#beyond the snow arc are we actually getting it

[sawamochi]

Ao no Exorcist: Yuki no Hate-hen - airs October, 2024, Teaser PV

[jackoshadows]

What I don't understand is why Sansa stans, who want to get rid of Arya in Winterfell, go for the laziest fanon of Arya being a tourist - a theory that's borrowed from ultimate hacks D&D and the garbage TV show and which ending GRRM has repeatedly disavowed.

Arya becoming some kind of world explorer at the end pretty much ignores her book story, narrative arc, characterization and throws away the material in her so far written 32 pov chapters for an ending they came up with because of a made up headcanon. An headcanon which is far removed from the book character.

If one wants to get rid of Arya in Winterfell to make way for Sansa, the least they could do is actually read Arya's chapters and attempt to come up with an ending that makes more sense for the character.

Arya is a character who wants to help. From Mycah to Weasel to Samwell Tarly, Arya is someone who stands up against injustice even at great risk to herself. She's selfless and would sacrifice her personal happiness for the greater good. She wants things to be better, for herself, for her friends, for the smallfolk.

One ending could be Arya Stark as a leader of the Riverlands, helping rebuild from the ravages of war, helping the people who survived. Arya, who has the empathy and the skillsets to help them, who has listened and learned from her father on how to govern. We see Willow Heddle take care of orphans and managing an inn with a quiet efficiency that mirrors Arya's and Gendry hanging around helping her. I could see Arya and Gendry continue their relationship, fall in love, marry and settle down in the Riverlands while Arya either rules the Riverlands as the Tully heir/Cat's daughter or as Lady of Harrenhal helps Edmure Tully rebuild the Riverlands.

Or, if Jon Snow leaves for beyond the Wall as the leader of the new territories and lands there, maybe Arya goes with him. Considering their close bond and love for each other and the fact that home is where each other is - something else that is again established in the books - if she had no choice but to leave Winterfell, going with Jon Snow to help him lead the freefolk beyond the Wall could be another option.

Or if Bran does end up becoming King on the Iron Throne, then she could stay in KL to help her much loved baby brother. She wouldn't like leaving Winterfell, but Arya is a character who sacrifices and does what's right, no matter how hard it is for her to do personally. Plus, she wanted to be a king's councillor and build things. Her training and skillsets with the FM would also make her alert to any future LF/Varys types trying to plot against Bran - not that someone who can see into the past and present needs a master spy...

Or Arya and Brienne start a school for young girls who are interested in learning different things and have teachers who actually develop their talents based on what they are good at instead of being hateful for what they cannot be.

In my opinion, any of these endings is better than 'Arya, world explorer' an empty, nonsensical ending that has no connection to the character's book story and is actually contemptuous of the suffering and trauma this child has been through over several books. Meet new people and learn new languages? What do these folks think Arya has been doing so far? The girl's been traveling from her second AGoT chapter, meeting countless people. sailed the narrow seas, engaged with new cultures, learned new languages. She's been there, done that.

What's even more ridiculous is that it's Sansa stans who often engage in the oppression olympics of Sansa having suffered the worst, that Sansa 'deserves' Winterfell because she suffered the most abuse, that the only ending that makes sense for Sansa is being back in Winterfell because she suffered so much etc. And yet according to these very same folks, Sansa is going to roll up her sleeves and tirelessly work to lead the people of the North, while Arya is going on a cruise ship vacation and vlog about the new cuisine she is trying out...Hey, maybe after having suffered the most of ALL characters in the series, maybe it's Sansa who deserves the cruise ship vacation, you know?

We have the author himself saying that Arya's harrowing experiences and journey through Westeros and Essos has aged her up so much that he considers the character older than some of the 40 year olds in the books! And yet there are still people harping on and on about tourist Arya ffs.

I personally think Arya will be in Winterfell at the end of the books, either helping her younger brothers Bran/Rickon lead the North or more probably as a leader in her own right.

Arya is a central character in the series, the female character with the most POV chapters. There's no way GRRM has one of his lead female characters end up playing a supporting role in her brothers or sister's story. No way.

The author has given her the character development in the books to lead the North. She has a hulking huge grey direwolf at her side - the sigil of house Stark. She is the lone Stark who has the Stark look. Her direwolf is named after the first Dornish princess who changed female inheritance in Dorne - a big clue for a character who has chafed against patriarchal restrictions on what women can and cannot do. I mean this is how we are introduced to Arya Stark in her very first AGoT chapter:

“The Lannisters are proud,” Jon observed. “You’d think the royal sigil would be sufficient, but no. He makes his mother’s House equal in honor to the king’s.”

“The woman is important too!” Arya protested. - Arya, AGoT

It's clear to me that her arc is heading towards her being the first Lady of Winterfell/Wardeness of the North, nicely bookending her arc which started with her wanting the woman to be as important as the man, arguing for equality when it comes to their house. That's how organic story telling and building a narrative actually works.

I am aware of the principal Internet forums about A Song of Ice and Fire and I really used to look at the American and English groups. Nowadays, the most important site is Westeros, but I started to feel uncomfortable and I thought it would be a better idea not to get to these sides. The fans use to come up with theories; lots of them are just speculative but some of them are in the right way. Before the Internet, one reader could guess the ending you wanna do for your novel, but the other 10.000 wouldn’t know anything and they would be surprised. However, now, those 10.000 people use the Internet and read the right theories. They say: “Oh God, the butler did it!”, to use an example of a mystery novel. Then, you think: “I have to change the ending! The maiden would be the criminal!” To my mind that way is a disaster because if you are doing well you work, the books are full of clues that point to the butler doing it and help you to figure up the butler did it, but if you change the ending to point the maiden, the clues make no sense anymore; they are wrong or are lies, and I am not a liar. - GRRM

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

A previous post of mine re Jon's resurrection has been doing the rounds lately so I think I need to clarify a few things (because some people seemed to misunderstand what I was saying - thought tbh I'm a bit surprised).

I was not - and have never - made the argument that Jon is going to walk away from his assassination (whether he actually dies or is just severely wounded) - with no ramifications. Obviously there are going to be many mental and physical changes. For one, he's basically become a human pin-cushion. And given that his heart will probably stop, we might see other things like his fingers and toes turning black. There's also a popular theory that he might lose an eye (to complete the Odin symbolism/parallel). Then we remember that he has been betrayed by his subordinates which is obviously going to cause severe trauma. Anger, hurt, and maybe even resignation will be emotions that he has to grapple with. And let us remember that Jon spent five books (but most of all ADWD) ignoring the magic within and around him. So that's even more trauma because he now has to come to terms with the magical changes within him. It's a lot to deal with. His chapters are going to be depressing af. I think most of us, and most of us Jon fans, can agree on this.

But here's the problem: recent fandom discussion re Jon's death has been very narrow and one sided. To certain communities, he has to turn evil or villainous. This view is actually what led me to making that post. Because there has been an uptick in bad faith arguments brought on by people saying "well my fave is held to an impossible standard so I have to make straw man arguments for why we should willfully misinterpret Jon's arc/situation to make him be the bad guy for a change". And this is so incredibly annoying because it achieves nothing except bring in even more bad takes re Jon. I didn't want to point any fingers and I won't do that here because I don't really believe whataboutisms will do us any good. Really, I'm more interested in dispelling the idea that Jon has to turn into some one dimensional, unthinking, evil zombie because that suits a few fans' narratives; and given that I'm a Jon Snow fangirl, I have to defend my boy here.

This is what led me to specifically calling out the idea that Jon will be Stoneheart 2.0 or like Varamyr. The Varamyr comparison was especially jarring because the argument I was going against implied that Jon would be like Varamyr morally. I don't think I need to go too much into why that's a bizarre argument that has absolutely no basis in the text. Before his death, Varamyr had be a local homicidal tyrant who had spend much of his life terrorizing the wildlings beyond the wall. He did not die, warg into an animal, and then go crazy. He was already severely messed up to begin with. So no, it makes no sense to compare him to Jon because they're on two opposite ends of the spectrum morally. Jon is not and will not turn in to a raping, murdering, maniac with no regard for humanity around him. In fact, the one thing that drives Jon's arc is having to make moral choices to do the most good for everyone. GRRM is not going to suddenly change that and turn him evil.

But we can use that ADWD prologue chapter to infer what could happen to Jon in other ways. Varamyr's chapter tells us that a warg who spends too much time in their bonded animal begins to lose himself/herself over time. And most people accept that Jon will become more "wolfish" by spending an extended period of time warging into Ghost. But here's the thing, we do not know how long Jon will be out of commission. And we do not know the rate at which one begins to merge with their familiar. So it also doesn't make sense to say that Jon will completely lose himself to Ghost because there's still so much that's up in the air.

Another thing that often gets overlooked is that there is a spectrum in regards to how resurrected beings function. There are those whose psyches are near permanently damaged and there are those who are relatively high functioning.

Ice wights - the most severe case of mental degradation that we've seen so far. They can hold a grudge (i.e. the wights that attacked LC Mormont) but we haven't seen them communicate or function in any way that's similar to regular humans.

Patchface - on the severe end of the spectrum. We don't really know too many details about what happened to him but the prevailing theory right now is that he is a "wight" brought back through the machinations of the drowned god. Patchface can't communicate normally so he has to do it in cryptic rhymes (which are most certainly prophecies). And let's remember that he had also been dead, with no place for his soul to go, for a few days before being brought back iirc.

Catelyn/Lady Stoneheart - closer to the severe end of the spectrum but I wouldn't say she's the most extreme case. She's singularly focused on getting revenge on the Boltons and Lannisters who were responsible for her family's downfall - more recently, her son's murder. Her body is severely degraded as well. But I wouldn't say she's on the same level as Patches just because the only reason she cannot communicate is because her throat was cut through. Still she can form thought, lead a group (the BWB), and if fan theories are correct about a RW 2.0 coming, she's even capable of carrying out semi-large scale conspiracy. But as I outlined in my previous post, Catelyn isn't doing the revenge thing because dying and being resurrected automatically turns someone into a "crazy monster". Catelyn, quite literally, watched the last of her line die right in front of her. And, she had also been severely depressed by her husband's death and the news of Bran's and Rickon's deaths prior to the RW. So as she was in her last moments, she was clawing her face with her own nails, screaming in anguish. Which led to her murdering Jinglebell!

Beric - pretty high functioning. Can lead a group of people, can fight, can communicate well enough with those around him. However, he cannot eat, sleep, his blood has turned back, etc. He also loses his memories. BUT let's remember that he was brought back several times which means that there were more adverse effects with each resurrection; and he became so tired of it that he gave his breath of life to Catelyn the minute he got the chance to. And Beric was not some unthinking zombie wrecking havoc across the Riverlands, killing everyone he could get his hands on. He did not lose his morality, nor did he lose his sense of purpose (well, he is singularly focused on carrying out the task delegated to him by Ned Stark). There's obviously a sense of loss (again losing human anatomical functions and also the memory loses) but he hasn't become some one dimensional character.

Coldhands - we don't really know exactly what brought him back (most likely COF magic) but he's relatively high functioning. Sure, he is like Beric in that he doesn't eat or sleep but he can think, he can plan, he can function mentally with little to no constraints. He's not going around murdering people willy nilly and being a menace to society. He is focused on doing something beyond the wall but we don't know too much about him. But we have hints that he is a skinchanger(!) and that could've helped him maintain his faculties.

Melisandre - no on page confirmation yet but the popular theory is that she is some form of fire wight (she doesn't need to eat, sleep, etc, like Beric and Coldhands). However, Mel functions as well as anyone else. And no, she's not burning people because she died - meaning that all people who die and are resurrected get really into human sacrifice. Mel's religion (and even background since she's from Asshai) is already heavily marked by these practices; just like Varamyr was already a morally degraded man before the ADWD prologue chapter. Mel is also decidedly NOT one-dimensionally evil, and GRRM has said before that she's his most misunderstood character.

As evidenced above, there's quite a few differences with the people brought back. There's no one-size-fits-all shoe for everyone. So no, Jon won't become Beric 2.0 or Stoneheart 2.0 or Coldhands 2.0 because that's just not how it works. He'll be his own being, something new.

But here's the thing, Jon is already different from all of these people in life. As @swordsandarms has had to point out multiple times (to a point where I'd imagine it's become quite the chore for them), Jon is a completely new entity by virtue of him being a magical being - something that neither Catelyn Stark nor Beric Dondarrion were. So even if we accept that they establish a lot of the changes that wights face, we should also make sure to point out that there is a massive difference between them and Jon. Saying that the effects on Jon are going be less severe due to him spending some time in Ghost is not at all saying that he'll get away scot-free. Pointing out that Ghost is not some savage animal but a direwolf who displays human-like characteristics and intelligence (that is quite ahead of his siblings) isn't saying that Jon will face no changes. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone in fandom who argues that Jon will just get up and resume life as usual.

And lastly, something else I want to call attention to is that we should be looking to already established precedent among other wargs and skinchangers. Because here's the thing, Jon's death and rebirth is going to be a massive event in the magical realm; I mean so many practitioners of different magic systems have seen it in some way or the other. From a Doylist perspective, Jon's death serves as a vehicle to bring him closet to magic. By the time he gets back he'll be a more practiced and powerful warg, he'll possibly be on the receiving end of more powerful and frequent prophetic visions, he could also gain the ability to wield fire magic (e.g., making his own Lightbringer a la Beric and as foreshadowed by his ADWD dream), and he's certainly going to become a fully fledged skinchanger. We know this last part to be true because of precedent set by Bran and Arya - Bran who had a near death experience and Arya who lost her eyesight - and I'd argue that we can throw Jojen Reed into the mix as well. So when we talk about the changes death will bring, we should also talk about these characters who obviously serve as foreshadowing as well.

(@daenystheedreamer gonna tag you for visibility since you tagged me in a previous post. Really sorry I didn't manage to reply in time but I think you deleted the post. Hope it's ok tho but long story short, you didn't misinterpret that post at all and what you said was exactly my point. But yeah, just letting you know that we're in agreement lol).

[pinkestlittlebutterfly]

It’s been a bit now since chapter 131 was published but I am very slow and I’d like to say something about it; specifically about this particular part.

I love the way Lily smiles in this panel. Of all the Lily smiles we get throughout the entire manga, I think this is one of the best. Which is no small feat, because Lily is smiling most of the time he gets to be part of the story, even when busy with things like beheading some clown he found in a back alley, or being attacked by creepy puppet versions of himself, or scaring the living daylights out of his Eve’s shitty father. His habit of always smiling is even acknowledged in what I’d consider some of the more meta (but still official) Servamp content we have, like Lust pair’s (absolutely bonkers) Idol Drama CD track.

This is me, the always smiling, soothing-type big brother, the one where all the love is gathered, the lusty vampire, Snow Lily.

Of course by now we can assume that – like many things about Lily – his smiles aren’t entirely honest. Lily is guarding his truths very well, and he has always presented himself as harmless and sometimes downright ditzy while leaving no clues as to how he actually feels about the events going on around him, hiding it all away behind a smile. Misono even comments on this in Lust pair’s shared character song “Not Fragile Love”: 

What the two of us have built up over time now crumbles,What have you continued to hide from me behind that smile?

This panel, and this expression are the culmination of all that, I like to think. This calm, eerie smile in the face of Misono’s fury is nothing but a facade, and what a good one at that – we have no idea what his thoughts might be. The only thing we can be sure of with Lily, I think, is that he loves Misono (this is all for him, after all); and yet he doesn’t seem upset at all that Misono is currently not very happy with him, or may even never forgive him at all, as he himself stated. We can only guess that he might not be as pleased as he shows himself to be.

Misono’s challenge is to break his Servamp’s facade. When Lily’s betrayal was revealed I remember someone saying it is as though lust pair’s arc all the way back in volume four didn’t even happen; but I don’t think that is true at all – the lust arc we already had was needed to make Misono into someone capable of doing what he needs to do now; capable of seeing beyond the walls someone put up, to offer his love and to reach out himself when it is rejected, like he has watched his friends do before, time and time again. 

I love volume four with all my heart and I maintain it’s the best Servamp as a series has ever been (though maybe, the coming chapters are about to prove me wrong). But the story back then wasn’t really about Lily all that much. He didn’t go through any major changes, he only allowed hints of himself and his past to be revealed while all the big secrets we learned were about the Alicein family rather than him. Lily’s turn to be changed is now, and he will experience his change at the hands of Misono, who has come all the way back to him, back to the chess board, back to the very first technique he learned to use through his bond with Lily. 

Misono has gathered the strength to crack him open like a geode, has learned to meet all he finds inside with kindness, and compassion, and love. He will wipe that smile right off of Lily’s face.

[theoutcastrogue]

Rich Burlew’s The Order of the Stick is approaching the finish line, and it’s crazy to think that it launched in 2003 as a light-hearted parody of D&D rules – starting with the transition from 3rd Edition to 3.5. It’s crazy that we’re now on strip #1262, 1262 comic strips with stick figures, 1262 punchlines, together making an amazing story which goes so beyond escapism.

OotS features one of my favourite antagonists of all time. Redcloak is a villain with an Actual Point and a hell of a backstory, and his arc, to my joy, is now coming forward. Plot-wise, I think the whole comic is Redcloak’s story – the Order reacts to his plans and machinations, and Xykon is the Big Bad only in terms of raw power, which he seeks for power’s sake. But Redcloak is a motherfucker with a cause, and a large chunk of OotS’s themes revolve around that cause.

In the most recent strip, “Two Villages”, we see the Extremely Wise bugbear (and goblinkin) Oona giving her insight on how much, and how exactly, Redcloak cares about actual living goblins.

“Intentions are sparkly, like fresh snow on mangled corpse. But little bald man is dong in his life what we bugbears are calling “living in two villages.” First village is named Doing-Very-Best-For-Goblins, where we are skipping and playing and not worrying about getting smushed by dwarf or elf. Second village is named Right-All-Along, and all the rocks and trees there are telling little bald man he is being very smart and justified.”

“Anyway, little bald man is liking both villages and is owning fancy cottage with indoor fireplace in each. Okie dokie! Villages are across river from each other. No big whoop to be living in both. Lunch in one, dinner in the other! Everyone is happy!

But problem with living in two villages is: what if one day, bridge over river is being eaten by angry dolphin? Which village will little man be living in then? Which choice will he be choosing when choosing time is here?”

Oona is not worried that Redcloak will choose his ego over his cause. Oona KNOWS he will do that, and that’s why she’s helping him and “fighting off dolphins”, so that the bridge stays intact and he never has to make that choice in the first place.

The Order of the Stick #1262, by Rich Burlew (btw Oona’s wolf is the greatest animal companion of all time)

Like. Dude. The SHIT you can SAY with STICK FIGURES while being HILARIOUS at the same time, I love comics so much, I love D&D, I love fantasy, it’s amazing.

[spoiler-alert-andabunchofnumbers]

Okay but like,

In the beginning of the game, Nora (Estheim) is killed by a Skytank explosion behind her while she's kneeling to help Snow after saving his life.

There are those who hate on the scene for quickly killing her off, but like man that's a woman who just went on vacation with her son and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, who was brave enough to join the other Purge victims in trying to fight back because yes, she's a mom, but she'd rather go out fighting with the people actually willing to help keep them alive in this desperate situation where there own government and entire planet turned against them for no reason other than bad luck.

Snow failed to save her because he didn't manage to keep his grip on her; Nora was injured and she gave him her last request because she had given up at that point. Snow looks at his hand in the aftermath because letting Nora fall alone was his biggest mistake.

Some point out that Snow survived the exact same fall as Nora, but barring the fact that he's a 6 foot 7 inch man who is also a fit fighter and she is a mother who lives in a peaceful city, the idea is actually supposed to be that if Snow hadn't let her go and had shielded her body with his - MAYBE SHE WOULD HAVE SURVIVED.

We don't know, certainly, and Snow is definitely still injured after his fall and stumbles as he gets up. He's traumatized by all of the people who died under his command; NORA the gang is equipped to fight, but they've never fought in an actual war before, much less against their own government. But Nora is the one who died closest to him, to the point that she told him she had a son she wanted him to protect. He needs to keep going for Serah, but he and Gadot specifically go and check to make sure all the kids are okay - under the logic that if he instructs his crew to keep all of the kids safe, that'll keep Nora's son safe by default. He can't do any more than that for her, and it's killing him, but he has to shove it down because there are more people - especially the one he loves - relying on him to keep going.

And then he has to keep going. He uses Serah's wishes to give himself a reason to keep going. No time to process his guilt because he has to keep going.

But then, the beautiful scene in Palumpolum happens.

Hope is blasted by a Skytank explosion from behind as he's kneeling to end Snow's life, a direct parallel to how Nora DIED.

In that moment, Snow doesn't care that Hope is trying to kill him. This time, he doesn't hesitate to dive off the ledge after Hope to catch him and shield him with his body and make sure that Hope isn't falling out of his grip. The fall is brutal, Snow is nearly crippled from the damage, but Hope is ALIVE, and can you imagine how that makes Snow feel?

Sure, the drop was probably shorter than in the Hanging Edge, but beyond the regular reaction to Snow finally facing his guilt and acknowledging he was running, still picking himself up and dragging Hope up a ladder back to the apartment levels, I just love the parallels in that scene. Snow finally got to save Nora's son, and he's fully willing to face the consequences of his actions.

Then, Hope is able to come to terms with his own running and denial. He had admitted multiple times that killing Snow won't bring her back, but he needed to keep going. And Snow knew his optimistic attitude led people to their deaths and smiling even in horrible situations was awful from other (Hope's) perspectives, but he had to keep going.

Don't ever tell me that there aren't great character arcs, developments, and nuances in FF XIII.

[fakesurprise]

A Snowy Adventure

The snow in the town slowly retreats to the park, not that people notice. I’ve yet to encounter a park that was not larger than it appeared to be, especially in the suburbs where people need parks with a desperation they barely understand. But streets are clearing, ice banishing snow in a ritual way that was only not a ritual because it always worked. I walk slowly, hands in my pockets, melting black ice with wards made from complexities in a dozen homes.

People talk about how the ocean washes away mountains, but that’s nothing next to the force of love and anger and unsaid words bubbling inside every home I pass. There are storms in some houses that would be dangerous if ever named, which would be hard since many have multiple names. Thunder passed down through generations, lightning arcing between words. Some things I never make wards from.

The ward about the park is easy: people only see what they are trained to, and most can only see what they are taught to see. The snow fort in the park is six stories tall already, with a moat and several walls. It helps that the snow is quite excited to be a snow fort, I suspect, but it’s difficult to be certain. Most things that encounter Jay want to help him without understanding why.

Most days I think Jay would be less powerful if he thought of himself as powerful at all. But when you’re very jaysome and from far Outside the universe, the universe bends itself to help. Power so deep it’s not even power. The magic in me shivers a little, even after knowing Jay for over a decade. I pull out my phone and call Charlie.

She answers with, “This is Charlie’s phone. If this is about Jay, I’m away right now.”

“You’ve seen the snow fort.”

“Oh, yes. Even the kids outside the coffee shop I’m in have stopped seeing it. I think it was the six turrets that went beyond even their belief.” She pauses. “There is no way we can assault that on our own.”

I laugh softly. “Jay will want us to try.”

“Okay. Can you convince the snow fort that it’s a prison and not a fort?”

I pause in turn. Magic technically has limits, mostly because people do. And there are limits to what I will do, more than what I can. Mostly. “You have a plan?”

“You don’t have prisons without laws, O magician. Much like how you don’t get brothels without religion. Once the snow fort is a prison, we invoke laws to turn it against Jay.”

“That could work, if only via shock value.” I pause a beat. “Or I could turn it into a brothel?”

“… I’d pay good money to see how Jay would react to that,” Charlie says. “From far away.”

“Prison it is,” I say, and hang up the phone as I walk toward the snow fort. I recall something in high school about the prisons people choose to live inside but that can’t apply to Jay at all. I have no idea how this will even work, and make a note to ask Charlie what she’s been reading lately but that is very much for later.

The snow fort is alive, because most things are alive more than they’re not. Especially around Jay. I let the magic loose, whispering the nature of walls, pulling truths from homes and picket fences. The town has no jail, but Charlie would claim suburbs are jails already. The level of cynicism she can project is actually impressive at times, even if some of it is a defense against the sheer joy that is Jay being jaysome.

The fort doesn’t object, because I am Honcho and friends with Jay. Being the wandering magician of this era doesn’t touch it, nor does any power I could bring to pass. None of that is a surprise, though the magic is unhappy about that.

Snowballs go off like springs. There are several yelps of surprise that moved through the fort before Jay appears beside me with snow in his hair.

“You made the snow fort attack a Jay?!” he asks, eyes wide. He isn’t wearing winter clothing because he wears whatever wants to be worn. Today that is mismatched rain boots, a dress and a leather jacket over it that keeps changing colours.

“It is a fort. You were, of course, an escaped prisoner.”

“Even if I made it?”

“A trick of the magic,” I say easily.

“Wow! That was a really good tricking,” he says, and hugs me with the full force of eleven and innocent joy.

“Most of it was Charlie’s idea. So you know for the next one.”

Jay grins, and the grin undoes the snow fort being a jail and some of the storms inside homes nearby vanish without knowing why. He then vanishes even as the snow fort becomes snow again, no doubt to plan a new adventure.

I brush snow off my shoulder and walk back to the motel. Not every day is a good day, but today has been enough for several poorer ones. And sometimes that’s more than we can ever ask, but perhaps far less than is deserved.

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Screw it, I know I'm never gonna actually have time to make this into an animatic, so let me brain dump for a minute about an animatic I would make about f!Pac and f!Cell if I had the time and energy.

Alright. So let's preface this with a little meta, and a very brief discussion about Fuga Impossível and QSMP.

For starters, we know that the lore of Fuga Impossível is (more or less) a canon backstory for Tazercraft and Cellbit (and, to a certain extent, Felps). We also know from multiple instances of him talking about it that q!Pac is still very afraid of Cell.

Cell. Not Cellbit. This is an important distinction.

Cellbit is no longer Cell— he's one of Richarlyson's other parents, he's one of the Favela Five, and despite the lingering fear Pac has, he still trusts Cellbit and has repeatedly shown it throughout the series. Very recently, we've also seen their relationship heal a little bit in the aftermath of the Federation drug arc.

(I don't have the clips on hand, but there's a moment before Pac gets drugged where he's talking with Cellbit about the plan, and Cellbit offers him a handshake and Pac gives him a hug instead. After the arc and after Pac is cured, Cellbit initiates a hug and hugs him. This, however, is a topic that I want to expand on another day, but TLDR they both got some hangups they're working on.)

Anyways, about the animatic.

I Know I'm A Wolf by Young Heretics is a pretty old song, and I've seen it get misinterpreted so many times that it left a bitter taste in my mouth and a negative association with the song for a long while. That being said, I remembered it out of the blue a few minutes ago and had a "Wait, actually—" moment about it. Like I said before, I don't think I'll ever get around to making this animatic (especially since I'm still hopelessly chipping away at that Bobby Jaiden and Roier animatic with a broken tablet pen and a dream), so despite my usual reluctance to share this stuff, I want to walk folks through my thought process and why I think this song is a fitting choice for Tazercraft (but mostly Pac) and Cell / Cellbit's past and present relationship.

I'd recommend listening to the song since just reading the lyrics doesn't capture the tone of the song as well.

The lyrics for the first part go:

Dear rabbit, my legs are getting weak chasing you The snow fields wouldn't seem so big if you knew That this blood on my teeth it is far beyond dry And I've captured you once but I wasn't quite right So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

In my mind, I'm imagining this part exhibiting the tension between Tazercraft and Cell in the prison. Tazercraft know Cell is dangerous, but they ultimately make an alliance with him.

Can they trust Cell?

Hell no.

"So I'm telling you, that you'll be safe with me" is the moment they strike the deal (ominous piano music and all). Yes, the blood on his teeth may be dry (for the moment) but the blood is still there. Pac and Mike know better to trust Cell, no matter how charismatic he may try to be, but the situation they're in in Alcatraz leaves them with few options.

The line "I've captured you once, but I wasn't quite right" could refer to Cell taking Pac's leg (though I'm still iffy on where I personally would fit that into the Fuga Impossível timeline, but regardless, it's a fitting line for that part of their history).

The next lines are:

Oh rabbit, my claws are dull now so don't be afraid I could keep you warm as long as you can just try to be brave

In this section, I imagine Tazercraft witnessing all the terrible things Cell does in Alcatraz, and their reluctance to maintain the deal (though there's nothing they can do to get out of it now) so they just try and watch out for each other. The "don't be afraid" and "just try to be brave" lines I see being directed to Pac, who's already been hurt by the "wolf" that continues to offer them reassurances with blood still dripping down his chin.

The next section is a doozy:

Yes I know I'm a wolf and I've been known to bite But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind And my teeth may be sharp and I've been raised to kill But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

With this section, we move to Cell's perspective, and here's where we tweak the story a little. We know the ending of Fuga Impossível isn't 100% canon to the QSMP timeline, and we also know that Cell eventually was able to make the (frankly miraculous) transition from Cell -> Cellbit. But what was the catalyst?

Well, why not the Island, and the isolation he had to deal with after getting stranded there? Being alone with your own thoughts can really change a person... and sometimes drive them to the brink of insanity, but Cell was already well along his way to that.

Cell has done horrible, horrible things, and based on what CC Cellbit has said about his character and the things he's made canon, his crimes started long before he ever got to Alcatraz. According to Cellbit, his character fought in a war alongside Bad in his youth, and that was where he first began indulging in his fun new hobby: cannibalism. (Hence the line: And my teeth may be sharp and I've been raised to kill). We could argue that this originated as a survival response (hell, who knows what kind of conditions he lived in during that war, and q!Bad himself said he's eaten people, so Cell might've picked that up from him), but regardless of it's origin, it still happened.

I want to emphasize that I'm not bringing this up so we can say "Oh poor baby!" and excuse Cell's actions; I just think it’s interesting to think about his past and his perspective on this whole situation. But regardless of the circumstances that set him on the path he was on, he did some wildly messed up stuff, and if I were to actually do this darn animatic, I wouldn't want to sugarcoat anything.

Now let's contrast all of that with these lines:

"Yes I know I'm a wolf and I've been known to bite / But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind"

It's human nature to crave companionship, and no matter how many people Cell's killed or how many atrocities he's committed, it's hard to unlearn that instinct. At the line "But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill" I think of that moment on the Island where Cell offers Pac an apple. Regardless of how you read that moment, it's an interaction that really stands out to me. Is it a power-play? An olive branch? An offer of friendship? (COPIUM, it's not). The contrast between “fresh meat” and the apple is very appealing to me though, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. I've got a lot of thoughts about that moment, but I'll save that analysis for another day when I'm not so tired, and when I have more reliable translations to base my analysis on. For now, let's leave that open-ended.

And then there's the line "So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me."

Here, the perspective is split between Cell and Pac & Mike, who are safe now. Not because of Cell — but because of each other. They leave Cell stranded on the Island, and survive the narrative of Fuga Impossível as well as the narrative of the song (where the "predator" is implied to eventually catch its prey). At the extended "me" part of the song, I imagine Cell sitting there in shock, alone on the island, realizing that even with all his threats and all his (imagined) authority, he still couldn't get what he wanted. (And what did he want? Well, he's certainly got a lot of time to think about that!)

Now, we have the final stanza: So rabbit please stop looking the other way It's cold out there so why not stay here Under my tail.

We're back to the present. No more Cell, no more Alcatraz, just Pac and Cellbit dealing with the aftermath of Richarlyson and Mike vanishing and Forever being drugged.

Because I'm changing the narrative of the song, I'm also changing the tone. This time, the offer of safety in the presence of an old enemy isn't an empty promise. Time has changed both of them, and now Cellbit and Pac are both prey and predators (if we continue the analogy of the song). They're at the mercy of the Federation, but they know they can rely on one another in a way they weren't able to before, and together they can somehow find a way to overcome this latest hardship. I like the idea of leaving things on a hopeful / positive note, especially since we know these characters eventually become good friends and even family in the QSMP universe.

ANYWAYS! Those are my thoughts. There's a lot more I could say about this (and a lot lot more I could say about Pac and Cell / Cellbit) but I'm very tired and I think this covers the jist of things (though I may go back and edit things tomorrow). Obligatory disclaimer that I'm trying my best out here vis-a-vis the Fuga Impossível lore, but if I missed the mark on any of that, please know it is solely because I can't speak a lick of Portuguese lmao. I'm always reevaluating and updating my interpretation of characters and stories based on every new bit of information I get, so I might revisit this thought again some time in the future. Cheers.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 181

Chapter 181: "Beyond Destiny"

I keep thinking how Alex mentioned last chapter that he can only call for help during the spring and of the one panel that showed the snow melting and flowers blooming by the time we reached the scene where he takes Emma to the city, which leads me to believe it's actually early 2050 instead of late 2049. I know I'm in the minority thinking that since this chapter clearly states it's been two years since Emma disappeared, but I personally don't believe they meant that timeskip literally.

Referencing the search she, Don & Ayshe went on is a nice callback, but with both situations having their parallels, why couldn't ya think of this idea sooner sweetie?? Ah well, at least this leads everyone in the right direction in the end. Regardless of any of that, I love Gilda's outfit here.

Sigh. This arc had so much potential to give so many more characters some spotlight and we get crumbs.

I am politely asking the world once more to please let my boy say "fuck." You can't tell me Ray hasn't been swearing like a sailor with how frustrating these last two years have been for him. Also, seeing Phil using the WM pen raises more questions, such as who's pen did that originally belong to? My first bet would've bene that it Yuugo's, as he's really the only one we've seen with a pen aside from Emma (who still has hers), but with how chaotic life at the shelter was moments before it blew up, I have my doubts he would've even thought to give the pen away to Ray or one of the other kids for safekeeping. It would've been a pretty big hint towards him and Lucas not returning as well so I can understand why such a scene was left out, if it happened at all. Anyways, with Norman on the other end of the conversation with Phil, it's obvious he somehow has a pen of his own but how he acquired such pen doesn't seem that surprising to me, since Norman was actually shown to have one in season two and I can easily believe it was another gift from Smee or another supporter. If not, Norman seems like the type who would be able to create another pen just like the original, which could result in the one Phil's group is using, if it isn't actually Yuugo's. Other that than, seeing how the pens are still fully functional (and assuming they're both originals from the demon world and not newly made), I'm going back to my own question I had last chapter about whether or not Emma and Alex have ever tried using the pen she has in her possession. Surely they could've figured something out about Emma's past if they just looked through it.. unless demon god thought that far ahead and deleted all information off said pen.

I know it's the same moment as the previous chapter where Phil's group gets close to Emma without realizing it but it still makes me so anxious! I'd absolutely be yelling at my screen had this encounter been animated.

Now they're teasing me on purpose. Just let them meet, damn it! AAhhh.. at least Ray's looking handsome, even though he's completely worn out.

Oh how very convenient for the necklace to somehow fall off her neck and be found right in front of where she eventually reunites with her family. This necklace also looks like the kind that you just slip on over your head, as there doesn't seem to be a visible clasp anywhere on the chain, so how it managed to go up and over her head without her noticing is some sorta demon witchcraft right there. Look at how that thing is glowing! It's sentient I tell ya. I do like how much Emma values the necklace though despite not having any memory as to why it's so special to her.

Speaking of keepsakes, I'm also very fond that Ray still uses his scarf. More importantly though, this panel is such a relief! I'm so relieved the reunion takes place rather quickly in the chapter so it gives the characters more time to figure out the situation and sort out their feelings. And I may be wrong about this, but it kinda looks like Emma is raising her eyebrow at the sight of all these people suddenly surrounding her with such surprised faces. Hold on tight honey, it's about to get even weirder for you.

And this first panel is darn heartbreaking, for her family and us readers. They probably dreamed of this moment for so long, to finally reunite with Emma and live together again, but they certaintly never imagined her to react like this. Safe to say that our girl was taken off guard by this encounter as well. Here Emma was, expecting a chill day out shipping with her adoptive father and now she's getting hugged outta nowhere by a bunch of strangers. Poor girl looks seriously stunlocked.

I am so incredibly proud of my boy for figuring out that this girl is indeed their Emma. I'm sure anyone could've looked at the necklace in her hands and made the assumption this was her, but the way Ray was able to piece everything together about what exactly happened to Emma and what the real reward was amazes me to no end. He looks so angry and full of regret in that second panel before he reveals the truth too, almost as if he's a bit hesitant to let the words out of his mouth, but he knows this is absolutely something everyone needs to hear and unfortunately for Ray, no one is better at delivering hard truths than him. Once he reveals to everyone the true price of the reward, he looks completely crushed and I seriously need to go and hug him pretty please! I'm certain Ray has been constantly thinking up many possibilities of what the reward could've been over the last two years, but this reveal has gotta be something he never expected. Or perhaps it was, considering he realized it so quickly, but I doubt he'd be happy to be correct in this moment anyway. I can't imagine what Emma must be feeling hearing all this crazy stuff either.

Okay but what if she just said no here instead? Would demon god actually changed His mind or am I being too hopeful? Emma's optimism might be rubbing off on me, but I just want her happy! I don't like that sad look in her eyes or the slight pause she takes before finally answering Him.

She's such a damn sweetheart, I'll literally never get over how big her heart is and how much she loves and cares for everyone, especially over herself. I can imagine the sad tone in her voice for the first couple speech bubbles, but then she'll lighten up as she rambles on about the better future that's on the horizon and will be so grateful she's able to grant such wonderful lives for everyone she holds dear.

It goes without saying but Emma's family doesn't take the news of her memory loss too well. While I am glad that a majority of them were present to hear about the real reward (given how important it was) and that everyone eventually celebrates Emma agreeing to live with them at the end of the chapter, a part of me wishes the initial group who found her was a bit smaller? All the attention is completely overwhelming her and I can't blame her for shoving them aside for freaking out so badly. If it was Ray, Norman, Phil and a couple others from GF who found her first, they could've broken the news to her gently (once Ray figured it out) and then fill in the rest of their family one by one, if Emma still decided to join them in the end.

Phil is so good at picking up on major details, whether it be GF's secret or Emma's anxiety. And then ya got Norman who is just totally relieved to see her again. I had forgot to mention this during ch179, but another reason losing Emma hit him so hard was because he had just reunited with her a couple weeks prior to their arrival in the human world. Norman spent all that time planning his escape in Lambda and ways that would allow him to reconnect with Emma, Ray, and the rest of their family and he finally had a moment of peace when they all arrived at the paradise hideout to feel that hole in his heart being full again. Then you had all that drama at the demon capital that pitted them against each other for a little bit until they reconciled and fought together during the GF raid. He had to be so happy once they finally obtained freedom and to live by each other's side without fear of being separated again, until they split up once more without any indication how long it would last or if a life without Emma was gonna be Norman's new normal. So of course he breaks out into happy tears here because all that matters to him is that she's real and in front of him again.

Hearing him tell her how thankful he is that she's healthy, eating well and injury free is a great parallel to his speech in ch30 right before he gets shipped out, only instead of saying their goodbyes at the end, they can introduce themselves and start all over. I gotta wonder what Alex thinks of all these kids suddenly surrounding his adoptive daughter, though I pretty positive he's chill with it since we do see him a bit later sitting back and watching all their happy faces.

Although it's a real convenient way to tie up loose ends about what's been happening with their family these past couple years, I'm still thankful we get a little insight about everyone's dreams and progress they've made. Naturally I wish could've seen so much more of everyone, but I'll take what we can get. Poor Emma has gotta be so confused on what Norman is talking about though.

This boy is trying is absolute hardest to not breakdown in front of her. It reminds me of how he comforted Emma the night after Conny's shipment despite him being just as frightened to learn the house's secret as she was.

Okay but props to our girl though for sticking around and at least hearing them out. If a bunch of strangers came up to me and started sharing their life stories with me, you can bet I'd make a move to run the first chance I get.

It's crazy how seeing a panel of our favorite girl cry such big tears can make me so happy but aaahh, I'm so thankful that the love she has for her family is powerful enough that it overrides her dumb amnesia. Demon god can be a bastard and take away her memories but he can't do shit about her strong feelings! Also, I always liked how her tears land on the necklace, considering it resembles the dragon's eye, it makes it look like as if it's crying as well.

It took me until now to remember that several pages of this chapter were redrawn since I remember that one fantasy scene of the boys finding her on that beach.. but no way in hell am I gonna go back and rework this to accommodate those changes. I've been writing this post out for far too long already. The sun is no longer up.

It's because of the inner monologue from the previous pages that leads me to believe it's also Emma who declares "screw destiny" here and I will literally never accept anything different because I love that phrase for her. That's the very reason I went nuts during s2ep10 when she shouts "I don't give a damn about that destiny!" at Peter. (Dub had her fire back with "Well I don't give a damn what you say!" if anyone was curious, which is equally good in my book.)

Favorite panel/moment:

Oh, there's.. so many. There would've been more but I did already chat about some favorite moments already, such as Ray's smart mind recognizing Emma and the real reward, along with her expressing how much she's always wanted to meet her family regardless of meeting everyone for the first time. As for the rest however, of course we're starting with Ray's lost family members assisting him with locating Emma. Seeing Conny, Yuugo and Isabella appear one last time was such a welcomed surprise and I could absolutely ramble about them more, but I should really keep the rest of this short considering how long this darn post is turning out to be. I'll place the original review here though for funsies. I will mention something I only thought of recently though, and that's how I think the "Over here, Ray" is actually in Emma's voice instead of Conny, Yuugo & Isabella's like I originally believed. While I do love the idea of Ray thinking fondly about all the people he failed to save, no one compares to Emma and that girl has probably been living rent free in his head the past two years. It would also makes sense as to why he would later comment about how hearing her voice could've been his imagination since he's thinking of her so frequently all the time, as we clearly see as he sprints off chasing that voice.

Eeehehe, Ayshe may not have been around for the reunion but her absence is definitely forgiven with this small panel! I would die for more content about these two and how their complicated acquaintanceship changed over the years, even if only barely. Norman still has to be on his guard around her and I love the idea of her lowkey threatening him often enough so he'll never feel relaxed. So glad all her dogs were able to cross over as well considering the new promise really only affected the cattle children. Rest in peace Vincent!

One of the most important reveals is my boy Chris FINALLY waking up!! It still really sucks how he was knocked out for almost half the story but oohhh I'm so incredible thrilled that he's okay. Poor guy has so much drama to catch up on though. I'm sure once he heard about Emma's disappearance he would've offered to help look for her, but since he wasn't shown anywhere else during the chapter, it makes me believe that his awakening was fairly recent and he's possibly still recovering. I'm fine if that's the case considering he gets to join in all the fun during the epilogue.

Everyone delighted beyond belief to hear that Emma missed them and her adorable face when they return the sentiment. Ah, Ray also looks fantastic. Love that smile on him as he's crying tears of pure joy.

Though I very much prefer the redrawn version of the final page where it includes more of the family joining in the celebration, having Emma accept their offer and wishing to live together will all of them definitely makes for a wholesome ending.

End of volume 20. But one day remains.

[sailormoonandme]

If there was a new Sailor Moon reboot anime someday I'd want it to respect the core values and spirit of the original manga and anime, but do something different. I don't think it is necesarry to re-tell the Dark Kingdom arc all over again, at least not in the same way, let alone methodically follow that up with the Black Moon, Infinity, Dream or Stars arcs.

I think that'd be refreshing for older fans (who currently are the primary target demographic for the brand) and for newer fans (who I actually think should be at least equally the target demographic at some point in the future) they won't know that we are deviating from what we've seen before anyway.

There are no end of ways you can change things up of course, but for the sake of argument lets say Sailor Moon is a seasonal anime, meaning it realistically has 12-13 episodes to tell its arc in.

There are no end of anime or western cartoons that can tell compelling arcs in that amount of time, but the limited episode count almost locks you into replicating Crystal and the manga if you are married to the DK arc or married to how the DK arc unfolded. Namely, introducing the Senshi one by one, building towards the drama with their pat lives etc. So just immediately off the bat you've eaten up minimum 6-7 episodes of your season on set up as each episode is going to be setting up one of the Senshi, Tuxedo Mask, etc. I'm a Crystal defender/apologist, but I see no point doing that again if we are doing a new reboot.

Instead, here is a radical idea. Why not start the series off with the Inner Senshi already established as a team and Usagi is the audience avatar who is being introduced to them, their HQ and their mission when she is recruited to the Sailor Team. Not only will that work for people unfamiliar with Sailor Moon, but for us old geezers who've seen every version out there (and read many more through fanfiction ;) it sort of speeds things up. We can get to the character dynamics and interpersonal relationships with our girls off the bat. In addition, it provides a more organic reason as to why Usagi is less combat savvy compared to the other girls, the latter have just been doing this for longer whilst Usagi is a newbie.

Arranging things this way is also how a lot of Super Sentai (one of Takeuchi's primary sources of inspiration for Sailor Moon) seasons kick off too, they build the team within the first episode or two as the team is the heart of the story.

Here is another radical idea. What if the Dark Kingdom and the reincarnation angle isn't even the plot of the first arc? What if we're dealing with some new villains or the Death Busters even? The Death Buster's base of operations was a school. In a sense, they are even more natural villains for a team of superhero school girls to go up against out of the gate. You could draw out the huge reveals of everyone's past lives and so on across the whole series rather than make it the first arc. Like imagine if Queen Beryl and Metalia were not simply the final villains of the first/only arc, but the Final Big Bad of the entire series?

That's not even getting into all the villains beyond the mainline manga that you could make use of, modernising them or adapting them into an anime for the first time. Ail, An, Fiore, Snow Kaguya, Queen Badine, Shaman Apsu and the Opposito Senshi, Past Wiseman, Death Vulcan, Dark Nibiru, Coatl, Dracul, Vampir, Lilith, etc.

I'm just saying this franchise is replete with rich concepts, characters and ideas. Creatively there is A LOT that can be done with it for old fans and new. It'd be a shame if we never got more and an even bigger shame if what we got was what we have seen before.

[manycoloureddays]

i was asked for my top 5 [insert character from stranger things here] scenes and obviously i chose the love of my life, nancy wheeler, so without further ado and in no particular order:

1. “i want to kill it” the scene in the hall of hawkins’ middle school where nancy decides that it’s not enough to just have hopper & joyce go to the upside down & retrieve will, she wants to kill the monster that took him & more importantly to her at this point, she wants to kill the monster that took barb. jonathan would have been happy to hang up the monster fighting equipment once he had will back. he wants to help draw the monster away from joyce & will, but the real reason we get the showdown with the demogorgon at the byers’ house is because nancy wasn’t okay letting barb’s death go unpunished. not only does that tell you an awful lot about who she is, it sets up her s2 arc beautifully. nancy isn’t someone who leaves things unfinished. if she can’t protect the people she loves, you can be damn sure she’ll avenge them

2. when she faces down flayed!billy with nothing but a gun and her bravado. she will not move, she barely flinches, even though she doesn’t know steve and robin are coming, because he’ll have to go through her before he gets to lucas, will, and jonathan. she is so brave!!

3. the entirety of her scene with wayne is so dear to me! i mean, so much of her trailer park investigation is a delight! she wants to interview the dog! but also the way she and wayne relate to each other is just so wonderful. her kindness is so obvious in this scene, it just bleeds out of her. she’s so warm that he has no choice but to believe her sincerity. she’s just a kid from the high school paper and he trusts her to help save his boy

4. “so does that make us friends now? officially?” NANCY WHEELER THE WOMAN YOU ARE!! she has so much friend related trauma. she lost barb and she has been holding people at arms length ever since. she burned her relationship with steve to the ground (and i have Thoughts about the why that go beyond her grief), jonathan is being distant & lives miles away, and fred has just died too, but still she opens herself up to the possibility of robin rejecting her overture of friendship. and after she was so standoffish in the library too (still trying to protect herself, always trying to protect her heart). it’s so fucking brave!! i love her so much!!

honourable mentions to: “monster hunting” [what a fucking line!!] the snow ball scene with dustin [big sister nancy my beloved], the scene in the library with robin [there are two lesbians in that library], “actually i’m pretty sure it’s a felony” [hot!!! and also protect max at any cost is an excellent priority], any scene she has with mike where they’re actually siblings [BIG SISTER NANCY MY BELOVED] & when she shoots vecna with that sawn off [she is no mother, she is no bride, SHE IS KING]

5. nancy with the baseball bat in the wheeler’s garage!! it’s her origin story baby!! she can barely swing that bat, it doesn’t look natural at all, she has no idea what she’s facing, the kinds of monsters that live in the world, but her best friend is missing, her best friend has been taken, and no one is doing anything about it. so she will. that is nancy wheeler in a nutshell. she sees an insurmountable problem that no one else is dealing with and she rolls up her sleeves, picks up a weapon, and makes a plan

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Little Dark Age (MGMT)

Giddy with delight, seeing what’s to come/The image of the dead, dead ends in my mind/Policemen swear to God, love’s seeping from the guns/I know my friends and I would probably turn and run

"It has such a dark ominous vibe in the music alone. There is so much nuance and double meanings behind the lyrics. It's about mental illness and secrecy. It's about the state of the world and politics. It's about how we're regressing into a "dark age" of intellectual darkness and a lack of "writing" (human art and creativity). It's about the darkness of humanity in general. It's about not being able to hide from the pain of the world or the actions you have taken. It's just so. Gahhgg. No matter how you interpret it, it cuts deep."

At the Price of Oblivion (Homestuck)

"This song doesn't actually appear in the comic, but it's representative of a sequence in which the two main characters, Rose and John, encounter Bec Noir, the murderous demigod who killed each of their respective parents. The two of them square up, and John is INSTANTLY killed. Rose, who's been infected with the power of eldritch gods from beyond reality, flies into a murderous rage and fights Noir SINGLEHANDEDLY. While we don't see the conclusion of the fight, we're lead to believe Rose at the very least had a chance at victory"

HOLY SHIT THAT BEAT DROP! Genuinely such a blood-pumping, hype song. Also the beat drop coincides perfectly with... well. SO it starts with these two protagonists just kind of standing there trying to process their parents' deaths and then Right on the beat drop like 2 seconds in one of them gets impaled from behdand dies and the rest is the other fghting a losing battle in her FuckedUp Eldritch Horror form along w/ soe other shit. Anyway. Ultimately one of the reasons this song really fuk me up is because of Rose in general Rose is such a fun character and I love her so much and this scene is part of a turning point for her. I love ranting to myself about characters and Rose is one of my favorites to rant about because there are a few separate times where one of my favorite poems, TS Eliot's The Wasteland, is referenced in connection with her. I've gotten halfway through a like. 7 page essay about how The Wasteland and Rose are connected--it has a lot to do with knowledge, and grief, and shit like that. This scene is sort of the accumulation of all of that symbolism. Rose is a Seer of Light, which means her role in the game is to help her team by being an arbiter of information of sorts. It's her job to know things, basically. The Wasteland is a poem about the aftermath of WWI. The specific passage referenced in connection to Rose is at the very beginning of the poem--part 1, The Burial of the Dead. The passage talks about the cruelty of springtime, as it melts the snow that had covered and numbed the barren swathes of land that had been ravaged by the war. Ultimately, however, it's talking about memory--being able to see the wasteland again means having to remember that it exists, why it exists. It goes on to talk at length about the pain of being a surviving soldier of the turmoil of WWI--how alienating it was to understand war like no one around you, how painful it was to live with that knowledge, to have to confront the grief of others who did not survive daily. In this arc, Rose does a lot of really risky things and basically gets herself killed twice because knowing what she ended up knowing drove her to those ends. Much of Homestuck is a story of loss of innocence, of growing up, and Rose exemplifies that here. She has to choose to look, for her sake, for her friends' sake, and it ruins her, in many respects. She is the first to know about her mothers' death, which leads to a wild eldritch psychological breakdown. She is the only one to find out about the tumor in time, which leads to her trying to sacrifice herself to fix it. Anyway. As someone obsessed with Knowing(TM), this song is an absolute banger that to me still manages to capture that undercurrent of Rose's wild, desperate grief--and the desperate determination that forced her onward even so."

[jackoshadows]

The way Jonsa shippers keep insisting all over the Jon tag that Jon Snow is only interesting if he gets together with Sansa. We know!! Jonsa has always been a Sansa ship - by and for Sansa stans. 

Every Jonsa post I have read makes it clear how much they dislike book Jon Snow, his canon relationships and story arc. Which is why they rewrite the character with the Jonsa version being this unrecognizable, mangled and mutilated OC blob who has even less in common with the book version than even the show version.

That’s why they don’t read his chapters and headcanon his personality, narrative themes and story arcs as some kind of fairy tale prince whose story will have meaning only, only if he loves and marries Sansa.

That’s why they erase Arya from Jon’s story and write ‘metas’ on how GRRM will repeat Jon’s entire ADwD story with Sansa in TWoW, why they turn Dany into a villainous monster and keep telling everyone that Jon is boring because his story so far has apparently only been about prophecies and dragons....

Oh and also their Sansa is the most interesting character in the whole series  - her chapters are all about Sansa being an adept politician and making treaties with other leaders, negotiating, trying to save people, understanding her privilege, learning about other cultures, conflicted between duty and love, butting heads with her deputies, trying to grow food and she will teach Jon Snow how to be a wise politician leading to Jon murdering the evil Daenerys for his truest and fairest love in all of Westeros, Sansa Stark.

We get it - the bastard navigating the Westerosi class system and bigoted prejudices as he earns his way to the top will only be interesting as a prop side character to pro status quo Sansa Stark. And if GRRM does not write Jonsa, then the whole series is boring and useless and has no point to it....

The story is apparently not about the outcasts and the underdogs, the dregs of society, the characters who are trying to make something of themselves in an unjust world, who are ambitious and want better things for themselves, who are kind and want better things for others. Nah, all that is boring for these shippers.

 Again, this is what happens when one skips entire chapters of the characters and instead read Jonsa ‘metas’ and farcical theories on how GRRM is writing the entire book in secret code and all the characters in Jon’s story like Sam and Satin are actually code for Sansa and stand ins for Sansa, that whenever Jon thinks of Arya he is actually thinking deep in the recesses of his brain about Sansa, that Jon had a crush on Sansa because he couldn’t resist 11 year old Sansa’s beauty, that growing up he settled for ‘ugly’ Arya because as a bastard he just could not hope to ever get beautiful Sansa. That Jon’s story from AGoT to ADwD has no point or purpose and his actual story only starts when Sansa gets there....

If one really thinks that Jon Snow’s 42 POV chapters is him being a ‘cut and dried fantasy hero’ and that the character will be boring if he plays a main role in defeating the existential apocalyptic threat from beyond the Wall - a story that he has been part of from book one - in a grimdark high fantasy novel and instead his character will only be interesting if he transports to Disneyland, settles down with the most beautiful, wise and fair queen Sansa and they had ten children and lived happily ever after, then perhaps the Jonsa section of AO3 would be more suited to one’s reading than A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM. Just saying. 

[joviantwelve]

XYZ🕒ul, Tetris, Carmichael; 1 5 7 12 14 19 20 23 25

OKAY ITS TIME TO GET AROUND TO THIS THING LET'S GO

obviously going to be long, so under a cut it goes:

1. What memory would your OC rather just forget? XYZoul: they'd prefer simply not thinking about their life as a Physical Corporeal Entity at all, and leave it at that. Tetris: until we see more native viera stuff ingame, I like to think she was a guard or something for her village, and thus got into encounters with "intruders." she would mostly follow protocol, though their appearance and behavior is what got her curious about the outside world in the first place...I think she wishes she would have left sooner, instead of mindlessly fighting what were (sometimes, I mean you got that imperial presence and all) completely innocuous people. Carmichael: Uhhh well, a lot of it has to do with Ivanna...not just any one thing though, unfortunately. she was a toxic girlboss, and there's a lot he needs to unpack. to roughly sum it up, he was treated more like a funny curiosity than like, an employee.

5. How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want? XYZoul: IIIiiii would say to the point of risking innocent human life. since it's a cyberpunk setting and all, there's some tech out there that integrates with brains directly, so...they wouldn't want to directly mess with that. unless it's attached to a capitalist pig, of course! hyuk! Tetris: she will break bones if she has to, given her training I mentioned above...but she PREFERS it not to come to that, considering it's more along the lines of what she used to do. sadly, because this is an MMORPG, it does often come to that Carmichael: lmao he takes a loooong time to develop any sort of assertiveness. so, not very far. even if he's trying to make a point in a discussion, he'd be very polite about it, and likely get talked over. this may change if Azriel has any say about it, though!

7. What’s one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them? XYZoul: their design, mostly. it took a loooong time for me to come up with something I was happy with beyond just their face. I'm glad that they seem to be popular, because...it was a lot of effort. I googled a lot of retro computer mascots for ideas, only to discover a lot of the actual period mascots sucked LMAO?? turns out ""webcore aesthetic"" was more what I was actually going for. Tetris: I feel like most WoLs are bound evolve with the game's narrative, but design-wise...I did fantasia her a couple times, for mostly minor aesthetic reasons. she used to be brown, but then I saw a lot of fellow viera with the brown skin/white hair kind of look and felt stifled LMFAO so I made her grayscale instead to be kind of like a snow bunny. I also gave her heterochromia with this because I am cringe and free (and also a resemblance to my OC Hyacinth that worked out in another funny way (spoilers for that 2nd link)) Carmichael: WELL since he was originally for TTRPG, he didn't really have like, "his" own story. I feel like giving him that (which includes a relationship) just adds a whole new dimension to him. It actually feels weird playing him in a TTRPG setting nowadays, because it's like, oh no, his arc is gone!! his BOYFRIEND is gone!!

12. Is your OC self-destructive? In what ways? XYZoul: being a hacker in a cyberpunk setting is just inviting self-destruction by trade, if you ask me. always going to get a little too cocky and end up hacking someone you shouldn't :/ Tetris: Not usually, but I think the anxiety of being The Chosen Hero takes a toll sometimes and requires some management. For example, this screenshot was taken immediately after the Elpis arc, because I thought it was an appropriate reaction to what I just experienced, ghfdkjghfdg Carmichael: he's WAY too modest and self-conscious and it holds him back from more bold behavior. like question #5 up there...he just doesn't know how to have a voice. he will get better about this.

14. How does your OC want to be seen by other characters? XYZoul: if they had their way, they would remain anonymous forever, and then one day simply stop posting and fade into an urban legend that never gets solved. unfortunately, that won't happen Tetris: If you think she is cool and dependable, that's all she could really ask for. She doesn't really mind being "the big one" in a friend group. sometimes literally, because tall. Carmichael: HE WANTS TO BE USEFUL THAT PART OF HIM WILL NEVER CHANGE 🥺

19. How does your OC behave when enraged? XYZoul: Hacking your Internet of Things Devices to cause general mayhem and get the last laugh Tetris: The Power of Incredible Violence. I think this is just because she has viera voice 5 (which sounds like this in combat), but my friend group started joking that tetris is just generally violent, which I feel like informed her backstory idea in the end?! I don't think she's like. a killing machine or anything. but IF things come down to a fight, she's game. you bet I picked all the angry options talking to you-know-who at the end of Endwalker Carmichael: I like to think he can still keep his composure, it's more in the words he chooses and the actions he does. you may be thinking "haha, carmichael saying fuck?" but HONESTLY.....I CAN'T SEE IT?? I feel like if he was giving an Angry Speech to a Bad Guy he'd use like colorful insults from the 1900s or general sarcastic politeness before he'd resort to the intense informality of "fuck." he definitely knows how to weaponize snark in there somewhere

20. Does your OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest? XYZoul: No, they don't really have anything to be jealous of!! they're the only XYZoul out there! I think they might get jealous if another cool hacker showed up online, but if anything I think they'd try and get in contact as a potential friend first. strength in numbers and all that Tetris: Not really, but I think if she dwells on it too hard, she's kinda bummed at the fact she had to get exiled from her community to integrate with anyone else out in the vast wide world out there, whereas everyone else seems to be able to live in the same place all their lives and still travel around if desired. what the fuck is up with that Carmichael: YES ACTUALLY LMAO. like you might not expect it from him, but through roleplaying with Bee, we decided that the next CEO of his old company, who had previously dumped him as he didn't need an android, then turned around and got a new sexy robo assistant anyway. and Carmichael finds this out. and actually gets mad about it for reasons he can't articulate. it's the kind of jealousy where he just vents to Azriel for an extended time to the point where Azriel is like "oh this is a Hangup for you, huh"

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express? XYZoul: I think like...genuine vulnerability. their anonymous persona allows them to perfectly craft their image online, so nothing about their actual life is shared anywhere. but I feel like all that restriction might just be them bottling it all up...which can't be good. Tetris: I think being a general outsider to the rest of the world has been a wild ride mentally. Like, there's all this history and political drama she would have never known about if she didn't leave. Feels weird, like damn, I could've been helping people out here this whole time?! She doesn't really like talking about her past before Eorzea, I think maybe because she feels ashamed of it. She is an actual exile after all. Carmichael: trauma. basically his entire character arc is realizing how traumatized he is LMFAO it's not fun.

25. What is your favorite thing about your OC? XYZoul: ok this is dweeby but I've had the whole clock/compass duality thing in mind for at least 10 years now. it just seems obvious to me, a clock is time, a compass is directional space, so like, spacetime, duh, and yet I rarely see those two symbols juxtaposed together in anything. they're both circles with funny hands! it seems so braindead to do!! so it's cool having a character kinda catch on that helps get that out there lmfao Tetris: bnuuy. idk, I was, like, so stoked viera were in XIV, it made me actually go through the campaign in full for once. I feel like it's a combination of FFTA nostalgia, and also that viera are gender for me, I guess. I also appreciate that I can put her in a suit. thanks Carmichael: he's cute :3 and also like the first OC I made where I was trying very hard to be self-indulgent. concept, character design, character development, the whole shebang. I try to do this more and more nowadays, but he was where I really started focusing on, uh, writing what I actually wanted to write

[alinaandalion]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

in no particular order

let's get physical - Leverage fandom

this is a deeply self-indulgent fic, which is one of the reasons that it's a favorite. it's also a fic i've been reading to write since i first watched the episode back in 2011? 2012? so it's been a long time coming. anyway, i love nate and sophie, i love writing them together, and i enjoyed adding a third person into the mix a ton.

2. but i leave in my heart - Once Upon a Time fandom

this fic was what i wanted the split queen storyline to be. i mean, i would have been fine if we got actual character exploration for regina without the swan queen but instead we got less and worse. (i will not forget that this storyline started with regina apologizing to snow for being a bad stepmom and i will not forgive.) also, like, to be honest, a big part of my inspiration was the s5 finale where regina told emma that she wanted to rip hook's throat out after he came back to life. things evolved from there. (also, this is the fic that led to spark and me talking in twitter DMs then becoming friends then falling in love so it's also responsible for my marriage.)

3. come up for air - Once Upon a Time fandom

this was a fic that i sat with for a long time because i wanted to bring back the fact that regina was literally tortured and almost died and one of the people responsible for that is just part of the group and in a relationship with emma. it was deeply emotionally satisfying to write and one that means a lot to me. especially that scene i wrote with regina and henry at the play castle.

4. the waves will break every chain on me - Once Upon a Time fandom

Milah, my beloved. i didn't fix her story, but i did make it about her and explored her character beyond "she's just a bitch."

5. instruct me in the dark - Leverage fandom

i had been meaning to write a maggie/sophie fic for years. i love their dynamic, the respect they have for each other, how much they genuinely like each other rather than seeing the other as a rival for the affection of a man they both love or loved. and i enjoyed placing it in the time right on the heels of the events of the season 1 finale, where maggie has not only met the team but worked successfully with them, and sophie has just blown up her life in a way that clearly leaves her a bit adrift, which follows her into her character arc in the next season.

[themattress]

OUAT Observation

I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again, I’ll say it forever:

Why did this show not wrap up at Season 5!?

Beyond factors like shows going beyond a fifth season are generally difficult to maintain, that ending at Season 5 would have put the final episode count at 111, and how Seasons 6 and 7 were widely considered to be the lowest points of the series quality-wise so they could have avoided that and gone out on a high note, just look at the Underworld Saga. Not only were the heroes going up against a god, in the realm of the dead that was just a stone’s throw away from Heaven and Hell, but the villains involved included Prince James who was the way he was due to major Season 1 baddie King George, Cora who was the Big Bad of Season 2, Peter Pan who was the Big Bad of Season 3A, Zelena who was the Big Bad of Season 3B, Cruella De Vil who was the most evil of the Queens of Darkness in Season 4B, and of course Rumple / Mr. Gold who’s been a major villain almost the whole way through and who now held the power of all Dark Ones, all the way back to Nimue herself. Add to that all of the redemption work and emotional closure provided to Regina and Hook as well as Zelena, and to Season 5A’s King Arthur of all people at the last minute, plus the perfect set-ups for Emma, Snow, Charming, Henry, Belle and Robin Hood’s conclusions right there...this was the most ideal time the show’s narrative could possibly wrap up at! It was like the whole show’s history coming together for one final bow before the curtain closed on it! Any showrunner or network executives with actual integrity would have recognized that and shaped the finale accordingly.

Sadly, Once Upon a Time didn’t have showrunners or network executives with actual integrity in charge of it. It had the immature and morally warped Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis as showrunners, and the chronically greedy and incompetent ABC executives overseeing them. They gave the show another season order, which meant that Robin Hood got killed, Rumple received no comeuppance, the other heroes were granted no sort of emotional closure or happy endings, and we were given a finale that had jack shit to do with the preceding story arc since its primary focus was setting up Season 6...and the most appealing aspect of that set-up, the Land of Untold Stories, didn’t even end up getting utilized much in Season 6!

The conclusion of the season could have been so much better; Hell, the season itself could have been so much better. But they blew it. The penultimate episode before the finale that wrapped the Underworld arc up was called “Last Rites”. That ended up being way too appropriate of a title, although the writers had no way of knowing that when they chose it.