#as long as you also work in the added element of all their complicated history of hurting and lying to each other

[aotopmha]

FFXIV 6.4 spoilers:

MSQ: Some fantastic humour this time around.

Zero and the spice, Estinien and his training and the Loporrits and Zero all made for fantastic light-hearted scenes. (The 6.x patches in general have done really good humour, I think.)

The long talk with Azdaja was a solid pay-off and so were the twists surrounding Golbez – both Zero being a red herring and Zeromus instead being tied to Azdaja.

But I think for any aspect of a story to retain depth, you need to keep introducing new facets to it and while the humour and further exploration of the conflict with Garlemald were solid (in particular I really like how tough the process of "rebuilding" Garlemald is in every sense of the word, as it should be with a nation steeped in such a strong history of imperialism), I think you can really sense how much simpler the writing is in this current section of the story by the end of this patch.

The entirety of the 6.x patch narrative content has been equal parts jarring and welcome after the complexity of the expansion itself, but I think you really feel how much simpler everything is here, especially since I think 6.0 already did a more complex version of these themes.

I really like how the complicated aspects of Garlemald didn't just disappear after 6.0 and how there is still a sense it has a long way to go, but I also feel like it needs more than just asides in patch content to truly have a satisfying conclusion. I think it perhaps at least needs another story section tucked in somewhere in the content? (Perhaps Garlemald restoration?)

It's not uncommon to have simpler versions of the themes in the expansion explored in the patch content, but it always makes you to some extent hope/doubt what comes next would have more depth.

Despite feeling simpler, as a complete whole, I do think this MSQ chunk was very solid, though.

It had just enough spice for the simpler elements to not completely overtake it.

The finale of Pandemonium equally leaned on what I'd argue is the other defining element of Endwalker next to its themes: already existing material.

I'd even argue Endwalker's biggest defining trait for me is probably that its story doesn't really have nearly the same impact on its own as it does in context with what came before it, with the story leaning more into being like A Realm Reborn and Stormblood than Heavensward or Shadowbringers.

(I kind of hope 7.0 will once again be a more self-contained story while setting stuff up in the background like the latter two because I think at this point basically everything that came before has been resolved and continuing to lean on old stuff would simply feel stagnant/tiring/old and also not as compelling anymore. Once again, they are basically back to zero and have to put in the work for it all to pay off 10 years from now.)

I think it's pretty obvious Lahabrea was intended to be the star of Pandemonium and while his character certainly gained some good depth from it, Elidibus is the one I truly ended up invested in spanning the final part of the story because of the history already behind him.

I hated Athena for how she treated her son, but I hated her even more for how she used Themis.

Somehow even little bits of the character of Elidibus are automatically more compelling than Lahabrea.

And truth is, Erichtonios and Lahabrea do end up having complete arcs, which complete the timeloop, they're fine, it's just that I think Themis is better.

Same goes for Athena being an effective villain for the comparatively little time she gets to be on screen.

Lahabrea's positive growth of wanting to take responsibility for his actions and accepting the bad in him in this case made him the Ascian he became, adding this cyclic element to his story. Just like Eric's journey to gaining strength and confidence lead him to sending out the warning about Pandemonium and in turn Athena ended up mattering because of her wishes being tied to them and basically her "inventing" tempering as a result.

But how Elidibus was handled still ended up being the most powerful aspect of the Pandemonium story to me because I think everything we knew about him from the MSQ and the Pandemonium story itself ended up being relevant.

Him as the objective judge, as a character with a very strong sense of justice and duty, a good friend to your character and someone who already had everything taken from him by the Final Days were all aspects that ended up mattering in the conclusion.

In the end, none of the suffering of the ancients was for nothing because all of their actions paved the way to the present. Their struggles mattered because they lead to the current future and I think this is the strongest element of this final bit of story.

So much of this final bit of story was also sort of just listing plot elements. We finally learned what was up with the Heart of Sabik. And as said, we now pretty much have a (I think almost?) full picture of how tempering works and the entire timeloop is as complete as it possibly can be.

But a lot of it was stuck in expositional walls of text. Comparatively, everything surrounding Themis in this final leg of the story felt to me almost entirely about him as a character and his history with the WoL.

It was so surprisingly good to have something like this in something you'd consider a side story, only continuing the trend set by Omega and Eden and the huge amount of other side content.

I'd consider the raid stories in general to be weaker than a lot of the MSQ, but they always at least come together fairly well.

Finally, all of this leads me to the little story bits hinting to what comes next.

First, Erenville is most likely going to be at least a guide character for 7.0, giving us a connection to the new location (which I with 90% certainty think is Meracydia in the south).

Second, the Scions seem to be recieving "letters", we saw one for Krile and Thancred mentioning a client, meaning we might get connections to new locations via them, as well.

Third, related to Y'Shtola's thought process, we might get travel to the First earlier than we think, so Ryne and Gaia will probably play a bigger role in the last two patches, but also might join the adventure in 7.0.

(The entire plot thread leading from the Warring Triad to the ShB role quests to Eden to back to the 13th is an absolute masterstroke of writing to me at this point because it connects disparate-seeming stories so elegantly and naturally.)

And finally, the Heart of Sabik is still there. It wasn't destroyed with Athena.

It was confirmed to be cleansed of her influence, but out of all of these I can't help but feel this one is the start of another long-running plotline and the biggest potential Chekov's Gun.

The big picture stuff is absolutely fantastic here.

And putting everything together, I think this is all super solid narratively, like all of the 6.x patches have been. Not amazing like any of the .3 patches or slow like any of the .1 patches, but simply consistent throughout.

If anything, I'd just continue saying the same thing I've said about the entirety of the 6.x patch story series, that it's super appropriately told story for where we are in the narrative currently: a transition period from an old story arc to a new one that should let you chill a bit while quitely setting up for the future and tying up the final loose ends.

In that sense it has been absolutely fantastic.

[lightcreators]

@tiimecrash continue from here

The Professor was baffled at Bilbo’s confession about being useless. The Time Lord thought the hobbit was far from it. “You are not useless, Bilbo.” the male retorted in an awkward way in trying to make him feel better over things. True, Bilbo was far from Middle Earth and the Professor had spent a good amount of time there with the hobbit – but to be honest with himself – they were both out of their element. The Professor had been parading around space-time as everything but a Time Lord and now that he was back to his true self ( well species wise ) it was awkward. He barely recalled how to use a sonic and how to properly fix a TARDIS. Usually the Doctor ( of the Master ) would’ve helped him but they were not here. Bilbo had dealing with the Doctor, so at-least he wasn’t completely dumbfounded over everything timey-wimey related. 

There was an awkward silence that followed that short sentence. Ah, the Professor had a hard time conversing it seemed. He never could figure out the right things to say to those he held dear. It was much easier when he was a female. His brows furrowed as he looked to the wires before pursing his lips in a contorted pout of contemplation. As Bilbo spoke about Frodo, the Professor grinned. “Y – you’re cousin is an ad – ad – adventurous brave hobbit. Like you. He – he must’ve gotten it from you.” he grinned awkwardly again. Flirting and courting escaped him at the moment. He was never too good at it. At-least in this variant. When he was a female, it came naturally for some odd reason. Perhaps all his time stuck on various planets and places in the universe observing how the female of carious humanoid species courted and flirty came in handy. Now that he was a male, he didn’t get the chance to properly observe it. Other than the few husbands he did have … and his time with Bilbo. All seemed to either mirror each-other or be completely different. His whole complicated relationship ( marriage ) with the Master was one of those things that altered how he saw things.

Finally, the TARDIS was in good enough working conditions he sighed happily. He did need a break. Desperately in fact. He also wanted to spend time with Bilbo, since their journey[s] wouldn’t last too long. True, they were allowed to go on many short adventures but the Professor made a mental note to not keep Bilbo from his own time. He didn’t want to dictate his lover’s history or destiny. As he looked over the hobbit with an adoring smile, he nodded. “I’m glad y – you’re impressed with m – me. I try to be inter – interesting enough. I – I’m not Doctor.” he joked. He was far from the Doctor in many ways. He was his own being. Observant, kind, aloof, and awkward. Regeneration made him more awkward and bit distant than he was before. That was the thing with change. Yet, he was still the Professor. He would always be Solasudordax. That would never change. He was still ( in a way ) the same being Bilbo met and had feelings for.

As the pair made their way to the door of the TARDIS, he looked over the apple tree with an amused snort. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. A thought that came to his mind, unsure of why. It just did. Looking to the grassy hillside, he arched a brow. “Well then, Bilbo Baggins. Let’s go explore.” Stutter gone for the moment, he took a few steps forward. Sniffing the air, everything was calm. Today was going to be a good day. He would have offered Bilbo a hand to hold, but thought it would be too awkward and refrained from doing such a human thing. “I – don’t think that they’ll be any trouble around here. If – if there is. I’ll be – be sure to keep you safe. Y – you have my word on it.” And it was the truth. 

It had been mostly an complain towards Featherine, that rudeness of consideration. Though, now once more among the stars, he had another opportunity, decades later, inside other circumstances to found the source about how an metaphorical outside Chaos could be brought inside his universe --- had an slight chance to understanding what going on inside higher spheres he barely had been invited him --- was invited to touching another fragment of an dream in which he desired making it last as long as he could … Featherine transformed his existence in manners his younger self couldn't have imagined. Of course, inside current timeline, consciousness with that bond with the stars had been something he had been craving, and of course, the presence of his lover inside his universe generated an particular comfortable familiarity along the years … Nevertheless, certain circumstances happened within reason. After all these decades, did he blamed himself about his inability to change Featherine's perspective to becoming fully a witch? After all these decades, did he regretted not having here when the Doctor returned to their universe, embracing his cousin inside an couple of eventful adventures? Would have preferred touched that Logic Error experienced by Featherine with his cousin? Would have preferred his universe didn't needed a witch for eventually survive?

For a short moment, his expression showed an amused smile, as it was almost self-mocking. Partially, if emotionally he wanted remembering towards the feeling, he had sensing himself useless. In middle of his quest, regardless how experienced on adventures he did had been inside an personal locked background, the face of tragedy remained an quiet haunting, enough distorted for bring amazement meanwhile the story was told. He pondered with many years inside that sensation something did happened to his universe, and stayed as powerless, inside his own corner of an peaceful life, to do something about it --- Did he managed to influence enough Featherine? Did he managed to push behind the Doctor's path to using circumstanes as higher chessboards, where everything that could happening somewhere could be something that could be carefully controlled? Did he managed to protecting Frodo of his own demons himself was disconcerted for help? Did he avoided his cousin fate to becoming Game Master as they was no other choice for their universe? He didn't really wanted his reply resonating like an complain, like an reproach … Featherine surprises had came later into his adventures day, once finished, once realization about how she indirectly playing with his chessboard had been understood --- where at the same time, regardless what could happened, Featherine Augustus Aurora wasn't meant to interfere … and with the consciousness and the knoweldge of an Logic Error event proved him right. ❝ I just feel powerless sometimes. ❞ He admitted quietly.

So many stories had to be told concerning his cousin. His presence as reacted like an solace, and once understanding had been made that second chance had came from him, that the way of witches will be inevitable and Featherine's legacy will be something that could give another turn of circumstances … he did his best for remaining present, even if it took a very long time for his cousin to expressing uncanny reasons of his worries. Regardless, Frodo would have that hardship alone. Regardless, Featherine probably didn't knew herself the kind of foreshadowing she had been projecting … Frustration was an emotion who emerged once the Doctor name was recollacted into his brain. As all memories shared together were wasted opportunities. As all remembrances together had been an sort of brutal lessons. As all wishes left into the well of circumstances weren't going to be answered for all of them. He missed the Doctor, the Time Lord that travelling around universes helping people without feeling the need to control everything … and remain irritated with Featherine. Admiring gaze remained over the fixing of the wire, as he had no knoweldge for that. Science had been an topic he had been educated by his cousin, not something or somewhere he had been invited to perceive himself --- for how lucky that making him ! Features illuminated once the Professor bounced back towards his cousin. ❝ He looks a lot like me. ❞ He mused playfully inside gentleness of memories, as he preferred left in the book reality about how tourmented his cousin had been. He had been worried for his universe, about how handling Featherine inside ignorance before their meeting, nevertheless, his mental tourments, emerging in middle of a day for fade away afterwards didn't lasted as long of his cousin … ❝ His desire for adventure will be very useful to him, he had a very good teacher with my stories. I hope he understands the meaning. I hope he got a pleasant solution from it. As for his bravery, I hope the world is ready for him. ❞ He amusingly added, as he didn't wanted bouncing back with terrible remembrances along the way. Besides, as he appreciated the compliment, blushing fullfilled of happiness wrapped his expression. ❝ I educated this little one well. ❞ He was the one amused, circumstances decided both could empathizing over their particular situation to loving someone higher than themselves --- where sadly, as much loving an Time Lord could be difficult business, he had no idea about what it could be mean to loving an literal witch born from Featherine herself … Even since the beginning of their reunited time together, consciousness about the Professor hesitation to court him had been perceived. Where on his side it was no barrier --- whatever the time, whatever how he had changed, whatever how many adventures between them … Naturally it came. Naturally he desired showing all cherising care he had for him. It was another opportunity!

As the repairs going on, he remained observant on them, gratefully his cousin did the work to keep drawing memories on an TARDIS in which both will never see maintenance! Smiling further in front of that adoring epxression, he frowned in front of his under evaluation. ❝ The Doctor is an special case on his own. You're always had been interesting by yourself. ❞ Bitterness escaped once more his lips at the Doctor's reminder. Inside current circumstances, the Doctor was an shadowing name handled by a witch, something he had been a long time ago, an title in which he pretty much pushed inside an lock. Besides, he feel hurt towards how the Professor found themselves not interesting. ❝ Small exploits are better than delusions of grandeur. The Doctor lost this notion over time, losing himself, and I feel slightly responsible for not being able to avoid this. You searched for yourself, but you always remained true to yourself. Don't underestimate yourself too much. ❞ It was his best way to bouncing back towards the matter, refusing to complaining explicity over Featherine. ❝ You're my personal doctor, it's all that count, and as humble Hobbit I am, I can be easily impressed. ❞ He mused then for illumitating the atmosphere once more. Adventures dated from so long ago. Around Featherine, it always had been pretty much calm and somewhere occassions for knoweldge, nevertheless, amount of time who passed created rediscovery. He would get used to have an TARDIS with an apple tree --- as it was possible for such machines to get many forms, and the presence of an blue box stayed anchored on the mind. ❝ Let's go explore! ❞ He repeated with enthousiasm, as bitterness over Featherine could fade away. Ending sentences of the Professor created an silenced moment. Threats. Something he didn't think about honestly, as much he could always expecting surprises ! ❝ I don't think your main hobby is attracting troubles, though, thank you very much in advance for keep me safe. I would prefer avoid a bad journey. ❞ He mused, as his expression showed he would handle such possibility, and passed an hand on his back for reassuring him. ❝ Let's making it an simple outing with friends having a good time ! ❞

[coquelicoq]

top 10 ways of making yunmeng bros reconcile. plz my crops are dying.

mmkay well as i’ve said before obviously all the ideas here and here are gold and i couldn’t possibly choose only 10 of them, so have 10 others that i have curated just for you, anon. 

first of all, through soup all things are possible, so jot that down. 

fraternal hanahaki! (i haven't seen this done, but here, have your slightest look easily will unclose me, a fic with a different coughing-up-flowers reconciliation concept that i also very much love, kind of a cross between hanahaki and an honesty curse?) 

jc may not be capable of admitting that he wants wwx back in his life, but he is capable of recognizing that angering lwj brings him great satisfaction, and one way to do this is to start laying claim to wwx as a yunmeng disciple just to reduce the time he can spend in gusu with lwj. if it has the side effect of making wwx feel loved and bringing them closer together, that's definitely unintended and NOT why jc is doing it, as he'll tell anyone. but who’s to say? perhaps he might forget to correct wwx’s assumptions. he’s a busy man, he can’t remember to do everything.

their spiritual tools conspire to go on strike until jc and wwx meet a list of demands. chief among them are "use your words" and "hug it out." whenever either of them tries to fly his sword anywhere, it redirects him to wherever the other one is and then won't unsheathe itself again until they have a conversation. also i think zidian would start conditioning jc to hate himself less by giving him a little electric shock every time he thinks something disparaging. chenqing would act as a compass that only ever points in the direction of lotus pier. eventually they would have to agree to make up just because they really can’t work like this. not for any other reason, obviously! (but once they’ve made up it doesn’t really matter what the reason was.)

wwx has some kind of condition that requires regular spiritual energy transfusions, and jc is the only match because he has wwx's old core. this one is very easy to pair with "high fever" or "Empathy" or "deathbed confessions (but then they don't die)!"

nhs commissions a play about their brotherhood that becomes popular all across the land. jc and wwx each go to see it every time it's traveling through wherever they happen to be. one night they run into each other at a performance, and even though they're both in disguise, their eyes meet across the crowded room and they know. ooh or maybe they both yell out at the same time about an inaccuracy and then everyone realizes they're both there in the flesh and they're peer pressured into some sort of jerry-springeresque verbal fisticuffs that turn out to be very cathartic?

jl guilts them into going to couples therapy, which is just them telling their problems to nhs, who sits there going "i don't know! i really don't know anything! why would you ask my worthless opinion??" interspersed with comments that sound stupid but serve to subtly lead them to some emotional breakthroughs.

wwx finds something jc did out of love for him while he was dead. options: memorial tablet; old tear-stained letters; well-funded orphanage in yunmeng called Shmei Shmuxian's Home for Orphans Who Are Afraid of Dogs, etc. tbh wwx would probably need all three, plus jl continuously dropping hints like "gee i wonder why jiujiu held onto chenqing all that time" and "golly it sure is strange that jiujiu never got any more dogs," before he would start to connect the dots. 

they have to go undercover as brothers who love each other to solve a nighthunt case (don't ask me why, i don't know, but it's probably a very flimsy reason that they both agree to anyway because they're secretly desperate to spend time together).

animal transformation. either jc gets transformed into a dog in front of wwx and is very touched by how wwx is taking care of him despite his terror, or wwx gets transformed into a dog without jc's knowledge and jc finds him in lotus pier and probably hugs him a bunch and says stuff like "i'd love to keep you, but i made a promise to someone not to get any dogs, and i'm still hoping he'll want to come back someday"??

pouring one out for your crops, anon. i hope this helps.

[aristidetwain]

Wait, the War King actually IS the Man with the Rosette? I thought they have no connections other then both being ~something~ of the Master (I have presumed them to be biodata clones from the hatchling projects), I’ve seen ppl connecting them but thought it were just fans canon-welding, but you ARE a FP writer,, sooo… asking

This is a complicated question to answer. I'll do so in three parts (after the cut!).

I. The War Magistrate with the Rosette: one character

What can be confirmed with utmost solidity is that, even ignoring all the hints about either of them being the Master, there are clear connections between the War King and the Man with the Rosette within EDAs and FP lore.

To wit, in The Taking of Planet 5, the Lord President (who is the very Lord President later identified as the War King) mentions as an event from his own life something which happened to “the Magistrate” in The Infinity Doctors, namely his conversation with General Sontar about the origins of the Capitol as a military citadel. Later, Jacob Black's The Story So Far…, which can be read for free on Obverse Books' website, mentioned the Magistrate as wearing the rosette.

(The Infinity Doctors is notoriously weird, because it's kind of a mashup of several periods in the Doctor's life, all happening at once. But the period in the Master's life gestured at by “the Magistrate” is generally agreed to correspond to the not-yet-War-King's time as an advisor to the Presidency on the Homeworld immediately before the War, so that's what I'll go with here.)

As to whether these exist linearly, rather than as various alternative futures and pasts of one another… that's a more complicated question.

II. The “Conventional” Timeline of the War in Heaven Master(s)

The default reading of the Man with the Rosette in The Adventuress of Henrietta Street is that he is the Eighth Doctor's contemporary. He never fought in the War in Heaven, because the War in Heaven has been unhappened by this point by the events of The Ancestor Cell. Instead, he is the version of the Master who would have fought in the War in Heaven, had the War not been brutally erased from history by the Doctor's actions in The Ancestor Cell.

Here, then, we have a ‘fork’ in the Master's life. At the point in History when the War in Heaven is meant to start:

if the War happens, he becomes the Magistrate on Gallifrey, and later becomes the War King, ultimately being felled by Lolita.

after the War is unhappened, he instead becomes the Man with the Rosette before eventually making his way to the Needle, where he also, in an echo of the other timeline, becomes "the Magistrate".

There is, however, an alternative reading, and one which may be hinted at in the text — not so much by what is said, as by what is not said.

III. The Bolder Hypothesis: Rosette as pre-War King

In The Adventuress of Henrietta Street, the Man with the Rosette, who is as we have seen the Master caught flat-footed by the sudden disappearance of Gallifrey as part of the erasure of a War he never fought in, makes an oath to try and put things right and restore the universe to the way it ought to be. He pledges to bring a temporary end to his usual petty power-games with the Doctor for as long as it takes to put things right.

We then lose track of the post-War Master until the Needle era, when (as per The Story So Far…) he is still wearing his rosette, but has taken to calling himself the Magistrate. As per the Miranda comics, the bearded man with the Rosette then disappeared from the Needle at some point before the Emperor's assassination.

But…

The Book of the War tells us that the not-yet-War-King returned to Homeworld pretty much out of nowhere from his existence as a Renegade, with reliable yet unspecified knowledge about the Enemy and the War that was to come, and then made an uncharacteristically selfless effort to actually leverage the Homeworld's resources to save the universe.

Many of us writers, fans and assorted theorists have thus arrived at the notion that after disappearing from the Needle, the Man with the Rosette/Magistrate broke the Protocols of Linearity in the worst way imaginable, and returned to the early stages of the War, still under the guise of the Magistrate, hoping to avert it or at least help the Homeworld's chances in the conflict.

So the Master's War in Heaven timeline ends up going like this:

The Master reemerges after the events of the “TV Movie” in a Gallifreyan body. As you say, perhaps he is not really the original, but rather a hatchling created by the Homeworld in expectation of the War.

The Homeworld is destroyed before the War had properly begun, as part of the Eighth Doctor's attempt to avert the War altogether. (The Ancestor Cell)

The Man with the Rosette hangs out on Earth in the Post-War Universe, trying to piece together what happened to the Time Elementals. Having figured out enough, he pledges to try and fix things. (The Adventuress of Henrietta Street)

As “the Magistrate”, the Man with the Rosette leads the post-War Doctor and two other Surviving Elementals in an effort to retake control of History at the Needle. (The Gallifrey Chronicles, The Story So Far…)

Using the Needle's control over the Web of Time, the Magistrate returns to some decades before the War broke out. He becomes an influential politician on Gallifrey. (The Infinity Doctors, The Book of the War)

He replaces the Presidency and becomes the War King. (The Book of the War)

However, his schemes fail to give the Homeworld enough of an edge. Realising Lolita's been one step ahead of him the whole time, the War King gives up and lets Lolita absorb him. (The True History of Faction Paradox)

I like this picture an awful lot. So do @doctornolonger and @rassilon-imprimatur. It's never been made explicit — but there are hints, and without giving anything away, I will be adding one more hint to the pile in one of my upcoming FP works…

[fatalfangirl]

Fanfic ask! 7, 13 and 19 😘

Asking the hard questions!

7. What’s the last thing you read that made you cry?

I haven’t shed actual tears from reading a fic in a very long time… but The Space In Between by @whatevertheweather came pretty damn close (y’all are not ready for the emotional rollercoaster that is the last three chapters). In actuality, the last thing I’ve read that made me cry is probably either Chainsaw Man or Land of the Lustrous, which if anyone seeing this knows what either of those is (and enjoys them) then we need to be friends, stat.

13. Exes or established relationship?

SO HARD. Damn. I can’t choose, so here’s my reasoning for both. With exes you get complicated history and an opportunity for growth and rediscovering. There's a realness to relationships that just didn't work out, and I love the idea of falling in love with the same person for new reasons. With an established relationship you get domestic intimacy, which I will always gobble up, but there’s also the possibility of exploring what keeps them together. All of this is to say, if it’s snowbaz I’ll take it any which way!

19. What’s your favorite character headcanon?

Definitely that Simon is part dragon. If it’s not obvious by now, I love the monster elements of both Simon and Baz, and the idea of Simon having the animalistic instincts and behaviors of a dragon in addition to the physical wings and tail is 😘👌I mean, he was practically breathing fire when he was full of magic, and the way he kills things to collect them for Baz is very much like a dragon adding to its hoard. I'm just saying 🤷‍♂️

[idrellegames]

What was the inspiration behind the creation of each of the ROs and Aeran? Did they go through any major changes from their original concepts either visual design or character wise?

Alexia, Ren, Calla and Aeran hold a unique position in the character roster since they were originally created for a Dragon Age fan game. Many of the choices that frame specific elements of their characterization come from fitting them into DA’s world. 

Alexia, Ren and Calla--as the OG trifecta of companions--were designed with the DA formula in mind. It’s the reason they are a human, an elf and a dwarf respectively. It’s also the reason Alexia is a mage and Ren is an assassin and Calla is a warrior with ties to a merchant empire. 

Aeran, too, fits part of the DA formula. He was originally created to serve the Tamlen/Gorim role of a close friend/romantic interest of the player character who would then be written out after the Prologue. 

The OG trifecta + Aeran have all visually stayed the same since I made them. The main reason for this is because I commissioned artwork of all four of them. I do remember that Ren and Calla were designed to be POC as a response to a general lack of diversity in Dragon Age's characters (Ren's references/face claims are Japanese and Calla was inspired by biracial actors/models like Erin Kellyman and Coral Kwayie). 

The most significant changes to Alexia, Ren, Calla and Aeran are how the shift in worldbuilding impacted their backstories. 

Alexia is still a mage, but she’s no longer in a world that hates mages. She’s in a world where “Mage” is a job title and being one makes you a member of society’s elite. But the Guild is corrupted and the people in power manipulate those beneath them to consolidate more power, which is a fundamental part of her backstory and character arc. 

Ren’s backstory shifted as I fleshed out his childhood in the Undercity and added Raven and Ves to the cast. The Erebian League has been overhauled and that changed Ren's motivations and relationship with them and the Arathian aristocracy. He has always had the "assassin who quits because he doesn't want to be used by society's elite to kill people" storyline, but Ves' importance to Ren's storyline and their diametrically opposed views have changed how that plays out in comparison to a time when Ves didn't exist. The OG Ren also didn't have magic; Ren has it now and his ability to teleport has really shifted how he navigates and interacts with the world (and also justifies how he's able to disappear so quickly).

Calla's backstory is greatly impacted by two things. The first is that she was aged up dramatically (she was originally 33, she is now 103). The change in age has given her a lot more life experience and multiple decades of additional backstory. The second is the creation of Farandor and its strained history with Rhesainian countries as an invader and massive influencer on trade and economics. Though Farandor was kicked out of the Lotharic Sea long before Calla was born, as a Faran who immigrated to Velantis with her family, there's a lot of complicated things she has to navigate.

Aeran has changed the most because I made him a Wayfarer. His backstory is completely different, his relationship with the player character is completely different. I'd say out of everyone in the cast, he has changed the most. The only thing that really stays the same is his general personality and his appearance.

Melchior is the first companion character created after the shift to an original work. He has pretty much stayed the same, though some details about his personal history that I can't talk about because of spoilers have shifted over time. Also he originally had crimson/purple hair and had the last name Cinnabar, but then I decided that was weird because he was so very blue and not very red. His last name, Larkspur, is a type of blue flower.

Nelani's role has pretty much stayed constant. She was originally created to fill a gap in the plot structure, and I also wanted an Aeda companion. Her visual design went through several changes, but mostly due to me not knowing how I wanted to do crests (at one point she had vitiligo). Her face claim has always been Elizabeth Grullon.

Like Nelani, Felix was created to fill a gap in the plot structure. Specifically, I wanted a "low magic" character to contrast with Alexia and also flesh out the societal differences between levels of magic and having no magic. Felix has gone through the most design changes, though his role has stayed the same. I can't really talk about that too much because of spoilers, but there's a specific event in his past that altered parts of his appearance and I was trying to figure what that looked like. At one point he had white hair. At another point, he had blue eyes, which were eventually changed to green, though his original eye colour pre-Specific Event is brown. He has always been the youngest member of the main cast.

Thanks for the ask, this was fun!

[itsclydebitches]

A weird defence I've seen of RWBY's conflicts has been that it's good writing simply by the virtue that people can disagree on what's the right thing to do in said conflict. Which doesn't work when one decision is being presented as the only valid choice while every other option is either not addressed or demonized. This isn't a story leaving a nuanced set of stances to explore, it's a guy on stage signalling the crowd to boo whenever someone goes against the Protag's decision.

Real quick, I want to talk about RWBY by not talking about RWBY. I’ve seen this argument a lot too and the tl;dr is that just because your audience debates the right action in a conflict  — something that is inevitable given how subjective media is  — doesn’t mean the story encouraged that reflection in any way. As you say, RWBY pretends that those disagreements don’t exist and that This Is The One (1) Right Answer... which entirely defeats the purpose of a morally nuanced situation in the first place. That lack is bad writing because it demonstrates the author’s inability to provide an accurate picture of the conflict while still ensuring we come out of it liking the parties involved. The conflict was too complex for them to manage alongside equally complex characterization, so they just pretended it was far simpler than it actually was. That’s not something to praise. 

But to get to the not RWBY part. I’ve mentioned this a couple times before, but one of the scenes that I think manages these sorts of conflicts really well is the funeral fight in The Haunting of Hill House, episodes 6, “Two Storms.” So warning from here on out for spoilers. Sometimes, the best way to see what’s not working well in one show is to look at another show that does (basically) the same thing successfully and compare the two. 

Normally I’d include screenshots, but Netflix doesn’t allow that :/ So I’m forced to rely on bullet points. 

The basic premise is that the Crain family has assembled in daughter Shirley’s funeral home, the night before they bury their sister, Nell. A lot of secrets are about to come to light. 

The scene kicks off when their father, Hugh, relays the call he got from the housekeeper the night of Nell’s death. She had committed suicide in the family’s childhood home. 

Though everyone knew how she’d died, son Steven is distraught at hearing the details and reveals that a few weeks prior Nell crashed a book signing of his. This shocks the others given that this was very unusual behavior for Nell. 

Shirley likewise reveals that she got a call from Nell who’d been worried about their brother, Luke, but hadn’t spoken to her the night of her death. The implication is that no one did. They’ll never know what was going through her head the night she died. 

Hugh reveals that she did call him. “I talked to her.” 

Stunned by this news, his children demand to know what was discussed and Hugh is clearly reluctant to continue. However, he eventually says that Nell wasn’t just worried about Luke, but also the “Bent Neck Lady,” a specter from her childhood.

The viewer knows that ghosts are real in this show. The kids don’t. Or rather, they all experienced supernatural occurrences in their childhood, are still experiencing them now, but only some of them are willing to admit they’re real. Steven is the diehard skeptic of the bunch and starts yelling at his father, accusing him of aiding Nell’s delusions and ignoring a family history of mental illness. In particular, he declares that this “makes you culpable [in her death].” 

Steven continues to accuse Hugh of “holding back information” about Nell and Hugh shoots back that “If I held back anything it was to protect you kids.” The viewer understands Hugh’s dilemma: the only reason he keeps things to himself is because Steven and the others refuse to believe the truth, with an added dose of this supernatural stuff being very dangerous. Steven asks, “Why do I need protection from the truth?” 

Before their fight can go any further, Shirley tells Steven, “You might want to check yourself before you start talking about the truth.” He published an autobiographical book about their childhood trauma and notably capitalized on a supernatural angle he doesn’t believe in. Shirley calls it “blood money.” 

As the argument about the ethics of his book rages, Shirley defends herself primarily with how everyone else thinks this is “blood money” too. No one took a cut when Steven offered one, proving how despicable they all think it is. 

Meanwhile, sister Theo has been getting heat for being drunk (a coping mechanism for her own supernatural troubles) and Shirley eventually pushes her far enough that she admits she did take Steven’s money and used it to get her degree. “It’s good, fucking money.” Suddenly, Steven has someone in his corner and Shirley’s main defense has crumbled. 

Shirley is furious that Theo had this secret income but was still living with her and her husband. Theo reminds her that she offered to pay rent, but Shirley isn’t interested in hearing that. She demands that Theo move out immediately and uses this betrayal as the new way to protect herself. She’s the victim here. 

Steven, sensing another secret in the works, cautions Shirley to��“get off your high horse before you fall off.” 

Shirley maintains her position until her husband blurts that they also took Steven’s money. Shirley hasn’t been running the funeral home well and they would have sunk without it. 

Despite being the punching bag for the second half of this fight, Shirley is offered both reassurance and dignity. Her husband emphasizes that the only reason they’re struggling is because Shirley is a good person. She does too much work pro bono. Shirley also delivers the line, “Do you have any idea how much you’ve humiliated me?” calling into question the husband’s choice to admit this now, purely as a way to prove her wrong. 

Shirley leaves to get some distance and discovers that someone — something — has put buttons over Nell’s eyes. The shock of this keeps the fight from continuing and, as plot intervenes, gives the characters the space needed to eventually start healing and forgiving one another, notably by sitting with the various truths they all now have to grapple with. 

Phew! A long summary, but I’ve put this much detail in to highlight the nuance of the scene. Obviously RWBY would differ in many ways  — less cursing, for one  — but the core elements of any morally complex scene should be the same. The important takeaways here are that no one in the Crain family are “pure” or “evil” and everyone gets their chance to be both right and wrong. Hugh is right that Steven won’t listen to him and wrong in that he didn’t do enough to help his kids. We get Steven and Hugh’s frustration, their understanding of the world at odds with one another. Steven is wrong to put everything on his father and justified in starting his writing career with their story. We watch the scene move from “Steven is Wrong and everyone agrees” to “Oh shit nm, more and more of the family are revealing that they benefited from his money, complicating how “wrong” he actually is.” Shirley is right to point out that Theo is getting drunk during their sister’s funeral and Theo is right to point out that being drunk doesn’t erase having a good point. Theo is allowed to scream at the group and then immediately be offered help when she falls. Shirley pretends she’s better than all of them and is slowly, horrifyingly proven wrong, but is then still extended compassion and is allowed to point out how horribly they’ve just treated her. The husband is right about the money, wrong about keeping it a secret/revealing it the way he did, right in how he tries to diffuse the other fights, and VERY wrong by getting caught kissing Theo down in the storeroom! 

The scene twists and turns in a way that highlights everyone’s points and their flaws, the moments when their perspective should be upheld and questioned. The end result is a scene that has space for the audience to debate everyone’s choices without imposing the single view of This Person Is Obviously Wrong/Right and If You Think Otherwise You’re Not Watching The Show Correctly. The show itself acknowledges the complexity and nuance of these problems. It asks, “Hugh should have tried harder, but what more can he do when his kids literally don’t believe this stuff exists? Was Steven really justified in writing a book about their collective experiences? What does it mean that something his family sees as capitalizing on their trauma also helped them keep businesses and schooling afloat? Was it okay for Shirley’s husband to keep that money a secret, even if it helped them? How might he have told her in a less cruel manner? What about Shirley’s life has led to her intense need to be on that ‘high horse’?” 

And of course: “Who is really responsible for Nell’s death?” By this point the viewer already knows that there is no “really” here. This is too complicated a tragedy to lay the blame at any one person’s feet. Everyone in this room has moments of justified accusations and moments of chastisement because they’re well written, well rounded characters who are neither saints nor devils. The length of the scene (done in a single shot!) emphasizes that if you just wait long enough, even the most perfect looking person will eventually have a skeleton pulled from their closet. No one is above mistakes. 

RWBY has NONE of that. Zip. Nada. Nothing. RWBY gave us a scenario with many of the same, core themes  — secret keeping, secrets unwillingly revealed, blaming others for your mistakes, hurtful actions with helpful consequences, questioning who is responsible for a tragic death  — and instead of even attempting to give us some of the above nuance, RWBY said only that Ruby was right, Ozpin was wrong, and demanding that the audience ignore the nuance they could already see in order to accept the canon. 

RWBY’s scene asks the audience to play dumb and look at the world as a Black and White place, despite the show simultaneously insisting that “the world isn’t a fairy tale” and is, in fact, filled with shades of gray. 

Just not any shades of gray that mess with that dichotomy that now drives the story.  

That’s not good writing. It’s oblivious and contradictory writing that makes the audience frustrated. Not satisfied, surprised, contemplative, or curious. Just frustrated. 

[kemetic-dreams]

In my research I learned that the word comes from tribus in Latin. Its earliest usage was in the time of the Roman empire where there were three original tribes, but more were added to organize the voting system.  At first, tribe may have been related to ethnicity, but as more were added, it became about geographical location, rather than kinship.   Tribe was a territorial voting unit in the Roman state. I've seen the word used to talk about Celtic and Germanic histories. It also became associated with the Hebrew people of the Torah and Bible. You must have heard of the 12 Tribes of Israel. The connotations evolved, and the problems with it began when it got into the hands of anthropologists. (Ironically, I have a degree in anthropology and I think it's a fascinating discipline; Good thing my favorite anthro professor back in my university days wisely recommended that we understand the controversies around the term.)

Truth be told, it offends many people. Here's why:

#1 For European missionaries and explorers who went out to conquer people, the word "tribal" was synonymous to "savage" and "primitive." It's mainstream connotation is rooted in colonial-era racist ideology. The word immediately conjures stereotypical imagery of brown people with bones in their noses or naked warriors running around in a rainforest

That “tribal” word

by

Chika Oduah

I cringe whenever I see that word in a news article. And I see it so often in journalese. Stories about developing countries often feature phrases like tribal healer, tribal land, tribal conflict, tribesmen, tribal chief, tribal wear, tribal name, tribal rhythm. The word is so problematic, I don't even know where to begin. I will suggest this - get some education on its history.

The Myth of the Noble Savage

The word plays into a historic imagination that classifies indigenous people outside of Europe into two categories of savages: the noble savage and the brutal savage. That leads me to number two.

The bottom-line problem with the idea of tribe is that it is intellectually lazy.

#2 Societies are constantly changing. No matter where you go, you're bound to see it. Technology, the spread of ideas, education, globalization, all of these elements contribute to sociocultural changes. But the word "tribal" freezes societies in a primordial past (real or imagined) where people wore animal skins and ran with wolves. I think it's hard for many people in the Western world to accept that societies in Africa (in other developing regions around the world) are dynamic. It's hard for some to grasp concepts of modernity in such places.   Even the most remote, far flung communities are not the same today as they were just 20 years ago.

The tribe, a long respected category of analysis in anthropology, has recently been the object of some scrutiny by anthropologists ... Doubts about the utility of the tribe as an analytical category have almost certainly arisen out of the rapid involvement of peoples, even in the remotest parts of the globe, in political, economic and sometimes direct social relationship with industrial nations. The doubts, however, are based ultimately on the definition and meaning which different scholars give to the term 'tribe', its adjective 'tribal', and its abstract form 'tribalism' ~ Dr. James Clyde Mitchell

Westerners have romanticized certain ethnic groups, like the Maasai in eastern Africa, because they have this romantic idea that the Maasai people are living the exact same way as their ancestors did. Untouched by modernity. But that's simply not true. And where does this desperate need to have ethnic groups permanently living in primordial or precolonial states come from? Is the "primitive," noble savage look more marketable for tourism? That leads me to number three.

#3 The relentless attempt to cast Africans are primitive, unchanging people relates to another popular notion that the past, when there was no internet, airplanes or sliced bread, was more peaceful, more pure and less complicated than modern times. The problem with that is that it pushes an identity (based on a misconstrued premise) on other people. It's someone from the West saying I want the kind of African who lives in a thatch-roofed hut in a village in Niamey, not the African who lives in a  brick home in a Harare suburb.  Africans are constantly being defined by the Western world, submitting to the names and descriptions put upon them. In my favorite work by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun, the character Odenigbo says, "But my point is that the only authentic identity for the African is the tribe...I am Nigerian because a white man created Nigeria and gave me that identity. I am black because the white man constructed black to be as different as possible from his white. But I was Igbo before the white man came.” (I'll talk about Africans using the word tribe further down!).

In the Americas, Africa, Australia, and elsewhere, colonial administrators applied these terms [tribe and band] to specific groups almost immediately upon contact. ~Encyclopedia Brittanica

#4 The word "tribal" distorts reality because it leads to misguided ideas of what is authentic and what is not. This is when a Westerner, looking at a picture of expensive cars parked at a chic hotel in Accra, says "this is not the real Africa." I hear the comment very often because there's this prevailing perception that the real Africa is "tribal." Its stick, bones, dirt and chiefs draped in leopard print. Anything outside of that, according to that line of thought, has been touched (contaminated, even) by the Western world, therefore is inauthentic. Again, it's that insistence on denying dynamism, that change happens. And that prerequisite applies to people, too. The African woman who graduated from Harvard Business School, works as a bank executive and wears Chanel suits is not a real African. The woman chopping firewood with a naked baby on her back is and gets bonus points for authenticity if the child has flies swarming around the face.

Over to You, Is the Word 'Tribe' Offensive? - BBC World Service

#4 For peoples who experienced oppression, suppression or marginalization from European colonizers or their descendants, the word "tribe" triggers memories of a traumatic past.  This is especially true of Native Americans, also called the First Nations. (I remember learning about the Trail of Tears in elementary school and feeling quite sad about it.)  Thousands of Native Americans were brutally uprooted from their ancestral lands when Europeans and their descendants decided to forcibly expand their presence in the Americas. Today, the U.S. government still officially uses the word "tribes" to refer to Native Americans, but I have read that they prefer to be called "nations" or "people."

#5 There's also this thing with numbers. British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar, originator of the Dunbar's number theory, said that 500 - 1,500 people (who follow their ancestral culture, beliefs of unity, laws, and rights; are self-sufficient and have strong emotion towards their lands) can be classified as a one tribe. Those are pretty much the same numbers that other nineteenth century anthropologists used, defining a tribe as a human society made up of several bands. A band was a small, egalitarian, kin-based group of perhaps 10–50 people. So when you're looking at the large ethnic groups in Africa today, some numbering millions, they can't be described as tribes.

Tribe has no coherent meaning. What is a tribe? The Zulu in South Africa, whose name and common identity was forged by the creation of a powerful state less than two centuries ago, and who are a bigger group than French Canadians, are called a tribe. So are the !Kung hunter-gatherers of Botswana and Namibia, who number in the hundreds. The term is applied to Kenya's Maasai herders and Kikuyu farmers, and to members of these groups in cities and towns when they go there to live and work.

Tribe is used for millions of Yoruba in Nigeria and Benin, who share a language but have an eight-hundred year history of multiple and sometimes warring city-states, and of religious diversity even within the same extended families. Tribe is used for Hutu and Tutsi in the central African countries of Rwanda and Burundi. Yet the two societies (and regions within them) have different histories. And in each one, Hutu and Tutsi lived interspersed in the same territory. They spoke the same language, married each other, and shared virtually all aspects of culture. At no point in history could the distinction be defined by distinct territories, one of the key assumptions built into "tribe." ~Pambazuka News

Zambia is slightly larger than Texas. The country has approximately 10 million inhabitants and a rich cultural diversity. English is the official language, but Zambia also boasts 73 different indigenous languages. While there are many indigenous Zambian words that translate into "nation," "people," "clan," "language," "foreigner," "village" or "community," there are none that easily translate into "tribe." Sorting Zambians into a fixed number of "tribes" was a byproduct of British colonial rule over Northern Rhodesia (as Zambia was known prior to independence in 1964).

#6 In anthropological theories of social evolution, "tribe" is lower than "civilization." After studying early cultures in Central and South America, American neo-evolutionary cultural anthropologist Elman Rogers Service devised an influential categorization scheme for the political character of human social structures: band, tribe, chiefdom and state.

A band is the smallest unit of political organization, consisting of only a few families and no formal leadership positions. Tribes have larger populations but are organized around family ties and have fluid or shifting systems of temporary leadership. Chiefdoms are large political units in which the chief, who usually is determined by heredity, holds a formal position of power. States are the most complex form of political organization and are characterized by a central government that has a monopoly over legitimate uses of physical force, a sizeable bureaucracy, a system of formal laws, and a standing military force.

With this understanding, again, many of the large ethnic groups in Africa's modern nation states cannot be called tribes.

But... a lot of Africans use "tribe" to describe themselves. The word is taught in schools across African countries, because the secular educational system was largely created by Westerners. That's the basis of the ongoing  "decolonize education" campaign in South Africa. Check this out: When Africans learn English, they are often taught that "tribe" is the term that English-speakers will recognize. But what underlying meaning in their own languages are Africans translating when they say "tribe"? In English, writers often refer to the Zulu tribe, whereas in Zulu the word for the Zulu as a group is isizwe. Zulu linguists translate isizwe as "nation" or "people." Isizwe refers both to the multi-ethnic South African nation and to ethno-national peoples that form a part of the multi-ethnic nation. When Africans use the word "tribe" in general conversation, they do not draw on the negative connotations of primitivism the word has in Western countries.

But there has been a decades-long push by many African scholars and media professionals to get media outlets, textbooks and academia to stop using "tribe" and "tribal." Some have addressed their concerns to The New York Times, among other news publications.  Here's how Bill Keller, New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning executive editor from 2003 to 2011 responded:

"I get it. Anyone who uses the word "tribe" is a racist. [. . .] It's a tediously familiar mantra in the Western community of Africa scholars. In my experience, most Africans who live outside the comforts of academia (and who use the word "tribe" with shameless disregard for the political sensitivities of American academics) have more important concerns."

The logic here is, since the real Africans are using the word themselves, then what's the big deal? Well, for all the reasons I just presented and more. And recently we're seeing a wave of companies and organizations come out to announce that they will not longer use "tribe" and "tribal." The New York Times is now using "ethnic group" and "ethnic." (I have issues with ethnic. At a Walmart, I noticed that the aisle for hair products tailored to people of African descent was the "ethnic hair" aisle; that's literally what the sign said). These entities may have been motivated by political correctness or could be trying to save face. I don't know. I know that, what to do about the tribe/tribal word is a conversation that matters.

[tuiyla]

A Definitive History of Bubbline

With “Obsidian” coming out in two days, it really is time for a definitive history of Marceline and Bubblegum’s relationship. And by that I mean the tumultuous road that led us to “Obsidian” from a production and fandom point of view. For a list of Bubbline episodes, check out my Bubbline Guide (and part two) - which I need to update, I know I know. For this post, I wanted to highlight how far this pairing has come and what Bubbline means to queer representation in children’s cartoons.

This is less of an analysis and more of an overview with links to more information on specific incidents to keep it (relatively) brief. I say it’s a definitive history but it isn’t an exhaustive one, so do check out the links included to learn more about how we got here. I realize not everyone cares about these kinds of things but I think it’s important to know how hard Adventure Time’s creators had to fight. Bubbline is a pioneer ship in many ways but it doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves.

Initial Concepts

As is the case with much of Adventure Time, the initial concept of who the characters of Bonnibel and Marceline were going to be is very different than what we ended up getting. @gunterfan1992 explores this and other production tidbits in depth in his book so I do recommend checking that out. The short version is that these two were created to be opposites and with a Betty and Veronica type dynamic in mind where they would both be love interest to the protagonist, Finn.

This didn’t quite end up being the case but remnants of this concept are seen in “Go With Me” (March, 2011), the episode with the first on-screen Bubbline interaction. As Marcy helps - and sabotages - Finn in asking Bonnie out, she also becomes a potential love interest for him but she shuts him down immediately. So while Finn’s crush on PB continues, the notion that Marceline would be part of a love triangle is dismissed. Instead, this first Bonnie and Marcy interaction established that the two already know each other and there’s some bitterness in that past.

“What Was Missing” and the Mathematical Controversy

A potential preexisting relationship between the two was further explored in “What Was Missing” (September 2011) just a season later. The episode was written and storyboarded by Rebecca Sugar and eventual showrunner Adam Muto. Sugar was responsible for much of the character depth added to Marceline and later even played, quite aptly, her mother in the Stakes miniseries. It was Sugar who wrote the now beyond iconic “I’m Just Your Problem” based on personal experiences and suggested that Marcy and Bonnie be queer characters with a complicated romantic past.

“What Was Missing” was hugely important in how it hinted at a complex relationship through character interactions, Marceline’s song, and the last scene twist with PB’s shirt. The AT crew were supportive of the idea and sneaked in plenty of queer subtext, but this is where I have to point out that 2011 was a very different time and it’s thanks, in part, to Bubbline that things have changed. Autostraddle’s article from back when covers what is now known as the Mathematical controversy. Audiences picked up on the subtext and Cartoon Network was not having it. The popularity of the ship soared but the execs were not taking to queer implications kindly.

Great Bubbline Drought

So, the ship has sailed but controversy looms over it. “What Was Missing” s subtle by today’s standards but it was enough to keep Marceline and Bubblegum apart for two years on-screen. Each character went through wonderful development in the meantime, as did the show itself, but there’s a certain sense of bitterness to what came to be known as the Great Bubbline Drought. CN got so afraid of the potential backlash that they waited two years to have a new episode featuring the pair, “Sky Witch” (July 2013), by which point Sugar had left AT to work on her own show, Steven Universe. I’m happy that Sugar got to create her own show and push for even more queer representation, but it’s also sad that she never got to write more for the ship she pioneered.

“Sky Witch” still happened, though, and featured even more subtext, from PB’s side this time around. The shirt returned and there was hope as Marcy and Bonnie were seen hanging out together more often (”Red Starved” and “Princess Day”). Another controversy threatened to emerge in August 2014 when Olivia Olson, Marceline’s voice actress said that creator Pendleton Ward had confirmed a pre-show Bubbline romance. It was a messy ordeal with deleted tweets and questions about whether the two could get together again in the series. Fortunately, though, things changed in the three years between 2011 to 2014 and another Bubbline drought didn’t follow.

The Season That Changed Everything

It took another two years after “Sky Witch” but the ball was finally, inevitably, relentlessly rolling. “Varmints” premiered in November 2015 and three episodes later, the Stakes miniseries kicked off. What season 7 meant wasn’t just breadcrumbs and (not so) subtle songs anymore: suddenly, there were too many Bubbline moments to count. “Varmints” served as a follow-up to “What Was Missing” and a final reconciliation, and though Stakes was primarily about Marcy, it also developed her relationship with Bonnie. Afterwards, it became clear that Bubbline was heading somewhere.

It’s worth noting that the cultural context also changed between when “Sky Witch” and “Varmints” aired. In December 2014, The Legend of Korra ended with Korra and Asami beginning their romantic relationship, and Rebecca Sugar was making Steven Universe more and more explicitly queer by the day. Adventure Time started the ball rolling but now it wasn’t alone as a popular Western cable cartoon with queer characters. However, Bubbline was still very much subtext at this point, just with significantly more hope of becoming more.

Late Series Entanglement

But at what point does subtext become plain text? Bubbline fans sure did have fun with that question between Stakes and the finale. Bonnie and Marcy became near inseparable, with most of their major appearances involving one another from this point on. These included the meet the adoptive dad date “Broke His Crown” (March 2016), the Elements miniseries (April 2017) and the nigh on obnoxiously on the nose “Marcy & Hunson” (December 2017). In fact, all but two of Marceline’s major appearances from season 7 on included Bonnie - the exceptions being “Everything Stays” as part of Stakes, and “Ketchup”, which really wasn’t any less gay.

Bubbline moments really did become too many to count, with the vast majority of them having romantic implications. And with queer representation becoming more and more prominent in Western animation, canon Bubbline romance seemed like a question of when rather than if. I’d like to point out here how this was often frustrating, though. After the very rocky start, this relationship was thriving and was really basically confirmed, but that last little push to make it undeniably a part of queer history was still needed.

“Come on!” - The End and Beyond

The almost three years that passed between Stakes and “Come Along With Me” (September 2018) were much more tolerable than the Drought; after all, there was plenty of Bubbline content in the later seasons. The big question as the finale came was whether Adventure Time would fizzle out on its early pioneer of a wlw ship or follow through, once and for all. Almost four years after LoK ended and just before season 1 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power dropped, Marcy and Bonnie had an emotional moment, kissed on screen, and ended the series together.

The intricacies of why a kiss was needed as a signifier of romance is a discussion for another day. But wouldn’t it have been strange after almost a decade of build-up for them not to seal the deal with a kiss? And to think it almost didn’t happen, as by that point it was so obvious they were together. Again, I direct your attention towards Paul Thomas’s book, he explains how it was storyboard artist Hanna K. Nyström’s call to add this final detail. Because, come on! Sometimes, you need to be as clear as possible, and that’s the case with queer representation in animation.

Since the finale, the comics have been continuing the Bubbline train - which are not technically canon but one can have fun regardless. In any case, the existence of Marcy and Bonnie’s relationship, of their queer identities, is not something that can reasonably be denied. It was a long road, and, make no mistake, an arduous one, but this is the story of a win. A win for storytelling and a win for wlw relationships.

We’ll Build Our Own Forever

So, there you have it, a Bubbline timeline of sorts. In March of 2011 we had the first on-screen interaction and now, in November of 2020, we’re getting a 45-minute-long special with the two of them as the central characters. They’re canonically in love, with King Princess covers of Bubbline songs and more. I tried to contain myself, for once, and not write too much. I think it’s important that people have a general idea of just how monumental all of this is and how, even just 9 years ago, “Obsidian” would have been totally inconceivable.

Some of this might have come as a surprise to you. It’s certainly not been easy to get to where we are now with Bubbline and it’s yet to be seen how open “Obsidian” will be about the relationship. I’ve been talking about Bubbline for years and attempted to chronicle their relationship many times so I’m happy I’ve finally done it from this perspective as well.

Adventure Time: Distant Lands “Obsidian” is streaming on Nov 19 on HBO Max. If you can, stream it so we can show that there’s popular demand for stories like that of an angry vampire and a despotic piece of gum.

[starberry-cupcake]

The Chinapuri finale and its montage aka censorship who?

I decided to do all of this in one post and read more, so that the 95% of my followers who are uninterested on this particular drama/source material can easily skip it. Here are 7 relationships showcased in the montage ranked and 2 bonus (a family relationship and an extra). 

Note: I’ll speak about the relationships as they were portrayed, whichever the form of relationship chosen to display in this version. Also, I’m glad that everyone was aged up in this version, kinda wild but very much appreciated that some of these actors are my age or somewhere around there lol 

#7 Lu Xia (Echizen Ryoma) and Qi Ying (Ryuuzaki Sakuno) 

This drama was a bit more romantically-inclined in terms of these two than the anime/manga was, but some of that may be also influenced by them giving their version of Sakuno more room (which yay!) and having them be older. 

For this to stand alone as a drama, it was a needed step, I believe. I found Lu Xia to be more vulnerable than Ryoma, he doesn’t feel quite as ~cool~ and it doesn’t take away from the character that he has moments showing internal struggle (in tennis as well as at home). These two were sweet and adorable, which gave the drama probably more of an expected appeal for a wider audience, to make it stand on its own as a drama and not only an anime adaptation. 

#6 Yan ZhiMing (Inui Sadaharu) & Liu Lian (Yanagi Renji) 

Kinda mad they didn’t do this for Fuji (Zhuo Zhi) and Saeki (Zuo Xiaohu) but they did good with these two. I didn’t know at first why they started to build up their relationship so early, but it ended up being a good emotional plot point during their match, which is, as we all know, a determining factor in Seigaku’s (Yu Qing) win against Rikkai (Hai Guang). 

I don’t remember being as invested in their match in the anime as I was here, maybe I was just too focused on the Fuji match at that time, but what they did to build that game as a decisive point in the season finale was so well developed, I was impressed. 

#5 He XingLong (Kawamura Takeshi) & Ya JiuXin (Akutsu Jin) 

This is a relationship that can get complicated and even problematic if handled incorrectly. Akutsu’s journey through the anime is pretty long and takes a while for him to be on a healthier place, but the added element of aging the characters could have gone really wrong here if they had done him exactly as in the anime or manga. I think they did pretty well with the time they were given, showing his turmoil and learning curve. 

XingLong was allowed to have a more in-depth journey being older and about to graduate, it made more sense for him here to think about his career at this stage and added the gravity of this being THE moment to decide whether to keep pursuing the sport or take over his dad’s restaurant (they even adapted the type of food they cook to match the cultural impact of the family-owned business, which was great). 

I think the two complemented each other really well and worked interestingly together, in a way I didn’t think the drama was gonna give them time to do, so I’m really pleased. 

#4 Qiao Chen (Momoshiro Takeshi) & Zhang BaiYang (Kaidoh Kaoru) 

My younger self is thriving with this one being included tbh. These two were so much fun in the anime, two rivals and opposites that represented the future of the team upon their elders leaving. 

I was surprised to see them so focused here, because it’s not a relationship most adaptations put emphasis on (their loss), but it paid off immensely by the time their game against Bunta and Jackal (Jin WenTai & Ke Jie) came around. 

Kaidoh is a tough one to adapt most times, and they did him so well in this one, I think this is my favorite live action Kaidoh in any adaptation, and I’ve watched a whole bunch of tenimyu in my day. They really captured the ambiguity of his character, how he balances a tough exterior with a sensitive core. Qiao Chen maintained his feelings for Xu Xingzi (Tachibana Ann) but that didn’t stop them from showing these two every time they could. 

#3 Mu Siyang (Tezuka Kunimitsu) & Ji Jingwu (Atobe Keigo) 

Oh, these two. Hyotei (Xing Yao) wasn’t featured as much as one would probably expect (I’m a Fudomine fan and with Yu Feng I got more than I even was expecting, but I admit Hyotei is a riot and I always live my best life when they show up). Still, they did the Tezuka/Atobe match justice and then some. 

Mu Siyang was incredibly compelling as Tezuka, and had a vulnerability to him that made me worry for his health more than I probably did for his anime counterpart. Maybe also the fact that he was older than his anime version yet looked younger than him made it sink more that his injury was something to worry about. I wish we had time to include anime!Tezuka’s issues with yips with Siyang, because I know the drama would have pulled it off, but that was further down the line in the story. Maybe for a season 2. 

Anyway, the Atobe/Tezuka game is one of the best games in tenipuri history and the drama knew it. The game felt like it earned its gravity with the development of both Siyang’s injury and Ji Jingwu’s determination to play against him. Then they sprinkled the camp on top, as the anime does, with Ji Jingwu paying for his every expense and calling him to get updates, which is 100% canon compliant imo. 

I feel like Ji Jingwu didn’t have enough room to be as much of Atobe as he could be, but then again, that’s not easy for anyone to pull off. Not even Kato Kazuki can do Junichi Suwabe as well as Junichi Suwabe.  

#2 Bai ShiYan (Yukimura Seiichi) & Tian ZiLong (Sanada Genichirou) 

So, it’s tough to feel for Rikkai (Hai Guang) at this point of the story. You learn about Yukimura’s health and it’s difficult, but you just met them and the first impressions haven’t been great. 

However, the relationship between Sanada and Yukimura has always been something pivotal for the way the team is constructed (they were named that way for a reason, two parts of a same hero and all that) and they sustain the team in a way other teams don’t have to. They are the mom and dad of the team, the coaches, the leaders and the pillars. They have a balance of severity and permissiveness, of strictness and instinct. They are like a couple who has been married for 25 years. 

How on Earth, I asked myself, will they achieve that with censorship on the way? I don’t know, but they did it, the mad bastards. 

It really does come through 100% the importance of their relationship and the way in which the captain’s health affects the team and, more than anything, their vice captain. It reaches a crescendo during the final match, before ShiYan’s operation, and they manage to pull it off with the time they have. 

Also, their scenes are like shot for a contemporary romance drama and I appreciate that vibe. 

#1 Tang JiaLe (Kikumaru Eiji) & Chi DaYong (Oishi Shuichiro) 

Oh boy. Look. I still own Golden Pair merchandise from my Days, ok? These two hold a special place in my heart. I saw actors who portrayed them grow up, succeed and pass away, sadly. I still sing Depend On Me sometimes. There is a cheerful vibe with these two, a sense of overcoming obstacles and finding balance, I don’t know. Fuji is my favorite character but these two are special in their way. 

This freakin’ drama just went full on Golden Pair. The level of content was off the charts. The moment they came on the screen, the second they talked about their doubles, it was already setting the tone of how deep their relationship was going to go. I am a bit amazed that they avoided to get closed down for this ngl. And I appreciate the risk because it paid off.

They have a body language communication that is captured in every shot. Even when they’re not the focus of the scene, they’re close, touching or holding each other, arms around each other, hands on each other’s shoulders, grabbing each other’s clothes. When they fight, that language changes drastically, and the distance they take feels intense and cold. You go through it with them and the team shows it as well. There’s an entire episode I had screencaps of and never posted when the team falls apart because they do. 

My favorite part, though, ironically, isn’t what they did with them together but what they did with them apart. They took time to develop them as individual characters with their own issues, their fears, their worries and weaknesses. They were allowed to be flawed and wrong and have to mend their ways. 

What really got me and impacted me deeply was the fact that they chose DaYong to talk about mental health. They gave room to speaking about the physical implications of anxiety disorders and about how self esteem issues can give more magnitude to ongoing issues with your mental health. Again, the age of the characters being changed helped add a depth to some issues that get developed with more intensity in a drama of this kind, and the way in which it takes TIME to get resolved, it isn’t a one episode thing, it’s an underlying issue that spans the season...*chef’s kiss* 

Even though there’s a specific tenimyu incarnation of these two that I hold dear and will always remember fondly, I think that Xu Ke and Zhu ZhiLing are the most successful and best portrayed live action Golden Pair I’ve ever seen. 

Bonus that was in the montage but it’s specifically about a family relationship: The Zhuo Bros

I have said Fuji has always been my favorite and his relationship with Yuta as an older brother (albeit he’s not the eldest sibling like me) is one I always felt close to. 

In the anime, the two have a rocky relationship that gets developed throughout, but the drama is very good at establishing not only Zhuo Yu’s (Fuji Yuta) self esteem issues, the subsequent use of that Guan Yue (Mizuki Hajime) does and Zhuo Zhi’s (Fuji Syusuke) attempts to breach the gap between the siblings, they also use it to develop Zhuo Zhi’s character and his reticence to show weakness. 

It’s tough to get Fuji towards a place of vulnerability without breaking character, but they used family and the care he provides to his brother as a point to further his story, and I appreciate that a lot. They managed to build Zhuo Zhi up with this sibling bond as one of his core elements, and that gave a lot of dimension to his games and his character. 

Bonus that wasn’t in the montage but I’m including in some capacity: Mu Siyang (Tezuka Kunimitsu) & Zhuo Zhi (Fuji Syusuke) 

I thought these two deserved a place in the list, even if they weren’t grouped much in the montage, because the drama did make them share moments together that I feel gave more depth to their characters. 

There was a very interesting moment in which they showed Mu Siyang and Zhuo Zhi establishing their differences when approaching tennis, and how serious Mu Siyang is about taking the team to victory. I think that strengthened the character as a captain to me, in a way that shows it rather than tells it, and allowed for his guidance to still be present when he wasn’t physically there. His determination ultimately influenced Zhuo Zhi to take things more seriously, and that was a pretty interesting development to see. 

All in all, I should, at some point, go and do a serious review for MyDramaList but I wanted to leave in my blog how much I appreciated this adaptation. I wasn’t expecting much and I was delivered everything.

[framecaught]

Transmedia Storytelling: A Perspective on the Homestuck Epilogues

First of all, thank you for reading my first post! I created this blog to document some of my research for a directed study project. I’ll be looking at Homestuck from an interdisciplinary lens but focusing especially on its formal artistic qualities and place in art history. The blog will contain various points of analysis which I develop over the course of the project. For my first piece of writing, I wanted to tackle (from a new perspective) what I view as a complicating factor in the controversy surrounding the Homestuck Epilogues.

Rather than critiquing the Epilogues’ content or making a judgement about their overall quality, I want to explore a specific criticism which has been echoed time and time again by fans. In an article for the online journal WWAC, Homestuck fan-writer Masha Zhdanova sums up this criticism:

“No matter how much members of the creative team insist that their extension to the Homestuck line of work is no more official than fanwork, if it’s hosted on Homestuck.com, promoted by Homestuck’s official social media accounts, and endorsed by the original creator, I think it’s a little more official than a fanfic with thirty hits on AO3.”

Between attacks on the Epilogues’ themes, treatment of characters, and even prose-quality, fans have frequently referenced the issue of endorsement and canonicity as summarized above. Although the Epilogues and Homestuck’s other successors (including Homestuck^2 and the Friendsims) attempt to tackle themes of canonicity within their narratives, critics of the Epilogues contend that this philosophical provocation falls flat. While the creators argue that the works should form a venue for productively questioning canonicity, fans point to issues of capital and call the works disingenuous. In Episode 52 of the Perfectly Generic Podcast Andrew Hussie explains that, to him, the Epilogues are “heavily implied to be a piece of bridge-media, which is clearly detached from the previous narrative, and conceptually ‘optional’ by its presentation, which allows it to also function as an off-ramp for those inclined to believe the first seven acts of Homestuck were perfectly sufficient.” As Zhdanova paraphrases, a critical view posits that this “optional” reading is impossible. The company ethos and production of capital inherent to the Epilogue’s release—their promotion, their monetization—renders their “fanfic” backdrop completely moot, if not insulting.

Why does appropriating the “aesthetic trappings” [1] of AO3 strike such a chord with critics, though? What’s wrong with the Epilogue creators profiting from their work? Other officially endorsed “post-canon” materials, including the Paradox Space comics, Hiveswap and Friendsim games, have not inspired such virulent opposition. The issue comes down to the association between the AO3 layout and the separation from canon. The Epilogues ask us to read them as “tales of dubious authenticity,” but critics assert that this reading makes no sense in the context of their distribution. It’s not exactly the endorsement or monetization that prevents a “dubious” reading, though. After all, Hiveswap is also endorsed and monetized, yet fans have no problem labeling it as “dubiously canon.” So what is it about the Epilogues’ presentation that seems so incongruous with their premise as “dubious” texts?

I’ve come to understand this issue through the lens of transmedia storytelling. First conceptualized by Henry Jenkins, “transmedia storytelling” involves the production of distinct stories, contained within the same universe, across different media platforms. [2] This allows consumers to pick and choose stories across their favorite media outlets, since each story is self-contained, but superfans can still consume All The Content for a greater experience. The Marvel franchise with its comics, movies, TV shows, and other ephemera, is a great example of the transmedia phenomenon.

How does Homestuck fit into this theory? In an excellent article [3] for the Convergence journal, Kevin Veale lays out a taxonomy for Homestuck’s role in new media frameworks. Rather than dispersing different stories across multiple media platforms, Homestuck combines the “aesthetic trappings” of many media forms into one massive outlet: the Homestuck website [4]. It’s almost like the inverse of transmedia storytelling. Veale describes this type of storytelling as “transmodal.” He further defines Homestuck’s storytelling as “metamedia,” meaning that it manipulates the reader’s expectations of certain media forms to change the reading experience. So, despite its multimedia aspects, Homestuck structures itself around one monolith distribution channel (the website), the importance of which directly feeds into what we know as “upd8 culture.” The Homestuck website itself, as a “frame” which encapsulates Homestuck and the other MS Paint Adventures, takes on a nostalgic quality; the familiar grey background and adblocks become inextricably linked with the production of the main, “canon” narrative.

Homestuck itself—the main narrative—is a transmodal venture. However, as of writing this post, the Homestuck franchise has taken a leap into transmedia waters, starting with the Paradox Space comics and continuing with Hiveswap, the Friendsims, and Homestuck^2. All four of these examples fit the definition of transmedia ventures: they contain distinct stories still set in the Homestuck universe and are distributed through fundamentally separate media channels from the main comic. Which is to say, crucially, none of them are hosted on the Homestuck website.

This is where I think the issue arises for the Epilogues. The Epilogues, from what I can tell, aimed to present themselves as a transmedia venture rather than a transmodal one. Firstly, they try to act as a “bridge-media,” or self-contained story. They can be read as a continuation of Homestuck, but can also be separated or ignored. Secondly, they take on a distinct format (prose). Hussie notes in PGP Ep. 52 that the Epilogues were originally only meant to be published in print, functioning as a “cursed tome.” In short, they were intended as a transmedia venture: a self contained story, distributed through a separate medium (prose) and separate media channel (print), to be embraced or discarded by consumers at their whim.

Instead, when the Epilogues were released through the main Homestuck website, readers couldn’t help but interpret them as part of Homestuck’s long transmodal history. Rather than interacting with a new distribution channel, readers returned to the same nostalgic old grey website. The AO3 formatting gag makes no real difference to readers, as Homestuck patently appropriates the aesthetics of other platforms all throughout its main narrative. This issue of distribution (print versus website), which in turn produces either a transmedia or transmodal reading, is the crux of the criticism I mentioned before. Despite the creators’ protests, readers failed to see any “question” of canonicity because the Epilogues fit perfectly into the comic’s preexisting transmodal framework, supported even further by the nostalgia of the website’s very layout. The Epilogues read as a transmodal contribution to Homestuck’s main channel rather than a post-canon, transmedia narrative (like Paradox Space or the Friendsims) as they were intended. This created a profound dissonance between the fans’ experiences and the creators’ intentions.

How things might have turned out differently if the Epilogues really had been released solely as “cursed tomes,” the world will never know. In PGP, Hussie cites the importance of making content freely accessible on the website as a reason for the online release, which is certainly a valid consideration. Even though the print format offers a much clearer conceptual standpoint as a transmedia “bridge-story” [5], issues of capital and accessibility may still have come to the forefront of discussion. As it stands, though, I think the mix-up between transmedia and transmodal distribution was a key factor in the harsh criticism the Epilogues sparked.

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[1] I love this term, “aesthetic trappings”, which Masha Zhdanova uses, so I’ve overused it to some degree in my post.

[2] Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, 2007: pg. 98. You can also find a description of transmedia storytelling on his blog.

[3] Veale, Kevin. “‘Friendship Isn’t an Emotion Fucknuts’: Manipulating Affective Materiality to Shape the Experience of Homestuck’s Story.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 25, no. 5–6 (December 2019): 1027–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517714954.

[4] Although the Homestuck website shifted branding from mspaintadventures.com to homestuck.com before the Epilogues’ release and has shifted its aesthetic somewhat (re: banners and ads), I treat the core “website” as the same location in my post

[5] Hussie points to numerous fascinating experiences which might have arisen from the print distribution. He describes a tome as “something which maddeningly beckons, due to whatever insanity it surely contains, but also something which causes feelings of trepidation” and references the sheer size of the book and “stark presentation of the black and white covers” as elements which produce this trepidation. The ability to physically experience (through touch) the length of the Epilogues and the impact of the book cover were lost in the online format. Although the Epilogues have been released in their intended book format now, the printed novel still won’t be a “first reading experience” for most fans. 

[rivalsforlife]

What're your exact thoughts on AA5?

ooh anon are you sure you want me to get into this?

It’s... complicated? Like, as a game on it’s own, it... still has MAJOR flaws but it’s not too bad. As a sequel to AA4? Pretty terrible. 

I guess let’s start with that angle. What makes me angriest about AA5 is that it kind of... completely erased any chance of proper closure to some of the story arcs and themes that AA4 opened up. Like, people will try to claim 456 as a “trilogy”, but it’s nowhere near cohesive enough to pass as one. AA5 pretty much pushed Apollo (who was supposed to “succeed” Phoenix as the protagonist, being kinda the point of the case literally called Turnabout Succession) to a secondary character role. It shoved Trucy completely out of the spotlight so her only role was to hang around the office and then get kidnapped once (which has such little role in the story it’s completely forgettable). It completely abandoned Klavier and had him come back as a kind of bland “ja achtung herr forehead I’m a rockstar ;)” character who only shows up to play a minor role in a minor case. In contrast with, say, how JFA treats the major cast from the first game (consistent protagonist, Maya having a bigger role and more of her history and family drama explored, Miles getting huge amounts of character development and being a major part of the emotional arc) it is an extreme letdown. It also just automatically brings back Phoenix as the protagonist and... doesn’t even touch on the lasting consequences of his disbarment? Not even just the “he became a lawyer again right away and doesn’t really bring up the effect disbarment had on him” kind of thing, but the story itself kind of forgets about him being disbarred. For a game entirely about the public’s perception of the legal system being in the dumpster, not one person ever questions Phoenix’s eligibility as a lawyer or whether he forged the evidence. Like, sure, he was cleared of all charges, but that doesn’t mean that the public would automatically see him as innocent, especially considering his massive influence over the trial that essentially proved his innocence! Like, “oh, you practically ran this trial that said you didn’t forge evidence? Okay, we love you, you’re a hero.”

And I do love Athena, and I like her overall story with Simon, I like them both as characters and I like their general plotline. I just think it came in at a veeeery bad time. Adding Athena as a protagonist in the same game you add Phoenix back as a protagonist means that not only do none of the protagonists end up with the sole focus of the game for their development, but also her major role in the plot pushes back any chance for exploring the story of AA4. Athena gets a joint protagonist-assistant type role, so Trucy isn’t necessary anymore, since the only assistant role is filled by one of the other lawyers. So, no Trucy development. And as a protagonist she is immediately overshadowed by Phoenix in the very first case.

I... like to think the first case is a very good example of DD, because it starts with Athena being immediately overshadowed by Phoenix who is back to his normal trilogy self, and Apollo ends up bleeding on the ground.

I mean, in some ways, I get it, because this is a game that was written six years after Apollo Justice and had a completely new writing team, not to mention being on a completely different console, so already making a direct sequel to AJ would be complicated considering that a decent amount of the people buying the game possibly would have never played an AA game before (considering the 3DS ports weren’t there at the time.) And apparently Phoenix’s characterization in AJ, and AJ in general, was poorly received, so from a marketing standpoint they did kinda need to abandon as much as they could. But from a story standpoint, it’s really bad.

There’s also the issues with the plot in general, namely the “Dark Age of the Law”. Because... the law has been TERRIBLE in this series for as long as the series was around. If there’s a Dark Age, it’s been going on for a looooong time. And, of course, there’s no real way that Phoenix’s disbarment and Simon’s arrest were what initiated this Dark Age, because the people who have ALREADY been arrested should have been much, much worse. Like we’re talking about an undefeated prosecutor known for forging evidence, the Chief of Police, another prosecutor being accused of murder, not to mention the investigations games tackling down an ambassador and the former Chief Prosecutor/ head of the committee that’s SUPPOSED to stop corruption. After all that, the breaking point is a defense attorney and some rookie prosecutor?

(One good explanation is what Saturation’s take on this all happening is, but considering the games haven’t said it was like this...)

Also again with the issue of Phoenix’s disbarment. The game assumes that once Simon is cleared (in an unofficial trial) and Phoenix’s name is cleared (again in an unconventional trial) the public is magically going to start trusting in the legal system again. ... Good luck with that. There’s no way that’s going to happen.

And there’s also a lot of wasted opportunities with the whole “the ends justifies the means” nonsense in general. Like, I think I’ve talked before about how the first case of Apollo Justice pretty much embodies the “the ends justifies the means” approach. The evidence has been destroyed by the true culprit, and the only way to have them safely convicted is to present forged evidence: what then? Or even RFTA’s “there isn’t any evidence that this person is the culprit, but we KNOW they are, and if they continue to get away then they could hurt people, so isn’t forging evidence the right thing to do?” It’s a complicated morally grey thing they can dig into, but instead, DD goes for the “but I want to present forged evidence to win!!” which everyone can agree is wrong. 

(It’s also incredibly ironic that Athena talks about “Mr. Wright is going to bring us out of this dark age!” right in the middle of the third case when confronting Means, when, you know, Phoenix used the EXACT “ends justifies the means” approach just a year later. but you know, no one’s going to say anything about that, because Phoenix Wright is perfect and can do no wrong.)

Plus thematically the game is all over the place. Unlike say the second investigations game which had a solid theme about “bonds between people” with a focus on “bonds between parent and child”, I... can’t really figure out what the overall theme of DD is. When I replayed the game prior to UR-1 incident, I could come up with about like five things that they maybe focused on in the last case but none of them were concrete enough to be called the overall theme. Incredible that the game was written two years after the one with one of the most solid overall themes! 

Also, the villain was weak overall; they were TOO unpredictable and the fact that absolutely no one noticed something was off with him (particularly not the girl who can literally read emotions) was rough. Everyone immediately turning on him despite the exact same case talking about believing in your friends even if there is evidence against them is a little weird. And their motives, whatever organization they worked for, it’s all unknown (and completely abandoned in the next game, of course, so we’ll never know.) Which may be the point, not everything NEEDS to be solved, but the fact that none of the characters ever express concern about this (like why an international spy who killed someone to impersonate them has a realistic mask of Phoenix’s face) is also weird.

... This is a lot of negativity. Uh, there are things I do like, I swear. I like Athena and Simon, I like uhh... the soundtrack... ... ... you know I do like the game a lot more when I am in the process of playing it. Despite the undoubtable fanservice that was Miles’ appearance (OH THAT’S ANOTHER NEGATIVE THING, I didn’t like how Athena didn’t have a major role in the Phantom’s takedown despite that being the guy who killed her mom) I like being able to see Miles and I like seeing what comfortable terms he’s on with Phoenix now. Some elements of the individual cases were lots of fun (the father-daughter relationship in the second case, the focus on the friendship in the third case, and I enjoyed the DLC case overall.) ... This has gone on long enough, so I’ll leave it at that!

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #103: Thomas Edison

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the king of inventions, the Presi-King of the US of A, and the man who turned every president of the United States into his underwear, Thomas Edison! This inventor’s one cool cat, with a World Faith Domination that can alter the hearts and minds of a nation while also shutting down any other illusions that might be affecting them. You also make robots sometimes. You also, of course, get plenty of that good ol’ American DC current!

Check out the Presi-king’s build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: What’s that thing you shout when you jump off stuff again?

Race and Background

The good Presi-king’s a cat, but he’s a lot chunkier than most of the ones we’ve built so far. Fortunately, WotC have us covered with the Leonin. We’re also using Tasha’s variant race rules to mix up the ability score bonuses. Being a Leonin gives Eddy boy +2 Constitution and +1 Intelligence. He also gets Darkvision, Claws for additional unarmed damage, Hunter’s Instincts, giving him proficiency in Athletics, and a Daunting Roar, using a bonus action to force a wisdom save (DC 8 plus your constitution modifier plus your proficiency bonus) against nearby creatures, frightening them if they fail, once per short rest.

He’s also a Guild Artisan, for Insight and Persuasion proficiency. The sciences aren’t big in the Forgotten Realms, but he’s good enough at building things to get by.

Ability Scores

Put your highest ability into Intelligence. The king of inventors is smart, pretty simple. After that is Charisma, you can put on a good show when you have to. Follow this up with Dexterity, then Constitution. You’re a nerd, but you’ve got a fancy outfit on that helps a bit. This does mean your Strength is a little low, but we’ll get ways to fix that later. We’re dumping Wisdom though. History has proven that direct current just isn’t as good as alternating current in most instances. Also you’re happy to waste tons of resources on your schemes as long as they don’t come from America, which is pretty unwise.

Class Levels

1. Artificer 1: No points for guessing this one. First level artificers have proficiency with Constitution and Intelligence saves, as well as Arcana (which is the closest thing to science in D&D) and Investigation. You also get Magical Tinkering, which adds minor effects to small items, and Intelligence based Spells. 

Speaking of spells, you get first level spells now, plus some cantrips. You can technically use all of them, but you have to prepare them beforehand. With a limited amount of prep, you have to pick and choose what you focus on. For cantrips, Lightning Lure adds a little spark to your life, and Dancing Lights puts on a show when necessary. You can also prepare spells like Grease, Alarm, and Snare as your first inventions. You can also learn Identify to investigate other items you come across, and turn them into your own with some improvements.

2. Artificer 2: Speaking of improvements, second level artificers can actually do that with Infuse Item. After working on an item over your long rest, you can add an infusion to it that lasts until you die or you infuse more than your limit. At level two, you can make an Armor of Magical Strength, which will give you a limited use muscle body. When you make a strength check or save you can use one of six charges to add your intelligence modifier to the roll. You can also spend a charge to avoid falling prone. An Enhanced Weapon might also be a good fit for your fighters, adding 1 to all attack and damage rolls. Sending Stones are more Bell’s thing, but he’s not here, so he won’t mind. Finally, you can also make a Homunculus Servant for the start of your mighty robot army.

3. Artificer 3: We’ll continue to build your army by becoming a Battle Smith, gaining you extra spells like Heroism and Shield to inspire and protect your meatshields. You’re also Battle Ready, allowing you to use martial weapons (that’ll come in handy later) and use your intelligence instead of strength when attacking with magic weapons.

You can also build a Steel Defender, though sadly only one. It’s a medium construct that can make melee attacks, heal itself and other constructs, though only if you spend your bonus action each turn commanding it to do so. It’s built-in hardware only has melee attacks, but building a gun shouldn’t be too complicated for you.

You can also build The Right Tool for the Job over a short rest, magically creating a set of artisan’s tools.

4. Artificer 4: Now that we have martial weapons proficiency, use this Ability Score Increase to get the Fighting Initiate feat for a new fighting style. The Unarmed Fighting style will add even more oomph to your punches than before. I’d argue that magicking up some gloves with tinkering would count them as magic weapons, but that’s something to argue with your DM over. You’ll be good either way by the end of the build, but that would get your there much faster. 

5. Wizard 1: Speaking of complicated, here’s a billion extra spells. Wizards get a whole new list that’s kept in their spellbook and use Intelligence to cast. You also gain an Arcane Recovery, letting you recover spell slots on a short rest with a total level equal to half your wizard level rounded up.

For cantrips, Light and Prestidigitation will help you put on a show, and Mending can repair your Steel Defender for free. You can also make a horror movie to Cause Fear, use Color Spray to blind people with science, Magic Missile for caster balls, Unseen Servant for another robot buddy, Silent Image for classic films, and Protection from Evil and Good for the anti-mysticism effects.

(We know Unseen Servant doesn’t have an actual visible body, but it’s a straight downgrade from RAW, so it’s an easy sell for your DM.)

6. Wizard 2: You make movies, and the closest thing we can get in D&D would be Illusions. As an Illusion Savant, it costs you half as much gold to copy illusion spells. You also get an Improved Minor Illusion that can create sound and images at the same time.

You also get Tenser’s Floating Disk for a carrier robot, and Find Familiar for yet another non-combat drone. For those of you playing along at home, you can now have a familiar, a defender, a homunculus, and either a servant or floating disk with concentration. You’re not exactly a military powerhouse yet, but you’re getting there.

7. Artificer 5: Fifth level artificers get an Extra Attack each attack action, as well as second level spells. Your specialties are Branding Smite and Warding Bond, but you can also make Magic Mouths to leave behind recordings, and use See Invisibility to look past others’ illusions.

8. Artificer 6: Sixth level artificers have Tool Expertise, doubling your tool proficiencies. You can also make another infusion at once, and learn two more to fill that slot. A Spell-Refueling Ring is great for casters pulling an all-nighter, and Gloves of Thievery aren’t really in character, but they’re an excuse to use Battle Ready with your unarmed attacks.

9. Artificer 7: Every once in a while you have a Flash of Genius. Normally this would lead to some country that isn’t America getting ransacked for natural resources, but in D&D it means you can react to add your intelligence modifier to any saving throw or check done within 30 feet of you. This can be used a number of times per long rest equal to your intelligence modifier.

10. Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells. You specifically get Dragon’s Breath and Enhance Ability to improve your robots’ combat capabilities. (I mean, breathing fire would improve anything’s combat capabilities, but using it on your robots is in character.)

11. Wizard 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence for better... well, everything. You also get the Friends cantrip and Suggestion spell to help bury that busybody Tesla with your social connections, and Flock of Familiars for, you guessed it, more robots.

12. Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells, like Dispel Magic and Remove Curse for more anti-mysticism tech.

13. Wizard 6: Sixth level illusionists can make Malleable Illusions, allowing you to change what an illusion spell you’ve cast is depicting as an action. You can also cast Major Image now, and Lightning Bolt will bolster your lagging electrical toolkit.

14. Artificer 8: Eighth level artificers get another ASI and not much else, but it does mean your Intelligence is now maxed out for the strongest spells and most flashes of genius possible.

15. Artificer 9: Your Arcane Jolt can deal extra damage or heal people when you hit a creature with your own magical weapons or your steel defender. When you’re as busy as you are, fitting as much into a single action as possible is paramount.

You also get third level spells again, specializing in an Aura of Vitality and the ability to Conjure Barrage. You can also create a Tiny Servant for yet another construct, or use Protection from Energy and Elemental Weapon to add even more electricity into your party’s life.

16. Artificer 10: Tenth level artificers are Magic Item Adepts, letting you attune for four magic items at once, and crafting common and uncommon magic items are much faster and cheaper. 

You can also cast Guidance now, because why not, and learn two more invocations. Helm of Awareness gives you more situational awareness, and Gauntlets of Ogre Strength gives you punches that don’t require technicalities to deal damage.

17. Artificer 11: Eleventh level artificers can make Spell Storing Items, storing magical effects in weapons and focii. The spell has to be on the artificer list, 2nd level or lower, and take one action to cast.

18. Artificer 12: Use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a better AC. Your armor’s pretty good, but you should help it where you can.

19. Artificer 13: After five levels, you finally bump up to fourth level spells, with the specialty spells Aura of Purity and Fire Shield. You can also Fabricate items out of nothing, and your robot army finally gets more power with Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound and Summon Construct. (Like Unseen Servant, the Faithful Hound shouldn’t be visible, but again, an easy sell to your DM.)

20. Artificer 14: Your capstone level makes you a Magic Item Savant, giving you yet another attunement slot, and the ability to ignore class and race requirements when using magic items.

You also get Mage Hand for another kind of drone, and two new infusions. Amulet of Health will make you a bit tougher, and Gem of Seeing will help you see through enemy illusions for one final bit of anti-mystic technology.

Pros:

With proper flavoring, your robot army can be super useful, despite the small number of them that can directly attack creatures. Use familiars to revive fallen teammates or even turn macguffins into Tiny Servants at a distance, TS up your fighter’s crossbow so it’ll reload itself, or use unseen servants as stealth bombers. The world is your toolbox.

You’re also good at destroying other magic, with magic items to help see through illusions and invisibility and spells like Dispel Magic and Remove Curse to tear up mysticism affecting your party and your path forward.

Your spells and artifacts are powerful, but there’s something to be said for just being able to punch people. Maybe your DM wants to take you down a peg by tearing up all your robots, only to get the shock of their life when you’re still able to hold your own.

Cons:

While you can survive without your infusions, you’re still tied to your gear in the long run, with infusions providing you the toughness necessary to get into melee range to begin with, and your spellbook holding a sizeable chunk of what you can cast at any given time.

You also have low wisdom, so without your gear you might have a hard time seeing through illusions.

Despite your impressive physique and robot army, most of your gear is suited for indirect combat at best. You can punch and shoot lightning if you have to, but getting other people to be the muscle is still going to be your plan A.

[aion-rsa]

The Best Korean Dramas on Netflix to Watch Right Now

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South Korea is one of the world’s biggest exporters of popular culture. From K-pop to K-dramas, Parasite to BTS, the East Asian country knows how to reach an international audience. Korean TV, especially K-dramas, have long been of interest to western markets, but it’s no longer just the Korean diaspora or romance drama fans underserved by western markets checking out K-dramas, international watchers of Korean dramas have become much more “mainstream” in the last few years, especially with Netflix’s increased focus and investment in the region.

Read more

TV

Why Are Squid Game’s English-Language Actors So Bad?

By Kayti Burt

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Squid Game’s Most Heartbreaking Hour is Also Its Best

By Kayti Burt

Netflix has played a major role in this expansion of Korean TV into the global market. The streamer has not only scooped up an impressive backlog of Korean originals as a global distributor, but, since 2016, has been investing in the Korean TV industry at the production level. At the beginning of 2021, Netflix released an official statement announcing the leasing of two production facilities outside of Seoul, citing the move as “another important example of our continued commitment to investing in Korea’s creative ecosystem.” According to the release, from 2015 to 2020, Netflix invested over 700 million dollars in Korean content. The company also has multi-year content partnerships with CJ ENM/Studio Dragon and JTBC.

Suffice to say, Netflix has a solid Korean TV section, filled with some of the best K-dramas around, both new and old. If you’re new to the world of Korean TV or if you’re simply looking for your next watch, why not try out one of the following…

Crash Landing On You (2019)

The absolute top secret love story of a chaebol heiress who made an emergency landing in North Korea because of a paragliding accident and a North Korean special officer who falls in love with her and who is hiding and protecting her.

If you’re at all tapped into the K-drama scene, then you have at least heard of Crash Landing on You if not binged it multiple times. An original production from Netflix, Crash Landing On You pairs rom-com and character drama elements with an exploration of the cultural pain inherent in the separation between North and South Korea. With charismatic and vulnerable performances from veteran K-drama leads Son Ye-jin as South Korean heiress Yoon Se-ri and Hyun Bin as North Korean soldier Ri Jeong-hyeok; some gorgeous production values; and a memorably melodramatic soundtrack, Crash Landing On You is a whirlwind action-romance that was one of the best shows of 2020, full stop.

Kingdom (2019-present)

In a kingdom defeated by corruption and famine, a mysterious plague spreads to turn the infected into monsters. The crown prince, framed for treason and desperate to save his people, sets out on a journey to unveil what evil lurks in the dark.

If you prefer your TV more horror-driven, Korean TV has some notable shows for you. One of the most internationally popular is Kingdom, a historical zombie drama about a 17th century crown prince who has to fight against a mysterious plague of flesh-eating zombies that threatens to overtake his kingdom. Most K-dramas are structured to tell their entire story in one season, but Kingdom has already had two seasons with a third predicted to be on the way, as well as a one-off special that just premiered on Netflix called Kingdom: Ashin of the North. If you’re looking to get into a longer-running K-drama that favors horror over romance, this could be the one for you.

Squid Game (2021)

45.6 billion won. 456 contestants stake their lives on childhood games.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably already heard of Squid Game, which is on track to become Netflix’s most popular series ever. The Korean social thriller tells the story of a group of 456 desperate contestants who agree to compete in a deadly competition for the chance to win the kind of money that could change their lives forever. Socially relevant and compulsively watchable, Squid Game takes a familiar premise and makes it new again with compelling characters, exquisite visual style, and cultural specificity.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha (2021)

When things go awry in the city, a dentist decides to go back to her quiet seaside hometown for a fresh start. There, she finds herself at odds with the village go-to handyman who’s always up to help and fix what’s broken—perhaps even matters of the heart.

If you’re looking for something a little chiller after the horrors of Squid Game, try Hometown Cha Cha Cha, which is basically a Hallmark Christmas movie in series form (which is to say a cozy romance). The series, which is currently “airing” weekly on Netflix, sees a big city dentist named Hye-jin decide to open an office in the small seaside town of Gongjin, where she once visited with her family as a child. It all happens on a bit of a whim, with Hye-jin not fully prepared for the transition to rural life in a town where everyone knows everyone’s business. Enter Du-sik, the town’s darling jack-of-all-trades, who helps the townspeople by doing any and every job they might need. The two couldn’t be more different, but fate seems to have brought them together. You probably have an idea of what happens next…

When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

Dong-baek (Kong Hyo-jin) is the owner of a small-town bar called Camellia. Her ordinary life turns topsy-turvy when three men enter her life — a good guy, a bad guy, and a miserly guy. What kind of stories will unfold in this sleepy town full of colorful characters? 

If you’re looking for another K-drama set outside of Seoul, When the Camellia Blooms is the story of a single mom Dong-baek, who moves to the fictional town of Ongsan where she opens a bar called Camellia. When local police officer Yong-sik declares his love for Dong-baek, she is initially not interested, but the two become closer the more time they spend together. Thrown in a solid supporting cast and a serial killer subplot and you’ve got yourself one of the most popular K-dramas in recent years.

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)

Desperate to escape from his emotional baggage and the heavy responsibility he’s had all his life, a psychiatric ward worker begins to heal with help from the unexpected—a woman who writes fairy tales but doesn’t believe in them.

There’s still a taboo around addressing mental illness in Korea, which is one of the many reasons why this 2020 drama about Gang-tae, a young man who is a caregiver at a psychiatric hospital, and Moon-young, a children’s author living with antisocial personality disorder, made such a splash. While the romance at its center is great, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay really shines in its exploration of Gang-tae’s relationship with his brother, Sang-tae, who is on the autism spectrum. In a press conference promoting the show (via Metro Style), Sang-tae actor Oh Jung-se said of the character: “If you meet someone like Sang-tae, who is on the autism spectrum, on the street, I think it would be nice if people could think ‘I would like to be with that person’ instead of ‘I would like to help that person.’”

Boys Over Flowers (2009)

Unassuming high school girl Jan-di stands up to — and eventually falls for — a spoiled rich kid who belongs to the school’s most powerful clique.

A K-drama classic, Boys Over Flowers follows working class student Geum Jan-di as she arrives at the elite Shinhwa High School on scholarship, only to meet and be unimpressed by a group of privileged boys known collectively as F4 who rule the school. The drama follows Jan-di as she goes from bullying target of F4 leader Jun-pyo to the object of his obsession. It’s a classic enemies-to-lovers set-up, and one that while cliche, is still worth a watch over a decade later, especially if you’re interested in checking out one of the most iconic K-dramas of all time.

Itaewon Class (2020)

On the vibrant streets of Itaewon, something is about to shake up the local food scene. Going up against the most powerful conglomerate in the industry, underdog Park Sae-ro-yi and his band of determined misfits seek to take over Itaewon and turn their ambitious dreams into reality.

Korean TV knows how to melodrama, and this story of revenge and romance set in Seoul’s popular Itaewon area leans into intense catharsis. Itaewon Class follows Park Sae-Ro-Yi, the owner of an up-and-coming Itaewon restaurant called DanBam that becomes a refuge for a group of social outcasts. Together, they work to take down the same business mogul responsible for the death of Sae-Ro-Yi’s father years earlier. Itaewon Class was extremely popular both in South Korea and internationally, and featured the first transgender character in a mainstream K-drama. Added bonus: the Itaewon Class soundtrack includes an original song from BTS’ V.

Mr Sunshine (2018)

In 1905, a Korean American U.S. marine officer returns to his homeland on a diplomatic assignment. Coping with his painful past in Korea as an orphaned servant boy, he finds himself in a complicated relationship with an aristocrat’s daughter.

If you’re into historically-driven period drama, then check out the beautifully-shot Mr. Sunshine. The K-drama is set in the late 19th and early 20th century in Hanseong, the city that would become Seoul and follows activists fighting for Korea’s independence. The story follows Go Ae-shin, an orphaned noblewoman who trains to be a sniper in the Righteous Army, the civilian militia that fought against the occupying Japanese forces, and Eugene Choi, a man who escaped slavery in Korea to become a U.S. marine, only to return to his homeland where he falls in love with Ae-shin. The series uses real-life history, including Shinmiyangyo, the Spanish-American War, the assassination of Empress Myeongseong, the Russo-Japanese War, Gojong’s forced abdication, and the Battle of Namdaemun as a backdrop for its epic story.

Signal (2016)

A cold-case profiler in 2015 and a detective in 1989 work together to solve a series of related murders spanning three decades using a special walkie-talkie to communicate with each other.

This premise has been used a lot—from 2000 Dennis Quaid/Jim Caviezel thriller Frequency to the 2016 CW TV adaptation of the same name—and for good reason. An analog device allows two people to communicate across time, and they must work to solve a murder together. It not only makes for compelling character drama, as two people become closer but are separated by years, but also is a fresh twist on the serial killer narrative. In K-drama Signal, the analog device is a walkie-talkie, and the characters on either temporal side of it are contemporary criminal profiler Park Hae-young and 1989-based Detective Cha Soo-hyun. If you’re looking for a good crime thriller, Signal could be it.

Hospital Playlist (2020-present)

Friends since undergrad school, five doctors remain close and share a love for music while working at the same hospital.

Like Kingdom, Hospital Playlist is the rare K-drama that tells its story across multiple seasons. The hospital drama just finished airing its second season weekly on Netflix, continuing its story about a group of doctors in their 40s who have been best friends since medical school. A true ensemble drama, Hospital Playlist is perfect for fans of Grey’s Anatomy but feels unique in its centering of a friend-group with a such a long history.

Vincenzo (2021)

Bringing his mafia past back with him to South Korea, Song Joong-ki stars as notorious Italian lawyer Vincenzo who isn’t afraid to lend his bloodstained hands to beat the untouchable conglomerates in their own game.

If you just watched the dramatic opening of Vincenzo, set in Italy days after the death of a mafia boss, you might think you’re in for a self-serious organized crime drama. But the Netflix K-drama quickly shifts into a story much more tonally complex. Part romance, part drama, part action thriller, Vincenzo has something for everyone. It follows Vincenzo (Space Sweepers‘ Song Joong-ki), a Korean lawyer raised by an Italian mafia family who must flee the country following his father’s death. As part of his plan of escape, Vincenzo travels to Korea to recover a stash of hidden gold under an old apartment building set for demolition by a corrupt corporation called the Babel Group. Because of this dilemma, Vincenzo becomes unlikely allies with the group of eccentric citizens who live in the building, as well as with a passionate and moral lawyer who has a vendetta against the Babel Group for his own reasons.

The “Reply” Series (2012-2016)

Take a nostalgic trip back to the late 1980s through the lives of five families and their five teenage kids living in a small neighborhood in Seoul.

The Reply series is one of the most popular cable dramas in Korean TV history. It launched in 2012 with Reply 1997 before continuing with Reply 1994 in 2013 and Reply 1988 in 2015. The ambitiously-structured series follows a group of friends and their kids, telling the story in present-day in addition to flashbacks. Featuring a fun soundtrack, as well as some incredibly performances, the Reply series is well worth a watch for anyone who loves character drama with a nostalgic twist.

Prison Playbook (2017)

With only days before his major league baseball debut, pitcher Kim Je-hyeok unexpectedly lands himself behind bars. He must learn to navigate his new world with its own rules if he wants to survive.

Prison Playbook is much more slow-paced than many of the selections on the list, but this character drama is worth the dedication. Though it’s often touted as a “black comedy,” it’s much more tonally light than that suggests, despite the subject matter. The story follows baseball pitcher Kim Je Hyeok, who is incarcerated days before his major league debut for assaulting the attempted rapist of his sister. It follows his life within prison, along with the lives of some of the other inmates and guards, including his old best friend, Lt. Lee Joon Ho, who is a correctors officer. Created by Lee Woo-jung, who also made the aforementioned Reply series, Prison Playbook is one of the most popular K-dramas in Korean cable history ever.

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Sweet Home (2020)

As humans turn into savage monsters, one troubled teenager and his neighbors fight to survive and to hold onto their humanity.

It’s been well-documented that Song Kang is a K-drama darling. The actor has appeared in many a romantic K-drama, including Netflix’s Nevertheless and Love Alarm. Sweet Home, however, is his rare horror appearance, and it’s well worth a watch just to see Song in a completely different context. Of course, this apocalyptic horror story has other qualities too, and holds the honor of being the first Korean series to enter the U.S. Netflix Top Ten. Based on a Naver (aka Korean Google) webcomic of the same name, Sweet Home follows Cha Hyun-soo (Song), a high school student who moves into an apartment building after the deaths of his parents, only to discover that the building also happens to be the home of a species of monsters set on world domination.

Nevertheless (2021)

Like a butterfly hopelessly attracted to a flower, this art student can’t seem to resist the mysterious young man who captures her attention. But the more they get romantically involved, the sooner she will have to decide—will getting close be worth it, when he doesn’t believe in relationships?

Speaking of Song Kang… Nevertheless is the latest K-drama to star the 27-year-old actor. The romantic drama stars Han So-hee as Yoo Na-bi, university art student who no longer believes in love following discovering her boyfriend has been cheating on her. When she meets Song’s Park Jae-eon, she is immediately intrigued. Though the two share an immediate attraction, they resist entering into a relationship due to their respective uncertainties about love. Based on a popular webcomic of the same name, Nevertheless feels unique in its treatment of modern dating life in Korea, depicting some of the more realistic, often internal struggles of what its like to date in your 20s.

My Mister (2018)

In a world that is less than kind, a young woman and a middle-aged man develop a sense of kinship as they find warmth and comfort in one another.

If you’re in the mood to cry, try My Mister, a drama about a financially-disadvantaged young woman just trying to stay afloat as she takes care of her sick grandmother amid mounting debt and a much more financially-privileged middle-aged man who is also being crushed by the weight of his life. The two work together, and form a (mostly) platonic relationship that helps both of them heal. Understated and deeply emotional at the same time, My Mister will subvert so many K-drama expectations in clever ways.

Memories of the Alhambra (2018)

While looking for the cryptic creator of an innovative augmented-reality game, an investment firm executive meets a woman who runs a hostel in Spain.

If you’re looking for another K-drama starring Crash Landing on You‘s Hyun Bin (and of course you are), then look no further than Memories of the Alhambra, a 2018 K-drama with an absolutely batshit (read: amazing) premise. Hyun stars as Yoo Jin-woo, a CEO who travels to Spain in search of the creator of an AR game set in the Spanish medieval fortress Alhambra. Once there, Jin-woo is pulled into a reality-bending mystery with life-or-death stakes and some unpredictable twists that I don’t want to spoil for you.

Romance is a Bonus Book (2019)

A gifted writer who’s the youngest editor-in-chief ever at his publishing company gets enmeshed in the life of a former copywriter desperate for a job.

Ostensibly based on the TV series Younger, Romance is a Bonus Book is a rom-com set in the publishing industry world. It follows single mom Kang Dan Yi as she struggles to reenter the workforce following her divorce. When he lies about her background to get a job, her life becomes tangled up with childhood friend and publishing phenom Cha Eun Ho.

I began watching this series to see how it compared to the U.S. version of the show, of which I am a fan. Honestly, these two series have only the most superficial details of their plots in common, which is par for the course in many adaptations. Romance is a Bonus Book is much more romance-centric than Younger, which balances the love life of its central protagonist with the many other relationships and concerns she has in her life. But that isn’t a bad thing. They are two very different shows with their own interests and strengths, but if you’re a fan of both rom-coms and the publishing industry, then both Romance is a Bonus Book and Younger are worth a watch.

Black (2017)

A man possessed by death. A woman who can see death. The earthly and the afterworld collide dangerously.

One character is possessed by the Grim Reaper. The other can see deadly spirits. Only Korean can turn this premise into a heartbreaking romance, as the two work together to save people marked for death. If you’re looking for a spooky season watch, you can’t go wrong with Black, which is a delightful (and, honestly, pretty complex) hodgepodge of Korean horror all wrapped up in a rom-com package.

What is your favorite K-drama on Netflix? And what upcoming Netflix K-dramas are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below?

The post The Best Korean Dramas on Netflix to Watch Right Now appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[falsegoodnight]

Hi Ris! First of all, I want to tell you that you are such an incredibly talented author and I enjoy your works so much. I'm curious as to how could you write a lot in short amount of time? I mean, can you explain a bit about how do you plan your fics, if that makes sense? Sorry to bother you, have a nice day❣️

hi!! ahh thank you so much!! i’m so glad you enjoy my fics! <3

so for your question, i got a bit carried away so i’ll be adding a cut so you can read more! 

just a quick ramble:

first of all, i just want to say that there’s going to be people that write really quickly and people who take more time to write but that difference doesn’t have any holding over one’s worth as a writer or anything like that! in other words, there’s nothing wrong with taking your time when writing a fic/story so i hope you keep that in mind and don’t be too hard on yourself when you’re struggling! every writer is different - it’s the same as how some writers have tons of ideas and some only get a good idea once in a blue moon or how some writers can write dialogue or a different element of a story easily and others can’t. it’s just a characteristic and not a representation of your success/achievement!! 

that little bit is hopefully unneeded but i wanted to include it just in case!!

anyways, even though speed is relative to your own person and it’s different for everyone - there are factors you can control!! and you’re right in that planning is one of them!! if you have a detailed outline (or basis for how the story is going to begin, progress, and then resolve at the end then you’re going to have less struggle when it comes to writing the story because you know what you’re characters are striving towards!! obviously, some writers don’t use outlines and i can’t speak for anyone because this is what’s worked for me but it has helped me a lot so if you haven’t tried an outline before, i’d definitely recommend doing it at least once!

i’ve talked about it before but my outlines tend to be super detailed!! once i get a basic idea of a fic, i like to delve as deep as i can into the characters/plot/world. the first thing i’ll do is type out my idea in full detail so i don’t forget anything important and so i can see it all in print. then i’ll usually make some character profiles for each of the main characters (usually just louis and harry but sometimes i’ll include small ones for side characters!!)

an example format:

louis:

- age: 

- job/career: (if they’re in school or it’s a fantasy/paranormal then this could be something like ‘student, english major’ or ‘witch’)

- background/history: (everything important to the story but also a lot that’s not dhjdk)

- positive traits:

- negative traits:

- character growth: (if i want to include character development, i always write that down!!)

then i begin my scene list which is basically a numbered list of every scene that takes place in the story!! it’ll usually start with a beginning scene, maybe a few scenes i know will take place somewhere in the middle, and also the ending scene (which is typically one of the first things i figure out when outlining the story!) and as i get more ideas and dive deeper and deeper into the story, this scene list grows longer and longer! some scenes are more outlined than others depend on how self-explanatory or complicated they are!

it’s also important to note that outlines are fluid, in that you can tweak/change them anytime you want! even when you’re 3/4ths of the way through a story and you decide you don’t like the ending you initially had and have a better idea! i can’t count how many times i’ve changed things in the middle of the story!!

having a super detailed scene list helps me know exactly what’s going to happen in a scene so i can just write it instead of spending time trying to figure out what’s going to happen in this scene while i’m in the middle of writing it!

and if i’m writing a fantastical/paranormal world, then i also always write down every detail of the worldbuilding that i want to include in the story - but also a whole lot of information i don’t end up including! knowing your story and your world is KEY to writing something quickly!! 

i could go way more in detail if you wanted but i won’t ramble this time!! if you want more insight into outlining, i’d be happy to do a longer post one day (i already plan on it actually - i’m just lazy haha) but basically, planning has definitely had a huge impact on my writing productivity! 

it doesn’t work for everyone though!! so here are some other things that contribute to my productivity:

- finding as much time as possible to write

as a full-time student with a part-time job and other responsibilities and just a life in general, it’s difficult to find time to write! but i try my best to carve out even just ten minutes per day to write and when i get that time, i take advantage of it. i think we all know that there’s time in our days that we usually just let get away from us - whether that means scrolling through social media without actually retaining anything, staring aimlessly at the ceiling, or just sitting around and doing nothing - i’m not saying that’s a bad thing or anything (i do all three all the time) but i am saying that it’s possible to stop yourself from letting that time slip away and instead choose to channel it into getting down a few words! even if you only write eleven words, that’s eleven more than you had before!

it sounds a bit obsessive but here’s what i’ve been doing when i wrote my last few fics: waking up thirty minutes earlier every morning before class so i can start my day by writing (honestly this is one of my favorite things to do because it helps wake me up and also gets me feeling productive when i’m usually just groaning and complaining about exhaustion - ofc not everyone will be the same), staying up late to write on my phone while in bed (again, i have unhealthy sleeping habits so maybe this isn’t a good tip but the point is that i take advantage of free time hdjkdk), and my favorite thing to do to get out words quickly:

- writing sprints

this is honestly one of my favorite things to do whether it’s a ten minute sprint or an hour long one! just setting aside a time dedicated to getting as many words as possible on paper (don’t focus on whether they’re perfect, just write - everything else comes later!) is always beneficial to me!! i do this frequently!!!

setting goals also helps for goal-oriented people like myself!! well, goal-oriented and competitive people such as myself haha. i love a good challenge to reach a certain word count (or even a goal like finishing a certain scene!) so if you’re like me, this could help a lot!

- accountability

this one can relate back to the writing sprint/competition thing if you do a sprint with someone else (super fun!) and keep each other accountable!! you can even just tell someone close to you that you’re aiming for a certain word count in a certain time and then tell them to check in with you! the satisfaction of being able to tell this person that you succeeded rather than didn’t (once again, not that that’s a bad thing!) can be particularly motivating!

- incentives

again, if you’re someone like me who works on reaching goals and reaping rewards, then this could be really beneficial! rewards can be anything from candy (i used to let myself eat a sour patch kid for every 100 words i write and let me tell you, that really helped hdjkd) or letting yourself watch an episode of a show you want to see!! they can be big prizes for smaller chunks of words or small prizes for bigger chunks of words - it doesn’t matter!! just do whatever gets you motivated!!!

also:

- get rid of distractions 

i use sites like blocksite to keep myself from getting distracted by things like twitter/tumblr/youtube so i can focus!!! they have things like passwords so you can’t deactivate the block so if you have someone around you that can put in a password to make sure you don’t get tempted, taking advantage of that when you really want to get some work in is always good!

this is also something i do for assignments and other things in day to day life so just a helpful resource in general!

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yeah so those are my main tips for writing a lot - do keep in mind that i’m naturally ambitious and also that i enjoy (or enjoy the results of) doing all of these things (even the harder ones!!!) but that may not be the same for everyone!! and not everyone writes as much or me, or even wants to in the first place! and that’s fine!

the most important thing to do is to cater to what you want. the goal you’re aiming for, the progress you want to make, etcetera. 

at the end of the day, progress is progress - no matter how miniscule it may seem to you!! and also, quality is always better than quantity in my opinion!!!

this is way longer than i intended but i really hope it helps even in the slightest and if anyone else that’s a writer sees this and wants to rb with their own input (or comment!), feel free!! <3

[bensonstablers]

author tag

tagged by @mego42​ to talk about my fic Why don’t we go to Venus? (thank you kindly, my dear 🥰)

Oh boy, this got long 😭😭💀 so I’ve put some of what I had to say plus who I’ve tagged and the rules below the cut!

Okay, so, the actual plot/storyline of Why don’t we go to Venus? came about because of The Expanse which I finally got around to watching s1-4 of back in August 2020. Basically, I was either lazing about or drifting off to sleep? I can’t remember for sure but regardless, I started thinking about the idea of Rio killing Beth but getting to reunite with her (in a way in which he doesn’t die to do so) and that was all thanks to the meeting/reunion scene between Miller and Julie in 2x05 (which refused to leave my mind because it’s so beautiful).

Now, at this point, I had already written another fic — Until Long After She Takes Her Final Breath — where I got to break the surface of exploring the ‘what if’ of Rio killing Beth towards the beginning of s3 and it definitely opened the floodgates. Flashforward a little and thanks to The Expanse, I suddenly had an opprortunity to properly explore Rio’s grief and the death of a favourite character in a way I hadn’t before. It also seems in the show (at least to me) that Rio knows what to do get himself through killing someone so I thought it’d be interesting to see him post killing someone like Beth especially when in Why don’t we go to Venus? (as well as in canon) he’s pretty in denial of how much she means to him lol.

So I had the core/main thing but the following bullet points were things I knew I wanted to include in the fic. Things that were pretty much on the table in the very early stages of planning/figuring out how I was going to write the story without it being a) bland and b) too much like the Miller/Julie story in The Expanse, haha. Anyway:

Removing the alien side of things was an instant decision. I’m very picky about AUs and it can take me a while to warm up to certain ones so explicitly bringing aliens into Good Girls was just not my jam at all. I didn’t want to step too far away from those vibes though which is why I had the superantural elements.

I definitely wanted Rhea and her friendship with Beth as well as her history with Rio and how that would kind of put her in the middle of being loyal to him but also greiving over Beth.

Marcus and his friendship with Jane which would be an added factor of the consequences of Rio’s actions.

(Also, Rhea’s thoughts on the Boland kids and what they’re up to since Beth’s death. This is why I had the funeral and also why I mention that Annie is in therapy and Ruby is using Stan’s contact to get info on the investigation in Beth’s death. All to show the full scope and complications of Rio’s decisions).

Outside of them, Mick and Gretchen were really the only characters I was pretty confident would make appearances (if they made any at all).

I wanted to use drinking as a coping method for Rio and increase it as the story went on, going from it being something he can’t help but gravitate towards to something he deliberately seeks out.

Nightmares (and dreams) were always going to be a way to showcase Rio’s greif and build up his guilt and were the first hint (I guess you could say) to the supernatural elements prior to deciding to have Rio see/hear Beth around his apartment.

For the actual writing of it... The nightmare of Rio following Beth down a corridor in chapter 3 and the stuff in her bedroom that follows was orginally going to be the fic in its entirity (a one-shot) but I kept having to put a lot of (terrible) exposistion in to explain how and why we were at that point so that’s when the idea blew up into nearly 40k words and 3 chapters so I could build up to those scenes instead, haha. I also think it works way better and allowed me to fully explore Rio’s emotions and actions in a way that makes those scenes in Beth’s bedroom more satisyfing.

After that, it became basically about keeping things balanced and focused.

Also, Rio hearing Beth’s voice and seeing her around his apartment and stuff was based on Miller seeing/hearing Julie leading up their meeting/reunion in 2x05. And the chapter titles are quotes/a conversation from The Expanse 2x05 that really stuck with me but it also made me decide that I didn’t want Beth and Rio’s version of the story to end with as much finality (or rather the same finality) but I still wanted it to feel like a conclusion to the story nonetheless. 😌

tagging: @xstrawmari​ to talk about ‘lets put on a show’ (or the ‘bucket list’ series as a whole), @medievalraven​ to talk about ‘in the dark’, @sdktrs12​ to talk about ‘Touch (without leaving a trace)’, and @blainesebastian​ to talk about the ‘plans wrapped in rubber bands’ series (or a particular installment if you have a fave!) — also if any of you have been tagged for these stories, feel free to use this as an excuse to talk about another fic you’ve written 👀

questions under the cut!

recently I have become really fascinated with fanfic authors and what exactly was rumbling around in their brain that inspired a fic?

Was it a line of dialogue you couldn’t get out of your head?

A scene you wrote WAY in advance and then crafted the whole story around?

An image in your mind?

Inspiration from another form of media?

Maybe someone suggested something to you and it just TOOK off from there?

What is the root of your fic? The cornerstone -what is it all built around? The idea that started it all?

Tag an author & their fic. Let’s hear about what sparked your story. What exactly got your booty movin’ shakin’ motivated and writin’