#they all have pre existing main friend groups

[comicaurora]

When did you decide on introducing Falst as a fakeout villain? in my head it's such an ingrained part of the arc but I have to imagine his intro wasn't always like that.

It wasn't! In the very earliest version of the story, aka the loose pre-scripting nebulous idea for how to get him in with the group, it was a pretty simple scenario where Falst was victimized by some bad guys and the gang helped him out, validated his existence, etc. It was functional for what it needed to accomplish - getting him in as a Main Character - but it had a lot of problems, namely that he had no agency in any of it.

I realized as I got closer to introducing him that Falst had a characteristic that none of the other protagonists had: he was rough. Erin isn't nice like Kendal and Alinua, but he's not going to go out of his way to purposefully hurt anyone who hasn't hurt him first. Erin can be rude and thoughtless, but he likes explaining things, and that does a lot to smooth over potential miscommunication. Falst isn't like that. Despite suffering deeply from loneliness, Falst is not good at making himself palatable for other people, and for the most part doesn't want to, in part because he shouldn't have to. It took a lot of bad stuff to grind him down to the point of seriously contemplating turning himself human to make it stop, and even then, he typically responds to antagonism by hitting back twice as hard, not making himself more inoffensive in the hopes of making it stop. In the trifecta of fight-flight-freeze, he defaults to fight, and he has a lot of reasons to wall off every conceivable vulnerability and snap out at people instead of giving them an in-road to hurting him by being nice to them. This makes him incredibly vulnerable to conflict and miscommunication plotlines because he will never explain himself if he thinks he has any other more combative option available, and that makes it very easy to turn people against him if they aren't willing to reach out and potentially take a hit trying to close that gap.

What I like most about writing Falst is that none of this makes him a monster, and none of it makes him unworthy of chances, love or understanding. He's a ball of sharp corners and he hurts people, and he's very easily framed as an antagonist because of that. And framing him opposite a kind, soft-spoken, eloquent, handsome small town doctor makes it easier to see him as a villain. And the fact that the doctor is actually a manipulative villain doesn't undo any of the stuff Falst did during their initial encounter when they didn't know each other and he made his introduction by robbing the party and lightly maiming Kendal. Falst is not perfectly nice, and it doesn't take much to get him to be actively mean or unnecessarily defensive. It is easy to convince characters and an audience that a character like that is a Problem, because if he weren't a Problem he would be nice and non-confrontational and conventionally attractive. Undercutting aesthetic morality is always fun, and sometimes you just gotta judge a character by their actions and conclude that they might not be good at making you like them but they're not actually doing anything all that bad.

Falst is kind of a jerk. He also has a lot of qualities that are not jerk traits. Falst found people who like him, and the fact that he's a jerk doesn't contradict that. We're all jerks sometimes, and we all tank hits from our friends being jerks sometimes. Falst is at his most interesting when I let him be emotional, hostile and imperfect, and I think it's nice to give him people that love him without undercutting the things that make him believe he's unlovable.

#asks #aurora

[beesmygod]

who fills the pot holes in “lore olympus”?

the thing about criticism is this: you can absolutely think “too hard” about something intended to be light fare and the delicate balancing act of art criticism is about threading various needles to avoid as many retorts as possible accusing you of opening discussions in bad faith. one of the many ways to obliterate trust in your critical audience is to become so derisively nitpicky that your attempts to draw attention to the pre-existing holes in the setting or the structure of the story will look like petty sabotage. i recognize this is the risk im taking when i get set off by the existence of sports luxury vehicles within a fictional universe created entirely to cater to a specific sexual appetite. indeed, there is no type of pedantry more obnoxious than the sexual pedant.

BUT.

the work doesnt exist in a vacuum. if we’re going to be honest about the work’s intent (or, how the work’s intent explicitly reads to the audience), part of the fantasy is to be completely taken care of. i mean, who among us hasn’t dreamed of this, at least briefly. it’s one of the most fundamental of all human desires. but to be taken care of, in settings which are founded in capitalist societies (everyone groans at my shit), begs the obvious question: where is the money coming from?

author’s note so everyone knows im not insane (hahahaha): i’m not here to argue the virtues of communism over capitalism or imply that depicting capitalism favorably in your comic is a moral failing. it is not capitalism itself that i have a problem with (...in artistic depictions), it is the way that it is invoked within this comic specifically that bothers me; it demonstrates a terminal thread of thoughtlessness that threatens to unravel the entire setting, premise and moral ambiguity of what is being presented as a desirable fantasy. this element is the catalyst that sparks the degradation of the taboo into the unconscionable. 

look i’ll be up front: my primary motivation is that this comic sucks and im a hater. the anti-feminist overtones are their own kettle of fish but the runner up contender for most concerning (oooueerrrg, everyone is groaning again) element is the complete lack of class consciousness. look, i mean concerning in the sense of “why has none of this gone recognized by, like, anyone?” every time i show someone a real LO panel they react like i’m went out of my way to fuck with them in an ultra specific way. it has completely recreated the feeling of being the only person in my friend group watching riverdale, if riverdale were the crown jewel of the WB.

to strip the pretension from the phrase “class consciousness” and put it in plain text: the insertion of modern capitalism into the comic has necessitated the creation of an underclass to serve the gods (the focus of the comic). as a result, the comic has repeatedly needed to justify the abuse, exploitation and acts of dominance over the subjugated class in order for the main cast to remain sympathetic. the author is incapable of envisioning a world that does not operate on disparity, in spite of the immutable fact that the gods are the sole arbiters of seemingly infinite creation.

and i’m capable of comprehending that there are times when a work has grotesquely unlikable asshole protagonists on purpose. it could be argued that the fickle behaviors of the gods is SUPPOSED to be detestable and there are obviously times where that is the intended audience read. but this is not “succession” and the entirety of the work does not indicate that it is trying to create quiet commentary by inviting the audience to draw their own conclusions on the characters by simply presenting them with the truth of their actions and deeds. additionally, if the romantic hero also engages in that behavior and it’s unremarked on or encouraged by the author or the heroine, what is the intended audience read?

regardless, all this to say: i do not want to alter the content of the comic, but to verbalize how it reads to me as an audience member. the purpose of criticism is to demonstrate and encourage reflection and to help refine one’s own perceptions.

okay. right. the cars.

this is minthe. i could write 100000 more words about the treatment of her by the comic and, by extension, the author. her introduction is about as subtle as a brick: she serves as the evil whore foil to persephone’s virgin perfection. her introduction as hades’ randomly abusive, hyper-sexual, and cruel younger girlfriend is contrasted with persephone’s naivete, chastity, and sweetness. shes literally smoking a cigar and wearing lingerie. somehow she is not the hero.

like i said, there’s a lot to unpack with her but i need to stay on target. minthe is a nymph, one of many “beast races” (for lack of a better term) that populate olympus and fulfill menial tasks and jobs. for example, this guy runs a modeling agency.

a modeling agency that include car shows. or...dealerships. its not really clear. anyway: she is introduced to hades in a flashback through his brother zeus who sexually harasses her during her shift.

lol uh. or comes as close as he can without becoming objectively villainous instead of “rakish”. as a result, what plays out is all VERY schoolyard behavior.

he executes a 0/10 prank that still kills for some reason.

and then it happens. “it” isn��t a singular event limited to just the example im about to give. “it” is the complete undercutting of the dramatic and logical tension within the story and “it” happens with alarming frequency as the comic introduces more and more modern elements. each additional luxury vehicle or department story or cell phone comes with the artist being forced to depict the people (or in this case, beast races) providing those services. the author cannot imagine a world where luxury is not predicted on service or a product, even or especially when the existence of the service or product does not make sense.

back to “it”...hades poofs away:

if gods can poof and fly (as its been implied some or all of them can), what in the hell is the purpose of the luxury vehicle on olympus? the beast races are sure as shit not buying them as they are explicitly the working class in every single one of their appearances. what does it run on? who pumps the gas? who services the cars? the streets of olympus have been paved so that cars can be driven so this would suggest the city’s infrastructure was centered around the use of vehicles. does he hire someone to drive him around in it, despite the fact that he can teleport? he and persephone clearly use it to get around even though she can fly. these cars are so successful despite having an extremely limited number of buyers, they make enough money to hire booth babes all day explicitly so they can be sexually harassed by the men (of a superior magic immortal race) buying the cars.

why does an entire seemingly unnecessary industry exist within the confines of the universe?

all of the above questions are overthinking a basic logistical problem with the setting for anyone with a moral center: in order to be served, one must have servants. the entirety of the universe in LO is constructed around not a modern re-imagining of the ancient myth, but instead a lazy and depressing hodge-podge of various products and physical items the author places great value on as status items in the real world. and, sadly, this is not as a bit within the universe. this isn’t setting up any message other than the central one of the comic: love and worth can be quantified with a dollar amount.

hades’ department store (staffed entirely by beast races who are delighted and eager to serve their master) offers a purse that two beast race women drool over, only to be informed:

this scene has a direct and obvious purpose: through it, we establish that hades’ store caters to the ultra-ultra-rich. this is a level of rich that is unobtainable to anyone except the pantheon of gods, whose unique abilities maintain the fabric of reality and thus set the terms for the world they unilaterally control. at best, minthe, a nymph, experiences a fraction of this wealth when sugaring for hades. on the other hand, persephone is the heiress to a cereal empire (who is eating the....?.........you know what dont even get me started on that whole thing) so she is all but assured to be independently wealthy even if she was temporarily without funds during certain events of the comic.

back to the purse: hades and persephone arrive at his own department store so that she can have a restorative shopping montage. she learns a heart-warming lesson about how its okay to be rich in what i think is one of the most gratuitous and absolute dog-brained moments of the entire fucking comic, thus far, including the part where persephone gets big and accidentally steps on (real, human, ancient greek) people and has to go on the lam. her accidental manslaughters evidently require a tribunal and a trial of her peers, which is odd when contrasted with the justice meted out on the beast races indiscriminately and unilaterally by individual gods who act as judge, jury, and executioner.

granted these are not the nice gods (i can think of an event with demeter, persephone’s confusingly controlling mother, specifically, as seen above), but there’s an echo of this behavior when hades bullies two beast race women into divulging information about persephone. in one example, a woman purchases a hair comb from a pawn shop, ignorant that it was a gift from hades and persephone is the one who pawned it for emergency funds. when hades shakes her down and demands where she stole the comb from, she directs him to the pawn shop and he just...takes it. to give it to persephone again. whether or not she was made whole or is even okay with this is completely inconsequential to the author but left me, the reader, in a total lurch. the complete disregard for addressing this within the narrative is less shocking when taken into total account with everything else ive been talking about.

the sequence in which hades takes her on a shopping spree to both improve her mood and express his love was too grotesque for me on every conceivable level. it is not just the shockingly antiquated “women b shoppin!” stereotype presented as a healing process, but the open and shameless conflation of money and love, net worth and self-worth. what possible message could come from this except to reinforce that within the fictional universe of LO, it is the place of the lesser to fawn over what persephone is ultimately entitled to. it is her birthright as the protagonist/self insert and as a literal goddess who determines the creation of food...and nymphs. the underclass. the gods are responsible for the creation of their servants.

the industries exist because they are 1:1 representations of or conductive to what the author considers to be a desirable luxurious fantasy. i do not think there is a more complex reason than that, as that is the reason why the entire comic exists: as a personal love letter to the author’s tastes and desires. and frankly, that’s the point of comics. ALL comic artists should succumb to this desire. what continues to vex and haunt me however is the complete lack of reflection occurring despite the author putting these elements together and presenting them for an audience who then lapped it up without questioning what, specifically, was appealing about this and why. it is by sheer accident that these elements combine together to paint an unflattering picture of a culture that has created artificial disparity for no apparent reason than personal gratification.

my question, is this:

who fills the pot holes on the roads built exclusively so that the gods can drive their luxury cars? why do they do it? to get hades some pussy????

#long post #lore olympus

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hello, do you know of any ttrpgs where the players fight titans (or any other really BIG things), ideally in a fantasy setting? I've come across two kickstarters that looked really promising but both seem to have dropped off, Reach of Titan and Relic :(

I'm looking more for a Shadow of Colossus-style game than Monster Hunter, if possible.

Thanks!

Theme: Shadow of the Colossus

Hello friend, I have three games that I think you might like, and one game that’s inspired by Shadow of the Colossus, but has a different goal.

Titanomachy: Legacy 2nd Edition Quickstart, by UFO Press.

Welcome to Hekaton - a jungle-covered planet where stranded colonists hide from titanic monsters.In Titanomachy, the players are survivors living among the ruins of a colony devastated when colossal titans surged out of the planet's jungle and tore apart their space elevator and advanced infrastructure. Generations down the line, the titan Gigas has just fallen after a monumental battle that devastated your families. Now you know the titans can be stopped, but your families are weaker than ever. How will you build a world where you're safe?

This document gives you a jumping-on point for Legacy: Life Among the Ruins Second Edition, letting you try out the core game rules and pre-generated player options before breaking open the full suite of options available in the main book.

As a standalone game, you don’t need to have Behemoths in Legacy, but if you want a world in which they exist, all you need to do is ensure one person is playing The Order of the Titan.

In Titanomachy, you’ll get a taste of what kind of game that might be, and the online version of it is free! Legacy is a game primarily about surviving the end of the world and the way humanity rebuilds over time, so adding in the Titans is a way of providing a major obstacle to the goals of all of the factions involved. If you want a game that places the Titans as simply a piece in a larger story, this might be the game for you.

Facing The Titan, by Nicolas “Gulix” Ronvel.

“We are the Company. Hunters, warriors, mages, scholars, nobles, barbarians, we have been brought together for one purpose: to put an end to the reign of the Titan. Let us get to know each other and rediscover each other after all these years. Tonight, let us share our experiences so that tomorrow those who survive can tell the stories of those who fall.”

Facing the Titan is a GM-less, zero-prep roleplaying game, for one-shots games of about 3 hours. It has been designed and playtested for groups of 3 to 5 people. A solo mode is also available. You will play the Company, a group of heroes whose fate is to face the colossal Titan. And to destroy it!

This game divides game play into five distinct phases, starting with the Companions phase, which introduces your characters, and ends in the Clash phase, which is your Companions’ battle with the Titan. The game has a number of various Titans available for you to fight, with six basic Titans and ten extra Titans that were written after this game was Kickstarted. All of the basic titans look to be from a fantasy setting, but some of the extra Titans may allow you to change the setting of the game!

Trail of the Behemoth, by Dan Felder & Seamus Allen.

The world is filled with monsters that tower over the hills; beings that some call gods… And they want to eat you for breakfast.

As a Hunter, you stand between the monsters and humanity. Each hunt you’ll gather clues about your foe’s weaknesses, then engage in a climactic battle against the colossal beast, a monster so big that its body becomes the terrain on which the Hunters climb. 

This is a game that is designed to run quickly, with simple rules and easy monster creation. The game comes with five adventures that can be combined for a short campaign, or can be used as standalone one-shots. The combat is designed with a push-you-luck mindset, allowing you take more actions as long as you’re able to accept the risk. Once you kill the monster, your characters can upgrade their gear using pieces of the titan’s corpse to strengthen your weapons or armor.

Autumn of Giants, by Melody Saturn.

Autumn of Giants is a collaborative storytelling game of a group of humans guiding and protecting a Colossus on the way to rest and shelter for the Winter. It tells of a desolate and gentle journey through lonely and beautiful places. And of a small group of people who will do everything they can to protect a friend.

Move from location to location, describing the broad strokes of each environment from the colossus's perspective as a group and then zooming in on individual scenes from the humans' points of view.

Describe how your characters change over the course of the journey, using the shift, carry, and shed options. Face daunting Perils or find respite in Interludes with group scenes between locations.

This game has a much calmer vibe to it, being about shepherding a Colossus rather than fighting it. The locations given are very evocative, which I think would be very helpful when it comes to helping the players describe each place they visit. The game is about change; your characters at the start will not be the same by the time they reach The Sleeping Grounds. This game is also GM-less, which might make it a good fit for a table in which everyone wants the same role.

I’d Also Recommend…

The Wildsea, by Felix Isaacs, which has large creatures to fight but is more about adventuring on the Verdant Ocean.

Hellwhalers, by BrewistTabletopGames, a game of nautical horror inspired by Moby Dick.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #game recommendations #dnd #asks #shadow of the colossus #indie ttrpg

[hollowed-theory-hall]

The Ministry of Magic: Part 2/?

(Part 1)

The Wizengamot

So, I always got super curious whenever anything was mentioned about the Wizengamot because I love fictional governments and it seems like the most influential group of people in Wizarding Britain... politically, that is.

So, here is how I believe the Wizengamot functions and who are its members according to book quotes, a few Pottermore articles, and some of my reading about the real-life UK Parliament and House of Lords. This one is honestly fascinating and I really wanted to write about it. So here it is, a little longer than the last one.

Some History

So, like everything in Harry Potter meta, let's start with etymology (yay!):

So, Wizengamot is a play on the term Witengamot — coming from the Old English "witen", meaning wise men, and "gamot", meaning assembly. So, basically the name "Wizengamot" literally means: "assembly of wise wizards".

Now, the Witengamot is a term argued about among historians, since it probably wasn't used contemporarily for the council it refers to. But that council is the King's Council in England. This council, occasionally referred to as the Witengamot, was a council of advisors to the king of England and acted as a cross between a parliament (legislature) and a supreme court. This council existed from sometime before the 7th century and until the 11th century.

In the early 11th century (not far from when Hogwarts was founded), this Witengamot council changed its name to become the House of Lords, which is still part of the UK parliament today.

Because of this history, and the fact we know the Wizengamot acts as both a supreme court and parliament, I expect its history, functions, and members to resemble these older real institutions in British history.

With this in mind, all we know about the founding of the Wizengamot is that it happened pre-1544, but I kind of assume it happened in the 11th century around the same time Hogwarts was founded. It fits with the House of Lords coming into being in the muggle government at the same time. Additionally, Hogwarts was founded due to unrest of wizards living among muggles, to create a space and community for wizards to come together, a council like the Wizengamot is likely to be established as a result of these same environmental factors.

This pre-ministry Wizengamot was led by a Chief Warlock who was a member chosen from within the council. This position before the ministry was probably similar to that of the old Lord Chancellor position in the House of Lords. The Chief Warlock was, back then, the speaker and formal leader of the Wizengamot. Not only governing the proceedings but actually holding power over the council.

After the Ministry of Magic was founded, like the House of Lords changed, so did the Wizengamot. The Minister of Magic, along with: the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and the Special Advisor to the Wizengamot were added to the Wizengamot members.

The Senior Undersecretary to the Minister is implied to be chosen by the minister himself.

The Special Advisor to the Wizengamot during the books, is Elphias Doge, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a close friend of Dumbledore. This leads me to believe that Chief Warlock selects the person in this position.

The other change to the membership the ministry brought in is a change in the position of Chief Warlock, as now the Minister of Magic has a say in who is selected for the spot, hence why he could remove Dumbledore from the post easily. Additionally, the Chief Warlock doesn't have to be from within the Wizengamot anymore and can be an external person (Dumbledore wasn't a member before his appointment as he wasn't present in Harry's trial as a member of the Wizengamot). So the Chief Warlock post-Ministry of Magic, is less of a Lord Chancellor and more like the modern-day Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. This position is essentially being the main chairman presiding over meetings and making sure to follow formalities along with representing the House of Lords internationally, which is what Dumbledore does as a member of the International Confederation of Wizards.

Now, that we have a basic grasp of the Wizengamot History, what the Chief Warlock does, and the ministry-appointed members, let's talk about the other members and more detailed functions of this council.

Members

Harry describes the Wizengamot during his trial has about 50 members:

There were about fifty of them, all, as far as he could see, wearing plum-colored robes with an elaborately worked silver W on the lefthand side of the chest and all staring down their noses at him, some with very austere expressions, others looks of frank curiosity.

(OotP, 138)

Something I want to note about Harry's trial in book 5 in addition to this, is that Dumbledore was just removed from his post as Chief Warlock, and Fudge is leading the trial. As such, it seems that for Wizengamot meetings and trials before a new Chief Warlock is appointed, the Minister of Magic acts as temporary Chief Warlock for the proceedings.

So, who are these other almost 50 witches and wizards that haven't been mentioned so far?

Well, it was mentioned by Rita Skeeter in her book about Dumbledore in Deathly Hallows, that Dumbledore, at 17, with his graduation from Hogwarts got the temporary position of "British Youth Representative to the Wizengamot". This is a position that probably a student in their 7th year or a recent graduate gets recommended by the headmaster of Hogwarts to the Wizengamot. I don't believe the youth representative has a real vote or say regarding court cases and is more there in the capacity of an advisor.

The other majority of the representatives are probably, as the name House of Lords suggests, lords.

Membership in the House of Lords is usually not achieved by election and up until 1999, membership in the House of Lords was hereditary. Meaning, the membership passed from father to son. I believe the same thing is going on in the Wizengamot.

We know there are Wizarding families that have a history of nobility, Like the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, or House of Gaunt. The fact an "Heir of Slytherin" exists suggests a title that is passed down hereditarily otherwise the word "heir" has no meaning.

Now, we know that by the time we see the Gaunts in the pensive memories from the 1920s, they lost all their influence and are living in a hovel. This suggests the Wizengamot can vote out or vote in family memberships.

Also, the number of members in the House of Lords can vary for various reasons. I believe even families that have a Wizengamot membership don't have to send in a representative to the meetings, but they're allowed to. Membership in the House of Lords used to be for the duration of the Lord's life, which explains why there are so many elder Wizangamot members. This explains this joke from the WOMBATs about the average Wizengamot member age being above 87 (untrue).

So, which families have a Wizengamot membership?

1. Well, the Blacks, for one. With their title and wealth, I assume they are members.

2. We know the Malfoys don't have a membership. Lucius Malfoy is specifically mentioned to not have been present in Harry's trial.

“The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter,” drawled Mr. Malfoy. “Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes. . . . Snakelike, in fact . . .”

(OotP, 154)

Fudge had to tell Lucius about the trial since Lucius wasn't there.

3. The Potters are probably there.

It was mentioned on Pottermore that at least two Potters sat in on Wizengamot meetings:

Occasionally, a Potter made it all the way to London, and a member of the family has twice sat on the Wizengamot: Ralston Potter, who was a member from 1612-1652, and who was a great supporter of the Statute of Secrecy (as opposed to declaring war on the Muggles, as more militant members wished to do) and Henry Potter (Harry to his intimates), who was a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe, and served on the Wizengamot from 1913-1921.

(from Pottermore)

This is part of why I believe a family can have a member representing them if they are members of the Wizengamot, but they don't have to send anyone.

4. Ogden family and Marchbanks family (or Griselda's maiden name if this is her husband's name)

They are mentioned to be members in the Daily Prophet and Slughorn mentioned Ogden in HBP as well:

“Wizengamot elders Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden have resigned in protest at the introduction of the post of Inquisitor to Hogwarts.

(OotP, 308)

4. Bones family

Amalia Bones is present in Harry's trial, yes, she is there as Head of the DMLE, but the fact she is head of the DMLE suggests she is part of the Wizengamot (I'll cover this in the next section).

5. Crouch family

Same explanation as with Bones.

6. Smith family

As decedents of Helga Hufflepuff, they act very self-important and spoiled, along with an apparent wealth (both Hepzibah and Zacarias), I believe their family has a Wizengamot membership.

Other likely candidates but that I don't have specific proof for:

Longbottom, MacMillan, Flint, Bulstrode, and most other families that were allowed to marry into the Black family (it's just likely for the Blacks to marry in other Wizengamot families).

Functions

So, as I mentioned, the Wizengamot has two hats: The parliament, and the supreme court. Both of these are hats the real Hosue of Lords had up until very recently.

As a Legislature:

In the irl UK, the House of Lords has some limitations regarding the laws and votes it can pass since the UK parliament has a second house, the House of Commons. For example, the House of Commons is the only house allowed to make or change laws regarding taxation. They are also the ones allowed to vote non-confidence in the prime minister to remove him from office.

As the Ministry of Magic only has the Wizengamot, I assume no such limitations are imposed. It means taxation is within the laws and regulations the wizengamot has vote over.

Additionally, this implies the Wizengamot has a final say on who can or can't be Minister of Magic.

As I mentioned in the first post of this series, the main purpose of the Wizengamot as a legislature is to meet up and vote on the bills offered by any office in the ministry. These meetings are called a "Warlock Conventions":

“But it’s against our laws,” said Ron. “Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, everyone knows that...”

(PS, 167)

"Warlock", in general, seems to be a term used to refer to any wizard with a professional position in the ministry (Perkins, Bones, etc.). So essentially "Warlock" seems to mean "Government Wizard".

As a Supreme Court:

So, this is going to be a little bit about the Wizarding legal system and the Wizengamot's part in it.

Until 2009, the House of Lords was still the Court of Last Resort in the UK, meaning if the lower courts couldn't resolve the issue it went to them. In the Wizarding World it's a little bit different, but there are some similarities with the old functions of the House of Lords.

Essentially, the House of Lords had a group of lords known as "Lords of Appeal in Ordinary", these Law Lords would hear legal appeals, but had quite a few limitations on them.

As the Wizengamot does not share these limitations and a much smaller population, I assume the "Law Warlocks" in the Wizengamot are the only judges to exist in the Wizarding World.

That being said, not all magical cases require a full Wizengamot trial. There is the Council of Magical Law for smaller trials:

“You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law,” he said clearly, “so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous —” “Father,” said the boy with the straw-colored hair. “Father . . . please . . .” “— that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court,”

(GoF, 594)

A council like this actually existed in the House of Lords. After World War II, cases were heard by panels known as Appellate Committees, the minimum number of Law Lords per committee was four, but seven could be present for very important cases.

I believe the same is true for the Wizengamot, even down to the number of how many Law Warlocks you need to run a court.

The fact the trials we see in GoF were run by a Council of Magical Law and not the full Wizengamot explains why they are run by Crouch Sr, Head of the DMLE and a Law Warlock, but not the Chief Warlock who should head Wizengamot proceedings when all members are in attendance.

I'm not sure how many of these "Law Warlocks" there are in the Wizengamot or how many are actually needed for a Council of Magical Law. The numbers here are a bit of an assumption based of the real Hosue of Lords.

Other Functions:

All UK ministers come from the House of Commons, and more rarely the Hosue of Lords. As such, I believe in the Ministry, the heads of all the big 9 departments are chosen by the Wizengamot and the minister from within the Wizengamot. So Bones and Crouch being department heads, makes me believe their families are Wizengamot members.

The big 9 departments are:

Department of Magical Education

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes

Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures,

Department of International Magical Co-operation

Department of Magical Transportation

Department of Magical Games and Sports

Department of Mysteries

(This is not the order of influence of these departments, that's a different discussion of inter-department ministry politics)

This also explains why it's so hard for muggleborns to gain good positions in the ministry and why it's so rare for muggleborn ministers of magic to exist. Because the Wizengamot has a say in these appointments and picks their own members over others for the departments, and has the right to vote non-confidence in an elected minister (how the minister is elected is another matter).

This also creates the inherent problem for representation of creatures and mugglebors legally we see in the books, since, well, they aren't part of these old wizarding families, so they won't have a membership.

#harry potter #hp #harry potter thoughts #harry potter theory #hp theory #wizarding world #hollowedtheory #hollowedheadcanon #hp meta #harry potter meta

[springbloggy]

I was thinking about my beautiful ask with sitcom anon earlier, and came to a realization. Every "lore show" from the 2010s follow the same structure.

Each lore show follows this structure, give or take:

Child from another world, usually a girl, finds themselves in other world that's different to them.

(In the case of Steven Universe, it's a group of grown adults going to different world)

The character makes friends in the other world and over time and others from the world they came from also come into the new world as well.

A darker, seedier thing starts to pop up, bringing up a bigger mystery. As it turns out this cheerful, happy world is darker than it first appeared.

Then a big twist happens, the unexpected villain(s) reveal themselves, or perhaps a character had a shadier past than expected. Whatever the case, things are now in dark territory, and the main character and their friends are expected to fight them.

Then rushed ending cause they didn't think farther than the mystery. Star Vs. ends with the implications every magic character died, Steven Universe ends with a whimper bland note, Amphibia ends with one of the most controversial endings in Disney history. Really the only show here that got an ending that wasn't controversial or sparked defense within the fandom in some way is Owl House.

That isn't saying that following a basic plot structure such as this is a bad thing. Many stories follow a similar plot structure to each other. Heck this exact plot structure can be seen in Deltarune, which I consider a great story. So why then do I contest this so much? Let's count the ways.

Lack of pre-planning

Most of these stories lack the proper planning to land their mysteries. Many of these shows end in weak ways. Regardless of how a person feels about the endings of these shows individually, there was a great sign all over the internet that I saw of multiple people being disappointed by how these shows ended. By focusing more on the buildup to the mystery and the dark elements and not focusing on creating a satisfying story, many of these shows probably ended up having to create an ending on the spot when the time came for the shows to end, leaving disappointed fans and waste of time.

Deltarune, a game with a similar structure, already has its ending preplanned. In fact, its the inspiration for the games entire existence. While writing around an ending is odd, it shows the extra care to make the ending work by making the characters and stories compelling enough on their own without the ending having to overshadow everything. While predicting the ending and mysteries is fun, it is not the main focus of the game's story and shouldn't be.

Similarly, early FNAF had mysteries, but the games told a clear enough story about children getting revenge over their killer that the mysteries didn't matter too much.

Even fnaf 4, being as confusing with its mysteries as it was on release, told a compelling story of a terrified boy gaining nightmares of his favorite cartoon characters and ultimately dying to one of the animatronics.

VS. modern fnaf games where the games story is built around telling as much mysteries as possible over pre planning a good story, that it leaves the games a confusing mess. The best example is the mimic, where no one can decide if Afton is possessing it somehow, if it is not possessed by Afton, but a child, if it is not possessed at all and is just mimicing Afton, etc. Problems that all could have been solved had the story been pre-planned well in advance to clear up what was happening with the Mimic as early as possible.

2. Lack of variety

Many of these shows follow the same story beats with lack of subversion or differences, many of them also seemingly star in a the same type of location, just with a different "flavor". Star Vs. is Steven Universe with magic instead of space. Amphibia is Star Vs. but with frogs. The Owl House is Amphibia but without the alternate universe stuff and also gay people. Once you see the same story so many times, it becomes bland no matter what you do to make it different.

The 80s are a decade infamous for being bland, with cheaply animated shows meant to advertise toys. Yet all these toy advertising shows manage to have more variety than any of the popular shows from the 2010s. You have a show about robots protecting Earth, a show about ponies going on magical adventures, a show about bears who come to earth to help cheer up people, a show about a boy going into his favorite video game worlds, and more. Despite having the same purpose, to sell a specific toy, they all have such different environments, meanings, and genres from each other.

While the 2010s shows all have the same purpose, to teach about kindness (at least that's the general vibes I get), yet they all have the same genres, similar settings, and similar problems. Instead of building off the mistakes of one show and improving on them with a different setting, story, and message, each show chooses to steal each other's homework. Amphibia being the most overt example, with it putting Steven Universe's anime influences on it's sleeve and making a full on super-saiyan scene.

There's a certain point where it goes from being nice homages to other work you love to being derivative.

3. Lack of critique

People want to defend these shows because they are shows that they spent good amounts of time of analysis and interest watching. I can't persuade someone to dislike these shows, as everyone has different tastes. But I find it odd these shows can't be critiqued in the same way other media has been in the last decade. People are now critiquing the amount of superhero movies, how most animated movies in the 2010s had a twist villain of some sort, how Harry Potter has the most racist subtext ever. Yet, once you even glance at Star Vs., for example, you can't say a word? It's just a strange double standard I've noticed.

Ironically the want for people to see art "as a true art form" has people not treating it as a true art form by not critiquing it.

Conclusion

I am sure with the right amount of pre-planning, following good story structure, and respect to the audience a show with this structure could provide a good story.

Owl House has a big fandom and positive reception, and while I've personally hadn't had the interest to watch, I am sure a lot of why is that the show does handle this plot structure well. The fact the ending has not been contested in the same way other show endings have been prove that in a way, it can work.

But you can't just have one plot for every show forever, you need a variety of entertainment, or else things go stale.

In the 90s, many animators got sick of the corporate 80s and began making weird, offbeat shows, like the Rugrats. The 2010s, no matter how much people don't want to admit it, are a return to 80s sentimentality, but worse. All the work people did to make animation new, exciting, and different in the 90s got undone by people making the same show 5 times.

2020s, while sparse at first glance, are so much more interesting in terms of variety. A show about a girl and her ghost friend, fish out of water with a country family in a big city, a girl must save the world from robots, all within the same network. While there's a rise in reboots and its sad there's overall less animation coming out of the big networks, I feel like the future of animation and the variety it may bring is vastly more interesting than the 2010s.

#springy thoughts #long post #my fingers hurt

[firstagent]

Since you enjoy questions ranking between seasons, here’s one:

Assume the concept of Digimon never existed. Rank the main cast of each season in order of how cohesive the friend group would be if they met under mundane circumstances (with 1 being the group that would still easily be a tight-knit group of friends and last place being the biggest dumpster fire)

Wavered over this a few times and realized how crucial it was to define the circumstances better. Even if they're mundane, everything changes depending on if they signed up for whatever brought them together (like a club), how long they were stuck together (like camp), and if they had to accomplish anything as a team (like a group assignment). In the end, we're going with the most mundane of the mundane scenarios, and guaranteed to get diverse groups of kids interacting... if 80s movies are any indicator:

Saturday Detention

Just the characters stuck alone in a library for eight hours. Other than pre-existing relationships and friendships, they have never met before. They have no obligation to meet after this. They're supposed to be silent and doing their own busywork, but lol no.

No weed. Probably.

Frontier- If any group could benefit from eight hours of group therapy *without* something trying to kill them every five minutes, it's these guys. Takuya's not going to keep his mouth shut for long, Junpei's going to try (and fail) to flirt with Izumi, and as irritated as Koji is with everyone's antics, everyone's going to open up fast when Koichi pipes in with "hey I think you're my brother." They'll get a lot accomplished and won't forget it afterwards.

Zero Two- Absolute madness for the first hour or so when Daisuke and Takeru get into some stupid argument that Hikari has to mediate. This will get Miyako joining in trying to get them to shut up, with Iori jumping in when he finally gets sick of it. That'll calm everyone down and get them to realize that the way Miyako interacts with Hikari and Daisuke makes her a perfect fit in their group, dragging in Iori by force. Despite sitting in the back trying not to get noticed, Ken will get roped into their antics before the end of the day, and Daisuke will insist on inviting him to all future hangouts.

Adventure: (2020)- Two key reasons this version finishes ahead of the '99 team: this Taichi and Yamato don't argue that much, and Taichi's going to insist on everyone getting involved in whatever stupidity they invent to pass the time. Some will protest. Not just Joe: Koshiro will be awkward about it and Mimi may consider their goofing off beneath her until she can't resist joining the fun. They're not baring their souls or anything, but everyone will enjoy the nonsense too much to want to give it up at the end of the day.

Adventure- There's a clear line of demarcation between Taichi/Hikari/Sora/Koshiro, Yamato/Takeru, Joe, and Mimi. With nothing pressing on them, the streams aren't going to cross as easily. They'll slowly turn around once Hikari and Takeru start playing and Joe or Sora grow receptive to Mimi insisting on socializing with them. Yamato or Sora might accidentally let something meaningful out to somebody and a few new individual bonds will certainly be forged, offering some hope that the entire group of eight becomes a fully fledged squad.

Tamers- What are they supposed to do in detention if they're not writing poignant goodbyes to their frazzled teacher? You'll definitely see Takato, Hirokazu, and Kenta properly welcome Juri into their group longterm, but the others might be more of a struggle. There won't be as much of an impetus to bring in Jianliang, and he'd be content to keep to himself while keeping his sister out of trouble. Ryo might be welcomed in if the boys don't fanboy too hard, and approaches will be made towards Ruki. It's hard to say she'd be too receptive from anyone other than Juri, who's already a bit of an outsider, so it's an awkward fit going forward.

Xros Wars- Taiki and Akari have a good bond. Yuu and Nene have a good bond. But at some point these two pairs will get snippy with each other and start co-mingling. They will barely tolerate Zenjirou, but he's attached to them whether they like it or not. Kiriha's a wild card, since Taiki's going to try to include him once the other five are established. He'll probably cave after a bit, and enough pestering might get him to reveal something deeper that makes them consider staying friends in the future. But without anything meaningful like that, they probably can only stand each other in small groups and limited doses.

Appmon- Haru is perfectly content ignoring everyone except Yuujin and his stack of books. Rei is perfectly content ignoring everyone period. Eri and Astra will attempt to strangle each other at least once in the first two hours. But you'd hope they'd settle down and at least have a conversation where they gain a begrudging respect for each other. And they're both so damn gregarious that they'd at least try to get to know the other kids in the room. Haru and Yuujin are receptive and pleasant to talk to, but not really interested in hanging out afterwards. Wildly, this team shoots up multiple spots if we let in Ai as her instant rapport with Haru, Yuujin, Eri, and Rei would create a lot of meaningful connections in a hurry.

Hunters- First instinct is to put them at the bottom since none of them even come to like each other even with a world-threatening event they need to work together to prevent. But similar to Frontier or 2020, some of them just won't shut up. Tagiru is already friends with Taiki and Yuu and will absolutely try to suss out Ryouma, Ren, and Airu. And since those three may not have known each other prior to the Hunt, it might actually work. Not becoming friends with Tagiru so much, but in coaxing them out of their shell so that they talk to the others. Ryouma and Taiki could absolutely have a conversation contentious enough that they both appreciate the candor. Yuu and Airu will still turn into Yuu and Airu. There's every reason to expect everyone to end the day counting the minutes until they never have to see each other again, but there are enough pockets of potential that they all may get together as an excuse to exploit those nuggets of interest even though they all kind of hate each other.

Savers- Touma's happy to keep to himself and Yoshino's going to feel like she's babysitting Masaru and Ikuto. Those two will be absolutely insufferable breaking every rule they can, and Touma getting annoyed and rising to Yoshino's aid could well lead to a proper fistfight. Once Yoshino doles out the icepacks, there's a glimmer of potential if they can calm down and talk through their baggage, but even if they can come to some sort of understanding and appreciation for each other, they're all very different people at different stages of their life and unlikely for it to be more than a fleeting moment.

Ghost Game- Bottom for Ghost Game? But they made a pretty cool team, I hear you say. But like Appmon, they were forced into it! And judging by how much their friends comment on how weird it is that they hang out, they're probably not doing so under normal circumstances. This scenario brings them together, with one problem: Kiyoshiro's going to be a stickler for the rules and insist that they keep to themselves. And Hiro's just going to go along with that because he's Hiro. Ruli of course will be incensed about not getting to socialize, but again Hiro's not inclined to rock the boat. As a consolation, this may be the most likely team to feature some closet action as she'd absolutely drag Hiro away from Kiyoshiro for a chance to talk. But even if they strike up some sort of manipulative friendship, Kiyo's not a part of any future plans.

Oh, and since I've been thinking about this since the 02 movie...

Honorable Mention: The Movie Triplets- Maybe not quite as potent without their partnership challenges, but try sticking Wallace, Meiko, and Lui in a room together. Lui's got an awful past, Meiko has a deep compassion for broken things, and Wallace can meet them both halfway... plus willingly starts conversations! Eight hours will forge these three into an incredible friend group... or the most uncomfortable three-sided love triangle. Or both. Probably both.

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon 02 #digimon tamers #digimon frontier #digimon savers #digimon xros wars #appmon #digimon ghost game

[sweetspecterz]

SOME OF YOUR HEADCANONS FOR THE MAIN 4 ??!!!

im rubbing my hands together like a really stupid villain hehehehe okay I MADE A PAGE (that i hope can be read, click for better quality and zoom in to read!!)

these are kinda just the basics, but it's a start!! some more headcanons under the cut cause it might get long!

They're all childhood friends! Tord joined their pre-existing friend group around 6th grade (around year 7 if I'm correct about the UK equivalent!) Then he left at the end of that year and came back in 9th grade (about year 10, again if I'm correct) Expanding on something written on my little chart, Edd learned Norwegian to communicate with Tord better/get closer to him. That's when they all REALLY became best friends. They moved in together the second they graduated and had enough money. (Matt's parents helped and still help a lot with money especially in the first month or so they moved in.) They have a chore chart in the house, instead of it being turn based everyone has different consistent responsibilities! Tord's on meal making and dish washing duty, Edd's on trash duty and responsible for everything that comes with taking care of Ringo, Tom does most of the laundry, Matt does some of the laundry such as towels and wash clothes, but also generally just cleans around the house.

Putting threatening notes in each others rooms has become an inside joke between all of them. Edd started it and then it just got out of control severely. He's still the main person that does it and will sometimes print off nonsense images and leave them on everyone's beds. Tom secretly wishes the printer will break soon.

Uhh some dumb favorite song headcanons!! For fun!! Tord's favorite song is Hjerteknuser , his mother used to sing it to him when he wouldn't go to sleep as a kid. Tom can't choose one, if you ask him he'll go on for an hour and picking several different songs. He probably has this on repeat though.

Edd's also someone who wouldn't be able to pick, but honestly it's either Mr. Brightside or one of these two

Matt's is probably Paparazzi and I'm leaving it at that LMAO

#ask #eddsworld #eddsworld headcanons #ew tom #ew edd #ew matt #ew tord

[februaryfangfest]

This coming February, get hyped ‘cause we’re getting the family back together!

From February 1st-14th, we’re gonna be running an event to celebrate the Fanged Four and all their gleefully gory glory. We’re looking for all kinds of fan creations. Fanfic, artwork, vids, meta/essays, icons, poetry, gifs, wallpapers, crossword puzzles, anything that shows your love for the vamily.

Wanna take part?

We’ll be taking signups until January 15th, Check out our signup sheet! Multiple submissions are welcome. Submission deadline will be the 1st of February and we’ll be revealing your creations each day of the event, one per day - or more, if there’s enough!

Don’t wanna create a thing? Commenters are adored and will get all the cakes.

Rules:

The theme will be 'Valentine'

All submissions must be your own creation and shouldn’t have been posted anywhere else beforehand. We wanna encourage fresh creative blood to be spilt!

We’ll be providing details soon as to how to submit your work to our Ao3 Collection.

Stories and artwork can be set at any point in the past or future, in hidden glimpses we never saw in the show, reunion stories, worlds where Darla’s still around, they could be souled or unsouled, or in any what-if or AU your heart can dream up.

Your work needs to incorporate the theme in some way, and should involve at least two members of the Fanged Four. The main ship should be the Fanged Four or one of the sub-pairings (Spangel, Dangel, Sprusilla, Darsilla, etc).

Minimum word count for fic is 100 words, and there’s no maximum - one shots and chaptered works are equally welcomed, but they should be complete and not part of a pre-existing fic series. There’s no rating limit, but you should tag responsibly. No bashing of the group or its members please, we’re here to show them love.

The same goes for artwork, adult content is very much allowed but please tag accordingly.

And, of course, please be excellent to each other.

We have a discord server, Runs In The Blood , so come have fun there too, share the hype, discuss the gang, maybe find some new friends, ask us questions if you have them, and we’ll be running watch parties during the event!

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #fanged four #spike #angel btvs #buffyverse #drusilla #angel the series #darla #fanfiction #febfangfest2024

[furinana]

The Trolley Problem in SMTIVA and why I keep choosing Dagda

There are several ways one could analyze Danu and Dagda's philosophies (and in far more detail) but for this post I'll be talking in a simple and straightforward way through Pros & Cons with in-game evidence.

Personally, I see Bonds and Massacre's essential difference standing on 'I care for the now' and 'I care for a future with no suffering'.

-----Bonds-----

The price: - Dagda is replaced by a Dagda shaped by Danu - Humanity will continue to depend on religions thus the cycle of suffering continues for both humans and those who rely on human understanding (gods, angels, demons etc)

But you get! - The souls that were going to build the Cosmic Egg are set free - All of your teammates are alive with their sense of selves intact

It's an ending that favors the human side as it doesn't put the focus on blaming the humans but 'bad and tyrant' gods. Even though they become bad specifically from the observation done by humans.

Gods and demons will continue to exist by being observed and exploited and blamed on for their misery. But for Nanashi what matters is that his friends and allies are well and working together. For now.

-----Massacre-----

The price: - Human souls will be sacrificed to build the new Universe - Your teammates are alongside the sacrificed and if revived, have a different sense of self

But you get! - Dagda stays as the original Dagda - Humanity will become independent and self-sufficient from religions, sets free those who rely on human understanding (gods, angels, demons etc)

Here, Nanashi accepts solitude and taking on Dagda's god position for a future where religions and myths become pointless. No biases or influences that could twist the original nature of the world anymore so new humans will be born with unlimited potential of using the truth of the world for themselves instead of leaving it at the hands of deities. Unless an exterior force comes.

It's important to keep in mind that as cruel for his methods Dagda is considered, he doesn't favor a specific religion or way of thinking like how Law does and just wants Nanashi to avoid the root of his problems: the observation done by humans. To consider Nanashi as if he could be a second YHVH is to go against what Dagda is preaching for (and Dagda will still watch you as he disappears).

The best argument for this is shown in this summary from page 110 from the SMTIVA artbook (translated by dijeh):

As sidenote, while Brigid isn't shown in the main story, she has a cameo in Tír na nÓg (aka the DLC area where Dagda makes it available for you to train), in which Nanashi can meet various Celtic figures from pre-Christian Ireland:

So if you are going to point out Dagda taking advantage of the mental state of Flynn and your Goddess, just scroll up and look again at what Danu does. They use the exact same method, with the real difference between them is that Danu's solution is an endless cycle of punishing and policing ideas that will keep being reborn from humans while Dagda wants to give future generations of humans the power to not depend on religions and on the same line, towards gods and demons the freedom of expectations to conform to what humans demand of them.

The irony is that Danu's kind and wholesome outcome favors way less groups in the long way than Dagda's despite the game constantly throwing at you that he is the most self-centered of the two.

Krishna, the most fitting force to compete against Law and Chaos since hinduism is one of most popular religions (approx. 1.2 billion of adepts), advocates for the pagan religions to side with him so each gets its own slice of followers for a world order of polytheism instead of monotheism. It's an ending that favors deities associated to polytheism. Dagda does the opposite to Krishna: 1) uses the fact he is not a very well-known deity and hides in the Axiom from interference from other people and YHVH himself until he could meet someone with a powerful will as Nanashi so he can 2) force all deities and demons altogether to return to the nature.

Dagda's ending strips the powers and authority of all religions and gives them to humans.

Now, obviously we also count that how a player considers the 'price' and the 'reward' will commonly vary from the theory (f. e. players picking a side for liking or disliking a character regardless of the meaning behind their alignment or viceversa).

In fact, SMTIVA validates this option as you can still see Nanashi being able to choose dialogue where he looks down on his teammates while also disagreeing with Dagda.

Meanwhile, Nanashi in Massacre is able to show compassion when parting ways with them as well.

In other words, there's no such a thing as a route where Nanashi is 'locked' into a single type of personality. Nanashi can canonically choose a route for ulterior reasons beyond what Dagda or Danu originally wanted them to be.

The duality of being friendly out of selfishness or being aloof out of not wanting to be heartbroken are all possibilities.

One could even say that the latter is present in Dagda himself, particularly from the ways you might be able to view his relationship and treatment of Nanashi.

To put it simply, the perspective of Dagda seeing a son in Nanashi after getting distanced from his daughter and Nanashi seeing a father in Dagda due to his orphan background and rather... unbalanced dynamic with Asahi and Boss.

As how a certain quote goes, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. Taking into face value Dagda's grievances with influence caused by bonds with other people is similar to villifying the Chaos side without understanding the nuances of Law being what demonized it in the first place.

Dagda is intentionally made to be the bad apple of the game as a smokescreen for the player.

#smtiva #shin megami tensei iv apocalypse #shin megami tensei iv final

[aroace-polyshow]

Hi, I have a bunch of random questions about hw! 1) Do they sing the songs their group makes themselves? 2) Do they film their shows in the real world or in the Sekai? Do the virtual singers help them with that? 3) Are their relationships outside of hw more or less the same (e.g. Tsukasa with Toya or Rui with Mizuki)? 4) How likely are they to be recognized even with their masks? Has anybody in their lives already recognized them? Thank you for making this au, it lives in brain now

AWWAWAWAWA TJANK YOU FOR THE ASK I YELLED WHEN I SAW IT /POS

1- everyone except nene does, starting off!! given everything thats gone on with her, pre-main story she still can’t get herself to sing anymore, even for online songs where she isn’t performing in front of an actual in person audience. after main story she gets more resolve, and she does take some time to start singing again, but with her very supportive friends she starts to find her confidence in singing again :) (can i mention how overjoyed rui gets about it. can i mention how much he missed her voice. can i mention how AGAIN he is filled with so much guilt around how the sound of her singing coming from her room was replaced by suffocating silence after what happened. can i mention how genuinely happy for her and proud of her he is, that despite it all, that maybe they really do have a chance here, all together. sorry i’m insane about rui and that doesn’t change here.)

2- i’ve been debating on whether or not they start filming their shows at the closed off wonder stage actually! they do start off filming in sekai at least. i think both areas have their pros and cons, so they might end up alternating. not sure yet.

3- tsukasa and toya’s relationship have stayed the same, and same with saki. tsukasa’s past has actually stayed practically the same in general. i haven’t changed much about his.

mizurui on the other hand. ohohohohohohoho. fun fact i was brainrotting specifically about swap au mizurui a lot a while ago. bc this au co exists with wxs-ified n25. dont look at the old tag i had for them please. i want to fix them cause i have more stuff i want to add and like. do it better. but i haven’t gotten around to it. all you need to know is n25 now does theater shows together instead. yahoo. anyway i think about swap au mizurui a lot. because. augh. their relationship has stayed very similar to canon, being lonely outcasts who found each other on that rooftop, but it makes me ill bc. rui introduces mizuki to theater and shows. he might not do them anymore but he sometimes talks about them with mizuki and mizuki can see the love he had for them and they get curious. and they give it a try and find so much joy into doing shows and being able to express themselves on stage with less judgement while they act and finding people who DO accept them and while they’re not able to stay long it gives them hope, that there are people who will accept them as they are, and if mizuki’s lucky they won’t even lose them. like. rui who was so hurt by theater and things that happened with it and mizuki who finds so much comfort and hope in it. are you hearing me.

4- through the power of luck none of them really get discovered. i think the one thats the most likely to be recognized is tsukasa though, maybe with saki or toya stumbling upon one of their videos.

thank you for the ask again aND TY FOR LIKING IT I SAY IT A LOT BUT IM SO HAPPY IM INFECTING MORE PEOPLE W MY BRAINROT they make me insane

#asks #hollow ☆ wonderland

[yardsards]

okay so like, the small covens like we saw in covention are fascinating because like.

they definitely aren't included in "paint the land in nine bright hues". and we've never seen anyone with sigils other than the main nine. so presumably those covens don't brand anyone

but i doubt belos would allow a bunch of witches to walk around unbranded, just because they're in some other kind of coven

so i imagine witches need to get branded into one of the main covens but after that can choose to join one of the smaller covens instead of joining into the club/organization aspects of any of the main covens

and some small covens might only allow witches with certain sigils in. like maybe the tiny cat coven only allows witches with beastkeeping (or emperor's coven, maybe) sigils in. maybe there's an engineering coven that only allows construction, abomination, and oracle witches to join, or a nature coven that only accepts plants and beastkeeping, or a theater coven that only accepts illusionists and bards. others like the baking coven might allow anyone in but might be legally barred from accepting sigilless witches.

i almost wonder if covens like this existed BEFORE belos's coven system. because allowing groups other than his main nine to start calling themselves covens and acting like they're on par with the main ones sounds like something belos wouldn't allow unless they had ALREADY been calling themselves covens for a long time before his system. cuz it'd be easier to look at a pre-existing minor coven say "okay but you ALSO have to get branded into one of these covens" than "hey, you have to quit this group that you've been in for years with your closest friends and join this other group INSTEAD"

like, it seems like special little clubs with like-minded individuals with similar skillsets would form on their own, without someone like belos forcing their creation. i can see something like that existing in the "savage ages" because there there's been clubs and secret societies and guilds and unions for a long long time in real life

maybe belos even stole the idea of calling his main groups "covens" from those pre-existing covens. and maybe potions/illusion/healing/etc. covens already existed back then but were on the same level as all the other covens, instead of there being a hierarchy of major vs minor covens. it'd make it easier for people to accept his ideas of they just seemed like an extension of pre-existing concepts

ooor maybe they're all just subsidiaries of one of the main nine covens and will only accept witches from that one coven (baking would maybe be potions, then? and cat covens would be beastkeeping, writing would be bard, fashion would be illusions, etc.). who knows.

#eliot posts #toh #the owl house #coven system #toh analysis #toh meta

[stormbite-art]

i feel morbidly curious since i've been looking at old sb art and stuff, what was the original story/first draft like? story-wise and character-wise? again, just curious

The original first draft, version 0.001, pre-alpha, unrendered version of Stormbite was a hot mess, but there are still some anachronisms of it in the published version because I loved messing around with it in its raw form.

RIP Version 0.001 - Circa. 2012~

The first version was written by an angsty, unknowingly asexual, hyper stressed, nerd-ass teenager full of spite filled ambition, who had a little book/art club of other nerds who were into art, manga, video games, hyperfixations on birds, mushrooms, fish, and all other niche Ology zones, that they wanted to entertain and please. We all liked sci-fi and fantasy, non-human protagonists, were all raging angrily about how a certain series was going and the state of YA fiction at the time (it was those dark 2009-2013 years where all YA fiction was paranormal romance love triangle bullshit).

Because I was full of spiteful ambitious rage, and it was not my first rodeo in deciding to make a creative project of some kind, I decided to do my own story/comic with some characters created by my nerd club friends.

It was entirely what you'd expect of a teenager who did not fear cringe and was just wanting a good time to entertain friends. Plots were flexible abstract things, and canons were loose. Ships passed in the night, and AU's were golden and hyper modifiable to fit any scenario or adaptation. There was no lore or world rules, it was a free for all.

I managed to get through almost 20 pages of colouring this super rough comic, and doing what is essentially still the first chapter without really doing a script or any forethought into what happens next. Version 0.001's remnants still exist in chapters 1-5 and that is it, everything else after that came later when I decided that drawing took too long, and writing was faster and easier to change. Drawing out thumbnails of scenes did help in writing what happened and how a fight played out however.

The original versions of the characters however:

Storm had the full anime works: She had a split personality with colour changing, glowing eyes, possessed by the spirit of her dead twin, a metal collar that couldn't be taken off, lightning and frost powers, nerdy t-shirts and converse.

Kat was originally a blonde-haired blue eyed white girl, with blue jay wings which changed. Her tail was cut off, she was a trained assassin who wore revealing ninja outfits, her and Amell was meant to be a thing.

Beth had a pet owl called Harrold who was a spy for her, wore a cavaliers hat and was a self-proclaimed technomancer who could hack anything and control technology, was cheerful and helpful, had all of her limbs, and was obsessed with blueberry muffins.

Wilny was pasty emo boy with scraggy hair and much greener wings. Also he could actually stop time rather than mess with perceptions to make it feel as though time has stopped.

Amell was a skinny, lanky dude, greek rather than kiwi, and had blue eyes, and could lift a car in flight.

Comet was more of a main character with a kind of disturbing backstory, long hair, reality manipulation powers

Raoul was a wolf-girl before she became Asena and Raoul his own person. Palmer didn't really fully exist.

Malana is more or less the same, but was meant to have horns at one point and was created in Risio but was a reject.

Sabre & Fell were generic bad guys. Rex was a good guy.

There was also a lot of other characters who either have been recycled into other minor characters (ex. Rai, Asena, the Varren group ((that was the first rodeo)) or Roux) or have been lost to time and cut completely.

Of course, time goes on, you grow and change, develop and redevelop both what you like, how you work, what you can do and prefer, so of course it evolved a lot more and there was a lot of changes along the way.

Personally, I think they all look a lot better now.

#stormbite #storm fraser-swann #avios

[treeba-rk]

Yh i agree about people s obsession with new duos. And don t get me wrong, sometimes new and unexpected duos are great, i m talking to the treebark burner account! Ranchers were also great, and totally out of nowhere. But i think people are a bit too obsessed with 1 creating new duos and names in order to portray new narratives and theories and 2 making every close relationship romantic or familiar, as if close friendships, qprs or just good ol' rivalries did not exist 3 ignoring female ccs, even more so when it gets in the middle of a ship (this happens with women in every single piece of media btw).

Male-female friendships (or ships) are often ignored bc i feel a lot of fans feel as if these fanon relationships are somehow more "real" and not roleplay bc they are a "straight couple" (c'mon people, most of us are queer what are you doing with this mentality?), and are more likely to assume you ship the creators and not the characters, or worst, to actually assume the ccs are together irl (which was the reason some female ccs were against shipping in the 1st place). Re: this point, I will give an special mention to bee duo though, the fans really assumed they liked each other irl, which was very creepy considering they were underage at the time.

F/F ships are also often snubbed, although lately i ve seen them become a lot more popular, such as nature wives and more recently Gem & Pearl (ik the ship has a name, but i ve decided to ignore it bc we are better than that), which has been satisfactory to see. Still a long way to go though.

Hope i have explained myself correctly 👉👈 english s not my 1st language so i m kind of nervous about dping such a long post about such a complex issue. Feel free to correct me

no you're all good! thanks for the ask 🫶

also sorry to anyone who's here for tree bark only bc this acc is basically my alt now lmaoo (due to me keeping anon off on main)

you're right that ppl want to create new duos and narratives but sometimes... those ppl aren't that close. or had three interactions in a series. that isn't to say they're not friends or friends can't become close in a short amount of time. but the fandomisation and trying to come up with an incomprehensible name instead of saying their names is kinda ?? to me personally. not that's bad, it's just... i don't really get why you won't use their names. especially when it's not a long established group that frequently collabs.

you're so right about male-female friendships and especially in this fandom. i feel like m/f shipping in this sphere (outside of the obvious lizzie/joel) is seen as taboo bc it could leak into m/f irl shipping. at least that's why i was squicked out for like two years. esp bc m/f irl shipping was / is a problem (for example, i still see ppl asking in their public yt comments if stress and iskall are together. during hc2 people thought mumbo and false were dating when he was like 17 and she was in her early twenties and it's just fucking weird to truth in people's comments).

(unrelated to this discussion but i will always be salty that the antihcshippers never bring up the point of REAL AND ANNOYING M/F IRL SHIPPING IN COMMENTS and instead bully scar/grian shippers on twitter or whatever. really shows that they never cared about cc's "boundaries" or feelings and just want that fandom moral superiority. quick have you been to comment sections of eps posted by the women in like 2017. have you seen the random twitch chatters.)

the fanon side of m-f friendships/ships in hc is interesting bc pre gem and pearl, the three women had their "designated guy bestie that they always collab with" and it's quite obvious who: stress-iskall, cleo-joe, false-ren (to a lesser extent cub). former two are basically the only prominent m/f ships (iskall in particular plays into it). i had talked to ppl in dms about why false/ren isn't prominent and my main theory is what i call the yaoi shield bc ren is shipped with a lot of men LMFAO (also something something about ren/iskall and false/stress being complements to avoid the "boring" m/f shipping).

but i still wish m-f friendships get more recognition 😔 like if you're not shipping them in the character sense, there's no risk of being seen as irl shipping, so technically it's no different from same gender friendships, right? 🤡 and i do not like the instant "siblingification" to create a fanon familiar bond to avoid shipping. like sometimes it works. a lot of the time it doesn't. people can just be friends. and they all are actually friends.

ok, more of a tangent here, but dug up an old ass convo from 2021 in which there was a point like "sometimes romantic relationships can happen between ccs and it is definitely more feasible than ccs becoming family via marriage/adoption" and i said "so technically 'shipping hcs' are less weird than 'same family hcs'. hm". soooo 🤡🤡🤡 it's totally fine if you don't wanna ship, but it is also TOTALLY fine to keep them as friends instead of siblings / family hcs. i think this fandom has enough awareness now to know you mean friends when you portray them as friends.

i'm happy to see more yuri bc yuri is almost always the least popular in fandoms. but i think m/m and f/f also has the vibes of "less likely to be perceived as irl shipping so we can go wild" while m/f character shipping is still treated with caution? and people really don't want ccs to misinterpret it as irl shipping? tbh i feel like the modern day fandom has gone into "god forbid a man and a woman are friends" that m/f is seen as the "boring" "cop-out" and it goes all the way around. like yeah sometimes it's boring. but not the point of it being nonexistent lmfao like m/f could be funnnnn!!!!!! and they can be queer too!! bi4bi, t4t!!!! or they can just be hetero idk!!

anyways. as a m&f / m/f main i have Thoughts. but yeah 👍

#ask box #answered #shipping

[byfurries4furries]

Remember the Flowers (Sci-Fi Visual Novel)

So most visual novels I've talked about on this blog have been from Echo Project, a development studio that is famous in the furry visual novel scene for making some of the most acclaimed VNs in the furry fandom and for actually completing some of them. Remember the Flowers isn't made by them though. Its creator, primary writer, and artist are all Jericho. The only connection it has to Echo Project is that its music is done by Anthemics, who's a regular OST composer for Echo Project games like Arches, Khemia, Interea, and a few tracks on the Smoke Room. Because of that, the soundtrack to this VN is really stellar, as most of Anthemics' work is.

Now I will warn you that it is really hard to not spoil this game as the story contains two really major twists that precede some of the best parts of the entire game. I will try though. With that out of the way, the game starts with the protagonist having a nightmare before waking up in the middle of class. He's a college student who's sort of coasting by on his journey to become a doctor. After correcting his teacher on his lesson after he was caught napping in class, he soon gets dismissed and makes some plans for a date with his boyfriend before taking a nap in his dorm room. When he wakes up, he's in the middle of a dark alley with long white hair, a bloody headwound, medical scrubs, and the inability to remember basic details about himself. Fortunately, he's found by Cooper, whose job it is to find humans like the protagonist and take them to a safe haven called Resoom where he can get help once he's safe. It's only now that you find out this world the protagonist is waking up in is a futuristic scifi dystopian world, unlike the more or less regular modern setting the story started in, but with some characters who are anthropomorphic characters, because furry.

Now before I threaten to spoil the game, let's go over some positives. The biggest one I have is the serialization. One problem a lot of unfinished visual novels have is that they have a hard time finding a place to pause the story before the next update. Arches does this pretty well while 9:22 does this really poorly. Remember the Flowers, thankfully, not only has chapters that begin and end in pretty good places but it also has groups of chapters called "Arcs". Each Arc could be a visual novel in its own right and it makes RtF feel like a compilation of a VN series rather than one long VN. This is especially good because the creator is not working on this game as their main job, so they can't afford to do frequent releases. However, the structure makes it so you can just read to the end of the last completed arc and be satisfied with waiting until the next arc is completed. Each arc is bookended by a major twist or a major character revelation that sets the new status quo of the next arc. The first arc is definitely the weakest one, as the only major character besides the protagonist is Cooper and it provides a lot more mysteries than answers. However, the second one is my favorite, but the third and so far last completed one is really a great contender if not for the fact there's not a lot to do except hang out, but the character exploration is really fantastically done.

Now for other positives, the protagonist, Cyrus, is probably the most well-written human protagonist in a furry VN. Human protagonists have a very terrible reputation in furry VNs for being extremely bland player-insert characters whose self-identity is so non-existent that you usually get to pick their names. It's such a negative stereotype in fact that Furry VN databases usually include "Human Protagonist" as a tag to filter out. Even Adastra falls into this trap to an extent. But Cyrus is not a bland character. For a few things, he's asexual and has a pre-established boyfriend, childhood friends, and his own career path and interests. Although he still has about as much personality as Marco in Adastra at the beginning of the game, as the plot progresses and he finds out more about himself and the world around him, he slowly has more and more personality and development to his character and the fact he sorta fills the role of a player-insert early on makes the dramatic beats hit that much harder, because then the progression to what he's like later on makes so much more sense, because you can't help but imagine that if you were in his place, you would probably end up the exact same way. This is exemplified in the text. In the first arc, he's just wide-eyed and curious. In the second, he's maintaining a much more critical outlook, trying to assess everyone he meets and every piece of information he gets carefully. In the third, he's robotic and describes everything very matter-of-factly. He feels like he's talking in the third-person for how bluntly he describes everything. But he does start to get back in touch with his humanity as the arc goes on. However, in the fourth arc, while he's almost back to his old self, there's a distinct lack of self-regard or care for his own well-being. And each step from the beginning of the game to the last update feels natural.

Now I did make it clear that the first arc has some problems. It's unfortunately very slow and not a lot happens. Most of it is used for some broader establishing information, but the actual plot is boringly simple. Cyrus goes home with Cooper and spends a day or two at his house, he then goes with Cooper to get some supplies, and they hop on a train to the pickup spot. Until the arc-ending twist, that's most of what happens. And because Cooper and Cyrus are the only major characters of that arc, there's not a lot of dynamic to play off of and because Cooper is very secretive, there's also not a lot of information to find out. In the second arc, you get introduced to 4 major characters, 3 of which have their own dynamics with each other who are also a lot less stingy with information and a lot more open about their backgrounds and who they are. And any information they do withold, they make sure to explain why they are witholding it and that in itself can give you something to mull over, or it can inform their characters, such as Axel who withholds the absolute minimum information he's been commanded to, Ring who is very stingy with what he reveals and rarely reveals basic information except on accident, and Rose who barely conceals any information if she can manage to remember it. Also, they do reveal most of what they are witholding anyways by the end of the arc. So by contrast, the 2nd and 3rd arcs are very entertaining and well-paced even if it does get a little slice-of-life-ish by the third arc. I wouldn't recommend skipping the first arc though. It still has its moments and there's a lot of important information in it you can't miss.

I'd say Remember the Flowers is definitely a great visual novel even in its unfinished state, especially since it's more like a game series anyways. I highly recommend it and I would do that even for first time players. If you want your first furry visual novel to not feel like a dating sim, then RtF is a really good choice. I would recommend it over Adastra only to people who really don't need visual novels to be completed to like them. With that said, until next time, keep on yiffing

Links

itch.io

#furry game #furry media #furry visual novel #visual novel #furry #remember the flowers #jericho #bf4f

[krpgarden]

hi, lovely! hoping to get some opinions on a potential 21+ discord rp. 🫶

that main idea revolves around a slice of life + idol!oc rp based on the themes, dynamics, and vibes of K/DA and HEARTSTEEL ( k-pop group themed branches of the league of legends universe )!

* quick disclaimer : you don't need to know ANYTHING at all about league of legends, as it'd solely be based around the vibes. no game lore will be involved! * side note : skeletons will be made available to those who might need or prefer them, but are never required!

in its most basic form, the rp will be a slice of life + idol!oc rp, based in the city, and surrounding the lives of the k-entertainment industry's musicians with pre-existing groups.

we won't be using a debut / progression system! that means no points systems or anything tedious to keep up with - just a soft cap to how many voice claims, song claims, or media claims can be taken at any given moment as a safety net on having too many claims at once.

a set number of group slots, soloist slots, and even staff positions will be made available ( maybe even actresses / actors? who knows! ) upon opening, with more to be added with the opinions and feedback of the community!

darker themes and drama are not only allowed, they're welcomed and encouraged! have an idol muse who's always tied to scandals? an ex-idol who was kicked out for the wrong reasons? a successful soloist who's bought their way to the top of the charts? idols who are fake-dating just for publicity? bring us all of it!

all in all, think of it as a live-service rp where the admins engage with the community as much as possible as a means to obtain likes and dislikes, wants and needs, and other things that may come up. there's still a lot of details to work out, so i wanted to see if people would be interested in something like this!

thank you so much in advance!

Hi there, thank you so much for your message 💚 This sounds like a great idea, I’m sure people would be really interested!

Friends, if you’d be interested in this kind of roleplay, leave an anonymous vote below or interact with this post in any way.

#krpgarden: interest checks #krp

[starsweepers]

cleo verses i need to actually put on her page when it exists:

main. post-mh2 movie. cleo is glad to have her group of friends, to manage clawdeen's prefect status, and to be a part of something. she's still learning how to properly express herself and communicate, but she's made great strides... this will generally be pre deuce leaving on his trip ( i imagine there's a time skip between the prefect announcement and his departure ) and the reaper and all coming for now to allow for expansion when that movie inevitably comes out. her father is frustrated and annoyed with her for letting clawdeen take the status of the school's beloved as cleo's roles in helping save the day relatively unacknowledged. he is driving her more and more to make him proud, something she's teetering with in terms of personal desires. nefera is ruthless and continues to make cleo feel like a failure. the younger princess still comes at things with a relentless confidence but she's also prone to seeming more to the sidelines often, feeling broken and confused but never showing it to anyone who doesn't know her well. she's still battling feelings for deuce but has stepped back, not intending to intrude ( partner dependent if deuce is with claw ).

post mh1. cleo has been knocked back a few pegs. she keeps quiet about her role in defeating komos and has fully embraced clawdeen as a hero and newfound friend. that doesn't mean she handles it well, and can still come off rather haughty.

post saving deuce. this is based off plotting i've done with amber where our take on mh3 right now is that while claw and drac are focused on saving frankie and the school from the reaper, cleo realizes deuce is in danger. she manages to find a way to the underworld at the risk of her own undead life being away from her heart... but she brings him back. the two are conflicted on their feelings and mending old wounds... cleo is still figuring who she wants to be, but she's finally breaking more away from her family's influence to take what she wants.

human. cleo's family comes from old money. mainly the oil industry. she doesn't know a life without servants and admiration. but losing her boyfriend deuce has caused a turmoil in her she doesn't know how to handle, but one her father and sister absolutely rip her up over. her father always sends guards and the like with her, ever since his wife disappeared...

#these are not perfect and need more fleshing out #but putting here for when i had the brain and creative power for verses updates #&&. ooc ( the queen sunshine princess ) #pre-movies is just jerk cleo dating deuce lol