#I need a inner demon for every protagonist of my story

[oobbbear]

Water angel wip for the end of Halloween goodnight

[prototypelq]

vergil for the ask game?

Vergy!

thank you and @river-muse for asking about the series #1 Motivated Loser!)))

favourite thing about them

First place - his inner softness. Vergil is very much his momma's boy, he is emotional, touchy, and he loves with his whole heart, he loves so much that he is scared of the feeling consuming him whole. I thrive on seeing him simply be the older brother, father (and adopted uncle) figure that he wishes to be.

Honourable mention: just how Iconic he is. Vergil is THE anime katana wielder, he is THE Storm That Is Approaching, he is THE Rival Videogame Boss, he will kick your ass into Easy mode without breaking a sweat. Dante is an iconic protagonist for sure, but Vergil is one of THE Videogame Bosses Of All Time and that position is absolutely deserved. And, y'know. He is super fun to fight.

least favourite thing about them

V(ergil). I appreciate all the character development we got out of that time, but I also firmly believe it could have been achieved in other ways, plus V(ergil) just makes the story completely unrelatable. Dante faces human trauma and human struggles. Vergil faces those same problems, however, his path through them is an emotional mess human (and fans') experience cannot account for. For me, that dampens the emotional investment in the story, especially considering how much simpler, but no less impactful in Dante's in comparison to Vergil.

DisHonourable mention: 'Dreams of a black throne I keep on repeat' and 'Call me your majesty' lines from BTL and Fire Inside respectfully. None of those lines fit Vergil at all, and they only further the ginormous amount of misconceptions about him.

(I do adore the demonic pet therapy tho, it was adorable)

favourite line

'We've got plenty of time' (watch me bawl till final stage of dehydration to this)

brOTP

I mean, it's in the name. Sparda Loser Twins, my beloved. I also completely support every opinion that Vergil will get along with Trish, Lady, Nico and Patty just fine.

OTP

I admit, I am intrigued by Vergil/Lady, I think they can have something good together. They both seek challenge, and could provide it for each other (by challenge I also mean just generally new experiences, I don't mean they have to fistfight each arguement). I can see them together in some post-dmc3 AU scenario, but also. Surprisingly. Post-dmc5. Cause Lady very much needs to retire if she wants to live any longer than she has, and Vergil has known nothing but violence for his entire adult life (which is also not much). Post-dmc5 both need to learn how to handle peace times, and this parallel is what I can see driving them together in this setup. Again, I think they can have something nice, also probably much sweeter than in post-dmc3 version.

nOTP fucking incest

random headcanon

Vergil is a freakin romantic to the core. He likes reading, he would enjoy himself in an art gallery, I think he would also like visiting theater and/or musicals. This man forced himself to weaponise his nerdiness and I'd love to see him slowly, badly, but surely, letting go and just enjoying himself and different hobbies. Also, just a totally random thing - I think he'd enjoy pottery (after he breaks a few dozen mishapen figures first, of course)

unpopular opinion

I doubt I can come up with something more unpopular than my previous rant about V(ergil)

song i associate with them

I have a few actually! Vergil would love Bring Me To Life and I Am Right About This. I can also see him enjoying Break The Silence.

This track is an absolute BLAST, and I have a concrete vision that Vergil would like to learn and play it. This vision was extended by the brainrot into Dante hearing the track, loving it, then bringing himself and Nero along to play the song (just don't ask me how, I have counted at least four different instruments, and it either means Dante and Nero have to switch drums and base guitar mid-song, or that Vergil and Dante have to switch on the guitars). This song is just so beautiful, and I think the losers will have an amazing time playing it together.

Musical Spardas, one of my most critical of weaknesses.

also I wish there was a way to mod Kitsune Dance to be the M19 bossfight music. beautiful song, it has very distinct musical phases which would easily match the fight escalation, and it just sound much more fitting for Vergil than the in-game track.

favourite picture of them

this is one of those pics where the context of the original shot was painful, but the resulting image looks wholesome as hell and I love it. (pls share source if you know it)

[jellybeanium124]

so first off SALS includes the right both to like and hate a ship. it just means be chill. but basically as someone who (sorry) enjoys steddyhands/stizzy (sorry)... man I wish more of people who were into it were normal (sorry again). like dude it sucks having to basically go into fics with a checklist of things that it needs to do or avoid, or suddenly hitting one sentence and going "fuck this shit, I'm out."

I've always been a crack-ish multishipper. putting characters into relationships who are not canonically in one and maybe shouldn't be and thinking about what might happen has always been fun for me. relationships are emotionally intense and great for character drama/interactions in general. and these ships only work if you soften izzy. like obviously. I think there are ways to do it that keep him more recognizable, but sometimes people just don't care.

to me, stizzy without steddyhands only works in some kind of au where neither of them know ed, and even then I think you should ask yourself why you are pairing them together and not gentlebeard. I think there are legitimately premises that you could explore with stizzy and not with gentlebeard. on the most basic levels there's the enemies-to-lovers thing, but there's also izzy's toxic masculinity/internalized homophobia issues. how would he deal with being in a relationship with his complete antithesis? how would this force him to confront his inner demons? how would stede react to these struggles? how would he try to help, and when would he get mad at izzy for being an asshole? you can write a story where getting together with stede forces ed to confront his inner demons, but the stizzy version of that and the gentlebeard version of that are not going to be the same story.

in the end, I think this comes down to a very basic disconnect (besides the racism and shitty tropes, and all that). in my mind there are two kinds of fanfiction: fanfiction that exists primarily to be in communication with its source text, and fanfiction that exists primarily to get an emotional response out of the audience (porn, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, any emotion, basically). this isn't a one-or-the-other situation, but every fic and every writer thinks one of these is more important than the other. every fic favors one of those goals. and having the latter goal isn't a bad thing! most bad fics have the latter goal, but not every fic with the latter goal is a bad fic.

stizzy and steddyhands, as ships, do not exist primarily to be in communication with the source text. and if they are, that communication is usually opinions I don't like (izzy deserves to be a protagonist or some shit, yknow). these ships exist for porn, for hurt/comfort, for angst, for fluff, for creating a highly specific emotional experience for the author and readers. "well why are they even writing fanfiction then?"/"why don't they go find other characters who are closer to the dynamic they're writing" because they are attached to these characters and want them involved in these emotions, and because they are okay with their work being very different from the source material.

idk if this makes any sense lol. it's not exactly a defense or anything. it's definitely not a defense of people who think ed needs to be babysat, fuck those guys. I guess I just kinda wanted to give my perspective on why these ship interest me? I think a lot of y'all's posts on the subject come down to: "why would anyone like this? it wouldn't work in canon" and the canyon response to that is "well it does actually *some fucking bullshit, etc etc*" and my response to that is "I know, I'm fine with that, I just like the situations it opens up and I like the emotional catharsis I can experience from some of these fics, even tho they are 'bad fics' in that they are not in any sort of real communication with the source text." and you can think that's bad lol, like it does sound kinda bad when I write it out like that. but you can't get the specific flavors of emotional catharsis from fics from any other medium of art, generally speaking. not in the same way, not easily, and not in 2k words.

[onewomancitadel]

Love triangles

I loathe love triangles with all of my being. They are singularly one of my most hated tropes in romance and spoil the well for me almost every single time - which is a dead shame because it is unfortunately a rather common conceit.

What I realised when I was thinking about it yesterday - and this is an interesting point from a structural perspective - is that in order to develop the relationships (even if you are guaranteed to only be committing to one), you are effectively halving the development of each relationship in respect to the other in terms of narrative space.

That makes for a very difficult task and I feel like almost no one writing a love triangle (sincerely, with feelings for both sides or at least equal consideration given to each, because there IS one caveat where I'm down for a love triangle) realises that this is something you need to be really careful about and, other than my true love soulmates forever inner crybaby demon complaining about competing love interests, is probably the reason it so often ends up falling flat.

Of course it depends on what your expectations are for romance. If, 'Character A has feelings for Character B' constitutes appropriate and believable development then of course a love triangle is not asking you to suspend your disbelief. For me, I do not Fucking Buy It, and when it comes to romance I want to see genuine development of the romance and feelings involved, which means at least one of the relationships is going to be more poorly developed... so why do it?

Love triangles inject ambiguity into a story, which is why they're a common trope and easy shortcut to tension; they divide fanbases into shipping wars which is, from a rather cynical perspective, an easy way to cultivate fan engagement and name for your brand (Team Edward/Team Jacob might be one of the most culturally relevant products of Twilight, despite the fact the presence of the love triangle doesn't make any sense at all and was clearly a cheese on the author's or publisher's part to pad out the series).

If you are doing love triangles for other reasons (e.g. thematic ones: a common YA trope is that the love triangle represents the protagonist's choice between two ideas she must reconcile with, e.g. peace and war (Peeta or Gale)), it is obviously a little more justified but I think that if you want to thematically augment and imbue one of the romances to convey what you mean to convey, it means one of the romances will suffer or be obviously completely out of the competition and inappropriate. So even if it's ostensibly thematically justified, it doesn't make it interesting. Further, I think there's an issue here in that if, say, fans generally expect childhood friends-to-lovers, they're not exactly going to get the thematic message that a character like Gale should be sending, and would be upset about the culmination of his character as a way to forcibly 'end' the romance; obviously controlling fan reaction is not something you should ever try to do, but I don't think the love triangle manages to convey the themes more effectively than not. That's the crucial point.

So if love triangles firstly reduce total romance development (think about the usual space afforded to a traditional romance to make it believable and moving!), and secondly are not necessarily superior vehicles for conveying thematic ideas, then I think the reason they are enduring tropes is because of that artificial ambiguity. We KNOW the character stuck in the middle will end up with one or the other or alone (or all three at different parts of the story), which means it can feel wishy-washy if they work at it back and forth, or ultimately the ambiguity is not worth very much, or the story can feel unfair because sometimes storytellers will value the 'less likely' option e.g. the more poorly developed one, just for the sake of shock value. That is partly why I hate love triangles, because they can feel like a joke on the audience.

I hesitate to say this so declaratively but I feel like love triangles are often a product of lazy storytelling. Not just lazy storytelling but paint-by-numbers romance which doesn't care about romance CONCEPTUALLY. Not just romance as a means to an end but romance as a fully lived-in visceral experience of the characters that isn't just 'who will end up with whom'. I'm not about to criticise it from an unrealistic perspective (who even ends up in that many love triangles!?!!?) but from a perspective of emotional verisimilitude, I find it hard to believe in a story where love is centred and valued that it could be reduced to something that feels oddly transactional or even gameified - Character C cultivated enough Romance Points with Character A so he wins. It just has a tacky feeling in the mouth.

I still feel critically that the sacrifice of romantic development for the sake of two potential romances is the critical flaw, and that's the most interesting takeaway; it doesn't mean they can't be done but it's something to be cognisant of (and I've never seen this criticism before but forgive me if someone's already said it, it felt novel to me lol). It's not just concrete development that has to be split but emotional narrative space (what the character is thinking and doing) and thematic narrative space (which with some examples can be mitigated but nevertheless in this case, one romance will automatically be 'stronger' than the other), which can get messy and exhausting really quickly.

I'm sure there are ways it can be done properly - I think this is true of anything in storytelling, it's almost universally fixable (the one caveat where I tolerate it, if not love it, is when it's only a misunderstood love triangle, and there really is no such one) - but very particular to love triangles, they represent boring and overdone trends in romantic storytelling that thinks competition is more important than actual development and treats them as almost requisite, and love triangles are not a small enough trope to be potentially overlooked because they are a major structural consideration in the story but are treated too casually.

I want to see the full development of a romance, not half.

[lioncunt]

any way the wind blows review!!!

gonna put it under a cut but tl;dr i really really loved it and even the things that i was on the fence about i’ve decided i love as well lmfao

so i kind of knew going into both this and wayward son that the plot wouldn’t really EVER be as narratively satisfying as carry on’s. it would definitely be interesting and have a lot of cool thematic elements, but in terms of being a grand deconstruction of the “chosen one” genre, it couldn’t ever get better than carry on. and i’m so happy rainbow didn’t try to MAKE it that. she didn’t pull a supernatural and up the stakes to impossible, outlandish degrees. both wayward son and awtwb had realistic, fascinating plots that served as a metaphor for the internal struggles of the characters.

the reason i’m beginning this review by talking about the plot is because it’s what i’ve seen the most criticism directed towards. and like i DO get it, i also was taken aback at first at how the actual plot is kind of background noise for the first couple hundred pages. but like...i think it WORKS. again, this whole trilogy is a deconstruction. that’s its PURPOSE. obviously it’s doing other things as well, but it started by taking this well-worn and well-loved trope and completely turning it on its head, giving us permission to acknowledge all the damage it causes and how our love of this type of story is honestly kind of harmful. we turn off that part of our brains when we read harry potter or something else with traumatized child protagonists, in order for us to actually enjoy it, but the simon snow trilogy has always said, “hey, this is kind of fucked up, huh? you’re allowed to think that.”

anyway, the way that translates to the plot here is that there’s not always some huge mystical big bad, or obviously evil antagonist. the horror can be going on in the world around you, in the background of your day-to-day life dealing with your own shit, creeping up on you until suddenly your loved ones are spouting off nonsense that is an absolutely CHILLING allegory for eugenics, by the way, which i’ve seen NOBODY talk about. the clear political parallels were so well done, but not heavy-handed, and they worked wonderfully as an ending to this story. simon at the end being a target for an angry mob, who are victims of intense ableism themselves (the metaphor of being a weak mage = having a disability), how these religious extremists will point at what they deem abnormal and use them as a scapegoat, the disgusting “survival of the fittest” mentality leading to “i can make this society great again” - it was all just incredibly well written, in my opinion. and the fact that it happened so slowly, in the background, made it all the better. you don’t really notice how bad it’s getting until it’s BAD.

it also, again, works so well as a manifestation of the characters’ inner strife. others have put it better than me already, so i won’t talk about it too much, but the fact that the book is saying you don’t need to be like everyone else in order to accomplish great things and have a good life, you don't need to have magic, you don’t need to be human, you don’t need to be neurotypical or able-bodied or straight or white or ANYTHING these people will have you believe in order to make you obedient to them and hateful to others -- it’s fantastic. 

this kind of segues into the other big criticism i’m seeing, which is simon and baz’s one-day breakup. again, this has already been analyzed well, so i won't ramble about it, but wayward son was their breakup. metaphorically speaking. and i’m glad that it didn’t take some big, grand moment for them to get back together, even though it would have been narratively cathartic. that’s not how life works - it was so much better and realistic to have simon face the harsh difficulties of TRYING than dragging out a separation plot line that would have added NOTHING to his character. or baz’s. the only thing about their entire relationship that i would have done a bit differently is shorten the timeline, because a year and a half is a very long and honestly unrealistic time to go in a relationship without talking about sexual history or going on dates, even if there’s a lot of baggage. but that’s not that big a deal and i’m easily able to look past it.

(as a side note I'm getting annoyed at seeing all these takes that there’s too much sexual content. like i get it because the first two books are solidly YA and this is being marketed as YA even though it’s definitely NA, but like....sex is important. sex scenes and sexual content are an extremely important part of depicting the human experience. and lack of sex as well!! every single intimate scene between them was NOT super graphic and had such incredibly important significance narratively and character-wise - and yeah that includes any kinks that were brought up, like jesus they’re in their 20s and have been in a non-sexual relationship for a year and a half i think it’s pretty fucking relevant that there are intimate scenes!!! anyway moving on.)

i really loved penny and shepard’s plot - their relationship was so wonderful and charming and excellent for their characters, and i only wish we could have gotten their demon plot threaded into the larger picture, because after shepard was cured it felt like they were just standing there. that’s one of my very few complaints about the book. but they’re such good characters and i love them SO MUCH.

AND THANK GOD FOR AGATHA AND NIAMH. like i cannot put into words how fucking happy i was when i realized where that was headed. the cinematic nature of agatha and niamh helping the goat give birth while simon’s flying in the chapel and being targeted by a mob was just. so cool like i can’t even describe it it was so coooooool and then agatha and niamh KISSING and agatha found her PLACE and I'm so happy for her.

just in general the characters and relationships were fucking exquisite. i can’t help but love the way RR writes, especially her dialogue. it’s so real and three dimensional and her characters truly come alive and i care about them and love them so much. i’m so happy they’re happy, i wouldn’t have been able to stand it if they weren’t.

and everything got wrapped up so well in my opinion!! i don’t know what the hell people are talking about when they say they still have questions, like girl what about??? simon found his family, simon got a sword that isn’t tied to trauma, baz found out that he’ll get to grow old with simon, all their families are okay, penny and shepard are in love, agatha’s herding goats and a lesbian, there will probably be new threats and antagonists but they'll be able to handle them, life will continue to be difficult but they’ll get through it like WHAT do you not understand what’s not clicking i genuinely want to know. 

ok actually i have ONE single question and that’s. did baz pick up the sword at the end. because the way it’s written it sounds like he did and i like do not understand that at all. someone answer please.

anyway that’s my review 10/10 would recommend

[hanascrisis]

A REVIEW: Scum Villain’s Self Saving System (MXTX)

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW

LENGTH: 81 Chapters and 20 Extras

GENRE: (BL) Chinese Cultivation Novel - Historical Period

MAIN COUPLE:  Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu

BRIEF SUMMARY: After binge reading legendary harem stallion web novel “Proud Immortal Demon Way”, Shen Yuan (a millennial increasingly frustrated by the story’s outrageous and senseless plot) dies choking on food and transmitigates into the novel... as the villain shizun of the main protagonist, Shen Qingqiu. Shen Yuan, now Shen Qingqiu, must navigate through the original PIDW’s plot points to gain the favor of the original protagonist, Luo Binghe, to avoid being tortured and cut into a human stick. However, in doing so, Shen Qingqiu eventually finds that the original plot changes, awakening new feelings in the protagonist previously unexplored. 

II. CATEGORICAL RANKING & BREAKDOWN

This was my second danmei novel I had ever read, and one that really helped. familiarize me with the ins and outs of the typical cultivation novel tropes. With Shen Qingqiu’s unfortunately relatable inner monologging complete with millennial, largely inappropriate vocabulary AND emoticons was undeniably very entertaining, and I spent the majority of the book laughing along with his misfortune. It was a book in which the reader got to experience the stereotypical romance, adventure, and fantasy tropes through the lens of a character living out these tropes with a mindset not so dissimilar from our own. With that, let’s move on to my personal categorical rankings for this novel.  

1. CHARACTERIZATION ~ Rated 7/10

With every single character within this book, I can confidently say I really liked their characterization. Each character’s personality was constructed in a way that did not adhere to one stereotype, and the interactions between characters never felt stale or forced (especially in a book where Shen Qingqiu has a sudden change in personality, I was worried these interactions with characters such as Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge would be strange, but it was indeed quite cute and funny). Even with the minor characters that seemed to be the main antagonists Tianlang Jun, their characterizations and relationship still had a familial sense of warmth that made them feel a lot more human. However, due to the length of the book, not all the side characters were really flushed out in terms of backstory. 

With the main protagonist, Luo Binghe, as to deviate from the original “black hearted protagonist” of PIDW, his back story and past abuses led to his motivations as a person being a lot more complex, deeper, and especially tragic. Through the novel we are able to see that the original protagonist crafted from resentment started out as a boy too naive, with a heart full of warmth and kindness, only to be bludgeoned and abandoned over and over again. Even by the end of the book, in interactions with Shen Qingqiu, we can still evidently see Luo Binghe’s past emotional trauma within his feelings of inadequacy and his villainization at the peak. I personally really liked this new depth of character that gave me a new perspective on his actions and motivations. Generally, I also love the change in Binghe’s demeanor when he’s around Shen Qingqiu vs. anyone else, and one can easily forget how manipulative, cunning, and overpowered he is as the “protagonist”. He is endearing and I love him so much, but that’s deviating from the original point.

As discussed previously, Shen Qingqiu’s character, while having a. fairly distinct personality, is almost a self-insert character that the reader can. project on directly. While I THOROUGHLY enjoyed his narration throughout (which served as much needed comic relief), I personally wished there to be a little more character development, especially regarding the paradigm shift that occurred in his mindset and attitude towards the other characters in the book. At the beginning of the novel, there is a certain subconscious wall Shen Qingqiu creates, where he thinks of the other people as strictly “character from PIDW with concrete fates and personailites”, which is especially evident in the way he treated Luo Binghe post-Immortal alliance conference. But overtime, there is a subtle shift in which by the end of the book, we see Shen Qingqiu resolve some misunderstandings (to an extent) and see him start to regard the characters around him as true people that he can build deep relationships with. I personally wanted this aspect to be highlighted a little more and that this had good potential in being an essential piece of plot could have led to more resolution (discussed below). 

2. WORLD BUILDING ~ Rated 9/10

From my perspective, especially in cultivation novels, world building becomes exceedingly important in order to aid the reader in understanding the power structure and dynamic of the cultivation world, which reflects in the interactions between characters of different factions. Because of Shen Qingqiu’s commentary as a “reader of PIDW”, I felt the author was able to do a stellar job in explaining the different dynamics within the sect and between the different peak lords, as well as major conflicts between demons. Hence, it was really easy to understand and follow how the world revolved around each of the conflicts, as well as justify some of the characters’ motivations within SVSSS. 

3. PLOT DEVELOPMENT ~ Rated 8/10

What I found extremely compelling about the plot of this book in particular is that it is a lot more complex and darker than the audience originally grasps. With my first read, I found the book hilarious through and through, and couldn’t get enough of the comedic aspects and commentary that seemed to seep through to even the most serious moments. But as I started to think back on some of the events that ended up transpiring, I came to the realization that the plot itself is extremely tragic. If one were to think about the book from Luo Binghe’s perspective, as a child abandoned with no one to care for and love him, to then finding someone who cherishes him and believes in him, only to have that very same person push him off a cliff and have him experience hell for the next 5 years; frankly the plot is really devastating. That’s also what makes it such an interesting book to read and then reread. 

Another aspect of the plot that is notable is how outrageous some of the events are, especially when thinking from a logical perspective. From Shen Qingqiu dying and growing a new body underground, to the thousands of elephant demons (?) that Luo Binghe gathers, one is simply overwhelmed by how random the book is sometimes. Even better, we get to witness this exact reaction through Shen Qingqiu, as someone to transmitigated into this nonsensical book. Hence, somehow the book manages to be completely unrelatable, yet also very relatable, hitting both extremes in a perfect equillibrium.

My main reservation/criticism of the plot is personally~ I felt that it lacked a little bit of resolution in some of the major plot points, such as “Bingge”, as well as the Bingqiu relationship. A lot of the original misunderstandings and misgivings between Shen Qingqiu during and after the 5 years (pre-relationship) weren’t really resolved. It sort of left me wanting some more development from Binghe where his is able to heal from his past to a certain extent. Regarding Shen Qingqiu, I also wanted to see more development with him in terms of his obvious shift in mindset from viewing the people around him as characters from the original PIDW, to actual people whose fates aren’t predetermined. It could be a fun idea to explore more. But these are just small things that really don’t take away from the experience that is reading SVSSS. 

III. FINAL THOUGHTS

RECOMMENDATION: YES I DO RECOMMEND IT , especially for people who enjoy comedy, modern humor mixed with ridiculous xianxia plot points, and an action filled BL cultivation novel. It really is an absolute joy to read and all the characters are so endearing in their own way - Luo Binghe with his selective duality and various complexes, Shen Qingqiu with his alleged “straigtness” and internalized heteronormativity, Tianlang Jun with his desire to be a malewife, the misunderstandings in the relationship between Shen Qingqiu and Zhuzhi Lang, etc. etc. It is really a fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This concludes my first casual book review haha.  

[fvrxdrm]

weapon - Leon Kennedy Version

Pairing: Leon Kennedy x GN!Reader(-ish???)

Warning(s): PTSD, depression, there might be other mental health issues mentioned that I didn’t add in the warnings.

Song: weapon by Against the Current (lol, yes, deal with it. That shit rocks btw. I know y’all are angry at 2020 so y’all can take it out and scream with that song if you want to J)

Another song I referenced here is that won’t save us by the same band. If y’all want me to make a separate fic just lemme know.

*****

Having been orphaned by malady, the last twenty years had been you waging war against your inner demons while firing guns at your outer demons almost every time you stepped out of your abode. It was infuriating to say the least. Hysteria was closing in on you and it was starting to rip you apart, piece by piece.

It was hard to regain your composure, having the need to remind yourself to conquer the monsters in your head to take control of all of you, and there were times that you did. Be that as it may, as soon as you’d reach the top another bullet would be dodged and it just became a never-ending cycle, "a goddamn loop" as Leon had put it.

I always say, I always say that it's the last time A promise I can't keep I always say I'll get a grip and it'll be fine But I lie straight through my teeth And though I try and do it right with my intentions Yeah, they're good, they never break, but I still bend 'em 'Cause this devil on my shoulder wants to pull me underneath

Another sleepless night Staring through the ceiling I'm wondering how could I Calm my head? Yeah Calm my head 'cause

I see red My blood is boiling and it shows When all you are is a weapon You shoot' em down 'til you end up alone I seem fine But I can't take the highs and the lows All I am is a weapon I shoot 'em down 'til I end up alone

You were hot under the collar. Leon felt the same. The fuck did the world exist for if it was just going to end up like how it did? Not only were you mad at this poor excuse of a ‘humanity’, you were also mad at yourself for winding up becoming the devil of your own. You were the protagonist and antagonist of your own story and you couldn’t believe you wrote a tale with the villain getting their mitts on the flag of triumph.

You were beating yourself to the ground, you knew it. And you also knew you couldn’t just fight your fight alone, but somehow you screamed at yourself for everything and this caused you to lose some of the most important things in your life. The only thing, or perhaps person, that was keeping the bullets from piercing your heart and mind was Leon who was in the same place as you were. You were going to be fine, you told yourself. You just needed to let the anger die ‘cause that won’t save you.

All I am is a weapon I shoot ‘em down ‘til I end up alone

[chaoticgoodlawyerwrites]

Finally started a writing blog! Hopefully this give me some incentive to update a bit more frequently... 😅

Fandom: Scum Villain

Ship: Bingqiu, background Moshang

Summary: When it was all said and done, Shen Qingqiu comforted himself that the end of the plot meant that, surely, all major events were out of the way. They were firmly in HEA territory and he could relax a little. Right? Right.

A year and a half into his marriage to the protagonist, he cursed himself for a fool when he woke next to a Luo Binghe from ten years in the past.

Meanwhile, a recently transmigrated Shen Yuan struggled to retain what little face he had when confronted with an overgrown, disturbingly gorgeous demon lord claiming to be his husband. Which is impossible, because he’s straight, the most hetero heterosexual to exist. System? A little help here??

Status: 6/7 Chapters Posted

Sequels: Yes! They will be mutually exclusive timelines (all with LBH and SQQ ending up together, but different ships) branching out from this story.

Excerpt below the break (from chapter 2).

He was kissing the protagonist.

Oh, what the fuck.

Before Shen Qingqiu could gather himself to pull away (because holy shit, what the fuck, what the fuck was he doing!), a loud noise made him jerk back abruptly with a gasp.

Luo Binghe seemed unconcerned with the commotion, eyes not leaving his face and fingers lightly stroking his cheek with such care that it made Shen Qingqiu almost want to believe the wild assertion that they were married. “So beautiful.”

“How–“ are you here was what he intended to say when his bedroom door was knocked off its hinges. He turned and saw Liu Qingge standing in the threshold, breaths heavy and eyes flicking between him and Luo Binghe.

He then realized what this looked like.

Shameless, he was so shameless! Shen Qingqiu groped at his dressing table blindly for a fan. To his surprise, Luo Binghe placed one gently in his hand. He shot him a grateful look in response only to immediately regret it.

Binghe! Why do you look so smug!

Oh, what the fuck.

“Liu-shishu,” Luo Binghe all but purred at his martial uncle. “Interesting that you’re here first. My money was on the Sect Leader.”

What?

“Get away from him,” Liu Qingge demanded, drawing Cheng Luan to Shen Qingqiu’s great alarm.

If there was one thing that could snap Shen Qingqiu back into a situation, it was a threat to the inner sanctum he had created in this insane world. “No, no! I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Liu-shidi, but you will not be fighting in my home!”

“I am removing an intruder.”

All formalities forgotten, Shen Qingqiu snapped. “It's my bedroom! You would think I would know better who is an intruder here than you!”

Both Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge blushed at his words. Even Luo Binge looked at him in pleased surprise before somehow radiating even more smugness towards the other Peak Lord.

He couldn’t take this anymore. He was at his limit. “Both of you! Get out! I need to think and I want to eat my breakfast in peace.”

“…”

“What’s that look?” Shen Qingqiu demanded.

“…You were going to eat that?”

Luo Binghe winced.

“What. Did you do. To my food.”

Liu Qingge looked at him like he had a few screws loose. “You really would have eaten food from this man?”

“It’s Binghe! I eat his food every day!”

“Did you miss the fact that he’s clearly not your teenage disciple or did he enchant you to forget?”

Luo Binghe scoffed. “First, you’re underestimating Shizun’s ability if you think he could be bespelled so easily. Second, I don’t need magic to distract my husband when a touch would do.”

“…”

Shen Qingqiu kicked them both out with all the dignity he could muster, which wasn’t much after Luo Binghe’s pronouncement. He was doing his best to pretend nothing was said because otherwise he felt his face would melt off, but that didn’t stop even Shen Qingqiu’s elegant body from going beet red. The shamelessness really was too much!!

Once his house was otherwise empty, Shen Qingqiu at his table (sans breakfast, damn you, Liu-shidi!) and buried his face in his hands. System? What the hell is happening?

[Thank you for contacting the System! Host is participating in the Special Event, “Back to the Future,” triggered by an alternate version of Host for his success in the mission “Marital Bliss!” Please enjoy your limited time with the alternate version of the Protagonist while you can!]

…

ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT I’M ACTUALLY MARRIED TO LUO BINGHE?!?

[Yes, the Host that triggered this Event has been married to the Protagonist for one year, five months, and eighteen days, and remains the Protagonist’s only intended spouse.]

O-oooh my god. Oh, My God! What the fuck, what the fuck. But I don’t like men!

[This System would like to convey the human emotion, “doubt.”]

[brightblueinky]

Pardon me for the intrusion, but you're the only person I found who's still into CC and I have to ask: does the romantic aspect of Chrono's and Rosette's relationship seem lacking to you? Like I can see when Rosette starts to view him as a love interest (chapter 28), but I can't see when Chrono starts to view her as one. To me it feels like he only had an interested in Mary, and Rosette is just his very beloved friend; the kiss felt too sudden. I'm sorry, I just need a second opinion on this.

Okay I am so sorry I didn’t respond to this until now, I’ve mostly been using tumblr on my phone and using it to check a few blogs and occasionally the CC tag, and apparently tumblr doesn’t notify for asks on the mobile app? Or I’m not seeing it? Something. I have no idea how long you’ve been waiting for a response on this, so I’m really sorry! I hope you find this!

I think I need a reread of the manga at this point--a lot of the stuff I’m writing these days is going off of head canon which might not be 100% accurate anymore. So I’m just going to write this off the cuff. Gonna be a bit stream of consciousness! So this is definitely not a definitive opinion or even one I’ll always stand by, just how I personally feel in this particular moment.

So off the top of my head...

I think we see less things from Chrono’s point of view than from Rosette’s, which is part of what makes this tricky. This isn’t ALWAYS the case obviously (we see his sort of...PTSD dream flashback after Rizelle’s death, the flashback in volume 6 is basically from Chrono’s viewpoint since it’s mostly his memories, etc), but since one of the way the plot moves forward is the mystery of what happened in Chrono’s past usually the viewpoint is more centered around Rosette. I actually always assumed that Rosette was the only character that Moriyama would consider the protagonist until I saw that on a dust jacket for one of the books he said that BOTH Chrono and Rosette are (can’t remember which book, sorry! it was a fan translation).

Thinking about it, I think we see Chrono start to realize he has romantic feelings at the end of volume 6. I think that’s the first time he really, truly comes to accept his contract with Rosette as a good thing instead of just...the lesser of two evils, I guess? It’s when he goes “oh, yeah, I made the contract because otherwise she would’ve run off to solve the problem on her own, and I didn’t want to leave her alone.” I think that’s when he starts to really see Rosette as someone that’s on the same level of emotional maturity as him, too--earlier he occasionally teases her for being immature, but I think when Rosette tells him that she wants to share his pain, and Mary’s, that he sees how emotionally strong she is as a person and really respects that. Not that he didn’t see her as strong BEFORE, buuut like...he’d been so hesitant to share his past with Rosette until right then, and her response, I think, makes him realize how helpful having her support really is to him.

This isn’t really the same situation and is definitely my own personal reaction, but as I write this it makes me think of when I was dating my husband. I was initially terrified he was going to break up with me because I was bisexual--we both came from conservative Christian backgrounds and were homeschooled, and in the past he expressed homophobic sentiments--but I felt like I HAD to tell him because I couldn’t see myself in a long term relationship with someone I couldn’t be 100% honest with. His reaction when I told him was to immediately tell me he trusted me and cared about me, start to reconsider what he’d been raised to feel immediately, and he’s become one of my biggest advocates as I’ve come out to friends and family. Coming out to him was one of the best things I’ve ever done, but it was terrifying until I did. I can see Chrono having similar fears talking about his past with Rosette, and having a similar sense of relief and healing as soon as he realized how much Rosette is in his corner and how helpful having someone he can be open with actually is.

In the next chapter, Rosette holds Chrono’s hands to comfort him while they briefly talk about their current situation (Chrono being held in, uh, demon jail? and Rosette being taken off of her mission to find Joshua), then they both blush and get flustered when they realize what they’re doing. They babble small talk afterward while inner dialogue repeats Rosette’s promise to share Chrono’s pain, and Mary’s too. And then RIGHT AFTER is when Remington walks in and takes them to Aion’s old house on the beach so...that’s about it.

So I think the manga does show that, either right after he’s pulled out of his coma by Rosette or sometime in the aftermath, Chrono is starting to acknowledge that his feelings for Rosette might be more romantic. But it is VERY brief, because literally everything after that is two volumes of the big finale, taking place entirely over no more than 24 hours. Everything after that is rushing to tie up as many loose ends as possible--Fiore being Satella’s sister, saving Joshua, Joshua beginning to grapple with the gravity of what he’s done and been a part of and what’s been done to him, Aion and Chrono’s confrontation, the Order and the Sinner’s confrontation, Rosette’s near death experience, Aion’s motivations revealed, Chrono and Aion’s true relationship revealed, Azmaria finally coming into her own in terms of taking ownership of her powers, the culmination of Aion’s plans (and near-Apocalypse caused by it), the true nature of demons, the deaths of most of the Sinners, Shader’s defection, Joshua and Fiore’s relationship being somewhat resolved, Rosette and Chrono’s relationship being somewhat resolved...like holy shit there is SO. MUCH. THERE.

On top of that, I’ve got the Japanese reprints and while I can read basically no Japanese (HUGE GRAIN OF SALT INCOMING), I’ve pointed Google Translate at some of the omakes and from what I can tell, Moriyama talks in the omake in...volume 6, I think, that he basically had a whole other volume’s worth of story for the flashback that had to be cut! If I’m understanding it right, it’s like...from Remington’s perspective, and involves some Native American tribe or reservation that had connections to the Sinners, and the woman in charge of the orphanage Joshua and Rosette grew up in was a child living in a town nearby....

Basically, from what I can tell? Moriyama had a LOOOOOOOOT of background stuff he wanted to go into in the back half of Chrono Crusade that he wasn’t able to do for time reasons. I’m not sure if his editor gave him a deadline, or he realized it would be too meandering, or what exactly happened, but...have you ever heard the “iceberg” theory of writing? Basically, flesh out as much of the backstory as you can--know everything about the town your story is set in, the family of your protag and their relationships with them, what they eat for breakfast, just...every little minutia you can possibly think of, but most of that won’t get into your story. The audience will only see the tip of the iceberg, but knowing so much background about your setting and characters will help it feel more alive and inform your decisions as you write.

I think Moriyama had a fucking huge iceberg, basically, and I think he actually wanted to show more of that, but...couldn’t. So we get little pieces of art that reference this entire backstory for Satella we never see, and Aion, etc....that gets small nods but doesn’t make it into the manga.

And I think there’s a lot of things Moriyama wanted to give time to breathe in the manga but due to space limitations, couldn’t. So that’s why the second half of the manga literally takes place from Thanksgiving to sunrise on Christmas Day and is...the entire second half of the manga. He’s rushing to get in as much as possible while still letting the story flow as a story and sometimes...it’s not perfect.

So....I think unfortunately, yeah, one of the casualties of that is that we don’t get a huuuuuge amount of Chrono’s side of the relationship, because most of the moments that really shows that they’re heading in that direction is from Rosette’s POV. Other than the scene I already mentioned, I think you could argue that Chrono’s reaction to “the place that Chrono can go back to was decided 4 years ago!” might also be the first moment he starts to consider how important Rosette is to him, but that doesn’t HAVE to be romantic...Chrono’s reaction to her death (and then realizing there’s a chance to revive her) again emphasizes how important she is to him, but it doesn’t HAVE to be romantic...the kiss at the end is the only thing that really 100% says “Yes, this is romantic and not platonic” on his part. And...yeah. It feels a bit sudden. There’s some underlying hints before that but...I mean, I know about them because I’m obsessive about character growth and narrowed in on it in subsequent rereads, I’m not sure if it came through right away on my first read of the manga, and I even knew going into it that they were at least meant to be teased as a ship, so, yeah.

Also I briefly want to admit that as I’ve gotten older, the age gap bothers me a little more. Not enough for me to abandon the ship, just, you know, it’s something I acknowledge will turn some people off. I think Chrono, maturity-wise, is meant to be seen as...about 20. I think Moriyama mentions in one of the early omakes that that’s what he looks like in his unsealed form, we know that when he leaves Pandaemonium it’s right after his coming of age ceremony so he’s about what a demon would consider to be 18 in terms of emotional (and physical?) maturity, and especially since he’s been sleeping for 50 years since that period of his life he doesn’t have the experience that his age really indicates (which Aion blantantly points out near the end). So I’m not THAT bothered by it because I don’t think that Rosette and Chrono are actually that inequal in terms of emotional maturity but it’s still...there, and...I mean he met her when she was 12...so...yeah that’s a bit weird!! 

I’ve just gotten to where I shrug my shoulders and go “look, every ship in Chrono Crusade has something problematic about it, if you’re going to be a fan of Chrono Crusade you’re probably going to have to grapple with the fact that it’s messy and human and nobody is 100% good or bad in the manga, and that’s part of what I like about it, so, that’s cool, but it’s probably not for everyone.” It’s actually one reason why I’m kinda OK with CC not being as popular as some of its contemporaries because...some of the anti-shipper stuff I’ve seen online...oh boy.

So...I guess in conclusion, I think there’s stuff there in the manga to build up the relationship a little bit, but a lot of it is from Rosette’s POV and most of it is kind of subtle. I wouldn’t be surprised if Moriyama had wanted to flesh it out more obviously in the manga but the second half is stuffed full of wrapping up character arcs and questions and loose ends so it just didn’t really have the time to get as much focus. I really like the ship a lot, but a lot of it comes from analysis of the characters and how they relate to each other rather than it just being...canon. I’m okay with that, I’m the sort of person that will ship characters that never even meet just because I think the dynamic might be cool, but...I’m not surprised that not everyone would be into it, either.

And now I kinda want to make...a series of posts analyising the different relationships that are...either canon or teased in canon, see how much they’re built up, etc. Because this post makes me think a lot about Joshua/Azmaria and how confused I was by them apparently being married in the epilogue on my first read, and only seeing the hints Moriyama hinted about them possibly being a couple in the manga on subsequent rereads (and even then HO BOY it’s so subtle it makes Chrono and Rosette look really in your face aaaaaa). BUT I HAVE RAMBLED ENOUGH FOR THIS POST and, again, I need a reread. Maybe soon....!!!!

[urbiggestdaydream]

fear street: a review

happy spooky seasons babes!!! for every week in october, i'll be posting reviews on spooky movies and tv shows inspired by this Instagram post https://www.instagram.com/p/CUN2Xeth3N4/?utm_medium=copy_link attached in case you want any ideas for a spooky night in. this first review will be on the netflix original movie, fear street. one of my best friends is OBSESSED with this trilogy so it's dedicated to her. i told her someday i would watch it and today is the day :) 

fear street is a trilogy set around 1994, 1978, and 1666 respectively. for the sake of the review, i will be watching the first one. it runs for an hour and 47 mins and is rated r. the first opening line states, “it started as a prank and ended in murder” already intriguing. it sets the stage of a rebellious teenage age that could end in an accidentally murder or an supernatural circumstances that leads to murder. either one sounds good. i’m getting a little ahead of myself. the general plot is about a group of teens from the town of shadyville that try to rectify the brutal killings that plague their town. for more insight, keep on reading. it will contain major spoilers so you have been warned. 

SPOILER the movie begins with heather (maya hawke, a queen) who is working at a book store. a relatable girl with her “not like other girls” personality, she exchanges teasing banter with her friend, ryan who works near her. as the mall begins to close (named shadyside mall which serves as a foreshadow), she encounters the killer wearing a halloween skeleton mask. they wrestle around for a little bit and she is then killed afterwards. just when i started to like her. before her death, she unveils the killer and it is revealed as her friend ryan who she was just conversing with. 

the opening scene provides an inner look into shadyside and its reputation for being a murderous town. we are then told that this is a common thing. it has a neighboring town called sunnyvale. like the name suggests, it is the complete opposite. it is safe, wealthy and comfortable. it had a record breaking year of no violence as opposed to shadyside which is cursed with murders. it is dubbed “killer capital usa”. i wonder if this is used as a social commentary on how certain towns cannot be saved and are riddled with crime. but that is a discussion for another day. we are also given motifs of a witch being executed. could this be an illusion to events to come? 

we are met with a new protagonist named deena. deena is going through a breakup with someone named sam. she is heartbroken and resentful as sam is the reason she left band. we meet her friends, simon and kate, who are there to support her throughout the whole process and with that they discuss the current standing of their town with the recent murder of heather. a possible reason for the killings is considered: shadyside creates murders. certain people lose their breaking point and take it out on unsuspecting victims. it makes people go insane.

a town left in shambles once again. a candlelit vigil is held for the victims of the mall massacre hosted in sunnyvale. it is clear that the neighboring towns have animosity towards each other. it is giving pawnee vs. eagleton (shout out to parks and rec). with the rising tensions between them, a fight ensues with the two football teams. it is also revealed that the reason for sam and deena’s breakup is sam moving to sunnyvale. deena is displeased at her decision and i would be too but at the same time, i don’t blame sam. i would have left too if my life would be in danger just by being there. but that’s besides the point. enraged, everyone goes back to their respective homes with a few football players plus sam tormenting the shadyside team. several hyped up chants later, the shadyside team retaliate by throwing a cooler directed at the car. the car begins to swerve and hits a tree harming the people inside. grasping at life, sam begins to see visions which could be due to the accident, but it is assumed as the witch. 

now at home, deena sees the killer at her home and he also comes after kate. due to the events prior, they believe it is peter (one of the football players) and they visit the hospital where sam is held. deena goes on a rampage telling sam to control her psychotic boyfriend. however, peter was in the hospital the whole time and is killed right in front of their eyes thus disproving the theory. good riddance to him. they run away from him and getting away safely but like heather, they unveil him and it is revealed as the same person as before: ryan torres. they go to the police but they are disregarded because ryan was killed by sheriff goode when he killed heather. they decide to take this into their own hands. outside the station, simon encounters this girl that tries to kill him. josh, (deena’s brother) who has done research on the various shadyside killers, identifies the girl who tried to kill simon as ruby lane. the weird part is that ruby’s killings were over 30 years ago. the witch from the opening scenes, sarah fier, was executed in the 1600s (when the first shadyside killing was reported). these massacres are somehow all connected to her and it could be how normal people are suddenly becoming murderers because she is seeking revenge by inhibiting unsuspecting bodies. sam is her next victim as the killers are attracted to her blood and she is seeing the visions. they make a plan to kill kate to wane away the bad spirits and bring her back to life with an epipen. it works in the end, but simon and kate are eliminated in the process by the demons. 

the remaining survivors (deena, kate, and josh) go to the police and talk about their experiences. because they aren’t willing to give up information (which i don’t know the reason; i might have overlooked it), the murders are planted on the now deceased kate and simon. (a mild rant). what is bothering me about deena is that she didn’t properly mourn her friends killed in the crossfire. she’s so selfishly in love with kate that she completely disregarded her friends death. life just seems to be all good for her as if nothing happened because she got back together with sam. freaking josh seemed to care more than she did. he stood up for them in his online chat but deena? where’s the energy. she seemed to care a tiny bit with the police officer (because as she claimed drug use is a perfect example to blame since the two sold drugs) but not enough to clear the air about the murders. idk that just rubbed me the wrong way. 

deena and sam are back together and living their best life good for them (i’m so petty lmao) deena gets a call from c berman (the sole survivor of one of the past massacres). she tells her its a little too late for the phone call because they could have used her advice when they still were fighting the demons. berman tells her that it never goes away and sarah always comes back. we see sarah etching sam’s name under ryan torres on a gravestone. sam is now possessed with sarah’s spirit and attacks deena. she ties up sam and tells josh that she isn’t acting like herself and they need to save her. to be continued. END SPOILER. 

final thoughts: i like this. i get why this is popular.  i’m usually not the biggest horror movie fan because they are always so typical and kinda corny. however, something about this feels fresh and new. the idea of a possessed witch is nothing new but i don’t think i have heard about a witch seeking revenge on her execution by passing on her witchcraft for generations. a woman’s scorn. plus we got some teenage drama mixed into it to add more dimension. i like knowing that the story continues on because i like the direction this is going. dare i say it i would put it up with scream as part of my favorites in the horror movie genre. someday i will watch the next two. i definitely recommend this movie for horror movie fans. i will give it a 8/10. 

[kiranxrys]

hmm... ds9 characters by which kate bush song i think they are:

julian - the man with the child in his eyes

kira - hounds of love

jadzia - jig of life

ezri - cloudbusting

garak - waking the witch

sisko - hello earth

miles - this woman’s work

worf - army dreamers

nog - running up that hill

jake - breathing

odo - suspended in gaffa

quark - wuthering heights

and actually you know what not that anyone cares but over 1000 words of ridiculous over-analyzing explanations under the cut bc i feel like it

julian - the man with the child in his eyes

bush wrote the song about a man in whom a younger protagonist notices a youthful quality, a sort of childlike awe for the world. this really speaks to me about julian’s character, who seems to repress this side of himself throughout the show in order to earn the respect of others. to me he really is “the man with the child in his eyes”. it’s also a very sweet and loving song that reflects the way i feel about his character. 

kira - hounds of love

hounds of love definitely has a more romantic leaning, filled with a girl’s story from uncertainty about love to embracing it joyfully. analyzing this from kira’s perspective, though, to me this might be more of a story about her uncertainty with vulnerability, “what was following [her]” that she was “hiding from” being her trauma and her past. the song is upbeat and gives the sense of entering a new, exciting world filled with possibility. that’s kira’s path of recovery starting from the beginning of the story to me. particularly bush’s final cries of “i need love” ring true for me for kira. she is entirely mature and strong and experienced at the start of ds9. her journey is about learning to let go.

jadzia - jig of life

jadzia’s bush song being jig of life is a bit ironic, in a sense, as jig of life is about survival. jig of life is about fighting to let your future self live even when the present seems hopeless. maybe that’s what makes it so powerful to me as a song for jadzia. the song describes the future life and children she never got to have (or maybe did, depending on your AU ideas). the desperate cry of jig of life’s protagonist’s future self “never, never, never, never, never let me go! [...] let me live!”, as well as the song’s exploration of time and different versions of oneself really speaks to me for jadzia’s character. 

ezri - cloudbusting

what initially drew me to this song in ezri’s regard was its strange optimism given the subject matter. without getting into the historical specifics, bush wrote the song from the perspective of the son of a psychoanalyst, exploring the memories of his eccentric and troubled father. looking more closely, i would say the concept of having someone else “here in my head” connects to her struggles with becoming joined to the dax symbiot. i like the idea how “everytime it rains” (every time things get dark) that voice is there for her “like the sun coming out”. the declaration “i just know that something good is going to happen” rings true for me for ezri. 

garak - waking the witch

waking the witch is one of bush’s weirder songs, it’s very disjointed and confused in a striking kind of way, a stage in bush’s story of a girl drowning and lost at sea. the protagonist in waking the witch is this girl who, in a strange hallucination, finds herself on trial for witchcraft. the song deals with guilt and innocence as a threatening, demonic voice presses the protagonist for a confession. several key emotions connect this song with garak for me - guilt, paranoia, fear, hopelessness as she finds “a stone around [her] leg” that drags her down. “i question your innocence”, the voice tells her. “guilty, guilty, guilty!” declare the court. “well, are you responsible for your actions?” the voice asks. meanwhile the protagonist pleads (“bless me father for i have sinned” - perhaps a connection to tain, “help me, help me baby, talk to me, talk to me, please talk to me” - this terrified desperation reminds me of garak in his darkest moments). waking the witch to me represents garak’s inner turmoil and sense of guilt.

sisko - hello earth

oof, hello earth. this song is a true masterpiece. like waking the witch and jig of life, it’s a part of the story of the drowning girl. hello earth is towards the end of the story, as she struggles to survive. the awe for the world and the sense of detachment between the protagonist and her physical universe in the song reminds me of sisko’s connection to the prophets. he “[watches] storms start to form over” his country (in this case, ds9, bajor, the alpha quadrant) but “can’t do anything, just watch them swing with the wind out to sea”. when voices demand of the protagonist to “get out of the waves, get out of the water”, to me that is benjamin’s loved ones pleading with him  to return from the figurative world of the prophets. “murderer! murderer of calm!” voices accuse. i interpret this as sisko’s guilt over the regrettable things he has had do over the years, such as the events of in the pale moonlight. the song ends with a phrase, spoken by bush in german - “deeper, deeper, somewhere in the depth there is light”. sisko has this determined optimism, this conviction in what he stands for and what he can achieve. 

miles - this woman’s work

this woman’s work is a song in which a husband fears for his wife as she gives birth to their baby, looking back on their time together and finding regret. you can see the connection here. but while the idea of “i know you have a little life in you yet, i know you have a lot of strength left” can be read as being directed at keiko, i think it can also apply to miles himself. it may be a bit of a joke, but christ, miles has gone through the most - ‘hard time’, especially, comes to mind. even before the dominion war, he’s been through horrific conflict, but he still holds on and keeps fighting with his determined attitude. he’s a repressed person. “[he] should be crying but [he] just can’t let it show”. he’s still clinging to life, even after all this time. 

worf - army dreamers

army dreamers is a war song. it’s also a war song about a younger soldier, told from the perspective of his mother, who has died. she imagines what her son could’ve been, wondering what she could’ve done to save him from this fate. on one hand, this does connect for me to worf’s continuous ‘loss’ (of both people and things) throughout his time in both tng and ds9. but i think in a way worf also is, or is afraid of being, the young soldier in the story. army dreamers connects to klingon warriorship and the horrific loss of war - “oh, what a waste of all them army dreamers”. of any kate bush song, this was the one in which i felt him the most. 

nog - running up that hill

god, running up that hill. truly peak kate bush. there’s a lot here that i connect to nog. first of all, running up that hill is a song that carries so much weight, seems to touch upon themes of great burdens and struggles, something nog certainly experiences. but bush’s intended meaning with the song was a reflection upon how people from different groups (here men and women) struggle to understand each other, and if only they could “get [god] to swap [their] places”. this speaks to me of nog’s experience as a ferengi, the first ferengi in starfleet. if only those around him could understand him better - this goes both for being ferengi and for being traumatized - he would be running up that hill “with no problems”. 

jake - breathing

breathing is one of my favourite bush songs of all time. it’s a true masterpiece. here she takes on the persona of a baby in its mother’s womb, aware of a world outside that has descended into nuclear destruction and the horrors former generations have inflicted upon the earth. jake is the face of the next generation in ds9, growing from child to adult, but if the dominion war goes wrong, what world will he be left with by those who came before? at the end of breathing, bush’s protagonist, joined by other voices, desperately pleads with those above -  “oh, god, please leave us something to breathe!”. i connect this song to jake’s place as this next generation, as well as (unlike nog) an outsider in the war. 

odo - suspended in gaffa

i deliberated for a long time about which kate bush song could fit odo’s story. i chose suspended in gaffa because it explores a concept of experiencing something wondrous (in this case, witnessing god) and then not being able to experience it again, trapped by one’s unworthiness. the song’s protagonist is desperate to be rewarded - “can i have it all now?” i connect this with odo’s intrinsic desire and struggle to experience the great link, to be with his people, as well as other aspects like to be accepted by others and at peace with himself. 

quark - wuthering heights

yeah.

[septembercfawkes]

100+ Questions to Help Evaluate Your Story

Recently, I started putting together a list of questions for myself to consider when evaluating and editing manuscripts--just to get my brain juices flowing. It wasn't until I finished that I realized it might be beneficial for others too.

I'm sure there are topics and questions that I didn't include that are worth considering. And when I edit a manuscript, I focus more on tailoring what I talk about, to that specific manuscript. I also don't necessarily consider all these subject for every edit--again, it depends on the manuscript, the writer, and what kind of edit we decided on.

However, I think this list covers most of the major topics. If you don't understand what the questions are asking, or want to learn more about a topic, I have addressed all these things on my blog, so you can head over to the writing tip index and read until your heart is content (for convenience, I've also put a lot of these links in this article).

One thing: I haven't yet posted the Save the Cat! story structure (it is forthcoming), so in the structure sections, I have terminology that references that, which you won't yet find on here.

Again, keep in mind these are questions to help get me thinking and evaluating--not necessarily "test" questions that strictly tell me whether something is "good" or "bad."

Setting & Worldbuilding

(worth noting is that while a lot of the questions in this section work for any story, some are specific to speculative fiction, which is what I specialize in.)

Did I know where and when the scenes took place?

Was there variety in the setting? Too much repetition? Enough contrast?

Did it draw too much attention to itself at the wrong time? Or not enough at the right time?

Could I picture and experience it?

Did it make sense? In the world? And its purpose?

Would I want to go there? vs. Is it intriguing?

Did the world and societies make sense? Were they believable?

Did having other worlds or societies benefit the story (were they utilized in the plot, or could the story have easily taken place in our world or day)?

Were there parts of the world or society that we really should have seen and experienced that we didn't? Did we experience them enough?

Are there societal conflicts?

Do we get a sense of history about the setting and world? An immediate future?

Did the magic and world follow its own rules?

Was the magic soft or hard or in between? Was it used and addressed appropriately in the story?

Did the world or magic bring in something we haven’t seen before? Or give us a new spin on something familiar? Was it cliché?

Does it connect into something the readers somewhat understand, so that it appeals to wonder more powerfully?

If it is soft magic, does it cause problems for the characters?

If it’s hard magic, does it help solve problems?

Are the costs and limitations of the magic utilized and explored? When appropriate, do we understand its boundaries?

Is the magic utilized in the plot and conflicts?

Related Articles:

5 Most Common Mistakes with Setting

Maximizing or Minimizing Your Setting

Creating Fictional Species and Societies

Tips on Creating Your Own Fantastic Beasts

Sanderson's 3 Laws of Magic Systems

Writing (Magical) Items: Weapons, Attire, Potions,Tools, Steeds

Appealing to Wonder Powerfully in the Modern Age

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Only One Impossibility"

Creating Fictional Languages (Conlangs)

Characters

Were the protagonist and other key players round/complex characters?

Do they contrast each other?

Do the key characters arc? How so? Does it fit thematically?

Did side characters have their own lives? Or did their existence only revolve around the protagonist?

Was the protagonist likeable? Or at least tolerable? Or interesting?

Did they show moments of vulnerability?

Was the antagonist formidable enough?

Are the characters unique enough? Not generic (unless that's the point)?

Could I picture them?  

Did I know their wants? Their fears?

Did I sympathize with them? Care about them?

Do they have a past history? Plans for the future?

Did the characters struggle and suffer?

Related Articles:

Complex Characters and the Power of Contradiction

Dramatica's Character Archetypes

Making Unlikeable People into Likeable Characters

Character Traits that Hike Up Tension

Creating Stunning Side Characters (and Why They Matter)

Pairing Behaviors with Odd Demeanors for Originality

"The Emotional Range of a Teaspoon": Your Characters' Spectrum of Emotions

Considering the Irrationality of Your Characters

How to Pick the Right Character Names

Fixing the Mary Sue Character in Your Story

The "Twins as Clones" Writing Epidemic

The Passive Value Heroine

Writing Extreme Characteristics

Never Confuse Characterization for Character

What You Need to Know Most About Character Voice

10 Methods to Make Your Characters Likeable

How to Write Excellent Introspection

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Filter Words"  

Crafting a Body Language Voice

Helps for Writing Children

3 Redemptive Character Types

Working with a Large Cast of Characters

Conflicts

What types of conflicts were present? Were all five types in the story (person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. society, person vs. nature, person vs. God)?

Was any one type underutilized? Should one be present that isn’t?

Is there variety?

Are the conflicts significant? Do we care about them?

Will the conflicts propel the story forward?

Were conflicts resolved too soon?

Or too easily?

Related Articles:

Coming up with a Plot (from scratch)

Are Your Conflicts Significant?

The Struggle is Real: Make Your Protagonist Suffer for Success!

Keeping Conflicts Unresolved

The Oft Forgotten Conflict and How to Make it Work: Man Vs. God 

Plot and Structure

Did the story have a clear beginning, middle, and end?

Did it escalate?

Did it utilize cause and effect throughout the plotline?

Beginning

Was I introduced to the key characters, a significant conflict, and the setting?

Did the beginning establish a sense of normalcy before plot point one? At least in comparison to what will happen after plot point one?

Were the character arc and theme introduced?

Did it hook me? (By getting me to look forward or by curiosity)

Were there stakes?

If there was a prologue, what kind? Did it contribute to the story appropriately?

Was there too much exposition?

Did I care about what was going on?

Did it set the tone?

Was there foreshadowing?

Wants and fears established?

Did we look back on the past too much? Instead of focusing forward?

Consider: Orphan state, Opening Image, Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal of Call, Debate, Meeting the Mentor, Crossing the Threshold, Plot Point One, Act I

Middle

Did the conflicts and stakes escalate?

Did they build off Act I? (cause and effect)

Did the story broaden or deepen or do both?

Was the theme explored and questioned?

Were there pinch points? Did they apply pressure on the protagonist (directly or indirectly)?

Did the protagonist “react” and then become more “proactive”? (Wanderer to Warrior)

Did the context shift at the midpoint?

Was the midpoint a false win/lose?

Were true friends and enemies made or revealed? Along with any of their abilities or special skills?

Did the protagonist have to battle inner demons?

Were obstacles significant and overcome?

Are the characters growing and changing?

Consider: B story, pinch points, midpoint, Tests, Allies, Enemies, Fun & Games, Approach the Inmost Cave, The Ordeal, Bad Guys Close in, Plot Point 2, All is Lost, Reward, Act II

End

Did escalation continue into the ending? Broadening, deepening, and stakes?

Did inner demons rise again? Were they defeated?

Was the hero the most active? And if not, did he/she do something most significant?

Did anything new enter the story? If so, was it problematic? Or did it work?

Did the hero need saving? Hopefully not, but if so, did it work?

Were heroic deaths and sacrifices merited?

Was the antagonist its biggest and baddest self?

Was there a showdown with it and the hero?

Would the ending be better with more callbacks?

Was the thematic statement proved and validated?

Was there a twist, surprise, or devastating cost?

Were expectations exceeded?

Were promises kept?

Was there a dues ex machina?

Were opposites crossed? The biggest external problem with the biggest internal problem?

Was the right ending model used?

Did the denouement validate changes and establish a new normal?

Were important loose ends addressed?

Did cause and effect make sense? Did Act II feed into Act III?

Consider: The Road Back, Climax, Resurrection, Return with the Elixir, Denouement, Final Image

Scene & Summary

Did the author know when to write a scene vs. a summary?

Did the writer know how to structure a scene?

How to structure a longer passage of summary?

Did every scene contain a change? If not, did that scene still play an important role?

Were any scenes weak? Should any be made stronger?

Related Articles:

What to Outline When Starting a Story

What to Do When You Write Yourself Into a Corner  

Coming up with a Plot (from scratch)

The Story Shape that Permeates Just About Everything

Story Structure Explained: Prologues, Hooks, Setups, Inciting Incidents

Story Structure Explained: Pinch Points, Midpoints, Plot Points, and Middles

Story Structure Explained: Pinch Points, Midpoints, Plot Points, and Middles, con't

Story Structure Explained: Climax, Denouement, Epilogues, and Endings

Scene vs. Sequence vs. Act

Obligatory Scenes and Conventions

The Hero's Journey Explained: The Beginning

The Hero's Journey Explained: The Middle

The Hero's Journey Explained: The End

Starting a Scene: Two Important Questions Leaving Your Stamp on a Scene

On-Page or Off-Page? Discerning Significant Scenes 

Structuring Satisfying Scenes

Creating Mini Character Arcs Within a Scene

How to Write Exceptional Endings 

Theme

Was the theme topic clear?

Did the character arc exemplify the thematic statement?

Was the story focused on the theme topic? Was there anything that took away from that focus?

Did the character cast contribute to the theme?

Did we start with a false thematic statement and end on a true one?

Was the theme questioned and explored through the middle?

Was it validated by the end?

Was it cliché?

Did the story offer a new insight that hasn’t been seen before?

Or did it exceptionally re-validated a truth already known to the audience?

Does it add purpose to the story? Leave the audience with a point?

If the theme was not illustrated by the main character’s arc, did the main character prove it true, despite being tested about it?

Was it universal enough?

Related Articles:

How to Write Your Story's Theme

How Theme and False Theme Affect Your Protagonist (Amanda Rawson Hill)

2 Types of Truth in Fiction: Do You Know Which One You are Telling?

Why We Need Stories about Dark Things

Can You Write to a Theme?

Preach vs. Teach

How to Add Dimension to Your Story's Theme

Pacing

Did the overall pacing serve the story? Anything that went too fast or too slow?

Were there any scenes or scene sequences where the pacing didn’t work well?

Did hopes, fears, tension, stakes, and hooks feed into the pacing well enough?

How did descriptions affect pacing positively or negatively?

Were significant scenes brushed over too quickly (or worse, left off-page)? Were unimportant parts summarized or dealt with briefly (or appropriately off page or assumed)?

Were there action scenes? Did technicality slow them down too much?

Were there lulls at appropriate moments?

Related Articles:

8 Common Pacing Problems

How Structure Affects Pacing  

Tension, Stakes, Hooks

Did the story have enough tension (most should have more tension than conflict)?

Could the audience anticipate possible outcomes (to get invested in what could happen)? Could they sometimes anticipate multiple possible outcomes at once?

Did the text regularly “look forward” by getting the audience to hope or fear for significant possible outcomes? Did it utilized both hope (positive) and fear (negative) to get the audience to turn pages? Did it use curiosity or intrigue?

Was potential cause and effect utilized, so that, on occasion, the audience could glimpse a potential “domino” effect?

Were stakes significant? Did they have broad, far-reaching potential consequences or deep, personal potential consequences?

Were decisions and dangers imminent?

Were hooks utilized? Were they worded to best effect?

Did the writer tease what could happen without spoiling it?

Did the text use “If . . . then . . .” statements (implied or directly)?

Related Articles:

Tension vs. Conflict (Hint: They aren't the Same Thing)

Mastering Stylistic Tension 5 Tricks that Help with Hooks

Look Forward, Not Backward, to Pull the Reader In

How to Write Stakes in Storytelling

Accidentally Undercutting Tension (and How to Stop)  

Reeling Readers in via Curiosity

Context

Did the narrator/viewpoint character explain/imply enough of what was happening for the audience to follow and understand the text, tension, conflicts, and stakes?

Did the viewpoint character provide emotional context, for the audience? Did they validate (or at least acknowledge) what emotions should typically be felt?

Did the writer appropriately discern what should be context, and what should be subtext? Did context avoid becoming subtext?

Did the audience know where and when they were, what was happening, and why it mattered?

Did the audience follow and understand the story?

Did the narrator/viewpoint character add further meaning and insight into the scenes? Did their perspective add significance? Did their viewpoint matter?

Did the narrator/viewpoint character provide the appropriate tone for the scenes?

If there were teasers—did the audience eventually get context for them?

Was there too much context? Was it bloated? And making the audience feel like they are being treated as unintelligent? Too much “hand-holding”?

Related Articles:

Context, Text, and Subtext: What They Are and How They Help With Storytelling

Context vs. Subtext (Context Should Not Become Subtext)

Validating the Reader  

Working with Teasers

Subtext

Was the story bigger than what was on the page?

Was implication used to let the audience draw the appropriate conclusions?

Did the audience become a participator, rather than a spectator, of the story, because they were able to read between lines?

Was implication strong enough to allow us to come to the right conclusions (most of the time, when appropriate)?

Was implication so strong, it was annoying and drew attention to itself?

Did subtext touch on characters’ pasts and hidden behaviors/motives?

Did dialogue have subtext?

Were the gaps between contradictions related to subtext appropriate?

Related Articles:

How to Write What's Not Written (Subtext)

Context vs. Subtext (Context Should Not Become Subtext)

Context, Text, and Subtext: What They Are and How They Help With Storytelling

Undercurrent vs. Subtext vs. Theme

Audience Experience and Appeal

Did the story elicit emotions from the audience? If so, how powerfully?

Can the audience relate to the characters? If not, are they intriguing instead?

Does the audience care?

Is there a variety of characters?

Are the conflicts and themes universal enough?

Did the story deliver on the experience promised (and according to the genre)?

Was the story satisfying?

Did the audience experience the setting powerfully?

Did the story hit a variety of emotions, and the appropriate emotions?

Viewpoint

Was the viewpoint consistent? (1st, 2nd, 3rd, omniscient OR in how it is handled)?

Was there head hopping? If so, was it intentional and controlled and consistent?

Was the viewpoint choice the best for the story?

Was the viewpoint character the same as the protagonist? If not, why not?

If there are multiple viewpoint characters, was the best character chosen for each scene?

Did having that viewpoint character be the viewpoint character, contribute to meaning and insight and audience experience in the scene?

Does the story utilize point of view penetration? And go to the right depths at the right times? Or does the story zoom in and out randomly?

How well was introspection handled? Was there too much? Did it add to the story? Or only tell us things we already knew?

Did introspection focus on the past too much and the future not enough?

Were there minor viewpoint errors?

Were the prose infused with the viewpoint character’s worldview, attitude, and feelings? Did it tell us more about that character?

Were “filter words” overused?

Related Articles:

Picking the Right Viewpoint Character for Your Scene

Point of View Penetration

Minor Viewpoint Errors

How to Write Excellent Introspection

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Filter Words"  

Relationships

Did the characters in significant relationships foil each other in relevant ways?

Did they have (or grow) a sense of history? Did their relationship evolve and change?

Did we get a sense of how well they knew each other?

Did they share vulnerable moments?

Did they grow together?

Make sacrifices for each other?

Show some form of affection for each other?

Have an appropriate “meet cute” or first meeting (and ideally, one that is specific and unique to them)?

Are there hardships, weaknesses, hurts, difficulties in the relationship?

Do they develop their own culture (inside jokes, what’s acceptable vs. not acceptable, mottoes and lifestyles)?

Do they work together?

Are they too much alike? Get along too perfectly? Share too many of the same ideas?

Dialogue

Did the dialogue use subtext? Did it say more than what was on the page?

Was it indirect, especially to hold tension?

And when it was direct, was it during the appropriate time and topic to release tension?

Did it sound realistic?

Was there maid-and-butler dialogue?

Did the story rely on dialogue too much to convey information, exposition, and context to the audience?

Were characters too direct in expressing their intense, true feelings?

Did key characters have their own unique character voice?

Was there circuitry in dialogue exchanges, or did the characters simply respond to each other?

Was the dialogue generic?

Were lines called back?

Anything quotable?

Were dialogue tags and modifiers appropriate to the dialogue? Did the dialogue itself do most of the work, instead of the tags and modifiers?

Related Articles:

5 Most Common Mistakes in Dialogue

Writing Realistic and Complex Dialogue

Kicking "Great" Dialogue up to "Killer" Dialogue

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Only Use 'Said'"

Generic Dialogue—Staaaahp

(Don't) Tell Me How You Really Feel

How to Punctuate Dialogue

Writing Callbacks

Descriptions

Did the story regularly appeal to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)?

Were modifiers (such as adjectives, adverbs) reined in and controlled? And utilized to their best?

Could I picture what was being described accurately?

Were there enough descriptions?

Did the descriptions contribute to the story, tone, and pacing?

Were the descriptions purple prose?

Did the descriptions bring a new perspective to view something?

Did the writer pick the right details to describe?

Were the descriptions too stagnant?

Were significant things given more descriptions? And the insignificant, less?

Were there character tags?

Related Articles:

Picking the RIGHT Details

Three Tweaks that Keep Details Interesting

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Adverbs, Adjectives"

The Weight of Words

How to Handle Blocking

How to Use the Thesaurus Properly

Purple Prose: What it is, How it Works, How to get Rid of it

Back to Basics--Imagery

When and How to Weaken a Passage

Writing Food Scenes

Blocking

Did the story utilize blocking?

Could I picture how the characters interacted with the setting and each other?

Was the blocking consistent?

Was it used to emphasize points and emotions?

And did it impact pacing appropriately?

Could I follow the blocking?

Was it specific without being too detailed?

Was there spatial vagueness?

Did it convey character?

Related Article:

How to Handle Blocking

Tone

Was the appropriate tone used for the scene/story?

Were there “tone deaf” moments?

Could tone have been stronger in certain parts?

Did it switch inappropriately mid-scene?

Was in unrefined?

Was there enough variety of tone?

Related Articles:

Exactly How to Create and Control Tone

Emotion

What are the major emotional draws?

Was there variety in the emotions felt? Was there contrast?

Were emotions rendered empathetic or sympathetically? Was each approach used at the right time?

Were any of the emotions too sentimental?

Was there any melodrama?

Were the most powerful emotional moments rendered in deep POV?

Were raw emotions and subdued emotions used at the appropriate times?

Did I feel like I was experiencing those emotions?

Did the story have an emotional impact on me? How strong or weak was the impact?

Did the writers use the same emotional indicators over and over? (“Smiling” and “laughing” whenever someone is happy, etc.)

Was too much emotional tension released through the characters, so that the audience couldn’t feel it? (example: characters crying too much and at the wrong times, releasing that tension so the audience doesn’t have it.)

Could the emotional experience have been more powerful by crossing opposites?

Related Articles:

Writing Empathetically vs. Sympathetically and Sentimentally

Let Your Reader do the Work

Raw vs. Subdued Emotions: Getting them Right in Your Story

"The Emotional Range of a Teaspoon": Your Characters' Spectrum of Emotions

Gaining Incredible Emotional Power by Crossing Opposites

Choosing Relatable Descriptions to Power up Empathy

Selecting the Right Sentence Structure for the Right Emotion

Dealing with Melodrama: What it is, How it Works, and How to Get Rid of it

The Most Important Part of Sequels and Retellings

When to "Tell" Emotion

Style, Flow, Clarity

Was the style at a professional level?

Did the prose flow properly?

How accurately did the writer communicate what was intended to the audience? Was there enough clarity?

Was the writer specific?

Did the writer understand how to start and end a scene properly?

Did style and flow contribute to pacing appropriately?

Was it easy to read?

Was sentence structure utilized to best effect? Was it varied?

Was punctuation proper?

Grammar and tense accurate?

Any continuity errors?

Was showing and telling used appropriately?

Was the writing vague?

Related Articles:

Purple Prose: What it is, How it Works, How to get Rid of it

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Adverbs, Adjectives"

Back to Basics--Imagery

Structuring Events in the Correct Sequence

Please Don't Write this Sentence in Your Opening

Boom! Bang! Pow! Using Onomatopoeias Well

Wordiness

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Passive Voice"

Minor Viewpoint Errors  

The Weight of Words

How to Write Excellent Introspection

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Filter Words"

How to Use the Thesaurus Properly

5 Tricks that Help with Hooks

How Structure Affects Pacing

How Often Should I "Refresh" a Pronoun?

When and How to Weaken a Passage

Fluttering

Vague Vs. Ambiguous: Which are You Writing?

How to Punctuate Dialogue

How to Use an Ellipsis Properly

How to Use a Dash—in Fiction Writing

The Easiest Explanation of Semicolons ;)

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Show, don't Tell"  

Misc.

Was the title effective?

The chapter lengths appropriate?

Were there any believability issues?  

Did the text work off and address probability over reality?

How original were the ideas?

If writing rules were broken, was it to great effect?

If there were flashbacks, were they used to the best of their ability? Were they overused?

Is the writer satisfied with the work?

Related Articles:

How to Come up With Great Titles

Inconceivable! Dealing with Problems of Unbelievability

"Everything Has Already Been Done Before"--Has it Really?

Obligatory Scenes and Conventions  

Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Flashbacks"

[itsclydebitches]

So I'm curious what are some character designs you love? Not from RWBY, but just i general. I'm the same anon who got you to check out Berserk and I'd say essentially all of the designs are done damn well. Fit the character. Changes that makes sense for growth. Also make sense given the setting. Even women in armor that doesn't have those massive boob plates. Good designs impact so much subconsciously to have much we enjoy other aspects of a story.

Congratulations! You’ve unlocked my never-ending need to praise Yu Yu Hakusho! :D 

This long, picture-laden post needs two disclaimers going forward: 

I’m not an artist. In the sense that I’m not a visual artist who knows anything about what makes character design good from a technical/community approved standpoint. This is purely based on my own, personal reaction to a beloved series. 

Connected to that, I’m going into this under the assumption that people might really disagree with me (?). Based on the cartoons and anime that I see praised for character design, I don’t think YYH fits whatever list more knowledgeable viewers are pulling from. But I’m gonna lay out my thinking anyway! 

Major spoilers for Yu Yu Hakusho below. 

Alright let’s do this. 

First off, when people start talking character design they often reference how cool a character is. Which makes sense. You want a character to be visually engaging and distinct. Something that makes you go “Wow!” whenever you look at them. However, one of the things I love about the YYH cast is how normal they are. Because they’re supposed to be normal. The trope of the main character having a crazy hair color has become so prominent that we’ve got memes about it now and that works for a lot of stories. You know who is important because, despite the assumption that they’re average people not dying their hair, they stick out like a sore thumb among the rest of the cast. 

However, normalcy is a really important part of YYH. The entire point at the start is that Yusuke is not special. He’s not unique. He’s a delinquent kid who most assume isn’t going anywhere in life. When he dies this doesn’t unlock some Super Special Backstory - you were innately amazing all along! - he just gets caught up in the plot because of a paperwork issue. The afterlife doesn’t know what to do with an asshole kid who unexpectedly saved another kid’s life so they just kind of... shuffle him around until he’s given another chance to live. Then he gets to pay back that second chance by becoming a Spirit Detective. Yeah, Yusuke is talented when it comes to fighting and spirit energy, but at the start that’s rarely emphasized outside of “He’s the best street fighter among no-name street fighters so really, it’s not impressive once you take Yusuke out of his tiny world of school parking lots and the occasional alleyway.” The takeaway is that he’s a dime-a-dozen troubled teen who got involved in the spirit world due to an impulsive act and a bunch of bureaucracy. Indeed, it’s a HUGE moment of emotional growth for Yusuke to realize that people do love him despite his supposedly average, unremarkable, and otherwise negative personality. His normal-ness - and others’ expectation that he could someday make himself great if he learns to work at it - is crucial to where Yusuke starts out. Making him visually distinct in terms of Anime Protagonist Looks would undermine a lot of that. This isn’t supposed to be a Super Special Kid Destined For Greatness. He’s just... a kid. A normal kid. A kid who has to work and learn and grow if he wants to make something of himself. So he gets black hair, brown yes, and a green school uniform. He’s pretty damn average looking. 

Same with Kuwabara. Same with Keiko. Same with Atsuko. They’re just normal people going about their lives and I always appreciated that they looked the part. You can still easily tell them apart thanks to different hair colors, texture, jaw lines, and outfits, but none of them seem out of place in the average world they start out in. Which, as said, is crucial to a lot of YYH’s themes. The ones who look more visually distinct - Hiei and Botan - aren’t human. It makes sense that they wouldn’t obey these same average laws of the rest of the cast and they are our first taste of a world that, in terms of character design, will eventually get pretty wonderfully weird. They function as stepping stones. 

This eventually becomes a story about the demon world and those demons wouldn’t come across as particularly scary/other if you begin the story with equally strange looking humans. Or even just “I don’t see people who look like that walking down the street” humans. Alongside many themes, there’s a contrast at work here. Yusuke stepping out into a stadium full of demons who despise him because of his species hits home when he is so clearly distinct from them. Suddenly, his normal is abnormal. 

Once the ball gets rolling, Yusuke’s looks are constantly in contrast with both his environment and his inner self. He looks like a scary thug but then unexpectedly saves a life. He looks like an average human but is actually the strongest among a group of scary-looking demons. He looks like this badass spirit detective who everyone assumes with have an equally badass spirit beast but, uh... 

Oh my god that’s a precious baby. By the time our cast is family and everyone accepts that Yusuke looks scarier than he actually is or ever was - once the core group is made up of not just humans but demon loving humans who are equally soft - we turn it all on its head again and reveal that Yusuke has demon blood. For the first time he looks as strange and powerful as he is. Yusuke’s normality is done away with the second he’s fully accepted his place in these worlds, throwing everything back into chaos. 

Yusuke’s demon form becomes even more foreign looking  when he’s being controlled by his ancestral father. The above is a Yusuke who is still Yusuke and in many respects the design reflects that: natural hair color, human body, tattoos easily covered up with a shirt. When he’s gone full Mazoku though, something dangerous, the white, wilder hair and change to his expressions ensure we read him as something feral. For the first time in the series Yusuke is truly the dangerous creature he’s pretended to be since his principal was running after him at school. 

As a side-note about character costumes, we see this emphasis on normality in their outfits as well. Obviously a story like RWBY is limited by how much time/money they have for animation, but it nevertheless has an impact to see the group almost constantly in their battle gear. They’re never not the main characters of an action-fantasy show, not even while just out around town with no expectation of entering a fight.  

In contrast, Yusuke and Kuwabara are often animated in everyday clothing that remind us that they’re really just teens trying to live their lives outside of this crazy nonsense. Kuwabara wasn’t even formally hired for all this! The cast wears sweaters and jackets while out and about. More formal clothes for special occasions. Jeans and t-shirts when they’re unexpectedly caught up in a fight because, you know, they’re not ready for battle every second of every day. They’re drawn like normal folks because, outside of the ring, they are. 

(We’ve also got a lot of parallels between Yusuke and Kuwabara’s civilian clothing, visually reminding us that they’re far more alike than they might be willing to admit.)

Despite often changing outfits, the group maintains a basic color pallet that makes them recognizable, yet it’s also not so limited that they appear strange for sticking to one (1) color for the entire time we know them. Yusuke, like most people, is drawn to particular colors, mostly greens, yellows, and blues, so each time we see him he’s familiar while also being distinct from the last time he changed. 

Hiei, as someone who initially wants nothing to do with anyone else and relies on assassin-like speed to take out his enemies, is dressed almost entirely in black. Without that bit of white in his scarf/hair you’d lose him in the shadows... which is the point. 

When he opens up and actually becomes friends with the team, his color pallet starts opening up a great deal too.  

And we’re shown all the little changes he starts incorporating that speak to his growth: his Jagan eye, a bandaged arm hiding his Dragon of the Darkness Flame, the necklace connecting him to Yukina. 

I’ve blathered on about the outfits enough but as a quick final note: EVERYONE WEARS APPROPRIATE FIGHTING CLOTHES. 

No one (even the women to my recollection) wear heels. Everything is loose-fitted and looks easy to move in. They’ve got sensible belts, bandages if they need them, and... that’s it. No unnecessary bells and whistles that distract from what’s supposed to be the story’s real draw: good fights and good characterization. Even the more elaborately styled characters (usually) look like they chose their outfits practically first and for the aesthetic after. At no point do I recall watching this show and going, “WHY would you wear that to a fight??” 

Anyway, back to the designs. 

The exceptions to either side of these extremes - from human normal to demon monstrous - are Genkai and Kurama, both of whom straddle the line. Genkai is someone who has pushed her spirit and body far past the norm. She’s the first human we meet who truly goes beyond that normality, even if you don’t immediately realize it. Her pink hair (such a soft color in her old age it’s not at all distracting) is a slight hint that something isn’t quite right with her. She’s obviously human... but not a normal human. Not anymore. 

Those unnatural looks are emphasized in her youth when she was at the height of her power. 

Genkai as a young woman has vibrantly pink hair (a bright pastel like Botan’s), a softer face, and far more emotive eyes. She looks ethereal, which fits not just her own journey to power but Togoru’s as well. Her story is intimately tied up in what that power does to the human body/soul. So Toguro starts out like this 

a pretty normal looking guy who is on the far end of what the human body is naturally capable of. He’s buff as hell, but not so much that it looks unreasonable. I’ve seen body builders bigger than him. He’s the average (dehydrated...) MCU superhero. However, he ends up like this

In Togoru’s case his abnormality is explicitly presented as grotesque. Rather than giving him a cool looking characteristic that’s clearly supernatural (blue hair, an extra eye, curly horns, etc.), we’ve taken a human characteristic (muscles) and expanded them to an unnatural degree. He’s got some uncanny valley shit going on. 

Paralleling Genkai, we likewise see Kurama subtly standing out among his human allies. 

He’s a demon in a human’s body. By in-world logic his appearance should be just as normal as anyone else’s, but a bit of his true nature shines through. His hair is long in a style not popular in YYH’s Japan. His red is far less of a natural shade than Kuwabara’s. He carries himself with the air of someone who is ancient, because he is. His human design deliberately reflects his true demon form so when that’s finally revealed we still recognize him as Kurama. 

(Same sort of work with Hiei’s demon form.) 

When we look at the cast together we have an immediate, visual impression as to who is normal and who is not - and those assumptions are embedded into the story. Yusuke is someone you’d overlook in the crowd, but he’s the most powerful. Kurama is clearly other in some way, but he’s desperate to live an average, human life. Kuwabara is designed to look and move like the fool and a lot of his development (his and others’ in relation to him, really. Like Hiei) is built around respecting him despite those looks. Hiei is tiny but will kick your ass. Genkai is tinier and will kick your ass worse. 

Her size combined with her age - combined with her status as Yusuke’s teacher - is a continuous reminder not to judge power by looks alone. Don’t underestimate your opponent and get overconfident (a major flaw of Yusuke’s). Know that you still have a LOT to learn about the world. That woman you assume is just a rude grandma? She’s going to break your expectations over and over and over again. 

Speaking of size, that’s a major aspect of Koenma’s design as well. When Yusuke learns he’s meeting the head of the underworld he starts picturing a massive, demonic beast who (sensing a theme here) looks the part of a supernatural ruler. Seeing Koenma for the first time - an adorable toddler-like being - is an absolute shock. 

It’s a gag for the audience, but it’s not just a gag. Due to his looks Yusuke is unable to take Koenma seriously, despite knowing the power he holds. 

Which, even more-so than arrogance, is Yusuke’s greatest flaw throughout the series. He doesn’t take school seriously. His death seriously. Ruler of the underworld seriously. His teacher seriously, etc. Yusuke constantly acts like he doesn’t care, throwing basic respect and effort in the face of whatever authority figure is desperately trying to keep him from self-destructing. He’s on the receiving end of multiple speeches throughout the series (mostly from Genkai) that boil down to, “Care about something, dammit. Take this seriously!” and when he does it’s GREAT. It’s a moment of growth we’ve really built to in a hundred different ways, including how he reacts to others’ looks. Koenma’s design feeds directly into the primary flaw Yusuke is working to overcome. How will he go from a delinquent laughing in the face of the most powerful being to someone multiple worlds can put their trust in? Design assists with that. 

When Yusuke does respect Koenma (even if he still insults/teases him because that’s just an ingrained part of Yusuke’s personality) Koenma’s appearance can change. It’s no longer serving its original function, so he evolves into a very good looking young man (with references to Tuxedo Mask to emphasize those good looks) that just... happens to still carry a pacifier. 

A pacifier that is revealed as an incredibly powerful weapon that will help save the world. Again: don’t judge anyone or anything solely on their looks. They’re never precisely what you’d assume they are based on your first glance - with the exception of minor villains whose looks serve only to convey their villainy: 

For everyone else, looks are complex. Two of the most different looking characters (color-wise anyway) are actually siblings, their contrasts reflecting both differing cultures and the emotional distance between them. 

The scariest looking monsters are just paper-pushers. It’s the handsome humans you should watch out for.  

And this is our hero, a man charged with protecting three worlds. 

I could say SO MUCH MORE but this is already disgustingly long so basically YYH (I think) does a great job of: 

Crafting characters that are distinct but not different for the sake of different. They always feel like they belong to their individual worlds and adhere to whatever “normal” is by those standards. 

Tying character looks really closely to the show’s themes and individual growth. Which, frankly, is something I think all good character design should do. 

It’s not nearly as flashy as other anime... but YYH knows what it wants to accomplish and went about it beautifully. Catch me still weeping over this show fifty years from now. 

Peace ✌️

[lixiefe]

The Sins’ Aid

Episode 1: “I ended up, oh- where the hell?!” - Yang Jeongin

↳ Summery: Wherein a depressed guy moves into a haunted house that was rented for cheap. But what he doesn't expect to be there are seven wicked demons, each corresponding to a deadly sin. Instead of them being dangerous, they’re incredibly friendly and they're trying to get him back to his feet; along with helping him to woo his long time crush, who he could only peek at as a secret admirer.

↳ Disclaimer: Yang Jeongin here is not a psychologically diagnosed depressed person. He just bears a weak mental capacity and extreme nervous system driven by anxiety. I’ve made him so solely for the sake of the story. I personally don’t see him like this. This Jeongin has no correlation with the Yang Jeongin whatsoever.

↳ Type and Warning: It’s like a self-building process of the main character from a feeble to a confident persona, paired with comedy and humor. Self indulgent, but I don’t think mc will appear any time soon. As for warnings, there are descriptions of anxiety or negative thoughts one can have, but they’re portrayed as funnily as my boring self can.  

↳ Words: 1.8k

“So, what do you think? This is the cheapest I can find for you,” the consultant spoke in gloom, the faint resonation of street bustle being an ally to the deafening silence that consumed the entire room. The healthy woman advanced the stapled sheet of paper towards the fiddling boy, who’d only clutched to the strap of his backpack since the beginning.

“I understand, aunt.”

After coming into the racketing and packed up atmosphere of Seoul from the confines of serene and peaceful Busan, Jeongin was not at all prepared for the financial crisis that’d follow up his butt in a few months. And lords, he was not at every all prepared to move into an abandoned house with bad history, alone. The cheap rate of the house was what kept him going, because hell, how could such a wealthy looking house be rented for so cheap; that he could afford it with his recent part time chicken job?

He’d have said that the god of ultimate thrift had found him, had bestowed him the pleasure of such cheap rates, but umm, haunted house? Even though he’d grown up believing ghosts and spirits or such didn’t exist, the fear didn’t halt from creeping up his legs with determinate domination. 

However, he hadn’t a choice.

“I’ll take it.” Jeongin sighs a whiff of courage, stepping up as he took the slippery pen in his hands. With quick and swift gestures, the parchment was now an evidence that he was an official tenant of the haunted house. He looked at his own signature in distaste, god was that ugly, but it was finally done. Done.

“Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, you’d need to clean the house yourself. That is unless, you hire someone.”

“What!?”

That big- abandoned for how many years- old enormous house?

He was in for a ride.

~

Jeongin was never among the temperament, was never the type to lose his mind over a simple packing up, much less the type to cry over the stuff he knew he’d have to throw away, or so he thought. In any case, he was sentimental, extreme level emotional. So here he was, weeping over his five years old sweatshirt that didn’t even fit him anymore. The university had given him a two month time to search for a new home, which resulted in him sorting out all his belongings in the cramped room.

Yang Jeongin was semi-reliant on both his pink clothes and his  worn out bunny slippers. They were his sanity. But now that he’s lost 1.5 percent of his sanity, his lips had taken a permanent turn downwards, rosy cheeks complimenting his red nose. People would say it’s silly; completely childish to cry over clothes, but no one can really realize how important these are for someone who’d had such reliance on materialistic things. As much as Jeongin did anyways.

Jeongin’s remaining sanity debauched away in angry smokes emerging from both of his ears as he took in the sight of the house he was going to live in. His crippling trepidation aside; speaking facts would be, this house ooked like dictionary bad news.

With his luggage by his side and eyes peering over the all gray walls of the now ash-brick Victorian mansion, he was stunned. It was like a gothic castle; magnificent in its artistic splendor, lonely, haunted and windswept. It seemed like the architect had a foresight to build it strong, with narrow windows deeply etched onto the wall and jutting stones placed at the corners. Even so, it wasn’t as terrifying as it was supposed to. There was no haunting portcullis squares that could shred him to pieces, nor was there haunting, spiky grills that’d snatch his soul. However, present there was, a tempestuous whirlwind of horror pervading his guts every second.

It was just a gothic mansion, a small one at that.  

Everything was clean. Raking his eyes from the grandiloquent chandelier to the impassive numberless stairs in the middle to the feather-cushions and leather fittings tightened on the dexterous woodwork, Jeongin felt even more tumult nerves spiking his system. Spick and span, not a single atom of dirt to be seen in the immaculately arranged furniture and on the spruce tiled floor. Wait- tiled floor?

He shouldn't be afraid.

As if that would happen.

Sheer and pure, unfiltered and damning panic, it was all Jeongin knew as he walked past the grille and stepped through the opening gates of the old house. He came all prepared after hours of whining over the foreboding that he’d have to clean a whole house, since it was well abandoned. But the interior wasn’t dirty at all. In fact, it was the opposite.

Jeongin knew perfectly well how weak-minded he was, how easy it was to shatter his mental piece into innumerable remnants. And he also knew that, this house was not supposed to be clean. His irises trembling and fear creeping up his mind, he tried his best to stay calm as he plodded through the white floorage. His knuckles had adopted a shade of white due to the tight grip on his backpack, but he kept walking. Maybe he could check the rooms? Maybe they’d only kept the front clean?

This reminded him of every horror movies he’d watched and snickered with the thought of the protagonists foolishness. He’d mocked and despised them for their pompous courage, because curiosity kills the cat and they should’ve known that. But not now, not when he’s doing the exact same in broad daylight.

Jeongin visibly shuddered as he neared a polished door. It was as if the door was new, renovated and engraved with intricate wood-work he’d seen only in museums. In all honesty, it looked like the luxury he’d never signed for, and exactly like the haunted knobs of those movie magnimous mansions.

Thrilling nerves like never before, and chest throbbing with maximum speed, it’s crossed the grand and ostentatious horror he’d felt when he watched ‘The Nun’ in theaters. It unmatched any other times he’d gotten surprise heart-attacks and surpassed the ultimate horror when he’d been scared shitless in his underwear at the middle of a birthday night. Because nobody preferred shining lights and buzzing candles on the verge of roasting them alive at twelve a.m.

With the faux courage he’d maneuvered with his footsteps, Jeongin extracted a hand for the door knob. Slowly, like the movie protagonists he’d hated and quaveringly, like his mind screamed at him to, his fingers neared and neared the shiny piece of metal.

Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. But here he was, fingers tracing the cold outlines of the knob and twisting it open.

It bested and rubbished any other of his wrought with fear life experiences.

Because there was an all-black man laying down in orderly crimson silk-sheets in a room that rendered him erroneous. The entire room in such luxurious glamor and unexpected neatness that it had him baffled, because who on earth was this mysterious man!? Unrelated to his bafflement, but that's all he can think about. Maybe it was the superiority of the situation, or the vigorous trepidation of his wavering heart; or maybe it was the utter and simple fact that, this is horrific and severely cryptic; however it was, Jeongin hadn’t the mental strength to handle such bombshell.

“Oh my god!”

Heavy vignette and grains of static panic was all he knew as the man groaned and jolted awake, spluttering coherencies that weren’t really coherent for Jeongin, at the very least.

Because before he had the sanity and stability to discern what the hell was happening, he was out cold.

In broad daylight.

The first thing Jeongin feels as soon as he opens his eyes are pure, abundant and horrifying whiplash of hysterical disquiet. The first thing he sees with his desultory pair of orbs are a tuft of seven affixed heads and seven pair of curious, scrutinizing eyes that bore into his soul like greedy miners in a gold hunt. And the first thing he voices out is a traumatized, high pitch scream through his strained vocal cords.

And like the horror movie protagonists he’d hated.

~

“He looks like an infant.”

“He might, but I look innocent too.”

“For the sake of almighty, you do not at all look innocent. You’re a fucking demon!”

“I have asked this before, and I’ll ask again. What- is a kid doing here?”

“Do you mind? I mean I don’t. Look at him! So cute-”

“Shut up everyone, he’d opening his eyes!”

“STOP!” he screams, catching the wee bit attention span of what looked like grown men. They all pause altogether, the chaos alleviated, screams assuaged, inner peace resurrected and situational whatever mitigated; Jeongin gives them a hard glare. It goes on in quietness for a few, before the tallest of them all, the one with a beautiful mess of black hair, magnetizing cat eyes and too much of attractive lips speaks up,

“Who- who are you guys!?”

He screams yet another time, hands grasping the silk sheet and hips moving themselves as far into the mattress as they can. He sees the seven men scramble among themselves in utter chaos, bumping their heads with an audible thud and tangling themselves in the mismanaged circle they’d created.

Jeongin’s even more terrified at their botched antics and disorderly falling down than he was of their presence. But he has screamed enough, strained his fresh awoken throat enough; yet the simple turmoil of the situation forces him to shriek in with unintentionally unified harmony, mingling with the strangers’ squeaks of unedited mayhem.

I ended up, oh- where the hell!?

And then, after a good five minutes of tumbling, falling, tangling and again tumbling and falling and everything in desynchronized commotion, Jeongin’s had enough.

“He looks so cute, I accept no criticism,”

That’s when Jeongin realizes that he is, in fact, a basic attention phobic. And through the saga of assertive responses, Jeongin doesn’t realize how or when he has fallen into the depth of hollow-stricken darkness and the uncanny pure silence in the midst of voices he could see through the back of his mind.

And yet again, his weak heart had failed him and he’d submitted into another few hours of unconsciousness.

Episode one ends in author's chaotic planning.

HAH.

I have no idea how this turned out, but it's definitely gonna be better when the sins' start appearing. Maybe...ksdejkk.

[papers4me]

fellow fruba friend here! What are your expectations on what each of the four main characters will achieve or gain at the end?

hi fellow furuba friend! by the main four, I suppose you mean yuki, kyo , tohru & shigure! All the traumatized characters in furuba deserve all the best & everything good given to them. They are all genuinely broken souls & I love them all. However, not everybody will actually be given everything for realistic reasons.

(1)-I’ll start with the easiest: Yuki. Yuki’s wish was stated so early in SE01, ep12 & ever since things have been moving so straight forward towards his goal: discovering his own self, finding friends who accept him w/o a mask & finding love. As Se02 is heavily focused on him, he got all that & more. it is very clear that the writer has decided that Yuki is the character that will get everything:

He opened his lid, faced akito & his fears & started laughing more.

He is shedding his mask & the prince persona.

He realized his familial feelings to tohru.

He accepts & supports tohru/kyo as couple & doesn’t feel envy/sadness.

He faced his mother calmly & decided his future. Altho he doesn’t need her any more, it is clear that he is civil with her & doesn’t blame her. She thinks of him as a tool that helps her glows & I’m sure she views his success as part of her & in the future, she’ll proudly say that’s my son if he was brought as a topic in any social gathering. My point is, given yuki’s stance to forgive the past, he won’t cut ties with her.

He completely forgiven his brother & is proud of him publicly.

He got a friend who is a mix of the two person yuki envies the most : kyo & aya. Also, kakeru is very designed to fit yuki in every way, so even if yuki never got anymore friends, kakeru is the one for life.

Altho yuki’s story could still be good without romantic love in canon as it can be hinted as sth he’ll get once he’s in college, he is getting a romantic love now with someone who doesn’t pity him nor admires him, sees the real him. Someone whom yuki can be a “tohru” to her & “support” her & be a “kyo” to her in the same way he’s been observing kyo & envying him for being the only one to see the real tohru. Yuki will be the only one to see the real machi.

What more can I say...What more can the writer give yuki.. I’ve been thinking hard... but I duno...perhaps sth to do with kyo & their views of each other.

I’ll leave number #10 open cuz I’m sure there’s more the writer will give him..but I duno regarding which character...um... shigure? The writer has been impersonating yuki so much in Se02 & giving us direct lessons thro his voice as much as I wish she tones it down as this disrupts the flow of a story, making yuki speaks on behalf of other characters whose voice has been blocked, it also doesn’t trust the viewers/readers to “learn the lesson” without directly given to them. So I’m positive 100% there will be more yuki telling us learned lessons us especially after critical moments similar to some of SE02 big eps.

(2)-Kyo: Kyo is always given one ep of inner thoughts per season. However, each ep is big & so influential for both his character development & the story’s plot as a whole. His thoughts were essentially blocked at first for mystery reasons due to his involvement with kyoko but ever since Se02, ep9 it was exposed that he knows her, it’s now blocked for building the “climax” reasons. However, the writer is skilled in writing kyo as a character that is easily read, someone who doesn’t know how to act, so you can decipher his feelings from his actions. I don’t mind him not giving inner thoughts if his actions can replace that & communicate his feelingsto the viewers  which is so well-done with kyo but badly done with tohru,(but more on tohru later). what I expect for kyo... it is hard to say!!! It depends on how the writer will solve kyoko’s damned “ I won’t forgive you” words!!! Cuz i see this as one of the most difficult plot twists & obstacles. Kyo’s issues are different from yuki. It isn’t abt self discovery, warmth, or finding friendship or love. It is abt having a right to live, guilt & believing that he isn’t harmful, kyo knows that there are few ppl who loves him but to him these few ppl are the most important ppl in the world, he doesn’t want to hurt them. His life experiences has taught him that his loved ones always end up dying in his place. he carries immense guilt & self-loath. So what to expect... i duno.. Moreover, kyo being the opposite of yuki, so I don’t think he’ll be given everything even if he, just like yuki, deserves everything good. There are things in kyo’s life that cannot be fixed.

Kyo will for sure open his lid, but it will be ugly cuz he’ll have to confess abt his mom’s suicide & him witnessing/being involved in kyoko’s death. He’ll have to tell tohru kyoko’s devastating words & her last painful moments. I duno what to expect beside pain!!!!

“forgiveness/ or lack of ” is kyo’s theme!! will tohru forgive him?? I duno! I find it hard to believe tohru-my-mom-is-my-idol” will do that unless sth changes. But It really doesn’t matter if tohru does or doesn’t, cuz kyo himself will NEVER forgive himself!! There’s comfort in being punished. ppl with genuine hearts & conscious, don’t like escaping punishment for their wrong deeds. If kyo believes truly that he’s at fault somehow, he’ll want to be punished.  

Kyo has stated that “ I won’t take anything away from you anymore” thinking abt tohru. He has given up on her cuz he believes he took her mom from her. His thought process is very realistic & his actions are very logical & matches his trauma, so I don’t know where this will lead to.. I know the writer won’t be cruel with him more than his story already is, but it is so complicated!!!! He can’t accept tohru’s love!! she shouldn’t!!

Unlike yuki’s mother, kyo’s father refuses anything regarding kyo & doesn’t even consider him human. He pushes forward for his imprisonment. I don’t see the writer giving kyo’s father the tiny redemption moment she gave yuki’s mom. Nothing will make kyo’s dad be proud of kyo as he considers kyo to be the cause of all his misfortune. Kyo’s dad is the person kyo shouldn’t & mustn't become. However, kyo got another father who truly loves him & is already proud of him. I love that the writer didn’t cut off kyo’s attachment to his bio dad simply caz he got shisho. Kyo’s dad is a huge reason of why kyo is traumatized. it is not the curse itself. it is the toxic broken home. Every toxic thought in kyo’s mind is imprinted there since early age intentionally by his dad & unintentionally by his mom. So how do I expect kyo will overcome his mom’s gohst & his dad’s demon? I duno too! T_T. ..XD.

his mom & kyoko are dead. If kyo believes he’s the reason...how he’ll ask forgiveness?? I love the theme of dealing with broken things that can’t be fixed. The writer will forever be one of my best authors if she convinced me that she can handle such tough theme.

I feel like I’m repeating I duno a lot, but yeah kyo’s story could go so many directions!!!! but I have trust that wherever it goes, it will be as satisfying as yuki’s. The writer has chosen to put kyo’s behind for epic climatic showdown, it will be thrilling, painful, dramatic & so satisfying. kyo will not be furuba’s tragic ending, the writer showed she prefers ’s optimistic & positive paths despite the trauma. Besides, kyo is tied to tohru, no way such kind soul will be crushed twice by losing her mom & her first love.

(3)-Tohru: The female protagonist with everything individual & personal abt her pushed until Se03 with the most minor foreshadowing & the most trivial symbolism. lol..She doesn’t have eps of inner thoughts abt her own issues like yuki & she doesn’t have big influential eps abt her like kyo... what did she have so I can predict: (a) the nightmare which tells us tohru is still grieving her mom’s loss & (b) the little flashbacks where it shows sth bad traumatized her when she was a baby & it involves her mom locking her? or sth. (c) tohru telling rin that she has things she can’t give up. I don’t have predictions for tohru. I have wishes. I want her to want things for herself. screw the curse, the sohma’s issues, the mom-tohru, the savior-tohru, the supporting-tohru. All that is typical tropes done many times already. Give me a unique female protag who can be kind, but is hurt by her own kindness, someone so altruistic & realizes that I can choose my self first!!! it is okay to be first for once!! Give me someone who even after showing the world I’m okay & optimistic is NOT okay & optimistic but is actually scared & lonely despite all the love surrounding her by the ppl she “saved”. a female protag pursuing her OWN happiness shrewdly but kindly in the most epic combination! This is the tohru I want. how she’ll decide to forgive kyo? I duno. I’ll cheer if she did & I’ll cheer if she didn’t. both situations suit tohru’s mindset.

(4)-Shigure:big giant I duno...lol.. I need to understand this dude first!! He’s the most intriguing. 

[jackdawyt]

Given that Tevinter Nights is just over one month old, and the majority of you have had a decent chance to pick it up and give it a good read, I want to share my full-spoiler predications for Dragon Age 4 based on many new aspects Tevinter Nights brings to the ever-so expanding universe of Dragon Age. As a quick preface, this sort of video is definitely going to be more of an opinion piece, sharing my own thoughts and marvels on everything Tevinter Nights foreshadows for the future game.

I encourage all of your thoughts and theories too, so share them down below! But, without further ado, I’ll start by sharing my predictions on the main tone of Dragon Age 4.

Tone:

The Dragon Age games have always followed a Dark Fantasy approach to storytelling with morally grey choices, excessive gore and truly twisted plot-beats like ravenous Broodmothers, and Hawke’s mother’s macabre death, which was oh so gruesome and a pinnacle example of Dragon Age’s dark fantasy tone.  

While some may argue Dragon Age: Inquisition was the weakest in this dark fantasy department, Tevinter Nights revitalises any hope for the return of deeper and darker themes in the next Dragon Age game.  

Y’see Tevinter Nights, acting as a prologue for Dragon Age 4, introduces a bounty of dark fantasy storytelling that will certainly push the future plots in a most diabolical way.  

Introduced in this book, we had plenty of things that would give even a darkspawn the heebie jeebies!

From: evil twisted human/centipedal/insectoid monstrosities, demon worshipping cults, ancient wicked beings, (“Cekorax”), death and blood magic, murder machinations, eldritch horrors, domestic abuse, inhumane treatment, ghastly apparitions, demonic possession, and plenty more hard-hitting themes that are paving the way for Dragon Age 4’s story.  

And if none of those themes satiated your own dark desires for the next Dragon Age game, well, don’t forget about the main narrative focusing on stopping a prideful and powerful elven mage who can take shape into the wicked Dread Wolf attempting to commit mass-genocide for the sake of his long-lost people. Oh, not to mention the fact that this elf could’ve broken up with you too, causing your heart to ache every single second as he tears down Thedas, and the love you once shared together...

With that said, Dragon Age 4’s tone should certainly take the franchise back to its dark fantasy roots if it follows the layout Tevinter Nights has laid ahead. Let’s move on to the next game’s potential locations.

Locations:

First up, The Tevinter Imperium.

From the Capital City Minrathous, home to the Magisterium to Elven tombs lurking in The Silent Planes. There are many prominent locations that could make for a worthy visit within the Imperium. However, with the ongoing Qunari Antaam invasion ransacking many of Tevinter’s northern cities, many of the Imperium’s major holdings will be torn by the current war and preparing for a siege.  

Not to mention the other major epidemic on the Imperium and its people  - the scheme Solas has to destroy the veil. Not that this pain will be exclusive to the Imperium, as by gum, it will hurt all of Thedas.  

But, the entirety of Tevinter’s land was once in possession of the ancient elves during the elvhen times. Solas’s scheme seeks a redemption of his people, and so a reclamation of the land is merely inevitable.  

The people of Tevinter are not only evading a brutal religious conquest against their homes, but an elven God’s conflict too.  

With so much contention impending, the Tevinter Imperium is critically endangered. Can Tevinter’s most contrived government save its very people, or will we see this once great Empire stumble into chaos?  

Next up, Nevarra.

The main ongoing conflict in Nevarra regards the Van Markham, Pentagasht and many other nobles fighting for their own right to the throne, as King Marcus’s reign will soon end with no heir to rule after him.  

However, just outside of the Capital; Nevarra City, lies the Mortalitasi’s Grand Necropolis, a stronghold and morgue built into the side of a mountain to hold Neverra’s elite family tombs.  

In a very recent catastrophic ritual held in the Grand Necropolis caverns, the Dread Wolf attacked the Mortalitasi, sending demons to stop the ritual and kill the rest of the mages. In a desperate effort, the surviving mages sealed the caverns with no trace of the invading demons.  

Investigating the Dread Wolf’s movements may play a huge part in the next plot, and having the Mortalitasi as allies could change the tide of battle. So, Nevarra’s Grand Necropolis would certainly make for a grand visit.  

And then there’s Hunter Fell, a small town just west of Nevarra City, where a tavern called ‘The Teahouse’ appeared to be the last known location that Solas had made a physical appearance. Another worthy place to investigate further plot ties.

Throughout the lands of Nevarra, there are at least elven more ancient elven/dwarven thaigs that are built into Nevarran mountains, to our knowledge, only one has been opened and it contained horrific mutilated creatures followed by a gas that had a stench of the ocean.  

Nevarra and its surrounding areas are ripe with plot lines and narrative potential that will need to have a huge impact in the next Dragon Age game.

Following that, we’ve got Antiva.

Just like Tevinter, the majority of Nothern Antiva is under widespread invasion by the Qunari Antaam. However, quite unlike Tevinter, Antiva doesn’t exactly have their own dedicated military forces, instead the country relies on the Anitvan Crows to take action.  

The leaders of the Antivan Crows have their own inner conflict as one of the eight major houses leading the crows decided to sign a contract with the Qunari for a peaceful invasion, in which Antiva would be ‘spared’ in exchange for the deaths of every other talon.  

The talons discovered this treachery and put the situation to bed with the death of the Kortez family talon. With the peaceful conflict in shambles, a very much hostile Qunari invasion lingers on the horizon for Antiva.

Although the Anitvan Crows may make for a worthwhile trip to Antiva, who can say what will remain of the country when Dragon Age 4 arrives.  

Lastly, we have The Anderfels.

To my knowledge, the most outstanding location The Anderfels has to offer is Fortress Weisshaupt, the headquarters of the Grey Wardens.  

There’s been a lot of talk regarding the Anderfels Wardens, that they have a secret, or they’ve discovered something, or they’re all dead. henceforth, Fortress Weisshaupt has cut communications to the other Wardens across Thedas, remaining silent and alone.  

Could this sworn secret silencing the Wardens from the other groups be the return of Griffons? Have they discovered even more intelligent darkspawn, perhaps another Magister of old, or are the Warden leaders fighting amongst themselves?

The search for this truth could make for a notable quest line in Dragon Age 4.  

I’ll shuffle away from Rivan as a prominent location because I believe this country is intentionally neutral for many reasons that I’ll uncover in the next category.

With that, let’s talk about one of the biggest aspects that is going to make or break the next Dragon Age game.  

The Protagonist:

Spy.

We’ve known for a fair while that Dragon Age 4’s previous iteration had the player prance around Tevinter as a spy, partaking in high risk, high reward heists. However, before major development picked up, the project was canned and the majority of its ideas were too.  

It’s unknown if any of that previous work will make its way into the latest iteration, or if it’s all been scrapped.  

But, before we shed a tear thinking about what Dragon Age 4 might’ve been based on the original iteration... If Tevinter Nights has taught me one thing, it’s that this spy role for our new protagonist still has plenty of potential. So, keep your daggers at the ready because I wouldn’t call playing as a spy off the table just yet.

As it stands, a spy is the biggest and best contender we have for our next character - chasing every lead after Solas, attempting to find a crack in his grand scheme, recovering intel and ancient artefacts, all the while being someone completely different than The Inquisitor. We’re a nobody, someone who can slip between the seams without garnering any attention.  

Which is the perfect role to defeat Solas because he doesn’t know of both our existence, and weaknesses.

Tevintet Nights builds up a lot of espionage plotlines, introducing brand new factions in Thedas that are particularly interested in subterfuge and trickery. Or as I like to call it hankey-pankey. Each attempting to gather information to defeat Solas before he set’s Thedas ablaze.  

So, because many major factions throughout Thedas operate a sole spy network, we have plenty of race origin stories for our next spy, conceptually.  

Say we play as a human; we can be a member of the Tevinter Siccari. If we’re a dwarf, we can belong to the Carta. If we choose an elf, we could be an Ex-Fen'Harel Agent, and if we played as a Qunari, we could be a member of the Ben-Hassrath.  

Satisfying each race with their own reconnaissance background, allowing the protagonist to have an already established understanding of Solas and his plan, so they can begin their journey of attempting to stop him.  

Through heists and other risky missions, we could embark on a fast pace, tense narrative that’s more akin to a suicide mission. Very much different to the previous Dragon Age entries, however, completely logically given the tone of the predicted narrative.  

And, Maker’s arse, I could go on with many more ideas for a spy protagonist, but we’ve got other concepts to move on to. If that doesn’t quench your thirst for potential spy dynamics in the next Dragon Age game, well I did create a dedicated video to this topic that you can check out.  

Lord of Fortune (Treasure Hunter).

In the same direction as a stealthy spy, but rather quite different and certainly stricter, but has its own unique appeal (..) we could potentially play as a Rivani Lord of Fortune! More apropos, a distinct Treasure Hunter seeking fortune, wealth and any opportunity that pays well enough.

And perhaps the gig that pays well enough is to, without question, recover certain artefacts and idols that may be required in stopping an Elven God that wants to destroy the veil. However, that information is beyond our pay grade, and were not one to question a paid job.  

And then, as things escalate, our Treasure Hunter finds themselves in a perilous situation, and they decide to take the hunt against the Dread Wolf, with more reason than just coin, but to fight for Thedas and their new family.  

What marks a Lord of Fortune as significant is the fact that they’re from Rivan, a country we’ve not yet seen much of in Dragon Age, and somewhat of a neutral location for our next protagonist. As they make choices that may affect Tevinter or Nevarra, they won’t have a bias based on that being their home, they will be able to make a neutral choice based on the context given, and none other.  

There were plenty of nods to the Lords of Fortune in Tevinter Nights. Regardless, if we’re not playing as one, we’ll certainly encounter one or two in the next game.  

Executor.

And in a completely obscure, but necessary direction... how about playing as an Executor? A being, or person, or whatever the heck they are, from “beyond the sea.” This character style would grant the players with a new perspective on Thedas, and would allow new players to pick up the series, as you’d slowly learn about the narrative piece by piece, playing as someone who probably doesn’t know much about the world of Thedas, and would need somewhat of an education on the events of this world.

We don’t know much about the Executors at all, so what’s better way to discover them then actually playing as one?  

The Inquisitor (Dual?).

As my final protagonist concept for Dragon Age 4, I feel it necessary as an Inquisitor fanboy to reiterate the ancient method many fans would like to see, and that is the dual protagonist mechanic. Allowing the next game to have two protagonists. As a TLDR, because I’ve talked about this before, but let's say we play as the returning Inquisitor for 20% of the game as they find loose ends on Solas, deal with diplomatic and political matters, and have more of a conversational style to gameplay. Then, we switch to our new protagonist who spends the rest of the game exploring Tevinter, building allies and attempting to stop Solas.

Putting this topic to bed, the Inquisitor needs to witness the end to Solas, whether peacefully or vengefully, he’s the Inquisitor’s friend, rival or romance. So, they need to be there to deal with him.  

Potential Allies:

Anyhow, we’ve talked about the next protagonist, let’s explore some plot threads and briefly run through the factions we may, or may not have on our side depending on our choices in Dragon Age 4.  

The Mortalitasi

Nevarra’s own death mages who’re responsible for mummifying the bodies of elite families using powerful necromancy and binding magic. It is said that the Mortalitasi are so powerful, they influence and sway the king’s decrees and decisions over the kingdom.  

The Tevinter Siccari

The Imperium’s best shadow network, made of highly skilled and secretive agents who each come from slave families, they are formidable and honourable warriors.  

The Qunari Ben Hassrath

The Qun’s dedicated spies and enforcers, they’re responsible for re-educating those not familiar with the Qun, however, the group are currently fixated on Solas’s movements. Reportedly The Ben Hassrath have the most knowledge about the Wolf than anyone else on Thedas, because of this, they remain a neutral party in Thedas’s war effort.  

The Inquisition

Remnants of the Inquisition army continue the mission of their Inquisitor, with many agents enlisting to fight against an opposing threat.  

The Carta

This crime syndicate has been investigating all matters concerning the blight that has become ‘bad for business’ in the dwarven kingdom, like the red lyriun idol.  

The Executors  

Mysterious beings who come from beyond the sea, they would rather not see this world come to an end, and so they too seek a demise to the Wolf.  

The Antivan Crows

Antiva’s best and brightest hired assassins, who’ve recently denied the Qunari Antaam’s ‘peaceful’ contract for invasion. Now, they will fight for their country and its people.  

The Grey Wardens

The legendary heroes of old are long gone, the group continues with incompetent leaders who stain the title Grey Warden. However, those who linger in Fortress Weishaupt have a secret, one that has not yet left the premise. Whatever that may be...  

And I’m sure plenty more factions will arise; however, these were my main hot takes based on Tevinter Nights. With that, let’s discus the rivalling factions that will most likely be out for our blood in the next game.  

Enemies:  

The Qunari Antaam

The Qun, under the leadership of Sten as Arishock, stands divided. The Antaam, the Qun’s dedicated military branch has decided for themselves to invade Thedas without authorisation from the rest of the Qun. The zealot army sieges cities across Northern Tevinter and Antiva, continuing to rampage all of Thedas’s land until the people either kneel to the Qun or pay the price with their own blood. They will not stop until their mission is complete, and no one will get in their way, not even their own people.  

Solas/Dread Wolf

Solas seeks to destroy the veil, destroying Thedas. He’s absorbed Mythal’s essence so he can rise as the horrific Dread Wolf, a creature who has taken residence in the Fade, with his own demon army whom serve him willingly.  

Ancient Elves

Ancient and Dalish Elves have joined Solas’s ranks, known as the Cult of Fen’Harel, they abide by Solas’s every scheme and have begun to cause chaos for Thedas, like attempting to set up a calamity feud between the Qunari Ben Hassrath and Tevinter Kinsman. Who knows what they may do next?  

Venatori Remnants

They tried to summon an ancient demon in Tevinter’s capital city, surely, they aren't over that plan just yet.  

Main Story/Plot Points:

Now we get to the juicy story predications, where I get to speculate the heck out of many key plot aspects of Dragon Age 4’s narrative. So, hold on tight to your tinfoil hats!  

The Red Lyrium Idol

The whereabouts of the Red Lyrium Idol are still quite the mystery, we’ve learned a great deal about this device, however, we still don’t know what it represents, and how significant it will be regarding Solas’s plan to destroy the veil. So, will we be embarking on a McGuffin style questline to find this idol before Solas gets it?  

Let’s say we’re a spy journeying into epic heists, attempting to beat Solas to the finish line and destroy this idol before he gets it. Or, maybe this idol plot-point may be wrapped up by the time of Dragon Age 4’s launch, and we’ll be doing something else?

The point is, this idol is still a mystery and it needs solving, so by that measure, it’s probably going to have some involvement in Dragon Age 4.  

Solas/Dread Wolf Antagonist  

Based on what we know about the story going forward, Solas will most certainly be the next antagonist, that’s a given at this point unless the plot drastically changes and Mythal or The Titans, or a new evil takes that position. As it stands though, Solas seemingly is the big bad of Dragon Age 4.  

And, he’s has already risen as the Dread Wolf, so that’s just grand, we’re already doomed! The plot will most likely focus around stopping Solas before he destroys the veil... if there even is a way to stop him.

As another obvious predication, I believe we may follow between two main choices throughout every action in the next game, those choices are: do we want to redeem Solas, or stop him. If our intention is to redeem Solas, then perhaps he’ll listen to what we’ve got to say, however, if we pursuit his death, then perhaps we’ll only be greeted by The Dread Wolf.

Allies  

Regarding the main plot of defeating Solas, I believe we’ll be gathering more intel on the Dread Wolf by teaming up with many dedicated factions across Nothern Thedas. While some groups may join our ranks more willingly like the Mortalitasi, I believe we may have a few decisions between choosing one faction over another because of their own quarrels. Like choosing between the Tevinter Siccari and Qunari Ben Hassrath, each providing agents and intelligence in their own way against Solas, however, completely hostile to the other faction.  

We’re going to need allies to stop Solas, there’s no way around that. Not every faction is going to get along, and magically unifying every divisive faction under one banner would be unrealistic and feel cheap in my opinion. If we can choose between key factions, there’d be a sense of contention throughout every single choice we could make.  

As well as gathering and helping as many allies as possible who support our cause against the Dread Wolf, I have a few more main mission predictions like embarking on epic heists stealing and claiming Elven artefacts and Evanuris runes. And stopping key agents of Fen’Harel and their destructive plans for Thedas.

Side Plots:

Alongside our main story content, we’ve got plenty of side plots and threads that need to be explored. So, here’s a rapid list of some extra conflicts I think we’ll see in the next game.  

The Grey Warden’s sudden silence at Fortress Weishaupt.

Aiding the Mortalitasi.

The Qunari Antaam’s invasion against Northern Thedas.

Uncovering Ghilinan’s Creations, Pre-Veil Monsters and Ancient Thaigs.

The Remnant Venatori Cult threat.

The mysteries concerning the Titans.  

Companions:

And, now we get to the most subjective list, the roster of companions we may share this journey against Solas with.  

Rogues:

I want to see Vaea, she’s my favourite character in the comics and she appeared in ‘Harold Had The Plan’. I know I speak for even the comic writers that she deserves a spotlight in the next game. The only problem is, she doesn’t kill, but heck, she could perform a support role in the group.

Next up, Scout Lace Harding. She’s been teased, but she deserves a comeback as a bigger role, and she can serve as a reminder of the Inquisition, filling the new protagonist in on previous events correlating to Solas.  

And, Lucanis Dellamorte, an Antivan Crow assassin introduced in ‘The Wigmaker Job’.  Although he has no interest in becoming First Talon, he’s said to be his grandmother’s favourite, and she intends on making him her heir.

Mages:

Vadis, an Altus Thief introduced in ‘Half Up Front’. She was disowned by her father because of her relationship with an elf. As of which, she’s a wayward traveller who came across a calamity scheme of Fen’Harel’s which would’ve caused an incredible feud between the Qun and Tevinter. Since stopping those responsible, and making herself known to the Dread Wolf, she’s headed to Kirkwall to meet Varric Tethras so she and her partner can strike back.  

A Female Qunari. Patrick Weekes tweeted back in 2017 that this sort of character style would be a biggie because it’s someone they haven’t done before. I don’t have any character in mind because there were no significant female Qunari’s in Tevinter Nights, however, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a guess. We’ve had two previous warrior Qunari, and I think we’d all love to see an ex-sarrabas, wielding powerful Fade magic.  

Philliam, a Bard! Is a scholar responsible for collecting and curating many texts in Thedas. His knowledge and penmanship would certainly be a large help, not to mention his dashing personality, he’s a Bard for Andraste’s sake!  

Warriors:

Fenris, as a returning character from Dragon Age 2, I think Fenris is one of the most viable characters to return as a companion. His lyrium tattoos provide for a very unique combat style, and he’s got plenty of substance in Tevinter as he continues his blood trail of magisters. Not only that, he’s been setting slaves free and is personally involved in a red lyrium plot conducted by the Venatori remnants.  

Grey Warden Ramesh is a man who has seen some true horrors in his life. Introduced in ‘The Horror of Hormak’, Ramesh has seen one of the many ancient thaigs that contain ancient elven nightmares, as he witnessed his partner sacrifice her life so he could escape. His mission stands to warn the rest of the Wardens of the remaining eleven thaigs.  

“Hollix” is a Lord of Fortune introduced in “Luck in the Gardens”. They defeated a great tentacle monster lurking in the gardens of Minrathous, with the assistance of Dorian Pavus and Maevaris Tilani. Not only can they perfect the fine arts of theft, but “Hollix” makes for a great hunter and tracker.  

Silly:

As for some sillier, but very much necessary companion predictions, I have a few more that I need to share:  

A Nevarran Mortalitasi Skeleton, in the Grand Necropolis, the death mages have actual skeleton servants who do pretty much anything for their masters, being bound by a spell to serve for the rest of your days will do that to you. I say, if they’re already bound, why not have one too?  

In the opposite direction, I’d like to see my Mabari Dog return. That is all.  

How about an Executor? They’re such a mystery, if we’re not going to find out what’s behind their vyrantium robes any other way, then we may need to take a gander and see for ourselves.  

And, lastly, I’d be silly not to ask for an Elven God companion.  

In truth, these are just a few of my companion predications very much based on Tevinter Nights, I believe the next game will have a variety of different companions. The main takeaway from this section going forward is to expect the sort of character we haven’t already had, as Patrick Weekes stated.  

Let me know your predictions down below, what you think we can predict for Dragon Age 4!