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rueitae · 4 years

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Writing Roundup 2020

This is a writing reflection I’ve been doing for myself every year for the last four years. Its a positive boost to myself see how far I’ve come and look back on my progress for the past year and look forward to the new year.

Everyone is welcome to use this same format if they’d like to do the same!

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Stats:

Words written:

330,000, which is nearly half of all the words I’ve written on Ao3 in the last three years.

One Shots Posted (all fics plance unless otherwise stated):

In the Arms of the Ever(pink?) Tree (4463 words)

For the Plance Secret Santa exchange. Post s8 date/not date on a snowy moon. Love confession.

Birthday Treats (2129 words)

For Pidge’s birthday this year! Domestic family fluff, breakfast in bed, plance kids.

Begin Again (Together) (4805 words)

Canon divergence from before episode one! Pidge and Lance are established dating when alien intervention brings them to where they are supposed to be: with the Blue Lion. Just a brief look into what the AU would look like.

Common Ground (4521 words)

A treat for my friends who introduced me to Magic Knight Rayearth and pointed out some fun character parallels. There is this beautiful art Arya made to go with it because we’re all trash for both series. Plance meet up with Fuu and Ferio post series for both couples.

Bonded To You (1808 words)

For the Langstron Halloween Exchange! Established plance with a baby Lance is trying to keep safe from a witch who would take advantage of the child’s heritage.

It Tasted Good (6785 words)

Pikelavar for Pikelavar Month! The premise is crack, but it's mostly treated seriously. Pike ate the Jewel of Jitan by accident and doesn’t realize it until Haggar finds them. Meklavar gets Protective.

The Remainder of Days (3188 words)

Part of my Bad Things Happen Bingo. Fantasy AU where Pidge is a minor forest goddess and Lance is her neighbor mortal farmer.

I Love You a Lily More Each Day (3232 words)

Another of the Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon compliant where Lance is undercover at a flower shop and knee deep in an illegal smuggling operation.

Lease on Life (4978 words)

This one was also part of Bad Things Happen Bingo and was an experiment. It’s POV of an oldest plance kid, canon verse. Her parents’ Paladin days come back to haunt them one night. Some cute family stuff too in there.

Ready to Dance (4135 words)

For the Valentine’s Day exchange! Post series. Lance tries to get back into the party scene and Pidge rescues him from a disastrous night.

Loopholes (5476 words)

Technically I didn’t write this fic this year, but a very kind reader asked if I would post this to Ao3, so it was my first fic of the year on Ao3. It’s Lotura! Originally a gift for a dear friend I’ve had since elementary school. It’s a fantasy AU where Lotor stumbles into Allura’s kingdom needing help.

Next to Me (7311 words)

Also for Bad Things Happen Bingo, this is probably one of my favorite fics of the year. This is the canon verse AU that went all wrong in s7, and Sendak succeeds in destroying Earth. Lance and Pidge end up not only his prisoners, but also two of the last humans in the universe. Ends open ended, but it became a series in the end!

Into Me (14248 words)

The sequel to the above fic. There are two versions, this and the one below. The title tells all. Lance and Pidge come to terms with their new life aboard Sendak’s flagship and do their best to keep the other comforted.

Into Me (non-explicit version) (7228 words)

Exactly the same as the fic above, only this one is SFW

Sunshine (3831 words)

A Bad Things Happen Bingo! One of my favorite concepts. Canon verse. Pidge gets sick while she and Lance are on a scientific mission.

Showoff (635 words)

A really short fic for a friend on their birthday, featuring their plance kids!

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

A fic I have been wanting to write for a very long time. I love the concept of Pidge as a Disney Princess in the sense she has the forest guardian theme and all these animals love her. So there’s some play on that as the Paladins stop for lunch on their journey back to Earth in early s7. Lance comes to a realization and they have a chat surrounded by the animal friends. @anchoredtetherart did a phenomenal piece to accompany it. Please look at it in awe here.

The Hardest Part (3960 words)

For Bad Things Happen Bingo! An AU of the episode The Reunion where Pidge doesn’t return when she’s supposed to.

A Planned Sacrifice (4988 words)

Another Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon verse. Pidge assumes that being a sacrifice for the ‘forest god’ is strictly ceremonial and at worst a wild animal. It’s actually Sendak, who no one has seen since Shiro shot him out of the Castle. He remembers Pidge and is far too pleased to see her again, tied up on a silver platter.

Almost Forgotten, but Not Gone (3946 words)

Bad Things Happen Bingo. AU sometime in s1 where Haxus isn’t as dead as Pidge thought.

Touch (7519 words)

Written for the Lance Goes Boom bang! It was inspired by @fenixseraph ‘s amazing art here! It’s a different take on The Way Forward, where Pidge and Lance are separated from the rest of the team and placed in their own cell. And the Red Lion causes issues.

Chaptered Fics started/added to:

Wolf In Thieves’ Clothing (4516 words)

An AU of The Castle of Cagliostro from Lupin the Third series. Lee, you have my thanks forever for making me watch this finally. Pidge is a literal princess whose kingdom is in the middle of an internal coup. Lance is a gentleman thief who rides with his best buds Hunk and Matt. Their paths are destined to cross again when Lance goes back to the castle he used to call home.

Game of Love (4593 words)

The most crack of the bunch. AU of Fall the of the Castle of Lions where Sendak and Haxus get away with it all. Pidge and Lance are prisoners on Haxus’ new ship, and Lance finds an opportunity for eventual escape when he learns that Haxus has a crush on his second in command. Operation matchmaker begins. (happy ending planned for all)

What Tides May Bring (20704 words)

Collab with the fantastic @anchoredtetherart for MerMay! Established plance as mermaids and guardians of their elements with adorable mer child. Then angst because they are all captured by a ‘research’ institute.

Seasons of Magic (16546 words)

I actually added a chapter this year! Ongoing collection of one-shots with mage Pidge who lives in the country and cultivates her plant magic and makes potions with the assistance of her dragon familiar, Lance. Mostly domestic fluff.

Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words)

Added another chapter this year to my Keith-centric AU. It’s basically VLD but five years early and they’re all literally child Paladins. Keith gets to meet Krolia earlier and its fun to go into tween friendships as they try and navigate the reality of their situation.

Seeds (48833 words)

Added a ton earlier this year. A collection of plance fics all or mostly under 500 words. All meant to be adopted by others if interest strikes. Covers many genres.

Chaptered Fics Finished:

Resolve to Fly (75799 words)

Written for the Pidge Angst Bang. My artist @alchemie0 did an outstanding job capturing the feel of the fic. Look at the art here! Canon verse AU where Pidge encounters Haxus, who has crashed on Earth. She helps him repair his ship in excitement and good faith, which he pays back by kidnapping her. For two years she survives as little more than a housepet on Sendak’s ship. Gen.

Who's Protecting Who? (28989 words)

Also technically not written this yeah, but posted. A collab with Hush waaaay back in 2018. It's a plance Altean AU with Pidge as distant royalty and Lance as a bodyguard.

A Dish Served Cold (21533 words)

Finally finished this one! Canon verse in which Pidge accidentally runs into Sendak on an isolated planet. Sendak takes advantage of this encounter and tries to return to the Empire with her in tow. Much Pidge whump. Gen

Reflections:

Best title

I still really really love Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words). Because it's too soon for the Paladins to be Paladins, and for Keith it's not nearly soon enough for Krolia to return. It just feels like it has a lot of heart to it. I hope I can keep it going, but my ideas are incredibly scattered for it.

Worst title

Touch (7519 words). Yeah it’s a play on ‘Don’t you touch her’ but it feels soooo dry.

Best/worst last line

Best: This was really, really hard choice this year, but ultimately, making up for the terrible title, its Touch (7519 words)

“It feels good to escape the ship with all of his teammates, secure in the knowledge that he has a way forward not just as a Paladin, but also with Pidge.”

- Not only did I manage to fit the title of the episode in there, it's got that hopeful tinge to it and reflects on personal growth both internally and with Pidge.

Worst: This one isn’t necessarily bad from Begin Again (Together) (4805 words), but it could be better. It didn’t get quite the epic sense I was hoping to pull from it.

“Okay,” he smirks, hand firmly on the throttle. “Operation save Earth starts now.”

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Definitely wrote way more. Even with posting two fic that are essentially the exact same, I still ended up writing nearly half of my total Ao3 word count this year. (330,000/670,000). Doing Bad Things Happen Bingo was a bit part of that - I was very inspired at the beginning of this year - but also there were many events I participated in (8 total!!) on top of my personal projects.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

A really hard decision this year, because there are several that make me really happy. I think oddly enough though, it’s Game of Love (4593 words) because of its potential and how much crack it is. It has such whacky rom-com energy to it but also that underlying angst of the situation I can fall back on. My favorite trope to explore is what happens to the characters when they’re captured. I just really enjoy the concept and the challenge to make such a concept believable with minimal suspension of belief.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

Using kudos as my gauge (and not counting the chapter fics), the winner is:

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

Not surprising because Ivy’s art is STUNNING.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

I think that’s It Tasted Good (6785 words), the pikelavar fic. Pikelavar is underappreciated in general

Story that could have been better?

For all I was excited to write Sunshine (3831 words), it didn’t quite fall the way I had imagined in my mind. I don’t know if it was the structure or I was running out of steam or what. All i know is that I wanted more but all I could concentrate on was that scene where he’s caring for her in bed. Maybe I was just too ambitious.

Sexiest story?

No brainer it's Into Me (14248 words). Literally. Which really shocked me that it happened. Didn’t think I’d write any smut at all, let alone this year. This particular fic just kinda called out for it

Saddest story?

The prequel to the above fic: Next to Me (7311 words). How much more sad can you get than Earth being destroyed, being Sendak’s prisoners all while trying to tell each other ‘i love you’ without seeming weird because you’re the last humans in the universe.

Most fun?

I think it's Ready to Dance (4135 words). Just Valentine’s fluff and impromptu slow dancing in the park at night.

Story with single sweetest moment?

I’m picking What Tides May Bring (20704 words). Listen, mer Lance and mer Pidge playing with their mer baby in their domestic paradise is probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Dad Lance has my heart.

Hardest story to write?

The last chapter of A Dish Served Cold (21533 words) was like pulling teeth. I’m pretty happy with it in the end but at the time man it was so hard.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote smut. It was...weird? But also strangely calming. I wrote more for another fic but it's still a WIP. I definitely need to be in the mood to write it.

Proudest Achievement:

The Pidge Angst Bang. Resolve to Fly (75799 words). Look at that word count. I only wanted something under 3k at first, so it was just going to be Pidge meeting Haxus. But by the time I finished that part it was already 10k. So even though I was going through a rough part of my life, I just kept going and it ended up being my therapy. I’m really proud of the fic and I love my artists’ pieces. It really lifted my spirits. (You should all really go check out the Ao3 collection of all the bang stories and art they are AMAZING you won’t regret. If you love Pidge angst they are all must reads.)

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

I’d like to finish my Bad Things Happen Bingo card and then focus on my current WIP, that includes the Seeds collection. There are days I still feel a bit overwhelmed, and I’m still trying to find a routine after moving. I’d like to do more events too, but I think I need to be more selective about which ones I do. I don’t want to burn myself out.

Apart from that, I’d really like to try and give back to the community more. I’d like to start consciously writing fics for others without an event to go by.

Past Years:

2017

2018

2019

#plance #pidgance #rueitae #writing roundup #my writing #vld #2020 writing roundup

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roedusk · 5 years

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Natsume FFXV Crossover Notes

I’m trying to organize my thoughts and figured an update might not be a bad idea for the people without access to my thoughts. So here you go.

Let me know what you think?

(Will probably change as I write things, and I'm certain I forgot explanations and notes I was going to write because of tangents… So sorry about any confusion.)

World Notes

General World Notes

- FFXV setting with Yokai/Ayakashi based on Natsume added.

- Plot of Natsume happened during his teen years and he and his friends are now adults, 21-26 ish so they’re around Noctis and Co.’s age.

- I'm classifying some yokai or yokai abilities as “divine” for lack of a better word. This is yokai such as guardians of temples, and abilities such as Nyanko-sensei/Madara's purification ability. Yokai with this classification are generally more powerful than equivalent non-divine yokai, and have power over the world in some way. They so tend to be bound up in complicated rules most ayakashi don't have to deal with. In exchange Divine Yokai are generally not affected by yokai exorcism, or at least not to the same extent, it depends on the Yokai and situation, aka the plot. Yokai with divine abilities are also usually powerful, and tend to be exceptions to rules that usually apply to all yokai.

Astrals

- The Astrals are the same type of creature as the deities Natsume bumped into in the Moon Splitting Festival, powerful on their own but regenerate their power (if they use it up doing things like making the land fertile) through worship of humans. They all fall into the category of divine beings Madara can probably oppose and maybe manage a win, but it would probably get him cursed.

- Bahamut, Ramuh, and Leviathan are all at their original undamaged power percentage, having never taking a serious blow to cut their power. They are about equal in power to Fuzuki from the Moon Splitting Festival, since he hasn’t been diminishing his power like Hozuki was.

- Titan, Shiva, and Ifrit are at post-damage power levels. Titan however has a lot of worshipers and followers that he amassed while dormant, so his damaged power level is about equal to his non-damaged brethren. Shiva and Ifrit are about equal in power to Houzuki (who is not as powerless as they appear in the Moon Splitting Festival episode).

- The Astrals are both powerful enough to be seen by humans and chose to be so. The deities in the Moon Splitting Festival (unlike in Natsume canon!) can also make this choice, but generally chose not to.

- Each Astral has a realm of influence. Their influence changes the feeling of the area, such as how welcoming it feels or how prone its inhabitants tend to be towards settling in one place.

- Bahamut's influence is over Insomnia, and his disapproval of yokai/ayakashi makes them less common, and the ones who stay in spite of the encouragement to leave tend to be stronger and less family/group based. Insomnia tends not to be comforting, but has a feeling of purpose living there that generally feels lacking when moving away. This feeling of purpose can also feel grating tho, like being forced to do things all the time can be draining.

- Titan's influence is centered on his temple in Old Lestallum, but has also spread from his physical location at the Disk of Cauthess. He appreciates life that thrives but especially the kind of life that can cooperate to do so, like early settlers of the area or yokai living among the forests and human settlements in symbiosis. Titain's power is more attractive to those who are clannish and protective of their important people. It also exudes the feeling of being guarded, since Titan was injured protecting the area and those in it. This can be comforting or constraining depending on the individual and how they feel at the time.

- Ifrit's influence is lingering over Ravatogh, but is also present in the Meteor and it's shards. His influence is both the creative inspiration he gave to Solheim and the impulse to act that can both lead to good decisions without hesitation and quick bad decisions based on anger or lack of forethought. His anger at the war of the Astrals also lingers in the sphere of influence over Ravatogh making the area less friendly to living things that can feel it, but it has been largely tempered out of the Meteor by Titan's protective influence. Lestallum started based on inspiration of those drawn to the Meteor and thrives on those working with the shards now. Tempered by Titan's influence towards cooperation it's the most successful new settlement in a millennium.

- Shiva's influence is centered around her corpse, but is also present in Tenebrae where her messenger lived. It tends to encourage self-possession, people who know what they want and go for it regardless of what anyone else might think. This helps people like Lunafreya keep their strength up in bad situations, and allows people like Versatile and Ravus to pursue their goals without worrying about the morality of them. As the same time it also encourages self-restraint, not in matters of morality but in not revealing yourself too easily. This can be armor but can also make it harder for the individual to understand their more “firey” emotions.

- Leviathan's influence is found deep in the ocean, and while certain things can bring it to the surface it's much weaker up there. The strongest surface place is the Altar of the Tidemother, where she was worshiped and interested enough to look at humans in return. Her influence is part of the strange feeling the Ocean has, where it's huge and vast and cares nothing for if you live or die. If you want something you have to go after it yourself, there is no promise of divine intervention or idea that you may get ahead if you do things the right way. There's no judgement from a higher power for doing something underhanded, and if you want rules you have to find a way to build and enforce them yourself. This attracts those with a drive to get ahead and play the angles, eventually leading to the founding of Altissia. Leviathan herself takes interest in those who fight for what they want, but that's no guarantee she will respond to a plea for aid even from those she likes.

- I have no idea about Ramuh right now?

Starscourge

- ???

- As far as I can tell canon Starscourge is explained as a mutated malaria virus. But it also drives people mad before vaporising them and the resulting Miasma somehow both eats sunlight preventing it from reaching the ground, and generates demons based on the remainders of the mad dead people's egos that die instantly in sunlight. These vaporised egos can also apparently be used to power magitech armor but the ego in them makes them difficult to control??? And the "only"/prophesied cure to the disease is to kill Ardyn (who is neither the source or receptacle of the disease, nor the source of its recent resurgence, tho he did help it along in the last 30 years), then to die so we can kill his soul. This somehow purges the Miasma. (And spoilers? depending on if the book is canon or not it may be the last part needed for a world killing wave Bahamut wants to use?) I also can't figure out where in the game I bumped into the explanation that the Starscourge is from the meteor Titan is holding? Because it's something everyone in the fandom thinks is true now that I go looking but is apparently not canon?

- And a cure?? I have no idea, really??? But I have some thoughts???

- Has existed at least since Solheim, and was around long before Ardyn.

- It infects yokai/ayakashi as well as humans and animals.

- Is probably a miasma in the greek tragedy sense? (If my greek dramas seminar in college is to be believed) Miasma in greek tragedy apparently coincided with someone who was “to blame” and whose death was needed to stop the poison from killing people. The King does bad and the whole kingdom suffers kind of thing. But if they don’t kill themselves in penance then the person that kills them becomes the problem and the miasma continues. Not sure where I’m going with this but it matches nicely with the Natsume system of problem solving being about emotions and experiences?

- Probably need the modern trope of a Panacea to cure it? Something everyone worked together to get/make (in true Natsume fashion) to give to Noctis after the 10 years???

- How do I cure this??

- Did this disease ever even make sense?

Character Notes

Natsume

- Born in Duscae, Natsume’s family is descended from people who settled Old Lestallum a thousand years ago, so most of his relatives (who he was passed between as a kid) were from the Lestallum/Old Lestallum offshoots area. However he did have a few relatives in Insomnia he lived with as a child for a little bit.

- Natsume had never lived in Old Lestallum until the Fujiwaras took him to their home there. He loves the town because of the good memories there and intends to live there the rest of his life if he can.

- Because of his unique heritage Natsume has the ability to help purify Yokai/Ayakashi and help them move on (in the psychopomp way or just therapy way) even when those difficulties are caused by infection by the Starscourge. He’s unaware that he’s purifying the disease when he does this, thinking those cases are just more dramatic versions of what he deals with every day.

- Examples of the above are Shigure (the luck god trapped in the old school), Rokka (leader of the Masked Yokai), and Sui (the broken guardian and companion Gen was trying to save). The Mirror Yokai’s ill friend also has the Starscourge which is why he disappeared on her, not wanting her to get hurt when his emotions were bad.

- Natsume still lives in the Fujiwara’s house, and is technically employed by Tanuma’s father. He travels the area making sure the wards on the Havens are fully powered and has the rest of the time to devote to Ayakashi problems.

- Natsume feels like this should be a temporary thing rather than a lifelong job and that he’s taking advantage of Tanuma for employment, while Tanuma is worried they’re using Natsume for their safety the way others have tried to. But he’s happy and Tanuma is happy to be working with him so they reassure each other it’s ok.

Tanuma

- Due to slightly different setting details Tanuma decided to follow in his father's footsteps as a priest. He is currently his father's apprentice, but is mostly left to his own devices at their home temple while his father travels.

- The little used temple he and his father moved to in Old Lestallum is Titan's temple there. It was once the main one, but as Old Lestallum wanted in population and importance it was abandoned in favor of temples elsewhere, most especially the temple/tourist attraction at the Disk of Cauthess in modern day.

- Several temples to Bahamut have also sprung up in the area, much more regimented and grander than Titan's newer temples due to the active ancestor worship of Lucis being mixed in.

- While people in Old Lestallum kept the main temple building and living areas more or less clean, they didn't take much care of the grounds. Enough care to keep the wards up, but not much more (not that they were really aware of this, it was just muted respect and in case a new priest moved in).

- Since Tanuma and his father moved in the wards have strengthened. At the same time Natsume has been incidentally expanding and strengthening the weak wards around the town his grandmother had created by living there. This makes Old Lestallum a remarkably safe place compared to elsewhere in Lucis, and people have started attributing it to the temple's new care pleasing Titan. (Hense how the temple's income can support 3 workers now.)

- As caretaker to the temple, Tanuma has gained some strength from growing up there. He still has a weak constitution, which yokai/ayakashi can stress by being present, but his stamina/resistance is much better now.

Noctis

- Ever since he was little Noctis realized he could see things other people couldn't. In his case, unlike most others who can see yokai, the ones he saw were few and far between due to living in the Citadel, the center of Bahamut's influence. Pretty much the only one that interacted with him was Carbuncle, and they were a benevolent guardian spirit.

- After his injury, while in Tenebrae, he saw more “spirits”, but also learned Luna could sense them (but not see them) when she sensed Carbuncle with him. This lead him to believe the ability to see/sense spirits was tied to him and her being chosen ones.

- He tries not to worry his friends by any weirdness with creatures other than Carbuncle, but he doesn't try to hide that he can see them either, assuming it's understandable, so they just accept his little comments as well.

- After leaving Insomnia and entering Titan's influence he starts seeing a lot more, and less refined ones and is getting overwhelmed.

Lunafreya

- As one of the line of the Oracle Luna has the ability to sense people, such as knowing where they are in space in relar to her, and if they're sick or injured. This extends to yokai/ayakashi though she isn't able to see them unless they have the ability to make themselves visible to humans.

- Umbra and Pryna are yokai guardian dogs, what their divine abilities allowed them to assume a form visible to humans, which is how Lunafreya found them as puppies. They have since adopted her as their charge. Gentiana has accepted them as her guardians due to them being divine, she wouldn't have allowed any other yokai near her charge.

- Gentiana is also ayakashi and has the ability, from Shiva's power, to become visible to humans, though she can be more seletive of who can see her than most can.

Taki

- Taki grew up wanting to be able to contribute something to helping her friends that they couldn't just do without her. This lead her to joining the Hunters so she could keep them safe, and she has since become an expert marksman, (though she largely prefers the bigger guns hunters in the game use rather than pistols like Prompto).

- She generally sticks to Cauthess, because most of Natsume's travels are in the area, but she has become good enough at her job that she is asked to help further afield occasionally.

- She still remembers many things about yokai from her grandfather, and what she learned from growing up with Natsume, so she can sort of tell if ayakashi things are happening and ask for him to help. She still tries not to draw her circle until he (or Tanuma or Natori lately) tell her it's ok with the yokai.

Reiko

- A woman yokai speak of in fear and respect and humans talk about in disdain if at all, but nobody really knows anything about. She lived in Old Lestallum and in spite of bad experienced there saw the area as her home. This was enough to take protective barriers around the town, but weak ones.

- More concentrated barriers were created around places she camped/spent the night because of her deliberately attempting to create a safe place to sleep. These eventually became Havens once she realized she could do it deliberately.

- Unknown to her, or anyone else anymore, and independent of her ability to see yokai/strong spiritual power, she is descended from a bastard male child of the Oracle’s line. This altered her powers just enough to make her unlike any other human's.

- Towards the end of her life she met Regis and company out in the wilderness around Old Lestallum. A strange unapologetic woman who laughed at them and called them idiots before helping anyway. She gave Regis specifically some pointed advice before sending them on their way. (Not completely certain what it was yet but not sure if I need to know.) When Regis went back to look for her later in life people were confused why he cared about that strange woman and he could only find out she wasn't well liked and had since passed away.

Regis

- Regis has no ability to see or sense yokai, but he was best friends with Aulea, who could but kept it a secret. On his road trip to Accordo in his youth he bumped into Reiko, now an adult. She was unconcerned with who he was, and unthreatened by his retinue. She didn't want anything from him either, but gave him some pointed advice on the world being more than what he could see that stuck with him through his trip.

- When he returned home he realized Aulea could see things he could not, and managed to broach the subject with her. After convincing her to believe him, and that he believed her, this brought the closer, lessening a bit the stress being able to see yokai had put on her. He respected her wish for it not to be known, even to his friends, until after her death, when he explained a little to Clarus (and maybe Cor) in relation to Noctis.

Aulea

- Per Word of God she's Regis’ childhood friend.

- Born into a low ranking Noble house in Insomnia she was the first in generations to be able to see yokai. However it wasn't unknown to happen, and her family had been on the lookout for it since implications of collusion with any spirit other than Bahamut needed to be carefully repressed. She grew up learning her ability to see strange things was to be entirely ignored, trained in composure and people reading (to determine what other could see).

- She also grew up responsible for the family's guardian spirit, Carbuncle. They were the only yokai she was allowed to talk to and then only in private.

- As an adult this composure training made her known as someone impossible to startle, and she gave up trying to fake alarm at things other really did see because it was a good reputation to have. (Those close to her learned to read her microexpressions and she was comfortable enough with them to drop the full mask to her more normal reserved self. Deadpan is her favorite I joke.)

- Either way, as a child she stumbled on Regis out alone, and ignored him entirely because there wasn't anyone else around for her to realize he was human instead of a yokai. This intrigued him, and when they were next introduced (at a public event her family had been invited too) he insisted on talking with her.

- Regis spent a lot of time with her as a child, so he saw her eyes flicker to things that weren't there, picking up on it because of his own training to avoid threats to the royal heir. He noticed her aborted movements and how she would look over at him for context, but didn't realize what it all was. Instead he dismissed it as a child can as just how the other was.

- After meeting Reiko something she said made him think about what his friend acted like, and he eventually concluded he should just ask her. Tho she was startled, Aulea was able to avoid an overt reaction but also decided to just agree he was right, startling him and herself.

- Since them the two of them sorted out how to discreetly hint something was up and Aulea allowed Regis to ask about yokai she saw in private if she indicated no yokai were nearby to hear. This is how Regis learned about the dragon yokai that lived in the throne room but just watched, and about his family's new guardian spirit, Carbuncle.

- After Noctis’ birth Aulea was able to tell Regis he had the ability to see Yokai since he would play with Carbuncle. She passed away soon after but not before making a Carbuncle statue to help the guardian protect her family.

Nyx

- As a child in Galahd, Nyx grew up in the shadow of an old temple, still maintained out of respect for the protective spirit (no one said deity out of superstition the Astrals might get offended) that lived there and their followers. Unlike most, tho, Nyx had a little sister who swore she could see them.

- Nyx still isn't sure if he believes Selena when she told him about the Coeurl guarding the temple, and he regrets that she died knowing he wasn't sure if he could believe her. He doesn't realize him trying to believe her and standing up to the people who insulted her “stories” was more than enough for her. He even walked with her the second time, when they were very young and she was scared of the wild cats everywhere but wanted to pay her respects at the temple.

- Selena befriended one of the guardians at the temple, and he lead some of the others down to try and help (without permission) when Nifelheim attacked. The temple was destroyed in the attack and the guardian was unable to save Selena. Unlike the rest who stayed to try and find those who flead the temple's destruction, this guardian attached themself to Nyx out of regret, and has been protecting him since. This is at least part of his ridiculous luck.

Libertus

- Libertus doesn't believe in spirits or guardians, because wouldn't they have protected Galahd if they existed? He respects Nyx's wish to respect Selena's superstitions but privately thinks he needs to let go of the little rituals to move past her death.

- On the other hand, he took in Crowe when they first met because she reminded him of Selena (tho he keeps looking out for her because of who she is now), so he's not coping with her loss as well as he thinks he is either.

Crowe

- When she mentions she was driven out of her hometown, Crowe lets other people assume it was by the empire. She doesn't mention that fearful villagers drove out what they thought was a cursed orphan before they could be cursed in turn. She's still seen the evil of the empire and wants to stop them, but she didn't have the personal stake people assume she has until she heard what happened to her new family.

- In her travels before being picked up by other refugees headed to Lucis, Crowe ended up giving in and yelling at a yokai to leave her alone. A crow yokai, Yatagarasu, heard her and their flock took pity on her, driving the yokai away. Yatagarasu took it on themself to help Crowe navigate the world of yokai, since they had gotten involved already. They and a few of the crows from their recent flock accompanied her in her travels, becoming her signature talent and inspiring many people to point out her name.

- Crowe is able to blame most of her jumpiness on the crows, because they get between her and yokai all the time, and hasn't told anyone she can see yokai. She doesn't want to get driven away again.

Pelna

- Pelna is from one of the smaller islands in Accordo which was mostly evacuated during Regis’ attempt to oppose the empire there. He spent most of his young life as a poor refugee along the Lucian coast, eventually moving to Insomnia when he proved compatible for Kingsglaive.

- Family superstitions that he grew up with require an offering of thanks in return for actions above and beyond the expected response to a situation. The superstition started as something similar to a temple offering you give to the helpful stranger to make sure if they're a spirit it knows you acknowledge its help so it doesn't throw a fit. Also decent advice for dealing with Exorcists. But the specific reasons have been lost to tradition. Now it's just the difficult to explain idea that if someone goes above and beyond for you, you owe them a well thought out thank you gesture, so they won't think you put less effort into coming up with the gesture than they did helping you out.

- If someone is close enough to be considered family it's mostly moot tho, just give them the consideration and care family is due, and that will repay their care for you.

Matoba

- The Matoba clan is a wealthy family in Accordo which also happens to be secretly Exorcists. They do own an old house in Duscae but it hasn't been used for more than a staging ground in generations.

- When Regis came to Altissia to oppose the empire the Matoba family took interest. Hunting yokai and yokai turned demons in secret was tiring and difficult. If they could get involved with Lucis they could have an excuse to be at many more locations, and armed. So the family inserted several of their members into the resistance, and once they fled to Lucis afterwards some of them were able to enter the newly formed Kingsglaive.

- Over the years multiple Matoba family members were able to infiltrate the Kingsglaive, including Matoba himself. They have no loyalty to Lucis, but are definitely anti-empire.

Natori

- An actor who grew up in Old Lestallum, Natori is really an exorcist whose cover job was surprisingly successful. Probably mostly famous in Insomnia unless Nifelheim and Insomnia share movies.

- He moved out when he was of age, fleeing his family mostly, but came back to deal with an exorcist request in his old neighborhood. Since meeting Natsume he has been spending more time in the area.

- I think he lived in Accordo and has recently bought a place in Lestallum instead maybe?

- Was in Altissia when the signing ceremony happened, probably waiting to meet with his agent or at a shoot. He's been trying to get news of what happened since then, worried for Natsume and co in Old Lestallum more than the city tho. He's most worried Natsume somehow got involved because he does that a lot.

Plot Summary

Crowe's Path

- I know the least about this path right now, but it insists on being a separate one from the other two, so I'm going to try to honor that.

- This path starts first, ish, with Crowe's mission from the Kingsglaive movie. For those not in the know, spoilers, this is a mission assigned by Regis to rescue Luna from house arrest in Tenebrae and get her safely to Noctis in Altissia. Only she's attacked and killed on the way.

- In this fic she is on her bike with the black van coming around the corner at her when the crows start going nuts, but not because of the van. Nope, there's a rogue behemoth that just came out from behind the nearby stone structure and has seen her. It charges her, body checking the van as it attacks her. She loses her hand and watch to its teeth and is thrown from her bike by the force of it. The bike is pretty totaled and she's struggling to get away when she blacks out. The glaives in the van open fire drawing it's attention, and are too busy fleeing the behemoth to keep track of her.

- Dave (the hunter from FFXV) was nearby tracking the behemoth for Hunter tags, and his dog drags Crowe to safety for him. He gets her into the van with a tourniquet and rushes her to medical attention. Once she's safe to be moved she's transferred to Meldacio HQ for the monster attack specialists there.

- Because of her mission, when Crowe wakes up she doesn't ask to send a message to the capital of what happened. She tries sending Yatagarasu back but they aren't able to talk to anyone but Nyx's guardian and just presence alone isn't able to get the message across. Someone will know when she doesn't make a checkpoint but not soon enough.

- Note here: I'm making her leaving the city earlier, to give her more than 2 days to pull off an infiltration rescue, especially when the empire probably had Luna traveling for at least one of those days.

- With the help of a post surgery potion Crowe's wound and bad bruises heal up enough to move around in a little under a week. But she still has to do physical therapy and learn to move around with only one hand (The amputation to clean up the injury is under the elbow but she did lose the hand and at least half her lower arm). So she can't head back to report in then either, much to her annoyance.

- To keep her cover she had a physically present gun for protection, as anyone traveling beyond the wall would have had some sort of physical weapon the lack of one would be strange. Only now most of her fighting ability with it is diminished due to needing to somehow use it with only one hand. Dave asks Taki to stick around for a few days and see if she can work with Crowe on adapting her style to one-handed. Taki agrees and tho Crowe is generally untrusting and frustrated she is thankful for the assistance.

- Once she can fire and reload the gun, if not all that well in the latter case, Crowe insists on heading back to Insomnia even though she's not done with her recovery or used to the loss of her hand yet. Taki is resistant to clear her, but really the say is Crowe's. So instead she offers herself as a driver, and Crowe a place in her truck on the way there. Crowe grudgingly agrees, since she can't be sure she'll be able to drive herself back even if she could get her hands on a vehicle.

- The make it almost all the way back before Dave calls them to pull I et and turn on the radio. Insomnia has fallen, and the empire has it blocked off do they can't even get inside. Crowe is determined to try anyway, her family is in there, but Taki refuses to let her and Yatagarasu promises to scout and report back if she waits here. So she caves and the duo stop at the local hunter station to rest and wait for news.

- Yatagarasu returns with a report. Not sure exactly what they found or didn't. Crowe is unable to either locate or join Luna's group, and isn't aware any of the royals survived.

- Somewhere around here Taki realises Crowe can see yokai because she's doing similar things to Natsume. She tells Crowe a this, and about the circle she can draw to make yokai visible and her experiences with Natsume. Crowe is skeptical and alarmed but Taki refuses when she offers to just have the other drop her off somewhere and go about her business.

- Not sure what Crowe's plan is at the time or ends up being (other than learning to use firearms and other weapons one handed)? I know most of the flexibility in solving the main plot comes from her trip, since she's a completely new element to the story.

- Since I was unoriginal and went looking for crow yokai, then ended up with Yatagarasu instead of Tengu, Crowe's arc probably has something sun related to do, not sure what. Is it Solhiem related or is that too much of a deus ex machina?

- No matter the plot they have the support of Dave. If they need a boat to get to Altissia/the other continent he's probably the one who finds them one

Luna's Path

- Luna's plot starts with Kingsglaive. She's in Lucis as a pawn of the empire and the Kingsglaive is sent to rescue her. Pelna is able to locate her on the ship as in the movie, and gets her out just in time to be snatched by an Ultros demon. Iltros drags him away around the corner as Nyx gets to Luna, and he's forced to leave Pelna to get Luna to safety. (I have to assume he's struggling with this somewhat, because it's so against his established character to never mention it again.)

- Ultros is a yokai based demon, so when Matoba catches sight of it he's able to kill it with one of his exorcist arrows in one shot. When he comes over and finds out it's Peln who was injured he decides to use Pelna as assurance against them pro-king factor, proof that he is not on the empire's side in the coup attempt. In the interest of this he protects the inured Pelna from the other Glaives, helps him survive the airship exploding and crashing, then helps him escape the city when it would really have been a better idea to leave him behind. Even when their powers fail he steals them a car and gets them to the exit, where Pelna is able to reunite with the others, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

- Back with Nyx and Luna, the Glaive who was stabbed in the back still manages to explode most of the ship, and Nyx and Luna manage to escape onto another before Luna jumps on to the Citadel and Nyx goes after her. They intervene in the battle with Glauca and escape with the King and Clarus when the Mist Dragon (and Nyx until the last minute) keep Glauca busy.

- Regis still gives Luna the ring for safekeeping and puts up a barrier to force them to go on without him and Clarus.

- Before he dies Glauca is able to get Nyx's call for backup and direct him to the trap with Luche. He also gets the call from Libertus on the revolutionaries’ line, and incidentally reveals himself through his wording. This is around the time that the Glaives’ power from the king cuts out, signifying his death. Libertus arrives at the location given to find it's a trap for Nyx and Luna, and is able to apologize to Nyx, and reveal Glauca is Drautos. The three of them get in Libertus’ car and escape through the battles raging in the city.

- At the outskirts of the city they stop to find a change of clothes (less Kingsglaive) and a way to escape the city. This is when they regroup with Pelna and Matoba joins the team.

- After escaping Luna insists she needs to fulfill her calling rather than heading to Altissia immediately. Pelna points out the empire is probably blocading the sea as well and they need a place to lie low and plan. Matoba recommends a compromise, and suggests they seek sanctuary at the temple of Titan in Old Lestallum. It's not where the empire would expect her to go due to it being neglected in favor of the Disk of Cauthess these days, and he can vouch for the priest taking them in secret. Pelna backs him up, saying it's a reasonable idea, and with no other options this becomes the plan.

- Matoba wanted to be able to try to bug Natsume again, and also knew Natsume and Tanuma would take them in and wouldn't betray them, so a win for him either way. (Pelna had been having trouble reading him and eventually asked what he would take as a thank you gesture, which surprised Matoba. He was disappointed to find that Pelna was traditional instead of from an exorcist family tho, and informed him that he wanted to head to Old Lestallum to seek sanctuary with a friend and asking Pelna to back him up if they ask where to go.)

- Once they get to the temple and Tanuma agrees to hide them from the empire there the party meets Natsume. They don't get to talk much but he is aware Luna is the Oracle and was there to make a covenant with Titan. He also helped the others get things from town that they needed. (Luna calls Nyanko-sensei cute which he approves of.)

- Matoba tries to get Natsume to agree to join his clan for protection, but is turned down, and Pelna interrupts, feeling guilty about helping get Natsume into this position. Matoba is entertained by this rather than upset tho.

- Once Titan awakens Luna heads to the Disk with her guards to talk with him. Then she announces she needs to get to Angelgard to awaken Ramuh. This is a bit more difficult but eventually they are able to haggle a trip over out of a fisherman willing to do a favor for the Oracle. They hide below deck until arrival, when Luna gets out and awakens Ramuh. On their way back they're flagged down by a larger vessel with Nanase on board (Matoba's clanswomsn with the spectacles) asking for him. She got is message and is here to take them to Altissia. Since they need to go anyway they accept his offer to accompany him, even if it is suspicious.

- It turns out Matoba is part of a major Altissian family, and they're able to enter the city unnoticed at his private dock. However Luna needs access to the Altar of the Tidemother, which requires her to negotiate with the government, essentially turning herself in to them. Matoba leaves the party but the other three all insist on accompanying her to be her guards even while they're on house arrest pending the First Secretary's decision.

- Once Noctis arrives and negotiates successfully with the First Secretary she comes to lay out her terms to Luna. She is to send her guards to help in the evacuation of the citizens, same as Noctis, and in exchange they will be allowed access to the Altar. However, Ravus is threatening war if she is not released into his care, so Luna needs to convince him to let her do it herself. He is asking for a private audience first, to keep her safe from Ardyn, and Claustra intends to turn Luna over to prevent this if she can't convince him. Luna agrees.

- The Glaive refuse to leave Luna alone with the enemy commander, so Ravus and Luna have their talk but now with an audience. They argue and Ravus threatens but eventually he says something that gets Nyx to interject. They argue about trusting the magictech troopers Ravus has to ensure her safety if the Chancellor countermands his orders, and about losing little sisters to the empire. Luna takes back the conversation at this point and is somehow able to convince Ravus to let her go through with the covenant? He places the burden of her safety on Nyx before storming out, and when Luna tries to protest she promised Claustra their help in evacuation Libertus says the Secretary is just going to have to deal, she can spare their best to guard their Oracle.

- Lunafreya still gives a speech, but it might be a radio address instead of in person? And it's a better speech.

- Luna and Nyx are on the altar when Leviathan responds to the summoning, and Nyx is later able to prevent Luna from getting stabbed by Ardyn long enough for her to summon Knights of the Round power-up for Noctis of it's still needed, and not from hp this time.

- Natsume arrives on Madara's back in the middle of the fight between Astrals and is able to help Carbuncle heal Luna after she nearly kills herself healing Noctis. All of this adds up to Luna surviving and being alive when Ravis and Ignis arrive.

- Ardyn really wants to know how Natsume can fly.

- Elsewhere Matoba petitions Leviathan for power to fight the demon hunting him. She is impressed enough by how strong he is fighting that fate to not kill him immediately and says she might even consider it before disappearing.

- After a group effort manages to drive away Ardyn again Luna and Noctis’ groups combine into one, and end up staying at Matoba's Manor until they're well enough to be on their way.

- Not married to this flow of the fight scene, so there are other ideas floating around about Misuzu or Sasafune from Natsume showing up… Much thinking to do.

Noctis's Path

- This plot starts 99% the same, only Carbuncle is a companion character who texts Noct's phone to talk in texts that people who can't see yokai can't see. The others sort of realize he's Noct's guardian but not that he's physically present.

- Until Titan's covenant is complete it also goes almost exactly the same, maybe with a bit of dialogue about about seeing more yokai as they get to Duscae or some conversations with Carbuncle from time to time.

- Unknown to Noctis and co, Titan vanished in the crater to retreat to his Temple to recover (he knew the basic size of the temple and shrunk to a taller than human but still small form to not crush it). Natsume panics at the bleeding yokai (since Titan chose to hide himself while recovering) and Tanuma and him bandage all his injuries and tuck him into a bed in the temple, only later finding out he's Titan himself.

- Not sure if they realize who he is only after Noctis shows up (because he's unconscious until then) or if he wakes up earlier than that. Nyanko-sensei can speak astral tho, so that should help (since we don't have Luna or Ardyn to translate).

- I still have no idea where the Meteor ended up??

- In the trial with Ramuh the revelations aren't just scenes from the past to teach the audience context. They're actually something helpful to Noctis himself. I have no idea what yet.

- Noctis and co retrieve the regalia, but ping into Ravus (and Ardyn), then head back to Lestallum to find Jared dead. Iris leaves the city with them to get her to safety, but the guys decide to stop at Old Lestallum and head to the nearby Imperial base to get vengeance for Jared.

- Somehow this ends up with them deciding to visit the temple of Titan before moving on. At the Temple Noctis sees Titan injured and is startled to realize the gods he's been calling on are people too. Should be obvious in hindsight but it's hard to wrap your head around. He also meets Natsume, who startles him by being able to see Carbuncle too and realizing Noct can see Carbuncle as well.

- This leads to Noct having to adapt to the revelation that seeing these creatures isn't a chosen one exclusive thing. Natsume is also struggling with meeting a child as clueless about yokai as he was as a kid and being able to help with that but unsure if he can handle it. With some encouragement from his friends he decides to go for it and he and Noctis have awkward conversation together.

- This somehow (how ??? For future creativity to figure out) ends up with Noctis and co coming back to visit on their way up to the Vesperpool. Natsume is glad to see them but on his way out, explaining he's headed to Meldacio HQ to look into a request from there and check on the nearby Havens. Noct offers for him to come with them, since they're headed that way themselves, and Natsume is startled but appreciates it. (Noctis preens a little at being able to help his new friend.)

- Because of this new unknown being there, Gladio hesitates for a bit to leave Noct instead of protecting him, but his need to prove himself better than both Ravus and his father wins out and he leaves the party here, meeting Cor at the Crow's Nest instead.

- Natsume worries his presence drove Gladio away, but tells himself it's a silly thought.

- Natsume separates from them at Hunter HQ and they go into the dungeon with Aranea. Staggering out with their prize they bump into him staying in the caravan at HQ. He offers to share since they look exhausted and they're tired enough to agree. The trio bond with Natsume a little independently, and the next morning Noct asks if he'd like a ride back. Natsume admits his job ran longer than he was expecting so he still needs to check out the havens before he can head back. The guys surprise him by suggesting they accompany him then. They see him safely to the Vesperpool and Myrlwood havens and Noct even gets to do some fishing.

- After dropping Natsume off back in Old Lestallum they head to the cape, only to be sent to Lestallum to refine the mythril. (Gladio rejoins party like main game but maybe Noct recognized his voice at least?)

- Meanwhile Natsume is worried about the party and startled by the impulse to go after them. (Probably because he's realized who they are and that they're going to leave to get put in danger again.). Nyanko-sensei tells him something along the lines of if he wants to he should just do it, and Natsume decides he’ll at least offer to help however he can. He heads to Caem to try and find them, is startled by the dragon, has to stop a fight with Madara and the dragon, and is almost treated as a threat to the people there before Iris speaks up for him. Then he gets to hear the first person who remembers his grandmother fondly when Regis mistook him for her for a second.

- Noct and co return to find Natsume waiting for them, wanting to help. They're flattered but not sure they want to put him through that, but he insists he wants to help the people important to him instead of waiting and wondering if he could have helped. (Something along those lines.). In the end they're convinced to bring him because Noct could use some help figuring out the yokai thing and no one else they know can help with that. Plus everyone but Gladio thinks he's a good guy from traveling together a bit. (Mild personal conflict between him and Gladio as a recurring plot point.). And of course Nyanko-sensei is going too.

- (Back in Old Lestallum Tanuma ends up telling the Dogs’ Circle that Natsume went on a trip, which ends up being spread around to everyone it might concern as gossip pretty quickly.)

- Natsume heads with the party to Altissia, where Natsume bumps into Natori, who is oberjoued that he survived the Imperial Invasion alright and horrified to realize he's gotten dragged into things again (tho he's ok at hiding this). The party is suspicious of him, but Natsume is clearly happy to see him so they decide he's trustworthy. Natori offers himself as tour guide for their first time in Altissia and they accept.

- Then they bump into Matoba on the street. The party are unimpressed with yet another Ardyn type character, and neither Natori's or Natsume's body language reassures them. Matoba offers for them to stay at his Manor while in town, since he's a part of a powerful family they would have greater protection and more leeway in Altissian politics than staying at the hotel. They agree to think about it and get his business card before he leaves them to it.

- Natori is able to bring them to Maagho where Weskham is able to give them information on the people they've bumped into. (He's interested in the fact that Natsume, someone he knows nothing about, is somehow connected to one of Altissia's oldest families and a famous actor known as a bit of a loner.) He advises them to take up Matoba's offer, since he can provide protection, but they're still hesitant about what he might ask Natsume for in exchange.

- Natori is willing to out them all up in the Leville, but Natsume wants them to accept Matoba's offer, so he insists on going with them instead. Matoba's perfectly happy to have him staying at his house too.

- The party is startled to learn Matoba knows where Luna is, since she stayed with him when they all got to Altissia. Information that she had 3 Kingsglaive members with her is appreciated as well, tho his own background as former Kingsglaive doesn't help their suspicion. Matoba is, of course, unsympathetic.

- Natsume is among the currently undecided factors that help keep Luna alive. I have at least one possible scene of Natsume bring carried by Madara through the Titan vs Imperial Army battle, then helping Carbuncle heal Luna while Nyx, Ravus, and Ignis face down Ardyn. So might use that or it might change.

- After the battle the combined parties bump into Matoba, who offers to let them stay at his family home again, they accept because once again he's a non political option and theoretically a bit safer.

- I have no idea of they manage to convince Ravis to join the party here, but that is a possibility.

- And… this is where I know very little about how things are going to go.

- The party is still interested in getting the Crystal and probably all insist on going.

- If Gladio has anything similar to his macho episode on the train it needs to be better written so he's not just being an asshole and is going to have several people vocally angry with him. Not sure if Ignis blinds himself tho.

- If Prompto gets knocked off the train Pryna goes after him. No idea if other helpful yokai are involved yet and if so how he'd tell.

- Also, does Ardyn have illusion powers or not? If so I need him to use them earlier and have limits/specifics. If not I need to rewite those scenes.

- Noctis meets a Phoenix yokai in Tenebrae. No idea if he's important later or just a handy visual metaphor.

- Not even sure if Noctis gets sucked into the Crystal, but I think he probably has to be?

- Somehow at this point, Noctis or no, the main problem is the Starscourge, and between Prompto and Noctis we should have enough notes to make a guess as to what it is, a disease instead of an unknown. So we do the Natsume thing and everyone starts working together to find a way to solve this without needing the Prophecy because that requires Noct to die (which we now know how…? Luna maybe? Does she even know?). By the time Noct returns (if we lost him) we have a solution.

- No I don't know what that solution is yet. My current best guess is a magically quest created Panacea. Are we going to throw it at Ardyn? Is it a spell like Holy in 7?

- Somewhere in here Noct does fight Ifrit. He's learned that Astrals are people too and wants know why Ifrit is so angry. The Astral is able to describe what happened in Solheim (need to figure out what I want this to be for this fic) and afterwards, and is able to let go of anger at humanity. He was mostly holding onto it because he felt betrayed by his fellow Astrals. The fact that Lestallum managed to use the power he left to make hope is helpful. So he contracts with Noctis after Noctis cures him of the Scourge (with help).

- Ifrit's purification removed his empathetic link with Ardyn. Ardyn loses most of his rage. Not uis feelings of betrayal, just the burning rage he had absorbed from Ifrit. Usually he absorbs the fill echo of the killed person but Ifrit was alive still, so purifying him took the emotions away again. This may or may not be important in curing the Starscourge…?

- Details for the future as I get there I suppose? But really, how and when does Crowe get involved???

Side Path: Regis

- This one is a plot point I've had for later reveal, but basically essential to Nyx's survival, so I guess I'm ruining the surprise now.

- I mentioned in Aulea's entry that there was a dragon yokai in the throne room. She's based on the blue guardian dragon from Natsume more or less, but much larger, and her abilities are inspired by (liberal interpretation of) the Mist Dragon. She arrived in Lucis somewhere in the middle of the 2000 years it has existed, and settled in the throne room to watch. She doesn't move around the Citadel, and mostly treats it like an interesting that show she enjoys watching and piecing together.

- This got more complicated when Aulea married into the royal family and told Regis she was there. The show started to address her own presence as a watcher, if only two of the characters. Made it slightly more personal, especially when Regis started complaining about things under his breath while sitting on the throne and idlu asking her opinion tho he know she couldn't respond.

- When Aulea died outside of the throne room, Regis came privately to tell her before the royal announcement of her death, crying and unable to share with anyone else the secrets Aulea held but let him see. The dragon responded by summoning a light mist in the throne room in mourning, which made everything look very ethereal for weeks. People talked about an I'll omen, while other conjectured the crystal was mourning. Regis appreciated it tho, and took it as a sign she cared, so he extended a formal invitation to the funeral. And for the first time in centuries the dragon left the throne room to attend, summoning a similar mist over the event.

- Regis still spoke to her now, and she sometimes even showed she was listening by summoning a wash of mist that swept through the room. Mostly she still just watched tho, ignoring the little prince who could see her too. Regis didn't invite her anywhere else, but did ask her to look after the kingdom while he rushed to Tenebrae with his son. Then they both witnessed Nifelheim's demands for the peace, and Regis spoke long into the air about his misgivings. The dragon settled in to watch what unfolded, but feeling angrier than she had in situations like this before.

- On the day of the signing, whole lingering in the throne room after speaking with Nyx, Regis told the dragon (uncaring of Clarus’ presence) that they were going to have the signing in a different room, because the Emperor would be slighted if only Regis has a throne, so she's welcome to come. And so she goes.

- She's angry when the battle starts, how dare the empire try to end her watch? Mist swirls around ankles, and then Glauca appears. And she's not about to let the rule of Lucis end in such a way.

- She uses the power she's never felt a need to before, summoning a physically present form out of the mist. She snatches Clarus out of the air as he's thrown, the sword thrown after him passing harmlessly through her Misty neck. And then the Mist Dragon engages Glauca alongside Clarus and Regis.

- When Nyx and Luna arrive she fights alongside the Glaive, buying time for everyone to escape down the elevator, then disappears to arrive after them. Regis puts up the shield and she stays with him and Clarus as Nux and Luna escape.

- Glauca is not used to the opponent having as cheap an ability as he does to reduce damage, and this battle is much more even. At the end he disengages and escapes back up the elevator shaft, where he has time to receive Nyx and Libertus’ calls before the dragon finds him. She able to deliver a final blow to his already severely injured self and he dies early.

- She returns to Regis and Clarus who are trying to figure out what to do now. Regis insists on heading back to the throne room to summon the Old Wall, but Clarus isn't going to let him warp up the elevator alone. The dragon ends up taking them.

- ? Not sure what the cost of summoning them is this time, but there has to be one. It's just not deadly.

- Afterwards Clarus insists Regis disappear, cut off the surviving Glaives so it looks like he died and focus on getting out of the city alive. Regis isn't happy with that idea, because it would require him not to help anyone they came across as they left. And Clarus doesn't like their odds of surviving even without a fight. They kind of decide their only real option is to make a last stand here.

- Clarus asks if the dragon could take the king to safety while he made a last stand, which Regis objects to. The dragon says she could carry both if them to safety, but why should she? Regis asks her to, please, because he doesn't want Clarus to die for him. She agrees on the condition that he do as Clarus says and fake his death, cut off anyone who could claim otherwise beyond Clarus himself, and stay where the two of them decide he is safe. Regis isn't happy but agrees.

- Clarus suggests they head to the hideout in Cape Caem, and agrees to give the dragon directions. So she grabs them both and flies them away in the night, using the battles and darkness as cover for them to escape unseen. Once at Cape Caem Regis and Claris switch to everyday clothes and live in the ship bay. (If she can assume human form like Nyanko-sensei the dragon is probably the one to buy food, if not Clarus is.) They aren't discovered alive until Iris and co. come to Cape Caem, and it's Cid who discovers them (and nearly gets attacked by Clarus).

- When Noctis arrives in Cape Caem there's an unseasonable mist, and above the cape is the dragon from the throne room back home. She sees him and goes to circle the top of the lighthouse, which is enough for him to sprint over and warp up to the ladder rather than wait for the elevator or anyone yelling after him. Up too he finds Clarus and his dad and they have a reunion.

- Regis’ friends refuse to let him go with Noctis to Altissia. Not willing to let him reveal himself just yet. So Weskham doesn't know he's alive, and Noctis isn't supposed to tell him. Not sure how that will end up.

- And not sure how Regis changes the plot yet either. But he's there at least?

#natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #FFXV #my fanfiction #fanfiction idea #this is apparently 17 pgs long #no wonder it took so long

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themachiavellianpig · 5 years

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The Walking Dead, Episode 10: Making Friends and Influencing People

Episode 10 of the Walking Dead and, wow, why do the bad guys always get to have the good plans in this world?

As always, full review and spoilers below.

We start off with Beta heading off to find Gamma, as the flashback helpfully reminded us of, but he starts off in a mysterious abandoned RV with two Whisperers guarding the entrance to some very shadowy underground tunnels. As far as camouflage goes, it’s a solid cover up - even someone scavenging for supplies would be unlikely to rip up a chair to check under the carpet.

Meanwhile, Rosita's back at Alexandria and struggling to keep her shit together, haunted by nightmares of Whisperers standing over her daughter's crib. Which, you know, fair enough, given what nearly happened to poor little Coco before the mid-season hiatus. Her understandable trauma is temporarily put on hold when Gamma appears at the gates to Alexandria with information about the missing group, and then right back to the forefront when she knocks Gamma clear out after the Whisperer agrees to tell them the location of the cave with the horde.

Gamma comes to facedown in the bloodstain left in Alexandria's cell after Gabriel's execution of Dante. Gabriel is very much back to being Father Gabriel this week, in a very Battle Pope kind of way; the fact that his pastoral experiences and all that time in the confessional would have made him a pretty good judge of character is used to easily break Gamma, who admits openly that she killed her sister for Alpha, and not even because Alpha told her to do so. We get a pretty hardcore boast from Gabriel in this scene - "I've spoken to God and He's told me to hang you" would have sounded ridiculous coming from the terrified pastor we met way back in Season 4, but I completely buy it from this updated version, who later on advises his people to take "fingers and teeth" from any Whisperers they catch until they have all the information they need.

Yeah, so that last line was probably a step too far, and I was deeply pleased when Rosita calls him out for such an extreme comment; the scenes between Gabriel and Rosita this week were actually really good, I thought, especially as these are two characters than have not really had anything resembling character development for a while now. They are both, in their own ways, deeply broken by recent events and both recognise that trauma in each other while struggling to process their own. It's sweet, and a little dysfunctional, and actually shows the survivors looking out for each other and communicating clearly, which we all know is what I really want from this show.

While the Alexandrians prepare to help their missing friends, we get a very sweet scene of Judith and Gamma talking - but seriously, is Judith really so starved for friends that she keeps feeling the need to befriend people who her family have imprisoned in their basement? Gamma tells Judith her real name (Mary) but admits that she can't really remember what she was like before she was a Whisperer. She was normal, allegedly, but spent the first part of the apocalypse making so many bad decisions with her sister that she was glad to find a leader like Alpha who could make their decisions for them.

Judith's counter-point - that Mary and her sister found the wrong person first - is a delightfully simple one from the little Grimes. Her belief that Gamma/Mary would have been better off if she'd met Rick or Michonne first instead is probably true enough, but it shows a little of the sweet innocence and trust in parents that really no one was expecting to survive the end of the world. (I mean, it does also strongly imply that no one's ever told Judith about the Ricktatorship, but she's still little enough to be entitled to her optimism). Their conversation is cut short when Alexandria goes into lockdown in preparation for most of their fighters heading out to save the group trapped in the cave.

The rescue plan is temporarily put on hold when some of the outer scouts warn Alexandria of an incoming herd - Gabriel takes most of the fighters to scatter the herd before it can hit Alexandria, but leaves Rosita behind to watch the settlement. In a genuinely delightful move, Rosita doesn't take offence at Gabriel's decision and instead admits that she shouldn't be out there just yet. She even tells him about the nightmares! And so they part on excellent terms with very few regrets or recriminations, which is probably a very good sign that both are going to survive the episode entirely.

We leap ahead a little to some point after nightfall, where we are treated to one of the most gloriously creepy sequences that I think we might ever have had on The Walking Dead - Beta in Alexandria. Firstly, erupting from a grave like every classic horror movie trope you could possibly want to hope for, then stalking his way through a house or two, slaughtering defenceless Alexandrians and then *waiting calmly for them to rise again as his little undead task force*. Seriously, I had chills.

With his new undead buddies causing one hell of a distraction, Beta finds his way to the cell and orders Gamma to come with him, promising her a quick death if she doesn't fight. She calls bullshit, having finally realised that all Alpha wants is them all in pain, and decides to stand her ground. Their little impasse is interrupted by Laura, the former-Saviour whose name I had to google while writing, who gets Beta at halberd-point but is sadly later crushed by the giant man. There is still technically a question mark over her fate, but the crunch of her bones hitting the walls of the cell did not sound good at all.

(The fact that this character’s apparent death needed to be confirmed via The Talking Dead is possibly one of my major gripes with the episode; I’m glad in part that the show no longer feels the need to labour over every grisly details of every death, but surely we could at least have deaths which register properly on screen.)

Gamma/Mary is less foolish than once she was, so she doesn't miss a chance to run from an angry Beta and end up hiding in Judith's home with the girl and her little brother. And Judith, because she's sweet and innocent but also very definitely not an idiot, shoots Beta through a closed door when he tries to force the lock. If someone had ever taught Judith about confirming kills - ideally with a headshot taken from a safe distance, Alpha would have lost her greatest soldier.

Instead, and also I suppose understandably, Judith takes RJ and runs the second Beta hits the floor. In all fairness, there really wasn't any part of the Whisperer MO that made me think "bulletproof vests" *before* they let a child shoot Beta.

Judith and RJ make it out safely, but Gamma/Mary isn't so lucky. Beta's attempt to drag her away is interrupted by Rosita, who really does a very good job of hurting Beta before nearly getting her skull caved in. She's saved by Gamma/Mary, who holds a knife to her own throat - Alpha will only get her back alive, as she wants, if Beta leaves Alexandria with her right then. It’s a brilliant threat, and a great moment of self-sacrifice - one that I hope will endear her to the Alexandrians.

The two set out back to the Whisperers, with Beta talking creepily all the way about how Gamma/Mary will die and rise again and be reunited with her sister in death. I honestly can't tell if he was trying to be creepy or comforting at this point, but fortunately they were interrupted by Gabriel and the gang returning from their wild-goose hunt after a non-existent herd. They drive Beta away, but Gamma/Mary holds her ground and tries to explain what had happened.

Now, there was a moment where I really, really thought that Gabriel was going to shoot her. His irrational threats of torture and his bone-deep confidence that he could tell when people were telling him the truth seemed set up to kick him in the teeth sooner or later, and him pulling the trigger on the woman who sacrificed herself to save Rosita would have been a particularly bitter slice of humble pie.

But he didn't, and I'm actually kind of glad. The moment at the end when Mary reclaims her name to introduce herself to Rosita is a sweet little taste of the kind of future Rick wanted for his people - where people can be forgiven and become part of the community - it even looks like she's getting a trip to Hilltop to meet her nephew, which is all she's really asked for since trying to leave Alpha.

Meanwhile, the other plotline of the week sees Daryl having his own moment of righteous but foolish anger, as his plan for finding another way into the cave to save Connie and Magna involves finding Alpha and beating the information out of her.

Alpha's made of slightly sterner stuff than that, though, and the first assault leaves both of them pretty brutally injured and Daryl with no more information that he started with. When half-blinded by his own blood and surrounded by walkers, he retreats, and is followed to an abandoned gas station by a bloody but not yet beaten Alpha.

The brutality of the first fight, however, has left both of them essentially unable to commit to round two - Alpha's losing too much blood, and Daryl's more or less immobile with Alpha's knife in his thigh - so Alpha decides to even up the odds by summoning some more of her undead friends, who head straight for the bleeding Daryl. Even injured, Daryl can take care of three walkers, but he was out of weapons by the time the third and final walker got close, so he yanks Alpha's knife out of his own flesh and makes do. This does, admittedly, kill the walker, but it does also leave Daryl really quite definitely bleeding out.

With no more walkers to do her dirty work, and apparently hallucinating from blood loss, Alpha resorts to actually talking to Daryl, but becomes enraged when he says that she never loved Lydia.

And, as if summoned, Lydia is suddenly there with them in the gas station; the interaction is largely shown from Alpha's point of view, which is trippy enough to imply "hallucination" pretty strongly, but Lydia is actually there, having been watching both groups since her departure to try and decide where she belongs.

In a very twisted moment, Alpha ruins their little reunion by trying to get Lydia to kill her and take her place as leader, claiming that she had made sure that Lydia would be ready for such a moment. In yet another rejection, Lydia tells her mother that the Alexandrians aren't perfect, but they're human - and that's all she's ever wanted, and something that her mother simply can't give her. Lydia leaves her mother behind, but hauls Daryl out of there and to relative safety somewhere else in the forest.

She leaves one last message as she goes - "Your way is not the only way", scratched into a table with Alpha's own knife.

It's the final, irrefutable proof for Alpha that she didn't imagine this little reunion - Lydia really was there, she really did refuse to either kill or help her mother, and she did once again choose the weak strangers over her own family.

And, judging by Alpha's terrifying final monologue, this really was the last straw for an already dangerously deranged woman.

Previous season 10 recaps are available here.

#The Walking Dead #twd #season 10 spoilers #episode review #Episode Recap #Norman Reedus #Ryan Hurst #Samantha Morton #themachiavellianpig watches

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leftlovetragedy · 7 years

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Moffat and his final problem with women

I can’t help but notice that Steven Moffat does have problems with female characters on his shows. Maybe when you watch a lot of his works, only then you’ll notice it, but it is what it is. And the problem is? He writes Faux Strong Female Characters (FSFC). Why Faux? Well, here is why: 1) Irene Adler

In ACD’s canon she works for herself, has her own personal life and doesn’t care romantically for Sherlock, is the one who outsmarted Sherlock, departed on her own terms into sunset and made Sherlock actually have respect for women ( “He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late” - Watson about Sherlock in ACD’s lore). ACD wrote this Irene in XIX c. In BBC Sherlock? Yeah, on the surface she is that cool dominatrix, comfortable with her sexuality, who blackmails powerful clients, has a hold of state secrets and even whips Sherlock at one point. But in the end? She doesn’t outsmart Sherlock at all, in fact she loses to him because of her feelings for him! That’s right, Sherlock is so damn cool and special dude, that Irene loses because of her emotions, using his name as a password for her very important mobile, which contains all the important info she uses as her protection. In a blink she is begging Sherlock, with tears in her eyes, saying that she is toast without her mobile. At the end of episode it gets “better” when Sherlock actually rescues her from terrorists in Pakistan in a total classical damsel-in-distress trope. Not only that, but we learn from this episode that Irene works with Moriarty and in fact her plan to trick Holmes brothers wasn’t her plan (”I had all this stuff; never knew what to do with it. Thank God for the consultant criminal. Gave me a lot of advice about how to play the Holmes boys” - says Irene in BBC Sherlock). So Irene in BBC Sherlock needs consulting from Moriarty to work out a cohesive plan, loses to Sherlock in the game of wits because her wits were very much affected by her sentiments towards Sherlock and needs to be saved by him with wielding sword action. Steven Moffat wrote this Irene in XXI c.

2) Mary Morstan | Mary Watson

In ACD’s canon she and Watson met because of the case, she worked for some time as governess, they married and then she died.

In BBC Sherlock on the surface she got an upgrade in badassery. She is a former assassin, who now tries to have a new, normal life with John Watson and has a baby with him, very skilled, very clever, with quick reactions, quite an intellectual match to Sherlock and often more clever than her husband John. Yet in attempts to make a strong skilled character Moffat screws up, cause this really smart, professional trained ex-assassin uses perfume while she goes out to kill a guy who blackmailed her; can’t figure out that her USB flash drive has a tracking device and goes to a meeting with a person, who is responsible for her fellow assassin ex-colleagues being taken down, without any weapons or protection (you know, there’re such things as bullet-proof body armour that could be worn under your clothes in the situation like this, surely ex-assassin should know this ). And the result? Mary is killed in a most ridiculous fashion by some bored secretary, because she jumped in front of the bullet trying to save-you guess it right - Sherlock from being shot. ACD also had Mary dead, however without fanfare, silliness and without Mary dying for Sherlock or without giving Mary a little baby girl, leaving this girl motherless as a result of Mary’s death in the name of Sherlock. Steven Moffat wrote Mary as this super pro, smart and experienced, who at the same time makes spectacular dumb decisions which undermine her supposed smartness and proficiency, who gives up her own agenda, her new life with her husband and daughter, the new life she wanted after retiring and worked for and finally got - because of Sherlock. Because Sherlock is so special and important here, that female character must die for him. 3) Eurus Holmes

The secret sister of Holmes brothers made up by Moffat and Gatiss. Locked in a secret prision (facility), she is a genius from childhood, killed Sherlock’s best friend when they were little kids, manipulator (can actually hypnotise people with talking or something and make them dance to her tune), master of disguise, can arrange wild games of survival, can escape her prision at her own will, etc. On the surface she is uber nemesis to Sherlock, maybe in some ways more dangerous than Moriarty himself! But all her talents and wits in the end were all about getting attention of her brother Sherlock and hanging out with him. Yeah, in the end it was all about Sherlock being so special and important that his super smart sister didn’t really want anything else and as soon as Sherlock got a proper hold of her, Eurus was tamed, cause she pretty much didn’t have any other agenda in life. She has visits from her brother now and they can play their violins together. Awww. That’s it! Apart from making it all about Sherlock (again!) the whole twist with super secret sister who suddenly appeared out of the blue was just bad writing on the level of juvenile fanfiction. But Sherlock is not the only one of Moffat’s title characters who is that damn special and cool, so female characters must bend for him in that way or another. Look at Doctor Who! 4) Missy

Missy, female regeneration of The Master, the old nemesis of The Doctor. On the surface she is dangerous, smart, cunning, with evil glee and no boundaries. She can kill and mock, and scheme. Yet her first plot in the series was to raise the Earth's dead as an army of Cybermen - and give this army as a gift to The Doctor! Missy then suggests that she and the Doctor can still hang out together again and return to Gallifrey together. Eh? Missy’s last plot in the series was to be saved by The Doctor from execution. Then The Doctor locks Missy in his vault under the university campus - and Missy begins to reform and see errors of her ways! Apparantely nothing helps a woman to reform like being put under lock and key by a guy in his basement and giving guidance to this woman! Her arc ends with Missy wanting to help the Doctor and getting killed because she chose The Doctor’s side. In other words, the first ever female version of the Master aka Missy died for the Doctor, was tutored by him and basically wanted to hang out with him more than anything else. Riiight. Cause The Doctor is that special, you know. 5) River Song

Professor River Song. Archaeologist, child of Tardis, has a Time Lord DNA, time traveller. On the surface brave, witty, smart, strong-willed. Still she unfortunately got the shades of Moffat’s treatment of his female characters. She was raised by the Silence to kill the Doctor but fell in love with him and became his wife. In her childhood as Mels she was obsessed with the Doctor, when she regenerated into River Song she entered the University to become archaeologist in order to find the Doctor through time and space. She was ready to screw time and space and history, by defying a fixed point in time because Doctor meant too much too her . As a result time shredded into a reality where all history happened at once. She finally fixed it by fake-killing the Doctor, but then she was sentenced to several life sentences for this murder and served the sentence to make the Silence believe him dead, and though she often escaped her prision to spend time with The Doctor, she always returned to her cel. Like another gig of female character being locked up for the sake of main male protagonist. Okey dokey. In the end River didn’t allow The Doctor to sacrifice himself in the Library in order to save people there, and took his place, dying as a result of this. The thing is Steven Moffat here has a female character who is very much emotionally fixed on his main male protagonist, who can easily become putty in his hands at times because of this. And dies for him. See the trend? That’s why it can be called FSFC. Sure, Moffat’s female characters may use guns or whips, act dangerously and independent on the surface, throw around quirky and quick-witted lines, have some adventures, use word “sexy” a lot , go against main male protagonist, even go after his life - but in the end they get upstaged by this main male protagonist either because it turns out that they have real strong emotional attachment to him and it makes them lose or give up or join his side, or because this main male protagonist is so special and important in general, that they just feel obliged to make sacrifices for him. Or combination of these variants. As a bonus: many of those FSFC can be really flashy and have a “bad girl” vibe. Moffat obviously has a kink for “bad girls” and likes to write them, so the main male protagonist, be it Sherlock or Doctor Who, can get an upper hand over those bad girls. IDK, probably it makes it all the sweeter for Moffat. Irene, Missy, River, Eurus all have it in them. Irene is a dominatrix and string-puller and flaunts it; Missy, while cosplaying Mary Poppins in her looks, openly refers to herself as “bad girl” and surely acts like one; River a playful time travelling criminal/scientist/adventurer has enemies-to-lovers trope played out with the Doctor in spades ( “ They engineered a psychopath to kill you -Totally married her"). Eurus has a lot of very, very bad girl about her. Heck, even Mary Watson has some of it in her, due to her dark past as assasin for hire. This whole thing is very troubling and it seems many of Moffat’s female characters can be "strong” only until they submit (in one form or another) to or in the name of main male protagonist. Because Moffat’s main male protagonists are that cool and special and awesome, so it must be about them and their awesomeness in the end, when the dust settles.

#sherlock #bbc sherlock #steven moffat #doctor who #bbc dracula #irene adler #missy #eurus holmes #mary watson #river song

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nerdylittleshit · 7 years

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Welcome to Earth 2 – Alternative realities in Supernatural and their narrative purpose

(All screencaps by screencaped.net)

CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 12 !!!

First of all I love alternative realities. It’s a trope almost every genre show uses at least once; some for just one episode, while it becomes a main plot line in others. It usually plays out a “What if”-scenario, by creating a different reality in changing a major plot element from the past (for example: What would have happen if character x never died?). It discusses the question how much certain events have influenced the character’s lives, but also how much they remain the same. The reason I love this trope is that if you do it right those episodes serve as excellent character studies.

The reasons for alternative realities are very different. Sometimes it is just a dream or a hallucination, especially if this trope is only used for one episode. Other times alternative realties can be created through time travel; by changing the past you can create a new timeline, different from the timeline you are coming from (a concept that has been used on The Flash). And then of course there is the theory that multiple universes already exist; fiction then plays with the idea of creating portals to visit other universes (see Fringe or DC’s multiverse).

While we have seen several alternative realties over the years on Supernatural, I would argue that none of those realties were real, but rather specifically created for the Winchesters. It wasn’t until 12x23 that it was confirmed that there are in fact parallel universes, something that I hope we will see more in season 13. Until then though let’s have a look back at the alternative realities we have seen so far.

2x20 What Is and What Should Never Be

You think these suckers can really grant wishes?

One of my all time favourite episodes of this show. A study in Dean. And of course super painful (what else did we expect?). A djinn attacks Dean and transports him into a reality where his greatest wish comes true: that his mother never died. What is interesting to me is that we don’t see the actual reality of what would have happened if Mary never died but instead what Dean thinks would have happened. Not even a djinn would have had the power to know how this reality would have actually looked like. By letting Dean create this reality though the djinn improves the chances of Dean staying in there. Because of course Dean would create a reality he thinks is realistic. Instead of waking up in a perfect world though we see a reality full with little flaws, that tell us a lot about Dean.

In a world where Mary never died Sam and Dean grew up normal; they never became hunters. Sam went to Stanford and proposed to Jess (just like the real Sam had intended to do), Dean became a mechanic the way his dad used to be and had a beautiful girlfriend with a respectable job (Carmen was a nurse). But his dad is still dead (even though he died less painful) and as it turns out he and Sam don’t get along. In fact Dean was kind of a jerk. People constantly ask him if he had been drinking again, implying that he has an alcohol problem in this world. Sam doesn’t even seem to be surprised when he thinks Dean is stealing from their mother. There is an excellent meta about how all of Dean’s failures (his drinking, stealing etc) are results of his hunting life, but the fact that he still has these flaws in this supposedly perfect universe tells us that he thinks this is who he is, not what his life as a hunter made him into. The more you look at this episode the more depressing it gets.

In hindsight to season 12 it is also interesting to take a closer look at Dean’s parents and the hunting life. Even though his mother never died in this reality John remains dead. Though there is no date on his gravestone we can assume he died around the same time as the real John did. The absence of John in Dean’s perfect world could be interpreted in several ways. It is possible that Dean wasn’t ready yet to face his father; unlike his mother’s death the loss of his father was still new. We could also argue that a perfect world for Dean is indeed a world without his father. Despite the fact that Dean loved his father he also acknowledged that his father wasn’t perfect. The show pretty much confirmed the child neglect, and there is enough subtext to at least discuss the possibility of child abuse. We also know that Dean knows that the marriage of his parents wasn’t perfect (see 5x16), so it’s possible he didn’t wanted to see them fighting.

The resurrection of Mary in season 12 is the biggest confirmation that the djinn-reality was in fact created by Dean, because his version of his mother has almost nothing in common with the real Mary we saw last season. Dean was only 4 years old when his mother died; he clung to the little memories he had of her and created a very idolized version of her in his mind (that the real Mary could never live up to). I think it was @elizabethrobertajones who pointed out that the Mary we see here has little to none personality. She is reduced to be a perfect mother, nothing more (does she have a job? Friends? Any kind of life outside her family?). She is worried about her son and in true Winchester fashion she comforts him with food; she makes him a sandwich. And for all the pie meta out there we should write a bit about sandwiches as well. Because guess what, in both 5x16 and 12x22 (where we encounter memories of Dean and Mary) Mary makes Dean a sandwich. Pie isn’t even mentioned in 2x20. (In all fairness though I think pie didn’t became a theme before 2x21).

The other aspect of 2x20 is the hunting life, or rather it’s absence. I have written plenty about Dean vs the apple pie life. Season 12 picked up this theme again, with Dean telling Mary in 12x01 that he made his peace with their lives as hunters and later we see Mary’s wish for her sons to have a normal life as the reason why she choose to work with the BMoL. In 2x20 Mary never died but monsters are still real. And in the end this is the reason Dean returns to his reality; he can’t live in a world he never saved. Even though the event that caused him to become a hunter was prevented Dean still remains a hunter. All of his flaws, caused by his life as a hunter, remain in this new reality. Opposed to this, the only good thing about his life as a hunter, his close bond with his brother, doesn’t exist anymore. None of this is enough though to make him return to the real world; Dean can live in a world where he sees himself as a failure (he still does in the real world), where he is no longer close to Sam, as long as his family is happy. What he can’t live with are the lives he never saved in this world.

This episode tells us a lot about Dean, how little he thinks of himself, how he cares more about the happiness of his family than himself. How he is willing to give up his perfect world for the life of strangers. How in the end he proves to be what he would never think of himself: a hero.

3x11 Mystery Spot

Okay, look. Yesterday was Tuesday, right? But today is Tuesday too.

It’s funny until… it isn’t anymore. This time an archangel fabricates an alternative reality in order to teach Sam a lesson. He lets Dean die over and over again, making Sam reliving the same day again and again, without giving Sam the chance to prevent Dean from dying. It is almost like an earlier version of 5x04, with both Lucifer and Gabriel trying to teach the same lesson: no matter how you change events the result will always be the same. You can’t outrun your destiny. Destiny vs free will becomes one of the major themes in season 4 and 5, but this episode serves almost like a foretelling of it. Even more so when Sam finally reveals Gabriel and he in turn lets Dean die again, but this time without resetting the day. Sam all of sudden his to live with his brother’s death and turns to the dark side. It’s a prediction of what we will see in season 4, though it leaves out Ruby of the equation.

The alternative realities (each Tuesday is a different reality) are created through time travel, something we see again in 6x17. Though I would argue that Gabriel didn’t create a parallel universe every time he travelled back in time (even archangels don’t seem to have this power), but just changed the present every time. Gabriel tries to teach Sam that he can’t prevent his brother’s death and that he has to learn to let go. Given Sam’s revenge quest I don’t think he learned his lesson. Gabriel still sends him back in time, with Dean alive, which was maybe something he had plan to do all along, because it wasn’t Dean’s time to die yet. We don’t even know if any of it was real or if all of it just happened in Sam’s head. And while Sam arguably didn’t learn his lesson Gabriel did; he knows now what the death of his brother will do with Sam. It is possible Gabriel knew about heaven’s plan for Sam (saying yes to Lucifer) and this was his way to find out how likely it would be that Sam would indeed say “yes”.

In the end it is not clear if Sam only remembers all of the Tuesdays but also the six months after Dean’s death in the alternative reality. Either way when Dean dies his reaction to it is very similar to what we see here.

4x17 It’s a Terrible Life

You don't wanna go fighting ghosts without any health insurance.

Or another time an angel creates a new reality. This time though it’s Zachariah (he does the same thing in 5x04). Again we see the Winchesters living a pretty normal life, though the lesson that Zachariah tries to teach is the exact opposite: that Sam & Dean are meant to be hunters and that any other life wouldn’t make them happy. Instead of giving them a life similar to what we saw in 2x20, which is probably still the closet to what a normal life would have looked like for Sam & Dean, Zachariah twists established facts. Dean becomes the opposite of who he is: instead of blue collar working guy he is the director of Sales & Marketing, he drives a Prius instead of the Impala, listens to NPR instead of classic rock, eats salad instead of burgers and is seemingly interested in feminine things just as watching project runaway or doing the master cleanse. He went to Stanford and his parents are Bobby and Ellen and his sister is Jo. Funnily enough a lot of those things are facts we associate with Sam. It is Sam who went to Stanford, who prefers salad over burgers and tries to live a healthy life. Sam on the other hand is “just” an IT-guy and the only other thing we learn about him is that he had a financee named Madison. Furthermore in this reality it is Sam who wants to leave his normal life behind, who feels like he doesn’t fit in, whereas Dean is the one who is reluctant about leaving his old life behind. And in the end it all comes down to Dean, because he is the one Zachariah talks to.

At this point of his life Dean struggles with being a hunter and with the task he has been given (to stop the apocalypse). Zachariah creates a reality/identity that is the exact opposite of what Dean is/what he has. And he does so to show him that the life Dean has, that as a hunter, is what he really wants and who he is destined to be. I think Zachariah gave Dean several of Sam’s characteristics because for once the show has always portrayed Sam and Dean as opposites (though the reality of course is a bit more complex than this). The other thing is that Dean perhaps is a bit jealous of Sam. Sam had a way out, had a normal life, even if it was only for a short time. So Dean, who see himself as a grunt, gets the higher education here, the better job, his adopted family becomes his real family (and his actual brother a stranger) and he is allowed to admit to like things our Dean would never (performing Dean anyone?). But it takes nothing more than a simply ghost hunt for the facade to break. Sam might be the first to suggest to leave their lives behind but in the end Dean comes along as well: he realizes that his current life doesn’t make him happy, that there are more important things to do. It is the lesson that Zachariah had tried to teach him all along: that he was born to be a hunter, no matter what. Even in a reality where he grew up normal, where he had access to education, had a great job and felt no longer the need to pretend to be anyone else he still ended up hunting. Zachariah tries to tell Dean that not the circumstances of his life made him a hunter but that it is in his blood. It is something we saw in 2x20 as well: no matter the circumstances Dean remained a hunter. But in 2x20 Dean’s memories of a life as hunter were still intact. And even though Zachariah tells Dean that he altered his memories (so technically this isn’t an alternative reality, but an alternative Sam & Dean) I think Dean still subconscious remembered his old life. Because he needed to in order to learn his lesson.

Zachariah’s lesson is that Dean needs to accept his destiny and that his destiny is to be a hunter, no matter the circumstances. It is the opposite of free will. Sam and Dean still had their old memories (Sam’s visions) and Zachariah carefully manipulated them in a way that they would get to the same conclusion as he did: that they are meant to be hunters. Ironically it is a lesson Dean has already learned: in 2x20 he remained a hunter even in his perfect life, and later in season 6 while he gets the apple pie life he can’t stop being a hunter and ends up back on the road. It is something Dean already believes about himself: that the only thing he will ever be good at is hunting and that he has no chance to live a normal life. By season 12 though he has accepted his life as a hunter, he values it and furthermore since 12x22 we know that Dean acknowledges that what happened to him wasn’t fair, that he never really had a choice, and that the circumstances made him who he is and no destiny.

5x04 The End

Whatever you do, you will always end up here. Whatever choices you make, whatever details you alter, we will always end up—here. I win. So, I win.

I always feel like this episode deserves a special place because it is the one alternative reality that inspired the most meta, fan art and fan fiction. My personal relationship with this episode is kinda complicated. From an objective point of view I appreciate that it is clearly one of the best episodes of the whole show, beginning with Ben Edlund’s writing and ending with the terrific acting from everyone involved. Personally though I hate to see these dark fucked up versions of the characters; it breaks my heart every single time to see them like that. But then again that was the point. And seeing how it is again Zachariah who was responsible for this, this is the reason why he is one of my favourite villains of the show.

The interesting thing about this episode is that when it aired nobody could tell if what we saw was time travel or an alternative reality. By the time the episode was written nobody could know the show would air long enough that we would actually get to see 2014. And up until then there was still some discussion if this reality might still come true. Even now there are some people who argue that Zachariah did indeed show Dean the future – one of many possible futures (the one where Sam said yes to Lucifer).

I personally always saw this episode as an alternative reality Zachariah created to get Dean to say “yes” to Michael. While angels have the power to travel back in time I don’t think they can travel in the future as well. The future is too fluid and could change every minute (and therefore Jack showing Cas the future in 12x19 should be another indicator for not trusting him). And in fiction showing someone their future never ends well (#self-fulfilling prophecy).

So let’s take a look at this episode as an alternative reality created by Zachariah for Dean. Zachariah wants to show Dean what happens when he doesn’t accept his destiny, doesn’t say “yes” to Michael, and Sam on the opposite does. Interesting enough it doesn’t end up with “all your friends are dead”-scenario. The only character that dies is Bobby (though I think he also represents hunters in general, because none of those we know seem to be alive anymore). No, Zachariah shows Dean that there are fates much worse than death. First of all the world as we know doesn’t exist anymore. The croatoan virus has killed many people and the few left try to survive somehow, gathered together in small camps. Cas has fallen, becoming almost human, whereas the angels don’t care anymore. He tries to numb himself with drugs and sex. He is broken and though it isn’t explicated stated the subtext makes Dean responsible for Cas’s state. If Cas is broken though, then future!Dean is something even darker. He kills infected people without mercy and is willing to sacrifice his friends and people who look up to him to have a shot at killing Lucifer. And then there is Sam, who has long ago given up and said “yes” to Lucifer. Sam exist no more, just his body who is worn by the devil. It is the final piece that breaks our Dean from the present. In the end Dean learned his lesson, but not the one Zachariah tried to teach him. He doesn’t say “yes” to Michael, but instead realized that the only way to stop the apocalypse is in working together. He tells Cas to never change, appreciates him for who he is after he saw how broken future!Cas was. He turns to Sam, forgives him, in order to prevent his little brother to say “yes” to Lucifer.

The brilliance of this episode comes from its darkness. If 2x20 showed us a more or less perfect world, this is the opposite of it. This is the worst case scenario for Dean. A world he couldn’t save, where everyone he ever loved is either dead or just a broken shell of what they used to be. In hindsight it showed us the darkest versions of each character: three men who stopped caring about the world and themselves. Who are no longer willing to fight. Who gave up.

I bet Dean still has nightmare about this world.

6x15 The French Mistake

Don't like this universe, Sammy. We need to get out of this universe.

Aka the most meta episode to ever meta. Seriously I don’t even know how casual fans watch this, because they miss out all the fun and references. I don’t think this episode had a big meaning for the overall narrative but was rather a gift for the fans, and the show making fun of themselves. Of course we can argue if the reality we see here is actual real, but then again I don’t think that an angel like Balthazar has the power to transport humans from one reality to another. I rather think that just like in 5x04 this reality was created, this time though not to teach the Winchesters a lesson but to hide them. It might be a stretch, but given that the Supernatural books exist in Sam and Dean’s universe it is possible Balthazar created an universe where those books were adapted and Sam and Dean are forced to act out their lives from their own reality. They still learn a lesson though: a) they are really bad at acting and b) they prefer their own lives, without money or fame, but where they get to be brothers and save lives.

6x17 My Heart Will Go On

You see, I save a boat, one thing leads to another, which leads to another thousand things, and yada, yada, yada.

Or an exercise in alternative history. Balthazar travelled back in time, prevented the Titanic from sinking and thousands of people who should have died didn’t and therefore changed history in a massive way. These people and their descendants then would cause thousands more souls that Castiel needed in the Civil War that happened in heaven in season 6. Unlike the other examples where angels or a djinn created an alternative reality this reality was real. By changing the past Balthazar changed the present. A lot of the old reality is still true: Sam & Dean are still hunters and they still prevented the apocalypse. Some of the details of their new reality change though: they drive a Mustang instead of an Impala and Cuba is a popular holiday destination. The biggest difference though is that Ellen and Jo are still alive and Ellen is married to Bobby. Fate now tries to fix this mess: she kills the descendants of the people who should have died on the Titanic, as none of those people should exist in the first place.

This episode again focus on the theme destiny vs free will. Atropos, one of the three fates, followed the script until Sam and Dean and Cas no longer followed their destiny but wrote their own ending. Her job became obsolete. And it is because Sam & Dean & Cas threw out the script that Balthazar followed no longer the rules of not changing the past. While we had time travel episodes before (4x03 and 5x13) Sam and Dean never changed the past – they were also meant to go back in time, still following the script. And while it is possible to still change your destined future changing the past will have massive consequences.

The moral dilemma for Sam and Dean is that while they know what Balthazar did was wrong they also know that going back in time and let the Titanic sink once again will cause not only the death of the people on the ship but also Ellen and Jo’s death. In the end neither Sam or Dean have to make this choice (though they decided to kill Atropos) but it is Castiel who learns that even though destiny no longer exists you can’t change the past like this. Otherwise he could have prevented the apocalypse by simply going back in time.

Cas says you don’t need to be ruled by fate. You don’t have to follow the path that is destined for you. But in order to change your future, to become a master of your own fate, you need to let go the past.

12x23 All Along the Watchtower

This is a world where you were never born. It's a world you never saved.

For all my talking about alternative realities this is the first time I would argue that we see an actual parallel universe. All the other alternative realities were specifically created for the Winchesters, or in the case of 6x17 our reality was changed through changing the past. The world we see in 12x23 though is a world that exists parallel to the universe Sam and Dean live in. And it took the birth of a Nephilim (and not just any, that of an archangel) to open a portal to that world. So while I think angels have the ability to alter the reality in some ways (through time travel or for a limited time) they don’t have the power to travel to parallel universes. And there is a reason for it. Because if anything season 12 was about cosmic consequences (tagging @mittensmorgul because I know she wrote a lot about this). In 12x09 Billie tells the Winchesters that breaking their deal (the life of a Winchesters for getting them out of prison) would cause cosmic consequences. Cas is the one who breaks the deal and seeing how he ended up dead in the end we can argue that these are the consequences. Billie’s deal though wasn’t about Cas originally but about the Winchesters. Technically both of them should be dead by now. They both died, multiple times, but were brought back again and again. They disrupted the cosmic order and cosmic balance. Bringing back Mary, who of course is supposed to be dead as well, is the cherry on the cake. If unsinking the Titanic caused a ripple effect than so does resurrecting Mary, even though the past stayed the same. We can argue how many of the things that happened in season 12 wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for her. By the end of 12x23 the universe in a way fixed that cosmic unbalance by taking Mary out of the equation again, though of course by now the damage is already done (the birth of Jack which causes another power unbalance). And while I personally loved that they brought back Mary and what they did with her character the show followed through with the thought that her resurrection would have consequences on a cosmic scale. And while I hope that they bring Cas back in season 13 I also hope they show that his resurrection will have consequences as well.

So what does this got to do with parallel universes? Now that we know they exist imagine they were ways to easily travel to them. Many people already speculated about the possibilities of seeing alternative versions of our characters (such as alternative Bobby). But what if they cross universe? Just like Mary they would be at a place where they are not supposed to be. Even the fact that Lucifer and Mary from our world ended up in another universe will have consequences. Because in that universe Mary is again supposed to be dead and there is a chance that this universe has now two Lucifers. Which is the reason I think we will see this universe again and fix some of the mess (though I hope they finally kill Lucifer in the process).

On a meta level this episode works back to back with 12x22. In 12x22 Dean confronts his mother about the deal she made – the deal that would bring back John, therefore cause the birth of her sons, marking them as vessel and would result in her own death. Dean lists all the consequences of that deal – how he had to grow up without a mother, what it did to his father, what it forced him to become (a parent), the horrible things Sam had to live through (losing Jess, going to hell etc). 12x23 now shows us a universe where Mary never made that deal. John died and Sam and Dean were never born. We can only assume some other poor souls became the vessels for Michael & Lucifer and the apocalypse that Sam and Dean prevented actually happened. It shows us that for all the horrible things that happened after Mary’s deal that in the long run it saved the world. In 12x22 her sons forgave Mary for the choice she made. 12x23 showed us the cosmic consequences of said deal.

No matter if the alternative realities we saw on Supernatural were specifically created or showed us in the case of 12x23 an actual parallel universe the narrative purpose is the same. Faced with different realties our characters are meant to learn something about themselves, about who they are but also how the choices they and others made influenced them. Some showed us their darkest versions (3x11 & 5x04) and in some ways served as foretelling. Some question if they are meant to always be hunters (2x20 & 4x17). In the end it is both the circumstances and our choices who made us who we are. We can’t outrun our past and the influence it has on us. But we don’t need to be ruled by our past as well: we can learn from our mistakes and find a better way. And if anything I think this was the biggest message from season 12.

#supernatural #supernatural meta #spn meta #spn 12x23 #alternate universe #spn 2x20 #spn 3x11 #spn 4x17 #spn 5x04 #spn 6x15 #spn 6x17 #my meta #what is and what should never be #mystery spot #it's a terrible life #the end #the french mistake #my heart will go on #all along the watchtower

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drink-n-watch · 6 years

Text

Genre: Everything that Irina Loves

Episodes:23

Studio: White Fox

It’s amazing how quickly something can seep into your normal. You repeat the same actions under the same circumstances a few times and just like that, it’s a ritual. Comforting and familiar. You miss it when it’s not around. Before you can even notice, it’s a little part of your life, and tiny little spec of what makes you, you.

Since April 12, 2018, every Wednesday evening I’ve come home to watch an episode of Steins;Gate 0, then I savoured it. I took it in my mind with me and let it settle as I drifted off to sleep so the next day, I could try to tell you all about it. I truly wanted to share the experience with you in an unvarnished, honest way. I wanted to give you all of my thoughts and feelings and to heck with pretence and pride. It often came out in a jumble of passion and directionless enthusiasm.

On Friday evenings I would relive the episode in stop motion form to capture images and put it all together, ready to publish by Sunday. Even after a long week, I enjoyed taking this time, screencapping away.

Like most of my episodic posts, my Steins;Gate 0 reviews have had relatively modest success. But that’s fine too. It made sense that such personal and intimate posts would be seen by the few close readers that have gotten to know me best. That was comfortable…and familiar.

where have I heard this before?

And so, for some time now, Steins;Gate 0b has become a part of my reality. It’s made a tiny mark on me. I’m the girl who looks forward to Wednesday evenings. The girl who’s a little quieter and pensive on Thursdays and a little too contempt on Monday mornings. The girl that mumbles El Psy Congroo under her breath and giggles in her head. I have come to enjoy being that girl. Today, I’m going to be that girl for the last time. I couldn’t have asked for better company.

Steins;Gate 0 has been a ride! If you want a proper review, I’m sure you have plenty of options. This isn’t going to be one. I probably couldn’t write one even if I wanted to. I’m a little biased…

WordPress’ digital editor always screams at me when I start sentences the same way. It’s an issue with drinking games… This is why I put this little buffer in before continuing. Steins:Gate 0 is a series that trades and relishes in nostalgia while betraying the expectations built upon those memories. I don’t think you need to have seen the original to enjoy this season, but it certainly adds a ton to it. In any case, although the story is different and the themes almost opposite, it’s pretty safe to say that it will likely appeal to the same audience.

good pertinent cap, right? so proud!

This is a time travel story meant to take you back in time. Back to the original, which is still beloved by so many fans. It’s clearly pandering and I bought it hook, line, sinker, rod and probably part of the fisherman’s glove. This show was written for me. It did exactly what it was suppose to. It took me back to a time when I was a little anime lover and time travel otaku who had no friends to share those particular passions with and stumbled unto a fan patched version of the visual novel. To a time where I was completely engrossed in that world. For months, I live in Steins;Gate’s version of Akhibara.

I remember once overheating my laptop while playing and having it unexpectedly shut down and refuse to start up again. My only concern was that I might not be able to find the game and mostly the English language patch again. I couldn’t care less about the computer itself, everything else on it or my progress. The first time I found Steins:Gate, I found a place where all my disjointed passions came together in a format that was my preference. I found a home.

A decade later, fearful and suspicious, I stepped back into that world that had meant so very much to me. I was suspicious and defensive. How can you possibly catch lightning in a bottle twice? And then, I was home. Only this time, for the first time, I get to invite friends over.

little Suzu is the embodiment of adorableness

I told you this was not going to be a review…. OK this is the deal, Steins;Gate 0 is a lot like the original and also very different. By now, enough has been said on both that my post is unlikely to either sway or inform you. Instead, this post serves as a place to hold all my feeeeelings about the season but also to tell you a bit about this final episode.

Shocker: I liked it. What can I say, I’m a girl in love. It’s not as if I’m completely blind though. I realize there were some issues. We never got back to the second Reading Steiner. Judy’s role was useless and a lot of the characters are dreadfully underdeveloped. Farris the great is lost forever in the folds of time. That’s just tragic. The darkest future lacked the narrative connective tissue to make the emotional impact it could have. Why was Moeka with Maho in the first episode? You can tell that in the editing process meant to adapt a multi branching VN narrative to a basically linear one, some plot threads where excised not quite a cleanly as they could have. I don’t care, I loved it.

And really, the final episode wasn’t perfect either. Those directorial choices were plain to see. This was a story cut down to fit the format and the director obviously had to pick what would stay and what would go. The action is streamlined and half skipped over. Only a few characters get to grab unto the spotlight. These were hard decisions but the fact is, if you want to get somewhere, eventually you have to pick a path. Steins;Gate 0 picked the prefect one.

cried when I watched it, cried when I got the screencap, cryin’ now…

Visually, the episode opens as a parallel to the ending of the first season. Okabe backlit and depressed in the streets of Akhibara. The episode itself twined around and intermeshed with the ending of the original Steins;Gate in one glorious Ouroboros. We finally got the full view of how both stories fit together, crossing paths for only one second and changing the future for eternity. Cynically you could call it a huge load of fanservice for fans of the original. At least at first sight. I call it beautiful.

Thematically though, it was quite different from Steins;Gate, and that’s what I adore about it. We never saw Kurisu again and Amadeus is gone forever. This time, the difficult choice is made. This is the worldline where love doesn’t conquer all. It’s also the worldline where decisions have eternal consequences. If Steins;Gate was about having it all, Steins;Gate 0 is about the importance of compromise. But closing one door in order to open another is a powerful gesture. There’s something deeply comforting about that. A sense of purpose and urgency that brought out the very best in everyone.

only Mayuushi can save Mayuushi!

Mayuushi was a force to be reckoned with. This is a character that was essentially a walking, talking damsel in distress trope. And yet, our eternal little victim saved absolutely everyone through sheer strength of will and never faltered for a second. The damsel in distress was allowed to pick up the sword and become a hero. It took a decade to get there, and it was well worth the wait.

The unfortunately underused Moeka was given a sliver of agency and more importantly hope, for a second she looked like a real person and not a puppet. Moeka has always been one of my favorite characters and generally favorite villains. The idea of an average someone being so deeply broken that they willingly make themselves into a weapon as it is less painful than being a person, was as terrifying as it was sad. Her every appearance in Steins;Gate 0 send a shiver down my back. Giving her a chance at a different life, brought a smile to my lips.

As for Kagari, her trajectory is similar. In essence she’s also nothing but a tool. But Kagari had something Moeka never had. A mother who loved her. As we bid goodbye to the season we also saw Kagari as her best self. A small child longing for her mommy.

now that’s quite the ensemble

And Suzu… My dearest Suzu. It’s not that much longer to type out Suzuha but I always shorten her name. It’s a nickname, you see. We have a rapport Suzu and me. Few characters have endured more. It would have been easy to write her as an ultimate badass having sacrificed all emotions in order to survive. She tries to pretend sometimes. But Suzu did manage something amazing in the eleventh hours. She actually figured out how to be vulnerable without being weak.

This was an episode full of heroes.

Somewhere along the twisting and turning timelines…uhm worldlines… Steins;Gate matured. 0 is no longer the insecure kid that needs it’s leading man to be everything to everyone. It’s secure enough to spread the glory around. It can handle ambiguous relationships that aren’t clearly defined and long term friendships that don’t lead to dating. It’s also grown up enough to trust us, the audience. To let us figure out what it was saying without over explaining everything. That’s what happens when you get older, you learn to let go.

I think so too!

I adored that no one got the girl. In the end, there’s no real indication of who “the girl” even is. This time that’s not what it was about. Everybody got a turn at the wheel. For everything it failed to do, Steins;Gate 0 finally gave the little girls lost a chance to chose their path and find themselves. That’s worth a whole lot in my book

But where would Steins;Gate be without the Mad Scientist of the hour! Few characters have gone through as much growth and regression and regrowth as Okabe Rintaro. The man has his faults. Many, many faults… He can be frustrating, annoying, unbearably selfish. When he’s not being a cringe inducing doofus, he’s a complete downer. Who could blame you for being over the guy? But you still got to admit, that Hououin Kyouma’s got some swagger!

‘Cmon, don’t tell me you did cheer out loud when his silhouette came into view at the last second. Now that was an epic Big Fat Hero moment.

I mean it… don’t tell me. In my worldline we all applauded and cheered, laughing loudly. We hugged and danced around the living room. Buddy watched us, confused. It was a great moment. Don’t take it away!

I had a great time these past few months. I was really happy you were there too. If ever you want to take a stroll back down memory lane, you can relive the good times with me:

Steins;Gate 0 Ep1 – In Memory of Things That Never Were

Steins;Gate 0 Ep2 – Kindred Spirit

Steins;Gate 0 Ep3 – Little Girls lost

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 4 – Confabulation

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 5 – The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 6 – The Best of Times and The Worst of Time

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 7 – Strange Bedfellows

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 8 – Okabe And The Real Girl

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 9 – The Comfort of a Familiar Ache

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 10 – Space Time Oddity

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 11 – Anti-Thesis

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 12 – MEAMs

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 13 – Discrepancy

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 14 – The Disapearance of Kagari Shiina

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 15 – Hope for the Future

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 16 – Those Who Fail to Learn From History…..

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 17 – The Second That Lasts Forever

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 18 – Never Trust A Professor

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 19 – Meaningless Consequences

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 20 – The Once and Future Okabe Rintaro

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 21 – Going Back to Yourself

Steins;Gate 0 Ep 22 -A Nostalgic Sorrow

I’ve been reducing the number of pics. They slow down my site. Also Crunchy roll has recently changed making image capture much harder. Still I couldn’t resist this week. Here are a ton of pics. Doesn’t that Mayu and Suzu pic have slight yuri vibes?

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Steins;Gate 0 – Time Heals All Wounds Genre: Everything that Irina Loves Episodes:23 Studio: White Fox It's amazing how quickly something can seep into your normal.

#action #drama #friends #Mystery #sci fi #Steins;Gate #Time #wow

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