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dustteller · 1 year

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Actually, you know what, I fucking love Leorio and I'm going to explain why.

In hxh, leorio is the least popular of the main four, mostly due to how he hasn't really got any 'dark' and 'edgy' character moments and is a comedic relief character in contrast to the more serious other three. There is an argument to be made that he is far less developed as a character than the other three, and he absolutely gets way less screen time. He's honestly a pretty average guy when it comes to it and doesn't really compare in power level to almost any other character in the show.

So yeah, Leorio Paladiknight is, to put it frankly, a blring shonen character.

Except, here's the thing: he's not.

The thing about Leorio Paladiknight is that he's unassuming. He's not nearly as flashy or strong or impressive, and his backstory is pretty simple.

The thing about Leorio Paladiknight is that he's *kind*. When you compare him to everyone else in the cast, he is probably the most unflinchingly good person there. Sure, Gon is a ray of sunshine, and Kurapika has incredibly stringent morals, but it is only Leorio that really has it as his goal to help people. Both Gon and Kurapika have their own motives that are separate from their tendency towards helping people. They would both put themselves into immediate danger to save somebody else, but the difference between them and Leorio is that they don't seek out people to help. They both have their own stories to fuel them forwards.

The thesis of Leorio's story, on the other hand, is that kindness gets you far. In a cast full of incredibly powerful beings, Leorio is utterly ordinary. He is fit and athletic, but could never outrun gon. He is smart, but could never outsmart kurapika. He is a decent fighter, but he could never beat Killua. Compared to them, Leorio is incredibly weak.

And yet, despite this, he manages to pass the hunter exam. If he was truly as ordinary as he seems at first glance, he shouldn't have gotten to the end. In fact, it almost seems as if he just stumbles into victory. By all intents and purposes, he should have failed, but he didn't, and I believe this is the thesis of his story.

Leorio isn't successful because he rides on others' coattails. Leorio is successful *because he deserves it.* Leorio's story is about how even the most average of people can be extraordinary when driven by an innate sense of kindness. He passes the hunter exam because those around him recognize this and WANT him to succeed. Even through his hot-headedness, his apparent greed, his stunning lack of self-awareness, his inherent goodness shines through.

We are directly told this in the Kiriko incident, where the character's strengths are furst defined for the audience. While ths other three are off saving the day, Leorio stays behind and comforts a wounded man who, to him, is desperate and terrified of what will happen to his wife.

At first, I thought this was just a shonen hand wave as to why one of the main characters was allowed to continue onwards, but as the series continued, I realized that this was an intentional narrative choice. Leorio is just as remarkable as the other three, although in a very different way.

Anyways, I think it matters a lot that the most 'good' out of all the characters is the one that resembles the traditional shonen hero the least. It matters so much. And that's why I love Leorio

#hunter x hunter #leorio #leorio paladiknight #leorio hxh #my thoughts

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doktorno83 · 5 months

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Attention: bad comic alert!

So French publisher Delcourt had just dropped third tome of graphic novel "Le Serpent et la Lance" known in English "The Snake and the Spear".

The whole series is absolutely bollocks, racist towards Mesoamerican natives and propagates very harmful stereotypes. Before I explain it more, watch that production video below:

youtube

Its in French, and here are explanations what I noticed is wrong on that video:

He uses a controversial historical fiction book as inspiration, Gary Jenning's "Aztec" that has lots of questionable violent and borderline pornographic content combined with confabulations (01:25)

He claims how Aztecs were "bloodthirsty" "just like Japanese" and combined it with "beauty of art". Justifying putting extreme violence in work with an 'other' culture reeks of Orientalism and obsolete anthropology like "Chrysanthemum and Sword". And in case of Mexica (Aztecs) its a continuation of colonial era racism (01:38).

Apparently (on table) as one visual references he has very old and obsolete illustrated book (from red covered Hatchette series) for children about native civilizations in Americas, with illustrations by Pierre Jourbert (01:25).

And speaking of comics themselves:

The main plot is about serial killer, that is doing, unauthorised human sacrifices by obducting and mummifying young girls (Aztecs did not practised that).

But it is not even a proper crime story, 70% of two first tomes are childhood retrospections.

Also that comic has a little backstory of warrior retrospecting how he got promoted by CAPTURING HIS OWN SUPERIOR. I cant stand that idiocy. He things that Aztecs were Orcs or Klingons?

The author is a lame storyteller. He uses awfully dated cliches, like associating physical deformities with evil and amorality.

The Mexica society is shown as one that is extremely cruel, fatalistic, violent and physically disgusting. The government investigators are killing more people than preparator of killing of girls, in order to cover up these murders. Again, its not a parody comic, its all deadly serious.

The most annoying aspect of storytelling here is oversaturation with internal and interpersonal conflicts. The main character, merchant Spear Eye, is conflicted with his family and his older sister acts like a fussy rude teenager. His close friend (a senior rain god Tlaloc priest) with whom he has literal blood bonding pact, is backstabbing him and is showed having sadistic/masochistic personality (makes me wonder if in the end it would be revealed that he is mastermind behind the murderer).

Another thing is to give every mayor character some sort of depressing, disturbing or unfortunate background, as if writer of the script was following some sort of rigid set of rules that says that severe trauma, poor mental health or misfortunes makes character interesting. While those things can make good character development, they are not suitable for every story and every occasion. Overall, the Aztec society is shown as a parade of misery, masochism, sadism and body horrors.

Its bad storytelling combined with bad takes on history.

I do not like it, just i do not like later tomes of his previous saga "Okko" that has its own issues with storytelling and characters. Mr Hub is very capable of making action scenes but his comics are biased towards violence, backstabbing and sociopathy, things that makes excellent base for violent action scenes, but not believable ordinary life and crime mystery.

Do not get excited over it, do not buy it, maybe just borrow from library or friend. You were warned.

#The Snake and the Spear #Le Serpent et la Lance #comics #french comics #racism #Aztecs #Mesoamerica #bad comics #Hub #Delcourt

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kitkatt0430-recommends · 1 year

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My dive back into my old FFnet favorites continues and I'm bringing some more recs here for anyone interested in them. Still giving them my own summaries to convey my own impressions of the fics.

As You Wish by YarningChick - A fusion of The Cat Returns and The Princess Bride. Haru is the fiercely proud daughter of a samurai who has vowed to marry none other than her sweetheart - not even his death at sea could change her mind. Unfortunately, the King has decided he is going to marry Haru, whether she likes this idea or not.

Haru/Baron is the main ship and the fic itself is rated G. The main cast is all characters from The Cat Returns and while Haru is very different from her movie self, it's still a really fun and enjoyable re-imagining of The Princess Bride's plot. YarningChick has written a lot of fics for The Cat Returns - most AUs of some sort - and they're pretty much all enjoyable. So not only does the fic get a recommendataion, the author does too.

It looks so far like all YarningChick's fics are on Ao3, so that's where the links will lead.

The Angel's Knight by Philip S - Sixteen years after her death saving the world from Glory, Buffy is given the chance to return to life to aid Angel in one final Apocalypse to determine the world's future. But the truth of what's really happening is bigger than anyone could have possibly imagined.

I remember this one especially for it's rather fascinating take on what happened the night Eyghon killed Giles' pre-series and helps to explain some of the inconsistencies with his earlier portrayal and retcons made as characterization marched on. It's also got my favorite take on Catherine Madison post-trophy-ification and an interesting interpretation of the Key.

Rated T, has Buffy/Angel as the main ship, and is, unfortunately, not to be found on Ao3 yet.

BtVS: The College Years by Philip S - A Season 4 AU. With the Slayer beyond their control for the moment, the Watcher's Council chooses to reactivate the Slayer's counterpart: the Huntsman. Meanwhile, Buffy's dealing not only with college, but with the arrival of soldiers intending to fight the good fight… and whose presence will unearth more of Sunnydale's bloodstained history.

This one I remember really enjoying for the take on the Slayer that it was one of two powerful, ancient spirits. And also for incorporating Angel's return to being human via the Mohra demon, but not allowing him to roll back time like in canon. It's obvious to the reader what Angel's in store for as the fic goes on, but how he gets there is pretty fascinating.

It is rated M for a non-con encounter between Buffy and the first guy to become the Huntsman. So reader beware. The main ship is Buffy/Angel. And, like the rest of Philip S's work, it's not on Ao3 at this time.

If It's Not One Thing… by Gabrielle Lawson - There's never a dull moment on Deep Space Nine as murder, secretive aliens, and Julian's past collide. An alternate take on Julian Bashir's past written before the reveal of his parents or genetic engineering.

Probably my favorite fic about Julian. His backstory here is really well thought out and really quite tragic and it definitely captures the feel of early seasons DS9, with the tensions between Starfleet and the Bajorans playing an important part of the storyline.

It's rated T and is on Ao3 now, along with Gabrielle Lawson's other works. Lawson's Deep Space Nine fics are all pretty good from what I remember, though this one was my favorite.

The Geek's Field Guide to Arachnids by likethekoschka - A big robot spider, anaphylactic shock, and a number of near-death-experiences… all just another ordinary day on Atlantis for John and Rodney. First in a series staring John Sheppard and Rodney McKay in an established relationship, written by liketheriver and koschka under their combined penname.

While at least one of the writers moved to Ao3, it doesn't look like they brought any of their ffnet stuff - solo or cowritten - with them. Which is a shame, but I can hold out hope these'll get migrated to somewhere safer than ffnet eventually. (Like Ao3…)

All of the fics in this series are rated T and I cannot recommend the series enough for Stargate Atlantis fans. It's incredibly well written and a lot of fun to read. Features what is probably my favorite version of Radek Zelenka.

Atlas by distractedKat - Star Trek Kelvin-verse fic set after the 2009 movie and AU from there. Kirk throws himself into aiding the rebuilding of Starfleet in the wake of the Narada disaster as Starfleet Academy has found itself short staffed. This may not have been such a good idea, as his many talents have caught the eye of a corrupt Admiral…

An eventual Kirk/Spock fic that treats Spock and Uhura's friendship really well. Rated T and is up on Ao3.

#type: rec list #rec list #fandom: star trek #fandom: stargate atlantis #fandom: star trek - kelvin verse #fandom: star trek - ds9 #fandom: ds9 #fandom: buffy the vampire slayer #fandom: the cat returns

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i-have-bees-in-my-brain · 10 months

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Clangen time!

Our StarClan guide is Boughpaw, a medicine cat apprentice that died at 6 moons of age:(

The backstory i've just come up with is starts at one of the neighbouring Clans the game has generated, CondorClan, which is currently dealing with a weird new illness. It's somewhat dark and weird, and probably somewhat badly written bc i havent written fiction in several years and never in English.

Warning: animal death, placing a lot of responsibility onto a child. (The former is canon-typical, the latter (i think) less so, and it is not openly portrayed as bad/wrong.)

One of CondorClan's medicine cats, young Talondance, took the birth of a single kit to Breeze, a friendly loner visiting the Clan, as a sign from StarClan (who dont send relatively clear prophesies like in canon, communicationg only through sending omens). He convinces CondorClan's leader to take the small family in and prepares little Boughkit to be the next medicine cat apprentice when he is of age. And indeed, the young tom turns out to be interested in the duties of the role and even wise far beyond his moons. Some voices in the Clan disapprove of the privileged treatment of the loner-child Boughkit, though, or at least wonder why Talondance acts like that with no urgent need for a new Healer. When he's 5 moons old, Boughkit's mother falls ill, and the Healers are at their wit's end on how to deal with this strange sickness they have started to call the Bluefever.

Boughkit had begged and pleaded, and eventually, Talondance had given up on trying to prevent the young one from coming along to the top of the tall mountain where CondorClan received StarClan's guidance. While the senior healer Gravelfur took care of the warriors, queens, and elders who suffered from the new illness, Talondance was to make an offering to the Ancestors, to ask them for help with saving the lives of those who had this strange fever. Those who talked of dark and confusing things in their slumber, but didn't remember anything when Talondance or Gravelfur asked them about it in the rare moments when they were awake. The most haunting thing about the illness was a weird blue shimmer in the eyes of the patients that appeared whenever the healers tried to talk to them about their dreams. He had never seen anything like this before. This was the sign they weren't dealing with an ordinary fever. While it was dangerous to take a kit on the trip to the peak of the Condor's Mountain, Talondance found it cruel to deny his protégé the chance to help his only kin, his mother. Besides, StarClan had shown him moons ago that Boughkit was somehow special. Maybe he was supposed to be the one to receive StarClan's guidance?

Carrying the necessary plants and stones for the offering, the two toms had made their way to the peak. Talondance prepared the items in the way he'd been taught, all while explaining the rules behind the ritual to Boughkit, who listened quietly. After the healer had arranged everything around a rock emerging from the ground on the end of the path up the mountain, he had to finish the ritual by climbing up to the very top of the mountain and praying to StarClan up there in silence. He had decided to try it himself first, because only one cat at a time could manage the steep climb over loose rocks up to the summit, let alone sit there, and it was quite dangerous especially for an inexperienced climber such as Boughkit. But just as he told the young tom to wait for him here on the plateau and started to climb up, Boughkit called to him.

"Talondance, do not go any further."

Was that even the kit's voice? Talondance tried to turn around to see his student, but it wasn't possible from that point of the climb. As he finally managed to look back, he saw that Boughkit had followed him on the dangerous path, and tried to tell him to turn back, but he was the first to speak.

"You'll be carried away by the lightest breeze." What was that supposed to mean? It was not at all a windy day, even this far up. But as Talondance saw that the young one's eyes had a strange intensity to them, just like those of the sick cats back in camp. The healer froze. Something wasn't right here. "Fine, Boughkit, I'll turn back. But first, you need to go back down, then..." Before he could finish the sentence, Talondance saw that the young one struggled to keep his footing, as if the rocky underground was falling apart below him, and before he could think, both cats and the offerings and rock upon rock upon rock fell down along the side of the mountain.

Basically, Talondance and Boughkit accidently triggered a big rockfall and are badly hurt. Talondance wakes up in StarClan, where he's told he is destined to leave CondorClan and found another Clan himself. He is named Talonstar and receives 9 lives from the cats who just succumbed to Bluefever, including Breeze, and then he wakes up among the debris from the rockfall. He finds Boughkit, who is badly injured, and tries to save him, but he tells Talonstar that it's too late. Talonstar then performs a sort of honorary apprentice ceremony for Boughkit, similar to the one in canon where dying apprentices are made warriors. Newly named Boughpaw asks Talonstar about what StarClan told him, and after he told his apprentice everything, he requests that he names the new Clan BreezeClan, after his mother, with his last words.

Talonstar is devastated, but decides to follow what Boughpaw and StarClan told him. He starts to wander away from the mountain (which marked the border of CondorClan's territory) into unknown lands, and after a day or so, he finds a beach with rocks strewn about and a shipwreck, where a soft breeze goes. He sees this as a sign to stay and bury Boughpaw there, and he eventually meets and befriends other cats in the area (mostly travelers, loners and kittypets from a somewhat-close beach town) and convinces some of them to form BreezeClan with him.

Back in CondorClan, everyone is shocked by the two disapearances, the destruction of the top of the Condor's Mountain and of course the many sudden deaths of the ill cats. After a while, rumours arise that Talondance has been seen beyond the borders, still very much alive (the territories are Much bigger than in canon, patrols take a few days to really check the full border, so they rarely bother.) The rumours escalate and soon many cats believe Talondance to be an oathbreaker and demon who fathered Boughkit and destroyed the summit willingly. He quickly becomes the archenemy of CondorClan. Many moons afterwards, they discover that Talonstar has even founded his own small clan nearby, and the still-not-recovered CondorClan declares war on BreezeClan...

#i havent thought of any Warriors/fanclan plots since like 8 years ago and now this spawned in my brain in like one hour #all bc my starclan guide is a child #clangen #zaya plays clangen #tw animal illness #tw animal death

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madam-kumo · 9 months

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Identity V characters as Music

(I did skip some because I had no idea what to do for them. Also Major spoiler warning)

Masterlist

Survivors

Emily Dyer (doctor)

Nurses Office by Melanie Martinez.

For obvious reasons

Freddy Riley (Lawyer)

The Fine Print by The Stupendium

He mentions in his backstory that he hopes to find a better job than the "menial" job he has with a low wage.

Kreacher Pierson (Thief)

Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson

He literally steals parts from the ciphers.

Emma Woods (Gardener)

Dandelions by Ruth B.

A happy song for a happy character. (Emma is literally so cute, she deserves it)

Servais Le Roy (The magician)

Circus by Brittney Spears

Where do we find magicians? A circus...

Martha Behamfil (Coordinator)

Bang! by AJR

Martha has a gun. That's it.

Fiona Gilman (Priestess)

W.I.T.C.H by Devon Cole

I was gonna go with Dragula by Rob Zombie but that felt too aggressive for Fiona.

Tracy Reznik (Mechanic)

Puppet Boy by Devo

It has the cheerful sound to it like Tracy does but I chose this song because I love her mechanical dolls (they underrated).

Vera Nair (Perfumer)

Francis Forever by Mitski

I feel like this song sums up how Vera felt after murdering her sister.

Kevin Ayuso (Cowboy)

Country Girl by Luke Bryan

I gave him the most southern song I could physically think of.

Margaretha Zelle (Female Dancer)

Liquid Smooth by Mitski

I think this song shows how Margaretha felt and how she saw herself just before coming to the manor.

Sergei (Weeping Clown or Joker)

Cigarette duet by Princess Chelsea

This song is pretty much a nutshell of when Sergei was having problems with Margaretha and was trying to convince her to stay with him.

Aesop Carl (Embalmer)

Coraline Opening Song

If you paid attention to when the other mother is making the doll then you can see when she lays the great aunts doll on what looks like a kit of some kind then you can see that it's an embalming kit. (My favorite movie song for my main)

Norton Campbell

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Set It Off

I saw somebody use it in an edit when he attacked Orpheus and Melly so I think this song fits.

Patricia Dorval (Enchantress)

Come Little Children from the Hocus Pocus 1993 film

I always got the vibe that Patricia is very family oriented and tries to avoid social conflict when she can so a peaceful song like this literally being sung by a witch is something Patricia would enjoy. (I love this woman so much)

Mike Morton

Freak by Sub Urban

I couldn't really think of one without repeating so I decided on this one.

Demi Bourbon

Alcoholic Friends by Dresden Dolls

I think this was how she felt after her brother got the invitation to the manor.

Victor Grantz

Message man by Twenty One Pilots

I think this song fits him because I'd imagine he's very observant since he's so quiet so not a lot of people know much about him but he knows a lot about others.

Andrew Kreiss

Tears to Shed from the Corpse Bride film

The movie is about death and the song is about comparing yourself to others. Nothing else fits quite like this one does. (I can't describe how much I adore Andrew)

Luca Balsa ("Prisoner)

Welcome to the Internet- Bo Burnham

I feel like Luca matches the overall chaotic vibes this song has and he would probably explain the internet just like Burnham did (very quickly and kinda passive aggressively)

Melly Plinus (Entomologist)

Entomologist by GHOST

Need I say more

Edgar Valden (Painter)

My Ordinary Life by The Living Tombstones

This song sounds happy like Edgar

Ganji Gupta (Batter)

The Sports Wii theme song

This is what he gets for beating up my poor Geisha during rank

Anne Lester (Toy Merchant)

Pogo- Living Island

A cheerful song because she deserves it (I have a soft spot for Anne mains)

Ada and Emil (Phycologist and the Patient)

Dark Red by Steve Lacy

I love their relationship so much

Orpheus (Novelist)

Satisfied by Marina and The Diamonds.

I don't know, just seems fitting.

Alice Deross (Journalist)

Ramalama (bang, bang) by Róisín Murphy

If you've ever heard this song, you know exactly why I chose this song.

Hunters

Leo Beck ( Hell Ember)

We'll meet again- Vera Lynn

This song is probably something he would listen to on repeat to hope that it will help him reunite with Emma. (I'm gonna cry)

Jack (The Ripper)

Run Rabbit Run by Flanagan and Allen

I have a feeling that he's one of those killers that taunts his victims so this song fits.

Violetta (Soul Weaver)

Spider's Web by Melanie Martinez (my favorite portals song)

She's literally a giant spider. (And I love her for that)

Michiko (Geisha)

Washing Machine Heart by Mitski

Michiko just wanted to marry the man the man she loved but it was ripped away by her lovers father. (I wanna give my main a hug so bad)

Joseph Desaulniers (Photographer)

Paparazzi by Lady Gaga

You saw this coming, don't lie to me

Burke Lapadura (Mad Eyes)

Rainbow Factory by Glaze

He works on machines and stuff. I don't know, I'm running out of ideas.

Yidhra (Dream Witch)

Puppet Boy by Devo

This is the only song I'm repeating because it fits so well.

Robbie (The Axe Boy)

Teenage Dirt Bag by Wheatus

I feel like it matches his energy as a kid with way too much energy and mischief in his little body.

Mary (Bloody Queen)

Where's your Head at? by Basement Jaxx

You could say she lost her head....I'm done.

BonBon (Guard 26)

Blow! By Ke$ha

His ability is that he can make these explosive thingies when he chair someone.

Ann ("Disciple")

Brutus us by the Buttress

This song was the first thing that came to mind when I saw her, obviously.

Antonio Paganini (Violinist)

Sex with a Ghost by Teddy Hyde

I feel like the "woman in the mirror" could be replaced by the devil he made a deal with.

Galatea Claude (Sculptor)

Breezeblocks by Alt-J

This perfectly describes how I think Galatea felt when her statue was destroyed by her father.

Percy (Undead)

Zydrate Anatomy by Alexa PenaVega, Paris Hilton, and Terrance Zdunich

Another song I can't really explain why but it feels right.

Grace (Naiad)

Siren by Kailee Morgue

Perfect for Naiad by the title alone.

Phillipe (Wax Artist)

Hidden in the Sand by Tally Hall

His backstory has always freaked me out a bit since he literally has a corpse covered in wax glued(?) to his shoulder.

Keigan Nicholas Keogh (Clerk)

The Principle by Melanie Martinez

I feel like Clerk would be the kind of person to subconsciously abuse her power like the principle does.

Alva Lorenz (Hermit)

Rat by Penelope Scott

Alva says he will never know the true answers to humanity so I feel like this song fits into that phrase.

Ithaqua (Night Watch)

Below the Surface by Griffinilla

This song was the first thing to come to mind for him so I'm gonna keep it.

Sangria (Opera Singer)

Ballad of Jane Doe from the Ride the Cyclone musical

Jane doe hits some of the highest notes in this song I've ever seen in a musical and I just feel like Sangria would really like this song.

#IDV #Identity V #identity 5

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elympios · 2 years

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I am so predictable.

So that ficlet I reblogged where Ludger accidentally gets stuck in X1 inspired me. Like I’ve seen one take on “Julius and Ludger get stuck in Rieze Maxia after the Zenethra incident” but the issue is largely that their ages are extremely hard to work out

But what if Chronos just. Chucks them through the Schism for funsies. I mean he’s enough of an asshole to do it just because.

So Julius is 20 and Ludger is 12 and suddenly they have to deal with being in an entirely different country and Julius has both pocket watches but he can only shift into Fractured versions of Rieze Maxia and it’s extremely dangerous because he might accidentally end up unable to reach the Catalyst because of the Schism and get stuck there forever until someone else destroys it. (Unlike when he was working for Spirius when Kudlak could tell if a Catalyst was in RM and it would be impossible to reach it through normal means)

So he scrapes together a plan, explains to Ludger about the RM legend, and coaches him on their new backstory as isolated country bumpkins from who-knows-where. Ludger doesn’t use spirit artes because when he was very young he was traumatised by the death of his mother and he’s too scared to use them himself, and Julius has simply never had an affinity for it. It’s a weak story but Ludger makes up for it by being pretty capable at cooking for his age and Julius is still a very good mercenary even without being able to use his Chromatus openly.

And eventually they bounce around Rieze Maxia, Julius trying to find the remnants of the Elympions who were stranded, and he eventually finds Derrick Mathis and talks to him. Derrick confirms that Exodus still exists but warns Julius against working with them, and basically tells him it’s futile to try and return to Elympios and that Julius should just try and live a peaceful life here.

And Julius is like. Yeah no. He’s not any ordinary Elympion and the Trial is still ongoing even if no one in Rieze Maxia knows it is. (He doesn’t yet know that thanks to Maxwell, RM is completely removed from the Trial, as far as he knows RM was separated exclusively because of the spyrix issue) and he still knows that Spirius is going to want into Rieze Maxia eventually because they can’t cross the Schism in Fractured Dimensions.

I have. Some vague thought of Julius secretly working with Exodus and Gilland while he and Ludger live in Leronde with Leia and Jude (Julius is probably a mercenary who occasionally travels but is extremely reluctant to actually leave Ludger alone, as Ludger is probably working as a cook at Leia’s parents’ inn) but... god I’m gonna have to play X1. This is how I’m gonna play X1? For a Kresnik bros fic?

I am SO predictable.

Anyway Julius probably looks to be the bad guy once Ludger gets caught up in Jude and Milla’s stuff. Considering the Elympios thing is a massive reveal I’m definitely gonna have to rework it and reveal it a lot sooner because Julius already knows stuff. (He’s actually intending on sabotaging the Lance of Kresnik project, for reasons) There’s probably a lot of arguing and stuff but eventually when Milla reveals that “she” sealed off Elympios, Julius explains Exodus is probably backed by Spirius in order to retrieve the last two Waymarkers.

(Basically, AU where the first three Waymarkers were already acquired in Elympios, but the final two are Long Dau’s Dust and Maxwell’s Temporal Blade, so after figuring that out, Spirius has been working on entering Rieze Maxia and once they get it they’ll be able to complete Origin’s Trial right then and there)

So Julius talks to Wingul and Gaius (I know they meet w Jude’s party at some point in X1 just... Work with me here, I don’t know X1’s story very well at all and I definitely need to play the game before I do anything...) and explains everything and suggests that if they just give Spirius the last two Waymarkers, they’ll stop trying to break down the Schism and leave Rieze Maxia alone. Of course there’s still the issue of spyrix technology killing spirits in Elympios, and Alvin is NOT on board with this plan because my dude wants to go the fuck home, whereas Julius is like 100% okay with both never going back to Elympios and allowing Elympios to suffer the death of spirits or fail the Trial, hence his attempts at sabotaging the Lance, because Exodus shenanigans aside, he and Ludger have a pretty okay and safe life in Rieze Maxia, and he’s tracked down lore about Maxwell refusing to partake in Origin’s Trial and handling soul purification outside of Origin, which Milla seemingly corroborates.

Unfortunately for him, the rest of the party may not like Elympios but they still have qualms about implicitly allowing another world to die out via their inaction, especially when they hear between Milla’s recollection of the Genesis Sage (who is not named Milla and does not look like Milla but she still had an importance to Maxwell at least) and Julius’ understanding of Origin’s Trial that it all just seems... really unfair to Elympios too.

But Julius is obviously very okay with it because “destroying another world to save the one I care about” is literally what he’s been doing almost his entire life. And he has zero affection for Elympios beyond what role Ludger played in it. And Ludger is with him and safe so...

Unfortunately Ludger is also very freaked out by everything Julius has hidden from him and also his total acceptance of risking the lives of everyone they once knew in Elympios. Sure, Ludger didn’t really know anyone besides Julius but still... seeing his brother appear that okay about genocide is...

Either way there’s a back and forth but he? convinces Wingul (or Gaius convinces Wingul) to give over the dust used for his booster and Julius’ presence as a Chromatus user reveals it to indeed be a Waymarker so he hands that off to a DODA agent part of the Elympion army and makes an offer to Spirius that they will get them the final Waymarker in exchange for leaving RM alone.

This either works and it’s just a trek to find Maxwell’s blade along with the requisite revelation that Milla isn’t really Maxwell, or they waffle on the morality of abandoning Elympios to the Trial and the party decides to save Elympios anyway (Ludger eventually convinces Julius to care, obviously), putting them at odds with Muzet

And after stopping Muzet and dispelling the Schism they head off to complete the Trial and beat Bisley’s ass so he doesn’t enslave all the spirits anyway and like, wish for all the Chromatus users to stop being able to use their powers, so Catalysts stop being created and new FDs stop being created and Origin just has to deal with soul purification for whatever dimensions are still left, and we don’t have to commit even MORE genocide.

And maybe punch Origin a little because I hate him now.

WAIT FUCK I STILL NEED TO FIX THE SOUL BRIDGE THING SLSHSKSHSKS you know what we’re un-nerfing Milla. She can build the soul bridge herself. Fuck Chronos and the sacrifice. Something something the soul bridge becomes a metaphor for cooperation between Rieze Maxians and the Kresnik clan.

(Honestly I don’t think it’d be that hard to keep Ludger and Julius from overtaking X1’s original plot. Their Chromatus isn’t even as OP because Julius neeeeeeeds to keep it hidden and is literally incapable of just murdering his way through the plot for once. He CAN jump into FDs but it’s so dangerous to risk getting stuck separated by the Schism (and he would have to explain the whole thing to Ludger if they were to hide in FDs that eventually got destroyed) that he doesn’t bother. And I imagine Ludger is pretty good friends with Jude and Leia and grows up with them as this quiet chill older kid friend but he’s lying to them about Elympios and even in X2 canon he doesn’t really have friends besides Nova so he’s still pretty codependent on Julius, and vice versa. So as an X1 fic it’s gonna be disappointing but as a Kresnik bros fic I’m gonna have fun!)

Optional storyline, obviously, where before Julius joins the party and reveals everything, Ludger is in possession of one of their pocketwatches and activates his Chromatus in a crisis, spurring a subplot about wtf it means, which Julius eventually comes around to explaining. Julius obviously freaks the hell out about it though.

So I guess I’m playing X1 someday...........

#v #x2

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docidoci · 2 years

Note

I was reading your post concerning the 10&11 chapter and it got me curious... can I ask how many times does path of radiance hint that Soren has "powers" related to being branded?

To answer that, let's decide what Soren's special powers are anyway. I will offer that the game implies those:

Unnaturally good spacial awareness/internal compass.

Magic ability beyond that of a normal beorc mage.

(possibly) Perceptiveness of other people's "spirit"

It's not a lot.

1. They try to keep consistent that Soren never gets lost and would give advice on direction. The most obvious mention is Chapter 17, when they search Serene's Forest for 3 days and Ike outright asks about always knowing where he is when no one else can make sense of the dead forest. I'm almost sure that the writers tried to insert more believability to Soren's backstory of crossing vast distances of the continent as a 6 year old kid.

2. It only really comes up a couple of times. Once as recalling the sage that took Soren in, thinking that the kid was extremely talented. The second time when Kalil explains to Tormod that they, ordinary mages, shouldn't sell their soul to the spirits — unlike Soren, who definitely gained his powers this way and is on the whole different level from them.

3. Related to Reyson's explanation that some laguz tribes are more perceptive than the others in context of sensing Leanne's "presence". He puts dragons as the most perceptive of all, and while it doesn't obviously point to Soren at that moment, there are very few other characters this fact would be relevant to. Neither Nasir, nor Ena seem to require being the most perceptive for explaining their actions. Dheginsea — obviously not. Kurthnaga — maybe, but that's not relevant until RD. Soren's part of the story of looking for Ike (and again, improbably finding him) is already solidified in PoR, and with Titania also insisting that Soren is perceptive, this vague "power" seems to apply to him on some level.

ETA: Also worth considering Soren being the first to notice Elincia in Chapter 4. It's not a supernatural event in itself, but it's his join chapter and he is being established with many little indicators of his character.

The last one has a lot of handwaving. However, I felt that the theory is worth a mention, because Soren is a "core" character: his arc seems to be decided early on and influences design/features of other characters (for instance, Kalil/Bastian getting knives or Petrine getting a magic-based lance).

#soren fire emblem #tellius #path of radiance #fe9 #fire emblem #branded

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vampkomori · 3 years

Text

anyone else think neo’s reports are weird about composers i think theyre weird about composers. lets make sense of joshuas status as composer and hazuki as comparison

this is gonna be a bit long. so anyway the og reports are p straightforward about what Composers (specifically, joshua) can and cannot do:

- Joshua can only pick up Hanekoma’s vibe, because Angel vibes are too high frequency for him to pick up

- Inter-planar contact (so, communication between the UG and the Higher Plane in this case) is difficult, which is brought up because

- The Composer, Joshua, only resides in the UG.

- But the Producer, who is an Angel, mainly resides in the Higher Plane, and only occasionally lingers in the UG.

The whole matter of jumping between worlds highlights the difference between their abilities even more:

- As Composer, Joshua is one of the beings who can jump between worlds, but isn’t meant to do so often. His vibe dipped too low, so Hanekoma had to come retrieve him, because as an Angel this sort of travel is simple for him.

the OG reports make it pretty clear Joshua isnt an Angel

*But. unfortunately its not that easy. because by clearing the final time trial joshua gives you an item called Angel Feather (天使のハネ in JP), of which the description says “Our buyer used divine means to acquire this mysterious feather that was once in the possession of Shibuya's Composer.“ (which some have interpreted as, “in the possession of” meaning “it was given to him” potentially by hanekoma, who actually IS an Angel)

and if things are vague, we turn to the JP to clear us up! but its. still vague there bc it says “バイヤーが特別な力で入手した渋谷エリアのコンポーザーが持っていた謎の羽根“ (The mysterious feather that was held/carried by the Composer of the Shibuya area that the buyer obtained with a special power)

so. we are none the wiser about whose feather this is. i imagine its up to interpretation whether its joshuas feather or hanekomas, who then gave it to joshua. but given how clearly the reports differentiate between the Composer and Angels in regards to their abilities, suffice to say theres two interpretations that are most likely

- Composers arent Angels, their power disparity is just too much

- Composers are Angels, but theyre so much weaker compared to the Angels who reside in the Higher Plane that they’re never referred to as Angels, just as Composers

which takes us to neo, and hazukis little lightshow

i think its notable that the reports dont comment on kubos so-called “exorcism”, and only on haz erasing his noise.

haz himself refers to his little stunt as “exorcising” kubo, while in JP he actually says haiki 廃棄, get rid of, revoke, invalidate.

i think its important that he clarified “i didnt erase him, i exorcised him”. because with kubo, the executor, being an Angel from the Higher Plane, a Composer shouldnt be able to erase someone of higher ranking than them. i think as the person who called upon kubo in the first place, haz could specifically revoke his services and send him back to the Higher Plane.

which means kubo wasnt erased, he was just sent back. hes still kickin

we could leave things right here as they are. Canonically, Composers are so far beneath Angels to a point where even if they were Angels themselves, they are so much weaker than them that they could hardly be referred to as such

this is where the facts end. but im gonna keep going and have fun speculating about things and include some i dont have physical proof of (yet)

its notable that in JP, hazuki says that kubo tried to purify shibuya probably because he wanted to be praised by Hazuki. which is weird if kubos supposed to be higher ranking than haz. (in EN, haz just says hes always been an overachiever) but lets put a pin in that for later 📌

which takes us to the matter of Shinjuku’s Producer. or their lack thereof

throughout all of neo’s reports, there is not a single mention of Shinjuku having a Producer. before neo, we kind of assumed every UG’s setup follows largely the same structure. a Composer, a Conductor, a Producer, and then some Reapers. but Shinjuku does not seem to have a Producer. and i think its because it doesnt need one.

its important to remember Who is writing these reports and Who theyre for. the reports are written by shibuyas Producer, and theyre written for the Higher Plane. and shibuyas Composer cant pick up the vibes of any Angel except hanekoma, so he cant be the one writing the reports for beings he cant even pick up the vibes from, especially since he only resides in the UG.

and yet, hanekoma comments that Hazuki should have filed a report, and that haz is disinterested in the lower planes.

in English its a little vague about who hes talking about, but the JP specifies Shinjukus Composer as the subject of this sentence.

throughout both reports, the UG and RG are considered part of the lower planes. its strange for a Composer to have no interest in the very planes they govern, plus for a Composer to file a report to the Higher Plane when its been established that Joshua, as a Composer, cant even perceive anyone from there.

so i think Hazuki may actually be a proper Angel from the Higher Plane, who was potentially demoted to become Shinjukus Composer.

though you can very much interpret haz “exorcising” kubo as simply “sending him back whence he came”, its of course pretty anticlimactic to see this massive laser beam essentially disintegrate kubo on a molecular level, only for it to have been a quick ride back to the higher plane with kubo being perfectly in tact after. if haz were actually much more powerful than an ordinary Composer, itd make sense why he would have been able to erase an Angel like kubo so. thoroughly.

this would also explain why kubo may have wanted to be praised by hazuki in the JP dialogue. with hazuki potentially being an outlier for Composers and being far Higher ranking than kubo, our executor may have wanted to sucker up a bit. maybe get promoted and away from his “basically a janitor” job if haz puts in a good word for him upstairs

theres also hazukis entire demeanor, and how Bad he is at acting like a normal person

we know of four paths that Players can take

they can choose erasure

they can choose resurrection to return to the RG

they can become Reapers

they can become Angels

and Reapers can eventually become Angels, though its yet unclear if the only way for that to happen is

for them to become Composer (potentially the Lowest Angel-rank there is) and thats it.

or if Composers can ascend and become Actual Angels and eventually reside in the Higher Plane, though how a successor for the seat of Composer is chosen in that scenario is yet entirely unknown since Usually the seat only becomes vacant when the previous Composer is defeated

or if they, as a Reaper, need to Ask the Composer who then asks the Producer to send a guy for evaluation or something

or if the Higher Plane has like, a talent scout guy somewhere.

potentially more than one may apply but at least the last point is the most likely, because

Conductors are invited to the Higher Plane (probably to become Angels) upon purification

(interesting to note that Composers are not mentioned as being invited, which would point to “theyre Angels, but like, weak-ass Angels”)

anyway, the point is that so far weve been told that Angels were Players or Reapers at one point. we know Joshua was a Player for sure, given the morsels of backstory we get from him and Hanekoma. but we dont know if All Angels came from the RG at one point, or if Angels that have always been Angels exist.

either way, the point is that for Hazuki to act so non-human like and to be disinterested in the UG and RG, he either must have been an Angel for a very long time, or he was never human to begin with.

this is relevant to how he interacts with joshua in the Secret Ending, though its a lot less obvious in English, in JP their dynamic is clear: Joshua is his senior, and as his junior, Hazuki looks to him as an example.

for one, thats hilarious. secondly, that recontextualizes like everything

‘course, you could keep the interpretation that theyre just Both weak-ass angels and hazuki just made kubo use a flashy dramatic elevator to the HP and nothing groundbreakingly powerful happened, but thats kinda anticlimactic

so. staying w the idea that hazuki may be a demoted Angel from the Higher Plane, then itd make sense for Joshua to have been Composer for longer than him, and for haz to act Like...That, since he couldve been not-human for a Very long time, or Never was one in the first place, but is still a younger Composer bc he got demoted like. 4 years back or something.

it also explains why Shinjuku may not need a Producer, and why Hazuki is the one writing his reports. its because hes still an Angel from the Higher Plane, so he does not need an intermediary to contact other Angels.

so to summarize what im tryna say here

Hazuki may have initially been a regular Angel from the Higher Plane, before he eventually got demoted to become Shinjukus Composer, despite how disinterested he is in the UG and RG. (he is considered to be “infamously unsympathetic”, a trait which is reinforced in the JP version to be something he is known for amongst the Higher Plane, which could potentially be the reason for his demotion)

Since hes Joshuas junior, that means he hasnt been Composer for as long as Joshua has, so Hazuki looks to him to know what youre even supposed to do/how to act/etcetera as Composer. With his Special circumstances, he does not need a Producer as an intermediary to interact with the Higher Plane, because hes already an Angel so he can do it himself.

whatever Angel Hierarchy there may be, Hazuki is at the very least a higher rank than an Executor, considering how kubo wanted to impress him, and how haz effortlessly got rid of him. with kubo being from the Higher Plane, joshua is decidedly lower ranking than kubo, and cant even pick up his vibe. which clearly positions haz into a unique circumstance as a Composer bc of this discrepancy in ranking and power. amen

<><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><>

theres other things that back this up but i unfortunately do not have a source for them, so This section, take with a grain of salt.

Supposedly, in neo’s data files:

Joshua is referred to as an Advanced Angel

Kubo as a Junior Angel, and

Hazuki as a Senior Angel

i only heard this secondhand and have no way of corroborating this myself, but if this is true then that lines up with the super long super sexy little essay i just wrote up there

this “ranking” solidifes Kubos position as Hazukis underling. which, if he were an ordinary Composer, wouldnt even be possible.

Joshua is notably a different rank from Haz, though its difficult to figure out if “Advanced” is supposed to be Lower than junior, or Higher than senior. thats up to interpretation until its possibly ever acknowledged,

but my interpretation is that an Advanced Angel is lower than a Junior Angel. i think “advanced” in this case is meant to refer to the traditional evolution of players to reapers to the composer, advancing from one status to the next.

**Little post-edit, @/inkerii gave me the actual designation in the files! (so this ones backed-up!)

so in the files, theyre designated ranks are as follows

Joshua: 男、天使上級 ※前作 (Male, Senior/Advanced Grade Angel ※from the Previous work)

Hazuki: 男、天使上級 (Male, Senior/Advanced Grade Angel)

Kubo: 男、天使下級 (Male, Junior/Lower Grade Angel)

so haz and joshua are the same rank bc theyre both Composers! since thats an internal data text kinda thing it might not have any bearing on like, potential Technical exceptions since they Are both the same “job”, but mightve gotten it under different circumstances.

as for kubo potentially being lower ranking than even a Composer, i think unless we find out what a Producers ranking is, we cant say much abt whether an Executors lower or higher. i kinda mean it in the sense of, Producers are a Composers subordinate bc they follow their orders and have to create the things theyre tasked to make by the Composer (pins, etc), but may still be “higher” in ranking because they reside in the Higher Plane/jump between parallel worlds, while a Composer cannot. an Executor may be in a similar position where theyre a Composers underling, tasked by Composers to purify things, but may actually be “higher” in ranking because they reside in the higher plane, etc!

i think regardless of whether kubo turns out to be lower ranking than joshua or not, hazuki could still be Even More Higher in a way where he actually has like, sway over whether he could get a promotion! if that was his intent. he could also just be a huge suck up. a real kiss ass. teachers pet for angels

---

theres also the ntwewy Official Guidebook, which has a small comment beneath hazuki that says

and i additionally remember an interview, though i dont have a source for this claim and i could very much be misremembering, but i recall seeing the reason for hazuki not being the final boss is because they did not think players could suspend their disbelief far enough to accept that the twisters would be able to defeat a being from the Higher Plane.

which is perfectly reasonable, but

Composers are meant to be able to be defeated by Players or Reapers. if hazuki really was so powerful that itd be impossible for them to defeat him, then hed be far too strong to be an ordinary Composer, since thats. how you take over in the first place. thats kinda the whole plot of og twewy.

anyway that concludes my case

#neo twewy spoilers #neo twewy #ntwewy #the world ends with you #twewy meta #hazuki mikagi #twewy composer #vampymori.txt #(uses my gay little brain to figure out a way the neo reports dont retcon lore) BEHOLD....#i like this bc its funny as hell to think haz like. did something to be DEMOTED?#SORRY THAT CONCEPTS HILARIOUS TO ME #i didnt talk abt it much but the fact that hes called Infamously Unsympathetic #and in JP it additionally implies that the Higher Plane thinks this way of him as well #that means. they hated his ass so much they were like GET OUT #oh another thing. i didnt know where to add it #but in neos social network joshua is referred to as 'a being from a Higher Plane'#its notable that it says 'a' not 'the' Higher Plane (capitalized) bc the og reports do say the UG is on a higher plane than the RG #so like. its true. just a weird way to say hes from the UG #im p sure joshuas never BEEN to The actual Higher Plane #he wouldnt even be able to SEE anyone there. much less elevate his vibe that high #anyway. godspeed thanks for reading #hazuki demotion theory #is what im basically calling this LOL

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brushstrokesapocalyptic · 3 years

Text

it’s time for the “overanalyzing one-off lines” show!

so the very first thing magnus says when he sees pit in chapter 2 of kid icarus: uprising is as follows:

“Well, I didn’t expect to see an angel here. Hope this doesn’t mean I’ve kicked the bucket.”

now, i’m not sure if you’re aware, but that’s a really weird thing for someone to say, and it’s even more weird that no one comments on it. pit and palutena go on talking about unrelated things, as if that’s a totally normal and expected thing for magnus to say.

now, if you’re like me, you probably also didn’t really react to this line the first few times you saw it. it’s the second chapter, kiu has a lot of slightly-odd lines which turn out to be foreshadowing. me, personally? my first thought was “oh, i guess angels are probably associated with escorting the dead to the afterlife,“ and then i moved on.

they’re not, though. that’s what reapers do. and there’s no way humans have these two races mixed up. just fucking look at them.

do they look anything alike to you??? no. they don’t. which raises the question of why, exactly, magnus said that.

now, we don’t know a lot about angels as a whole. pit (and by extension dark pit) is emphatically not the gold standard of angeldom. we can assume he looks fairly ordinary for an angel, seeing as no one has trouble identifying him as such. beyond that, though, a lot of what we know about angels comes from what pit isn’t. for starters, he can’t fly. and there’s something else, too, but i’ll get to that later.

before that, though, i’m gonna go through the various unsubstantiated comments made by people with a dubious level of authority on the subject. (incidentally, i sourced these screenshots from the wiki— much more convenient than trying to dig through youtube for every single random conversation.)

without any further ado! let’s get into it!

Angels as Messengers

Gaol: Aw, Palutena’s little messenger boy. And Magnus, it’s always a pleasure. (src)

in the specific context of overanalyzing magnus’s first line, this is an important sentence to pick out. magnus and gaol are both humans, both with presumably a fairly similar history as mercenaries up until gaol got stuffed in a suit of armor. but while magnus makes a weird comment about death, gaol calls pit a messenger.

and pit agrees with her!

Viridi: I wish I had an angel to do my bidding. It’s like having an intern.

Pit: I’m not an intern. I’m a messenger of the gods!

Viridi: Poor Pit. Don't you know that the definition of angel is "errand spirit"? (src)

this particular conversation is the most insight we get into angels as a whole, i think. viridi thinks of angels as like divine interns, there to do little tasks for gods, and palutena doesn’t exactly disagree with her. pit says they’re specifically messengers, which lines up with biblical mythology. i could see the traditional role of angels in the world of KI being exactly that, showing up to tell the humans what the gods have to say because the gods themselves are too busy being petty jerks to do it themselves.

The Angel’s Code of Conduct

Magnus: You go in fully dressed? Don't you at least want to change into a...swimming tunic or something?

Pit: Oh, no no no! The angel's code of conduct says that we must always be ready for duty.

Magnus: I guess you wouldn't be an angel if you didn't do things by the book. (src)

Pit: Hey! You know the angel's code of conduct! I need to be prepared at all times! (src)

another random little thing is the angel’s code of conduct. without a larger sample size, we can’t know if it’s a real thing or just an excuse to save on laundry, but apparently it’s against the rules to not be on call at all times. in pit’s case, the duty he has to be ready for is doing palutena’s dirty work, but it can easily mean just about anything— including, of course, being a messenger.

No Warrior

Chariot Master: But you are no warrior, angel. Tell me, why do you fight?

Pit: I fight for Lady Palutena. And I fight for the people under her protection!

Chariot Master: That's not reason enough for an angel. (src)

remember how i said there was something else weird about pit? the chariot master seems to think angels aren’t very prone to battle— or perhaps even that they’re actively opposed to it. this lines up well with the idea that they’re supposed to be messengers, peaceful go-betweens for gods and mortals. this does not line up well with pit, the adorable weapon of mass destruction.

and it also does absolutely nothing to explain the question driving the whole existence of this post.

you know what does kinda lean towards an explanation?

No Other Angels

Pit: Do all gods have their own angels, like you have me?

Palutena: No, I don't think that's necessarily the case. (src)

i said before that the Intern Pit conversation had the most illuminating information on angels. this is what i was actually referring to. on its own, it’s pretty innocuous, but it’s just as weird as the magnus line. shouldn’t pit know about other angels, seeing as he is one himself? but he doesn’t know if there are other angels.

the only angels we ever see are him and his clone. no one ever directly references the existence of other angels, they only make general statements about what angels as a whole are like— statements which clearly don’t apply to pit, meaning they’re not just extrapolating based on the one angel that definitely does exist.

the one time someone does comment on the hypothetical existence of other angels, palutena gives a vague answer to the tune of “no,” the topic is changed, and no one brings it up again.

let’s go over everything i’ve established about angels up to this point. they can fly, they’re peaceful messengers of the gods, and pit is the only one that seems to exist as of the start of KIU.

it should be pretty obvious at this point what answer i’m dancing around, if it wasn’t obvious from the start. pit is the only angel around because all the other ones are dead. the reason why magnus said what he did is that his thought process went something like this:

See an angel.

Think “Aren’t angels extinct? Is that a ghost? Am I a ghost? I sure hope not.“

Make a quip about that.

Move on with his life, because he isn’t dead and evidently neither is this guy.

i’m not gonna pretend i went into this post with the intent of any other conclusion to that mystery. anyone who’s bothered glancing over a plot summary for the original kid icarus can draw that conclusion. it’s certainly what i did, reinforced by fics by people who had the same thought!

the truth, however, is that this was all a trick to get you to read my analysis of the theoretical nature of angels as a race. now that you’re invested, i’m going to dramatically throw aside my cape and reveal my TRUE FORM: telling people that fandom consensus is wrong, and my ideas are cooler and better than everyone else’s and you should all throw roses at my feet and bow before your king.

(or just, y’know, take it as the subjective analysis that it is. whatever floats your boat.)

Hot Takes

the original kid icarus does not actually tell you about angels going extinct. here’s the wiki article with the full text of the backstory, just for convenience, so you know what i’m on about for the rest of this post.

so, the part of the story that i think gets misinterpreted is this part about palutena’s army.

Medusa led a surprise attack on Palutena's army which could barely fend off the attack. Palutena's army suffered major losses and was heavily defeated in the final battle.

specifically, i think a lot of people interpret said army as having been made up at least partly of angels. sure, in the actual game it consists entirely of centurions, but you have to take old NES games with a grain of salt. i know i don’t buy for a second that pit was part of palutena’s guard before the original game (he was just too goddamn young), there’s nothing wrong with reinterpreting things.

recall everything i established about angels already, though. this is the hot official lore, from the game everyone knows and loves. angels are messengers, and if the chariot master is to be believed, never warriors. pit is an outlier. palutena’s army consists of centurions, not angels. if medusa wiped them out, it wasn’t because they were fighting for palutena.

(and honestly, i don’t think angels are necessarily associated with palutena exclusively. sure, she’s got the wing imagery, and she’s got the one known surviving angel working for her, at least up until pittoo is born. but angels are messengers of the gods, not messengers of palutena. again, pit is an outlier.)

which all brings us to the real question of this post.

what the FUCK happened to all the other angels? why is there only pit? why does magnus act surprised to see a messenger of the gods, and make a quip about being dead, if not because angels are otherwise extinct?! WHO KILLED THEM, AND WHY?!

thus concludes the “over analyzing one-off lines“ show. see you next, uh, maybe at some point if i feel like it!

(also another thought i had but couldn’t find room to fit it in properly: the gods don’t really act like angels are all extinct, but i feel like that can be explained through the sheer scale of a god’s lifespan. if we assume they were wiped out sometime around the original kid icarus (even if not as palutena’s army) then that’s a whole twenty-five years. that’s a long time for us humans, but for a god, that might as well be last tuesday. “yeah, i know what angels are like. sure wish i could have one. too bad palutena’s got a monopoly on the one single angel that medusa didn’t manage to wreck.”)

#kid icarus #kid icarus uprising #the things i think of at five am #i am just yelling and spewing thoughts and theories and headcanons #if anyone has their own thoughts to add go right ahead i am dying to know whether or not i'm actually breaking new ground with all this #or if there's some vital lore i missed #or anything like that #i am OPEN for CONVERSATION

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ganymedesclock · 2 years

Note

If you don't mind more PK asks, what do you think were his origins like? like long before he shed his old wyrm form and lived in the wastes? I seen some headcanons on your old abandoned PK blog, I think one that caught my eye the most was that he apparently never had a chance to really understand his own kind as he was orphaned very young?

I kind of love how everyone has their own takes on his backstory and why he grew up to be the person he was in the canon HK timeline.

So I talked about this a bit on a post on the blog you mentioned, but a lot of the long and short version is the PK I RPed (and, the PK I'm writing in Refuge For Resolve) are based on a headcanon of, that PK was pretty horrendously socialized as a child.

(And, in the standards of long-lived immortal beings, he's still a teenager at best; to ordinary bugs, he's lived centuries, but to entities like Unn, Radiance, or the Nightmare Heart, The Wyrm And Its Follies have been a relative eyeblink)

PK never really having a chance to have any kind of meaningful relationship with other wyrms basically is a big part of him constantly holding what he sees as the brutish, animal side of himself at arm's length- he made up a Civilized Bugsona and then tried to kill everything in himself that wouldn't fit and if this seems like a horribly ill-advised self-tactic, you would be right!

(Incidentally this also blinded him to Hollow not actually being a perfect empty mold, because to admit that striving to be perfect is evidence of feelings would be to admit to himself that he's not remotely as composed or well-adjusted as he pretends, and he can't have that)

This means at literally all times my read on PK is someone in a texas standoff with their imaginary inner mental werewolf while actually just being an orphan apex predator awkwardly adopted-as-a-god by another species and in the middle of prodding that part of his brain with a fork trying to make it go back in the cage he'll make unsettlingly unbroken eye contact with you and in the calmest, most reasonable and self-assured sounding voice, explain that absolutely nothing's wrong with him and he's doing great.

And then you look closer and the mental werewolf is an undifferentiated bundle of trauma impulses, actual predatory animal instincts, bug neurodivergence and the logical drawbacks to parts of his personality that he otherwise accepts, but he keeps trying to distract you by pointing out how impeccably he's filed his notes because could a dysfunctional person alphabetize this? no.

#Hollow Knight #The Pale King #god of being Just A Bunch Of Problems In A Self-Important Cape #this is kinda the psychological subtext to why I tend to write PK as kind of a sizeshifter #whose 'personlike' appearance is subject to compromise the more flustered or overwhelmed he gets #it's because this is an immensely powerful being desperately trying to corral itself into a very small box badly #he's a LOT worse at this than Grimm #and Grimm's arrangement means that his heart basically ritually eats through his body every now and then #that's the standard that PK is failing to reach

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maddieinwonder · 3 years

Text

The Eighth

Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None, this is a fluff-only zone!

Word Count: 2.3k

Plot: Reader has been in the BAU for one year and a lot has changed, especially her relationship with a certain genius. (Part 1 here!)

Author's Note: Seriously, I wasn't expecting my first two fics to blow up like that. Just, thank you to everyone who read them ♡♡♡

As for this one... I had to write a Part 2, basically as an excuse for me to write good things about everybody in the BAU and go wild with the backstories hahaha I hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

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Under the dim lighting of the BAU jet, your pen paused on the small book beneath it, causing a small blotch of ink to seep through its pages. The words usually flowed out of you without inhibition, but today was different, and frankly, you were feeling a little overwhelmed.

You didn't think the team would remember this, but today marked exactly one year since you joined the BAU. As if the universe were smiling down on you, the week also turned out to be a great one - or at least, as good as it could get around here.

The team had just closed a challenging case with minimal casualties, everyone had been ordered to have a long weekend off, and the person you most wanted to spend it with was dozing off beside you without a care in the world. Of course, he didn’t know about your feelings... yet.

Closing your journal, you gave up on writing as your eyes wandered restlessly toward your sleeping teammates.

Your eyes crinkled into a smile when your gaze landed on Hotch. This was the first time you’d seen him actually asleep on the jet, and in your opinion, he deserved whatever rest he could get. Since you joined the team, you had seen the man endure countless late nights in the office. Something you had quickly attributed to the missing wedding ring on his finger.

Yet, he remained a stalwart to the team. He constantly checked in with everybody, shielded the team from messy politics, and even managed to crack the occasional joke. Of course, he was still stoic most of the time, and you weren’t exactly sure if he was capable of blinking, but now you knew the warmth and care he possessed too.

Then there was Rossi, who had defied all your initial expectations. You had thought a celebrity like him to be gracious, maybe a little egoistic, but he was straight forward and meticulous to a fault. Still, it seemed he couldn't escape his nature as a performer, as he shone the brightest in the interrogation room.

The day you first witnessed him in action, your jaw had dropped to the floor, and he never stopped bringing it up in jest. He always joked that he didn't know whether you or the unsub was more shocked, but after that day, he also took the time to mentor you in the craft. You liked to think he was proud of how quickly you were able to put it into practice.

Your eyes wandered to Emily, sleeping soundly in the next seat. With Penelope and JJ’s busy schedules, she had taken on the role of showing you the ropes, and you had become fast friends. Turns out, the both of you were eerily similar: competitive, quick thinkers who never backed down from a challenge.

Unfortunately this meant you were never paired together on cases, but you did have an ongoing chess tournament slash drinking game. The chess was your idea, the drinking was Emily’s, and you were currently winning, much to your obvious pride and the rest of the team's amusement.

The person you actually got paired with the most was Derek; effectively fulfilling the fantasies of many women you knew. But as it turned out, the two of you made a damn good team. His calculated disposition combined with your breadth of knowledge - only rivalled by the good doctor - made you an extremely effective duo, and Hotch picked up on it immediately.

You being younger than him by a few years, Derek made it a point to check in with you often, and in turn, allowing you to glimpse at his pensive, empathetic, and insightful sides. He had become a big brother to you, and you like a sister. A bond that proved to be a strong one, across the many cases you tackled together.

You smiled to yourself, eyes landing on Penelope and JJ, dozing off together under a bright pink, knitted blanket whose ownership was in no doubt. It was rare that the tech analyst came along on cases, but she was always a welcomed presence for everybody involved.

Amidst the sea of gruesome cases sent to the BAU, you had come to look forward to Penny's witty banter, either over the phone or in person. The image of her colourful outfits and her outrageously decorated office were enough to make you believe in a light at the end of any tunnel.

It reminded you of your first case, an extraordinarily challenging one that the team managed to unravel in the nick of time. When you arrived back at the BAU, Penelope was the one to drag you out to celebrate. Little did you know, the rest of the team had also gathered at the bar with party poppers and birthday cake. When you found out that Penny had planned everything, you knew you had earned a friend for life.

As you smiled at the memory, JJ shuffled in her sleep and your attention was drawn to her sleeping figure. You didn’t know how she could look so perfect even when she was asleep. But then again, you’d come to realise that there was very little she couldn’t do.

You had already been friends with the communications liaison, but working with her in the BAU was a completely different beast. Of all the chaotic personalities in the BAU, only JJ had a hold over every single one. She was able to apply the same to the local police and media, and still meet the victim's families with the utmost grace and empathy.

During her brief window of absence when Henry was born, things just weren't the same. You liked Jordan, and you knew she always gave her best, but there was an unmistakable sigh of relief when JJ was back. And although she never asked for it, you and Penelope did everything you could to give her and Will a break from their newborn, including regular movie nights in with baby Henry.

Last but not least, the one that you couldn't forget even if you tried, Dr. Spencer Reid. You had joined the BAU because of him, you realised now. But what began as professional interest, had quickly developed into a full blown crush on your co-worker.

You realised this fact on an absolutely unremarkable day, except for the fact that your heart skipped a beat when Spencer walked into the office that morning. He wasn't wearing anything out of the ordinary, his usual combination of sweater vest and shirt, but when he smiled at you, your face flushed visibly and you wanted to melt into your chair in embarrassment.

If the genius had noticed it, he didn't let it show. But Derek most certainly did. Every chance he got that day, he teased you about your newfound crush on "pretty boy", and soon the news made it to everyone's ears. Emily not in the least, as she used the knowledge to win several chess games, much to your annoyance.

And still, Spencer remained oblivious. Despite how often you sat starry eyed listening to him explain a completely random fact. Despite how many weekends you spent together bonding over your shared interests in Star Trek and Doctor Who. Despite the fact that the seat next to him on the plane was basically reserved for you. You didn't think he knew, because he never made a move.

That's why you decided last week. The next time the team had a long weekend off, you would ask Spencer out on a date. You just didn't think it would happen so soon.

Midway through your thought, Spencer groaned in the seat next to you. His hands lifted to move his hair away from his face, and you resisted the urge to do it for him.

"Are we there yet?" He asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

You felt your heartbeat quicken at his voice, gravelly and soft, not fully back to reality just yet.

"No, not yet," you answered back in a whisper. "It's only 3AM. We have about two hours to go."

"Why aren't you asleep?" He asked. His head leaned back onto the headrest, but this time, his face turned towards yours. The two of you were far too close to each other for this to be work appropriate.

"Just thinking." You tapped the cover of your book with your pen in explanation, trying to look anywhere but at him. Spencer hummed in acknowledgement, the sound driving you wild. Then he did something you could have never expected.

"Hey," he began, pulling your gaze to meet his hazel eyes, "happy one year at the BAU." His lips formed a small smile, sleepy but genuine.

"You remembered?" You couldn't fight the wide smile that made its way onto your face, nor the glee that spilled out of your voice.

"Of course. Eidetic memory, remember?" He joked, gesturing at his head. Maybe it was the lack of sleep talking, but you felt like you were on the verge of tears.

"Thank you. Really."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cry." Spencer said, suddenly sitting upright. He leaned forward as if to touch your cheek, but his fingers lingered in the air in between you awkwardly.

You brought your own fingers to your face, realising that you were, in fact, crying. A small laugh escaped your lips at the absurdity of it all.

"No, no, I'm alright, Spencer. Just overwhelmed, I suppose." You tried explaining, gently wiping the tears from your face.

"Why?" He asked, his voice laced with concern.

“I didn’t expect anyone to remember it, that’s all.” You said, feeling a little ashamed now, but your words seemed to light a fire in the doctor’s eyes.

“Well, whoever forgot it must be stupid because you’ve made a difference in the lives of every single person on this jet.” He said in an uncharacteristic huff.

This was your chance, you realised.

“Hey, Spencer,” you said after a pause, biting your lip nervously, “what difference did I make in your life?”

Spencer looked as if he had been caught, his eyes instantly darted to the seat behind you, his fingers twitching. You tightened your grip on your pen, willing yourself not to collapse from the anticipation.

“Of course, I-I mean, many things can’t be quantified due to its subjective nature, but you did change my life."

"Like?" You pressed on.

"You gave me something to look forward to everyday." He said, his eyes lifting to meet yours. You felt your heart soar a hundred stories above the ground.

"Really?" You were in disbelief, your voice barely a whisper.

"Really. You're... you're intelligent, beautiful, and you open my mind to new things every day. I feel like you understand me in ways the rest can't, and you’re the person I want to tell everything to. There’s nobody else but you.” He blurted out in a single breath, as if he'd lose the words if he waited any longer.

Your eyes threatened to spill tears again, but you blinked them back, preparing to say what you wanted to say to him long ago.

"Spencer... I like you. Like, romantically like you." You whispered, your eyes barely able to meet his. His eyes were wide open, his eyes glancing briefly at your lips.

And in a moment of pure bravery, as he explained later, he placed his hand over yours and squeezed. "Me too. I like you, romantically."

Long after that, he would tell you that he'd never seen you smile so widely before, and he instantly knew that he wanted to be the reason you smiled that way all the time. But in the moment, he just laced his fingers with yours.

You squeezed his hand back. Feeling calmed by his warm touch, you leaned closer to him. You still had one question on your mind.

"Did you know that I liked you?"

"I figured it out eventually. Last month." He said sheepishly. "But I've had feelings for you since a month after you joined the team." His cheeks turned a light pink at the confession.

"You know what? Me too." You blushed, leaning against his shoulder.

“Another thing we have in common now,” he said, resting his head on yours.

You weren’t willing to let him go now that you had him, and luckily, it seemed like he had the same idea, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and pulling you close.

The two of you fell into slumber easily, not even realising it when the jet had landed back in Virginia.

It didn't take long for the rest of the team to realise the interesting sight in front of them, but not even Penelope's high-pitched squeal managed to wake you up.

In the end, it was JJ who decided to end your unknowing humiliation by shaking the two of you gently. You and Spencer jolted awake, immediately taking in the various smirks and grins from your team in front of you.

"Ok, that's enough guys." Hotch announced. You noticed the small smile on his face before he turned around to leave the jet.

The team - mostly Emily and Penelope - looked as if they wanted to enjoy the sight for a little longer, but at Hotch's word, decided they would leave the teasing till later.

"That's not exactly how I imagined telling the team," Spencer said, when the two of you were finally alone. He ran his fingers through his hair in an action of mild distress, but you noticed the smile that was still glued to his face.

You leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, enjoying the blush it left behind. "Well, that means less time with them, and more time with you," you teased.

Spencer picked up his bag and offered his hand to you. "I'm counting on it," he said, smiling widely.

You took his hand, your gaze trailing up his wrinkled shirt to his messy brown hair, finally landing on his earnest eyes. Of all the times in the past year you got to be the BAU's Eighth. This moment had got to be the best.

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x0401x · 2 years

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Is there any reason for kyoani to NOT include Sibyl in the anime adaptation? ☹️ I mean, of course, they're not gonna explain why they excluded her but I'm trying to think of an explanation why they end up with that decision. If anything, I feel like Sibyl could have been a fan favorite by the anime only enjoyers.

Even Edward Jones as a client too. His conversation with Violet is like the best eyeopener of war's atrocity depending on which lens one is looking at. That was also the chapter I finally understood Gilbert's immense need to put himself in a position of power so he could protect Violet in the aftermath of the war. If Gil didn't went at that length, it's a possible route for Violet to end up in the same position as Edward. Or, she wouldn't have a chance to "live" and have a newfound family because I think it's either 1.) some other military man will 'try' to take advantage of her as a tool or 2.) the society, especially those who knew her in the military, would look at her as a monster. Gil literally worked in the shadows so that Violet can have a chance at life in the LN.

In the end, the anime was telling me that it was actually Hodge who went at great length to help Violet experience life then protect her from the aftermath of the war; Gil just run away after realizing that he loved Violet then end up not doing anything even upon realizing his regrets (I understand the trauma he was portrayed to be in, of course. It hurts and I cried because of the movie but I kinda don't like that after much suspense whether he's alive or not, he honestly didn't have much character development). In the LN, Gil was the first catalyst for Violet's growth but not so much in the anime—it's like, he's just a person from Violet's past who made so much impact to her.

I can only imagine that they kept Lux out for two reasons:

1. They were “going for a more realistic story”, in their own words, and there was no way to make Lux’s backstory even remotely down to earth.

2. By pushing Lux away, they were able to replace her with more cutesy, teenage female characters and add them to a story that apparently had too many adult ones.

I think Edward was left out because war is the key element to his character and he’s like a key that opens up Violet’s past as a soldier. KyoAni never wanted to focus on that part. As crucial as the war arc is, they didn’t seem interested at all in showing parts of the story that weren’t leaning towards tearjerking and iyashikei aspects. Besides, they wanted Gil to have the minimum screen time possible, lol.

You’re completely right on everything you just said about Gil. The thing is: I don’t think Gil really mattered to KyoAni. Or any other character. The only one that mattered was Violet. But Gil mattered the least of all, lol. They did such a poor job with him that the author had to step in and give them instructions about how to handle him during the movie’s production.

I can’t stress this enough, but KyoAni mostly cashes in from their male audience and any of their works that has a girl as main lead is made for dudes first and foremost. VE is no exception, although it’s a lot more balanced in pleasing both male and female audiences than most of KyoAni’s titles. And Japanese male viewers generally feel very threatened when their token waifu is taken away by a character that they can’t relate to. You know those isekai or harem animes where all the beautiful waifus are head-over-heels for a guy that is literally the definition of ordinary? That’s the shit they like, because the main lead represents them. They can cheer for him because they’re able to imagine themselves in his shoes. But Gil? He’s an example to follow instead. The very definition of perfection. They can’t possibly see themselves in him (the canon version of him, that is). All they see is a Prince Charming having lots of really shippy scenes and living his best life with their beloved little waifu. Of course they’d hate having all of that thrown to their faces. So he was retooled into something more relatable to them and given the bare minimum amount of screen time. Because personality aside, he’s still hot, and he and Violet have a lot of physical contact in canon. Much more than what an average Japanese male otaku would probably have with any woman his whole life.

So yeah, it’s not just about making the story more emotional or anything like that. KyoAni did these changes mostly because they were scared shitless of getting hate from snowflake dudebros.

#violet evergarden #gilbert bougainvillea #kyoani #kyoto animation

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caffernnn · 3 years

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hiiii what's the deal with the posts abt makoto getting hit by a car or w/e? is it just joking abt that ominous shot of him in the final stroke trailer or did i miss something?? worrying abt my boy

Okay I’ve gotten a few questions about Makoto now (too many jokes I know I’m sorry) so I’ll try to explain where it’s all coming from, as least from how I understand it. There was a nice twitter thread posted recently explaining it pretty succinctly but I can’t find it again 🧍🏻 so here’s what I’ve gathered!

The biggest source that spawned the theories of Makoto’s demise comes from Ryuuji’s personal backstory and advice/warning to Haru revealed in the last few episodes of DttF. He states that you can’t make it to the top unless you’re prepared to give something up, even if that something could be someone, which we later learn was partially the case for Ryuuji. The stage is set in those last few episodes for Haru’s journey to include a dire choice and possible sacrifice, and it’s hard to look at Ryuuji’s own story (losing a friend, giving up swimming) and not see it as possible foreshadowing. During my first watch of the season, I thought the “making a sacrifice” arc was wrapped up with Haru’s declaration of taking on the world without giving up the things that let him dream in the first place (his connection with the water, his connection with his friends/teammates/rivals), but it was really just a promise for the remainder of Haru’s story: now that he’s promised to take on the world without losing the things/people he cares about most, how will he follow through?

Here is a post from 2018 that summarizes some fan reactions to Ryuuji’s story and the possible foreshadowing — this line of thinking has been around since the episodes aired pretty much!

As that linked post shows, taking Ryuuji’s words as foreshadowing can spell potential doom for anyone close to Haru, but the biggest contender of it all seems to be Makoto. Haru has always been able to use swimming as a way to reach his friends again whenever something happens to them or they lose their way (Rin, Ikuya), but who is a person close enough to Haru’s heart and removed enough from his current path that potential tragedy could pull Haru away from swimming? Makoto. Even without a shipping lens, the show has shown time and time again just how deeply embedded Makoto is in Haru’s life and journey as a swimmer: he was there at the very beginning of it all, and he’s found a way to be there through every triumph and hardship ever since. We know Haru’s bonds mean the world to him, and we know that losing Makoto specifically is one of his biggest fears (evidence explicitly after the training camp incident, but plain enough to see after the fireworks fight as well)… So, if something happened to Makoto that put Haru at a crossroads between one of his most important bonds and his professional career, what would Haru choose?

The theories moved into more specific statements (“Makoto might get hurt” became “Makoto is going to get hit by a car”) when fanfic authors played around with the concept. There are a few out there, but a specific one a lot of us have talked about before is The Sun That Didn’t Set by ironfamjam, which gives life to the car accident theories. Fics like this aren’t necessarily prophetic and are at least sort of common in the makoharu tag on Ao3. There are a number of fics that reimagined the training camp incident as well (Makoto needing full CPR, more lasting trauma from the whole drowning thing). It’s a prime opportunity for angst-lovers and hurt/comfort fans to explore Haru’s character and how important his friends really are to him.

It seemed like the theories faded and stayed dormant for awhile but hiked back up again as soon as the announcements for the Final Stroke movies started rolling out. I think something about the finality of it all brought back the angst theorists, and now people look at the potential plot as either a glass half empty or glass half full: will the final movies show Haru’s success in starting his journey, or will something happen to make him quit and become “ordinary” once and for all?

A lot of the people I see talking about it are making light-hearted jokes about it because “it’s a sports anime, they can’t hurt Makoto!” Most of my own posts are really just jokes as well, but with how many times kyoani has tried to drown their characters before, and Makoto’s look in the recent teaser…

I’m sitting on the edge of my seat until both of these dang movies come out.

#it’s theories! it’s jokes! it’s the movie plot written by Nao Serizawa!#if it helps I’m minorly stressed about it too #but I’m also Makoto-level gullible so #makoto tachibana #free! the final stroke #meta #thanks for asking!!#anonymous #long post?

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infinite-xerath · 3 years

Text

Runeterra Retcons 1: Thresh

This is something that I did today. I plan to make this an on-going series (might even take it to YouTube someday if I get the nerve to share my voice), but for now have it as a tumblr post.))

The world of Runeterra is one of the most interesting and complex fantasy settings in modern gaming; a fictional realm bustling with fantastical beings, characters, and a wide variety of plot points offering near endless potential for story-telling. The story of League of Legends is not, in fact, a singular narrative, but rather a collection of different stories spread out across a variety of fictional countries, continents, and even dimensions.

Runeterra as we know it today wasn’t always like this, however; in 2015 Riot Games opted to effectively reboot the lore of their world to be rid of the more restrictive plot elements like Summoners and the Institute of War to allow themselves more wriggle room to tell the stories they wanted to tell. While the decision to effectively make League of Legends non-canon to its own story was initially controversial, the writers of Riot Games have effectively proven themselves extraordinarily capable of using this newfound freedom to its full potential… For the most part.

With a retconned world came the need to retcon characters; Riot has made a substantial effort in the last few years to reimagine and redefine the backstories of the iconic Champions to make them fit into the new narrative, albeit with mixed results. Let’s face it: no writer is perfect and hindsight is 20/20, so a number of characters throughout the years have been left with less-than-stellar backstories compared to most of the roster.

Welcome to Runeterra Retcons, a series in which I’ll be analyzing some of the more controversial champion bios in the game to pick apart the good, the bad, and the horribly missed opportunities. With all that out of the way, let’s begin, shall we?

Episode 1: Thresh

Thresh is at once both an interesting and a bland character. He’s arguably one of the more iconic characters in the game, to the point where he’s practically become the unofficial mascot for the Shadow Isles. In-spite of this, I’ve long felt that Thresh is one of the most awkward fits into the region; before we can discuss the problems with his current lore, however, we first need to address Thresh’s backstory pre-retcon and see if we can analyze the core of his character.

Insert original lore here

So, we can see the concept behind Thresh’s character pretty easily: he’s a jailor who loves tormenting his charges, so much so that he continues to do so even after death. If you were to describe Thresh in a single word, it would probably be “sadistic.” Unfortunately, the original lore doesn’t give a lot beyond that; not where he’s from, not when he died, not even where his prison was located. The bio itself literally says that no one knows the details, and while that does add a faint air of mystery to the character, it doesn’t do much to tie him into the faction he’s supposed to represent: The Shadow Isles.

With that out of the way, let’s now take a look at Thresh’s new bio and see how Riot decided to change him after the retcon.

Insert new lore here

Alright, so, there’s a lot to unpack here. Perhaps the most notable change is that Thresh went from tormenting people to… Tormenting “living relics.” The relics are offered no further explanation in the lore or given any prior context. There’s just… A mirror with a soul in it. There’s a sentient book hidden down in the vaults. For some reason, the monks of the Isles even decided to stash a living person down there because he infused his body with raw magic. Why? Who was this person? What did he do to end up in chains? If this was a dangerous mage, wouldn’t it be better to build a proper prison for him rather than stuff him in a vault full of powerful, dangerous artifacts?

There are so many mysteries here, but perhaps biggest one is this: why was Thresh changed from a warden of people to a warden of relics? Why did they feel the need to turn him from a jailor who enjoyed tormenting his inmates to a curator that was slowly corrupted by the very magics meant to help him do his job? Well, I believe that’s meant to tie into the change made to the Shadow Isles themselves, or rather, the Blessed Isles.

While we never had much info on what the Isles were like before becoming an undead haven, a lot of the lore suggests that they were effectively a paradise, hence the name “Blessed Isles.” This was a place without war, without starvation, without corruption. Naturally, there would be no criminals in paradise, and so this of course means that to make Thresh a warden of things that are inhuman… At least, this is the thought process one might have until they introduce the mysterious regenerating mage, but I guess he’s meant to be one bad egg amidst the crowd, assuming he even came from the Isles at all. Again, it’s never really elaborated on.

So, while the change does make a degree of sense, it kind of feels… Flat. I mean, a guy who enjoys tormenting prisoners in their cells to hear their screams sounds a lot more terrifying than a guy who just stops his sentences halfway through to spite a book. Also, the fact that his lantern just becomes a seemingly endless vessel for souls because of the Ruination is a little silly; like, I know the Black Mist does all sorts of nonsensical things to matter, but the fact that an ordinary lantern gets turned into a relic arguably far more dangerous than anything Thresh was ever guarding seems kind of backwards, at least in my opinion.

So, how can we change this? How would I, personally, retcon Thresh if given the chance? Well, there are a lot of base elements that I would keep, but also some key components I’d like to alter. I’ve written up a short bio of my own for you all to enjoy, so without further ado…

In an age all but forgotten to history, there existed a realm known as the Blessed Isles. Hidden away from the world by a veil of magical mist, the Isles were a place of peace and prosperity; a land free of war, corruption, plague and misery. This paradise was ruled by an order of sacred monks devoted to learning and enlightenment. It was within this paradise that Thresh was born and raised by a pair of humble farmers, growing up surrounded by nature’s bounty.

Though expected that he might follow in his fathers’ footsteps, Thresh showed an aptitude for learning from an early age. In-particular, Thresh seemed fascinated with matters of philosophy; the nature of the soul, morality, and other complex subjects were frequent on the boy’s mind. This attitude quickly earned Thresh the attention of the brotherhood, who invited him to join their order as soon as he was of age. Thresh agreed without hesitation, leaving the farm behind to study at the Isles’ monastery.

For many years, Thresh studied under the tutelage of the order, distinguishing himself from his peers for his ability to grasp complex philosophical issues. Though acknowledged by his teachers, Thresh was met with looks of envy and scorn from his fellow students; rather than let himself be disheartened, however, Thresh instead took an interest in the root of their envy in scorn. Upon approaching his elders with such questions, Thresh found himself being led to a secret chamber deep beneath the monastery, guarded by powerful wards and runes. It was here that Thresh learned the truth of the Blessed Isles.

Thresh watched as one of his fellow pupils stood surrounded by figured in ominous robes, chanting an ominous spell in unison. Thresh’s teacher explained to him that this was ritual had been used by the order for ages to ensure that the Isles flourished. Evil was present in all humans, and so the only way to ensure it did not corrupt their paradise was to extract it from the soul, and seal it away. As the ritual drew to a close, Thresh saw the essence of all the other student’s hatred, envy, malice and warped desire ripped from his body, and placed into a special lantern made to contain it.

Thresh was intrigued. He approached the lantern without hesitation as the other boy was escorted from the chamber, and to his surprise, he heard voice whispering to him from within. The monks explained that though the evils of humanity could be removed, they could not be truly discarded. They needed to be contained, and more than that, they needed a warden to watch over them. Thresh volunteered in a heartbeat, and the monks smiled, pleased by their pupils’ devotion.

What they did not know, however, was that the whispers in Thresh’s mind had already begun taken root. From that day forward, Thresh vigilantly stood guard over the lantern, watching each successive cleansing as it took place. Each time, the wicked essence in the lantern grew stronger, as did the whispers in Thresh’s mind. He began to dream of enacting twisted torments upon the monks, the other disciples, and even his own parents. Slowly but surely, the brotherhood noticed a change in Thresh’s behavior. Fearing that he himself would be subjected to their cleansing rite, Thresh stole the lantern and fled the monastery.

The monks chased Thresh for days, but their search was brought to an abrupt end when strange ships arrived on the Blessed Isles: something Thresh thought impossible. From the safety of the cliffs, Thresh watched in delight as a soldiers led by a foreign king massacred his fellow monks. Their screams were music to the warden’s ears, and as the chaos spread, Thresh found himself reveling in the suffering of all who fell to the foreigners’ blades. Even at the cost of his own life, Thresh dared to move about the battlefield, searching for survivors left in the king’s wake only that he may snuff out the remnants of their lives himself.

Finally, as the screams of his victims began to subside, Thresh turned his attention to the heart of the Isles. From there, he saw a cloud of pure darkness rushing to meet him, and opened his arms wide to embrace it. In that moment, all the wickedness trapped within Thresh’s lantern was freed, bound to his soul through the power of the Ruination. Thresh emerged a being of pure maliciousness, and his lantern, now empty, would serve as the perfect vessel to enact his twisted fantasies.

Thresh now roams Runeterra as an avatar of sadism, bringing pain and misery to all unfortunate enough to cross his path. He stalks his victims and torments them by slowly stripping them of their sanity, before finally prying their souls from their bodies with his wicked sickle. If you hear the sound of chains in the dead of night, run… Though it may already be far too late.

So, what did you think? Now, it’s at this point I feel I need to clarify something: I’m not trying to bash on Riot’s creative team, nor am I saying that I can definitely make a better version of someone else’s character. Hell, I’m not even really saying that my version of the story is flawless; it would probably need to go through several more rewrites before I’d ever consider publishing it as canon, not that I have the power to do so, of course.

Rather, I wanted to take a closer look at Thresh’s character and how well his current lore represents him. I said earlier that Thresh is at once and interesting and a bland character. I consider him a little bland because you can sum him up in a single word: “sadistic.” He has no goals and no motivation other than to cause pain and suffering. Even the other undead of the Shadow Isles typically have some kind of agenda, even if it’s only to spread the Black Mist’s influence. Thresh doesn’t care about that; he just wants to see you writhe in agony, both before and after death. I’d argue he has more in common in with League’s demons than the other specters of the Isles, but it’s BECAUSE Thresh is undead that he has so much potential for an interesting backstory.

The main points I wanted to emphasize in my rewrite are: expanding on the magics that corrupted Thresh into being so sadistic, giving his lantern some greater significance in the story, and replacing the vault full of otherwise pointless macguffins with something a little more sinister that gives the Blessed Isles a hint of dichotomy. Riot loves adding a little morally grey to all their characters and factions, after-all.

Anyways, what do you all think? Could Thresh’s lore be improved, or do you all like his story the way in currently is? Lemme know down below, and I’ll see you all next time!

#Outofpower #League of Legends #Runeterra Retcons

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thebluestbluewords · 3 years

Text

New Fic!! Get it while it’s hot!

Core four, complicated polyamory. Warnings for underage drinking, referenced child abuse, general sad backstory. This chapter is mostly fun things though, I swear!

“You know how, like, you had those dumb games you played as kids?” Ben asks, letting his head fall on Evie’s shoulder. It’s dark out, and there’s not many people sitting in this particular corner, so they’re fine to be sitting together like this. Couple-like, even though they aren’t, not really. Couple-adjacent. Dating once removed, maybe. Evie doesn’t really like boys, even though she cares about some of them a whole lot. Spiderweb-dating is what Mal has been calling it, where they’re all in the same web but not necessarily sharing the same strands.

It’s a pretty weird looking web when you plot it out, but it’s the best they’ve got so far. Evie and Ben might not be a couple in the strictest sense, but they’re close, and they’re definitely something that feels more intense than just ordinary friendship, so.

Evie reaches around Ben’s shoulder to pet a hand through his hair. It’s a little sticky. Gross. “Yeah.” she says. “What about them?”

Ben leans into the touch. “What if we just all started playing games again.” he says, dreamily. “Like. We could do that!”

Evie gives him a pat, and reaches over to pry the bottle out of his hand. “I think you’ve had enough of this.” she says, unwrapping his fingers from around the neck. “Come on--”

Ben clings, but he’s laughing, and it’s not bad. He’s pink-cheeked and cute, flushed with it.

“Come on, give it up!” Evie says, shaking the bottle a bit as she slides it away and captures her prize. It wasn’t a very strong drink to begin with, because most of the current junior class are only casual drinkers and won’t bring anything really good to campus, but it’s a bit emptier than it probably should be for this point in the night.

Ben is sliding down Evie’s shoulder. “I like feeling fuzzy.” he tells Evie’s collarbone, where his face has ended up. “It’s nice.”

Oh, this sweet boy. “I know, babe,” Evie says, letting her sweet drunk boyfriend-adjacent-person flop over completely into her lap. “But you’re not going to like it if you keep going.”

Ben sighs when Evie’s hand finds its way into his hair again. “You don’t have to babysit me, you know,” he tells the leaves of the trees they’re hiding under, in their little dark corner away from the fire. “I’m not that drunk.”

Evie scratches gently at his scalp with her nails, and Ben practically melts. “You’re a little bit drunk.” she says, amused.

Ben shivers. “A little.” he admits. “Feels nice to not have everything be-- so much. It’s always just a lot, and now it’s not so much anymore. And I’m like, kinda spinny?”

Evie laughs, but doesn’t stop scratching. “Yeah?” she asks, going along with it.

Ben sighs, and tips his head so that he can rest his cheek on Evie’s leg. “It’s just nice. Different. I like it. Like being dizzy, only it’s fun.”

“I can see that.” Evie says, swirling the rest of the bottle around and around until the deep gold liquid makes a little whirlpool at the bottom. “You like this stuff, huh?”

“Doesn’t taste bad, yeah. Wine tastes so bad, Eves.”

Evie takes a swig from the bottle. “I know. You have a little baby taste in drinks, and that’s okay.”

It’s only another swallow or two before the bottle is empty, and can sit safely on the ground without risk of spilling all over. Evie likes these shoes. They’re red suede booties, and she’s spent the past few days sewing a black and red silk into the lining so that it shows when she turns the tops down. She has put too much effort into these shoes for them to be ruined by spilling a drink on them during their debut party, so it only makes sense for her to finish it off before anything untoward can happen.

Ben pouts. “I’ll leave if you’re mean to me.” he says, without moving. “I’ll find someone else to sit with who won’t be mean.”

“Who are you gonna find, babe?” Evie asks sweetly, ruffling his bangs back into place and giving one cute little flushed cheeks a pat. If she liked boys she would be eating this one right up, that’s for sure.

Ben presses his face into the touch. “Uh. Someone who isn’t mean to me?”

Evie has to laugh. “And who do you think that’s gonna be?” she asks “Mal?”

“Uh, no. You could just be nice instead?” Ben offers, like it’s a great idea for everything in the world to be nice to him just because he asks..

Well. It’s been working out pretty well so far.

“You’re too sweet.” Evie tells him. He is, and it’s almost a problem except for how it keeps working out for him. It breaks Evie’s heart sometimes to think about what could have been, if here were there or there were here and their lives had gone just a little bit differently up to this point. They might never have met, sure. That would be a fuckin’ tragedy, but her crew could also have had the chance to grow up as sweet as the boy in her lap right now, and wouldn’t that be something. “Were you telling me something about games?”she asks instead.

Ben perks up. “Oh, right!” he says, with a little excited gesture. A spread of his hands, for proper royal emphasis. He’s so physical, this sweet boy. “Yeah. Like. Remember when we could just hang out and play like, spoons all the time? And like, tag and stuff?”

Evie can’t imagine that the games of her childhood, the ones she can remember hearing about and seeing in the schoolyard from before and after her banishment, are going to be the same ones that Ben is remembering.

“We had tag, yeah.” she says gently. “I don’t know spoons.”

Ben sits up at that, like it’s so critically important that Evie understands the amazingness of this childhood game that he can’t even explain it sprawled out over her lap.

“It’s a card game,” he says seriously. “S’fun. You take sets-- like, the leader takes a card and it goes around until you get a set and then you grab a spoon and everyone grabs a spoon and there’s one man out--”

Oh. Actually.

“You mean daggers?” Evie says. “That sounds like daggers.”

“Do I?” Ben asks, alarmed. “I don’t think that would be safe.”

Evie has to laugh. “Oh, it wasn’t. We used to play this game, it sounds like the same thing, where you would pass cards around until you got a set of four, and then when you got a set you took one of the knives in the center, and the last person who didn’t get one was out.”

“Sounds the same, yeah.”

“We used to play it for keeps, too.” Evie tells him, remembering. “The first person to grab a knife for the round would get to keep it, and we would keep going down that way until we were out of players or fingers or both.”

“Fingers?”

“Oh, no, I’m teasing!” Evie says, reassuring. She’s pretty sure that Jay and Mal both still have scars from the game, but they never lost any fingers, strictly speaking. It was usually the losers they had to watch out for anyway, rather than the game itself. Not that she’s going to tell Ben that. “Nobody really lost any fingers. We had some near-misses, that’s all. Everyone has all of their fingers, look,” She wiggles them in front of his face. “All here, see?”

Ben blows a warm breath over Evie’s hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think--”

He stops.

“What?” Evie asks. “You can ask, it’s okay.”

Ben shakes his head, then stops rather abruptly. “It’s not about that. I just-- didn’t think I was this buzzy.”

Ah. That makes sense, then. Their boy isn’t usually a fan of giving up control, even if it’s just over his own tongue. “You’re feeling it now, huh,” Evie says sympathetically. It’s always odd, the moment when you realize that you’re actually drunk now, and not just a bit warm in the face. “Do you want to come find Mal with me?”

Ben perks up almost immediately. “Is she still here?” he asks, excitement just bleeding off of him.

Evie laughs. “Oh, you are too cute. Yes, she’s around here somewhere. I made her promise to tell me when she’s leaving, so she’d better not have snuck out on us.”

Ben is already halfway up, kneeling with his feet half-under him as he scans the crowd of students milling around between the bonfire and the beach. “Is she by the fire, there?” he says, pointing.

Evie squints. Mal hates people, usually, but she does like fire, so-- yep, that’s a definite splash of purple, on the very edge of the fire crowd. “Yep. Good catch, babe. Come on, up you get.”

It takes a good tug to get Ben upright, but he moves easily enough, just a little stagger-step as Evie gets him steady. It could be nothing more than his leg going numb from sitting on the hard ground, except for how it’s not.

Ben laughs at himself as he catches his balance on Evie’s shoulder. “Ooh, that’s--” he puts his face in her hair for a second, resting there. “That sure is something.”

Evie can’t help but laugh. Of course she would find this boy, who even when he’s loose and stupid and drunk just wants to play games and be a child again, and have his hair petted, and oh-so-gently cuddle his partners in return. “I know. You should see Mal when she drinks sometime, it’s funny as hell.”

Ben seems steadier now, but he’s still looking at Evie like she hung the moon in the sky. “Does she get really dizzy like this?”

Evie guides him through the crowd, ever so gently. “She gets impulsive, if you can imagine that.” she says drily. “One time when she was really in it she decided that she wanted to drop paint bombs on people in the market, and we ended up with purple paint all over the roof of the fish shop. It took a long time for that to wear off.”

“Wow. Is she--” Ben starts, and then loses the train of thought entirely when he catches sight of Mal again.

#my fic #descendants #descendants fic #descendants fandom #complicated polyamory #I don’t have useful ship tags to add to this lol #mal bertha #evie grimhilde #ben florian #malvie #technically #I keep writing Malvie as part of a larger pairing because They Are In Love #but also I like to explore other relationship dynamics #so that’s fun for tagging #ao3 link will be added in a reblog but the whole chapter is up on ao3!!#its not sad yet this is the fun chapter

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