#as part of the main plot. and to an extent i agree. that it could get cheesy to just solve all of society’s problems

[moash]

i feel like the vibe of the wob is kind of just that brandon hasn’t really thought about it or considered that people still care, but the more people ask these kinds of things the more he will know we ARE waiting for him to deliver on these issues

[sunset-bobby]

“i feel like season 3 had too many side plots and wasn’t focused on Colin and Penelope enough” blah blah blah

bruh it’s an ensemble show…in season 2 there were also plenty of side plots

all of the side plots in season 3 were somewhat important

Francesca, Benedict, and Violet’s romantic escapades are all perfectly good side plots considering the show is called Bridgerton and is about all of them whether it’s their “season” or not and say what u want abt Benedict being a whore but is that not gonna make it more of a build up when he does settle down?

Cressida’s side plot is literally supposed to forward the Whistledown storyline while also making us like empathize with her (to an extent) i think it’s trying to give us like a false sense of like oh maybe she’s changing oop no she’s not but Cressida has always played a role in Penelope’s story as her antagonist

Lady Danbury and her brother I mean this ties into Violet’s story and also Lady Danbury is a main character and u should all watch Queen Charlotte end of discussion speaking of the plot for her like war against Whistledown has literally been continuous since season 1

The Featherington side plots have also been consistent since season 1 and also they’re all so silly and also it Penelope’s family ofc they’re gonna have side plot

so what that leaves the Mondrichs…at this point just say u hate black people idk. I feel like they weren’t even that big in part 2 so the complaints are unnecessary like they’re big thing was the ball being their ball which concluded their season 3 arc of joining society, Will trying to keep one foot out of it, and the ball is them officially cementing themselves as members of the Ton and also the ball does further the plot of the Whistledown story as Cressida shows up with her version of the column

i think that yea we could have gotten more Collin and Penelope..part 1 we weren’t angry enough and part 2 we were angry for too long…there wasn’t enough physical connection to juxtapose the restraint on their emotional relationship like..i saw someone say angry sex on their wedding night woulda made the like stewing anger more angsty and i agree, but i digress

their story arc was still good and i was still invested and the side plots were important to the overall story and also leading into next season so idk complain to the wall 🤷🏽‍♀️

[butterflydm]

more cr103

The fact that the group that has the least exposure to the gods and the least understanding about them is the one that is sorta incidentally saving them while doing something else is... I guess a vibe, lol. But I really do hope that at least some of them take advantage of being in Vasselheim to do some godtalking and at least get even a fraction of the understanding and knowledge that VM or MN had about the gods.

It isn't necessarily all that important for the plot - 'Stop Ludinus' is the plan whether or not you give a shit about the gods, and that motive has been baked into Orym's backstory since day one - but it just feels weird that the party that knows the least about the gods is the one given the most power over their fates.

So it seems like we could end cr3 with a few different possibilities:

a. Bells Hells succeeds; Ludinus is defeated and things go back mostly to normal

b. Bells Hells fails; Ludinus succeeds to a certain extent and we end up with another calamity and cr4 is a post-apocalyptic campaign in some fashion, with the gods either eaten or chased away (Chetney brought this up in the episode, iirc)

c. Bells Hells succeeds but only after the Divine Gate gets torn down for some reason (either by Ludinus or by the gods to fight Predathos), thus leading to a world that is more like the one pre-Divergence (honestly, this one would be kinda funny if only because of how much Ashton would hate it).

I do think that the recording wouldn't have as much of an impact on faith in the gods as Ludinus thinks that it would -- everyone who knows about the Calamity already knows that 'the gods destroyed Aeor', or at least I believe that's part of the established history/lore of the series; and we see two of the gods (Everlight & Dawnfather) actively seeking to not have to destroy the city the entire time that they're there.

It would make some people lose faith, but it would also endear the gods more to others (like it has done for Launda). I just... given how wide-spread faith is irl without anything like the pluses that faith-based people get in Exandria, I would just find it unlikely that the orb would have the impact that Ludinus wants. We've seen that the only people it really 'convinced' were people who were already inclined to be unhappy with the gods (Ludinus himself, Dorian, and maybe Ashton, but I think Ashton just dislikes any kind of authority/structure and I'm not sure if the orb actually had an impact on that one way or the other)

But, of course, if the world doesn't immediately agree with him, that only gives Ludinus more reason to invade and conquer and destroy, because now his pride will be hurt over the fact that people aren't listening to him ("I am talking!").

As someone who isn't a believer irl, my main feeling about fantasy gods tends to run along the lines of "are they more helpful or more harmful?" and the Exandria gods as a whole have shown themselves to be more helpful than harmful over the course of the three campaigns (*cough* defeating Vecna *cough*), so I'd like them to stick around (since they've shown that they can mostly keep the betrayers in check with the Divine Gate in place). There are fantasy worlds where Ludinus might well be doing something heroic by wanting to take out the gods... but I don't think Exandria is one of those worlds.

Exandria is a world where the prime gods were willing to take a hard look at the consequences of their actions and do something to prevent more harm in the future, even at the cost of losing something incredibly important to them. As far as fantasy gods go, they're pretty nice! Especially the ones we met in Downfall, I feel very fond of them.

[talesofliia]

Will’s Romantic Options: Mike and Beyond

I’ve seen some discourse about whether it would be a good idea for Will to have another (temporary) love interest in S5 besides Mike (based on the rumors going around), and I’d like to share my thoughts on this matter.

While I understand that dating a boy who isn’t Mike could potentially develop Will’s arc further and reinforce his sexuality, I don’t think it’s strictly necessary.

Some say his devotion to Mike makes him “Mikesexual,” hindering his maturation and preventing him from moving on and exploring other romantic opportunities.

I agree with this idea to some extent. In real life, it’s unhealthy to be obsessed with someone who doesn’t seem to return your feelings. (And Will tried to move on in the van scene, to “rip off the band-aid,” but couldn’t because of his deep love for Mike.)

But let’s not forget that we’re discussing a work of fiction. Here’s why it’s not necessary for Will to have another love interest in S5 (assuming Byler is endgame, of course):

1. Time Constraints

Romance isn’t the main focus of “Stranger Things,” even though it’s an important part of the show. Developing a real alternative love interest for Will isn’t feasible given the limited screen time. Including a brief interaction with another boy might serve a purpose, like showing that Will has options or making Mike jealous. But with Will’s central role in the supernatural plot next season, there isn’t enough time to explore a new, long-term love triangle (especially considering they’re already in a love triangle).

2. Acceptance and Self-Love

Will’s love for Mike helps him accept his sexuality. Mike makes Will feel “like he’s not a mistake at all, like he’s better for being different.” It’s beautiful how loving Mike helps Will accept himself. Loving Mike lifts him up rather than brings him down.

3. One True Love

There’s nothing wrong with loving one person your whole life. This idea that you must have multiple romantic experiences to be fulfilled isn’t the only path to happiness. Will loving only Mike doesn’t make him less gay or undermine his sexuality. In fact, it underscores the depth and purity of his feelings. It may sound too cheesy, unrealistic, and romanticized, but that doesn’t make it bad. The fact that Mike is the only one for Will is really touching and beautiful.

It’s not a bad idea for Will to entertain other options. But it isn’t the only way. It’s not strictly necessary for Will’s arc as it wouldn’t make him less gay, wouldn’t weaken his identity, and wouldn’t make him incomplete for only having his eyes for Mike.

And given the way Byler’s story is written, it’s natural for us to root for Mike and Mike only. It’s already a slow-burn love story, so introducing another obstacle in their path may be redundant.

Whatever happens, I hope the show does justice to Will’s character and gives him the happy ending he deserves, which obviously includes getting together with Mike – his best friend and true love.

P.S. This is my personal opinion that you are free to disagree with. :)

[sweetbottletops]

"Alone? Will you be okay?" Koga is a delicate soft marshmallow on the best of days and Aya knows it.

What could go wrong?

Ch. 93

When you're not used to being part of the main plot lines in school it can be easy to just not concern yourself with them at all. You get a non-combatant label and can slip in and out without too much worry.

"Yahaha" "Stop that!" Perhaps not everyone in the room agrees with what is going on? Tabling that until later.

Accidental MC arrives at the scene of the crime.

Of course it was the Maths book. The most untrustworthy of subjects.

"You must be pretty smart writing a whole song in English."

"I bet she used machine translation though. Just look!"

Scanlator later changed that to: "I ran it through a translator. Just look!"

I've seen some people speculate Koga isn't the most reliable with her reactions. So I attempted to look at these lines from at least a more neutral toned angle.

At the most generous that first comment might be neutral in tone (setting aside the whole violation of privacy part...the guy is literally waving her property around) but the MTL line is meant to put her down.

I'm going with negative for both regardless of Koga being potentially unreliable in some of her reactions. And tbh once you've been violated like this any reaction outweighs intent to me. And the intent is sus.

"Hey, is this a love song!?" (They have rewritten the lyrics out in Japanese on the blackboard... not sure why it wasn't translated by the scanlator because Japanese readers were meat to get hints from it, but there are legible phrases there if you use google translate...keeping in mind the kids might have done a bad translation from English to Japanese themselves....)

"You should just give it up." (Was that towards Koga's music or a third party towards the guy waving her stuff around? Unclear.) Scanlator changed it to "Hey man, stop it!" which made it clearer they were talking about the instigator.

"You mean the one in that video was really Koga-san?"

"She gives off a totally different vibe though."

When someone (strangers even) question your abilities, appearance, personality, and motivations like that it can only be negative. And putting it up on the chalkboard and waving it in her face makes it a whole classroom problem.

I'm not convinced there are 100% shitheads in the room, but unless someone steps up next chapter then you all get to be in the shithead bin as well. That's how it works. The Gyaru + Pretty Boy alliance wouldn't be silent for this so let's see if anyone else separates themselves from the mob.

Last week I had been thinking the worst that would come from this was maybe her being volunteered for some school event against her will or having someone find out about her muse since it was likely a love song, but this is exponentially worse.

And I'm not sure I like her side of the relationship getting exposed via poorly translated lyrics on the blackboard. Sure, it's going to advance things quicker, but at what cost?

Kind, green Aya-eyes cutting through all of the black ink that took over the last three pages.

I'm not sure if someone already in the room will come to their senses and put a stop to things, if Koga will finally have her say to those mean faces that's been lurking through her entire school career, if Aya will come back in time to show the extent of her own gap, or if Aya will come back and Koga will just be missing... and force her to realize some things from the evidence left behind.

We know that Aya didn't understand the English lyrics to the song Koga wrote and sang for her earlier. It's been a comment from her lurking in the background the whole time.

Koga might have technically already confessed then. If this is the same song and it's a love song then the translation on the blackboard should be enough to clue Aya in.

As an aside... Are we in the final stretch? I feel like volume 3 should end around chapter 110-ish right? If that's the case and it's the end (no inside info here, just speculation) there isn't a ton of time for relationship and wrapping up the Joe/Kanna/America/Family mystery. But it's also a little hard for me to anticipate a volume 4 since they are almost finished with their final year in school which should be a natural resolution point for most of the drama.

We will see how it is paced next week I guess.

[imminent-danger-came]

I love reading your tags- especially when theres just even MORE info dumping there.

The least favorite character ask made me giggle a bit, "This character that appeared for a single episode is actually pretty cool. And this character is really awesome in this particular context. But ALSO I really like this character with very little actual screentime."

You‘re absolutely right though! Characters whose only purpose is to fill a particular role are chosen really well too! Like the Host Girl; sure, she doesn’t really have a personality or anything, but she doesn’t NEED to have one. As you said, she‘s collateral damage. She gives us more insight to Wukong, she shows us just how ruthless he can be. He‘s willing to kill the epitome of innocence: A child. A defenseless little girl with a cutesy voice, who was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

(It‘s also worth a mention that, contrary to Wukong, she revealed a softer side of Macaque. Not to the extent the fandom built it up, but in an arguably more meaningful way. He‘s worried/feels bad for a total stranger. Even if it was only a concerned look, she once again gave us a deeper insight to a member of the main cast.)

And the characters with less focus either have really genuine interactions (Yellow Tusk with Azure) that just endear you to them, or they drop a banger line (like the Jade Emperor) before their purpose is fulfilled.

Nothing wrong with being a plot device if it‘s done well!

This wasn‘t really much of an ask rather than me rambling. Sorry.

I welcome rambles in my ask box! Half of you that show up in my ask box could just write your own analysis posts.

And you're also totally right! There isn't anything wrong with characters that are there just to function as plot devices. Sometimes a child is there just to be a child, and that's all they need to be. I think I feel this way about Megapolis (a name for the city that hasn't even been mentioned in show). Like it's a city filled with innocent people, it's MK & the Gang's home, and that's all it kinda needs to be tbh. LMK has to be extremely tight with what it chooses to focus on because of time constraints, and it does that well. When it comes down to it, focusing on the characters/plot is more important than focusing on the setting (which I think debatably wouldn't contribute much anyways—like we don't need more of a reason to care about the city, you know?).

I have this same opinion when it comes to the Demon Bull Family, which may be an unpopular take, but the truth is that a lot of their development happened off-screen. After ROTSQ and until we see them again in 3x06, it's clear that there have been positive changes between Red Son and his parents. I think I've seen some folk want Red Son to cut off his parents entirely, but that kinda goes against the core of his character. Part of Red Son's appeal for me is his complete devotion to his family despite their flaws (saving them in ROTSQ and EYD, attempting to save them in 4x09). Red Son and Princess Iron Fan only ever wanted world domination because that's what DBK wanted, and after that failed—they gave up. They hit the bricks. Red Son then started a food business with his dad (jealous of MK and Pigsy's noodle shop mayhaps?), and I think it's telling that DBK would even agree to do that to begin with. DBK and PIF's disregard of Red Son may not be acknowledged in the way people want, and I get that, but it's not that it didn't happen. I'd say there's another jump in their development between the end of 3x14 and the beginning of 4x09, where the fact that DBK calls out for Red Son as he gets taken away shows a closeness between them that we hadn't seen before. It's also clear that DBK has grown past the person who only wanted to create the world in his own image, chastising Azure Lion:

Demon Bull King: "How many times must you be struck down chasing this same foolish dream?"

(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

-

(Plus "This pursuit of yours has warped your mind brother—it is the only reason I could imagine that you would have the nerve to assault my home and harm my family!" echoing PIF in 1x10 "Come to your senses, this power has poisoned your mind!"; Azure unreasonably considers DBK a traitor like DBK had unreasonably considered Red Son a traitor, etc.)

DBK, unlike plenty of other antagonists in LMK (Spider Queen, LBD, and Azure specifically), learned to stop and accept the world as it was. He failed as a conqueror, but he still had his family, and he could try and not fail as a father for his "half-baked son"—or that's how I interpret DBK anyhow.

((I also want to bring up the fact that DBK didn't dare use the Samadhi Fire ring he had to power himself up with Red Son's furnace in AHIB. Like, even the Mr. Bull King has some restraint—there are prices too great to pay for the world, hence why he gave up on world domination after 1x10, when he almost killed his wife and son.))

To me it makes the Demon Bull Family feel like characters that exist outside of MK & the Gang, and can grow/change even when they're not on screen with our main characters, and I think that's cool. We also legitimately didn't have time for anything else.

[allovesthings]

I've been thinking about of the double standard in this fandom and it's so aggravating sometimes.

This post started because I was thinking Rhaenyra and house of the dragon (the tv show) so I'll talk about her and that show first, with the videos calling her "the mad queen" for *checking note* turning around and looking mad at the camera because her son is dead while we never hear the same thing when Aemond ask his nephew to give his own eye out and then chase him with a gigantic dragon through a storm. Or Crispin bashing the head of someone at a Banquet because he was mad...

I feel like the most obvious one is Dany but this is a problem of GOT portraying Dany as "the mad queen" and the fandom applying it to the books when someone else very obviously have parallels and foreshadowing for it and it's not Dany (hint: it's start with a C and end with Ersei) and it really bother me especially considering people like Tywin Lannister who sacked King's Landing, ordered the murder of children, plotted the red wedding, destroyed two entire houses or the Boltons who were also part of the red wedding AND are known to flay people alive or even the Freys (who while not liked by the fandom are not called mad either) also part of the red wedding as a response to an offence that was repaid with the wedding of Edmure or the Mountain who has done more horrific things than anyone else and they are also never being called "mad" for that.

And then we get to Arya being too far gone and leaving on a boat out of society because she is being trained as an assassin (as if her part of her storyline was not about her finding a place in society as a gender-non conforming girl and not being able to lose her identity as Arya Stark through everything ), when there are men like Jaime or Sandor Clegane (or even Theon) who have killed children (or tried to for Jaime) and lost theirs identity to some extent and still seen as sympathetic and there no doubts in the fandom's mind that they are not too far gone and have a chance to come back from the horrors they"ve done.

Which leads me to Catelyn and Lady Stoneheart. While I do agree that she might be different as Lady Stoneheart (being killed in an horrifying manner after watching her oldest dies also in a horrifying way would do that to you), this is not really criticism and more of an open-ended thing that's been going through my mind. If we compare the theories on Lady Stoneheart and Jon post resurrection, both of them being more vengeful seems to be the main theory but only Cat is getting killed again by Arya because "she is too far gone in her vengeance". Part of it is actual foreshadowing that could be there (not sure if I believe it but I think the hints could point to it) but part of it feels like it's not.

[windypuddle]

WHO ARE THE GAY ENSTARS MEN ?! THE ONE WITH THE BLUE HAIR ?? THEIR ROMANCE WAS WORLD SHATTERING? ! I AM DESPERATE AND DEHYDRATED WHO ARE THEY

alright. i know you asked me this because im the Enstars Person you know so while i am not the expert on this i will try my best to answer! also drink water bestie

ok so im assuming you are talking about wataei because of the ship wars thing. and theyre the only ones i can think of that ive seen described like that recently.

alright so theres a common joke that eichi (blond one) started the war (massive social and school politics effort to reform the idol system in yumenosaki academy) because he had a crush on wataru (blue hair one). this is not true eichi started the war because he loves idols and wanted to make a fairer system for them.

this reform effort actually happened in two stages: the war was the first stage, where eichi made the five eccentrics the scapegoats for all the vices of the school, which worked because they were so good at being idols everyone saw them as otherworldly and not one of the rest of the human students. eichi, with his power as both student council president and Local Hella Rich Guy, orchestrated a battle of the bands system where he and his unit, fine (usually in this period referred to by fans as ex-fine) defeated each of the five eccentrics and brought supposedly equal chances for the students at the school. the main part of this rhetoric relied on framing the eccentrics as godlike beings, and fine as just regular humans, to show the student body that with hard work, even regular people can rise to great heights.

part of this whole situation was wataru. Wataru was one of the original members of the five eccentrics, and eichi greatly admired him and his skills. a secondary motivation, for eichi specifically, was to raise himself to the same level as wataru so they could communicate as equals. so like yeah he had a crush on the guy but that wasn't his main motivation.

wataru is a fascinating character. he has layers (like an onion) and he is always acting and rarely shows his "true self" and often talks about narratives and such in a very meta perspective (eichi talks this way a lot too, which is why theres so many monologues in enstars, but eichi views himself as just some guy while wataru views himself as the ultimate actor). wataru was also the last of the eccentrics to be defeated by fine. natsume, the youngest of the eccentrics, caught onto the fact that wataru was acting according to the "script" of the war (because he agreed with eichis ideas of reforming yumenosaki), so natsume wrote his own script where the eccentrics won. unfortunately, wataru discarded the idea, essentially For The Sake Of The Narrative. (natsume ended up burning the script, which is an interesting parallel to tsumugi burning the records of the deeds ex-fine did during the war, but thats another matter.) so wataru lost, as he was Supposed To, and eichi and ex-fine won the war for yumenosaki.

up until now eichi and wataru have been distant, only interacting occasionally (including one conversation where wataru has stuff to say about acting, or whatever. its all very meta of them). but after this, eichi is hospitalized, and rips out his IVs and such and refuses to let any of the nurses treat him. Wataru climbs in through the window of his hospital room to find him like this, and essentially asks him: What Now? they start talking about the results of the war, and the future, and they essentially write a script for how yumenosaki can change further for the better: this is Stage Two, trickstar's revolution. only when they plotted it they didnt know it would be trickstar, or the extent to which they would change things. because eichi, in the war, made himself and ex-fine powerful enough to defeat the eccentrics, which gave the students hope; but he did this through the power of being rich and also student council president, and other things like tsumugi's connections to basically everyone in the school. so he ended up having the school in basically a tyrannical rule, but that still wasn't the best environment to encourage idols to grow. so eichi and wataru wrote out a plan for an idol group to overthrow eichi himself, and bring about full change.

basically wataru and eichi combined have orchestrated the majority of the narrative of both the war era and the ! era stories. also they both know each other so intimately on a psychological level. youve probably heard people talk about wataei proposal and that is referring to the last story of the ! era game, where wataru and eichi met on the roof of yumenosaki one night and had a deep conversation-- i dont know all the details because i havent read it in full, but wataru offers eichi one of his theater masks and eichi recognizes the gesture as wataru offering him all of himself, to be wholly known and understood. eichi accepts the mask and yeah you get the point theyre so in love its ridiculous

[evelinessa]

Hot take(maybe? I’ve seen many people disagree with its this so): I think that Psyche locks are great as both a plot device and as a game mechanic and the anime taking them out did a disservice to the story.

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

I do like the magatama as a game mechanic. It's one of my favorite, actually. The main thing I found disappointing with it was when they made it too easy in DD/SOJ (by knowing you already have all the evidence you need by the time you see the psyche locks).

As a plot device, I've heard mixed things about it. I like how they were used in 2-4. I've heard that it makes the twist too obvious, but I can't really comment on that myself. My first time playing the case, I was already almost completely spoiled on the twist (knew enough to almost confirm it), so I can't see it from the perspective of someone going in more blind.

The main problems I've heard with using the magatama as a plot device in that instance, is that it causes it to make less sense that Phoenix doesn't do this for every client, or wondering why we don't see psyche locks when people lie in the courtroom. I've also seen people mention that there are times we're directly lied to in the investigation segments, and we don't see any psyche locks (or psyche locks popping up when the person isn't truly lying, like during one of the conversations with Luke Atmey, I believe).

The inconsistencies don't really bother me, since I easily look past them.

As far as for the anime, I was disappointed when they didn't include them. The only bit we get of them are a scene of locks breaking during that moment in 2-4. All I could think of when I saw that part of the scene was how confused anime-only watchers must have been. Anyone who played the games would understand what that meant, but it would be out of nowhere for anyone else. I don't know why they bothered adding that bit when there wasn't anything else of the psyche locks in there. There's also the physical versions of the psyche locks in 3-5 that I suppose would mean less to someone who didn't know what psyche locks were (anime-only watchers).

But I don't think their exclusion really changes much with the anime, as they're mainly used for gameplay. I don't think finding a way to add them in would have improved much.

I love the anime, especially the anime original episodes, and the little interactions they put in that I think added to the characters' relationships. I also think the anime improved on the games in certain places.

But the biggest issue with the anime is how the story is rushed in certain areas and how some things had to be changed or cut to work with having less time to cover the story.

Adding the magatama wouldn't do much to improve the overall story, in my opinion, and realistically, if they tried to fit it in (especially to the extent it was in the games), they would end up cutting from somewhere else. And with how the anime already sufferers in places due to being rushed, it could end up harming the story even more.

See the fandom hot takes ask game here.

[magpie-sherlock]

Oh gosh it is the evening and I realize I never told you about High Fantasy Star Wars like I said I was going to

Okay SO

Some exposition: It's January of this year. I'm about halfway through my Clone Wars binge with my brother, rewatching it in its entirety for the first time since I was like, eight. I also happen to be a Heroforge addict, having already made several Legend of Zelda-themed miniature sets. I decide to apply my love of Star Wars to my addiction, and then decide that since Heroforge has way more options for fantasy than science fiction, that I will lean WAY into the whole "Star Wars Is Just A Fairy Tale Set In Space" thing.

Things get WAY out of control, and instead of a simple "Here's all the main characters of The Clone Wars in a miniature set", I wind up with a whole AU.

A lot of the story and stuff can be found under the #hfsw tag on my main blog, or by going to my (somewhat; I'm working on it) dedicated AU sideblog, @high-fantasy-sw, but since those are kind of chaotic at the moment, I'll also have a brief rundown here:

The main body (and by that I mean the fic adaptation that I'm writing) of the AU focuses on the Prequels, The Clone Wars, and the Original Trilogy. However, me being the Star War-crazed nerd that I am, I also do have stuff for Rebels, The Bad Batch, Tales of the Jedi/Tales of the Empire, and sometimes the Sequels (the first three are canon to the AU even though they aren't part of the main story; the Sequels are not, but I still like to mess around with them a little).

The plot remains nearly identical to the canon universe, just tweaked to fit the Fantasy worldbuilding.

Because I liked the idea of needing to travel long distances on ships to reach other planets, I decided to not make the setting a single continent with each of the planets being a country on the continent. Instead, the world is set in an archipelago on a great sea, with each of the planets as its own island or chain of islands.

(Side note but one thing I'm very proud of is that each character fights with a distinct weapon, and even each Jedi's individual lightsaber is unique to them.)

I haven't really posted much about this either under the tag or on the main blog, but as I am a sucker for symbolism and motifs and what not, there are several distinct fantasy... "subgenres", I guess you could call them, in the AU that are supposed to symbolise what a character or organization or what-have-you represents. To name a few, the Jedi are heavily influenced by Arthuriana (because holy monk-knights and the ideals of chivalry), the war-like and highly-traditional Mandalorians are inspired by Ancient Rome, Padme specifically has a very classic-fairy-tale motif because of her high ideals and hope for the future, and the Empire (and the island of Coruscant, to an extent) is represented by a very grim version of steampunk, because of its desire to dominate and control through mechanical means.

I do have to put a disclaimer on this work: I never claimed historical accuracy in this AU. My whole thing is, "If I think it's a cool idea, in it goes", and so while several aspects of the story and worldbuilding are drawn from history (especially the Jedi and the Mandalorians), it's more of an inspiration than a strictly accurate thing. If historical accuracy is your thing, I would suggest going and checking out @/an-old-lady's Medieval Star Wars AU, which was a huge inspiration on my own idea, VERY cool, and with much more historical authenticity than my story.

Oh gosh I hope I wasn't overstepping with this infodump, and if I was feel free to ignore. But if you enjoyed this rant, I'm so glad! I hope you have a great day :D

ahsjfkfbbdnfkejnfkekrnd I LOVE THIS

I need to go to bed but i am most definitely looking into this more tmr bc YES I AGREE

and ur so real for the “if i like i add” thing. frfr

the archipelago idea is EXQUISITE. and i love the arthurian addition to the jedi

you did not overstep at all! i love infodumps, and i am currently eeting this one. feel free to infodumo any time friend!

[edalynn]

ok an entire year later how do you feel about the owl house season 3........ i rewatched it recently during that one marathon and auhhhhh honestlyyyyy idk it was fineeeee...... the second episode fucking sucks every single time i watch it (other than the luz and camila scene) but i found myself enjoying "watching and dreaming" more than i did the first time. i think the parts that really mattered were fucking amazing, like eda & king & luz reunion, luz's "death" (seriously the music and animation was SO good), the final fight, belos' death. they did the best they could with the extreme time restraint, and i do like how it focused more on just luz and eda and king instead of Those Other Guys (said with love). but i can't believe how bad "for the future" was. it somehow manages to get worse upon every rewatch LOL. what are your thoughts? also hiiiii

HIII!!! I agree entirely, the parts of the episode that mattered were REALLY REALLY good! Everything involving the main story and plot were done insanely well with how much they probably had to cut out with the series being shortened. The final fight still gives me chills and while I wish we got to see more than we did, I'm satisfied with how the main story was wrapped up, and I'm happy that the final episode finally put all the extra side plots going on with the other characters to the side to bring the main three back to the focus like they were at the start of the series. Removing the episode from the rest of the disaster that was the second episode, I actually really enjoy it and like it. That being said, SERIOUSLY. Why was FtF SO FUCKING BAD. Every time I watch it, it makes me find more things to be mad at it for/dislike about it. Easily the worst episode of the entire series, it still feels so out of place and unnecessary. And half the episode feels like it recons certain characters' arcs just to give the episode some "villains". Which is stupid because Belos and the Collector ARE STILL RIGHT FUCKING THERE. Like, there was no reason to make Kiki still power hungry as if Belos telling her to go die in a hole and her helping King because she was just so broken at the end of it all during the Day of Unity never fucking happened. She was always fighting for Belos (and herself by extent, but), so why would she still be trying to rule people? That makes no sense in the context of the story. And Boscha begging Amity to take her back? Also makes no sense. Like, yes, it makes slightly more sense than Kiki, but only for the fact that we don't really see Boscha ever get "better" yet, she mostly just became irrelevant. Although, that' not entirely true either, because we see her being disgusted by Luz and Amity being romantic in the beginning of LR, so actually I take it back. It makes just as little sense as Kiki regressing back to her old ways, now with no purpose behind it. It just reads so much like bad fanfic writing from a 12 year old that just discovered Wattpad lmao.

And obviously, don't even get me started on the Willow bullshit from the episode. I feel like I've repeated myself a million times about how that episode fully put the anchor on the sinking of her character & arc. And the fact that they used Hunter as a way of doing it, which also made Hunter extremely OOC and made half his arc and growth meaningless. Just makes me SO fucking mad.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I have been watching the new event on YouTube so I haven't seen everything that's out yet, but the fact that the nrc boys, who wanted to just leave, didn't take the opportunity to make the mc do most of the work for them this time (considering the only threat, that I know of, would be Rollo being that the flowers cannot harm them) I know mc is just kind of there for the story. I honestly don't really see why they are even involved most of the time if they aren't going to do anything, but I feel like this would have been one of the few times that a magic less person taking the lead would make the most sense. idk I feel like it's a bit of a missed opportunity to give the player a chance to actually be involved but I also haven't seen anything after they decide who's going to go to the tower so maybe they do play a bigger part lol

Well first (just a correction), it’s mainly Idia and Ruggie that don’t want to do much to help and want to run away instead. The others are pretty motivated to stay behind and get back at Rollo for what he’s doing and/or to stop the flowers from spreading further. Idia and Ruggie do eventually change their minds and agree to help; everyone realizes that Rollo’s plot has deep ramifications for the world at large.

I understand the frustration of Yuu going along with everyone to various locations but then not actually doing anything to be of use, but this has been the case for the majority of events. Yuu (and Grim, to some extent) are mostly present so that the other characters can explain lore to them and/or for fanservice moments where they get to interact with some of their characters in cute or more laidback scenarios. They’re not really meant to play a big role or to be the one that the story focuses on, they are mainly the lenses through which we view the world and the conflicts of Twisted Wonderland. (I would actually argue that this is also the case for some of the main story as well, since it often centers around the OB boy and their trauma rather than on Yuu and their struggle to get home.)

In the context of Glorious Masquerade, it makes more sense for Yuu to be more involved, as they, a magicless human, would have the advantage against the crimson flowers (which suck up magic and attack those who have it). However, I don’t think this lack of magic would necessarily make Yuu any more useful to the NRC boys’ mission to stop Rollo 😅 Like, sure, the flowers may not be interested in Yuu, but that doesn’t mean Yuu can do anything to stop them on their own. It’s not like sticking Yuu in the front of the group would repel the flowers or drive them off; the flowers advance regardless of whether someone has magic or not, it’s just that they don’t outright attack those without magic. The only feasible way to make the flowers move one direction or another is by using magic to lure them (as we see the NRC boys do in part 4). What would Yuu realistically be able to do to help in this scenario?

The goal is for the NRC kids to reach the Bell of Salvation and to ring it, thus flooding the crimson flowers with magic and causing their roots to combust from being overloaded. That involves climbing the tower there and beating Rollo, who is likely guarding the bell. I guess Yuu might be able to make the climb safely since the crimson flowers would leave them alone, but how are they going to get past Rollo, who is extremely proficient in magic and could easily defend himself from them? Yuu doesn’t really have any combat abilities to speak of—and if any NRC boys tag along with Yuu to protect them, that would take away the whole point of sending Yuu in the first place (since the flowers would attack the NRC boys, as they have magic). In fact, that might just overcomplicate things, as the characters may expend their limited magic to defend Yuu, and it might call more attention to the group and attract the flowers. It seems like Yuu would be just as much of a liability as they would be a helping hand 💦 so I see it as less of a missed opportunity and more of a decision made for practicality.

What happens in canon is that the NRC boys take to scaling the tower while Yuu and Grim stay behind with Trein to help the magic users of the City of Flowers. I realize this may not be the most exciting thing in the world to do (especially since the story largely cuts away from Yuu), but this is just as noble of a thing to do in this situation. If Yuu had gone with the NRC boys, it would have been adding an extra body to account for in the inevitable battle with Rollo, and the locals would continue to suffer without any hope for relief. The work that Yuu, Grim, and Trein are doing is still important, even if we don’t get to see it. They’re just playing a different part than the NRC boys are, and that’s valid.

[cookies-over-yonder]

okay so. i was having a think about taylor and his relationship with anime.

at least with the typical shonen anime protagonists i'm more familiar with, i don't think parents tend to be an important part of the equation at all? if both parents aren't already dead/assumed dead, i wouldn't think it particularly unusual for a single mom to be regulated to a background role at best and not be particularly involved with the plot at all. which isn't usually a bad thing, it's just that the genre doesn't often focus in on those relationships in my experience.

i don't think it's an issue at the forefront of the animes i think taylor would be more familiar with. so if his favorite protagonists actually do care about what their dead and/or absent fathers think, they wouldn't be showing it too often. i'm used to those father figures being an invisible goal to reach with the main emotion being "i want to be like them someday" instead of "i miss them". i'm used to the trauma they encounter in pursuit of this to be more so a stepping stone towards improvement rather than. trauma. or if they do hint at it affecting the protagonist, it's subtle enough to completely fly over the head of one taylor "i will process this later" swift. i know there's definitely exceptions, but i think there's enough anime like that to the point that it probably taught taylor that emotional repression in the face of incredibly dangerous and horrifying scenarios was totally cool to do.

which, for taylor, i think is very funny if he's just incredibly wrong about the genre of his life in that regard. like! you're in the daddy issues podcast! sorry buddy, but the emotional impact of that is going to be an incredibly important part of who you are actually. you don't get to sword fight your way through this forever.

i think it's sort of helped him to trick himself regarding his relationship with nicky (and even cassandra to an extent). he's a momma's boy through and through, and he cares about her, her well being, and what she thinks. i just think that the same extends to nicky in a way that he doesn't know how to deal with or admit to himself. through the lens of his cherry blossom colored glasses, i think taylor could be tricking himself into believing he doesn't actually care as much as he does. he doesn't think to afford himself the familiarity that he wants out of his dad, instead designating him as another member of his party. i don't think he knows what he wants out of this relationship. i don't think he knows how much he wants his dad in his life.

actually i'm not entirely sure how much this fits considering i think the anime in this universe is canonically mostly disney reboots but uh

yeagh

i agree with this so much!!!

like!!! in all of the anime then the protagonists are mostly looking up to their dads if they think abt them at all and not simply missing them or wanting to hang out with them and i really do believe so much that yes this encouraged taylor's emotional repression in regards to his feelings about his dad!!!

he does care about nicky and he actually wants to hang out and be close with nicky but taylor is the king of emotional repression 4ever and i also do believe that deep down he's upset nicky left despite it being "to protect him" and he doesn't know he's upset about it because anime taught him otherwise and he's pushed those thoughts so far down and locked them away forever!!!!

IT'S THE DADDY ISSUES PODCAST!!!♡♡♡

god this hurts me so much like taylor wants to be close with nicky so bad but just considering hom another menber pf the party because it's all he knows brb while i cry??? thank you SO MUCH for your taylor thoughts 🥺🥺🥺

[young-daydream-comics]

Young Justice Mary Marvel Zatanna & Doctor Fate

Young Justice really went downhill from the first season which was great, but the arc that was probably the worst was Mary's (it was Zatanna's arc but I'm focusing on Mary here) with them choosing to go with the whole addiction to power and Black Mary arc which are the two most ooc characterizations of Mary there are with the comics it came from being one of the worst cases of character assassination there is (to some extent even for other members of the Marvel Family as well).

But what I found most interesting in that whole arc is that if the show chose to go with a more comic accurate Mary rather than the version that was straight up character assassination, she actually would have been a pretty ideal candidate to become the replacement Doctor Fate for Zatanna's father, more so then either of the Zatara's or Traci, not in terms of skill or knowledge but instead due to characteristics, lore, backstory, and supporting cast (obviously we all know who is going to end up being doctor fate in the end but for this arc and what the show gave us, my statement still stands).

This isn't to say she would be the best choice, nor the strongest or most effective, but given Mary's history with Shazam she would at least be a good one especially if you use some more of her pre n52 character traits. She's incredibly strong willed and can be quite reckless yes, but she also has a strong moral compass and often acts as a voice of reason being the best at using the wisdom of Solomon and is the most creative with her powers (often times not really thinking about whether she can do something or the technically part of doing it but thinking 'what if I do this' and the powers just let her. ex, healing supergirl). In the golden age, Mary Marvel and Mary also were more similar to the og captain Marvel who was separate than Billy even if for Mary that separation wasn't as major.

Another thing to note is that Mary's main motivation isn't power but instead a genuine desire to help people and taking responsibility for why they were given the power of Shazam in the first place. If Zatanna was up front at the beginning than Mary most likely would have helped her and would potential have been willing to just replace Zatanna's father permanently if given a good motivation for it even if she didn't really desire the power. And Nabu may have even agreed given Mary's connection to the power of Shazam (which even though no where near his level, is still a very unique power and the show could connect the wizard to the lords of order)

Young Justice could have still done the whole Zatanna's Students plot and even have Mary stop saying Shazam but instead of it being an addiction to power have it be the opposite. Have Billy, Mary, and Freddy share the powers once more and have one of the boys get injured while Mary is using the powers causing her to blame herself and believe using them would put the other two in more danger than necessary.

Have Zatanna plan be to make them all share the power of Fate but she only came up with the idea after taking on students with the show highlighting her teachings becoming more and more about being worthy to Nabu's. Make it so Mary who already was a powerful magic superhero question and butt heads with her with both having valid points. This is turn could cause some of the others to have doubts in Zatanna which could cause Zatanna to treat Mary unfairly and send her off.

Then Zatanna could make the same sharing the power deal but it backfires. This could result in Mary taking up the full mantle of Doctor Fate to proctect people she cares about and Nabu accepting this because of Mary's connection to Shazam. She spent years avoiding her powers out of fear she would harm her family only to be forced to take up an even greater power and responsibility to save her friends.

For Zatanna she took students under her wing to try and be reunited with her dad only to tear other families apart in the process (have Doctor Fate cause issues for the other students as well making them be at a low point). After Mary takes up the mantle, Zatanna could once again aim to continue teaching the others but this time with the true goal of helping and guiding them (as she originally planned), growing into and showing how she is a great leader and mentor in the process.

You could also take inspiration for Mary's backstory from the PoS and parallel it with Kent Nelsons story allowing for the next Doctor Fate to see why Shazam is a superhero adventure and Doctor Fate is a horror story which they can use to make being Doctor Fate better (not the word I'm looking for).

It could be a nice way to mirror each other as well as show the selfishness of both of their actions which would original be viewed as selfless (both wanting to protect their family). The biggest problem with this I think would be I wouldn't want Mary to have a super long run as Doctor Fate, just long enough to help her overcome her fear and insecurity, learning to embrace her responsibilities with the power of Shazam while also moving towards her desire to have a life outside of it (which despite enjoying being Mary Marvel, not necessarily wanting the powers and wanting a life outside of it which jas way more backing in comics then her being addicted to power).

[missingn000]

1. Is there a character that you didn't really expect to enjoy writing, but found out that you really liked them as you wrote their arc?

2. How much of the story did you plan out before you started writing? Like was it the whole story or just the major points?

3. What inspired Kenjaku's whole ideology? I really enjoyed his whole deranged villain monologue, which was surprising because while I had faith in you as a writer (it's clear that you put a lot of care into writing each character), Kenjaku was never a villain that I found interesting while reading jjk (like, I found him repulsive, but with not enough villain flair to at least make him feel like a compeling threat).

4. What is in your opinion the best part about writing a fic?

5. How did you decide to stick Hajime and Mahito together and why is it such a compelling dynamic?

✨️🎊✨️🎊✨️🎊✨️

1 -- SUKUNAAA. my god. he's in my top 3 least favorite characters in canon, so before i thought of his arc, i was lowkey dreading writing him. then i came up with his backstory, his key dynamics with members of the fam, and i just...ohhh when i tell you i fell in LOVE. i'll reveal the characters i picked as my top 3 faves when i release popularity poll results, but i will say this: sukuna is one of them

2 -- when i first started writing, i had a few major plot points -- the first chap of tpg was released 8 days after i came up with the idea itself (july 2 2021!) but the story developed quite quickly from there, so i'd say over the stretch of about ~2-3 months, i had a significant amount of major story developments planned out. that said, other major ideas came much later, and i still have moments of inspiration that add huge twists to the story!

3 -- a couple things went into kenjaku's ideology. i agree with you: i loathe and am repulsed by him in canon too, but i wanted to make the main villain have compelling and interesting goals that were genuinely a threat to our heroes. i wanted to incorporate the significance of him having riko's body, and combined with tengen's ability to combine all of humanity by collapsing the barriers between others, i thought there was something insane i could do with that. i was also inspired by nge!

4 -- i think the best part about writing tpg (and fanfiction in general) is having the chance to explore things the author/source material doesn't. i think the jjk verse and many of its characters have amazing potential that just wasn't followed through, so having the chance to expand on that myself has been so fun and rewarding!!

5 -- WAHH PFPK...oh that was a mentally ILL moment i had on a plane once. thought of the major plot points of their arc during one very deranged flight overseas and it snowballed from there. i knew i wanted to add an additional character to the opposing side, but i wasn't particularly drawn to any of the disaster curses. we then learned kashimo had a binding vow with kenjaku in the past in the manga, which i thought could be so interesting to somehow incorporate! given that i love creating unique duos, once i knew i wanted them as part of the story, pairing them with mahito felt natural. i think their dynamic is compelling for many reasons, but what i love so much about them is that mahito is the only one who sees kashimo as more than their strength, and kashimo is the only one who sees mahito as more than a monster. this starts out largely as a negative thing at first, but as they spend more time together and mahito learns the extent of his humanity & hajime learns there's more to life than violence, it develops into a powerful bond unlike any other due to mahito's unique nature as a curse and kashimo as a sorcerer out of time. the only one they could each belong beside is each other

[threebooksoneplot]

Was just catching up on the pod and had to chime in on ep 29. I think it’s a little unfair to say that Bella is being over the top in her depression era. Yes she is sad about Edward leaving but it goes deeper than that: it wasn’t just a boyfriend she was losing.

She is an only child with an immature, selfish mom and a dad that, while nice enough, hardly knows her. The Cullens are a large, cohesive, loving family and she wanted to join them badly. Also, now that she knows that the supernatural exists, she wants to be a part of that world badly and losing Edward also meant losing her chance at immortality. She didn't just lose a boyfriend, she lost the best possible version of her life.

Bella's depression is always going to be a hot topic, trust me bestie. G has talked pretty decently in-show about how Bella lost her entire support system. that's 100% true: she put all her eggs in one vampire-shaped basket, went full tunnel-vision when it came to edward, and only focused on that for 6+ months. but imo it's unfair to point toward charlie and renee (don't worry, I'll get into that) and shuffle responsibility onto them for the way bella spirals after edward/the cullens depart, leaving her with some vague yearning for a loving family (which, tbh, I'm not sure I see supported in canon in any way?)

friend I am so sorry to break it to you but the podcast jokes about stanning renee are not a bit. I (shannon) will always come to the defense of my girl renee dwyer because of how severely she's been mischaracterized by fandom at large. I won't get into it too deeply (me when I lie) because I really could go on all day but bella's parents being distant to the plot they way they both are is 100% by design. it's the whole Disney Mom Effect. when your character is designed to go off on adventures and have a fantastical journey, you sort of end up killing the mom (or at least one parent) so that there's more of that push for the main character to go out and make their own life! woo! enjoy your magical journey! but if you have a mom that is thoughtful, super-involved, ever-present, and/or ahem, alive, that fucks with the plans. renee isn't some neglectful monster who abandoned her daughter to go spend weekends in miami. charlie isn't some dumb sitcom dad who weaponizes incompetence to get free meals. they both love, care about, and worry for bella the way a normal parent would (and we see this in canon). now, smeyer didn't kill either of them, but honestly she pulled off charlie and renee's characters really well imo!

anyways, I agree that losing a vampire boyfriend that could have offered you infinite money or eternal life is a big L, no matter what. but the thing is, bella doesn't care about either of those things. she doesn't care about anything beyond Being With Edward (and Alice, to a lesser extent). the vampirism and cullens are a bonus perk, but she only focuses on edward. that's why we're always going to clown on her "throbbing" holes and her boring nightmares. sure, I feel bad about her complete lack of self-esteem and her self-destructive streak, but it's so hard to feel bad for her when the way she thinks about and acts toward non-cullen characters is like, uh... not great. so I am very sorry to you and the whole of your defense squad, and I wish you the best in your journey, but I don't think we'll ever NOT roll our eyes at Bella's behavior in this book 💔😔—shannon

^ me (G) reading shannon's answer to this

I mostly agree (except for the part about pulling off charlie's and renee's characters well. idk if I'd go THAT far.) the tl;dr for me is that I understand why many people find bella (particularly in her depression era) relatable, and I entered into this reading hoping (and even lowkey expecting) that I too would come away with more appreciation for her character, but I....did not. the opposite happened. that's my truth and if it makes me a hater, I'm a hater ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ —G