#I don't like ROLE PLAYING games where I'm not given choice lol

[dandylion-virtual-adventurer]

idk why I keep seeing people say who they're gonna "pick" in AC Shadows. They are BOTH protagonists. It's not like Odyssey or Valhalla. It's like Syndicate.

Also,

here's a quote directly from Ubisoft:

"Naoe and Yasuke’s disparate personalities also lead them to have different relationships and rapports with other characters, and they don’t always feel the same way about people, nor do people always feel the same way about them. Romantically, they will also attract and be attracted to different types of people. Through the pair, players will get to experience a multitude of relationships."

Also Also, Naoe is only 17 when the game starts!

[coffeenonsense]

I usually try to stay in my lane most of the time (mostly bc I am far too old for fandom drama) but what the hell, it's friday, let's put that lit degree to use:

the way people are playing morality politics with fiction is really starting to genuinely irk me and I think some of the responses to ascended astarion are a perfect example of why this type of thinking is actually hugely detrimental to one's ability to meaningfully engage with fiction and also to the future of art.

astarion is one of the most well-written complex characters I've seen in recent years bar none (and I'm clearly not alone given the explosion of his personal fandom lol) and he has a truly compelling, emotionally resonant character arc whether you ascend him or not

If you keep him a spawn, you get a deeply touching, realistic character's journey to healing and personal growth where he learns who he is after the experience of his trauma and depending on the player's choice, explores his relationship to sex, romance and intimacy

If you ascend astarion, you get an equally emotional and well-rounded character arc where he chooses the power that allows him to have the desperate freedom and safety he's wanted, but in the process eschews any hope of real healing or personal development, and again, depending on the player's choices, restarts the cycle of abuse by taking cazador's place.

These options offer vastly different paths for the character and experiences for the player, but while yes, ascended astarion is the evil ending, and yes, ascending astarion is a tragedy, and a fucking incredible one (not only do you have astarion reigniting a circle of abuse but you have the narrative weight of KNOWING he could have actually overcome his trauma...hats off to the bg3 team tbh) but that does not mean ascending astarion MAKES YOU AS THE PLAYER EVIL

Ascend astarion because you love tragic story arcs, ascend him because you want to indulge in a master/slave vampire fantasy, don't ascend him because you want a healing character journey, don't ascend him because you want a sweet romance; all of these choices carry the same moral weight for the player, which is to say, none, because they are an exploration of fiction.

I know I'm saying this to the villain fucker website but it bears repeating; just because someone wants to engage with evil, fucked up characters or content does not mean they support evil acts in their real life, and furthermore, exploring dark, taboo or tragic concepts safely is part of what fiction is for. It enables us to look at those things from a distance, work through difficult feelings and develop greater understanding of what makes our fellow humans tick — and before you get it twisted there's also no moral issue with exploring fucked up media bc you're horny or just, because. You can take it as seriously (or as sexily) as you want.

It's starting to really concern me how many people not only do not get, but are violently opposed to this concept, because equating what someone likes in fiction with their real life moral code and actions is an incredibly dangerous and let's be honest, immature way of thinking that not only stunts your ability to engage with fiction but ironically, hampers your ability to deal with complicated issues and emotions in real life.

I don't know what's driving this trend (though purity culture is certainly playing a role) but it's definitely something that's not just impacting individuals but contributing to the commercialization of art, where we get games and stories and tv shows and books that regurgitate the same safe, mass marketable plotlines and character archetypes over and over and over again so corporations can squeeze out as much profit as possible.

Anyway, remember kids: There's no such thing as thought crime, reaching for morally pure unproblematic media is directly contributing to the death of art, and this is why funding the humanities is important.

[just-a-carrot]

Hey, Carrot!!

Just wanted to confirm you that your self-indulgent does, in fact, also mean "us-indulgent" 🤣🤣

I've just played the game and I loved it🤩🤩

I was kind of mad when I saw that I could only choose the options with the hand so many times before the bar depleted and lost the chance of getting the true ending. (I wanted to "make a jest" so bad every time it appeared 🤣🤣)

I adore the menu screen once you get THE ending, it's just so sweet I will stare at it forever🤧🤧

Btw, the whole game reminded me a lot of that one piece of art from some time ago and I can't help but wonder: did this piece sparkle the idea of the game (like, the conversation that they could have given their roles, which would eventually become the game)?

Or maybe it's simply that they both happen in the same place and are inspired by dd2(?🤣🤣

(Also, I know almost nothing about dd2, what does it mean when his hand started glowing?)

WAH

i'm really happy you enjoyed it... 💕 thank you for playing! lkdjflaksdf i'm sorry about forcing you to choose other options 🤣 there are a couple different ways you can reach the end. i think you only need to save up will for like... maybe 2(?) choices. and there are a few possible choices where not choosing the hand option will still let you proceed

the rest of this got kinda rambly also with vid/images so i've put it behind a cut (what's wrong with me)

LOL i wouldn't say this game was directly inspired by that specific art piece, moreso that that place in the game is just really inspiring to me because it's so beautiful, so it fills me with all sorts of soft feels (and ideas) and also just gives me a sense of calm. it's also why i have so many shots of it in the music video LKDJFALSKD i think i've spent literal hours there i have so much footage there of just clips like this:

so it was more just me wanting to do something soft and sweet so my mind immediately went back to this place

re: the glowing palm scar LKDJFALKSDFA THAT'S...

ok so. mmm. the scar itself in-game is essentially a symbol of his connection to the arisen (iggy). it glows every time he gets summoned from a rift stone and is reunited with iggy... i think it might possibly glow at other (canon) times though it's hard to tell because until recently genzou's outfit always had gloves and/or he's often holding a weapon in his right hand (so i can't tell for instance if it glows when he's revived...)

on the left is the best shot i've gotten of it when not glowing. on the right is the only good shot i can get of it glowing because for this cutscene the game removes his glove lol... now that i have him in the new outfit with half his hand showing though i'd like to see if i can get a good shot of him being resummoned to see if i can see the glow. i need to try pausing and zooming in because i only have this faraway shot:

however for him to be resummoned it means he needs to die and that hurts my heart (and makes his affection go down LKDJFLADS) so i don't like doing it (but i would do it for science...)

ANYWAY. there isn't any actual explanation or lore given for it in-game besides being shown it and knowing that all pawns have this scar and it's their symbol. but ofc like so many things about this game, my head ran away with me and started coming up with many of my own head canons about the scar. mostly that i have decided it reacts to like... their connection in general. strong emotional responses between them (like when they kiss... ldkfajsldkfa). a literal symbol of genzou's internal psyche in relation to iggy and it'll flare up sometimes as a strong reaction to something about iggy, etc. i like to think that genzou gets embarrassed by it because it'll flare up if he's feeling particularly strongly LOL

i-it's just very precious to me... i think it's very sweet and cute and i love it very much...💦

I'M SORRY FOR RAMBLING I LOVE TALKING ABOUT THEM AND THESE SILLY HEAD CANONS LKDJFALSKDF

[peach-and-bugs]

Need to hear more thoughts about mistylot, please? 👀

I wrote a whole blurb about them thinking it was saved, only for my laptop to unexpectedly reboot when I took a break, so this is my second time writing this lol

Why I love MistyLot and why it should be canon

✰ so, I'm personally the fondest of teen MityLot, specifically after Lottie gets her shit rocked by Shauna in s2 ep7, bc Misty gets to do what she does best, and that's taking care of someone who has no choice but needing her!

✰ Lottie is someone who clearly didn't have very present people in her life. She was kind of given the "money instead of parenting" kind of treatment if you get me. She had everything she could want, except for her parent's attention. I like to think her mother tried her best, as we do see her show concern for her daughter, but ultimately her father controls the family dynamic

✰ and then we have Misty who we know next to nothing upbringings, except that her parents are in the medical field. I personally headcanon that her parents were a really sweet and doting couple, but almost to the point of being overbearing. Misty gets her craving for attention from her parents because she's grown up with that dynamic and thinks it's completely normal. But they also taught her the importance of taking care of the people you love by any means necessary

✰ While this definitely isn't the healthiest dynamic, (but let's face it, who actually has a healthy dynamic in Yellowjackets?) in a weird way it works for the two of them. Misty has someone to look after and care for while Lottie gets what she perceives as positive attention for a change

✰ The attention Lottie gets out in the wilderness isn't what she wants. She didn't mean to start some religion surrounding the wilderness. It just kind of happened given that she was off of her medication and was delusional, also while being surrounded by fellow delusional girls

✰ But Misty isn't delusional. She doesn't believe in anything supernatural when it comes to the wilderness. It's like a game of make-believe to her and she enjoys playing that game with Lottie, but I don't see it in a manipulative way. I think ultimately she understands Lottie's delusions and knows she's sick. She knows that Lottie is fragile both mentally and then physically after the fight, so she takes on this caring role for her

✰ And I think over time, this dynamic turns into a messed up kind of love where they don't know if it's really love, but they find comfort in one another regardless, so it must be something

✰ I also kind of see it how Lottie sees religion. When Lottie was baptized in the lake, she didn't do that because she suddenly believed in god and wanted to convert to Christianity. She was scared of what was happening around her and how she was seeing her world, but she had this person giving her an "explanation". If she could believe she was getting visions from god, it made the reality less scary. Misty and Lottie's "love" is very similar for both of them

✰ this became a lot more analytical than I originally planned on writing, but if you want more sweet dynamic stuff let me know! I think these two would make such a weird, fun couple together

[house-of-mirrors]

(Preface: this rant is motivated by a reddit post I got annoyed by lol)

Heaven forbid a character aligned with the Liberation has nuance and exists in a gray moral area, I guess having ruthlessness as a personality trait makes you as bad as tyrants (unless of course you choose a certain ambition ending then you can do no wrong in reddit's eyes 🙄)

Oh you're "revolutionary?" You're not allowed to make a choice motivated more by emotion than rational thinking ever again. And don't even think about being a complex character and making misguided choices sometimes because it proves the Cause is actually evil.

If the game had a black and white morality system where everyone made clear-cut right and wrong choices, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting, and it would lack one of the core tenets of the horror genre

Idk like, if you think the Masters have sympathetic qualities even tho they've done so much bad, you can extend the same grace to rev characters.

This is a calendar council apologism blog, especially the winter months

Evolution spoilers under the cut

This was sparked by an interpretation of December on the Reddit that I did not care for lmao. classic reddit tbh

Do I love the Naturalist and want him to be ok and think it's an odd move that a chain breaker would want to force a character into a role they don't want? Yes. I'm not saying I agree with the logic if it is in fact the case (still betting that there's more to the situation than meets the eye). But I also acknowledge that the lore universe exists in a setting where there is absolutely no "everyone wins" scenario. The thesis of the game is that people make bad choices while motivated by love. No entity on any echelon of the chain is above that. I say it often but: It's all a tragedy? Always has been

(And I can still be Doyleist and squint at writer choices lol. I tend to be wary of how the revs are handled given the game's history)

Also it lowkey gets to me as someone who plays a ruthless, morally gray (and liberationist) character. He's done things he isn't proud of (things that would get him labeled a villain if he was a character in a big fandom lmao rip), but ultimately he tries to fight for a better future. He'd make an awful choice in a heartbeat if it would save someone he loved, and that just makes him human. He finds it very hard to judge

[ell-vellan]

who out of all your ocs is closer to you in terms of personality and who out of other fictional characters is also closer to you?

This is such a cool question, thank you for asking! I've been thinking about it all day and it got me on a tangent on how I make characters, so I hope you don't mind that I rambled.

So, I'll start off saying that part of my process of making new characters is to give them one or two characteristics of my own that I'm very familiar with and dial them up to 11, or I infuse characters with opposite traits that I have. First because I have to have something relatable about my characters to write them, and also it's just kind of impossible to fully avoid when you're spending so much time with them. You're either writing them going through stuff which passes through the filter of your imagination and your experiences, or you're literally role playing as them in a game. It's easier to either go "this is what I would do" or "this is what I would NEVER do" and then go from there, especially when starting out with a new character you're just starting to get to know.

Eventually their paths diverge from yours, but you gotta start on common ground. Or I do, anyway.

A character's upbringing, religion, philosophy, culture, etc is a huge part of what makes them who they are. So because I don't share those same background experiences, my characters act how I would extrapolate someone with those experiences to act given the traits we share. That's sort of my "in" to that character's mindset, helps me see their very different life through their eyes. Especially when it comes to Dragon Age OCs, lol.

So with all that said, I think because I've spent the most time with Ellawyn while writing nearly 200 thousand words with her, and because I set off with the plan of making an insecure Inquisitor who struggles with it, and also crafted her as an opposite to Iron Bull, I've probably given her more of my own traits than anyone. The anxiety, Eldest Daughter Syndrome, and earnest do-gooder-ness, but way more intense. Her anxieties are different, but I understand that part of her, which helps me figure out how she feels about all the other stuff that goes on in her story. I can't imagine how it would feel to have magic or kill in self-defense, but I can relate way more to anxiety about being in charge and trying to do a good job.

Growing up I really didn't see a lot my personality in fictional characters because I was a quiet, shy kid who was scared of doing stuff, and those aren't main character traits! Because of course the confident, powerful character is the one that affects change, they're the ones driving the plot, and they're the interesting character to follow. Main characters can't reject their destiny and decide to stay home where it's safe, because then there's no story. So I like to write more unassuming characters who typically wouldn't be the hero. Ellawyn having been accidentally Inquisitor and feeling like she isn't up to the task but having no choice was interesting to me.

For my Cousland, she's the absolutely typical hero, because I always want to be the Lawful Good character in games and get everything right and help everyone have a happy ending lol. So that was my in with her. But Cousland gets an added dash of bloodthirsty revenge goals and a sheltered, privileged, ignorant origin story.

Mahariel is most my opposite - the cold orphan who has never regrets anything and is looking only to selfishly survive, without bringing his people down with him. He's the character is fed up with an unfair world and just says "Fuck it, I'm gonna watch it all burn." Sometimes it's fun to play as someone who doesn't give a shit about anyone but themselves, lol.

There are characters I've written that I've given negative traits of myself from past or present. It's fun for me to explore character arcs for people with similar traits but who took different paths. I've written a main character with agoraphobia, a mom-friend, bookish loners, cheerful optimists, headstrong rebels, Type A honor roll overachievers...because it's what I know. (Side characters are different because they often serve a narrative purpose to support the main story so they tend to be more a mix of different archetypes.)

But I definitely try not to fully put myself on the page because, again, I'm boring and wouldn't make a good main character, lol.

I did relate to Jane Eyre, especially her as a child. But one of the first characters I really felt like I saw a reflection of myself in was Cath from the book Fangirl, because she was a writer who was too scared to eat in the college cafeteria by herself, so she lived off food bars in her room. Which is something I literally did.

Those are the only ones I can think of! There are characters I admire for being the kind of person I *wish* I was, but that's a different question, lol.

Probably why I write the types of people I do, because I'm drawn to write what I want to read.

Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox and explore this super interesting question! You always have such insightful ones, too!

[cadybear420]

@thecartoongoodies

MC

They're far from the worst MC we've had. I don't mind getting to play as a more messy and unpopular character, and some of their dorky moments are cute. But they're still a major downgrade from the OG MC.

OG MC had a lot more variety in what they could do or how they could respond to things. You got to basically build their character through the story (and being able to choose your "clique" has been a staple of HSS since the Prime game). Your MC was allowed to be proactive and have a spine, they actually took their conflicts seriously, you sometimes even had options in whether or not to be more forgiving. They weren't forced to be too perfect despite what people claim, nor were they forced to be an asshole. And when you could make them an asshole, there would be actual consequences.

Then we get switched over to a MC who is just so much more stiff than the first one. You get zero choice in what theatre crew role or what acting part you get. Book 1 constantly forces them to agonize over wanting to get their first kiss with Rory on stage. They're Caillou's parents levels of passive in a lot of conflicts and there are many characters like Clint, Natalie, and Amber who go through the story with complete impunity for their behaviors. You're pretty much incapable of making them do anything that could yield actual consequences.

That being said, they do get significantly better by Book 3. Still a bit stiff as a character, but most of the aforementioned problems do seem to go away. And the Aunt Wendy plot was pretty heartwarming.

Twin

They're an alright character. Not much that's memorable about them though, but I did find their arc with Amber in Book 1 pretty interesting.

Rory

They're decent enough but they don't really have much character growth in the trilogy and they're easily the weakest of the 3 LIs. It was also really obnoxious how Book 1 forced our MC to crush on them so much.

That being said, I do like their background of how they do theatre productions to fund their mom's cancer treatment. Having them also be the "for us to date, we have to be close friends first" type is also a nice touch.

Ajay

I'm probably one of the few HSS:CA-critical people that actually likes Ajay. Although he wasn't all that appealing to me in Book 1, he quickly grew on me in Book 2 when we got to explore his family issues- it makes him a lot more of a sympathetic character as opposed to the other characters who have acted dickish to MC (Clint, Natalie, Trevor). I'm proud to say that I had my MC romance him and I enjoyed it all the way.

I still maintain that him siding against MC in Book 1 was just straight up OOC, considering he literally warned MC about Danielle being problematic at the start of the book.

Skye

Skye is the one thing I think that both the CA enjoyers and the CA-critical people can agree on being perfectly written. Seriously, her character and her storyline is just solid all the way through and I have a hard time finding any actual legitimate criticism of it.

For the record I think Skye's and Ajay's storylines are easily the strongest points of HSS:CA. Shame that that's where like 90% of the effort for that trilogy went into tho lol

Erin

She's nice. But she doesn't really have a lot of personality outside from that, and you could probably remove her from the trilogy and lose nothing important. That being said, she's still leagues better than all the other supporting characters introduced, such as...

Clint and Natalie

They're nothing more than annoying useless Rory simps. I do like that they move on from Rory by the end, but it doesn't hold a lot of weight considering the story has given me no other reason to care about them.

Trevor

Wait, who's he again? Sorry I keep forgetting... oh right, that useless dickish techie guy. Yeah he's so useless as a character that I keep forgetting he even exists. And now the only thing that makes me remember him is how many times I've forgotten he exists.

Danielle

Danielle is such a half-baked antagonist. I do appreciate them trying to make her less outwards as an antagonist than that of OG HSS, and how they do have her go to therapy at some point. But I still have a ton of issues.

Danielle was kind of just a nothing character in most of Book 1, outside of them making it incredibly obvious that she had it out for MC. And then all of a sudden after she comes forward, they want us to hear her side of the story? And she can only go to therapy if we pay diamonds to hear her side?

And the way they deal with her afterwards is so weird. Rather than expelling her for purposefully getting OG MC's leg broken, she only gets kicked from the play but sticks around in the school because potatoes. But despite still being around, the writers have pretty much thrown her away as a character and the one cameo she does have has less value than a family guy cutaway gag. It feels very much like she only existed as someone for MC to compete over Rory with.

[asterlark]

15 questions, 15 people

rules: answer these 15 questions, then tag 15 people

thanks for the tag @friendofcars !!

are you named after anyone? my chosen name i basically just picked because i liked the sound of it, and i'm pretty sure my given name was a similar story lol

when was the last time you cried? yesterday lol. covid is interfering with my bday plans and i had a little cry about it

do you have kids? no, and i don't really ever plan on being a parent. i'd like to be a safe adult in a kid's life, but more of like an uncle/family friend role

do you use sarcasm a lot? nooo, never (yes) (although less so now than when i was a teenager)

what's the first thing you notice about people? haircuts and height, then looking closer, facial features and clothing choices

what's your eye color? blue

scary movies or happy ending? i don't tend to watch scary movies bc i'm a wimp so i'll say happy ending

any special talents? i can play piano and uke passably well, i embroider, uhh idk i can sleep for a long time

where were you born? california, usa (i haven't lived there since i was 6 but i was in fact a california baby)

what are your hobbies? reading, writing, crafting of all sorts, playing board & video games, becoming way too invested in a piece of media

do you have any pets? i have one cat named noodle! i used to have another cat named ellie but my friend adopted her recently since i wasn't able to afford two cats on my own after my ex & i broke up. she's very happy in her new life as an only child though

what sports do you play/have you played? oh i have never ever played a sport lmao. i was never an athletic kid and when my parents made me choose an activity, sports or an instrument, i picked piano

how tall are you? about 5'8"

favorite subject at school? during k-12 it was english, always. love writing a subjective essay, hate answering objective math problems. in college i majored in women, gender & sexuality studies and those were my absolute favorite classes (also film & pop culture classes were fun) (clearly i just like analyzing things)

dream job? librarian! i want to go back to school for my master's in library science and either work in a university or high school library, or maybe a public library, i haven't quite decided yet

tagging: @pegasusgoat @exaltedsam @cuartist @ronanmotherfuckinglynch and whoever else wants to do this, i'm tagging you :)

[genshinconfessions]

Me and one of my besties both play, but they're a small dolphin while I'm 2 welkins out of being f2p. We have a wish ritual where we visit one of our worlds right after maintenance and find a good spot and do some small things, and usually they end up pulling the character they want that moment while I always just build pity and hopefully get the character later during the banner or not at all. Xiao and Zhongli however where the 2 characters I wanted more than anything else and was all out saving for for literal months, now I have enough saved to reach hard pity once and still have wishes left. Because 2.4 I had to make a choice and picked Zhongli, meaning I was not gonna even try for Xiao even though I love him, I was still joining the ritual for moral support though. So we went to my friend's world's Wanshu inn, made almond tofu, sacrificed Childe, and started wishing. I did one 10 pull because I was at like 20 pity and decided to try my luck at Yunjin. GOLD. For me. Whoops. Managed to get one of my 2 favourites that I had given up on at low pity on the 50/50 and I still have enough wishes over for Zhongli to reach hard pity and have spares!! Also Yunjin showed up in the same pull hello girl! Luckiest pull of my genshin career!! But. My friend... didn't get him. They've prepped for him, while I am completely unprepared. They spent money on crystals, I didn't. I got him in 1 10pull, they didn't in 13 10pulls. It's the first time I got an event character right after banner drop. It's also the first time my friend didn't. And they resent me for it. I can't be happy about my incredible luck after having given up even though I love Xiao so so much, all because they've been a stormcloud about not getting him (yet, because they're at 72 pity and a garantuee rn so he will come home). I've been there many times so I do understand it sucks not getting the one you want, but I've always been happy for them getting who we wanted even if it would take me weeks to get there if I even got there at all, but now roles are reversed and I feel like I can't mention how happy I am because I'm supposed to be sad for them. It sucks. I hope they get Xiao soon so things can go back to normal. Sorry for rambling here I just needed to get that off my chest 😅

ahhhhh tha'ts a hard situation i'm sorry anon :(((

but i would like to remind you that it seems like your friend has always been the one to get their characters first! so i would say that, even if you do feel bad about it, they're only being put in the situation that you've been in for the past however many times you've pulled together.

you're right that the roles have been reversed, but that doesn't mean you can't be happy. it seems like your friend needs to do a little bit of self-reflection after the heat of the moment has passed and realize that things aren't all about them.

i also don't want to assume anything but since you said they're a small dolphin, i do assume that they're willing to spend the money to get xiao? if so, then it's only a matter of time! they've already done 130 wishes, so they're only 50 away from hard pity anyway. if not, there is projected to be a large amount of primos in the quests, events, and exploration for the first half of the banner, so they'll get a couple of wishes just from that.

that being said, i do get where your friend is coming from :( for my first five star ever, i told karfield and keith that if i lost pity and didn't get childe but either of them did get him, please do NOT let me know ever because i would have murdered someone LOL.

that does not, however, make it right; if i really didn't get him, i would have been mad and probably not spoken with them for a couple of days, but you know what? i would have gotten over it, and it would have only taken a couple of days. we've emphasized this many times, but genshin is just a game. banners will be rerun, characters and weapons will come back, there's no need to take it so seriously.

and if you are taking it this seriously, that might be an indication of a deeper issue :( but ofc we're not clinical psychologists or anything LOL if there is a deeper issue, we can't tell you anything except to please try to figure out what's going on, or to seek professional help.

that took a deep turn! congrats of getting xiao, anon!!! and don't let your friend bother you too much about it >:( you deserve to be happy!!

- katheryne from liyue

[lovee-infected]

twisted wonderland theories part 3 : Opening explanation and parallels

Well well , hope you guys enjoyed reading the previous two parts of twst theories so far

Anyways , this is the third part . I decided to go through the opening and original disney animations and also black Butler anime references one more time so this is the combination of all I've found this time , together with some stuff you might've missed

Twst's official opening was pretty mysterious and is most likely giving us hints of the upcoming adventures during the storyline . Well here's the link to opening with eng sub and also the summary of the main character references that were given to us:

1) Ace and Deuce's rivalship : We talked about this one a lot back in (part 2) so let's skip this one

2) Leona's sadness and pain : Leona's tearn falling to the ground and the Ruggie and Jack coming for him ; that's just how he always is : mentally sad and broken with a horribly frustrating past , but will avoid expressing himself and letting anyone see his pain anyway . Not really weird that these two are always around him , Leona does really need to be looked after ...

3) Azul's seek of power : He just looked...mad in this scene . Ursula's shadow on his fave and that creepy smile totally freaks anyone out. It really explains how great his desire of power is . His neglected self in the childhood and pretty poor talent got him to this point...

4) Jamil's cold and kinda confused self : Well this one isn't really clear yet since ch 4 isn't out . But perhaps depression has this guy... spending his whole life serving the the nasty Kalim he might've grown the same characteristics as Jafar , who was so long sick of being the second one in everything . But still his ideal of life is much different from Jafar's . We saw him hypnotizing Kalim in order to make him force students to do better at school . He's trying his best to leave up to his promises as the vice dorm leader but still , having the nasty Kalim as the dorm itself is making it a lot harder for him so he's got no choice but to hypnotize him...

5) Idia's severe anxiety and his protectiveness toward Ortho : This one was mentioned in s rather old re blog but here e go again : Well with how the rumors of the "cursed Shroud family" , Idia's anti-society self might be a bit explained . This guy's overblot is surely going to be EPIC ... we just know very few about him and yet that's more than enough for him to overblot at once . Also the mention of the process of bringing Ortho back to life was a bad hit...His family curse might've been the reason of whatever thst has happened to Ortho

6) Vil's anger of not being the fairest and breaking the mirror: This one's been pointed out a lot . His anger being the same as evil queen's and also the fear of him actually poisoning someone to become the fairest one more time....**

7) Malleus' isolated self and his hidden evil aura : This one's being shown too obviously . The lonely dark prince exposing his evil side under the full moonlight . All alone , beyond the forest of thorns (Lol how ironic) while the others are running to save him before it gets too late...***

(note : **,***: Vil and Malleus' description will be continued undercut)

Very well these were the general hints found on the opening , but don't miss the final seconds which included the biggest hidden facts you could've missed

Firstly , the splitted ink (This one was previously discussed on part 1 but still...) : We talked about how in the "Epic Mickey", Mickey accidentally splits the magic ink over the kingdom and which led to the creation of "shadow blot". This sight seems to be much similar to what we had here in the epic mickey

Well this parallel might be more than just an accidental one and finally and it might actually be that overblot is kinda Crowley's fault , too

Crowley crosses the mirror , turns into an actual crow and flies away...(DaMn YoU bIrDiE wHERe ArE yOu gOinG I'M noT doNe YeT-)

Well the reason he suddenly runs away isn't clear yet but being a fan of black butler for years , I was suddenly reminded of how Undertaker disappeared all of a sudden at this scene from the movie :" Book of Atlantic "

pretty similar , aren't they..?

In Book of Atlantic , Undertaker revealed his original identity as a reaper and the mastermind behind the "Bizzare dolls' " project after pretending to be a just a crazy cookie lover for so long . And at once , he comes up with his stunning sudden self-reveal , leaving everyone in the room speechless

Now now , what do we have with Crowley?

A principal who keeps hiding his face (remember that Undertaker hid his eyes , too?) , telling everyone "how kind he is" many times ... also:

1) In the opening , he was standing smiling in the mirror hall while the seven dorms were burning through seven mirrors

2) He didn't ever try to stop anyone from overbloting ; even Riddle whose overblot occurred right in front of him

3) In the beggining of the game, he asked the mirror to choose the right one and then! and MC was chosen ! MC took the hand of the one appearing through the mirror (seemingly Dire Crowley) and came here. With all said , so why did the mirror reject MC afterwards?

Also , how couldn't he help MC return to Their own world and didn't know about it if he himself brought MC here..?(Could it be that...MC doesn't remember how she/he was brought here?)

4) If he literally is THIS useless and can't ever stop or help anything, then why would he be the principal.....?

Sooooo enough with Crowley ; but what's with these two....?

The spindle wheel & the poison apple ; Sleeping beauty and Snow white

Well it seems that Diasomnia and Pomefiore are going to play a greatly important role in the storyline . We were kinda sure of Diasomnia's but Pomefiore's...? What's so special with it?

(A few hours earlier)

(Me : Hmmm ... the black mirror...where have I seen this before..? *googling - searching Snow White- going to the magic mirror scene* Me : Uh...)

Well... here it is : The Crowley's beloved flower of evil , back at his days with evil queen

feeling old yet ...?

Btw , just how important is being "the fairest one of all "to him ? How 'far' would he go to be the fairest...? With the bitten apple in the last few seconds of opening , it most likely seems that he IS gonna 'kill' to be the fairest again ...Who would he kill ? We don't know . But how about our pretty small guy Epel? Could it be him ? The stubborn freshman who refuses following Vil around and is usually mistaken with a girl......?

Also , why would the original mirror be so important to Crowley? If Vil's supposed to represent evil queen , why isn't 'he' the one owing the mirror...?

And now , the spindle wheel .Great maleficent's legacy , in the hands of Crowley...Well well this is 'too' much . Malleus' family treasure being kept hidden in NRC... pathetic

Also , the mirror which Vil broke in the opening . Well well seems like he isn't having the original magic mirror , afterall....

But wait , if there's the spindle wheel , who's gonna be the evil witch to pull the sweet princess to eternal sleep..? Right , there's only one who might be...

Well we talked about all we'd got so far , but what about Grim ? Isn't anyone going to mention his importance or why he was also mentioned in this chaotic final seconds of opening ???

So... this is what we had in the final seconds :

1)The apple

2) Crowley

3)The black ink

4)Grim

5)The spindle wheel

We talked about all of them except nu 4 . But before that , I've got the same question as before : Why is it "Sleeping beauty" & "Snow white"..?

We discussed the "overblot Grim " hints in (part 2), but here's another thing :

Very well , ever heard of "Grimm brothers"...?

In the case that you don't know who they are , here' the point : They are the authors of 'original' versions of sleeping beauty & snow white; two of the darkest , deepest and possibly creepiest stories of their own throughout the history

I believe that most of you are familiar with the original versions , but you may like to take a look at these two if you haven't yet heard of them check the two of these stories out : (note: I'm aware that there are darker , deeper versions of these too but I'm not gonna mention any of them because : 1)They aren't written by Grimm brothers & 2) They include overly sensual and inappropriate content which has no place in my posts . If you care to know about them , check them at your own risk)

Alright , if you ever wondered who was Grim named after , I guess we've got it now . Mentioning Grim , Snow white and Sleeping beauty together at once is too direct to be a coincidence ...but it's also terrifying ...

Thinking that Disney is actually referring to the original books written by Grimm brothers is a bit too dark... Original stories are really horrible and a great way to ruin one's childhood , but all these hints fit each other way too great and now , they may no longer be just a coincidence...

[himbeaux-on-ice]

How long di Babcock even last on NBC, a week? lol I don't think he should have been given another chance, but hopefully if he is still awful he gets kicked out sooner then he did on the NHL teams. I'm going to hope they are keeping a close eye on how he treats the players. Also i'm extremely curious on how the Canadian gold medal team felt about him especially the superstars, i.e, Crosby, Toews, Bergeron, Price and others

I swear to god I never even saw him on tv lol, he cannot have been at it very long. That always struck me as an odd choice even outside of his reputation as an abusive boss, because I never got the impression he would make a particularly magnetic and engaging TV personality. Good riddance!

I’ll put my further thoughts about your latter question under a cut, for the benefit of those who don’t want to read or think about Babcock or his verbally abusive workplace tactics.

Re: the Olympic teams and their thoughts on him, I think back to something one of the guys on the SDP said when discussing exactly that (right around when the news broke): “you can put up with almost anybody for a few weeks, if you know it has an end date”.

He was probably still a hardass with the Olympic teams and perhaps played a few mins games, but they were probably all largely approaching it with the mindset of “Okay, I may not like this guy’s approach very much but I only have to deal with him for the duration of training and competition, and then I’m outta here for 4 more years.” You’ll buckle down through almost anything for that, and once you get your gold medal that will paint the whole experience with a rose-tinted “it was worth it” kind of hue. (Not excusing anything here, just speculating on the mindset of the athletes).

Think of it like a having an smart-but-an-asshole professor for one rarely-offered elective class you really wanna take, vs having a shitty abusive boss for “until one of us gets fired” number of years — you can push through the class with that professor for a semester and complain about him to your friends, but that boss fucking with your head every day is going to grind down you down horribly, especially when you know the only way it ends is if one of you quits or is fired, neither of which seems likely. One of those things is way more traumatic and mentally impactful than the other.

I also think it’s worth pondering the fact that Babcock seems to have been (and probably still is) very at putting on one face for certain people he wants to view him a certain way, and a VERY different face for others. Abusers of all stripes are often great at that. The way he treated and interacted with superstars (such as those you named) who were on a special appointment to the Olympic team (ie people with fame, an established league presence, and clout, who are doing something prestigious and desirable but also not make-or-break for their careers), was probably very different from how he treated rookies and average roster players (and arena staff) on NHL teams where he had lengthy secure contracts. Sure he might have been a very well-respected coach with a prestigious record (at that point), but those guys you listed are the faces of franchises, even back then when they were younger. They were coming into those Olympic situations with a lot of name recognition, and were also surrounded by other more established older stars at the time who were even less likely to put up with any shit (you think big-name older guys like Martin Brodeur, Scott Neidermeyer, Jarome Iginla, Joe Thornton etc wouldn’t have just laughed in his face if he told them or anyone else on that 2010 team to go make a list?)

The power dynamic would be significantly different in those situations, and I think he lasted as long as he did in high-profile roles because he knew exactly who he could and couldn’t push around, knew where that line was. The Mike Babcock those superstars dealt with on the Olympic teams was probably still not their favourite person they ever met and worked with, but likely did not treat them the same way he did people whom he had significantly more long-term leverage and power over. And they were probably willing to suck it up and deal with someone who probably mostly came off to them as a harsh-but-effective coach, if only in a very short term setting for a very desirable goal.

The Olympic training process is also a lot more publicized, scrutinized, and overseen by external powers (such as Hockey Canada, the IIHF etc) than the average NHL locker room, even at big franchises like Toronto and Detroit. There’s a lot more people to answer to and a lot more people watching everything that goes on, and every GM who has lent a player to that team has a stake in watching how they are treated physically and mentally so that they return to the NHL in peak form. In an NHL structure, the coach basically only answers directly to the team’s GM and President, but my understanding of the Olympic teams is that there’s a lot more cooks in the kitchen, ie a lot more people who might witness shitty behaviour and say “Hey, Mike, what the fuck?” And I think he is absolutely smart enough to have been aware of that and probably adjusted himself to polite company accordingly.

All that said, the experience for the Olympic stars was probably notably different from how he treated the players under his control in Toronto and Detroit. Still, I certainly also would like to know what all of them thought about him all the same. What did they know and not know? What did they see and perhaps overlook? I think this league would have to undergo a truly seismic upheaval of norms for that conversation to happen, but if it ever does, I’ll be listening.