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xehanortsreport · 2 years

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Another introduction! If you've been with me long enough, you probably remember my AU Braig, Iustitia. Well, now he's his own original character in the FFXIV universe, complete with reworks to the Revenant crew!

Again, there are spoilers for everything up to the current patch (6.2) here!

The Brief Life and Times of Iustitia Fabius

Withekind pyr Fabius, formerly Withekind [REDACTED]

Current Moniker: Iustitia

Highlander Hyur

Ala Mhigan

46 years old (at time of death)

Aetherologist and Bard

Ashkin (Subtype: Self-proclaimed "Revenant")

Cis Man

Gay

6'1"

He/him pronouns

Former Lieutenant Commander under Fordola rem Lupus (Subunit "Skulls")

Prominent researcher and test subject regarding the experimental "Resonant" project.

Last seen within Garlemald proper in company of male Viera researcher known as Ramses (surname unknown). Reported dead at onset of "The Final Days".

Recent Backstory

As a man in his 40s, Withekind's old enough to remember living an unhappy life under the Mad King's rule and the devastation of being subjugated by the Garleans immediately after ousting him.

As a result, he is a man with no hope left in his homeland; he happily sold his sword to Garlemald for even a crumb of power and security, and unlike Fordola holds no illusion of even dreaming of Ala Mhigo's liberation. A man who lives only for himself, his survival, and his own satisfaction, he was content to be the Empire's lapdog, jovial and gleefully reveling in his own betrayal.

Until…?

Being one of the foremost aetherologists in Gyr Abania, Withekind was tapped to be one of the very first test subjects of the Resonant project. Though he, unlike many others, survived, the power he was given was negligible at best. He was sent back to the field in the hopes that combat might further awaken his powers.

In the meantime, he continued his duty - long enough to see Ala Mhigo freed, and long enough to run, in his cowardice, to Garlemald in hopes of saving his own skin.

[Endwalker Spoilers]

Unfortunately for him, Garlemald soon descended into chaos even more stark than that of the King of Ruin, and word of a Resonant test subject residing on the outskirts soon reached Zenos's ear. Dragged into the horrifying palace by the Telophoroi, Withekind soon found himself in a starring role as the very soldier whose body the Warrior of Light would possess.

The violent experience pushed out Withekind's soul, and fractured it badly - yet, thanks to his miniscule Resonant powers, he did not fade. He somehow held himself together, wandering as a ghost, until he made contact with his assistant, Ramses. With Ramses's help, they created a container that could hold his broken aether in place, stabilizing it - essentially a jarlike core that had to be inserted into a body to survive.

Luckily, the Warrior of Light had vacated Withekind's corpse, and by installing the core into it, he was able to "live" once more as a peculiar flavor of Ashkin he would call a "Revenant".

Unfortunately, the effects of his aether shattering had drastic effects on who he was as a person. He was thrown into an imbalance, his emotions surging, and a raging anger was soon all that consumed his being. It burned hot like fire, and no matter what he did he could not quench it. It was then that he heard of the properties of "Dynamis" being applied in Thavnair, and realized that his own Dynamis had been severely altered.

Searching for a way to quench his ceaseless hatred and rage he renamed himself "Iustitia", after the old Garlean concept of Justice, and set out upon the world.

Eventually he did find a way to temporarily fill the gaps in his soul - by consuming the Dynamis of people with inordinately patient and kind dispositions to balance his soul.

Like a voidsent or sin eater, he now travels the realm feeding off of those rich in the flavor of Dynamis he seeks, leaving them violent, zombielike creatures in his wake.

Rumor has it that he and Ramses have found other shattered Resonant souls clinging to life, each afflicted with an overabundance of a certain "deadly sin", and treated them with the same experimental protocol in the bid for more test subjects to find a cure for his condition.

Now, they travel the realm, glorified bottom feeders subsisting off of Iustitia and Ramses's temporary remedies until they are whole once more.

The Revenants...

(Revenant tl;Dr)

revenants are attracted to the dynamis considered "missing" or "warped" by their condition. I based them off the seven deadly sins and heavenly virtues i.e Iu is missing kindness and patience and therefore is attracted to souls that are very kind and patient in order to absorb that missing part

their dynamis is so warped that they're basically overrun by a negative emotion. think despair and meteion except it could be any negative emotion (again I based them off of the seven deadly sins, so iustitia is corrupted by wrath)

like the terminus monsters, revenants' bodies are warped by their fault dynamis. I just like giving ppl monster forms so this can be as little as just having cute little horns or as much as looking like a sin eater. iustitia maintains glamour accessories for everyone so they can pass as normal ppl, but removal of these accessories reveals their true form

additionally, the Revenants are ppl whose souls were corrupted by the resonant project. these range from ppl who died on the table but were able to project their souls back into their body/a different corpse to ppl who survived but we're irrevocably broken by the experience and seemed failures

the people whose dynamis is syphoned/eaten by them basically become "zombies" or tempered in that they lose the emotion eaten and have it replaced with a surplus of the Revenants overabundant negativity. for example, people iustitia feeds on become mindlessly angry, causing damage to everyone and everything in the process.

#FFXIV #FF14 #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #oc #iustitia fabius #Highlander hyur #not a wol #FF14 oc #FFXIV OC #text heavy #long post

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dm-clockwork-dragon · 3 years

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I Told You I Would add Armor!

Ok, this one has probably been one of the longest projects I have ever worked on compared to the final scope. Back in, what 2019? I released a Supplement called “Clockwork Dragon’s Expanded Armory” to serve as a replacement and expansion for the core weapons tables, and address some of my biggest pet peeves about the general “sameness” of weapons. But an armory contains more than just weapons, and that initial release was always lacking suitable Armor to go along with the other tools of war I had carefully stated up. I had always planned to add armor to the supplement, but actually tackling the project turned out to be a lot more easily said than done. You see, 5e relies on this thing called “bounded AC” which means you can’t just start adding higher AC bonusses to the game without making players effectively unhittable. I also had this idea in my head for a system more like what I experienced back in 4e, where armor wasn’t sold as distinct sets, and instead, you could have various pieces of armor, such as helmets, chest plates, and grieves that collectively decided your AC, but each of which could have individual enchantments and bonusses. None of which could really be achieved using 5e’s existing AC system I worked for probably about a year and a half developing a complete defense rework for the game, which split Armor Score and Defense Score into separate statistics, with armor adding damage reduction, and Defense Score deciding how hard you were to actually hit. At one point, It included a re-design of how speed was determined. I divided up armor sets into 3-5 separate pieces, which could be mixed and matched, with individual weaknesses and resistances for each piece of a set. Then I spent a good 6 months playtesting it, both on my own, and with any group that found the idea intriguing. And believe it or not It worked. Unfortunately, there were so many nuances and details to the system I had devised, that it just.... didn’t feel like 5e anymore. It was playable, and even fun - once you got the hang of it - but just felt like too much weight on top of a relatively simple tabletop system. So in the end, I decided to scrap nearly two years of work and playtesting, and start over with the goal of keeping things simple, but still interesting. The result it what you see here. No heavy rewrite, no piece-meal armor system, just the simple addition of resistance and vulnerabilities that each set of armor conveys to it’s wearer. I also made sure to keep most of the interesting new types of armor i had developed, and explored the idea that some types of armor might even grant *advantage* to stealth checks instead of just disadvantage. In the end, I’m actually really happy with how it turned out - just not as happy with how long it took to get here.

I still think my more complicated defense system has merit, and I haven’t seen anything else that works quite like it, so I’m going to keep it in my back pocket for that new tabletop system I’ve always wanted to write. Maybe if I get a wild hair, or enough interest from the community, I will post my work on it sometime. but that is a project for another day.

As usual, the preview images above are low resolution, and does not contain everything. For the latest high-resolution PDF, as well as a whole host of other work I have done, check out this handy dropbox link, containing all of my published content. The armor you see above is part of My Expanded Armory supplement.

If you like what I do and want to support me or just generally help out, Check out my Patreon page, or throw some coin at me through Paypal.me. If you wanna just come say hi on my Discord, that’s great too!

#Dnd #Dnd 5e #D&D #D&D 5e #5th Edition #5e Dnd #5e D&D #Homebrew #DND homebrew #D&D homebrew #5e homebrew #homebrew dnd #homebrew D&D #homebrew 5e #dnd character #armor #ac #armory #equipment

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aspensgrove · 3 years

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Dynasties & Dystopias || Silco x GN!Reader || Pt. 1

Underground utopia, dynasties and dystopias Fear is never an option, so dying's not a real phobia

Synopsis:

You are stunning, the most sought after escort in all of Zaun. When you stumble into Silco's inner circle, you barely expect to survive, much less be stuck in a sexual stalemate with the kingpin of the Lanes.

A/N: This song and this man have such a chokehold on me that I had to start writing. This is slightly canon compliant, but I'm not going to be focused on going through all of the events of the series, as they don't often concern the MC.

Keeping the descriptions so gender neutral, I have left out a lot of details. If you want a better picture of what was in my head when I wrote something, just ask!

The MC is a sex worker, and they're also very proud of their profession. They will not be working to escape it in this fic.

There is eventual smut. How I'm going to handle that with a gender neutral reader is yet to be seen, but feel free to give me opinions on preference!

This is also my first long form fic, and is already one of the longest things I've written. Please be gentle! I will probably be reworking it in the future.

Masterlist

Trigger Warning: none for this chapter

In this gothic underground city, we all sin....

In every city you've ever been in, sex sells. Zaun is no different.

Sure, it's harder to understand what attracts clients outside of the brothel. You never like to linger in brothels after you get established in any given area - sex sells, but the real money comes from much higher up than a brothel's normal clientele, despite what the Babette said. Losing you completely would be losing a great asset, so you were allowed to more or less do what you pleased.

After all, almost all the high profile criminals wanted a taste of Piltover's most recent outcast.

Perhaps outcast wasn't the right word for your situation. Originally, you were from Noxus, being transplanted for your utter distaste for war. You were no stranger to violence, but war ruined everything it touched. You had wandered before finding your way to Piltover, establishing yourself. But it was time to move on from Piltover, and Zaun was the closest option.

Besides, you got paid no matter which city you lived in, but only down here were you treated like royalty by everyone you encountered.

Last night you had worked in the brothel, but tonight you had been requested for a far different affair. You were stunning by anyone's standards - add in the allure of your past, and being seen with you was counted as a status symbol. A shorter human, seemingly a mechanic or inventor of some kind, had paid you kindly to accompany him to The Last Drop. No one recognized him as anything but someone who sold junk. You were his plan to change that.

You decided to go with a more understated outfit; you really wanted the man to get his money's worth, but The Last Drop wasn't known for being the most civilized places at times. You were very attached to the clothing you had, the way it fit and the way it made you feel. You had also worked your ass off for it, putting up with sexual harassment, scams, dishonest brothel hostesses, the list went on. You wouldn't be sacrificing it to a barfight.

The man promptly showed up to your agreed meeting spot at 10 P. M. sharp. You wanted to come from a few blocks away, to give the impression that you had been together for more than the walk to the bar. You might be getting paid, but listening to this man talk about his passion for building things, you genuinely wanted to help him out. You remembered the thrill of tinkering with things.

"Ready?" You asked, giving him a sincere smile.

He nodded, pushing his glasses up his pronounced nose. "Thank you for your help tonight."

He offered me his arm and I took it, keeping my smile.

"Of course."

***

The trip to the bar was short, and you walked into the bar with your hand looped around his arm. The two of you garnered a few curious glances as you stepped through the door, and more as he led you to the bar.

"Would you like a drink?"

"Water would be lovely, thank you."

He nodded, asking Sevika for your water and a whiskey for himself. Sevika was easily the most terrifying woman you had laid eyes on, and while you could tell she held some disdain for you given your profession, she also respected your work ethic from afar.

You held polite small talk with the inventor (who you were ashamed to admit you didn't get the name of) while the bar became more crowded. He garnered several astonished looks, and a few of the higher up Zaunites even gave him a respectful nod, apparently something that had never happened before.

Thrilled that your night was going according to plan, he pulled you over towards a more secluded spot. You worried that although he was respectful up to this point, he was going to push outside of the agreed boundaries. You prepared yourself for a fight, just in case.

You were pleasantly surprised when he presented you with a necklace made of gears, with a hidden compartment.

"I really can't thank you enough, again, and I know that your work is dangerous."

He then pressed a button and a hidden blade popped out of the curious contraption. It was the most thoughtful someone had been in years.

"I, um, thank you so much." Although you weren't often one to be lost for words, it was rare for a client to put so much thought into a gift for you.

"Would you care to put it on for me?"

He smiled, nodding as you turned around and lifted your hair out of the way. He positioned the necklace, quickly doing the clasp.

Suddenly, though, there was a flash of blue and a thud to your right as someone jumped straight down from the second floor.

"Hiya! Why are you back here?"

A girl with two twin braids, pink eyes, and a maniacal look in them stared at you. The man in front of you looked terrified, and that's when it struck you.

This was Jinx.

The infamous daughter of Silco, crazier than he was, with a penchant for blowing things up.

You smiled at her, not sure if it was the right thing to do.

"My date for the night had a present for me, we wanted to -"

"A present! Can I see? Please let me see?" She drug out the please to an obnoxious number of syllables.

You presented the necklace, not taking it off your neck and she leaned in close to see.

"Ooooooh, it's pretty, too!"

"Jinx!"

A stern voice, followed by footsteps hurriedly coming down the stairs made her turn around, grinning at the most feared man in all of Zaun.

"Look! I made new friends! Or acquaintances, or whatever."

The power of Silco's gaze on you was overwhelming, but you had worked for men more powerful and more dangerous than him. You stood a little straighter, wanting to impress, and fixed him with your most dazzling smile and fuck-me eyes.

If you could solidify your place with Silco? You became the most untouchable escort in all of Zaun.

"Did you now?"

"Yep!" Jinx popped the 'p' and turned quickly. "Going to go make more bombs now. Bye!"

You glanced behind you, realizing the inventor had slunk off into the bar. While he wanted to paint himself as a respectable member of this criminal underground, you couldn't blame him for avoiding the cruel, twisted ruler of it.

"I don't think we've-"

You tried to introduce yourself, but Silco quickly cut you off.

"Oh, I've heard of you."

Silco stepped towards you. The man looked terrifying and handsome all at once, and it was only as he got closer that you could fully take him in. Dark hair, sharp features, one eye blue, cold and calculating; the other one felt like staring into the void, the yellow pupil offering little comfort.

"The beloved of both Piltover and Zaun. A respectable work ethic, rare from the people of the upper city, but you're not from there, are you?"

He circled you closely, his eyes raking your figure, but not in the way you were used to. While most gazes were heated with lust, his was borderline detached. It would've insulted you, except you were caught off guard by his next words.

"I want you to work exclusively for me."

There was no way you heard that right. You stared at him as he came to stand in front of you again, gesturing towards the stairs.

"Let's discuss this further in my office."

#silco x reader #silco #daddy silco #arcane silco #arcane #lol arcane #arcane x reader #league of legends arcane #league of legends x reader #arcane league of legends

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sunflowervolvimp3 · 4 years

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garden (koh!harry)

Warnings: language

Pairing: king of hell!Harry x angel!reader

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: alright so!! this is an au a friend of mine and I thought of a couple years ago!! basically it’s demon!harry and angel!reader but with the added spice of harry being the king of hell!! the premise for this au is that it’ll kind of be an ongoing series/universe, like the hades!harry au!! so that means I’ll be posting a series of one shots and concepts in a non-chronological order, meaning that each one shot takes place in a different time and in a different order!! I’m really excited to write a series like this, in addition to the long stand-alone fics I do, and I really really hope you guys like it!! the last time I did a shorter one shot, it didn’t really get any feedback, and I thought longer stand-alone fics were the way to go, but I do really miss this format!! so. please. if you like it!! reblog it!! let me know you like it!! and let me know what questions you have about this au!! any concept or blurb ideas or thoughts you have!! I’m very excited for it and I hope you guys are too <3 also I originally wrote this au on my marvel blog last year, and have reworked and revamped it, so if it looks familiar, or sounds familiar, I promise I haven’t plagiarized lmao that was me!!

{masterlist}

When Y/N wakes up, the room is dark.

This, Y/N has come to realize, is normal, considering that the chambers she sleeps in have no windows. While this fact would normally have troubled her, she’s made her peace with it. After all, what is there to see? The palace, located in the center of hell, is surrounded by the flames of the underworld and the souls of the damned, and while neither of those things are a welcoming sight in the morning, they’re especially unwelcome for an angel such as herself. It had taken her so long to adjust to the obsidian stone walls around her, the heavy black and red velvet drapes that lined the frame of her bed, and the smell of sulfur that lingered in the air, even after she had placed herbs and flowers to burn in the fireplace and create a sweet smoke in the air. Truth be told, Y/N still wasn’t completely adjusted to the atmosphere around her, but this, too, doesn’t surprise her. An angel could never truly adjust to being in hell.

A rustling in the bed next to her pulls Y/N from her thoughts, and she lets her gaze shift to the muscled body nestled in the sheets next to her. This, she thinks, is another thing she may never get used to, even though it sparks a burning desire deep within her. While the king of hell may have once frightened you, the sight of him lying next to her brings a feeling of comfort to her, and Y/N allows herself a moment to admire the rarely relaxed state Harry is currently in. His curls, which are normally carefully styled beneath his crown, are tousled from sleep, falling into his face in an endearing way. His face itself is relaxed, the hard creases from the scowl that’s usually permanently etched into his features all but disappeared. The demon is normally a fearsome thing to behold, his power at the forefront of every one of his movements, but seeing him like this…these are some of Y/N’s favourite times.

Thinking him still asleep, Y/N carefully pushes his mussed curls back from his face, her fingers tracing down the line of his jaw. She can feel the stubble that’s unperceivable in the dark, and a soft sigh falls from her lips as she enjoys the rough sensation against her delicate fingers.

“Why are you awake, angel?” Harry’s low voice rumbles deep from his chest, raspy from lack of use. Although his eyes remain closed, his face half pressed into his pillow, Y/N watches him adjust himself in the bed.

“I don’t know.” She whispers back, laying her head back on her own pillow, her gaze still on his body. “I’m sorry for waking you.”

“S’alright.” Harry gives a small sigh, opening his eyes just barely. “I was just resting. I’m fine.”

Yes, Y/N thinks, that’s another thing she isn’t quite used to. While her body functions like that of a human, needing sleep every night, breathing oxygen into her lungs, a heart pumping blood through her veins…. Harry doesn’t. It’s rare he sleeps, and even when he does, it’s never for more than a few hours. He had explained to Y/N once how his heart beat so slowly when he was created, and how it stopped completely when he reached full maturity. Although Y/N can see the faint blueish outlines of veins beneath his tattooed skin, she’s not exactly sure what runs through them. Blood seems too common for a being like him. And if he was ever to get hurt, Y/N’s quite certain that he wouldn’t bleed like she would.

The sensation of Harry beginning to play with her hair pulls Y/N from her thoughts. “Why are you awake, hm?” He keeps his voice low, his tone gentle. He’s gotten better at speaking softly for her. “What’s troubling that pretty mind of yours, angel?”

Y/N half shrugs as best she can while laying down. “Nothing. Just…thinking, I suppose.”

Harry quirks up an eyebrow. “Thinking? About what?”

The words hesitate at the edge of Y/N’s mouth before spilling out. “How…I don’t really belong here.”

A deep hum echoes from Harry’s chest as his deep green eyes close again. “’F course you belong here, love. Don’t be silly.”

“I don’t belong here.” Y/N repeats the phrase insistently, her eyes glued to the way his jaw tenses as she says it. “I…I’m not from here.”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t belong.” Harry counters, eyes opening once again. They’re darker now, and Y/N can see the stubbornness swirling within them. “I’m the king. I want you here. That means you belong.”

Y/N chews on her bottom lip, contemplating the best way to explain herself. “I just…I miss it.” She says finally, her voice small as it slips into the space between them.

Harry’s pink lips pull down into a frown. “Miss what?”

Fingers twisting together, Y/N pauses before answering Harry’s inquiry. “Above.”

“Oh, angel…” Harry sighs again as he shifts his position, pulling her into his marked chest. His strong hands find her back in the darkness, stroking up and down over her cotton nightgown in a soothing manner. “What’s there to miss? Angry people rushing around all the time, destroying their own planet? Destroying themselves along with it? No, you’re much better off down here, with me.”

“There’s plenty to miss.” Y/N counters, pressing her ear into his chest to be greeted with the familiar sound of silence. “The smell of rain, sunshine, flowers growing, birdsongs…” She sighs as she trails off. “And I like people, you know that. They may destroy things, but down here…you destroy things too.”

“Only things that need to be.” Harry argues, his fingers continuing his tracings across her back, barely brushing over the two ridges between her shoulder blades where her wings usually sit. “Souls that deserve punishment, or souls that sold themselves to me. It’s part of the deal, angel.”

“I miss my garden.” Y/N’s voice is barely audible as she grazes her finger over his pentagram necklace. “My rose bushes, my sunflowers…I used to grow berries, too. Strawberries, blueberries…I would make delicious pies and scones…”

“If you truly desire those things,” Harry murmurs slowly, carefully measuring his words. “Then I can get them for you. I can send a demon to the surface for the fruits, and all the ingredients you would need to bake. I’m sure anything you create would taste…” The growing smirk is practically audible in his voice. “Sweet.”

Despite the light warmth that flushes her cheeks, Y/N shakes her head against his chest. “It’s not the same.” She sighs. “I miss the breeze. I miss the ocean. I used to run to the edge of the surf to dip my toes in the water…and I loved going to the beach at night. On clear nights, the moon would reflect on the water like a mirror, two glowing spheres, watching over me…”

“Are you not happy here?” Harry’s voice turns gruffer as he registers the longing in her voice. “You know why going to the surface is dangerous. The angels—”

“Would try to take me back. I know. And I don’t want to go back.” Y/N rubs her hand over Harry’s tensed muscles, trying to soothe him back into a relaxed position. “I just miss it. Isn’t there anything you miss? Anything that causes an ache in you, deep in your chest?” She presses her palm over his stilled heart to emphasize her words.

Harry softens at her touch, relaxing back into the sheets once more. “The only absence that could ever make me ache is yours.” He kisses the top of her head, an action so tender that Y/N almost forgets he’s a demon. “Sleep, angel. Dwelling on these matters will only cause you pain.”

Y/N kisses his collarbones chastely, the curves fitting easily underneath her lips, before settling herself back down and closing her eyes. Although breathing isn’t necessary for Harry, the familiar action soothes her as she listens to his breaths, the sound acting as her own personal ocean as she drifts to sleep.

…

The bed is cold when Y/N wakes up again the next morning, a sign that Harry has been long gone. Given his strange sleep schedule, this isn’t unusual. What is unusual, however, is the carefully folded note sitting on his carefully fluffed pillow. Y/N’s name is on the top of the note, scribbled in Harry’s messy penmanship. Y/N rubs the sleep from her eyes as she picks up the rough paper, a shiver rolling through her as she brings it to her nose. Although there’s the now familiar burn of sulphur initially, underneath sits Harry’s musky cologne, and the faint scent of it is enough to drive her mad.

Before she allows herself to get worked up any more, Y/N carefully unfolds the note, finding more of Harry’s writing on the inside.

Breakfast will be outside today, on the palace grounds.

Y/N frowns in confusion as she reads over the words repeatedly, trying to make sense of them. Harry knows that she hates going outside the palace walls, much preferring to spend her time inside the safety of the obsidian stone structure. Between the anguished sounds of the damned, the burning smell of sulfur, the agonizing heat…Y/N typically avoids the depressing area. However, Y/N has always had a natural curiosity to her, ever since she was created, and she knows that Harry is aware of that, which is why she finds herself making her way to the palace grounds as soon as she’s dressed. Although the idea of going outside leaves a pit in her stomach, she can’t help but wonder what would bring Harry to want to have breakfast outside. And, moreover, Y/N trusts Harry. Despite every one of her natural instincts telling her that a demon is dangerous, and the king of demons is even more so, Harry’s proven to her that he wouldn’t put her in harm’s way.

When Y/N reaches the palace doors, Harry is already waiting there, his arms clasped behind his back. He’s dressed in his usual attire of a suit, but this one is one of Y/N’s favourites. The black fabric is trimmed with red, and a pattern of intricate red and gold stitches decorates the body of the jacket. The pants are tailored to match, fitting his legs perfectly enough that they just brush the top of his black heeled boots. As Y/N’s eyes trail back up, she registers his usual rings on his hands—the silver skull, the ruby, the silver band, the onyx stone—as well as notes that his fingernails have freshly been painted black. His pentagram necklace, she knows, is carefully tucked under his shirt, hidden away between the black fabric and his tattooed chest. There’s a slight smile on his lips as he watches her walk towards him, and a satisfied expression glimmers in his dark green eyes. As he turns his head to the side to regard her, the gold and ruby crown that sits atop his perfectly styled curls catches the low light of the lit sconces around them.

As soon as Y/N is within his reach, Harry extends a ringed hand. “Good morning, angel.” He pulls her close to him, pressing her into his chest. “You look beautiful.”

Although enduring his compliments have become the usual, Y/N still hasn’t quite gotten used to them, and a light blush grows over her cheeks. Despite the embarrassment, Y/N’s glad that his words haven’t triggered the angelic blue light that sometimes radiates from her eyes when she feels something intensely (it had happened once a few weeks ago, and the smug look on Harry’s face had made Y/N swear to herself that she wouldn’t let it happen again). “Thank you, my king.” She holds up the note curiously, gauging the expression on his face. “What’s this?”

“I have a surprise for you.” Harry lowers his voice as he leans down to brush his lips over Y/N’s ear, speaking so only she can hear his throaty words. “And I really think you’ll love it.”

His tone of voice coupled with his breath on her ear makes Y/N shiver involuntarily. “O-okay.”

Judging by the smirk on Harry’s face, Y/N can tell that her reaction hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Come, angel.” Harry tugs lightly on Y/N’s hand as his smirk transforms itself into a more tender grin. “I have something to show you.”

Y/N’s curiosity is what allows her to allow Harry to push the front doors of the palace open and lead her outside. As expected, the moment Y/N steps into the muggy air of hell, her discomfort starts. Each breath seems to catch in her throat, and the very air around them feels as if it’s clinging to her skin, burrowing deep into her pores to start a slow burn. A small sound of discomfort escapes Y/N’s throat against her will, catching Harry’s attention immediately.

“You’re alright, angel.” He assures her instantly, squeezing her warm hand with his own icy fingers. “Come.”

Y/N continues to allow herself to be led by Harry, all of her steps falling slightly behind his own. After a few more minutes pass, she’s about to speak again to ask what exactly is so important for her to see, until she senses a change in the air. The more they walk, the more the burning smell of sulphur disappears from her senses. With relief finally on the horizon, Y/N’s pace finally speed up until she falls into step with Harry, her curiosity growing stronger as her discomfort slips away.

Harry squeezes her hand again, and the simple gesture is almost an encouragement as Y/N’s steps increase again. She begins to pull him behind her, leading the way on instinct alone. There’s an excitement in her curiosity and confusion, and Harry can feel it emanating from her as she gets closer and closer to his surprise. It brings a smile to his face, seeing her like this. Seeing her alive. Seeing her bring life to a place meant for the damned.

When Y/N finally sees the source of the sweet smelling air, she stops in her tracks, her hand moving to clutch Harry’s arm in shock as her mouth falls open. She gasps sharply, so in awe of what’s in front of her that the lack of pain from breathing hell’s hair doesn’t even register in her mind. Her mind has no space for it. All that she can think about is Harry behind her and the garden before her.

This is her surprise. A garden. A real, living, almost seemingly breathing, garden. At least, Y/N thinks it’s a garden. The dry earth beneath her spreads into scorched grass that fades into a delightful green hue, so vibrant that Y/N almost thinks that each blade has been painted with the colour. At the edge of the grass is a large hedge, at least three times as tall as Y/N and double as long. The darker green leaves that make up the wall of nature are dotted with wildflowers, adding pops of white and yellow every few inches. In the very center of the hedge is a large wooden door, built out of dark, sturdy wood studded with shining iron bolts. Although there’s a large wrought-iron knocker in the center of the wood, there’s no handle, and fear of not being able to see inside the magnificent structure seizes Y/N’s body as she turns to look at Harry with questioning and concerned eyes.

Harry seems to read the question in Y/N’s eyes, and the demon steps forward in response. “Here.” He says, taking Y/N’s hand from his arm and pressing it to the door, his own hand cupped over hers protectively. There’s a cadence to his voice that Y/N’s never heard before, and it takes her a moment to register it as excitement as he continues speaking. “It only opens to your touch.”

Y/N feels a shudder underneath her hand, almost as if the wood has registered that the palm pressed against it is her own. The force keeping it closed suddenly fades away, and Y/N easily pushes the large door open to reveal the garden inside.

The crisp and clear scent of fresh air hits Y/N first, almost bowling her over completely. For the first time in a long time, she’s able to inhale deeply and freely, not worrying about what the air around her may do to her body. The high hedge wall, along with the trees that create a canopy over the whole garden, seem to act like a barrier, blocking out the smells and sounds of hell. Y/N can smell various flowers and plants all around her, as well as the wonderfully earthy scent of dirt, and as she gazed around the natural enclosure, all she can hear is—

“Birds!” Y/N gasps in amazement as a small mockingbird lands on a tree branch, chirping happily. Without tearing her gaze away from the small creature, she poses half a question to Harry. “How—?”

Harry, still standing at the edge of the garden after closing the door behind them, knows her question before she even finishes. “I created it for you last night.” He says simply, his green irises glued to her every movement. “After our discussion.”

Y/N turns in a slow circle as she does her best to take in every detail around her. Birds, she realizes, aren’t the only creatures inside the haven; butterflies fly through the air, moving leisurely from flower to flower, and the chittering of squirrels scrambling up and down the trees mixed with the sounds of all the birds hidden in the leaves. A rustling in the bushes catches Y/N’s attention, and she manages to catch a glimpse of the cotton tail of a bunny before it hides under the foliage. A small frown tugs on the corner of her lips as she wonders why the bunnies are hiding away—heavenly beings are usually beloved by any living creatures—but like before, Harry guesses her question before she can ask it.

“They, uh, they don’t like me.” He clears his throat halfway through his sentence, his eyes gauging her reaction to his words. “Living creatures aren’t very fond of demons. Unlike your kind, we don’t smell like sunshine and cotton candy.”

Despite her delight in his gift, Y/N can’t help but roll her eyes a bit at his gentle ribbing. “I don’t smell like sunshine and cotton candy.” She says, reaching out a delicate finger to a butterfly floating near her. The tiny creature lands on her finger easily, without hesitation, and Y/N notices how Harry doesn’t receive the same treatment from the other butterflies in the air. In fact, now that she’s paying attention, she quickly realizes that every living being in the garden around them is steering clear of the king. She can’t quite blame them, she thinks, her eyes flickering over Harry’s closed off posture, dark appearance, and powerful aura. Everything about him radiates the energy of someone who is dangerous. And yet, Y/N’s never felt safer in hell than she does in this moment.

At the thought of safety, a new fear crosses her mind “Are they safe here?” Y/N asks in a hushed voice. “The animals? I don’t want them to get hurt, or…”

“This garden is its own ecosystem.” Harry finally makes his way away from the garden edge, taking Y/N’s hand in a reassuring manner. The butterfly on her finger flutters away as he gets closer, but Y/N’s attention is once again focused on the feeling of Harry’s cool fingers on her flushed skin. “As long as they stay in here, they’re safe. I swear it.” Harry says, sincerity clear in his voice.

Y/N’s heart pounds beneath her chest, every once of her senses alight as they bask in the fresh air around her. “Oh, Harry…” Her eyes widen again as she begins to catalogue all the varieties of plants growing around her. Not only were there flowers galore—fragrant roses of all colours, sunflowers taller than her, fragrant lilies, vibrant tulips, bright daffodils—all of her favourites, she notes—but past a grove of trees is— “Are those berries?”

The dimples that Y/N so rarely sees in Harry’s cheeks appear as he smiles at her excitement. “Yes.” He leads her over, his own excitement growing with every step. Y/N notices how he walks with care, making sure not to step on any flora with his heeled boots. It’s strange, seeing the king of hell being so cautious, but she appreciates it nonetheless.

Harry points to the various bushes around them with a painted finger, naming them as he goes. “Strawberries, blueberries…everything you’ve missed. There’s room for you to plant more, as well. If you’d like.” He glances at her for a moment, an unreadable look in his deep green eyes before he turns back to the plants. “And I set up a few stone benches throughout the garden, so you can come sit here when you need a break. There’s one under the willow tree, one by the rose bushes, and one by the—”

“The water.” Y/N whispers, voice barely audible. If Harry was human, he wouldn’t be able to hear the quiet gasp leave her lips. “Harry…”

When Y/N’s hand slowly slips out of Harry’s to walk to the water feature at the edge of the garden, she feels as though she’s in a trance. Perhaps it’s the water itself, she thinks, calling out to her to soak her hell-scorched skin within its cooling depths. Somehow, Harry had managed to make a small waterfall flow down from the top of the hedge into a crystal clear pool, which babbled delightfully with the motion. Although the pool isn’t large, it’s certainly big enough to swim in, and just the very thought of slipping into the water brings a feeling of relief to Y/N. Peering over the edge, she can see a few fish swimming around in the crystal clear water, and a new feeling of gratefulness mixes with the previous.

So entranced in the small pond, Y/N doesn’t even realize that Harry has followed behind her, keeping his distance by a few feet so she can admire the water. “Do you like it?” He asks, the excitement in his voice seeping out in exchange for a nervous and unsure tone. “It’s not…done yet. I just did it quickly, so it—I can still add more, or take out things you don’t like, or—”

“Harry.” Y/N turns to face him with tears in her eyes, a small shake of her head being the only action she’s capable of. “This is…wonderful. I don’t know how to thank you…”

Harry’s own eyes grow softer as he notices the tears welled in Y/N’s lash line, reflecting the light that seems to emanate from her eyes. “You don’t need to thank me.” He keeps his voice low, as if he’s worried speaking loudly will break whatever it is that’s growing between them. “I…I want you to be happy here. I want you to feel like…this is your home.”

“I do.” Y/N promises sincerely, taking both of his hands in hers as she speaks. She kisses his knuckles, her warm lips a contrast against the cold metal and stones of his rings. “Thank you. I truly mean it. Thank you.”

A new look passes through Harry’s eyes, more unreadable than anything Y/N’s ever seen before. His pink lips are just as much a mystery, no expression available on them as he pulls a hand from her grasp in order to cup her cheek. Despite the callouses on his fingers, and the cool temperature of his skin, Y/N leans into his touch, pressing her cheek into his palm.

“You’re welcome.” Harry’s thumb brushes over Y/N’s cheek bone, and the motion is so delicate and tender that Y/N isn’t quite sure what to make of it. “You’re…you’re so very welcome.”

Although he’s giving a polite response to her thanks, Y/N can’t help but feel like something deeper sits underneath the simple phrase as Harry repeats it. She’s welcome. So very welcome. But welcome where? In this garden? Into his life? Into him? The very thought of a double meaning causes her heart to pound, and by the flicker in Harry’s eyes, she knows he can hear it.

The questions bubble to her lips, but catch themselves on the tip of her tongue as her eyes detect a movement in the corner of gaze. The breeze around them (Y/N isn’t sure where the breeze is coming from, but she’s grateful for it nonetheless) move something she hadn’t noticed before. All questions about Harry’s intention fade away as her eyes focus on the sturdy branch of an oak tree, and the carefully woven ropes and wooden seat that hang from it. She drops his hands, stepping out of his grasp and towards the object of her attention. “Is that—is that a swing?”

A light chuckle rolls from Harry’s lips at the awe in her voice. “Yes.” He says, his amusement clear in the word. “Would you like me to push you?”

The offer is so casual, and yet, it brings a sudden shyness to Y/N’s reply. “Only if the king would like to.”

Harry bows his head, his crown sparkling atop his brown curls as he extends a hand. “It would be my honour, angel.”

Y/N matches his smile as she takes his hand once again.

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radramblog · 3 years

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Album Discussion- Shinjuku Mad

Usually on a Tuesday I like to take my time with a blog post. Listen to a full album, do a little research, put some real effort into it.

Unfortunately, time is not my ally today. So I kinda have to do one that’s a bit easier- in this case, I think I’d rather go after one of the ones that’s already on my phone, in case I have to do this on the bus or something.

(wait, I drove in today…)

Today we’re going to go into a self-titled album that is somehow not the artist’s debut. Rather, Shinjuku Mad is the second of two albums released under the name- the reason I specify as such is that one of the two (and later, the vocalist would help out again) members would go on to relative fame under a different name- Vaportrap pioneer Blank Banshee.

Peering into this album is like looking at a beta version of what was to come. It’s very much a different genre, an IDM album that completely predates Vaporwave’s explosion of popularity and Blank Banshee’s seminal album, Blank Banshee 0. It’s a solid enough album in addition to this, but it’s kind of hard to talk about seeing as there’s basically nobody who knows about Shinjuku Mad that didn’t learn about it through Blank Banshee. As such, expect a lot of BB coming up in this post.

Also a block of words, because no music videos exist for this at all. It’s one of those obscure albums.

This album opens on Cure for Fear. It’s one of those introductory tracks you often get in albums, at about a minute and a half long, with very reverb-y percussion and vocals and an almost ethereal haze of noise. It’s got these chimes that occasionally come up, reminiscent of some of the tracks from the AKIRA soundtrack, but beyond that there’s not a huge amount going on here. It does introduce a problem, however, one which we’ll get to later. It’ll be pretty evident if you’re listening along, though.

Track 2: Kowloon. I really did forget how short a lot of these songs were, with this being 2:13- the whole 10-track album clocks in at under half an hour. There’s a mix of drum machine and hollow wood percussion on this track that gives it a really interesting sort of feel, and some of the effects on the vocals feel extremely vaporwave- it’s no surprise that the dude behind this went on into that genre. Here’s where I can’t help but hammer on that issue I mentioned earlier, though.

The vocals on this album are quite weak. I know they’re very much trying to be ethereal, the reverb and falsetto make that much clear, and that style very much suits the instrumentation. But it just doesn’t sound great. It kinda comes and goes, but by and large I’d label them as subpar. I don’t really think it’s the fault of the performance either, it’s not like the bloke is missing his lines or mumbling more than is necessary for the album’s aesthetic, but there’s just something about them. They might be too loud in the mix for this kind of genre? I’m not 100% sure.

Resistor, the third track, is the best known song from this album by an order of magnitude. I mean that quite literally, as the track as over 540,000 monthly listens on Spotify as compared to Kowloon’s 32000. It’s kind of shocking, I mean for such an obscure album with zero singles, why is this of all tracks the one people suddenly latched onto?

As it turns out, it’s because again of the artist’s future work as Blank Banshee. Resistor would be reworked into one of the more popular tracks from BB0, Dreamcast, and it would appear that people got curious as to what the source was.

The thing is, aside from sharing a vocal performance, the tracks are very different. As it is, Resistor is a much faster track than the previous, driven by this fast percussion and bassline, making for a genuinely solid exercise track of all things (I say from experience). It’s got a fun little synth solo in the middle, the vocals are pretty solid (aside from like right at the end of the last chorus, holy shit), and the song’s coda and outro are a fun little bit of controlled chaos. I’d put Resistor as one of the better tracks on the album, is what I’m saying.

I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while when discussing music on this blog- I’m going to jump through a few things. As much as I like this album, the songs aren’t nearly interesting enough to justify a song-by-song breakdown. I think if you listen to Resistor and like it, it’s probably worth chucking on the rest of the album- it is, again, less than half an hour long. But its an album where it’s more valuable on a meta level than it is sonically.

Shinjuku Mad as an album feels a lot like a hybrid between older IDM trends and the synth/vaporwave elements that would become popularised in the 2010s. There’s also tracks like Inductor, which border on rock songs with the power behind that bassline and percussion- in general much of the instrumentation is cleaner than you’d expect from an artist like this, especially considering how muddied much of the vocals get. There is a real focus on the vocals, which as I’ve discussed is a weakness of the album, but I do think it’s possible to look past that issue. There’s some really fun synth lines, some excellent percussion, and real aesthetic. Songs like Human Wave Attack feel stark and lonely, notes echoing into the void, which ironically is not at all like Track 4, Void- with synths and vocals disguising a guitar and drum line that feels extremely garage band. As in, the concept, not the program. Singularity is a song that feels again predictive of Blank Banshee’s future work, a low, slow synth track reminiscent of BB songs like Hyper Object or Metamaterial.

There are some genuine gems on here in addition to Resistor, though. City of No Tomorrow, the eighth song, has got to be one of my favourites- somehow, despite featuring none of the instrumentation typical of the genre, it’s extremely cyberpunk, a sense of struggle and futility resonant through the track. It’s the one song on the album I listen to regularly, getting myself lost in the groove of the bass and tapping my foot along to the percussion. It’s just really good, man.

If this isn’t your first time encountering Shinjuku Mad, reading this might cause you to go back and have another listen, upon which you may notice a few somethings missing. I don’t expect that to be the case for literally anyone reading this…but I needed a segue. This is because, upon the reintegration of Shinjuku Mad and its predecessor Organic Thoughts from the Synthetic Mind into Hologram Bay’s catalogue for the 2019 reissue, two songs were cut, likely for fears of legal issues regarding sampling. The version of this album that I remember has those tracks!

Those songs are Negatives (formerly track 6) and Neon Exodus (formerly track 12). Negatives is another one that’d show up as a Blank Banshee track (in this case, Gunshots), and is actually really solid? Like it integrates a raid siren into the instrumentation without having it sound weird, out of place, or, well, alarming. Neon Exodus is…wow I just don’t know this track at all. It’s fuckin aesthetic though. Welcome to this spontaneous live-reaction, I guess. I recognize the sample this is built around (and thereby why it isn’t on the album anymore) but I cannot name it for the life of me. It’s, uh, interesting. I dunno, 6.5/10?

Anyway, part of the reason I bring this up is that before I want to close this out I have some complaining to do. Said 2019 reissue was something I tracked at the time, and noticed both SM albums were releasing on Vinyl, Cassette (because, you know, nerds), and digitally. But not CD. I threw an email at the website about it, and they did eventually respond (it genuinely took like two months though), but not in the positive. The reissue had no plans to include a CD, unlike all three previous Blank Banshee albums.

But the original 2010 version of the album, along with a few slight differences in songs and in album order, does have a CD release, albeit an extremely limited one, according to Discogs. These CDs have to exist, they’re now listed on the new Shinjuku Mad website. Apparently one sold 6 months ago through Discogs. I need to find a copy, though considering on that site 7 people list it as owned and 72 (including myself) list it as wanted, it’s probably not going to happen.

And that, ultimately, is Shinjuku Mad. It’s a very odd piece of history as far as vaporwave goes, considering it’s both a prototype and also something completely, utterly different. The album is pretty decent on its own, but not mindblowing, and something you could probably live without. There are like two tracks (three if you include Negatives) that are 100% worth it, but the rest are skippable. Which is a shame, but mediocre music has to exist somewhere, right?

That I apparently haven’t discussed Blank Banshee on this blog before (aside from when I was talking about Vaperror) is actually kind of shocking. I suppose, then, that there might be some lacking context. I probably will have to do that at some point, though I probably won’t do BB0 because I like picking the hipster options- so either BB1 or MEGA. Metamorphosis didn’t really pique my interest, and I somehow missed GAIA existing in the first place and still haven’t listened to it. So if you’re interested in seeing me ramble over some of that, I’ll see you then. I mean, it’ll still happen if you aren’t interested, but nobody’s going to make you read it.

Or am I…?

#ramble #music #electronica #vaporwave #vapourwave #shinjuku mad

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camelely · 4 years

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13rw S4 Fix

So i did one of these for last season and I think now that I’ve had some time to think about S4 I’ll do the same. While last season I thought the issue was one character being overused. But here it seems like there were multiple smaller things that could have improved the whole season Again I’m keeping the same basic plotline and characters :)

1) Winston

Have Winston stay at Hillcrest. Him moving to Liberty did nothing for the main plot and he was basically a red herring through most of it. Let him try are befriend the characters from the outside. He can learn about Jess from Bryce’s trial and the news coverage and then try to befriend her at Monet’s. This is where he meets and later starts to date Alex. Since he doesn’t go to liberty school Alex sees him as a sort of escape and lets him in. Clay and Ani dont tell everyone about him because they dont know he is trying to get close to them. It makes them seem less like assholes and more like people. They don’t mention his connection to Monty because they dont realize how close he is getting to answers. Clay can still suspect he did the graffiti, after all it was a break in and a non student could have done that. Plus Estella is another red herring in the school. She serves that purpose so let Winston be the outsider looking in. His arc would still be about knowing a different Monty and not knowing who is was at Liberty but now he is literally the outsider who didn’t really get Monty, rather than it just being a figurative thing at the prom. You can still have the prom scene it would just be entirely imagined rather than the half imagined thing they went with. I think they overused the people talking to ghosts thing so here it would be a fantasy of Monty and the relationship they had rather then a representation of what could have been. However I don’t think this would have retracted from the point. Also play him up, he is a sympathetic antagonist and it sucks how much he is sidelined for Diego. I didn’t hate Diego but Winston and him basically went through the same arc. They were pro Monty and ending up dating a member of the group, couldnt believe that member was involved and then learned something about Bryce and Monty agreed to move on and just did. All while saying they will alway care for that member of the group. It was an unnecessary rehash. Having WInston be the outsider looking in and Diego the insider looking out also lets their characters compliment each other. They should still work together, just have Winston contact him looking for Monty’s friends. It’s simple.

2) Tyler and Tony

Oh Tyler. The character who seems to be in the middle of everything despite never doing anything himself. I didn’t mind his arc of helping the cops find the guys who sold the illegal guns. But Tony’s suspicions, eventually leading to Clay and Tony finding out the truth and just moving on never really go anywhere. I think it would be cool if Tyler tells Tony, despite the cops telling him not to tell anyone, because he trusts Tony. But Tony, who has had bad run ins with the cops, thinks it is a bad idea. He doesn’t want Tyler taking the deal. Tyler says its the only way the guns wont be traced back to them but Tony thinks teh cops are planning to double cross them to mind out more about Bryce and Monty. At the same time he starts getting close to that cop that takes him boxing and helps him get into college (i dont remember his name for the life of me lol). Tyler sees this as being hypocritical and pulls away. Tony still suspects Tyler is behind the lock down because he is pulling away and Tony is getting paranoid. The rest of their story can still be the same but this way they can show Tony’s paranoia and his loyalty.

As for Tyler and Estella, It was fine. The scene of them in the bathroom was really powerful, being in the bathroom with a de la cruz and becoming comfortable because isnt her brother was really nice. This could even be another reason Tony and Tyler fight. Tony can be paranoid that Tyler is trusting her too quickly and think she will turn on him.

3) Jess

Her arc with the principal, being scared and agreeing with the security measures before she sees them in action was really interesting. Focus more on it and less on her manipulating Diego. I did like parts of that arc for her so I don’t want it completely gone but I do think focusing on her working with the principal would have been cool. I would call more attention to her first meeting and her agreeing with the measures and slowly show her change her mind and start to turn against them. Maybe even have an early scene of her and ANi talking about it and have Jess admit she feels safer. Move the creepy cop trying to pat her down to the second or third day. So she can have a moment where they make her feel safe before the negative experience. I loved the protest and a bit better build up would have made it amazing

Her arc with Ani. They fought over Bryce... It should have been a conversation. Not a moment where Ani judges Diego and then they argue. I still think this arc should have been Chloe and Jess and should have been in last season. But they had the opportunity to include Chloe this season and just didnt. I’ll talk about this a bit more in the Zach section but I think Chloe should have been at Prom and the moment between the Ani Jess and Chloe should have been then. It would be right after Jess and Ani made up and would have been cool.

I don’t think she should have had scenes where she saw and talked to Bryce. Yes it created some powerful moments but they could be reworked. Have WInston use his wealth to commission a positive thing in the paper about Bryce and Monty and have her talk to his idealized photo of Bryce. I will mention it in the Clay section but her hallucinations detracted from his journey with mental health.

4) Clay

Okay two thing here the first is his arc with mental health, hallucinations, and blackouts. They used it for drama and I wish they hadnt. It should have been about him healing. I didnt mind the way they handled the realization for clay that it was him doing everything (Did they explain the symbol he kept drawing because I missed it if they did? or i just forgot because it was that forgettable lol) but I think the whole thing could have been handled a lot better and a more educated fan then I can provide a better explanation for what exactly was off about it. I will say the the therapy sessions were repetitive and I know thats realistic but for a tv show its boring. The scene were Clay goes to his home was weird and low key scary. I understand the purpose but I wish he had called him and asked to meet at his office instead. A more likable and relatable journey for Clay with his mental health would be really good for a show that was accused of glorying suicide (personally i dont think it did. My inbox is open if you wanna talk though :))

The second thing is the phantom phone caller. I hate this trope so it might just be me but this is so stale. There are exactly two ways it could go. The person could know everything and be a real problem or the person could be fishing for information and not be a real problem. The whole thing was predicable since Winston had red herring written all over him, Estella was barely developed, and on this show it is always the football guys. Instead let the pranks be smaller and less crazy. Like these boys had to coordinate a lot to mess with Clay. There should be more than one prank and end with a Monty doll and Clay holding a knife to set up the camp episode. But they should be pranks, not the phantom caller psychological torture bs. The blood shower can also happen just on a different day. Clay can be confused about what is real and what isnt making him even more worried about his blackouts and again assuming the mental health arc is handled well, the pranks can be a real part of it. Dumping him in the pit on the camping trip also seemed kinda attempted murdery so maybe do something like tie him to a tree of the path or in a small dirt ditch not a rocky pit where if he hit his head or fell weird the team would all be murderers.

5) Alex

His arc with Charlie was one of my favorite stories this season. I was also not bothered by him getting close to and exploring his sexuality with Winston and Zach. I’m in the minority but I’m glad Zalex wasn’t made canon and Zach was used to be an effective (kinda) ally and good friend. Plus this way Zalex can live on in the fandom untouched or ruined by the writers interpretation.

They should have given us Alex in therapy. He tried to kill himself had a traumatic injury, an arc with steroid abuse, and an arc about killing someone. All of which were forgotten this season. All the other characters seemed to be dealing with Bryce and Monty, why not focus on Alex? Even if it isnt in therapy just let him exist in his feelings.

6) Zach

I have one major issue with Zach’s arc, the lack of Chloe. She was the reason he almost killed a man. Let them date, let him start to spiral while dating her. She doesnt know what he did. Have them grow apart on screen but her still connecting to him and not wanting to give up on him. They should go to prom together. I know the hooker was supposed to represent Zach turning into Bryce with the hookers and the drunken sex/potential rape and cocaine. But Chloe fills the same comparison. He brings cocaine she is not okay with it, He tries to convince her to have sex in the back she is not having it. Maybe he tries to convince maybe it becomes a bit worse than that but she breaks up with him at prom and leaves early. She sees Bryce in him, she doesnt have to say it but you can see it on her face and she walks away when her mind and heart tells her to this time no making excuses. Boom Chloe actually has an arc. As for Zach this is a big wake up call for him he sees what we had become. I know it is later in the actual show but I think it should be in the prom episode so he can have a better conclusion in the finale, like the other characters. The whole season was a downward spiral and I wish we got to see more of him pulling himself out of it. If the whole finale is him getting better even though he wont be all the way done he will be in a better place up the end.

7) Justin

Okay the hard one. I think the writers really wanted to kill him. I mean a fan favorite, who did bad things, and the death would be in the series finale. this is a tv writer’s drug of choice. So I’m gonna do a fix where I still kill him first then to the ideal version. Ok so first Justin dies. No HIV/AIDS. It was out of nowhere, unneeded, and seemed a bit insensitive. If you want it to be related to his drug use, make it so he got a bad batch when he relapsed. Or maybe organ failure. If it doens’t need to be drug related it can be an accident or someone he knew on the streets getting revenge, like that drug dealer we spent time with last season. Or if Justin helps Tyler put the gun salesmen behind bars then have it be retaliation for that. He can still go to the hospital and have goodbyes but it wont be an aids diagnosis and death in the same episode. I know they had signs in earlier episodes but the timeline is still really fucked up...

An ideal ending would have him live. He can still pass out at Prom. The diagnosis can be a combination of stress and withdrawal symptoms.He can be the red herring for the person in the coffin. If Justin lives he can represent hope. He can show the audience that you can get better and things can work out. Even if you are sick and think you will die you can do better be better and live in a better world. Plus I love him and really wanted him to be happy. The message would be you can get out of a bad situation and wold have ended a sad series on a positive note. Even if you are a bad person. Even if you have bad circumstance. Even if it feels like the world is against you, it can get better if you put in the effort. Which felt like the message the show was going for in eariler seasons by showing the people on the tapes doing better but abandoned this last season.

So who would I put in the coffin. Ani’s mom. Now I know she wasn’t a well liked character and her mom wouldn’t have the same audience or character reaction Justin’s death did. But this version isn’t about making the audience sad. Ani would finally have a plot that was really about her, her mom died, Bryce’s mom basically wants to provide for her. And she isn’t sure what to do. Justins funeral felt like it was overshadowed by graduation anyway. Now Ani’s moms absence and the funeral being overshadowed both make sense. She is going to college and doing what she can to honor her mom. And the death of a parent causes Clay to immediately appreciate his own family more. The theme in the first season with Clay was appreciating and acting on his feelings for Hannah before she was gone. Ani’s mom dying is a reality check for him and he know the most important things are his family and friends. Justin’s arc was about finding a family and he did. The core of the show is about family, friends, and the importance of a strong support system. And starting it with a mother grieving her daughter and ending it with a daughter grieving her mother would be a cool full circle moment.

This post is really long so if you read all the way down Thank you! :)

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scotianostra · 2 years

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Happy Birthday James “Midge” Ure born October 10th 1953 in Cambuslang.

Born to a working class family Ure attended Cambuslang Primary School and Rutherglen Academy in Glasgow until he was 15 years old. For the first 10 years of his life he lived in a one-bedroom tenement flat. After leaving school Ure attended Motherwell Technical College and then began to work as an engineer, training at the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL), in nearby East Kilbride.

Midge started playing music in a Glasgow band called Stumble in 1969, before joining Salvation, a Glasgow-based group that became the bubblegum band Slik in 1974. Upset in the change of direction, Ure left the band to join the Rich Kids, a punk-pop group led by former Sex Pistol bassist Glen Matlock. The Rich Kids only released one album, 1978’s Ghosts of Princes in Towers, before breaking up later that year. Ure spent a brief time with the Misfits (not the American band) before forming Visage with drummer Rusty Egan and vocalist Steve Strange; he left the group to replace Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy, who had left in the middle of an American tour. After the tour was finished, Ure fulfilled an agreement to join Ultravox as the replacement for John Foxx.

Once he joined the band in 1980, Ure helped make Ultravox a mainstream success; during this time he also worked as a producer, making records with Steve Harley and Modern Man. In 1982, Ure released a solo single, a cover of the Walker Brothers’ hit “No Regrets”; it climbed into the U.K. Top Ten. Ure and Bob Geldof formed Band Aid, a special project to aid famine relief efforts in Ethiopia, in 1984. The two wrote the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and assembled an all-star band of musicians to record the single; it sold millions of copies over the 1984 holiday season.

In 1985, Ultravox was put on hiatus and Ure began to pursue a full-time solo career. Recorded entirely by Ure, his 1985 solo debut, The Gift, launched the number one single “If I Was,” as well as the minor hits “That Certain Smile” and “Call of the Wild.” The following year, he recorded the final Ultravox album; in 1987, the band broke up and he began recording his second solo album. The resulting record, 1988’s Answers to Nothing, was less successful than The Gift in the U.K., yet it charted in the U.S., which is something Ure’s previous album failed to do. Three years later, Ure released his third album, Pure; while it didn’t do any business in America, the album featured the Top 20 British hit “Cold, Cold Heart.” He attempted a comeback in 1996 with Breathe, which went ignored by both the American and British markets. Four years later, his score for the Jon Cryer drama-comedy Went to Coney Island was issued by the Evenmore label.

Ure’s recording activity during the 2000s began with Move Me, which featured some surprisingly hard rocking material. A few years later, he published an autobiography, If I Was, and then, with Geldof, arranged the Live 8 concerts.

Following the release of the covers-oriented 10 IN 2008, Ure participated in an Ultravox reunion and continued to record as a solo artist. Fragile was issued in 2014, and featured the Moby collaboration “Dark, Dark Night.” In 2017, he collaborated with composer Ty Unwin on the album Orchestrated, which featured orchestral reworkings of Ultravox songs, as well as songs from his solo career.

In 2020 Midge released an album Soundtrack 1978-2019, he was one of the lucky artists to have completed his tour promoting this in February that year.

Midge is currently in the middle of doing his Voice & Visions tour and is currently in Germany, he has a night off for his birthday but is playing Berlin and Leipzig tomorrow and Wednesday before hitting Sweden, Benelux, italy, Austria and Poland. Gigs next year include nights in England and Wales as well as The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Glasgow Barrowlands and Aberdeens Music Hall in May.

#Scotland #scottish #musician #guitarist #singersongwriter #happy birhtday

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killjoyhistoryarchive · 3 years

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“Conventional Weapons” and the Rocky Road to “Danger Days”

In 2009, My Chemical Romance was buzzing with activity. The band performed several shows and festivals (including Summer Sonic in Japan), Gerard and Mikey Way attended San Diego Comic Con, and The Umbrella Academy was named one of Amazon’s top comics of 2009. Ray Toro held a Whopper eating contest on the official MCR website (no joke), while a certain comic series written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon was announced in August. And at a show at the Roxy in Los Angeles, MCR performed three new songs from their upcoming album.

But while their next album seemed easily slated for an early 2010 release, MCR was about to hit a series of hurdles that would leave them with a scrapped album, a lost drummer, and a totally new outlook on where their music was headed.

On July 31st, 2009, MCR performed a set at the Roxy that included three new songs–“Kiss The Ring,” “The Drugs,” and “Death Before Disco.” Gerard was enthusiastic about the new tracks, even telling Rolling Stone that “Death Before Disco” was “the greatest song we’ve ever written.” Videos of the tracks soon appeared online, where fans eagerly devoured what they thought would be the follow-up to 2006’s The Black Parade.

As the days and weeks went on, the media blitz kicked into high-gear. While Ray Toro posted short studio clips on MCR’s website, the band gave several interviews where they gushed about producer Brendan O'Brien, discussed their new stripped-down style, and claimed that this would be their best record yet. In an interview with MTV, Gerard described the still-untitled album as a “true love letter to rock and roll,” adding:

“There’s something about being an American rock-and-roll band that we’ve kind of grown into and we’re very proud of. And I think that’s what we’re celebrating with this record. There’s no agenda, there’s no mission; it’s just about rock and roll.”

Meanwhile, Gerard Way and close friend Shaun Simon had another surprise in store: a comic series called "Killjoys.” Dark Horse Comics announced the release at San Diego Comic Con. Jeremy Atkins, the Dark Horse Director of Public Relations, described “Killjoys” as “a psychedelic rock-and-roll road trip adventure geared toward both fans of The Umbrella Academy and My Chemical Romance.” But not much else was said about the comic, as MCR’s upcoming album had become Gerard’s top priority.

As the album drew closer to completion, MCR gave fans more glimpses of what lay in store. They shared the titles of various tracks, including “Still Alive,” “Trans Am,” “Hail To The King,” “Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back," “L.A. Heavy,” "The Only Hope For Me Is You,” and “Black Dragon Fighting Society.” They cited a variety of influences, including Queen, Judas Priest, Bruce Springsteen, The Killers, and Blade Runner. By all accounts, this was going to be MCR’s defining album.

In December, MCR previewed seven tracks for SPIN magazine. A month later, in January of 2010, the album–which was still untitled–was rumored to be released on March 30th. As they continued to rework the songs, they realized that the stripped-down sound wasn’t working. As NME reported in January:

Things turned around with a song called “Trans Am,” now renamed "Bullet Proof Heart,” the likely first single. And perversely, they did it by returning to fiction. Broadly, it’s about a boy in New Jersey, dressed in a Judas Priest T-shirt, called Johnny. And a girl called Jenny who might be his girlfriend, but who also (honk the pop fact sirens!) might also be the missing girl from “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine” by The Killers.

But in the same interview, Gerard restated that the album would give "the purest, best version of the band you could ever hope for.” And in early February, MCR finally started to wrap up production, telling Big Cheese that the album would probably be released in spring or summer.

“Killjoys” also looked promising–back in January, Scott Allie had reported in a blog post that Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan were ready to get started. Once Gerard wrapped up the album and finished working on the Umbrella Academy movie screenplay, it seemed like he’d be ready to dive in.

But February was also when the band publicly stumbled for the first time.

Before the Big Cheese interview, MCR had abruptly cancelled their appearance at the Soundwave festival in Australia. In a blog post on MCR’s website, Frank claimed that Gerard was having voice problems (he jokingly implied that it was due to coffee and cigarettes) and required treatment to make a full recovery.

Fans were disappointed, but most understood that it couldn’t be helped. But a month later, the fandom received another shock: MCR’s drummer Bob Bryar had departed the band. In another blog post, Frank told fans:

As of 4 weeks ago, My Chemical Romance and Bob Bryar parted ways. This was a painful decision for all of us to make and was not taken lightly. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and expect you all to do the same. We also wanted to give you all a quick heads up on how the record is progressing. We have been writing some very powerful new songs so this week the four of us entered the studio once again, and what has been ending up on tape each night is some of the most exciting and honest work we have ever created.

The fandom was stunned. Clearly, MCR had been experiencing some behind-the-scenes turmoil, suggesting that the process wasn’t going as smoothly as fans had thought. While it wasn’t known at the time, they also parted ways with producer Brendan O'Brien, who had been hired specifically to channel their raw, back-to-basics sound. Where would MCR go from here? And when would fans hear the latest album–which was apparently undergoing rewrites once again?

It wasn’t until late 2010 that fans would finally learn what had happened to this unreleased album.

This moment, says frontman Gerard Way, looking back on what went wrong, “was the hardest part”. Guitarist Ray Toro was “home dealing with some family things”, leaving Way, his bassist brother Mikey, and guitarist Frank Iero alone in the mixing studio. “The sinking feeling was really starting to become loud that it wasn’t right - that the record wasn’t finished, I couldn’t even put them in a track order … "Thinking about it now, it’s kind of upsetting, because I just felt so lost,” Gerard says.

This was discussed in an interview with Herald Sun, where they talked about the process of starting again after the departure of their drummer and producer. Speaking to Music Radar, Ray Toro talked about the struggles the band had with original producer Brendan O'Brien, admitting that it hadn’t gone as well as they once thought:

“He was really trying; he did the best he could with us. He knew things weren’t clicking, and he’d try to rally us. I remember he said, ‘Hey, on some songs, I’d love to hear you do what you did on The Black Parade.’ Because there wasn’t any of the harmonized guitar parts or the stacking that I usually do. He was trying to get us to make one record, and we wanted to make something totally different.

Musically, we wanted to go back to our basement. But just because we wanted to do something different didn’t make it easy. In many ways, we felt as though we were holding ourselves back creatively. We were going through the motions. Some of the songs were good, but we weren’t happy with all of them.”

Needing a break, Gerard took a vacation to the desert that surrounded Los Angeles. There, as he told Terminal 5, he realized “I had started the band after 9/11 when I hated art. Black Parade had been about hiding and punishment. I couldn’t tell the truth so I’d talk about cancer instead. I had to put on a mask to show people who I really was. But now it was time to own it. To be who I was before this band started. And I had something in my back pocket: this song, ‘Na Na Na.’”

Reunited with producer Rob Cavallo, who had worked on The Black Parade, the band kicked things off with “Na Na Na.” Gerard and Shaun Simon’s comic “Killjoys,” once a separate side project that had nothing to do with the band, suddenly became the concept that they formed the album around. Fueled by fresh creative energy, the band wrote and re-wrote tracks, came up with concepts and characters like Dr. Death Defying, and shredded the limitations that had confined them. At one point, Gerard turned to his brother Mikey and said “Danger Days, here we come again!”

Not everything from the previous record was scrapped. “Trans Am” became “Bulletproof Heart”; “Death Before Disco” became “Party Poison.” A few new versions of old tracks appeared on the record, as well as the Mad Gear and Missile Kid EP that came later. But MCR’s fourth album had gone from a rock and roll record that deliberately avoided ambitious storylines, to a vividly realized concept album that invited fans into the world of post-apocalyptic California. In many ways, it was the opposite of what they had originally planned. And it seemed to be exactly what they had been looking for.

During this time, Frank snapped in-studio photos that he sold on MCR’s official website, offering one-of-a-kind peeks into the recording process. In March, Mikey Way stated in a blog post that “One day you will wake up, and nothing will ever be the same again, but it’ll feel like an old friend.” He was talking about upcoming changes to the MCR website, but in a way that statement reflected the band’s process at the time–they had completely reinvented themselves, and yet there was still a certain familiarity in the old tracks they had revamped.

The band completed the album with fresh energy, offering sporadic updates in the coming months. Fans waited with some skepticism to see what MCR had in store. And finally, one day in early September, MCR’s website disappeared and was replaced with a mysterious transmitter. The Danger Days era had begun.

But was the scrapped album hidden away, never to be heard again? Not quite.

In 2012, in a blog post on MCR’s website, Frank talked about the feelings of depression that he had faced after The Black Parade. He felt like MCR had done it all, leaving them with nothing left to accomplish. In November 2008, Gerard called him up to talk about the band. As new ideas took shape, they prepared to start recording the album that would eventually be scrapped after months of work.

Frank pointed out that while the band had limited themselves during the recording of this album, the songs weren’t inherently bad–in fact, some of them were among his favorites that the band had produced. As time passed, he developed a greater appreciation for the tracks. And when the band met up and listened to those songs, they decided to release a selection of tracks to the public–two tracks a month for the next five months, for a total of ten.

After all this time, the album finally had a title: Conventional Weapons. Tracks included “Kiss The Ring,” “The World Is Ugly,” “Surrender The Night,” and the fan-favorite “The Light Behind Your Eyes.” Listening to the tracks, it was clear that MCR had aimed for a rock album with a pure American sound–no ambitious concepts or storylines, just a set of killer tracks. Whether they succeeded is up to the listener to decide, but they provided some insight into what came before Danger Days.

Due to its unconventional release, and the fact that the album was a series of random tracks and not a finished product, Conventional Weapons is not considered an “official” MCR album. But while Danger Days was the final album, Conventional Weapons was the final release before MCR broke up in 2013. Since the split, the release of CW has caused many fans to wonder–will My Chemical Romance’s fifth (and unreleased) album ever be shared in a similar fashion? Or will it be locked away forever, like the other CW tracks that were never released?

Only time will tell. But for now, Conventional Weapons serves as an intriguing part of MCR’s history–a time when the band set out to make one type of album, and ended up making the complete opposite.

(Picture credits: 1 2 3. Other in-studio photos by Frank Iero.)

[Originally published 07.09.2017]

#my chemical romance #mcr #gerard way #mikey way #ray toro #frank iero #conventional weapons #articles #music #behind the scenes #na na na #bulletproof heart #party poison (song)#killjoyhistory #reuploads

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firelxdykatara · 4 years

Note

Hi, heavensweetheart in an ask mentioned you’ve written meta on adults writing about teen sex and told me I should ask you about it. I was wondering if you could give your thoughts on this in the context of ATLA, in fanfic and the Suki and Sokka tent scene. Some teens are having a meltdown over that scene saying it’s immoral for 16 y/o to have sex and imply that and I’m so confused. When did teens suddenly become allergic to sex? It wasn’t like that when I was one not long ago?

I’ll probably have follow up questions, but I’ll save those for now. Unless you say you don’t wanna talk on that anymore, which I totally respect. I’m just so confused as to why teens now are rioting against the Sokka and Suki scene, and even the *slight* implication that Zuko and Mai had sex too. They sound like church moms rather than teens and that’s jarring shift in culture in just a few years

I COMPLETELY understand teens wanting to avoid sex and stuff in their own lives or the media they choose to consume on personal levels but don’t know why they’re waging war against it

they’re complaining about that scene now too???? idk why i’m so surprised, considering everything else i’ve seen ppl getting up in arms about in the fandom it was only a matter of time, but jfc

listen, here’s an inconvenient factoid that fans--adult and minor alike--need to bear in mind before they go off half-cocked: underage teens have sex. it’s not like there’s some magical switch that gets flipped the instant someone turns 18 that unlocks their Raging Hormones where before they were Completely Sexless Beings. that’s not how it works. (i’m not bringing asexuality into this because ace ppl can have sex and even decent sex drives, libido and sexuality are not the same thing, and sexual awakenings can happen at just about any age post-puberty.) furthermore, coming-of-age tales (which often involve blossoming sexuality, as that is frequently a part of such narratives) are always going to be published and written by adults.

adults are, by and large, the ones with the resources and time to create finished and polished pieces of fiction and pitch them and get them into publishing houses and sold. teenagers who manage this are the exception to the rule, and the only one i can think of off the top of my head (christopher paolini, who started writing eragon when he was fifteen) was still an adult (at 19) by the time he actually managed to get published. adults are also, sorry to say, going to have a better understanding and perspective on what it was like to be a teenager--because they not only lived through it, but they have distance and a better ability to look at it objectively than someone still in the throes of massive hormonal changes and struggling through high school.

this doesn’t always work to our advantage--’adults forgot what it was like to be kids’ is a major theme in a lot of media for a reason--and sometimes it’s depressingly obvious just when any given author actually experienced being a teenager, because regardless of the setting their characters and plot points and tropes are incredibly dated--but it does typically mean that when an adult author is writing about teenagers having sex, or experiencing a sexual awakening, having a first love and everything that comes with that as a teenager, they aren’t acting like some voyeur watching teens gettin’ it on from the outside, but rather drawing on their own lived and remembered experiences and using those to inform their writing. (or experiences they wish they could have hand, like many queer authors who weren’t able to safely come out as teens and so get to experience being a kid and being able to be queer through their own writing in a way that was denied them in their own lives.)

i’ve done ‘first kiss’ and ‘first time’ type stories, now, as i am, as an adult, and i was never thinking about it as some outside observer perving on teenage characters--i was remembering what it was like when i was that age, and channeling that into my writing. no one is obligated to read or enjoy the things i write, of course, but trying to tell me that i’m not allowed to write about the things i felt as a teenager, just because i’m an adult now? that’s a quick way to get told in no uncertain terms to fuck off.

now, that being said, it’s absolutely flat ridiculous to me that people are complaining about the idea that suki and sokka were having sex, when they were child soldiers in a goddamn war. why is it more acceptable that they were preparing to fight and possibly die in a fierce battle, but gods fucking forbid they be implied to have a sexual relationship with each other before-hand? why is it more acceptable that children fight and die and kill (and yes, the gaang had a bodycount to their names, even aang), but the idea that mid- and older teens having sex is so taboo? nothing was even shown! it was all but spelled out, but in that scene we didn’t even see them kiss, it just immediately cut away after sokka called suki back to his tent!

what this tells me is that people are having a meltdown over the mere suggestion that these fifteen and sixteen-year-olds were sexually active, and considering that by the time i graduated high school (over a decade ago) i knew five girls personally who’d gotten pregnant and either dropped out or been homeschooled for a few months to have their kids before coming back to finish out their classes, i’m having trouble with this idea that even thinking of the fact that teenagers have sex should be so virulently anathema.

teens have sex with each other. sometimes teens get pregnant. sometimes these things find their way into YA fiction, and that is a genre that is almost 100% written by adults. (i’m sure some started writing as teens and maybe even got their early fiction reworked and polished, but the vast vast majority are at least adults, if not totally out of their teens, by the time they are officially published.) sometimes these things find their way even into narratives aimed at a younger audience, because there are always going to be elements that children won’t understand but the adults watching will get a kick out of--think of all the jokes in Shrek that you didn’t understand if you saw it for the first time as a kid, which seem even more hilarious once you’re an adult and have context for them.

no seven-year-old kid is gonna look at the scene of zuko walking in on sokka and the latter inhaling a rose he was holding between his lips as he waited for suki and think ‘OMG HE WAS EXPECTING HIS GIRLFRIEND AND THEY WERE GONNA HAVE SEX’--not unless something else was going on in that household, and at that point its not the show’s fault by any metric. but adults or even older teens are probably gonna get a chuckle, understanding the wink and the nudge that younger kids won’t get cause they don’t have context for that kind of romantic/sexual coding. and that’s ok!!!! the fact that people won’t get it unless they already have context for that sort of behavior is exactly why it works as a subtle joke!

and, again, the fact that a kid was killed on-screen and the fact that the main characters are all effectively child soldiers in a war, and these are somehow not topics that are too mature for the audience at which the show is aimed, but implications (which the target audience won’t understand, but older people who enjoy the show will) that teenagers are having sex is somehow beyond the pale???? (sure sokka might die tomorrow, but at least he wasn’t having -gasp- SEX before he did!!!!! that’s how they sound and it’s fucking ridiculous)

i genuinely do not understand that attitude, and i don’t think i ever will.

#atla #sukka #atla fandom salt #salt for ts #im just so.... so flummoxed #asked #Anonymous

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prompt-master · 4 years

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You're always up for discussion and debate right? So is it okay that I pose this to you and you give me your opinion on it? Danganronpa V3 was the worst game in the series because while it had interesting characters and very (visually and aesthetically) pleasing executions it ruined the immersion of the DR universe by playing the 'Oh it's all just a game and anime in this universe!!! Ha ha' card (gonna do a pt2 so I can continue giving my points hope that's okay)

(pt2) Because they played this card I feel like it was a cop out in a way, an excuse to make more content but without a way to fit the game into the existing canon without shoe horning it in, which the creators clearly didn't want to do given the details they put so much effort into. I just personally think, as I've said, it takes away from the immersion but also that it discredits the meaning behind the other games intertwining storylines and characters (2/3)

(pt 3/3) and to me that was what sold me on the series, the fact that in the games world these were real people, these were *kids* and their actions had effects on the world around them and V3 making it so that it was fake in universe and then trying to make it so that people willingly put themselves into a killing game to me just... didn't work. One of the key points of THH was how *disgusting* the killing games were, that it was morbid and sick that Junko aired them. Anyway, your thoughts pls?

-------------------------------------------------

Yes I am always up for discussion and debate! I find them to be some of my favorite things I have done on this blog and I thank you for taking the time to pose this topic to me because it’s one that I’m actually very interested in.

See,you are certainly not alone in your opinion! And I wholeheartedly understand why the games ending is disappointing! Because it is! By design the game was MADE to upset us as fans. But I actually have a very strong disagreement with the assertion that it is the worst game in the series. In fact I think ndrv3 was better than sdr2, which is often called the best game in the series by fans.

The reason why I feel so strongly that ndrv3 is not the worst game in the series..is because of udg. I don’t want to go into too much detail on this particular post, but udg has a lot of irredeemable content for grossly handling incredibly serious and sensitive topics. If a game makes me feel like the FBI should be coming to my house I would not consider that a good game. Not to mention that unlike ndrv3 which aside from the ending you can see a LOT of effort put into it, udg feels incredibly lackluster and uncared for. The models used look unpolished, giving the game a beta testing feel that does not feel professional whatsoever. The lighting has a lot of issues to the point where Komaeda’s hair looks grey, even in key scenes, but no one bothered to fix that glaring issue. The model movements are awkward. The story is repetitive and rather face value, I often find myself thinking about how in the end Komaru still was on the side of hope, she did not defy being like her brother that she so strongly wanted to defy. The gameplay is also too easy and boring, but thats my personal issue. and finally when I learned that they dropped the idea of the game being about capturing the remnants I just found myself disappointed..far more disappointed than ndrv3 made me. Especially since udg wasn’t attempting to be unsatisfying.

Now as for the reasons that I actually quite like ndrv3...I understand that the last leg of chapter 5 and chapter 6 as a whole as a complete let down. But even right after playing I did enjoy how you could rework the ending to fit in the dr canon by having everything still be real. There’s a lot of evidence supporting Shirogane, and there’s a lot of evidence against her. As mystery game lovers it is our job to take these bits of evidence and try to work out what the truth is to the best of our ability. The ending is designed to be disappointing yes but the ending ALSO implies that they WILL find out about HPA, so that it may exist. And if HPA is real, so is everyone. (personally I believe that the first games are a long time ago due to 53 seasons being a lot. and that the outlandishness led to people forgetting that it was real and processing it as fiction)

I also feel as though I had a lot more fun in ndrv3 than I did sdr2. sdr2 I felt like had a lackluster start and a lot of missed opportunities from chapters 1 to 4. The redeeming quality of the game comes from chapters 5 and 6, where suddenly the game picks up incredible pace and goes out VERY strongly. In a way, ndrv3 is the exact opposite of sdr2. ndrv3 begins with THE strongest beginning in the series without a doubt (I partially blame HOW GOOD chapter 1 was for why chapter 6 was so disappointing, it’s hard to live up to such a good chapter), chapters 2-5 I felt held up pretty damn strong as well before Kiibo got his antenna knocked off. Because of this I had a lot more fun experiences in ndrv3 than I did in sdr2, making me consider ndrv3 as a whole the better game. I also really enjoy the characters and the depth to them. There is so much to analyze in ndrv3, and I really enjoy how every character is more affected by the themes of the game than the others, which felt rather concentrated around a select few individuals. The game is intense, although pessimistic, and if you look more into it the more intriguing the character relationships become.

Of course, you’re entirely right about the ending shooting down the series. In fact i think it was fairly obvious that it was a direct message to us as fans. You say that the game was made to allow for an excuse to make more content but I argue it’s an excuse to NOT make more content. To add another game to the series after the way ndrv3 ended would quite simply feel WRONG. And you have every right to be upset and annoyed at this and the way the writers handled it! But again, the interpretation of reality that shirogane gave us...it almost feels like they WANT us to prove her wrong with all the contradictions. Now, this could absolutely be the writers not having a real ending and wanting US to write it, but as a mystery lover and a person who loves rewrites I don’t necessarily mind this. In fact I wish the ending didn’t ruin the game for a lot of people. There is a lot of really good things to discuss and analyze about the game but it doesn’t happen too often because of this disappointment. But I sincerely encourage you and others to look closer! There is a lot of gold to be found here, with or without the ending!

#ask #danganronpa #drv3 #ndrv3 #ndrv3 spoilers #drv3 spoilers #nsfb #sdr2 #udg #thank you for this ask! I hope this makes sense?#its hard to cover such expansive feelings in a consise and organized way #but in general i feel like the trials and the gampleay were so much better and that i got more fun experiences #and its hard for ANY ending to take those away from me tbh

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solitarystudies · 4 years

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Movie Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

So the @readerbookclub read TGLAPPPS last month (you can see what I thought about the book here). But in summary, I understood the appeal of the novel but didn’t enjoy it that much. I was expecting to have a similar response to the movie, but I actually really liked it. This post is an attempt at explaining why I enjoyed it.

First off, if you’re expecting a movie that stays true to the book, you won’t enjoy this. The creators of the film take it upon themselves to change quite a bit of the story, while maintaining the general spirit and message of the book. I know that this is something that really annoys a lot of readers, but I don’t mind it too much. I think filmmakers are entitled to add their own ideas and creativity into a film, rather than having to adhere strictly to the book. Sometimes, a direct translation from print to screen just wouldn’t make a good movie. Now that that’s out of the way, here are some of the main reasons I liked the film:

1. Mark and Juliet’s Relationship:

This is one of the most drastic differences between the two works. In the book, Juliet is dating Mark, but that’s the full extent of their relationship. Throughout the entire book, Mark is a complete and utter dick. He’s selfish and rude and never seems to genuinely care for Juliet. In the movie, however, he’s an entirely different character. He’s very loving to Juliet and showers her with gifts. And they get engaged before she leaves for Guernsey.

This was something that @appleinducedsleep already talked about, so I was fully prepared for it. What I hadn’t expected was how much of a difference this would make to the story.

I didn’t like how Mark was written in the book, and as others have pointed out, his only purpose was to create conflict. He was obviously a bad guy, and it was frustrating that it took Juliet so long to notice this. When their relationship ended, I thought “Finally!”. I didn’t have any shred of sympathy for him.

Movie Mark, however, is an absolute sweetheart. He’s a genuinely loving guy, he’s just not a good fit for Juliet. He’s not interested in literature and reading (although in the book, he’s a publisher), which clearly isn’t compatible with Juliet who’s a writer. He’s also very much a businessman, chasing a life of wealth and luxury, which Juliet doesn’t want. Despite all this, he deeply cares for her. She’s the one who doesn’t share his affection (when they break up, he asks her if she ever loved him and Juliet’s response is “I loved our time together”, pretty harsh if you ask me).

I felt that reworking the character of Mark and his role of the story was one of the main reasons I enjoyed the movie. He felt much more realistic this way, compared to the book where he came across as one dimensional and exaggerated. When Juliet breaks off their engagement, I couldn’t help sympathizing with him. I think having characters who feel real and sympathetic (even when they’re supposed to be an obstacle for the protagonist) makes for a better story.

2. Juliet’s Nosiness:

The two Juliets are also quite different. In the book, Juliet corresponds with many members of society before visiting Guernsey. They’re all aware of her arrival and there’s a huge welcoming party. In the movie, however, Juliet decides to visit without letting them know. She just shows up uninvited, and the society reacts accordingly. They act uncomfortable in her presence, especially Amelia, who doesn’t want anyone snooping around their business. This was an unexpected dynamic, but one I really enjoyed. It made Amelia feel like a much more important character, and her relationship with Elizabeth was shown through a new light.

Movie Juliet was quite curious, and poked her nose where it didn’t belong. She kept trying to find out what happened to Elizabeth, and asked questions that were better left unasked. Although this made her character more flawed, I really enjoyed it. Juliet no longer felt like a perfect person, she was someone who isn’t always well-mannered and open-minded. One such instance is when Juliet finds out that Elizabeth had a child with a German soldier and is completely shocked. She quickly comes around, but that’s not the point. Movie Juliet messes up and makes mistakes, but she owns up to her actions and apologizes. That made her much more human to me.

3. Isola:

Out of all the characters in the book, Isola was the one who felt the most exaggerated to me. The writers obviously wanted her to have a unique personality, but she came across like a caricature. Movie Isola, however, was a far more loveable character. She was still recognizable as the same person I had read about in the book, but more real. She sold liquor instead of potions, wasn’t smart but didn’t come across as dull, and didn’t have a weird interest in phrenology.

I especially loved the scene when Juliet shows up at her house late at night, and they become roommates. It showed her kindness and generosity, as well as her deep sense of loneliness. The relationship that grew between the two of them was one I thoroughly enjoyed. I just never connected with book Isola in the same way.

4. Elizabeth’s Story:

I think this is the most important point on the list. Elizabeth was a wonderful character at the core of both works. And I have to say, the book did a wonderful job of establishing her personality and everything she stood for. But, her story resonated with me more in the film. For some reason, seeing her selflessness on screen invoked emotions that I simply didn’t feel while reading the book.

Usually the book is the one that provides a deeper connection to the characters, but in this case, I was very confused while reading it. As I’ve explained before, I was too busy trying to keep up with all the characters and their individual letters to be able to really enjoy other aspects of the novel. And it seems that paying less attention to Elizabeth was a consequence of that. In the film, however, I could watch her more closely, and I loved getting to know her again.

That’s pretty much most of it. There are a few other minor points, but they’re not worth mentioning. Having said all this, it’s important to mention that the movie did leave out many important aspects of the book (the most prominent being Remy and her story). While I understand that this meant key parts of the story were missing, I think the film was nonetheless pretty good. After all, there’s only so much you can show in two hours.

That’s all I have for this book/movie, and I can’t wait to start our discussion next month :)

#the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society #tglappps #movie #movie review #book #book club #book discussion #annie barrows #mary ann shaffer

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threewaysdivided · 3 years

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Hello! I'm currently fighting with writing, myself. My protags have a habit of getting away from me. Have any tales of your YJDW where the characters just... decide to take a narrative swing to the left when your outline clearly heads right?

Hi there!

So this particular problem isn't one I've had much of when it comes to the actual writing side, which I think is mostly down to my particular writing preferences.

On the scale of planning to pantsing I tend to fall very heavily on the planner side (I've joked about it before but I do actually have most of YJ:DW planned in a fair amount of detail right up to the ending). Partly because my brain just goes a lot faster than my hands can write/type out complete sentences, partly because I like to have a fairly complete idea of the final product before I start work, and partly because the way I naturally engage with things leans more towards analysis than storytelling (I mean, I have a whole dedicated tag for essays on my blog). There's also that, at least when it comes to fanfic I'd actually publish, yes I know that's just one right now I tend to want to have an idea/concept/emotion to explore and also an idea of how to bring it to a satisfying conclusion.

The long and the short of it is that, because I tend to do most of my story-crafting before I actually get to the prose, and because I often end up reverse-engineering/ puzzle-solving chunks of the story around an idea/scene/character moment I want to include, those kinds of characters-derail-the-story or story-takes-a-hard-left-turn moments tend to happen at the planning phase. I'll be looking back over a planned scene/plot and decide that something doesn't feel right or that I'm not sold that my version of the character would believably act like that in those circumstances, or some other part of my brain will pop up from below the desk and slap down a thought like "hey, have you considered that you could get to your goal in a completely different way by adding this idea?"

(Not to claim that any approach to writing is better than another - I have a lot of respect for the confidence, vision and sheer productivity it takes to set out on a long-fic with only a loose idea of where it's heading and the belief that the journey itself is worth it - but one thing I will say for planning is that is does lower the associated "costs" of making big story changes since it's a lot simpler/faster to change or shuffle dot points than to cut, add and rewrite huge swarths of prose not that I don't also do that in the writing phase for some chapters. It's a difference in preference; planner-style leans towards space for analysis during "preproduction" while pantser-style puts it in more at the edit.)

Usually by the time I get to actually writing things in story form I'm pretty comfortable that I've created a plotline/scenario where the characters will follow at least central thread of what's happening. More often what I get in terms of "going off script" is less derailing the scene and more like an actor deciding to ad-lib, improvise or play with a conversation during a take - they'll add a quip or get distracted by a related topic or decide to do something on the side or they might suddenly say something more insightful than originally planned.

Generally I'm okay with keeping this kind of stuff in so long as what they're saying/doing doesn't contradict, change or accidentally accelerate the story/their arc to a later stage that it's supposed to be at - it helps things feel a bit more naturalistic and if they're really going off-track I can always have other characters pull them back on topic, the same way it might happen in a real conversation.

So yeah, I won't say it doesn't happen but just the way I prefer to write means that it tends to happen less often and in smaller ways than for other people.

But that probably isn't super useful for helping with your writing-fighting so, without knowing the specifics, here are some things that could be useful.

Maybe consider stopping to do a little bit of analysis of your story:

Is there a idea(s)/concept(s) that your story is really about/ interested in exploring? Don't worry if what you come up with isn't super neat or precise, I still don't think I could give a fully comprehensive description of what YJ:DW is about in terms of "theme" or "message".

Who are you characters: what do they want, what do they need, what do they think they need, what is their take on the situation they're in, how do they see the world, how accurate/ biased is that worldview, what sort of things interest them and why, what insecurities/ phobias/ dislikes do they have and why, why do they act the way that they do?

What is the main purpose of this scene/plot point and what essential thing(s), piece(s) of information, interaction(s) need to be covered to serve that purpose?

If you stepped back from the needs of the story and just looked at these characters in the situation you've created, how do you feel they would act? Does it line up?

It also might be worth looking at what your protagonists/ characters end up doing in the moments when they try to derail your story, and seeing if you can figure out any potential reasons for why it might be feeling more natural/ the momentum might be stronger in that direction. They might be going "off script" but are they also going off point or are they heading towards the same/ a similar point in a different way than what you originally planned?

It could be that there's a conflict between what you want to have happen and what you've set up to have happen, and that reworking the scene or preceding scene(s) to better direct the characters based on how they've been established to react to things might get them to behave.

It also might be that some unconscious part of your brain has worked out a different route to the same goal and is trying to send you down that path. Or your brain could potentially have identified (or even misidentified) a pattern in the story/character(s) and is trying to communicate that to you through them. It could be that there's some contradiction between what you've established/have planned for the character(s)/story overall, and what's happening in the details of the specific scene that's causing them to break ranks. Sidenote: I just want to point out that this doesn't necessarily mean that what you had originally planned is somehow inherently "worse" or "wrong". Sometimes your brain might be defaulting toward what feels familiar from common tropes in the media you consume because "this is just what happens in these stories", or it might be trying to move a scene that is in some way challenging more towards your existing comfort zones as a writer. On a deeper level, asking "why does this feel correct to me" can also be useful.

Generally though, I think that your plan and your characters/story being out of step with each other is a bit like an indicator light on a car. As much as we like to enjoy the fantasy that these characters and worlds are real and separate from us and not fully under our control, and as much as stepping away from that can sometimes "kill the magic", it's worth stopping to pop the hood or stick our heads behind the curtain sometimes to make sure everything is working in sync and going in the direction it's meant to. Plus, you might learn some new things about your story/world/characters in the the process that end up being useful later.

Hope this helps!

#young justice: deathly weapons #characters #character misbehaviour #writing #story-crafting #writing advice #anonymous #3WD Answers #I have a pet theory that a lot of this kind of thing comes down to us as a species being geared towards pattern recognition #the phrase 'you might not have noticed it but your brain did' exists for a reason #I do wonder if sometimes this is our brains coming up with creative ways to flag a pattern or a devation from a patter #Or suddenly making an extrapolation/interpolation to fill in a gap based on the existing 'facts' of the world/story #In my case though usually it involves the characters getting a lot more quippy/snarky/silly than is needed by the plan #which is nice - it makes them feel more like actual people #I'm working on Chapter 18 and Wally & Sphere decided to have a quippy bit of back and forward in the middle of a tense scene #and it's funny so I'm probably going to keep it #I wish my writing stories were more fun to share but a lot of it is just me being a ~ neeeeerrrrrrd ~

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ask-the-party-god · 4 years

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SIEG! His name was sieg, I just remembered. -HNK Anon

hi hnk anon! im using this second ask of yours because its shorter, and putting your other one under the readmore to answer more extensively! X)

Okay. So I just got through the prologue, and I have a few things to say.

1. I’ve only had mash kyrielight for a day and a half, but if anything happened to her I would kill everyone in this and then myself!

youre absolutely RIGHT shes such a good girl! i love her and she only gets better and better as the same goes on! speaking of ‘better’ as it goes on, the game starts kind of slow? okay, so- the company that started fgo unsupervised, and they were making a cash-grabby game with less effort than it deserved... around the fourth singularity, though, nasu, the owner of the ip, saw the state of the game, stepped in and went like “nope, youre making this good, or youre not making it, period”, so... yeah he stepped in, put quality standards, lowered the saint quartz cost, added third skills to a lot of lower-star servants that didnt have them, reworked some other servants... also every milestone they include a quality of life change! earlier this year they increased the saint quartz you got from daily missions, then a retroactive change to interludes that gave me like, 100 pieces of it all of sudden... its good, i actually really appreciate them for that X)

2. The leveling up is a bit confusing for me.

yeah, the levelling up is, gacha levelling up, it was a bit weird at first, buuuut:

there are a few different things with exp in the game! you have your mystic code (your clothes, which have special skills), and your master level, both of which increase by just, doing any quest at all! master level determines your ap point limit, how many friends you can have, how many servants and ces you can have in your team at a time, etc... the mystic code level increases the effectivity of your mystic codes skills

theres bond level! this is how ‘close’ you are with your servant, and you raise it by fighting with those servants in your team! levels 1 through 5 unlock new information about them and new flavor text while theyre in your room! levels 6 through 9 give you rewards, like extra saint quartz, apples, etc... and if you get to level 10, you get a specific craft essence! some are like, “as long as the servant has it equipped, everyone in the team gets a buster buff”, but theres specific effects like, heracles gets a stack of 3 guts- which is insaaaaane

theres craft essences! theyre basically ‘buffs’, and levelling them up gives you some extra hp or attack, but ultimately theyre proooobably the least like, necessary thing to level up? still, you get spare craft essences out the wazoo so you probably want to feed the ones with effects you use a lot... anything with default np charge is GREAT for example, as it lets you charge up nukes all that much easier

and finally we get to servants! so you have the normal servant level up, THIS is what youd consider the classic ‘rpg level up’, but instead of levelling them up by fighting, you need items! specially, embers... feeding a servant embers and other spare servants you dont want (low rarity, pls dont feed people gold servants-), you level them up! this is a basic increase of all stats, but theres a level LIMIT! once they reach the level limit, you can ‘ascend them’ to their next stage, usually accompanied with unlocking new skills, and new cool outfits! you can ascend them up to four times, and once theyre at max ascension and max level, you CAN technically feed them holy grails (palingenesis), to break that max level limit to eventually reach 100... this is mostly unnecessary? but if theres a lower-rarity servant you REALLY like, that can put them on par with 4-stars, for example, or giving them a well needed extra boost to hp and attack

finally you have np and skills! skills are just that, servant-specific abilities! evades, healing, debuffs, buffs... levelling up skills reduces their cooldown at level 6 and 10, and generally increases their effect! np level up needs you to have multiple copies of the same servant, you can boost their np to be more damaging or to give you stronger buffs, depending on what it is

so basically, fighting will increase your master and mystic code exp, and your bond level! to actually level up servants, you have to feed them embers (you can farm them in the chaldea gate quests, or simply get them from story missions and free rolls)! to ascend them or level up their skills, you need special materials, which can drop in some free quests in singularities, be sold/drop during events, or drop from other chaldea gate free quests! not all materials are available from the beginning, so i suggest just, going through the story and upgrading your characters as you can, rather than obsessively farming to get them super high up before continuing with it

3. What’s the deal with the unregistered spirit origin currency? Because they are blocking me from getting the servants I want. That leads me to—

oh yeah no, dont worry about that, you are never, ever EVER going to use that X) basically, if you get 5 copies of the SAME 5-star, that is, if you get them to np level 5, and you get a SIXTH copy, which, again... insane odds? you will be given an unregistered spirit origin currency! basically its the way the game has of saying “sorry you keep getting this same servant so much, here, you can CHOOSE which one you want instead”

basically, insurance so you can never get a useless extra 5-star after fully upgrading a previous version of them

you gotta roll the gacha to get servants! its random! there is NO ensuring which one you will get, you just gotta try! well- there ARE occasionally events, like, twice a year, where you get to PICK a free 4-star actually

4. There are currently six servants that I want, everyone else doesn’t matter at the moment. The first is mash (so that’s one down) the second is artotia, third is Jeanne d'ark. Fourth is Jeanne alter, and firth Lancelot! And sixth- I SAW A MAID ALTER WITH A SNIPER RIFLE- WHAT? THATS COOL/FUNNY AS SHIT! I WANT THAT! (Maybe astolfo and uhhh... what was his name with the gray hair, he’s a caster- but that’s for later, the ones I listed are top priority,

lets see, six servants you want! believe me, you WILL get attached to more, but...

mash is obviously in your possession!

artoria is always, by default, in the summoning pool! theres occasionally ‘rate up’ banners, which give certain characters more weight, but ultimately, every saint quartz roll you do always has a chance of summoning her... specially right now, the more of the game you complete, the more servants you will unlock in the summoning pool, so technically shes at her highest drop rate right now

same with jeanne, shes part of the default summoning pool

jeanne ALTER is limited though! she does not appear normally, she can only be summoned when shes on a rate-up banner! i am not sure if she will be on rate-up before this, but the next banner i know she will for SURE be in is in may! oh! but- if you dont get her, there IS a 4-star, summer version that will be FREE this next summer, if you complete the summer event!

i think lancelot is also in the default summon pool!

maid alter is the summer outfit version of artoria X) i am unsure when she is available again honestly :o we had her event rerun not that long ago, so she may not be available for a while...

astolfo is in the default summoning pool AND theyre going to get a 5-star version this next year i believe! so, double stolfo!

sieg is, the free servant you get for the apocrypha event! it happened earlier this year, so i think that means theres a rerun of it still pending! eventually though, they will add a thing where you can replay events you missed and get the free servants from them, so while ideally youd wanna be playing while the event is up, theres a contingency in case you missed someone you REALLY want!

5. Please tell me how the start system works- I’m very new to this and I wanna be invested. Please help-

-HNK Anon

i think thats pretty much all there is! you get saint quartz through the story, by doing interludes, bond-levelling servants, through rewards, etc, as well as summon tickets, and you use those to roll the gacha! free friend currency only gives 3-star and under servants, while saint quartz can give you pretty much anything

theres almost always a ‘banner’ up, which offers ‘rate-up’ servants! the normal summoning pool has all the default servants and the story-locked ones you have unlocked, but the rate-ups can bypass the locks entirely! some servants are limited, so if they seem cool in a banner, you may wanna try to roll!

even if you dont get the servants you want- and believe me... it WILL happen... you WILL get more and more and more cool servants so, dont worry about that X) also a lot of lower-rarity servants are actually really good and can be used for a lot of things, so if you have a favorite, do not be afraid to level them up!

but yeah thats kind of the loop? you do stuff, get sq... roll the gacha for characters you like, level them up, do events... i honestly play mostly for the story, the main story gets really good, and the events are all charming and nice, but id be lying if i said i didnt want some specific servants... most of which are alter egos-

yeah sorry im rambling X) just... ask me anything else you may need! :D

#party god #ask #fgo

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