maybe sumeru being the fucking massive nation that it is is a blessing in disguise. so i always have a place to do chill exploration when i get sick of my artifact luck

1, 8 and 10 for yellowjackets 👀

HEY MOOTIEEEE okok;

The character everyone gets wrong - I feel like people misunderstand so many of the characters (as an ex Misty hater who didn't understand the mechanics of a black box I have been guilty of this), but I think the main one is Natalie. I've seen a lot of people complain about how her character is largely based around Travis, but the whole point of it is to demonstrate her trauma-bonding habits and how she EVENTUALLY GROWS OUT OF THAT. While we didn't get a chance to see healed Nat apart from the S2 finale, the show explores how you have this loner girl, who's included with the team and her two friends but at the same time reclusive, with a horrific family life that prevents her from truly connecting with others (ex. Kevin, who she probably never invited over to her house to bond or otherwise EVER again), and a sex life with men who have only used her for her body. You bring her into this situation where she's stranded with the only girls who truly notice her and a guy - Travis, who has an asshole dad who is just lost. Travis keeps people at arm's length, he's got this turmoil inside of him, he's angry and isn't afraid to show it. And Nat is drawn to him because she NEVER gets to be angry- she had to be careful around her dad and take care of her mom. And she sees her inner thoughts in this guy so much. Natalie wants to be there for him in the same way that no one could ever be there for her, and it's someone she can connect with on a personal level, not someone who wants her for her body, not someone who will never understand her, not someone who will idealize her and see her for her beauty. And just as suddenly she's taking bullets FROM this guy and she's falling into the same pattern as her mother, even becoming her. But she stays with Travis for so long, because she doesn't see her father, she sees herself. And so she bonds with him, she sticks with him, she destroys him just as much as he destroys her because she wants to punish herself, and Travis, in many ways, IS her. But the problem is that Travis is also her dad, and she wants so badly to love and hate herself, that she doesn't know he's the one holding all the cards. When she loses him, she loses herself, her other half, her purpose in life, and then he dies and she will never have him in her life again. So in S2, this man who she has projected herself onto, it turns out, really isn't a part of her at all. They are 2 separate puzzle pieces painfully glued together, but they can be separated. That's why Natalie isn't with Travis on the plane to her death. She's with her younger self. Because all along, it wasn't Travis that she truly loved and accepted, and who loved and accepted her. It was the parts of her she had lost and had finally gained back.

Jesus I yapped on the first one so I'm gonna make the next one shorter. For number 8, I think people are wrong about Ben. Do I think it was awful he lit the cabin on fire? Yes, obviously that's fucked up. But this is a man who needs more food than the rest and hasn't eaten for literal weeks at this point. He is anxious, schizophrenic, and totally anti-cannibalism. He just witnessed his only 'friend' (Nat) let a CHILD die in her place and be crowned a fucked up cult leader queen for a group of insane women (and Travis). He is horrified. He is scared. He is on his last leg. Like I said, lighting the cabin on fire was horrific, but whose to say he was next? So I think it can be justified a bit in many extents.

Finally, for number 10, I'm sorry to all my Van loving mutuals, but i genuinely HATE her. I know she's starving and unreasonable but I feel like her character got really fucked up towards the ends of season 1 and the entirety of season 2. Fanon acts like she's the greatest ever but she literally told a guy whose brother she had JUST LET DIE that he was being selfish, and that she didn't regret letting a little boy die when there was a USELESS, CULTISH, HALF DEAD BITCH who was WILLING AND READY to be consumed if necessary that was offering herself up for food. Javi's whole death was fucking bullshit and literally horrific. They let Jackie sleep outside and consumed her dead body but couldn't allow an ailing Lottie to just die when she was already injured? And Van EXCUSING that behavior and on top of that TAUNTING a fellow survivor about the fact they were going to fucking eat his little brother? I feel sick. All the girls are fucked, but Van is especially shitty, and fanon needs to stop making her out to be a fucking perfect angel.

(apparently i will never stop having) ted lasso s3 thoughts

It was such an interesting and weird experience to mostly really like TL s3 because it kind of felt like agreeing to go on a vacation with a large group of people and at the end I was like "well there were some ups and downs but that was a good time and I'm going to put together a scrapbook of this special vacation that broke my heart in ways I kind of appreciated" and then many fellow travelers were like "I can't believe I was stupid enough to get tricked to go on this shitty vacation and that we're all having such a bad time." And also it was like that at every checkpoint throughout the travels. I obviously wasn't alone in loving plenty of things about the season; I feel lucky that there are people who feel similarly enough to me that it wasn't totally lonely, and also of course it doesn't truly matter that everyone has different opinions about the same thing. I don't need a bunch of identical opinions to feel like I've earned the right to my own. It's more that there were multiple points where I was genuinely questioning whether my brain was just working totally differently in a way I should actually explore more because of how I felt about the intentions/intentionality and execution behind certain things on the show. Things that if I'd been watching sans fandom experience but with a similar level of obsession, I think I'd have been pretty unphased by and peaceful with. And it made me genuinely sad to feel like so many people I care about were having such a bad time with something that I, for whatever reason, was just having a mostly good time with in ways that I wish I could have transferred over.

Also, I'm clearly still trying to figure out how I feel because I did have an extremely emotional reaction to the show ending, more akin to something deeply earth-shattering happening in my own actual 3d life. There was a 72-ish hour period in which I cried more than I had in probably a year or two combined before that. I cried in the bathroom at a baseball game because baseball >>> sports >>> Ted. I cried about things I wanted to see on my screen that I did not get to see. I cried about the absolute unfairness of a human being only being able to exist in one physical space at a time. I cried about having a community that was centered around a shared interest and the sheer stress that goes into that. All through the summer and even now, although I am no longer crying about Ted per se, I feel like my ability to cry is way more close to the surface than it used to be.

So it's not that I had some kind of super simple reaction to the show that just made me willing to bop along to everything, even if some of my crying was just about mourning the end of something and appreciating it. There are definitely things I'd change if I'd been involved, including:

Zava's presence would have been a far more short-lived dalliance with the team that would allow them to do the same exact stuff in terms of Zava's recruitment allowing the show to more explicitly discuss Rupert's manipulation of both Rebecca and Nate (I loved that Zava initially felt like a device that would allow Rebecca to make those observations with full awareness that this is what was happening to Nate, and I thought her backstory coupled with Nate's scenes with Rupert were super well done)...but it would not have dragged into so many other episodes (and this would have freed up time for one of the main things I felt was missing, which was a more explicit discussion of the legacy of coaching, which Ted and Roy [and also Beard and Trent via the book and eventually Nate] all needed more room to discuss)

Shandy's role in KJPR would have been more explicitly about mentorship and its limitations and would have afforded Keeley more onscreen contemplation time

Instead of backtracking into raging out with jealousy over Keeley in the final episode, Jamie and Roy would have had their fight sooner in the season and would've spent the finale navigating the ambiguities of simply not knowing what was going to happen with all their relationships (which is what we basically get in the montage, and I believe those characters would get there, but even as a non-linear progress enthusiast I found their final scenes together annoying after having really loved most of their scenes together throughout the entire series...I have no trouble believing that Roy and Keeley would likely reunite in the future, or that they might really pull off the throuple, and I didn't personally need to see that happen on my screen, but I did want a more concretely sunk in growth moment for Roy)

One (1) fewer ambiguous facial expression from Michelle Keller, please, mostly because of how much I've hated talking about it

Ted and Roy would have gotten a goodbye(-for-now) that alluded to their overlapping traumas and things they had observed about each other and appreciated in each other

BUT. In general, I felt like the characters were never unrecognizable (including Ted in 3x12, who was not emotionless and dead inside and cruel and would not need to grovel if/when he returns to the UK and I will totally die on that hill), and the various missed opportunities and unfinished business and open-ended trailings off into the future did nothing to ruin the perfect beauty of s1 (which will always be soooo special and great) or the (often more clunky than s3 in my opinion) complications of s2 (which I did love in its way).

I think I'm just basically at my core someone whose favorite show is this one? So I'd rather, when my brain presents the options, take the more generous interpretation of certain things in a way that allows me to engage more fully than I would otherwise, if disappointment was ruling my viewing experience. And I think a kitchen metaphor is the only way I can make sense of this whole experience and why I'm kinda here for it and find post-canon a compelling place to explore.

I think of a cook performing mise en place to get a dish ready to cook. Or a baker getting all their ingredients out on the counter so they can more easily assemble the cookies or whatever. But if you're making more than one thing, which I think Ted Lasso the show was doing (and your mileage may vary on how well that went), you've got your assembled thing in the oven and then you're also doing prep for the next thing and you're loading the dishes in the sink from the old thing and it's kind of a constant state of prep and action and clean-up. And agree with it or not, s3 ends when pretty much every character has a messy kitchen. I absolutely include Ted in this. The montage at the end feels like Ted's attempt to neaten up the kitchens of every person he knows so that he can survive making his choice to take a long physical break from actually being in those kitchens. (Linked post describes how I feel about that scene, which I do think was reality rather than a dream, but highly filtered through one person's consciousness.)

(((Whispers: and the thing that mystifies me the most about fan reactions--other than the literal threats of violence against creators--is the whole "I guess Ted and Rebecca didn't have any meaningful connection after all and the parallels were just accidents or cruel jokes" thing...which is not something I have really read or seen online much recently at all if you're wondering. Because their parallel journeys matter so much! And the main way I can make sense of it all is by feeling like they did have all the ingredients out for the meal that would allow them to have gotten together during the 3 season arc, and because of Ted's very necessary choice they could not do that, and that doesn't mean the ingredients and their particular arrangement are meaningless even if hurts. That is genuinely what I see. And I completely understand why the missed opportunities or lack of acknowledgment of certain parallels is frustrating, but what i don't understand is the belief that the things we actually did get shouldn't have even been there if they weren't gonna kiss. I feel similarly about where Ted and Beard end up, actually, but that may be a post for another time [or the inside of my brain only] because I'm already very self-conscious about how long this is. The "Jason I am in your walls what was the reason for any of this" stuff just makes me feel so. Incredibly. Tired. The reasons were in the show!)))

Ted Lasso's finale attempted to put one last dish in the oven and bake it and bring it out, but just behind the outstretched arms with the neatly presented dish is a kitchen (a whole ensemble's worth of kitchens) in absolute disarray, no matter how much good stuff the characters have learned about mise en place and being a loving person and all that. Because the dishes literally never stop when you're a person, and neither does the hunger. I am not necessarily interested in analyzing how other shows whose endings I've loved or hated handle their character's figurative kitchens, but I do think that the way this show handled it is a big reason why the finale (and whole final season) was so divisive. I would love to remain as happily obsessed with it as I am while figuring out how to feel less intense feelings about how much some of the communal elements of it stress me out! I am an adult! I get how opinions work! I just have lots of feelings, I guess. :/

Haven't had much time to talk about it (in the sense that I just kept going and going).

But I did finish Dragon Quest III SFC and—

Oh my god you have no idea how much i've been missing out no wonder people skipped work for it it's just amazing in every way from the music to the amount of freedom it has in both exploration and character building is amazing and the ending Oh my god the ending somehow I didn't get spoiled on it and it was just o̷m̸g̵ ̸j̵u̸s̵t̷ ̶t̸h̷e̸ ̴b̴e̷s̷t̶ ̸k̷i̴n̷d̶ ̶o̶f̷ ̸b̴i̸t̷t̸e̸r̸s̵w̷e̶e̷t̵ ̶AND---

As I was saying, Dragon Quest III was a great experience. And one I'm probably going to replay more than once.

Starting party was Hero/Fighter/Dealer/Priest.

Monk archetypes are one of my favorites and DQ3 fighters are no exception — high crit chance and an extra "sidequest" if you want to give them a great weapon early on. The way agility affects defense, my fighter was also somewhat tanky too.

Priest. Obviously. I will have a bias toward healers no matter the game. And they remembered that priests can deal damage and have good equipment too, so extra points for that.

As for dealers, it was mostly out of curiosity at first. But giving mine an AOE boomerang and knowing they can appraise items made her very helpful for a while. Dealers being the class that levels up the fastest helped too.

After discovering reclassing was a thing, and that it functioned similarly to Wizardry (minus the stat requirements), I wanted to try the secret Sage class.

But then I got a cursed, +255 DEF helmet.

At which point I actually finished the rest of the game with just the hero (and my priest which I kept around whenever I needed to use items).

And the best part is the game still remained challenging despite me essentially cheesing it.

Magic ignores defense, and almost every enemy in the endgame uses spells instead. That includes bosses who, besides hitting hard (and more than once per turn), also required proper strategies to take down.

One boss in particular genuinely got me stuck thanks to it healing every turn. And I guess at that point I realized it would've been much easier to just bring in a full team.

But that's the beauty of it: I was committed (lol). Despite this not being something the devs probably planned for, I just knew I could do this.

After better planning, and around 20 or so minutes of fighting, I managed to take that boss out.

Then plot happened! And it was shocking! And then it was even more shocking!

And I could go on and on, seriously. But well, it isn't anything different from what others already said about this game: It's that good.

Really, this is the sort of stuff I love about RPGs: The ability to freely experiment with any strat - regardless of how outlandish it may seem - and somehow make it work by knowing how the game works.

It might have been cheesy, but the game was fun either way. Definitely going to try to attempt it again without the helmet later on (maybe the GBC version?).

and now a GAMEPLAY UPDATE from yesterday...

MORE POKEDEX COMPLETION BABEY whoops i uploaded these totally out of order but it doesn't really matter. after getting the surf HM from cynthia's grandma, instead of progressing to canalave city i backtracked through every location in the game where i could surf and unless i forgot something i've now picked up every item, caught every pokemon, and fought every trainer in all currently accessible locations before iron island? if i'm forgetting anywhere rest in peace i guess

worth noting that on the route i caught that gastrodon, i was just going for the 5% tentacruel but i somehow ran into the 1% gastrodon on the same route TWICE before i found a single tentacruel. that was wack lol. and also the pelipper was a 1% below sandgem town, and i didn't feel like grinding for the 1% as it was towards the end of my play session yesterday and i was tired, so i caught a level 30 wingull on the same route and exp share'd it on some wild mons for a bit until it evolved. close enough SFDKFSD

i did eventually make it to canalave, i got the gender difference upgrade to my dex in the route connector into canalave and it seems it's not just cynthia, Everyone is kinda opening their eyes to Hmm this is concerning... oh and i defeated barry, found out my team is pretty weak into fighting types but that's my bad LOL

i unfortunately did not take any more pictures while exploring yesterday because i was focused on my call but that's okay i had a good time

i will say that last night i went to check out the belt dude for the first time and he wanted a pokemon that was level 80... something, i don't remember, but obviously i do not have a pokemon even close to that high so i wasn't able to grab the black belt. today he wanted a level 39 pokemon though, and my luxray was literally 2 EXP away from leveling to 39, so i walked back outside the house, defeated a single wild pokemon, walked back inside and got the black belt LOL

anyway today i checked all my honey trees, still no munchlax... it's not like i expect the munchlax, i know i'll be at this for a long time, i don't even know which four trees are my munchlax trees, BUT whenever i do get it i will pop the fuck off.

it's also worth mentioning that i've been following the serebii daily events list for platinum since it's easy to check if i forgot everything, but serebii is missing one!! or kinda two depending on how you look at it. i realized this today. there's a guy in amity square who will give you an amity square accessory or berry everyday if you enter in from the right side and do a series of teleportations in the huts. there's also recurring items on the ground:

Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum introduced recurring Honey, in Floaroma Meadow. The Honey regenerates in one of the positions in which it was originally collected by the player, at a rate of two Honey per day. Some of the Star Pieces hidden in Iron Island regenerate daily. These games also featured a daily recurring Reaper Cloth, Rare Bone, or Stardust in Turnback Cave.

^ from bulbapedia's page on recurring items.

i still haven't fully fine-tuned my daily route but i'll figure it out eventually.

OH WAIT THERE IS ONE OTHER PICTURE I TOOK YESTERDAY

mocha evolved into hippowdon! i'm so glad i stuck it out getting a female hippopotas, the black coloration is just so much cooler LMAO i held off her evolution a few levels to get earthquake a few levels early :] cause my team is somehow a bit underleveled?? ever so slightly. i could use some more Power.

and THAT'S THE UPDATE phew. i'm thinking instead of progressing to iron island i might do some contests and stuff, i'm just in the mood for it. i already grinded a handful of accessories this morning in amity square which should hopefully carry me with what i want to do lmao

Do you hate (or dislike) BakuDeku? And no, I absolutely not a shipper, It's just that it's not the first time I've seen you pissed off about this. Some bkdk material in canon (or whatever it is), and then the typical trend to ignore Shouto and left the class behind once again.

And I totally understand you do. Because we keep seeing they insist on relegating Shouto when the main focus is on 'The Untouchable Duo' and it seems this will never change, nobody cares either (well at least I'm glad Shouto doesn't need to rely on anyone to shine by his own). I feel like this is just to satisfy the bkdk fans hunger maybe (most prob) rather than something intentional per se. Or idk, but. Hasn't this been going on for a while??? This same thing. Like, bkdk as the center of BNHA. Over and over and over again? Sadly that's how it has always been, it's as if nothing else matters at times if not the mostly.

I don't hate bkdk as a ship (though there are a lot of types of takes on it I dislike, so I rarely engage in the fanfics) and I do like it as a platonic dynamic a lot. Well, I used to like it a lot more in the past - I haven't been a fan of what happened since post-war.

Bakugou's apology was great, but him not getting any independent plot points after the war, I feel, really hurt his character. To me, he was more enjoyable before with his own motivation, social circle, field of influence. I think he would have immensely benefited from a solo fight exploring his growth a bit better. Now, he's been just wrapped up into Deku's plot, and it really sucks. His fight started out on the good notes for him, but I hated how when he got up after a severe beating and analysed Shigaraki was made to be about Deku, as if being someone who never gives up and being someone who is tactically smart haven't been core Bakugou characteristics since Day 1.

Also, while I enjoy(ed) bkdk as a dynamic, I have really grown to dislike Deku's arc. Again, not Deku as a person - some fanfic Dekus are still very dear to me - but this Messiah-MC-who-can-do-no-wrong and gets spoon-fed victories is just not it for me and I actively hate to see others brought down to elevate Deku.

As for my rant - what set me off was an art by TUM mangaka where she featured Endeavor with BKDK helping build a dam and Shouto was missing. I can understand putting BKDK and their relationship into the focus and have no problem with it, but when it's obviously an Endeavor internship reference, then I don't understand why Shouto is not there and I don't think there is an excuse to leave him off.

I'm also generally feeling increasingly salty about TUM and the amount of BKDK chapters in it vs how Shouto is barely visible. He only had a somewhat visible role in 3 chapters out of the 24, and not a single time has been teamed up with an actual pro-hero. There have been no TDDK chapters at all yet (even though everyone and their mother had team-ups with Deku by now), and only one featuring both Shouto and Bakugou (along with Kirishima and Camie), despite the ship-bait at the start.

Even when chapters focus on Dekusquad people - Shouto is just left out, while Bakugou is put in. (Both the recent Iida-focused and the Ochako-focused chapters had Bakugou but no Shouto). I do like Bakugou, but I don't like it when it's so obviously at the expense of Shouto-content.

So I'm really starting to question if Akiyama Yoco hates Shouto, and as a Shouto-fan, it makes it very hard for me to enjoy the rest of her work. While I purchased the first 2 volumes of TUM, I'm not putting any more money into a spin-off that is so blatantly anti-Shouto and ignores his fanbase to this level.

As for the canon, I'm actually mostly happy about Shouto doing his own thing with Dabi. I do like the Todoroki-family plot a lot - it's the only thing that is interesting for me in the manga at this point, and I'm excited about all the Shouto-Touya interactions. They are new, they are fun, there are a lot of emotional resonance with me.

So as long as we don't get Deku blitz in there to "fix" everything and Shouto is allowed to fulfil his arc, I'm ok with it.

I do hope though that Shouto will get a moment to also step up as a hero for the public, to deliver on the "reassuring hero" part of his arc and I wouldn't mind if in the end, he'd be still there with Bakugou and Deku. But as long as his arc gets a satisfying conclusion, I'll be fine.

Using Poppets to Explore the World(s)

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

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

Spoiler warning for the story and postgame below the cut!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As always,

Enjoy gaming!

To keep up with your Epithet Erased hype, what is your favorite cartoon or anime to crossover with EE?

Kids Next Door for certain! I don't update the crossover fic for it anymore (that's not to say I don't still have a plan for it; I still chip away at the next chapter every once in a while), but I still think about it constantly. It's hard for me to think of one without thinking of the other tbh. I hope I get the burst of inspo/motivation to finish it someday, since I have some fun epithet ideas for Fanny and Chad, as well as a planned epiphany for a character. I also just really enjoyed exploring the friendships between Molly and Kuki and Abigail, Trixie and Wally, and Pheonica and Harvey. If I ever finish it, it would also explore friendships between Giovanni and Kuki and Wally, and Sylvie and Chad. There was even going to be a friendship-adjacent scene between Molly and the Delightful Children having a 'bonding over having a bad dad' moment. Heck, I had big plans for the TND/AND b-plot that was steadily building with Trixie and her older brother Xerxes. Just in general, I think Kids Next Door makes for a great crossover, especially if you enjoy Neo Trio content. And all that is without getting into villain team-ups, like my crossover fic's Zora and Father duo, and Lorelai, Cree, and Chad working together (albeit, Lorelai had motivations besides actually wanting in with the teens that was going to be revealed later on). As more villains are shown throughout EE, the list of villain team-ups would only get longer.

Besides that, just to bring up something new, I've been watching a lot of Villainous lately since we finally got the US release a few days ago (I didn't realize how far behind I was in terms of supplementary material!). Its hard not to think of how the Banzai Blasters and Giovanni and his minions would fit into that universe, especially since I figure that a LOT of villains in that universe would be very unappreciative of Giovanni's philosophy of losing as a bad guy to make the heroes happier. I'd love to explore how Bliss Ocean would fit into that kind of universe as well. I figure that Bliss Ocean would cause a lot of divide among both heroes and villains due to their end goal (Which hasn't been revealed in Epithet yet apparently? I kinda forgot they're more mysterious now than they were in the OG campaigns). If you know, you know. I can see the Bliss Ocean situation being something that either brings villains and heroes together or puts an even bigger strain between them. Probably at an individual level between arch rivals and such. And honestly, with the team's whole deal, I'd say that by Epithet universe rules, Flug and Dem would be mundies (and obviously 505 is a bear so he couldn't be inscribed either), meanwhile most heroes would be inscribed to get their powers. That would mean that the most feared villain organization/team in the world would consist of mundies, and that feels very funny to me.

I don't how a writer would even pull off a redemption arc for Norman when he canonically sold his son's soul to Mesphiesto (aka the devil and the literal ebodoment of evil) to get his business booming at the price of his son's life becoming unlucky and for also teaming up with the carnage symbote to create chaos and caused Flash to die during that whole red goblin arc. Just. Like. How??

Well. Short answer: No, you can't. Lol

Longer answer: It's literally impossible to redeem Norman of all people, the fact that the method for his 'redemption' was getting shot by a magic gun that removed his sins (which has yet to be properly explained. Like what does that mean/entail in this context. Like so far he's been shown to have surface level guilt and feels hallow/empty like. Okay me too cry about it) says everything it needs to.

Norman has done far too much heinous shit to even entertain him getting a redemption arc, especially because writers themselves have RECENTLY brought up baby Mayday and the fact that he killed her. I don't like that plot point, it makes me extremely uncomfortable and I think it was very unnecessary but they've brought it up themselves in this arc so like... What.

I think in this case especially, that, obviously comics play in a very different ball park morality wise compared to real life, after all people don't have superpowers and in fiction it's fine to explore someone like a murderer changing for the better but given his. Everything and how Norman is, it's like. Why would you want to give him a redemption arc. I'm not going to list every awful thing he's ever done, it would turn into a novella but Norman is canonically 1) an abusive father 2) baby murderer as they've recently reminded us 3) has committed every form of murder possible and very much unapologetic about all of it and that's a very short list for my own sanity. Then you can include anything from 'every fucked up thing that he's done to Flash alone' 'selling his son's soul to the devil', I don't like that plot point either but unfortunately it is canon so it DOES count.

I literally cannot fathom why they're doing this because I've not seen one person who likes it. Especially because this arc has come at the cost of other characters. Peter of all people would never comfort Norman, especially about Harry of all things when Peter has told Norman that he cannot have Harry multiple times and told him to stay away from him, killed Peter's girlfriend, killed Peter's daughter, killed Flash, buried May alive, killed Peter's brother etc the list goes on forever. It's just... Not in character for Peter to even believe that Norman would be magically better and a changed man, Peter's paranoid on a good day let alone about Norman of all people. Like it's insane to me we don't need this

Also from a story telling perspective, it's not interesting! It's unnecessary and boring! Like okay Norman feels guilt and wants to atone but he doesn't seem to understand why his actions are bad and it all feels very surface level. Especially because they want to redeem him but have barely mentioned Harry, his own son who he abused and who is, for better or worse, a massive part of Norman's own character and vice versa AND who IF, you were going to have Norman become a better person, a lot of that would begin in realising what he did to his son, but that in general is very ooc for him just off the bat. Like he doesn't deserve one and it offers nothing of interest. And like! If he really meant that he wanted to change maybe he'd fuck off forever from the people he's irreplaceably hurt and wallow in his guilt on his fucking own lol. You can't have a character say they want to atone for their actions but do nothing of any real substance and arguably keep traumatising others just with their presence. Norman saying he's sorry and that he feels bad means nothing compared to literally everything he's ever done.

And again! Not interesting, I think when he's used right and written a certain way (the 60s and 70s goblin stories are my absolute favourites for example) Norman can work very well as the villain of the story but making him a better person spits in the face of any character who's even shared a room with him, ooc for a million reasons, has resulted in some of the worst Peter characterization in literal decades, is unnecessary and fucking horrible lol! Like it drives me insane that we're doing this but not even addressing EVERYTHING with Harry and that it's costing other characters of their actual selves.

Cindemption post where I talk back at my own tags

Sorry making a full post out of my tags on a post from before because whilst this is a topic I've discussed before I want to talk about it again. Mostly because I think it's true that getting from A to B is something people can intuit really easily.

Cinder is archetypally the type of villain that would explore a redemption arc in both anime and JRPG's (think the Dragon archetype) as well as Western media (her Anakin and Zuko parallels are not lost on the audience, whose redemption arcs ceaselessly come up in redemption arc discourse - almost only those two). We know it's possibly a thing. We know the possibility has been there for more than half the show. It's been there ever since we knew Salem existed because the second-in-command, or the underling evil, almost always has a chance at a redemption arc just speaking structurally.

The reason her redemption arc is controversial is not just because of her likability or narrative actions and consequences but because everybody can pick up on this. No one is arguing over Tyrian's redemption arc or feeling threatened by people writing about him in a sympathetic way that tries to interrogate his evil or his worldview. I've talked about this topic before but it bears repeating. Everybody is aware of the potential with Cinder on some level, most apparently in the General Audience and with larger fandom since Volume 8's backstory reveal and the knowledge that Cinder's enslavement began when she was a little girl and is essentially the selfsame under Salem. We know. They know. Everybody knows. Whether they 'subvert' it is the question. This is why people are anxious to argue that she's already 'rejected' it because she didn't instantaneously realise Salem is just like Madame since Salem manipulated her to not do so. It's not whether she will have a redemption arc, it's whether she (the character, the story) will accept it.

What that development looks like is the really puzzling element. Because we know Cinder is sympathetic. We know she has reasons for the things she's done. We know that she's enslaved and under a magical Dark Curse. Irrespective of her popularity or lack thereof, we know all of these features about her character and role in the story. We just don't know how you get the heroes in a position to sympathise with her, because we're the only ones who know her like this - and who don't use it to manipulate and control her the way the other villains do.

That's why you have some people propose the idea Cinder will be a rogue anti-hero of some type. We know Cinder needs to recognise being with Salem is bad, but getting the heroes to help her with that is difficult - so maybe her epiphany will be self-sourced. This doesn't really work with Volume 8 (her extreme isolation is a bad thing and Salem's control works better with that. Emerald and Mercury were buffers and are now gone). That's why people who recognise her redemption arc but believe her to be a 'subversion' reject it because they can obviously recognise she needs someone, but there is no someone. So the choice is 'subversion' or anti-heroism.

The other is that you find anyone, any hero who seems to fit the bill, and get to point B. Ruby will notice Cinder is in pain. Team JNR will care because they are good heroes. All the heroes are good (lol), the way they never were for Cinder, and the villains are all dead or redeemed. It's recognised that you need some Huntsman to help Cinder, in order to redeem Rhodes and the general thematic direction of Ozma's order being fucked, but no one knows who exactly. It's gotta be one of them. But why?

That's the real stickler. We know Cinder has a redemption arc. We know the Huntsman thing needs fixing. We know Ruby will purify Cinder with her silver eyes, that's been set up since Volume 6. All of these pieces go together in some fashion, but why? How do you get Ruby to understand Cinder and how do you get Cinder to not view Ruby as the ultimate threat? How do you make anyone care about her in a way that is personalised to her story and speaks to the thematic/narrative stakes? If it could be any Huntsman - any of them, just pick one - why did Cinder get the bad one? By accident? Who's really set up to redeem that idea? Who's the 'bad' Huntsman that survived when the 'perfect' Huntress died?

My criticism of other Cindemption theories I've read is just that it's some rando or it's Pyrrha living in Cinder's head to service Cinder's story and to completely abandon the tragedy and triumph of Pyrrha's story that ended the first arc of the story. But as repulsive as I find the latter theory and as lazy I find the former, I can appreciate that most people can intuit Point A to Point B. That is the part that is really interesting and important and in my opinion is essentially the secret to storytelling. You know something is coming, you just don't quite know how it'll happen.

So it should be an idea that seems inevitable and makes sense and when it finally happens it's the only way it could happen, but until then trying to fit the pieces together is the fun part. Stepping out of my role as a fan and trying to think about how the writers feel, this is probably the thing you want, even if you intend to 'subvert' her redemption arc (which is an overdone, exhausted, and narratively unjustified direction in R/WBY with Cinder's character and the massive Fall Maiden stakes at hand). The question of her redemption is out there, we know it's coming.

Of course I just think the big damn romance with Jaune is the answer that's going to surprise everyone yet make the most sense.

For Women's History Month 2021, GRAMMY.com is celebrating some of the women artists nominated at the 2021 GRAMMY Awards show. Today, we honor Taylor Swift, who's currently nominated for six GRAMMYs.

When we met Taylor Swift in 2006, it was immediately apparent that her songwriting approach was like ripping a page out of her diary.

"Just a boy in a Chevy truck/ That had a tendency of gettin' stuck/ On backroads at night/ And I was right there beside him all summer long/ And then the time we woke up to find that summer gone," she lamented in the first verse of her debut single, "Tim McGraw(opens in a new tab)." The way the then-16-year-old Swift could turn personal anecdotes into instantly memorable hooks mirrored the prowess of an industry veteran, appealing to more than just the teenage girls that could relate to a short-lived high school romance.

Now, nearly 15 years later, Swift has introduced another layer of intrigue with a foray into indie folk, unveiling a pair of albums, folklore and evermore, last year. Recorded entirely in isolation after the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, folklore has been widely acclaimed(opens in a new tab) as Swift's best album, touted for its intimate songwriting and cinematic dynamics; evermore has received similarly glowing reviews(opens in a new tab).

folklore was 2020's best-selling album(opens in a new tab) and earned Swift five GRAMMY nominations at the 2021 GRAMMY Awards show, including her fourth Album Of The Year nod. (evermore will be eligible for the 64th GRAMMY Awards in 2022.) As her 10 previous GRAMMY wins suggest, though, this new chapter isn't an abrupt departure for the star—it's a masterful continuation of her evolution as a singer/songwriter.

If there's one thing that Swift has proven throughout her career, it's that she refuses to be put in a box. Her ever-evolving sound took her from country darling to pop phenom to folk's newest raconteur—a transition that, on paper, seems arduous. But for Swift, it was seamless and resulted in perhaps her most defining work yet. And folklore’s radiance relies on three of Swift’s songwriting tools: heartfelt balladeering, autobiographical writing, and character-driven storytelling.

While there was always a crossover element to Swift's pop-leaning country tunes, her transition from country starlet to pop queen began with Red. The album’s lead single, the feisty breakup anthem "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together(opens in a new tab)," was Swift's first release to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and, ironically, scoffed "indie records much cooler than mine"). She declared a full pop makeover with 2014's 1989, but the response proved that her bold move was the right one: Along with spawning three more No. 1 hits, the project won Swift her second GRAMMY for Album of the Year.

From there, 2017’s Reputation, a response to media scrutiny, and 2019’s Lover, an often bubbly exploration of all facets of affection, followed. Although they shared similarly grandiose production, Lover featured a handful of poetic ballads, including "The Archer(opens in a new tab)," a self-reflective love song that teased Swift's folk sensibilities through storybook lyrics and ambient textures.

Swift’s ballads are key in understanding the full essence of folklore. They’ve regularly marked standout moments on each of her albums, both thanks to her poignant vulnerability and rich tone. Fearless standout "White Horse" earned Swift two GRAMMYs in 2009; Red's painstaking "All Too Well" was an instant fan favorite; 1989's "This Love" and Reputation's "New Years Day" provided tenderness amid otherwise synth-heavy sounds.

The raw emotion she puts into her downtempo songs comes alive on folklore, introducing a new wave of neo-classical sonics that elevate her fanciful penmanship to an ethereal level. Whether or not Swifties saw a full indie-pop record coming—at least not yet—the shift isn't all that surprising. Folklore’s romanticized lyrics and relatively lo-fi production are arguably what many fans have been patiently waiting on.

Lyrically, the super-personal nature of Swift’s music has always captivated fans and naysayers alike; diehards and critics dissected each of her albums for its real-life subjects and hidden meanings. While she played into those conspiracies at the time—whether she was revealing names in titles like "Hey Stephen(opens in a new tab)" and "Dear John(opens in a new tab)" or scathing the other girl on "Better Than Revenge(opens in a new tab)"—even Swift herself admits that her teenage method had an expiration date.

"There was a point that I got to as a writer who only wrote very diaristic songs that [it] felt unsustainable for my future moving forward," she told Apple Music's(opens in a new tab) Zane Lowe in December of 2020. "It felt like too hot of a microscope ... On my bad days, I would feel like I was loading a cannon of clickbait when that's not what I want for my life."

That realization is what helped make folklore so memorable: Swift stripped away the drama to let her artful storytelling shine. Sure, there are occasional callbacks to personal happenings ("invisible string(opens in a new tab)" references sending her exes baby gifts and "mad woman(opens in a new tab)" alludes to her legal battle with Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun). Still, she largely shies away from her autobiographical narratives to make way for her imagination.

"I found myself not only writing my own stories, but also writing about or from the perspective of people I've never met, people I've known, or those I wish I hadn't," Swift wrote in a letter to fans(opens in a new tab) on social media the day folklore arrived. "The lines between fantasy and reality blur and the boundaries between truth and fiction become almost indiscernible."

folklore might be her first full project dedicated to creating characters and projecting storylines, but Swift has shown a knack for fantasy from the start. Tracks like "Mary's Song (Oh My My)(opens in a new tab)" on her self-titled debut and "Starlight(opens in a new tab)" on Red saw Swift craft stories for real-life muses ("Mary's Song" was inspired by an old couple who lived next door to Swift in her childhood; "Starlight" was sparked from seeing a picture of Ethel and Bobby Kennedy as teens). Even when songs did pertain to her real life, Swift often had a way of flipping memories into whimsical metaphors, like the clever clap-back to a critic on Speak Now's "Mean(opens in a new tab)" or the rebound relationship in Reputation's "Getaway Car(opens in a new tab)."

To think that we wouldn't have folklore without a pandemic is almost surreal; it's already become such a fundamental piece of Swift’s artistic puzzle. There was no telling what may have come after the glittering "love letter to love itself” that was Lover, but it seems isolation made the singer rethink any plans she may have had.

"I just thought there are no rules anymore because I used to put all these parameters on myself, like, 'How will this song sound in a stadium? How will this song sound on radio?' If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" she told Paul McCartney in a November (opens in a new tab)Rolling Stone(opens in a new tab) interview(opens in a new tab). "And I guess the answer is folklore."

Even if she hasn’t been making indie music herself, Swift has shown an affinity for the genre over the years through curated digital playlists(opens in a new tab). Those included four songs by The National including "Dark Side of the Gym," which she references on folklore single "betty(opens in a new tab)," and "8 (Circle)" by Bon Iver, Swift's collaborator on folklore's gut-wrenching "exile(opens in a new tab)" as well as evermore’s title track. (“Exile” is one of folklore’s GRAMMY-nominated cuts, up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.)

The National’s guitarist Aaron Dessner co-wrote nine and produced 11 of folklore's 16 tracks, soundtracking Swift's imaginative tales with sweeping orchestration and delicate piano. Their partnership started with "cardigan(opens in a new tab)," a melancholy take on teenage love(opens in a new tab) that's up for Best Pop Solo Performance and the coveted Song of the Year. The team-up was a dream come true for Swift, a self-proclaimed National superfan and a career highlight for Dessner, who shared in an Instagram post(opens in a new tab) about folklore that he's "rarely been so inspired by someone." He sees the album as a pivotal moment for both Swift's career and pop music.

"Taylor has opened the door for artists to not feel pressure to have 'the bop,'" Dessner shared with (opens in a new tab)Billboard(opens in a new tab) in September. "To make the record that she made, while running against what is programmed in radio at the highest levels of pop music—she has kind of made an anti-pop record. And to have it be one of the most, if not the most, successful commercial releases of the year that throws the playbook out.

"I hope it gives other artists, especially lesser-known or more independent artists, a chance at the mainstream," he continued. "Maybe radio will realize that music doesn't have to sound as pushed as it has. Nobody was trying to design anything to be a hit. Obviously, Taylor has the privilege of already having a very large and dedicated audience, but I do feel like it's having a resonance beyond that."

Swift's other primary folklore collaborator was Jack Antonoff. He has been her right-hand man since they first paired up on 2013's promotional single "Sweeter Than Fiction(opens in a new tab)" (Swift referred to him as "musical family" in her folklore announcement(opens in a new tab)). Even after years of creating stadium-ready pop smashes, Antonoff said in his own folklore Instagram post(opens in a new tab), "I've never heard Taylor sing better in my life / write better."

As Swift recognizes herself, folklore ushered in a new way of thinking for the superstar that not only brings out her best, but sets a promising precedent for what's to come. "What I felt after we put out folklore was, 'Oh wow, people are into this too, this thing that feels really good for my life and my creativity,'" Swift added in her interview with Lowe. "I saw a lane for my future that was a real breakthrough moment of excitement and happiness."

Her enthusiasm is tangible on both folklore and evermore. Dubbed folklore’s sister record, evermore further expands Swift’s newfound mystical atmosphere. Much to the delight of many Swifties, the follow-up also calls back to her country beginnings on tracks like the HAIM-assisted “no body, no crime(opens in a new tab),” as well as her pop expertise on more uptempo cuts like “long story short(opens in a new tab).”

Together, the albums are a momentous reminder that Swift is a singer/songwriter first. Her wordcraft is some of the most alluring of her generation, and that’s never been lost on her music, regardless of the genre she’s exploring. But now that Swift also feels she's at her best, it’s evident folklore was just the beginning of Taylor Swift in her finest form.

This dungeon was really nice tbh, though I felt that from really early on with how hard Futaba's emotional pull was.

At around 10:30 you can see me cycling the map layers to double check I explored every part of the dungeon- something I've done in every palace thus far- and you can really tell that this dungeon has a lot of meat to it.

It's not classic RPG "Fuck you, here's a maze" levels at all, but every page of the map you see had a couple minor puzzles or enough surface area to encourage you to be thorough in looking for little treasure coves- and there were quite a few neat little puzzles brought into this.

Nothing insane or never before seen- just a lot of variety, between basic navigation to switches, to placing keys far from the keyhole, to varying levels of moving picture puzzles, to rooms made of complex architecture to make it easy to miss treasure, heck there was even a very minor but cute binary puzzle. It kept each room feeling fresh.

Beyond that, I was a big fan of the encounters here- like running into Anubis fights who demanded some more thought since they don't have a weakness and will spam death spells- and that final boss wasn't half bad either.

As a matter of fact let's ramble on them a sec: The Sphinx wasn't half bad!

It felt "maybe" a little simplified for narrative purposes- like they wanted to squeeze in Futaba dialogue and give her a unique way of interacting with the encounter instead of just becoming a party member- so ""maybe"" they stripped ideas from the Sphinx move-set to more easily fit in Futaba's interrupting forcefield stuff.

**MAYBE**, that's just what my gut says because they aren't the most complex encounter.

BUT THEY WERE A GOOD ONE!

Moderate damage, some wind element AOE (which wasn't great since I ran Ryuji), a prep-able 'big move' to defend against, even a burn phase like I've been gushing over because I love the ebb and flow of combat allowing for those!

AND! Another instance of mid-encounter planning where you toss a party member off the team for a bit to initiate a plan outside of the direct fight etc In this case you can toss a party member onto the ballista to give up a couple turns in return for forcing the burn phase.

Love that :D

Other stuff with time stamps since they are more specific:

23:50~ I always assumed that Futaba would get dragged along to join us much earlier- I even considered the possibility that the devs wouldn't tackle how weird that is- to have her explore her own heart. But to have her join in by getting the app herself WITHOUT ever having been dragged inside, was interesting.

I thought you had to be dragged inside (or be given it by Igor), but apparently something about her interactions with us has granted it to her without that. Or it was Igor, heck if I know.

Also the first instance of us seeing the shadow version of someone appear in real life... kinda.

What I mean is for every other target we "The Player" see them flash into the real world but it's obviously not real, it's just a glimpse for the player to see the shadow version freaking out or scoffing that we're gonna steal their treasure.

Futaba, on the other hand, hallucinates her shadow self in the real world and CONVERSES with them. I believe this wasn't during the recording as I believe it was the scene you see after finding the locked door in the tomb- either way.

Just an interesting thing.

32:40~ What a fucking drop by the way.

My feelings towards this plot point are a bit complicated.

Mostly positive.

The short version (trust me, a few rewrites in this) is that I can accept and even like the gaslighting narrative. I think it's pretty obvious that a group of grown ass adults attacking the psyche of a child who just lost their mother would do just as much damage as is on display.

I just kinda feel like the reveal was sudden and didn't have much build up or many details? Or rather- I guess the build up was there but holy hell did it feel like it was for something else which just made the reveal feel out of left field to me.

The narrative felt like it was building up an abuse story- it even alludes to that early on when the team suspects Sojiro before that narrative gets tilted towards the mother herself.

You have those around Futaba saying her mother is great, and we have Futaba herself remembering her mother yelling at her followed by memories of other people chiming in that it's her fault.

The story kept bouncing between us suspecting she was hurt because she missed her mother, or because her feelings around her mother were complicated and distorted because of things we didn't understand yet (alluded to as abuse/guilt intertwined).

It all felt like a story of her mother being an abusive shit-stain and like the distorted or otherwise 'not real' memories were the other voices, not her mother.- IE she was mis-remembering the grieving voices of those around her mother as being accusatory because her mind was taking in the conflicted info of everyone missing her mother when her experiences were seemingly not positive with her mother.

You know, something that felt built up.

Instead the last second twist said "She was nice! And those voices WERE LITERAL and not exaggerations built on a kid's conscious! Some adults LITERALLY gaslit the shit out of a kid to believe her mother hated her! Because!"

I mean when I heard the over the top disdain the accusatory voices had- I immediately assumed those were distortions and weren't real.

And when I heard the wide range of disdain from her mother, I figured that was 'mostly real' but exaggerated at points because of the building guilt from those other voices.

I ain't saying my read was air-tight, but it's what I assumed was going on.

Like I said, complicated feelings on this plot point. I feel like a hefty talk on invisible abuse was going on to the point of even tricking the thieves and that it was all coming ahead in the finale- and then the car swerved and said "I dunno, gaslighting. But not from her mother, like some weird third party gaslighting with currently unexplained reasoning and motives."

I'm probably sounding harsh because honest to god, from start to finish I enjoyed this chapter's story. There wasn't a sudden moment like during the reveal where I went "Wait, fuck this, what?"

Instead I had a moment where I went "Oh, huh, okay. That's SUPER FUCKED UP that they did that to her" so I was on board and riding the wave just fine- it's in a more thorough big picture moment like now that I go "But why did it go that way? We have no motivation or real explanation- it's just 'gaslighting' because 'gaslighting'... huh."

Like all the parts work to build up to this narrative just fine, it just really felt like something else was going on, and this twist was just weird evil people doing weird evil shit.

Ah well.

33:45~ 69. Nice.

58:00~ I really like this! Maybe it's worth mentioning it's been like a week break for me so maybe I'm giving extra credit for a call back when in-game it was so recent it was obvious they would call it back- whatever!

Earlier the lore was dropped that persona holders could never have a palace because, more or less, they are people who hold themselves truthfully and clearly- or something along the lines of saying Persona users are honest to themselves so they couldn't possibly distort their self-view to make one.

This small moment of Mona going "Oh shit! Not only did the treasure get stolen but she awoken to being a persona user! This palace isn't just crumbling it's DOUBLE CRUMBLING, LET'S GTFO" and I was like "That's fun! I like that!"

59:00~ So.

I wanna say "Fun exit sequence!"

Instead I gotta say car asshole.

Thank you, Persona 5.

62:00~ I liked this too~ The fact Sojiro has cared for Futaba so thoroughly over the years to have a fun little reference to this phenomena (run outta batteries) was nice, and the amusing reveal that she'll just sleep a couple days and be fine (god does she live off energy drinks? Holy hell she needs some exercise ;-; or something!)

But also I really really like this because it means if this works like the previous chapters then she's gonna be sleeping for 22 days, lmao.

Here's to those 22 days btw, I have a ton I want to get done before Futaba insta-hacks those Medjed pricks. I'd like to get a couple more confidants up ;-; please game let me be besties in those 22 days.

I've been thinking about what Misha said before the season aired about how Cas would be back but he might not be exactly the same. Based on what we've seen so far, do you have any thoughts on what he might have meant by that? I still have fears that he's really The Empty in Cas form and he's come back to Earth to confirm that there's "nothing there" for Cas to kind of taunt him. Like the only way for real Cas to come back would be for Dean to tell Empty!Cas what he really means to him.

If you want reassurances, I’m about 100% convinced the writers wouldn’t be putting in the energy to pull a long con like that. :)

They really flag up when something is wrong with a character, to let us know that we should be suspicious with the sort of tropes or character beats which should be readable from space. If anything we’ve seen more non-Cas-es this season than normal, all different variations of Empty Cas and Casmodeus and Zach-as-Cas etc. Which contrasts more to our Cas using him as the baseline, than a warning that it’s not him. If Casmodeus kidnapped and replaced Empty!Cas, that’s treachery on treachery, and also away from the Winchesters and pointlessly stuck for 2 weeks, a cosmic entity more powerful than God wouldn’t have been concerned about Lucifer and Asmodeus finding out what it was and would have preferred to get free and go back to playing the con IT wanted to do about Sam n Dean and how Cas feels about them, so the sooner it’s back with them the better, no time to suffer fools along the way. 

I feel like it’s pretty safe to assume the Empty is behind us for now, though it’s something we’ve explored a little and now we have a little better knowledge of it to be used some other time maybe, or maybe not, it was entirely there for Cas as a character than for setting up some plot stuff. It’s like I’ve been talking about Mary lately, where people are convinced the stuff from the AU and the things it’s saying about her deal are retcons or something, rather than reflecting on how the terms of the AU actually mean anything for her as a character or that the set up was entirely for her emotional benefit.

She and Cas had pretty directly paralleled states at the start of the season (really, they’re still continuing as she’s sort of taken over Jack for him now they’re on the other side of the AU together, so they’re sharing a responsibility for him in a parental sort of way that doesn’t exactly overlap with the way Sam and Dean related to him…) and anyway, while Mary was off in the AU, Cas was off in the Empty, and between their appearances in 13x01-4 the storytelling was using the dramatic irony set up of Sam n Dean thinking they’re dead while their narratives are continuing merrily away. For Mary that was supposed to be an exploration of the AU from her perspective to discover this world that her AU counterpart sort of helped ruin (to be facetious - obviously cause and effect vs blame is kind of a thing right now :P) and okay so we don’t get that until non-Buckleming write her in 13x14 but we can work with that.

But for Cas he gets a strong exploration of where he is at as a character, almost like a “this is your life” sort of thing, to sum up everything he’s been through, up to the point of finding himself for the first time facing perma-death instead of instant resurrection before he could find his way to the Empty. It reads his mind and finds out everything there is to know about who and what Cas is, and therefore we have to assume it’s picking its words carefully when it talks to Cas, trying to make him give up and go back to sleep by beating him down with everything it knows. 

Having resisted this and convinced the Empty he won’t be made to go back to sleep, and overcoming all the stuff it tells him which is drawn from his lowest points and worst opinion of himself, Cas chooses living over endless sleep, and to return to the fight… He still has some negative feelings towards himself but overall he’s had to acknowledge and accept a lot of things in order to put them aside and resist the Empty and not let it win by admitting it’s right - by telling him things his own depression has been telling him for years (vocalised by all the angels who are mean to him through the last few seasons). 

So when he comes back he’s ultimately got to have an at least slightly different perspective or sense of self-worth than he has had before. For example, he does actually snidely get out of jail with Asmodeus and Lucifer by not suffering the idiots around him and acting 100% better than them in every way, but he does it as Cas, and not as the Empty - full of compassion, righteous pissed-off-ness at Lucifer, and a clearly stronger sense of self. He’s also back to snarking at Sam and Dean, grumpy banter with Dean, and while he still has hella issues, they’re not the same issues as the depression arc (though I obviously think you can’t say he’s magically cured of that, but that it’s at least something he’s doing BETTER with now), but exploring other scars left on his psyche, such as by being an angel for billions of years and the damage that would do on someone’s self-esteem and sense of purpose while trying to be a member of a team and family instead now. (Aka everything he kept saying about being a soldier in 13x14 which was so alarming. Worrying, yes, but all coming internally from Cas and highlighting where his character arc is going now, since they’ve resolved, somewhat, his depression arc which culminated in his death in season 12, and had to be overcome on a personal level in order to re-enter the story…) 

And since Cas got back, by the first few minutes of 13x06 it felt clear to me there was no way it could be anything other than our Cas (not that I had doubted it from the moment he woke up in the field, as he clearly won the argument in the Empty and the stakes for winning were set out by Cas immediately, that he would be returned to life if he wasn’t going back to sleep), just because the emotional arcs came back and the story is being told about Cas and his feelings in such a way that it is definitely about his internal processes and reactions, and not about some stand-in for Cas who will not benefit from these things.

I suppose the easiest example, especially to keep it non shippy, would be that they gave him a scene alone with Jack, which would benefit no one if it was played like that but was not Cas, and if it were not Cas, the story ought to have been prompting Jack to be suspicious about who Cas was when the Winchesters were unable to sense something was off, rather than Cas being curious about who Jack was. And of course Cas’s interest in Jack has been calm and emotional rather than over-zealous and seeking power or curious about what he can do rather than who he might be. When he needles Lucifer about who Jack is and how he’s not like Lucifer, that’s something only Cas could or would even care to do, rather than emphasising his power or potential. He reassures Jack that he’s supposed to do great good but again that was about Jack’s heart, at the core meaning… If it were not Cas, any other creature would be encouraging Jack to conquer, even if it was dressed up as pretending to spread love. There’d be something blatantly wrong with Cas’s message if he were not Cas. And this would be where we would pick up on it.

Also, my personal favourite metric for judging if Cas is Cas or not: he’s been knocked flat on his back like 5 times already since he got back.

That’s our boy there.

Crash Queens and Motor Babies

Chapter 1: Home Sweet Home

Warnings: some strong language

"TIME TO RISE AND SHINE YOU LAZY ASSES"

I groaned but gave a slight smile against my pillow. Danger Star was always the first one awake in this group, and had taken it upon herself to be the alarm clock for the rest of the group if we slept in too late.

I had been half awake for the past half hour, but had refused to get up and leave the comfy sanctuary of my bed. Yeah, "bed," you heard me right. My group was lucky enough to find a mostly-secluded, mostly functioning house to crash in. I feel only partly bad about this because obviously most killjoys aren't as lucky. But hey, I'm still not complaining. We do allow the occasional visiting killjoy to crash here for a few days if they need to, so it's not like we try to keep it all to ourselves. We don't see the point in being that selfish, given everyone's current situation.

As I was contemplating the pros and cons of getting out of bed, I heard a surprised yell followed by the thudding sound of someone hitting the floor. My first reaction was that a Drac had decided to explore this far out in the zones and pay us a visit, so I jumped up and grabbed my purple ray gun and peeked slowly out the door to see what the fuck was going on. I immediately relaxed and shook my head, trying not to laugh, when I saw the sounds were of Danger Star falling to the floor after taking a pillow to the face, courtesy of Toxic Grenade.

I just realized I haven't actually introduced all of us yet.  I'm Demolition Ghost (Ghost for short), and I'm the leader of this rowdy bunch of killjoys. Also a part-time, post-apocalyptic artist. It's how I make part of the income for our group in this day and age, because since killjoys are all about bright, loud colors and designs, there's a high demand for both. I've got a purple ray gun, with ripped white jeans, black boots, and my trademarks are my long, wavy purple-and-blue hair and my black leather jacket with a white wrecking ball in the back, hand-painted by yours truly.

You've already kind of met Danger Star. She's the energetic one of the group, and while we're all basically adrenaline junkies (it's almost a requirement in order to be a killjoy), she takes the cake. And while she may be a wild card, she's loyal as hell, AND she's got almost sniper-level shooting skills. She's the only killjoy I know with a laser rifle in addition to the usual ray gun. FYI, she's also a giant flirt (don't worry, it's mostly in a joking fashion just to mess with people). And given her name, she took from the colors of the ol' star spangled banner: red, white, and blue. She's got a red ray gun with white stars on it, blue jeans, silvery combat boots, a black and red striped shirt, and red leather jacket. Her trademarks are her red fingerless gloves with a white star on each, and her waist-length, curly silvery-white hair with bright red tips. Star's reason for wearing so much red is so the bad guys can't see her bleed, haha.

Toxic Grenade is the third member of this team, Toxic for short. You know, the one who threw the pillow fastball. In every group, you have to have the short-tempered person. Well this is her. She's the kind of person who is the definition of the "take-no-shit" attitude. Before this life, she had graduated college with an engineering degree, so she's our resident mechanic and engineer. Toxic is actually the one who helped make Star's laser rifle. So while she may have a quick temper, she's highly skilled. She's got a black ray gun with a green stripe down the barrel, bright green combat boots, and a green and yellow jacket. Her trademarks are her black ripped up skinny jeans with green grenades painted on the back pockets, and her green hair with black highlights that goes to her jawline and is buzzed short on the sides.

Another person you need on every team is the quiet one. That's Bulletproof Night. Her fighting style mostly consists of silent assassin-ry, and it helps that she's got one of those long black leather jackets with a death-eater-like hood. She mainly keeps to herself, and she chose the room in the attic, because it's got the easiest access to the roof, which is the best vantage point for seeing any approaching visitors, hostile or not. She's a pretty simple yet strong person, and she prefers "working in the shadows," as Night's put it. Because of this, she's got the most understated outfit, but believe me, it still makes an impact when she walks in a room. She has a cobalt blue ray gun with multiple thin silver stripes going down the barrel, she's also got black jeans and boots, a cobalt blue shirt, and she has a silver belt where she holsters her gun and where she's strapped a few fighting knives. Her trademarks are her aforementioned long black leather jacket and hood, and her shoulder-length dark blue hair with silver stripes.

Now, on to our house. It's your basic two-story, Southern California home, but we do have an attic room and a basement. I know right? A SoCal home with a basement? It's like seeing a unicorn. We live in this abandoned neighborhood (well, pretty much every neighborhood is technically abandoned now I guess), but we live in one of the outermost zones, the farthest away from Battery City. So not many killjoys come out this far, but then again, that means the Dracs usually don't either, so we're relatively safe here.

We've got two working bathrooms, with showers in each; a working kitchen and fridge, very magical; and an actual working washing machine. We're practically living in unheard-of luxury but hey, you'd be grossed out too if you had to run around in the same dirty clothes every day in the desert. There is a pool out back (SoCal, remember?), but trust me, you wouldn't want to swim in that. Luckily, between us emptying it and the desert heat evaporation, most of the water is gone anyway (trying to deter anyone from any "great" ideas). There's three bedrooms upstairs, one in the attic, and one in the basement. The basement, the fifth and extra room, is the one we rent out whenever a stray killjoy comes along looking for a safe place to crash. No TV, sadly, but we have our communications radio for both music and for receiving updates and missions from Dr. Death Defying. The lights in the house still kinda work, due to Toxic making a couple solar panels outside.

So that's our family and our home. We've been a rock-solid team for about three years now, so yeah, we refer to ourselves as a family.