making an au but now im wondering . is the voice of the hero the rebirth of the long quiet from the previous time the princess "reset" the world?

thats why he wants to save her?

thats why he initially doesnt trust the narrator?

is that why he tells you to take the knife when you see her at the end, so that the cycle continues?

I've had this idea for an STP roleswap AU swimming around in my head for the past couple days (as though I need a fifth AU) and I kind of want to write down what I have, semi-coherently.

The general concept is thus: The Narrator's plan did not go exactly to plan, and the outside world completely stagnated after the Shifting Mound died. The Long Quiet is content to rule over an empty kingdom, and the Voices have faded over time to be little more than memories tasked with keeping the sole remaining fragment of the Shifting Mound from regaining her former strength.

Meanwhile, the Princess and the Echo are trapped in a mockery of the original Construct, asleep, until after an unknown fraction of eternity they wake up.

The Echo is disoriented at first, but realizes that his plan was complete and resulted in an effective destruction of the world. Figuring that some world, even a finite one, is better than no world at all, he offers to help the Princess escape the basement to which she is confined. (Of course, he's still resetting each time she fails to escape, which means he has to figure this out all over again.)

You are in the basement of a cabin. Outside of this cabin is a Hero. And that Hero will arrive here any minute. He's here to slay you. If he does, you will never escape.

The Narrator offers you a chance to have a weapon. If you take him up on the offer, the Hero will arrive armed, and if you don't, he'll be unarmed—this carries over into Chapter II. You'll also have the choice to face the Hero in the upstairs of the cabin, or to lie in wait in the basement, and when you get to talking with him, you can either act generally friendly and ask questions, or make threats to try getting him to give in. If you ask several questions in a row, you'll be locked out of the threats, and if you threaten the Hero, you can still ask questions, but you won't get much cooperation.

The thing is, the door won't open for you without the Hero's help, and in Chapter I, one of you will inevitably end up killing the other. The Hero will attack you if you try to leave the cabin (or leave the basement, if you lie in wait but decide not to ambush him) or if you run out of dialogue options.

The Chapter II routes are as follows:

Executioner: Take the blade, but refuse to fight back when the Hero attacks, leading to a cold-hearted Hero who doesn't feel remorse over killing you. Prince: Don't take the blade, and refuse to fight back when the Hero attacks, leading to a Hero who regrets slaying you and seems devoted to helping you.

Seer: Take the blade and successfully ambush the Hero in the basement, leading to a jumpy Hero who refuses to trust you. Fledgeling: Don't take the blade, but successfully ambush the Hero in the basement, leading to a flighty Hero who refuses to let himself be seen.

Warrior: Take the blade, attack the Hero, and overpower him, leading to a Hero who's more interested in fighting you than actually doing his job—or letting you go free. Worshipper: Don't take the blade, but threaten the Hero and overpower him, leading to a meek Hero who can't bring himself to stand against you.

Detective: Take the blade, ask questions, and fight back when attacked (unless you're attacked after running out of dialogue options), leading to a Hero who seems understanding of your actions and more interested in the bigger picture. Victim: Don't take the blade or threaten the Hero, but still attack him unprompted, leading to a Hero who's convinced you're more of a threat than you seem and refuses to engage with you.

Jester: Willingly return to the basement after meeting the Hero upstairs, leading to a laid-back Hero who doesn't really care about doing his job. Traitor: Either don't take the blade and fight back when attacked, or run out of dialogue options either with or without the blade, and fight back, leading to a Hero who'll gladly stab you in the back at the first opportunity, and is convinced you'd do the same.

The tone of your options in Chapter II changes depending on the Hero's perception of you—you'll have more options that align with how the Hero sees you, and fewer that go against it. Once in Chapter II, you have the ability to leave with the Hero (though some are much easier or harder to convince) or, if you fail, reach a Chapter III where the mock Construct is on the edge of dissolving. Each Chapter II has both a unique Chapter III and one where they seem to be fused with their paired Hero.

Once you manage to leave the cabin with the Hero, his memories return and you get a fragment of an explanation as to why you're in the cabin. He tells you that you are not yet strong enough to escape the real prison of the Long Quiet, and he on his own is powerless to help, but that with more experiences, you'll be able to achieve freedom for real. After five routes, you remember what you truly are and get to come face-to-face with the Long Quiet.

There's an equivalent to As You Were Once Nothing, as well—if you repeatedly refuse to leave the basement during Chapters II and III, you'll eventually fade away into nothing due to not being perceived.

Comics Fangirl n°5 - I say thee slay!

Plot by Colin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing

Art by Ibrahim Roberson & Wilson Moss

Today's review is about Thor Annual/2023

If you'd told kid me I'd ever enjoy reading Thor comics, I would've probably laughed in your face. I started my fangirl journey with Marvel's merry mutants and the whole webhead family, and dabbled in the occasional doctor Strange comics. Everything else seemed really corny and ridiculous to me. I scoffed at Ironman fans. I was convinced Captain America was straight up propaganda. And Thor? Another blonde perfect looking aryan ideal to my eyes.

But since then, I've actually opened a Thor comic. I gotta say I had this all wrong. I read the occasional boring issue, but for the most part, I've been having a gay ol' time with Thor, Loki, and the entire Asgard family.

The issue starts with a solemn monologue by Thor Odinson. His father, Odin, has left the throne to him, and after some tribulations, he is starting to get used to the role.

Nonetheless, when he wakes to discover the world tree corrupted and Sif, her eyes obscured by said corruption, he can't help but let self-doubt seep through the cracks in his will, that echo with the ones in his hammer.

Not letting fear and doubt take the lead once more, Thor sets off for Midgar. Once he arrives, he tries to locate his fellow Avengers. When he realizes this corruption extends to his friends very existence as heroes, he sets off to find its source. He can't believe his eyes when he finds it. The source is none other than MODOK,now using a new acronym.

Now in possession of the power of Yggdrazil, the tree of life, the former D-list vilain is now a force to rival the all-father himself. MODOK vanquishes Thor, as if he were a mere child, sending him careening towards the earth once more.

Defeated, Thor thinks of his father as he decides to retreat "to the shadows", trying his best to not view it as cowardice.

Thankfully, in his retreat, he bumps into a de-powered and memory reset Peter Parker. The loveable nerd is getting beat up for standing up for someone.

Thor helps him and shares a touching moment with Peter. Parker shows him that, even though MODOK stripped him of his life as Spider-Man and all his memories of all his experiences as the webhead, he stays the same, never one to give up on helping people in need.

His words of wisdom help Thor to get back in the fight, humbled by the mortal's indomitable will. He bolts out of Parkers window to get back in the fight with MODOK.

Alas, even though he ends up defeating MODOK, Thor decides he won't act as his father would, choosing to forge his own path, no doubt inspired by Peter's kind heart.

As reality mends itself, Sif and him reflect on his choice to let MODOK live and maybe find redemption...

I gotta say, this issue is very light on actual story, but, and I might be biased because of my love for the webhead, I love what little plot there is. This annual reflects on the changes Thor experienced the past years, and teases more evolution in the future, all the while having a hopeful ending and a nice message. I personally interpret it as "We may fall down, what's more important is how we get up, and how we use the experience to go forward, no matter your physical strength, the power of your heart is what shines through in the end". I'm all about that message. When Thor mends the cracks in his hammer using the all powerful power of comics epicness, it's like a message of hope to the reader. Even gods have wounds to heal.

I give this issue a Laufeyson/10

Talk to you soon, true believers.

Fangirl out.

This account will be all about my O.R.A.S, Winters, Dynasty and PLAYER : Manipulative guardian.

Greetings, traveller ! Tis I, Misq the creator of up-coming series called : PLAYER and up-coming game like DYNASTY. These two didn't have trailer of some kind of offical stuff yet but I currently working on it right now !

{GET TO KNOW ME !}

Preferred name : Misq / Miso

Preffered pronouns : He/It/They but mostly any.

Nationally ? : 🇹🇭

Age ? : Atleast over 13.

Height ? : 170 - ish cm.

Favorite things to do ? : I usually roleplay in my free time or draw shit or like check to social or some sorts. But mostly reading smut fanfic-

Extra notes : I do take comms tho, I draw your oc for toyhouse invite codes and robux ! If you interested, DM me in discord ! Xi_Misq #6115

Oh and I curse a lot and uh my english confusing as shit so imaooo

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Question : What is PLAYER ?

PLAYER : Is more of like Undertale AT. This timeline happens when frisk reset many times and push the fun value to it's limit causing CHIKO, breaks out from the void. However, Frisk did not doing any genocide route and always do the pacific route.

After CHIKO break out, he quickly get frisk under his control, using her as a puppet to do whatever he want to. With this, Chara notices that she can't float around frisk for some reasons but instead she can only stays with flowey.

Chara then realize that, Frisk is not the same frisk she knows anymore and that's where the real problems starts. CHIKO appear infront of chara, of course he sees her and quickly offers her a deal.

Chara have no choices but to accept the deal, because it the only way to save Frisk from CHIKO's control but little did she knows. She already in CHIKO game of death.

And that's how PLAYER was born

Notes : In my AU, both frisk and chara are girls here.

Question : What is DYNASTY ?

DYNASTY : A world where it full of hates, greeds, rage and many other negative feelings. In this universe, This world got created by 4 gods.

Life

Death

Destiny

Rebrith

With the mighty power of 4 gods, they created EARTH. The EARTH is full of life and is a peaceful place for the organic life to live. But however, nothing last forever.

In 1289, Life found their love. The god have fall in love with a pitful humans, with this the three other fills with rage and disgusts. They decide that life does not deserved to be a god anymore.

So, Life got their head cut off right infront of their lover eyes. And so, The human heartbroken and got slaughter by Death after life.

Now, without Life, EARTH is chaos. All three must create more life each seconds while doing their own duties also.

But . . . After gaining the power of creating life and decide mortals fate. God of Destiny greeds grows. It slaughter Death and Rebirth, obtaining their power and control the 'HOLY LAND'

However, Rebirth still alive so they escaped and live quietly in the mystery woods. They not completely powerless and still have some left so they use their power to create a child to a family who desire to have a children in their house but unable to do so.

Now, without Life and Death, the world lose it balance and negativity quickly fills the peaceful world and turns it into chaotic land fills with unholy mortals.

Jess, the ancient bird who always want to kill destiny for making her life shit. So she start her journey and head to the HOLY LAND to slay down, god of Destiny. Also finding a girls to keep her enterained.

Question : What is O.R.A.S and Winters ?

O.R.A.S project : The project that under Green Delta Diamond and Omega Red Diamond.

Omega Red, who demands to have a powerful soldier who is fearless and willing to do anything for her own sake. So, she ask Delta green for help. She accept the offers and begin the experimentation.

But it fails for 64 times and Delta already grew tired so she bring out her private science to do the experiment and on their third attempt, they sucess.

They created the first four prototype by give them unique abilities for fighting only. But however, after the experimentation sucess, they found that the prototype don't have any gems right anymore. The prototype start mass-shatters and with that, the scientist must change their commands codes so they could be less-violent.

With this, they must train the prototype and that how overseer roles are very important to the ORAS, not only that they train prototypes but they are underlings also. Make sure to keep the prototype safe from the laws.

Winters : The old Beta White Diamond court gems group that's now working under Omega Red's commands. They are very important to the ORAS since they are supporter once the prototype are in battle.

And I guess that is ORAS and Winters.

Question : What if I want to know the story, lore and etc. ?

I will post arts, notes, some aesthetic log and diary shit to give yall hints of what would happens.

And some lore, backstories and etc. Too don't worries. 🤭🤭

That would be all ! Hope you all will join in the journey of mine and my ocs too !

Farewell.

Why do you think RED didn't get a Grammy nom yesterday? I really thought she had that one! What are you making of this ticketmaster drama is taylor to blame?

I think the president of giving a grammy to an artists re-recorded album is something the Academy made sure they stayed far away from and honestly it was the smart choice. What they open if they allow that to happen would be utter mayhem. It would mean other artists would attempt to do the same thing with the assumption that they'd also get a nomination and/or win. There would have to be guidelines in place to ensure not just anyone could do it.

The problem is - she was essentially re-submitting RED because of the Vault tracks not because of the original songs. If she hadn't added new/old songs, she wouldn't have submitted the album for consideration. And really and truly she only did this because she's campaigning to get AWT Short Film an Oscar nomination which slay, go for it, love that for her. ATW is where she wants the credit not necessarily the entire album. And ATW deserves the credit AND the Grammy because it is her greatest song and the culture reset it created by releasing it for the first time as a single BUT also at its intended and created length, was genius.

The thing with RED is that it never won the Grammy but its her most praised album - its on every single list for greatest albums of all time. The album might not have gotten its recognition during its first go round but it has it now. And now its ATWs time to shine - its really the only nomination that she cares about and she rightfully win.

Ohhh ticketmaster - they suck and they always have. And honestly some of that ownership is on Taylor - she's not dumb she knows she has fans who are excited for this tour, her album sales alone were a clear indication how many fans and supporters she has. She should've used the same system she did with Rep tour - it eliminates dynamic pricing and removes scalpers who resell at gross prices. There just should've been a better system in place.

Ticketmaster on the other hand playing dumb that they didn't expect the amount of traffic they got, can go suck an egg. They're the ones that released the pre-sale codes therefore they knew exactly how many were sent out, 1 Code / Swiftie - thats just math. Its the big business of it all thats just awful and gross, and it was avoidable on both parties. This situation needs to be a wake up call for artist using ticketmaster - they are a conglomerate that unfairly price gouge their buyers with outrageous fees and shitty website management. Ive never been a fan and this is why, even before they partnered for Live Nation - they're just a shitty company.

I wasn't even part of the pre-sale because I'm Canadian and she hasn't even announced international or any other North American dates, so I am sure my number will be called at some point to participate in these Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in our favour! Truthfully I have zero desire to go through this and often teeter between just being realistic that I am not going to go because I refuse to pay over $300 for shitty seats and just be fine with watching fan vids on YouTube post show or double down and re-sign my Amex Credit Card (I guess equivalent to Capital One for Canada) and go hard for the presale. Undecided

The Sylvie Show

this got a bit long so i'm putting it under a cut but basically it's episode summaries of what i would do if the loki show had sylvie as the main character instead, since I do think the plot of the show would be better suited to be focused around her rather than 2012 loki. I've tried to keep it so that a lot of existing canon shots/sets/scenes can be reused.

episode 1: the show opens up with young Sylvie on Asgard. The TVA appear and drag her towards a temportal. She wakes up from the apparent nightmare, gasping heavily. cue title card and cool music. a portal opens within a church, sylvie interrupts the man giving a talk on religion, questioning what he's saying with roundabout logic and being generally witty, even managing to incorporate giving a bar of gum she had in a pocket to a child sitting on an aisle seat who is really happy about it. the man is still coming up with an answer to what she said when the doors of the church are broken open and TVA agents start to file in. Sylvie says "about time," and proceeds to have fun slaying the unit and stealing a tempad. She picks up the charge on her way out, sending a blow kiss to the devil mural on the wall on her way out. cut to stepping out of a temportal, throwing the charge behind her over a shoulder (it lands on a mattress) and taking a heavy seat in front of a set of screens which show the inside of a mall. the cameras are mostly empty and where there are people it does not fascinate her (one of them shows someone reloading shelves). she scrutinizes the screens, drumming fingers on the table, but quickly sighs and pulls out her tempad: it flashes with low battery and she rolls her eyes, throwing it into a bin filled with likewise empty devices. she's about to get up when the cameras show a group of agents walking into the store. among them is one with a jacket reading VARIANT in bright orange. "Sh*t," she says, getting up and going to the mattress, rifling through a pile of clothes on the floor next to it "sh*t sh*t sh*t where is it". She pulls out a dark brown jacket, and the camera pans over to the screens again, where the VARIANT turns: it's Loki. A golden portal opens on the beige walls of the TVA, Hunter C-20 stepping through holding a man in 1940s army uniform by the arm and dragging him towards a desk. the man protests but she places a grenade on the counter and tells the deskworker to log it. "it wasn't a dummy," is the explanation she gives. In the background a single guard steps through a portal, looking around and proceeding to the doors out of this room. It's Sylvie, and she walks alone past other guards and rooms labelled Court and Memory Chamber. A group of people run past her saying a variant is loose and she walks faster. She walks past one court room, catching the words "trust me, you can smell the cologne of two Tony Starks," but continues looking around. An analyst (Mobius) rounds the corner in the direction of the court rooms and seems to be in a hurry, and Sylvie takes a sharp turn opening the closest door to her to avoid being seen. She is in a room with a Sacred Timeline screen, and zeroes in on the man closest to her, "what are you--" she places a hand over his mouth and pushes him down into his desk area behind his trolley, shushing him. "Do you know where the Reset Charge Storage Chambers are?" "Why?" *deep breath* *serious face on* "Tell me where the storaGE CHAMBer iS or I'll GUT YOU like a goAT!" "is that... like a fish?" *confusion* "how do you not know what a goat is?!" she spots a poster on the wall with a location guide and pushes Casey away with a hand to the face. "Nevermind." - We see Loki monologuing "the idea that your little club decides the fate of trillions of people across all of existence at the behest of three space lizards, yes, it's funny. It's absurd." an agent walks past in the background pushing a trolley but no attention is brought to it "I thought you didn't like to talk," mobius says. Sylvie pushes a door reading "Storage: Units" open, but looks and finds bodies in little cyro pod chambers lined up. "wrong door," she says, and pulls the trolley across the hall to the door reading "Storage: Charges." She's in a room with shelves filled up with reset charges, and opens the trolley drawer to find it already filled up with useless junk like infinity stones and such. to which she has no reaction. She shoves all that stuff to the side and out of the drawer, making space to

carefully place reset charges there. She individually picks up the two Tesseracts in it though and admires them, saying they're shiny and placing them on lower shelves in the room instead of on the floor. While she loads up the trolley ("a few more should do it") Loki walks past the door in full TVA outfit, happy and carrying a stack of papers that read RAGNAROK in bright red letters. She closes the drawer, takes her Hunter helmet off to shake out her hair and wipe sweat from her forehead, then puts it back on, pushing the trolley towards the door. Mobius has a hand at Loki's back, guiding him out of the Memory Chamber, Loki has clearly been crying and Mobius comforts him "it won't be so bad, you love being useful. and wearing suits." Sylvie walks past, pushing the trolley in the background. Sylvie continues down the hall, and when she sees no one behind or in front she pulls out her tempad and opens a portal, pushing her trolley and herself through. She's already gone and misses Classic Loki with a collar around his neck being escorted through the hall. - Sylvie and her trolley push through the portal and are in a mall, the lights dim and flickering above. Thunder is heard and lightning strikes as she places a reset charge on a shelf, flicking open a panel on it's side, and then walking a bit further and placing another. "May I help you?" a store employee asks, startling her. She considers. "Actually..." and places a hand to the person's temple - it takes a few seconds of effort but her fingertips glow green, and so does the person's eyes and temple, "don't mind if you do." She walks away from the trolley in a rush, and the store worker behind places a reset charge on a shelf. "I'm a bit short on time," she says to herself, pulling out her Tempad. Suspenseful music as the screen fades to black. - Everything cuts to a desert, with a small town in the background. A portal appears high up, and Loki falls from it to the ground. the words "twelve miles east of Puento Antiguo" appear on screen, and we see Loki formed a small crater in the ground, reminiscent of Mjolnir and the one in Stark Tower. "Ow," Loki says, taking the muzzle off with one hand, and then pulling the cuff chains off. The dust settles around him and he's still extricating himself from the hole in the ground and groaning about sand being irritating and getting everywhere when a golden portal opens up (we get a high shot, showing that Loki did indeed land within a larger crater too). Loki puts his hands in the air. "Appears to be a standard sequence violation. Branch is growing at a stable rate and slope. Variant identified." "Beg your pardon but I--" "On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you for crimes against the Sacred Timeline." "I didn't meddle with time, that would be the Avengers." "You're coming with us." *agents point pruners at him* "It's been a long day, I'm afraid you'll have to make me." *loki's hands start to glow green but B-15 presses a button, freezing him in place. Any sand blowing in the wind or any dust rising has also now stopped. There is a bird stuck mid-flight. B-15 pulls out a collar and places it around his neck. An agent places a reset charge on the ground and activates it, it starts to fizz purple. Time unfreezes and B-15 drags Loki going "hey!" through a temportal, and it closes, leaving the audience to watch a few seconds of the charge going off and the radius of the charge increasing, washing the ground in a bright neon-ish light.

Episode 2: this one is a combination of the Loki episodes 1 and 2. Basically, Loki goes on trial, the TVA has no reason he's committed a crime, but Mobius who had been at the church crime scene saves him and takes him to the memory chamber to break. What gets him to stop acting as if he actually wanted to rule all of space and whatnot is Mobius bringing up the topic of choice in Avengers 1, and asking if Loki knew the mind stone was effecting him too, along with him explicitly asking about the torture which happened before, even during - he pulls up footage - the invasion. Mobius pulls up footage of Frigga and Loki pickpockets the collar remote etc. everything else remains the same, including most of episode 2, with Sylvie fighting to "I need a hero" etc, but C-20 is left behind after being enchanted. When the TVA show up C-20 is tied up hastily in leather belts and rope. She's mostly out of it saying stuff like "it's real, it's all real" but she also says "we're variants, we're all variants" which Mobius obviously brushes over casually. Loki narrows his eyes though, and says stepping out of the renaissance fair tent would have them winding up dead like the agents scattered around here, B-15 calls bluff and Mobius says to wait but the people walking in front of the ones holding C-20 up to take her to the TVA for medical help fall dead upon stepping out. Loki was stalling for time with the wold anecdote, and doesn't tell how he knew the death thing would happen ("I see a scheme, and in that scheme I see myself" "bullsh*t" "it's true. my reflection looks quite good, too." "you *sshole." *he smiles softly, as if t'were a compliment*), and everyone gets back by opening portals from within the tent. The dots between the gum and the apocalypses is drawn, they see Pompeii, end up going to Roxxcart, where we see Sylvie watching the screens, now in her leather gear. B-15 and Loki split up together, the guy at the 'hurricane sale' placed a charge on the shelf but no attention is drawn to that bc Loki and 'Loki' are talking. Sylvie emphasizes that she holds a grudge because he's a traitor, specifically for working for the TVA because they're "condescending time fascists." Loki assures her he knows, and that he's seen the charges around the place. She comes to the realization that he's been undercover/faking. We're shown Mobius and co. finding the room with screens but it's just got Sylvie's random junk, nothing really useful. They talk some more, no physical fighting but the vessel sizes get bigger and Loki calls it 'real mature'. While they still disagree on what to do with the Time Lizards (destroy or overthrow) Sylvie settles on leaving the portal open for him at the end and giving him a chance. She waits for him to go through first, with Loki looking back at Mobius meaningfully determined and then walking through.

Episode 3: Young sylvie is going through the stripping/signing/temporal aura process. She's sent into the court room. she bites and runs out of the room, putting distance before fiddling with the tempad she took, figuring it out, while Renslayer gets stuck answering the Judge. Sylvie appears back on Asgard, but there's already a Sylvie there playing with her toys. a TVA portal opens and she presses another "Asgard" on the device to escape quickly. "I just want to go home," she says to herself, appearing in the same room, but the child is a bit older (a teen?) and a boy and black and reading instead of playing but he's clearly also in green/gold and a loki. the kid turns after hearing her and she panicks and goes through another portal. another one with adult loki in the same room, she looks hopeful as if she could ask for help but then sif walks in with insults and slaps him but spots her. "who's the kid," sif asks and a portal opens up next to her. Agents step through and Sif punches one that does, asking Loki what trick this is now. Sif/Loki fight them while they're still coming through, sylvie presses another asgard but sees a knocked out agent has a tempad on his belt and takes it before running again. no loki in the room, it's empty, but a group of people rush across, talking hurriedly about 'the goddess of death' and 'odin's real heir' and 'thor and loki dead' and 'seeking refuge in the moutains.' Sylvie looks lost. Cue titlecard and cool music. They step into the TVA. Sylvie is determined, telling Loki to hurry because they won't have much time the TVA remains in disarray from the reset charges everywhere, but stops when he says he needs to get a weapon. "Why didn't you use magic to get some earlier," she asks. "Spares," he smiles, "magic doesn't work here after all." Sylvie notes that it explains her last attempts to infiltrate failing so badly. They fight some guards together on the way to the elevator rather than fighting each other. The elevator to the time keepers opens but Renslayer and a bunch of guards are in it waiting. Sylvie grabs Loki and tries to use him as a bargaining tool. Doesn't work, obviously, and Sylvie is shaken upon coming face to face with the same Hunter who had caught her as a kid, she doesn't react in time to stop Loki taking her tempad and dropping them somewhere. Same plot from here, the two of them fighting over the tempad, with Sylvie wanting to go back and Loki telling her they clearly already failed and she should explain what's going on first. She says she doesn't need to and if he wants to help defeat the TVA he needs to trust her and give the tempad back. He makes it vanish and she gets frustrated, asking if he gives up on everything that easily, and maybe that's why he's the first Loki she's seen working with the TVA. Etc. They need a power source anyway and get to the train hoping it'll lead to the ship that won't get off-planet anyway. Loki acts a fool Sylvie naps, wakes up to singing. Sylvie calls him out for not actually being drunk and also he downs a glass and offers her one, and when Sylvie asks how he's paying for it he says it's on the house and points to the barkeeper (male. we're implying/showing flirting. maybe a wink at him or a cute wave.). It's blatantly clear he's trying to get info on her backstory along the way and she's not falling for it but allowing him to know a bit of stuff. (eg. "I know everything is watered down ale for an Asgardian," "watered-down watered-down, more like. But you know of Asgard? Do go on...") She softens at hearing his backstory, and shares hers too. The people appear and ask to see their tickets, everything is the same from here forward. The episode ends with them watching the ship getting destroyed.

Episode 4: different music when sylvie and loki look into each others eyes since i didn't like that. cue titlecard and song after the TVA portals open on Lamentis. this episode remains the same mostly with Sylvie and Mobius driving the plot. No narcissist comment but Mobius gets to act jelly of what Sylvie and Loki have going on. Instead of it just being a bad memory loop with Sif we get her three times and then it alternates to Thor who is also angry. If he's not already down Thor will punch him (even though Loki is just happy to see him bc he didn't think he'd see him again--) and then tell him to hold still so it'll hurt less. It's framed as bad and Thor will imply it's only a fitting punishment. Thor is only shown twice, the first time the scene cuts at Loki being hit and held down, the second is Thor leaving the room, chuckling about how Loki didn't need to talk to anyone anyway bc he's alone, says he'll heal soon anyway. Loki isn't shown, but Thor's fingers have blood on them where they hold mjolnir. the loop resets and Loki is back to standing in the middle of the room and ghosts a hand over his mouth and then Mobius arrives. Loki calls the repeated memory boring and cruel, says he hates when Thor is drunk and feeling rash, with Mobius saying at least he didn't send him to Thanos or something and gave his crotch a break. Sylvie asks what her nexus event was and Renslayer doesn't remember. The end of the episode is the same, with Sylvie 1v1-ing Renslayer and beheading a Time Keeper, Loki getting pruned. The credit scene remains the same.

Hot Loki Take: Sylvie was Right

*Spoilers for all of Loki the series up to and including ep 6.

Sylvie was right to kill He Who Remains and free the timeline.

I’m deadass.

He Who Remains forced reality into an endless cycle between a time of Order (he rules as dictator) & a time of simulated and controlled "Chaos" (his Conqueror variants wage war). I say this “chaos” is simulated because when you think about it, it’s chaos that He Who Remains arranges himself by manipulating Lokis.

He Who Remains is so fucking sus but for some reason people are just tripping over their own feet to believe everything he says and vilify Sylvie for killing him. 

He literally tells them (and us) that his methods are deceptive and we know for a fact that he’s willing to murder trillions upon trillions of people, planets, and realities to get the outcome he wants. Yet some are still believing everything he says cuz he said maybe 4 things that were truthful, I guess, and cuz he’s cute. Some of us are so blinded by the fear/anticipation of Kang the Conqueror’s arrival, we are letting him bamboozle us.

He Who Remains perfectly and personally tailored the Ordered period of the timeline to produce this exact Sylvie and this exact Loki, had them meet/influence each other, and then had them travel to the end of time...to him.

Now Lokis by nature are agents of chaos and could suddenly swerve left, so to speak, for no reason. So let’s assume I believe that He Who Remains didn’t 100% know what they would choose once they crossed the Threshold (if the Threshold he described is even real, tbh). He also so carefully molded both of their entire lives for that moment in the Citadel. He may not have known 100% but he knew at least 90% of how they would react to everything he said and did when they were both pushed to this place/mindset.

Notice how he teed them up for the fight that ended in his death:

Manufacturing a scenario where they would meet via the TVA’s variant pursuit.

Manufacturing a scenario where they would travel to the Void and meet Alioth.

Kid Loki being in just the right place to give his sword to Loki.

Miss Minutes appearing to menacingly offer an obvious devil’s bargain.

Him slyly telling Sylvie that she can’t trust Loki, putting it into her head just before he gives them his ultimatum.

All of these thing practically gift wrapped that ending to the Loki on Sylvie fight.

Let’s elaborate.

What was even the point of Miss Minutes offering to re-insert them into the same Sacred Timeline with both getting their hearts’ desires there? 

Not more than ten minutes later He Who Remains told Loki and Sylvie to their faces that he manipulated all this for the sole purpose of making them choose between taking over as rulers of the TVA or killing him and ushering in a Multiversal War. Neither of those choices would result in re-inserting Loki and Sylvie back into the timeline.

So what is the truth? Why waste precious moments with a creepy Miss Minutes menacing them in that vestibule scene?

Notice how Miss Minutes’ words pushed Loki further onto his path of no longer wanting power or a throne but desiring to change his attitude about himself and the universe. Notice how her words conversely pushed Sylvie into balking at the idea of accepting another “fictional” life after a lifetime of being manipulated and made her double down on her mission to free the timeline and get revenge.

Sylvie has the ability to see memories but interesting how he kept her distracted by condescending to her and provoking her, just stoking the fire to make her react negatively. (Interesting how he was far more focused on Sylvie’s reactions than Loki’s, most likely because he needed her to kill him for his plans to work.)

Now I don’t want to completely shift responsibility for her choices away from Sylvie. In truth, if she had held in her vengeance for let’s say an hour and trusted Loki a bit more, they could’ve sat down to talk about things and maybe found a third solution other than starting a Multiversal War or ruling the TVA that still could’ve even allowed her to get revenge. (More on the ultimatum later.)

But I can’t blame her for losing her cool, either. He Who Remains made damn sure she would burn as hot as possible because he tailor made her life to give her the personality he wanted. And any other version of her out there who might have made a different choice would’ve already been pruned.

He Who Remains tells Loki and Sylvie straight up that he set them on their particular life paths because he needed them to be “changed by the journey” to ensure everyone in that room was in exactly the right mindset to do what was needed to “finish the quest” and presumably “slay the dragon,” aka Him. (Notice the parallels to the speaker narration just before episode 2′s fight at the Ren Fair.)

We don’t know! Sylvie never enchanted him to read his memories because she was so filled with rage and Loki was too busy trying to stop her, he didn’t think to do it either. And we’ve already established that He Who Remains trained them that way. Nothing that happened in that office was without He Who Remains’ influence and meddling.

Another nail in the coffin that convinces me that He Who Remains is a no good dirty liar is Renslayer.

If He Who Remains’ end goal was to either have the Lokis choose to rule the TVA or destroy it and thus end up with no memory of her previous TVA judge role/life, why did he send Miss Minutes to Ravonna with files that caused her to pack her bags and search for what she calls “free will,” AKA the one in charge?

I’d bet dollars to donuts that when the next season rolls around the only people who will know what’s going on and still have their memories will be Loki, Miss Minutes, Sylvie, and Ravonna. (Maybe Kang the Conqueror will know as well but I could see it going the other way too. I’m 50-50.)

He Who Remains was planning something by pushing Ravonna the way he did. Does he want her out of the TVA so she doesn’t lose her memories when everything resets? Does he want her to go find the Conqueror version of himself? I mean, at this point, practically everyone knows who she is to Kang in the comics, so let’s not pretend that’s not an option.

Another thing to think about...it’s super suspicious that he was so eager to make them believe he’s one of the “good versions” of Kang and all these others are much worse while giving absolutely no evidence of that outside of an interactive blob powerpoint, a quirky attitude, and a couple of sad, weary faces????

Who’s to say He Who Remains isn’t playing the long game and always manipulates his variants to eventually give him the chance to seize control of the multiverse?

Who’s to say he’s not one of the Kangs that wanted to conquer too? Funny how the “pure of heart” Kang is the one who still wrested control of all reality, killed off every other timeline with a weapon of mass destruction, installed a fascist time bureaucracy, and set himself up as the dictator. Sounds an awful lot like some conqueror shit to me, just saying.

Even wilder theory: what if this really is the same Kang the Conqueror but at the end of his life? We only have hhis word that he’s a variant. He Who Remains tells Loki that this fight is for the “young and hungry.” Maybe the “young and hungry” he’s referring to is not Loki and Sylvie at all but his literal younger self. Perhaps he set up this entire cycle of chaos and order so that he can perpetually live, conqueror, rule, die, and start all over again? Reincarnation, as he says...

But let’s set that wild theory aside for a moment. Let’s circle back to the Multiversal War debate and say it really is is caused by an infinite amount of his variants.

I think it’s hella sus that He Who Remains was so insistent that Loki and Sylvie only had two choices to resolve this riddle: Multiversal War or running the TVA almost exactly the way he did while maintaining only a single timeline. Those are definitely not the only two options they had. In fact, I could probably name 1-3 other options off the top of my head right now:

Keep He Who Remains alive while learning how he manipulated time and using those skills to slowly unleash the multiverse while killing every version of Kang to prevent him from existing as either conqueror or dictator.

Kill He Who Remains, take over the TVA, and slowly change it to something not horrific or even build a brand new system for governing time.

Kill or keep He Who Remains, still take over the TVA, slow rollout the Multiverse and kill or prevent every Kang along the way.

(I’m not saying these aren’t also morally questionable options, I’m just saying they are different from the two choices He Who Remains presented.)

But let’s say these options I suggested are not feasible. I just randomly came up with them ten minutes ago so it would be fair if they were picked apart logically. 

So let’s contemplate this, instead:

Why should we assume/believe that a Multiversal War is actually a bad thing again??? Why are we assuming that He Who Remains’ Sacred Timeline really saved reality from total collapse? 

Assuming he told the truth about his motives, maybe he was just...wrong about the end of reality. Maybe he saw what he thought was the conclusion to the Multiversal War coming and erroneously believed it to be the end of everything but actually it was the multiverse sorting itself out and everything would’ve been fine after.

We (and He Who Remains too) will never know because not only did he not show any evidence to back up his claim that reality was on the brink of collapse, but he himself never allowed things to play out naturally. Whenever the end of the war comes to the brink of something, he always panics, weaponizes Alioth, and traps the universe in his cage of Order with the TVA.

Even more controversial take...maybe the collapse of timelines and the end of everything should be allowed to happen. Maybe the natural cycle of reality is to build and build, splinter and splinter timelines, until it collapses and starts all over again from the void.

Nothing is created and nothing is destroyed, all things exist in a cycle so why should the multiverse be any different?

After all in all, in all three possibilities an infinite number of timelines is destined to suffer and die. Whether it be during the Kang-controlled Order period, Kang-controlled fake Chaos period, or the unrestrained natural Chaos that collapses in on itself...an untold amount of people are dying anyway. There’s only one of those scenarios that has actual unrestrained free will where those people get to exist how they want, make choices they want (even bad ones) for as long as they can.

(Personally, I’ll take that over what the Kangs have wrestled the multiverse into.)

I’ll just take this moment to re-iterate: trust nothing He Who Remains says. He’s a known liar and manipulator, and unlike Loki he has done absolutely nothing to actionably show he’s not still lying or to show that he’s trying to change outside of some sad looks. It’s all pantomime, bruh. Like, the pageantry of it all astounds me. 

Is he maybe telling some truths? Sure. But that doesn’t mean he’s not using the truth to manipulate everything. It’s an illusion, I’m telling y’all! He was up to no fucking good.

Sylvie was far more right to kill him than to not. Loki, Sylvie, & team (prolly also the latest Avengers lineup too) now just need to find a way to break this Kang cycle.

Beat Binding Blade tonight

So, right off the bat I'm going to admit. I abused the arena and save states. This is a really, really hard game. And while I enjoyed it, I'm going to give three things I didn't like about it.

1)Enemy reinforcements arrive at the end of the player phase, and can attack during the enemy phase. That is unfair, especially when I assume that parking a unit on the spawn point will prevent them (It doesn't) or my healer just happens to be in the area. I like difficult games, but when I fail at something in those I want to feel like it's my fault for doing so. When I die in Bloodborne or lose a unit in Fates Conquest, I'm willing to accept it because I felt it was fair (plus I'll just restart the chapter in Conquest anyway). I could have not died if I had played a little better. This game was not fair when it did that.

2)The supports. A lot of the stuff about the characters is locked away in their supports, since this is one of the old Fire Emblems where it throws units your way because it's assuming you didn't reset the game when one died. They don't get cutscenes to be important, and with only five supports per character (barring if one dies, then any unit that had supports with gets those supports back). And even then, getting an A rank doesn't pair up any units except for Roy. So you don't get to play love doctor here, it's only really there for the stat boosts. But in the case of my boy, he needs those supports in order for his character to fully come through.

3)I can take 8 units into the final battle, and they're the only ones who get full ending cards. Everyone else just gets a single line. Kinda weak if I use someone like Fir for most of the game, but bench her at the end to give Rutget Durandal.

Even with my cheating, I still enjoyed this game. Mostly for the story. When Fire Emblem first appeared in Smash Brothers Melee, as a kid it instantly caught my attention. Roy and Marth just looked so cool with their swords and armor (true fact: My favorite design for Link is the Skyward Sword design, simply because it has chainmail under the tunic. I get it, the tunic is iconic but SS's Link just looks practical), and I preferred Roy because I though his fully-charged shield breaker hurting him was cool. I even keep a Cipher card of his in my wallet for good luck. I wanted to know what Fire Emblem was, what kind of game it was. My friend showed me a screenshot of the upcoming GBA game in Nintendo power, which I got for the following Christmas (sadly, I didn't get Sacred Stones as I got a PS2 the following year). I loved that game, but the idea that I was playing as Roy's father always was a bit of a sour point for me. It's because of that game when I got a 2DS a decade later, because I wanted to game but kept getting pulled away from my console, I eventually went back to Fire Emblem.

And, I'm going to admit, Binding Blade hurt me because I played Blazing Blade first. It really did. I mean, Hector dies early on, Lyn is presumably dead hell a lot of my old comrades probably died in this war, Eliwood's wife dies shortly after they are married while Eliwood is more useless than ever, the kid I saved in Bern becomes a genocidal maniac, and the fact that the characters of Blazing Blade kinda caused this to happen by releasing the seals on the Legendary Weapons in their own quest... It kinda bugs me that the Legendary Weapons I used in Blazing Blade are in their trap filled storage places. Like, who returned them there? And if I have characters from that game returning in Binding, I find it strange they don't comment on needing them again. But this is a case of the game trying to be a prequel to a story that wasn't written with it in mind.

But at the end of the day, one thing just kept popping up in my mind. Binding Blade is the antithesis of the Crimson Flower route from Three Houses. I know they said Genealogy of the Holy War was an inspiration, but I can't help it. I've seen so many people try to praise that said route as some sort of denouncement of the rest of the franchise. That it's about putting power in the hands of the people (it's not) instead of having some Lord be the good king. Granted, the Mandate of Heaven seems like it's a running theme of the series, so without understanding what that is I can understand why people don't grasp what that part of the message. But Binding Blade, it just hit so many things on the nose that I needed to say something.

So without further adieu, I'm just going to bring up a few points.

With Regards to Humanity

It's interesting how both Zephiel and Edelgard come at this from different angles. Sure, they both lead wars of conquest across the entire continent, and I'm guessing Zeph didn't tell his troops what he was planning on doing once he won so there's likely a level of deception going on there as well. He really doesn't care for his fellow man, and the game goes out of it's way to show us why. Hatred, greed, or even selling out your people in the name of self-preservation. The game doesn't shy away from showing us any of this, saying that it's wrong and thus why Roy has to kick some guy's arse. Zephiel knows this, but in Edelgard's case? She's out there fighting for absolute power, destroying anyone who won't bend the knee to her while those who do out of self-preservation like House Gloucester are rewarded for it.

In essence, Edelgard is everything Zephiel saw wrong with the human race, she is why he felt we needed to go extinct. The very things he condemns humanity for are the things she reward. Zephiel would have actually handed over power to those he felt deserved it if he had won, whereas Edelgard is demonstrably shown to hold onto power until near the end of her life. One wants humanity dead, the other wants all the dragons. They even oppose each other in their classes. Edelgard is based on the red emperor archetype, she wears red, her class is the heavily-armored Emperor and her weapon of choice is an axe. Zephiel is a king, armoed but wearing purple and he uses a sword in battle.

Even if they both have screwed up history with their family's due to their father's inability to keep it in his pants, they're both presented as villains despite being ideologically opposed which goes to show with Fire Emblem the method IS the message.

Ancient Wars, Super Powered Weapons and Lies.

War of Heroes vs. The Scouring. The former is an event where the full details are shrouded in mystery, up to the player to piece together the clues and figure out the truth for themselves...or in Crimson Flower's case, ignore the truth and act out in your ignorance.With Binding Blade though, when the truth starts coming out, it hits hard. I mean, right from the beginning of the game we're told man was the one who broke the peace by attacking the dragons, but then we learn that those legendary weapons messed up the environment, resulting in dragons needing to use human forms only to be slaughtered by man. Dragons were blamed for the environment, the people who used those weapons were revered as heroes. We don't know why mankind launched their attack, but we do know that they weren't able to slay the Demon Dragon, one who had her soul destroyed in order to control her, because the Heroes felt sorry for her. It's making dragons out to be the victims here, much like the dragons in Three Houses. But Crimson Flower only serves to demonize them, acting like they can't understand humanity when the dragons in that game are a lot closer to humans emotionally than the ancient dragons in Elibe.

The Elites in comparison weren't heroes, and that lie has been confirmed as Rhea trying to make peace.

The good ending for Binding Blade is being able to save the dragon whose soul was destroyed, whereas Crimson Flower ends with slaying a dragon after you've spent the entire game triggering her (and is the ending that leads to oppressive rule under Edelgard, in addition to the only ending without sunlight. What? You thought you'd get the good ending when her final boss theme was playing on the last stage?). Also, you need all the Legendary weapons in order to unlock the final stages, which all play into the big mystery. Crimson Flower requires the player to not understand that the world-building was done to support fighting against Edelgard instead.

Merits of a leader

Let's not beat around the bush here, Roy will not carry you through Binding Blade. His bases are low, and while he has good growths he is unable to promote until the very end of the game. Even then, you need to save the Binding Blade's usage to ensure you get the good ending. Roy is also very unsure of himself, thrust into a position of leadership despite his young age. But look at what happens when he succeeds, he manages to overcome the odds and take down the mightiest army on the continent. At the end of the game, he's shown himself as more than capable of leading. Not to mention, he also believes that humans and dragons can live together, even seeing this in Acadia (and if Ninian was his mother, he's unknowingly proof of this as he is 1/4 dragon himself. May explain his poor bases). If he marries Liliana, he even becomes a King for likely much of the same reason Byleth does in SS/VW (most leaders are dead following the war, plus combining his territory with Ostia which had already taken over Lyn's land after she abdicated/married Hector). Roy learns the truth as already established.

Compare this to Crimson Flower Byleth. Byleth leads the Black Eagle Strike Force, but credit for it goes to Edelgard. Byleth never gets any recognition for this, no position of authority despite proving themselves, instead that goes to Caspar Jenkins of all people, and ends the war continuing to fight TWSITD from the shadows to support Edelgard's regime. And if you read between the lines, Edelgard is NOT a good leader, resorting to bribes, threats, cronyism, secret police, propaganda, and even TWSITD's support and later stolen tech in order to maintain her rule. Byleth lost whatever emotional development they got from White Clouds during this route, once again becoming the Ashen Demon, and is even willing to let themselves die if they can't keep their “humanity” in check showing a distaste for their own draconic heritage (showing humans and dragons can't live together in this timeline). They didn't grow into being a leader, they devolved into being Edelgard's unthinking muscle. Byleth never learns the truth in this route, falling for Edelgard's manipulations resulting in them losing Enlightened One/Nirvana status.

Not to mention, Heroes Relics have really low weapon levels. In theory, they can be used by anyone but only safely by those with Crests and most fully with a matching Crest. Legendary Weapons, on the other hand, can be used by anyone with an S rank in their type. Your characters have to EARN the right to use those things and you'll need them to deal with all the Manaketes during the final level, whereas Relics aren't exactly that level of broken.

Honestly, seeing the ending of Binding Blade and Idunn recovering put at least one tear in my eye. Crimson Flower's just made me feel like the game was calling me an idiot (which considering the Nirvana/Enlightenment thing, it kinda was). I would love if Binding Blade got the Echoes treatment, or even if they just did a GBA collection for the Switch. But after all these years, one thing is as certain now as it was when I was a kid.

In this house, ROY'S OUR BOY!

Metroid but it’s Undertale

Child death in here somewhere

Samus, age 12, climbs a mountain and falls down into an underground realm inhabited by Monsters (Space Pirates).

The first being she meets is a sentient flower who claims to be her friend. He immediately tries to kill her after tricking her into believing he’s shooting “love pellets”, taunting Samus that this is a “kill or be killed” world. She is saved by Old Bird, a kindly grounds keeper who checks every day to see if a human has fallen down the hole.

Old bird shows her through the puzzles in the ruins, being alarmed when Samus goes and solves some puzzles by herself.

Old Bird takes Samus to his house, where he serves her a strangely-flavored seed cake. The house is warm, and Old Bird keeps the fire burning in the living room. He lives alone, but there’s evidence he had two children once.

No matter how nice the house is, Samus wants to go home.

Hearing this, Old Bird is alarmed, and goes to destroy the exit to the ruins, which is under his house.

Samus and Old Bird have a fateful confrontation. Old Bird tells Samus one of them must die. He holds back from killing Samus.

(depending on the route - Samus kills Old Bird or wears him out so he lets her through. Old Bird remarks that he knew Samus had it in her if she kills him...)

The Underground is sealed by a barrier erected by his kind. Nobody who falls in can get out...unless Samus can get to the exit in the High Castle in Tourian. Old Bird warned Samus that all the Monsters are out to get her human soul because of a bounty placed by the King on any human who falls in.

With the power of 7 human souls, the barrier can be broken.

Samus meets many Monsters on her way to the castle, including two bonehead Ing brothers, Metroids who act like dogs, the head of the Royal Guard, a scientist experimenting with Soul energy, and a celebrity robot (Mother Brain).

When she reaches the castle...

Neutral route:

Samus walks through the King’s house, which is a mirror of Old Bird’s house. Monsters tell the story of King and Old Bird’s children. They had a Monster child, Ridley, and a human child who fell down the same mountain Samus fell through. This child looked like Samus.

One day, the human child fell gravely ill from eating poisonous flowers. Her dying wish was to be taken to the surface to see the golden flowers in her home village. Ridley carried her body through the barrier, and their combined souls were able to breach it.

When Ridley came to Samus’ village, he was attacked by humans who viewed him as a hostile.

Ridley limped back home and dissolved into dust in front of Mother Brain’s garden.

The King and Old Bird were heartbroken that both of their children had died. The King declared war against the humans and started collecting souls. He commissioned the royal scientist to perform experiments on souls, injecting Mosnters with determination in order to resurrect them.

Disgusted by the King’s actions, Old Bird left for the ruins.

Samus confronts The King the throne room, which is filled with golden flowers. They grew here after Ridley’s death, carried on his dust.

The King, wearing a solemn expression on his face, confronts Samus. We see that he is Grey Voice.

Grey Voice tells Samus to think of the whole thing as a trip to the dentist - it will be over soon.

Samus has the choice to kill or spare Grey Voice, but regardless of her choice, the flower comes and steals the six souls, and Grey Voice is killed.

He transforms into a monster and Samus is trapped in a seemingly impossible battle. But as he uses the powers of each human soul, Samus calls out for help and the souls heal her.

They give her the ability to slay the flower. But he revives himself and kills Samus over and over again with his power over time (the SAVE option in the game)

Just when it all seems lost, the six souls burst out of the flower, leaving him powerless.

The flower begs Samus to kill him, promising to kill everyone she loves if he spares him. 

There are two options.

If Samus kills the flower, it turns back into a regular flower. If Samus spares him, he runs away, reappearing in a new timeline once the current one is reset to when Samus first fell into the ruins...

Samus walks through the gate to the surface...

Then:

Pacifist Route

Samus goes through the story again, but the flower tells her not to kill anyone.

Once she goes down this path, befriending all the Monsters she meets, the Monster scientist takes her down to the secret lab where Soul and Determination experiments were performed. Samus learns that when the scientist tried to resurrect the dead, the monsters fused together into horrifying amalgams. The scientist has been too ashamed to tell their families what happens, and took on the responsibility of feeding the amalgams. But because she met Samus, she vows to tell everyone the truth.

The scientist was experimenting with golden flowers as well. She injected Determination into a golden flower in Grey Voice’s garden. The flower came to life because the garden contained Ridley’s dust, but lacked a Soul.

Samus goes to the castle and confronts Grey Voice, but Old Bird is there to stop him from killing Samus. Samus’ other friends show up too.

And of course, this moment is ruined by the flower.

Ridley mocks Samus for her sentimentality and absorbs the six human souls, as well as the souls of all of Samus’ friends. He transforms into a great dragon.

Samus must hang on to her hopes and dreams in order to defeat Ridley! Using her Determination, she rescues the lost souls inside of Ridley.

No matter how much Ridley tries, Samus won’t die.

Ridley confesses that he doesn’t want Samus to leave, because he misses his dead friend. Ever since he became a flower, he’s been so lonely. With a Soul, he couldn’t feel anything. He discovered he could rewind and replay time (the ability to Save) and played out all the possible timelines with everybody in the underground, until he became bored of living. He became more and more cynical as time went by...

Reverting back to the form he had when he died (a fuzzy adolescent pterosaur), and asks for Samus’ forgiveness. He knows she’s not his dead friend.

He breaks the barrier, freeing all the Monsters in the underground, and tells Samus he can’t retain this form much longer.

Samus awakens in the throne room, surrounded by all her friends. They don’t remember the battle.

They give her time to wander around the Underground, to wrap things up with everybody she met. Everybody’s full of hope now that they’re allowed to leave. The Amalgams are living happily with their families. Mother Brain’s robotic body is finished, and she’s starting a touring band with Phantoon.

Samus departs with the Old Bird and the Monsters and sees the sunrise.

Odd Jobs and Strange Creatures

The woods of Drustvar were unfamiliar territory for the crimson haired huntress of the Illidari. It was like the lands themselves were draped in a perpetual dreary setting. Trees grew in unnatural forms, almost like wooden talons reaching from the earth. The soil almost seemed devoid of any nutrients. The potent smell of dark magic mixed with sorrow hung heavy in the air. It almost felt homey to her…. Almost.

While Korrinth had done her best to avoid such war torn areas as the Alliance and Horde dug their heels in a war she found beneath her time. Far be it for an Illidari to concern themselves with the plight of more short sighted beings. While it was certainly a place she wanted to visit for the darker nature and more wiccan practices that the area boasted? It paled in comparison to her desire to remain neutral in the conflict- a task that seemed near impossible for a land soldiers made their staging ground.

Alas the tantalizing offer cast her way by a certain Warlock had goaded her into visiting Drustvar earlier then she would have hoped. Korrinth, however, could never seem to turn down a decent offer of coin. Life on the road was difficult, doing so on an empty stomach was even harder. Desperation and a hope for something better had seemed to capture her attention long enough to take on such a task. After all, hunting demons wasn’t nearly as in demand with the Legion crippled.

Felscythe had called the creature an ‘All-seeker’. A being of the Void, made to flesh by it’s dark masters. It was nothing she had encountered in her lifetime, save for between the pages of dusty old books that held little interest to her. From what her employer had mentioned it had an impressive level of clairvoyance, a facet that certainly wouldn’t make slaying the creature any easier. Nor would her lack of experience. But the promises of riches blinded her to those glaring drawbacks.

She had tracked the creature far into the snowy peaks of the mountains, following the rumors spread among the scattered camps of the Horde. Korrinth had always found the rumors to be the best way to track down the supernatural. While some embellished, there was always a nugget of truth mixed in with the weirder ways of the world. A skill she had learned while travelling Azeroth looking for remnants of the Legion- one that seemed to apply to beings of the Void as well she was learning.

Leather boots crunched beneath the thick snow slanted in an upward incline. The air was thinner this high up, and her pace labored behind. Cold was never something that overly bothered her, but this? This was far more then she was expecting. Silently she lamented forgoing a jacket as her arms wrapped around her torso in a fleeting bid for warmth. But with her destination so close this was hardly the time to mull over a return trip.

Arriving at the mouth of the cave Korrinth would take a deep breath, releasing a steamy fog upon exhaling. “At least it’ll be warmer in there…” She rationalized aloud to herself. Hesitantly stepping forward and into the den of undoubtable madness. There was no spell she could cast, nor trap she could set to catch this monster off guard. A big crux in her usual strategy. She would have to rely on her swordwork…. Which, was never something she wanted to put too much stock in. She found little choice, however, against this adversary.

Wandering further into the cave the huntress was met with the stench of death. While little light made its way to the cave itself, the fabled Spectral Sight of the Illidari left little unseen. Corpses lay flayed and discarded in a pile on one side of the room- each one with an off-putting grin on their dead lips. It was as if she saw every conclusion to each harrowing story a villager or townsfolk had spoken of since this beast took residence in these lands.

The other side of the room seemed reserved for more scholarly pursuits. Fetishes and dark relics lined an old wooden table, the unmistakable signature of eldritch magic emanating from their form. Perhaps the most choice surprise was the sheer amount of raw Azerite that Felscythe had mentioned. However her attention stirred toward the center of the back wall as a shadow shifted to the forefront. Fire encrusted sockets seemed to linger on the collection, perhaps a bit longer then they should have.

Halted by an ethereal and booming voice that seemed to come from within her own mind, Korrinth gripped at the hilt of her blades. A distinct change from the gaggle of voices she usually dealt with. “You were foolish for coming here alone.” The creature bellowed.

Surprisingly, Korrinth couldn’t help but agree. “Yes, but, a girl has to eat and your head has a fine price on it.” She replied as those fiery hues locked on the creature lurking in the shadows. Her tone calm as could be in the face of such a beast.

The All-Seeker itself was an imposing specimen. It’s hulking form towered over her, with barely enough space to stand within the confines of the cave. While creatures she had faced held some humanoid characteristics, this creature was devoid of any. The shape of it’s head was almost triangular as long thick tendrils draped down where it’s chin would be. Two cold and lifeless eyes stared as if they saw all that was, and all that could be. The creatures body and skin seemed as if it were nothing but exposed muscles rather than anything resembling skin. Nor did it’s arms resemble anything close- instead replaced by three thick octopi like tentacles that interweaved to form an intimidating appendage. Right down to it’s tree trunk like legs that boasted stumped toes. Sharing more in common with an elephant then it did any man she had ever known- or demon, for that matter.

For the briefest of moments Korrinth considered how far detached this creature was from the brand she usually tangled with. Hesitation was quickly pushed out of her head, however, as the woman drew one of the twin blades situated against her hip. There was no denying the fact that while insanity was present in the Legion, this creature and it’s kin were a far different breed. Their madness spanning from devotion and manipulation, where the monsters she often slay rested firmly in rage.

Without warning the All-Seeker swiftly raised it’s terrifying and tangled appendage well over it’s head. It’s speed deceiving for a creature so large. It did not need to step forward to close the sizable gap, instead as that arm bore down on the huntress, it seemed to stretch and thin as it crashed into the dirt below.

Quick reflexes was a perk of demonic infusion, and Korrinth was swifter than most. Where the creature had sought to crush her where she stood? The huntress narrowly avoided the attack with a lengthy sidestep. With the hilt of her blade gripped tightly and an elbow reared back to point the business end of her weapon towards the tentacle the redhead speared forward in a bid to impale. And while she had been successful in rending the creatures flesh it was far too late. As she stabbed so too did the creature swipe, taking the blow and dealing one of it’s own as it’s lengthy arm whipped Korrinth in her midsection- the force of the attack sending her crashing into the caves rocky wall.

A grunt escaped the Illidari’s lips as she recovered onto a knee as a dribble of crimson slid down her lip and onto her chin. As much as she hated to admit it, the attack did far more damage then she was anticipating. But she wasn’t the only one reeling from an attack. It made her think; if this creature could see what was coming, then why sacrifice a blow to trade a blow? It made little sense to her.

Resetting to a standing position Korrinth brought her free hand up to wipe at her lip, complete with a sneering growl. As the creature stepped forward, so too did she. Except she was far quicker then the beast could ever hope to be. With a dash forward and the speed of an Illidari full on display, leaving a green streak of energy behind her as she did, her blade bearing hand once again cocked back in anticipation.While the creature did try and counter the rushing huntress, it’s own swipe found little more than air as Korrinth ducked clear under the appendage. It wasn’t until she was toe to toe with the creature that she released a swing aimed at the thick legs the All-Seeker boasted, and to her surprise, her attack came to fruition.

The creature howled an awful, alien-like bellow as it’s purple blood seeped from the now open wound. It’s undamaged leg already lifted in an attempted retaliation. Slamming down into the soil below hard enough to make the stone crevice quake. And while Korrinth certainly got caught in the shockwave, it only managed to throw her off balance as she rolled away from the brunt of the blow.

While the realization was slow at first… it was all starting to click; While this spawn of the Void could see her movements before they happened, they did not make up for the reaction time that the creature sorely lacked. Finally, she had an advantage she could work with.

Now behind her adversary Korrinth prepared for another attack. Speed was on her side, she knew that now. It was just a matter of putting it to good use, and that was exactly what she intended on doing. Her blade came in a flurry of strikes aimed at the All-Seekers arm. The same shadowy appendage that swept back as the creature tried to attack. But the Illidari was too agile for that, a swift duck underneath as her sword swung upward at the already damaged arm- separating one of the tendrils from its owner.

“How is this possible?!” The Seeker exclaimed. “I see all, you are nothing! Nothing!”

The creature screamed once more in a deafening howl as sickly dark purple ooze dripped from its open wound. It tried to pull back, but the huntress did not allow for any retreat as she pressed her assault. Drawing her second blade from its sheath Korrinth pressed forward. In her dash she hand sent a glancing blow toward the creatures midsection, however it was far from all she had planned. She continued clear passed the Seeker after her rush, tossing a sword into the dirt a ways in front of her as she leapt up to perch a foot against the balled hilt of her own blade. Using the sword as a springboard and her agility to good use. With a flip backward in her adversaries direction the huntress landed straddled onto the beasts shoulders as her legs swiftly came to wrap around the Seekers thick neck. A tendril had come up in an attempt to stave her off, wrapping around the redheads neck as she defiantly fought to keep her positioning against the threat of strangulation. The huntress held her blade high above her head before flipping the hilt around in her hands. Using her positioning and strength to drive her sword clean through the creatures skull before pulling it to the side to ensure maximum damage.

Slowly but surely that tendril around her neck began to loosen. Leaving only a final act of defiance in the All-Seekers court as it tried in vain to rip the huntress from her perch. As the creature fell forward with a thud, Korrinth came down with it. Using the meek force behind the attempted throw only to hasten her dismount and clear the creature as it made its final resting place.

The redhead stood above her fallen adversary with an unimpressed look. A leather clad toe reached out to poke at the creatures shoulder, if anything just to be certain the creature was finished. After a moment, and little movement, Korrinth was satisfied with her freshly minted kill. Squatting down before the monsters head she would retrieve her prize; The Mask worth thousands of gold pieces. Liberating it from the All-Seeker and holding it off to her side, the huntress gave another lingering gaze to the table full of eldritch trinkets.

….far be it from her to leave without a souvenir. After all, it was the first time she had truly dealt with the void...

{Written in response to @nixalegos ‘s arc; found here}

Mourning Pyre (Red Jade Reinforced Buff Jacket ***)

The secrets of the Underworld rarely touch the minds of the Princes of the Earth, but the rare one in a thousand that is born sickly and pale sees that Necromancy is simply an opposite to sorcery and theirs to master. When the pregnant Dragonblooded woman Arvensis followed her husband, the soldier of the Seventh Legion, Veld Spearfire, to war, the couple returned to Lookshy with a child born in one of the East’s many Shadowlands. They did not expect him to live long, but Mirthless Sallow survived. He never grew strong and yet on his 13th day of his 13th year, fire consumed his soul with an invigorating passion.

His martial skill remained far behind his peers despite Lookshy’s best tutors; the scrolls of knowledge Lookshy held opened new worlds for him while crippling him with migraines; the smoke of his forge gave him a cough that always persisted. His skills with arts far darker than any normal sorcerer could master became an asset in battles and skirmishes and so Lookshy gave him the materials needed to forge armor all his own.

The Red Jade he wove into his buff jacket Mourning Pyre smudged with the gray of dying embers - many claimed it was impure and Sallow claimed they could not see the secrets it held. His sickness and his art killed Mirthless Sallow before his 130th birthday, but with his final request, he was burned in his armor in his funeral pyre. After it was removed, Sijanese funerists resewed new cloth to the unburnt armored pieces - a final step to complete the necromantic artifact.

Attunement: 5m Type: Medium (Soak +8, Hardness 7, Mobility -1) Tag:  Silent Hearthstone Slots: 1 Era: Reign of the Scarlet Empress

Evocations of Mourning Pyre

An Exalt who attunes Mourning Pyre may burn bodies in its dying flame. She may touch a body and burn it, preventing the forming of hungry ghosts or its capability to rise as a zombie. This does not automatically send the higher soul to Lethe, and it is entirely possible for the person to appear in the Underworld if they linger as a ghost.

Because of the dying nature infused in Mourning Pyre, Liminal Exalted are neutral with the armor, rather than dissonant.

Consuming Pyre Embers

Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1

Type: Simple

Keywords: Dissonant

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite: None

The Exalt’s touch is a funeral pyre and ghosts recoil from it. If she touches a materialized ghost of a mortal (or a dematerialized mortal ghost whom she can touch through charms) with an attack made through a hand-to-hand ability of her choice, she may roll a Cleansing Fire gambit (Difficulty 3) to disperse the ghost until the next sunset plus one additional day for each threshold success. Against a stronger ghost or a zombie, this Cleansing Fire instead deals (Essence) levels of lethal damage as a Hardness ignoring hazard. If defeated by this damage, the ghost cannot reform for (threshold successes) days.

An Exalt awakens this evocation automatically as long as she is not dissonant with Jade

Ashes to Flames Prana

Cost: -; Mins: Essence 1

Type: Permanent

Keywords: Dissonant

Duration: Permanent

Prerequisite: Consuming Pyre Embers, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery or Iron Circle Necromancy

Burnt offerings draw in power, and when a ghost burns, Necromancers draw in additional power. Whenever the Exalt slays a ghost using Consuming Pyre Embers, he may draw in sorcerous motes equal to (1+Essence of the ghost). These count as 2 sorcerous motes each towards Necromancy. Sorcerous motes gathered this way are stored in Mourning Pyre until the next sunrise. Mourning Pyre can hold a maximum of (3+Essence) sorcerous motes at once - excess are lost.

Special Activation Rules; As long as she is not dissonant with Jade, the Exalt unlocks this evocation at no cost when she first slays a ghost with Consuming Pyre Embers that has an Essence score at least equal to her own.

Black Malaise Meditation

Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2

Type: Permanent

Keywords: Resonant

Duration: Permanent

Prerequisite: Ashes to Flame Prana

Meditating on the secrets of nephwracks and death and black treatises, the sorcerer’s understanding transcends Creation’s living essence. Whenever the Exalt rolls to introduce a fact related to the Underworld, resist the Underworld’s hazards, or takes a social influence action against a ghost, he may pay up to (Occult) motes to activate charms from relevant abilities or evocations (but not excellencies) without spending his actual motes.

These motes can be drawn only once per day, resetting each night as the Exalt meditates with her armor on. The Dawn caste anima banner cannot refresh this limit.

Resonant: The wielder gains (Occult / 2, round down) willpower and (1+Occult) motes that can be spent on the same charms and evocations.

Candlelight Vigil Hands

Cost: - (+1wp); Mins: Essence 2

Type: Permanent

Keywords: None

Duration: Permanent

Prerequisite: Consuming Pyre Ember, Spirit Cutting Attack

A vigil burns not for a moment, but for the entire dark night of mourning. This evocation allows a Solar to spend 1wp when activating Spirit Cutting Attack - it will function on dematerialized ghosts (but not other spirits) for an entire scene, rather than only one action.

Burning Gaze of Onyx

Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 3

Type: Simple

Keywords: Decisive--only, Resonant, Dissonant

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite: Black Malaise Meditation

The necromancers eyes burn as she gazes upon a ghost and causes it to suffer the funeral pyre once more. This evocation creates a decisive attack against a ghost rolled with (Perception+Occult). The attack gains a base damage of (Essence) in addition to the wearer’s initiative. If the damage roll for this attack deals at least 6 levels of damage, then the ghost becomes consumed by a bonfire that spreads through the entire range band. Ghosts slain by this attack or the bonfire are sent to Lethe or Oblivion at the wearer’s choice and generate sorcerous motes as Ashes to Flame Prana. This evocation can only be used once per scene unless reset by taking a miscellaneous action to write prayers to a ghost slain in the scene, a difficulty 5 Charisma + Performance roll.

Resonant: Those who resonate with Mourning Pyre feel more alive than ever as they kill death. If they slay a ghost with this evocation, they roll the ghost’s (Essence) and add it to their base initiative when they reset.

Dissonant: Wielders dissonant with Jade cannot awaken this evocation

Oh this is a fun sounding au!

Does Protector and/or the other voices remember the instances of the mirror as well? Like we forget after the mound makes us, but do the voices remember previous loops like that or just the restart from before that made them more… violent? Jaded? Sobbing wet cats?

it feels complicated so ive got a couple visual aides.

so, the only one who remembers the Last interaction with the princess before the Major Reset is the Protector. his influence is what changes so much about everything, since he's convinced the princess is definitely evil. The only thing he remembers from it, though, was how he died to the princess, and her final promise/threat. the rest of the stuff continues as usual, the same options giving the same voice-equivalents and chapters, and those voices come off of LQ instead of the Protector, so they don't have the memory of the Major Reset.

The mirror functions the same as the source material; narry cant see it and everybody hates it. the Protector only remembers what the princess wanted him to remember, and she was never made aware of the mirror, so he doesn't recognize it from before the reset.

as usual, you have no choice but to approach it.

beyond the mirror, you find the shifting mound. but she does not talk to you. instead of before where she could not see you, it is all she does. in her eyes is terror. she is afraid of you here. you have found her at her most vulnerable.

you are given the choice to either slay the vessel youve given her or not. If you do or don't, she says one thing: "It isn't enough." (Both "it isnt enough" to kill her, or the vessel "isnt enough" to be everything she feels the need to be) and she puts you back to how you were, at the beginning of the path, to get you away from her. whether you let her keep the vessel or you destroyed it and kept SM from using it, it is no longer available to you (like the source material)

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Crime, Fees & Punishments

I love playing Skyrim and sometimes there's something that you just really want or need in the game... but can't really afford it. And other times completing crimes can benefit you by taking you to places you need to go especially if you're trying a speed run tactic. And don't want to pay or can't afford the fare for transportation. So what are the bounties for the various crimes in Skyrim?

"You have committed crimes against Skyrim and her people. What say you in your defense?"  -- Hold Guard

Fines for Crimes

These are just a base levels the crimes are in Skyrim. Though they might be higher or lower depending on the crime and the severity of said crime. If there are no witnesses of the crime, there is no bounty placed on the Dragonborn. But if bounty is acquired, killing all witnesses before they can report it will effectively remove the bounty. Though good luck in stopping that from happening especially if one of the witnesses was a guard.

Theft - Half of the stolen item's value

Trespassing - 5 gold

Disturbing the Jarl's Peace - 10 gold

Pickpocketing - 25 gold

Assault - 40 gold

Hand-to-hand brawls do not count

Feeding on people as a vampire or with Namira's Ring count as Assault

Horse Theft (this applies every time you mount the horse) - 50 gold

Escaping Jail - 100 gold

Forging a Business Ledger - 100 gold

Forging the Dragonsreach Prison Registry Ledger - 250 gold

Murder (self-defense does not count unless the attacker is a guard) - 1,000 gold

Transforming into a Werewolf or Vampire Lord (Includes reverting back into your natural form if you weren't seen transforming earlier) - 1,000 Gold

Punishment

You can pay the gold, if so the guard will leave and the money will be automatically removed from your inventory. However, if you do not have enough gold then the guard will try to arrest you. Either you can resist or allow the arrest to happen. If you resist arrest then all guards in the immediate area including some bystanders and cities draw weapons to try to slay the criminal. But this only happens upon the criminal's escape or death do they relent.

During combat, the criminal can choose to make the guard "yield" by initiating dialogue. Which will bring you back to the choice menu, where you get two options:

Pay the bounty (which will be greater due to the added assault)

Serve Jail Time

If you choose the option to serve jail time, you will stripped of all items, weapons, and armor then placed in a cell. To wait out the duration of the sentence, just sleep in the bed. Once you are released all items will be returned. You can choose to escape but items must be manually be obtained from an evidence locker somewhere in the prison. If caught, you will receive the bounty for escaping jail.

Sometimes if you steal a low value object then some lower class may send Hired Thugs after you. For low level characters, they might be rather difficult opponents. If the bounty is high end, the Jarls employ Bounty Collectors to chase down criminals and attack them. They can appear in any hold or location.

Special Circumstances

If you are a Thane of a hold, some small bounties may be overlooked by simply mentioned if you are a Thane. But bounties exceeding 1,000 gold cannot be forgiven using this method. And can only be done once per hold though.

In Markarth, instead of going to a jail criminals are sent to the Cidhna Mine to pay off bounties. The sentence is served by mining ore or escaping. Note there is a quest called "No One Escapes Cidhna Mine" that requires you become imprisoned in the mine at some part.

The Dragonborn does have the option to join the Thieves Guild in Riften. After completing the special jobs criminals can gain the option to bride guards and allow them to keep stolen items. Bribery, however, can also be gained as a perk in the Speech skill tree. Which would allow you to persuade the guards out of arresting or fining you, but does not remove the bounty. The guard who attempted to gather it, would simply ignore it. Other guards may still respond to the bounty.

In the mage route, there is a spell available at the illusion school of Magicka called Pacify that calms hostile targets. Coupled with the "Kindred Mage" perk from the same skill tree, the spell has the potential to calm guards. So when used on guards, it causes them to forget about the arrest/bounty and walk away. So you can either run or fast travel to a safer location.

During the Civil War, whenever a hold is taken by the Imperial Legion or Stormcloaks, a criminal's bounty is reset. So that is an option as well.

Storing stolen items in chests or containers or simply dropping may remove the bounty altogether. This is especially useful when items are accidentally picked up in shops or guild headquarters. Which is something I do quite often by mistake. The owner of the item that witnesses the theft may simply take the item you picked up and the bounty may not be applied.

Achievements

There is an achievement that you can get in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim called "Master Criminal." To receive you need to have a bounty of 1,000 gold in all nine holds.

Land of Ink and Frogs

A Land for @everydayoneechan, a Page of Space

A Land of grand epics, powerful tales, and famed legends. Or at least, the books about such adventures. The Land is covered with a number of truly colossal libraries, collections of books of all kinds gathered within each of them. These Athenaeums are more like sky scrapers or arcologies, each built out of several Tiers, each growing smaller as they go higher. They resemble gigantic burial mounds, and are just about as quiet. Each Tier is a collection of several floors, typically three to five. Though the highest Tier of each Atheneum are only a single floor, one for the Head Archivist of that particular library to do their work.

Within the Athenaeum's lie vast collections of books, some having been mass printed and sent to other libraries, others completely unique and only found with a single Atheneum. The halls are surrounded with bookshelves, high things that reach up to the ceiling and capable of keeping hundreds of volumes by their lonesome. There are hundreds of them on each hall, their line only broken by the occasional windows. All of the books are intricately arranged, following a strange yet completely logical sorting system. Consorts wander the halls, reading, writing, taking, returning, and sorting books. There is a hush in these libraries, for none dared to break the sacred Vast Hush of the archive. There are an uncountable number of books within the Atheneum, but all of them are mundane. None hold even a trace of majyyks or Aspect or Shenergy.

Until recently, that is.

The new Grand Archivist, the Denizen herself, has brought along several books of a distinctly magical nature. All of which were written by her. Some contain vast Majyykal powers, others whisper the secrets of the Horrorterrors, still more promise a glimpse of Skaia’s Wisdom. But the greatest among them hold entire worlds and civilizations within their pages, and may very well hold the secrets of Genesis as well.

After all, what better way of creating a Universe than learning first hand?.

Once Upon A Time…

Within the libraries are the occasional magical books. Some of which contain worlds of wonder and adventure. These worlds are often in immediate and obvious danger, such as through some evil overlord, a prophecy of impending doom, an ancient evil that shall return, or simply a war that shall ignite between two sides. By simply opening the Storybook and reciting the spell written upon its first page, the Player, along with any companions they may have, would enter the world of the Story and take the place of two of its inhabitants. It is then, that the Page shall assume the Role they have been given.

Sometimes, they shall be the Questor. Saving villages from bandits, slaying monstrous dragons and beasts, vanquishing evil doers across the land.

Sometimes, they shall be the Friend. Granting whomever it is that takes center stage a shoulder to cry on, an ear to hear their woes and worries, and advice towards their journey.

Sometimes they shall be the Villain. They who gives the hero a purpose, and enemy to fight that is more tangible than a concept, a rival to compete against and to overcome.

Sometimes, they shall be the Wiseman. Setting the young hero upon their path and guiding them through it, granting them powerful weapons and knowledge for their quest.

Sometimes they shall be the Witness. No one to the hero but a civilian in need or a person in the background they hardly notice, a person who is simply there to observe their deeds.

Sometimes they shall be some other Role, one they have never been or have never been encountered before. A Role they must learn to master and to Complete.

Should the Page Complete the Role, they shall be rewarded. Failing their Role, or not learning why that Role is important shall forcibly Eject the Page, and anyone that came with them, from the Story, forcing them to try again at the beginning. Though only the Page could gain the reward through completing their Role, anyone else that comes with them shall also gain Roles of their own. Though they shall not be bound to fulfill it on pains of Ejection.

…And They Lived Happily Ever After

Once the Role the Page has been given is completed, they shall be granted what they require to breed their Universe, sometimes an actual living Frog is deposited in their Sylladex, sometimes a line of DNA Code or a piece of advice written on a piece of paper, sometimes a powerful Weapon or Tool, sometimes a Device required to actually breed the Universe in the first place. All of these pieces are equally important, just as all the Roles that the Page had played were equally important. For it is through the efforts of all Roles that a Story is born. Once the Page learns that, the Denizen shall allow them audience in order to make the Choice.

Locations

Traveling Directory - An enchanted directory that the Denizen has granted to the Page for the use of quick travel. It only works within one of the Athenaeum's or Archives, but would it’s cover shall shimmer a green light once it enters one. Its contents changes depending on which Athenaeum or Archive it is currently within, but it would always show a list of all the available books within said library. Even if such would be impossible given that it's no thicker than a phonebook. Should the Page select a volume listed within it, they and whoever happens to be touching the at the time shall be transported directly towards the general area where that book resides. Of course, which of these books are magical and which are mundane aren’t exactly labeled on the Directory. And the magical ones are often scattered all over the library anyway, so finding them first would be the priority.

Grand Athenaeums - The great libraries that have been built everywhere upon the Land. Each of them are constructed of Seven Tiers of three to five floor each. Each floor has a number of halls, which are packed end to end with hundreds of thousands of books. Needless to say, finding the magical ones are going to be difficult. Thankfully, the Consorts have taken to calling the Athenaeum's home, and many have stumbled upon majyykal instructions of power and have been pulled into the Storybooks. Finding rumors of a disappeared Consort or of a mysterious flash of light and a scream should really help the Page find their books. They could even pick up a few side quests along the way. The Consorts are amiable enough to trade with, though most of that happens down in the food court or bookstore sections of the library, and are sort of obsessed with ensuring the quiet is kept in the main book containing sections of the Athenaeum.

Storybook Worlds - The world described within the Tales. The only things all these books have in common are the Spell that shall transport whoever reads them into the worlds they describe, the fact that their inked words shift around each second as the worlds they tell of are simulated, and the fact that they are all handwritten books made by the same author. These worlds vary from fantastical worlds of medieval sorceries, futuristic worlds scattered among the stars, a western cowboy’s adventures, a mundane world with mundane problems, to a mix of any of these. They are as real as any other world, save for the fact that certain ‘undefined’ areas and objects in the book would appear to be constructed entirely of floating descriptive words instead of actual matter. Once someone enters the Story they cannot leave until the Page either Completes it or are Ejected from it. Which basically means that anyone who enters is trapped until the Page comes along. Everyone enters the story at its start, should someone enter while someone else in in there, the world shall be reset to its starting conditions, with only those who came from outside aware of what is happening. Once the Story is Completed its contents shall freeze and the book shall become mundane

Lost Archives - Beneath the grand libraries lie forgotten rooms and secret passages. Passages filled with lost books and ancient knowledge. While the Archives are built as part of each Athenaeum, the Directory, and everyone else for that matter, treat them as separate structures. The Archives are often filled with rotted and decaying furniture, cobwebs, and old books. Though there may be some forgotten treasures hidden within them. While each Athenaeum came with their own Archive, not every one of them remained intact, some has collapsed upon themselves, and others are filled with terrifying and dangerous monsters.

The Forge of Genesis - An Athenaeum built within the caldera of a massive super volcano. The Forge is present in all viable Sessions of SBURB, for it serves as both the incubator for the nascent Universe, and as the Palace of the Denizens of the Space Aspect. Within the molten caldera of the volcano’s peak lies an island, and on that island is the last and most ancient of the Athenaeum's. It is the Palace of the Denizen, for she rests at its highest Tier. It is here that the Page shall confront the Denizen, the one who created all these Stories, and find the final piece to breeding their Genesis.

Denizen

Calliope, Muse of Epics - Wisest of the Nine Muses. She has been promoted to the position of the Grand Archivist, who rules over every Athenaeum upon the Land as her domain. She has written many books, most of which are of an adventure or romance genre, but only a fraction of which has become true Stories. As the very author of the worlds the Page has dived into and experienced, she shall know everything that has happened within them, and would know all the requirements to creating a grand and healthy Universe.

Assassins Pride – 09 – Wedding Crashers

The Shangarta mini-arc felt more over-stuffed and rushed than any previous Assassins Pride storyline, but it at least managed to bring Melida and Kufa still closer together and answer some questions about his and Rosetti’s past.

There’s a lot to get through here. It’s a dense episode. We start with Melida seeing Kufa in his half-lacanthrope, vampiric form. He immediately prepares to wipe all her memories of him, resetting their relationship to “nice to meet you” status.

To his credit, he lets Melida make the final choice to not wipe the memories, as she’ll gladly take his secret to her grave. Even if Kufa believes there’s no one in the world who would ever accept him, Melida is that someone, and is even able to kiss him without a hint of embarrassment him to prove it.

Kufa takes us back to when he was a child at the Pricket residence, and we learn Rosetti was his adoptive sister, and Blossom his adoptive dad. A giant spider-mage attacks the place and makes Kufa bite Rosetti, turning her into vampire kin.

He helps a man who has come to slay the spider, and swears his loyalty to him in exchange for letting Rosetti live a normal life as a human, which Kufa makes possible by wiping her memories.

Back in the present, Melida has a wedding to stop—the one between Rosetti and her betrothed. Melida snaps Rosetti out of her trance by bringing up the fact that the two of them still have a competition for Kufa’s heart—and Melida’s already kissed him…twice.

The Rosetti we know snaps out of it and spars with Melida. In the process, some of Melida’s magical flames graze Blossom, on whose head a tiny spider was lurking. It transforms into Naqua, the spider-baddie who forced Kufa to turn Rosetti years ago, and most recently forced Rosetti to commit the assaults.

Once Rosetti remembers all the awful stuff Naqua made her do, she chases him down, but he quickly overpowers her. That’s where Kufa comes in, activating Rosetti’s vamp side so they can fight together. They lure Naqua into a mystery spot, paralyzing him, and turn him into dust, which is then dealt with by the other students and instructors.

After the fight, Kufa, who must abide by the promise he made to his guild, suppresses Rosetti’s memories of him—going back to when they were brother and sister—once more. Like Melida, she pleads with him not to do it.

I know Kufa made a promise and his guild would probably kill him and Melida and Rosetti when they found out, but it’s still a raw deal for Rosetti. I mean, Kufa gets to walk around simply hiding his true nature but with all his memories intact…why not let Rosetti have those same rights?

Then, in a final scene with his adoptive father Blossom, Kufa gives him a potion that will restore his wife’s humanity, which begs the question: if such a potion exists, why didn’t Kufa use it on Rosetti? I guess; the wife hadn’t completely changed yet, while Rosetti had.

In any case, on the train back to Flandore, Rosetti is back to her usual self: jealous of Melida and having no memory of who Kufa really is, just a vague inkling that someone she was close to long ago is out there, somewhere, and she’s intent on becoming famous enough that he’ll seek her out.

Like I said…that was a lot of plot boxes to check off in short order, but rather than come away dizzy and confused, I found it to be a pretty satisfying episode. Kufa and Melida’s bond keeps growing deeper and deeper, while there was an obvious bittersweet-ness to how things turned out for Rosetti.

  By: magicalchurlsukui

i am nadda going to recap all my shows because I’m not at that place in my life anymore, but I do have a few things I’d like to say. I will start with my concerns.

I’D LIKE TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER

BOY WITCH: as an audience member, it’s an interesting choice to actually take away fascinating dimensions of a character for the sake of a stronger primary narrative. out of all the characters, poor boy witch suffers the most because of clarification of intention and focus for other characters. from a directorial and dramaturgical standpoint, boy witch in new york presents a strong imbalance of abstract and concrete energy (for us to witness) and playable stakes (for dancers to perform) and it’s what makes him so darn watchable. but in terms of the ultimate question -- “does this serve the story?” -- the character in new york often serves himself, or us, instead. personally, i always liked that. boy witch in shanghai conforms more consistently to the kind of character you would find in a well-made play or a mainstream film. he serves the overall experience of the show rather than his own wants. that’s great for the story, but i miss the character’s wildness, and wish they had allowed him his journey. now that so many of the other characters are well-developed, i don’t think boy witch would have pulled focus in the same way he often does in NY. everyone is performing the role in its new incarnation wonderfully, but I’m team #BoyWitchNYC -- specifically team #AustinGoodwinIMissYouSadFaceUnicornHeadSyringe.

PORTER: justice for the porter. if you thought i had opinions about boy witch just you fucking wait. here is the primary problem with the porter in shanghai: he fulfills his practical function by carrying luggage, and he leaves his space. this may sound trivial to you, but you probably haven’t seen the porter loop at least 100 times, so you don’t even know what you’re talking about, becky. the porter in nyc exists exclusively in the space of the lobby until the finale, and therefore indirectly claims ownership of it. his relationship to the space becomes enormously important. the fact that he never leaves the space and also never fulfills duties that extend physically beyond the space is hugely telling. the world of the lobby is also powered by non-diagetic sound. in shanghai, the porter not only leaves the barrier of the space, but performs a functional role outside of the space, and in doing that, encounters diagetic sound. all of these go completely against what this character stands for, and honestly at this point i’m not entirely convinced felix barrett himself has seen this loop more times than i have so i hope somebody reads this and fixes it. even if the porter began as a character of convenience for resetting and transitioning props, the performers who embodied the role have made it one of the best characters in the entire show, and to backtrack on that is a travesty. sure, maybe i’m being overdramatic, but i’ve also seen this show 275 times so if you were expecting anything less then that’s your own fault. all the shanghai porters i saw were lovely little potatoes who always put rings on my fingers whenever i appeared. it happened to frequently i wondered if maybe my strawberry lotion was some kind of catnip for porters. anyway, felix, for advice on how to fix this track, please email me asap. Ps for this I am also #AustinGoodwinIMissYouSadFaceUnicornHeadSyringe

TAXIDERMIST: i find it hard to believe he needs that 20 minute period of time where he essentially does nothing but what do i know…

that’s mostly it for my complaints. now let’s talk about all the good things!

BEN WHYBROW: poor ben. it’s hard being my favourite. so many expectations. so many notes you never asked for. so many questions of “in this moment, what exactly does malcolm want from boy witch? i’d love to see more of that. make it really clear to me. and show me what’s at stake if he doesn’t receive it.” what makes a star a star? what makes a favourite a favourite? a good beard? a knack for finding me in a huge crowd? who knows, but welcome to da club. Your membership card is in the mail.

THAT NEW SCENE ON 5: it’s so amazing, but also so extra that it could be the exact moment that punchdrunk jumped the shark. but if that’s what sharkjumping means in punchdrunk land, we should all jump over them a little more often.

SNAKES: i see your symbolism and raise you a real live snake in a bathtub as a shoutout to the superior boston production?

THE NEW MALE CHARACTER’s 1:1: we’re moving closer and closer to full-on makeout sessions in these new 1:1’s and i for one appreciate it.  

CONOR DOYLE’S WARDROBE: i’ve never seen such an exciting mix of london chav meets shanghai fashion week. also, i keep wanting to call him “dad” and i don’t understand why.

PAGODA: yo matron look at you go! leaving your hut! exploring your world! slay.

SEXY WITCH & THE NEW GIRL: yes i like. 

EMILY TERNDRUP LOOKS LIKE SANSA STARK: and she a real good performer too.

THE FRAGGLE ROOM SHANGHAI: well-designed but i thought there weren’t enough rocks.

ROBO DANVERS: i think the role suffers from removing her 1:1 but I understand why they did it.

LILY OCKWELL: read some text messages from my phone from a few years ago when i flew to a different city to hang out with a guy and we were on his bed watching “twin peaks” and I finally told him I liked him and he replied “oh no”. that was great to relive live on stage in the manderley. His name was Tristen and he was actually my NYE 2017 kiss so it worked out in the end, but wow what a moment.

BLACK MASK WHO WOULDN’T LET ME LEAVE THE FINALE: rude i just want wine

BLACK MASK WHO WOULDN’T LET ME DIVE THROUGH A WINDOW AND ROLL ON THE FLOOR: smart move, i did not realize macbeth was gonna rampage at that exact moment. thanks for having my back.

CUNNING MAN SITTING ON ME WHILE I PLAYED MAHJONG: hahahahahahaha well played sir