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mumms-the-word · 15 days

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Illithid Souls - Part 3

The Case Studies: Karlach and Gale

Welcome to the third and final part of this wild deep dive rabbit hole monstrosity that is the three-part series about illithid souls and whether mind flayers, or specifically you as a mind flayer, have a soul.

If you read Part 1 and Part 2, then you know that yes, illithids have souls, they're just different souls that the gods don't recognize as souls because they're non-apostolic, or incapable of divine worship (as opposed to being apostolic like most humanoid souls). You now also know that you turning into a mind flayer is a bit of a special case because of the Netherese magic in the tadpoles, and this might be why you retain more of your soul than normal mind flayers would.

Also, a quick reminder of the two theories we're working with here: Theory 1 is that when someone becomes a mind flayer they essentially just die and their (apostolic) soul moves on to the Fugue Plane and the mind flayer body just gets a new illithid soul from somewhere. Theory 2 is that when someone becomes a mind flayer their soul is transformed and altered into an illithid soul, which remains tethered to the mind flayer body. BG3 seems to operate more on the Theory 2 side of things, but as we'll see with Karlach and Gale, it's more complicated than you think.

So let's deep dive, shall we?

The Case of Karlach

I'm going to be candid here and say that the mind flayer ending for Karlach makes me really sad, even knowing that there's a very high chance that her soul is mostly intact and she is mostly still Karlach. But there's no denying she's at least a little different, though the game tries to comfort us otherwise after she transforms.

Narrator: *She is transformed. Her body is no longer hers, but her eyes, her heart - she is still Karlach, for now. Only - there's a hunger in her eyes that wasn't there before.*

That "for now" is rather ominous, isn't it? But we have enough evidence from Tav/Durge/other Origins and Orpheus to suggest that the likelihood of her retaining her memories and her personality is very high. In fact, when you talk to her during the epilogue, she does seem mostly the same, though her language has mellowed out to a more formal tone and she speaks less colloquially (and swears less and less).

If you talk to her immediately after she transforms, she marvels that she's still "herself" but also "more," which again reinforces that we all get to be special mind flayers who don't completely lose our souls. But I think there are some interesting lines in this dialogue:

Karlach: This is wild. I'm myself but... but more. Player: I don't like the sound of that. Karlach: Don't worry, soldier. It's still your old pal under all this purple. But suddenly 'I' am different than I ever knew. And my engine, it's... it's... silent. No heat. No gears. Still there, but no longer threatening to explode. Soldier... Player: I guess turning into an illithid has its perks. Karlach: Here I thought I was making a sacrifice. Thank the gods I'm a noble fuck! Shit. I'm gonna be all right. I get to be alive. I get to stay. As a hideous monster, sure. But one that can feel. Think. Live. But I'm still myself. And I know what our mission is. I'm glad I get to the do the honours.

Karlach reiterates over and over that she's still herself, but you can literally hear the change in her voice. Where normally her tone and volume would be boisterous, loud, and energetic, she's now calm and mellow, even when she's swearing. Her tone here is more one of wonder. It isn't just the internal and external fires that have calmed down, her overall demeanor seems "cooler" too.

Also, in her romance ending just before the epilogue, where you're both in the Elfsong Tavern room, you can mention that she does seem a little altered.

Player: I still love you, Karlach. I still want to be with you. Karlach: I love you too. Before, that love was an irrepressible inferno. Now it is a calm, cool object of beauty. Player: I can see you're still yourself, but there's something else in there too. An illithid calm. Karlach: Maybe you're right. I feel less... changeable. Less afraid. I feel ready for whatever is to come.

It doesn't tell us much, but it does reinforce that when we or any of our companions turn into a mind flayer, we likely retain a lot of our former personality, but in a much more calm, even-keeled kind of way. Again going back to the idea that our soul is still there, still mostly the same, but has been made a bit more illithid.

What is more interesting for Karlach, specifically, is her discussion of her diet as a mind flayer. Remember what souls are allegedly made up of? Intelligence, personality, and what else?

Memories.

Karlach: For example, my favourite food used to be mutton chops. Do you know what it is now? Brains, soldier. Brains. Player: Comes with the illithid territory, I suppose. Karlach: True. But I've found ways to maintain my values while respecting that which I am - that which made it possible for me to live. I've made arrangements with a healer in the city. When a patient is beyond saving, but still able to speak for themselves, they're offered a choice. They can go as nature intends to take them. Or, when they're ready - when their goodbyes have been said, their affairs settled, and all that awaits them is pain - I relieve them. When I consume their brains, I am nourished by much more than the physical nutrition. Their memories - from birth to death - become part of me. I've lived hundreds of childhoods, first loves, marriages, feuds and friendships. I remember them all. And in this way, we all live on. Together.

There's so much to unpack here. One, she still remembers her values, even six months later, but is trying to negotiate her former humanoid values (and personality, I imagine) with her needs as a mind flayer. That seems very Karlach, through and through.

But then, when she consumes these dying patients' brains, she absorbs and retains their memories. I imagine their souls still go on to the Fugue Plane, because I highly doubt that mind flayers also consume souls when they eat brains, but it still leaves me with questions. Karlach isn't part of a hivemind, which normally circulates memories between each other, but she's becoming a similar kind of receptacle for memories, and only she is the one that contains them, rather than an entire hivemind.

I have to wonder how much something like constantly consuming and remembering memories that are not your own affects you as a person/creature. Does that eventually lead to a loss of self, as you begin to "live" multiple different lives? Or does it all count as mere knowledge?

In some ways this would put her in competition with any elder brains still out there, but she's also not collecting knowledge for the sake of knowledge. She's collecting memories and living them out in her mind, which is a certain kind of tragedy. She's literally living vicariously through these people because her mind flayer body is too scary to go out and about in, and she's making up for a decade of life she didn't get to live. She's alive, but she's not...living if that makes sense. And again...how long before all these memories start to change who she is?

(An aside. I really don’t think her eating brains and collecting memories keeps someone’s soul from moving on. If you use the spell Speak with Dead, you don’t call back an entire soul, but the corpse still has access to its memories. I think in this case, even though memories make up part of a soul, Karlach consuming brains and collecting memories is more like her downloading a copy of the memories for herself. The dead person likely still takes their own memories with them to the Fugue Plane, where they will be judged by Kelemvor or collected by their favorite deity. She’s just copy/pasting data, not transferring everything from one hard drive to another, if that analogy makes sense.)

This arrangement where Karlach consumes the brains of dying patients is expanded or clarified a bit if you're romancing her during the epilogue, and also includes a reference to souls as well.

Karlach: I can’t wait to say hello, but to be honest, I’m keen to visit the doctor before it gets too late. He said there’s a potential in his infirmary. A very old woman recently diagnosed with a wasting sickness. She seemed interested in what I have to offer. I’ll want to have a good long talk with her before we make an arrangement. Though if I’m being very selfish, I hope she’ll say yes. I’m absolutely famished - and think of all those memories. Player: Glad to hear. I was worried you were getting hungry. Karlach: I don’t hide it well, do I? Some things don’t change, even when everything else does. It’s funny. I’m hungry in my body, but in my soul too. That woman has lived a long life - births, deaths, love, misfortune. And if she agrees, I’ll be able to give her a dignified end, and remember it all in her honour.

Or if you go with a different option:

Player: I'm still not sure how I feel about this arrangement. Are you sure it's ethical to feed on the dying? Karlach: I'm sure of very little these days. But at least this way, I can live. And those who offer themselves to me can live on too. Births, first loves, marriages, losses - I remember them all and always will. Each memory I've consumed is of value.

It's just so interesting to me. One, her remark that she's eager to say hello but slightly more interested in chatting to a doctor about her next meal suggests that some elements of becoming a mind flayer are much harder to ignore. I imagine if she's hungry, she feels less like Karlach. (And I have thoughts, for another post, about whether she becomes "too fixated" on living when she's a mind flayer, given the cost of what it means to stay alive as a mind flayer.)

But she also says she's hungry in her soul. Her soul seems deeply interested in these memories, and I wonder if that's because memories are (or could be) part of souls themselves. Maybe the remark isn't really that deep, but she specifically connects the hunger of her soul to all the memories a long-lived woman will have. It's almost as if these memories nurture her soul, but it's unclear whether that is because it's somehow healing to see and "experience" life in ways she can't now that she's a mind flayer, or if it's because the memories have some kind of tangible effect on her soul/souls in general.

I suppose we won't know for sure. What we do know from Karlach's case, however, is that a great deal of the original soul (personality, memories, etc) seems to stick around even six months later, though there are noticeable changes in personality, such as an overall calm demeanor. There are also hints that consuming brains could lead to further changes down the road, but there's nothing really concrete. Just hints.

In the end, Karlach is still Karlach, and her soul still has plenty of elements of the original Karlach, even six months later. This is a good sign, but we can't completely ignore that her new body/mind as a mind flayer will necessarily mean some things have permanently changed. Whether you judge those changes as good or bad is up to you.

With that said, let's move on to the final and most mind-boggling case.

The Case of Gale

If you play a companion as an Origin run, the mind flayer decision typically works out the same way as Tav...unless you're playing as Gale. Gale gets some extra options at the end of the game.

This is mostly because Gale has perhaps the most apostolic soul that hangs in the balance, second only to Shadowheart, and her soul pendulum swings between Selûne and Shar. Gale, however, seems to be walking on a knife's edge trying to retain or earn back entry into Elysium, Mystra's domain in the Outer Planes. He's allegedly already been there, though not as a dead soul, so he knows what's at stake if his soul suddenly becomes non-apostolic or disappears.

In other words, Gale has a formerly Faithful apostolic soul, but he spends much of the game probably worried his soul will be judged as False when he dies (since he lost Mystra's favor) until Mystra offers her brand of forgiveness, which is essentially "if you sacrifice your own life, I'll let you into Elyisum again." It's a guarantee that he ends up in the afterlife he wants to be in. That's what Mystra's forgiveness really boils down to.

Now, this is a man who does not want to sacrifice his soul, and also (Netherese orb aside) does not want to die if his soul is going to be judged as False by Kelemvor rather than welcomed into Elysium as a Faithful soul. We know that Gale finds the Fugue Plane exceedingly depressing, so I can't imagine he has any desire to wander around it for any stretch of time, even if Mystra does eventually deign to invite him into Elysium. I'm sure the thought of becoming part of the Wall of the Faithless might as well be hell to him.

Gale: It’s a relief to be back in beautiful Faerûn. The dreariness of the Fugue Plane oppresses one’s soul so very quickly.

[mumm's note: yes my man died in service of a Tactician battle against Grym, but he got better]

It's a little surprising to see how adamantly Gale would prefer to choose the Netherese orb over letting himself or anyone he cares for become illithid. Look at some of what he says when he tries to offer the orb as an option for the final battle:

Gale: An easy proposition for the Emperor to make - 'become a mind flayer' - it has no soul to sacrifice. If it did - perhaps it would understand the weight of what it's asking of us. And why we might seek an alternative.

I couldn't get this next dialogue to trigger in my game, but in the same conversation as above you might potentially get the option to remind him about Mystra's offer to cure his orb condition, and even then he reminds you of the stakes that come with becoming a mind flayer.

Player: Mystra will cure you if we bring her the Crown of Karsus. You don't need to do this. Gale: To cure me of the orb, yes. But what of the guilt of allowing one of my friends to sacrifice their very soul and become illithid?

Now keep in mind, up to this point no one has shown any evidence that turning into a mind flayer won't actually mean the total destruction of one's soul. Up until now, the only evidence anyone has of an original soul remaining intact inside a mind flayer body is the Emperor (we have no frame of reference for who Omeluum was before he was a mind flayer), and most of the companions do not trust the Emperor one bit. So Gale genuinely thinks that becoming a mind flayer means your soul is either destroyed or changed so much that it's no longer you.

I mean, think about it. He's half expecting you to take the tadpole the Emperor offers and literally cease to exist. He's expecting to fight alongside a mind flayer who has, at best, your name and a few scraps of your memory, and at worst, no shred of you at all. Because again, up until this point in the game, none of them realize that they could become a special mind flayer who does actually retain most (if not all) of their soul, including their personality and memories.

Gale literally thinks that blowing up and going to the Fugue Plane is better than you or any companion becoming a mind flayer.

But that's in a companion run. Obviously, if you play him as an Origin, you can have him turn into a mind flayer as a different kind of ultimate sacrifice. The decision plays out the same as a Tav/Durge run or any other Origin run. But after the game ends, Gale gets unique dialogue if he (1) sacrifices himself or (2) does not sacrifice himself and goes to meet Mystra with the Crown in hand.

Any run of his sacrifice (aka, using the orb, regardless of whether or not he is illithid) results in Withers finding him in the Fugue Plane for a brief conversation. This conversation isn't much different if Gale is a mind flayer when he uses the orb, since all it does is add an extra option to their conversation that references being illithid ("One illithid for the whole of Faerûn seems like a fair trade to me," which replaces the option "One wizard for the whole of Faerûn...etc").

(An aside, I don't have an Origin Gale run so I can't test this, but I think if he ends his life on the docks as a mind flayer, the way Tav/Durge can with a knife got the stomach, then he just gets the usual Tav/Durge conversation with Withers about how his form has "something of the spirit" about him. See Part 2 if you're curious about that conversation.)

What this conversation with Withers reveals is how much control Mystra seems to have over his soul, especially if/when he's a mind flayer. If Gale decides to sacrifice himself using the Netherese Orb, Withers remarks about how surprising it is that Mystra hasn’t picked him up yet.

Withers: Who flickers there ‘twixt the shadows? Gale, who didst surrender his very self for the salvation of Faerûn. I feared I might not find thee here - that Mystra would have already plucked thy thread from the tapestry of fate. But she may wait a while yet.

It’s a little unclear if Withers uses “plucked thy thread from the tapestry of fate” to mean Gale gets to go to Elysium or something else, and it’s equally unclear whether Mystra waiting is a sign of displeasure or a sign that she is interested in sending Gale back to the Material Plane. She is capable of doing that, after all, and has frequently resurrected her Chosens, like Elminster, if it suits her.

But I highlight this conversation to show that you can get it as a mind flayer, and (if you are a mind flayer during this scene) that Mystra waiting isn't because he's a mind flayer and she can't find his soul. She waits for a minute regardless of whether he's illithid or not. But Withers is certain Mystra will be able to find Gale's soul, because he was able to find Gale's soul and recognize it as Gale.

So, not to harp on this again and again, but it's proof that turning into a mind flayer didn't destroy Gale's soul. It's still Gale's soul, even in the Fugue Plane, even if he's mind-flayer-shaped, and that soul is still capable of journeying to Elysium, should Mystra bother to find it wandering the Fugue Plane (or wherever he is).

But things are a little different if Gale decides to become a mind flayer and then goes to visit Mystra with the Crown of Karsus in hand. Keep in mind, Origin!Gale always has the option to face off against Mystra after the defeat of the Netherbrain, and this face-off is where he decides to hand over the Crown, become the god of ambition, or straight up try to fight Mystra.

However! If Gale is a mind flayer, he gets a secret fourth option.

If Gale goes to meet Mystra as an illithid with the Crown of Karsus and then gives up the Crown to her, Mystra offers to take Gale to Elysium with her. More than that, she offers to literally restore his humanity and cure him of illithidness.

Sort of.

Mystra: So, Gale of Waterdeep, you have become the inheritor of Karsus’ powers at last. What do you intend to do with them? Gale: I came to surrender them. The Crown, the Karsite Weave - take it all. Mystra: This offering cost you greatly. There is no hope in life as an illithid, devoid of soul and conscience. It is within my power to restore your soul, and your humanity, if you are willing to leave the mortal realms behind. Return with me, to Elysium.

No one else is offering this kind of deal to an Origin-turned-mind-flayer. Selûne and Shar don’t care if Shadowheart turns illithid, and Withers isn’t exactly offering to restore souls and humanity (or…mortalness?) to everyone else. This is a signifier of the sheer amount of power Mystra has, yes, but this also hints at some other things.

One, despite evidence of the contrary, Mystra is adamant that Gale-as-illithid is or would be “devoid of soul and conscience,” even though we know that that likely isn’t true (just see Karlach, Tav/Durge, etc). Perhaps Mystra is unaware that Gale is a Special Mind Flayer (seems unlikely), or perhaps she’s simply trying to convince Gale to come with her. After all, what she’s offering is still a kind of reward.

Then again, maybe Gale and/or Mystra fear the long-term effects of illithidness. Maybe over time he would become less and less like Gale, perhaps due to consuming memories, or other factors that come with being a mind flayer. Still, though, saying that his life would be "devoid of soul and conscience" seems like a massive stretch on Mystra's part.

But anyway, the reward for him turning into a mind flayer and giving her the Crown is a restoration of his humanity...but only in death.

Mystra: Return with me, to Elysium. Devnote: respectful - Gale sacrificed his humanity to achieve what she asked. If he’s willing to die on the mortal planes, she will restore his soul and body but in the heavens.

Now before I get to what happens if Gale agrees to this reward, I want to point out that Mystra herself sort of acknowledges that Gale isn't exactly devoid of soul and conscience if he refuses her offer. Here are some of the ways Gale can turn her down, with her answer to each option being the same:

Gale: [Option 1] Thank you, but no. I have someone waiting for me. Gale: [Option 2] Perhaps one day, but for now there is more I need to accomplish. Gale: [Option 3] Being an illithid has its advantages. I'm content as I am. Mystra: Then you are free to go with both my thanks and my promise - henceforth, your prayers will always be answered.

The whole idea of an apostolic soul is that it means the person is capable of worshipping a divine being, and this worship ncludes prayers. She might have said that him being illithid would mean he would be devoid of soul and conscience, but in nearly the same breath she promises to answer all his prayers. So she recognizes something of a soul within him. So why say he would be devoid of soul?

Of course, things get weird if Gale accepts her offer to be restored and go to Elyisum. If Gale agrees, then she fulfills her promise and even restores his place as one of her Chosen.

Gale: I crave nothing more. Take me to Elysium. Mystra: So be it. Gale of Waterdeep, Chosen of Mystra. Cinematic Tag: Mystra transforms Mindflayer Gale back to his human form (hollow) and grabs Gale’s hand. They return to Elysium.

This is wild to me. You see, originally when I started this project I thought I was going to be writing posts about how interesting it is that when you become a mind flayer, your soul is probably hanging out in the Fugue Plane or something, and eventually I’d suggest that Mystra is able to restore Gale’s soul to him because it’s already gone to her domain or she knows how to find it because he used to be so faithful to her. But none of that works now.

Because now I’m convinced that the Netherese tadpole changes everyone into a Special Mind Flayer whose soul is still present in their mind flayer bodies, just altered or transformed. So what’s up with this stuff from Mystra? She recognizes Gale as Gale even when he's a mind flayer and promises to answer his prayers, so clearly there's some kind of apostolic soul thing going on here. So why does she offer to "restore his soul," and also, why only in death?

She does say that she will restore Gale’s humanity, so now I assume that somehow her powers allow her to un-alter Gale’s soul so that it isn’t so illithid anymore. My idea is that she’s essentially restoring his soul to its former state and not, as we might otherwise infer, literally giving him his soul back, as if it were separate from his body. Gale’s soul is still in his mind flayer body, if all the rest of the evidence holds any water, so Mystra must have merely changed it back to the way it was.

quick picture break, this is from Northalix's video, linked below

Which makes me wonder, can a completely original, apostolic-type soul exist in an illithid body? Or does the body dictate that the soul must be somewhat illithid in order to be compatible?

Because the thing is, this deal comes with an ultimatum. She’s not going to let him go back to the mortal realms after she’s restored his soul. She probably could—she’s probably capable of doing that, if only by giving him a completely new body (she's done that before with Elminster). But she doesn’t. The cure comes with a cost. He only gets to be human again if he agrees to die completely and join her in Elysium. There is no undoing the illithid sacrifice, which seems more like a game limitation than a Mystra limitation (although we can certainly brainstorm reasons why Mystra would be so petty as to basically say "I can make you human again but only if you die completely.")

I want to point out that Mystra doesn't offer to let Gale come back to Elysium as a dead guy if he's not a mind flayer. Like, we don't get the sparkly ascension scene if he blows up with the Netherese orb, we get the Withers visit in the Fugue Plane. This Elysium offer is an illithid-only option. If he's not a mind flayer and he returns the Crown, she cures him of the Netherese Orb and sends him back. There's no option to join her in Elysium. Why is this an illithid-only option?

Also, just...I need you to watch the scene.

youtube

There's a lot that bothers me about this. One, the gestures she makes are the exact gestures God!Gale makes when he ascends Tav/Durge if they romanced him and agreed to become a god with him. Do with that what you will. But two...it just gives me the ick. This is a different kind of ascension for Gale. It's a restoration of his place in Elysium, but it ultimately means his premature death. If this is the route you take as him...it's hardly better than him sacrificing himself using the Netherese Orb without becoming a mind flayer. Only this time, we get to see the scene where he goes to Elysium, I guess.

It also massively complicates the whole idea that everyone gets to be a special mind flayer with a mostly-intact, mostly-apostolic soul. If the soul didn't change, why does Mystra need to "restore" it? And if it did change, why is Mystra the only one capable of un-changing it back to its original form (is it because he’s her Chosen and is/was so faithful)?And if such a thing is possible, why offer it and then say "but you're dead now"?

It seems as though her "fixing" Gale's soul was really just her...I don't know, separating it from his physical mind flayer body so the illithid anatomy wouldn't mess with it as much, and then dusting off his soul, which is now bodyless, and taking it with her to Elysium. I'm not saying that's what she did, but that's the weird vibes I get from this interaction. Like, there seems to be some kind of implication that you can't have a fully humanoid, apostolic soul housed within an illithid body. The soul has to be altered somehow to work with the illithid body.

So why not just give him a new body, Mystra??? Fix is soul and give him a new body! You’re absolutely capable of that!

I have so many questions.

Of course, keep in mind that Gale can reject her, obviously, and return to the mortal realms as a mind flayer. She does acknowledge that he has at least something of a soul that can pray to her so...I mean, there's that.

Anyways, what have we learned?

The Summary

With Karlach, we see that being a mind flayer does necessarily change parts of a person's personality (which, again, is part of their soul). Usually this results in a person seeming calmer, more mellow, less emotional than they normally would have been, but it does seem that for Tav/Durge, the companions, and Orpheus that turning into a mind flayer doesn't completely destroy their soul. It just seems to alter it a bit. In my opinion, the soul just becomes a tiny bit more illithid. Karlach’s case does leave us with questions about how “good” consuming and retaining so many memories might be in the long run, but as of six months post-ceremorphosis, she seems fine.

From Gale, we learn that apparently it's possible to restore or un-alter a partly-illithid soul so that it goes back to normal, but this power is extremely rare and likely relegated to the gods alone (or a particularly powerful Wish spell). We're also reminded that keeping recognizable parts of one's soul, like the personality and memories, is a huge surprise, because that's not how normal mind flayers work. We know this from Orpheus, but Gale just kinda reinforced it.

I guess we also learned that Mystra is a massive—but I should keep this civil. We all know what Mystra is.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that she's unwilling to accept Gale into her domain while he is still a mind flayer, even though his soul obviously would fit the bill based on what a soul is/does for the gods. He has a viable apostolic soul, it’s just mind-flayer-shaped!I'm sure Mystra thinks she's being magnanimous by offering him eternity as a human in Elysium, but I think it ultimately just shows how shallow she can be. Gale only gets to come back if he’s not mind flayer shaped.

And I think, deep down, Gale has always suspected that would be the case.

And on that familiar note, my friends, thank you for joining me on this excessively long deep dive into mind flayer souls and things we can learn from the game and the lore.

~*~*~

If you made it to the end, congrats! More gold stars for you!

✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨

If you read through all three parts and also made it to the end of this one, you are the real MVP and I wish I had stickers or achievements to give you so you can be like "I survived another three-part deep dive from mumm." But I don't even have a lousy T-Shirt to offer you.

You can have this random picture instead though :> it's my Tav Dani looking very unimpressed by the Emperor's offer of sexy times (sorry not sorry Empy, she's got a man and his name is Gale and she prefers him and all her friends to be tentacle-free)

Enjoy the lore and remember that it's all up to you to decide what you want to keep or reject! I'm just showing you what's out there!

Tags for those who wanted an update! @galesdevoteewife @stuffforthestash

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 meta #bg3 lore #bg3 deep dive #bg3 discourse #gale #gale dekarios #karlach #mind flayer #IT'S DONE #this is the wildest one I think and the one I wanted to write the most so #yay #why do I DO THIS to myself omg

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katapotato55 · 1 year

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How to write good horror.

1- DON'T EXPLAIN WHAT THE HORROR IS. DON'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING. no context = more scary. "oh but it is just a ghost- " YES. you know that, I know that, but things are way more scary if you don't explain it. let your audience scare themselves trying to figure it out! the first FNAF game didn't explain anything it was just "ok these machines are kind aggro". that is part of what made it popular! (And truthfully this reason is why i dislike the other games in the series) i can't name how many horror movies i immediately lost interest in because it was explained. "oh no! there is blood dripping from the walls! " its demons or ghosts or whatever. you explained it. it isn't scary now that you explained the joke. if you have to explain what it is, explain it at the END of the story or near the climax at best. (or better yet, don't explain at all) 2- restraint is key i know it is tempting to show organs and blood dripping from the walls and someone eating out a corpse or whatever but don't outright show that kind of stuff ALL THE TIME or else your audience becomes desensitized to it, and if horror fans are reading/watching your work, chances are they are going to think this is weaksauce. you need to be SUBTLE when building up suspense in your story. don't show the real scary bits until the end of the buildup/ 3- normalicy and familiarity is key i am going to use bugsnax as an example. bugsnax has no gore and can be considered child friendly, but what made bugsnax scare people is that it has the facaude of a cutesy little game. doki doki lit club has a simmular principle where its like a normal dating sim but you are caught off guard and things feel off. this is a valuable tool. 4- be original and understand why the more popular ones are popular in the first place everyone has done analogue horror. why ? because we are all so used to modern technology that older televisions and tech seem kinda creepy. Blue_channel by gooseworks is one of my favorites. It gets right to the point, and while it DOES explain what the product is, it doesn't go "oooh death and scary!!! oooooooh!" it lets the audience make up their own horrifying reason as to what is happening here. saying "oooooooh look murder your parents ooooh!" isn't scary, and putting a glitchy tv filter over it isn't going to make it more scary. and finally 5- describe the unfamiliar i know i just said familiarity is key but that is only 1/2 of the equation. Everywhere at the end of time depicts the sounds of memory degrading in an alzheimers patients. this is an experience that no one could relate to except for those who are experiencing it (and sadly, those people are either dead or mentally comatose) this is also why lovecraft horror is loved, because we can only imagine so much before the lack of understanding drives you insane. hope this helps, for the love of all that is good, please stop writing bad horror.

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gnomeantics · 8 months

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for those unable to attend the livestream i present:

NOTES FROM THE HATCHETFIELD HALLOWEEN PARTY 14th October 2023, 01:00 BST (my time!) / 13th October 2023, 17:00 PDT (their time!)

Note: These notes are at times a little nonsensical and useless and just quotes. This is because it lasted from 01:00-04:00 for me meaning I was incredibly tired. Please bear with <3

Section 1: Nerdy Prudes Must Die talkback

Started with chiptune of Feast or Famine and then chiptune of Jane’s A Car

Steph’s dad may be dead but at least she has a boyfriend <3

Joey was eating beef and potato stew for most of the first segment

When Jeff was asked for the inspiration for The Summoning: “[…] I don’t know. That just popped in my head. It could be true.” (His answer was Wizard of Oz.)

Section 2: Hatchet Town Trivia Challenge

I tried to keep track of “chat vs cast” points but lost count and failed rather miserably

Nora’s last name is Beanie. Nora Beanie

Jeff is “an avid lover of baby-water” (water pure enough for babies to drink) and “widely known as Doctor Spreadsheets” (my notes just say “baseball game”)

Every time the world destroys, Ted dies twice: once as Ted, once as homeless guy

Lex helped deliver Hannah by teleporting her out of the womb through the Black and White

Greenpeace Girl’s name is Harmony Jones!

Wilbur Cross murdered Duke Senior (Duke Keane’s dad) this may be explored in future.

Section 3: Workin’ Boys

All of my “notes” here are just gushing about the characters. I have written nothing useful enough to be put here

Section 4: Workin’ Boys talkback

Chad was not included in WB because it was deemed that nobody could live up to the legend. This spawned the “Darren 4 Chad” movement in chat

The Workin’ Boys album will be out around next week if all goes to plan. It is 5 tracks and would include Mariah’s version of the Show Stoppin’ Number monologue as well as at least some of her singing it (as seen in the show; hoping for a full version!!)

Mariah’s character in the audience was called Woman.

Lauren’s character in the audience was Courtney, Thrash’s girlfriend from Killer Track

Paul Gabriel’s character was Paul Gabriel

Linda Monroe auditioned for Workin’ Girls and was the only one who didn’t get a part (Ruth was chosen over her). This is why she was happy to see it crash and burn

The programmes made for Workin’ Girls had very detailed bios, which hopefully when in full quality will be readable when paused. This may set up the potential for the Workin’ Girls actresses to be in future HF projects where this can be explored

Jaime will hopefully be in the next Starkid musical!!!!

The Black Book was originally supposed to debut in Workin’ Boys, in its original form in 2020

The 2020 version was planned as a feature-length film but eventually it was decided that it was confusing and remodelled.

The Summoning was supposed to be in Workin’ Boys – the producer would have tricked Hidgens into making the girls perform a ritual; it was realised that this didn’t make much sense so the song was transferred to NPMD

Section 5: The Future Of Hatchetfield

Hatchetfield was supposed to be finished by 2020

Starkid is not going to be exclusively Hatchetfield in the future; their next full-length musical will not be Hatchetfield

NMT3 is hopefully going to happen provided there is enough interest! It was supposed to happen in the same year as NMT2 but they take a long time to write (much longer than a full musical) so that couldn’t happen

NMT3 would conclude Lex and Hannah’s story after Yellow Jacket

It would be produced more face to face like a TV show – Nick said “less Zoom call-y”

It would include stories withheld from NMT1 and NMT2

It would entirely depend on how much interest, particularly views on NMT2.

It would be Halloween themed.

“More things akin to Workin’ Boys would be nice” - Nick

The episodes would be:

Bottle Imps

“Bill Woodward has been chosen to test CCRP’s latest and greatest product: Bottle Imps. These reality-bending buddies will bring their owner the one thing they desire most. When his new imp, Lovely, leads him to his soulmate, Bill decides to use his magical companion to play matchmaker. But to help Charlotte find the man of her dreams, Bill will have to bend the Imp’s rules. Rules he’s been warned, must never be broken…”

Frankenruth

“Desperate to see a naked body, Ruth Fleming and Richie Lipschitz volunteer at the morgue of St. Damian’s Hospital. Their terrible plan becomes exponentially more terrible, when they become unwitting subjects in the experiments of the body-snatching madman, Doctor Lazlo, who claims to have conquered death itself. If Hatchetfield thought Ruth was bad before, then they will cower before the unspeakable horror of… Frankenruth!”

Becky Barnes Climbed A Tree

“Becky Barnes is on top of the world! Not in a literal sense, of course. She’s deathly afraid of heights. After years of struggle, Becky’s life is finally everything she dreamed it would be. She’s engaged to her High School sweetheart, Tom Houston, and the two have a surprise baby on the way! But as the couple prepared for the arrival of Baby Marie, a shadow from Becky’s past returns to haunt them.”

Devil’s Night

“Tim Houston has a crush. Unfortunately, it’s on his older, mature, and totally cool babysitter, Grace Chasity, who he fears will never see him as anything but a snot-nosed little kid. But when a devilish maniac with murderous designs on Grace attacks Hatchetfield the night before Halloween, Tim must protect his beloved, or join the killer’s growing body count. It’s another slashing adventure on the night HE came home… Devil’s Night.”

Miss Holloween

“It’s Halloween in Hatchetfield once again, and Miss Holloway is celebrating the same way she’s done for decades, staving off the horrors that go bump in the night. But when Duke gives her an invitation to his wedding, the dejected Miss Holloway begins to chafe under the terms of a contract forged many years ago. She strikes a new bargain, but unfortunately her creditors are known for their tricks, not treats. Just as Miss Holloway gives up her powers in exchange for a mortal life, a monstrous new threat rears its ugly head. As All Hallows Eve descends, and all Hell breaks loose, Miss Holloway must save the town or die trying… for real this time.”

Orbweaver

“Lex Foster had a life once. A home. A boyfriend. Now there is only the road, and her sister, and the fear of the men who are hunting them. As Hannah Foster watches Lex sink deeper into despair, she is certain of only three things: Webby is gone. She cannot help them. They are alone. Elsewhere, an old soldier awakens from a catatonic state. Returned from some unimaginable Hell with a mission. He knows that somewhere two magical girls require immediate evac… then maybe some coffee.”

As NPMD was conceived of first, it was supposed to be a Nerdy Prudes series: Nerdy Prudes Must Die, Horny Campers Must Die… (this was turned into NMT2’s Abstinence Camp)

The next Hatchetfield full-length musical would probably be about Miss Holloway if there was enough interest.

There is the possibility of a full movie set in Hatchetfield if there is enough interest. (Workin’ Boys was like a trial for how Hatchetfield works in film)

It would be called Cast Party Massacre

“The Hatchetfield Community Players. You will never find a cattier troupe of two-faced thespians. But when the blood begins to flow at their latest show’s cast party, they must consider: is there a secret murderer in their midst? And more importantly, who amongst them is a good enough actor to pull off such a performance? Can they set aside their petty squabbles and tangled romances, or is it curtains for this ensemble? Who will survive… the Cast Party Massacre!”

It would possibly feature the girls from Workin’ Boys.

The licencing rights to TGWDLM will be available soon!

#that took fucking AGES to type out #it's almost 5am now i'm going to bed #thhat was SUCH a good livestream though!!!#starkid #npmd spoilers #<- vaguely? a little? best be safe #hall of fame #yapping

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akabaka-dev · 13 days

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Can I ask, what made you think of the "date to die for" thing.

I mean, what did you think when writing the story? (I love your games.)

So way back in 2021, SFL was first conceptualized as part of a game-jam style game collection (Dread X Collection 2), where the theme was adapting Lovecraftian lore. That version of the game you can play for free as Sucker for Love: Prelude on steam. After that iteration, our publisher signed Akabaka for a three game contract

The Sucker for Love story was loosely planned from the start as a 3 game narrative, with interconnected stories following different protagonists and their romantic encounters with the Outer Gods. The original plans were to first expand Sucker for Love: Prelude into a full, dating-sim game, with the protag, Darling, attempting to win a kiss from multiple detailed Eldritch ladies. Cthulu, the King in Yellow, and Nyarlathotep are 3 of the most recognizable lovecraftian gods with a lot of lore to pull from (along with Azathoth and the Black Goat of the Woods.) For SFL First Date, to keep the scope of the game smaller, Akabaka focused on just those three.

The second game was always planned to be a foil to the first game, where the player could go deep with a single Eldritch goddess instead of wide, so the player could get to spend a lot of time with their love interest. For SFL Date to Die For, the Black Goat of the Woods was a complex but interesting character to adapt from Lovecraft's writings. (That's a whole post on its own...) But for a series about "dating sexy versions of eldritch gods", the Black Goat of the Woods fit really well as a datable love interest, when stripped down to her core trait of being the all-mother with a powerful aura who drives everyone in her proximity to madness with desire.

Originally, the protagonist was planned to be a disaster lesbian, sort of a female version of Darling. But in the actual writing of the plot and dialouge, Aka kept hitting a major plot hole: if Rhok'zan has a powerful sex aura that make everyone go mad with lust, wouldn't Stardust basically get vaporized from her already next-level lust being magnified 1000 fold? The solution was surprisingly simple though- the only human who could survive Rhok'zan's aura even for a second would be an asexual person. (An aside: I think that's something really special about DTDF actually- Stardust truly is the only person that could have saved the day, BECAUSE of her asexuality- not in spite of it. Her asexuality is as central to her story as Darling's all-consuming lust is to his ☆)

Also as a foil to SFL First Date, the second game was planned from the start to have a heavier focus on the 'horror' aspect of the series, and a focus on cultists as a real, present danger. Main inspiration here was The Dunwich Horror, where the threat comes not from the Outer Gods, but from the rabid town of cultists who want all outsiders dead.

So with all of those aspects set, the rest of the narrative for Date to Die For came together from there :)

(As for the third game, the plot has been mostly set for a while, but yall will have to wait and see~)

#sucker for love #sucker for love date to die for #sucker for love first date #sfl #cosmic horror #h.p. lovecraft #lovecraft #game design #indie games #indie horror game #indie game dev #akabaka #rhok'zan #stardust #asexual characters

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pennyblossom-meta · 2 months

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L Lawliet: a deep dive into the expanded universe pt.01

EDIT (07/04/2024): Added some imgs.

Apologies for being so late to give this a follow up to @maevearcher's meta which can be found here and here. As usual, she’s made excellent points and I'll try to answer the ones which caught my eye.

Since this post ended up gaining a life of its own and becoming a bit too long, I’m splitting it in 2 or 3 parts. The core of the content for part 01 starts after under the button to Read More.

Here we talk about L's humanity.

I'll start with a disclaimer of my own: while I consider the manga as the base for the story, I'm very much open to the expanded DN universe as a complementary study of the characters and their motivations — sometimes even filling in the blanks for some of the background mysteries, such as the dynamics of Wammy's House and how L's successors view him.

To further clarify: by canon I mean the manga and any works by Tsugumi Ohba as the base material. I think @maevearcher and I are more or less in agreement on that, from what she mentioned in her own posts. As she said, the written word is indeed the baseline truth.

The expansion of the DN universe also has its own very special set of problems; for example, in many ways, L:CtW (L: Change the WorLd) commits the sin of overindulgence by throwing in considerations that, arguably, go against canon. Besides the ending where L lives for a final 23 days and Watari dies, the portrayal of Near in the movie (though in the novel he's also walking a fine line between becoming partially and very much OOC) is also a point of contention. I confess that I really wasn't fond of the way they portrayed Misa as a potential crush of L given canon insights on his opinion about Light whether in the role of Kira or as a person (pg.64 of Vol 13: How to Read, henceforth referred to as V13:HTR), but aligning L to become more humane and forgiving was at least interesting.

The same happens with the live action movies, the 2015 series, and the musical. At least the game Spiraling Trap isn't clashing with canon elements — that I could tell. The main plot is separate from the events of DN and the dating sim is a little slice of heaven into L's thoughts and emotions which I dearly love.

However, while L:CtW does indeed overindulge, the novel AN:LABB (Another Note: LA BB Murder Cases) gives us a singular glimpse into L through the eyes of Mello while keeping the events mostly accurate to the main plot, even with its slight deviations. It's certainly an optional perspective to the core of DN, but one that I always found very insightful. In V13:HTR, Obha mentions how he would’ve liked that there were more novels about L and how he solved previous cases, in a similar fashion to how Nisio Isin approaches AN:LABB. Here’s what Ohba says in pg.61 of V13:HTR:

(...) I didn’t think up much for [L’s] past. For him to be in such an influential position, he must have solved an amazing amount of cases, but I have no idea what kind of cases they were or how he solved them. But I would love for NISIOISIN, who wrote the Death Note novel, to write more stories about that (...)

This means that, to some extent, even the original author, Ohba, accepts AN:LABB as close to canon — or rather, as canon as it can get given the creative liberties allowed to a third party writer. To that point, Nisio Isin took L’s capoeira demonstration during the Yotsuba arc and made it a whole thing in the novel, with L taking inspiration from Naomi Misora’s skills. However, given the importance of that event, in the main story, L takes a while to even remember Misora so we can infer that either the stress of the case is getting to him OR learning capoeira and subsequently Misora’s role in it didn’t leave that much of an imprint on him because true canon didn’t really put that much emphasis into it. Either way, it’s an extrapolation that works. The technicalities can be overlooked given how ambiguous the scene is, as there is more than room to deduce a different past.

At the same time, I am an apologist that there are shared characteristics to L throughout the different mediums. My own interpretation of L's character has the manga as a baseline, but the expanded universe has taught me that there are sides to him that might not be so easy to perceive in dialogue bubbles or illustrations alone. Little things like L's addictive personality or the way he represses feelings are visible in the manga but caught beautifully in the novels, for example.

Going from the written word into the screen also represents a loss of the purity achievable only within the narrative in-book, where you can extrapolate and reach your own conclusions without being subject to the bias of sound and movement — though manga aggregates the visual to words and with it an altogether different dimension of meaning. That's one of the many things I enjoy about elements of fiction introduced through books; the stillness of the images and the narrative are more complex. Every time the baseline gets adapted, it loses something or that something shifts to fit into the perception of others. It ceases being pure and its essence is fundamentally shattered. Like the concept of a musical score on paper that gets played by an orchestra, there will never be an adaptation as good as the source material because it breaks the illusion.

While I can certainly extrapolate and accept the loss, I find that the written word from the novels, the tone of a VA's voice and the body movements in a live action still complement the manga well, despite narrative clashes.

About L’s humanity

Recently I've been re-watching the anime and it's incredible how Alessandro Juliani's understanding of the character resulted in such a well-rounded voice for L. I actually prefer the EN version to the JP because of the voice acting. It's superbly brilliant, even if L becomes less listless. He's certainly still aloof, but his aggressiveness is portrayed more vividly; in contrast, L in the manga feels a bit more dangerous and scary to me due to the range of expressions that the anime didn't manage to add in due to time and budget constraints. If anything L tones down how dangerous he can be. He does this on purpose so that he can trick and trip his adversary, as can be seen during his earlier interactions with Light. At times, L makes a mockery of himself, apparently placing himself in the position of a more demure individual while sharply observing the world around him and forming conclusions.

As to @maevearcher ‘s first point:

(...) An image of this lonely autistic genius, locked inside the confines of his ways, waiting for the right person to come along and save him from the banes of his solitary existence…until he meets Light and realises there’s someone out there who he can relate to, for understanding and stuff. I personally don’t buy too much into that.

The depth to which L relates to Light can be overestimated, but not without reason. Theirs is mostly an adversarial relationship with varying deviations throughout the expanded universe, but if we solely consider the manga then we get this comment from Ohba regarding whether L has any friends on pg.64 of V13: HTR:

Nope. And when he says that Light is his first friend that’s a big lie. He never considers him a friend. He probably secretly thinks really negative things about him.

During the Yotsuba arc, L is at a disadvantage. Light has turned the tables, tricked him into what Beyond Birthday could not do and thus gained a solid position into rendering L almost powerless to charge him. To elaborate on the latter point: BB wanted to create the perfect, unsolvable crime to humiliate L, making him lose, and thus “spend the rest of his life trembling in fear of B’s shadow” (pg.163, AA:LABB); L would know who the guilty party was but wouldn’t be able to prove it or bring that person to justice. As such, L would not be able to solve the mystery. At the end of the novel BB fails due to Misora’s quick thinking and that’s that. However, Light has several advantages that BB lacked, starting with his own social position, charm and the impeccable reputation of a model student and the prized son of a police chief who helps solve cases every now and then.

We can argue that, what truly happens in manga canon, is L and Light showing how much they respect each other for their detective skills, forming a sort of strange kinship within the cat and mouse game, especially when Light loses his memories of the Death Note. The game thrills them and they enjoy pushing each other’s buttons. No one else has ever challenged them like this. That being said, the first time they meet up for coffee after the tennis match, L is observing Light like a hawk, keeps testing him for a reaction and seems somewhat irritated at how much Light talks. I would venture a guess that L doesn’t actually like Light that much, even when he loses his memories. He might even find Light a nuisance when he waves the flag of morality — though this is a common problem L is confronted with when dealing with the Task Force, in particular Chief Yagami and Aizawa. This also places him at another gruesome disadvantage, as he’s surrounded by people who openly dislike and criticise his methods. The Task Force is also extremely wary of the way L pursues Light and think he’s being stubborn without proof to substantiate his reasoning. Ironically, it’s Aizawa, one of L’s most critical subordinates, who initiates Light’s downfall years later once he starts to consider L’s suspicions in light of Near and Mello’s tactics.

Both L and Light respect the game, no matter where it takes them. I would further make an educated guess that Light even preyed on L’s vulnerabilities during the Yotsuba arc, predicting how L might fall into depression for failing at the game. Light was more than capable of understanding that L’s competitive and childish side would make him a sore loser, especially given that he had already “lost” the first round of battles just by showing his face. Even if there is a sliver of friendship between both during Light’s months of amnesia, it’s dead and buried the moment he becomes Kira again.

My conclusion here would be that, while what happened with Light was extreme, it was also somewhat similar to Beyond Birthday’s eternal enmity towards L: the challenge, the need to humiliate and take down the greatest detective, one of the most brilliant minds to ever walk the Earth. There are some notable quotes from AA:LABB that reference what it is to be L, surrounded by future challengers and individuals who both look up to L and want to prove they’re better than him:

Pg.69

By simple arithmetic, L's ability in 2002 was the equivalent of five ordinary investigative bureaus, and seven intelligence agencies (and by the time he faced off against Kira, those numbers had leapt upward several more notches). This is easy to think of as a reason to respect and admire someone, but let me say this as clearly as possible: that much ability in one human is extremely dangerous. Modern danger management techniques rely heavily on diffusing the risk, but his very existence was the exact opposite. In other words, if someone was planning to commit a crime, they could greatly increase their chances of getting away with it by simply killing L before they began. That was why L hid his identity Not because he was shy or because he never left the house. To ensure his own safety For a detective of L's ability, self-preservation and the preservation of world peace were one and the same, and it would not be correct to describe his actions as cowardly or self-centered.

Pg. 117

L was the goal of everyone in Wammy's House. Everyone of us wanted to surpass him. To step over him. To step on him. M did, N did, and B did. M as a challenger, N as a successor. B as a criminal.

Pg. 160:

B approached Naomi Misora, calling himself Rue Ryuzaki. Rue Ryuzaki - L.L. For anyone from Wammy's House, there could be no higher goal than identifying yourself with that letter - and Beyond Birthday seized this case as his chance.

One of the biggest problems with these quotes is that they paint a very complicated — and, ultimately, suffocating — picture of what it is like to be L. Ohba himself mentions Watari’s predisposition towards collecting geniuses from all over the world and what Wammy’s House has turned into, under the snippet for Watari’s character (pg.60 V13:HTR):

He’s a guy who cultivates detectives for fun. That’s kind of terrible, isn’t it?

Everyone profits from L. Watari becomes richer than ever. Wammy's House becomes breeding ground for geniuses who end up dreaming of a life where they enjoy constant thrill and challenge. However, in order to do so, the dream cannot be complete until the successor crushes the original; until M, N, B and A defeat L. At least one of L’s successors couldn’t handle the pressure and committed suicide. B, known as Backup, runs away from the orphanage and goes on a murder rampage. Having never met L in person, he deduces several personality quirks that the “original” demonstrates, going as far as exacerbating them in order to be creepy and repulsive. Mello, who boasts of having met L in person and being privy to stories about how he defeated several other detectives (then taking their aliases as a trophy) both fervently admires L and wants to step on him.

Step on him. That’s quite the turn of phrase. It does sound scary, doesn’t it? To be surrounded by people who would take the opportunity to pull you down, no matter how much they admire you. They want to be you, to prove that they’re better than you. It’s game and ego. Life and death. Winner and loser.

And that’s perhaps the most blatant summary in approved canon of what it is like to be L that we’ll ever get. We can, of course, argue that Watari cares about L. He’s not only his handler, but also the one who brought him into Wammy’s House. It’s fairly clear that he nurtured (and even enabled) some of L’s most distressing character traits, though I wouldn’t necessarily say it was with a purely utilitarian agenda. It’s perfectly acceptable to extrapolate how Watari might’ve wanted to keep L, a child of great intellectual genius, happy by allowing him to be challenged and properly educated. In fact, AN:LABB (pg. 145-46) even gives us L’s perspective on the kindness that justice can achieve, which is confirmed within the expanded universe to be similar to Watari’s teachings as L confronts Kujo in L:CtW.

"I have nothing to do with him," L said. "To be completely accurate, I do not even know B. He is simply someone I am aware of. But none of this affects my judgment. Certainly I was interested in this case, and began to investigate it because I knew who the killer was. But that did not alter the way I investigated it, or the manner in which my investigation proceeded. Naomi Misora, I cannot overlook evil. I cannot forgive it. It does not matter if I know the person who commits evil or not. I am only interested in justice." "Only... in justice... " Misora gasped. "Then ... nothing else matters?" "I wouldn't say that, but it is not a priority." “You won't forgive any evil, no matter what the evil is?" "I wouldn't say that, but it is not a priority." "'But..." Like a thirteen-year-old victim. "There are people who justice cannot save." Like a thirteen-year-old criminal. “And there are people who evil can save." "There are. But even so," L said, his tone not changing at all. As if gently admonishing Naomi Misora. “Justice has more power than anything else." "Power? By power ... you mean strength?" "No. I mean kindness." He said it so easily. Misora almost dropped the phone. L The century's greatest detective, L. The detective of justice, L. Who solved every case, no matter how difficult... " ...I misunderstood you, L." "Did you? Well, I'm glad we cleared that up."

I would, once again, venture another educated guess that, while Watari’s primary reasons for starting a program of successors to L was noble, it ultimately backfired on an individual level. Society wise, the letters, as L calls them in L:CtW, are a force for good. They solve crimes, help law forces around the world to keep peace. Some of them even become scientists like Dr Kujo — though she becomes the main antagonist in the spin-off novel. However, the pressure this kind of lifestyle fostered creates a group of individuals who are highly competitive and manipulative. Some, like A, can’t handle it. Even L has his own troubles, being called a reclusive sociopath, possibly by the police forces who treat him as a utility rather than a person. He’s someone they admire and resent, who is tolerated given how effective he is at cracking down cases.

This passage from L:CtW paints a grim picture of the way L suppresses his own feelings as he breaks down for not being able to prevent Maki from being kidnapped (pg. 150-51):

"Light...it hurts. My heart--" It was a hurt that L Lawliet had suppressed, that he had to suppress in order to continue his existence as the peerless Detective L. How had the world's top detective been described in regard to facets of his personality rather than his ability as a detective? He had been called a kinky detective who relished bizarre murders, a human computer capable only of measuring mass murders in terms of cold numbers, a reclusive sociopath. What L thought of such estimations of his personality only L could know. But no one could truly understand L. How L did not and could not forget the faces of thousands of victims. Who could comprehend the man who had lived his life, and had to live confronting all the lives that ended prematurely, the tears of grief-stricken survivors, the devaluing of life as a daily reality. How was it possible to measure the pain of such a man? Was it a strain so heavy that L's back curved under all its weight? Was it an agony so terribly to leave the indelible dark circles around his eyes? Was it a feeling so bitter that every bite he took needed to be coated in sugar? The chronically rounded shoulders, the inevitable dark circles, the eccentric tastes--L suppressed the pain of being a champion of justice, but the evidence of the pain was moulded into his very body.”

Even within the clear disparity from the official canon, this passage slaps. It humanises L further, making the detective become a person and not just a machine who is content with his lifestyle. I know there’s a tendency for those who prefer the manga to see L as someone who is unabashedly himself and perfectly alright with the life he lives. I would argue that the Kira case was not only the most difficult challenge L ever faced, but also a series of moments where he had to be at his best — and at his worst. He had to do everything within his power to solve the case, not only because of his pride but because of what he considers to be his sense of justice. Saying with such confidence ‘I am justice’ is a rather cheesy and childish thing to say out loud, though I read it as both what started as a child’s stubbornness and what L became, as he positioned himself as a barrier to prevent crimes.

L suppresses himself, represses his emotions; he tries to control them, as Fu Takashi says in an interview, he is “dependent on games or battles of the mind”. Perhaps this is a consequence of the foundations of his personality. Despite L’s innate stubbornness, it could be argued that this is as much his fault as it is Watari’s, who didn’t nurture L’s social skills as he should have when he was a child. By not having an outlet outside of his hobby, L is trapped in a prison of his own making. Superficially, L is a “smart guy who hates losing”, but what about the rest? What about the things that make him human, the connections with others? In the same interview, it is mentioned how L feels lonely and needs affection. But what affection can you get when you isolate yourself from the world and keep everyone at arm’s length? He’s not a machine. Even machines become obsolete with time, and need outside help to keep functioning.

As for the latter point, if everyone around L is trying to step on him, humiliate him and surpass him, then it’s only natural that his emotional defences would be up. Aside from Watari, whose loyalty he can count on, he’s alone. L has no one else. And everyone around him will have a dangerous, significant probability to betray him.

Next in part 02: About romance, having someone close and intimate, the meaning of the Monster speech.

Tagging @rinneroraito, @flametrashira and @sharkiethrts who might be interested in this meta.

#death note #l lawliet #death note meta #light yagami #spiraling trap #l lawliet headcanons #l lawliet x reader #watari #mello #mello death note #nate river #mihael keehl #near death note #beyond birthday #another note #l change the world #l death note #l lawliet death note

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seandwalsh · 5 months

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The Origins of Pikmin (Part 1)

The following is Part 1 (because Tumblr's text limit sucks) of an adaptation of my first published Pikmin Theory in written form. While I’ve previously presented this as a YouTube video, it was actually originally written for this blog. As Pikmin 4 has released and only provided even stronger support for the theory, I’ve decided to publish it here once again, as originally intended, with more evidence from both Pikmin 4 and its predecessors - an extensive expansion to say the least, so even if you've seen the video this should still act as an interesting piece of supplementary material.

I hope you all enjoy!

In Pikmin 1, Olimar crashes on what we know as Earth, seemingly after the extinction of humans and familiar wildlife:

“This is an ever-surprising ecosystem. What has caused this planet's vegetation to grow to such gigantic proportions? In comparison to the Pikmin and the other creatures of this planet, the scale of the plant life here seems inexplicable. Perhaps, long ago, creatures of incomprehensible size walked the surface of this planet. Just imagine!”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“This must be the fossilized remains of an enormous land-dwelling creature. I was unable to piece together the entire beast, but it certainly had a massive head! It's obviously quite different from the Pikmin and other creatures I've encountered. Perhaps it's an extinct creature that couldn't adapt to changes in its environment.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“This appears to be a huge bird feather, but I've never seen the creature it once belonged to. I wonder if I ever will. I've only seen a few airborne creatures on this planet. I wonder why? Maybe it's just because I haven't encountered them yet. Oh no... What if they saw me take this feather? They could be watching me, waiting for the perfect moment to take their sweet revenge!”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

When Olimar arrives on the planet, later dubbed by Koppaites as “PNF-404”, he discovers the Pikmin, species of plants with animal-like features. The Pikmin are seemingly quite close to extinction upon discovery, with their nests, the Onions, buried in the ground and incredibly low in population. In fact, it appears the only reason they aren’t extinct is because the Onions are able to produce emergency seedlings after a Pikmin extinction. The Pikmin don’t seem to know how to hunt for the nutrients necessary to survive and reproduce without Captain Olimar’s help.

“Even some wild Pikmin have become extinct, it seems, and there are some very rare varieties that can only be created by tossing Pikmin into a flower called a Candypop Bud.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

At the end of Pikmin 1, we see that Olimar has taught the Pikmin how to fight for themselves, when they attack a Bulborb on their own and seemingly remain on the planet’s surface overnight as Olimar heads for home. This carries over into Pikmin 2, where the Red Pikmin are seen fending for themselves when Olimar and Louie return to PNF-404, as well as Pikmin 3, where the Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin and Rock Pikmin at the very least have somewhat large populations despite some of their Onions being in peril.

The essence of my point is that the Pikmin don’t seem equipped to survive on this planet, which begs the question of how it is they survived through the planet’s evolutionary history until the point of Captain Olimar’s arrival…

The Pikmin certainly have some peculiarities. They’re Ambuloradices, described as having both plant and animal features by explorers in various games:

“Pikmin are part of the Ambuloradicis class, which consists of creatures that exhibit both plant and animal characteristics.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“[#] days have passed since I began my search with the Pikmin. They are an ever-mysterious life-form. They grow like plants do, but they're also mobile and active like animals are. Individually, they seem weak, but in truth, I am beginning to believe that they could be an exceptionally mighty species if properly organized. I certainly hope so.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“What exactly are these Pikmin? One could classify them as both plant and animal. They mature from leaf, to bud, and finally to blossom. When all of one color are lost, the Onion instinctively puts out new seeds... How does it know to do this? What a mysterious life-form!”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“The Pikmin sprout from seeds and transform from plants into animals when uprooted. They treat outsiders like us as their leaders, obediently following us and even risking their lives for us when necessary. Yet it's this obedience that has aided in their propagation and survival. Perhaps it is actually the Pikmin who are controlling us.”

[Source: Alph, Koppaite Scientist and Engineer of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

“The leaf on a Pikmin's head can develop into a bud, and then into a flower. It seems that if a Pikmin sprout is left in the ground, these developments take place over time. In this way they appear very plant-like, and yet once they have been plucked they show their animal aspect. A completely fascinating creature...”

[Source: Brittany, Koppaite Botanist and Crew Member of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

This is despite the fact they're believed to have evolved from terrestrial root vegetables:

“It is generally believed that the Pikmin body was originally the root of a plant that has evolved over centuries, if not millennia, developing structures analogous to muscles, neural networks similar to those of a brain, and more.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“The accepted theory is that Pikmin evolved from terrestrial root vegetables, and so would be unable to breathe underwater and subsequently drown.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

The bodies of Rock Pikmin are special stones stored within Rock Candypop Buds and Rock Onions which the root system and vital organs of the Rock Pikmin spread throughout. Why and how would the Onions and Candypop Buds develop this stone stockpiling functionality?

“This species is definitely a member of the Pikmin genus, but its body does not share any of the plant-like traits that Pikmin are known for. Instead, it's composed primarily of stone. The stone is actually the chosen host for a parasitic subset of Pikmin species nicknamed "Hermikmin." Similar to how a seed can sprout and push through the cracks of a rock, the Pikmin's roots stretch deep into the stone, storing its vital organs in an interior cavity that resembles a crystal geode.Because this species displays characteristics common in parasitism, one could hypothesize that the Rock Onion and Rock Candypop Bud stockpile stone that will eventually host the Rock Pikmin.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Winged Pikmin feature distinctly insectile wings on their bodies, a massive evolutionary improbability. It's hypothesised by leaders that perhaps the Winged Onions absorbed DNA resulting in the modern Winged Pikmin's body plan, but why would Onions have that capability?

“The wings on the back of this flying Pikmin species closely resemble the wings you would find on a flying creature. It's possible that an ancient Winged Onion somehow absorbed a flying creature's DNA, which then resulted in the precursor to the Winged Pikmin transforming into the species we recognize today. If this theory is correct, then Onions might also be serving the role of messenger, transmitting new traits and characteristics to their Pikmin.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Olimar even mentions that it’s almost like the Pikmin were waiting for the brain of an alien leader of some sort to lead them, like they knew following Olimar would help them survive.

“I wonder if these Pikmin were waiting for me to arrive. No... Not necessarily me, but an alien being like me who could fight alongside them. On this planet they are a weak species, but maybe they see that they can use the power of an alien brain to climb to the top of the natural order. Such ideas make me wonder if it isn't I who is being used by them...”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“The Pikmin's Purpose I wonder if these Pikmin were waiting for me to arrive. On this planet, they are a weak species, but if they're trying to use the power of an alien brain to climb to the top of the natural order... I have to wonder if it isn't me who is being used by them.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

They seem to have a natural inclination towards or instinct for following and taking orders from intelligent humanoids, as is further noted by the Hocotate Freight ship in Pikmin 2, Alph in Pikmin 3 and Olimar in Pikmin 4:

“At last, you have encountered them! They seem to have gill-like ducts on their cheeks. They must be blue Pikmin! Like the other types, they look to you for direction. While they are indeed surviving naturally they still seem to long for a valiant leader.”

[Source: The Hocotate Freight ship (First model S.S. Dolphin), Deteriorating Hocotate Freight adventure vessel, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“It seems that Pikmin are driven by instinct to carry away anything they see lying around. Prey that will increase their numbers are carried to the Onion, whereas things they cannot use are carried to the spaceship or to their original location. Thus, their carrying instinct lets them form symbiotic relationships with species like us. This could be the key to their success.”

[Source: Alph, Koppaite Scientist and Engineer of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

“A Pikmin will instinctively follow whoever plucks them from the ground, so it is quite common for them to form symbiotic relationships with another species or accept a leader of a different species, as it serves the goal of propagating their own species as a whole.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Pikmin have a disposition to carry things that will increase their ranks to the Onions, and to carry everything else to their leaders' spaceship. They may instinctively sense what we need and seek to strengthen our symbiotic relationship...”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

Pikmin form a natural symbiosis with the leaders from the moment they're plucked. With their leaders commanding them, Pikmin quickly become one of the most powerful species on the planet.

“TOPIC 2 - A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH LEADERS What is a symbiotic relationship? Symbiotic means a mutual relationship that different organisms have with each other while active in the same space. But both sides don't always benefit from it; sometimes it only seems to be a one-way street. What about Pikmin though? LEADERS AND PIKMIN EACH BENEFIT When a Pikmin sprout is plucked, it will appear to recognize its leader as such and follow them. From this moment on, a symbiotic relationship of sorts between leader and Pikmin is formed. (The leaders' benefit) With lots of Pikmin in tow, they will be able to transport heavy objects and defeat creatures that stand in their way. (The Pikmin's benefit) With a capable leader on board, the Pikmin can rapidly increase their ranks and become the most powerful creatures on the planet.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

Even Pikmin that have become separated from the squad, fail to form a symbiotic relationship and become wild will instantly fall in line and take orders in the presence of a leader to command them. It's almost like it's part of their very DNA...

TOPIC 3 - WILD PIKMIN Spotted by the Crew! Pikmin in the Wild The Pikmin that fail to establish a successful symbiotic relationship and decrease in number, as well as those who become separated from their group, may sometimes revert to a wild state and move their activity underground.

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

“Wild Pikmin Wild Pikmin found underground can be brought to the surface and added to an Onion. However, when tasked with transporting a pellet, the resulting seed ends up the same color as the Onion. I must be careful, as these Pikmin cannot be propagated right now.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

That’s not to mention some other oddities, such as the natural cap of a certain number of Pikmin being active within a given radius of a set of Onions in the field, which is apparently believed to help prevent a Pikmin extinction, or the fact that in order to reproduce Pikmin require being plucked from a sprout after being planted.

“I have made yet another Pikmin-related discovery. Just when I was about to exceed 100 Pikmin in the field. the Onion stopped expelling seeds, yet the total number of Pikmin continued to climb. It seems that once there are 100 Pikmin in the field. subsequent seeds get stored inside the Onion. Thus, no more than 100 Pikmin can be in the field at one time in any area.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“The Onion stopped spitting out seeds! But the Pikmin inside the Onion still seem to be increasing in numbers. Apparently, once the number of Pikmin in the field reaches 100, any new Pikmin will stay inside the Onion. This means that a maximum of 100 Pikmin can be active outside the Onion at any one time.”

[Source: Alph, Koppaite Scientist and Engineer of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

“Maybe Pikmin have evolved to self-limit how many can be out on the surface at a time to prevent unnecessary loss.”

[Source: Captain Shepherd, Giyan Leader of the Rescue Corps, Rescue Pup trainer and Captain of the S.S. Shepherd, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Preservation Instincts The Onion stopped releasing seeds! I went to check on it and saw that the Pikmin will only propagate inside the Onion once a certain number are out on the surface. Could limiting the number of active Pikmin be a strategy to avoid extinction?”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“When the number of Pikmin on the surface exceeds a certain number, they start to multiply inside the Onion. Apparently, they are trying to control the number of Pikmin active at one time to prevent their total extinction.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

Who “naturally” does this plucking when beings like the Hocotatians and Koppaites aren’t around? How can the Pikmin exist in the way they do?

There’s also an odd, seemingly “intentional” way for Pikmin to reproduce - using the easily accessible crystallised nectar of Pellet Posies, which develop quickly and pull all of the necessary nutrients from the ground. They even produce pellets with colours matching each Pikmin type in a region, tend to grow near Onion landing sites and have literal human numbers on them, indicating exactly how many Pikmin are required to carry them. It’s clear there’s a deeper connection here.

“In the stem of the pellet posy, one can observe the muscle fiber unique to half-plant, half-animal species such as the Pikmin and candypop flowers, so the pellet posy is a species that can be considered a close relative. Although the ability to crystallize nectar is unique to a small group of the pellet weed family, the fact that these plants reach maturity so quickly and that their pellets contain such high concentrations of the natural nutrients in the soil explains why the Pikmin and so many of the other indigenous species are so reliant on these pellets for sustenance.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“The pellet cradled in its petals changes colors like some form of chameleon, aligning to match the color of nearby Pikmin. It's almost as though it's inviting us to come harvest it to make more. Even though it appears to be helping out, it's really just using us to spread its seeds!”

[Source: Dalmo, Sozorian Animal Enthusiast and researcher, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Which brings me to the Onions themselves. When Olimar first discovers a Red Onion in Pikmin 1, he notes that it awoke as if it was waiting for his arrival. He questions what it is, whether or not it’s alive and then whether or not it’s a machine.

“A strange thing has appeared before me. I had barely begun my search when it reared up as if it were waiting for me. It then dropped a single seed. What is it? Is it alive? Is it a machine? It resembles a vegetable on my home planet that we call an onion. I shall call this an Onion too.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

Onions are clearly unnatural in some sense. They seemingly have mechanical parts, such as their flower-like propellers and jets. Some types even have what appear to be solar panels. Some types have a unique pattern, which also appears on the wrists of Mamutas, who themselves have a clear connection to planting and growing Pikmin. Onions take flight, entering orbit during the night, and are described as “a Pikmin mother ship” by the Hocotate Freight ship in Pikmin 2.

“The Onion ejected more seeds! The pellet from that flower must hold nutrients that breed Pikmin. Yes! The Pikmin gather nutrients, haul them to the Onion, and further propagate the species! The Onion is a Pikmin mother ship! Reviewing Olimar's report, it seems holding {A} lets one rapidly pluck Pikmin sprouts.”

[Source: The Hocotate Freight ship (First model S.S. Dolphin), Deteriorating Hocotate Freight adventure vessel, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“Sometimes it lies dormant, much like a bulb, but dig it up from the ground and provide it with the right stimulus—for example, a good, hard shake—and it will activate, sprouting three rootlike legs. It serves a role similar to a nest or an incubator for the Pikmin, absorbing pellets or the bodies of dead creatures for their nutritional value, then propagating Pikmin the same color as itself. Onions also seem to greedily attempt to replicate certain characteristics of the matter they absorb by combining with, or absorbing, other Onions, sometimes of the same type. It's been confirmed that just like Pikmin, an Onion has muscle fibers in its body, and though it is unable to walk it is capable of a small range of motion. However, when one breaks down the biological matter it has absorbed a fuel similar to bioethanol is created. Onions spray this fuel out of the mouths on their underbellies and are able to fly using their flowerlike propellers for stabilization.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

The Onions were later classified by scientists as an entirely different species from Pikmin. This means that much like the Pikmin-leader symbiosis, the very basis of Pikmin reproduction is symbiosis with the Onion species.

“"The majesty of nature," "the mystery of life"… I feel that these stale clichés can't fully express the extraordinary symbiotic relationship between Pikmin and Onions. Is there a connection here of an affectionate nature, perhaps? There's so much we still don't know!”

[Source: Dalmo, Sozorian Animal Enthusiast and researcher, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Pikmin not only increase in numbers by living symbiotically with their leaders, but seemingly even the means by which they are born are obtained through symbiosis. By providing nutrition to the Onion, an object which can be considered their nest or incubator, they sprout seeds and multiply. But in fact, while Onions are similar in species to Pikmin, they are said to be completely different beings... Next time, we'll report about these so-called Onions.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

On the subject of Onions, Pellet Posies and Pikmin reproduction, the recently observed Lumiknoll exist in a very interesting related position. Lumiknolls and their juvenile form Tricknolls sprout at night and produce Glow Pikmin. Glow Pikmin, while resembling Pikmin in appearance and behaviour, are not technically classified as Pikmin. Lumiknolls appear at Onion landing sites, smell like Onions and are even speculated to be Onion rhizomes of some sort. It seems that Lumiknolls and Glow Pikmin, with their leaf-dissolving enzymes, exist for the purpose of breaking down deceased Pikmin (and other nectar-based wildlife) and returning their nectar to the soil for Pellet Posies to absorb and crystalise, perpetuating the life cycle of the Pikmin.

“Besides the fact that they serve as incubators and nests for Glow Pikmin, we know very little about the Lumiknoll's ecology. When nocturnal creatures die, a Lumiknoll can break them down into glow pellets through its strong dissolving enzymes. This matter, when condensed, becomes glow sap. One might assume glow sap is then an extremely dangerous substance, but it has hardly any negative effects. In fact, I've had it administered to me personally as a curative medicine to break down growing leaves. Lumiknolls will only appear in places where an Onion was located earlier in the day, and since they propagate Glow Pikmin, one could surmise that they are rhizomes from those Onions. Perhaps, using its dissolving powers, it returns the nectar that supports the ecosystem back to the soil.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Smells a lot like an Onion. The green juice is particularly delicious!”

[Source: Louie, Employee of Hocotate Freight, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

[PART 2]

#pikmin lore #pikmin theory #pikmin 4 #pikmin #captain olimar #olimar pikmin

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another-lost-mc · 29 days

Note

is it bad that as much as i like your ocs (theyre amazing, i love them!), i really miss seeing you write for the canon characters

You know, that’s valid. The proportion of Canon and OC content here lately has been way off. It’s sort of the elephant in the room I ignore every time I think about Obey Me and my inspiration automatically focuses on the world building or OC potential instead.

There’s a few reasons why I’ve been less interested in writing canon lately.

1. Disappointment with Nightbringer. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure why this game exists (except to overhaul the franchise’s monetization structure). The premise and lore payoff hasn’t been that great for me personally - it feels more like an AU rather than a canon addition/continuation of the OG game. It feels like we still end up with more loose ends and questions that we don’t have (and may never get) answers for. I’m still waiting for Raphael and Mephisto to be dateable, by the way. As a result, my focus when writing OM content has been using the OG story/characterization using the odd piece from NB that makes sense, and that leads into…

2. My favourite parts of Obey Me are under-developed in canon. I enjoy most of the canon cast, I really do. But I want more Celestial Realm lore, I want more Michael (and not NB HM Lesson 20 Michael), I want more angels in general. They’ve mentioned Uriel a couple times now, give me that angel please and thank you! (No longer relevant, I wrote a version of him myself.)

The world feels so empty at times but there’s so much potential. Parts of the Devildom are more fleshed out with NB adding to it, but what about the other realms? What’s going on with the Sorcerer’s Society and the reapers? I never know if the interesting hints of lore we get are truly relevant or if it’s just something the game decided was convenient for a plot point and never gets mentioned again. NB has been great for Solomon fans since it’s practically a Solomon x MC fanfic written with a forced roommates trope, and that might be the best thing about it from a lore perspective.

My OCs were originally meant to explore gaps in the world and give the canon characters room to grow beyond the one or two defining traits the game keeps repeating over and over. I like writing Mammon when I can have him interact with Karasu, I like imagining the types of angels other exchange students might meet in the Celestial Realm, I like giving a name and personality to the mysterious owner of The Fall where so many events and Devilgram stories take place. Admittedly, it was refreshing to see that other people enjoyed reading about them or imagining them paired with their own MCs/OCs too. I call them the OC Fan Club with genuine affection.

3. It’s not something I talk about often but before I began writing fanfiction, I was mostly focused on concepts or outlines for original stories. Writing supernatural and horror themes always been my interest as a writer so anything with demons/angels/other monstrous races automatically catches my eye.

It’s a little mean to say, but half-baked worlds like the Devildom are a lot of fun to use as a foundation for expanding my own ideas. The OC story I’ve been working on is one way for me to write longer and more complex pieces which is the type I like most. Granted, it includes nearly the entire game cast and it explores the Devildom and Celestial Realm in ways that tie together some of my favourite personal headcanons and characterization. It focuses on angel characters and the history/culture of the Celestial Realm which are two of my main interests for this game. It’s a huge project - the outline is nearly 20k words on its own, it’s practically a novel divided into four sections with 30+ chapters and an epilogue. I can’t even express how excited I am when I get to work on this.

That being said, I do like writing canon content and I’ve been missing it more lately. I got burnt out when it felt like I was losing interest in NB and was pushing myself to keep writing anyway which isn’t great.

Today someone left a nice comment on something I wrote a while back, an angst piece for the demon brothers. I haven’t read it in a while and after going back and re-reading it, I was like, “Huh, I don’t remember liking this as much as I do.” And then I remembered something in my drafts that’s been rotting away, half-edited and ignored, and realized that I wanted to finish it. So, I’ve been slowly tinkering with things while I work on my angels’ story. Some of my plans are ambitious and real life distractions (mostly health related, like my recent bout of COVID) haven’t helped.

If I learned anything about my writing since starting this blog, it’s that:

writing what you’re passionate about is more fulfilling than writing what seems trendy or popular

giving and receiving feedback and fostering friendships/supporting each other keeps the community thriving

self care self care self care

Anyway. My goal has always been to write about the things I love about the game world and the things I create that are inspired by it. It’s a delicate balancing act that I’m still working on.

#jes.replies #hilariously bad takes abound #somewhat personal?#also I’ve been working on an oc side blog to try and organize things better #this may or may not get deleted if delayed embarrassment kicks in tomorrow

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beansricejc · 1 year

Text

JOHN WICK x READER - The Courier

part 4!

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

summary: John sneaks into your apartment to surprise you when you get home, and asks for you two to become official. Then y’all finally get steamy in the bedroom, where he talks you through it the whole time. Female reader, 3270 words.

author’s note: thx for following so far! if you’re new here, I’d recommend reading the previous parts but it is not necessary! feel free to lmk what you think! I love reading what u have to say! thx 💕

warnings: cursing, p in v, relationship talk, breaking & entering, alcohol, implied organized crime, significant age gap. 🔞

Your condo was surprisingly easy to break into. Well, for John that is, and John’s the best there is. It’s no surprise that getting into your place without a key is a walk in the park to him.

It’s been about a month and a half since the pair of you began to see each other. People John’s age would call it casual dating. People your age would call it a situationship.

One of the biggest challenges was John trying to keep up with your lingo, and then whenever he’d try to use it in a sentence, he’d fail drastically.

Enough of that.

John’s lurking around in your living room. He’s been here a few times before. Dinner, drinks, movies, and gaming nights, you name it. John’s Casanova identity was slowly being torn apart by you. He had developed feelings for you that he was convinced would never appear again after the death of his wife.

The last place he thought those feelings would come from was a young crime boss. The sheer idea of it almost made him laugh, even if it was true.

Tonight, he’s going to ask you to make it official. A public romantic relationship, between a budding crime lord, and an infamous hitman.

It sounded ridiculous, yet it was all John wanted.

Meanwhile, you’re driving back home from a very frustrating work meeting.

The title of work meeting was a very loose term. It mostly consisted of you berating some of your workers for fucking up a decent sized delivery. Two of your employees had totaled their motorcycles, and were suffering from road rash, and the other one forgot to fill up on gas before the job.

Fucking idiots.

That didn’t matter now, you were blaring some A$AP Ferg just to let out some frustration, your Audi R8 was a fantastic car to speed down the highway in. You, of course, specialized in riding a motorcycle but fall was on its way, evident by the chill in the air.

The plan for you tonight was to get home, drink half a bottle of Plum Sake, and pass out to some sort of Netflix Original playing on your tv.

You thought about shooting John a text since he had messaged you a few hours ago. You decided you would text him once you got home.

John was admiring your home aesthetic, he had complimented it a few times. You really had the 70s vibe down to a T. The nostalgia was almost overwhelming to him, you were a 2000s baby, and John was, well, not.

John was surprised that you hadn’t said anything to show that you hated the age gap you two had, except for the occasional old man diss.

John took a closer look at some pictures that were in frames on a shelf. He didn’t know exactly what they were. If he was a betting man, it would be a high school graduation photo with friends, vacation pictures, and then some competitive Motocross racing images.

“Damn, badass.” John chuckled, it was interesting getting an insider look at your life since you are a crime lord after all.

You parked your car in the garage and made your way to your condo, a few floors up and a few doors down. Your stupid key was so hard to find in your purse, and you almost gave up looking for it out of pure exhaustion. However, you managed, sighing as you opened your door and kicked your shoes off onto the rack.

You didn’t notice John at all. No one ever did. He was an expert, and experts act like ghosts when they need to.

You hung your purse up on a hook and immediately went for the kitchen and into the fridge, searching for sparkling water to chug. You didn’t know why but the burn of it going down your throat was really great feeling. To you at least.

As you grabbed a can, you could tell something was off. You weren’t that dumb. Any normal person would have gone about their business as usual, you picked up on a presence in less than two minutes. Impressive.

“Hey, cutie.” John’s voice suddenly appeared from your living room, his tall and menacing figure emerging from the shadows of your dark condo. You jump, grab your gun that’s in your back holster, and stop abruptly after you realized it was John. You went into panic mode from hearing his voice and gasped to settle yourself down.

“Shithead! Oh my god, you scared the fuck out of me!” You exclaim, there are actually a million other things you’d like to say right now.

“Asshole!”

“I’m gonna knock your teeth in.”

“Holy shit, you’re hot as fuck.”

Those were a few examples, of course, you didn’t say any of them. They were still going through your head though.

John was cackling from the living room while he stepped towards you, you put your firearm down on your kitchen counter, fuming at the fact that he somehow broke in, and almost gave you a heart attack. John absolutely loved teasing you, watching your face getting frustrated or flustered really did something to him that he couldn’t explain.

John joined you in the kitchen as you were calming yourself down, the danger you were in being a false alarm. He gave out a throaty deep chuckle, looking down at you with those menacing brown eyes.

They were never menacing towards you. John couldn’t even imagine the thought of doing something to hurt you or to even intentionally scare you. Over the past month, he’s grown to like you more and more, a thought that scared the shit out of him. He’s gonna do it. He’s going to ask you to be his girlfriend.

What a juvenile term, he felt much too old to even use that word but what else was there?

John hadn’t exactly figured out how he was going to ask, one thing was for sure, it would happen tonight.

He didn’t know why but tonight just felt like a really good choice.

John’s long dark hair is slightly draped over his chiseled face, his eyes peering through the strands directly at you.

“Sorry, angel. You’re just so cute when you get scared.” John tells you. You’re currently putting on the biggest pouty face you can manage right now, just to show your disdain for his prank.

You can hardly be mad at the man. He’s just so damn attractive. He’s even wearing a tee shirt, you have never seen him wear one before. John’s toned biceps are peeking out of his short sleeves. Your eyes can’t help but drink in the sight of his bare arms. Multiple scars and bruises are sprinkled throughout his skin, ones you have yet to hear stories of, or even see.

You snap out of your fan service moment when John takes his large hand to ruffle your hair. He loved the feeling of your thick and soft hair against his skin, and the smell? He had no idea what type of shampoo you used, the smell of it was embedded into his memory and only associated with you now.

Raspberries, and coconut? That was probably the closest he’d get to guessing the scent.

“I should upgrade your security here, it took me like 20 seconds to get in. I expected better from a criminal mastermind.” John tsked at you, playfully disappointed.

He takes the chance to lean against your kitchen’s island, crossing his legs but his gaze has yet to leave you.

You’re such a beautiful creature.

The sight of John’s casual lean stirs something inside of your chest.

Christ, can this guy get any sexier? You think to yourself.

“Sorry, guess I haven’t looked into that yet.” you stammer. John waves you over, and you take a few steps towards him, laying against his body and setting your head on his chest. You press your ear to him, listening to the soft thuds of his heartbeat, the organ doing its job to keep pumping blood through this lethal man.

“Hey, uh, let’s talk for a sec.” John says suddenly after about a minute of mutual silence. You scrunch your eyebrows and peer up at him, curious. Why did he sound so serious all of a sudden? He looked nervous almost.

“Yeah, sure, what’s up?” you ask.

John is quiet for a few seconds, it looked like he was trying to find the right words to say. You’re really enjoying laying against him since his body is so warm, and definitely not because of the muscles you can feel against your own.

“So.” He starts. “What do you say we make our little situation exclusive?”

Your eyes widen. No way. Absolutely no way. Was John fucking Wick asking you to be, oh Jesus Christ. The deadly playboy was being serious, and you can tell based on how his brown eyes are soft but with anticipation growing inside of them.

Oh my god.

You were clearly interested, even if both of your schedules clashed with each other. You two were well-known workaholics in the criminal underworld, the few times you got to see him a week were very romantic, however, short-lived.

With this in mind, your time spent together was amazing but as far as the physical aspects, you two were taking it slow. You of course were doing it unintentionally, work tired you out, you haven’t really done anything sexual of the sort in years because of your painstakingly busy work life, and so on and so forth.

John, on the other hand, was becoming a bit sexually frustrated. He really loved your wholesome time spent together, he did! Just, sometimes the way your pants fit around those hips and ass of yours, his mind tended to, wander, to say the least.

“Are you asking if you can be my boyfriend, Johnathan?” you inquire, walking your pointer and middle finger up his chest to fidget with the hem of his black tee shirt. You were attempting to calm yourself down but were failing miserably, just the sight of John looking down at you in that idyllic gaze of his was driving you absolutely nuts. A soft but low hum escaped his lips.

“Or maybe, I’m asking you to be my girlfriend,” he whispered down at you.

You don’t really know why but you laugh.

“Same question, different fonts.” you giggle. John huffs in amusement at your statement. He still doesn’t know where you come up with these things, or really how internet culture works.

“God, you guys, and your memes.” he sighed. “You can’t leave a man hangin’ like this, angel. What’s it gonna be?”

You haven’t had a real relationship in years, and it seems like John is in the same boat as you. He’s mentioned his late wife only once to you, obviously, it was a sore subject. He was serious about starting anew with you it seemed.

“I wouldn’t want to be anybody else’s.” you murmur to him.

John’s immediately filled with glee, and he squeezes you in a death lock of a hug. You eyes bulge as you attempt to hug him back but your arms, or anything really, are unable to move.

Well, it’s official. The two of you shared an excited kiss before he goes to your living room, revealing the very nice bottle of wine he brought to celebrate the occasion.

It seemed like he was betting on you saying yes.

You’re quite flattered by his confidence, and grab two wine glasses from your liquor cabinet before you two sit on your orange couch and share the bottle with each other.

Fun conversation ensues. You two are a fantastic couple, you guys found that out a few hang-outs in. John thought you were hilarious, and he definitely had his moments. The man was a total flirt, even after you two had been dating for the past month.

Conversation turns into joking, joking turned into play fighting, and next thing you knew he was laying you down on your couch, your legs wrapped around his waist as he pressed his hard on in between your thighs.

“We have too many clothes on, can we change that?” John asked as he stripped his shirt right off of his torso.

What a sight to behold.

Despite John being in his mid-forties, he has stayed in shape for the sake of his career, and it shows. Toned muscles have been revealed above you, and you’re honestly shocked. It’s the shape he’s in and the scars that got you, John noticed as your eyes dart to the different marks on his body.

“Do I rock the bad boy look?” he slyly asks, his hands wiggling under you and lifting your body up and over his shoulder as he brought you to your bedroom, despite your gasp of surprise and hysterical laughter.

You’re finally at an angle where you can see his tattoos, you didn’t know he had any. His back is covered, you can make out a Latin phrase and, a wolf. Was that a wolf? Guess he was Team Jacob all along.

You squeal as he plops you onto your queen-sized mattress, and your lips crash into each other, desperately craving the other’s touch. John’s hands assist you in peeling off your shirt and jeans, tossing the clothing to the wooden floor. His breathing seems to heighten at the image of you in only a seamless bra and a thong, your soft skin, curves, everything is better than he had ever imagined.

He’s going to absolutely ruin you.

Minutes pass, and the sting of John’s beard dragging along your inner thighs is a sensation that is completely unfamiliar to you. Your hands are grappling at your duvet from underneath your now nude body, as John’s tongue is sloppily circling your swollen clit, and some inhuman noises are erupting from your throat.

“H-holy, fuck!” you shriek. You were no virgin but you haven’t been intimate with anyone for a few years.

John couldn’t say the same thing.

You knew what good was even if it has been a long while, and this was fucking immaculate. John dips two long fingers into your core, his eyes boring into yours while he was devouring your cunt.

“You’re such a good fucking girl,” John mumbled into your pussy as he continued to lap you up with his mouth, the vibration of his words almost sending you over the edge. John’s using that signature come here motion with his fingers inside of you, and your hips buck, legs wrapping around his neck and squeezing to force him to stay in his current position.

He had honestly forgotten how strong you are.

He’s fucking obsessed.

His other hand is stroking his completely erect cock, making sure he’s good and ready to claim you as his.

You’re strong but John’s stronger. He’s able to easily push past your thigh’s grasp, you’re almost seeing double from the pure ecstasy he’s been so gracious to gift you. His mouth and chin are slick with your juices, his tongue dragging over his lips while he smiled down at you to savor your taste.

You can barely think. Holy fuck, was this actually happening right now? Did John Wick make a deal with the Devil to have the ultimate skill of giving head?

You blink a few times and catch a glimpse of John’s erection. Jesus Christ, it’s way bigger than you had ever pictured it.

“J-John, that’s not going to fit!” you cry out at him, as much as you want him, that thing is fucking huge. John tilted his head of sweaty, messy, long hair, raising his eyebrows and giving you a chuckle. “Seriously? Baby girl, how long has it been for you?” John questions, spitting into his palm and giving himself a few more tugs to hold himself over. Somehow, your face becomes redder than it was already.

“Uh, a few years,” you admit, embarrassed to even say it out loud. “Just, don’t really have the time.”

That admission throws John completely off. It doesn’t stop him from rubbing his bare tip against your slick and swollen entrance. “Don’t worry, angel, I’ll change that.” he smirked down at you, his eyes are all over your nude body below him on the bed. You only reply with a small squeak in response to the sensation of his tip on you. “Just, trust me, princess. Can you do that, trust me?” John asks, leaning completely over you so he’s just a few inches above your sweaty face. You nod while he pushes into you, and there’s a lot of resistance to him, despite the several minutes of foreplay he had provided you. You grit your teeth and grip his back.

“Hey, hey, you’re tense.” John murmurs, grazing your cheek with the back of his hand. You two maintain eye contact as he’s gently entering you. “Can you take a deep breath?”

You listen to him, taking a deep breath, and even you can tell the difference in feeling down in your core. “See, look at that, you just need to relax for me, baby girl. Take another one for me.” John orders you sweetly.

You oblige.

John lets out a deep breath, your tight cunt is almost overwhelming to him. After your deep breaths, your pussy is letting up and welcoming him now.

“See, you feel that? You’re taking me in all by yourself now, good girl.” John praises while you respond with unintelligible whimpers, his lips peppering kisses onto your sweaty forehead.

You can feel his entire length inside of you at this point, he’s so deep, you swear you can feel him in your cervix. You gasp before he continues, sliding in and out of you at a gentle and steady pace, nipping and sucking onto your neck and collarbone. This is sure to leave marks later but he could care less. People should know who you belong to.

“You like that, baby?” he asks as he thrusts at a faster and deeper rate, you moan affirmatively, you can’t seem to respond in English at the moment, only squeals and whimpers that he can’t help but be attracted to. One of John’s hands travel to your cunny, skillfully rubbing his thumb over your tortured clit. You let out a small scream, your nails digging into his muscular back, he’s doing the same to your hip, so the feeling was mutual.

John can feel your cunt tighten around his fast moving cock, he wasn’t going to last much longer like this, especially with no condom on.

You were in the same boat though.

“J-john, fuck! I wanna cum so bad!” you mewl out, John throws a dark chuckle your way. The timing was spot on.

“You want me on your stomach, face?” He asked.

“Just, just, do it, I don’t care!” You gasp, approaching your climax while he continued to rub your clit as he pounded into your tight little cunny.

“Don’t care, huh? Interesting.” He grunts. “I’ll make you my little Twinkie then, alright?”

You’re quite literally in the middle of a tear jerking orgasm while he says this, so you really don’t have time to react to the absolutely ridiculous phrase. Your trembling legs and shaky grasp on his body is what sends John over, he cursed and grunted, releasing all the way into your cunt. Ropes of cum shoot into you, and you twitch at the sensation.

You’re both trying your best to catch your breath as he pressed his forehead to yours and chuckled.

“Did you just call me a fucking Hostess snack?” you huff out, and he can’t help but burst out laughing.

“Yeah, I think I did.”

#john wick #john wick x reader #john wick x you #john wick imagine #keanu reeves #jw4 #john wick x y/n

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med-ex · 27 days

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feelin rlly idk HAPPY?? over this franchise as a whole✨

I wasn't even alive for Fallout 1 & 2 - but upon entering the world 3 years after they were released, would grow up hearing its name constantly... never did i think it would take GTA's place as my favourite video game series. Like literally never thought the weird little isometric game talked about by my older cousins would be the one.

I played Fallout 3 at the worst period of my life- it became a pure escape from graduating high school, becoming a severe alcoholic and moving off my mountain into my province's capital city. I was in love with it to the point that when I came home to my family home to visit, I would haul my xbox 360 in my backpack and strap my little tv to my back with a rope- ✨that's✨ how addicted I was to it.

It resonated with me in a way no other game series has. No, I obviously didn't grow up in the same standards as the wastes, but could resonate with foraging for food, no clean water & mess, destruction and despair everywhere you turned.

Fast forward a year or so, and I try Fallout: New Vegas. This is where it finally became my favorite series ever. I could list all the reasons, but they're similar to what you'll see all over the net; it's just amazing. I already was all "fuck the government" since I was a child but it made me think- think about the rule of authority, think about perseverance, weigh out what "right" and "wrong" truly means and the blurred line between the two.

By the time I was 21, I tried Fallout 4. It took some getting used to in the terms of its modern graphics, but I really loved how I got to experience conversations that felt like I was actually having them. I loved building the world back up and when I was brave enough to try mods- then shit got real interesting. I was already obsessed with Fallout 3 & NV but we can thank Fallout 4 for getting me into the community as a whole.

I was one of the ones to make fun of FO76- the launch was a huge part of that, but I just didn't understand how it could ever truly fit into the Fallout series. I played it for the first time when I was 2022, and now after 2 years I wholeheartedly regret shitting on it so hard. There are so many cool quests/stories and though some of them are silly seeing as it's online-based and they need to cater to that and though it's a bit strange at first, it feels so cool to be around other players adventuring the wastes + actually having to persist to build your own base, feed yourself and survive- as console commands don't exist in the same realm they used to with the earlier titles.

Now, we arrive at the airing of the first Fallout television show. I seriously thought it was gonna be shit- I just couldn't imagine them being able to do a good job but as we can see, here we are. The show is amazing and I didn't even know it was something I wanted so badly. The only real-life renditions of Fallout I've seen is that one live action trailer for 76 + cosplay- so seeing it in film, is seriously so fucking cool.

Idk guess im just gettin a little ✨sentimental✨ towards a series that has given me so many lessons, so much ability to cope with my own shit + gotten me into such a fun community filled with funny jokes, amazing art, discussions and rich lore that maybe one day could leave the video game + TV screen and become even a book.

Ty to the crew of original artists who started this back in the 90s, and thank you to the crew of artists at Bethesda in this current century who kept this game going💖

#fallout #fallout series #fallout amazon #fallout tv series #fo4 #fo76 #fo3 #fnv #bethesda game studios #bethesda #fallout prime #fallout 4 #fallout 76 #fallout 3 #piqttextpost

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transfemininomenon · 1 year

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it's been talked to death about the way that from soft games handle their telling of lore & in particular the use of item descriptions to do so. that in particular has been super interesting to me from the beginning, and so i decided that i was going to do a lil list of my three personal favorite lore twists/implications that come from item descriptions

3. Nomadic Merchant's Set - Elden Ring

the lore twist: mentions of the mysterious frenzied flame show up throughout the entire game in various ways, namely in incantations & areas/enemies that have been consumed by the frenzied flame. it's portrayed as an incredibly powerful but maddening thing, and its origins are mainly left a mystery

also throughout the game there are various nomadic merchants who assist you by offering different kinds of items, as well as some offering little bits of lore & quest hints. they're portrayed as very kind and helpful, and are most notably found by following the sound of a beautiful, somber tune that they all seem to play

eventually, exploring deep, deep underneath the capital of the Lands Between will find you discovering what is in my opinion the most harrowing sight in the entire game - piles and piles of corpses, all in different poses of absolute agony and horror. and as you enter, you hear a familiar, now haunting tune as you find the last few remaining merchants still remaining deep below

you finally come across their armor set at the very bottom of a deep chasm, where the harrowing truth of both why so little of these merchants remain, and also the origins of the frenzied flame

2. Talisman of Beasts - Demon's Souls

the lore twist: would just like to say that anyone who's been a fan of these games for a while knew this one had to be here - it's truly THE original big one when it came to Lore Twists through item descriptions

throughout demon's souls there's mentions of both the Old One and an unnamed God. the Old One is an ancient demon that is the progenitor of all other demons throughout the game and the source of the deep colorless fog that is engulfing the world. this Old One can not be killed - it can merely be lulled back to sleep, and is stirred by use of soul magics, which it is also the source of

the unnamed God, on the other hand, is the source of miracles - divine magic as opposed to soul magic. servants of this God use their miracles to help fight against demons, and view miracles as heavenly acts as opposed to the demonic acts of soul magic, with one clearly good & the other clearly evil

however, this talisman ultimately reveals that the Old One and God are in fact one and the same, and that both soul magic and miracles ultimately come from the exact same source

1. Ringed Knight Set - Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City

the lore twist: disclaimer with this one in that this one is a lot more of a Personal Interpretation & a lot less concretely canon than the other two on this list, but it's my personal favorite of the lot for reasons that i will explain and i simply had to have it

a very big part of the lore of dark souls has to deal with the curse of undeath, with those cursed with it unable to truly die and steadily becoming hollow shells of themselves as they are repeatedly resurrected. this concept of undeath is explored in various different ways throughout the entire series, and the protagonist of each game is some form of undead. all undead are branded with what is known as the Darksign - a burning red circle

the origins of the curse of undeath are left vague throughout most of the three games, though it is claimed that it was created when Gwyn, leader of the Gods that ruled in the Age of Fire, refused to relinquish said Age of Fire to make way for the Age of Dark, an age ruled by men instead of the gods. the full extend of how it was created or how it is transmitted remained a mystery, and at least for me it very much seemed like the curse happened accidentally, all part of Gwyn's desperate attempts to keep going what he felt was right

that is, until, we finally enter the Ringed City - the second DLC for dark souls 3, and the final bit of content for the entire dark souls trilogy. throughout the series the subject of Man and their relation to both the Dark and a thing known as the Abyss are explored a lot, and in the Ringed City it is explored even more, a lot of which is very much meant to be left to interpretation so i won't comment on it much, but amongst other things found in the Ringed City are various enemies marked with a terribly familiar burning red circle

upon finding the armor of the knights of the city, the truth becomes revealed - early man found their own smidgens of life within the Abyss, and the gods fearing this decided to place a brand upon the armor of those men. a brand eerily familiar to that of the darksign, what would later become the signature sign of one cursed with undeath

the implication thus, at least to me, becomes that the curse of undeath was willingly created by the Gods in order to prevent mankind from finding their own forms of life, to prevent them from rising to the same status as the gods who ruled over them. what once seemed like an accidental thing now was revealed to be purposely done, and the sheer weight of that combined with this revelation and answer coming at the very end of the series after the question being established from the very beginning is why it is my personal favorite item lore twists

#elden ring #demon's souls #dark souls #dark souls 3

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thydungeongal · 7 months

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D&D is actually pretty good at what it does

So what can be done to make it better?

This is part five of my series of big silly posts about D&D, its mechanics, and how D&D best supports a style of play I like to call "Challenge Mode," and how it resists using it as a means to tell conventional narratives, i.e. "Story Mode."

Now, before I get to today's discussion: a lot of people already use D&D as simply a loose framework around which they tell stories and then ignore or bend the rules into the shape of the narrative they want. Those people are not the target audience for this post. The target audience of these posts are those people who already enjoy rules-mediated play and who wish to either hack D&D into a form where it better supports conventional narratives or to find games that already support conventional narratives.

Once again, I will be tagging this post as #the big damn post and you can find the previous four instalments below.

1. Terminologie

2. What is it that D&D actually do?

3. Misaligned Expectations

4. Challenge Mode isn't that scary really

Once again, let's go:

5. Hacking D&D into Shape

Another caveat before I start: I do think D&D is fine as is and that as written it does support challenge-based gameplay better than trying to use it to produce a conventional narrative. What I will be doing today is not presenting to you ready-made fixes to those structural issues of D&D that make it resist conventional narratives, but providing other games as examples for how these issues could be approached. If you like what you hear about these games consider these as either soft recommendations to maybe check out those games or as inspiration for your own hacks and house rules.

D&D's rules are concerned with soft simulation over narrative convention. I don't mean this in the Forge simulationist vs. narrativist sense because I don't find that model useful. Suffice to say that while D&D's systems are not realistic they at least try to gamify things as they are present in a real environment. A wet rock is harder to climb than a dry surface with plenty of handholds, because that's how it is. This emphasis combined with a famously swingy d20-based resolution system can often produce narratives that do not follow the pattern of rising action towards a climax.

What makes QuestWorlds principles easily adaptable to D&D is that it is also a d20-based system that uses target numbers that are expressed in increments of 5. What makes it somewhat alien to the way D&D's rules work is that QuestWorlds assumes that a single check may be used to overcome an entire obstacle, and that it is very much a let-it-ride system: there are no retries on failed checks, as a contest represents all of your attempts at overcoming a story obstacle. Hence, you probably wouldn't even roll to climb a sheer cliff: you might roll to see if you manage to climb the sheer cliff quickly enough to prevent the enemy guards from raising the alarm. A combat in QuestWorlds would be handled as an extended contest and would not necessarily result in death, but will potentially result in permanent consequences for the characters regardless of whether they win or lose (also: losing in a contest in QuestWorlds would not mean death necessarily). Resolving that with D&D's blow-by-blow combat system would obviously require hacking.

Enter QuestWorlds. Originally released under the name Hero Wars, later changed to HeroQuest to tie it better to the world of Glorantha and the RuneQuest RPG, and later changed once more to QuestWorlds as the copyright holders sold the HeroQuest trademark to Hasbro who were in the process of rereleasing the classic board game named HeroQuest (which kicks ass). QuestWorlds is a role-playing game designed by Robin D. Laws, and while it was originally tied very closely to Glorantha, the amazing fantasy world that kicks ass, QuestWorlds is these days billed as a universal system. However, whereas most universal systems like GURPS are very interested in some kind of simulation, QuestWorlds' system runs very much on story convention. In QuestWorlds, the GM first sets the difficulty of a given check or contest based on what would make the most narrative sense at the moment (if the heroes have been breezing through encounters and obstacles it might be time to introduce a truly difficult obstacle: if the heroes have been struggling it might be time to introduce an easy obstacle to release tension and get the story momentum going) and then describes the situation.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, the game has a free SRD that presents many of its basic principles, but I heartily recommend checking it out in full. I am not a 100% certain on QuestWorlds, but I know for a fact that all of the older versions released under the name HeroQuest include a method for altering resistance (or assigning DCs) on the fly based on the number of successes and failures in previous contests the group has accumulated, thus mechanically enforcing the ideas of rising action/tension, and release, which is what I think would be most adaptable to D&D. The main takeaway from QuestWorlds is thinking about obstacles in terms of what the story demands right now, and letting the story branch out from both failures and successes.

While QuestWorlds already addresses the lethality of combat in its own way, its method of combat resolution is so different that it isn't readily adaptable to D&D. Luckily, there are some very trad RPGs that have blow-by-blow combat in the style of D&D that address lethality in ways that respect story convention.

I'm going to talk about 7th Sea. As opposed to the very narrative-logic driven QuestWorlds, 7th Sea is a very traditional role-playing game albeit one with many nods towards genre emulation. It is a swashbuckling RPG, set in a fantasy world very much inspired by the Age of Sail, distinctly European in flavor, and meant to emulate various swashbuckling romances. Its genre emulation tools (Hero Points, Danger Pool) are resources that can be used by players to achieve improbably stunts or by the GM to introduce additional complications or adversity into the story. As such, Hero Points and Danger Pool also achieve some of what QuestWorlds' adaptable difficulty due to story demands does, but the lethality issue is the most interesting one. One of the GM's available uses for their Danger Pool is Murder, which means that a Villain can kill a Helpless Hero.

I spelled Villain, Helpless, and Hero with capitals because they are all game terms. A Villain isn't simply any old adversary: a palace guard that stands between the Heroes and their goal isn't a Villain. A Villain is a named NPC that opposes the Heroes. Now, Helpless is very much like Dying in D&D, so when you've taken too many wounds. The distinction should be obvious: a Helpless Hero isn't necessarily dying, but they have sustained so much damage that they are prone and can not act (unless they spend Hero Points). The only way to kill a Hero is to have a Villain present and for the GM to have enough points in their Danger Pool to Murder them.

But even then, a player whose character is present at the scene can immediately spend all of their Raises as well as a Hero Point to save their comrade. That character is now out of the scene, but also immune to any further attempts to Murder them in this scene.

The simplest way to adapt this rule into D&D is to simply make it so characters are by default not dying once they hit 0 HP, but simply helpless and stable. Characters may not even be unconscious, simply too weak to move. This also achieves the potential for losing without dying: a group that gets beaten to 0 HP gets taken captive or left to die.

Only once there is a named NPC villain on the scene can players die. Now, without introducing the Danger Pool into the mix simply having an NPC villain murder helpless PCs might feel unfair, so this is where I suggest you look for a hack or house rule that addresses that issue.

And finally, the resource management structure of D&D does little to help shape conventional narratives. This one is the trickiest because resource management is so innate to the structure of D&D and without resource management in some form you risk screwing over game balance. Taking one-hour rests between combats also feels detrimental to story momentum.

Well, there's a little lesser known RPG that once tried to address these things: Dungeons & Dragons, 4th edition.

Now, I'm going to be frank, D&D 4e didn't succeed at all it set out to do with these rules, but it at least tried. First of all, short rests in 4e last only ten minutes, which is much less of a chunk of the day than the hour proposed in 5e. Secondly, and this is the big one, 4e experimented with something called a Milestone. This is not the milestone from milestone leveling in 5e, but a special reward for every two encounters completed without a long rest in between.

The reward for a milestone is simple: an action point and an extra use of a magic item's daily power.

Action points are a very powerful tool in 4e because they can be used to literally gain an extra action. However, the sad truth is that even with all these benefits for completing multiple encounters back to back, the benefits of taking a long rest ultimately still outweigh the benefits of an action point and an extra use of a magic item's daily power. Especially since you couldn't use more than 1 action point per encounter, meaning that you were already not encouraged to hoard them any way.

But there is still something there: a mechanic that encourages players to dive headfirst into danger. The mechanical reward for going on without a rest should outweigh the benefits of a rest until narrative tension has been resolved. I feel looking at QuestWorlds in addition to 4e might not be a bad idea here.

Honorable mentions that I am not going to talk about in depth here:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Despite its reputation for lethality WFRP is actually less lethal at starting levels than most editions of D&D simply due to Fate points, a resource that is gained at character creation and that can be used to save a character from death and permanent injury. They are permanently expended but can be gained through divine intervention or for especially brave or heroic actions.

Break!! This action adventure RPG inspired by old video games is very much a D&D in its structure, being very much a challenge-based adventure game, but where it deviates from D&D is how it handles injury. At 0 hearts characters don't immediately die, but instead roll on an injury table. The number of times you have already been injured weighs the odds towards death, but the first time you fall to 0 hearts you simply won't die due to how the rolls are interpreted.

Fate family of games. Fate has both rules that model story convention above simulation as well as a conflict system that does not result in death as the only result from combat. Fate's rules are available for free so there is nothing stopping you from reading it. Not all of it is adaptable to D&D of course, but even beyond specific rules applications Fate has a lot to teach about different philosophies to running games. I highly recommend it to everyone regardless of what games you're running, just to broaden your perspective.

I am not sure if there's going to be a part six because I'm not sure how much more use people are going to get out of "hey, consider playing these games instead." As said, all of the games mentioned above are already soft recommendations from yours truly, but as a general rule you have nothing to lose from broadening your horizons and reading more games, even if you feel D&D is perfect for you as is.

#long post #the big damn post

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linka-from-captain-planet · 2 months

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Florrickology, Part 6: "Desire" Florrick? you're damn right I do

In-game, Counsellor Florrick is only ever referred to just that way: her title, "Florrick", or both. Nothing and nobody--not even Ulder, whom she sometimes calls by his first name--ever calls her anything else.

But in the game files, she's consistently referred to as "Desire", implying that her behind-the-scenes full name is Desire Florrick.

... which is extra interesting when you consider the possibility that she named herself.

Of course, the immediate first question is: how do you say it?

Being that Larian is a Belgian company, I would assume it was their intent to pronounce it the French way, said like deh-zi-ray rather than like the flat-out English word "desire." Personally, I'm too lazy to hit an accent key twice, so I always style it as Desiré even though Désiré is probably more correct, to convey the pronunciation I think is intended.

side note: I knew several Desirees growing up in the rust belt USA and they were all uhhhh extremely trashy, so discovering my urbane elven beloved had the same name took me out and was actually really hard to adjust to

Moving on: Prior to checking out the game files, I simply assumed that "Florrick" was her only name, which I was willing to accept based on the scant lore I knew. Other nobles and officials have their full names written out in-game, so there's no reason to expect that she was excluded for some reason. I do figure that it's probably just an oversight, and her first name just got lost in the shuffle between writing the files and developing the final product.

But she has a first name, still.

Disregarding real life and its boring explanations as usual, the question is, in-universe, why does nobody and nothing--not herself, not Yeva or Ito, not Jaheira, not Ulder, not Wyll, not official documents--ever use it?

There are several ways to go with this:

The game files don't count. Her first and only name is truly "Florrick", so there's nothing else to call her.

We only see her while she's acting in some official capacity, where she expects to be called by her rank and/or title by inferiors, and her last name by equal-ranks or superiors. The same people may call her Desiré in private gatherings, but she keeps it formal at work.

She just prefers to be called "Florrick" in any setting.

And more, but those are my top 3, each with merits for my purposes. #1, my original assumption, fed into a lot of the headcanons I developed about her, but I think #2 is my default. #3 is just sort of amusing to me.

But beyond the question of why nobody calls her by her first name, the question remains:

Who named her that?

I'm not, never will be, and don't want to be a lore expert, and it's a moving target anyway, but the consensus seems to be that elves choose an adult name when they reach a certain milestone in their life experience, usually around 100 years old, which replaces their given childhood name.

So... is Desiré Florrick her original given name, or her chosen name? Since my headcanon is that Florrick is somewhere in the neighborhood of 120-130 years old, that would lead to assumption that it's her chosen name.

"Desire" as a virtue name is pretty odd from an English-speaking perspective, and I would not be surprised if the sexual connotation of the word led to the devs choosing it for her (since they randomly decided to sexualize her more than most other NPCs), but it fits. She's a woman of passion and ambition, of loyalty and determination. Her desire to serve the public, to give her absolute all for the betterment of the city she loves, is what defines her. It suits my headcanon that her status and esteem is all the result of hard work, and relentless pursuit of what she wanted out of life.

"Florrick", I'm overall just willing to buy as her original surname. It sounds kinds of woodsy, just lyrical enough to sound a bit elfy. It fits.

But it's also compelling to me to imagine that she didn't originally have a surname, but took one on to fit in better among the upper echelon of Baldur's Gate, where inheritance and family names are important. Florrick being a wood elf wizard who lives in and faithfully serves the Big City is quite the mad libs of a character setup, so I like to imagine it matters and informs parts of her life. Assimilating into a new culture is an interesting experience, so it's a big part of my greater Florrick headcanon.

#florrickology #counsellor florrick

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lokiondisneyplus · 8 months

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Potential spoilers below the cut, but a super interesting article.

Some non-spoiler pull quotes:

Tom is my producing partner in a true sense. Before we had any writers or directors, it was Tom and I for months building this story out. We had a 30-page document that was like, This is what the show is: TVA, He Who Remains — even Victor Timely was in that first document years ago. And it’s just carried through. -- This is maybe — not maybe — this is the first Marvel series to never have any additional photography. The story that is on screen is the story we set out to make. -- We were casting, and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was playing in L.A. and in New York, but it hadn’t gone nationwide yet. I think it was going the very next week. We had gotten a call from our casting director who said, “Hey, I’m about to put together a list for OB — just initial thoughts. But before I do that, I really think you guys should meet Ke, and I think it should be Ke. I think you guys should meet with him quick, because probably by Monday, he’s going to have a lot of offers for different things.”

Of the eight live-action TV shows that Marvel Studios has produced for Disney+ to date, only one has concluded with the explicit promise of a second season: That would be “Loki,” the outrageously entertaining series about Tom Hiddleston’s god of mischief and his metaphysical exploits in the Time Variance Authority.

It turns out, those plans were already in the works before a second of “Loki” had ever streamed. As executive producer Kevin Wright explains to Variety, he and Hiddleston began talking about Season 2 of the show while in production on the third episode of Season 1.

“As we were shooting the ‘Lamentis’ episode, Tom and I started having lots of conversations about how this world could build out, how we dive deeper into it,” he says. “A large part of what we wanted to do was not trying to repeat ourselves, and not try to play the hits.” At the same time, he adds, they also wanted to make sure didn’t start Season 2 by “fast-forwarding through the drama” of the Season 1 finale.

And so much happened in that finale. To recap: Loki and his variant-turned-potential-soulmate Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) arrive at the end of time, where they meet the creator of the TVA, He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) — the variant of the supervillain Kang who won a massive multiversal war. To prevent future Kangs from emerging, He Who Remains has used the TVA to maintain a single, sacred timeline — pruning away trillions of potential lives in the process. He gives Sylvie and Loki an impossible choice: Replace him as the head of the TVA, or kill him and bring forth an infinite number of Kangs.

Loki wants the first option; Sylvie wants the second. She wins, kills He Who Remains, and boots Loki back to an alternate version of the TVA, where previous compatriots Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) don’t remember ever meeting him.

Variety has screened the first four (of six) episodes of “Loki,” and without spoiling anything, Season 2 picks up pretty much exactly where the first season left off — before then charting its own storytelling path. The full cast has returned, including Gugu Mbatha-Raw as former TVA judge Ravonna Renslayer and Eugene Cordero as TVA functionary Casey. And Majors returns as well as He Who Remains, in addition to another Kang variant, a 19th century inventor named Victor Timely. They’re joined by new actors including Kate Dickie (“Game of Thrones”), Rafael Casal (“Blindspotting”) and recent Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan as TVA technician Ouroboros, aka “OB.”

Behind the scenes, there have been some changes from Season 1. The series’ original director Kate Herron and head writer Michael Waldron both stepped back to focus on other projects. In their places, “Moon Knight’s” Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have stepped in as lead directors, and Season 1 writer Eric Martin stepped up as head writer for Season 2.

To delve into the second season of “Loki,” Wright talked with Variety about casting Quan just before his performance in the multiverse spectacular “Everything Everywhere All at Once” changed the actor’s life forever; what the future of “Loki” the show and Loki the character might be following Season 2; and how Majors’ arrest in March for assault did (or did not) affect their plans for Season 2.

What were the discussions like about how to approach Season 2?

I think we had to just keep reminding ourselves that the TVA is a great world, let’s live in the drama of what we’re creating there. Which means not fast-forwarding through the drama that they just decided to stop pruning timelines, but also staying in the emotional turmoil that Loki and Sylvie are coming into this season with.

Also, there were certain things in Season 1 that felt like they were maybe a risk, and we didn’t know how the audience would respond. Once we realized that they embraced it, it felt like a lot of freedom to go further.

What did you feel was a risk?

In a very early draft of the script that Michael Waldron had written, that first Time Theater conversation between Mobius and Loki was maybe a couple of pages. And then a lot of other big Marvel-y action things happened afterwards, and we all went, “That’s not the interesting stuff. This Time Theater conversation is interesting. That’s what the show could be.” If we are really diving into the character-driven philosophy and introspection of self, that’s quite different than the last 10 years of Marvel movies. Would the audience follow us along on that?

Tom Hiddleston famously held seminars on the character of Loki for Season 1. Did he do anything like that for Season 2?

No, because we tried to bring back as much crew as we could from Season 1. It was largely the same team. Obviously, we went from Atlanta to London [for production], but a lot of our department heads carried over, so there was an institutional knowledge that was built in. And Tom is my producing partner in a true sense. Before we had any writers or directors, it was Tom and I for months building this story out. We had a 30-page document that was like, This is what the show is: TVA, He Who Remains — even Victor Timely was in that first document years ago. And it’s just carried through.

So even as Kate Herron kind of handed the reins over at the end of Season 1, there is an institutional knowledge that comes with us being the glue between the seasons.

You mentioned He Who Remains and Victor Timely. You finished shooting Season 2 in 2022, but did Jonathan Majors’ arrest for assault in March resulted in any changes to the show?

No. This is maybe — not maybe — this is the first Marvel series to never have any additional photography. The story that is on screen is the story we set out to make. We went out there with a very specific idea of what we wanted this to be, and we found a way to tell it in that production period. It’s very much what’s on screen on Disney+.

It’s clear that Majors plays an integral role this season, and you just alluded that Marvel usually does additional photography on all its titles. So was there any discussion about making changes to the show, given the uncertainty about what was happening with Majors?

No. And that mainly came from — I know as much as you do at the moment. It felt hasty to do anything without knowing how all of this plays out.

How early into the writing of Season 2 did you decide to cast Ke Huy Quan as OB?

We were in London, so I had at least some version of our scripts. The way the process works, they’re always being rewritten, but OB was in there, and his introduction scene was almost exactly as originally written. I would like to say it was in early spring, which was maybe just two months before we started shooting. We were casting, and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was playing in L.A. and in New York, but it hadn’t gone nationwide yet. I think it was going the very next week. We had gotten a call from our casting director who said, “Hey, I’m about to put together a list for OB — just initial thoughts. But before I do that, I really think you guys should meet Ke, and I think it should be Ke. I think you guys should meet with him quick, because probably by Monday, he’s going to have a lot of offers for different things.”

So that that Friday, myself, Justin and Aaron, two of our directors, had gotten on a Zoom with Ke. We pitched him the show and this character. We shared that introduction scene with him and maybe the full script. And then we called in the big guns that Monday; Kevin Feige got on the phone with him and said, “Ke, I know you read the script. I know you talked to the guys. We really think you should do this. I really want you to join the Marvel family.” And he had already made up his mind over the weekend. It was like, “I’m there. I’ve been a huge fan of this for a long time.”

In Season 1, the show explored several time periods and locations outside the TVA, but in the first four episodes of this season, you stick to just 1880s Chicago, 1970s London and 1980s in the Midwest. How did you come to that decision to focus more on the TVA and building out its history?

Because that felt like where so much of our core character conflict was going to come from. There was so much intersectionality of our characters and what they think of the TVA. Sylvie wants to burn it down because the apple is rotten, as she says. Loki sees it as potentially the only form of defense against whatever else is coming in a war with Kang. Mobius and B-15, they’ve dedicated their whole life to it. They’re not quite ready to give it up. Renslayer feels like she’s been keeping it together, and you get a real understanding of why she thinks she should be the one to get this thing back on track.

We want everybody to be in the gray area — they’re neither good nor bad. They might make bad choices or heroic choices, but they are trying to figure out who they are. The TVA felt like the place where we could maximize that storytelling and learn more about those characters through that. But also stay tuned, because we are going to more places [in Episodes 5 and 6].

Do you think the TVA could start to appear in other titles in the MCU?

I would love that. Look, I’ve been siloed in on “Loki” for almost five years now, by the time this show finishes, and with every filmmaker who has put their hands on the show, we’ve all had the same conversations: It feels like the TVA could really be this exciting connective tool for all of this storytelling. And we’ve only seen a fraction of it. We’re dealing very specifically with this one smaller department with Mobius and B-15 and Renslayer, but you look out at those vistas — this place is infinite. The exciting thing to us is there certainly are more stories to be told there. We’ve carved out our own little corner of the sandbox and built something cool. We’re hoping that other people want to come and play with it.

One of the things I’ve most enjoyed about “Loki” is how it’s telling its own story, but have you considered bringing more of the MCU into it?

Yes, in both seasons of writers’ rooms. It always felt wrong to go too far outside of the box of things that would directly contribute to Loki’s character arc in these two seasons. So that’s why we get [Jaimie Alexander as] Sif in there [in Season 1], we play with the variants in the void and various levels of Asgard-specific storytelling. But while we’ve had nearly 12 hours of storytelling, it never feels like we have enough time. Eventually, just handling the stories of our ensemble and not shortchanging them has always been priority number one.

Now, Season 1 and 2 were always built to be two chapters of the same book. The hope would be going forward, there are more books that we can tell these stories with. I certainly think that we could start doing that.

Would there be a Season 3 of “Loki”? Is the future of the show finite or more open-ended?

I think it’s open-ended. We certainly did not develop this season going, “We have to tee up Season 3” — in the way that we did with Season 1, where there was a very specific, “Hey, we’re coming back.” But I also think that where this show goes, there certainly can be many, many, many more stories told with Loki in the “Loki” world, and in other worlds connected to Loki, the character.

Do you think Loki would ever rejoin the larger world of the MCU?

That’s the hope. I don’t want to — yeah. I think the the sun shining on Loki and Thor once again has always been the priority of the story we’re telling. But for that meeting to really be fulfilling, we have to get Loki to a certain place emotionally. I think that’s been the goal of these two seasons.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

#loki #tom hiddleston #kevin wright #ke huy quan #season 2 #spoilers

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