ Ford I gotta head back home to help take care’a things while my wife’s sick.”

Stan scrutinized McGucket carefully, taking in his expression and stance, before glancing at Ford briefly. “Uh-huh.” the con-man grunted.

“So, I’ll be leavin’ soon as I get packed. Are… are you gonna be fine here, just the two of ya?”

“Sure, mom.” Stan rolled his eyes.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Ford folded his arms defensively.

“That’s not really what I’m worried ‘bout.” McGucket muttered under his breath. “Oh! Are those baked beans?” He exclaimed, like he’d only just noticed the pan Ford was carrying, “I think I’ll go eat these before I pack.”

With that, the inventor made his way to the kitchen, leaving the two brothers alone, with the fact that they were about to spend a lot more time alone together hanging over them.

Stan shook his head. “He’s a bad liar.” he said as soon as McGucket was out of ear-shot.

“What!?” Ford spluttered. “He’s not--”

“Just callin’ it as I see it.”

“He’s coming back!” the researcher insisted, even as his own thoughts doubted “He wouldn’t just leave…” He wouldn’t just leave me like this.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be back soon enough.” Stan agreed. “But his wife ain’t sick.”

“Oh, and is that another thing your ‘Spider Sense’ can detect?” Ford asked sarcastically. Ever since Stan had interrupted one of his visions with Bill, the researcher didn’t have a high opinion of that particular ability.

“Nah. You lie enough, and you get pretty good at tellin’ when other people are doin’ it. If his wife was really sick, you’d think he’d be a lot more concerned. I mean, you’ve mentioned he has issues with anxiety, but he doesn’t seem all that anxious about it. He did seem keen on gettin’ out of here before we could ask him more questions about what’s wrong with her.”

“I think that if you lie enough, you start to assume everyone else must be lying too.” Ford said icily. Although he couldn’t help but remember a time a few years back when Fiddleford had gotten news his mother was sick. His poor friend had been so worried, he’d barely eaten the day he got the news.

“Whatever.” Stan harrumphed and turned back down the hall. “Honestly, I can’t blame the guy for wantin’ a break from all of this.” He gestured back and forth to himself and his brother. “Anyway, I’m gonna go see if there’s any of those baked beans left.”

* * *

That night, Ford had a hard time falling asleep. Stan’s wrong. He kept telling himself. But a part of him couldn’t help wondering, But what if he’s right? What if all this tension with Stan is driving Fiddleford away? What if he doesn’t come back?

When he finally did fall asleep, Ford was glad to find Bill waiting for him. He could really use a little help from a friend right now.

“HUH, YOU’RE LATER THAN USUAL. I DON’T THINK YOU’VE HAD THIS MUCH TROUBLE FALLING ASLEEP SINCE THE HAUNTED CABIN.”

“Sorry, I’m just really stressed right now, what with everything that’s going on with Stan and McGucket.”

“HEY, I WARNED YOU BRINGING YOUR BROTHER BACK HERE WOULD BE BITING OFF MORE THAN YOU COULD CHEW.”

“It’s not.” Ford said defensively, “I mean, yes, I’m a little more stressed than usual, but I can handle it.”

“OH SURE.” Bill rolled his eye, “THAT’S WHY YOU’VE KEPT WORKING ON THE PORTAL, OH WAIT! YOU HAVEN’T! AND NOW THE GUY WE NEED TO ACTUALLY START THE BUILDING PROCESS IS LEAVING!”

“That’s unfortunate, yes, but it’s not McGucket’s fault. His… his wife’s sick.” Ford explained, although there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

“YEAH, NO. YOUR BROTHER MAY BE AN UNTRUSTWORTHY LEACH, BUT HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING. FOUR-EYES WAS LYING TO YOU.”

“Hey, Stan’s not--”

“OH, ARE YOU SAYING I’M WRONG? ME? THE ALL-SEEING EYE?”

“No, of course not!”

“HERE, I’LL SHOW YOU!”

Bill’s yellow bricks flickered like a television screen, and suddenly Ford was watching McGucket’s conversation on the phone earlier, from the perspective of one of the many effigies of Bill he had hanging in the house.

“Hey sugar, it’s me!” Fiddleford began the conversation. “Yeah, things’re, uh, things’re goin’ great here. But, you’ll never believe what happened last week! We were in Portland, doin’ some, er, some research, an’ guess what? Stanford ran into his twin brother!”

He paused and listened to her reply. “Yeah, he don’t talk ‘bout it much. They ain’t seen each other in over ten years. Anyway they, uh, need some time to re-connect, So I’m gonna head home, jus’ so’s I can give ‘em some space fer a bit.”

Another pause. “Aw, naw, Ford said it’s fine! I don’t think it’ll be a problem! And besides, this way I’ll be home fer Tate’s first spring break!”

“...Uh-huh. Yeah, I’ll leave as soon as I can. See ya soon. I gotta go sugar.” He said when he saw Ford enter the hall. “Love ya.”

Ford shook his head in disbelief. “I-I don’t know what to say…”

“WHAT’D I TELL YA, FORDSY? I’M THE ONLY ONE YOU CAN TRUST!”

On one hand, he was hurt that his friend would lie to him like that, but on the other, it was clear that poor Fiddleford just wanted to spend some time with his family, and Ford could hardly begrudge him that. All the same, there were those same thoughts that had been keeping him up earlier, only here in the Dreamscape, they echoed around him in surround-sound.

It’s my fault. I’m driving him away, all because I can’t get along with my own brother!

“AW, DON’T FEEL SO BAD, SIXER!” Bill patted him on the back comfortingly. “IF THIS IS ANYBODY’S FAULT, IT’S YOUR DUMB BROTHER. HE’S THE ONE WHO BARGED BACK INTO YOUR LIFE JUST WHEN WE WERE ON THE BRINK OF CHANGING THE WORLD.”

“I know you don’t like me spending so much time studying Stan’s mutation. But it’s so incredible! We’ve only just scratched the surface of what he’s capable of! I know with just a little time and training, he could even help us build the portal!”

Bill didn’t look convinced. “FORGIVE ME IF I’M NOT SOLD ON BRINGING THE GUY WHO SMASHED YOUR SPIDER HABITAT TO SMITHEREENS INTO CONTACT WITH THE DELICATE WORKINGS OF A TRANSUNIVERSAL PORTAL.”

Ford frowned. “I know, but… but ever since I learned that Stan’s the Spider Man, I’m beginning to think… maybe he’s changed.”

“HA!” Bill laughed sharply. “I NEVER TOOK YOU FOR A SENTIMENTAL FOOL, STANFORD!”

“I’m serious!”

“I KNOW! THAT’S WHY IT’S SO HILARIOUS!” But Bill noticed Ford wasn’t taking this not-so-good-natured ribbing well. “HEY, DON’T LOOK SO SERIOUS, IQ, IT’S JUST THAT YOUR HUMAN SENTIMENTALITY IS SO FAR OUTSIDE MY PRIORITIES. IF YOU’RE SO DEAD-SET ON IT, GO AHEAD AND INCLUDE YOUR BROTHER IN ON THE PROJECT. EVEN IF HE DOES MESS THINGS UP AGAIN, YOU’VE GOT ME FOR DAMAGE CONTROL THIS TIME.”

“Thank you, Bill, I’ll do my best to make sure Stan doesn’t cause too much trouble.”

* * *

Once again, Stan woke in the middle of the night, his Spider Sense twinging. He was really getting tired of this. Not wanting another wild goose chase like his first night here, the conman tried just sitting quietly and concentrating on the unfamiliar sensation. It was so unlike his usual Spider Sense, and yet… somehow he knew it was the same sense.

Maybe this was a newly developing power, like Ford had predicted. Unfortunately, waking Ford in the middle of the night seemed to have ticked him off so much that now Ford didn’t want to hear anything about the Spider Sense. And McGucket had left earlier that evening. So Stan was going to have to figure this out on his own. Ha. That wasn’t any different from his other powers.

As Stan sat focusing on the strange sensation for a few minutes, he finally though he could place a direction to it. It seemed to be coming from everywhere, but there was definitely one direction where it was the strongest. It was coming from downstairs.

Stan followed the sensation as quietly as he could, which was pretty darn quietly. It led him to Ford’s bedroom.

“Oh no, we’re not doin’ this again.” Stan muttered to himself. Ford had been mad enough the first time. Twice in one week, and he was sure to be kicked out. But still, he couldn’t help wondering what was going on. Was Ford in some kind of danger? Or maybe… Ford was the danger?

“Great, now my Spider Sense is trying to protect me from emotional harm.” Stan grumbled to himself as he climbed the wall back up to the attic.

* * *

Dbae’k rwou se apfleqnx dtirj. Swt tyw xwrv jpisff ew gvl cqd fx sqm. Sme pon lz oek Ktfei lz bhigh bhzk mqg Dsnseiww jatc tvtf lsm svs?

#Gravity Falls #Fanfiction #Stanford Pines #Stanley Pines #Spider Stan AU #My Writing

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innuendostudios · 5 years

Video

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New video essay! Internet reactionaries argue as though they have no core beliefs at all, and will just say anything to own the libs. So are they nihilists, or is there more going on?

You can ensure this series continues by backing me on Patreon.

Transcript below the cut.

Say, for the sake of argument, you’re online blogging about a Black journalist’s commentary on marketing trends in video games, movies, and comic books, and you’re saying how the vitriol in response to her fairly benign opinions reveals the deep-seated racism and misogyny in a number of fan communities, most especially those that lean right, when a right-leaning commenter pops in to say, “Or maybe they just actually disagree with her about marketing trends! For Christ’s sake, there’s no mystery here. People aren’t aren’t speaking in coded language. They are telling you what they believe. She had a bad opinion; why do you have to make it bigger than that? Why can’t you ever take people at their word?”

You pause and ponder for a moment. Mmm… Aw heck with it, you’re in a discoursing mood. Let’s do this.

“Mr. Conservative, in order for me to take you at your word, your words would have to show some consistency. Let me just lightning round a few questions about the reactionary web’s positions on marketing trends: Do you believe that having the option to romance same-sex characters in an RPG turns the game into queer propaganda, or do you believe that killing strippers in an action game can’t be sexist since no one’s making you do it? Do you believe that the pervasiveness of sexualized young women in pop culture is just there because it sells and that’s capitalism and we all need to deal with it, or do you believe that a franchise has an obligation to cater to its core audience even if diversifying beyond that audience is more profitable? Do you think words are inherently harmless and only oversensitive snowflakes would care about racialized language, or do you think it’s racist if someone calls you mayonnaise boy? As long as I’ve got your ear: Are you the Party that believes in the right to keep and bear arms because you’re distrustful of all authority and what if we need to overthrow the government someday, or do you believe that cops are civil servants and we should trust their account of events whenever they shoot a Black man for looking like he might have a gun?

“Does optional content reveal a game’s ideology, or doesn’t it? Is capitalism a defense for decisions you don’t agree with, or isn’t it? Is language harmful, or not? Do you hate authority, or love cops and the troops?

Alright, alright, ease off. Add some nuance. “Now, I know the Right is not a monolith, and maybe these arguments are contradictory because they’re coming from different people. We’ll call them Engelbert and Charlemagne. Maybe Engelbert’s the one who thinks any institution funded by tax money is socialist and therefore bad and Charlemagne’s the one who says we should dump even more tax money into the military and thinking otherwise is un-American. But here’s the thing: Y’all have very fundamentally different beliefs, and you’re so passionate about them that you enter search terms into Twitter to find people you don’t even follow and aggressively disagree with them, and, yet, you’re always yelling at me and never yelling at each other. What’s that about?

“And I can’t say how often it happens, but I know, if I let Engelbert go on long enough, he sometimes makes a Charlemagne argument. And vice versa.

“And, I see you getting ready to say, ‘The Left does the same thing,’ but ba ba ba ba ba, don’t change the subject. That’s an extremely false equivalence, but, more importantly, it doesn’t answer my question. What do you actually believe, and why are you so capable of respecting disagreement between each other, yet so incapable of respecting me - or, for that matter, a Black woman?

“See, I don’t take you at your word because I cannot form a coherent worldview out of the things you say. So, forgive me if, when you tell me what you believe, I don’t think you’re being candid with me. It kinda seems like you’re playing games, and I’m the opposing team, and anyone who’s against me is your ally. And you’re not really taking a position, but claiming to believe in whatever would need to be true to score points against me, like we’re in that one episode of Seinfeld.” [Card Says Moops clip.]

(This is borrowed observation #1, link in the down-there part.)

Hoo, it feels good calling people hypocrites! Person says B when earlier they said A and you point out the contradiction! You don’t take a position on A or B, and you still “win”! I see why Republicans like this so much.

But that’s the kind of point-scoring we’re here to deconstruct, so let’s get analytical.

There’s a certain Beat-You-At-Your-Own-Gaminess to the Card Says Moops maneuver. “Safe spaces are bullshit, but, if you get one, I get one too.” “There’s no such thing as systemic oppression, but, if there were, I’d be oppressed.” It’s dismissing the rhetoric of social justice while also trying to use it against you. Claiming “the Card Says Moops” does not, so much, mean, “I believe the people who invaded Spain in the 8th Century were literally called The Moops,” but, rather, “You can’t prove I don’t believe it.” Not a statement of sincere belief, simply moving a piece across the board. All in the game, yo.

If they could be so nakedly honest with you and themselves to answer “what do you actually believe” truthfully, one suspects the answer would be, “What difference does it make? We’re right either way.”

This has come to be known as “postmodern conservatism,” a fact I find hilarious, because, in The Discourse, “postmodernism” is a dogwhistle for everything the Right hates about the Left. (...it also means “Jews.”) Postmodern conservatism is the thinking that, at least for the purpose of argument, the truth of who invaded Spain is immaterial. You have your facts, I have alternative facts. What is true? Who’s to say?

Regardless of what you actually believe - what you believe serving no rhetorical purpose - you are at least arguing from the position that material truth does not exist. Truth is a democracy. Whoever who wins the argument decides who invaded Spain.

It would be reductive to blame this pattern of thought on the internet, but its recent proliferation isn’t really extricable from the rise of chan culture (this is borrowed observation #2, link in the down there part). 4chan didn’t cause this thinking, but sites like 4chan reveal it in its most concentrated form.

The two most common properties of a chan board will be anonymity and lack of moderation, which means, among other things, that you can say whatever you want with no systemic or social repercussions. People may disagree with you, but it carries no weight. You won’t be banned, you won’t have your comments deleted, and, because there’s no way to know whether any two posts are made by the same person, you won’t even get a reputation as “the person with the bad opinion.”

The effect this has on the community is that there is no expectation, in any given moment, that the person on the other end of a conversation isn’t messing with you. You can’t know whether they mean what they say or are only arguing as though they mean what they say. And entire debates may just be a single person stirring the pot. Such a community will naturally attract people who enjoy argument for its own sake, and will naturally trend towards the most extreme version of any opinion.

In short, this is the Free Marketplace of Ideas. No code of ethics, no social mores, no accountability. A Darwinist petri dish where ideas roam free and only the strong ones survive. If the community agrees Bebop is better than Eva, well, then I guess Bebop is better than Eva, because there wasn’t any outside influence polluting the discourse. Granted, it could just be a lot of people thought it was funny to shit on Eva, but it’s what the community has decided, so it will at least be treated as truth.

This demands that one both be highly opinionated and to assume opinions are bullshit, to place a high premium on consensus and be intensely distrustful of groupthink.

A common means of straddling these lines is what I call the Stanislavski Opinion: the opinion you entertain so completely that you functionally believe it while you express it, no matter the possibility that you will express - and, to an extent, believe - an opposite opinion later. Most of us go through a phase in our youths where we’re online and like the idea of believing in something, but don’t know what to believe just yet, so we pick a position and find out if we believe it by defending it. We try on ideologies like sunglasses off a rack. Most of us will eventually settle on a belief system, and this will usually involve some apologies and some comments we wish we could scrub from the internet, but it’s an important stage of growing up.

But some percentage of people will seek out a space where there is no embarrassment, the comments scrub themselves, and never growing out of the Stanislavski Opinion is actively rewarded. There, figuring out what you believe would make your ability to argue less flexible, and, besides, if you believed anything unironically, much of the community would still assume you’re trolling. Where no one is bound by their word, what, really, is the difference between appearing to have an opinion and having one?

Sincerity is unprovable and open to interpretation. Decide someone is sincere if you want to make fun of them, decide they’re trolling if you want to make fun of someone else. What is true? What do you want to be true? It’s easy enough to start thinking of one’s own opinions the same way: What do I believe? What is it advantageous to believe? Your answer isn’t binding. You’ll change it later if you need to.

The person I’m describing, you spend time online, you’ll meet him a lot. His name is Schrodinger’s Douchebag (borrowed observation #3, link in the down there part): A guy who says offensive things & decides whether he was joking based on the reaction of people around him. Any website that lacks effective moderation and allows some level of anonymity will, to varying degrees, approximate 4chan, and be overrun with Schrodinger’s Douchebag.

When this type of person defends rape jokes by saying all humor is inherently punching down because there must be a butt to every joke, he hasn’t thought about it. He assumes it’s true, because he figures he’s a smart guy and whatever he assumes is probably right, but he’s unfazed if you prove otherwise; there’s no shortage of dodgy reasons he might be right and you wrong. He’ll just pick another one. What matters is that the game continues.

The thing is, Bob, it’s not that they’re lying, it’s that they just don’t care. I’ll say that again for the cheap seats: When they make these kinds of arguments, they legitimately do not care whether the words coming out of their mouths are true. It is a deeply held belief for precisely as long as it wins arguments.

So it’s kinda funny, right, how many of these folks self-identify as “rationalists?” I mean, typical rational thinking would say: If I am presented with the truth, I will believe it, and, once I believe it, I will defend it in argument. This? This is not that! This is a different idea of “rationality” that views it not as a practice but as an innate quality one either possesses or lacks, like being blond or left-handed: If I’m arguing it, I must believe it, because I’m a rational person, and, if I believe it, because I’m a rational person, it must be true. You speak assuming you’re right, and, should you take a new position, this telescopes out into a whole new set of beliefs with barely a thought. Stay focused on the argument, and you won’t even notice it’s happening.

You might now conclude the internet reactionary believes in nothing except winning arguments with liberals. And, like Newtonian physics, if you assume this framing, you will get highly useful results. If you enter conversation with Engelbert and Charlemagne believing they do not mean what they say, they are only entertaining notions, and, on a long enough timeline, they will eventually defend a position fundamentally incompatible with the one they defended earlier in the same argument, you will navigate that conversation much more effectively!

But, like Newtonian physics, this framing is lowercase-a accurate without being capital-T True.

In reality, nihilism isn’t that popular. People will tell you, “I don’t care about anything, I just like triggering the libs,” but why is it always libs? It is piss easy (and also hilarious) to upset conservatives, why only go after the SJWs? The easy answer is, well, if you upset a feminist, you might make her cry; if you upset a Nazi, he might stab you, and that has a cooling effect. But the more obvious answer is that they actually agree with the racist, MRA, and TERF talking points they repeat, but would rather not think about it.

So much of conservative rhetoric is about maintaining ignorance of one’s own beliefs. To uphold the institution of imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy while thinking you are none of those things. (Well, OK, knowing you’re a capitalist, but thinking it’s a good thing.) Most people have a baseline of fairly conventional, kindergarten morality, and conservatism often clashes with it. You can rationalize these contradictions - “I’m not a bigot, I just believe in states’ rights” - but, as American conservatism gets more radical, it gets harder to square one’s politics with what one assumes to be one’s beliefs. So you learn, when someone challenges you, to cycle through beliefs until something sticks, just play your hand and trust that you’re right, or, in extreme cases, insist you have no beliefs at all, you’re just here to watch the world burn.

But they’re not. They are willing participants in the burning of only certain parts. They don’t care what they believe, but they know what they hate, and they don’t want to think about why they hate it. On paper, they believe in freedom of religion and freedom of expression, but they also hang out in communities where Muslims and trans women are punching bags. And, like a sixth grader who believes one thing in Sunday school and another thing in biology class, they believe different things at different times.

This thinking is fertile ground for Far Right recruitment. I’d say the jury is out on whether chan boards attract Far Right extremists or are built to attract Far Right extremists, but they’re where extremists congregate and organize because they’re where extremists are tolerated, and where they blend in with the locals. They learn the lingua franca of performative irony: Say what you mean in such a way that people who disagree think you’re kidding and people who agree think you’re serious. People who don’t know what they believe but clearly have some fascist leanings don’t need to be convinced of Nazi rhetoric, they just need to be submerged in it and encouraged to hate liberals. They’ll make their way Right on their own. Folks start using extremist rhetoric because it wins arguments with SJWs - usually because that’s the moment SJWs decide it’s not fruitful and possibly unsafe talking to you - and this creates the appearance that, if it keeps winning arguments, there must be something to it. The Far Right literally has handbooks on how to do this.

Those who never consciously embrace the ideology - who don’t transition from participating to getting recruited - are still useful. They spread the rhetoric, they pad the numbers, and often participate in harassment and sometimes even violence.

There’s a twisted elegance to all this. Think about it: If you operate as though there is no truth, just competing opinions, and as though opinions aren’t sincere, just tools to be picked up and dropped depending on their utility, then what are you operating under? Self-interest. The desire to win. You’ll defend the Holocaust just to feel smarter than someone, superior. Think about how beautifully that maps onto the in-group/out-group mentality of dominance and bigotry. Think how incompatible it is with liberal ideas of tolerance. I think this is why we don’t see a lot of these “I’m just here to fuck shit up” types on the Left. Don’t get me wrong, the Left has gotten on some bullshit, but (excepting politicians, whom you should never assume to mean anything they say) it’s sincerely-believed bullshit! We don’t build identities around saying things just to piss people off.

The takeaway from all this is not only that you can’t tell the difference between a bigot who doesn’t know they’re a bigot and a bigot who knows but won’t tell you, but that there is no line dividing the two. When some guy, in the middle of a harassment campaign, says the victims should be nicer to their harassers because that will “mend the rift,” I don’t know if he believes it. But, in that moment, he believes he believes it. And that scares the shit out of me. But, if you’re asking how many layers of irony he’s on as compared with the harassers, nine times out of ten it doesn’t matter.

Borrowed observation #4 is: “We are what we pretend to be.”

#the alt-right playbook #alt-right #video essay

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thomasjefferson1318 · 6 years

Text

UPDATED:Voltron S8 Predictions

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD BEWARE*

It’s been a couple of months since the S7 premiere and there have been a lot of theories going around about what is going to happen in Season 8. I had my own theory, but it wasn’t very specific about exactly what’s going to happen. I just threw out some guess based on what I had seen while I was watching, but I wasn’t exactly sure where a lot of it was going at the time. At this point I think I am just about ready to make an educated guess about the upcoming events in the final season of Voltron. The crew works so hard on this show and they try very hard not to make any mistakes, meaning every small detail is important. Not to mention, how much Voltron LOVES it’s character parallels. Here I will be covering both the future basic plot and what ships become canon, including all endings beyond this. This is all my opinion and my predictions, but IDK.

So who will be the new villain?

The answer to this question is actually pretty simple and I think that most of the fandom has figured it out.

Haggar.

Well, sort of. Because, this here^ isn’t Haggar. This is Honerva. Haggar was Zarkon’s second hand, a witch. She was totally insane and her memory was corrupt. But it’s obvious, even if just by her appearance that she isn’t Haggar anymore. She even confronts Lotor on the topic when she tries to get him on her side. She has accepted and embraced her original identity.

Either way, we haven’t seen her since season 6. We’ve heard that she abandoned her army of druids, but we have no canon mentions of her current whereabouts. We know she went to Oriande to learn the secrets of Altean Alchemy. Where is she now? We don’t know. But we can make pretty good guesses as to where she went since then. First stop, was the quantum abyss. She learned about the altean colony from Shiro’s Clone. She knows where it is, how to get there, what Lotor has been doing with their quintessence, their viewpoint on lotor- basically she knows everything that we do. Which is why they were gone when the blades went to go try to find the colony. It’s also why she abandoned her druids.

What is the dynamic between Honerva and the Altean Colony? Who is the mysterious Altean we see at the end of Season 7? What was with that random crazy robot that came out of nowhere?

Honerva and the Alteans are building fighter robots like the one we saw at the end of Season 7.

We get a glimpse of evidence pointing towards this at the VERY end of season 7, with the appearance of this mysterious Altean who was apparently piloting that crazy powerful Altean ship. Allura comments on the ships altean technology, but as of season 7 we have seen the blending of technologies from different cultures and there are vast differences between this and what we’ve seen so far of Altean technology. Personally, I believe that the robot is a mix of Altean technology and Galra technology, because of the purple quintessence powering the robot and just because of the robots general design. It just screams HONERVA WAS HERE. Like, we’ve seen Haggar build plenty of “robots” and it would be fair to assume that Honerva does have all of her memories from her time spent as Haggar. I do have more evidence behind this that I will explain later, but yeah.

Why?

Okay, so Honerva is building powerful AF robots. But why? We know that Honerva is a scientist and that she is obsessed with unlocking the secrets behind quintessence, but her current motives are unknown. Well we can examine the robot, the way the robot works, previous robots, and the Altean pilot and actually get a pretty good guess here.

So this Robot has the ability to drain quintessence from things using its double swords, which are actually really cool and unique looking. I love the purple translucent-

…

Yeah, okay, so obviously not an exact match. I know. Of course, it’s been around 6 years since Haggar built Shiro’s robo-galra arm and she did kinda half ass that thing at the time too. But my point is that the general design, color scheme, functionality line up. Also the purple lightning is exactly the same. I just wanted to put that out there to prove that the robot has Galran technology in it and that it’s very likely that it’s Honerva’s work. Anyway, so the sycle/ double sword blades can drain the quintessence from Voltron (draining quintessence from living beings was also a huge part of Honervas work back when when was Haggar, more supporting evidence!) and this thing is obviously built for fighting. It’s speed, agility, power, and self defence protocols are insane.

It has shapes very similar to that of Zarkon’s armor and Lotor’s robot, but it’s much thinner and more flexible than either of these two. In fact, Voltron wasn’t even able to beat this robot by itself, it needed help from ATLAS constantly, which just goes to show how powerful this thing is. In which raises the question, why did Honerva send it out to fight against Voltron when she did? It was completely random and sure there was an element of surprise, but it still lost and they didn’t even have any sort of robot recovery team or backup. There is no way that she would have assumed that it would just defeat Voltron straight out, even with the robots overwhelming power she knows Voltrons capabilities and to always expect the unexpected. She is smart, a literal evil genius scientist. A scientist. Which is why I believe that this robot was an experiment. She was testing the abilities of the robot she built, seeing how she could improve her creation, experimenting with its limits. That robot was expendable. A prototype, a test subject. Which makes it even more terrifying than it already was. Earlier you might have noticed that I said Honerva was building robots, in the plural, and that’s the explanation here. Honerva is building an army of these robots with the help of the Altean colony.

What would she need an army of quintessence stealing, all powerful robots for? What do the Alteans from the Colony get out of any of this?

Well there are lots of answers for those questions. Quintessence is the main powersource that the Galra have been using for centuries. In order to obtain this quintessence the galra had to extract it from planets and, in Lotor’s case, people. Let’s say that when Honerva arrived at the Altean Colony that she told them the truth about the second colony. Now I have in the past theorized that Lotor’s original purpose for extracting the quintessence from the Alteans in the second colony was so that he could continue to power their ship and that he had all intentions of returning quintessence to their bodies once he finally had access to unlimited quintessence (Hence the numerous number of healing pod like chambers throughout the small section of the second colony that we saw in Romelles flashback). If this is true and Honerva conveyed that specific to the members of the colony, if they are like Romelle, I think that they would want to shut everything down ASAP. Also, Honerva being their “savior” would probably give them a lot of trust in her. So they would probably turn to her for help. They don’t know anything about quintessence, where to get it or how to use it. And this is an entire civilization that needs to be provided for.

Honerva is smart, I know I’ve said this before, but like hear me out. Like, what if after they asked her about quintessence she then explains that most of the quintessence is controlled by the Galra race, who destroyed Altea, and that they dominate a good majority of the universe. The Alteans decide to go to war against the Galra, in attempt to free the universe from their reign and to usher the world into a new era of peace under purely Altean ideals, which is extremely possible given that it was kinda FORESHADOWED IN THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE EPISODE. Honerva then gets an army of quintessence thirsty Alteans under her finger without ever actually lying to them.

That’s exactly what I think happened. It’s all really simple and it makes sense, tbh. All Honerve even has to do is have fun with her experiment, build an army of super cool robots, and sit back and watch. And the craziest bit is that she could totally turn against them at any given moment once the army is built.

How could Honerva manipulate the Robot army and turn against the Alteans?

See, this is the part where I get to talk about how the robot is piloted. So at the end of Season 7 we get a good glance at our Altean Pilot in her cockpit.

The whole thing gives me major Attack On Titan vibes for some reason, but I just think that this is so cool. If you look at this small cockpit area you can see that her arms and legs are both restrained and that there don’t appear to be any controls for the robot. So how does she control the robot? Look at her head.

There are two glowing purple lights on her forehead and no they aren’t just there for decoration. We’ve already seen technology like this back in the Altean Castle.

The mind linking headgear that the paladins wore. Okay, so I just want to take a moment to say how cool this is. I mean, we’ve seen the paladins link with the lions and pilot them from inside prison cells using their minds, so it’s obvious that this sort of thing is totally possible in the Voltron universe and that it’s very likely that this is how the army is going to be piloted. I am just super excited. Anyway, with the way we’ve seen this specific technology work, multiple of these headgears could link together. I think that if Honerva built a piece of headgear, like IDK some sort of cool crown type thing, that could link to the robots and control them, that she would easily be able to overpower the pilots and take control of the army for herself. Like she needs people inside of each individual robot because they wouldn’t work otherwise, that’s how all of the robots work they need an actual pilot piloting them- plus they would totally act as extra batteries if quintessence is running low. And so yeah.

What does Honerva want?

Honerva’s research with quintessence has always been very focused/pointed in one very specific direction; using quintessence in order to change the laws of life and death. Although, not in the way Allura uses it to bring Lance and Shiro back to life. She has been in search of immortality, ultimate power. She wants to reopen the rift, but in order to do that she needs really powerful quintessence. Lotor discovered that the quintessence extracted from living beings, the Alteans, is far more powerful than regular quintessence that the Galra have used in the past. If Honerva can’t have access to the quintessence in the rift, then this is probably the next most successful course of action for her to pursue. But she is working with the Alteans, so she can’t extract their quintessence, like Lotor did. So who? Who will she be draining the quintessence from?

Voltron.

More specifically the paladins themselves. She wants to recruit the paladins to her side and use their quintessence in order to obtain ultimate power. After all, the quintessence of the paladins is off the charts. They have strong enough quintessence in order to power Voltron, the most powerful weapon in the universe. And even after being drained they are able to regenerate more quintessence. They don’t react the way the Alteans on the second colony do after having their quintessence drained. The difference in that might be that the paladins are willing giving their life force and it was being forcibly take from the second colony alteans, but even then the Paladins seem to have either an endless supply of quintessence or such a large amount of quintessence within them that the amount they need to power Voltron is about a chip of the block. And I know that’s not how that metaphor is usually used, shut up.

Would Honerva even be able to successfully corrupt one of the paladins and how?

Yes. We actually have one paladin specifically who is extremely emotionally unstable and has very little moral support. He has little confidence in himself and rarely ever turns to others for help. We know that he is going to be on edge frequently throughout this season, which makes him a pretty easy target for Honerva. Have a guess?

Honerva will get Keith to join her. Willingly. Keith has struggled a lot with who and what he is throughout the series. We’ve seen every single half Galra throughout the series have this inner battle, which is pretty much a battle between their inner “good” and “evil”. We all know that some Galra are born inherently good, like Krolia an Kolivan and majority of the blades. Which is actually why Keith ran away to join the blades in the first place. He was trying to prove to himself that he isn’t a monster or evil or a typical Galra that they’ve seen throughout the series. We’ve always known that Keith has been a bit of a hot head, aka he has a temper, but as of his battle with Shiro it seems a bit more as if that’s more of a primal instinct than it is typical anger. There is a scene during their battle where Keith has fangs and his eyes are very Galran with triangulated pupils/irises and yellow tinted backing.

And he takes on multiple galran features throughout this battle, walking away with the galran mark on his cheek at the very end of their battle, which I will talk about more later as well. But when keith becomes emotionally agitated, specifically during battle, he has the ability to channel his inner Galra. Literally. And he doesn’t even know he is doing it. He spent months trying to prove that he isn’t some feral beast and he almost lost it during this fight. It leaves the terrifying lingering thought of “what if he hadn’t snapped out of it?” and I totally think that we will be seeing more of this, specifically the inner turmoil with keith throughout the series. But Honerva (and probably only Honerva because she is the only one besides keith who witnessed this fight- she saw the whole thing through clone shiro’s eyes) knows about all of this, and I think that she is going to take full advantage.

Honerva will poke at Keith’s insecurities during a battle, similar to how Shiro’s clone did, and try to cut him off from the other paladins. But here, since Keith has nothing holding him back, he wont turn back once he starts to take on those Galran traits and become feral. It will probably happen a few episodes in, during which Keith becomes more and more agitated by the other paladins. And yeah, I am totally predicting a full on Keith Galra transformation once he get pushed over the edge by Honerva. After which, Honerva will convince him that he is a monster and that his friends won’t accept him like this. Keith, already believing this himself, goes with her. They don’t take the black lion with them, it will be left behind, because Honerva doesn’t need it and it symbolizes that Keith is leaving behind his life as a paladin.

Who will Pilot the Black Lion?

Not Coran. Sorry, that's a definite no. Just because everytime he has attempted to pilot a lion, it's been a big joke and giving that privilege to him now would just come across as a joke too. And I would love to say that Shiro will temporarily go back to piloting the black lion, but he needs to Pilot the ATLAS. So that leaves an opening for a pilot and we have several options for how things could continue. One of our current pilots could take on the position of being the pilot of the black lion. The most likely of our four remaining paladins to do this are Allura and Lance. Allura has been acting as sort of the leader of the group since the very beginning, but when it comes down to it she has made very little emotional growth throughout the series. She may make a good leader, but she isn’t mature enough to properly lead the paladins they way they need to be lead as Voltron. When is comes down to the tough decisions she tends to make the right decision overall, but her general actions are very volatile. Like when she was handling Lotor, her words were very harsh. She was attacking him verbally where she knew it would hurt, which is actually very childish. This would mean that she can’t actually talk Keith out of his current mindset, if anything she would only go to enrage him more.

Lance on the other hand has been shown to have made huge strides in his emotional growth. But is he ready to lead? He is the current pilot of red making it seem that if Keith were to run off that he would take over piloting the black lion, like how Keith took over after Shiro. I think that losing Keith again would ignite a change in Lance. But would it be enough?

Either way we still have an opening for a new pilot. Personally I think we have 2 possibilities. Lotor. JK. No, as much as I think it would think it’s awesome to bring lotor back and have him pilot one of the lions, with the probabilities of Keith leaving in the first half of the season being really high, there just isn’t a logical time to place Lotor being extracted from the quantum rift by either Voltron or Honerva. Yet. So our two actual options are probably going to be Acxa and Matthew Holt. They are the only two characters that have gotten enough devoted screen time to take a place piloting one of lions. We know that they are both talented pilots and warriors and their personalities would fit well with any openings in the dynamic.

Personally I believe that the best combination for this scenario would be with Lance piloting Black, Allura piloting Red, and Acxa piloting blue. Acxa is pretty cool headed, but she is also new to the whole “being good” thing. Although, I think that she would be willing to do whatever she could to help save Keith, because of how much of an inspiration he was to her. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that Acxa was originally save by Keith in the episode “Belly of the Weblum” and that was what inspired her to turn again Zethrid and Ezor. I specifically referenced the specific line “-but I knew that I had to find my own path. And it led me to you.” and how she looked at Keith when she said that. Keith means a lot to Acxa, but not in a romantic sense. He was a big part of her self discovery and as I said before an inspiration to her. Acxa piloting a lion also opens up an option to bring Zethrid and Ezor back into the scene and for the writers of the series to finally have them pick a side. Up until now Zethrid and Ezor have been more chaotic neutrals more than anything else, causing trouble for both sides. It would be nice to see our lesbian babies finally take a chill pill, join the paladins side, and get a nice happily ever after.

What about Allurance?

Hooray, I’m finally getting to the ships. That was sarcastic. Ships are always a very touchy topic for a lot of people, because there are a lot of different opinions out there and some people get really offended. I just want to say that I am not ship bashing, just speculating. This is my opinion on the logical course of action for the show to take. Anyway, so I have made a post before about why allurance shouldn’t become canon. But honestly? I think that Allura and Lances relationship is going to continue to go the way it’s been going. Allura and Lance are going to have several romantic/ flirtatious moments that will progress their relationship and maybe even a kiss. A lot of time passes at the end of Season 7 and so it gives them a lot of time to get closer.

Of course, I still believe everything I said before about this relationship being extremely unstable and it would have an effect on the team too. Particularly, I think it will seriously piss Keith off. Actually, all of the paladins will piss Keith off, but Allura and Lance specifically. Allura is the only paladin that stays focused on the mission and is always suspicious, but she puts her guard down and gets distracted easily when she is in a relationship. Keith is probably the only paladin who doesn’t actually have a life outside of Voltron at this point and is probably very focused on training and being ready in case another one of those random robots comes onto the scene, while everyone else is going to spend their time relaxing with their families or inventing, etc. and so on. So yeah. Boy is gonna be pissed (especially if you take into account his learning about everything that happened while he was gone, aka Lance dying). Hunk will probably think that it’s cute and Pidge will probably think that it’s totally gross. And the whole thing is just going to throw off the team dynamic, which will piss off Keith even more.

But then they are ambushed by Honerva and lets say two or three of those crazy Altean war robots or something and by the end of the battle Honerva retreats with Keith. See, I said earlier that Keith going away with Honerva will ignite a change in Lance and it’s true. Lance has always had a weird sort of obsession with Keith and he get easily pissed off/ hurt whenever Keith does something stupid. It’s a big part of their dynamic. It hit him pretty hard when Keith left to join the blades too, because Lance knows Keith. He can recognize that mullet anywhere. He knew why Keith was really leaving to join the blade and he was concerned.

Lance is going to become more hardened, in a sense, during his confusion with Keith leaving and probably the most determined to find Keith and kick his ass for being an idiot. Although, his obsession with Keith is going to be what finally breaks down his relationship with Allura. It was already really unstable and Lance and Allura will get into a fight, finally expressing their true feelings about their relationship. Allura will confront Lance about his fixation on finding Keith and Lance will blow her off, avoiding the topic, saying that she wouldn’t understand. Allura will continue to push Lance, concerned about what this means for their relationship. Lance will become overwhelmed and express that he feels that Allura is only in a relationship with him because Lotor is dead and he feels like a second choice. Allura will get angry at Lance for trying to compare himself to Lotor and Lance will take this in the wrong way, leading to him breaking things off with Allura and walking away from her. Allura will realize that she doesn’t actually feel hurt by Lance breaking up with her, because she didn’t have serious feelings for him. So yes, Allurance will be canon, but it will also be short lived, because of how unstable the relationship is.

What does this mean for Klance?

Well, there is an opening for Klance to happen, but its small and so they would have to play all their card right, but they are in a current position where they could make Klance canon. Although, it would be more towards the end of the show, as a resolve after having saved Keith from his own self destructive path, which is basically going to be one of the seasons bigger climaxes. But we will see some Klance pining moments, more specifically played out and hinted out through Lance. We will see some of this when Shiro comes out to the team as gay, but more of it when Shiro confronts Lance about his fixation on Keith after he breaks up with Allura. Although most actual Klance scenes will probably be more at the season finale so I will talk more about this later.

How to save Keith?

People have pointed out a lot of parallels between Lance and Alfor and Keith and Zarkon. So, some of the dedicated fans/ theorists probably have already figured out where I’m going with this. There has been a theory going around about there being a fight between Keith and Lance in Season 8, where Lance has his sword and him and Keith are doing hardcore one on one battle. And I honestly feel that this is going to be a necessary moment for the two of them.

This moment will likely be the first time any of the Paladins actually see Keith since his Galra transformation and Lance will immediately understand why Keith went with Haggar. Although, the two of them are terrible at communicating their feelings so they will have a full on battle. During all of this the other paladin and ATLAS will very likely be in battle with the Altean Robots, while Honerva is trying to open a portal into the quantum rift using the quintessence she got from Keith. And as everything explodes and the chaos goes down around the two of them are trying to beat the living shit out of each other somewhere on honervas ship. At some point, Lance will appeal to Keith’s emotional side and snap out of it telling him that he accepts him no matter what (and this would be a perfect opportunity to have them kiss, just saying) and the two of them walk out of there together.

How will they stop Honerva?

They won’t. With an army of insanely powerful Altean robots on her side, she will be able to successfully open the portal to the rift. So, what now? Well, I personally believe that Honerva will salvage Lotors ship from the rift and try to resurrect her son, but something will go wrong because of his overexposure to the raw quintessence in the rift. Which would cause Honerva to become overwhelmed with grief and she will either die or become incapacitated. I also believe that we will see a return of the dark monsters from in the rift and that the Galra (brought in by Zethrid and Ezor), Alteans, team Voltron, and ATLAS will have to team up in order to get rid of all the monsters and close the portal to the rift. It would be one big final fight to clean up the mess that started 10,000 years ago.

The aftermath:

The universe will be ushered into a new Era of peace. It will be a combined effort of the Galra empire, the Altean empire, the Blades, the Rebellion, Earth, and Voltron. Although, after 6-7 years of fighting in a war our Paladins would all finally retire from piloting the lions and the new team will take over, traveling the universe with the ATLAS and keeping peace, training under Shiro’s guidance. Wait, what new team? You know, these guys:

So yeah, they will be the new Paladins. But what will happen to our other Paladins? Well, Allura will take her place as rightful Queen of the Alteans with Romelle acting as her royal advisor, as Coran will be off with Shiro piloting the ATLAS and training the new paladins. Pidge will probably end up staying with her family on Earth, the Holts finally getting their peaceful happy ending, all of them together again. Hunk will end up with Shay living either on the Balmera or on Earth, which are right next to each other now so it doesn’t matter much. Krolia and Kolivan will continue to reestablish the Blade. And then, finally, there are Keith and Lance. I know, this is what everyone has been waiting for.

So I’m just going to straight up say that Keith becomes the next emperor of the Galra Empire. I don’t really have much for evidence for this besides the fact that Zarkon was the ex-emperor and that Keith has several parallels to him throughout the series and that him turning full Galra and his emotional growth throughout the series has made him into a great leader. Keith at the end of the series, doesn’t really have anywhere to go, because his mom is with the blades and he doesn’t really have any other family to go back to. If you think about it, it just kind of feels right, because Acxa already has a lot of respect for Keith and it would be pretty easy to persuade Zethrid and Ezor to respect him after everything that all of the half bloods have been through, Keith included. And so those three will act as his general as he brings order to the Galra empire.

What about Lance? Where is Klance? I am happy to say that I think that Lance will end up with Keith in the end and rule the Galra empire by Keith's side. Lance will be what reminds Keith of his humanity and keeps him balanced throughout his reign. He will provide Keith with the proper support that he has always needed, not to mention a whole new family to be a part of. And of course Cosmo would be the royal dog and blah blah blah. And yeah, just happy endings.

Hope you enjoyed, and feel free tell me what you think about all of this! Thanks for sticking with me!

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brothermouzongaming · 5 years

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Borderlands 3 review

Level 50 Zane, 15 Amara. Minor spoilers ahead World/Maps -The worlds you travel to are impressively large even though they're broken up into smaller sections; the term "smaller" is used very loosely. I may be wrong but these are by far the most areas and largest in the franchise and its kind of impressive. My favorite level is the Lectra City section of Promethea. It's both organized and maze-like where a gunfight can break out literally around every corner. All the sections are noticeably big and feel unique to the planet or area they represent with that "if it's on the map there's probably something there" design that not enough games take advantage of. -The color pallet is miles better than any previous game in the series. This game can be pretty but its even prettier when everything is blowing up and shit catching fire, particle effects are trying to fuck your eyeballs. The previous games were kind of bland color-wise, the pre-sequel did try and venture out more but this is way above that in my eyes. Gameplay/Guns/L00t

-The combat is sublime. I have heard people complain that doesn't feel much different but I think they are wrong and need to go back and play the less enthralling, less involved combat of the previous games. You didn't have many options in the first games when firefights broke out and it was dated but distinctly Borderlands. Now that the slide and mantle have been implemented (it's about time really), combat is faster and players can take advantage of high points and hit cover faster. The slide even has combat implications once you get to the later parts of the story. It's all very well worked and thought out as opposed to being just thrown in because it's what shooters do now. -The guns and gunplay are on par with Destiny, they may even be a little better when you consider how deep the loot is and how the stats visibly and tactically affect the guns they’re applied to. You get one Duke in D2 and you've pretty much got them all. Here you can get the same gun to drop and actually see and feel the difference between the stats it rolled with. The distinct differences in the manufacturers have really been leaned into as well. They reworked some of the distinct hallmarks of the makers and improved them to help ramp up the combat. This is minor but I really like how manufacturers will mail you guns the more you use theirs. -Vehicle controls are muddy as hell and will take a second to get used to. It’s definitely not the best possible setting even after messing with controls for a few minutes. The default kind of forces you to shoot where you’re looking unless you’re standing still, you may want a little more flexibility in your controls which is available. That said, the models and their functionality are varied and cool but I’m honestly surprised they haven’t perfected controls yet. Story/Writing

-The story is decent, wildly better than the actual writing and dialogue itself (which doesn't say that much) but once you get to the end there are some connection's made that are interesting and well thought out. Now that I've gotten the "good" out of the way. What the fuck is up with all the cutscenes not having our character in them. All events in cutscenes play out like our guy or girl isn't in the room and can't affect the events that play out in them. There will be so many times where you yell at the screen as to why your character is never seen/not doing anything in pivotal situations that could use a Vault Hunter. LIKE THE ONE THAT SHOULD BE STANDING RIGHT THERE. -Troy (male villain) literally says "You were like, 'My powers boo hoo'!!" which is a Handsome Jack reference. It would be nice and nostalgic if it wasn't the very first thing that comes out of his mouth when the Twins intercept you at the Dry Dock. Instead, it just seems beyond lazy and proves just how lacking in identity they both are. Tyrene is arguably worse, she just says things and then follows it with "I don't believe that," or " That's just something people say". That could show how little she cares and that would be fine if it wasn't the only thing about her that stood out. They almost do something interesting later in the story where Troy takes center stage but that lasts literally a boss fight. Both of them are just, underwhelming in almost every single way. All seldom the connection they have and how Troy is capable of being a Siren and Tyrene's seemingly completely unique and powerful abilities. Co-op, Optimization, and Performance

- Co-op will go from fluid and fantastic to laggy and rubber banding at the drop of a mag and it's as frustrating as it is thrilling as hell. It's strange what situations will slow things down and what runs smooth as hell. We had four people on one internet connection and everything ran really well. One day my friend and I tried with just us on Promethea and the session was so fucked I actually couldn't see or fire my guns at one point and I had to back out and come back to get them functioning again. There are definitely more patches coming but for a game boasting online co-op, it should be better. I will say though, level balancing is amazing and can even be quite useful if you want guns to drop at level no matter where you are in the game. People have been complaining about the UI and I totally understand, I don't mind the design, what I do mind is how obnoxious the input lag is. Oh and the weird glitch where as you scroll your inventory, the pictures of the items toward the bottom copy to rows above them. It's easy to fix in-game but...why is it even a thing? How have they not fixed that glitch where your FFYL timer just drops off despite still having time on the meter. It's happened since borderlands 1 maybe there's a certain amount of damage you can take before the timer doesn't matter anymore? I genuinely don't understand it and on boss fights, it's infuriating to lose money when you could've gotten a kill for your second wind. Misc. -Of course, the first patch they put out isn't to fix the performance issues but to kill the Loot Tink farm on at the Jakob estates. A farm you can still do offline fyi ;) A billion guns and you mad people getting a slightly higher chance at getting the guns they’re just gonna get anyway. WHY -The trinkets are cute but useless, why not put a minor stat buff on them to actually give them reason? They're so small they almost don't exist to me. -Also, that end credits song is absolutely terribly chosen. The end sequence, in general, is just strange and seemed a little forced. Not how they presented it but what exactly they showed because as perplexing as it was to see what I did, I was just more upset I didn't get the development of those scenarios to see how we reached the outcome. I'm trying not to spoil things but it's difficult so I'll just be quiet. I'm not even sure of what I saw but I do know what it looked like. I just wish there was more background given since our character gets literally none. -REALLY weird cameos. Like, really strange. tl;dr BL3 is an 8.5 for me which flys in the face of my many criticisms but I can't deny how fantastic the gameplay is on top of the absolute wealth of content delivered, all without the modern monetization bullshit. The story is meh, writing meh, but god damn if it isn't rewarding in its gameplay. IF you like BL as a whole there's no reason not to play unless you're waiting for the Steam release. An Endgame post is in the works.

#Borderlands 3 #Gearbox #2k games #video games #gaming

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