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midnight1nk · 10 months ago

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If you were to ask me:

Out of all the Puzzlevision episodes we had so far, which is your favorite?

My answer will always be “Once Upon An SMG4”. I mean, who wouldn't want a silly fairytale parody? With the chaotic nature of the show, it just made sense to me. You know what also made sense? Having SMG3 play the princess role, considering he is qualified to be a Disney Princess.

if you think about it, the whole Star Trio could be Disney Princesses…

As a glitchybombs shipper, Mr Puzzles basically gave a fairytale AU for us to work with. And indeed, we could’ve had a 'true love’s kiss' moment. While all of these are good reasons, it's not the main reason why I love it.

I love it because it's a parallel/twisted version of “It's Gotta Be Perfect”.

Every story, no matter how outlandish it seems, is grounded in reality.

Think of any fairytale you know of from the top of your head. Pretty easy, right?

But do you have a solid reason as to why the Evil Queen from Snow White is really evil? Or why Goldilocks was alone in the woods and decided to trespass on private property? Or why didn't the Godmother come sooner to save Cinderella from her abusive family?

Perhaps you can find answers in the depths of the internet and historical literature, but otherwise, it's up for speculation. That's because fairytales are for the sake of entertainment. Therefore, the characters and/or their personalities are reduced to simple roles: good guy, bad guy, etc. Toss in a subtle message about human morality and you got a nice little tale where the good guys win and the bad guys get what they deserve.

For “Once Upon An SMG4”, there's much more than what meets the eye. Follow me as I overanalyze this episode to events that happened in the “It's Gotta Be Perfect” arc, and discuss how they could be alluding to future character interactions, WOTFI 2024, and beyond...

ONCE UPON A Ṕ̷̱E̴̺̽R̵̖̎̕F̵̢̗̈́̀E̴̞̍C̴͈̽T̶͓̘̈́ SMG4

THE NARRATOR

The episode starts off with the first actual character of the story: the narrator. Now, we have no idea who that is.

There isn’t a name on who voiced him in the credits, and it can be easily assumed that it was just some random guy, like the one from the Puzzlevision Movie. But I think it might just be Mr Puzzles. He is the showrunner after all. He could've manipulated the script or be the narrator himself. Either way, he is the one in control, forcing the viewer to see the story through his lens (...or screen I guess).

Anyway, the narrator introduces one of the two main characters of the story:

SMG4

The narrator goes on to describe him as “an ugly, wicked witch who's selfish and cruel…” before Witch!4 proceeds to break his back for doing his evil laugh.

Remember how I said that complex characters were reduced to simpler roles? Four was one of them. In IGBP, Four felt inadequate as a content creator and just wanted to make his audience happy. He had insecurities before the arc, hidden in the back of his mind, but it was because of ‘SMG4... Are You Ok?’ episode that those insecurities have now come to light. As told in IGBP, his videos were a sort of “measure” of his worth. It wasn’t only that his videos weren’t good enough, it was that he wasn’t good enough. Therefore, he felt like he failed in making people happy. That would be his fault.

That was why he was desperate to create the best video ever. Unfortunately, when you are laser-focused on something, the world around you becomes a blur. Four isolated himself from the crew (We’ll get back to this, see: ‘Four’s Villain Song’). He didn’t sleep, didn’t even eat. He didn’t try to take care of himself because, as some of us relate, he thought that ‘if I worked on this a bit more, just another second more, maybe it’ll be perfect and I can finally finish it’, having his necessities as an afterthought or even ”reward”. It drove him to his breaking point in the ‘SMG4: MAR10 Day’ episode. It wasn't his intention to shut everyone out nor was it to hurt anyone. But, because he wasn’t in the right headspace, he lashed out at his friends.

As Mr Puzzles’ script stated, Four acted “selfish and cruel”, all for the perfect video. Mr Puzzles already perceived SMG4 in a negative light by calling the show “the stupidest” thing he’d ever seen. This was merely ‘evidence’ for Mr Puzzles to say, “See? This is why you shouldn’t be rooting for SMG4. He is a villain and he got what he deserved”. Four is a villain, that was all Mr Puzzles perceived him as, here in ‘Once Upon an SMG4’ (See: ‘You Look Peak, Brother”, for more). For his character, it makes a lot of sense. Mr Puzzles didn’t have friends growing up so he didn’t understand how Four’s insecurities were really affecting him.

However, a certain purple meme guardian did connect with Four. Speaking of which, the narrator introduces the second main character of the story:

SMG3

The narrator describes Three as “a beautiful princess pure of heart” and that he had “unparalleled beauty, embodying every romantic dream”. Insert Princess!3 having his Disney Princess Moment (TM).

If Mr Puzzles perceives Four being evil, does that mean he perceives Three as the opposite?

Well, sort of. From a storytelling perspective, for every bad guy, there is a good guy. Narrative foils, at times, are parallel to one another. They share similarities in terms of personality or appearance or just wanting the same goal. What better foil to have than Three, Four’s meme guardian partner and former villain.

What about beauty?

Three has repeatedly proclaimed how he's The Rizzler (TM) and how he is far more attractive than Four. In ‘SMG4: We Don’t Talk About What Happened in the Elevator’ episode, Four admitted that Three does have rizz, just as Three admits that he doesn’t hate Four (See: 'Fairest Fight 2024', for more).

Back to Princess!3, he sang how all he wants is money …and-a-sugarda--. While 'wanting to get rich' makes sense for Three’s character, it also doesn’t. Bare with me on this one:

In ‘SMG4: Trash Friends’, it was revealed that Three feels insecure about how he is perceived as Four’s cheap copy. Years ago, he tried being himself in memewarts and afterward. He failed to be recognized, unable to have friends, always being overshadowed by Four. So, in the YouTube Arc, he was obsessed with trying to become like Four. It wasn’t until he took over the channel that he got to experience what it truly felt like to be Four, before he eventually got sent to the Internet Graveyard and there began a whole new journey for him. He’s okay with his character development. In ‘SMG4: You Used To Be Cool’, he realizes that he doesn’t need to prove to anyone who he is, being satisfied with the life he now has.

What does it have to do with money?

Looking back at ‘SMG4: Trash Friends’ and the Meme Factory Arc, we saw that Three’s Coffee & Bombs wasn’t doing so well. It isn’t confirmed if this was of Mr Puzzles’ doing, but regardless, it does bring back some ugly memories for him. For once, he is enjoying the life he built and is currently trying to prove that he is not a mere copy of Four. But he might lose it, just as it happened with Snitch Productions.

He doesn’t want to go back to the life he had before. It isn’t just the café, it’s the possibility that he might lose his friends. Even if he doesn't want to admit it, he is part of the crew, and that is a lot more to lose. So, he has to “rescue” his café financially, to show that he “deserves” to have friends, that he “deserves” this life. Yes, he went through great risks to help his friends when they were in need, especially Four in IGBP. But he still wants to prove it.

(I’ll talk about it more about Three’s character on a later post.)

So, Mr Puzzles wasn’t all wrong; Three was “pure of heart” in a sense, he just has trouble showing his true emotions and being vulnerable again. After all, the first person he was vulnerable to was Terrence and we all know how that went.

And what about Eggdog?

Three literally came out of a flash drive so he doesn't have a biological family (or preprogrammed...because of the cosmology lore?). During the classic era, no one really treated him nicely. So, for Eggdog and additionally Terrence, he treated them with absolute devotion. Always reminding them that they are special, that they're loved. That they are never alone.

The difference was that Three was careful of Eggdog's whereabouts, while Terrence was always with him and minding his own business, including the Revelations movie. Three will always love Terrence, and to prove how good a parent he truly was, Terrence said a final "I love you" to Three.

He wasn't going to make the same mistake with Eggdog. Whenever Eggdog gets hurt, Three comes rushing to his side to ensure he is okay. Three keeps a close eye on him but when it comes to the bug mission, Three would have Eggdog stay at home or have a backup plan if Eggdog does come along. He just can't lose another loved one.

“YOU LOOK PEAK, BROTHER.”

Let’s cut ahead to when Witch!4 was giving compliments to a version of “him” inside the TV. Admittedly, this is just a bit.

HOWEVER, I overanalyze stuff soooooo…...

Remember how I said that Mr Puzzles sees Four in a negative light?

In IGBP, there was the hallway scene with Three, Meggy, and Mario discovering the paintings being replaced with messages. As Three states, these messages were his thoughts, how Four painted himself in a negative light. Four made sure to hide his low self-esteem well from his friends but it always lingered in the shadows.

Mario wasn't wrong: the person who "wrote" them was indeed a good person.

Mr Puzzles, however, showed the opposite. That Four set himself up on a pedestal, as someone who sees himself as righteous. A narcissist. And how? By being the “TV, TV on the Wall” and pretending to be Witch!4 on the screen giving compliments to the actual Witch!4 how perfect he is.

YOU’RE INVITED!

This is more of a parallel than anything. In the story, Princess!3 gets “invited” to King Bob’s Ballin’ Ball, the invite literally being launched to him by Witch!4.

In the IGBP arc, Three got invited to do a collab with Mr Yeast through his stream in ‘SMG4... Are You Ok?’ episode. While Four may have not been the one who brought in Mr Yeast for him, it was because of Four’s crew that made Three went through a new path in his life from the end of the Youtube Arc, being Lord of the Internet Graveyard, and becoming a streamer which got him the collab. So, indirectly, Four brought Mr Yeast to Three.

A (FAILING) PLAN

Fast forward through the story, Princess!3 strolls around the ball, Witch!4 instructs Prince Luigi to give Princess!3 the apple to make him "the ugliest princess" and Witch!4 would become the fairest of them all. As expected, it failed miserably, and Witch!4 had to improvise and come up with a new plan.

In IGBP, Four also had a plan when he was starting to create the perfect video, stocking his room with enough food for him to last. He made multiple attempts to create the video, feeling unsatisfied with every version he made.

MR. LUIGI

OMG, Mr L? Nah, I’m just kidding.

In all seriousness, though, I did find it fascinating that Prince Luigi basically turned Mr Yeast, the catalyst of IGBP. Hmmm….

THE TALLEST TOWER

By Witch!4’s instructions, Mr Luigi kidnaps Princess!3 and puts him in the tallest tower.

In IGBP, there is a scene where the rescuing trio finds SMG4’s classic design before it awakens and traps Three with him, making Meggy and Mario find Four to rescue them both. Curiously, the final showdown with Possessed!4 and Monster!3 waiting for them took place in the tallest tower of Peach’s castle.

A DOLLAR (…AND A BLOCK OF “CHEESE”)

In Mr Yeast fashion, he proposes a challenge that whoever save the princess gets a dollar, before he gets pushed off the tower by Princess!3. Realizing that he might need help, Princess!3 was able to get Mario to save him, promising that one dollar and an additional block of "cheese". In all technicality, Mario was completing the challenge.

In the IGBP arc, Mario completed a challenge created by Mr Yeast, making spaghetti while in a crashing plane. And, would you look at that? Food was involved too!

FOUR'S VILLAIN SONG

Told you we would come back to it! Better than what Disney’s Wish could ever do, Witch!4 sings how great being a villain was and how you just can’t go wrong with a great villain song. An absolute classic.

I do want to point out the first few lines of Four’s musical number:

I’ve gotta be honest with you, There’s many reasons I like being the villain, from just chillin’ to killin’ to tyrannically instilling fear, unto unwilling peasants who crossed my path…

Again, this shouldn’t be taken that seriously, but knowing how Mr Puzzles perceives him to be, this meant a lot more. Four, being the ‘villain’ of IGBP, was “tyrannically instilling fear” unto his friends who ‘prevented’ him from creating the perfect video. This, for the most part, was how Mr Puzzles saw it since IGBP was a horror parody. In reality, the crew was worried for him, not scared of him. Sure, there were moments when they were confused about Four’s extreme behavior but they were more worried about his wellbeing. Mr Puzzles didn’t know what that was like, to have someone worried for another’s wellbeing.

BOOPKINS

Yes, even Boopkins gets a spot on here! In the story, when Mario brought Sir Boopkins to save Princess!3, Princess!3 immediately regrets his life choices. Boopkins, on the other hand, doesn’t listen to what Princess!3’s yelled to Mario and attempts to save him… miserably.

It directly mirrors in IGBP, how Boopkins tried to defeat the keyboard demon with the ‘power of friendship and love’.

Love wins! Love always wins!

[It's Gotta Be Perfect]

He isn't wrong, a lot of the arcs were resolved because of love between friends, family, and partners. The good guys indeed win, but not without sacrifice. They kept their promise, but not without loss.

IGBP was no different. While ‘love always wins’ is true, Boopkins went about it the wrong way, thinking the demon itself would have a change of heart. Three was the one who somehow did it correctly and was able to save Four at the end.

Wow. Love does win, huh?

FAIREST OF THEM ALL

After Sir Boopkins’ failed attempt, Witch!4 comes in, riding a dragon, saying to Princess!3:

“Ha ha! You will never be saved, princess, and I shall be fairest of them all!”

[Once Upon An SMG4]

Do remember that scene?

Good.

Now imagine that moment in IGBP when Four had to choose to save Three or the flash drive that contained the video they made:

You will never be saved, Three, and I will have the perfect video!

…Ain’t that wild?

Then, it begs the question: Did Mr Puzzles want Three to die? Actually, no, he wanted Four dead. Remember back in the movie when the tentacles of the keyboard demon dragged Four back into the desk. Four knew he couldn’t leave so Four begged Three to leave him there and accepted that the whole incident was his fault. And it did seem like the end for him.

Plot twist: Three snapped him (or I guess slapped him) out of it and stayed alongside Four so he could help finish the video. It was because of Three that Four was finally freed from the cursed keyboard and it was because of Three admitting that they are friends that Four made his final decision. If Three wasn’t there, Four would’ve become a monster like Peach did or Four would have to sacrifice Three because he was traumatized to the point that he needs the video.

Perhaps it didn’t go how Mr Puzzles intended it to be but hey, it was entertainment, so he had let it slide for now.

FAIREST FIGHT 2024

Back to the story, Mario proposes that Witch!4 and Princess!3 should have a contest to see who really is the fairest. And so began the Fairest Fight 2024, consisting of three (3) challenges for three (3) judges to see who earns the title of the “fairest of them all”. Let’s begin with the first challenge:

ATTRACTING NOBLE HEROES CHALLENGE

Princess!3 was able to convince one hero with the weak promise of friendship while Witch!4 offering a lifetime sub to his OF, beating Princess!3 this round.

It parallels how it was in the outside world where Three, still trying his best, makes attempts to be popular while Four, already being incredibly popular, can easily attract his audience with his memes. But it also shows how Four is willing to dedicate a lot of his time and effort to making people happy while Three is still cautious about how open he should be to other people.

KISSING A FROG CHALLENGE

Okay, obviously, it's supposed to be a ‘princess and the frog’ reference. Just a bit, but it could mean something more. First off, to get this out of the way, I find it interesting that when Witch!4 tried to kiss a frog, the frog turned into Kermit and practically made him lose the challenge (Three didn’t either btw). It mirrored how in IGBP, Four kept using Kermit clips to make this perfect video, refusing to use any other material which eventually caused him to go insane.

With that out of the way, let’s get to the deep analysis part of this challenge:

As IGBP has taught us, relationships are complicated and complex. It takes time and dedication to stay but it also needs balance. As emotions are involved, it can be hard for others to completely understand the situation but, as Three has done, it’s possible to try.

We already made a connection of this episode being a twist of IGBP, so this could be applied here, how Four and Three approach a supposed relationship, in two ways:

(1) The frogs represent the new people that will enter each of their lives

When Four gets involved romantically and/or platonically with someone new who we call Person A, he can be a bit forward towards this person, but he is willing to commit to it. Person A however would either (1) end the relationship or (2) die. This leaves Four shocked.

When Three gets involved romantically and/or platonically with someone new (Person B), he is willing to risk it all. Usually, he is cautious about what he does but Person B somehow convinced him that they are the exception. Person B, like the poisonous frog, would either (1) use emotional manipulation to hurt 3 to a certain end or (2) be the cause of his death.

(2) The frogs represent each other — the Axol X Melony Theory(???)

That’s right, SMG34 shippers, it’s our time now. While SMG34 ship has been incredibly well-known in the fandom and the people behind the SMG4 show, we know it’s not going to become canon, mostly due to homophobia from certain fans, and the ship isn't meant to be treated seriously. But there are also too many moments that allude to the idea that they can be canon. Even reactors are starting to notice, a few lowkey “ship” them (which is honestly insane). In ‘SMG4: Plane Trip’ episode, Swag and Four had a bit of a bonding moment. Swag mentioned Sonic, his wife, as family. Four mentions how he feels the same (about being in a romantic relationship) and “having someone back home [himself]”, there he is presented with a locket. Again, this could all be a joke with well-known crack ships (memes, Dasani, computer, etc). Strangely though, the punchline never came.

They didn’t have time to put it in.

No, because all it takes is a few seconds to shift to Four’s POV and show THE DAMN PHOTO. BUT THEY DIDN’T!

*proceeds to scream into a pillow*

…Uh, anyway, some reactors suspected the person in the locket was Three. If reactors had the mere thought about Three and Four being together, then you know something really is up between those two. Sure, fandom talk. But like, if someone who you didn’t expect at all says that they might be gay, then the signals they give off must be really loud.

If the slightest chance this ship is ever going to be canon, then the Frog Challenge would be the slickest foreshadowing they had ever done, and yet brings up a whole lot of dread for the SMG34 shippers. At the end of WOTFI 2023, Three drew himself and Four enjoying a cup of coffee together, which seems oddly similar to Melony’s drawing of her and Axol (and vice-versa with Axol’s Confession Page).

If the theory is going to come true and the Kissing A Frog Challenge is going to allude to something, then it could mean two things:

(1) Either Four or Three would be with someone else, leaving the other heartbroken and therefore, their crush on them “died”

(2) Four or Three would confess to the other their feelings, but it would be too late and the other would be destined to die

Oh boy, ok. Let’s take a moment here to take a breather off the screen and pray for the shippers that the Axol X Melony Theory would not come true, regardless if the ship is ever going to be canon.

TRY NOT TO GET KIDNAPPED CHALLENGE

Stepping away from the Kissing Frog Challenge, we hop into this challenge, where the two avoid getting themselves kidnapped by Shrek. Princess!3 came up with the idea to use Witch!4 as a sort of trade, pointing out Witch!4’s features as selling points (with Princess!3 puking at the end there). According to Witch!4, they were "the worst selling points" he ever heard and it still worked. Princess!3 beat the challenge and placed the two of them in a complete tie.

Say it with me now: it’s just a bit.

And yet again I say: hear me out…

It shows that Three accepts Four’s flaws. Sure, there might be things that Three might find annoying about Four but he doesn’t hate Four. Especially, after IGBP, they connected more than ever. When they are in desperate need, they find each other. When one feels down or upset, the other notices. It makes sense, considering that they’re cosmically linked. But somehow, thanks to IGBP, they became close and already saw parts of each other's worst side. Four already accepts that Three is a former villain but Three of all people also accepts Four for who he is.

THE WINNER

The points have been tallied and judges make their decision, declaring Princess!3 as the official winner. Along with the title of being the “fairest”, he gets a wish. Twist of the episode: Three breaks the fourth wall and wishes to escape Mr Puzzles’ control. Then, Godmother Puzzles swoops in and restores the natural order of his script. Again, it’s plain and simple: Three is begging the audience to help them find an escape from this nightmare.

…well…

Notice how the one who broke the tie between the two was Mr Luigi, giving the last point to Princess!3, just as how Mr Yeast preferred to collab with Three instead of Four.

Remember how I said being the fairest is the equivalent of being perfect from that line told by Witch!4? This scene isn’t telling us that Three is perfect, but rather Four is imperfect. For the audience, we know that no one is perfect and that is okay. To quote from the animated show, Arcane:

"In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good."

[Arcane, S1 EP9]

From Mr Puzzles’ perspective and his ideology of being perfect, imperfection sounds like a bad thing.

The part where Princess!3 won was the same way how Three “won” in IGBP. Princess!3 won by getting what he wanted since the beginning of the story: money. Three, being the protagonist of IGBP, the 'good guy', won by beating the demonic keyboard and saving his partner.

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

And that is “Once Upon An SMG4”, a twisted version of “It’s Gotta Be Perfect”. One that Mr Puzzles would have preferred. But it’s not over yet, my dear fellows, as every story has a sequel.

“And SMG4, who knew you could play an antagonist so well! High marks from me.”

[SMG4: Puzzlevision Movie]

A new arc is approaching leading up to WOTFI 2024 and if the 'SMG4: Inside Out' episode has anything to go by, IGBP really affected Four. Perhaps we don't get to see it through his behavior but he still remembers it. (hmm, how curious that Once Upon an SMG4 gets an appearance here...🤔) According to Inside Out 2 movie, orange symbolizes anxiety, meaning that Four is terrified that he might cause another IGBP incident. Naturally, problems can't easily be resolved and at times, they relapse.

In the actual plot of the episode, Four drank that carton of "special brain juice" with Mr Puzzles' face plastered on it. This is a major problem:

(1) Because of Anger taking control of Four's emotions, Four destroyed the carton, getting rid of the only evidence there was for anyone else to make the connection that Mr Puzzles is up to something.

(2) He was alone when he did this. Remember: Three placed a hidden camera in Four's room when he decorated it. It has been confirmed in the actual merch with Three stating in his notebook that "it was a mistake" putting it there. We don't exactly know why he did it, but it can be assumed that he just wanted to keep tabs on Four to make sure another IGBP incident doesn't happen. If he couldn't use the camera, he would stop by to check up on him, making fake excuses on why he came. Except when Four took the carton, it was in the kitchen and Three wasn't able to come over to the castle.

At the end of the episode, we can assume that Mr Puzzles has taken control of Four's mind and used him to his advantage. With WOTFI 2024 coming up and new arcs beyond that, it will be up to the crew to rescue Four once again and stop Mr Puzzles from taking creative control of their real lives...

That is another post for me to work on but in the meantime, that’s just a theory…

AN SMG4 THEORY

🎶Thanks for dropping by🎶

#smg4 #smg4 theory #smg4 smg3 #smg3 #smg3 x smg4 #smg34 #< implied #once upon a perfect smg4 #smg4 puzzlevision #puzzlevision arc #smg4 its gotta be perfect #wotfi 2023

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shinjiikar1 · 7 months ago

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So the book club has been over for a little while now but I finally finished the novel last week and I've been having a lot of thoughts about it, and how it relates to the drama.

One of the things that struck me the most, was the way Gyu ho was depicted compared to every other character in the novel. I knew prior to watching the show and reading the novel that there are very few named characters in the original work, but I didn't realize quite how much of an impact it has on the reading experience.

With Go Young's other relationships, the characters feel almost like ghosts or remembrances, you do learn details about them (their jobs, habits, sometimes appearance), but there's always a distance. This goes for everyone, not just his romantic/sexual partners. It always feels like Go Young is apart from them, he's incredibly detached in the way he describes them even when he's in the middle of it. He describes himself as being deeply in love, but since it's in the past and he's speaking from a place of future knowledge there's this cynical, removed, tone to it all.

Gyu ho is different. He feels so alive and real in comparison, he barges his way into Go Young's life and refuses to leave (until he's pushed away for good), and you can feel that in the way the narration presents him. You read his name constantly in the last two parts, and I fell that that act of naming him helps you remember him much more distinctly. He becomes that much more of a person.

This is represented in the drama as well (I feel like at least a few people pointed out how much different Gyu ho's portrayal felt compared to the other characters), but I found it much more significant and obvious in the novel. It's very difficult to reach quite the level of distance in the novel in a visual medium, the characters simply must be more present and more real (even if the series had Go Young monologuing the entire time it still wouldn't be the same). Characters are given names, more interiority, more personality. I think this is definitely a strength of the show! It allows you to see Go Young's life from a much different, more objective perspective, but it's a large departure and it makes the series a much different story.

In both versions, once Gyu ho is gone he haunts the final section. Every few paragraphs, the narrative of Go Young's present is interrupted by some memory of him. I think the drama represented this very well and very faithfully, I'm pretty sure I brought it up in my post about the last part.

Overall I did really enjoy the novel, while the drama is a very faithful adaptation, reading the original work gave me some new perspectives and added a lot to my experience. I really appreciate the different experiences of the novel vs. the series, and its really interesting to see the shift in tone and representation of events (I wonder how much that has to do with how much time has passed since the initial writing). There are other things I wanted to point out but alas, I had to return my copy to the library, so I'll leave it there.

I still have one more post I want to make about the novel/series more generally (based off of a... Discussion I had with someone on a different platform), but that's for another day when I hopefully don't have a migraine lol.

#i meant to make this post a While ago but my health is a little in the gutter atm #and screens are not my friend!#litbc book club #love in the big city #words

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soviet-supersoldier · 6 months ago

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Character Examination: Omega Red

Part 4: X-men (1991) #6

This comic is near and dear to my heart. It served as my first introduction to Omega Red as a character, being one of the first comic books that I ever read. I remember getting this comic with a Marvel Legends Sabretooth figure my dad bought in the early 2000s and every time I see this cover, I'm hit with a real sense of nostalgia:

Being the only part of this story arc I was able to read as a kid, Omega Red was really an enigma, a character that I really didn't grow to appreciate and discover his full story for until much later in life. When I first read this, I read it for Wolverine. And also Sabretooth. But they're not the ones I'm examining this story for now. How times change.

So, right out of the gate in this one, the X-men start on a rescue mission to try to get Wolverine back after managing to track down the location of the Hand's base in Berlin. This is where I saw Omega Red for the first time, popping out of nowhere to smack Beast in the face:

The way the characters are laid out on the panel here makes it rather difficult to figure out just where Arkady came from. The ceiling? The wall? Another hallway? It's a bit of a confusing perspective. Regardless, Arkady sounds like he had been lying in wait for them for a least a little while, listening to their conversation until he decided to step in and say, "Hello."

This also marks the only time Omega Red and Beast really interacted until Krakoa's X-Force. Given how Beast treats Arkady in X-Force, killing him or targeting him over the course of the series, one could argue that this moment right here is where Beast formed his grudge. That must have been one hell of a punch. And left-handed, too. Arkady has a good left hook. He throws a few of them over the course of his appearances, and as a lefty, it always makes me smile when I see it.

Before I move on from this page, there are two things I want to note. The first is with Arkady’s dialogue. As the standard of the time, villains in comics did a lot of monologuing as a way to tell the audience about themselves and their abilities. Their dialogue is used to advance the story and fill the heroes in about their opponent. Omega Red’s is no different, and it will really become apparent on the next page. That being said, Omega Red does end up developing the character trait of being a bit chatty while he fights, so it's not too out of character for him to talk, even about himself and his abilities. It's really the only time he ever gets the chance, seeing as how he only ever really showed up for fights for so many of his appearances. If he wasn't a talker, we'd never really know anything about him from his perspective at all.

The other thing of note is in the narration boxes: "Several decades ago, he was to be the world's first supersoldier -- in service to Mother Russia! Instead, he spent the last 30 years in a tomb."

After this story arc, comics that later come out about Arkady’s past really start to muddy up this established timeline. When this story came out, the narration would have suggested that the events Logan keeps having flashbacks to occurs in the 1960s. But then, Banshee is tied to his backstory (because reasons) and he said the events he took part in happened 20 years beforehand. Not only that, but Arkady was recently shown to have been a child in the 1960s. So something got messed up along the way in Omega Red’s personal timeline that still hasn't been properly addressed. Perhaps a future origin story will fix it, but for now, I suppose a solution of some sort is to say that Logan's memory sucks and that these events didn't happen 30 years ago like he thought, but rather, closer to 20 like Banshee had said and that the overall Marvel timeline is just scooted up from this occuring in the 1960s to now occuring sometime in the 1970s or 1980s.

Onto the next page:

So here Arkady talks about himself. His dialogue serving to introduce us, the audience, to what it is that he can do. He talks about his Carbonadium tentacles and their similarities to adamantium, how it is more maleable and not quite as indestructible as adamantium. However, they are still, for all intents and purposes, indestructible. That's why it really bothers me whenever I see someone cut his coils. They're still made of an indestructible material. It should be as impossible of a situation to occur as someone slicing Wolverine's adamantium claws in half. Now, ripping them out? I could see that happen. They are implants after all.

After talking about his coils, Omega Red then talks about his mutant powers, with Jubilee making a fart joke with regards to his abilities as he turns his powers on her. Brave of her to make such a joke, but then, I doubt Arkady truly understood what it was she was talking about. His dialogue suggests he's not quite listening to what she's saying. He knocks her out with a physical backhand and a sort of compliment/thank you for being an (unwilling) donor towards keeping himself alive.

This is made apparent later, but for as many times as Arkady claims his abilities are lethal, we never see him kill anyone here. He always just knocks them out, even though he continually says he needs their life energy to keep himself alive. Why does he do that when he has such an obvious need? Well, the real reason is that Marvel can't let all their heroes just die, but that leaves a weird plot hole within the story itself. Why doesn't Arkady kill these people? He has no connection to him, they're invaders into the facility he's at, and he needs life energy to live. A good guess might be that Matsu'o gave him orders not to kill, as capturing the X-men rather than killing them might draw Wolverine back in. And he is their real target. That, and Matsu'o seems to have some plans for Psylocke at least, so it would be in his best interests to make sure Omega Red doesn't end up killing her. Of course, he could have given the order to kill all intruders except the one who looks like a sexy ninja babe, but maybe he thought that would be too complicated. Regardless, Arkady, despite having death powers and a need for life energy to keep himself alive, kills absolutely no one.

As all this is happening, Logan is elsewhere with Maverick trying to fight for his life. These past hours have been incredibly taxing for him, and he's experiencing a ton of flashbacks to the time when he encountered Omega Red as a member of Team X:

So, Omega Red doesn't really appear on this page of the flashback outside of his coils shooting up through the floor here, but I want to make a few notes. The first is that Janice says, "The supersoldier has been activated." In the next issue, we find out that Team X starts their raid while Arkady is having his procedures done. He's naked in a tank being operated on when Team X shows up. And then they steal the C-Synthesizer (and later additions to this event add Sabretooth making a sales pitch to Arkady to join them and John Wraith making an appearance -- a lot ends up getting crammed into this). So, after Team X busts in and grabs Janice, Arkady has to get out of the tank, listen to Creed's pitch, kick him out, get dressed and have all the implants and things properly hooked up in order to go after them. All this right after Arkady went through (likely) the most painful process of his life. He's a real trooper for that, and you really have to applaud his speed, but man, he must have been really hurting.

The second note I want to make is with regards to how Janice dies here. Why is it important? Well, because of this lovely panel that occurs in X-men (1991) #18:

Hmm. Something doesn't add up here. Why is Logan blaming Arkady for what happened to Janice? As his own flashback reveals:

Omega Red wasn't even on the same floor as them when Janice was killed. Logan clearly saw Sabretooth murder her. So why is he blaming Arkady for it several issues later? Crappy memory? Hard to say, but after that, Janice Hollenbeck is never mentioned again and Logan never brings this up in any of his fights with Sabretooth. Just the one he had with Omega Red. To this day, it baffles me that Arkady is the one he truly blames for her death since he wasn't the one who actually killed her.

So, the next page of the flashback shows us Arkady at long last:

So, Sabretooth ends up saving everyone's skin here (at least everyone not named Omega Red) and they all escape with the C-Synthesizer. With regards to Arkady on this page here, I want to talk about a few things. The first is his dialogue. His speech bubble is very unique, along with the lettering. The styling does seem to imply that Arkady’s words are supposed to come off as menacing and sounding rather off-putting, and it probably does, but I think that it's really due to two main reasons. The first is due to the pain he's probably in right now. Remember, he just had a major operation and was told to get up and go without any sort of recovery time whatsoever. It probably really hurts to talk. Or breathe. Or move. And yet he has to do so. Arkady knows the importance of what was stolen. He has to get it back or his life is going to really, really suck. The second reason is due to him speaking English. At this time, I doubt he was a very good English speaker. There are times where he seems to struggle with it even now. He was probably still learning and unfamiliar with the language. Despite the pain he was in, he was supposed to try to communicate clearly in a second language. I say he did a good job.

The next thing I want to talk about is his appearance here:

Look at all those mechanical parts strapped to his head. We see this design for him in one other flashback in the pages of Cable, and the design in and of itself tells a rather sad and painful story. Unlike Logan, who naturally has his claws, Arkady’s coils are 100% implants. Rather complicated ones too. How do they work? How do they move? As the headgear implies, it's by a computer/brain interface. Procedures had to be done to connect the coils to his brain to allow him to mentally control and move them. And given the technology level from back in the day, it was going to end up being something that's big, clunky, hot, and heavy. He had to carry that thing around on his head in order for the implants to work. His hair had to be shaved off. It was probably a very miserable piece of equipment to be forced to carry.

As time went on, this headgear disappeared, getting smaller and smaller until now the only real implants we see left on his head are the ones that remain on his cheeks. Why there? No clue. Guess the artists just think it looks really cool and decided that they wanted to keep it. However, seeing these first iterations of his design tells us that as the technology improved, Arkady had to go through procedures over and over again to update it. To have all the old equipment removed and then replaced with new implants had to have been horrible. Major procedures without any form of anesthesia at all. It had to have been agony. He would have been treated like a machine, having parts exchanged to make him more efficient. It would be the kind of thing that would really destroy any human image Arkady would have of himself, and you really end up seeing that view Arkady ends up having of himself in some of Omega Red’s upcoming appearances.

The final thing I have to say about this flashback before continuing on is how we have never seen what happened to Arkady after this. What he had to face when he went back to his superiors and had to tell them that Team X got away. That had to have been incredibly defeating. His very first assignment as a finished (somewhat) supersoldier: a failure. I doubt that his superiors were happy with him. And after this, he had to somehow find a way to carry on and do the jobs he was ordered to do despite the pain that he now had to live with. His life must have been absolutely horrid after this and only served to build up resentment and hatred towards all the members of Team X. They ruined his life.

So Arkady appears on this page with Sabretooth and the others, but says absolutely nothing. He's likely thinking about Sabretooth though, but given what Sabretooth says, that he doesn't remember Omega Red, he probably figures it's best to just keep his mouth shut. If Creed remembers what he did to Arkady and why, he likely would not do the job -- or at least that is likely the thought. The doctor and Matsu'o also avoid saying Omega Red’s name at all either, which implies they are probably thinking the same thing. That it's best to keep Sabretooth ignorant of their past history and keep him focused on Wolverine.

So Sabretooth goes off hunting and finds Wolverine and Maverick. Here, we are led to believe that Sabretooth was the victorious one and that he and Psylocke captured them. But, as is made clear next issue, it's a ruse:

So, focusing on the dialogue exchanged between the doctor and Arkady, we get a bit of insight as to what Omega Red thinks of Creed and the situation he finds himself in. The doctor notes the irony of the situation, that Sabretooth is unknowingly fixing a problem he helped cause 30(ish) years ago. Omega Red replies with, "There is much I owe Sabretooth. And I have every intention of paying back my debts in the order of which they occured."

What does Arkady mean by that? That he's going to end up waltzing to Victor's door one day and say, "Comrade Creed, now that I've finished paying off my debts to Matsu'o, I work for you now. I have to pay off that debt I owe you."? I don't think so. I doubt that he'd ever want to make life-long slavery his life goal. I think his intentions are far darker. This ends up really getting confirmed next issue, but it is implied here that Arkady’s view of paying back his "debts" is to kill the people responsible for there being a debt in the first place. Sabretooth is on his hit list. It doesn't matter if he's "helping" here. Creed screwed him over and made his life a living hell for 30(ish) years. He's had decades to build up resentment. He wants to dish out some real payback. Just like he wants to do to Logan.

The final thing of note that happens in this issue is the cliffhanger. It was one that really stuck in my mind as a kid because I never got to see how it ended. It took years for me to find out what happened next. So I thought about this a lot. Who would Omega Red kill to keep himself alive? Which X-men character was on the chopping block? How would the team react? Turns out, I didn't have to worry at all, as Omega Red -- despite being given an open invitation to kill as many X-men as he wanted -- kills exactly zero X-men.

Why? Matsu'o even says that Omega Red needs life energy. How and why did no X-men die? Did Arkady just tell Matsu'o, "No thanks, I'm not really hungry right now. Maybe later."? Next issue, it is implied Arkady was "using" (or at least was tricked into thinking he was using), Psylocke's life energy to sustain his own (which is something I will talk about in the examination of next issue), but she's not here right now. She's in the sewers with Creed. Absolutely nothing was preventing Arkady from killing the X-men. And yet he didn't. Once again, Marvel can't bring itself to have any heroes die, but as a consequence, leaves an interesting plot hole that can only really be filled with a variation of Arkady simply choosing not to kill. It's the start of a rather peculiar "no killing" pattern Arkady ends up developing despite the condition he's stuck living with, one that becomes more obvious the more appearances of his you read.

Well, this ended up being a very long review of this issue. The next one might end up being just as long. We will have to see as this first story arc featuring Omega Red begins to draw to a close.

#omega red #arkady rossovich #marvel comics #character deep dive #ramblings and musings on omega red #character examination project #X-men (1991) 6

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valeriefauxnom · 8 months ago

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Accidental Minor Plot Holes/Misnomers!

Dragalia in general was surprisingly astute to its tangled mass of lore, but they were not perfect. Every so often, there were little tidbits that on closer thought/lore diving, make no sense with later information!

Take, for instance, the launch wyrmprint "King's Countenance", which intersects both well and poorly with later details on him and his kids:

Its description relays, starting in its 3rd stage:

Now, the king sits and ponders his future. He knows that if he continues on his current path, he will have to pay with his life. And yet, there is no hesitation whatsoever on his visage. For the king had eight promising children who had learned much from watching him fight to support the kingdom. Any of them was more than worthy to take the reins of the country's future.

On the bright side, this works well with the details that Aurelius, when heading to the Binding Ruins, knew he was playing with fire and chose to anyways in the hopes of helping Nedrick, whom he had newly discovered was alive and not-still-quite-so-well:

...But on the flipside, well...

I'm a royal fam major when it comes to Dragalia lore, and even I, uh, would not be so bold as to claim that Aurelius has 'eight capable children' to take the throne. Leonidas, Phares, Chelle, even Valyx, sure. Beren, whom has been locked in the dungeons since being an infant???? Emile??????????? Zethia, who has forsworn the throne herself to be the Auspex? Whoops.

And it's not as if Aurelius has blindingly rose-colored goggles on, either. He's Concerned enough about Emile to not only appoint Magnus in the hopes of teaching him some better morals, but also granted him the authority to outright kill Emile if he gets entirely out of hand in several worlds.

So, yeah, there's one incongruency. Speaking of kings, though, let's wind back the clock to the OG King of Alberia!

This one's pretty small and easy to explain. To put it briefly, his replica in The Blood That Binds shapeshifts into a dragon he should not have been able to: Brunhilda.

Why? Because she never pacted with Alberius in the first place!

Speaking of which, there's several more hmms in Mym's life. Her dragon story starts out with this narration:

One tiny little problem- Greatwyrms never, ever, are hatchlings. Later lore stated that all Greatwyrms are sterile and do not follow most other natural life cycles even for dragons. They also have a nice little auto reincarnation feature as primordial forces, though they do not keep memory between incarnations.

This is likely just a case of writers unintentionally bumping into each other with much later lore for Mids' and Mym's words here, as this info drops in ch.24 vs the base game with Brunhilda's story, but still technically a contradiction!

It also creates a new odd timeline. Greatwyrm ages are ambiguous, but we do have several rough ideas/implications:

-Jupiter is the youngest (Mym address him as a brat and otherwise younger than her)

-Brunhilda is the second-youngest (she's generally treated by the others dragons as a younger one too)

-Zodiark likely eldest

-Mids is under 1k years old, since he did not experience events with Ilia and does not remember them

However, Brunhilda's story again puts things in a major bind. Her story has her lying in fields for 'centuries' and then holing herself in a volcano for 'ages more' so much so that the land itself shifted until Alberius came. Alberius, of course, was 300 years ago. This leaves surprisingly little time to put her as definitively younger than Midgardsormr, who is canonically under 1k.

On the flip side, it partially explains her exact moody nature- she's hardly talked to anyone in her centuries and has largely been asleep for them, making her much less experienced in contrast to other dragons who have not made indications of sleeping for centuries. In essence- she's acting younger than her apparent age would suggest, because she's spent a majority of those years asleep!

Another little error comes with Luca and Sarisse, specifically which is the elder. The vast majority of the time, Luca is addressed as the elder. But in Luca's lines...

...Despite Luca's description correctly ID'ing him as the elder in that same base version!

Last but not least, another minor error funnily occurs in Cassandra's story, where Elisanne, despite speaking correctly in the first story, incorrectly labels the castle of Sol Alberia as 'The Halidom':

We never actually got a name for the castle, if it has one. It just is the castle in Sol Alberia, the royal capital. However, it definitely isn't the Halidom, as this scene takes place in the royal castle for Aurelius' marriage, which, again, is made all the funnier by Elisanne recognizing that this was not the Halidom earlier:

Now, I don't know the original text, but these last two might well just be a translation error. That being said, how it was written and published makes them contradicting!

So...yeah! That's been my Dragalia Lore Contradictions post, brought to you by too much memory devoted to this game!

#dragalia lost #dragalia #overanalysis #dragalia analysis #There might be more but those are the ones I'm remembering right now+able to track down #Do you guys recall any other plot holes/accidental lore contradictions?

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pikmininaplane · 4 months ago

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@underrated-d20-event day 24!! I am just. 30 minutes late for this one. But the theme was History, and I thought, who better than a storyteller could fit the bill? :)

(Spoilers for Neverafter episode 5)

Ink on a Blank Page (450 words)

The role of a storyteller is a lonely one to play; Scheherazade has learnt it the hard way.

Even as Sinbad blabbers on and on about tales of his past adventures next to her, Scheherazade has never felt more alone in her life. The walls of the cave around seem to keep closing in on her, confining her, suffocating her. She keeps walking to escape the maze of walls, and walls, and walls, but it's never enough. She's trapped.

It's not just the maze she's trapped in, though.

Sinbad doesn't know. She hasn't told him - she's barely processed it herself. Even now, as she thinks about it, she struggles to push back the feeling of dread that claws at her from within her chest.

"It" being the true nature of her world.

Isn't it ironic? A storyteller, trapped in a story of her own. She would laugh if the bare thought of it wasn't enough to bring her to tears. A story, written from its beginning to its ending, and her life inbetween.

A story that is now destined to end badly, no matter what. The Endless Nights are not what they used to be... nor are they what they are meant to be. Trapped in a cycle of chaos and pain, each character in the story a villain or a victim. This tale does not end well; that, Scheherazade knows.

She doesn't remember at which point she started writing. She was always more of a narrator, recounting stories and legends to children around a fire, to a man on the other end of a bed... But Sinbad was too busy telling his own story to listen to another's.

And, well, she had that book, too. That book she didn't know what to do with.

The book holds tremendous power. She can feel it pulsating between her hands, writhing as she holds her quill to the page. She hopes, for a time, that she might use it to call for help.

But nobody comes.

Still, she tries. Again, and again. Part of her does it to stop herself from going mad from Sinbad's constant rambling; another part thinks documenting their journey might be the kindest act she can provide for future dwellers of her cave.

At her core, though, Scheherazade craves to tell. Craves to be listened to.

She supposes it might be the nature of a storyteller.

She writes, and she writes, and she calls for help, and she writes still, until...

Until...

Oh.

Until words appear on the page. Words scratched out by a hand that isn't hers, words of another, one who answers her call.

"Hello there," they write.

And Scheherazade thinks she might burst into tears.

#'the other theme for today is ACOFAF but I've already written two fics for it so I don't need to stick to that one'#<- guy who is about to write their fourth Neverafter fic voice. hey is it obvious that I play favorites #also yeah the first line is a reference to lonely king. there's an undertale reference in there too lol my bad #dimension 20 #d20 #neverafter #neverafter scheherazade #underrated d20 month #lb originals

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shimmywhenyoucantbounce · 1 year ago

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The Unsleeping City Chapter Two and Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Ally Beardsley said, "I get her Kitchen, that really old book" and I perked up a little bit because I know a book called Kitchen, a niche one that I have analytical thoughts about and love as a piece of art and have never heard anyone mention outside of the class wherein I read it. And then they said "it has this really cool trans character in it," and I had to pause the video to scream about this, because the book I know does in fact have a cool trans woman in it. Her name is Eriko. When I had calmed down enough, I pressed play again and Ally Beardsley said "It's by this writer Banana Yoshimoto" and that is as far as I am into that episode because at that confirmation I had to stop and scream again.

Kitchen, the novella, is made of two different pieces: "Kitchen," about short-novel length by itself, and "Moonlight Shadow," a much shorter story. Both stories are about grief, isolation, connection, and food. Notably, both stories start with the main characters already in mourning, their loved ones already dead. We enter their world as one that is notably empty. This parallels the setting of season two, which opens with introductory scenes that still keenly feel Kugrash's absence.

I have been thinking about Kitchen through this entire season, which is part of why I got so excited when Ally Beardsley mentioned it. Kitchen is a book about grief and grieving and relying on others in your time of need to help you and care for you and give you food. Yoshimoto uses light and dark imagery not as symbols of good and evil, but rather of isolation and connection. Multiple times, she brings us the image of distinct points being connected by light in a dark void, including the main character looking up at the moon in a dark sky and, in one of the closing images of "Kitchen," a lighthouse tracing a road of light across black waves. When our narrator meets one of the people who will become her new household, she sees "in the black gloom before my eyes...a straight road leading from me to him" (Yoshimoto 6-7) (I don't have my book with me but I did find one of my old essays about it :) ). The darkness in these images is that which is not known, that which the characters cannot see through, which is why it represents isolation. They do not have knowledge or connection to that place, even though they may in the future. That way, the imagery is also connected to agency and the act of exploring and reaching out to one's world. Kitchen portrays characters in grief and dangerously deep in self-isolation, and the events and relationships that help them deal with that and figure out how they are going to live now. Yoshimoto characterizes the universe not as malicious but uncaring, and proposes that the response to this is to look for meaning instead in each other and the world we make. Which is exactly the struggle our characters are embarking on against NULL! Meaning, value, the things we personally hold dear; and it doesn't matter if they're "cosmically insignificant" or doomed or can be corrupted or whatever because they exist while they exist and they matter while they're there. Aaaaaaaaaa!!!

I've just remembered that one of the characters in "Kitchen" climbs up on someone's roof in the middle of the night to eat katsudon with them. They were not invited there! It was not katsudon that was in the hotel room! They bought the katsudon in the middle of the night and put it in their backpack and climbed up onto the roof and tapped at the window and said "Hello I brought katsudon"! I love this. It's so good. It's also Kugrash behavior.

Victoria Brown also persistently cares for people by providing them food, which is just to say that these two stories are both thinking about the comforting and communal power of cooking for people and eating together.

If I had a nickel for each time a mysterious, apparently-human but probably supernatural figure connected to a liminal location appeared to a character in need and offered them specifically tea in the Unsleeping City and Kitchen, I would have at least three nickels. Also the liminal location in "Moonlight Shadow" is a bridge over a river, which is traditionally a powerful symbol and also something that holds significance in Unsleeping City geography and lore.

In "Moonlight Shadow," a young man in mourning for his girlfriend wears her clothes every day after her death. I'd like to show Ricky Matsui this bit and hear his thoughts on it because of how he has taken on some of Kugrash's role. Ricky feels pressure from other parties as well, the Questing Blade and the Peasant's Sword, to carry on a legacy (that is symbolized by something one wears or carries).

I think that's all the thoughts I have about it for now, except that I seem to remember a line in "Moonlight Shadow" about a cloudy sky hanging heavy like stone, which might characterize the emotional state of New York in Chapter Two as well.

I'd like to know Pete's (and Ally Beardsley's) thoughts on Eriko as a character, and also if they talked to any of the other people in the season's production about the similarity of themes between the book and the series. If anyone has thoughts they'd like to share about this or about Kitchen in general, please do let me know! I vibrate whenever I get to discuss parallels between different media I'm into.

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kadextra · 1 year ago

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another orv longpost is here 🕺

(again huge spoilers for the novel don’t click if you haven’t read)

since my last one of these, I have completed reading the demon realm revolutionary arc >:D

now lets get some miscellaneous thoughts out of the way before I go into analysis

THAT SCENE FROM AGES AGO WHICH I BARELY REMEMBERED FINALLY REVEALED ITS PURPOSE!!! MY JAW DROPPED. thank goodness fatherhood has made han myungoh way more likeable 🎉 he’s so soft & doting about his daughter <3 I want their little family to reunite go away asmodeus…

b i y o o.

I have noticed that the author loves to use the phrase “cold water poured over [the mood]” and that’s sooo accurate cause I felt exactly this way when dokja opened the 1st revision of TWSA and found it became an account of events influenced by his involvement in the story & is set after his future death. chills.

when dokja was legit about to die after destroying the demon duke guy in the big factory monster my heart was racing too. then joonghyuk came with the save last second :’D

the part where he described his senses after re-entering the scenario, the story embracing him, changing his breathing to feel alive again, and how that frightened him. ohh my god…..

also neat to see how the fourth wall helps practically too :D like when dokja was all mentally scattered and couldn’t think straight it helped by putting the pieces he already knew together for him

now onto some analysis dissecting dokja’s behavior :))

multiple times I’ve read how he hears a shocking thing and instantly goes like “I thought it was an auditory hallucination.” his first reaction to unbelievable stuff is believing that it’s not real. his power literally disassociates him it makes complete sense to react this way, good detail

it’s cool how he will be like ‘I think this’ then the fourth wall goes [Kim Dokja is thinking this]. sometimes it’s a helpful expansion of those original thoughts, or vice versa with dokja continuing off what the fourth wall says first

but it can be that the two lines of thought presented aren’t alike!! so I have had to read deeper into what he’s really thinking/feeling :D

through that, it is becoming way clearer to me in this story how some things dokja says & does are contradictory with what he himself narrates. it’s something that needs my closer attention while reading bc otherwise I could get fooled, he’s an unreliable narrator

sometimes he feigns disinterest when all signs in the dialogue point to him being emotional, or he puts on a confident narration but then the fourth wall or his actions exposes insecurity. sometimes he straight up has no idea why he’s acting certain ways -which I try piecing together- and occasionally he fights with himself too

these lines show that stuff pretty well

It was a reckless battle. It was uncharacteristic of me and I didn’t know why I acted like that.

No, don’t think like this. Kim Dokja, please wake up. You’ve survived so far thanks to this novel.

I wanted to ask why he came here. I wanted to ask what he would do in the future. However, completely different words emerged from my mouth.

I smiled slightly while covering my eyes with both hands. I didn’t appear so on the surface, but I wanted to say that I was smiling.

he was absolutely crying in the last one I know it

not my first rodeo with unreliable characters I love them <3

lastly, dokja was more desperate in this arc than I’ve ever seen him before. I saw how he started to get more troubled as it went on, but ofc the constant painful disintegration didn’t help 💀 the 1st revision.txt is useful with figuring out what to do but it’s sorta vague, he’s still anxious

that’s why I LOVED the writing on the wall conversation with jang hayoung.

it delved into those stresses and had him trying to think of a way to move forward. probably one of my most favorite discussions in the story thus far

I had to write something on this wall. This is despite the fact that it might change what has already been written…

I didn’t want to be a person who only read.

I had been acting as a reader the whole time. In order to see the ending I wanted, I had to create a new story. In fact I had already warped reality.. I just didn’t know yet who would read it.

👏🔥👏💯🔥👏💯🔥👏

a person who doesn’t just read, but writes too… so curious to see what he does now especially since he doesn’t have multiple lives to mess with

wow long ramble but I love love deep diving into stuff I can’t wait to see more cool things as I go on <3

if you wanna see my other rambles about orv check my tag #kade reads

#orv #orv spoilers #I’ll write more of these once in a while :3 #maybe not after every arc #but when I Really have something to say #kade reads orv #kade reads

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iheart-nana · 10 months ago

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xviii. the anatomy of a smile

☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩⋆｡° ✮

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ─ the anatomy of a smile.

❛ but i see sparks fly whenever you smile. ❜

Narrator's Perspective

"Oh! Eunyoung!" Inhyuk called out when he spotted Eunyoung on her way to school.

"Hmm?" she turned to look at him, "Oh, it's you. Hi."

"Hey," he began, "I visited Sunjae yesterday. He went on about today's school paper. He practically begged me to bring it for him. The fellow who distributes the papers in our class is a real ass. He won't give me any extra papers. Can you do me a favour and help me out? I have no idea why he's so hell bent on getting it."

A small smile surfaced on Eunyoung's face. He remembers.

"I'll bring it to him after school, don't worry," she assured him. Inhyuk cocked his head to the side in confusion. He seemed to be the only one left in the dark.

The previous evening

"Sunjae?" Eunyoung called out to him, knocking on the open hospital room door. None of the other patients seemed to be there, and Sunjae sat in solitude on his bed, staring blankly out of the window.

"Eunyoung?" his head whipped around sharply. A small smile surfaced on his face slowly. The despair in his eyes was very much evident despite his efforts to put up a brave front.

She returned his smile with the same sorrow in her eyes. She took a seat on the chair next to him, "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" he started, the smile fading from his face, "Not great. They said I won't be able to continue swimming."

I know. Eunyoung thought to herself. Each time she was faced with that reality, she could feel an ache in her heart. The lump in her throat left her speechless. Her hand reached forward to clutch Sunjae's, which seemed so huge in comparison. Sunjae's breath hitched at her sudden movement. The colour seemed to return to his face as he felt warmth blooming in his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," is all Eunyoung could muster out, "I'm sorry for coming late, I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"It's not your fault," Sunjae whispered.

A spark of warmth glimmered in the sterile hospital room, igniting a new kind of fire in them both. The silence conveyed feelings that neither of them could dare to put into words.

💿

Spotting Taesung exiting the music room before her, Yumi called out to him, evident excitement in her voice, "Taesung!" She approached him as he turned quickly to look at her.

"Piano girl?"

"How original," she frowned.

"Why did you call out to me?" he asked her.

"Oh yeah," Yumi remembered, "The kitten let me pet it the other day!"

"Really?" he chuckled. He found her excitement strangely endearing. Yumi always seemed to be frowning or her eyebrows would be raised and her eyes would be wide with confusion. She had often stared at him blankly, making it impossible to guess what was on her mind. But her face lit up when she smiled. There was a glimmer in her eyes, and a soft redness on her cheeks. Taesung's heart pounded against his chest.

"I was right, wasn't I?" he said, trying way too hard to act cool.

Could she tell I'm bluffing? Does she have any clue about the effect she has on me?

💿

The white walls of Sunjae's hospital room seemed a little less oppressive today. A sliver of sunlight snuck through the blinds, painting a warm rectangle across his lap. Sunjae, propped up against pillows, traced the lines of a sports magazine with a listless finger. The events unfolding on the pages held little interest for him. His own future in swimming felt like a deflated balloon, limp and useless.

A soft knock at the door startled him. Before he could answer, the door creaked open, revealing Eunyoung. Her eyes, usually sparkling with mischief, were clouded with worry. She clutched a neatly folded newspaper to her chest.

"Hey," Sunjae managed, a weak smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

Eunyoung shuffled closer, her gaze flitting between him and his father, who sat perched on a visitor's chair, a newspaper propped up in front of him. A hint of a blush crept up her neck.

"Actually, I brought you something," she mumbled, extending the newspaper towards him.

Sunjae's father chuckled, lowering his own paper. "He's been yapping about your article all morning. Took you long enough!" His tone was light, but Sunjae detected a playful jab in his words.

"I'm just glad someone's eager to read what I wrote."

Sunjae carefully unfolded the newspaper, his heart skipping a beat as he saw the headline: "Setting the Pace: A New Season for the Jagam High Swim Team" with his own team photo splashed right below it.

He scanned the article, his eyes widening with each paragraph. Eunyoung's words painted a vivid picture of the team, their dedication, and their unwavering spirit. He felt a forgotten spark ignite within him, a flicker of pride for his team and the sport he still loved.

"This is..." he stammered, searching for the right words. "This is amazing, Eunyoung! You captured everything perfectly. I could practically smell the chlorine."

A genuine smile bloomed on Eunyoung's face, chasing away the worry in her eyes. "Really? I'm glad you like it. Everyone misses you so much." Especially me.

"Maybe you can take some advice from Eunyoung," his dad advised Sunjae, a teasing smile forming on his face, "You never know! You might become a famous writer like her."

Sunjae swatted his father's arm playfully, a laugh escaping his lips for the first time since the surgery. "Don't listen to him, Eunyoung. He's just jealous he can't write like you."

The room, for a brief moment, was filled with a warmth that had nothing to do with the sunlight peering in through the window. It was the warmth of shared passion and perhaps, the beginning of a new kind of hope.

💿

"Sportsmanship is not just about good manners; it's about creating a positive environment where everyone can thrive. It's about fostering a love for the sport that goes beyond individual accolades, and it fills me with pride to know that the swimming team of Jagam High School navigates the triumphs and challenges of this season with this very sportsmanship as their guiding principle." Yumi read out from the newspaper in her hand.

Eunyoung's mother put down her chopsticks and clapped enthusiastically. A smile formed on Eunyoung's face as Yumi too joined in the applause. "We're so proud of you, Eunyoung!" said her mom.

"You do this every time I write something," said Eunyoung, embarrassed as she hid her face in her hands.

"It's because everything you write is so profoundly eloquent that Shakespeare would start shaking in his grave," replied Yumi dramatically.

"She's right, Eunyoung," their mom piped in, "At this rate you're going to become the CEO of a big news firm."

Eunyoung and Yumi exchanged glances, smiling at the fact that she had just predicted the future that only they knew about.

"Don't count your chickens," Eunyoung shrugged.

"You never know," said Yumi, grinning.

☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩⋆｡° ✮

nayoung's notes: rare occasion where sunjae's dad doesn't embarrass his son.

delphi's notes: the best part of this chapter is how eunyoung's mom suddenly becomes a fortune teller.

next chapter: friday (out now!) list of chapters here!

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tenaciouschronicler · 3 months ago

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Dave's Rewind: An exploration of timelines and paradoxes

Or how Back to the Future explains time shenanigans

I want to circle back to something Davesprite said about what he did with the Rewind. Apparently he 'splinter[ed them] off into an alt timeline' where everything now goes according to the future the tolls can see, changing nothing and rather reinforcing it.

Here is @homestuckreplay interpretation of how that looks:

And here's mine:

They are nearly the same but rather than having branches from the timeline we know, instead Homestuck also follows the Intermission in having multiple timelines. Like so:

Essentially every choice would create another timeline, though we never see them. Dave is not proficient enough to do the easy jumps straight across, rather much like an rpg he can only access the previous points hes experienced that follow the 'correct' line. For this to work there does have to be a 'correct' path that has already been trod.

Something about this felt really familiar and thats when I remembered Back to the Future. BTTF deals with a lot of time travel and exploration of various paradoxes. The one most pertinent to us is the Predestination paradox. Its used alot in science fiction to explain how a character can go back to change history but yet still have a future where they go back to change history. Very roundabout yes but it explains a lot of the Exiles roles during the game and how the trolls can still see the future events of the kids even with Gallows attempting to change said future.

Theres two other things that we can take away with this rewind. First, it raises the stakes higher than we originally thought. We have seen near misses and harrowing moments, but its an action comic about kids playing a game. Theres not really any precedent for an author to actually kill off their main characters. During the Intermission we did see characters die, but that makes sense for a mob noir genre plus with timeline shenanigans the characters take it as par for the course. Second, theres something we forgot, or at least I did. We are playing a game. Remember, all those pages ago, the cursor? How the narration doesnt just address the story but us as well? And what happens in the action genre, regardless of raiting?

You die.

You die and go back to a prior save. Whether thats the immediate moment when you lose a life or the beginning of a battle/level, you get the option to go back and try again. Try different. Daves power lets him do that. The only weird part is that his whole physical self is returned and now there's two of him. Without paradoxes.

For some reason, we were shown this failed branch. Inexplicably and outta left field but only to the point where Dave is going back to complete the loop. This further begs the question of what exactly is the goal for these kids?

Supposedly they have already lost their game, and yet all their actions are attempts to win the game they are destined to lose. We know its a futile effort so why bother, aside from completing the loop? The only way to win is to somehow break this loop in a way that follows the 'correct' path while setting up the pieces differently enough that a win condition can be met. That's a tall order when everything and everyone says your outcome is inevitable.

#homestuck #homestuck replay #hsrp liveblog #hsrp theories #hsrp retrospection #this one ran away from me. i had to shuffle around. rewrite. and add so much #i feel insane. i am pepe silva #chrono

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blues-valentine · 2 years ago

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HSMTMTS: Ricky’s story arc as told by his songs. From I Think I Kinda You Know to Love You Forever (Part 2).

I’ve been thinking about how every song Ricky has performed on the show (my focus will be mostly on the original songs) tell us what his journey has been in the course of the show.

Ricky’s journey has been about changes and the future, leaving his childhood behind, how his parents relationship affects his own as well as the ability to be emotionally open. How he viewed love at the start of the show vs how he views love now. About new starts. About how happiness is a process and something he also needs to create for himself. And his songs reflect this journey very well. For this post. I'll focus on Season 1 and Season 2 for Part 1.

Read Part 1

As a continuation to my analysis on Ricky and the songs narrating his journey on the series. I mentioned how Season 2 closes part of Ricky’s arc with Second Chance. A song that in Ricky’s side talks about moving on after a relationship ends (Nini) and finding new beginnings. He also finishes the season saying he isn’t sure of who he is yet but it’s getting towards happiness. He had understood to an extent a lot of things and how he reacted to them wasn’t healthy for himself and those people in his life. Season 3 opens a new chapter for Ricky to start again but as an improved version of himself. It is his “second chance” in all capacities, which is why I said (x) Season 3 feels like a new start and by putting Ricky in similar situations but having him deal with it differently will show how much he has grown from his past mistakes and fears.

And before we start we have to mention the Lily story line. I think it was clearly a plot device to get to some realization. Ricky thought Lily was a good person that just needed some friends. And he saw an opportunity for something new. But the storyline simply fell flat and it made it seem like an useless rebound instead of giving Ricky (and the audience) a satisfactory arc. She was a copy of Gina 1.0 and I believe Ricky was trying to see Gina in her, and a lot of their parallels (x) feel intentional. And we know by now nothing about Rina is done carelessly. I remember Tim Federle’s interview for the finale saying Ricky is sometimes too naive for his own good. And I am sure the story line was going to make sense but as confirmed by Tim himself a lot of the things in Season 2 were rushed and the finale was rewritten (it was originally going to feature a lot of flashbacks) but the safety precautions due to covid changed those plans. Regardless, I am glad that arc got removed. Lily wasn’t an interesting character and I didn’t want her to take space from other characters. Now, with that out of the way, let’s move on.

Ricky opens this season as well as being given the first song of the season: Finally Free. This song really expands on Second Chance and tell us where Ricky’s mindset is before going to camp: embracing new starts, not going back to the old ways he used to handle all his feelings.

Some important parts: “Give me empty pages, just give me something new” Season 1 Ricky would’ve never wished for something like this. “Breakin' away from the broken hearts (Nini). No more mistakes, no more empty starts (Lily). I'm finally, finally free, finally, finally”. He follows with “Buildin' out from the bottom. Now there's no way to go but up” meaning he has to rebuild himself again. And another one that is important is: “And I'm going down a road that I don’t know. Yeah, I let it take me anywhere but home”. This takes us back to him calling Nini home (at his childhood home) on Season 2 in a matter that felt like attachment to his childhood (and old times) so this references him not going back to that unhealthy mindset.

In a way, all the events that happened lead for Ricky to have this realization. This is the Ricky that could’ve been ready to be with Gina. But Season 1 and Season 2 Ricky wasn’t ready for that and was denying it, when he allows himself to not be afraid of changes, his feelings take a whole new perspective. This is why he is able to understand his feelings for Gina were always deeper than he allowed himself to admit before. And very fitting with the theme, Ricky and Gina vow to just “start over” with their relationship. This season is not just about Ricky rebuilding himself but his relationship with Gina as well.

This season doesn’t have as many solo songs due to the limited episodes, but did a good job in paralleling the overall arc with the roles they were playing for the musical, especially with the “love triangle” (x). Gina represents Anna’s naive perspective on love due to EJ being her first relationship so a lot of her interactions with him felt very rose colored and passive (x). I did said before EJ isn’t exactly Hans but they drew a lot of intentional parallels between them, such as Gina not knowing EJ’s real name (and that line being in the WDYKAL duet about Hans). Ricky representing Kristoff in a way that he is also learning a new way to love someone. Plus, them having Gina and EJ dress like the actual characters in a dream like sequence was very much in the nose about those references.

In this season, Ricky is starting to discover the intensity of his feelings for Gina but he handles it very differently from Season 1. He isn’t trying to cross lines but remaining respectful of her relationship with EJ. I already spoke about how this is an intentional contrast to showcase Ricky’s growth (x). From trying to help both of them, from apologizing to Gina when he feels like his feelings might’ve been too obvious. To selflessly be there for Gina, because he is now discovering love isn’t selfish or has some gain. Love is about sacrifice, sometimes putting the person you love first despite what might come.

Now, here it comes Ricky and Gina’s first duet: What Do You Know About Love. It seems fitting for them because in a way, it reflects how they perceive love at that moment. In the song Anna has a very rose colored perception of love. She thinks it’s worth it even when they clearly aren’t on the same page and she’s idealizing it, and for Kristoff, love isn’t easy, and it requieres a lot of commitment. Ricky and Gina’s version is a lot more flirtier than the Broadway version, but the question “what do you know about love?” is what they ultimately learn from each other.

In the following episodes, Ricky helps Gina plan her promposal to EJ, despite his own feelings. I saw someone saying that a lot of Gina’s season 2 heartbreak was about thinking it was never going to be between her and Ricky. And a lot of Ricky’s heartbreak on Season 3 comes from regret, from letting Gina walk away, from letting something great slip through his fingers. At this point, he can’t turn back time but it’s willing to be there for her in any capacity Gina allows him to be. In the 60’s prom episode, Ricky could’ve told her what he feels for her but realized that it would be selfish to do this to Gina when she’s harboring her own heartbreak. His own growth has been great to watch throughout Season 3.

I also love how Ricky’s sub-plot involving the bucket list he wrote when he was a child of things to do before turning 18 is a metaphor to leaving his childhood and entering adulthood. I already spoke (x) how Nini being the person to help him complete his very last item represents how Nini was his childhood and him only ever getting with Gina when that transition has been done is very important for him as a character.

And this isn’t a Ricky solo, but I just love how this moment and this lyrics are used exactly for this scene because this is the moment Gina realizes it’s always going to be Ricky and what also makes her realize that she isn’t getting the love she deserves or wants for herself with EJ.

As all of us theorized, with WDYKAL, Ricky was going to sing “Kristoff’s Lullaby” because is a direct response to the duet. And he did. This is probably his most important solo song from the season because it puts into words what he feels for Gina and how much she has changed what he thinks about love. I’ve explained this before. (x) Gina has represented change from the very moment she came in (and she was described as such multiple times). She was new, different, and represented the changes Ricky was afraid of. But what they didn’t know is that they are able to give each other what the other needs. Gina made him put into perceptive the idea that he can move forward, that he can deal with his life falling into different directions. Gina has made him understand that he can and will be ready for when changes knock at his door because loving her isn’t about holding back.

Important parts from the song are: “You light the world for me. You live life fearlessly, braver than the bravest of us do. You trust, you hope, you dare. You choose to feel and care. I thought that I was strong 'til I bumped into you” I think this is the perfect way to describe Gina’s effect on Ricky’s life and how brave Gina has been about her feelings for Ricky despite her fear about forming attachments. And I’ve always said “Everything I thought I did. You've gone and changed it, kid. You're what I know about love.” is really the climax of the song and by Ricky singing this directly to Gina (while Nini is also on the audience) is makes a full circle. (x)

This season, Ricky learned to love theater and commit to it, not just because he enjoys it but because he wanted Gina to shine. He created a good friendship with the group, as opposed to Season 2, where he was disconnected to the drama club he now has his own space within. He called himself “a theater guy” and was able to guide Jet towards it. He knew Jet had to find a place to help him cope with his home life and Ricky’s arc comes to a sweet full circle for this.

Ricky ends the season in such a good place. He has grown a lot and allowed things to just be. I like the fact he remained respectful of Gina, even when his feelings were quiet obvious. And I spoke about how important it is that their relationship started by Gina setting her own boundaries. She needed to set the lines and be like “I have feelings for you but I am also okay if it doesn’t happen between us” because a lot of Gina’s journey on Season 3 was about coming into herself and discovering her expectations in a relationship. Her telling him what she feels for him but not allowing it to weight her down and it being a parallel to 206 was also intentional. It was also important for Ricky. He needed that reassurance and initiative to finally give it his all. As he proves on Season 4, he knows and now learned his lesson. He is committed to not mess things up with her. He is committed to improve.

Season 3 ends with Ricky and Gina’s right time. Both on the same page. It was important for them to experience all of that individual journey to get together in a romantic relationship that can be fulfilling and healthy for them both.

Season 4 starts the season with Ricky and Gina in a very happy relationship. You can see that Ricky is motivated to share things with her and do things for them as a couple. A lot of Ricky and Gina’s relationship works because they embrace each other’s personalities and love languages. Gina encourages and reciprocates Ricky’s dorky behavior. As I said, she doesn’t feel suffocated by it like Nini (x) but she wants that level of commitemment and gestures.

At the start of the season, Ricky and Gina are keeping their relationship a secret because Gina is worried about the negative comments from people (mostly her mom) and she doesn’t want the bubble they’ve built together to crash. It’s understandable that we know how controlling her mom is. Ricky agrees despite his own fears. In the first episodes, we can see that a lot is changing for Gina in a way that might take her away from Ricky. This is an opportunity for him to be tested by old insecurities but make it right and not going back to his old tendencies. So, instead of trying to hold Gina back and wishing for the opportunities to disappear, he is happy, encouraging and supportive despite the odds. This thing is reflected in their very first original duet and song of the season: Maybe This Time.

It’s a song about hoping this is the right time for them to get it right after all of the missed opportunities between them and their old relationships. They’re finally in a place where they can be together but as foreshadowing for the season a lot of things are going to change and threaten the stable place they’ve created. But not matter what the future holds they promise to be together and enjoy the ride instead of trying to control the uncertain future.

Part of the lyrics: “Maybe this time is all that we get but we've still got lots to figure out. I’d love to control what happens next I'll give you my all right now. Don't look back, just pull me closer. Hands up on this rollercoaster”. I explained (x) but having Ricky and Gina deal with similar experiences in their past relationships is to not just show how much they’ve grown and learned but also to show how committed they are to be together and be with each other as a team.

In 403, Ricky experiences a bit of insecurities over Mack but despite that he prepares a date with Gina and also apologizes for the comment he made where he sort of dismissed the impact Mack’s show had on Gina’s childhood. It might have been silly but I think it shows Ricky’s self awareness and that he takes seriously all of the things that make Gina happy. In the following episodes, Ricky tries to be supportive of Gina’s life changing opportunities and trying to find a way to make it easier for her to handle both the musical and the movie, but it starts getting a bit too overwhelming and when he finds out Gina hasn’t told her mom about them, it awakens his insecurities. This is where Speak Out comes. Although it is supposed to be for EJ to also speak about his fears, it’s about how Ricky hasn’t said some things out loud, how his mom abandonment issues have created a lot of fears into his life and has made him feel like he isn’t enough of a reason for someone to stay.

Part of the lyrics are: “I'm so sick of my past breakin' me like glass shackled by my emotion.” (…) “Don't wanna walk away from this. Don't wanna be a sinkin' ship. The anchor on my tongue won't let me swim. Don't wanna waste a moment more. Don't know what I've been waitin' for. I'll never get a chance like this again.”

I think this moment was an outlet for Ricky to speak about things that are the root of his insecurities. How his mom decided she wanted a new life in a new city and left Ricky. How Nini didn’t think Ricky was enough for her and even how emotionally difficult it must’ve been for him to hear The Rose song and how Ricky’s entire attempts makes her feel trapped. The reason Ricky was running away is because he thought Gina was also going to leave him for bigger and better things and didn’t want to anticipate it. He never thought he is enough of a reason to stay because frankly, no one had really taken Ricky seriously or believed in his potential, except for Miss Jenn and Gina.

After that much needed conversation with EJ, Ricky goes to see Gina only to see her with Mack. I feel like in Ricky’s mind, he feels like she decided and he’s nothing compared to him. Luckily, Gina sees him and runs after him and tells him she has told his mom about them. I feel like people don’t understand that since a lot of Ricky’s fears have to do with him feeling like he isn’t good enough to be a secure option he doesn’t except people to actually chose him. In his relationship with Gina, he puts efforts but so does Gina for him. She wants him in her life and in her dreams. He isn’t an obstacle or stops her from achieving those dreams, he’s always been a motivation for Gina to pursue them.

In the last episodes, there’s still so many things Ricky has to address, not just about Gina but his college plans and their future. At this point, he has convinced himself that Gina most likely will go to chase her dreams and that it doesn’t involve him. He learned his lesson before, he told Nini he wanted her to stay only for that to be reasonably met with distaste. But the thing is, all of Ricky’s gestures where always meant to be received by Gina, who wants to be asked to stay. I explained this before. Had Ricky asked Gina to stay, she would have done it. But I love how she didn’t have to chose between her need for stability and her wants to be successful.

407 is great at paralleling Troy and Gabriela’s dilemma with Ricky and Gina’s very own issues. “Scream” comes at the moment Ricky is torn between letting Gina go and his unclear future. He feels time is running out. Later, we have them singing Right Here Right Now, a song about how the future is coming soon and they should make every second last. In a way, it also parallels Maybe This Time but less hopeful.

And as an expectacular full circle moment, Ricky says in his speech how thankful he is about the drama club changing his life and getting him through a hard situation. As of Season 1, Ricky came in being a cynical skate rat that didn’t seem to have many friends and was pessimist about love. It didn’t seem like he had hobbies or prospects outside of skating. He had a very troubling home life and dealing with a lot of anxiety. His relationship with Nini was in the verge of ending like his parents relationship and so were his last remainders of childhood. He had to let go of things that were holding him back and accepting of changes and by the end of Season 4 we have seen Ricky become a man in so many ways. He basically let his childhood go by the end of Season 3. And this final season was about him asking questions about his own future and how that would look like for him.

And we are finally here with “Love You, Forever”. The last song Ricky Bowen ever sings on the show and how perfect of a full circle moment it is for his growth. It starts and it ends in the same place: the auditorium. Just in very different situations and a whole new Ricky.

He starts Season 1 singing “I Think I Kinda You Know” to Nini but being unable to say I love you to her face or in front of people. Mostly because his own insecurities involving his parents and how he wasn’t secure enough. I also said that when he finally did say I love you, it was still swimming in his fears of attachment and his parents divorce. It was a confession that felt like desperation to hold onto something steady and safe. And he does say this with “not net, not fear, right here in this moment”. But now, Ricky sings Love You Forever to Gina, and this time very clearly saying the words “I am in love” and “I love you” to her face and in front of his friends (and the world). He say it because he not longer associates love with something scary and that’s also thanks to Gina. He isn’t saying it to Gina to make her stay either. He is saying it because he feels it. He doesn’t know what the future holds (at that point he didn’t even know Gina changed the movie location to SLC) but he loves her and he isn’t afraid of saying it despite the unknown circumstances.

The lyrics says it all: “I been wishin' on a fallin' star for too long. I been runnin', I don't know what from but you and I've become a sacred kinda home. I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love and I know it. No net, no fear right here in this moment. I've never been more sure of what I got, yeah. Cause this is so much more than puppy love, so. I'll say it first, no matter what the cost. Here I am, full heart, full stop. I love you” and one important lyric that didn’t make it to the show but is in the full version: “I never knew that I could feel so sure and so strong how can three old words feel so brand new? Ooh, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love and I know it. Mm, so rare, so real right here in this moment. I've never been more sure of what I got. And I'm starin' at the only thing I want, so” because as I said, it’s not just about him saying I love you to Gina and being sure about it but to tell his parents and his friends. Gina’s love has made Ricky so much more emotionally open.

I would describe Ricky’s journey like this:

Season 1: Attachement, fear of changes and sticking to the status quo. Season 2: Denial, isolation, reconning and letting go. Season 3: embracing new beginnings, self improvement and passage to adulthood. Season 4: Growing, learning and embracing the future.

Ricky’s arc has always been incredible because it’s something that took time and effort. Ricky’s arc wasn’t a 180 of one season, it came with ups and downs until he finally managed to do it right not just for himself but for those he loves.

#hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #gina porter #ricky bowen #ricky x gina #rina #hsmtmts season 4 #hsmtmts s4 #hsmtmts rina #text post #meta #hsmtmts meta

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gege-wondering-around · 1 year ago

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So, today I was out celebrating the last day of school with two of my friends and one of them asked me about writing advices cause he knows I write fanfics and I thought to share with everyone who might need it the same things I told him today.

You don't have to stress over what you write, take your time and follow your flow of work, it'll all come to you.

Embrace what writing gives you. Which could mean: a new way of thinking about certain topics after you wrote them, the way you approach things you never thought about before (and how, after your 'first interaction' with the topic, you wanna interact with future topics)

Understand where you work better. Because it's not about forcing yourself to write, but finding the 'circumstances' (or settings if you prefer) in which you work better, for example for me is sitting on the stairs out my front door, or in the garden.

Do it for yourself. I understand you wanna post it online but you shouldn't think about setting a dead line for yourself, no one is running after you and you can take your time.

And if you don't wanna post it online. Even if no one or only a few people you choose will read your work, it'll still be amazing and proof of your commitment and effort. You don't have to post it to be a writer.

For as long as your work exists, you're doing amazing! Whether it's a WIP, a simple idea, a single line, it's amazing and the beginning of your journey as a writer.

Write what you want and like. It can be cliche or 'the usual thing' but it's still important and valid cause it's coming from you and you're special simply you are you, which means your work, even if it's a 'common plot' (which it never is cause your interpretation of it makes it special) will be unique because You wrote it.

Be proud of what you do. Never beat yourself up or compare yourself to other writers, you (as a beginner or not) have your own way of writing and your ideas are special and worth your efforts and time.

Don't start off thinking your work is overall bad. Don't block yourself over self criticism, if you can't choose a genre or trope it's fine, experiment with them all see which one you wanna explore more. But don't block yourself right at the start.

Understand it takes time. If you wanna go for a oneshot without many sub plots or you wanna simply write a scene you're in live with, you might not have this problem, but if you go for a complicate structured fic, for which you need infos (canon or fanon) it will take time to find what you need (or create the connections/infos you'll need).

Little plot maps can save you on the long run. If you plan to write something big, complicated and with many connections along the narration, a plot-map can help you. Ex. : you write a buller point of events, highlight the connection where you want them and so on.

You don't have to be the 'greatest of them all'. You can be you and write your story, you don't have to be worldwide know to be a legitimate write. You are a writer the second you picked up the pen/open the document and started thinking about it.

To be a writer you don't have to meet any standard. There are no standard (apart from guidelines of sites and simple common sense. Ex. Don't be racist). You can write any length, any genre, any trope, any shit, any setting, any AU, anything. Do as you want (and remember to be respectful).

Enjoy what you do. It might be your calling in life or just a little hobby of yours, either way, ENJOY EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. Don't fall in the mindset of 'I have to this - i have to that' DO WHAT YOU ENJOY.

When you feel like you're losing motivation, remember why you started in the first place. It common to lose motivation and it does make you less of a writer, it's human to fall out of something when it takes more than what you expected, but it's necessarily not a bad thing. Motivation is showed through your dedocation, your dedication through your effort, your effort through your work. It will take time to write it and you'll be proud of it every day you'll look at it, especially when you love what you write. I promise you, if you feel like your motivation is slipping away, see how much effort you put in your work and re-read it, you'll fall in love with it even more and your motivation will be back.

You don't have to write every day. You can take pauses, big or small, through your work. A hour, a day, a week, a month, a year.

Write when you feel like writing. Some days you'll be exhausted and drained of all energy and it's okay, maybe that day you won't write and it's completely fine. Your writing time is for yourself, it's not a daily tast you have to accomplish to feel fullfilled. Your writing time is something you do spontaneously and willingly, don't force yourself to write when you feel like nothing can come out of your creativity/mind/pen.

If nothing comes to you about what to write next in your plot/work/chapter, take a break and change your 'settings'. If you write at your desk, on your pc (or any other electronics), take a sheet of paper and a pen, go outside or somewhere you like (my advice is outside, around nature) and sit down. Things and ideas will come at you, the pen and paper will help you get in touch with your ideas without any pressure.

Docs on 'forever pages'. I don't know exactly how it's called in English, but on google docs you can put this long infinite scroll of one screen-big page which can help you reduce anxiety and the feeling of being pressured to fill the entire page with words. (I highly suggest this if you can, it helps a lot. Also, change the paper color to any color you like, i personally use a light gray) (if you don't have this option: you don't have to fill the whole page to end a chapter/work. You can end it in a single line and leave the rest of the sheet blank, it's okay. Don't write something you feel as unnecessary.)

Haters exist. It sucks but it's true, there'll be someone that will hate on your work just to spead hate, but it doesn't mean your work is bad. Remember, for as long as you love your work, that's the only opinion that matters.

And please, remember these are just the suggestions/advices I gave to him and to myself when I first stared writing and I learned them as I wrote more and more. You don't have to follow any of this but if they managed to help you, I'm glad they did.

YOU ARE A WRITER, DESPITE EVERYTHING, YOU ARE.

You're an amazing, talented writer and no one can take that away from you and if you are a beginner or you want to try to write, please do. Take your time, enjoy the ride and live the life. You'll be amazing at what you do.

Also, I'm proud of you. whether you wrote 10, 100, 1000 or 10.000 words today or in the last week, or month.

I AM PROUD OF YOU.

AND SO YOU SHOULD BE TOO.

you are doing amazing just because you started, you're gonna be fantastic cause you are meant to do great things, and everything you love will show you how much it loves you back.

BE PROUD. BE YOU. BE THE WRITER YOU WANT TO BE.

#be you #support writers #just writer things #just write it #writerscommunity #writers on tumblr #writers #you are doing amazing #take your time

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erin-unknown · 5 months ago

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Author Ask Tag

Thanks @hyperions-light! I'll do my best to answer these, though I haven't had much of a chance to really dive deep into any long-form fic (or my own novel for that matter).

I'll answer these for my aspirational fic about Neve, Lucanis, and Rook post-Veilguard. I'm currently working on something shorter, a young!Rook Thorne fic called Lights in the Shadow, that probably won't break 10K words. Hope to have that finished and edited within the next few weeks, work allowing.

What is the main lesson of your story?

I wouldn't say it's a "lesson" but after the credits rolled on Veilguard I thought: Well, what now? Everyone's experienced a massive status quo shift on their respective questlines, and you don't just hit the ground running after that without stumbling. You have a whole new "you" to get to know, after all.

Thematically I could see myself in the realms of re/building trust, honesty, and self-reflection. I'm mostly interested in their personal struggles, so I'm keeping the scope rather narrow, even within the context of larger events around them.

What did you use as inspiration for your world building?

I'm going to have to do a little research! The actual DA writers have referenced other genres for their companion questlines, so I want to honor that. It also just seems fun! I want to get more familiar with typical plot beats, tropes, themes, etc. in, like, noir/crime fiction, melodramas about powerful families, and stories about organized crime. I'm sure I'll think of more things as time goes on.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? So you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help them grow as a person?

Everyone has experienced a large status quo shift and are (hc) more or less in love, but all at slightly different stages. So, how does Neve handle the clashing priorities of the Threads and Dock Town? Are the lines of her moral framework being redrawn? Where do her personal relationships fit into this?

What does First Talon mean for Lucanis, and how do the events of the past year affect him, Spite, and his family? What is he going to do about the feelings he has for his closest friend/s? Does he take a risk, or will he push everyone away first?

Who is Rook now that he's left the Wardens and has just enough solitude to see how little he knows himself? There's time now to fear that future he was fighting for with the Veilguard. Plus, he's picked up a little demon problem.

I want to weave these storylines together using the shifting relationships between the three as the sort of connective tissue; it starts off as just Neve/Rook, then expands to Rook/Lucanis, and eventually Lucanis/Neve.

Spite is also there 😈 (and so is Illario 🤡💕)

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Lol, no clue. It'll have roughly 3 parts, but I don't know how the chapters will work within those.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Fanfic and probably AO3.

When did you start writing?

I've been telling myself stories for as long as I can remember. I used to draw these little pictures and narrate a story about them as I drew.

I started actually writing when I was introduced to fanfiction at age ten, I want to say? It grew into an epic Digimon/Sailor Moon/Ocarina of Time crossover fic and it was amazing...ly cringe but I had a ton of fun. I was writing almost constantly from then on.

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr?

It's cliche but it's good to just write. Get words on the page, however you can. Even if it's nothing to do with your main wip. Even if it's only fifty words. Even if those fifty words might be bad.

And show those words to people sometimes.

I get the apprehension. Some of it is the horrifying ordeal of being known. Some of it the fear of confirming that our worst fears about our writing are true: something like "I am a mediocre writer with boring ideas" or "I failed to make people care about my characters and their struggles..." just to name a couple in my regular rotation.

But it's good to get comfortable with that discomfort. It's part of why I'm here on Tumblr now! It's nerve-wracking at times, but healthy in the right community, and can bring in a fresh perspective when you've been staring at your work for too long.

We can learn a lot from each other.

I thank anyone who's read all this for taking an interest, omg. This was actually really beneficial in helping some of my more scattered thoughts about this project coalesce. Neat!

Who hasn't been tagged yet? @arookacrow or @awardenandacrow, if you'd like to to do this, it would be cool to see 💕

Does... anyone want to do another for a different story? Lol.

#dragon age #veilguard #writing #tag game #writing tag game

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lightandfellowship · 1 year ago

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A detail in the Vidar and Odin cutscene that might tell us exactly when it takes place

I really should've thought about this sooner.

Before I get into the meat of this observation and what it means for the timeline, I need to explain something: the three ways KHDR handles flashbacks and flashforwards.

Flashbacks and flashforwards come in three visual styles:

(1. Timestamp at the beginning of the cutscene in a bold, black font. This indicates a flashback/flashforward that only the audience can see. And it goes without saying that this type of flashback/flashforward is used when the writers don't want any ambiguity about when the scene takes place. Example:

(2. Blurry black letterbox/vignette at the top and bottom of the screen. This indicates a memory that a character is actively recalling; both the audience and the character are "seeing" it. Here's an example from Eraqus' memory:

(3. Character's narration in the middle of the screen while the cutscene behind the text has a low-opacity black overlay on top of it. This can sometimes indicate present reality in some circumstances (such as a disembodied voice speaking or someone narrating their inner thoughts as they occur) but most of the time it indicates that the background cutscene is just a visual to go along with the character's statements, and isn't necessarily something that is actively being remembered or seen by any character in the story. An example of Xehanort retroactively narrating over a scene from the past:

In some cases the game may use a combination of any of these three to create unique effects, but that's not important for this post, the point is: if a cutscene is showing an event from the past or future, there will be a clear visual indication of that.

Why is this relevant? Do you wanna guess which one of these the Vidar and Odin cutscene initially uses?

None of them. (Further explanation under the read more).

Which under normal circumstances would indicate that the scene is taking place in the present and isn't a flashback at all (the second half of this cutscene has the flashback letterboxing, but there's a reason for that I'll explain in a bit).

For context, up until this point I was always of the belief that this scene was a flashback that took place sometime after the events of Enchanted Dominion but before the present events of KHDR, and that the lack of a timestamp was simply to avoid spoilers or to create mystery. However, after realizing how consistent the game is about visually marking flashbacks/flashforwards, I can no longer believe with any certainty that this is just "the one exception" in the entire game.

And at first glance, I'd be tempted to say that this scene taking place in the present actually makes sense. Right before this cutscene, Hermod goes looking for Odin in order to inform him about Vor's departure, but fails to locate him. If Odin is truly in the tower talking to Vidar at this very moment, then it explains why Hermod couldn't find him in his usual places, because we know from Vidar that Odin's meditation spot in the tower isn't common knowledge amongst the underclassmen (presumably).

In addition, this would finally explain (1. why Odin greets Vidar with "You've returned." and (2. why Vidar tries to say goodbye. In Episode 1, Odin claims that the upperclassmen are missing, and we just saw Vidar in Dwarf Woodlands the episode before this, so surely this moment must be Vidar returning to Scala after finding out that he's been declared missing and informing Odin that he's leaving indefinitely to pursue his goals (whatever they are).

However, I feel things start to get a little messy when you think about it harder.

I've explained in the past in this reblog chain how it seems extremely likely that the Vidar + Odin discussion in Episode 5, and the Vidar + Odin discussion in Episode 7, are not two separate instances of them talking, but rather two halves of the same discussion, and I think this still applies.

(Aside: I realize now looking back at this post that OP was super onto something here and totally right and I can't believe I didn't latch onto it sooner).

(Aside 2.0: the reason why the second half of the cutscene has flashback letterboxing while the first doesn't is because in Episode 7, Odin is actively remembering the second half of this discussion, a discussion that I'm arguing potentially took place in Episode 5. In other words, Odin is remembering Episode 5 while in Episode 7.)

If these two cutcenes are in fact the same discussion just split in half, then that means that this cutscene is the moment when Vidar first learns about True Darkness, what needs to be done about Baldr, and Kingdom Hearts.

But...wouldn't it be really weird if Vidar only learned about Kingdom Hearts in Episode 5? He, Vala, and Vali were already traveling the outside worlds and considered missing during Episodes 1-4, and at the end of Episode 4 Vidar makes a point to recruit Vor to help him and the other upperclassmen with some unspecified goal of theirs, so clearly he had SOME plan already in mind—one that he knew would require the underclassmen's assistance, at that. (Xehanort also claims that the only reason why they were running into the upperclassmen at all was because the upperclassmen were keeping tabs on the underclassmen, further suggesting that the upperclassmen already had plans for them in mind.)

At the end of Episode 4 Vidar also says that he wouldn't return to Scala until he accomplished said goal, and wouldn't talking to Odin in the tower constitute "returning to Scala"? Maybe I'm being nitpicky here and Vidar simply visiting briefly to say goodbye isn't the same thing as returning, but still. Vor is also absent from this cutscene despite being newly recruited by Vidar the episode prior, but I think you could make the argument that she was waiting somewhere else for Vidar to finish his business with Odin.

You would also have to reconcile the fact that Vala and Vali had already stolen the rose from Beast's Castle sometime before or during Episode 5. So, in a very short amount of time, Vidar would have had to discover the existence of the items of world order (which, remember, as far as we know Odin never told him about that part), discover their usefulness in finding true light and summoning Kingdom Hearts, relay this information to Vala and Vali, and then have them correctly locate and steal the rose in record time. Even if you assume that the upperclassmen were taught about the items of world order beforehand while the underclassmen weren't (due to age/schooling), this still seems very fast to me.

Remember, if the Vidar + Odin discussion does indeed happen concurrently/approximately alongside Hermod failing to find Odin, then that means that the underclassmen visit Beast's Castle and find out that the rose was stolen shortly after Odin and Vidar have their discussion at the tower. In Scala time, the upperclassmen's plans pivoting and them succesfully locating and stealing an item of world order would happen within the span of...what, hours at most? Not to mention the Beast's servants claim that the rose was stolen "a short while ago", which, while admittedly open-ended wording, seems to suggest a longer time span than a day (because otherwise wouldn't they have just said "earlier today" or "yesterday"?), and sure time flows differently in each world, but it's still pretty hard to believe that, by the time the underclassmen caught up with the upperclassmen in Beast's Castle, only maybe an hour or less had passed in Scala, but potentially several days had passed in Beast's Castle.

Not to mention this would also mean that Odin met a missing upperclassmen and (1. didn't stop him from leaving again and (2. didn't inform the underclassmen about this meeting (underclassmen who were still acting on orders to find the missing upperclassmen). Which, you know, typical secretive-ulterior-motives-Odin-stuff, so it's not really even an inconsistency or anything, but still.

This scene taking place in Episode 5...it's possible! It's certainly possible! But...I feel like this just makes things needlessly more confusing and strange. Why would you have Vidar and company initially pursuing a vague and directionless plan for the first half of the game, only to discover their real plan at the midway point? (Especially when we know that Darkness had planned for Vidar to pursue Kingdom Hearts from the very beginning? Why let Vidar meander aimlessly for who knows how long?) Why have Vidar go through the effort of recruiting Vor before he even knows what the hell he's doing? Why have Vidar talk mysteriously about his ambitions in Episode 4 like he was foreshadowing his plan when it turns out he wasn't even talking about the plan he would actually end up with?

Now, could it be a mistake/oversight that this cutscene doesn't look like a flashback? I mean, maybe? But it seems really unlikely to me that (1. this was a mistake at all considering that all the other flashbacks/flashforwards are perfectly fine including the second half of the Vidar + Odin discussion which correctly has letterboxing and (2. that the devs didn't notice it when they updated the game to version 5.0.1 and fixed a bunch of stuff. Which makes me believe that this is perfectly intentional and that this scene does in fact take place in Episode 5. But like. Why. Why would you do this to me.

#khdr #kingdom hearts dark road #kh vidar #kh odin #rambling about dim path #ch tag: vid #ch tag: odi #khdr spoilers #long post

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hollowmend · 2 years ago

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Hollowmend Project Masterlist

Hey all! I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately (especially about Red-Handed Robin Redux), so I thought I’d make a masterlist/FAQ of sorts.

Here’s an overview of all the projects I have going on/planned for the future! All of these projects are commercial.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fetch Quest Series

Fetch Quest Remastered - (Comedy, Fantasy, Otome)

[Coming Soon]

Would-be adventurer Flora accepts a job to retrieve a stolen item for a shady bartender. In order to retrieve the item, she'll have to infiltrate a group of notorious bandits by posing as a new recruit. Fortunately, she has the help of two other adventurers. UNfortunately, her companions seem completely useless without her!

According to the strangely vocal narrator, this would have gone more smoothly if everyone had remembered to make their characters beforehand...

A remastered version of my 2019 NaNoRenO game, Fetch Quest!

FAQ

What’s different from the free version?

-With all new scenes and a brand new “true” ending, the script has gone from 13k words up to 20k words

5 brand new CGs

A new original soundtrack

Shiny new UI

There’s an extras menu now, including a CG gallery, music room, and endings list

Can you date Dan?

Nope! Not this time.

However, the “true” ending miiiight just be about him…

~~~~~~~~~~

Fetch Re;Quest - (Comedy, Slice-of-Life, Stat Raiser, Otome)

[Current Project]

After a remodel of their workplace leaves Flora, Dan, Connor, and Todd with a week’s worth of free-time, the group decides to play some games together…

The perfect opportunity to grind some stats!

Can Flora increase her Acumen, Charm, Gud, or Moxie enough to gain the courage to ask out her crush by the end of a self-imposed one week deadline? Or will she chicken out and be forced to pine after fictional 2D men instead?

Fetch Re;Quest takes place directly after the events of the Fetch Quest remaster’s new “true” ending. Here’s some of what you can expect from the game-

A (very) light stat raiser!

One love interest (It’s Dan.)

No DnD this time, but each stat is tied to a particular video/board game the group plays together. Shenanigans ensue.

Go on a cute date at the end

get all the endings for a special beach day episode

~~~~~~~~~~

The Maiden and the Magpie Series

Red-Handed Robin Redux (Dark Fantasy, Otome)

When career thief Robin comes across a boarding pass for the Whirlwind Express, she thinks she's found a literal ticket to freedom. With a case full of stolen jewelry and her loyal bodyguard at her side, she's ready to flee the country in style...

That is, until she runs into her childhood friend turned detective.

Can Robin keep her cool as she navigates a series of magic and mind games? Or will her cover be blown along with her escape plan?

That’s right! Red-Handed Robin is also getting the remaster treatment!

FAQ

What’s different from the free version?

There will be new content and a new canon “Golden End”

New CGs throughout the game

An original soundtrack

A new UI

Extras! In addition to the usual CG gallery/music room/endings list, there will also likely be fandisk-esque extra scenes showing more of the gang’s life before they boarded the whirlwind.

After outlining the entirety of the 3 game series, some details might differ in the Redux version than the free version. The Redux version will be considered the canon going forward!

Will there be a Fletcher route?

Nope! For many reasons, not the least of which is that he is gay.

With the new Golden Ending being canon, will Jay and Wren still get their own endings?

Yep! Those endings are staying in, they just won’t be the canon version of events when you see the trio again in the 3rd game of the series.

Will Robin/Jay/Wren end up in a poly relationship?

I’d like to keep some secrets to myself until they’re revealed in game… but if you follow me anywhere and have been paying attention, I think the answer to this is pretty clear.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Scarecrow Knight (Dark Fantasy, Mystery)

A few hundred years before the events of Red-Handed Robin, a strange traveler, his adopted daughter, and a tag-along who considers himself the traveler’s apprentice unravel mysteries surrounding the ancient curse of witchcraft.

The Scarecrow Knight takes place over ten years, with each of the three acts focusing on a different mystery along the way.

Though events in both games are related, The Scarecrow Knight and Red-Handed Robin can be read in any order.

FAQ

Are Robin/Jay/Wren going to be in The Scarecrow Knight?

Nope! The Scarecrow Knight features Mac, Corbin, and Lark as its protagonists. You won’t see the RHR gang again until the 3rd game in the series.

Is The Scarecrow Knight an otome/dating sim/will it have romance?

Nope. While this game is still focused on relationships, the cast’s bonds are familial in nature.

Will The Scarecrow Knight have a ‘game’ in each act, like Red-Handed Robin?

Yep! In order to solve the mystery presented in each act, you’ll have to navigate that act’s ‘game’.

What are Corbin’s pronouns?

Corbin uses she/her pronouns for the first two acts of The Scarecrow Knight. In act 3, however, he switches to he/him pronouns as part of a disguise... One that he suspiciously doesn’t want to come out of.

~~~~~~~~~~

3rd Unnamed RHR Game (Dark Fantasy, Amare)

Directly after the events of RHR, Robin, Jay, and Wren find themselves in a foreign country, no safer than they were aboard the whirlwind.

Meanwhile, Corbin finds himself in a very strange predicament… Waking up in the apartment of Oliver Tangram and Merle Barrows, two young men entangled in Gales’ occult scene.

This game will wrap up the stories started in both RHR and SK.

FAQ

Is 3rd Unnamed Game an otome/dating sim/will it have romance?

The answer is yes! Kind of! Both sides feature romance, and those relationship dynamics are integral to the plot.

On Robin/Jay/Wren’s side, the game will explore the trio’s dynamic more in depth. Corbin also has his own love interest (Oliver) on his side.

Who’s the protagonist?

The story is told from multiple perspectives, with Robin and Corbin being the most important characters.

Will 3rd Unnamed Game have a ‘game’ in each act like Red-Handed Robin?

Hopefully! That’s the plan anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~

Other Upcoming Projects

Believe it or not, I’ve got even more stuff planned!

If you’ve been following me for otome, I’m sorry to say that The Maiden and the Magpie series will probably be my last one for the foreseeable future. As a queer man, writing queer stories is what gets me motivated.

That being said, my next upcoming project is a BL!

Counter-Side (BL, Drama, Sci-fi, Kinetic)

[Current Project]

A mining facility on the dusty, barren planet of Ikarus is the last place most people would expect to find their true love… But that won’t stop peppy mecha pilot Rosco from trying!

In fact, he’s positive he’s figured it out this time. Sure, his new partner seems bored and dismissive, but this has been Rosco’s longest relationship yet! That has to mean something, right?

Meanwhile, HR manager Rae has just transferred to the facility and is determined to keep any new acquaintances at an arm’s length. Convinced that he is cold, boring, and judgemental, Rae is certain that there is only one person who can accept him for who he really is… and he already screwed that up.

Just as both men feel like they’re at their lowest points, their evenings are brightened by a newfound friendship forged at a cozy bar…

Counter-Side is the result of a writing experiment gone wild– I wrote one character’s viewpoint, and my friend/co-writer @brii-nanas wrote the other! The result is a story seen from both Rosco and Rae’s perspective.

Choose to play through the entirety of one character’s side before starting the other, or pick from either character’s perspective chapter by chapter. Both options offer an interesting way of experiencing the story.

The script is almost completely done (over 100k words!), and we will be working on putting out a demo containing the first 1/3rd of the game soon.

If Rosco looks familiar, it’s probably because I did his sprite for @brii-nanas amare jam game, Under the Skies of Ikarus! This game is set in the same world/facility.

Unlike Under the Skies of Ikarus, which is very wholesome, Counter-Side’s tone is... different, to say the least xD. Rae and Rosco’s relationship is extremely sweet, but they both go through some rough stuff before they get to that point. Which leads me to the...

Content Warning

This game is for readers who are 18+! It contains some heavy subject matter such as:

Abusive relationships (both physical and mental)

Dubious consent

Gaslighting

Anxiety

Sex (Nothing written/shown is super explicit)

Alcohol use

#hollowmend #visual novel #interactive fiction #fetch quest #fetch re;quest #red-handed robin #the scarecrow knight #counter-side #faq

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