#essays theories and worldbuilding

[morgulscribe]

Gift Giving Customs in Mordor and Nurn

I think that there would be a lot of customs involving gift giving amongst the human populations of Mordor and Nurn, given the fact that the land was founded by the Lord of Gifts.

Receiving a valuable gift from a person in power would indebt you to them, effectively forging an alliance between you and the gift giver. Because of the imbalance of power, this sort of gift can be both a blessing and a curse. "Gifts are often manacles in disguise, with a chain that is attached to the hand of the giver," is a common expression in the Land of Shadow.

Becoming indebted to the gift giver only applies if they are of higher standing than you, however. If you are the person in power and someone of lower standing gives you a lavish gift, then it is seen as a form of tribute.

Because of these gift giving customs, the citizens of Mordor and Nurn would take careful thought when choosing a gift for a friend's birthday or other special occasion. Even if one is of equal standing to one's friends, there is still a degree of anxiety involved when selecting a gift. Simple gifts are best, so that the receiver will not think that they owe you, but a gift should not be so simple as to be insulting. The right amount of balance would be needed to avoid potential social blunders.

Gifts made by one's own hands - even if the gift is an ordinary loaf of bread - are considered of higher value than goods purchased from a marketplace. This is because it is believed that the maker imbues their creations with both their intentions and the essence of their being. Naturally, the level of indebtedness that one feels for such a gift increases with the complexity of the gift and the time that was involved in its making.

In the more fertile regions of Nurn, flowers might be popular casual gifts to give when visiting friends. Many cultures have flower languages, and Nurn might be no exception, with different plants or plant colors assigned various meanings. Bouquets of nine flowers would be seen as auspicious, due to the association with the Nine Nazgul.

One should never forget the Lord of Gifts either, He Who Is the Lawful Ruler of Middle-earth! It is customary to give frequent sacrifices gifts to the Great One in gratitude for His blessings. One does not wish to anger the Great Eye, after all...

[extra-vertebrae]

Got sucked back into Warframe after a year and a half break. Here's some old stuff from a few years back when I was hardcore invested with headcannons and theories and a lot of salt about ESO.

The ink pieces were done for WF Inktober a few years back. I wound up being too busy to complete more than 8 or so days. The triptych at the end was going to be submitted for the art show for Tennocon one year, featuring my favourite frame and the favourite frames of my fellow ninjas, but I was beginning to get burned out on WF and mounting disappointments from the dev team before it could be finished.

Specific context for the """newd""" Limbo: the idea behind this and the Volt equivalent was related to Warframe construction and the possibility of errors resulting from genetic processing, re: reading errors from the component blueprints that could alter the structure of sword steel. Both of these were related to an "Anatomy of a Warframe" theoretical biology essay that would be hosted on my site, breaking down how a frame worked as an organism. I'm admittedly more concerned about addressing my backlog of farmables than worldbuilding at present, but once the checklist gets its due mind I might revisit the idea.

[kalpeavaris]

what would you say is the best way to start a fanfic? And where is the place I should post it to get the best reception?

I started quotev a while back making fan fictions and posting them, but they never really stuck with me even when one did get super popular (..unfortunately, I WAS one of those Wally darling fanfic writers…..) . I deleted literally all of those pages, and, while that’s kinda sad and I do wish I could read them now, they were super cringe and had, like, no plot to them. I was totally winging it.

I know you do some writing of your own, and I wanted to see how exactly you plan yours/your stories out. I consider myself an intermediate writer with room for improvement, but the burn out is awful and I haven’t written anything for myself in years.

thank you!! ❤️

So, the best place to post fanfiction for me personally has always been AO3 due to their regulations making it easier to post fanworks even with heavy topics - and I find their layout options very easy to use, even as a total beginner at posting your written works online. They also include original works under their term of "fan works", which makes it easier to just post any story you got on there instead of like, for example, split them between websites dedicated for Fanfiction & original works.

I see way more interaction on AO3 than I did on any other writing-focused website I used to post at (e.g Wattpad), way more people commenting and giving their thoughts, theories and feedback on stories, which is why I post my stuff exclusively on there. :]

As for planning your story out, I got a few tools I like to use. Now, I am not in no ways a professional writer or anything beyond a hobbyist simply doing what brings their crippling autism joy, but I have found some things that helped me improve my writing by a ton in just a few months (my, I sound like one of those dating coaches LOL)

Here's some of my tips:

Get a comfortable writing program that you feel good in. I know it sounds obvious, but trust me, having a writing program you enjoy layouting, drafting and writing in makes it so much more fun to explore your stories/worlds even if you're stuck in a more tiresome part (such as layouting your world or planning chapters/plot points). I, for example, use Scrivener. It is a paid program (though I put on my pirating hat for this one) and made for professional writing such as script writing for TV and movies, novel writing and essays, but it functions well enough for any hobbyist in my humble opinion. Google docs is a free alternative most folks know & love, but I came to struggle with it's performance and tools a lot and never quite got into add-ons/mods for it. Since a lot of my stories already exceed 200-300 pages each I found the website lags a ton and I have to split up my documents instead of keeping it all organized in the same file. Scrivener also allows for you to sort your documents and chapters in individual files, which makes it even easier to work with when your chapters get long or you're writing plot points as their own individual little page & merge them in the end. Here's how my Scrivener usually looks like for writing fanfiction. I make use of the ability to organize my chapters, title them, give them little notes and have them all on one page to not lose the red thread of everything, LOL.

Plan your story ahead through worldbuilding & acts. If your story isn't a "just go with the flow" or "villain of the week" kind of structure, making acts and drafting out the detail first is the key. Otherwise you can easily get lost in your own writing, which happened to my first MD fanfictions such as "Synemy" and "Bluejay's Feathers" where I either overshot arcs/chapters way too quickly - ending up with shallow characters - or didn't know when to end a story, ending up with 40+ chapters but little story or arcs being told and no ending in sight for the characters. Sure, this can absolutely work! And I'm not saying it is a bad thing, but I personally do not enjoy writing these stories anymore which is why I started to re-write them currently. What helped me immensely was the use of "Acts" for my rough draft. This is what the Acts look like for my Poppy Playtime fanfiction, for example:

And here's the rest of the acts template I use:

Use prompts! Don't be afraid to look up scene prompts, ideas for characters, the world or situations that could happen. Sometimes you get struck by inspiration by reading other people's ideas and it can help especially during a writer's block and/or burn out. Don't be afraid to simply just write something and trash it later, or break up written scenes into smaller sections, repurpose them, whatever - some of my best scenes were originally coming either from prompts (e.g "what would your character do in this situation?" or "Character A and B experience this, what could happen?" prompts) or after watching a movie/show and analyzing plot points. Some of my work even started out from a simple question I asked myself - what would happen if? What could happen when?

Ask for feedback - it's worth it's weight in gold. Beta- and alpha readers are your best friends, and it never hurts to ask people if they'd be interested to read your works, even if you don't intend to post them after all. I mainly do alpha-reading, meaning I generally don't beta-read something and offer worldchanging feedback, I moreso write feedback on what stands out to me, what plotpoints and scenes I really love and how I interpret the written work. I might be an avid reader & writer, but I do not consider myself settled in this hobby enough to offer constructive critique for other people's writing for the time being. There's still a ton I need to personally improve on before I can say I'm ready for beta-reading. But both Beta and Alpha readers are very valueable tools to see what a person reading your story found interesting, outstanding or exciting to see. Tropes, scenes, scenarios, characters, portrayal, dialogue - there's so much to review in a story. This can also help to outline if your story confuses or intruiges the reader, helping with the draft and outline especially if it's beta reading feedback you recieve before the story is posted.

Don't be afraid to shift and don't be scared of big edits. They will inevitably happen. I used to fear having to re-write chapters, toss around events in the timeline or even having to cut content in a written story, but sometimes this can help slim down a story and narrow it down onto the important aspects. Mistakes happen, and sometimes edits are necessary to keep the story's flow, but they're nothing to be feared. In the end, it's a fan work you're creating with your own personal motivation and it's not a huge novel waiting to be published. Don't fear messing up or not getting the draft right the first, second or third time. I needed 4 different drafts before I had a cohesive storyline for my biggest project at the time, and I took weeks between each draft. If there's passion, there will be a product of it sooner or later.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hi! 👋

You can call me Kate, author, artist, and Harry Potter and Wizarding World metas writer. This blog is almost exclusively HP theories/essays and they are linked in the masterposts below.

https://kstaylorbooks.com | https://x.com/K_S_Taylor

My tags:

HollowedTheory - for my metas and theories.

HollowedHeadcanon - for my headcanons.

HollowedArt - for any art I post occasionally.

Hollowed HP Redesign - for my redesigns on how I imagine the Wizarding World looking.

HollowedRambling - general comments and rambling on my part.

HollowedWrites - for my writing/talking about writing

Original Writing:

Iridescent - more on the tag here, on my website, or on Twitter / Amazon / Goodreads.

Fics:

A Matter of Chance on Ao3 (Nottpott, Harry-centric)

A Matter of Fate on Ao3 (part 2 of A Matter of Chance series)

Theories:

Organized links to all of my essays regarding Harry Potter (be it characters, magical theory, or the Wizarding World at large) in their individual posts:

Character Analysis Masterpost

Harry James Potter Analysis Masterpost

Tom Riddle/Voldemort Masterpost

Wizarding Worldbuilding Masterpost

Magical Theory Masterpost

Ministry of Magic and Magical Politics Masterpost

Miscalanius Theories Masterport

[d3pressed-caffiene-addict]

Hazbin Hotel Ep 5&6 Oh My God (Major Spoilers)

I am having so many thoughts, this is just a brain dump

-LUCIFER. He’s so pathetic I love him

-Jeremy Jordan you fucking legend. I’m a big fan of a lot of his work and was excited to see him in this but I was slightly unsure if he was the right casting since I expected Lucifer to be more of a high and mighty/snobby figure, but with the way they characterised him HE IS PERFECT.

-“TAKE THAT DEPRESSION”

-The Lucifer vs Alastor rivalry is beautiful

-“Ha ha, fuck you.”

-Father figure Alastor

-HIS EARS GO BACK LIKE A CAT WHEN HES ANGRY I CANT

-MIMZY’S ARRIVAL. I know most of us know the lore about her and Alastor being developed as a couple before it was scrapped but I really like how they are in the show

-Even if it’s just crumbs I’m so excited to be getting snippets of Alastor’s lore. It’s wild to keep going back and forth between “aw he actually cares for and protects his friends” and “oh my god he’s a fucking psycho”

-Speaking of that the scene with Husk holy shit. Poor man looked terrified

-The confirmation that Alastor’s also stuck working for someone, it has to be Lilith surely. I know some people will call it predictable because a lot of theories are coming true but personally I think it’s from good worldbuilding/foreshadowing

-ALASTOR IN FULL DEMON FORM JUST ANNIHILATING EVERYONE and then he just goes “Ah that was fun, now back to it”

-I kinda like the parallel between Al and Mimzy & Angel and Cherri where they invite their friends to join them if they want to, even if neither of them take it up initially maybe we’ll see them join the hotel in the future?

-BABY CHARLIE

-I really expected Lucifer to be a dickhead and a shitty dad, but he seems to be an overall better guy than most people in hell

-CHERRI BOMB ARRIVAL! And she’s Aussie now fuck yeah represent

-I still love her and Angel’s friendship even if she is a terrible influence. Everyone’s got that friend who’s solution to a bad day is just self-destruction but they mean well at least

-DARREN CHRIS TOO, THE MUSICAL THEATRE/BROADWAY ACTOR CASTING IS STACKED

-Emily is so sweet I love her

-The Molly cameo is so sweet, I was waiting for her to appear somewhere but lowkey forgot she was in heaven. Honestly though how did she get there when the rest of her and Angel’s family got condemned for what they did together? Maybe she left the mob or something idk I just hope we get to meet her properly at some point

-Heaven’s real fucked up? Yeah not shocked

-VAGGIE?? FALLEN ANGEL REVEAL?? AND SHE WAS AN EXTERMINATOR???? I know most of us called it but holy shit I didn’t expect it to be confirmed this soon

-Adam is such a dick but he’s so much fun

-I love that Charlie was gonna start her court presentation with definitions like a high school essay

-“Consent is a good name for a sex club” the gentleman Husk truthers gonna have fun with this one

-Pentious hitting on Cherri is hilarious and totally not the same level of subtlety I flirt with when I’m drunk

-Hearing more and more about how Val treats Angel is so sad especially with how casually he talks about it since it’s just another day for him

-Him parenting drunk Nifty is beautiful

-“You wanna play with the kitty?”

-Valentino is my #1 enemy

-Seeing Angel stand up to him to protect his friends is making me feel feelings. Like he knows that he’s gonna be treated even worse for it but I think he’s reaching his tipping point and shits gonna go down soon

-Also I know there’s a popular theory that he’s gonna die soon and a lot of the theories are coming true so I am scared. I kind of don’t think this one’ll happen though since he’s the fan favourite and its just too soon to take that much of a risk. Plus Vivsie’s admitted he’s the best written character and it’d be such a waste of all that development

-More sweet moments between him and Husk, they’ve gotten me so invested in this ship so fast

-The fact that most of heaven didn’t know about the extermination?? Wild

-Idk how I feel about the timeskip between Ep 4&5, they’re only a month away from the extermination now. Yes it’s making the stakes feel higher but I do wish we’d been able to see more of that time for the relationship development, all the characters seem much closer than before and we’ve only seen bits of how they got there

-I really wish they’d greenlit more than 8 episodes to pace things a little better but I’m glad we have season 2 confirmed

-That last minute ‘reveal Vaggie’s past to Charlie, boot them out of heaven and then cut to credits before she can react’ is gonna torture me until next week

-I don’t disagree with past criticism that Vivzie’s female characters can feel a bit underwritten but I think it’s getting better

-“We’re coming to the hotel first” plus all the theories that someone’s gonna die are fucking stressing me out man

Anyway hope you enjoy the brain dump, this show has once again consumed my thoughts

[monsterfactoryfanfic]

Youtube Essays Shill Post

I'm getting close to 1000 subscribers so I'm gonna make a shill post for my channel. I make videos on independent RPGs (no D&D/Pathfinder etc), highlighting narrative moves, the intersection of mechanics and themes, and analyzing them in parallel with books, movies, and game theory. I've had a really great crop of essays this year, and I bet at least one of them will do it for you:

###

Spire RPG & Babel: The Monstrosity of Empire, the Necessity of Violence (52 min)

I read Spire: The City Must Fall in parallel with RF Kuang's Babel: An Arcane History, and try to make the connection between Spire's worldbuilding and the British Empire's historical methods of extracting labor and resources from its colonized subjects. I'm especially proud of how I work through the ways in which Spire's Drow are treated as commodities, emulating how Britain's most valuable resource was human beings, and discuss why there's not an alternative available to the Drow except for violent uprising.

Heart RPG, Annihilation, and Sangfielle: Brainworms all the Way Down (38 min)

I follow the themes of compulsion, infection, and dissemination of a supernatural intelligence that I found both in Heart : The City Beneath and in Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation. It's kind of gross, but if you like reading about parasites, strange urges, and transformations that destroy the self, you'll probably be into this. I also make a few references to Friends at the Table's Sangfielle season, if you're a FATT fan.

Apocalypse Keys and Desperation to Belong (15 min)

Apocalypse Keys is a really interesting game, but it's also the most emotional game I read this year? It's all about heartbreak, longing, and trying to hold on to the people you love, even though you know you'll lose them in the end. The essay is also very much tied up in my feelings on diaspora, faith, and what it's like to be excluded, except for the home you make for yourself. It's also like, undeniably queer in a way I think a lot of folks will relate to.

The Endings of Hellwhalers and the Fewness of the Saved (28 min)

Okay I actually talk about being an ex-Catholic a lot, but this is my most explicitly religiously-inspired essay. I compare the text of Hellwhalers and its interpretations of Christian hell to the actual Catholic doctrines of hell, including the sermon that eventually made me break away from the Church altogether. If you like whales and religious trauma, please check this out.

###

Please consider taking a look at my channel! I hate having to beg for viewers, but there's just no other way to build an audience, and I'm really proud of the work I've done this year!

[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

Was watching schnee's video essay on why arcane's characters are lonely from around 2 years ago and at the 1:17 timemark we see a scene from s1 where Heimerdinger praises Stanwick Pididly to Jayce. I was like why does he sound familiar? Then went yooooo it's that bitch who stole credit for making Blitzcrank from League Viktor!!!!!!

Damn, Viktor really is the opposite of a creator's pet.

Got a complete revamp instead of just getting an Arcane skin like the other champions that were in Arcane, was written in a very ableist way in both seasons, doesn't have his disability or terminal illness named even though it's a big part of his character, lost his agency for most of season 2, got confirmed as ace after the show ended because one of the showrunners hated jayvik, didn't form any meaningful relationships in the show outside of Jayce, isn't properly credited for making the Hexgates in the show, had actually cool concept art for his transformations into the Machine Herald just to have it scrapped and now the guy who wronged Viktor the most in his lore and is the actual reason why he started to self-harm as well as the main reason he completely embraced "Glorious Evolution" is treated like an outstanding dude 🙃

Plus it's not just Viktor. They deleted Jinx's schizophrenia in season 2 and screwed over any complexity Vi had in order to get her back together with Cait by act 3.

Yeah, Stanwick Pididly was an NPC in old league lore who not only stole the credit for creating Blitzcrank from his doctoral students, he also stole Viktor's earlier research and designs for prosthetics and used those in the process of revival and reconstruction of Urgot in the collaboration with Noxus's Bleak Academy, of course presenting those as his own. He also went to Piltover to advertise "bringing Urf back from the dead" while Piltovians were mourning Urf's passing. Unsurprisingly, he was kicked out. He later became a councilor on Zaun's Board of Directors. An absolutely deplorable person.

And what did Arcane do? It turned him into a hero, a founder of Piltover way back in history and Heimerdinger's friend.

One could argue that a viewer would have to think about worldbuilding to come to conclusion that whoever was involved with Piltover was directly involved in creating and perpetuating suffering in Zaun, thus Pididly is portrayed as a villain... and that theory could hold water, if literally any Piltovian was actually fully held accountable by the narrative for what they did to Zaun. Yet none of them, other than Marcus (whose crime was also hating Caitlyn!) was. Heimerdinger is a silly little goofball who might have been too serious earlier and "stuck in his old ways", but he felt sad when he went to Zaun (once? For the first time since Piltover started oppressing Zaun?) and narrative instantly treats him as fully redeemed. Jayce's moral dilemma disappears in S2. Caitlyn is not held accountable.

Arcane does a very poor job of actually following through with its portrayal of brutality Piltover enacts on Zaun which was shown through enforcers in Season 1. It is shown, yes, but the narrative doesn't always frame it as bad. Oftentimes it behaves like it's the case of "it is what it is". Which means there's no strong basis to say that Stanwick Pididly was portrayed as anything other than a hero.

~

For the rest of your points, I have nothing to add because they're all true, other than the ace argument - bear with me - if you view it through the lens of "it's a tool to deny jayvik", it may seem to you as something bad. But ace people are real, one of my best friends is ace and as an orientation it's not good or bad, it just is. It really shouldn't be used as a negative in ship wars.

[hrizantemy]

Okay, taking a break from the usual content today, what are some other fandoms your in that you may wanna talk about? Anime or k-drama rcs, or that you're just wanna word vomit about?

Okay wait—this is such a fun detour because YES, I am so deep into some fandoms that it’s almost embarrassing.

K-DRAMAS:

1. Weak Hero Class 1 This show has no right being that good. The fight choreography? Unmatched. The emotional tension? Off the charts. The way Yeon Si-eun (Park Ji-hoon) portrays trauma and hides it under perfect grades and a pressed uniform?? CINEMA. I could write essays on how he uses intellect as armor. And don’t even get me started on Soo-ho—he is what loyalty looks like. I need season 2 immediately.

2. Bloodhounds It was like watching a found family build itself in the middle of a boxing ring while capitalism and cruelty lit fires around them. I didn't expect to cry??? But that’s what you get when you mix fight club energy with commentary on debt and morality. Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi’s chemistry was EVERYTHING. They went through hell and still protected each other like brothers.

3. All of Us Are Dead Forget the zombies—the real horror was the way adults failed every single kid in that school. I love a good survival story, and this one devoured me. Nam On-jo and Su-hyeok’s dynamic?? Yes. But also, give me more Gwi-nam vs Cheong-san scenes. I need season 2 to address that wild cliffhanger and also do justice for the girls who carried this show emotionally and strategically.

4. My Name Han So-hee really is absolutely amazing and said “vengeance is the only thing I want.” The tension, the brutal fights, the moral conflict—I still think about it. Also, the rain scene. You know the one. ICONIC.

5. Flower of Evil If you want romantic angst, mystery, and a morally gray man with a heart of gold… this is IT. I was on the edge of my seat and crying into a blanket at the same time.

ANIME:

1. Jujutsu Kaisen This anime owns my soul. Gojo’s philosophy vs Geto’s ideology? Tragedy. Nobara Kugisaki being that girl? Yes. Also, Megumi’s quiet grief and Yuji’s survivor’s guilt… this show does not hold back.

2. Attack on Titan No one talk to me about the ending. I’m still processing. But the worldbuilding, the moral ambiguity, the generational trauma?? Chef’s kiss. I could analyze Eren’s descent for hours.

3. Chainsaw Man I expected chaos. I got a gut-punch of existentialism, sexual repression, and emotional breakdowns. Denji is the most honestly depressed protagonist we’ve had in a while.

4. Demon Slayer It’s giving trauma, beauty, and endless swords. Also, Nezuko forever. Rengoku will never leave my heart, and if you say his name I will tear up.

5. Tokyo Revengers Yes, it’s messy. Yes, it’s chaotic. But it’s also full of ride-or-die friendships, loyalty, and surprisingly tender moments between boys who just want to protect each other and stop hurting.

If you want to scream about any of these, please let me know because I have thoughts, fan theories, and about twelve WIPs I’ve never posted. What fandoms are you in right now?? Any shows you’re binging?

[somekindofmoss]

I am making my own minecraft movie

ok so i'm not actually making a movie. what i am doing is analysing minecraft and thinking about why i didn't like The minecraft movie, and what i was actually wanting out of a minecraft movie. and then like. writing an overview or something. a lot of my thoughts heavily reference the End Poem, and some things i've seen echoed around the community in the past decade or so in terms of minecraft lore.

if you have any thoughts please tell me. please please please. i wrote i think a whole essay on the worldbuilding and storytelling of minecraft in college i am rather passionate about it.

things i am thinking about so far:

-having the movie progression loosely follow the progression of updates 1.0-current. not Every feature has to be included, but just like, no seeing like, cornflowers in the beginning of the movie. i wanna start in that barren 1.0 wasteland of an overworld baybe.

-according to the update timeline as of 2025, we'd meet alex about midway through the movie. unsure of my thoughts on this, but it follows previous logic.

-we only see ONE pink sheep the whole movie. are those fuckers rare or what?

-no new characters that aren't in the game.

-the entire soundtrack is by C418 and Lena Raine. Definitely including some in game songs, but some new ones thrown in as well.

-the player is the freak, not the villagers. i personally am not a fan of the "there was a nuclear disaster that fucked up minecraft, and made the mobs and the villagers Like That." i've seen throughout minecraft fan theories over the years. I think that's too specific, too un-minecraft-y, and also. not a fan of the insinuations with the villagers. minecraft has no lore. at best it has soft worldbuilding- think studio ghibli. we don't really know why things are precisely the way they are, we just know they are, and we know a few rules. we know minecraft started out barren, and as the updates came and went (to be interpreted as either time passing, the player exploring further, or both), more and more life was seen in the world, more things were discovered, more things were fought, made, destroyed, learned. according to the End Poem, minecraft is a dream that the player enters. one could interpret that as us being an outsider- it would explain why no one else looks like us, plays like us. we are alone. minecraft is a lonely place. you see it when you compare yourself to the villagers, you hear it in the soundtrack. you are alone.

-get julian gough back to write a second short poem for the end of the movie, but this time pay him one billion dollars. by the end of the game, we'd achieved a high enough level to read the universe's thoughts, i think this time after the movie, and also after furthering ourselves in the long dream of life, we should have levelled up enough to hear the universe's thoughts ("Sometimes, through the noise of its thoughts, it hears the universe, yes." | this having audio also makes it more fitting for a movie).

I don't. actually know what the plot would be. obviously it needs to be minecraft-y, but it can't simply be the base game progression, can it? would that be too simple? i wouldn't want to rely entirely on nostalgia, it has to be an enjoyable movie regardless of it's association to minecraft.

[thebardbullseye]

“Philosophical and Personal Musings on the Wizard Stone and the Axiom of Proliferation” – An Essay and Divinations for Arc 3 of “The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One”

From the Desk of The Bard Bullseye

Happy Birthday, Worlds Beyond Number!

Spoilers abound! This is an essay discussing the actual-play podcast “The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One” from the fine folks at @worldsbeyondpod It is an expression of my analysis of and engagement with the content of the second arc of the show and also contains some speculation about future plot and current themes. These interpretations are my own, include some reflections on my personal philosophy, and are written in a mostly academic style of writing (be warned, it’s around 3,000 words!). If you do read through it, I hope you find my points interesting and thought-provoking regardless of whether or not any of it turns out to be true (and I have done my level best to adhere to the facts of the story thus far, with transcript pages and timestamps cited when available/applicable).

Abstract (TL;DR, or I ain’t reading all that, but I’m happy for you):

The Wizard Stone’s discovery that the Axiom of Proliferation is untrue has major implications for the overarching story and the direction of the next arc. Herein, I explore my reaction to this moment in Episode 19 and how my experience and own philosophy potentially align with Stone’s. Then, I examine the logic of her argument and its implications for the greater worldbuilding in Umora. Specifically, there is a fundamental problem with the way that wizards are using the lingua arcana that is affecting the link between the Spirit and the Mortal worlds (i.e., the “greater binding”), and this is leading to detrimental effects. This, I believe is ultimately what Grandmother Wren (and now Ame) and Coven of Elders (and possibly the Man in Black?) are concerned with, though they have come to vastly different conclusions about who is at fault and how to solve this problem, which are yet to be revealed in the forthcoming third arc (see footnote 5).

Introduction

Something has piqued my interest and scratched a deep philosophical itch for me in the second arc of “The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One.” While the first arc introduced the characters, explored ideas of ‘quest fever,’ and masterfully wove in lore and character motivations for reclaiming Eursulon’s sword, Wavebreaker, the second arc has expanded upon the characters and their relationship to the greater philosophy of the Citadel and Umora.

I don’t usually speculate where stories might go next or craft my own fan theories. Especially for ongoing projects (i.e. TV shows, actual plays, books in a series, etc.), I tend to be along for the ride, and I spend time analyzing the story being told and the characters within. And rarely do I put these thoughts to paper, at least not coherently; I am more likely to ramble endlessly to a friend or lurk on Discord for others’ opinions, chiming in occasionally. However, I have noticed some things brewing in this arc that I wish to discuss at-length and even speculate upon: my perspective and analysis of the philosophy of the Wizard Stone, and the possible implications for the forthcoming third arc.

I don’t often see myself in stories. Not to say that I don’t see myself or parts of myself represented in media: i.e. demographically, socially, politically, etc., but rarely do I find a specific character or character motivation that ‘snipes through the duplex door’ where I go “oh shit that’s me” or “I relate to this on a deeper level.” This happened to me in Episode 19, when Suvi is investigating the records of her mother’s early time in the Citadel: her expulsion from the College of Divination and readmittance to the College of Abjuration because she had accused one of her professors of “treason against magic itself.”

Upon her dismissal from the Citadel, Stone wrote a dissenting missive to the Archmagi of the Citadel regarding one of the three metaphysical axioms, the Axiom of Proliferation, and how this particular axiom “does not describe any actual truth of the lingua arcana, nor does it more broadly describe any facet of the greater binding” (Ep. 19, transcript p. 12). She goes on to posit that not only is it “pure intellectual technology,” but that its continued acceptance as fact is a “danger to the future of wizardry” and “[a] stain on the face of magic itself” (Ep. 19, p. 12). An axiom in this context is described as “simple… laws that are given to young wizards about broad truths of spell casting in general… that are true across spells [and], … different schools of magic” (Ep. 19, p. 13). That is, “the Axiom of Proliferation is essentially that the more times a spell is written down … the weaker the spell becomes” (Ep. 19, p. 13).

An axiom as defined in philosophy is a statement that is self-evidently true and serves as a starting point for reasoning. Therefore, any argument against its truth would call into greater question the philosophical foundation of the Citadel itself. If Stone’s claim that this was not a true axiom had not been dismissed swiftly and discredited, it is possible (though highly unlikely, given the power of empire) that this would have led to a redefinition of the philosophy of wizardry in Umora.

This is what struck me like a bolt of lightning while listening to this episode. I did almost this exact thing when I was in grad school!

Stone is… me? Faulty logic and its effects

As part of my master’s degree, I took a philosophy seminar on bioethics, which covered some polarizing subjects and more fringe points of view. Most of these topics cannot be directly studied or supported by scientific evidence, so the conversation and academic debate is largely conceptual or theoretical (i.e., conducting research to investigate these ideas have varying states of legality and moral acceptability) (see footnote 1). This course was excellent and a bit out of my comfort zone, but it challenged me to think critically about fundamental logic and accepted ideas that often go unexamined until they are taken to the extreme. At one point in the semester, we were discussing a particular topic and the current state of debate surrounding it. Immediately, I was perplexed by some of arguments made to justify it, and at first, I didn’t have the language to express why. Much like Stone, I found myself screaming (internally) “you’re all idiots!” or “you’re missing the point/the bigger picture!” or “that’s not how that works!” Essentially, I had arrived at the conclusion that if this idea were to be implemented broadly in society, it would likely have major negative ramifications, and furthermore, not even achieve the desired and purported effect that they were arguing for! 

Eventually, I figured out what the underlying problem was: a logical fallacy inherent and unidentified within the current debate. Since scholars had just accepted the argument at face value and moved on, most of the debate was concerned with its future implementation or theoretical follow-on effects on individuals and society at large. I did find some existing papers that danced around the idea of fallacious reasoning (i.e., that the theoretical benefits were greatly exaggerated, if not a zero-sum game, or that the negative long-term effects may outweigh the short-term benefits), but none named it specifically or even examined the logical argument the entire debate was predicated on. So, for my term paper, I researched and wrote about this fallacy, and in it, I discussed how the discovery and acknowledgment of it would reframe the debate and perhaps even bring about reform to existing systems!

In the process of writing and researching, I felt incredibly isolated intellectually (this was also peak-COVID so that didn’t help either). Now that I had put the pieces together, it seemed quite obvious to me, but it was difficult to find supporting evidence or other similar arguments to mine (even if they weren’t breaking the logic down so specifically). Was this thing I had reasoned actually true? Why had no one pointed this out before? What if I’m wrong? What if they’re right and I’m a fool for daring to challenge them? What does my professor think? They’re an expert and approved the topic, so I know I’m not entirely off-base, but do they agree with me? I knew that if I wrote a strong, supported, and persuasive argument, that I couldn’t fail, but I deeply cared whether or not I was actually right. It was also probably one of the first times that I wrote with passion (and specific planning ahead of time!), rather than churning out yet another good-enough research paper (that I may or may not have written days ahead of the deadline or the night before).

Thankfully, unlike Stone, my fears that I would not be taken seriously, or worse, told that I was flat out wrong (and be silenced) did not come to pass—my professor agreed wholeheartedly with my argument that this fallacy is pervasive in the current literature. (Though I feel must disclaim that I still could be wrong in some other aspect of my argument, and that simply arguing the existence of a fallacy can be treacherous! In philosophy, no one ever has the only or complete answer—if they claim to, they are either lying or ignorant.) As part of the course, we did a mock peer review in class and my professor sent us further feedback on our papers after we submitted our initial draft of the term paper.

One particular piece of feedback stands out to me upon reflection and comparison to Stone’s experience and the philosophy of wizardry. It said something along the lines of ‘We think that is a very admirable and unique take on this subject. No one found any fault in your logic; however, it is important to consider the practical implications of identifying this fallacy.’ Point taken, of course, that the mere identification of a flaw in logic is not the end of the conversation—it is merely the start of a new discussion and opportunity to surface new arguments.  

In my case, the identification of the fallacy was the concrete thing I felt I could verifiably yell about (academically) to explain why I disagreed so vehemently with current literature (and some truly wild propositions made by certain scholars). Of course, one should not commit the ‘fallacy fallacy,’ which is that simply pointing out a fallacy invalidates the argument. Instead, it was a means to discuss practical implications: some less harmful methods, some overlooked existing solutions, and to pull knowledge from other related disciplines that had not yet been considered because this fallacy had yet to be identified (see footnote 2).

The philosophy of Stone’s accusation of ‘treason’ and treatise to the Archmagi

In listening to and reflecting upon this episode and the conclusion of the second arc, I wonder if Stone felt similarly to me: that she had a fundamental disagreement with the way that wizards (and the Empire) conduct magic. I wonder if she learned about the Axioms and something didn't sit right with her, so she dug into the philosophy or history of it. Moreover, I find it particularly striking that her original specialization was divination. Although it has not been stated outright, I think it can be plausibly inferred that Stone divined some kind of knowledge about the fundamental ‘wrongness’ of current wizardry and the disastrous follow-on effects it would have. She may have been unable to fully convey her revelation in the moment, and so just shouted ‘treason against magic’ at her mentor. As was the case with me, the Axiom of Proliferation was just the most concrete thing that Stone could point at to explain herself.

But beyond my own biases and affinity for Stone, it follows that she may well have examined or done a proof on the Axiom of Proliferation which led to her discovery that the premise of the Axiom was false. Let’s examine the argument that Stone may have made (and the one that Suvi may have done a poor proof of, by her own admission). The argument is as follows:

All Axioms of magic describe a truth about the fundamental nature of magic

The Axiom of Proliferation states that the more times a spell is written down (proliferated), the weaker the spell becomes, which is a truth about the fundamental nature of magic.

Therefore, the Axiom of Proliferation is an Axiom of magic.

This can be simplified:

All A’s have property B

C has property B

Therefore, C is A

This does not necessarily lead to a false conclusion, and while the argument may be valid, it may not always be logically sound, see for example:

All people are mortals.

John is a mortal

Therefore, John is a person.

In the Citadel’s view, there is no flaw here, because they teach (and presume) that the Axiom of Proliferation is true in the lingua arcana. Wizards, of course, are known by their secrets, so it follows that in their philosophy of magic, they would have some kind of justification for keeping magic limited to the select few. But, if one of the premises is false (in this case, premise 2), then this justification is in jeopardy. It stands to reason that Stone must have had serious evidence to declare that premise false, and as she was studying divination, it was likely a vision or prophecy of some kind. Presuming she is correct, then it also speaks to her incredible intelligence (although she did not have the social grace at 19 years old to deftly navigate this accusation) (see footnote 3a).

Although (as far as we know), Stone did not make another public ruckus about the Axiom upon returning to the Citadel, I don’t think this caused her to abandon the belief that the axiom was erroneous. Upon her readmission, she joined the College of Abjuration, specifically studying “counterspelling, dispelling magic, [and] sort of metamagic, … the magic of magic itself” (Ep. 19, p. 11). This might seem to be an odd choice for a backup specialization, but Stone’s issue with the Axiom and metamagic are deeply intwined philosophical concepts, as metamagic is essentially the equivalent to metaphysics in our world.

Wizardry and the nature of magic in Umora

Wizards are defined in Umora to be people that can use a “language of magic” the “lingua arcana” to cast magic, and importantly, that “they believe [the lingua arcana] is the language the universe uses to understand itself,” which was only coined about 250 years prior to the present story (Ep. 19, p. 16). At the end of the first arc, Suvi discovers from her father’s notes that the reflexive indicative, which was taught to her as a necessary component of the lingua arcana, is in fact entirely unnecessary for spellcasting. And further, Stone also doesn’t use the reflexive indicative, which is demonstrated through her unique casting of Mending in the very first episode. It is unclear so far in the worldbuilding (to me, at least) if the lingua arcana is the language the universe uses to understand itself, or if it is a construct used by people to explain, communicate, and more importantly cast magic in Umora (much like math and science are ‘constructs’ that describe the nature of our world, though the fact that it is constructed does not mean it is not true). If it is the latter, then there is likely to be forces at work, be it the components of spell casting (such as the reflexive indicative), the casters themselves, or others yet to be revealed, that are manipulating and restricting the nature of magic in Umora (see footnote 3b).

Thus, I would posit that there is some issue in the way that the restriction of the lingua arcana is affecting the “greater binding,” which is “the theory of magic, that magic is the interplay between the Spirit and the Real—or the Spirit and the Mortal” (Ep. 19, p. 14). Essentially, the lingua arcana describes the nature of the relationship between the Spirit and the Mortal world, while the greater binding is the metaphysical link between them. Stone all but confirms this in her letter to the Archmagi, that if the issue is left unresolved, it would endanger the future of wizardry (Ep. 19, p. 12).

Other pertinent wizarding history and context

Stone and Soft were also part of a group called the Acadator, which was dedicated to rooting out corruption and bad actors within the Citadel. We don’t really know too much else about them, the exact specifics of their philosophy, or if they still exist as a group (given that Steel and Eiorghorain were members). There is also some history surrounding two early wizarding groups pre-Citadel, the Antivoli and the Accordati, that had a philosophical disagreement about accepting the help of the Saraz Imperium for building the Citadel (specifically related to the sharing of magic), which led to a civil war called the Cataclysm of Carrow (Ep. 19, p. 16). In terms of timeline, the lingua arcana was coined in 1423, the term ‘wizard’ was coined in 1456, the Cataclysm of Carrow was in 1467, and three years later, in 1470, the Erien (Citadel) was built. The current story with the three protagonists is taking place in 1670, so it has only been 200 years since the Citadel was created, and the lingua arcana coined only 47 years prior to that (in less than a human lifespan).

Further, the creation of the Irulian Desert, the Erien, and the Citadel is a destructive history—wizards razed a verdant forest and turned it into a hot, unlivable desert with a miles high glass tower at the center. Additionally, the Wizards of the Citadel pool their magic beneath the Erien in an ‘Aerith,’ into which they deposit magical reserves and draw upon its combined strength when in crisis (see footnote 4). Mechanically, we see Suvi ‘donate’ unused spell slots at the end of the day.

We do know that Grandmother Wren’s cottage is located on top of a source of great magical power and serves as her sanctum. Wizards also use the towers of the Citadel as their sanctums, and I believe the following is speculation, as I do not think it has been canonized yet, but it is possible that the Aerith serves a similar purpose as a source of great magical power that previously belonged to the Spirits that wizards alone now use and control. This control is the key difference that may be contributing to, or even causing, detrimental effects on the greater binding.

The Witch(es)’s and the Wild One(s)’s perspectives

Additional evidence to support this theory of the Aerith's origins and purpose comes in Episode 23, when Eursulon meets the Man in Black and discusses their opinions on mortals, particularly wizards and their desire for control. Specifically, the Man in Black states, “that tower is the handle of a knife plunged deep into the heart of this world, a heart that is responsible for… a murder to the world of Spirits” (Ep. 23, 0:09:45-0:10:07).

Later, in a flashback with Mirara and Grandmother Wren, Mirara argues that “the world has burned before” (perhaps in reference to the creation of the Irulian Desert), that “[wizards] cannot be allowed to do this thing” (still unclear what that thing is), and the coven must make some kind of decision before it is too late (Ep. 23, 0:58:46-0:59:00). Wren pleas for another option, points this out as a false dichotomy, that they must not “be forced to choose between one slaughter and another,” and they should work to find common ground and coexist (Ep. 23, 0:59:07-0:59:33). Mirara retorts that she could never imagine the day that she would see “the will of wizards debase themselves” (i.e., that wizards would ever lower themselves from their current position of power) (Ep. 23, 0:59:39-0:59:52).

Wren then asserts a key point that correlates directly with Stone’s perspective: “There is nothing I have seen in the world of Mortals or of Spirits that shows me that there is a path that is wrong to tread” or anything that proves the pursuit of wizardry as inherently wrong (i.e., the lingua arcana), only those who “tread paths hurtfully, with cruel intention” (i.e., those abusing the lingua arcana for political purposes and imperial gain) (Ep. 23, 1:00:08-1:00:28). Wren also questions Mirara’s stance of wizardry as “an abomination against the natural order of the world” (Ep. 23, 1:00:40-1:00:47). Mirara then challenges her to consider her point of view and insists that even Wren cannot deny that “the poison of wizards does not spread so quickly as to choke the life from this world” (Ep. 23, 1:01:03-1:01:09).

My pure speculation and fan theory:

From this conversation, I postulate that Mirara and the Coven has taken an extremist and doomed perspective on the harm that is resulting partially from the Axiom of Proliferation (and perhaps the Aerith as well), while Grandmother Wren took a reformist stance. This would put her and her position as the Witch of the World’s Heart at odds with whatever plan the Coven intends to enact. Given what we know of the Witch Class and the other domains of the Coven, their plan is quite possibly violent, retributive, and holds little to no concern for the Mortals or people of Umora.

The third arc will begin with Ame’s meeting with the Coven of Elders at the North Pole, where they will attempt to destroy her station as the Witch of the World’s Heart. For all of the reasons above, I believe this event will connect directly to Stone’s declaration of “treason against magic itself,” but I will just have to (patiently) wait and see (see footnote 5).

Footnotes:

(1) I am well aware that I am being quite vague and obtuse regarding this subject and what specifically I was researching. Mainly because a) that’s not really the point of these musings, this is just some background info and context to explain my philosophy which is already longer than I would like, b) it would be impossible to do justice to an overview of this complex subject in an essay about something that resonated with me in a D&D podcast (and which does not engage with that subject directly, at least not in this context), c) I’ve already written a paper on this subject and am not interested in regurgitating it here, and d) Nunya Binyess (i.e. I could still be wrong about this fallacy and I’d rather discuss WWW than start a tangential IRL philosophical or political argument on this forum).

(2) Though on a deeper level, I partially disagree with the idea that I needed to account for the practical implications of the fallacy within the paper. I disagree that when challenging the fundamental nature of something (e.g., an erroneous argument, a misinformed policy, or an unjust system), there must be an immediate remedy or solution offered up. In my philosophical opinion, once a fallacy like that is identified for something that we hold to be fundamentally true, we need to sit in that revelation and undo the thought processes created by the incorrect assumptions. You cannot flip a switch and suddenly reverse all of the justifications that have gone into supporting a flawed, ingrained argument. To undo a pervasive, incorrect fundamental idea that has been implemented, internalized, or proliferated, first it must be fully examined for all its flaws, rescinded, and only then do we start from square one and think about practical changes (in a perfect world, of course, I am fully aware that the world does not work this way). I do often wonder about this reactive nature in society to demand immediate alternatives and solutions when norms are challenged, though I recognize this is a result of different lived experiences and worldviews. After all, this reactionary nature is true in Umora as well, and the wizards of the Citadel “tend to be a lot more about praxis and practice” (Ep. 19, p. 14).

(3a) Perhaps Stone rolled a nat 20 on some kind of intelligence check for the vision, but rolled a nat 1 on her Persuasion check against Sleep!

(3b) There is another essay I could write here about the history of science and empire (another grad school course) and the reflection of this in the Imperium, its taxonomy, and the (anti)-democratization of knowledge, but perhaps another time.

(4)  Something that occurred to me when piecing together the Erien and the Aerith was the similarity to Morrow’s derrick that harnessed Naram’s power in the first arc. Both serve similar purposes as well, of generating magic and magical items. It makes me wonder if it was intended for the derrick to be Morrow’s poor attempt at recreating the glory of the Citadel, or if this is just a happy coincidence/connection between the arcs.

(5) I do want to briefly acknowledge the nature of improvisational storytelling in this situation, and that anything can change, be clarified, canonized, etc. at any point. This is partly why I don’t like to speculate much myself, because I trust the creators to tell the story the way they want to and follow the paths that appear, without projecting my own hopes or prescriptions when I listen to their wonderful creation that has been crafted with such care. It is also why my theory in the end is limited to the meeting with the coven- truly anything could happen at the beginning of the next arc, and whatever I might come up with is likely less interesting than what will happen. (NB: There is nothing wrong with fan theories or head canons! It’s just not usually something that interests me!) I merely saw a connection and through-line that deeply resonated with me in this second arc and felt compelled to write about it. Also, Worlds Beyond Number and WWW is just so fucking great, and it truly astounds me that this story is so deep that I have somehow written a 12-page essay analyzing essentially a 20-minute segment of one episode. I pray to Enzo that there are no grievous errors or spelling mistakes, but I wanted to post this on WBN’s first birthday! 🧡

[goombasinastack]

splatoon 3 hot take turned impromptu essay

was stuck offline in splatoon 3 because internet was actin up and i realized how pretty the photomode splatoon 3 filters are compared to the actual game

i was taking photos on brinewater and thought. damn. this game looks fine but i miss how VIBRANT splatoon 1 was! i wish i could play sploon 3 with this photomode filter on all the time. and brinewater is the best map for this because of the sunset lighting! so i went to one of the worst offenders mapwise for general color—undertow spillway. it is a warm gray mess:

for someplace underground, it’s WAY too warm of a tone—even if there are skylights, they aren’t very well defined, as they’re off in the background—they’d be better with some light shafts to pop out more, imo.

so here’s undertow with photomode filter #6 (this would’ve been a video but tumblr limits to 1 video per post):

and i think this looks a lot nicer, colorwise! the icky warm gray is shifted to a soft pink—and while that’s still not in keeping with the lack of obvious skylights, it works better than warm gray.

so then i opened ibis x paint and got to work on a filter that would hopefully help elevate the entire game’s look:

on top is photomode filter #6, in the middle is the original screenshot, and on the bottom is my proposed filter.

i upped the contrast, brightness, and saturation a bit, then added a 5% pure magenta (#FF00FF) overlay layer on top of that. then i added a slight gaussian blur to emulate antialiasing, which nintendo refuses to do for some reason!

and i wanna play splatoon like that! i miss the vibrancy and intricacy of splatoon 1…

incoming splatoon 1 essay‼️

not only were the colors eye-bleachingly bright, but the overall game feel was much more immersive—especially in ink physics. you could paint trees, and the ink would drip down through leaves as if it were rain… ink splatter would respond to the movements of platforms, keeping its intertia as it dripped! you could see the textures of surfaces through the ink, as if it were an actual liquid instead of a layer of thick oil. 3 doesn’t have any of those special touches.

there’s also the music… 1’s ost feels so much more WEIRD and experimental than the later games, and that really helps cement that this is not human society—this is a new thing—which tracks for splatoon 1, as it was so zany nobody had ever seen anything quite like it before! splatoon 2 follows this sheer melting-pot of brashness and creativity with evolving and varied styles—where once was punk and weird samples in Squid Squad is now groovy rock in Wet Floor, jazz in Ink Theory, and also whatever Sashi-Mori was. also i <3 chirpy chips. splatoon 3’s music goes back to that punk, but i feel that it loses some of the charm and creativity of the first two games. C-side is pure metal, and hardly uses any weird instruments. there have sparsely been other splatbands involved with regular battle music—Yoko&tgb call back to the jazz of Ink Theory which i love! Off the Hook’s new tracks delve into a new style in piano rock. but the main band kind of falls flat to me. :(

let’s talk stages. in splatoon 1, stages were wildly different from each other, including skateparks, construction sites, underpasses, malls, sewage plants, and other locals that are culturally underground. the rest of the trilogy moves away from this in a story standpoint, as ink battles evolve from punky, diy competitions into full-fledged championships in 2 and 3, with advancing battle infrastructure as time progresses. that’s fine, and honestly it’s cool to see that kind of worldbuilding! but in 1, each stage was designed about and influenced by the area it represented. Arowana Mall is a straight line with high vantage points on the second/third story because it’s a mall. Pirahna Pit features convenyor belts that shuffle refuse around because it’s a trash plant. Blackbelly Skatepark has so many hills and valleys because it’s a skatepark, for goodness sake. splatoon 3’s original stages have some of this charm, but it feels lost in ambiguity. why doesn’t Mincemeat Metalworks have small moving platforms on cranes or other heavy machinery? Idk, have some grates and one-way drops, and a car on a post. why isn’t there any water incorporated into the stage design of Brinewater Springs? Idk, have 2 paintable walls and a tetris piece. 3’s original stages have little to no connection between their locals and the geometry, which make it feel same-y compared to previous games.

maybe this is because of the inflexible philosophy of the designers—or their corporate oversight, maybe. for stages, you need to make a straight line or tetris piece with few routes to push, in an effort to promote the game’s main premise of Chaos. for music, you need to make punk songs that aren’t too weird so they don’t drive away the parents. maybe the little ink touches could have been missing because development was rushed?

i honestly dont know why it happened out this way—perhaps the splatoon team just needed more time to cook, in order to squeeze out that extra 20% of game feel? or maybe it was that speculated corporate oversight, i dunno. things WERE missing on launch—notable exceptions being X rank, online tableturf lobbies, and no more than three salmon run maps. i know we’ve yet to even get the DLC but for being about 75% of the way through the game’s content lifespan, but splatoon 3 feels incomplete. there have been improvements, yeah! i just wish there could’ve been more. i would rather have waited another year for splatoon 3 if it were polished that much better, y’know?

i honestly feel like splatoon 1 captured that creative, no-holds-barred mantle of Chaos better than 3 does. 3 feels… flanderized, in a way. the curse of trilogies, perhaps? writing about it more, it feels like not only have the in-game sports of turf war been ripped out of its seedy home and thrust into the spotlight, and gone “mainstream” (see: massive squidsport companies investing in multimillion battle lobbies with holograms and lockers [sunken scroll about that!], flying coffee machines that grant you brief invincibility, new rules and techniques that allow squid surges and rolls, etc.), but also the Real Life Physical Video Game Cartridge of Splatoon has been popularized massively with the sequels on the Switch. maybe i’m not missing the “vibrancy” of splatoon 1 when i look at the colors and photomode filters of splatoon 3, but instead the inherent punkiness and counterculture inspiration that i see in the original.

fuck capitalism, i guess!

[yournextflame]

SOTE

Do you have any thoughts about Shadow of the Erdtree and its story now nearly 4 weeks after release? It seems the story presented has been very divisive and I wonder what are your thoughts on the matter.

Hey there! 🌿✨

Shadow of the Erdtree has certainly sparked a lot of discussion, hasn't it? Now that it's been nearly four weeks since its release, I still can't quite collect my thoughts and keep pouring essay after essay into my drafts.

The narrative direction has indeed been quite divisive. Some fans, like myself, are excited about the new layers of lore and the expansion of the worldbuilding, while others feel it strays too far from what they've come to expect, especially in regards to character writing. I can understand both perspectives.

To keep it short, I'm really enjoying the new lore centered around Metyr, The Greater Will, Fingers, and Ymir. This direction was hinted at since the base game, and one of my last theory posts on this blog pointed out all the parallels between how the Greater Will operates and how humans perceive and try to comprehend the cosmos.

The lore of outer gods, the rise and fall of civilizations, the whole "life and power sprouting from death" theme taken to a new level, and the way the game blends the differences between faith and intelligence, the crucible and the primeval current—this is all the stuff that particularly stood out to me.

When it comes to the characters, the DLC somewhat fixed a lot of issues with the sometimes flat portrayal of some demigods in the base game and picked up on narrative details that were often ignored. I'm glad that Mohg isn't a Disney villain anymore, Marika finally got a backstory that gave her much-needed depth without removing her agency, and Miquella is… well, as I've pointed out many times, he's certainly more complicated than the anime boy in a flower crown that the fandom wanted him to be, though now the fandom is flanderizing him in a different direction. Truth be told, a certain ending twist is my least favorite part of the DLC, but more on a technical level rather than thematic.

Overall, I think the DLC is far more enjoyable for people who viewed Elden Ring as a collection of Miyazaki and GRRM's thoughts on humanity, civilization development, religion, and other philosophical or even scientific topics, rather than a more classic character-driven story. For me, it was certainly good enough to reignite my interest in the series again.

[welcome-everythings-a-post]

Welcome! Everything is fine.

aka: the intro post you didn’t know you needed, but Janet probably already had filed

Hey there, bud! You’ve just stumbled into your own personal Medium Place, a cozy little corner of the internet where we celebrate all things The Good Place — from froyo-fueled fan theories to philosophical ramblings that would make Chidi spiral for hours.

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This isn’t a formal meta blog — it’s more like if Michael built a chill library where you could yell about your favorite characters, write three-paragraph posts about a 10-second scene, and then take a nap in a Janet-generated hammock.

Who runs this joint?

I’m Tem (or Pat!), a 18-year-old from the UK who probably knows too many Good Place quotes by heart. I’m queer, autistic, and very into both heartfelt found family content and chaotic dumb jokes. I’m usually online in UK time and post most when I’m not in college (Fridays are my sacred rest day). My wife is @jakkothejester

This blog is not age regression related — it’s just a general hyperfixation/fandom space with a focus on creativity, headcanons, and vibes.

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Proshippers or anyone who ships real people

Thinspo, pro-ED, or pro-self-harm content

Anti-agere or anti-mental health spaces

Endo systems

Fans/supporters of Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Vivziepop, Dream SMP, The Good Doctor, MHA, Stranger Things, Supernatural, or the “Coffin of Andy & Leyla” fandom

Zoophiles, pedos, or creeps of any kind

Anyone who demonizes personality disorders

The Tag System (aka “What would Janet label this?”)

Here’s how I organize stuff for easy browsing:

Main Navigation Tags:

#dash entryway — intro post, about info, pinned content

#archives from Mindy St. Claire’s — reblogs from other blogs

#not a girl, not a robot, just vibes — personal thoughts/rambles

#Jeremy Bearimy scribbles — hyperfixation essays, lore/meta

#medium place musings — general fandom rambles not tied to one topic

Creative Content Tags:

#emotional froyo — original fanfics

#soul squad scribbles — headcanons and character ideas

#forkin AUs — alternate universe content

#fanart from the afterlife — any original visual art (mine or rebloggs)

#welcome! everything is fanfic — fic recs and recommendations

#dumb but tender — fluff, silly content, found-family sweetness

#a little bit of chaos, a little bit of Chidi — angst or philosophical content

Final Thoughts from not a robot, not a girl Janet:

This blog is a love letter to a show that made me laugh, cry, and deeply consider my moral philosophy — and I hope it brings you a little joy too. Whether you’re here to scream about character arcs or share your weirdest theories about the afterlife system, you’re so valid and I’m so glad you’re here.

Grab some froyo, get cozy, and remember:

You’re doing okay, sweetie.

— Tem / Pat (your friendly neighborhood architect)

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Graphics made by: @/we-die-like-fools

[hollowed-theory-hall]

I am not the biggest fan of HP but wow, your essays and researches are so very cool.

Especially the Horcrux one - to literally produce a viable process step-by-step

(Anon is referencing this post, for those curious)

Thank you so much! 💕

It means a lot to me that you can enjoy my writing without liking HP. I do like HP, but more than just the books, it's a vehicle for me to have fun analyzing and researching various things. I really like doing research, like, it's actually a hobby of mine to pick a subject and then research it to death. I usually even write myself summaries of what I learned and everything (I have a collection of these, and it's really funny to people who know me IRL). It's an actual hobby I take seriously.

It's part of what got me into writing. I love storytelling, worldbuilding, and the research involved in it. Like, I wrote a whole book set in the Victorian era because Victorian history and fashion were among the subjects I picked to research extensively out of curiosity. And since I enjoyed reading about them, I read more. When I started writing, I had a lot of the information I needed for the setting already there in documents I wrote to myself, summarizing various aspects of the era with links to their sources.

My reading about Alchemy, which resulted in the aforementioned Horcrux post, was born because I was mildly curious, so I started reading, and when I found what I read interesting, I found books to read more.

It's how I like to approach most subjects. I mean, we live in the age of information, and I made it my mission to use it. If I find anything mildly curious, I'm gonna search for it to see what it's about and get a basic understanding. If my curiosity is sated, great; if not, I keep reading. That's really the secret to a lot of it — active curiosity.

Sure, I sometimes get things wrong, sometimes it's a struggle to find the information you want with how vast the internet is and how much misinformation is out there, and the type of thinking used for analysis is something you need to train over time, so just knowledge isn't everything, but it helps. The fact that I know so much random trivia from history, science, and Alchemy is what allows me to create the connections needed for some of my HP theories. My goal for years has been to be openly and actively curious and get excited over learning something new.

The first time I remember I was shocked that other people irl don't do that was when I was talking to a classmate back in high school, and we saw a star flickering around the horizon line. She called it out as weird, and I was like: "yeah, that is weird, let me check what it is" and I pulled out my phone to do just that, and she was surprised by the fact I did. It's insane to me that she didn't even consider doing a quick search to see what the phenomenon was.

(The answer, btw, was that the star in question was Sirius (my beloved), which is the brightest star and at certain hours when it's near the horizon (depending on location, in the northern hemsphier Sirius is usually low in the sky), the atmosphere at that angle interferes with its light, making it appear like it's flashing in multiple colors or in and out of existence. Other stars flicker like this too, when low in the sky, Sirius is just the brightest, and therefore its flickering is more visible)

(As you can maybe tell, I'm a little insufferable to walk with at night if there is any star visibility because I actually know and recognize some stars and constellations, and I will stop to point them out. My favorite app on my phone is Google Sky Map, which I open if I don't recognize something in the night sky or if I want to check if I was right)

[the-hype-dragon]

sometimes I watch Harry Potter fan theories or trivia vids on youtube and the algorithm thinks I want to see 2+ hour video essays about how much the books suck and how to "improve" them. problem is most people who think they know how to improve HP are full of terrible ideas like trying to cram explanations about literally everything about the wizarding world into the books, because muh worldbuilding. which just ignores how many fantasy series end up turning into endless slogs because the authors did not have the restraint to know when to STOP explaining or exploring their worlds

the worldbuilding criticism is imo one of the weakest critiques of the books, as it assumes Rowling failed at something she did not even set out to do lmao

[genesisgijinka]

I have returned with another essay on worldbuilding.

Part one: Design.

Your world has more animalistic pokemon. Going for a more... Adapted to a real functioning world where physics and biology are mostly in accordance with how it would work here.

My favourite example of this is this post. In it is pictured a Gardevoir. I don't know if the design is still accurate, but said gardevoir is less a funny alien creature and instead an elongated owl.

Another amazing example of this is the Power Scale post. The beastly legendaries and especially Arcy look sick. With "unrealistic" features like Arcy's fence gate being adapted into much more believable features/body parts.

That being said, we get to

Part 1.5: The Point

With most pokemon being animal-ified, there are some where that just isn't realy feasible. Good contenders for this are the magnemite line, a ton of Grass types and otherwise plant pokemon, and a bunch of object pokemon

small list of examples: Chandelure, klefki, Sudowoodo, oddish, bellsprout, shroomish, grimer, gastly, voltorb, Porygon, Koffing, Cofagrigus, and Ditto. (to be honest, ditto needs its own section)

How would you handle pokemon like that?

I kind of like the idea of naturally occuring mechanical life. You open up a dead Magnezone and there's just a load of gears and electric components in there. (imagine steampunk but with electricity instead of steam)

similarly, How would Gijinka of robotic/ object mons work?

Part 2: Pokespeak

In the anime all Pokemon speak Pokespeak. With pokemon being more animalistic, How do you handle them communicating?

Same question with the sentient mons situation from the anime. Most if not all pokemon on the protagonist's team (COUGH Pikachu) are of similar intelligence as a human, they have complex logic, can read, experience the entire spectrum of emotion, can perfectly understand language, etc.

How does that work?

That'll be it for now.

Part 1-1.5

Yep, gardevoir design is still accurate. Most of my design process for figuring out how I'm going to interpret pokemon design is deviating from a lot of common things that I see. Continuing with the gardevoir example, it's one of those pokemon that you don't google bc everyone just turns it into a booby waifu. I looked at the face and kinda went, 'Hey, that looks like the facial disk of an owl,' and started there.

For things that aren't easily interpreted, I switch to scribbling around with shapes. The Arceus fence thing was more inspired by the biblically accurate angels thing from the book of Revelations bc i thought that was funny lol. Sometimes I just give up tho and things like sylveon still gets it's weird ribbon things bc it's a Fey and they are not beholden to normal rules.

Other ways I design pokemon is by trying to figure out what niche they would fill and how would they have evolved to fill it bc nature is bonkers like that and doesn't like empty spaces. The universe of Genesis is absolutely riddled with ambient energy, so you get things like sentient almost-rocks and minerals or florauna creatures that make up plant types since everything is essentially swimming in a sort of low-key primordial soup. Sometimes a loose spirit just really thinks that chandelier is cool looking and would make a good home. The Good Soup™ makes it easier for that spirit to move its new body and now you have a new pokemon! All that loose energy gives life to things that on our world, would not work. But hey, such is magic-science.

There are lots of different paths I can take, so I don't really have a set process of how I generally do it. And there are so many theories of how certain pokemon came to be - either through in-game lore talked about in the pokedex/from NPCs or someone with their red string on the wall making a spider's web of what's going on in the world of pokemon - that I can take some of those and just run with it. For example; you brought up ditto. Congratulations! You've discovered Prime's "siblings," since I'm using the theory that ditto were Rocket's failed attempts at cloning mew. Little blobs that use the energy of the world around them to craft bodies several times their mass and size, using moves that they don't normally learn.

Robotic/object gijinka would depend on which pokemon is the base form. There's a whole lot of human in a gijinka which keeps things to a mostly human base (this is how I ignore the egg types in gijinka when it comes to reproducing and y'know, keeping your culture alive), so it would mostly boil down to types. If someone was of the magnemite line, they'd have iron/steel deposits in places where the skin is thin, like how Heph does on his knuckles, a characteristic of a steel type gijinka. They'd also be more prone to generating static electricity. Or a doctor giving a vanilluxe gijinka a check up has to have a different base body temperature to test against since ice types have a body temp that runs a little bit cooler than most others (fire types have the opposite problem. Razor has torched off shirt sleeves before, which is why he's almost always in a tank-top of some sort)

Part 2

How do pokemon communicate with each other? Idk, the same way they do in Tarzan. They just, can. Smth smth, pokemon speaking with their hearts, not words. Pokéspeak isn't suuuper well understood, mostly due to not having enough cases to study, but it does very rarely crop up in people from time to time. N is canon to the Genesis timeline (not sure when just quite yet but anyway) and he can fully understand pokemon. Biggest theory is that it's stored away somewhere in the human DNA, a leftover from when pokemon and humans were once considered the same, ala Sinnohian lore. Kinda like how every now and then irl there's a human baby born with a tail. Tail genes are still in our DNA, but it gets switched off at some point during fetal development.

That being said tho, some pokemon have managed to learn human language, in a way. Unown being the starting point for many languages in the world used to communicate more with people back in the day, but now it's considered a mostly dead/slightly resurrected language like Mayan.

The abra line are particularly clever and good at figuring out human patterns. Champion Red from Kanto taught a lot of his pokemon sign language as part of their training and a few of them can sign back at him. He's rarely seen without his kadabra, Pythagoras, and she's the most fluent out of all his pokemon. It's still broken and incomplete tho, kinda like how an african grey parrot would string words together.

A lot of how pokemon speak to each other is mostly body language tho, which even in humans is calculated to make up a whopping 55% of how we communicate with one another (38% is vocal tone and a measly 7% is the actual words and their dictionary definition/context. So it's no wonder why so many people get into arguments on the interwebs with black text on a white background) Pokemon still pick up on all of this, and with their different way of communication, they can still usually pick out human meanings just fine.