#and basically all of the recurring supporting characters are here

[sonknuxadow]

i really hope that sonic racing crossworlds has a lot of dialogue like team sonic racing did because theres so much potential for fun interactions between characters who dont get to interact much or have never officially met at all with the amount of characters that are in this game

[lu-is-not-ok]

So I'm going over some various Canto Finale Dungeon Events to look at check bonuses and maluses, and the first one of real interest is in Canto 3's. Linking to the wiki page that lists it: https://limbuscompany.wiki.gg/wiki/Branch_K-02/Floor_2

It's "A Rotting Corpses's Momento". Basically, there's a dead Inquisitor with something inside (a Seal you can spend later on). You gotta send a Sinner to root around and find it. Ryoshu (Loves Gore) and Rodion (willing to put in work for shiny stuff) get +2s, Sinclair and Hong Lu get -4s and if they fail, more SP loss.

Sinclair tracks. He's got a weak stomach for that kind of stuff, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on Hong Lu getting a malus. He doesn't really have problems with violence, not like Sinclair, he's not offput by blood or gore. (If there's any more interesting Hong Lu bonuses or maluses on checks I'll send more asks later)

Oooh, now this is interesting! Let's see... I think I have two different possible interpretation. One that assumes this multiplier is fully genuine, and one which assumes it's not so much.

The latter idea is that the negative multiplier is one Hong Lu normally wouldn't genuinely have, but it's one he's acting as if he has based on his own read of Sinclair.

Consider this. Sinclair is thus far the only Sinner that is anywhere close to being of the same financial/class status as Hong Lu. He's the only other Sinner with the correct experience of being raised in a wealthy household, and as such he's in the unique position of being able to call bullshit on whatever Hong Lu might try to spin as his background.

Mind you, this isn't just my opinion - this is something that the story content following up after Canto 3 supports as well. In fact, Sinclair is shown to be one of the few people whose questioning of Hong Lu's demeanor and attitudes is a recurring thread.

Likewise, Hong Lu uses Sinclair as a springboard to make his story more believeable by implying that whatever knowledge he may have that differs from Sinclair's is just a silly little cultural difference, instead of what it actually is - him being way more knowledgeable than someone who claims to be sheltered would otherwise be.

Then there's also this moment in Canto 5, where after Hong Lu's story gets an extremely negative reaction out of Sinclair, Hong Lu appears to course correct and alter the story to be far less horror-focused.

Like, looking at the tone in which Hong Lu was telling the story before that last sentence, it's pretty clear to me how this ending is not what he initially meant to say. It's too abrupt, his tone shifts too much for it to be the natural conclusion, and everyone who follows up the story with their own thoughts and reactions makes it clear it was that odd of an ending in-character as well. It's a change he made because he realized he misjudged Sinclair's tolerance for this type of thing, and thus it could make him look bad.

All of this, to me, shows that Hong Lu is very much aware that he has to be extra careful around Sinclair when it comes to how believable his lies are. Not only because Sinclair himself has the ability to call his bullshit, but also because for the other Sinners, he's the only other person on the bus they can compare Hong Lu to. And if the two's reactions and tolerances for things start to diverge too much, this could cause the others to start asking questions he can't answer easily.

With all that laid out, I believe one of the ways to interpret Hong Lu's check modifier here is just that - him trying to align his own reactions and tolerance to that of Sinclair's. This is Sinclair's Canto after all, where every Sinner ends up with their attention focused on him and his circumstances. There's more spotlight on how Sinclair acts around things like bodies than there ever was before that point. To Hong Lu, it's the perfect opportunity to observe Sinclair and in turn affirm his position as an even more sheltered and naive person by following his example.

However, this is just one interpretation. I do have another, alternate interpretation - one that assumes the modifier is a reflection of Hong Lu's genuine feelings rather than a reflection of his act.

Because, as it turns out, there is something interesting going on here!

While Hong Lu shows no real aversion to blood and gore the way Sinclair does, and he appears to be outright immune to physical pain, he is depicted as having a very odd attitude to messing with already dead bodies.

This is primarily shown through the second log he wrote for the Pink Shoes Enchantee/Posessee enemies.

It's a very strange backpedal of Hong Lu to do. It draws attention to the fact that Hong Lu would in fact be interested in hearing things about the body itself, considering his initial instinct is to say he'd tell a servant to describe what it looks like.

It makes me wonder if it's a clue as to what part exactly Hong Lu considers to be "that gross sight". Is it really just the fact that there's a dead body, or is it more specifically the idea of messing with it and taking its things?

It would certainly explain why he'd have a negative modifier for this check. After all, if he does indeed consider the act of looting a corpse so disgusting that he would have looked away and made someone else do it, one can imagine that being told to actually do it himself would not be something he'd be happy with.

And, of course, there is also the option of the negative modifier being caused by a mix of both interpretations. It could be that it's his genuine feelings that he's further exagerrating and exploiting for the sake of making his act more believable.

[thecourtoflionsandwolves]

I received this question, but the person didn't want it to be publicly posted to avoid also getting trolls on their inbox and I don't blame them. But I still want to answer it so I'm doing by reposting it and preserving their privacy.

Message: "I'm sorry but I'm not sure how Sam is the co-lead in s2. If you are a casual fan, you don't get that. You'd think the lead is Jacob and co-lead Delainey (she is a woman so different category? Assad is next). Sam? Is barely there. You have to know Lestat's role in the books to think that he will come back and have a role different than what was already shown. Maybe there is something I'm missing here, but shouldn't "co-leads" be what makes sense in the current plot/season and not what may come in the future?"

Exactly. First of all, there are different types of shows. You have a show with only one main actor where everyone else is a guest or recurring actor at best, but never part of the regular cast, so it's basically just one person doing all the press, posters, being submitted to awards etc (example: The Mandalorian). Something similar with two co-leads, like Supernatural. Everything else works just the same, but the difference is that it is two people instead of just one. An ensemble show with an hierarchy, where some will be leading and others will be supporting characters, but they're all part of the main cast, featured on almost all episodes, individual and group interviews, they show up on posters (the leads will be bigger and on the front center while the supporting characters will be smaller and on the back/side), supporting characters still get big arcs even if they have a shorter screen time than the protagonist(s), like, for example, Stranger Thing. An ensemble show without hierarchy, where there isn't a clear protagonist, the credits are just a formality, everyone has the same relevance, the posters, promo etc are basically equal, there might be some rotation (like episode 1 is centered on character A, episode 2 on B and on) for logistic reasons and to be able to accomodate everyone, but if you compare everything at the end, it's still pretty balanced, like Pose.

Interview With the Vampire is an ENSEMBLE SHOW. I'm still not sure if it is supposed to have an hierarchy, but it's not a show just about Lestat and/or Louis. Claudia has relevance. Armand has relevance. Daniel has relevance. Gabrielle, Maharet, Mekare, Merrick, Marius and David will have relevance if/when they show up. There are situations where one person is kept out of things for plot reasons (when they hid Assad on season 1, it did make sense because then Armand was a secret, but it doesn't make sense now), logistics or personal reason, like a main actor not giving interviews because they just had a baby or something, but otherwise always being included in the press tour. There isn't anything stopping them from using Jacob, Delainey and Eric (and they're doing it now, proving that all the focus on Sam was a choice and bullshit) and Assad (that they're still ignoring).

It's hard to know exactly what they will do with IWTV because it's still a work-in-progress, they're still going season by season, it isn't set in stone which books and how much of their plots they're using, but even if they want Louis and Lestat to be the leads, there might be situations where someone else appears more, like Armand on season 2 having more screen time than Lestat, and I'm assuming also more than Louis on season 3 since Armand is a big part of the second book. And unless something changes, Rolin did say something about having a plan for Armand for multiple seasons. Sam might be a co-lead (still debatable to me, but I let anons have it for a moment because I'm avoiding fights and that's still a high possibility anyway), but even if Assad isn't bigger or as big as him, he's still important and should be treated as such. But they aren't doing that with him. Heck, they weren't even doing that with Jacob that has the best scenes, screen time, is on every poster etc. They treated it like the Lestat show for one or two entire month(s). And that's not only utterly bullshit, but it's something that I've NEVER SEEN BEFORE. I've been watching television for decades and I've never seen them only constantly using only one person to promote an ensemble show, let alone one that appeared so little on the season.

[smolstarthief]

Going back to this post here and just continuing to look more into things about the types of magic in Runeterra. That and chatting with @the-rebellious-one in the replies of it a bit! Anyhow just kinda observing the type of magic Viktor would have should things have gone differently and the most I thought so far was:

Chronomancy (Time)

A form of elemental magic involving time manipulation (seems to be considered a form arcane magic too?). Time and probability magic was something the-rebellious-one brought up in the replies. From what I gathered it can enable the user to speed up or slow down time buuuut if they're able to master it well enough then they can send themselves to different points of time depending on things or just remove something from the flow of time. This is primarily based on how Mage/Bad Future Viktor was able to travel to that specific moment of Jayce's childhood to save him and his mother's life and give him a different rune each timeline. Perhaps he developed that after realizing the consequences of his "Glorious Evolution" since there didn't seem to be traces of the magic he utilized with the Hexcore fused into him so maybe he could have awakened to or just gained that somehow? If he was born naturally as a mage but never harnessed or realized it then would have been pretty sad there. Not super, super sure about the possibility of also having the ability to stop or reverse time with this (most answers I see are "no" on that but then there's Ekko but I think his case is via Hextech) but who knows with the slight liberties Arcane took here and there.

Runic

It's described as a combination of Celestial and Elemental magic. Most commonly brought up character in League regarding this as an example is Ryze (who was also thought to be the mage who saved Jayce in the show until the twist reveal). Again, kinda based on Mage!Viktor since he seemed to have many different runes with him (besides the ones he gave to each Jayce) and there appears to be rune tattoos on one of his hands and fingers (oh boy that would hurt if that specific hand was the one that got augmented as a result of Sky getting killed which I think is his right? Based on where he's holding his staff it's most likely his right side).

Hell, when he performs the spell, he's surrounded by runes.

(Look at this fucking showoff I can't--!)

Anyhow, I guess another example would be when Present!Viktor actually carved runes onto himself while experimenting with the Hexcore as well so that can probably support it a bit even if it was from him probably studying about it. Now Runic Magic can vary it seems. It can kinda boil to what kind of runes you utilize and write/carve (whether on yourself or an item/stone/weapon). It can be say, firing arcane energy or even extending your lifespan or utilizing any element depending on the runes in your arsenal.

Both this and/or just Chronomancy can kinda fit Viktor a bit considering how part of his downward spiral was his desperation to live upon getting confirmation that he's dying. Especially in regards to time being a recurring theme of his it seems to be a bit. Especially in regards of how he has butterfly motifs as well (imho and you know, Butterfly Effect).

Healing

This is something that all forms of magic can have and I feel like considering his stint as a healer in Season 2 Act 2 I think it would work... Just without the disastrous results. For example, a user of Spirit Magic can have the potential to regenerate injuries via healing one's soul and even heal minds while Celestial Magic users can simply heal wounds and fully heal an individual.

But considering that he's considered a Battlemage (basic tl;dr: Strong in damage, crowd control, survival but lacking in terms of defense, cooldown, and range) in League it may not work entirely but hey, maybe in another universe perhaps! It can possibly fit considering his own goals.

The most common idea I saw was Void but I feel like it isn't? Namely since it involves the absence of magic. Granted, I can see why it was commonly thought or theorized to be such since it does involve a mortal's mind being shattered upon being shown a painful glimpse of unreality as a result of contact with it. And who's to say it was what was speaking to Viktor previously at the Hexgate. Personally, I don't think so but I can see the why here and who knows really.

That's the most I can gather so far. I'm slowly leaning towards Chronomancy personally but I'm not super sure. Another reason is that I do want to explore that concept in my Crossover AU (New Life, New Rebellion) as part of his arc. Like he starts out with the magic he got from Hexcore but it slowly starts to kill him and after a certain point where he ends up losing it or something he tries to tap into them but finds that he gains something different which was what he was naturally born with (along with gaining a proper Persona) and this time he would utilize it properly.

(These are the posts that actually inspired me to look more into the idea here and here)

[littleplantman]

Hermitcraft/Bnha crossover alright, so, I’m not sure if anyone has thought of this before, but what if the hermitcraft/life series participants existed in the bnha/mha universe? Of course not actually IN the universe and influencing the plot. But just imagine if their persona’s had quirks and interacted with some of the characters on an off chance. This is just a random idea for an au that was festering in my brain, but it sounds almost exciting. So I was thinking, how about I make a list of their theoretical quirks and show some random strangers on the internet for my first post? That sounds like a great idea! So, without further ado! The crossover absolutely nobody was asking for (and since I can’t draw I can’t put it into an actual comic or anything) here’s some of the hermits and their quirks!

Grian- I was thinking of giving him a quirk similar to fierce wings, considering most of the internet, (myself included) pictures him with wings. But, the evolution of Grian and his Minecraft skins lead me to give him a transformation quirk, something similar to Toga’s. Although I’ll probably end up giving him a bird quirk anyway, since he also looks quite similar to Hawks too. Those two would probably fly around the city, annoying people all day.

Scar- personally, I like the idea that he would get the “anivoice” quirk, so he could actually communicate with Jellie or the other cats in neighbourhood. Either that or he could have a cat related quirk, but I think it would be funny to have someone like Shinso or Aizawa meet this guy, probably after finding him with an army of stray cats, and just sit there going, “what the heck…?” Because they’re talking to a large and slightly intimidating guy, in a wheelchair, who is really friendly, and surrounded by cats that would likely commit crimes for their dad.

Tango- his quirk would end up being something like the secret lovechild of Endeavour and Burnin. He would have flaming hair, which would make sense, but his manipulation of fire wouldn’t be that strong. Similar to how Kaminari’s quirk works, he would be able to cover his hands, or other parts of his body if you’d rather, in fire. But that would be basically the extent of it. He can’t shoot the fire out all over the place, sadly. It would be cool if he ran, or was a part of a large support company that made support items or costumes for people with fire or heat related quirks.

I’m going to make a few more of these posts, since I know it’s already starting to get quite long as it is. You can probably see a recurring theme about their quirks being based off already existing powers, but I’m mostly taking inspiration from those abilities because they’re so good, and it might make it easier for those characters to interact since they’ve got quirks similar to each other. But seriously, this is how wacky my crossover au’s could get since I have such a vast range of interests.

[kit-foley]

Nancy Drew Games are 50% off on Steam right now so here are some shitty descriptions of the games for newbies or partners (not in order, also spoilers)

Secrets can kill: dickface high schooler was pushed down a flight of stairs, find out who did it

The Silent Spy: Nancy has mommy issues and cosplays as a spy in Scotland

Sea of Darkness: all of the characters have trauma around a ship. featuring the only canonically queer character.

Deadly Device: tech bro gets electrocuted, who did it oh noooo. Feat: women in stem

Midnight in Salem: Glitch-wise, this is the fandom-equivalent of the first release of FNAF Security Breach but doesn’t nearly slay as hard and they didn’t patch any of the bugs. Haven’t played it but the fandom is 50/50 on it, maybe 80/20 against

Shattered Medallion: off brand amazing race goes wrong, feat. A recurring character who you’re supposed to know

Alibi in Ashes: Nancy didn’t commit arson (this time) so who the fuck did? See also, “I can commit major theft and prod you about your dead mom, but I draw the line at arson.”

The Captive Curse: monster and intergenerational trauma, beautifully told story. Plus lederhosen.

Shadow at the Waters Edge: ghosts and intergenerational trauma, beautifully told story. Plus kawaii

Ghost of Thornton hall; ghosts and intergenerational trauma, beautifully told story. Plus southern people.

The Final Scene: nancys friend who we’ve never met gets kidnapped. Plus magic tricks/Houdini. Plus old man.

The Haunted Carousel: Dead mom plus the most annoying daughter you’ll ever encounter and her emotional support robot. Also you’re supposed to fix a theme park

Danger by Design: Parisian fashion designer with anger issues and also might deny that nazis happened during wwii

Curse of blackmoor manor: British girl says oh no my stepmom is turning into a werewolf

Warnings at Waverly Academy; the trailer for this one said something like “I hang out with teenage girls in this one, it could be my scariest case yet”, basically be prepared to do other students homework. Also immaculate dark academia/fall vibes tho

Phantom of Venice: white boy of the month shows you his seven hour tesserae slideshow and you single-handedly bring down a crime ring while wearing stupid outfits

Trail of the Twister: someone is sabotaging a storm chasing team but Nancy cares more about asking the local general store owner about his dead wife

Secret of the Old Clock: It’s magically 1930 again, this game feels so far off brand from pretty much all of the other ones imo but the music goes HARD and there’s def some homoerotic tensions between a dead old man and his live-in psychic

Legend of the Crystal Skull: make a curio shop owner sneeze, collect glass eyeballs, watch a Gerard Way look-alike cry, and maybe get buried alive

Haunting of Castle Malloy: banshees and letterpress and a pub that conveniently only serves juice. Terrible Irish accents. Try to find a missing groom for a wedding but also enjoy a walking sim that walked so Stardew Valley could run

Creature of Kapu Cave: get stuck in a tourist trap resort by a guy who calls himself Big Island Mike, then get stuck in a forest with an entomologist who makes you do her work for her, then get stuck in a research facility with an angry white guy who makes you do his work and then falls asleep. Music slaps but no idea what the plot of the game is supposed to be. Also do a “freaky friday” style switch with the Hardy Boys every time you call them on your cell phone.

Last train to Blue Moon canyon: picture Paris Hilton inviting you on a train and then she goes missing. Also on the train with you: the worst police detective, Zak Bagans impersonator, and Colleen Hoover-vibes.

White Wolf of Icicle Creek: “I fired. And I missed. I missed again. I got sad. I had a popsicle.”

[ninjagobythenumbers]

Ninjago Character Search Engine

I made a tool where you can search Ninjago characters by name, type, allignment, species, gender, season, or a combination of all those factors. If you want to play around with it here's the link. I compiled all of the data myself so there's likely a few errors. I've already corrected where I had accidentally labeled Zane's dad as a serpentine. Please let me know if there's any problems!

How to use it

Basically, you just input the criteria you're interested in seeing. For instance, if you wanted to see all of the nindroids in Ninjago, you would do a search as follows.

An important thing you may notice here is I not only input "Nindroid", but I also input "New." I did this because my index has a new entry for each character each season. If you choose not you choose not to put "New," the output will include 21 Zanes, which is great but may not be what you're looking for.

Another thing to note is that if you're not searching by name, you need to make sure the name box is completely blank or you will get 0 results like in the following search where I left a space bar in the Name box.

If you are searching by Name, make sure the name exactly matches the entries or nothing will show up.

You can either view the entry in the index on the next sheet, or you can just find the person by inputting the proper criteria.

I also left some comments on the sheet with some useful tips! Feel free to ask any questions!

Criteria

I think it's important I explain how I created and employed my criteria as it can be pretty subjective.

Type

Type is one of my more subjective criteria. The options are Main, Supporting, Recurring, Guest, or Ensemble and I agonized over some of these placements. For instance, did Mr. F fulfill a supporting or Recurring role during season 9? Very difficult to say. Still, generally, these were my definitions. Main: Ninja (usually) or someone who significantly contributed to the plot and had a large percentage of screentime (it takes a lot for me to demote a ninja from main, but I had to in DR) ex: Lloyd in season 4

Supporting: A character that has a significant degree of screentime, their own personality/backstory, and helps another character push the plot along ex: Garmadon in season 4

Recurring: Pretty much any character that speaks in more than a few episodes ex: Chope and Kapau in season 4

Guest: A character with personality who speaks or otherwise makes a mark in only one episode that season ex: Morro in season 4

Ensemble: A character that's only in the background and/or has no personality of their own and/or is just sort of filling out an army ex: Acidicus in season 4

Allignment

Allignment is also a very tricky category. I had to make a choice about whether neutral or good would be the default for characters I don't know much about. I went with good as I feel like it fits the tone of the show. Thus, I assume for instance that Mara from Nya's class is a good person even though she's done nothing to demonstrate that.

Good: Default. Also, if you help save the world, I usually let it overshadow previous bad behaviour. ex: Arin in Dragons Rising (S1)

Neutral: You have to be pretty morally ambiguous to get this designation. I generally assigned it to influencers, anti-heros, somewhat redeemed villains, and members of morally unclear societies. ex: Agent Rodrick Allen in Dragons Rising (S1)

Evil: I generally assigned this to all antagonists, even if they weren't actively trying to destroy the world. ex: Rapton in Dragons Rising (S1)

Species

Here's a list of each species I included in my index.

Human Nindroid Demigod Skeleton Dragon Serpentine Beast Oni Ghost Djinn Hunter Construct Formling Munce Geckle Islander Merlopian Devonian Tide Unknown Miscellanous

Most of this criteria is pretty objective, so I'll only clarify the less obvious ones.

Beast: Any animal, monster, or creature. ex: Krag from the Ice Chapter

Construct: I applied this to any character created by another whether it be through magic or engineering. I excluded Nindroids because they're a large enough sub-category. ex: Bonzle from Dragons Rising or MiniPix Seven from Crystalized

Unknown: This just applies to the Forbidden Five as we don't know much about them but they don't appear human. ex: Nox in Dragons Rising

Miscellaneous: I only applied this in rare categories where not only was their species a bit unclear, but they appeared to be the only member of that species on screen. ex: Benthomaar from Seabound

Gender

Oh no, it appears I accidentally created a gender cascade. Anyway, I based character's genders primarily off of the gender of their VA , but I also took into consideration the pronouns other characters used to refer to them. I didn't do a thorough transcript search though, so let me know if I've made any errors. I designated some characters as unknown, usually because they neither spoke nor were spoken about.

Season

Season, like species, is also pretty objective but I'll clarify some of my choices. I only used titles for Day of the Departed and the Islandbecause they don't really fit into the numbered seasons. I used numbers rather than season names for the most part because they're more concise. I designated Dragons Rising seasons 1 and 2 as 16 and 17, primarily because that's how I view them, but also for this conciseness factor. I split season 17 into two seasons (17 and 17.5) because they're two unqiue arcs that different casts of characters, some of which have changed their allignments/types between part 1 and 2. I may do the same for 11 and 16 in the future.

New/Old

I put a new entry for each character so it was necessary for me to designate whether this was the first entry of the character or a repeat entry. Having multiple entries allows you to view how characters changed over seasons rather than only being able to see their initial criteria. It also allows you to see the full cast breakdown for each season.

That's pretty much it! Here's the link again. Please do play around with the search and let me know if you find anything cool. The link also includes all of my previous spreadsheets so peruse that at your leisure if you're interested. Thanks as always for reading this far and let me know if you have any feedback, made the exact same thing previously (looking at you @agenericplaceholdername ), or have requests for new spreadsheets or charts. I have a lot of options now that I've created this tool and I've very excited to use it!

[kyliafanfiction]

So, I was reading a fic on ao3 a while back - Her Bark is Worse than Her Bite, by Double_D20 (great fic, highly recommend, I don't agree with 100% of the author's interpretations or character decisions, but I mean, that never happens, but it's easily the best currently ongoing Amy-centric fic and avoids the trap of most fics that try to zero in on Amy's bitchy and vindictive sides by not acting like that's all Amy is.)

At one point in the story, it comes up as a plot point that Amy's status as a full biokinetic are well known by everyone in the Wards and the Protectorate. That seemed... off to me, and I commented something to that effect, though I do believe I added 'but it's your story'. Basically, I was pretty sure the full range of Amy's abilities weren't well known.

The author, came back, said they'd checked and as far as they could tell, it wasn't established that Amy's biokinetic status was a secret. Okay, fair enough, fine, I said as much, your story your interpretation. They came back again to say they'd checked even more and yeah, it's not established. Still not sure why they needed to keep going, but w/e. They made a decision, that's how their story goes, it suits the needs of their story.

But here's the thing. yes, it isn't established as fact for the canon that the full scope of Amy's abilities were hidden. For all that it is a common plot point in fics that Amy hides what she can do because Nilbog and Bonesaw and Blasto means bio-tinkers (not that she's a tinker) have a bad name and she's afraid of being lumped in with them, there's not really a ton to support that. Not exactly, anyway.

But there's also not a lot to support an argument that that isn't the case - though that's where different ideas about how details can be compliant with canon start to come in (i.e. is it canon compliant if it's not incompatible with canon, but there's no direct evidence for it, or is it only canon compliant if you can cite a chapter and verse on how it's true in-setting. With gradiations therein)

And whatever the case of the perception of bio-tinkers, I would argue - having had more time to think about Worm and read even more of Worm and read various fandom metas, etc - that even if there's no evidence that Amy's abilities as an effectively unlimited biokinetic are secret, it makes the most sense using the known information about something we do have.

See, we know that the fact that Amy can actually 'do brains' is only known by Victoria, at the start of canon.

“Mentally?  Emotionally?  It’s up to her to deal with the aftermath of a beating.  I can’t affect the brain.” “Well-” Victoria started to speak. “Yeah, yeah.  Not can’t.  Won’t.  It’s complicated and I don’t trust myself not to screw something up when I’m tampering with someone’s head.  That’s it, that’s all.” Victoria started to say something, then shut her mouth.  Even if they weren’t related by blood, they were sisters.  Only sisters could have these sorts of recurring arguments.  They had gone through a dozen different variations on this argument before.  As far as she was concerned, Amy was doing herself a disservice by not practicing using her powers on the brain.  It was only a matter of time before her sister found herself in a situation where she needed to do some emergency brain surgery and found herself incapable.  Amy, for her part, refused to even discuss it.

(Interlude 2)

Victoria was mad at her now.  Except mad wasn’t the right word.  Victoria was appalled, seething with anger, brimming with resentment, because Amy couldn’t, wouldn’t, heal their father. They’d fought, and Amy hadn’t been able to defend her position, but still she’d refused.  Every second that Victoria and Carol spent taking care of Mark was a second Amy felt the distance between her and the family grow.  So she took care of Mark as much as she could, only taking breaks to visit the hospitals to tend to the sick there.  She’d also needed a few to process the letter she’d received. The letter.  Carol wasn’t angry in the same way Victoria was.  What Amy felt from her ‘mother’ was a chill.  She knew that she was only justifying the darker suspicions Carol had harbored towards her since she was first brought into the family.  It was doubly crushing now, because Amy knew about Marquis.  Amy knew that Carol was thinking the same thing she was.

(Interlude 11h)

“My power doesn’t work on brains,” Amy lied. “You’re wrong,” Bonesaw said, stepping closer. “No.” “Yes.  Your power can affect people’s brains.  You have to understand, I’ve taken twenty or thirty people apart to figure out how their power works so I can put them back together again the way I want them.  I’ve learned almost everything about powers.  I’ve induced stress of all kinds on people until they had a trigger event, while I had them on my table and wired to computers, so I could record all the details and study their brains and bodies as the powers took hold.” Twenty or thirty people she’s taken apart.  However many others she’s tortured to death. Bonesaw smiled, “And I know the secrets.  I know where powers come from.  I know how they work.  I know how your power works.  You have to understand, people like you and me?  Who got our powers in moments of critical stress?  The powers aren’t meant for us.  They’re accidents.  We’re accidents.  And I think you could see it if you were touching someone when they had their trigger event.”

(Also Interlude 11h)

Interlude 2 and the first bit from 11h Establish that Victoria knows Amy can do brains, but won't. 11h doesn't really establish that Carol doesn't know this (but we'll get back to her in a second), but the fact that Amy lies to Bonesaw about this in the first place suggests pretty strongly that it's a detail she keeps secret. Bonesaw doesn't cite knowing Amy can do brains but doesn't from some knowledge about her, but from a knowledge about how powers work - she's studied powers and triggering enough to understand that just triggering with plain old healing wouldn't be a thing, and that if Amy can do all she can do, brains would be a piece of cake.

But Bonesaw is explicitly noted as knowing a lot more about this than a lot of people in-universe. Most people might not make the connection between healer - biokinetic - brains.

But it is hard to believe that if they knew Amy was a full biokinetic, that they wouldn't realize that Amy is fully capable of affecting the brain as much as everything else. And we know that Carol certainly didn't know Amy could do brains because of what she says to Alan in 15.x

“Amy has always insisted she couldn’t heal brain injuries.” Alan winced.  “I see.  The worst sort of luck.” Carol smiled, but it wasn’t a happy expression.  “So imagine my surprise when, after weeks of taking care of my husband, wiping food from his face, giving him baths, supporting him as he walked from the bedroom to the bathroom, Amy decides she’ll heal him after all.” “I don’t understand.” “Neither do I.  But we can’t ask Amy, because she ran away from home while Mark called to let me know he was okay.”

(Interlude 15.x)

It is, I suppose, possible to assume that Carol didn't believe Amy about her inability to do brains before - the phrasing of 'always insisted' could be taken to suggest Carol didn't believe her before, but it could also just be a function of the fact that Carol knows now that Amy can indeed do brains.

But we know from 11h that Carol was not pressuring Amy to heal Mark's brain at all. And I find it very difficult to believe that she'd be content to just keep letting Mark be a near vegetable if she knew Amy could heal him.

All this suggests to me, as many fanfics tend to say, that the only person who knew Amy could do brains prior to Amy healing Mark in 11h, was Vicky. And to be fair, most people tend to agree with this interpretation, even people who disagree about the secret biokinetic aspect.

Amy's ability to do brains is thus a secret, which means people had to have believed Amy when she said she couldn't, including people who do understand powers. People at the PRT and Protectorate.

For my money, it's a lot easier to rationalize 'powers have weird rules and limits' if one just sees Amy as just as healer, and doesn't know the full extent of her power, than if someone knows this girl can fucking rewrite an animal's entire genetic structure from the ground up if she wanted to... and yet somehow can't do brains. Powers do have weird rules and limits, true, but the idea that she can still not to brains despite every other form of living being does feel... really fucking hard for anyone to believe.

So while it's not impossible that at least people in the Protectorate and the PRT knew Amy was a full biokinetic, I don't think it's very likely. And really, given how we know Amy feels about her abilities in the first place, is it that hard to believe she'd keep that secret?

Yes, the canon doesn't say either way, but what fits her personality and what facts we do know better? I'd say 'biokinetic ability is secret' does, by a country mile.

But really, this issue is not a major concern wrt to Her Bark is Worse Than Her Bite. It's a great fic, go read it. Author has been updating every Wednesday like clockwork for over two months now.

[hopeymchope]

So I'm playing Tribe Nine: Initial thoughts

The latest release from Kazutaka Kodaka/Kotaru Uchikoshi's joint venture, TooKyo Games, is here on mobile devices and Steam. And it's a top-down RPG with retro sprites that transitions into an third-person action system during combat encounters. It also has 3D-rendered Komatsuzaki-style character portraits during dialogue/story segments.

My initial thoughts:

"XB" baseball isn't totally in the past after all. Despite the official website talking about how XB has been left behind in favor of "XG," you'll find yourself in the middle of an "XB" match after about an hour of play. And it's tutoralized in a way that makes it clear this will be some kind of recurring mechanic. But if you're expecting actual sports-style gameplay... don't. DON'T expect that.

Baseball matches are basically Danganronpa/Rain Code-style debates/conversations. You (as either pitcher or batter) and your opponent (in the opposite position) exchange dialogue before each pitch. The deciding moment comes when your opponent says something that appears as a massive wall of 3D-rendered text. To throw the best pitch or swing the bat well at the pitch, you have to pick a good response to the opponent's text by moving your "aim" around a grid to see different response. Mind you, during the first matchup, you'll only have ONE choice of response... but it's the tutorial. You'll have more options later on. And obviously, I LOVE to see this.

The third-person action battles are pretty intense. You really have to get good at determining when you can execute light or strong attacks (the latter taking longer to "wind up"), the latter being necessary to build up meters to execute stronger "ultimate" moves that will do the REAL damage. Enemies are relentless, requiring a lot of dodges and counters. It's well-designed, don't get me wrong. But for someone like me who isn't very experienced in playing action games on a touchscreen, it can feel pretty hard to juggle at times. So although I suppose this is impressive for a mobile game, but I don't personally love handling such intense action on mobile...

The story plays up the life-or-death stakes pretty early on. If you're worried you won't see characters dying in this thing, you can worry no longer; people are definitely going to die. We meet AND lose some members of our crew before "Chapter 1" even starts! But I guess we'll see how often that will occur.

Don't worry, though; you can still play as dead characters. You're not going to lose a character whose levels you built up just because the story declared them dead. This is explained by giving you access to "holographic" incarnations of the characters. They won't participate in story sequences anymore if they're dead, but they are still controllable on the RPG-style map or in third-person combat. This same excuse also allows you to have people in your party that aren't physically supposed to be present during that par of the story.

The Steam version seems to run like crap right now? I've considered transferring my save file over from my iOS version to my Steam Deck so I can use the button-based controls there. But upon booting up the Steam incarnation of the game, it quickly becomes clear that it's full of freezes and slowdown, so it might not be worth the hassle. Seems like it's not very well-optimized, which might explain why it's currently getting such negative reviews. However, they've already pushed out like four updates in the 48 hours since launch... so hopefully this is going to get cleared up quickly.

There's a gacha element, but it's not clear how much it matters. You can only play with a party of three characters at a time, and you're gifted three to use as soon as you can have a full party. You can use the "Enigma Entity" you collect throughout the game to "pull" for support cards you can equip to your lead trio, OR for all-new characaters. The former is appreciated since equipping these cards can grant different bonuses/benefits in combat... but the latter always unlock at Level 1 when you get them. So that's a major disincentive EVER using characters beyond the starting trio... unless we eventually are given some way to rapid-level them?

This game seems like it's set up to have a distinct ending to its main story. That wouldn't be a first for mobile RPGs, of course... as someone who played Fate/Grand Order and Magia Record before this, I've seen the main narratives conclude while the devs try to keep us engaged via side stories or by creating in-game sequel narratives. But time will tell whether we'll see some kind of extension on Tribe Nine. Perhaps more importantly, how much of the main narrative is currently even available... ?

[real-raincode-takes]

here's how i think the cast would be as classic jrpg adventure game characters:

yuma - support buffer utility character with high speed and low power sword attacks. he has a spell that has small chance to instakill, and also has an ability where he can gain one attack/spell from any ally or foe on the field

shinigami - powerful mage character with lots of deadly and explosive magic spells. her basic attacks have a high crit rate. she has an instakill too but it's more effective to just nuke the enemy with her other spells

yakou - tanky character meant to draw aggro and protect the team. he WILL complain about his role in cutscenes btw. has a decent attack stat and a special ability where he gets powered up if an ally falls in battle. dies for the plot. rip to players who invested in him.

halara - super fast with powerful physical attacks. low magic and high dodge rate. very straightforward glass canon dodge tanker

desuhiko - gimmicky character with average stats across the board. high utility and low power lightning/sound based attack spells with secondary status effects

fubuki - support healer with a resurrection spell that sacrifices her own HP. tanky, but not on yakou's level of tanky. gets a late game spell that will undo an entire turn only once per battle.

vivia - low HP and low MP but has some of the most powerful spells in the game, so you can only use him sparingly. heavy on debuffing and causing status effects such as Sleep, but is also very susceptible to getting them

kurumi - support buffer and navi-type character that records and tells you information about the enemies such as weaknesses or attack patterns

zilch (real) - the character that transforms into an animal and does claw and bite attacks

melami - summoner type mage that uses ghostly minions to attack. also does necromancy but her undead minions all have exceptional drip

zange - never a permanent party member but he kicks ass when he joins you. could carry the team all the way but is always too occupied with other shit

pucci - powerful sound-based mage with the ability to Silence enemy magic and also has an insane AOE screaming attack that hits allies too

aphex - powerful physical attacker with high defense. don't even try magic it's hopeless

(onto enemies now)

zilch (fake) - some sort of horrible slime monster that impersonates your party members and uses their attacks

swank - that first boss you fight with a really basic battle gimick. you can also pay him to instantly win the battle

martina - literally a witch. she will cast fireball on you. a lot. also has a gimmick where getting hit by her charms your characters

guillaume and dominic - double boss where guillaume keeps casting annoying debuff spells and AOEs and dominic just kills you really hard with his powerful and horrible hooves

yomi - annoying recurring boss that keeps coming back at every other plot point where he's way too powerful for your team so it's just objective: survive for several turns until the plot saves you. you finally get to defwat him in the penultimate fight

makoto - the final boss. duh. i think it's a cinematic mirror fight at the end of the game where yuma gets isolated from the rest of his team and has to hold out for a while until in the final phase when all your allies return to your side

.

[fiannalover]

bweirdOCtober Day 11 - Symbolism/Themes

Ok, this is gonna cover quite a lot of unfocused ground, and carry a decent amount of overlap with inspiration day. Let's see what we put here.

The wider setting of Medeia's story is purposefully undefined and I try to keep like that for as long as possible, but there are two particular thematic inspiration sources, those being Greco-roman and Celtic Mythology. You can see it with the name of our main character, which I'll touch upon more later, but overall a lot of Big Name Important characters over the in-universe years would take naming cues from these places, and the general presence of fae folk is always touched upon as well.

Other "installments" have their own individual baggage. "The Wondrous Village" has heavy Alice in Wonderland theming and symbolism, for example, an story afterwards would have a Grimm focus, so on so forth. But the initial greco-celtic range is always present.

Moving from coding to theme and symbolism: first, "if all life is sacred, all death is sacred. If all death is sacred, all life is sacred". Medeia's duty as a Potion Maker is to help people through medicine, but there is no such thing as immortality. Pluto, personification of death, uses power and influence to establish social aid foundations, aiming to assist people still alive. No immortality can exist. Only helping for as long as we are here.

Which is where the magic system comes in. This is a "Magic = Madness + Sadness" setting, through the coat of drug addiction and financial greed. It is not academically proven, but magic users going insane to some extent is very recurring. It is a huge part of why Medeia limits herself to Alchemy, which requires only the basics of magical skill, and even then, she's not safe.

As for individual eras:

High School/The Wizard's Niece: "Coming of age" and "acceptance you're wrong". Medeia, immensely self-assured and sure of her own self-righteousness, is forced to acknowledge she's not always right as her Uncle stands ideologically opposed to her and she has experiences with her friends

College: "Lies needed to survive everyday". You can't make everybody see the truth. Even you have your self-serving bad habits to keep on living.

Medeia in the Wondrous Village: "Denial of isolation" and "support needed for life to be worth living". Isekais are popular, are they not? But I wonder... How long would most people want to stay in one?

[fonulyn]

got tagged by @goodpointsandbadpoints and @silvercap so here we go :3

When did you start writing?

really depends on the definition of writing, but i've been writing stories in notebooks from the moment i actually learned to write. the first one i remember was about a friend group of dogs going on adventures lol. it was nine notebooks long and my poor teacher was too nice to say no so he had to read it all.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I enjoy historical fiction but I don't have the patience for the research it'd require so I won't write it. uhm. idk I read various genres but I basically only write fluffy fic so :'D i do have a fantasy project in finnish but i haven't touched it in years, so idk if it counts.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

no. I love reading different styles, and I've learned a lot from just reading authors who have very different ways of saying what they want to say. but I don't want to emulate any of them. I will do what feels organic to me.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

usually on my couch in front of the tv with the laptop on my lap lol. I don't really write by hand or on my phone unless it's a random idea I need to jot down quick and I'm not on my laptop then. the tv is always on, i need the background noise.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

lmao well that is the million dollar question, isn't it. usually going for a walk with the dog or on a longer car ride alone helps, it forces me to spin things in my brain bc there's nothing else to do. (but it can also backfire and I spiral into never wanting to write again lol) inspiration strikes at very random moments tbh. i haven't yet found much rhyme or reason in that.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

at the core, it's always about love and acceptance, learning to receive it, or craving it and not getting it. self-worth. loneliness. finding your support system. idk in general I am happy with my life but I do get lonely often and it shows, because if I can't get a good cuddle from someone who loves me then damnit the character i'm writing about sure as hell will get it! :'D

What is your reason for writing?

there are stories inside of me that need a way out.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

uhm. I want them to feel the feelings i'm trying to get across with my words. connect with the characters. and enjoy the story I want to tell.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

characterization and dialogue. soft moments where people connect. pacing, usually. hm.

How do you feel about your own writing?

i don't care how selfish this sounds lmao they're the stories i want to read and i love them. simple as that. i give me exactly what i want :'D

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

so this is my biggest weakness when it comes to writing because i can not write only for myself. i can't be a "desk drawer writer" (like the saying goes in finnish lol). that is precisely why I haven't made any progress with my fantasy trilogy (lol) in finnish in years and years, because no one i know wants to read it (fantasy is not their genre, no shade to them). i need an audience, even if it's just one person! but at the same time i am not willing to budge on what i think makes a good story lol. so in a way i do write what makes me happy but to find the motivation to finish things i'd also need to find someone who gives a crap.

but anyway.

not tagging anyone, do it if you feel like it and say i tagged you! ;)

[thatoneweirdowhoknowstoomuch]

Intro (Again)

Hey, my name is Flea, though you can also call me Bugsy (pronouns are she/he/they). I'm a yumeshipper, or someone who ships themselves with fictional characters, and I'm also really interested in obscure 80s-2000's cartoons, so if I feel like it, 90% of my blog would be me just yapping abt my (fictional) husband and my (fictional) immortal kids lmao.

Here's my yume-list:

❤️- Romantic

💙- Platonic

💟- Familial

❤️Odlaw- Where's Wally (NONSHARING; RIAKO)

My pathetic silly man of a boyfriend /hj

Antagonist; He is "mean, nasty, loathsome, and disgusting." w/ few number of good deeds, all he cares about is getting his hands on Wally's magic walking stick.

Pronouns I hc him with: He/They It (transmasc)

💙Wally- Where's Wally (Sharing)

Goofy lil guy that looks like a candycane hehehe

main character and star of the Where's Waldo; canonically a ditzy lad just following in his totally not grandfather Whitebeard's steps

Pronouns I hc him with: He/Him (Cis)

💙Flip- Little Nemo in Slumberland (Sharing)

I fear he isn't the brightest all the time; but damn does he know his way around when the chimmey isn't stuffed with smoke (don't tell him I said that /j)

a major support character and anti-hero in the Little Nemo in Slumberland movie.

Pronouns I hc him with: He/Him (Agender thx to the dream realm, but identifies as cis)

💟Professor Genius (Selective)

Meine Opa (translated: My Grandpa)

minor support character in Little Nemo in Slumberland; the chief advisor of King Morpheus

Pronouns I hc him with: He/Genius/Star (Agender by techicality?? Don't tell Opa; I fear he might *Window.XP* himself)

💟Billy Blizzard- Rupert (Selective)

My first son, and prob the eldest (literally; 70% he's immortal)

recurring villain in the Rupert Bear (TV series) tho also made apperance in the annuals

Pronouns I hc him with: He/They (Nonbinary)

💟Dark Heart- CareBears (NON-SHARING)

Second eldest (Eldritch being in disguise of a teenager)

main antagonist of the second Care Bears movie and basically Carebear's allegory for Satan (can you tell by the scarlet red? He's basically Alastor before Alastor)

Pronouns I hc him with: He/It/Chaos

💟Nicholas Cherrywood- Carebears (Selective)

My most normal son; yet canonically older in current timeline lmao (assume I'm a grandpa at this point lmao)

the former secondary antagonist of The Care Bears Movie; assistant for The Great Fettucini, until one day when he was manipulated and deceived by the evil spirit

Pronouns I hc him with: He/Him (cis)

[sure-to-lure-someone-bad]

Do y'all ever remember that we only have Luffy's backstory starting at 7 years old? What was he doing before Shanks? Where was he living? Who is his mom? Where is she? Did he have any friends? Why is he so scared of being alone?

Theory and analysis under the cut

Like, I think about that scene after Ace and Sabo had saved him from Blue Jam's lackeys a lot. Ace asks why Luffy wants to be his friend so bad and Luffy says that being alone is worse than being hurt. That's a child speaking from experience.

I also think about that scene in Chapter 137 where Luffy saves the parent of the baby Lapin even though it had almost killed him and two of his crew.

Maybe this was just showcasing how merciful and kind Luffy can be, but I don't think so. I think, in that moment, Luffy was relating to the baby Lapin. I think Oda was drawing a direct parallel to something Luffy may have experienced as a child, basically giving us a hint to more of Luffy's past. I'm not sure if it was his birth mom or a caregiver, but I think Luffy has been in a situation where a parental figure died because no one was around to help them and Luffy was too young and weak to save them.

I feel like this explains the shadowed eyes in the image. We've seen Luffy save many previous enemies without the indication that Luffy is so personally affected. I could believe that it's because he's worried about his crew, but in the next scene he has a serious expression that would've been plenty fitting on pulling up the Lapin. Maybe I'm overthinking, but I truly think there's more than concern for his crew or anger at the Lapins affecting him here.

On top of that, Luffy having a traumatic experience as a young child where he felt helpless would follow a recurring theme in his character arc. We've seen Luffy at three of his lowest points in the manga where he has been too weak to protect his loved ones.

First, chronologically, was Sabo.

Luffy has always been a passionate kid, so maybe this is his first experience with loss, but I don't think so. This seems like a reaction to feeling like being too weak to save his loved ones is a pattern. Most kids Luffy's age have a hard time grasping death. They might know that it's not a good thing, but most don't understand exactly what it means. It might be different for him because he has been around Grey Terminal, but I doubt it. Yet, he knew instantly what Dogura was saying and what it meant. There was barely a period of shock or denial.

Luffy is experiencing grief at a level of intensity that fits more with someone who knows exactly what death is. I really don't believe that this is his first time losing someone.

Second was being unable to protect his crew from Kuma.

The phrase "What's wrong with me...?!" really stands out to me here. Luffy definitely takes his role as captain seriously and knows that it's his duty to protect his crew, but we know this self-blame is also influenced by the reopening an old wound. He has worked hard for a decade to make sure he was strong enough to protect his people, and here he has failed once again.

Finally, third is the loss of his other older brother, Ace.

This, of course, led to the two year break where Luffy and his crew focused on training and becoming stronger to take on the New World. I would also like to point out that Luffy didn't emotionally stabilize until Jimbe reminded him that he still has his crew. He was grieving his brother, dealing with a sense of helplessness, and feeling alone in the world. Garp may be Luffy's grandfather, but he obviously neglected Luffy. The bandits might have grown on Luffy by the time he set sail, but I don't think Luffy considered them family in the same way as Ace and Sabo. Ace and Sabo were the only family he had until he met his crew. This isn't the grief of someone with a support network and people to motivate him. In this moment, and in all of the time since deciding to go after Ace, Luffy has pushed his nakama out of his mind. This is the grief of someone who has been too weak and feels like there's no one left to even try to protect. Someone all alone.

Luffy's character is one who's weaknesses are loneliness and helplessness, and that implies a lot about his developmental years. I truly believe that Luffy's backstory will involve the death of a parental figure. I also think that Garp either was even more neglectful than we realize or didn't know Luffy existed until he found out through Dragon.

I also think that Luffy's longing for freedom will also tie in somehow. We know he and no one who knew him as a child was a slave for the Celestial Dragons because he didn't recognize the symbol on Hancock, but maybe there was a nami and arlong-esque situation.

I'm so desperate for his backstory 24/7 lmao.

[gentlemanjimcraddock]

Wanna Try Star Trek? 2 - Kate Mulgrew and Explosions

Hello again Tumblr, it’s me, John Startrek, back to recap another episode of Star Trek in a newcomer friendly way so that I can help show just how fun and wild these shows are to watch. If you’re boldly going into this franchise for the first time, or an old hand, welcome!

The Great Trek Wheel has selected a doozy for us today, in the form of the episode Deadlock, from episode 21 of season 2 of Star Trek: Voyager. So let’s talk about Voyager.

Voyager aired for seven seasons between 1995 - 2001, launching as the flagship series for the then brand new UPN channel. The basic premise is that a fresh off the factory starship, under the command of the recently promoted Captain Kathryn Janeway, are sent out on a short mission to capture members of a terrorist group called the Maquis. During the mission, both Voyager and the Maquis ship found themselves flung to the far side of the galaxy and the two crews have to unite and travel back the long way round. Yes, this is the salamander sex show you’ve seen trekkie tumblrinas get so excited over.

With no Starfleet and no support, Voyager must make it on her own, with only the grit and gumption of her crew to protect her. She’s going to explode a lot this episode.

Before we get started, I do want to throw out a quick content warning: this episode contains the death of a small child.

We open on a charming little domestic scene. The ship’s cook, Neelix (a Delta Quadrant native Voyager had recruited back in the pilot) is asking recurring character Samantha Wildman to check on a few technical difficulties he’s been having. Samantha, despite being heavily pregnant, is only too happy to agree.

Medical Officer’s Note: Samantha Wildman’s actually been pregnant since the show started, her child having been conceived before Voyager disappeared. Given that Trek adheres to the general rule that one season is about one year in the show, this means that her baby might seem slightly overdue. However, the father is a Ktarian, and this is apparently quite normal.

Samantha goes into labour and Neelix rushes her to the medical bay, where the ship’s doctor sets about delivering little baby Wildman. By the by, the Doctor is a hologram (Voyager’s doctor having died during the events that stranded Voyager) called the Doctor. The nurse is another Delta Quadrant native named Kes.

We cut to the bridge, where everyone’s on the edge of their seats while they wait for news. Again, it’s cute, getting to see the daily lives and mundane concerns of the crew. I dunno, it makes me happy. The usually reserved Tuvok even shares that his wife once spent 96 hours in labour. The idea that Tuvok recognises the consternation of his colleagues and, instead of preaching about logic as Vulcans are wont to do, chooses to soothe their nerves instead is just the kind of charisma that Voyager’s detractors tend to overlook.

It’s not all smiles and storytimes, however, as a Vidiian ship shows up on sensors. Janeway never met an emergency she didn’t want to mud wrestle into oblivion, so she soon orders the ship to hide in a nearby plasma drift on the advice of one of her officers. There’s a pretty shot of Voyager doing just that.

Science Officer’s Note: One of the reasons for Voyager being set on the far side of the galaxy was the opportunity to create new aliens to serve as recurring antagonists. The Vidiians were one of those races. They don’t get to do a lot here, but when they do get focus they tend to be quite creepy. The entire species is dying from an incurable disease called the Phage, and they travel the stars harvesting the organs of other races to prolong their own lives.

Remember what our medical officer said about the baby being half Ktarian? That means that that little baby Wildman has horns on their forehead, which have gotten caught in the uterine wall. Yeah, I winced at that too. The safest solution is to use the ship’s transporters to teleport the baby into a nearby bed, apparently. Gotta wonder why they weren’t doing that in the first place, to be honest. I know I’d prefer it.

It’s a girl! Samantha doesn’t have a name prepared, but with the mystical powers of having watched this show before, I can inform you that her name’s Naomi. We’ll be using that going forward, cause it’s gonna come up. Due to the transporter, there’s a slight issue with young Naomi that the Doctor is going to treat with something called osmotic pressure therapy.

Just then, main power cuts out and the engines stall. Janeway called the Chief Engineer, B’Elanna Torres, and establish that the ship is rapidly running out of antimatter, basically their source of fuel. The two technobabble back and forth until they have a solution, setting off proton bursts that’ll basically keep the remaining antimatter from using itself up. Seeing as everything’s now safely in hand, it’d sure be a shame if the ship suddenly started exploding. 

Anyway, the ship starts exploding. 

Chief Engineer’s Note: Whenever the ship is under attack, hitting turbulence, what have you, they aren’t actually blowing up the set, of course. Instead, the cameras are rocked about and the actors are told to just play pretend. This makes it all the more impressive that Kate Mulgew throws herself quite so violently out of the captain’s chair during this episode.

See, the proton bursts are firing, but without any of the safety procedures in place it’s doing massive damage. Torres swears she didn’t start the procedure. In fact, one of the damaged systems is the very one they’d use to fire the bursts in the first place! Casualties are flooding in from all over the ship. Explosions are wracking the bridge, throwing our characters around violently. It’s all very tense.

There’s a rupture in the ship’s hull, down on Deck 15. Ensign Harry Kim tells Janeway he thinks he can seal it, and gets sent off to do so with the help of B’Elanna and somebody who’s not a main character. Three guesses who’s gonna die.

The Doctor’s trying his best to keep up with triage, but baby Naomi is struggling. With more bursts hitting the ship, the Doctor is temporarily knocked offline at a crucial moment. Back on the bridge, they’ve still no idea how to stop the bursts, but think they can minimise the effects with technobabble.

Lt Hogan, the non-main character, is hurt badly by an exploding panel, but Kim & B’Elanna can’t go back and help him. The big hole in the floor that leads into the yawning void of space is slightly more pressing.

This is where Naomi doesn’t make it. Even in the midst of triage, the Doctor takes a moment to comfort Samantha. But it’s not long before duty calls again, with Hogan requesting medical aid. Kes rushes off to save him.

Things aren’t going any better on Deck 15. Another burst rocks the ship and Kim falls through the breach and B’Elanna can’t save him. He’s flushed into space, dead and gone. With no time to mourn, B’Elanna turns back to help Hogan, only to see Kes run down the corridor and vanish into thin air.

And you thought Hogan was gonna die.

Despite all the tragedy around her, B’Elanna’s almost as tenacious with a problem that presents itself as Janeway. She waves a tricorder at the space where Kes disappeared and detects a spatial rift that leads to somewhere with a breathable atmosphere, which she reports in. There’s no time to explore, however, so she and Hogan evacuate the deck.

With the blasts minimised for the moment, Janeway gets a truly devastating damage report from Tuvok, including the death of Naomi. But a crisis is where Janeway thrives. With barely a moment’s pause, she starts ordering triage of their biggest problems. 

Another burst rocks the ship, causing a hull breach on the bridge and knocking out the technobabble that they’d just spent all that time setting up to minimise the proton bursts. Janeway orders a full evacuation as fires rage around her. Well, full except for her, as she stays behind to try and seal the breach.

Chakotay, the first officer, yells at her to hurry up and leave dammit. She does acquiesce, but on her way she sees a ghostly image of the crew in their seats on an unexploded bridge. The ghostly Janeway notices her too. Spooky. 

Turns out there’s a whole other Voyager, which hasn’t had any explosions tearing it apart, where Janeway has been going completely unenriched and is all about figuring out her momentary hallucination. Kim, alive and well on this Voyager, tells her that there was a momentary spatial rift, for all of a millisecond. Sadly, they can’t tell any more with all the proton bursts they’re doing to save their fuel. So Janeway orders them sped up. Uh oh.

At least Naomi is safe and healthy in this version, the therapy having worked perfectly. Also in this nice clean sickbay is a second Kes, who mysteriously appeared on Deck 15.

Ship Counsellor’s Note: With two Voyagers and two crews, things could get a little complicated. From here on out, we’ll be referring to Janeway et al from the explosion dimension as Janeway 1, Voyager 1, etc. and everything from the non-exploding Voyager will be Janeway 2 etc

Kes 1 explains what happened to her ship to Janeway 2, and is eager to get back and help Voyager 1. Janeway 2 and B’Elanna 2 pretty quickly work out that somehow the plasma drift duplicated Voyager and all the matter aboard, but not the antimatter. With two ships drawing from the same fuel source, it’s no wonder the stuff was draining so fast. Janeway 2 orders the proton bursts stopped, but that means the antimatter starts draining again.

Together, Janeway 2 & B’Elanna 2 manage to figure out a way to talk to Voyager 1, where they manage to speak with Janeway 1 who has had to set up shop in the Engineering department.

Most of this conversation happens offscreen, and afterwards the crew of Voyager 1 are torn on whether or not to trust Janeway 2. Janeway 1 says she knows enough information about the situation and her own history that she’s willing to believe it and enact Janeway 2’s plan that was not explodey enough to let us listen in on.

The plan to merge the two Voyagers doesn’t work, and instead causes more explosions. The antimatter is now haemorrhaging, the com link is lost and there’s 30 minutes of power left, if that.

Two Janeways up against a strict time limit, with the deaths of hundreds of people on the line? The universe doesn’t stand a chance.

To wit, Voyager 2 has figured out a way to send Kes 1 back to her ship, and Janeway 2’s going with her. The two Janeways talk about how to fix their mutual problem in a really tight shot that makes it look like she’s about to pin herself against the bulkhead and make out sloppy style. That’s one for AO3, I guess.

Janeway 2 recommends another technobabble solution, and Janeway 1’s already ruled it out with her B’Elanna. She counters with the suggestion to move the crew of Voyager 1 to Voyager 2, but B’Elanna 2 has already figured out that that’d make everything explode, so another no go.

There’s only one thing for it, Janeway 1 is gonna self destruct her Voyager. Janeway 2 tries to argue it with her, but not even Janeway can defeat Janeway. Janeway 1 does agree to a 15 minute reprieve, in case of any last minute genius ideas.

With Janeway 2 back on her pristine bridge, she calls up Janeway 2 and begins to describe a plan to her counterpart. I say begins, because hey, remember the Vidiians? That hostile alien race that kickstarted this plot? Well, they’ve found Voyager and neither version of the ship is able to raise shields or engage weapons thanks to the power drain. 

The Vidiians fire on Voyager but only Voyager 2 seems to be affected. And when they board Voyager, it’s only Voyager 2 that gets boarded. Outnumbered two to one and being swiftly overrun, Janeway 2 decides it’s her turn to have some explosions and announces to Janeway 1 that she’s going to self-destruct her ship so Voyager 1 can escape. What’s more, she’s going to send Kim 2 along with Naomi 2 to replace their dead counterparts on Voyager 1.

The Vidiians take out Tuvok 2 and Paris 2 easily, and the Doctor 2 tries desperately to hide Naomi 2 after sickbay is breached. Kim 2 enters, does a cool stunt, and takes out the Vidiians. Explaining that their Voyager is doomed and that he’s going over to Voyager 1, the Doctor wastes no time mourning his demise and hands over Naomi 2, along with a message about her health for the Doctor 1.

Up on the bridge of Voyager 2, Janeway 2 has just enough time to icily welcome the Vidiians to the bridge before the ship blows up. Kim 2 just makes it through the spatial rift, emerging on Deck 15 of Voyager 1 in time.

With Voyager 2 and the Vidiians destroyed, Voyager 1 is hurt but alive. Luckily, there were no further fatalities and nothing was irreparably damaged. Chakotay comforts Janeway, who bemoans but acknowledges the necessity of the other Voyager’s demise. Samantha, for her part, is just happy to have her daughter back safe and sound. Kim is a little more confused about whether he’s the same Kim as the one they lost, and whether this is the same ship as the one he woke up on that morning. Janeway tells him that they’re Starfleet: weird is just part of the job.

Often, Star Trek is a morality play. A thoughtful and nuanced discussion of ethics and philosophy. Sometimes, it’s explosions and Kate Mulgrew with a face of blood and soot, daring the universe to say that to her face. People will often bemoan when Trek turns towards action, but when it’s done well it’s a treat to watch. 

The decision to focus on the two Janeways is smart in both streamlining a potentially confusing story, but also letting Kate Mulgrew really strut her stuff. She’s on record as saying that this episode was very technically challenging for her, but also very rewarding.

The character of Janeway has gotten some guff over the years, as has Voyager the show, for not always being the most consistently written. Frankly, with a performance this good, I find it hard to care.

If this was your first Star Trek episode, would you get a good feel for the world, the characters, the inquisitive mind of Trek? No, but you’d have a hell of a good time. I can heartily recommend Deadlock.

If you've seen the episode before, or decide to give this one a try, please let me know somewhere here on our beloved hellsite.

So what’s next? Where will the Great Wheel of Trek take us?  What strange new worlds await?

Ho boy, time to hit up Enterprise.

[honouredsnakeprincess]

Righto! I have torn myself from my oh-so-dilligent art-historical studies to watch another episode of Mr Robot! That's right, it's time for my thoughts on Season 2, Episode 3! This time, I took notes, so hopefully I'll have more to say, assuming that what's under the cut is even remotely coherent~

These thoughts aren't necessarily in chronological order. I thought they flowed better like this.

Romero's dead. The first and most obvious culprit, the one suggested by both characters and framing in showing a clip of Mr Robot threatening him with a gun, is that Mr Robot is what did him in. I think it's fair to mark this as barely even a fake-out, but between him and Gideon (and Mobley referencing a plan to hide out in Arizona), it seems like the writers are trying to cut out a lot of the supporting cast from season one in order to make room for new ones this season.

This FBI lady seems like she's sticking around, for starters, since I don't think the writers would go so out of their way to show how restless and unsatisfied she is with her life and her coworkers if she wasn't going to be a recurring character. I was surprised to learn that Alexa was a thing in 2016, which is strange because I was very much alive in 2016 and probably ought to know basic things like that. Anyways, I like her, but I can't tell if her helping Romero's mother roll weed is meant to indicate she's a good person or that she's an adept manipulator. Either way, I'm intrigued~!

On the topic of manipulation, I think it's pretty obvious that Mr Price is trying to pull something, if it wasn't already. You don't just randomly take a new hire out for a fancy dinner with high-ranking executives, and indeed he did have an angle; these honourable men he invited to dine with Angela have dishonourable pasts, and he's given her the choice to strike against them. Personally, I'd wager he'll win either way; either she becomes more complicit in the structures and passive villainy of E-Corp, or he gets to use her as a weapon against men who in some way stand in the way of his own aims. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but there's no way he doesn't have something up his sleeve here.

Price seemed to profess a belief in the importance of great men when describing the WW1 paraphernalia he keeps in his office. Part of me wonders if he fancies himself such a man, or if he is grooming Angela for such a role.

Ray's been an interesting character. He's definitely got his own angle, and needs an adept computer fellow like Elliot to transfer some bitcoins or what-have-thee, in a venture that does not seem to me properly lawful. Still, towards the end of the episode he seems like he has some genuine empathy for Elliot and his situation. I don't know how similar their situations actually are, and part of me suspects Ray is overemphasizing their similarity, but at the same time I think his philosophy, though somewhat fatalistic, is probably what Elliot needs to hear to break him out of this cycle of self-destructive and ineffectual repression he's been in for the past three episodes. It's just not working out, and Mr Robot is still around.

God, the business with the Adderall, huh? I cottoned on to the cement scene being a hallucination or dream sequence pretty quick, and my notes have a tangent about the logistics of killing someone with ingested cement vs regular sand that I won't reproduce here. I've not historically been great with vomiting scenes in film and television, but this one was pretty tame, all things considered. Until Elliot started picking the Adderall out of the vomit. On the one hand, it really does sell his desperation to be rid of Mr Robot, but on the other hand it did rather turn my stomach.

The close-up of Elliot's eyes, pupils mixed with iris, was especially disturbing in a way I can't quite elaborate. I hated the way it kept cutting back to him taking more pills.

The Adderall didn't help much, and the sequence it set off was unsettling, to say the least. I don't think it's usually prescribed for DID, but I am no medicus and will happily be corrected if I am wrong on this front. I suppose that overdosing on any kind of drug isn't generally recommended for anything, though. Again, it sells Elliot's desperation and self-denial, but it also fucking sucks to watch. Poor guy.

When he ran out of pills, I breathed a sigh of relief, though it did occur to me that I know not the withdrawal effects of Adderall, and they may be quite terrible.

Elliot's critique of organized religion rather reminded me of my father. I'm not unsympathetic, but I think his argumentation was flawed. Not the point of that sequence. Marx's critique was both more empathetic and more incisive. Still not the point of that sequence.

Seinfeld is still fucking with Leon. If Elliot was not my favourite character for the quality of his monologues, that place would be occupied by Leon.

Finally, the fact that F Society's former hideout has been found was an interesting way to end the episode. Of course, the group destroyed what evidence they could, and held a party to obscure fingerprints and other biological evidence, but the logic of storytelling inexorably drives me to presume that they missed something big enough that our new FBI friend will get a lead from it.

That or someone will return to the scene who ought not to. We'll see soon, I'm sure!