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66sharkteeth · 1 day

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just wanted to say that last week's FP episode was such a great gut punch for me, my jaw dropped. it was beautifully done; Bell's and Jericho's stories being told simultaneously was a super effective contrast. Bell's side of things feels like acceptance of the flaws of the present society and moving toward progress in changing it, while Jericho's side feels like total rejection of the flaws of the present society and moving backward from progress to destroy it instead. thus we remain stagnant in this shitty status quo, and Jericho recreates his trauma around his autonomy being taken from him by doing the same to Bell in a way. AND in the process my favorite character is killed. augh it hurts :'-)

i've been a long time reader since the first version was posted on DA and man it's just cool as hell to see how this story has evolved. i really admire and appreciate your dedication to it. i've always found CoB a very unique concept with a ton of potential and i'm so grateful and SO excited to get to see it through to the end after all these years. it continues to impress me more and more as it progresses. i have the webtoon app exclusively to read this lol. thank you for all your hard work creating it!

i got a handful of asks about this week's episode, but i'm gonna respond to this one for now bc it's been sitting here for almost a month since i got it while it was still on FP

first off, i'm glad this ep hit w/ so many people! i'm gonna share my own thoughts soon, maybe tomorrow rather than my usual friday "weekly thoughts." a little off topic and TMI, but i actually got the worst food poisoning of my life last week and I've kinda just been a pile of mush incapable of coherent thoughts since. Today's the most normal I've felt since that all hit tho, so hopefully by tomorrow I'm capable of structuring thoughtful posts again.

But anyway, thank you! I put so much more of my brain power into that ep than I normally do and I'm glad it paid off haha. I'll elaborate more in my weekly thoughts, but it means a lot that people are appreciating it.

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rnaxwellbeaumont · 2 years

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ok im finally reading immortal desires and i am LIVID

#immortal desires #I KNEW what i was getting into seeing yall said there was no sequel and YET #omg this book.......its delicious #god i just #its immaculate the pacing the diamond scenes the character personalities #i legitimately dont think pb has ever checked off every category like this #with ANY book #like most times the story will be great but w shitty characters or the characters are great but the filler is never ending and pointless #honestly??? i cannot find anything about this book i dislike #ok ya cas was getting on my nerves until we got to like ch 5 or whatever it was with that gabe reveal #and cas???? he really be the only real one #but up until that point though????? gabe adalhard really made my heart go 🥺🥰#also those diamond scenes oh my god MWAH the adventure the excitement the lore the development between characters #unbelievable #also the way i shouldve known w the tvd parallels but tell me why my jaw rly unhinged in that gym scene #ok ya i accidentally spoiled that gabe was a hunter bc i read the wiki LMAO but the fact he was a vamp?? floored #i thought he was going to be a human hunter or sum like nik from nightbound #rip to another girlie still thinkin about ur potential #anyway im on ch 8 IT REALLY feels like doom playing like im getting closer to the end but fuck man this is so goo #d #id

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foolsocracy · 10 months

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I love felicia. Why is she written like that. How is she so badly and well written simultaneously. I hate it. I hate her. Its bad. Its good. Why did they make her sleep with noir. Why is she reduced to an object. She's so much more than this and I know it. She's more than her relationships with men. But also they're so vital to her in ways no one understands. I'm crazy about her.

felica is unknowable. she is an enigma but ive been itching to talk about her.

There's a lot about her that I do really like! She has great bones for a complex character and if there was more source material I feel like she could have had more time to be understood and explored.

I really really wish that there was another woman present she could have riffed with. Spider noir is a man-fest which makes her really man-centric because thats all she's got to work with. Its a huge disservice! I do understand that nightclub life and working with powerful NY politicians and criminals will lend itself towards men, but come on now. Easy spot to throw Gwen into (fanfics love to do it lol), or even swapping the gender of someone else like they did with Jean DeWolfe.

I love that she runs a speakeasy which lets her get right in the middle of soo much information. And historically this can pull really well from 1920s hostesses.

In fact, one of the most highly developed skills of nightclub hostesses in New York was their ability to fleece unsuspecting customers. Trained by their bosses "to get as much information as possible from prospective suckers regarding their bank accounts and business," hostesses come on to male patrons with the express goal of "mounting the check." "After enough money is spent," one hostess recounted [...], the goal is to get "the sucker drunk and the works [will] follow." (Dry Manhattan)

[at high end speakeasies] these hostesses earned tips and commissions on the checks they mounted, often as much as one-third of the total, which could bring them from $150 to $400 a week. (Dry Manhattan)

And this was during a time when the average yearly income was $3,269.40. I could totally see her finding her way like that in the early 20s before opening up a place for herself w/ all that money. The only shitty part is it makes her an accessory to men, plus w most of the story being told from Peter's POV we aren't privy to her thoughts. I think because she's basically the only woman with agency that her narrative relationship with men is so bad tasting.

Her character has so much beneath the surface. She knows everything about everyone!! and we never get to see it because she's jaded and secretive and doesn't trust anyone like that, especially not a dumbass teenager with a death wish.

AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH PETER. don't even get me started. 1) WHY? They didn't have to go there. I know I know its a noir trope. As per the BBC the first rule of Film Noir is "A Dame With a Past and a Hero With No Future." And the Spiderman Noir team committed to it. If only they didn't commit so hard to Felica making multiple comments about how much of a kid Peter was after she was introduced as his mentor's ex. There has to be at least like 15yrs of an age difference between them.

but theres also the flip side that the noirverse is obviously fucked. Media doesn't have to be 100% moral and whatnot (especially in a noir setting), but it doesn't mean i have to root for pete and felica as a romantic couple LMFAO. Ive seen people rewrite their relationship as the strangest, oddest, most fucked up dysfunctional family and you know what i'll take that.

even having that aspect of her character being something where its telling of her past/present, where she doesn't know how to separate pete, a (frankly) dangerous person she needs to keep tabs on and know his secrets, from everyone else she works with. She's been so deeply enveloped by her need to keep herself one step ahead, to have physical power over another in any way (the only way) she knows how, that this is the means she resorts to. but of course we dont know any of that because they didn't bother delving into her more. it does make for a dimensional character at the very least. now if only she wasn't the only main woman.. so that character arc doesn't seem so sexist. and if only pete wasnt so fucking young my gooodddd. but thats what we're working with. such is life

#she makes me crazzyy whyyyy #there is so much in my head i dont know how to get the words out tho #and before anyone raises an eyebrow im not defending her lmfao im just trying to piece together what we're already working with #tw age gap #felicia hardy #asks #anon #yeah if anyone wants to rationalize felica w me hmu im down to hash it out #thanks for the ask!

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elialys · 1 month

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hey. as a fellow writer from niche fandoms and unpopular ships, can i just say i really appreciate you being upfront about how much lack of engagement sucks. really thank you. especially because it comes from someone like you who has a fair amount of engagement, but you know what? you’re right being pissed. i know i am. i come from fandoms where people are constantly yapping about lack of content yet none of them engage w/ each other. i ended up leaving bc i felt like i was screaming to a wall. and you know what? i haven’t stopped writing, just posting. bc why bother? so yeah, i AM writing for myself, and also keeping it from myself. idc if that’s petty honestly, like no, it doesn’t make me feel any better if someone out there might end up liking it one day if they’re being completely silent about it. fandoms aren’t supposed to be one-sided. i’m fine w people not reading my stuff cause they don’t like it. you can straight up tell me you hate my ship and i will be like. cool 👍 but when people do read and like your stuff and yet never say anything, that’s something that i don’t like

anyway sorry for rambling, know that you’re much appreciated. i remember you from my doctor who days and i wish i were in your fandoms so i could keep reading your stuff. ❤️

For the longest time I didn’t say anything because I realize that in a lot of cases, I’ve had what you’d call great engagement, and I’ve always been so thankful for the love my stories have received throughout various fandoms. But the decline is STEEP these days, and I have the hindsight of having been writing/sharing fics online for two decades, so I have a lot of 'data' to compare these days’ numbers to.

That’s the thing that has always gotten to me. NUMBERS. Being so, so aware of how many people click on our fics, and how few of them actually engage with a comment. Even at my most “popular”, I didn’t get more than 5% of my readers interacting with me; it felt like a lot because I had a lot of readers, so it meant more comments, but it still was only 5%.

Like you said, it’s this knowing that people are reading, that they are coming back chapter after chapter, yet they don’t bother engaging with us, even when most of us basically BEG in author notes for them to comment and make us feel less like word spewing machines and more like creative members of their online community. What really got to me this last month was updating my fic for The Last of Us, a chapter that got 1,000 hits in two weeks, and I got 10 comments for it. I was just…how the fuck are 1,000 people reading and only 10 of them bothering? Especially since that fic had averaged 3 times that amount of comments for months on previous chapters.

Every time I get disheartened by the increasingly shitty reader engagement, I tell myself that’s it, I’m done writing fics. But then I always go back to it a few days later because I actually LOVE writing fics. Like, fuck yeah, I do write for myself and actually enjoy it for myself (in a love-hate kind of writing relationship obviously 🤣). I do it because I am in love with the characters I’m writing about, and fascinated by their dynamics and relationships, so it’s genuinely a THRILL, and my biggest passion.

But the abysmal engagement these days is just…it makes me feel like shit, there’s no other word for it. Because I spend so much time and energy on those stories (because I want to and I LOVE to write), but as a fic writer, there’s always this part of me that’s excited to be SHARING it with the fandom. Because twenty years of this have gotten me used to at least some decent interaction, and feeling like I'm part of a community. But then the hit count goes up and the comment count stays low or nearly empty, and it’s just gutting. People just consume, consume, consume.

Honestly, GOOD ON YOU for still writing while deciding not to share with your niche fandom at the moment. I’m thinking I might do the same with the rest of my Tess & Ellie AU, because I want to see it through and finish it for ME, but I’m done spoon-feeding an apathetic crowd. I’ll reach out to my most loyal readers and regular commenters when the day comes, and give them a way to read the rest of the story, might even just post the chapters straight on my blog here like I used to do, but not on AO3, not for a goooooood while.

Maybe it is petty, maybe I am just butt hurt. But fuck it, it does hurt my feelings, and I’m the one spending hours of my life writing those things, so I’ll do it my way. And I will continue to call readers out, and ask them to step up. We are human beings, not chatGPT, we just want some appreciation for sharing our art.

#fic comments #ao3 comments #another big ramble xD #not apologizing #anonymous

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still-a-morosexual-help · 1 year

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i’ve been down the mammon rabbit hole for so long i’ve forgotten how ppl write him in non-mammon fics. i’ve recently had some lucifer brain rot and i absolutely hate the way some of the fics write mammon. i think everybody who wants to a fic w any kind of mammon appearance should take a sam-approved course so they don’t absolutely murder his character.

Plsssss😭 I had to go to a government office recently and now all I can think about is me sitting in a little cubicle stamping approval on any fics with Mammon, using a shitty little stamp with barely any ink

Okay but Mammon would actually be so supportive of MC x Lucifer when it comes down to it? The same way Lucifer's supportive of Mammon x MC when it comes down to it

Like he would be very upset and he'd initially do that whole possessive thing he does but if Lucifer is what MC actually chooses he'd back off - like he does in canon! Like he did when he saw Lucifer & MC kissing in S2, like when he fought to get back Lucifer's pendant in Lucifer's b'day event, like when he acted as MC's wingman in Lucifer's Devilcoast Devilgram.

Plus Mammon's objectively the brother who puts the most importance/emphasis on MC's consent.

PLUS PLUS Mammon genuinely loves Lucifer so much? In canon he's all the way up there with Beel as the brother who speaks the most about how great Lucifer is

AND now you've got me thinking about the premium angst potential of Lucifer x MC from Mammon's perspective because those are his two favourite people from all the worlds and they're in love with each other and he's stupidly in love with one of them but he can't do anything other than sit back and be their (overprotective) best friend

AND now you've got me thinking about how fucking hilarious this would be because MC's also Mammon's best friend and Lucifer's also Mammon's dad. MC's also really blunt and kind of a dick at times and would absolutely call Mammon Son to piss him off

This is very slightly off topic but;

I've also got a couple ships from other fandoms where characters A & B are (though not romantically involved) canonically very close - in a "you can't really write fics about one, for a long time, in their present canon timeline without bringing the other up" which I think is what happened with MC & Mammon? It's technically happened to a lesser extent with MC & the rest of the brothers as well but Mammon & MC canonically share a room more nights than not & have been doing so for years by the time we reach S4 and they started a business together in one of the devilgrams that fall under the canon main story timeline. What I'm saying is that even if their relationship isn't romantic they're definitely at a point where their lives are so entwined that it'd be hard to write about a long portion of one of their lives without including the other

If I sound less coherent than usual it's because i took two different antihistamines together and i think im dying

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mswyrr · 10 months

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Random aside, but I’ve been thinking about Carmen Berzatto as a “realistic fiction” version of some of the same themes handled in Peeta Mellark through the vehicle of Sci Fi metaphor.

I always read the hijacking--and how its violence and overtaking of his identity comes after Peeta expressly says all he wants, believing he will die in the Games, is to not become their creature, to not be changed from who he wants to be--as a great metaphor for patterns of abuse and how it gets inside you and can be so hard to uproot and for the way patriarchies beat boys into violent shapes, into being useful tools, and away from the things they love and truly want.

It works for me because it overtakes him but only for a time - in the end, he has the grace and support to embrace the care, love, art, and food that he wants his life to be, even though the hurt leaves marks. I connect that with the idea of how there can be times when, no matter how hard you want to “not be shitty,” it can be easy to lose yourself - but you can find a way back, you can have a good life on your own terms with scars.

I see it as two different approaches to talking about similar things - different genres nonetheless sharing in common the necessity of the moment of losing yourself and then having that come back, through your struggle but not alone, not all by your own power, also through the people around you loving you, for the love you put out into the world coming back to you when you most need it.

Because it’s a dramady and draws on the traditions of comedy--the uplifting side of life, vs the tragic side--and we already start with the tragic loss of one Berzatto son who didn’t find his way through the underworld, I think Carmy is going to come out of the cold, dark place (walk-in fridge or underworld? Both?) in s3. The alternative would be a very.... odd story, I think. Because if they have him keep going down down down and never rising, then the whole thing collapses. The Bear is lost, the people who have become a community scatter. It just doesn’t fit the tone and themes for me. We *start* at a place of everyone being scattered and damaged by Mikey’s loss - it would be nihilistic and repetitive and dramatically uninteresting to do the same thing with the younger brother. And the writing has never displayed that kind of vibe.

But I also think s3 will begin with him continuing his descent before hitting rock bottom and rising. It’ll get worse before it gets better. The descent is fraught with hope, though - because when the person comes back from that they’ve dealt with the things that haunt them. Their wounds have become healed up scars? And they own the person they want to be now, rather than being torn between the influence of others and their own heart’s yearning for better.

Regardless of what setting and genre you’re using, it’s a powerful arc, the descent and the rise and I’m looking forward to it because I believe they’ll pull it off well - they’ve done so beautifully with other characters struggling and rising, why not the lead?

BTW, I will curl up in shipper feels forever if part of his rise from the “underworld” involves Sydney symbolically giving him back to himself--giving him back things he wants to be vs things he’s being drawn into by the pressures on him--like how Katniss gaves things Peeta shared with her back to him:

At a few minutes before four, Peeta turns to me again. "Your favorite color ... it's green?" "That's right." Then I think of something to add. "And yours is orange." "Orange?" He seems unconvinced. "Not bright orange. But soft. Like the sunset," I say. "At least, that's what you told me once." "Oh." He closes his eyes briefly, maybe trying to conjure up that sunset, then nods his head. "Thank you." But more words tumble out. "You're a painter. You're a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in your tea. And you always double-knot your shoelaces." Then I dive into my tent before I do something stupid like cry.

Who you are, in the end, is who you want to be and the best of yourself you share with others comes back to you. It’s doesn’t just disappear.

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lifmera · 2 months

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Hello! Hope you're having a good day and that everything's going well! If it isn't too much to ask I would like to have a pairing with a Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel character, preferably male. * So a little bit about myself! My pronouns are He/They but actually like to present myself as feminine at times * Most people said that the first time they saw me they thought I was mean and actually scary and I think it was because of my stern look and whenever someone would ask me something I would give them short cold answers.. but I'm not that. I'm actually a little shy but once you know me I'm just super lively, loving to sing (even if I suck at it), always cracking a joke and just wanting to enjoy the moment. Despite all that I'm actually pretty calm at times and offer some heartfelt and harsh advice. Whenever that happens I just go full on serious mode and prefer to listen first and instead of solving the persons problems, I rather guide them in the right direction. * Likes! I love to do creative things, like writing and drawing, and to read, specially dystopian fiction. I also take a great interest in astronomy, magic things like witchcraft and bones (I can't explain it-). As for music it's basically a little bit of everything with both jazz and pop being way up. * In a relationship I prefer.. the less touching possible the better. That being said my main love languages are quality time and gift giving. Although I don't really enjoy touching, I wouldn't mind if my partner want hugs or something like that. And that's it! Sorry if it was too long and don't feel pressured to do it right away! Take your time and don't forget to drink plenty of water and rest! Hope you have a good day!

Hi hun!! Ofc!!

And finally my first Helluva req!!

And thank you sweetheart 💞 honestly i think Stolas would fit too.

I’ve decided to pair you with BLITZØ & ALASTOR!!!

Ill do Alastor first!

He’d definitely love and find you intriguing. Stone cold?

When he finds out more about you, he was honestly surprised.

Although he’d probably do duets with you, he’d LOVE to hear your jokes.

Especially if they are dad jokes cus … he is a huge dad joke.

He likes that you are able to be calm in situations, and help through situations too!

He would look to you for some advice, just to make sure he believes he’s right!

If you listen to Jazz? He’s spending all his time with you. And def listening to Jazz.

He would force you to chat about fav artists w him.

You both dislike physical touch, and he appreciates it. He would prefer acts of service and words of affirmation.

Now Blitzo!

He also presents feminine sometimes! He thinks it’d be fun to do together.

He definitely got attracted to you with that stone cold look, and short replies !! At first anyways.

Once he also gets to know you, he definitely would love to hang out with you!

Although you may not be the best singer- NEITHER IS HE!!! And he enjoys singing, or listening.

He is also always cracking jokes, so you both are cackling at EVERY MOMENT!!

He will always look to you for advice, and he doesn’t do that for anyone else either. He’s pretty reserved.

He would’ve probably confided into you about fizz, his mom, stolas and everything else at that moment in time.

Your interest in astronomy and witchcraft reminded him of Stolas, but instead of Stolas sexual nature- he has someone he really will care and show up for.

If you can draw, he will FORCE you to teach him. HE NEEDS TO DRAW HIS PONIES!! and obviously to make up for the shitty art lessons he got.

He would totally listen to your stories, because it would remind him of Millie and Moxxie, and he wants what they have.

He listens to more metally type of music, but boy will he listen to anything. Honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if he started listening to country??

I also think that Blitz isn’t big on physical touch either. He would be icked out. He thinks that words of affirmation and quality time are better. He knows you’re listening to him and willing to be there!

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volfoss · 1 day

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Hiiiii <3 I remember you talking about the boys comics vs the show, and I just finished the third season and it's really funny to me how almost every time there's an interesting storyline happening the little trivia window on Amazon says something like "this was not on the comics this was invented by the TV show" . Like yeah I'm not surprised lol

What character do you think is the most improved by the show? Is there anything that you think was actually better in the comics or is it just trash altogether?

hiii!! first off, SO glad you're enjoying it!! second off good god this may be long (i love to hate on mr ennis) so. under a cut :3

As for characters, let me first give a small run down of how every woman is treated in the comic:

the female (as she um. does not have a name in the comics) has barely any development other than oh she was raised in a fucked up lab and her mom sucks and that she and frenchie kind of have something going on. all of the really good stuff during the show w her brother or just... any of it is not there. again i need to emphasize she does not have a name. ennis does not care enough to give her an alt form of communication (like in the show, her teaching frenchie her own sign is SUCH a good thing. not in the comics lmao)

starlight. oh god where do i even START. so where the show handles her sa well and respectfully, um. well you see mr ennis loves to put rape in his stories and also loves to be bad to women. so its MULTIPLE scenes with her (where like. all of the men of the team line up for her to give them a bj. which to me really kind of... ruins the messaging he could have been going thru). hughie is like... genuinely really bad about her sa in the comics (as in. when he finds out via butcher getting tapes of the headquarters and purposefully setting it up so hughie SEES HER GETTING SA'D and goes to confront her about it. its great ennis loves women) and he BLAMES HER FOR IT. and then dumps her. and hes not supposed 2 be in the wrong there so thats great.

the only thing w her character that i DID like was at the start of the comics, she was pretty religious and as it went on, she started to lose her faith in religion bc she didnt get why jesus would let this happen to her. which was imo an interesting take but also ennis is OBSESSED w shitting on religion so like. its not surprising i guess that hes putting that in there lmao. she never really gets to confront the members of the team who REPEATEDLY either do/attempt to sa her other than doing a threat once or twice. theres none of the commentary on how society views women heroes or anything like that with her (i cannot emphasize enough that they kept like. the intro for the comics in terms of what kickstarted stuff and then just like... left the rest behind. which was for the best bc my god i think if u counted the amt of slurs and just bad stuff overall you would lose count (ik i did)).

maeve. good god its bad. so she was there when... homelander had part in 9/11 (tldr for that incident: in the comics, the supes are sent out to prevent one of the planes that was gonna hit (i believe the pentagon?) and then ended up crashing it elsewhere. but the plane scene in the show was THAT plot point done better) and that just made her become an alcoholic. and that is like 99% of her character in the comics. it is so so shitty bc the show did SO much w her and the comics just... did not.

the other non prominent women (stormfront was a man in the comics for like... clarification) are all... well what we call the ennis morality compass victims. a lot of the comics are the boys going to learn abt a supe group and learning they did smth bad (which youd think murder. or like smth equally bad. youd be wrong) and then its revealed that they are having orgies, being GASP gay, or being mentally ill (there is an entire team that hughie goes undercover w that the ... entire joke is that theyre too nice bc theyre not as mentally stable as the boys are. one of the bits is one of the teammates has tourettes so he has tics of just saying fuck or something similar and its treated as a joke). so if theyre not mentally ill or being gay or doing something that ennis sees as kind of fucked up (as the entirety of the comics is a test to how much garbage he can put in one series) theyre being used solely as sex objects. its pretty bad to put it lightly.

the men dont get out of the bad writing treatment either but. the women get it the worst. as for who gets improved the most, id say easily kimiko (it is NIGHT AND DAY) or maybe oddly enough butcher (his comic issues are... bad. we would be here all day if i got into them). and MM. oh my god you do not want to know how he was handled in the comics. honestly there isnt a character that DIDNT get improved a ton, all of them did. i dont know how the writers pulled it off but it is infinitely better for everyone.

as for anything i liked more... honestly not much. i think the shock value didn't work most of the time because ennis just made it the ENTIRE comics point to be edgy. i guess the fact homelander is bi in the comics is kind of funny but its just... not handled well (shocker right). as i mentioned earlier, i think the stuff with starlight starting out as super devote to religion and then becoming disenchanted with it was interesting. the only other really good thing about it is the art. it is HIDEOUS but i feel it kind of is intentional against the comic art of the time (as the artist is genuinely amazing outside of that). oh and if you can ignore all of the bad stuff, there was a kind of cool plot point that the show hasnt hit yet/wont touch, where they discuss the comics in the world with the context of them being propaganda. one of the owners of the local comic shop used to be a comic editor, and discusses how the comics were used to cover up the bad deeds that the supes were doing irl. it was an interesting take, especially since a lot of older comics WERE propaganda (ie like the wwii era comics are INSANE propaganda). tldr do not fucking touch the comics unless you want to see how many slurs ennis wants to drop (too many).

#asks #grain of salt on some of the details bc its been a month since ive read this #ask to tag #bc i do not fucking know how to tag this but like. god just know its a lot lol #sorry this is sooo long and prob not super coherent but i black out and get consumed by the anger when the comic is brought up lol #and unfortunately the comic is like... honestly some of the worst shit ive ever read. and ive read... probably 5k comics?

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loregoddess · 3 months

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more Octo2 thoughts bc it's been a hell of a weekend for me and I need something nice to think about (shh, my weekends are on weekdays, don't ask, just know tips are better on the real weekends, and I will eventually one day not work in food and have real weekends off again hopefully); under the cut bc lategame spoilers, as usual

alskdjaskld completely forgot Throne's Ch3 Father's Route, so I did that real fast before heading to Stormhail. Apparently? I forgot? Did not pay attention? To the fact that Sebastian/Father actually is never directly stated to be Claude's son, and insofar as we know he was just born in some shitty town and had to resort to stealing to survive (and therefore wasn't raised to be a Blacksnake), and joined the Blacksnakes of his own free will after moving to the city?? So like, sure he could still be Claude's son bc *vaguely gestures at Mr. Bigtits Sexiroth and his terrible horrible fucked up MGS-scheme to not be Vide's vessel* and it could be he was only allowed into the Blacksnakes bc he was secretly Claude's son, but it's still an interesting detail that unlike 99% of the Blacksnakes, he wasn't raised by/in the organization itself.

Marietta however does seem to have been part of the Blacksnakes, which has the disconcerting implication that she's uh, related to Claude despite bearing his child later on (which I honestly wouldn't put past him, and if Throne is somehow the Cleopatra of a fucked up Fantasy Ptolemy-esque family tree, I honestly wouldn't even question it at this point, there is so much weird shit going on in her story arc).

I'm still not entirely convinced Marietta didn't pull a Hatoful by pretending to kill her child w/ Sebastian and actually killing her child with Claude (making Throne actually Sebastian's daughter, and therefore making the whole "not Vide's vessel" thing make a bit more sense, although I have a new theory cooking for that as well that doesn't require her to not be Claude's actual daughter), but the evidence is stronger for Throne being Claude's literal daughter so, anyhow, her story arc is still a very messed up MGS-esque Fantasy John Wick story. But I mean, I still have one more chapter for Throne to try and scour for information for why she isn't Vide's vessel, what's going on w/ the Blacksnakes and their superpowers, and also how exactly the legend of the prince and princess might shed light on Solistia's distant past (I mean, we know the prince was probably Claude, but the princess? Arcanette maybe? and what of the two fighting kingdoms? does the Great Wall and the lost kingdom therein have something to do w/ it?)

Ochette's Stormhail chapter was pretty straightforward. I did waste most of my money buying fancy armor and weapons though, even with Partitio's 20% discount via his follower (who is ironically Masoud). It did have some interesting timeline info though (Glacis's egg was shattered 10 years before the start of the story, around the same time Ochette was required to choose her animal companion). I'm really going to have to watch a walkthrough/playthrough of everything though and actually take notes on the various years and stuff to put together a proper timeline one of these days...

Oh, and Osvald does say the Pit of D'arqest is "just south" of Stormhail in his banter w/ Temenos, so yeah, it seems like the Infernal Castle and the Pit of D'arqest are related if not the same location. Interesting to keep in mind for when I eventually go and level grind there.

Finally pinpointed the two things about Temenos's story arc that were irking me. The first I knew, and that was that "genocide survivor joins her peoples' killers and also seeks the power that her people literally abhorred which is also the source of power for her peoples' killers to...try and destroy said killers" just does not work as a plot for me. Love the concept of Kaldena as a character, but god her arc is a mess. Writer's could have done something more interesting with her than...all that. She deserved better writing.

The second thing is, uh, the entire Stormhail chapter. I didn't really process it my first run bc Crick's death is so out of left field that I was too surprised to think about it, but the pacing for this chapter is just...weird (certain scenes could have been slightly rewritten and put into Ch2, or at least the events could have been rearranged so there weren't these awkward pauses and transitions into new scenes; I get there were trying to let Crick get enough screentime to make his death matter, but honestly the entire thing is just kinda poorly paced by my tastes).

But more so than the pacing, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT BOTH TEMENOS AND CRICK ARE INTELLIGENT ADULTS which they clearly are except for this one thing IF THEY IMMEDIATELY SPLIT UP AFTER SOMEONE TRIED TO KILL THEM ONCE? HELLO? Is this a horror movie? Are you perhaps, young teens in a mediocre slasher flick? Someone tried to KILL YOU and you decide no, it's fine, let's take a break for the night, I'm going to the inn, you can head on back to the Sacred Guard which we just established is where the killer is hiding, this is a very logical, good plan with no flaws whatsoever.

Like, listen, I don't think Crick's death was really necessary (it doesn't actually add that much to the overall narrative in my opinion, aside from shock value, and we already had Jorg getting killed bc he Maes Hughes'd himself by knowing too much, you can't...pull the same trick twice without some fancier plot setup usually), but what really irks me about it was it was entirely avoidable if the two had just gone ahead and either investigated together (confrontation with Cubaryi could have still occured, except Crick would be there), or headed to the inn together since Crick's entire thing is protecting people and someone literally just tried to kill Temenos (and then they could have investigated and the chapter could have more or less played out the same except Crick may or may not die, like they could have had him die protecting Temenos before or after the fight w/ Cubaryi, although again, I don't think his death adds more to the story than leaving him alive would have, and my general thoughts on character deaths in fiction is that they should always be absolutely necessary for the entire narrative and plot to work)

So anyhow, yeah, Temenos's Stormhail chapter is actually where his story kinda starts to feel eh to me. I wish to release an army of puppies to chew on the writers' furniture and slippers, just for the frustration. Because like, as I thought, there doesn't have to be that many changes to Temenos's story to make it work for me, the pacing and random "horror movie protagonists IQ" doesn't work for me. Or Kaldena's writing. But both those things would require just the slightest rework to make the entire narrative flow smoothly.

Anyhow, looking forward to seeing Hikari get zapped off a bridge next (I know it's supposed to be serious and dramatic, but Rai Mei literally just zapping him off the bridge is so funny to me, she really just sees him and casts Bolt of Fuck Off). I'll also be keeping an eye out for Ori since her journals indicate she should be around for this next chapter.

#''I need something nice to think about'' as that thing is Octo2 with a variety of messed up things happening in it at any given time #but man this has been a very stressful few days and unfortunately none of my issues are things that I can resolve quickly #do not want to go to work again but at the same time the distraction will be nice #even if it means dealing with less stressful but stupider and very different issues #anyhow I'm starting to think that ''women who get mostly ignored by the writers but have so much potential'' is just my thing now #like listen...Kaldena Cubaryi Marietta Petrichor Arcanette...we could have learned so much more about all of them and we didn't #which like my city now and all that #but I need to stop taking over cities bc the writers didn't want to give their weird woman side character a coherent backstory #like listen if Bigtits Sexiroth gets a clear motive and backstory (more or less) the writers should tell me what's going on w/ Marietta #I could have given Kaldena a better arc though...she really deserved a better arc...girl you could have had something better...#apparently Cubaryi was supposed to survive and get a unique postgame quest that got scrapped at some point #so at least the writers intended to expand whatever her deal was before axing that idea #mostly I just want to know more about a lot of the important background characters #anyhow that's all for tonight folks #oracle of lore

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magnoliamyrrh · 10 months

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Paul is a fucked up manchild who berates his mom the second he gets supernatural powers and sees himself as better than everyone. That’s only if you can get past herbert’s awful writing where his villains gotta be fat and gay and he repeats these facts every single time they switch povs as if the audience has somehow forgotten (seriously, highlight every time herbert mentions the villain is fat. It’s so common it’s just boring stale writing). Paul in dune is the worst kinda self insert fanfic. Dune is such a shitty book girl how do you enjoy it

ohh he definetely is a man child; i feel bad for him in like the first half of the first book mainly bc hes a teenager, hes 15, like, a teenager teenager not an almost adult 17-18. he may come from a powerful family but hes just thrust into very messed up circumstances, more or less tortured to prove hes human, has to grapple with being some sort of raised-to-be-exceptional genetic experiment and being used in some weird intergalactic lie and war, and incredible amount of historical pressure and other things. like, at 15, hes more kid than adult dealing w this. but also, while being 15, he is smart, and charming to others, and he quickly rises to great infleunce and is good at manipulation. and yea the moment he gets some more power he turns it even against his own mother, against himself, and against others and the longer they go on the more insufferbale he becomes; what ground of expeptionalism in him existed gets raised tenfold -hes an inherently flaued character by all means who even when he tries he fucked up badly many times. i mean like hell, among all the shit he ends up doing, even just that thing that he himself didnt have the power to put shit in order, so he ends up forcing it on his son, like how he was shoved into a bunch of things when he was younger

and yes lol i am well aware of the villan thing. i do get that in this context the "fat" thing and even the gay pedo thing is moreso an allegory for greed and the keeping of and hoarding of precious things (im Not saying fat ppl are like this mind u, im not saying its good either, but in many cultures fat has or is indeed revered as a sign of wealth; and this is used to contrast to those who dont have, and i reckon this is where it comes from in the story). but yes, i do think thats uhh i hate this word problamatic. the fat thing, the gay thing, the pedo thing. definetely part of an ongoing issue of attaching several of those characteristics to villans, and also of making villans generally ugly, thus associsting the two together. like yup, its definitely not good

idk tho, i think. dune was written in the 1960s by a white dude. like, it doesnt suprise me that that stuff is in there. ive read plenty of things that have parts of them that are problamatic or outdated or offensive and it just,, is what it is. like idk i can enjoy something while also being aware and critical of the parts of it that are fucked up - i think if i wasnt able to, i wouldnt be able to like,,,, explore a lot of the literature that exists out there, especially older literature, no matter from where its from in the world or if its written by men or women. most of it or most authors at least have written some weird shit or held some weird shit. idk just a stupid parallel off the top of my head i love the 1001 nights stories - i grew up with them - but theyre filled to the brim with weird shit and problamatic things and sexism and racism and slavery and whatever else, like absolutely filled - to an extend they reflect the times. i still, however, enjoy reading them tho

i also dont know how much paul is a self insert - maybe. ive never read the dude as sympathetic or a sympathetic anti-hero much. i did find the idea that out of this all-female order theyd have the idea that a male would be the one w the greatest power and some sort of prophesied force of power weird, sooo idk maybe. but idk, if its a self insert i rlyyy dont think its supoosed to be a flattering one much. the dude just gets worse and worse as the books progress, and he ends up after fucking up so much and being too weak to fix it, exiled, alone, spending his last yesrs wondering in loneliness and deep regret. so, i dont think its shown that his superiority complex or anything else brought him something good; it just lead to tragedy

mostly i like the series for the intricacy of its plot and the way its introduced, the messages it tries to send even if it at times fails or does so badly. like yea, its not perfect, but it is trying to ssy something about foreign meddeling and co-opting of religions and cultures and desperste situstions, or colonialism and capitalism, of exploitation, greed, power, etc. and also in very large part its lore, its scifi elements, its weird out there mysticism, and all the parts of it that are very, very weird. i am fascinsted by the world that this dude created. im a really big fan of magical realism and to an extent the books are like this - because they start more normal and over time become more and more mystical and fantastical and weird and less grounded as more concepts, creatures, and affects of the spice are introduced. i also do like that the main character isnt an actual hero. all this talk of prophecy and whatever, but its all bad, and it goes so fucking bad. its to an extent a subversion of classical fantasy tropes, combined with space scifi.... and yes. there are times when the writing isnt great, or when its outdated, or when it hammers things again and again (like the villan thing). i also think in many places the writing is intriguing, careful, and calls for attention and contemplation of what is happening

and idk apart from something like 1001 nights..... to an extend, i feel abt dune as i feel about game of thrones. i rly love those books. yes theyre writing by an old white man. yes there are parts of them (less than the show id say) which are problamatic and outdated and i could go on a whole list about that. but, i still enjoy them. i think the world grrm martin created is insanely insanelyyy complex, beautiful, fascinating, the lore is some of the deepest and most intriguing ive ever seen, and the character writing - the sheer complexity of the characters, the willingness to show how fucked up humans are and how often things are so stupidly complicated, the way he can get us to love even insufferable characters, the way there are no perfect good heros, the broader anti-war and even climate change message, the harsh and grounded realism of much of the series,,, the way theyre also kinda like magic realism, bc over the books magic keeps coming back more and more, the world becomes more full of mystic and mystery and prophecies which arent 100% true, the way the books are largely a subversion of fantasy tropes. like, yea. theyve got issues, grrm martins writings got issues. but i think theyre brilliant in many ways at the same time 🤷‍♀️

so i guess. yea. im definitely not saying the books dont have issues or theyre perfect or theyre the peak of literature. but im still able to enjoy parts of them

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troglobite · 1 year

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laskdjf cr c3 spoilers i guess

in the 4 sided d/ve ep m/risha was like "yeah i asked matt how l/dinus knew abt k/yleth and v/x and that he'd show up to protect her" and matt apparently responded "well that's not the first time that she's been attacked"

well yeah clearly

the attack on the ashari that killed or/m's family was obviously a test run to get an idea abt how best to kill kiki as quickly as fucking possible

BUT THAT DOESN'T FUCKING EXPLAIN HOW AND WHY LUDIN/S WOULD HAVE ANY IDEA ABT THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!

they start on different continents, as far as we know, they've never had cause to interact at all

and you expect me to believe that kiki has been in enough danger frequently enough for her level 20+ powerful druid self to be near death that it SUMMONS V/X???? like on the reg???

and that for some reason, vax, who has grown as a person and is a deeply important and busy entity, would just be able to show up on a whim to help kiki??? like, whenever???

also they'd already discussed what happens and that was NOT part of it. how is kiki supposed to MOVE ON AND EVOLVE past that devastating thing? how does she not immediately develop a death wish if THAT'S what happens every time someone tries to kill her?!?!

OR ALTERNATIVELY she's so opposed to him doing that that she is OVERLY cautious with her own safety, in WHICH case WHY WOULD SHE JUST CHARGE INTO SEE L/DINUS WITHOUT ANY SOLID PLAN, ASSUMING SHE WAS SOMEHOW STRONGER THAN HIM, DESPITE THE FACT THAT SHE SHOULD HAVE INTEL?!

she faced him and the crew once before! it went VERY badly! WHY IN THE WORLD would she think that charging into the middle of EVERYTHING ON HER OWN would be safe?! so either she has a deathwish or she's VERY stupid, all of a sudden, even though she literally last had a WIS score of 22.

and then also--

and that, for some reason, word gets around about that???

and that for some reason, they all find out who and what vax is??? so that they know he's divine in essence and can be used for this purpose specifically???

like i'm sorry, the sheer VOLUME of serendipity and coincidence and perfect timing that has to happen for ANY of that to be possible. like no! absolutely not! THERE'S NO WAY THAT MAKES ANY SENSE!!!

listen i'm not shitting on cr all of a sudden or whatever, and by and large i still think matt is a great person, storyteller, and dm.

but this move w c3 is SO just. fucking infuriating.

i'm rambling bc i was talking w friends abt it today. lol

but the most batshit part, as a friend pointed out, is that MORE ppl aren't screaming RAILROADING!!! SCRIPTED!!! SHITTY STORY!!! at c3 when they were all losing their minds at c1 and c2.

but here we are in c3 with the most blatantly pre-planned, railroaded shit ever that completely removed player agency to accomplish One Thing, and no one??? cares????

truly nostalgia is a powerful drug, apparently.

like matt turned vax into an orb or a hockey puck or something and WE'RE ALL JUST FINE WITH THAT?!?! batshit.

anyway point being, matt had an idea, he thought it would be cool, he worked backwards to justify it, he constructed the scenario so that no one would be able to stop it, he forced it to happen

that's what happened in c3, end of.

and i don't particularly like that.

i'm not like. ABANDONING it. but c3 was already kind of on thin ice. lol i'm compelled by parts of it but oof. it does kinda suck.

esp when the party is just like.

NOT engaging with the immediate consequences of whatever the fuck happened. and matt has ALSO made THAT happen on purpose.

he 10000000% knew that they would fail to stop the event (bc there was no way they could change anything) and planned far ahead of time to split the party.

which--fine! more time and space for guest players! which is great!

HOWEVER

these characters are, again, so low level that they just......are flailing in the face of something so much bigger than them that HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. so idk what really they're supposed to do now.

i'm just rambling abt my thoughts

this mainly started as a whole thing abt like--

no, matt's justification, narratively, for vax and kiki made no sense.

and then m/risha also said that he told her they did "middling" w their performance trying to stop it--that it could've been worse but it could've been better

yeah i'll bet because they wouldn't be able to change anything, period.

they managed to do so much and everything they destroyed was just...what? a decoy? backup? so they changed nothing.

and that sucks.

[SIGH GRUMBLE GRUMBLE COMPLAIN LOUDLY]

i'm rehashing it all again but i was just thinking abt it again bc i had to plan for my own game today and i was talking w friends abt it again bc it happened to come up.

anyway.

bad writing, matt.

very cool idea and moment!

terrible logic. absolutely hand of god kinda bullshit, there. "because i say so" vibes. lol

hopefully everything gets better from here. aabria and christian have been wonderful guest players, though shit is also hinky there. i think aabria has something up her sleeve so i hope that THAT is ALSO really good.

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radicarian · 1 year

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For that fic meme: L, R, S, W.

Behind a cut 'cause I picked way too long of a scene to DVD-comment about.

L. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to?

Characters Must Solve A Murder.

I think it'd also be fun to write more Fantasy Politicking but I do not believe I am sufficiently well-read for that kind of thing.

R. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

Chapter 3 of "Grounded" is, to date, the piece of writing I'm most satisfied with in terms of accomplishing what I meant it to do. So... some notes on the art gallery scene!

I wanted to keep the canonical clue to the Phoenix Cave's location in Gestahl's portrait. I also wanted to build in various parallels between Locke's solo chapter and Edgar's, and I hadn't planned much of Edgar's at the time, but I knew that Gerad Shenanigans were a given. Ergo, Locke also gets to try on a fake identity and get his questions answered through crime!

(And they both end up doing shitty and unflattering impressions of each other. The concept amused me.)

This was written in late 2020. Earlier in the year I had reread the Gentleman Bastards books. I am pretty sure, in this scene in particular, I got my Locke Cole cross-contaminated with some Locke Lamora. I'm not sorry about it! The circle is complete! Anyway, I don't think I borrowed anything that's not a reasonable extrapolation from Locke Finalfantasy's in-game characterization, and I do think this is a valid take on how that guy would bullshit his way into a rich-people party and cause trouble.

Also... this was written in late 2020. During lockdowns, Rich People at my workplace had been saying shit like "oh noooo the pandemic caught us in our European house as opposed to any of our three other houses, and we have been TRYING to pull strings with the local government to let us get on a plane and leave this house for a more different house, but these guys are acting weirdly insistent that the rules actually apply and things that happen in the world are relevant to us??? Even US?????" That's it. That's the vibe of this scene. How lucky it was exactly what I needed for a story; I'd hate to have endured that for nothing.

Some additional Tasteless-Rich-People-Art takes were probably influenced by McMansion Hell.

The "rustic breakfast" that Locke is so scathing about... is this. Delicious.

At the time of writing, my favorite couple of lines were:

There was always this moment, right before things went off the rails, right as the game changed on you: this moment of clarity where you realized, Okay, the time for careful maneuvers is over, I'm about to start some shit. Like hanging, just for an instant, in midair.

...But I'm no longer sold on that second sentence; early in the drafting process I was like "heh heh heh, I bet people falling from a great height, e.g. in an airship crash, is something that smashes Locke right in the Dead Girlfriend Trauma," but as things went on I forgot to do much with that motif. I was distracted by the bird motif. So the falling/not-falling thing doesn't quite... ... land.

Overall, though, I wanted this whole chapter to be "Locke does cool stuff, while also being a giant mess. He's making progress in pursuit of a goal, but the goal is objectively wack." And I think it is that!

S. Who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? Why?

Easiest is probably Best Boy Sabin Figaro. He's straightforward, while still having enough going on to be interesting - and his voice, in narrative or in dialogue, is really forgiving of weird or infelicitous phrasing. He just says stuff and does stuff and doesn't obsess about it, and considering that a lot of my other go-to characters are on 2-6 layers of meta at any given time, he is SO REFRESHING.

Hardest, of characters I have actually attempted writing more than once... ...Johannes Cabal. Not because it's particularly difficult to get into his head; IMO just thinking "peevish nerd" is 75% of the way there. Rather, the logic by which his universe operates is hard for me to get a handle on. And without getting that right, it's difficult to strike the correct balance between him being 1) very smart and cold-blooded and dangerous, 2) an extremely uncool pathetic weirdo. He doesn't quite work without a properly calibrated narrative voice of "we like this guy, but also, hahaha screw this guy." I haven't totally ruled out writing about him again, but it's a tricky needle to thread.

W. If you had to remix one of your own fics, which would it be and how would you remix it?

I've never done a fic remix but I think "The Echoing World," a little exchange fic I wrote with OoT!Zelda in the world of Majora's Mask, has potential that-a-way. I was doing some structural weirdness with it already - sort of smash-cutting between Zelda encountering various Termina weirdos, with these main scenes being in past-tense, and a sprinkling of present-tense drabbles (Yes They Are 100 Words Precisely, This Was Important, For Reasons) where she's trying a bit harder to reconcile where she is, what's going on, and how time even works here. I could easily imagine flipping that around to foreground the spooky vibes a bit more... maybe especially dialing in on that bit where Zelda's not sure whether she's Zelda or Sheik. She is trying to solve an ontological mystery here but also this dream world is so weird it's making her doubt the reality of the real world?

#ask meme

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cielospeaks · 10 months

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ok predictions/reactions to f-h (not negative necessarily?)

firstoff the banner itself

-shame abt the 17 stuff. imo its really fucking clear that the people in charge of f e as a whole hate the game for its more whimsical/shonen/super sentai tone of “friendship and understanding” and just want a cringey “angst” fest (aka angst that just excuses horrible characters) like 16 (and to be fair a lot of other things in the franchise too). but like imo its not the worst. the vas are clearly doing a good job and the artist too, and its cool and cute to see ivy in the game, even if its just a seasonal

-the others i dont rlly care abt. if i liked e ir at all i def dont after she screwed over an entire country and her presumable former friends there just because she found out her birth family’s world is a place she likes better. like its awful what she went through but imo she still killed a person for no reason when she couldve just told the truth, and even if it would have been painful she should have taken responsibility for her position. but whatever its very eh. and thats all my thoughts pretty much. actually suprised f jorm wasnt the duo but whatevs

-the new story/new oc: i was rooting for all 4 alfr to get resplendent/ect darn it! oh well. it looks like most likely peo and plumie will be the focus (which is good for me bc i love plumie but i wish tri would get good things too ; ; ) and hopefully tri and peo will actually get scenes together acknowledging their relationship as sisters (esp as it was alluded to in last years peo! gosh i hope so pls.) bc b4 screwed them over (esp tri) big time with its fruitless and nonsensical “plot twists”

-another thing that im really happy abt is that the temptri stories (except b3 for... reasons) tend to not involve the main cast of the game, which honestly is a breath of fresh air. b2′s one was horrendous bc of the dragons and the retcons, but it could have been so much worse. 3′s too if im being honest. e irs obsession w the main cast is... very regrettable but also understandable, so it wasnt too much detracting imo. im just hoping they keep this up with b4 and dont fucking involve those horrible and ridiculous “plot twists” from book 4. can we please just fucking forget any shitty changeling stories/plotlines in any media ever pls. (except m l p. youre cool you can stay. cough cough unrealistic expectations for this kind of story cough cough)

-that being said plumie + peo is hilarious and sweet. plumie calling her a little petal or something is so funny/cute. and my kasuplumie shipper heart is like “aw plumie took up nicknaming people from kasumi!” like this is character development done right take notes b2 temptri. i think itll be really wholesome if they do end up being the ascendants for this year, seeing them become friends. i would have liked tri but i feel like it also fits as the two of them are the more active of their groups (mira is really passive, and i feel like tri is more distant than aggressive like plumie is). so plumie being super jaded and scornful + peo being really caring with no strings attached and self sacrificing will be really wholesome to see if it comes to pass

-new character: interesting that theyre a rearmed but ok saitama face. people are saying maybe 4/5 next but i feel like it could be 17 (and add less royalty characters- maybe one of the younger siblings, the player character, side characters/enemy only? morion pls im politely asking). i think the best case scenario is theyre the queen from the past, that would be wholesome to have her actually meet kind friends in the alfr. kinda like another character i dont really have anything against her when she was a child- she kidnapped and forced children to work for her just bc they were poor and from a bad home life as an adult, but as a child she was abused by her peers and only treated well by her brother bc he wanted to marry her off to them. like her actually meeting nice people and getting standards would be great but idk if itll happen.

-also just fucking release that dirtbag in the next mythic. just let the memes die. im sick of this guy and ive been sick of him for years. glad hes not much plot relevant.

tldr the good news is i get to save orbs bc i spent them all on not getting shez wooo (sarcasm) (also donny is so pure im so glad hes the free unit!!!! get hype!!!)

#i feel like if (plot twist) is the case ill just be like #if i had a nickel for every f h villain that i despise but theres a child version of them thats blue and i actually dont hate #id have two nickels which isnt a lot but its saying something #gameblogging

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retconomics · 2 years

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lol whats your fix share with the class

PLEASE ok im not tagging spoilers this games been out for like 5+ years already so. yeah.

Alright. I'm a bit fuzzy on story details since I haven't actually gotten that far so i might need to rewrite some aspects of this but my understanding is the country that attacked Noctis' home (Nilfheim??) is mostly interested in harnessing the power of the crystal which is 1) also the soul of the world/some kind of world crystal with a will of sorts 2) the conduit through which the astrals or gods or w/e the game calls the summons communicates with the oracle?? i think? and 3) is connected to the line of lucis which is why theres the whole king of kings prophecy w/e tf. And also theres the starscourge which is the big meanie mean sickness that only luna (and ardyn) could heal and no one knows where it came from but its nocts job to banish it once and for all or w/e. this is my understanding.

so like... knowing what i know about episode ardyn and the whole prophecy nonsense and the line of lucis, i kinda sorta have my suspicions about the 'benevolence' of the gods and the origin of the starscourge, ESPECIALLY since the crystal seems to be capable of just. healing the starscourge on a whim (ie it can grant the healing ability to?? anyone????). and its capable of affecting the gods as well (as iirc ardyn is able to kind of influence ifrit with it). WHICH kinda makes me sneakily suspect that this whole nonsense about prophecies and ardyn being the sacrificial lamb and noctis being doomed to end the line of lucis through his sacrifice is like. maybe its just the crystal doing a soft reset on the world of sorts to punish ardyn's brother for messing with its will. and after noct dies theres really no one left to commune with the crystal or gods anyway.

SO. my fix. because its just all so tragic and its my favorite when characters subvert prophecy expectations while still fulfilling the letter of a prophecy. Everything can kinda be the same up until the leviathan summon fight in.. whatever city that takes place in. I go back and forth on whether Luna really needs to die, but most of the time i say yes because it creates sort of a parallel origin for Noct as Ardyn (cuz his brother killed his bitch too so . ) and its fitting in a lot of ways like i think its an important catalyst for noct, as shitty as that is to reduce like the ONLY female character with plot relevance to that. And i do NOT have any idea what happens between that and noct getting sucked into the crystal to charge but whatever plot stuff in the middle there that needs to be altered gets altered such that when noct meets up with ardyn for that final fight its. the result is different. its more about like 'no man fuck this prophecy fuck the gods i'm gonna kill you and free you and im gonna end the starscourge by destroying the crystal and ending the puppeteering and we're gonna enter an age of humanity being fully independent which is what you wanted all along' and noct would STILL end the line of lucis because 1) without the crystal theres really no line of lucis powers anyway and 2) im a noct/ignis truther and 3) even if noct/ignis truthers cant win i still cant see him with anyone that isn't luna to carry on the stupid line like he'd recognize that sacrifice as a condition for getting around his death.

and of course ardyn will feel some kind of way about all that but i think he could be convinced to stick it one last time to the gods, and given he was a lucis i dont see any reason he couldnt kind of help noctis destroy himself... like sort of knights of round himself into oblivion. And noct still loses something for sure like i think i'd want him to lose an arm (the ring bearing arm) and he'd never be able to fight again because he'd lose that weird arsenal thing and he has to rebuild his kingdom but .. but he'd build a memorial for ardyn and luna and would finally right the wrong his ancestor committed against his great-great-whatever uncle. and the line of lucis ends noct commits to never having children and i suspect the kingdom might be weakened too without the crystal or gods kinda backing them but. its like. a bittersweet ending instead of bum city u know??

whatever i didnt explain it very well but the point is i see no reason noct couldnt kind of take advantage of the fine print in that prophecy there are lots of holes. but no he just has to die for... godly hubris or w/e. ok.

#LIKE it just feels like a whole bunch of generational shame being pushed onto one random kid #but also that kid suffers from being a victim of active war against him?? so really how much culpability does his family actually have???#it just reads v much as a 'and then the gods decided to mess with one family in particular as a treat'#maybe i'll feel differently after finishing #ff15

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timothylawrence · 2 years

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would love to hear a deeper analysis if you feel up to it :)

hi anon thank you!!

Okay, so I'll put most of this under the cut but 8/10 for the presequel! I think it had some interesting fun gameplay choices and what really carried this game has to be the characters, easily!

CHARACTERS: one thing this game really excelled on was again the characters! I seriously found myself in love with sooo many NPCs. Sure, we were missing some golden ones but I still fell in love with the new cast! Janey was a dream, Pickle was such a cutie, I genuinely loved any scene with Felicity, she captured every scene she was in.

I also think the playable characters each had their own charm! Claptrap as a buddy was hilarious, some of his lines are genuinely cackle worthy. Nisha had a dark backstory but every line I heard also had me smiling, she's great. I played Timothy and frankly, I found myself liking him a lot more too. He's definitely watered down in fanon/fandom but I really did enjoy a lot of his lines (Like.... detective frog?) All the characters had distinct memorable personalities which i really appreciated!

STORY: Again, this game wasn't awful but the story was without a doubt probably the weakest point and you can't really blame a lot of ppl other than the higher ups at GB who made this game happen. Things felt really convenient and it kinda... took out of the immersion. I'm not a huge fan of Mister Fascism (if that wasn't obvious) but his writing felt really... shaky at times? Also again, I had no sympathy going in for him and I still don't. Sorry you were an asshole and got dealt back the same hand of shitty cards you handed out lmao.

The main "antagonist" being a black woman in a relationship with another woman was also :/ considering GB's track record with black female characters (and all other nonwhite female characters). I also didn't like them framing Jack's descent to be based off his (again, female) ex and another woman. Also, Nisha is suuuuper sexualized (something her creator did on purpose) and Aurelia gets the least amount of spotlight out of the whole crew. really fucking annoying and frustrating.

GAMEPLAY: It's funny cus the first time I played this game I hated it because of the mechanics. I hated needing oxygen and the weird gravity but now I found myself liking it a lot more! I'm having a blast with tediore guns and frankly just fucking around with rocket launchers. I think playing w/ my friends is what made this game soooo much fun, at least a lot more fun then playing alone would've been :).

Also +1000 points for letting me run around as Rhys and make all my dumb jokes about Helios.

yeah, :)! I think it was fun and I plan on doing the DLC next so fingers crossed it's just as much fun!

#asks #ty for asking! this was fun to talk about :)!!!! <3

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